UC-NRLF 
 
 SB 277 7bO 
 


 
 

 
AN r; ^ 
 
 ELEMENTARY 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF 
 
 MINERALOGY: 
 
 INCLUDING SOME ACCOUNT 
 or 
 
 MINERAL ELEMENTS AND CONSTITUENTS ; 
 
 EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS IN COMMON USE J 
 BRIEF ACCOUNTS OF MINERALS, 
 
 AND OF THE PLACES AND CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH THEY 
 ARE FOUND. 
 
 DESIGNED FOR THE USE OP THE STUDENT. 
 
 BY WILLIAM PHILLIPS, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE GEOLOGICAL 8OC1ETT. 
 
 With Notes and Additions on American Articles, 
 BY SAMUEL t. MITCHILL, 
 
 Professor of Mineralogy, Botany and Zoology, in the University of New-York; 
 President of the Lyceum of Natural History, #c. 
 
 Nullwn est sine nomine saxum. Lucan. 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY COLLINS AND CO- 
 
 No. 189, PBARL-S*REET. 
 
 1818. 
 
'.%::; ll-:\ " Pr 
 
 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW- YORK, ss. 
 
 BE IT REMEMBERED, Thar on the twenty-eighth day of May, 
 in the forty-second year of the Independence of the United State* of 
 America, COLLINS & Co. of the said district, have deposited in this 
 office, the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, 
 in the words and figures following, to wit : 
 
 " An Elementary Introduction to the knowledge of Mineralogy : in- 
 cluding some account of Mineral Elements and Constituents ; explanations 
 of terms in common use ; brief accounts of Minerals, and of the places and 
 circumstances in which they are found. Designed for the use of the stu- 
 dent. By WILLIAM PHILLIPS, Member of the Geological Society. 
 With notes and additions on American articles, by SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, 
 Professor of Mineralogy, Botany and Zoology, in the University of New- 
 York ; President df the Lyceum of Natural History, &c." 
 " Nullum est sine nomire saxum. Lucan." 
 
 In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, enti- 
 tled " An act for the encouragement of learning by securing the copies 
 of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such co- 
 pies, during the time therein mentioned." And also to an act, entitled 
 " An act, supplementary to an act, entitled an act for the encouragement 
 of learning, by 'securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the 
 authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein men- 
 tioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, en- 
 graving and etching historical and other prints." 
 
 JAMES DILL, 
 Clerk of the Southern District of New- York, 
 
 'i- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A considerable edition of the little volume entitled an 
 ' Outline of Mineralogy and Geology' having been near- 
 ly, and very unexpectedly, exhausted, in the short space 
 of a few months, it became a subject of consideration, 
 whether it could be so enlarged as to render a second 
 edition more interesting and valuable, without greatly 
 inn-easing the size and price of the book. It occurred 
 to me, that it might be possible further to illustrate the 
 subjects on which it treats, by introducing some account 
 of the more important minerals, with general observa- 
 tions upon such as should be omitted. But, vjben con- 
 sjderable progress had been made, it assumed such a 
 patch-work character, that I resolved to re-publish the 
 * Outline,' with such alterations only as might seem es- 
 sential to be made ; more especially, as partial descrip- 
 tions would completely alter its character, without fully 
 answering the purpose of their introduction. Its object 
 will therefore be, as before, rather to awaken inquiry, 
 than to satisfy it. 
 
 The attempt to improve it, however, served to con- 
 vince me, that, if descriptions, of individual minerals, 
 together with some account of the places and circum- 
 stances in which they are commonly found, were collect- 
 ed with tolerable fidelity, from the best authorities, and 
 comprized in a small volume, it would prove instructive 
 to the young mineralogist ; more especially, if divested 
 of technical and scientific terms, as much as the nature 
 of the subject will allow. This feeling was an incite- 
 ment to undertake the labour of selecting, which, at best, 
 is but an humble occupation. 
 A 2 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It next became an object to determinate the order in 
 which these descriptions should be placed : and when it 
 is considered that any one of the several arrangements 
 tha* have already been promulgated, might have been 
 chosen, I can scarcely hope to escape censure for having 
 adopted one, that, in some respects, differs from them 
 all ; my apology is, that not one of them was adapted 
 to my purpose. 
 
 In the introduction to Aikin's ' Manual of Mineralo- 
 gy,' an attentive perusal of which I wish again to recom- 
 mend to the student, there are some excellent remarks 
 on the prevailing arrangements of minerals. From all 
 that has hitherto been done, it may be argued, that the 
 very nature of the substances comprehended in those 
 arrangements, forbids the construction of any one against 
 which many well-founded objections cannot be raised ; 
 and wherein there shall not be much that is arbitrary, 
 and consequently, dependent one some particular views, 
 or some favorite theory. Hitherto, no natural classifi* 
 cation of minerals has been discovered : either this 
 most desirable object cannot be attained, or the science 
 is not yet sufficiently understood to allow of its accom- 
 pli oh me nt. 
 
 It cannot, however, be denied, on the one hand, that 
 the science of mineralogy is greatly dependent on that 
 of chemistry; nor, on the other, that its acquirement 
 should be regarded as preliminary to that of geology. 
 Jt therefore seemed indisputable, that if it were possible 
 to exhibit the science in such a point of view, as that its 
 dependence on the one, and its intimate connexion with 
 the other, should become apparent, the result would be 
 advantageous to the student. 
 
 With these objects principally in view, peculiar atten- 
 tion has not always been given to the enumeration of 
 all the nicer characteristics of each mineral, nor to the 
 maintaining of one exact order of description. This has 
 been done by Aikin, in his ' Manual of Mineralogy,' with 
 all the fidelity which a precise and scientific detail of 
 these characters requires. It has rather been my inten- 
 tion to give, in familiar language, the more important 
 mineralogical and geological characters of each, so as 
 to enable the student, by such acquaintance as he may 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 thus familiarly gain with the objects of his study, to con- 
 sult with advantage the more scientific works of abler 
 mineralogists. Consistently with this intention, expla- 
 nations of about one hundred terms, commonly used in 
 mineralogical description, are given at the end of the 
 Introduction ; which includes an enumeration of mineral 
 elements and constituents, together with a brief view of 
 their chemical characters, and remarks tending to shew 
 their mineralogical and geological importance. The 
 order in which the individual minerals have been des- 
 cribed, and which is exhibited in the Table of Contents, 
 was governed by an attention to the same objects* 
 
 Thus, siliceous minerals are first described, because it 
 is estimated that silex forms the largest proportion of the 
 oldest and most abundant primitive rocks : and all 
 earthy minerals, of which silex is the largest ingredient, 
 are ai ranged under that head ; beginning, chemically, 
 with silex in its purest form, and proceeding to such as 
 consist of that and another earth, as silex and alumine, 
 then to those consisting of silex and lime, &c. and after- 
 wards, to such minerals as are chiefly constituted of three 
 or more earths, terminating with the most compound ; 
 and regarding the iron, manganese, &c. involved in ma- 
 ny of them, only as accessary constituents. The other 
 earthy minerals are proceeded with in like manner, ar- 
 bitrarily selecting such as contain the rare earth, glucine, 
 and placing them under that head, except that the Ga- 
 dolinite, which also contains the still more rare earth, 
 Yttria, is placed under the latter. In regard to metal- 
 liferous minerals, the rules I had prescribed for the or- 
 der of description, could riot always be adhered to with- 
 out involving some absurdity ; for instance, in the ore 
 called White Silver, that metal is an ingredient, accord- 
 ing to one analysis by Klaproth, in the proportion only 
 6f about 2 per cent. ; but it would have bten altogether 
 ridiculous to have placed a substance bearing the name 
 of White Silver, among the ores of Lead, to which, ac- 
 cording to the proportions of its ingredients, it properly 
 belongs. 
 
 In order to avoid too greatly (he appearance of a 
 scientific work, every mineral has been described only 
 the name or names by which it is commonly dis* 
 
TI PREFACE, 
 
 tinguished in our own country. The synonyms may be 
 found in Aikin's ' Manual,' and still more at lapge in the 
 useful Mineralogical Nomenclature' of Allan. 
 
 This compilation, for it includes but iittle that is new, 
 has been selected from the works of the most expe- 
 rienced mineralogists ; chiefly from those of Ha'uy, 
 Brongniart, Jameson, the Chemical and Mineralogical 
 Dictionary of Aikins, and the Manual of Aikin ; but, con- 
 sidering the purpose of the book, it seemed unnecessary 
 to acknowledge the numerous quotations from those and 
 Other works in a more particular manner, by repeated 
 reference to their pages. 
 
 It is common with the beginner to ask for some means 
 by which he may be enabled at once to recognize any 
 mineral that may present itself to his notice. To this 
 inquiry, it may be replied, that, without the aid of study 
 and experience, no means sufficiently precise can be 
 hoped for in a science which is without a natural ar- 
 rangement ; and which therefore is divested of the cer- 
 tainties belonging to the study of the animal and vege- 
 table kingdoms. A studious comparison of their cha- 
 racters, with the descriptions published in the works of 
 mineralogists, might possibly enable the student to ac- 
 complish this desirable object. This method is un- 
 doubtedly tedious ; and in most cases, the best rules 
 that have been laid down, pre-guppose certain previous 
 attainments; but the labour would be materially lessen- 
 ed, if the individual specimens were well characterized, 
 and properly designated. The most effectual and ad- 
 vantageous method of acquiring a competent knowledge 
 of minerals is undoubtedly that of personal instruction. 
 The superiority which France and Germany have ac- 
 quired in mineralogical science, is, doubtless, in a great 
 measure, to be attributed to the facility of obtaining in- 
 struction, both public and private ; of which there was 
 an almost total deficiency in this country, until very 
 lately. Each of our Universities has now its professor, 
 and private, instruction begins to be attainable. The 
 metropolis and its neighbourhood are not without ad- 
 vantages in this respect. Lectures are given at the 
 Royal and Surry Institutions. The time and attention 
 of Mis. Lov\ry, of Titchfield Street, whose line colleo 
 
PKEFACE. Vl 
 
 tion of minerals, models, and instruments used in the 
 mineralogical and geological researches, cannot fail, un- 
 der her instruction,^ of being advantageous to her pupils, 
 are occasionally given to this object : and T. Webster, 
 of Buckingham Place, Fitzroy Square, who is draughts- 
 man to the Geological Society, and has the immediate 
 care of its valuable collection, and whose acquirements 
 may thence be estimated, also dedicates a part of his 
 time to instruction in the sciences of mineralogy and 
 geology, as well as to the teaching of drawing ; a know- 
 ledge of which is intimately connected with those 
 sciences, and in the instruction of which he has adopted 
 the most expeditious and advantageous methods he can 
 devise. 
 
 Instruction in crystallography is also attainable. N. J. 
 Larkin, of Gee Street, Sorner's Town, who is a teacher 
 of the mathematics, is in the habit of teaching their ap- 
 plication to the theory of crystallization of Haiiy. A 
 perfect knowledge of this most beautiful theory can only 
 be attained by a correct statement of the mathematical 
 principles on which it is founded ; nevertheless, the the- 
 ory is also taught mechanically by N. J Larkin, in a few 
 lessons, by the assistance of models. These models cut 
 in box-wood, may be had of Bate in the Poultry, and 
 Mawe in the Strand, at one guinea each, as well as com- 
 plete sets of models of all the crystals described by Baiiy 
 in his Treatise on Mineralogy, from eight pounds to six- 
 teen pou! ds the set, according to the kind of wood of 
 which they are made : they are cut by N. J. Larkin 
 with great accuracy and beauty. 
 
 In the descriptions of individual minerals included in 
 this volume, it was my wish to have given a somewhat 
 detailed account of their crystalline forms. This I found 
 to be impossible, without increasing the size of the book 
 considerably. As, however, I conceive that it would mate- 
 rially tend to facilitate the progress of the young mine- 
 ralogist, it is my intention, at some future time, to publish 
 a view of the theory of crystallization, unless it shall be 
 accomplished by some abler hand. This view will not 
 be illustrated by the application of its mathematical 
 principles, and will therefore be only mechanical ; but 
 it will necessarily be accompanied by numerous figures, 
 
fill PREFACE. 
 
 illustrative of the theory, and of the transitions of crystal- 
 line forms. 
 
 It is probable that some who may look into this vo- 
 lume, may judge that if the descriptions had been more 
 at length, more precise, and more technically scientific, 
 they would have been more valuable, and consequently 
 of more general interest. Such as may be induced to 
 pass this judgment upon it, are entreated to advert to 
 the main purpose of the publication. But, the simplicity 
 of the design, and in all probability, the manner in which 
 that design is executed, will deter the scientific from 
 perusing a work which is manifestly intended only fop 
 the beginner only as a first step for the student and 
 which, in reality, has little claim to the notice of the 
 mineralogist. 
 
 W. P. 
 
 London, March, 1816. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 BY THE WRITER OF THE AMERICAN NOTES. 
 
 When the American Publishers first requested me to 
 furnish additions to Mr. PHILLIP'S work, I hesitated 
 about tbe undertaking. My doubt arose from the amount 
 of information nlready extant in several valuable pub- 
 lications, upon Mineralogical subjects. 
 
 The MEDICAL REPOSITORY, from its commencement 
 in 1793, to the present time, is replete with such intelli- 
 gence. The second volume of that Journal, contains 
 the circular address of the first Mineralogical Society 
 known in the United States : an association, of which I 
 had the honour to be the president, and with the hono- 
 rable Samuel M. Hopkins, George J Warner, Esq. and 
 other early and zealous labourers, strove to arm every 
 hand with a hammer, and every eye with a microscope. 
 
 WOUIJHOUSE'S EDITION ^F CHAPTAL'S CHEMISTRY, 
 contains many excellent observations, as it was published 
 during 1807, arid was considered by me as one of the 
 best works of its time. 
 
 The AMERICAN MINERALOGICAL JOURNAL OF ARCHI- 
 BALD BRUCE, M. D. which was concluded in 1814, is an 
 important collection of facts and observations, tending 
 to elucidate the Mineralogy and Geology of the Fredo- 
 nian States and Territories. But above all, Professor 
 CLEAVELAND'S ELEMENTARY TREATISE, published in 
 1816, is so rich in domestic as well as foreign materials, 
 and so generally and justly In the hands of students and 
 other inquirers, that it seemed to supercede, in a great 
 degree, the use of other books. It was notwithstand- 
 ing, represented to rne, that a more chea:>, portable and 
 compendious manual of the Science, was demanded, 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 and that an impression of the present performance, 
 would be immediately begun. 
 
 I therefore abandoned my scruplues, and determined 
 to compose a few notes, for the purpose of giving more 
 interest to the present edition. Where the matter of 
 them has been borrowed, I have endeavoured to make 
 proper acknowledgement of the source ; believing, that 
 for good deeds, every person ought to receive all the 
 praise that is due to him. Wherever there may be 
 omissions in this respect, the reader is assured they do 
 not proceed from an intention to withhold commenda- 
 tion. 
 
 My own collection of facts and specimens would have 
 permitted me to have been much more ample and dif- 
 fuse. Indeed, it was a task of considerable difficulty, to 
 restrict myself to the actual limits ; there was never- 
 theless a reason for it. The description of many of the 
 specimens in Geology, which my cabinet contains, 
 having been already submitted to the public, there was 
 less necessity to travel out of the province of Mineralogy 
 on the present occasion. 
 
 I must however observe, that additional exertion, 
 would have rendered this edition more complete, and 
 that, from the rapid influx of materials, a future im- 
 pression may be rendered incomparably more valuable. 
 
 It is very remarkable, how much 1 am indebted to 
 Ladies, and to Military (jrentlemen t for spec.imens. I 
 hope tbeir example will be lollowed by all other classes 
 of Citizens. 
 
 Aetf-Tbnfc, May, 1818. 
 
 SAMUEL. L. MiTCHlLL. 
 

 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The investigation of the structure of the earth belongs 
 to the science of Geology. It may however be interest- 
 ing to take a rapid survey of the present state of our 
 knowledge respecting it, were it only for the sake of 
 showing its intimate connexion with mineralogical pur- 
 suits, 
 
 In speaking of the earth and of our knowledge of its 
 structure, it is essential that the limited extent of that 
 knowledge should always be had in remembrance. We 
 are acquainted with it, only to a very inconsiderable 
 depth ; and when it is recollected that, in proportion to 
 the bulk of the earth, its highest mountains are to be con- 
 sidered merely as the unimportant inequalities of its sur- 
 face, and that our acquaintance does not extend in depth, 
 more than one-fourth of the elevation of these moun- 
 tains above its general level, we shall surely estimate our 
 knowledge of the earth to be extremely superficial ; that 
 it extends only to its crust. 
 
 The term 'Crust of the Earth' therefore relates only 
 lo the comparative extent of our knowledge beneath its 
 surface. It is not used with the intention of conveying 
 an opinion that the earth consists only of this crust, or 
 that its center is hollow ; for of this we know nothing. 
 The term may not be philosophical, but it is convenient. 
 
 The structure of the crust of the earth is most readily 
 studied in mountains, because their masses are obvious; 
 and also because, as they are the chief depositories of me- 
 talliferous ores, the operations of the miner tend greatly 
 to facilitate their study. Mountains are composed of mas- 
 ses which have no particular or discernible shape : or, 
 as is more commonly the case, of strata or beds, either 
 horizontal or oblique, sometimes nearly vertical. 
 
 * B 
 
.11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In these masses and beds,, different structures have 
 been observed. Some of them are crystalline ; that is to 
 say, are composed of crystals deposited in a confused 
 manner, as in granite, or of crystals imbedded in some 
 Other substance, as in porphyry. These crystalline 
 rocks contain no organic remains ; and, as they are 
 always found beneath, never above, those which do con- 
 tain them, they are considered to have been of earlier 
 formation, and therefore have been termed primitive 
 rocks. 
 
 Other mountain rocks have no appearance of crystal- 
 lization; but, on the contrary, seem rather to have been 
 formed by the mere falling down, or settlement, of the 
 substances of which they are composed, from the solution 
 which contained them. These are always found above, 
 never beneath, the crystalline rocks ; and often contain 
 a yast abundance of organic remains, both animal and 
 vegetable. The more ancient of these, or such as con- 
 tain the remains of animals of which the genera and spe- 
 cies are extinct, are called Transition rocks : the more 
 recent, or such as contain the remains of animals in some 
 degree, or perfectly, resembling those inhabiting our 
 oceans, are called Flcetz or Flat rocks, because their po- 
 sition is considerably, or perfectly, horizontal : the for- 
 jner have received the name of Transition, as connect- 
 ing the primitive with the flcetz rocks. By many mi- 
 neralogists the transition and the floetz are classed toge- 
 ther under the name of secondary rocks. 
 
 Primitive and secondary rocks have suffered consider- 
 able change and ruin from causes which it is not our pre- 
 sent object to notice ; and their disintegrated portions, 
 having been formed anew, now constitute that peculiar 
 description of deposite which is termed alluvial, and 
 which therefore consists of the debris of other rocks. 
 Such are clayi, gravel, sand, &c. and these often con- 
 tain the remains ot land and amphibious animals, and 
 0f fish : they are found above the preceding, sometimes 
 testing immediately upon primitive ro^ks. 
 
 But the^e is still another and a very different kind of 
 rock, abundantly found in certain countries, which may 
 in a great measure be considered, like tl$e preceding, as 
 ^resulting from the ruin of rocks, but from an opposite 
 
INTRODUCTION. ill 
 
 cause, or by an agent directly the reverse, viz. by fire - y 
 constituting those known by the name of volcanic rocks .* 
 many of these strongly bear the marks of heat, and even 
 of fusion; some, on the contrary, offer no evidence of 
 their having been subjected to heat. 
 
 Lofty mountains composed of primitive rocks usually 
 present rugged and uneven summits, and steep acclivities 
 on the sides, as though they had suffered by convulsion. 
 Such as are wholly or externally composed of secondary 
 beds or strata, are less rugged on the summits and sides ; 
 their summits are flattish, or sojnewhat rounded, and their 
 sides present acclivities more easily accessible; and are 
 still more so when covered by alluvial matter, which 
 serves to fill up their roughnesses and hollows, and often 
 presents nearly a plane surface. 
 
 Both primitive and secondary mountains, more parti- 
 cularly the former, are traversed in various directions by 
 fissures, of different dimensions. These fissures are not 
 often empty, but are mostly filled with stoney or metal- 
 liferious substances, accompanied by vast quantities of 
 water; but not often by portions of the rocks they tra- 
 verse. These fissures are termed Mineral Iseins : of 
 whatever substance or substances, the body of a vein may 
 be composed, its sides are commonly very determinate, 
 and are by the miner called the walls of the vein. 
 
 From these veins, a large proportion of all the mine- 
 rals which are found in the cabinet of the mineralogist, 
 are extracted ; indeed almost all such as, from their ra- 
 rity, brilliancy, or peculiarity of form and combination, 
 possess the greatest attraction for the mere collector : 
 but these, though in these respects they may be the 
 most curious, are by no means the most important- 
 
 Mineralogy is a science of so great interest, tbat it 
 would be too much to be regretted were its real objects 
 and tendency misunderstood, or suffered to degenerate 
 into an avidity merely for the collecting of what is bril- 
 liant or rare. It is capable of affording larger and more 
 useful attainment than the possession of an unique. To 
 the attainment of the science of geology, that of mine- 
 ralogy is essentially requisite. 
 
 The study of mineralogy, therefore, does not include 
 only a knowledge of the more rare and curious substan- 
 
1? INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ces 5 there is nothing in the mineral kingdom too eleva- 
 teJ or too low for the attention of the mineralogist, from 
 the substances composing the summits of the loftiest 
 mountains, to the sand or gravel on which he treads. It 
 is true that the aggregated masses of compound rocks 
 are not arranged in a mineralogical collection ; but it 
 must be remembered that each of the substances f 
 which such aggregated masses are constituted, are all 
 comprehended in a mineralogical arrangement, and 
 therefore find their places in the cabinet. Granite, it is 
 true, is not to be found there ; but its components, 
 quartz, felspar, and mica, are met with in every one. 
 
 Thus, then, by the study of what, in opposition to the 
 term aggregated rocks, may be termed simple minerals, 
 the mineralogist becomes enabled to detect the sub- 
 stance with which he holds acquaintance by itself,, when 
 aggregated with others in a mass; and thus he becomes 
 qualified for the more difficult and more important stu- 
 dy of the science of geology ; which embraces a know- 
 ledge of the nature and respective positions of the masses 
 and beds composing mountains; and indeed of country 
 of every description, whether mountainous or otherwise. 
 It is not, therefore, or at least it ought not to be, the 
 sole object of the mineralogist, to be able to distinguish 
 the several genera and species of mineral substances ; 
 nor should his attention be confined to the mere task of 
 recognizing at first sight any mineral that may present 
 itself, or of being capable of at once assigning it a pro- 
 per place in his cabinet. He should hold a more enlar- 
 ged acquaintance with minerals, and with the circum- 
 stances attending them, in what may be termed, their 
 native places; he should know something of the posi- 
 tions they respectively bear towards each other in those 
 places ; he should become acquainted with their rela- 
 tive ages, deduced from the nature of the rocks in which 
 they are found ; their comparative scarcity or abun- 
 dance ; their combinations ; the countries in which they 
 occur; and their characters, both internal and external. 
 This knowledge, it may be repeated, is the first and 
 requisite step to the science of geology : not that it is 
 essential to this science that every mineral should be ac- 
 curately known : some are of comparatively little impcr- 
 
INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 lance in a geological point of view, from their extreme 
 scarcity ; but it is essential to become acquainted with 
 simple minerals in the general, because of some of them^ 
 many of the vast masses of the earth are composed. 
 
 Minerals which are found only in primitive rocks, are 
 said to belong to primitive countries ; by which name 
 are designed such tracts as are chiefly composed of pri- 
 mitive rocks. The substance in or on which a mineral 
 is found, is called its gangue or matrix; when in its natu- 
 ral place or position, a mineral is said to be in situ; 
 when this place and position are known,, we are acquain- 
 ted with its habitat. 
 
 In conformity with the object of this work, as explain- 
 ed in the preface, we must, before entering upon a des- 
 cription of individual minerals, take a view of the num- 
 ber, as well as of the nature of the elementary bodies, of 
 which they are constituted. In this, I shall aim at brevity. 
 
 The whole number of mineral elements are common- 
 ly included in the list of 9 earths, 2 alkalies, 27 metals, 
 and the two bases of combustible bodies, carbon and 
 sulphur ; but there are still other substances, both sim- 
 ple and compound, which having been detected by 
 analysis, as entering into the composition of certain of 
 the minerals about to be described ; it seems essential 
 in an elementary view of the science that these con- 
 stituents should have a due consideration, whether 
 they be regarded essentially as mineral elements, or on- 
 ly as accessaries. 
 
 These substances consist of certain acids, together 
 with water, hydrogen and oxygen. * 
 
 The acids are 1 3 in number, and are compound sub- 
 stances ; generally, though not without exception, con- 
 sisting of oxygen, united in different proportions with 
 certain bases. 
 
 The base of the Molybdic add is Molybdena 
 
 Arsenic Arsenic 
 
 Chromic Chrome 
 
 Tungstic Tungsten 
 
 Carobnic Carbon 
 
 Sulphuric Sulphur 
 
 Phosphoric Phosphorus 
 
 Fhioric Fluorine 
 
 Boracic Boron 
 
 Wit- ic Nitrogen 
 
 Muriatic Chlorine 
 
 Succinic unknown 
 
 Mellitrc unknown 
 
Vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The bases of the four first, being metals, are included 
 in the 27 already adverted to ; those of the two next are 
 the bases also of combustible substances, and therefore 
 some description of the first six bases will be given in 
 their proper places ; but it will be requisite to give some 
 account of phosphorus, fluorine, boron, nitrogen, chlo- 
 rine, and of the succinic, and mellitic acids ; as well as of 
 water, hydrogen, and oxygen. 
 
 The necessity for including all these in the catalogue 
 of the constituents of mineral substances will become 
 apparent as we proceed. 
 
 In the following list, therefore, are comprehended, 
 according to the present state of our knowledge, the 
 whole number of the 
 
 ELEMENTS OR ACCESSARY CONSTITUENTS OF 
 MINERALS. 
 
 Oxygen, Nitrogen, 9 Earths, 
 
 Hydrogen, Chlorine, 3 Alkalies, 
 
 Water, Boron, 27 Metals, 
 
 Phosphorus, r l he succinic acid, Carbon, 
 
 Fluorine, The mellitic acid, Sulphur. 
 
 Many of the substances included in the foregoing list 
 are esteemed to be simple elementary bodies, because 
 they have not hitherto yielded to any of the numerous 
 attempts of the chemist to decompose them ; others 
 have only J?een partially analyzed, though sufficiently to 
 determine that they are compounds; of others again the 
 composition is known ; others have altogether eluded 
 the vigilant eye of the analyst. 
 
 Chemistry, notwithstanding the rapid advances that 
 have been made in it, during the last few years, is still 
 acknowledged to be far from perfect as a science. New 
 facts continually arise, which as continually tend to illus- 
 trate and to advance the science of mineralogy, which is 
 yet in its infancy, and is dependent in a very important 
 degree on the advancement of chemical science. 
 
 In the following pages is inserted a short sketch of the 
 nature and properties of each of the substances included 
 in the above list of the elements or accessary constitu- 
 ents of minerals ; which, it is presumed, will tend to 
 throw some light on the actual state of our knowledge of 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 mineralogy in so far as it is dependent on chemistry; as 
 well as upon the affinity and relative proportions which 
 these substances bear towards each other as mineral 
 constituents. 
 
 Some account of the acids generally is likewise given, 
 as well as of the earths, alkalies, metals, and combustibles : 
 observations on each earth, alkali and metal, are inser- 
 ted preceding the descriptions of such substances as 
 are placed under each of them, in conformity with our 
 present object. 
 
 
 OXYGEN. 
 
 Oxygen has not been obtained in a complete state of 
 separation : in the most simple form in which it has been 
 procured, it is combined with caloric, forming what is 
 termed oxygen gas ; thus united, it is essential to the 
 support of animal life. 
 
 Oxygen gas may be obtained from many substances ; 
 it is most abundantly, and perhaps most readily, procu- 
 red from the black oxide of manganese ; which furnishes 
 all the oxygen used by the chemist, and all the oxygen 
 used in the preparation of the oxymuriatic acid consu- 
 med in the bVacheries of Britain and other countries. 
 
 All the substances from which it can be procured, are 
 considerably diminished in weight after yielding oxygen 
 gas, which is rather heavier than common air : all bodies 
 which absorb oxygen acquire an addition to their weight. 
 
 Oxygen was formerly considered to be the general 
 cause of acidity ; in other words, a necessary principle 
 of every acid ; and the term Oxygen is compounded of 
 two Greek word*, having allusion to that supposed theo- 
 ry ; but that theory has lately been done away, by direct 
 proof of its not being correct in two instances, which is 
 further corroborated by the probability of its incorrect- 
 ness in some others ; and that certain bodies afford acids 
 by combining with hydrogen. 
 
 Oxygen, iris ascertained, is so abundant a principle in 
 many minerals, particularly of those constituting the 
 oldest and most plentiful masses of the crust of the globe, 
 that it may be said to be one of the most common and 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 most abundant of mineral elements, if not tlie most com- 
 mon and most abundant of all 
 
 Of the most plentiful of all mineral substances, silex, it 
 forms 54 per cent. ; of alumine 46 ; of lime 28 ; of 
 magnesia 38 ; of potash 17, and of soda 26 per cent.; 
 to which it may be added, that it forms about 88-J per 
 cent, of water ; and that in the ores of tin and manga- 
 nese, and many of those of iron, lead, copper, &c. 
 oxygen enters as an ingredient in various proportions. 
 
 Oxygen also forms an important ingredient in many 
 minerals, as an essential element in certain acids ; as in 
 the two abundant substances the sulphate and carbonate 
 of lime. It has been supposed that the latter alone con- 
 stitutes one-eighth part of the whole crust of the globe. 
 It may be assumed that lime stone is composed of 56 
 parts of lime and 44 of carbonic acid. Now lime consists 
 of about 72 per cent, of calcium, and 28 of oxygen ; and 
 carbonic acid of about 23 per cent, of carbon, and 72 
 per cent, of oxygen ; so that oxygen enters into the com- 
 position of the one eighth part of the crust of the globe, 
 which is calculated to be constituted of carbonate of 
 lime, in point of fact, nearly in the proportion of one- 
 half. 
 
 But argillaceous rocks are considered '& be more uni- 
 versal and plentiful than calcareous, and siliceous more 
 abundant still. Of these rocks oxygen forms on an aver- 
 age 50 per cent. ; so that the calculation in regard to the 
 proportion in which oxygen enters into the composition 
 of minerals, would amount to a very large percentage of 
 the whole crust of the globe. 
 
 HYDROGEN, 
 
 The most simple form in which Hydrogen has been 
 obtained, is that of a gas, in which it is in union with calo- 
 ric, or the matter of heat. It is considered to be an ele- 
 mentary body. 
 
 Hydrogen is one of the component elements of water; 
 its name is compounded of two Greek words, importing 
 that circumstance ; it is one of the elements of sulphur, 
 and also, as it is believed, of phosphorus, of ammonia, and 
 gf the fluoric, and muriatic acids. It is obtained, in varia- 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 able proportion, from several of those substances, which 
 are termed combustibles ; and, in combination with sul- 
 phur, forming sulphuretted hydrogen, it has been detect- 
 ed by analysis, in the Haiiyne or Latialite ; the swine- 
 stone or stinkstone, a variety of carbonate of lime which 
 is found in considerable abundance, is supposed to owe 
 the peculiarly offensive odour which it gives out when 
 scraped or rubbed, to the presence of sulphuretted hy- 
 drogen. 
 
 Hydrogen gas is emitted from the crevices of volcanic 
 matter ; and it is asserted by Brongniart, that near St. 
 Barthelemi, which is not far from Grenoble in France, 
 hydrogen gas issues from the crevices of a country which 
 has no appearance of being volcanic ; and consisting of 
 a grey friable argillaceous schistus. The gas has no 
 odour ; and if inflamed continues burning sometimes for 
 many months : the surrounding mountains are calcareous. 
 He likewise says, that similar circumstances occur in 
 England, on the road between Warrington and Chester, 
 and also near Brozely in Shropshire. 
 
 WATER. 
 
 Water is composed of oxygen and hydrogen, in the pro- 
 portion of about 88 of the former to 11 j. of the latter. 
 
 Water may be considered as merely an accessary, and 
 not as an element, in some minerals : it is occasionally 
 enclosed in crystal and chalcedony, and in variable pro- 
 portion in certain minerals of a granular or loose texture ; 
 but, in some oiners, it ? an essential principle, as is evin- 
 ced by the difference existing between the forms of the 
 primitive crystals of the common, and of the anhydrous, 
 sulphate of lime ; the latter of these is composed of lime 
 and sulphuric acid ; the former, of lime, sulphuric acid, 
 and 21 per cent, of water : when water is an essential prin- 
 ciple, it is termed water of crystallization. 
 
 Vrater is found in very different proportions, in a large 
 number of earthy, as well as of metallic, minerals, both 
 crystallized and massive. 
 
 The pure alkalies, potash and soda, retain even after 
 fusion, about l-5th of their weight of water; and all acids, 
 in a liquid state, contain water as an essential element. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ACIDS. 
 
 It is impossible to give such a description of the acids 
 as will characterize them altogether The greatest part 
 of them are chemically described as possessing a sour 
 taste of various degrees of intensity, and of reddening ve- 
 getable blue colours : but these properties are not com- 
 mon to all of them. 
 
 The peculiar properties of each acid are derived 
 from the base. This base in most of the acids is united 
 with a certain proportion of oxygen ; which until lately 
 was conceived to be the acidifying principle. In two 
 of the acids it has however been proved, that their aci- 
 difying principle is hydrogen ; which also is probably 
 the case in respect of certain others. 
 
 The names given to the acids have been mostly de- 
 rived from their bases : thus sulphur, in combination 
 with a certain proportion of oxygen, affords sulphuric 
 acid 5 carbon affords carbonic acid, and so on. 
 
 Add. 
 
 Base 
 
 The carbonic, consists of 
 
 carbon 
 
 phosphoric 
 
 phosphorus 
 
 fluoric 
 
 fluorine 
 
 sulphuric 
 muriatic 
 
 sulphur 
 chlorine 
 
 nitric 
 
 nitrogen 
 
 boracic 
 
 boroa 
 
 tuogstic 
 chromic 
 
 tungsten 
 ciironif 
 
 molybdic 
 
 melybdena 
 
 arsenic 
 
 ar>enic 
 
 KECcinic 
 
 unknown 
 
 mellitic 
 
 unknown 
 
 and 
 
 Acidifying Principle. 
 
 oxygen 
 
 oxygi n 
 
 hydrogen 
 
 oxygen 
 
 hydro sen 
 
 oxygen 
 
 oxygen 
 
 oxygfin 
 
 oxygen 
 
 oxygen 
 
 oxygen 
 
 Each of the above acids is found in one or other of 
 the mineral substances about to be described ; and in 
 the preceding list they are arranged in the order of their 
 supposed formation, arguing fr6m the nature of the rocks 
 in which the substances mineralized by them are met 
 with. 
 
 An earth, a metal, or an alkali combined with an acid, 
 is chemically termed a Salt; acidiferous mineral sub- 
 stances have therefore been termed Salts, by some mi- 
 neralogists ; and have been selected from minerals in 
 general, and arranged under the name of Saline Mine- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 rah. This selection has been altogether arbitrary ; all 
 those who have constructed arrangements have not been 
 determined in their selection by a precise agreement 
 in the characters of the minerals they have selected ;the 
 minerals of this class (for the existence of which there 
 seems to be no reasonable occasion) have been much 
 more numerous in some arrangements than in others. 
 By others the Jlcidiferous Earthy Substances have been, 
 placed by themselves under that title. 
 
 The carbonic, phosphoric, fluoric, sulphuric, muriatic, 
 nitric, boracic, and arsenic acids, are found in combina- 
 tion with earths. 
 
 The carbonic, phosphoric, sulphuric, muriatic, tung- 
 Stic, chromic, molybdic, and arsenic acids, are found 
 mineralizing certain of the metals. 
 
 The nitric and carbonic acids are found united with, 
 potash. 
 
 The carbonic, sulphuric, muriatic, and boracic acids 
 are found combined with soda. 
 
 PHOSPHORUS. 
 
 Phosphorus is a highly inflammable substance, usually 
 of a flesh red colour, and very soft: its sp. gr. is 1.77. 
 In the atmosphere it emits a white smoke, and peculiar 
 smell, and a faint and beautiful light arises from it. 
 
 When phosphorus is acted upon by a powerful voltaic 
 battery, it gives out a gas in considerable quantity, which 
 proves to be phosphoretted hydrogen : hence it is con- 
 cluded that hydrogen is one of its component elements. 
 This is the present extent of our knowledge respecting 
 the nature of phosphorus. 
 
 100 parts of phosphoric acid are composed of pho$* 
 
 phorus 36.72, and of oxygen 53.28. It is obtained by 
 
 a chemical process from calcined bones ; by another 
 
 ^process, the phosphoric acid is robbed of its oxygen, and 
 
 phosphorus is obtained. 
 
 Lead, manganese, and copper, are found mineralized 
 by the phosphoric acid, in proportions differing from 18 
 to 31 per cent. ; it also occurs in a small quantity in one 
 of the ores of iron ; and combined with lime, in the pro- 
 portion of 46 per cent. 
 
XII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 
 
 FLUORINE. 
 
 The last experiments of Sir H. Davy on fluoric acid, 
 have induced him to believe that it is composed of hy- 
 drogen and a peculiar base which he has denominated 
 fluorine. This substance, from its strong affinities and 
 decomposing agencies, has not yet been exhibited in a 
 separate state ; nor have any attempts to detach it from 
 its combinations been successful. 
 
 Lime, mineralized by the fluoric acid, is of abundant 
 occurrence, forming fluate of lime, in which the acid 
 exists in the proportion of 33 per cent ; and it is com- 
 bined in nearly the same proportion with alumine and 
 soda in the cryolite ; of the Saxon topaz and the picnite 
 it forms 5 or 6 per cent. : it has not been detected in any 
 metalliferous mineral. 
 
 NITROGEN. 
 
 Nitrogen, in combination with caloric, when it is 
 termed nitrogen gas, is one of the constituents of atmo- 
 spherical air : from its unfitness for the support of ani- 
 mal life, it is frequently called azotic gas : the term azote 
 is compounded of two Greek words, having allusion to 
 that negative quality. It has since been called Nitro- 
 gen gas, because, by a union with oxygen, it composes 
 nitric acid. 
 
 It immediately extinguishes a lighted candle and even 
 phosphorus, and is fatal to animal life. 
 
 It is suspected that nitrogen is not an element ; Ber- 
 zelius supposes it to be a compound of oxygen with 
 some base in nearly equal proportions : this supposition 
 is merely hypothetical. 
 
 The claims of nitrogen to be considered as a mineral 
 constituent, are, that it enters into the composition of 
 ammonia, one of the alkalies ; and that, as a constituent 
 of the nitric acid, which consists of 25i of nitrogen and 
 74 of oxygen, it is also an ingredient of nitre or salt- 
 petre. 
 
INTRODUCTION, XU1 
 
 CHLORINE, 
 
 It is the opinion of Sir H. Davy, and many other 
 able chemists, that the oxymuriatic acid contains no 
 oxygen ; the presence of which its name implies. He 
 has consequently changed its name for that of Chlorine, 
 derived from the green colour which it possesses when 
 in a gaseous form. Chlorine has never been decompo- 
 sed. The muriatic acid consists of equal volumes of 
 Chlorine and hydrogen. 
 
 Chlorine has never been found pure, in nature. 
 
 The muriatic acid is found in small quantity in the 
 soilalile, and one or two earthy minerals ; but in com- 
 mon, or rock salt, it is combined in the proportion of 44 
 per cent. : it is found in combination with lead, quick- 
 silver, and silver, in proportions differing from 8 to 21 
 per cent. : of the arseniate and phosphate of lead, it 
 forms about 2 per cent. 
 
 BORON. 
 
 Boron is a peculiar combustible substance, which has 
 been obtained by subjecting crystals of boracic acid to 
 the action of a voltaic battery. Its precise nature is not 
 yet understood ; though it is ascertained to be a sub- 
 stance differing from every other known species of mat- 
 ter. Sir H. Davy conjectures that it is a compound. 
 
 Boracic acid is supposed ta consist of one part by 
 weight of boron, and 2 of oxygen. 
 
 The boracic acid enters into the composition of two 
 rare earthy minerals, the boracite and the datholite : in 
 the proportion, of 83 per cent, in the former, and 24 per 
 cent, in the latter. It has not been detected in any metal- 
 liferous substance ; but it occurs in the proportion of 17 
 per cent, in the borate of soda, or borax, which is abun- 
 dant in a certain lake in Thibet. 
 
 -r^v-*; 04, 
 
 THE SUCCINIC ACID. - ,.,<; | 
 
 The only claim wkich the Succinic acid has to be 
 considered as a mineral constituent, is, that it forms one 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION* 
 
 of the ingredient principles of amber; which, though it 
 be of uncertain origin, has by common consent obtained 
 a place among mineral substances. 
 
 This acid is not obtained pure from amber ; but when 
 purified, it forms white, transparent, shining crystals, hav- 
 ing the form of triangular prisms. The Succinic acid, 
 from its property of decomposing all solutions of iron, is 
 highly useful in the analysis of mineral waters. It has 
 not been decomposed: its base is therefore unascer- 
 tained. 
 
 THE MELLITIC ACID. 
 
 The Honeystone or Mellite, one of the combustibles, 
 is the only substance that has yielded tb*e Mellitic acid ; 
 which is obtained from it by a chemical process, in acicu- 
 lar crystals, which possess at once a sour, sweet, and bit- 
 ter taste, and are combustible. The base of this acid is 
 not ascertained. 
 
 Some account of the bases of the other acids will fol- 
 low; carbon and sulphur being noticed under the head 
 of Combustibles, and tungsten, chrome, molybdena, and 
 arsenic, under that of Metals. 
 
 EARTHS. 
 The Earths are nine in number, viz. 
 
 Silex, Magnesia, Yttria, 
 
 Almnine, Zircon, Barytes, 
 
 Lime, Glucine, Stiontian. 
 
 Four of them, Lime, Magnesia, Barytes and Stron- 
 tian, possess some of the chemical characters of the Al- 
 kalies ; by some, they have therefore been placed among 
 the Alkalies ; others have called them Alkaline Earths. 
 The whole number were, until within the last few years, 
 considered to be simple or elementary bodies, but SirH. 
 Davy has proved them to be compounds consisting of 
 oxygen united with certain bases, some of which possess 
 several of the characters peculiar to the metals ; but the 
 nature of these bases is not so well ascertained as that of 
 
XV 
 
 the bases of the two Alkalies. The discoverer, however, 
 considers most of them to be metals ; and if this be ad 
 milted, the earths are to be considered as metallic oxides. 
 
 The four alkaline earths were much more readily de- 
 composed, and their bases are ascertained to possess 
 certain of the characters and properties of the metals, 
 with greater certainty than the remaining five ; which 
 have a much stronger affinity for the oxygen with which 
 they are combined. 
 
 The metallic basis of Barytes, has been named Barium, 
 by Sir H. Davy ; that of Strontian, he denominates Stron- 
 tium ; that of Lime, Calcium; for that of Magnesia, Mag- 
 nesium has been proposed, but it is less perfectly known 
 than the three preceding : the base of Silex, Silicium, 
 has not been obtained in a state of separation ; it was at 
 first considered to be a metal, but " Sir H. Davy now 
 believes it not to be a metal, but a substance most re- 
 sembling boron ; and, like it, bearing an analogy to 
 charcoal, sulphur, and phosphorus." The base of Alu- 
 mine, Jllumium, has not yet been produced in a state fit 
 for investigation : that of Zircon, or Zirconium, is still 
 unknown : as well as that of Glucine, or Gluanum ; and 
 that of Yttria, Yttrium, has not been exhibited in a sepa- 
 rate form. 
 
 These bases are united with oxygen in different pro- 
 portions. That of Barytes is united with about 10 per 
 cent, of oxygen ; that of Yttria about 12 per cent. ; of 
 Strontian about 14 per cent. ; that of Zircon 17 per 
 cent. ; of Lime 28 per cent. ; of Glucine 30 per cent. ; 
 of Magnesia 38 ; of Alumine 46 ; and of Silex 54 per 
 cent. 
 
 The Earths are here placed in the foregoing order, 
 (p. xiv.) and the minerals of which they constitute the 
 chief ingredients, will hereafter be noticed in that order, 
 for the following reasons. Silex, Alumine, and Lime, 
 are the principle constituents of the oldest primitive 
 rocks. Magnesia also enters into the composition of a 
 primitive rock, though not one of the most abundant* 
 Zircon and Glucine are in part the constituents of a few 
 rare minerals which are imbedded in early rocks, or are 
 met with in the veins of primitive mountains ; in the 
 
XVi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 veins of which, also, Yttria, Barytes, and Strontian occa- 
 sionally occur. 
 
 Some further observations respecting the relative pro- 
 portions and localities of the Earths may prove interest- 
 ing. 
 
 Silex is not only the chief ingredient of a large num- 
 ber of the most abundant rocks, but it also forms a con- 
 siderable proportion of all clays and soils ; it is the prin- 
 cipal constituent of more than half of the whole number 
 of compound earthy substances, which, in contradis- 
 tinction to aggregated rocks, ?re sometimes termed 
 simple minerals ; it enters into the composition of a few 
 rare and crystallized metalliferous minerals in the pro- 
 portion of 30 or 40 per cent., and in very small propor- 
 tion in several of the most abundant ores of iron. If there- 
 fore it were possible, as heretofore, to regard Silex as a 
 simple elementary body, we should have no difficulty in 
 adjudging it to be the most abundant in nature. 
 
 Alumine is considered to be the most plentiful earth 
 after Silex. It occurs largely in primitive rocks, in many 
 of the secondary, and in all clays and soils : it enters in- 
 to the composition of a considerable number of earthy 
 minerals, and in small proportions in a few metallife- 
 rous minerals, particularly in certain ores of iron. 
 
 Lime is less abundant than Alumine in primitive rocks ; 
 but is extremely so in transition and nVtz, or secondary 
 rocks ; it enters into the composition of many compound 
 earthy minerals : it forms from 9 to 25 per cent, in a 
 few rare and crystallized minerals, and is found in smal- 
 ler proportions in a few others. 
 
 Magnesia is not an abundant ingredient in rocks ; but 
 is chiefly confined to those called serpentine, basalt, and 
 certain varieties of limestone. Some of the earthy mi- 
 nerals in which it is found, and which are pretty nume- 
 rous, occasionally enter into the composition of rocks, 
 but are principally met with in veins. It occurs but 
 sparingly in soils, and is unfavorable to vegetation : the 
 only metalliferous mineral in which it has been detect* 
 ed is spathos iron, of which it forms less than 1 per cent. 
 
 Zircon, Glucine and Yttria are very sparingly found : 
 the first is the most common ; the second has been de- 
 tected only as a component of a very few rare minerals 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 'in small proportions : both are met with imbedded, and 
 in veins, in primitive rocks. Yttria has been discovered 
 only as an ingredient in two or three rare minerals. 
 
 Barytes is not very abundant ; Strontian 'may be es- 
 teemed a rare earth ; they are chiefly found in mineral 
 veins, and have not been detected in rocks or soils : they 
 are principally met with in that state, which has induced 
 some mineralogists to rank them among saline minerals. 
 The latter has not been found combined in any metal- 
 liferous mineral ; the former only in one, compact man- 
 ganese, in the proportion of 14 per cent. 
 
 Silex, Alumine and Magnesia are met with nearly 
 pure. 
 
 Silex, Zircon, Glucine and Yttria have not been 
 found combined with an acid ; but the former is involv- 
 ed in many acidiferous minerals. 
 
 Lime, Barytes and Strontian chiefly occur combined 
 with acids ; but the former is an ingredient in many 
 earthy minerals which are not acidiferous. 
 
 THE ALKALIES. 
 
 The Alkalies, Potash, Soda, and Ammonia, have pe- 
 culiar chemical properties, which are not our present ob- 
 ject. The two first, not being volatilized by a moderate 
 heat, are termed fixed alkalies ; the last, as it exists in 
 its purest form in the state of gas, is called Volatile Al- 
 kali. Potash and Soda were long considered to be 
 simple elementary bodies, though it was also conjectur- 
 ed that they were not. Within the last few years that con- 
 jecture has been verified by the brilliant discoveries of 
 Sir H. Davy, who effected their decomposition by means 
 of electric or galvanic agency It has by this means 
 been satisfactorily determined that Potash consists of 
 oxygen, united with a base which, in many, if not in 
 most respects, bears a strong affinity to the metals : it is 
 of a silvery whiteness, and is solid at common tempera- 
 tures. Soda, it has been determined, consists of oxygen 
 united with a base which is solid at the usual tempera- 
 ture of the air. 
 
 These bases, Potassium and Sodium, are combustible 
 bodies : by exposure to oxygen, under certain -circuoa^ 
 
XV1U INTRODUCTION. 
 
 stances, they absorb it, and thus become alkalies again. 
 In lustre, opacity and malleability, and in certain chemi- 
 cal properties, these bases agree with the metals : and 
 have therefore been considered as metals by Sir II. 
 Davy : but they are lighter than water, and are there- 
 fore at least six times lighter than the lightest of the me- 
 tals, tellurium. 
 
 Potash consists of about 17 of oxygen, and 83 of po- 
 tassium. Soda of about 26 of oxygen, and 74 of so- 
 dium. 
 
 Ammonia, or Volatile Alkali, has likewise been de- 
 composed by voltaic electricity. 100 measures of Am- 
 monia are estimated to consist of about 75 of hydrogen 
 and 25 of nitrogen ; but certain experiments, conducted 
 by Sir H. Davy, have induced him to suspect that Am- 
 monia contains 7 or 8 per cent, of oxygen. 
 
 Potash is found entering into the composition in about 
 15 earthy compounds, but not in any of the metallife- 
 rous ores : in small proportions it occurs in rnica and 
 felspar, two ingredients of the oldest rocks, and also com- 
 bined with certain acids. 
 
 Soda is found in combination in about twelve earthy 
 substances in variable proportion ; but not in metallife- 
 rous ores : it occurs abundantly, combined with several 
 of the acids. 
 
 Ammonia is met with only in combination with two 
 or three of the acids. 
 
 METALS. 
 
 A metal may be chemically described as a combustible 
 or ooddable substance ; capable, when in a state of oxide, 
 of uniting with acids, and of forming with them compound 
 salts. This is a character applicable to all the metals 
 and to no other class of bodies. 
 
 Metals are believed to be simple substances ; not one 
 of them having hitherto been decomposed. 
 
 In weight the metals far exceed the earths ; the heavi- 
 est of the earths is only five times heavier than water, 
 but the lightest of the metals is more than six limes 
 heavier than water. Beaten gold is nineteen times hea- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 vier than water, and beaten platina, the heaviest of all, 
 is twenty-three times heavier than water. 
 
 The metals also have other important characters. 
 Each possesses a colour peculiar to itself. Some of 
 them are exceedingly ductile, as is manifested by the 
 extremely fine wires into which they are drawn. Most 
 of them are good conductors of electricity ; that they are 
 also good conductors of heat or caloric, is evinced by the 
 readiness with which heat is transmitted along a bar of 
 metal, when one end is placed in the fire. They mostly 
 possess elasticity and flexibility. Many of them have a. 
 peculiar taste and smell, both of which are disagreeable. 
 
 If when in a state of fusion, they are left to cool slow- 
 ly and quietly, all the metals crystaiize ; and most of 
 them in that cane assume the form of the octohedron ; 
 which also is the form assumed by most of those which 
 are found crystallized in the pure or native state. 
 
 The characters of fusibility and extensibility in metals 
 is of vast importance to man ; for without them neither 
 could they be freed from the earths and other impurities 
 with which they are naturally united, nor wrought into 
 vessels for his use. 
 
 The only metals known to the ancients, were gold, 
 silver, copper, iron, tin, lead and mercury ; but disco- 
 veries have from time to time increased the catalogue, 
 until it has been swelled to the number of twenty-seven, 
 independently of those which have very lately been dis- 
 covered as the bases of some of the earths and the two 
 alkalies. 
 
 Of these twenty-seven metals, eleven only have the 
 important property of malleability, or of being sufficient- 
 ly tenacious to bear the extension of their body by bea- 
 ting with the hammer; the others have by some, there* 
 fore, been termed brittle metals. 
 
 Malleable Metals. Brittle Metals, 
 
 Platina Arsenic Molybdena 
 
 (jold Anluno;iy Tungsten 
 
 Silver Bismuth Chrome 
 
 Mercury Cobalt Osmium 
 
 Lead Manganere Indium 
 
 Copper Tellurium Rhodium 
 
 Tin Titanium U.aniunj 
 
 Iron Taiitaliuui Cerium 
 Zinc 
 
 Palladium 
 Nickel 
 
XX ITTIIODUCTION. 
 
 A lustre is peculiar to the metals, which therefore is 
 called the metallic lustre : another remarkable property 
 is their want of transparency when in the mass; but a"s 
 leaf gold held between the eye and a luminous body 
 transmits a green Jigbt, and silver a white light, it 
 seems probable that other metals, if attenuated in the 
 same degree, would also be translucent. 
 
 The only metals that as yet have been found in the 
 metallic state, are platina, gold, silver, quicksilver, 
 copper, antimony, palladium, arsenic, tellurium, bis- 
 muth and iron ; these are then termed native metals. 
 But the greater part of these are rarely found quite 
 pure, but mostly involve small proportions of other 
 metals. 
 
 A metalliferous ore is a compound of two or more 
 metals, as silver amalgam; or of a metal in combination 
 with oxygen, as ruby copper, (whence such a combina- 
 tion has obtained the name of a metallic oxide ;) or a 
 metal (in the state of an oxide) combined with an acid, 
 as the arseniate of copper ; or a metal combined with a 
 combustible, as sulphuretted silver. Many ores are of 
 so compound a nature as to consist of two or three 
 metals united with oxygen, sulphur, one or more of the 
 earths, and with water. 
 
 When a metal is combined with one or more substan- 
 ces, either combustible or saline, it is then said to be 
 mineralised. Thus lead is said to be mineralized by 
 sulphur when combined with it in the native sulphuret 
 or galena. The sulphur is the mineralizer. 
 
 It deserves notice that seven of the malleable metals, 
 zinc, tin, lead, iron, copper, nickel, and quicksilver, 
 absorb oxygen from the common air, becoming at least 
 externally oxidated : none of them part with the oxygen 
 by simple exposure to heat, except quicksilver. Gold, 
 silver and platina only become oxidated by exposure to 
 the action of certain acids. But although the greater 
 part of the malleable metals are readily oxidable, not 
 one of them has yet been found in, or converted intotj, 
 the state of an acid. 
 
 All the brittle metals absorb oxygen by exposure to 
 common air, and thus become, at least externally, oxi- 
 dated. Four of them, arsenic, chrome, molybdena 
 

 INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 and tungsten, by an excess of oxidation, pass into the 
 state of acids, and in this state they are found to he the 
 minerulizers of several of the earths and of the metals. 
 
 The metals and metalliferous ores are chiefly found 
 in veins, of which they occasionally compose the only 
 substance ; but they are more often disseminated in veins, 
 through earthy or stony substances : such a substance is 
 thence termed the gangue or matrix of the mineral. 
 Metalliferous ores are less commonlly found in masses 
 or in beds : a few of them occasionally occur imbedded 
 in certain rocks. 
 
 They are met with in veins traversing almost every 
 kind of rock, but are more common in primitive and tran- 
 sition rock?, than in iiretz rocks : they occur but spa- 
 ringly in alluvial deposites, and more rare in volcanic 
 matter. 
 
 The comparative age of the metals is chiefly judged 
 of by the nature of the rocks which enclose them. Iron 
 and manganese have been detected by every analysis 
 in mica, a constituent of the oldest primitive rock, 
 granite ; tin and molybdena occasionally occur imbedded 
 in it ; they also, as well as tungsten, titanium, cerium, 
 uranium, chrome, and bismuth, are found almost exclu- 
 sively in such veins as traverse the oldest of the primitive 
 rocks ; the foregoing metals may therefore be consider- 
 ed of the earliest formation. Arsenic, cobalt, silver, 
 nickel, and copper, are presumed to be less ancient, be- 
 cause though they occur in the oldest primitive rocks, 
 they are also found in newer. Gold, tellurium, and an- 
 timony, are considered to be metals of a middle age, as 
 they occur in the newer primitive and the older seconda- 
 ry rocks. Lead, zinc, and mercury, are found in the 
 greatest quantity in secondary formations and are there- 
 fore supposed to be less ancient than the preceding. 
 Platina, palladium, rhodium, iridium, and osmium, hav- 
 ing never been found in situ, it is impossible properly 
 to judge of their relative age ; but as crude platina in- 
 involves small portions of palladium, rhodium, iridium, 
 and osmium, as well as of copper, gold, and lead, we 
 may conceive them to be of a middle age, and shall 
 therefore in the following series, place them next to gold. 
 In respect of age, therefore, the metals may be ranked 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as follows, and we shall accordingly, begin the descrip- 
 tion of metalliferous ores with the important ores of iron : 
 
 Iron Chrome Rhodium 
 
 Manganese Bismuth smiuin 
 
 Moiybdena Arsenic Indium 
 
 r J in Cobalt Palladium 
 
 Tungsten Nickel TeU'iritim 
 
 Titinmm Silver Antimony 
 
 Cerium Copper Lead 
 
 Uranium GoM Zinc 
 
 1 antalium Platina Mercury 
 
 Iron is an ingredient in almost every rock, from the 
 oldest primitive to the newest alluvial ; and also in very 
 many earthy and metalliferious minerals, and in all soils : 
 it is therefore considered to be the most abundant and 
 most generally diffused of all the metals. Wherever 
 found, and with whatever combined,- it is mostly in the 
 state of an oxide, except when combined with sulphur. 
 
 Mangai ese, with iron, is an ingredient of mica, which 
 is a constituent of the oldest granite; it occurs both in 
 the primitive and secondary countries. 
 
 Moiybdena may be reckoned a rare metal : it is occa- 
 sionally found imbedded in granite, or in veins passing 
 through it. It occurs only in the slate of an acid or an ox- 
 ide, or mineralized by sulphur. 
 
 Tin is abundantly and almost exclusively found in 
 veins passing through primitive rocks, chiefly in granite 
 and argillaceous schistus. Tin is always in the state of 
 an oxide : it occurs only in one compound metalliferous 
 ore. 
 
 Tungsten is by no means a plentiful metal, it usually 
 accompanies tin : it occurs only as an acid combined 
 with iron, or as an oxide combined with lime, in veins in 
 primitive mountains. 
 
 Titanium occurs chiefly in the state of an oxide, and 
 may be reckoned a rare metal : it is usually combined 
 with iron, sometimes with silex. 
 
 Cerium is an extremely rare metal. 
 
 Uranium is also, rare : it occurs chiefly in the state of 
 an oxide in primitive veins. 
 
 Tantalium is still more rare : it occurs in the state of 
 an oxide ; in one of its ores it is combined with iron, in 
 the other with the rare earth Yttria. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXlil 
 
 Chrome is a scarce metal, and occurs only in the state 
 of an acid, mineralizing lead and iron. 
 
 Bismuth is not a common metal ; it occurs in the na- 
 tive state, also mineralized by sulphur, and combined in 
 some of the ores of silver, and of cobalt. 
 
 The preceding metals, being chiefly found in the old- 
 est primitive rocks, are considered to be of the earliest 
 formation ; the succeeding five are supposed to be less 
 ancient, because they occur both in the oldest primitive 
 and in certain of the secondary rocks. 
 
 Arsenic is a more abundant metal than most of the 
 preceding : it is involved in small portions in several of 
 the native metals, in all the ores of cobalt, and in most 
 of those of silver. 
 
 Cobalt is not found alloying any metal ; in its ores it 
 is combined with iron and arsenic ; it is not plentiful. 
 
 Nickel is a rare metal : it occurs as an oxide, and also 
 combined with arsenic. 
 
 Silver is a somewhat abundant metal ; and it occurs in 
 greater or less quantity in most mineral countries : in the 
 native state, it occurs in veins and beds, and dessemina- 
 ted in rocks : its ores are numerous ; it occurs combined 
 with lead, copper, iron, antimony, tellurium, gold, quick- 
 silver, and arsenic, and mineralized sulphur, and by cer- 
 tain acids. 
 
 Copper is an abundant metal ; it occurs in the native 
 state : its ores are numerous, and in them copper is com- 
 bined with iron, sulphur, silex, oxygen, and certain acids : 
 it occurs in most mineral countries. 
 
 The three following metals are found in the newer 
 primitive and older secondary rocks, and therefore are 
 metals of a middle age. 
 
 Gold, though less abundant than silver, is more so than 
 most of the preceding, and is not to be esteemed a rare 
 metal ; though occasionally met with in veins, it is chief- 
 ly found in rivers and alluvial deposites : it occurs from 
 1 to 26 percent, in the ores of tellurium, and sometimes 
 in small portions alloying the native metals, copper, an- 
 timony, platina, and arsenic. 
 
 Tellurium is a rare metal : it occurs in the native 
 state, but mostly is alloyed by a little gold : io its ores it 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION, 
 
 is combined with gold, silver, lead, copper and sul- 
 phur : it has only been found in two or three places. 
 
 Platina is not a plentiful metal : it is found only in 
 certain districts in America, and only in the native state ; 
 alloyed by small portions of gold, lead, copper, iron, 
 osmium, iridium, and rhodium. 
 
 Palladium is rare ; it is found with platina, in the na- 
 tive state, alloyed by small portions of platina and iri- 
 dium. 
 
 Iridium and Osmium are also found accompanying 
 platina, together forming an alloy ; they also alloy pla- 
 tina, and the former of them, palladium : they are both 
 rare. 
 
 Rhodium is found only alloying the platina of Peru, 
 is therefore extremly rare. 
 
 Antimony is not a very rare metal : it occurs in the na- 
 tive state, alloyed by small portions of iron and silver: 
 in its ores it is combined with sulphur, silex and oxygen : 
 it occurs in few mineral districts. 
 
 Lead may be considered as the most abundant and 
 most universally diffused metal after iron : it never is 
 found in the native state, but its ores are very numerous : 
 it occurs abundantly mineralized by sulphur, and by 
 certain acids; and is found in the state of an oxide : it 
 occurs in certain ores of tellurium. 
 
 Zinc is not* scarce metal, but is pretty generally 
 diffused : in its ores, it occurs combined with sulphur, 
 iron, and silex. 
 
 Mercury is found only in a few places, but is not 
 scarce : it occurs native and is combined with silver, 
 sulphur, and with certain acids. 
 
 COMBUSTIBLES. 
 
 Combustibles form, in the mineral kingdom, a class of 
 substances, having peculiar properties, and by no means 
 agreeing amongst themselves in internal or external cha- 
 racters, and differing essentially from the earths, the al- 
 kalies, and the metals. Combustibles include both the 
 hardest and the softest of mineral substances. 
 
 Several of the combustibles are found in a liquid state, 
 some of these are translucent and even transparent ; but 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 the greater number are solid ; when solid they are easily 
 broken ; they possess neither the opacity, brilliancy, nor 
 the weight of metals, being rarely more than twice the 
 weight of water ; some of them are lighter than water. 
 
 If we were to class among combustibles, all those bo- 
 dies whose chemical characteristic is that they will en- 
 dure combustion, we should err, because many of the 
 metals have that character. 
 
 Most of the metals whose properties are altered by com- 
 bustion, acquire an increase of weight thereby ; whereas 
 Combustible substances are sensibly diminished in 
 weight by the same process. The product of some of 
 them is liquid, of others solid ; if solid, it is insoluble ia 
 water. Combustibles are either simple or compound. 
 
 The mineral bases of combustible substances may be 
 said to be only two, viz. carbon and sulphur. 
 
 The purest form in which Carbon is seen, is that of 
 the diamond ; and it was for a long time considered that 
 the only chemical difference between this gem and 
 charcoal is, that the latter contains some oxygen, and 
 therefore is an oxide of carbon. But the late experi- 
 ments of several chemists, and particularly of Sir H. 
 'Davy, tend to show that there is no oxygen in pure char- 
 coal ; and that there is no decided chemical difference 
 between it and the diamond. Charcoal, however, always 
 contains either hydrogen or water in very small and va- 
 riable proportions, but not as an essential ingredient : 
 the diamond is absolutely free from hydrogen and wa- 
 ter ; and it is in this respect only, and in the mechanical 
 arrangement of its particles^ that there is any evidence 
 of its differing from charcoal. The experiments of Allen 
 and Pepys tend to prove that the actual quantity of car- 
 bon, in equal weights of diamond and charcoal, is pre- 
 cisely the same. 
 
 Carbon forms the basis of several of the combustibles, 
 as coal, bitumen, amber, &c. ; and it enters into the 
 composition of a few minerals in small proportion : in 
 the Aberthaw limestone, the hepatite, semi-opal and in 
 clay skte, not exceeding 1 or 2 per cent. : in rotten 
 stone 10 per cent. ; and less than 1 per cent in com- 
 pact manganese : its most important mineral character is, 
 that it forms the base of the carbonic acid, which enters 
 
 *D 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tnto all limestone rocks, as an ingredient, in the propor- 
 tion of about 44 per cent. : carbonic acid consists of 
 about 28 per cent of carbon and 72 of oxygen. 
 
 Sulphur was suspected by Berthollet to contain hydro- 
 gen, and this suspicion has since been confirmed by Sir 
 fi. Davy daring the career of his brilliant discoveries, by 
 trieans of the application of the astonishing powers of 
 galvanism or electricity to many bodies which here- 
 tofore were considered to be simple or elementary. 
 Some experiments of the same able chemist, tended to 
 Evince the presence of oxygen as another ingredient of 
 Sulphur : but the later experiments by Guy Lussac have 
 proved that oxygen does not enter into its composi- 
 tion. 
 
 Sulphur is not only itself a highly inflammable body, 
 (but is also an ingredient of other combustibles ; as of 
 certain kinds of coal. Large deposites of sulphur are met 
 with in some volcanic countries : it is found in consider- 
 able masses or in beds, both in primitive and transition 
 Countries ; and it is largely involved in certain minerals; 
 such as iron, copper, lead, antimony, silver, &c. which 
 thence are termed sulphurets of those metals, and which, 
 generally speaking, are the most abundant of all metal- 
 liferous ores ; and it is met with in one earthy mineral, 
 the Fahlunite, in the proportion of 17 per cent. Sul- 
 phur is the base of the sulphuric acid ; which consists 
 of 40 per cent, of sulphur and 60 of oxygen. The sul- 
 phuric acid enters largely into the composition of that 
 abundant substance, sulphate of lime or gypsum ; and is 
 likewise an ingredient of several other earthy minerals 5 
 and in certain metallic ores. 
 
EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS 
 
 Commonly used in Mineralogical Description. 
 
 Acicular. Long, {lender, and ftraight prifms, or cryftals, are termed ad- 
 
 cular, from the latin, acicula, a little needle. 
 Aggregated. A mineral or rock is faid to be aggregated, when the feveral 
 
 component parts only adhere together, and may be feparated by 
 
 mechanical means : the felfpar, quartz, and mica, conftituting granite^ 
 
 may be feparated mechanically. Granite is an aggregated rock. 
 Alliaceous. The odour given out by arfenical minerals, when expofed to 
 
 the blowpipe or ftruck by the hammer, refembles that of garlic ; in 
 
 latin, allium, whence alliaceous. 
 Amorphous. Without, form ; of undefinable ihape ; from the Greek s 
 
 afAo^os (amorphos) having that fignification. Amorphous minerals 
 
 are fometimes defcribed as being of indeterminate, or indefinite 
 
 forms. 
 Anhydrous, from the Greek eivufyof (anudros), fignifying without water : 
 
 anhydrous gypfum is without water. * 
 Arborescent. From the Latin, arboresco, to 'grow like a tree : fee Den- 
 
 dritic. 
 
 BotryoidaL From the Greek, Porgvudyis (botruodes) fignifying, 
 
 with clufters of grapes or berries. So a mineral prefenting an ag- 
 gregation of large fections of numerous fmall globes, is termed bo- 
 tryoidal ; but when the globes are larger, and the portions are lefs 
 and feparate, the appearance is expreffed by the term mamillated, 
 Thefe forms may be obferved in certain ores of cobalt, copper, and 
 manganefe, and often in chalcedony. 
 
 BladeS. This term relates chiefly to the ftructure of fuck minerals as, oi> 
 being broken, prefent long flat portions, fomewhat refembling tha 
 blade of a knife ; this appearance may in general be confidered as 
 the effect of interrupted cryftallization. 
 
 Brittle. This character of mineral bodies does not depend upon theu! 
 hardnefs ; thofe of which the particles cohere in the higheft degree, 
 and are immovable one among another, are the moft brittle. The 
 diamond, quartz, fulphate of barytes and fulphur, vary greatly as to 
 hardnefs ; they are all brittle. 
 
 analiculated : prefenting deep channels on the furface, refulting eithet 
 from interrupted cryftallization, or the aggregation of numerous cryfi 
 
 tals. 
 
SXV111 EXPLANATION OP TERMS. 
 
 Capillary, is derived from the Latin, capillus, a hair, and is chiefly uied 
 to exprefs the long, tortuous, hair- like appearances, to be cbferved 
 in native gold and filver, and fome other minerals. Cryftals arc 
 fometimes termed capillary, when long and flender ; but being moft- 
 ly ftraight, they are more properly defignated by the term aci- 
 cular. 
 Cavernous. A mineral in which there are confiderable hollows or cavitic^ 
 
 is faid to be cavernous. 
 
 Cellular. This term is ufed by Werner in the defcription of fuch minerals 
 as exhibit cells formed by the crofling- and inteifecting of the lamina; 
 or lamella of which they are conltituted : commonly, any mineral 
 prcfenting numerous fmall cells or cavities, is temed cellular ; lee ve- 
 Ccular. */'.' 
 
 Chatoyant, has been adopted from the French, who ufe it to exprefs the 
 changeable light refembling that to be obferved in the eye of a cat, to 
 be feen in certain minerals ; as in the Cat's eye. 
 
 Cleavage. This term is moft commonly ufed in relarion to the fracture of 
 thofe mineral^ which, having natural joints poflcfs a regular ftructure 
 and may be cleaved into geometrical fragments ; as into varieties of 
 the parallelopiped, the rhomboid, &c. 
 
 C.oberent. This term relates to Itructure. In minerals that are brittle, the 
 particles are flrongly coherent ; in fuch as are friable, they are flight- 
 ly coherent. 
 
 Columnar distinct concretions, is commonly ufed to exprefs the great and 
 fmall columns in which certain bafalts and iron ores are found : but 
 Werner includes under this term all the columnar appearances in 
 every mineral confiding of numerous aggregated cryftals, which rea- 
 dily divide into long and narrow portions f irregular form, owing to 
 .< interrupted cryitallization fuch as the amethyft, pyrites, fluor fpar, 
 
 quartz, &c. 
 
 Compact, is a term which relates wholly to. ftructure; and is that in which 
 no particular or diftinct parts are difcernible ; a compact mineral 
 cannot be cleaved or divided into regular or parallel portions. The 
 term compact is too often confounded with the term maffive. 
 Gencboidal, relates only to fracture ; and is doubtlefs derived from the La- 
 tin, chonchoides, fignifying Like the fhell of a fifli. Fragments of 
 many of the brittle minerals exhibit this appearance, and occafionaily 
 in great perfection, as quartz and fulphur ; the fracture of compact 
 minerals is frequently more or lefs perfectly chonchoidal. 
 Concretion, generally fignifies a fmall and diilinct m;ifs. 
 Goralloidal, refembJing branches of coral. 
 
 Cuneiform, wedge fhaped ; cuneus, ia Latin, fignifies a wedge. This term 
 relates only to fracture. 
 
 Decomposed. This term, when ufed ftrictly in a mineralogical fenfe, imports 
 the decompofition which takes place naturally in any fubftance. Cer- 
 tain ores of Iron, &c. in which fulphur predominates in an unufual 
 degree, decompofe by expofure to air. 
 
 Decrepitate. A mineral is faid to decrepitate on expofure to heat, when 
 it flies with a crackling noife fimilar to that made by fait when 
 thrown into the fire. 
 
 Dendritic', derived from the Greek, Sivtyns (dendritis) fignifying, like 
 the growth of a tree. The terms arborefcent and dendritic are 
 ufed fynonymoufly ; they are alike applied to the tree-like appear- 
 ance in which native filver and native copper are fometimes iound ; 
 to the delineations fcen on the furfaces of certain minerals j and 
 tot the appearance in the raocha-ftone, &c. 
 
EXPLANATION OF TERMS. 
 
 Dentiform, or Dentated ; in the fliape of teeth ; dens being the LallfS 
 for a tooth. 
 
 Disseminated. When a mineral, whether cryftallized or otherwife, is 
 found here and there imbedded in a mafs of another fubftance, it 
 is faid to be diffeminated in the mafs. Cryftals of quartz fometimes 
 occur, difleminated in Carrara marble, &c. 
 
 Disintegrated. This term is generally ufed to exprefs the falling to pieces 
 of any mineral, without any perceptible chemical action. 
 
 Diverging, or Divergent ; relates to the ftructure of a mineral. When 
 the ftructure is fibrous, and the fibres are not parallel, they ufual- 
 ly diverge in part, but not wholly, around a common centre ; as 
 in certain zeolites, and haematites iron ores. 
 
 Britsy> has been adopted from the German term drufen, for which we 
 nave no Englifli s\ ord. The furface of a mineral is faid to be 
 drufy when compofed of very fmall prominent cryftals, nearly & 
 qual to each other ; it is often feen in iron pyrites. 
 
 A mineral which, after being bent, fprings back to its origi* 
 nal form, is elaftic. Mica is elaftic ; talc, which greatly referable* 
 mica, is only flexible. 
 
 Earthy. This term relates to ftructure. Chalk and certain of the Ojres 
 of iron and lead are notable iiiftances of it. 
 
 fasciculated. When a number of minute fibres or acicular cryftals QC- 
 cur in fmall aggregations or bundles, they are faid to be fafcicu- 
 luted ; a term doubtlefs derived from the Latin, fafcis, a bundle.. 
 This appearance often occurs in green carbonate aad arfeniate of 
 copper. 
 
 fibrous. This term relates both to form and ftructure. Certain mine- 
 rals, as amianthus, amianthiform arfeniate of copper, a variety oil 
 gypfum, &c. occur in ^iftinct fibres. Asbeftus, gypfum, red hae- 
 matites iron ore, &c. are found maflive, and of a parallel fibrous 
 ftructure : fome varieties of red hasmatkes and other minerals are 
 of a radiating fibrous ftructure : and the fibres diverge from a 
 common centre. 
 
 filament. A mineral is faid to occur in filaments, when it is found in 
 flender thread-like or hair- like portions. It is therefore nearly 
 fynonymous with the term capillary. 
 
 orm^ is ufed in the fame fenfe as the preceding ; but Werner con- 
 fines its ufe to exprefs the appearance of certain metals which 
 occur in the form of wire, as native filver and native copper* 
 Filum in Latin, fignifies thread ; filum rnetalli, wire. 
 
 fistuliform. Minerals occurring in round hollow columns, are termed 
 fiftuliform ; fiftula, in the Latin, fignifies a pipe. Stalactites and 
 iron pyrites occur fiftuliform. 
 
 flexible. Talc is flexible; it readily bends, but does not return of 
 itfelf to its original form. Mica is both flexible and elaftic. 
 
 foliated. ^ This term, which doubtlefs is derived from j(he Latin foliatus, 
 having, or confifting of leaves, is ufed by Werner to exprefs the 
 ftructure of all minerals that may be divided or cleaved regularly, 
 and are therefore by him faid to confift of folia or leaves. The 
 ftructure of fuch minerals is more commonly exprefied by the 
 term lamellar ; and they are faid to confift of lameUw or I?- 
 
 r"Tn.T>. 
 
 *D2 
 
XXK EXPLANATION OF TERMS. 
 
 Fracture,, is a term now chiefly employed in defignating the appearance 
 of minerals which have no regular ftructure, when they are broken: 
 fuch minerals prefent an even, uneven, or a chonchoidal fracture 
 &c. 
 
 frangible. The term frangibility has relation to the fufceptibility ot 
 minerals to feparate into fragments by force : this quality in mi- 
 nerals is not dependent on their hardnefs ; the ftructure of fome 
 and the brittlenefs of others, renders them eafily frangible ; while 
 others, which from their foftnefs, and the eafe with which their 
 particles or molecules yieid or flide over one another, are much 
 more difficulty frangible ; fuch minerals poffefs the character of 
 toughnefs. Quartz is eafily broken, Asbeftus is tough. 
 
 friable. A mineral whofe portions or particles flightly cohere, and which 
 is therefore eafily crumbled or broken down, is faid to be friable, or 
 in a friable ft ate. 
 
 Funglform. Certain fubftances, as for inftance calcareous ftalactites, are 
 occafionally met with having a termination fimilar to the head 
 of a fungus ; whence they are fai4 to be fungiform. 
 
 <$angue, Gangart, We have thefe terms from the Germans ; the ganguc 
 of a mineral, is the fubftance, in, or upon which, a mineral is found ; 
 it is fometimes termed the matrix. Silver, occuring in, or upon 
 carbonate of lime, is faid to have carbonate of lime for its gangucv 
 or matrix. 
 
 Geode. This alfo we derive from the Germans. A geode is a hollow 
 ball ; at Oberftein in Saxony are found hollow balls of agate lined 
 with cryftals of quartz or amethyft, which are termed geodes. 
 
 Glance is alfo a German word meaning Ihining ; thus we have glance- 
 coal, copper-glance, &c. 
 
 Globular distinct concretion is ufed to exprefs the character of a mineral 
 which occurs in little round or roundish mafles ; the Pea-Hone and 
 Roe-ftone are examples of it. 
 
 Granular. The ftructure of a mineral is faid to be granular, when it ap- 
 pears to conlift of small grains or concretions ; which fometimes can, 
 fometimes cannot, be difcerned without the help of a glafs ; we have 
 therefore the fine granular, and the coarfe granular ftructure. 
 
 Greasy is ufed in relation to luftre : fat quartz has a greafy luftre. 
 
 Hackly. This term relates to a fracture which is peculiar to the malleable 
 metals ; which, when fractured, prefent ftiarp protruding points. 
 
 Haematites is derived from the Greek a^ar/Tv?, fignifying blood-red ; it was 
 firft applied by mineralogifts to the variety of iron ore which is now 
 called the Red Haematites; but has fince been extended to other iron 
 ores of the fame ftructure, but differing in colour. We have alfo 
 brown haematites, and black haematites iron ore. 
 
 A term derived from the Latin, hepar, the liver ; it is applied 
 either to colour or form. We have hepatic pyrites, hepatic quick - 
 filver ; the hepatite. 
 
 Hydrate i derived from the Greek i/J<w, (udor) water ; and is applied to 
 certain of those minerals (as the hydrate of magnefa) o which water 
 forms an ingredient in very large proportion. 
 
 Imbedded. A mineral found in a mafs of another fubftance, is laid to be 
 imbedded in it. Crytallized quartz occurs imbedded in Carrara 
 marble. It alfo occurs partly imbedded in other fubftances, as iu 
 
EXPLANATION OF TE11MS. XXXl 
 
 Indeterminate. Indefinite. Thefe terms are ufed fynonimoufly with Amor* 
 phous in describing minerals which have no particular or definable 
 form. Cryftals of which the form cannot be accurately afcertained, 
 are faid to be of indeterminate forms. 
 
 frrcrustir.v : any fubftance covered by a mineral, is fometimes faid to be 
 incrufted by it : thus the various articles which are placed for a cer- 
 tain length of time in certain fprings or wells in Derbyshire, &c. and 
 which are by fotne fupposed to be converted into petrifactions, arc 
 only incrufted with calcareous, or argillaceous matter. 
 
 Interlacing. Interlaced. When the fibres or cryftals of a mineral are found 
 intermingling with each other in various directions, they are interla- 
 cing or interlaced. 
 
 Investing. A mineral fpread upon, or covering another, is fometimes de3<, 
 cribed as inverting it. 
 
 Irridescent. This term relates only to the various colours with which the. 
 furfaces of fome metalliferous minerals are naturally tarnifhed : as 
 yellow copper ore, iron pyrites, galena, fulphuret of antimony, &c. 
 
 Liimdlar ; this term relates to ftructure : when a mineral can be fractured 
 or cleaved into" regular and parallel plates or lamina;, its ftructure is 
 faid to be lamellar ; and the portions thus obtained are termed lami- 
 nae or lamellse ; thefe terms have been adopted from the Latin, in 
 which they were almoft fynonimously ufed to exprefs thin plates of 
 any fuhftance. 
 
 Lamellar distinct concretions. This term is fometimes ufed to exprefs the 
 ftructure of certain minerals (as the oxide of uranium) confifting of 
 lamina? which cohere but flightly. 
 
 Laraelliforni. A mineral confifting of lamellae, is faid to be lamelliform. 
 
 Laminx, Lamella. See Lamellar. 
 
 Lenticular is employed to exprefs the forms of certain cryftals which are 
 nearly flat, and convex above and beneath ; and which confequently 
 refemble u common lens. 
 
 Malleability. Some of the metals suffer extenfion when beaten with a^ 
 hammer ; and are therefore termed malleable metals. Native gold 
 and native filver are very malleable metals. 
 
 Mamillated. See Botryoidal. 
 
 JWassive. This term is fometimes ufed in defcribing a fubftance of inde- 
 terminate form, whatever may be its internal ftructure ; but is more, 
 commonly ufed in contra-diftmction to the term cryftallized, as appli- 
 ed to thole minerals which poffefs regular internal ftructure, without 
 any particular external form. 
 
 Matrix. See Gangue. 
 
 Meagre. This term relates to the touch or feel of a mineral, k belongs 
 chiefly to fome of thofe minerals which are of an earthy texture. 
 Chalk is remarkably meagre to the touch. 
 
 Natural joints. Such minerals as can be broken into regular forms, as the 
 cube, rhomboid, &c. can be cleaved into thofe forms, only in the di- 
 rection of, or along, their natural joints. In fome minerals however, 
 which have not yet been regularly cleaved, the natural joints are per- 
 ceptible by the afliftance of a ftrong light. 
 
 reous relates to luftre ; and is employed to exprefs the luftre of fome 
 minerals (as of the pearl spar) which greatly refembles that of pearl. 
 Nacre de Perle, in French, fignifies Mother of PearL 
 
 v \ 
 
XXXH EXPLANATION OF TERil. 
 
 A mineral which prefcnts irregularly globular elevations, is 
 termed Nodular. Flint is found in nodular maffes. 
 
 Thofe minerals arc opake which do not tranfaiit a perceptible ray 
 of light even through the thinucil and fmalleft pieces. 
 
 gdss into. One mineral is faid to pafs into another, when both are found fo 
 blended in the fame fpecmien, that it is impossible to decide where 
 the one terminates, and the other begins. Flint is found paffing into 
 chalcedony. 
 
 Pectinated. If a mineral exhibit fhort filaments, cryftals, or branches which 
 are nearly equidiftant, it is pectinated ; pecten, in Latin, fignifies 4 
 comb. 
 
 Jforous. A mineral is faid to be porous, when it is traverfed in dif s 
 ferent directions with communicating holes which pafs through thjj 
 fubftance. 
 
 Psfudomorfhous. Minerals exhibiting impreffions of the forms peculiar to 
 the cryftals of other fubftances are faid to be pfeudomorphous. Quartz 
 exhibiting cryftais in the form of the cube ; calamine, fuch as are pe- 
 culiar to carbonate of lime, &c. are termed pfeudomorphous: ifawtf, 
 in Greek, fignifies falfe ; f*o{$v t form or figure : fometimes they art 
 fecondary cryftals. 
 
 JPulverulent. When the particles of a mineral are very minute and cohere 
 very flightly, or uot at all, it is faid to be pulverulent; or in the pul- 
 verulent ftate. 
 
 ,~,,d ; radiatus, in Latin, fignifies befet with rays : when the cryftals 
 of a mineral are fa difpoied as to diverge from a centre, they are faid 
 to be radiated. 
 
 Jt'Ufnose ; ramus, in Latin, fignifies the branch of a tree ; a mineral having 
 that appearance is defcribed as being ramofe. 
 
 Refractoriness. This term is ufed both chemically and mechanically in 
 relation to minerals. It is fometimes applied to thofe which ftrongly 
 refift the application of heat ; and occafionally to fome whofc tpugh- 
 nefs enables them to refill repeated blows. 
 
 Rtniform. Kidney- fhaped ; ren, in Latin, fignifies kidney. 
 
 Retiform, Reticulated. Minerals occuring in parallel fibres, croffed at right 
 angles by other fibres which alfo are parallel, exhibit fquares, like the 
 mefh.es of a net. Retis, in Latin, fignifies a net. We have reticulated 
 native fiiver, native copper, red oxide of copper, &c. And it may bt; 
 remarked that fuch minerals as occur reticulated, generally affume the 
 cube, as ona of their cryftalline forms. 
 
 . If a number of minute cryftals or fibres are clofely aggregated 
 into a little bundle, with the appearance of diverging from a common 
 centre, they are faid to be fcopiform. Scopa in Latin fignifies a broom 
 or befom. 
 
 Sibistose structure. Minerals which fplit only in one direction, and prefent 
 fragments which are parallel, but of unequal thicknefs, which alfo 
 are not fmooth and even, and are without luftre, are faid to poffefs u 
 fchiftofe ftructure. Schift in the German fignifies flate. 
 lf. This term relates to ftruccure, and is derived from the Latin, feeo, 
 to cut. Thofe minerals are termed ftctile which are midway between 
 the brittle and the malleable. A fiice or portion cut from a fcctilc 
 
 ' 
 
OY TtllMS. 
 
 mineral, is fragile, and the new furface on the mafs is fmooth and lhi 
 ning. Plumbago and the foapftone are both fectile. 
 'Semi-transparent. A mineral is faid to be femi-tranfparent when an object 
 
 is not diftinctly feen through it-. 
 'Slaty-structure. This term is fynonimous with Schiftofe ftructure, whidi 
 
 fee. 
 
 Specific Gravity. The fpecifie gravity of minerals is determined by com- 
 parifon. The ufual mode of determining it, is by weighing them ill 
 pure diftilled water ; the weight of which is affumed to be one of 
 unit. Earthy minerals vary from twice, or lei's than twice, to nearly . 
 five times the weight of diftilled water. Metalliferous ores and na- 
 tive metals vary from five to feventeen times its weight ; some mU 
 nerals, efpecially fome of the combuftiblcs, are lighter than water, 
 and are of courfe fupernatant. 
 
 'Ffecular Minerals are thofe which prefent one fmooth and brilliant fur- 
 face which reflects light. We have fpecular red iron, fpecular iron 
 pyrites, &c. Thcfe are laid always to occur clofe to the walls or 
 or (ides of veins. Speculum, in .Latin, fignifies a looking glafs. 
 'Spicular and Splintery Fracture belong to minerals of an imperfectly cryftal* 
 line form. Thefe fractures do not greatly differ : they are both 
 irregular ; the fpicular is fhorter and more pointed than the fplintery, 
 $talactitrform. sra*.u,yp,K, (ftalagma) in the Greek, fignifies a drop, p ul', 
 
 icicle. Stalacthilorm minerals greatly refemble icicles in (haps. 
 -Stellated. When the ftructure of a mineral i fibrous, and the fibres diverge' 
 all round a common centre, its ftructure is faid to be ftellated : flella^ 
 in Latin, fignifies a flat. 
 
 'Stria, Striated. The flight channels occafionally obfervable on the planes.- 
 of cryftallized minerals are termed ftriaj, and the cryftals on which 
 they are feen are faid to be ftriated. The ftrix are commonly 
 parallel and generally indicate tke direction in which cryftals may be 
 cleaved. Stria, in Latin, fignifies a groove, or channel. 
 Structure. This term relates to the internal characters of minerals. Such 
 as can be cleaved into regular forms, prefenting fmooth, brilliant, 
 and parallel furfaces, are laid to have a cryftalline ftructure ; but 
 when the furfaces are neither fmooth nor parallel, and when, on th<i 
 contrary, they are rough and curved or undulating, the ftructure is 
 faid to be imperfectly cryitallir.c : under \vhich term a!fo may be 
 comprehended all fibrous minerals whether maflive or not. All 
 fuch as have no determinute ftructure, as thofe minerals which arc 
 granular, fplintcry, &c. or compact, may be included under the 
 term indefinite or promifcuous ftructure. 
 
 Supernatant. Such minerals as are lighter than water, and confequently 
 fwim upon it, are faid to be fupernatuut, Supernato, in Latin, fig- 
 nifies to fwim or float upon. " . 
 
 Tabular. When this term is ufed in relation to ftrucfure it is nearly allied 
 to the fchiftofc or flaty. Talc, mica and roofing Hate are defcribed by 
 Werner as poffefling a tabular ftructure. This term fometimea is 
 ufed to exprefs the external form of cryflals: fuch as are nearly 
 flat, and whofe length and breadth are nearly the fame, are, 
 fometimes called tabular cryftals : from the Latin, tabula, a table 
 or board. 
 
 Toughness relates to internal ftructure. Thofe minerals which are bruised, 
 or fuffer depreflion, by repeated blows in the attempt to fracturo 
 them, are efteemcd to be tough. 
 
 ^*e 
 
J 
 
 EXPLANATION OF TERMS* 
 
 A mineral through which an object cannot be fecft, but 
 which tranfmits fome light, is termed tfanflucent. Rock fait, fome- 
 times quartz, flint and fluor, &c. are tranflucent : many minerals 
 are tranflucent on the edges, as common marble, &c. 
 
 Thofe minerals arc tranfparcnt through which an object 
 may be clearly feen. 
 
 ^Tubercular. A mineral whofe unerennefs of furface arifes from fmall 
 and fomewhat round elevations, is laid to be turbercuhr. i-'lint i ft 
 fometimes tubercular. 
 
 'tuberous : exhibiting fomewhat circular knobs, or elevations. 
 
 'Tabular : See fiiluliform. 
 
 Vesicular. A mineral is laid to be veficular, when it has fmall and fome- 
 what round cavities, both internally and externally. Lava, pumice, 
 limeftone, bafalt, &c. arc fometimes veficular : from the Latin, 
 vcficula, a little bladder. 
 
 Vttreout ; from the Latin, vitreus, glaffy ; minerals having the luilrc 
 of glafs, are faid to pofiefs the vitreous luftre. 
 
 Unctuous. The term relates to the touch. Pipe clay is fomewhat unc- 
 tuous : Fullers' earth is unctuous : plumbago and foapftone ire very 
 unctuous. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS, 
 
 Showing the order in which the- Minerals comprehended 
 the following pages have been described* 
 

CONTENTS. 
 
 This Table (hews the order in which the Minerals, comprehended in the 
 following pages, have been defcribed. The whule number of ingre- 
 dients, in each compound mineral, are not noticed in this table. In SI- 
 LEX, &c. the &c. relates to the fmali portions of oxide of iron, oxide 
 of manganefe, or water, which many of them contain. The complete 
 analyfis is included in the riefcription, 
 
 EARTHY MINERALS. 
 
 SILEX, i. 
 
 SILEX, &c Quartz, a 
 
 Amethyft, 3 
 Prafe, 4 
 Chryfoprafe, 4 
 Avanturine, 4 
 Hyalite, 6 
 Opal, 7 
 
 . , , Alumint^ &c, .... Hydrophane, 8 
 
 Menilite, 8 
 "Flint, 9 
 Chalcedony, 10 
 
 Mocha ftone 
 
 Carnelian 
 
 Sard 
 
 Agate 
 
 Onyx 
 
 Sardonyx 
 
 Plafma 
 
 Heliotrope 
 Cimolite, 12 
 Black Chalk, 13 
 Almandine, 13 
 
 . . , Lime, &c Tabular fpar, 14 
 
 Jenite, 14 
 &c. . , . Steatite, 15 
 
 Bronzite, 16 
 
 . , Alumine, Lime, &c. . . Laumonite, 16 
 Dipyre, 17 
 Stilbite, 17 
 Cat's eye, 18 
 Prehnite, 18 
 Zoyfite, 19 
 Idocrafe, 20 
 Garnet, 21 
 Cinnamonftone, a 
 Tripoli, 22 
 Bole, 23 
 Clay, 24 
 Porcellanite, 26 
 Melanite, 26 
 Aplomc, 27 
 Thallite, 27 
 
CONTENTS. EARTHY MINERALS. 
 
 SILEX, Alumine, Lime, &c 
 
 . . i Magncfia, &c. . . 
 
 . , Barytes, &c. , . 
 Lime, Magtiejia, &c. . . . 
 
 , Alumine, Lime, Magnesia, &c. 
 
 Potash 
 
 , . . , Soda, &c. .. . . 
 , . . , Potash, Soda, &C. . 
 , Magnesia, Potash, &c. . 
 , Alumine, Lime, Potash, &C. 
 
 , ..,.., Soda, &C. 
 
 . . , . . , Magntsia, Potath, &c. 
 
 . . , . . , . . , . . , Soda, &C. . 
 . . , . . , Lime, Magnesia, Seda, &C. 
 
 Wernerite, 28 
 Tourmaline, a8 
 Aximte, 29 
 Allochroite, 30^ 
 Lapis Lazuli, 31 
 Egytiar Jafucr, 31 
 Harmotome, 34 
 Tremolite, 32 
 Anthophyllite, 33 
 Meerfchaum, 30^ 
 Afbeftus, 34 
 Bafaltic Hornblende, 36 
 Hyperfthene, 36 
 Schiller fpar, 37 
 Augire, 37 
 Pyrope, 39 
 Potftone, 39 
 Smaragdite, 40 
 Adtinolite, 40 
 Colophonite, 41 
 Leucite, 41 
 Lithomarga, 41 
 Mica, 4 z 
 Mefotype, 43 
 Rubellite, 44 
 Pumice, 44 
 Ichthyophthalmite, 45 
 Talc, 45 
 Green Earth, 46 
 Spodumene, 47 
 Fclfpar, 47 
 Scaly Talc, 49 
 Pearlftone, 50 
 Agalmatolite, 50 
 Lepidolite, 51 
 Obfidian, 51 
 Haiiyne, 53 
 Analcime, 54 
 Lava, 54 
 Pitchftone, 55 
 Clinkftone, 56 
 Sodalite, 56 
 Chabafie, 57 
 Fettftein, 57 
 Scapolite, 58 
 Jade, 58 
 Soapftone, 59 
 Chlorite 60 
 Schorl, 6 1 
 Clay-flate, 6z 
 Gabronite, 61 
 Fuller's Earth, 63 
 Bafalt, 64 
 
CONTENTS. EARTHT MINERALS. 
 
 The following eight substances have not been analyzed, but are generally asstcie~ 
 ted ivith those ef 'which the principal ingredient is SILEX. 
 Hornftone, 67 
 Chiaftohte, 68 
 Spinchane, 62 
 Melilite, 68 
 Wacke, 69 
 Shale, 69 
 Flinty-flate, 71 
 Whet-flate, 7* 
 ALUM1NE, 73 
 
 . . . , &c . . . Corundum, 74 
 
 Oriental Ruby, 
 
 Saphire 
 
 Emery 
 
 . . . , Si/ex, &c Fibrolite, 76 
 
 Rottenftone, 77 
 Pinite, 77. 
 Cyanite, 77 
 Diafpore, 78 
 Staurolite, 78 
 Automalite, 79 
 
 . . . , . . , Lime, &c. . . . . Chrysoberyli, 7^ 
 
 Sommite, 80 
 Meionite, 80 
 
 . , Magnesia, &c. . . . Pieonafte, 80 
 . , Lime, Magnesia, &c. Lazulite, 8 1 
 . , Potash, &c. . . . Andalufice, 82 
 . , Lime, Magnesia, Potash, &c. Blue Felfpar, 8a 
 
 fluoric acid, &c WavelJite, &c. 83 
 
 Si/ex , fluoric acid, &c. . 
 
 . , Lime, fluoric acid, &c. 
 J^fagnesia, chromic acid, &c. 
 sulphuric acid, &c. 
 potash, sulphuric acid, &c. 
 
 ia, fluoric acid, &c. - f 
 LIME, 89 
 
 . . , carbonic acid, &c 
 
 , Stroniian, carbonic acid 
 i magnesia^ carbonic acid 
 
 lopaz, 83 
 
 Pyrophyfalite 
 Picnite, 85 
 Spinelle Ruby, 85 
 Subfulphate of Alumine, 86 
 Alum, 86 
 Cryolite, 88 
 
 Carbonate of Lime, 93 
 
 Calcareous fpar 
 
 Schiefer fpar 
 
 Aphrite 
 
 Agaric mineral 
 
 Granular limeftone 
 
 Swineltone 
 
 Bituminous limeftone 
 
 Oolite 
 
 Pea-ftone 
 
 Madreporite 
 
 Chalk 
 
 Marl 
 , Tufa 
 Arragonite, loz 
 Bitterfpar, 104 
 
 Micmite 
 Brown Spar, 105 
 
CONTENTS. EARTHY MINERALS. 
 
 LIME, magnesia, carbonic acid . . . Pearl Spar, 105 
 
 Dolomite, 105 
 Magnefian Limeflone, 106 
 . . , Silex, Alumine , carbonic add, &c. Lias, 107 
 
 . . . , phosphoric acid Apatite, 108 
 
 . . . ,fuoric acid Fluor, 109 
 
 . . . , sulphuric acid, Anhydrous Gypfum, in 
 
 Gypfnm, 112 
 . . . , soda, sulphuric acid .... Glauberite, 1 15 
 
 . . . , nitric acid Nitrate of Lime, 115 
 
 . . . , boracic acid Datholite, 116 
 
 Botryolite 
 
 . . . , arsenic acid Pharmacolite, 116 
 
 MAGNESIA, 117 
 
 Native Magnefia, 117 
 
 , Silex, &c Chryfolite, 118 
 
 Olivin 
 
 > Alumine, Lime, &c. . . Serpentine, 119 
 
 , carbonic acid .... Magncflte, I2O 
 
 > sulphuric add, &c. . . Sujphatx of Magnefia, i 21 
 
 j boracic acid .... Boracite, 122 
 
 ZIRCON, 123 
 
 . . . . , Silex, &c Hyacinth, 124 
 
 Jargoon, 124 
 Zirconite, 124 
 GLUCINE, 125 
 
 . . . . , Silex, Alumine, &c. . . . Euclafe, 1 25 
 . . . , . . , . . . , Lime, Iron Beryl, 126 
 . . , .,...,. . , chrome Emerald. 127 
 YTTRIA, 128 
 
 . . . . , Silex, Alumine, Glucine . Gadolinite r I2Q 
 BARYTES, 129 
 
 carbonic acid Witherite, 130 
 
 . . . . , sulphuric acid Heavy fpar, 131 
 
 . . . ., Alumine, Lime, sulphuric acid Hepatite, 132 
 STRONTIAN, 133 
 
 . . . , carbonic acid ..... Strontianite, 133 
 . . . ., sulphuric acid Celeftine, 134 
 
 ALKALINE MINERALS. 
 
 POTASH, 135 
 
 . . . . , carbonic acid Carbonate of potafh, 136 
 
 nitric acid, &c Nitrate of potafh, 137 
 
 SODA, 138 
 
 . . . , carbonic acid Carbonate of foda, 139 
 
 . . . , sulphuric acid Sulphate of foda, 141 
 
 . , boracic acid Borate of foda, 141 
 
 . . . , muriatic acid Muriate of foda, 142 
 
 AMMONIA, 145 
 
 , sulphuric acid .... Sulphate of ammonia, 145 
 
 , muriatic acid .... Sal Ammoniac, 145 
 
6ONTEICTS. NATIVE METALS, &C. 
 
 NATIVE METALS 
 
 AND 
 
 METALLIFEROUS MINERALS. 
 
 IRON, 147 
 
 sulphur 
 oxygen 
 
 t oxygen, manganese, &C. 
 
 . , oxygen, phosphoric acid . , 
 . . , . . , carbonic acid, &C. . 
 . , . . , sulphuric acid 
 . , . . , chromic acid 
 
 . , anenic acid, &c 
 
 MANGANESE, 161 
 
 . . , oxygen, barytes, &c. 
 . , . . , sulphur, &C. 
 . . . . > . . , iron, &C- 
 
 . , . . phosphoric acid, &c 
 MOLYBDENA, 163 
 
 . , sulphur . 
 
 TIN, 164 
 . . , oxygen, &C. 
 . . , co&per, iron, sulphur, &C. 
 TUNGSTEN, 167 
 
 , . . , oxygen, lime, &C- 
 
 , acid, iron, &C. , . 
 TITANIUM, 168 
 
 . . . , oxygen, &c. . 
 
 CERIUM, 170 
 
 , oxygen, si/ex, &C. 
 
 URANIUM, 171 
 
 . . . , oxygen .... 
 
 . , lead, &C 
 
 TANTALIUM, 173 
 
 . . . . , oxygen, iron, &C. 
 . , . . , yttria, &C. . 
 CHROME, 174 
 BISMUTH, 175 
 
 Native, 148 
 Meteoric, 148 
 Iron pyrites, 150 
 Magnetic Iron Ore, 15 1 
 Red Iron ore, 154 
 Brown Iron ore, 154 
 Black Iron ore, 155 
 Argiilace us Iron ore, 156 
 
 Pea Iron ore 
 Bog Iron ore, 157 
 Blue Iron ore, 158 
 Sparhofe Iron ore, 158 
 Green Vitriol, 159 
 Chromate of iron, 159 
 Arfeniate of iron, 160 
 
 Grey manganefe, 161 
 Sulphuret of manganefe, i6z 
 White manganefe, i6z 
 Phofphate of manganefe, 163 
 
 Sulphuret of molybdena, 163 
 
 OxiJe of tin, 165 
 Bell metal ore, 166, 
 
 Tungftate of lime, 167 
 Wolfram, 167 
 
 Titanite, 169 
 Anatafe, 169 
 Nigrine, 169 
 Rutiiite, 170 
 Metuccanite, 170 
 Iferine, 170 
 
 Cerice, 171 
 Allanite, 171 
 Cerin 
 
 Uranite, 173 
 Uran ochre, 173 
 
 Tantalite, 173 
 Yttrotantalite, 174 
 
 Native, 176 
 
CONTENTS. NATIVE METALS, &C. 
 
 BISMUTH, sulphur .... Sulphuret of bismuth, 176 
 
 . , oxygen .... Bifmuth ochre, 177 
 ARSENIC, 177 
 
 . . . , Native, 178 
 
 . . . , oxygen, &c Oxide of arfenic, 178 
 
 . . . , sulphur . Realgar, 178 
 
 Orpiment 
 
 ...,.., iron, &c. . . Mifpickcl, 170 
 
 COBALT, 180 
 
 . . . , arsenic, Sic Grey cobalt, 181 
 
 iron y &c. . . Arfenical cobalt, 181 
 
 . , oxygen ..... Earthy cobalt, 182 
 
 . . . , arsenic acid f . . Red cobalt, l8z 
 
 . , sulphuric acid . , Red vitriol, 1 82 
 
 NICKEL, 183 
 
 . . . , arsenic ; &c. .... Kupfernickel, 183 
 
 . . . , oxygen, . Nickel ochre, 184 
 SILVER, 184 
 
 . , Native, 185 
 
 . , antimony, &c. .... Antimonial fllver, 1 86 
 
 , sulphur Vitreous filver, 186 
 
 . . , antimony, sulphur . . . Ruby filver, 187 
 
 . , . . , . . , &c. . Brittle filver glance, 187 
 
 , . t lead, &c. . . White filver, 187 
 . . , copper, sulphur, &c. . . Black filver, 1 88 
 
 . . , bismuth, copper, &c. . . Bifmuthic fllver, 188 
 
 , carbonic add, &c. . . . Carbonate of filver, 188 
 
 , muriatic acid, &c. . . . Muriate of lilver, 188 
 COPPER 189 
 
 Native, 191 
 
 sulphur Suiphuret of copper, 192 
 
 . , iron . . . Buntkupfererz, 193 
 
 &c Grey copper, 193 
 
 Milphur, iron . . . Yellow copper, 194 
 
 arsenic, &c. . . . . White copper, 194 
 
 oxygen Ruby copper, 195 
 
 . . , si/ex, &c. . . Dioptafe, 197 
 
 . . , carbonic acid . . Carbonate of copper, 196 
 
 . , sulphuric acid . . JSulphate of copper, 197 
 
 . , muriatic acid, &c. Muriate of copper, 197 
 
 . . , phosphoric acid . Phofphate of copper, 198 
 
 . , , arsenic acid, &c. Arleniate of copper, 198 
 GOLD, 200 
 
 . . , Native, aoi 
 
 PLATINA, 203 
 
 . . . , Native, 204 
 
 RHODIUM, 206 
 IRIDIUM, 206 
 
 OSMIUM, ac6 Alloy of iridium and ofmium, 206 
 
 PALLADIUM, 206 
 
 , Native, 207 
 
 TELLURIUM, 207 
 
 , Native, 207 
 
 , gold, silver . . Aurum graphicum, 208 
 
 , lead, tilver, &c. . . Plumbiferous tellurium, 208 
 
CONTENTS. NATIVE METALS, &C. 
 
 ANTIMONY, 209 
 
 sulphur . , 
 oxygen, sulphur . 
 . . , silex, &c. 
 
 Native, 209 
 Grey antimony, 210 
 Red antimony, 210 
 White antimony, 210 
 Antimonial ochre, an 
 
 LEAD, an 
 
 . . , sulphur .... Galena, 212 
 
 . . , antimony, copper, sulphur . Triple fulphuret of lead, 
 
 . . , oxygen Native minium, 214 
 
 . .,..-, carbonic acid . . Carbonate of lead, 215 
 
 . . , . . , muriatic acid, &c. . . Muriate of lead, 216 
 
 . . , . . , phosphoric acid, &C. Phofphate of lead 21 6 
 
 . . , . . , sulphuric acid, &c. . . Sulphate of lead, 217 
 
 . . , . . , arsenic acid, &c. . . Arfeniate of lead, 217 
 
 . . , . . , molybdic acid, &c. . . Molybdate of lead, 2l8 
 
 . . , . . , chromic acid, &c. . . Chromate of lead, 218 
 
 ZINC, 219 
 
 . . , sulphur, &c Blende, 219 
 
 . . , oxygen, carbonic acid . . Calamine, 22O 
 
 . . , . . , silex . . . Electric calamine, 221 
 
 . . , . . , sulphuric acid, &C. . Sulphate of zinc, 221 
 
 QUICKSILVER, 222 
 
 . , . ... Native, 223 
 
 . . . , silver . . . Native amalgam, 223 
 
 . , sulphur, Iron . Cinnabar, 224 
 . , oxygen, muriatic acid, &C. Horn quickfilver, 224 
 
 COMBUSTIBLE MINERALS. 
 
 SULPHUR, 225 
 
 . . . , Native, 227 
 
 . , . . . . . Volcanic, 229 
 
 CARBON, Diamond, 229 
 
 Mineral carbon, 232 
 
 . . . , iron Plumbago, ,232 
 
 . . . , hydrogen, &c. . . Mineral oil, 233 
 
 . . . , . . , bituminous oil . Bitumen, 235 
 
 ...,.., bitumen, &c. . Coal, 237 
 
 . . . , succinic' acid . . . Amber, 245 
 
 . . . , metallic ac'fd . . Honeyftone, 245- 
 
 . . . , resin, asphalt, &c. . . Retinafphalt, 245 
 
 . . ., . . ,&c. . . . Foflil copal, 245 x 
 

SILEX. 
 
 THIS Earth is, when pure, in common with the rest 
 9f the earths, perfectly white and infusible, except by 
 the intense heat of voltaic electricity. It has neither 
 taste nor smell, and its specific gravity is 2.66. 
 
 Silex has never been found mineralized by any acid, 
 but is occasionally involved in small proportion in some 
 of the aoidiferous earthy substances ; it forms a large 
 ingredient of very many earthy minerals, including some 
 of the hardest gems and the softest clays ; it is proved 
 by analysis to enter, in variable proportion, into the 
 composition of about two-thirds of the whole number of 
 earthy minerals whose composition is known ; and as it 
 is the chief ingredient of the oldest and most plentiful of 
 the primitive rocks, and is found in rocks of almost every 
 age and formation, it is esteemed to be the most abun- 
 dant substance in nature. 
 
 Silex, as well as the rest of the earths has lately been 
 proved, by Sir H. Davy, to be a compound substance ; 
 it consists, according to Berzelius, of oxygen, in the 
 proportion of about 54 per cent, united with a base* 
 Silicium, which has not hitherto been obtained in a 
 state of separation, in the proportion of about 46 per 
 cent. Silex cannot therefore be now considered as a 
 simple or elementary body. 
 
 Notwithstanding the complete analysis of silex, it 
 still obtains among chemists its old denomination of an 
 Earth; principally, it may be supposed, from the diffi- 
 culty of properly characterizing its base ; which is not 
 believed by Sir H. Davy to be a metal, but of a pecu- 
 liar nature, bearing an analogy to boron, charcoal, 
 sulphur and phosphorus. 
 
 As common flints are almost wholly composed of 
 siliceous earth, i$ thence received the name of Silex, 
 which in the latin signifies flint ; but it is found io the 
 greatest purity in quartz or rock crystal. 
 
 A 
 
8 : ^ : : 
 
 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 QUARTZ. 
 
 Quartz is found crystallized, fibrous, granular, and 
 compact. It scratches glass, does not yield to the 
 knife, and is infusible. Its specific gravity is 2.6 ; and 
 it is composed of silex, with 2 or 3 per cent, of water. 
 
 Crystallized quartz* is found perfectly transparent and 
 colourless ; also, red, yellow, grey, black, brown, pur- 
 ple, green, and of various shades of each colour. 
 
 The transparent and colourless is known by the 
 name of rock Crystal : the largest and most esteemed 
 crystals are brought from Madagascar, the Alps, Nor- 
 way, and Scotland ; where they are found in cavities in 
 granite. Single crystals have been met with, of more 
 than 100 Ibs. weight. These are bought at a high price 
 by the lapidary, to cut up into various ornaments, as 
 seals, &c. and into proper forms for spectacles, as a 
 substitute for glass. In smaller crystals, quartz is found 
 in almost every metallic vein, both of ancient and re- 
 cent formation, in every kind of rock. 
 
 * Crystallized Quartz.' Unconnected cryftals of quartz, in my poffefliofi, 
 from Tonewanto, are in the eighteen fided form, fhining with remarkable- 
 brilliancy. Others from Rochefter, north-weft of the Shawangunk moun- 
 tain, have as many fides, with longer columns ; found fcattered through 
 argillaceous loam. Abraham G. 'Thompson. 
 
 Attached cryftals of great beauty have been brought from Rochefter, 
 having a fix fided column terminating in a fix fided pyramid. Some of 
 thempoffefs remarkable clearnefs and brilliancy, and form clufters of great 
 beauty. They reft upon a bafe of quartzy rock, containing galena, or 
 fulphuret of lead, and blende, or fuphuret of zinc. Ib. 
 
 A cryftal of this fort, in my collection, brought by a Canadian trader 
 from fome barbarian region north-weft of Lake Superior, is 5 inches 
 long, and i i-a in diameter. Rev. Alex. M i Leod. 
 
 Many handfome fpecimens of nafcent and well formed cryftals of quartz 
 have been brought from Rhinebeck. Rev. F. C. Schaeffer. 
 
 Well formed and lucid cryftals have been brought from Diamond Ifland, 
 in Lake Champlain. Sttvenson. 
 
 Elegant clufters of the same, from the banks of the Illinois Long. 
 
 Opake cryftals of quartz, refting upon gneifs, from the Stafford Springs, 
 in Connecticut.- Davis, 
 
 The Diamond Rock, fituated eaft of Lanfingburgh, has a furface be- 
 fj>angled with minute cryftals, that glitter in the funmine, and tempt moft 
 vifiter* to bring away pieces of the quartzy rock- and its crop of cryftals. 
 
 Quartzy cryftallizations are found in various other parts cf the United 
 Stattr. and of North America ; fuch as Mafiachufetts, Virginia, South Ca- 
 rolina, and other place*. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. & 
 
 Quartz, more often than any other crystallized mine- 
 ral, contains foreign substances sometimes drops of wa- 
 ter, with bubbles of air, may be seen in it ; also crystals 
 of schorl or titanium, crystals of chlorite, and iron ore. 
 
 The crystallizations of quartz or rock crystal are very 
 interesting. The crystals in my possession exhibit 40 
 distinct varieties of form ; the most common of which is 
 a hexahedral prism terminated by hexahedral pyramids: 
 the two pyramids joined base to base, without an inter- 
 vening prism, are rarely seen. The primitive crystal is 
 also rare, but is occasionly found in the neighbour- 
 hood of Bristol ; it is an obtuse rhomboid, very nearly 
 approaching the cube. Its angles, according to Haliy, 
 are 94 24' and 85 36' ; but the results obtained by the 
 rejecting goniometer do not correspond therewith. 
 
 Quartz allows, though not readily, of mechanical clea- 
 vage, parallel with the planes of its primitive crystal. 
 
 The transparent crystals found in the neighbourhood 
 of Bristol, termed Bristol Diamonds, are crystallized 
 quartz ; those of Cornwall are by some called Cornish 
 
 Crystals of quartz, of a light yellow, or of various shades 
 of brown, are brought from many places. The best are 
 found in a hill called Cairn-gorm, in Scotland. A sin- 
 gle crystal about twelve inches long, and four in diame- 
 ter, of a deep brown colour and transparent, which was 
 fit for the lapidary, was not long since sold by public auc- 
 tion for 210 guineas. These are by some called False 
 Topazes. 
 
 When of a reddish purple, or violet colour, quartz is 
 called Amethyst :* the crystals are generally of the deep- 
 est colour towards the summit. It commonly occurs in 
 veins in metalliferous mountains in Spain, Bohemia, 
 Saxony, Hungary, <kc. never in those of primitive gra- 
 nite. Frequently it is found in hollow masses, called 
 geodes, which are occasionally surrounded by a coating 
 of agate ; but these are principally met with in volcanic 
 
 * Amethyst. My ccllection contains hollow balls, covered within by 
 amethyflinc cryftals, from Mentz, in Germany, and amorphous pieces of 
 various purple hues, from St. Salvador*, in Brazil, and its vicinity Me 
 Collins brought me an amethyst found in Georgia, thirty miles west c 
 
 Augusta.. 
 
4 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 countries ; in Auvergne, the Tyrol, and the Palatine. 
 Analysis has proved the amethyst to contain a very mi- 
 nute quantity of iron and manganese, to which its colour 
 may be attributed. Amethyst has been met with in the 
 tin mines of Cornwall, Polgooth, and Pednandrae. 
 
 Fibrous quartz* is yellowish or greyish white, and occa- 
 sionally pale amethyst : sometimes it occurs in radiated 
 and globular concretions, two inches or more in diame- 
 ter, but only in Cornwall. 
 
 Granular quartz\ is white, yellowish or greyish white ; 
 it occurs in granular distinct concretions, sometimes in 
 mass, and as a component of certain granites. It is fine, 
 or large grained. The fine grained, with silvery mica, 
 composes a granite near Schihallien, in Scotland ; the 
 larger grained forms large blocks in argillaceous schistus 
 and other rocks in Scotland. The latter becomes snow 
 white by calcination, and is largely employed in the 
 porcelain manufactory. 
 
 Compact quartz^ is of various colours, and occurs in 
 mass, or disseminated, or globular, &c. It is found en- 
 tering into the composition of rocks, from the oldest to 
 those of the most recent formation, and composing veins 
 and beds in others : sometimes it is found in consider- 
 able blocks, though it seldom forms entire mountains. 
 
 Prase^ is of a leek green colour, and translucent; it oc- 
 curs in mass at Brutenbrun, in Saxony, in a mineral bed : 
 it appears to be an intimate mixture of quartz and acti- 
 nolite. 
 
 When of a light grass or an apple green, and some- 
 what transparent, quartz is termed Chrysoprase, which 
 is found in mass, imbedded in serpentine, in Siberia, with 
 opal, chalcedony, &c. 
 
 Avanturine isyellowish red, or grey, greenish, or black- 
 ish. It appears to be filled with silvery and yellowish 
 
 * Fibrous Quartz. This frequently occurs, croffing veins of granite, 
 gneifs and fchistus, in New- York. Ic feems to be an incipient form of 
 cryftallization. 
 
 f Granular J^war/z frequent in and around New- York. 
 
 I Compact Quartz many diftind: mafles are found scattered over the 
 land between Waftiington city and Fredericktown, Md. 
 
 $ Prase. Specimens of quartz, coloured green, at New- York and its 
 vicinity. They are, however, opake and amorphous, and have been fuppc- 
 fed to owe their colour to copper. 
 

 TO MINERALOGY. 5 
 
 spangles, that reflect light with great brilliancy. ^ Some 
 suppose these spangles to be mica, others imagine that 
 the appearance is produced only by the particular direc- 
 tion of the lamina:. It takes a good polish, and is used 
 for seals and other ornaments. The best avanturine is 
 brought from Spain. 
 
 A variety of quartz, which is commonly massive, and 
 has a greasy lustre, as though it had been rubbed with 
 oil, is therefore called Fat quartz :* it is one of the gan- 
 gues of native gold in Peru. 
 
 Another variety is opaque white, and is thence term- 
 ed Milk quartz. It has sometimes a tinge of red, which 
 often passes into a beautiful rose red, when it is termed 
 Rose quartz ;f it often has the greasy lustre of fat quartz. 
 Its colour is said to be owing to manganese. It has been 
 found at Rabenstein in Bavaria, in considerable quantity, 
 in a vein of manganese traversing a large grained granite. 
 It has also been met with in Finland, and near Cork in, 
 Ireland. 
 
 Quartz sometimes exhibits impressions of the crystal- 
 line forms of substances on which it has been deposited., 
 but which have been decomposed; quartz exhibiting such 
 crystalline appearances is termed Pseudomorphous. J 
 Sometimes it is merely cellular ; and when the cavities 
 are very minute, and the quartz is in very thin plates 
 which intersect each other in every direction, it is so light 
 as to swim on water; whence this variety has been term* 
 ed Swimming stone, by some Spongiform quartz. It has 
 been found at Schemnitz in Hungary, at Joachimstal in 
 Bohemia, at Schneeberg and Freyberg in Saxony, at 
 Beresof in Siberia, and in Cornwall in England. The 
 cavities of one specimen in my possesion, from Pednan- 
 drae Mine, near Redruth, are partly filled up with fluol 
 spar, the external parts of which are rounded, shewing it 
 to be in a state of decomposition ; the cavities of another, . 
 
 * Fat <j>yartz.- Particles of this variety adhere to the pieces of native 
 gold found in North Carolina. 
 
 t Roit Quartz. -I ^ave elegant fpecimens from Maine, received frorc 
 Profeflbr CMeaveland. 
 
 $ PseuJomorpbous Quartz Cryftals of quartz fometimea make impre*> 
 sions upon invefting quartzy maffcs of fubfequent formation ; and fome> 
 limes the quartzy crufts or boxe* remain, after the fofter and more $*** 
 Enable materials they enclosed, are decompofcd or waftcd&war, 
 
ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 from Relistean Mine, are filled up partly by black, part* 
 ly by bright yellow copper ore. 
 
 Quartz combined with variable proportions of iron, fc 
 termed Ferruginous quartz .* It is of a yellow or red co^ 
 lour, and opake, and is found both compact and crystal- 
 lized. It is harder than pure quartz ; and when heated, 
 becomes magnetic. It is sometimes met with in remark- 
 ably neat small crystals having both terminations perfect, 
 and of a yellowish or reddish colour. These crystals* 
 have been principally found in secondary rocks, near 
 Compostella in Spain ; whence they are called Hya- 
 cinths of Composttila. Massive ferruginous quartz, or 
 EisenJciesel) is found in the veins of primitive mountains, 
 where it is often met with as the gangue of various me- 
 tallic substances, as of lead, copper, sulphuret of iron, and 
 sometimes of gold. 
 
 A variety termed Hyalite, or Mutter's glass, having in 
 many respects the appearance of chalcedony, has been 
 found in small masses upon, or lining the cavities of, 
 amygdaloid. It bears a striking resemblance to gum 
 arabic, and is said to be composed of 92 parts silex and 
 7 of water. It has been found only in volcanic coun- 
 tries : in Tuscany, in small stalactites in the rocks of 
 Piperino, in Solfatara, &c. 
 
 Quartz is sometimes found forming beds, and more 
 often veins,f in primitive mountains. The quartz in 
 these veins is sometimes compact, but is occasionally 
 hollow in places \ in these cavities the crystals which are 
 seen in the cabinets of mineralogists are found. It oc- 
 casionally occurs imbedded, as in porphyries ; and in 
 remarkably neat transparent crystals, in Carrara marble. 
 
 It is also met with in veins or caverns in secondary 
 countries of different natures ; and forms a large pro- 
 portion of alluvial deposites, principally in fragments, or 
 rounded or angular grains, constituting sand ; which is 
 sometimes, by causes which we know not how to explain, 
 
 * Ferruginous Quartz. Amorphous, reddifh or ruddy quartz, ftained 
 through and through, or in fpots and blotches, are of frequent occurrence. 
 
 f Vtias of Quartz. These- occur in the rocks of gneifs and granite, ia 
 the islands of the Sound east of New York, of various width, from half 
 on inch to three feet ; sometimes parallel to the strata, and sometimes ' 
 cross them. The quartz ia even a rod wide, in certain placet. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 7 
 
 found adhering, forming masses denominated Sandstone* 
 and Gritstone. 
 
 OPAL. 
 
 Opal is either of a clear, or of a bluish white : it in- 
 cludes several varieties. 
 
 It is found in small masses or in veins in Hungary, in 
 rocks which seem to be in part decomposed, and which 
 are by some considered to be volcanic ; by others, as ar* 
 gillaceous rocks, the result of the decomposition of por-> 
 phyries. In these rocks both the common and the noblo 
 opal occur. Opal is also met with in Iceland, and Sax-* 
 ony. 
 
 The Common opal is usually white with a tinge of yel* 
 low, red, or light green, internally. It consists of 93.$ 
 parts of silex, 1 of oxide of iron, and 5 of water. It had 
 been found in several of the mines of Cornwall. 
 
 The Noble opal exhibits changeable reflections of the 
 same colours as the former variety, and is an exceeding- 
 ly brilliant and beautiful mineral : it is hard enough to 
 scratch glass. The finest specimens of it are in the Im- 
 perial Cabinet of Vienna ; one is about 5 inches long 
 and 2| in diameter, the other is of the shape and size of 
 a hen's egg. It consists of 90 parts of silex, and 10 of 
 water. 
 
 Semi-opal is harder than the preceding varieties and 
 is mostly opake; occasionally transparent, with a glisten- 
 ing resinous lustre. It is principally met with in secon- 
 dary countries ; sometimes in volcanic rocks, and in ba- 
 salts. It has also been found in primitive granite and por- 
 phyry, especially in the veins traversing those rocks 
 which contain silver. It consists of 85 percent, of si- 
 lex, 1 of carbon, 1.75 of oxide of iron^ 8 of ammoniacal 
 water, and a small portion of bitumen. Semi-opal is 
 
 * Sane/stone At Nyack, thirty miles north of New- York, the Sand- 
 stone strata, overlay the bones of land animals. The roots of the kal- 
 mia latifolia are petrified in red Sandstone, near the top of the Kaatskill 
 mountain. (Eaton.) And both marine shells and vegetable substan- 
 ces are embraced in the Sandstone, near Rappahannock and York rivere, 
 in Virginia. (Lot robe.) -Quartz, in .loose, and. round pebbles, chief- 
 ly constitutes the fhoals and beaches of the Atlantic fhore, from Cape Cod 
 3fld Nautucket to Cape Hattcras, and beyond, 
 
8 ELEMENRARY INTRODUCTION' 
 
 found in Auvergne in France, in the island of Elba^ in 
 Bohemia, Iceland, Hungary, &c. Fossil teeth have 
 been found penetrated by this mineral. 
 
 Wood-opal * has a ligneous structure, and is met with 
 of various shades of grey, brown and black. It appears 
 to be wood, penetrated by opal or semi-opal ; and is 
 found near Schemnitz, and at Telkobanya in Hungary. 
 
 A variety, met with at the same place as the prece- 
 ding, called Ferruginous Opal or Opal jasper, is of a 
 yellowish or yellowish brown colour, with a glistening 
 resinous lustre. It consists of about 43 parts of silex, 47 
 of oxide of iron, and 7 of water. 
 
 HYDHOPHANE. 
 
 The Hydrophane is considered to be a variety of 
 opal. It is generally whitish, and nearly opake ; by 
 immersion in water, it exhibits some of the changeable 
 colours of the former varieties, and is found in the same 
 places. It consists of about 93 parts of silex, 2 of alu- 
 mine, and 5 of water. 
 
 Hydrophane is porous, and commonly adheres to the 
 tongue. It is chiefly found in Saxony, the Isle of Ferroe, 
 and in Hungary. At Mussinet near Turin, it occurs in 
 veins of chalcedony, or of hard serpentine, traversing a 
 serpentine mountain in every direction. 
 
 MENILITE. 
 
 The Menilite is by some considered a variety of semi- 
 opal. Its common colour is a smoke brown ; its struc- 
 ture slaty ; it is somewhat translucent, and is found in 
 irregular masses in beds of clay, between beds of sul- 
 phate of lime at Menil-montant near Paris. It is some- 
 times called the Pitchstone of Menil-montant. It consists 
 of 85.5 parts of silex, 1 of alumine, 11 of water and 
 inflammable matter, with small portions of lime and 
 oxide of iron* 
 
 * Wood-Opal. -Wood apparently opalizcd has ben picked up on the 
 fenks of the Miffouri. Bradbuty* 
 
TO MINERALOGY 9 
 
 F.L1NT.* 
 
 Flint is of various shades of white, yellow, brown ant! 
 black, and is somewhat harder than common quartz ; 
 it is readily broken in any direction, and has a con- 
 choidal and a glimmering lustre. It is found in irre- 
 gular masses, and sometimes forming the substance of 
 certain marine organic remains, as echinites and coral - 
 loids : and consists of 97 parts of silex, 1 of alurnine 
 and oxide of iron, and 2 of water. It specific gravity 
 is 2.58 : 
 
 Flint is said occasionally, though rarely, to be found 
 in veins in primitive rocks ; but it is also said that the 
 flint thus found has not precisely the characters of com- 
 mon flint. It is met with in nodules in compact carbo- 
 nate of lime in Derbyshire; at Mont-martre near Paris, 
 in an impure sulphate of lime ; it is also found in certain 
 marls ; but that which may be termed its ordinary na- 
 tive place, is the upper chalk formation, in which it is 
 met with in regular layers, and occasionally as in Fresh- 
 water Bay in the Isle of Wight, in continuous beds of 
 considerable length. Flint is also abundantly found in 
 portions evidently rounded by attrition, forming depo- 
 sites in the neighbourhood of chalk hills, and of gravel 
 in alluvial countries. When red, yellow, or browo* they 
 are termed Ferruginous flints. 
 
 The formation of the flints which lie in detached 
 masses, though in parallel layers, in chalk, has much oc- 
 cupied the attention of geologists, and without producing 
 any satisfactory solution. Their form proves that they 
 have not been rolled, or conveyed into the chalk ; in 
 which they bear every appearance of having been form- 
 
 * Flint- Is found in detached mafies, of the Cze of a 5ft a.nd lefe, fcat- 
 tered over the maritime alluvion of the United States. But as it does not 
 break with a proper concavo-convex fracture, it may be deemed rather a 
 horn-ftone ; or rather it is horn^ftone palling into flint, found in the ftrata 
 of fecondary lime-ftone, in the counties of Otfego, Genefice and Niagara, 
 New- York; generally of a black hue; is frequent in the valley of Muf- 
 conetcung river, New Jerfey, and between the Delaware and Lehigh, 
 Pennfylvania. Various other localities of flint, are detailed in my letter on 
 the fubje&, as publiihed in Mease's Archives of ufcful knowledge, at 
 Philadelphia. Specimens in mypofleflicr^from Alabama and Brazil, fhow 
 the ftages by which flint changes to limeftone, or limcflone alters to flint? 
 
10 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 ed : they are frequently found containing shells. Some 
 naturalists have ventured on the supposition that the 
 places in which they are found were formerly occupied 
 by animals : and that the formation of flints in those 
 places, has been owing either to the affinity existing for 
 silex in the animal matter, or that it. has been converted 
 into flint. This it must be obvious is mere hypothesis, 
 and is not more deserving of regard than the notion en- 
 tertained by others, that, contrary to all known principles 
 of chemistry, these flints have been formed by the con- 
 version of lime into silex by some unknown natural 
 agency. The most commonly received opinion seems 
 to be, that flints have been formed by the filtration of 
 siliceous matter through the chalk ; a theory not without 
 serious difficulties. 
 
 Kirwan quotes from Schneider's Topog. Mineral. 
 114. that 126 silver coins were found enclosed in flints, 
 at Crinoc in Denmark ; and an iron nail at Potsdam. 
 
 CHALCEDONY.^ 
 
 Chalcedonyis found of various shades of white, yellow, 
 brown, green and blue. It occurs massive, forming veins, 
 in round balls, termed geodes ; and also, botryoidal and 
 stalactitical ; sometimes it bears the impression of organ- 
 ized bodies : it is frequently met with coating crystals 
 of quartz, and occasionally in cubic crystals, which, it 
 is ascertained, are only secondary, or pseudomoi phous, 
 It is commonly semi-transparent ; it has no regular frac- 
 ture, and is harder than flint. Its elementary constituents 
 have not been accurately ascertained, but as it is often 
 found passing into flint, it may reasonably be assumed, 
 that their analysis would not greatly differ. The specific 
 gravity of chalcedony is about 2.6. 
 
 Chalcedony is found principally at Oberstein in Sax- 
 ony, and in the isle of I erroe. A blue variety is met 
 with in Transylvania. That of Iceland is in thin layers, 
 alternately more or less translucid, and perfectly paral- 
 lel. But the most superb specimens were brought 
 from a copper mine in Cornwall, called Travascus, 
 
 * Chalcedony. Coarfe pieces found along the Ihorea around New- York, 
 
TO MINERALOGY". 11 
 
 which was situated in argillaceous schistus ; these speci- 
 mens are translucid, whitish, and variously ramified. A 
 variety of a beautiful blue colour on the surface was 
 found in a tin vein passing through granite, in Pednan- 
 drae mine, near Redrutb, in the same county ; and 
 another variety, very much resembling flint, containing 
 small portions of yellow copper, in Relistian mine. 
 Chalcedony has also been met with in several others of 
 the Cornish minqs. It was anciently procured from 
 Chalcedon in Upper Asia, whence its name. 
 
 When of a white colour and translucent, chalcedony 
 is called Cacholong. Some varieties are opake and ad- 
 here to the tongue. Cacholong is found with chalce- 
 dony, sometimes with flint. It is me.t with at Cham- 
 pigny, near Paris, in a calcareous breccia : but the real 
 cacholong is found in the banks of the Cach, a river in 
 the country of the Calmucs of Buccharia. 
 
 When chalcedony contains appearances of arboriza- 
 tion or vegetable filaments, which have been supposed 
 to be owing to the infiltration of iron or manganese 
 through its natural crevices, it is termed Mocha stone. 
 This is believed chiefly to be brought from Mocha in 
 Arabia. 
 
 Carnelian is of various shades of yellow, brown, and 
 red. It is found in several places in Europe ; but the 
 most valuable specimens are brought from Arabia, and 
 from Surat and Cambay in India, where it is said to 
 be found in certain rocks in the globular, or the stalac- 
 titical form. 
 
 Sard is supposed to differ from the preceding variety 
 only in its colour, which is orange-yellow, passing into 
 brownish-yellow. 
 
 When yellowish, white, red, or yellow, brown, or 
 brownish black, and opake, it is called Jasper. 
 
 When two or three of the above varieties are mixed 
 in alternate and concentric bands, exhibiting, when cut 
 and polished, zones, or angular lines like fortifications, 
 the compound is termed Agate. It is found in the form 
 of irregular rounded nodules, from the size of a pin's 
 head to more than a loot in diameter, or in veins or 
 strata, or occasionally stalactitic. Sometimes agate is 
 found in amygdaloid and in gypsum ; near the Wolga it 
 
12 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 occurs between strata of secondary limestone. The mosi 
 beautiful agates of Britain are found in the neighbour- 
 hood of Perth and Dunbar, and are called Scotch pebbles ; 
 but the most celebrated are those of Oberstein^ in Sax- 
 ony. When the colours are disposed in straight parallel 
 bands, it is called Ribbon agate, by some Ribbon jasper* 
 Another variety represents rocks or buildings, and is cal- 
 led Ruin agate. 
 
 But if two or more of the preceding varieties are as- 
 sociated with a band of rnilk-white opake chalcedony, 
 the mass is called Onyx. Onyxes cut into portions 
 about the size of a bean, exhibiting opake white circles, 
 resembling the iris of the human eye, are termed Onyx- 
 eyes. 
 
 Sard, united with opake milk-white chalcedony, is 
 called Sardonyx. 
 
 Plasma seems to be a variety of chalcedony, which it 
 resembles in being translucent, and somewhat harder 
 than quartz. It is of a dull greenish colour, with yellow 
 and whitish dots, and has a glistening lustre. It has not 
 been analyzed. Plasma is brought from Italy and the 
 Levant ; and is said to occur at Taltsa, in High Hun- 
 gary ; also, disseminated in rounded pieces, with flint 
 and hornstone, in a mountain of serpentine, at Bojano- 
 witz, in Moravia. Its specific gravity is 2.04. 
 
 Heliotrope is mostly of a dep green colour, and 
 translucent ; and commonly, yellow or blood-red spots 
 are interspersed through the substance. From the lat- 
 ter circumstance it has obtained the name of Bloodstone. 
 It is considered to consist of chalcedony coloured by 
 chlorite, or by green earth ; and is found in Siberia, Ice* 
 land, and in a vein at Jaschkenberg, in Bohemia, but 
 the most beautiful varieties are brought from the east ; 
 whence, among lapidaries, by whom it is in considerable 
 request, it has obtained the name of Oriental jasper, 
 The specific gravity of heliotrope is 2,6. 
 
 C1MOL1TE. 
 
 Cimolite is of a light greyish-white, inclining to pearl- 
 grey, but by exposure to air it acquires a reddish tint : 
 it occurs massive, and of a somewhat slaty structure ; is 
 
TO 
 
 13 
 
 opake ; yields to the nail, and adheres to the tongue. It 
 often encloses small grains of quartz. It consists of 63 
 parts of silex, 23 of alumine, 1.25 of oxide of iron, and 
 12 of water. Its specific gravity is 2. 
 
 Jt abounds in the island of Cimola (whence its name) 
 now called Argenteria, situated near that of Milo. It 
 was employed by the ancients,and still is by the inhabi- 
 tants of the island, for some of the purposes to which 
 fullers earth is applied. 
 
 BLACK CHALK. DRAWING SLATE. 
 
 This mineral is of a greyish or bluish black colour ; it 
 bas a slaty structure, is meagre to the touch, and soils 
 the fingers. It is found in primitive mountains, accom- 
 panying argillaceous schistus, particularly that which is 
 aluminous, to which it is nearly allied ; and is said to 
 occur occasionally in the neighbourhood of coal forma- 
 tions. It is met with near Pwllhelli, in Caernavon^ 
 shire ; in Isla, one of the Hebrides ; in France, Spain, 
 Italy, Iceland, and in Bareith. That from the latter 
 place yields by analysis about 64 parts of silex, 11 of 
 alumine, 11 of carbon, with small proportions of iron 
 and of water. 
 
 ALAMANDINE. 
 
 This mineral, commonly termed JVoMe, or Precioi^ 
 garnet, is usually of a brilliant crimson colour, some- 
 times with a slight smoky tinge and transparent. It 
 occurs granular, and also crystallized, in some of the 
 forms usual to the common garnet ; its structure is im- 
 perfectly lamellar, though but rarely visible. Its specific 
 gravity is 4.3 ; and it consists of 35.75 parts of silex, 
 27.25 of alumine, 36 of oxide of iron, and 0.25 of oxide 
 0f manganese. 
 
 The alamandine is very much esteemed as a precious 
 stone. The most beautiful, which are sometimes of red- 
 dish violet colour, are brought from Sirian, the Capital of 
 Pegu : among lapidaries, they are improperly called Syriaa 
 garnets- They appear to be the Carbuncle of the am- 
 
 B 
 
ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 cients/ Of their geological situation in Pegu, we are 
 entirely ignorant. They are also found in Bohemia, 
 Hungary, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Brazil, &c. 
 
 In Bohemia, they are found near Meronitz and Trzib- 
 litz, in the circle of Leutmeritz, disseminated in an allu- 
 vial deposite, consisting principally of fragments of 
 serpentine or rounded masses of basalt, cemented by a 
 grey marl. In this deposite are also found hyacinths, 
 beryls, sapphires, quartz, magnetic iron, and even fossil 
 shells. 
 
 It is said to have been met with in granite at Stron- 
 tian ; also at Ely in Fifeshire, and at Wicklow in Ire- 
 land. 
 
 '; _ *'' 
 
 TABULAR SPAR. 
 
 V:--' ';; 
 
 This very rare mineral has only been found at Ora 
 vitza, and at Dognaska, in the Bannat of Temesvvar, 
 entering into the composition of a rock, consisting prin- 
 cipally of bluish carbonate of lime and brown garnets ; 
 or, according to others, in a vein of bluish lamellar car- 
 bonate of lime, containing green garnets. 
 
 The tabular spar is of a greyish white colour ; trans- 
 lucent and somewhat hard. It is phosporescent when 
 scratched with a knife, and is said to have been met with 
 in six-sided tables, in which the natural joints may be 
 discovered, parallel to the sides of a slightly rhomboidal 
 prism. It is composed of 50 parts ofsilex, 45 oflimej 
 and 5 of water. Its specific gravity is 2.86. 
 
 JEN1TE. YENITE. 
 
 The Yenite is a scarce mineral, which at first sight 
 greatly resembles hornblende. It is of a brown, or 
 brownish black colour, dull externally, and of about the 
 fcardness of felspar It occurs amorphous, acicular, and 
 crystallized ; generally in the form of a rhomboidal 
 prism ; six varieties have been discovered in the form of 
 its crystals, the primitive of which is a rectangular octo- 
 faedron, measuring over the summit, according to Haiiy^ 
 one way, 112 C . 36', the other, 66. 58'. it is composed 
 of 29 parts ofsilex, 12 of lime, and 51 of the oxides e,f 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 15 
 
 manganese and of iron ; and therefore does not seem to 
 belong to earthy minerals ; but it is always ranked in 
 that class. Its specific gravity is 3.8. 
 
 Jt has been found only in Corsica, at Rio la Marine 
 and Cape Calamite ; it is dispersed in crystals and almost 
 compact round masses, in a thick bed of green substance, 
 the nature of which has not been determined, but which 
 bears a considerable analogy to the Yenite ; and is ac- 
 companied by yellowish- green epidote, quartz, and arse- 
 nical iron. The bed containing the yenite lies upon 
 another, consisting of large grained carbonate of lime, 
 enclosing talc. At Cape Calamite it is accompanied by 
 magnetic iron ore, granite, and quartz. 
 
 STEATITE.* 
 
 Steatite is of various shades of white, grey, yellow, 
 green, and red ; and is met with massive, and (at Ba- 
 reuth) with occasional appearances of internal crystalli- 
 zation ; which, being mostly, if not always, referable to 
 the forms assumed by quartz or carbonate of lime, are 
 therefore in varieties which cannot originate in the same 
 primitive form, and are thence considered to be only 
 pseudomorpbous. 
 
 This substance has generally a very unctuous and 
 soapy feel, but it differs from the soapstone in not having 
 alumine as one of its elementary ingredients ; it yields 
 to the nail, but does not adhere to the tongue ; its frac- 
 ture is splintery, sometimes slaty. It considerably re 
 sembles some varieties of serpentine, but is much softer. 
 The grotesque figures brought from China, are general- 
 ly supposed to be a variety of steatite ; which, though it 
 possesses some characters in common with the substance 
 of which those figures are made (the Agalmatolite), dif- 
 fers essentially in respect of analysis. Steatite consists 
 of 64 silex, 23 magnesia, 3 oxide of iron, and 5 of water* 
 Its specific gravity is 2.67. 
 
 Steatite is found in considerable masses, or in beds or 
 
 Steatite. Found in the alluvial soil of New- York city, in loofc 
 mafies ; in the county of Richmond, (N. Y.) near the health eftablifhment., 
 aflbciated with various other magnefian productions ; and near Balti* 
 jnore in Maryland accgraganying the native chromate of iron* 
 
16 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 veins, in some primitive mountains. It is most common 
 in serpentine. At Freyberg in Saxony, it is met with 
 in tin veins ; where it is accompanied by, or mingled 
 with mica, asbestus, quartz, and occasionally native sil- 
 ver, &c. It is found at Portsoy, in Scotland, in serpen- 
 tine, and in the Isle of Sky, in wacke. It occurs also in 
 the Isle of Anglesey. It abounds in the principality of 
 Bareuth, in Saxony, Bohemia, Norway, Sweden, and 
 France. 
 
 The white varieties, or those that become so by calci- 
 nation, are employed in the manufactory of the finest 
 porcelain : other varieties are said to be used for fulling. 
 The Arabs, according to Shaw, use steatite in their baths 
 instead of soap, to soften the skin ; and it is confidently 
 asserted that the inhabitants of New Caledonia either eat 
 it alone, or mingle it with their food. Humboldt says 
 that the Otomaques, a savage race, inhabiting the banks 
 of the Oronoko, are almost entirely supported during 
 three months in the year, by eating a species of steatite, 
 which they first slightly bake, and then moisten with 
 Water, 
 
 * y * . f -f. 
 
 BRONZITE* 
 
 The colour of this mineral is brown, having frequently 
 tbe aspect of bronze : its structure is fibrous lamellar, 
 and its lustre is considerably metallic. It consists of 60 
 per cent, of silex, 27.5 of magnesia, 10.5 of oxide of 
 iron, and 0.5 of water. Its specific gravity is 3. 2. 
 
 The Bronzite is usually found disseminated in Ser- 
 pentine. It occurs in the Col de Cerviere in the Alps ; 
 at Matray in the Tyrol ; at Basta in the Duchy of Wol- 
 fenbutel ; at Dobschauin Upper Hungary, &c. : It scemst 
 to belong to primitive countries. 
 *"' * 
 
 LAUMONITE, 
 
 This mineral occurs in aggregated crystalline masses, 
 deeply striated, or in separate crystals of several varie- 
 ties of form ; the primitive of which, according to Haiiy, 
 is a rectangular octohedron, or, according to Bourrton, 
 & rhomboids! tetrahedral prism, with rhombic 
 
TO MTNEHALOGT. 17 
 
 The Laumonite is white, transparent or translucentp 
 and hard enough to scratch glass. It was formerly 
 termed the efflorescent zeolite^ on account of its undergo- 
 ing a spontaneous change by exposure to the air; in 
 consequence of which it loses its natural transparency, 
 and becomes opake, tender, of a shining white colour, 
 and pearly lustre ; eventually, it falls into a white pow- 
 der, similar to that resulting from the decomposition off 
 Glauber's Salts. It has lately received the name of the 
 Laurnonite, from Gillet De Laumont, who fir^t made 
 known its true nature. Its specific gravity is 2, 2. It is 
 composed of 49 of silex, 22 of alumine, 9 of lime, 17. 5 
 of water, and 2. 6 of carbonic acid. 
 
 This mineral was first discovered in the lead mine of 
 Huelgoet in Brittany, lining the caviaes of the veins. 
 It has since been brought from Ferroe ; from near Pais- 
 ley in Renfewshire ; from Portrush in Ireland, and Lamp 
 in the Isle of Sky. 
 
 ,r DIPYRE. 
 
 This rare substance occurs in slender octohedral prisms^ 
 of a greyish, or reddish white colour, fasciculated into 
 masses These prisms exhibit joints parallel to the 
 sides, and to the diagonal, of a rectangular prism The 
 Dipyre is of a shini g vitreous lustre, is hard enough to 
 scratch glass, and becomes slightly phosphorescent by 
 the application of heat. It consists of 60 of silex, 24 o 
 alumine, 10 of lime, and 2 of water. Its sp. gr. is about 
 3,7. 
 
 It was found in the torrent of Mauleon, in the west- 
 am Pyrennees, in a gangue of white., or reddish steatite,, 
 aiingled with sulphuret of iron. 
 
 STILBITE^ 
 
 , V ^j? 
 
 Stilbite is of a peculiar glistening or shiny pearly lus- 
 ire, by which it may be recognized at once. Its colours 
 are white, grey, brown, or red ; it is transparent or trans- 
 lucent, and not sufficiently hard to scratch glass. It OG* 
 ours lamelliform, massive, and crystallized ; the crystal 
 are sometimes fasciculated into slender grisms >; 
 
18 ELEMENTAllY INTRODUCTION" 
 
 form of the primitive crystal is a right prism with rec- 
 tangular bases, in which it sometimes occurs, but more 
 often these prisms are terminated by tetrahedral sum* 
 dits. It consists of 52 parts of silex, 17. 5 of aluminc, 
 9 of lime, and 18. 5 of water. Its sp. gr. is 2, 5. 
 
 The Stilbite is met with in the fissures of primitive 
 rocks; in mineral veins; and in the cavities of amygda- 
 loid. 
 
 It has been found near Grenoble, of a pale straw co- 
 our; at Andreasberg, upon carbonated lime ; at Aren-- 
 dahl, in Norway, of a brown colour; in Iceland, of a 
 shining white colour, on the Iceland spar ; in the islands 
 of Sky, Staffa and Canna, in amygdaloid ; and it has 
 been met with massive, of an orange brown colour, at 
 ^Dumbarton ; at Glen Farg in Perthshire, and at Callhitl 
 in Aberdeenshire. 
 
 CAT'S EYE. 
 
 This mineral is generally brought in the polished state 
 from the coast of Mal.tbar, and from Ceylon ; but no- 
 thing is known of its geological situation. Its colour is 
 Of various shades of grey, green, brown, or red ; and ft 
 exhibits a peculiar play of light, resembling the eye of 
 the animal from which it takes its name ; this peculiar 
 reflection, emphatically termed by the French, chato- 
 yant, is owing to the fibrous texture of the substance, a* 
 rising, as it has been supposed by some, from its consist* 
 tng of asbestus, enclosed in quartz. Its specific gravity 
 is about 2. 7. It is composed of 95 parts of silex, 1. 76 
 of alumine, 1. 5 of lime, and 0. 25 of oxide of iron. It 
 s frequently employed as a precious stone, and is in 
 Considerable estimation. 
 
 PREHNITE, 
 
 This mineral is of a pale greenish or yellowish colour. . 
 with a shining pearly lustre, and is somewhat transparent; 
 it is scarcely hard enough to scratch glass, and becomes 
 electric by heat. It occurs in very minute crystals, 
 which are for the most part closely aggregated ; their 
 primitive form is a right rhomboidal prism of 103*. and 
 
TO MISERALOGF. 1 
 
 77 ; the prisms sometimes have 6 or 8 sides. A vari- 
 ety which occurs in small translucent lamellae, of a yel- 
 lowish white colour, and glistening pearly lustre, consists 
 of 48 parts of silex, 24 of alumine, 23 of lime, and 4 of 
 oxide of iron. The prehnite is also found massive, and 
 consists of the same elements, somewhat differing in their 
 respective proportions, together with about 2 per cent 
 of water. 
 
 Crystallized prehnite has been met with in considers 
 ble quantity, and of a purer green than that of Europe, 
 at the Cape of Good Hope ; it occurs in France ; in the 
 valley of Fascha in the Tyrol, accompanying mesotypej 
 and at Dunglasse in Scotland. 
 
 The lamelliform variety, called the Koupholite^ oc- 
 curs near Bareges, and the peak of Eredlitz in the Py- 
 rennees, in a gangue of cavernous hornstone, mingled 
 with chlorite, &c. 
 
 The massive is found in France;- in Scotland, near 
 Dumbarton ; at Hartfield Moor, nearly Paisley ; at Fris- 
 ky Hall, near Glasgow; at the Castle Rock, near Edin- 
 burgh ; and in the Isle of Mull. 
 
 The Prehnite seems to belong to rocks of early for- 
 mation, of which it does not enter into the composition; 
 it is only dis eminated in small quantity, without form- 
 ing either beds or veins. 
 
 ZOYS1TE, 
 
 ft; 
 
 The Zoysite, which, together with the Thallite, is m- 
 eluded by Haliy under the name of EPIDOTE, was so 
 ailed after the Baron de Zoys. it occurs in oblique 
 ihomboidal prisms, of a grey, greyish or yellow or browa 
 colour, with a pearly lustre and translucent, which are 
 rarely perfect, owing to deep longitudinal striae. The 
 Zoysite consists of 44 parts of silex, 32 of alumine, 20 oi* 
 Kme, and 2.5 of oxide of iron, and is met with in Caria- 
 thia, the neighbourhood of Salzburg, and in the Tyrol,, 
 fee* 
 
20 ELEMENTARY INTEODUCTIOrT 
 
 inOCEASE. VESUVIAN. BROWN VOLCANIC HYACINTH. 
 
 Idocrase occurs massive, but more often crystallized 
 In groups, consisting of short quadrangular prisms, of 
 \vhich the edges are variously replaced, and variously 
 terminated. Haiiy notices eight varieties in the form of its 
 crystals; one of which, if complete, would have presented 
 90 planes ; 16 on the prism, and 37 on each summit ; he 
 considers the primitive to be a right prism, with square 
 bases, differing very Itltle from the proportions of the 
 cube. The colour of the Idocrase is mostly brownish or 
 yellowish green, sometimes orange, with a resinous lus- 
 tre i and it is hard enough to scratch glass. That of 
 Vesuvius consists of silex 35.50, alumine 33. lime 22.25 4 
 and oxide of iron 7.50. Its specific gravity varies from 
 3.088 to 3.409. It possesses double refraction. 
 
 It has been met with both in volcanic, and in primitive 
 countries. It occurs in the midst of the projected masses 
 of Vesuvius and Etna; where its crystals, which exhibit 
 no appearance of change by heat, line the cavities of vol- 
 canic rocks, principally composed of felspar, mica, talc f 
 and carbonated lirne ; and are accompanied by garnet, 
 hornblende, meionite, &tc. 
 
 The Idocrase has also been found in Siberia, in a 
 greenish white serpentine, near the lake Achtaragda s 
 and on the banks of Vilhoui ; and in massive veins pass-* 
 ing through green serpentine, in the plain of Mussa in 
 Piedmont. It has been found also in the counties of 
 Wicklow and Donegal, in Ireland. 
 
 It is cut and polished by the lapidaries of Naples ; er,* 
 der the name Cri/solite of Vesuvius, 
 
TO MI2?ER1LO<3V. 21 
 
 GARNET.* 
 
 The Garnet is a reddish, yellowish, greenish, or black- 
 ish brown colour ; it is found in small granular masses, 
 and crystallized in the form of the dodecahedron with 
 rhomboidal planes, which is considered to be the form 
 of its primitive crystal. It also occurs in crystals having 
 24 trapezoidal faces ; only 5 or 6 varieties have been 
 described. It is harder than quartz, but not so hard as 
 the alamandine. It is rarely transparent, frequently 
 opake. It consists of 43 parts of silex, 16 of alumine, 20 
 of lime, and 16 of oxide of iron. 
 
 The alamandine, allochroite, melanite, aplome and 
 garnet, are commonly arranged together under the lat- 
 ter name ; but their elementary constituents do not cor- 
 respond. 
 
 Garnets are very abundant ; they principally occur dis- 
 seminated among some of the older rocks, as micaceous 
 schistus, serpentine, and gneiss, and sometimes in granite. 
 They are met with in most countries in which those 
 rocks occur, and sometimes are so plentiful as almost to 
 constitute the mass. They are found also in mineral 
 veins, accompanying some of the ores of copper, lead, 
 magnetic iron, niispickel, c. In the mountains sepa- 
 rating Stiria and Cariothia, they are met with upwards 
 of 21bs. in weight, in a bed of green talc. In Bohemia 
 they are fourjd of a brown colour, accompanying tin ; 
 in Siberia of a pale green, in lithoraarga ; at ropscbair, 
 in Hungary, of an emeral green, in serpentine : in Corsi- 
 
 * Gar/.~Garnets are found in the county of New York, cryftallized 
 in twelve fided figures, as large as hazel-nuts. Mica is frequently affociir 
 ted with them in chefe cryftalline forms. They are bedded in gniefs, 
 micaceous fchifc, and granite, anda;-c feparated by the cold- chifiel. Gra- 
 nite is not uncommonly aftbciated with black schoerl, as in the fine 
 rounded fpecimens from Hurtleberry ifland. It occurs in conjunction 
 with quartz. Mica is often blended with garnet. Indeed garnet mingles 
 abundantly with the ingredients of gniefs, granite, and micaceous fchift, in 
 binary, ternary, and quarternary forms, 
 
 I have beautiful fpecimens of dodecahedral garnets, of nearly the fize of 
 peas, from Norway ; and fome have very large and complete ones from, 
 the North-weft coaft of America. 
 
 Is fometimes maflive, and forngtimcs it? grains are compared into gar- 
 ,net-rcck. 
 
22 ELEMENTARV INTRODUCTION 
 
 ca, of a yellow colour ; in the Grisons, c. of an orange 
 colour; in Cornwall, in small quantity, in argillaceous 
 schistus : they are not uncommon in Scotland, in mica- 
 ceous schistus ; and are found in some parts of Ire 
 land. 
 
 CINNAMON-STONE. 
 
 *'= . 
 
 This rare mineral has only been met wilh at Colurn- 
 bo, in the island of Ceylon. It is known in Holland by 
 the name of Kanelstien, signifying cinnamon-stone, pro 
 bably from its resemblance to cinnamon in colour. Ik 
 geological situation is not known. It occurs massive, o 
 in detached fragments, which are full of cracks, and 
 usually of a yellowish brown, passing into orange yellow 
 and hyacinth red. It is somewhat transparent, with a 
 vitreous-resinous lustre, and scratches quartz, though 
 with some difficulty. By analysis it affords 38.8 of silex, 
 25.2 of alumine, 31-25 of lime, and 6.5 of oxide of iron. 
 Its sp. gr- is 3.6. By some, it is considered as bearing 
 considerable affinity to the Garnet. 
 
 TRIPOLI. 
 
 Tripoli obtained its appelation from being first 
 brought from a place of that name in Africa : it has 
 since been found in other places. This mineral has 
 generally an argillaceous aspect. It is sometimes of a 
 schistose structure, but is more often massive, with a 
 coarse, dull, earthy fracture ; and is meagre and rough 
 to the touch, and yeilds easily to the nail. It occurs of 
 various shades of grey, yellow, and red ; and is said con- 
 stantly to yield 90 parts of silex, the rest being argil, iron, 
 and sometimes a small portion of lime. 
 
 Tripoli is found in beds at Menat near Resin, in the 
 Puy de Dome ; in Tuscany, it is met with at Volterra, 
 so situated, as to seem the consequence of the decom- 
 position of chalcedony ; and at Post-Cbappel in Saxo- 
 ny, in a mountain containing coal. It is also found in 
 Flanders 3 Westphalia, and Russia, 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 23 
 
 It is used in polishing metals, marble, glass, and other 
 hard bodies. 
 
 BOLE. * 
 
 Bole or Ochre is always somewhat compact ; it is ei- 
 ther red, yellow, or brown : it yields to the nail, adheres 
 to the tongue, and gives a shining streak on paper : 
 \vhen breathed on, it gives out a sensible argillaceous 
 odour ; it breaks down in water, with which it may be 
 reduced to the consistence of a paste 
 
 Red Chalk or Reddle is by some considered as a va- 
 riety of bole ; but from its containing a large proportion 
 of iron, it has lately been placed among its ores. 
 
 A variety, of a lighter colour than red chalk, is bro't 
 from Armenia, and is commonly known by the name of 
 Bole armenic. 
 
 Another variety, found in Lemnos, when impressed 
 by the seal of the governor of the island, or of the Grand 
 Seignor, is sold under the name of terra sigillata. It is 
 used in medicine. Red bole is found near Estremos in 
 Portugal. 
 
 Bole of a yellow colour occurs in beds, between those 
 of sand, and therefore belongs to the newest secondary 
 formation. It becomes red by exposure to heat. It is 
 met with at several places in France ; that of Auxerre 
 is composed of 65 of silex, 9 of alumine, 5 of lime, and 
 20 of oxide of iron. 
 
 The red brown earth of Sienna, used as a pigment, is 
 considered to be a variety of bole. 
 
 Bole of a brown colour, or of a yellowish brown, is 
 commonly known as a pigment, by the name of bistre 
 it is found in the island of Cyprus, but nothing is known 
 of its geological situation. It is used in porcelain pain- 
 ting. 
 
 Boles are considered as coloured marles or clays, 
 
 *'J?o/. Ochres of various hues are found in the United States. New" 
 York, New-Jerfey, Delaware, and Louifiana, have furnifhed yellow 
 ochres, red ochres, brown ochres, of many {hades and hues, and which 
 mix well with oil into paints. 
 
24 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 CLAY 
 
 The substances comprehended under the term of 
 Clay, may be generally described as any earthy mixture 
 which possesses plasticity and ductility when kneaded 
 up with water. Few, if any of the substances possessing 
 tbese characters, can, strictly speaking, be considered 
 as constituting a distinct mineral species ; being, in 
 general, the result of the decomposition of rocks* 
 Clay, when moist, is plastic ; somewhat unctuous to the 
 touch, and acquires a polish by being rubbed with the 
 finger or the nail ; when dry, it is solid ; when burnt, 
 sufficiently hard to give sparks with the steel, and is in- 
 iusible. Clays, generally speaking, have not been ana- 
 lyzed ; though it is suspected that the proportions of 
 their constituent principles vary considerably. They 
 are considered in the aggregate to consist of a large 
 proportion of silex, mixed with a third or fourth of 
 their weight of alumine, occasionally with a small quan- 
 tity of lime, a variable proportion of oxide of iron, and 
 some water. 
 
 In the term Earthy Clay, may be comprehended 
 common brick earth, or loam, and common alluvial 
 clay. 
 
 brick earth or Loam varies very much in appearance^ 
 texture, and composition. It usually contains a consi- 
 derable proportion of sand ; which, nevertheless, is fre- 
 quently added by the brick maker. It is commonly met 
 with above common alluvial clay, and frequently rests 
 upon an interposed bed of sand. The organic remains 
 contained in it are few. 
 
 Common alluvial Clay occurs principally in low coun 
 tries, in which it serves to fill up hollows ; it frequently 
 rises into hills, which sometimes are stratified. In many 
 countries considerable tracts consist principally of clay 
 to a great depth, as in the London chalk basin, which 
 lias been perforated in some places to the depth of .500 
 feet, without passing through it ; it contains the remains 
 f large land and sea animals, and sometimes vegetable 
 remains are found in the same bed ; occasionally at va- 
 rious depth, beds of fine white sand are met with, Pe* 
 
TO MINERALOGT, 5 
 
 posites or beds of clay are considered to consist of the 
 debris or ruin of rocks, and are regarded among the 
 principal causes of the formation and duration of springs. 
 The water which percolates the secondary country, bor- 
 dering the deposites of clay, passes beneath them, and 
 is retained untill some opening permits it to rise in the 
 shape of a spring, or until vent is given to these reser- 
 voirs by the sinking of wells. 
 
 Pipe Clay* is of a greyish or yellowish white colour, an 
 earthy fracture, and smooth greasy feel ; it adheres pret- 
 ty strongly to the tongue, and is very plastic and tena- 
 cious. It is manufactured into tobacco pipes, and is the 
 basis of the Queen's ware pottery. 
 
 Potters' Clay\ is plastic, slaty. It yields to the nail ; 
 is generally of a reddish, bluish or greenish colour, and 
 has a soft and often greasy feel When mixed with 
 sand, it is made into bricks and tiles. A variety found 
 in the forest of Dreux, in France, employed, on account 
 of its infusibility, in the making of tiles for the porcelain 
 furnaces, consists of 43 parts of silex, 33 of alumine, 3 of 
 lime, 1 of iron, and 18 of water. Most part of the clay 
 used in the potteries of Staffordshire and Newcastle upon 
 Tyne, is said to be found near Teignmouth in Devon- 
 shire. That of Hampshire yields by analysis, 51 parts of 
 silex, 25 of alumine, 3 of lime, with a trace of manga- 
 nese and some water. 
 
 Porcelain c/m/J is greyish or yellowish-white, or more 
 often reddish- white ; it adheres to the tongue, is meagre 
 to the feel, and is commonly friable ; but if compact, is 
 easily broken. It falls to pieces in water and becomes 
 plastic, though not in a very great degree. That which ig 
 found inconsiderable beds in the parish of St. Stephen's ia 
 Cornwall, consists, according to Wedgwood, of 60 parts 
 of alumine and 40 of silex. It seems undoubtedly to 
 
 * Pipe Clay. Pipes for fmoking have been made of a kind of Clay in 
 the town of Oyfterbay, Long Ifland. The pipes, however, were deficient 
 in folidity and ftrength. 
 
 f Potters Clay, (ibid.) Clay, for earthen ware and ftone ware, abound*' 
 ill a great number of places. 
 
 | Porcelain Clay. The experiments made in the city of New- York, 
 prove that porcelain clay s found in this country. Elegant pieces of porce- 
 lain, equal to the Chinefc, or even the French, have been made -from 
 domeftic maceriala, 
 
 c 
 
6 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 originate from the decomposition of felspar; it frequent- 
 ly contains portions of quartz and of mica. The origin 
 of porcelain clay, in the general, is not however well 
 understood. It differs materially in respect of compo- 
 sition. The Kaolin of China consists of 71.15 of silex, 
 15.86 of alumine, 1.92 of lime, and 6.73 of water. It is 
 found largely in France, and granitic countries, and 
 therefore seems to have the same origin as that of 
 Cornwall. 
 
 Indurated day is met with interposed between beds of 
 coal at Stourbridge in Worcestershire, and at Coalbrook 
 Dale in Shropshire. It is sometimes called Stourbridge 
 day orjlre clay. It occurs massive, and in large com- 
 pressed nodules of a greyish white colour, with a tinge 
 of blue or yellow ; it yields readily to the knife, and is 
 very refractory in the fire ; by exposure to the air it 
 becomes soft and falls to pieces, and then becomes 
 plastic. 
 
 PORCELLAN1TE. 
 
 Porcellanite is found massive, and of a slaty structure, 
 Its colour varies from grey to bluish grey, mixed with 
 red ; ochry yellow ; greyish or bluish-black- It is 
 opake, and hard enough to scratch glass ; but it is not 
 abundant $ being principally, if not exclusively found in 
 places in which mines of coal have been in a state of 
 combustion ; and is regarded as shale altered by heat. 
 At Mount Brussant, near St. Etienne, in France, it is 
 composed of layers, alternately grey and red ; that of 
 Bchlangenberg, in Bohemia, is of a dull green colour. 
 
 MELANITE.* 
 
 The Melanite is usually black and opake, and occurs 
 
 * Melanite. At Gcrmantown it has been found of a velvet black co- 
 lour, of cenfiderable luflre, varying from the fize of a pin-head to an inchx 
 in diameter. The cryftals are polyhedrons, with twenty-four trapezoidal 
 faces : fpecific gravity 3.616. It reft* in the gneiss, which rcpofes on gra- 
 nite, of which the feldfpath is fnow white, and has a high degree of tranf- 
 parcncy. Though cryftals of tourmaline, mica, phofphate of lime, and 
 Dcryl, are universally difleminated, there is no melanite, except in this one 
 particular place. Wistar, Am. Min. Jour. f. 31. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 21 
 
 in the form of a rbomboidal dodecahedron, of which 
 the edges are commonly replaced by planes. It consists 
 of about 35 parts of silex, 6 of alumine, 32 of lime, 25 of 
 oxide of iron, and a trace of oxide of manganese. The 
 Melanite is usually arranged among garnets. It has 
 been found in Italy, at Frascati, near Vesuvius, in a 
 volcanic rock, enclosing also felspar, idocrase and 
 hornblende : it also occurs in the calcareous rocks of 
 Somma. 
 
 APLOME. 
 
 The Aplome is usually considered a variety of the 
 garnet, with which it agrees in respect of its external fi- 
 gure, but differs in containing manganese. It commonly 
 occurs in rhomboidal dodecahedrons, of which the 
 planes are striated parallel with their lesser diagonal ; 
 they are usually of a deep brown, or orange-brown co- 
 lour, opake, and somewhat harder than quartz ; it con- 
 sists of 40 of silex, 20 of alumine, 14..*> of lime, 14.5 of 
 oxide of iron, and 2 of oxide of manganese. The ap- 
 lome is found on the banks of the river Lena in Siberia* 
 Garnets of a yellowish green colour have been met with 
 at Swartzenberg, in Saxony, which have considerable 
 affinity to this mineral. 
 
 THALLITE. ACANT1CONITE. 
 
 This mineral is found granular, massive, or crystallized 
 in six, eight, or twelve sided prisms, variously termina- 
 ted and longitudinally striated ; and is of a green, yel- 
 lowish, bluish, or blackish-green colour, of a shining 
 lustre, and somewhat transparent. The primitive crystal 
 is a right prism, of which the bases are oblique-angled 
 parallelograms. Haiiy includes this mineral and the 
 zoisite under the term epidote The crytallized thallite 
 consists of 37 parts of silex, 21 of alumine, 15 of lime, 
 24 of oxide of iron, and 1.5 of oxide of manganese ; and 
 its specific gravity is 3.45 : but the granular variety, in 
 the form of a green sand, varies in respect of the propor- 
 tions of its elements, 
 
28 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 
 The Thallite is not often found massive, but chiefly 
 in crystals, varying in size from the acicular to near an 
 inch in diameter ; the acicular are met with in the de- 
 partment of Iser6, in France ; at Chamouni, in the Alps. 
 &c. ; the larger occur at Arendahl, in Norway. It be- 
 longs exclusively to primitive rocks, but is only found in 
 veins and fissures ; magnetic iron, garnet, felspar, adu- 
 laria, axinite, and asbestus, are the minerals which 
 ehiefly accompany thallite. 
 
 WERNERITE. 
 
 This mineral is of a greenish-grey or olive-green co- 
 lour, with a lustre between pearly and resinous ; it is 
 softer than felspar, and yields to the knife. It occurs 
 massive, and in eight-sided prisms with four-sided 
 pyramids. It consist of 40 parts of silex, Tj4 of alu- 
 mine, 16 of lime, 8 of oxide of iron, and 1.5 of oxide 
 of manganese. 
 
 The wernerite is a rare mineral ; it is met with in ir- 
 regular grains or rrytallized, disseminated in rocks com- 
 posed of a greyish or of a red felspar, intermingled witfa 
 quartz, at Bouoen, near Arendahl in Norway ; in the 
 tnines of Nortbo and of Ulrica in Sweden, and at Cam- 
 po-longo in Switzerland. 
 
 TOURMALINE.* 
 
 Tourmaline in respect of colour, is either white, 
 green, blue, brown, yellow or black ; it occurs in crystals 
 which are striated, or rather deeply channelled, length- 
 wise ; their lustre is splendent or vitreous, and they are 
 scarcely so hard as quartz. It is remarkable that this 
 substance is either translucent or transparent when held 
 
 * Tourmaline. Very large cryftals of black tourmaline have been found 
 in the primitive and granitical rocks, near New York, Philadelphia, and 
 Brunfwick in Maine. Indigo tourmalines of nearly an inch in diameter 
 have been brought from Northampton, Maf. They are of a deep indigo 
 blue, almofl approaching to black. They are bedded in granite, with 
 quartz, feldfpath and reddifh mica, of remarkably coarfe and diftinct parts. 
 Green tourmalines are found with them, in long cryftals. 
 
 Red Schoerls, or Rubellites, accompany the green fchoerls. The latter 
 have bccu feen to referable a tube or canal filled up by the former, Such 
 
TO MINERALOCT, 29 
 
 up to the light, and viewed in a direction perpendicular 
 to the axis of the prism ; but if viewed perpendicular to 
 the bases, is always opake, even though the prism be 
 short. Seventeen varieties in the form of the crystal 
 have been described ; their primitive form is, according 
 to Haiiy, an obtuse rhomboid of 133. 26' and 46. 34. 
 The crystals become electric by being heated, and 
 thereby acquire polarity ; and their summits or pyramids 
 are always dissimilar. That which presents the greatest 
 number of faces always exhibits the positive or vitreous 
 electricity ; and that having the smaller number, always 
 the negative, or resinous. Its specific gravity is about 
 3. 
 
 The green tourmaline of Brazil is composed of 40 
 parts ofsilex, 39 of alumine, 3. 84 of lime, 12.5 of oxide 
 of iron, and 2 of oxide of manganese. 
 
 The white variety was found at St Gothard in mica- 
 ceous dolamite by Dolomieu, who mentions having dis- 
 covered some in the granite of Elba, the half of which 
 was white, the other half black. The yellow variety 
 has been noticed in sand from Ceylon. Tourmalines of 
 a dull green, or of a bluish-green, are from Brazil ; those 
 of an emerald-green, from Cevlon. A variety of an in- 
 digo-blue-colour, thence called Indicolite, has been found 
 in the mine of Utoe in Sweden, in crystals of an inde- 
 terminate form, disseminated in a gangue of steatite, 
 quartz, and felspar. 
 
 AXINITE. THUMERSTONE. 
 
 This mineral derived its name of Thumcrstone, from 
 having been first met with at Thum in Saxony. It oc- 
 curs in laoielliform concretions, and crystallized. The 
 
 ipaffes of red fchoerl, incafed by green, have a peculiar and beautiful ef- 
 fect. Sometimes the red inclofes the green. Thefe fingular forms led 
 Dr. Bruce to fend fpecimens to Profefibr Haiiy, who has thought them 
 irorthy of a fpecial difiertation. This intcrefting tract has been transla- 
 ted by Dr. P. S. Townfend, for the New- York Lyceum of Natural Histo- 
 ry, and publiflied in Meffrs. Biglow & Holley's Magazine. I own my 
 obligations, for a fet of -very fine fpecimens, to Ezra Weeks, Efq. The 
 Rev. Mr. Schaeffer and other gentlemen brought curious fpecimens of a 
 fine needle-like indicolite, from a detached rock in the city pf New-Yorkl 
 Ih tbefe pieces, green often accompanied the blue. 
 
 c 2 
 
30 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 lamelliform, of a dingy violet colour, is found at Ehren- 
 friedersdorf in Saxony. The same variety, of a dull clove- 
 brow^, is found at Botallack, near the Land's End in 
 Cornwall ; sometimes also it is crystallized, though not 
 very determinately. The most beautiful is met with in 
 a serpentine rock at Balme d'Auris in Dauphine ; gene- 
 rally in neat and well defined crystals, sometimes nearly 
 colourless and transparent, but more often of a dull red- 
 dish violet colour and translucent ; whence it has obtain- 
 ed the name of Violet Schorl of Dauphine. The crystals 
 in rny possession exhibit 18 varieties of form, which are 
 tiot symmetrical. This want of symmetry is common to 
 those substances, which, like the axinite, become elec- 
 trical by exposure to heat. The primitive crystal of the 
 axinite is a remarkably flat right rhomboidal prism, of 
 which the bases are oblique angled parallelograms of 
 78 and 101g according to Haiiy ; but the measure- 
 ments obtained by the Teflecting goniometer do not cor- 
 respond with the results obtained by him. The axinite 
 is hard enough to scratch glass, but less hard than quartz ; 
 its specific gravity is about 3.2 ; and it consists of 44 of 
 silex, 18 of alumiue, 19 of lime, 14 of oxide of iron, and 
 4 of oxide of manganese. 
 
 It has only been met with in veins and fissures of pri- 
 tnitive rocks, and is not very abundant. Besides the 
 places above mentioned, it occurs in the peak of Ered- 
 litz in the Pyrennees, upon a gangue of quartz, accompa- 
 nied by carbonate of lime ; near Alenc,on in granite ; at 
 Mount Atlas, in Africa ; near Kongsberg in Norway, in 
 <a white laminated calcareous rock, accompanied by black 
 mica, quartz, and sometimes native silver. 
 
 ALLOCHROITE. 
 
 The Allochroite, is of a greyish, dingy yellow, or red- 
 dish colour, and opake ; it is not so hard as quartz. It 
 consists of 35 parts of silex, 8 of alumine, 30.5 of lirne, 
 17 of oxide of iron, 3.5 of oxide of manganese, and 6 of 
 Carbonate of lime. It is commonly considered as a va- 
 ciety of the garnet, from which it differs in respect of 
 composition. 
 
 The Allochroite is found in the iron onine of Virums, 
 
 ' '"^ 
 
r TO MINERALOGY* Si 
 
 - ' ' '- 
 
 near Drammen in Norway, accompanied by carbonate 
 
 of lime, Hematites iron, and brown garnets. 
 
 LAPIS LAZULI. 
 
 This mineral is found massive, and of a fine azure 
 blue colour ; its texture is fine grained or compact, and 
 it is bard enough to scratch glass, though it scarcely 
 gives sparks by the steel. Its specific gravity is 2.76 to 
 2.94. Its blue colour is not uniform, as it frequently en- 
 closes iron pyrites, compact felspar, and quartz. It is 
 said to have been met with crystallized in the form of 
 a rhomboidal dodecahedron ; but as the crystal was o- 
 pake, and enclosed iron pyrites and carbonate of lime, 
 there seems no sufficient proof of its being true Lapis 
 Lazuli ; which according to Klaproth, consists of 46 of 
 silex, 14of alumine, 28 of carbonate of lime, 6.5 of sul- 
 phate of lime, 3 of oxide of iron, and 2 of water. 
 
 It has been found in small masses enclosed in primi- 
 tive rocks, principally in granites, accompanied by felspar, 
 pyrites, garnet and carbonate of lime ; but is more often 
 found in small masses rounded by attrition ; as on the 
 borders of the lake Baikal in Siberia. The finest speci- 
 mens are brought from China, Persia, and Great Bucha- 
 ria. 
 
 Lapis lazuli is used in jewellery, but is chiefly impor- 
 tant as affording that beautiful pigment called ultra- 
 marine, so highly valued by painters on account of its 
 great advantage of not changing by time w and expo- 
 sure, 
 
 EGYPTIAN JASPER, 
 
 This mineral is more commonly known by the name 
 of Egyptian Pebble. It occurs in roundish masses which 
 are externally rough, and generally of a brown colour. 
 Internally ik is usually of a light colour, which sometimes 
 approaches to that of cream, around which are disposed 
 irregular zones or bands of various shades ef brown a 
 sometimes intermixed with nearly black spots, and oc^ 
 sasionally dendritic appearances. Its specific gravity is 
 
32 ELEMENTARY INTBODUCTION 
 
 2.5 2.6 ; by one analysis which does seem to have 
 been complete, it yielded 75 parts of silex, 15 of alumine 
 and 5 of magnesia. 
 
 It is found according to Dr. Clarke, in vast abundance, 
 together with masses and detached fragments of petri- 
 fied wood, among which are several varieties of the palm, 
 scattered over the surface of the sandy desert, eastward 
 of Grand Cairo, even to the borders of the Red 
 Sea. 
 
 It is susceptible of a high polish, and is therefore of- 
 ten applied to ornamental purposes. 
 
 THEM LITE. 
 
 The general colour of Tremolite is white, which 
 sometimes has a greenish, bluish, yellowish or reddish 
 tinge ; it occurs fibrous, and crystalized in four, six, or 
 eight-sided prisms, terminated by diedral summits, and 
 is semi-transparent or translucent, and hard enough to 
 scratch glass. Its specific gravity is about 3 ; the fibrous 
 variety of Clicker Tor in Cornwall is composed of 62.2 
 of silex, 14.1 of lime, 12.9 of magnesia, 5.9 of oxide of 
 iron, and 1 of water. 
 
 It was first discovered in the valley of Tremola near 
 St Gothard, whence its name ; it has since been met with 
 in Hungary, Transylvania and Bohemia. In Corsica, it 
 occurs in lamellar bluish green talc ; near Nantes, in 
 granite abounding in felspar : at Somma, in granular 
 carbonate of lime ; and in Bengal : in lamellar limestone, 
 in the banks of the lake Baikal in Siberia, whence it has 
 been called Baikalite ; in Glen Tilt and Glen Egg ia 
 Aberdeenshire, in white primitive limestone ; in Corn- 
 wall, it is found at Clicker Tor. A fibrous specimen in 
 jny possession from Stony Gwins in that county, is de- 
 posited on quartz, and accompanied by small yellow 
 crystals of uranite. 
 
 MEERSCHAUM. 
 
 Meerschaum is of a whitish or yellowish white colour, 
 cpake and dull ; it has an earthy fracture, yields easily 
 to the nail, and adheres strongly to the tongue j some* 
 
TO 1IYNEBALOGY. 3g 
 
 times it is so light as to swim on water, and occasionally 
 is very porous : this last characteristic has doubtless oo 
 easioned its name, which signifies sea-foam. It consists 
 of 50.5 per cent, of silex, 17.25 of magnesia, 0.5 of lime, 
 5 of carbonic acid, and '25 of water. 
 
 It occurs in the isle of Samos and Negropont in the 
 Archipelago, in mass, or disseminated, or in beds : at 
 Kiltschik in Natolia, it fills a vein about six feet wide^ 
 traversing compact grey carbonate of lime; it is soft 
 when first dug, and in that state is made into pipes, but 
 hardens by exposure to air. It is also met with in Ca- 
 rinthia. 
 
 In the Turkish dominions, Meerschaum is employed 
 as fuller's earth is with us ; and by the women as soap 
 for washing their hair. In Constantinople it is termed 
 Keffekil or earth of KafFa, the town of the Crimea, 
 whence it is shipped. 
 
 A substance somewhat similar to Meerschaum has 
 been found at (artel del Piano near Sienna, consisting 
 of 55 of silex, 25 of magnesia, 12 of alumine, 3 of lime, 
 and 0.1 of oxide of iron ; it was made into bricks so light 
 as to swim on water, thus restoring one of the lost arts re- 
 corded by Strabo and Pliny. 
 
 Another substance, consisting of 55 of silex, 22 of 
 magnesia, and 23 of water, and of a chocolate brown co- 
 lour, is found at Salinelle near Sommieres, in beds, ia 
 chalk containing silex : and in various places in Pied- 
 mont, a substance of a white colour, consisting, when 
 fresh dug, of silex, magnesia, and water, is found in beds 
 and in veins : by exposure to air it absorbs carbonic 
 acid. 
 
 ANTHOPHYLLITF* 
 
 
 
 The Anthophyllite has hitherto only been found at 
 Kongsberg in Norway ; it occurs massive, with joints 
 parallel to the faces of a rectangular prism, is feebly 
 translucent on the edges, and has a slight metallic lustre ; 
 it is scarcely hard enough to scratch glass. Its specific 
 gravity is about 3.3. By analysis it is found to consist 
 of 62.66 of silex, 13.33 of alumine, 4 of magnesia, 12 of 
 oxide of iron, 3.25 of oxide of manganese, and 1.43 of 
 water. 
 
34 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Some of the characters of the Anthophyllite have in* 
 duced Haiiy to suppose that it is only a varif ty of the 
 Hypersthene ; but their elements do not correspond. 
 
 HARMOTOME. CROSS STONE. 
 
 The barmotome is commonly met with in flattish 
 quadrangular prisms, terminated by four rhombic planes, 
 crossing each other lengthwise and at right angles. It is 
 also met with in solitary crystals. Their primitive form, 
 according to Haiiy, is a rectangular octohedron of 86 36' 
 and 83 24' ; but this is not confirmed by the reflecting 
 goniometer, which gives results differing about 2'. I 
 possess crystals of the harmotome in 12 varieties of form, 
 one of which is so remote from the primitive, as to ap- 
 pear a perfect six-sided prism, and several approach 
 that form. This transition is very intelligible, though 
 not easily described without Igures. 
 
 In cruciform crystals it occurs in metalliferous veins, 
 mingled with white lamellar carbonate of lime and sul- 
 phuret of lead, at Andreasberg in the Hartz ; it is also met 
 with at Strontian in Scotland. In solitary crystals it is 
 chiefly found in the cavities of siliceous geodes at Ober- 
 stein in Saxony. 
 
 The colour of this mineral is greyish-white ; it is trans^ 
 lucent with a somewhat pearly lustre, and is hard enough 
 to scratch glass. It? specific gravity is 2.35 ; and it is 
 composed of 49 per cent of silex, iGofalumine, 18 of 
 barytes, and 15 of water. 
 
 **r'' -,-,!>.,' , 
 
 ASBESTUS.* 
 
 There are several varieties of asbestus. They are 
 generally of a fibrous texture, varying in respect of flexi- 
 bility and elasticity. The fibres of asbestus have not 
 yet been seen in any very determinate form, but Haiiy 
 regarded some which fell under his observation as rhom- 
 boidal prisms. Asbestus is extremely difficult of fusion 
 
 * Asbestus.- Afbeftus with rigid fibres is often found in the city of 
 New- York, in detached mafles ; miflaken by many for petrified wood. 
 It is alfo brought from Hoboken, where it fills the veins of ferpentine ; 
 and from Statcn-ifland, where it accompanies fteatitei 
 
TO MTNEEALOCJY. 35 
 
 in the mass ; but its fibres are easily reduced by the 
 blowpipe. Asbestus is derived from a Greek word, sig- 
 tying imperishable. 
 
 Amianthus* occurs in very long and extremely slender 
 fibres, which are very flexible, and of a whitish, greenish 
 or reddish colour. It consists of 59 per cent, of silex, 3 
 ofalumine, 9 of lime, and 29 of magnesia. 
 
 It is found in the Tarentaise in Savoy, in the longest 
 and most beautiful fibres : that of Corsica is less beauti- 
 ful, but is so abundant, that Doiomieu used it for packing 
 his minerals : near Bareges in the Pyrennees, it occurs 
 mingled with felspar, lining veins passing through gneiss. 
 It occurs also at Inverary at Portsay in Scotland, and in 
 the Isle of Unst. 
 
 Amianthus (signifying unsoiled) was woven by the an- 
 cients into a kind of cloth, in which, being incombusti- 
 ble, they wrapped up the bodies of their dead, before 
 they were placed on the funeral pile, that their ashes 
 might be collected free from admixture. 
 
 Mountain Cork. The structure of this variety differs 
 from the former ; the filaments are not deposited in a 
 parallel direction, but intermingled in various directions, 
 occasioning cavities, to which may be attributed the 
 lightness of the mass. When in thin flexible plates, it is 
 termed mountain leather ; when in thin and less flexible, 
 mountain cork. 
 
 It occurs in the silver mines of Johan Georgenstadt in 
 Saxony ; at Bleyberg in Carinthia ; at Idria ; at Salberg, 
 &c. in Sweden ; between the villages of Randagont and 
 Vigan near Alais in France, it is spread over the soil, 
 which consists of an ochreous earth mingled with quartz 
 and mica, in long white pieces, which have been taken 
 for human bones, ft is also met with at Kiidrummie and 
 at Portsoy in Scotland. 
 
 Mountain wood or Ligniform asbestus has somewhat 
 
 * Amianthus is found in many parts of the United States, in the veins 
 and fiffures of primitive rocks. The fibres are sometimes ten or twelve 
 inches long, and, by their whiteness, parallelism and flexibility, refemble 
 flax. The. mountains along the confines of New- York and Connecticut, 
 contain many varieties. At Staten Ifland the fibres are nearly two feet 
 long, and twift like hemp. 
 
 The forms of Asbestus, called Thrum-stone, Leather-stone, Mineral Cot- 
 ton, Salamander's Wool^ are all contained in the primitive formation eft" 
 New- York, and its vicinity, 
 

 6 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 the appearance of wood ; its structure is finely foliated^ 
 the foliae being composed of fine fibres, which are of a 
 brownish colour. It is opake, somewhat elastic, and 
 floats on water. It is principally met with in the primi- 
 tive mountains of the Tyrol, accompanied with amian- 
 thus. It also occurs in various places i-n Scotland. 
 
 Common asbeslus is much heavier than the preceding 
 varieties, being nearly three times the weight of water. 
 It occurs in masses consisting of fibres of a dull greenish 
 colour, and pearly lustre. Common asbestus is scarce- 
 ly flexible. It is of more frequent occurrence than 
 amianthus : it usually accompanies serpentine ; and 
 is met with in Sweden, Hungary, Dauphine, the Uralian 
 mountains, at Portsoy in Scotland, the Isle of Anglesey, 
 and at the Lizard in Cornwall. 
 
 BASALTIC HORNBLENDE. 
 
 Basaltic hornblende is usually met with in opake sin- 
 gle crystals, imbedded in basalt or in lava ; the latter 
 sometimes affect the magnetic needle. The usual colour 
 of this mineral is black ; or brownish black, occasioned 
 by a slight decomposition. The crystals are six-sided, 
 variously terminated by three or four planes; but they are 
 sometimes dissimilar at the two extremities : their pri- 
 mitive form, according to Haiiy, is an oblique rhomboi- 
 dal prism of 124 34' and 55* 26' : the crystals have a 
 vitreous lustre and are hard enough to scratch glass. 
 The specific gravity of this mineral is 3.25 ; and it is 
 composed of 47 per cent, of silex, 26 of alumine, 8 of 
 lime, 2 of magnesia, and 15 of oxide of iron. 
 
 Being far less decomposable than basalt, it is some- 
 times found in fine crystals in the clay resulting from the 
 decomposition of basaltic rocks. It occurs in Saxony, 
 Bohemia, Italy, Scotland, &c. 
 
 *% 
 
 HYPERSTHENE. 
 
 The Hypersthene is met with either massive, or im- 
 bedded in rocks in rhomboidal prisms of about 120 and 
 60. Its colour is dark brown, or greenish black ; it has 
 a lamellar structure parallel with the sides of the prism,. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 31 
 
 and when fractured exhibits reflections which are strongly 
 metallic, and sometimes greenish, sometimes of a cop- 
 per red colour ; it is opake and yields to tke knife. Its 
 specific gravity is 3.38 ; and it consists of 54.25 of silex, 
 2.25 of alumine, 1.5 of lime, 14 of magnesia, 24.5 of 
 oxide of iron, arid 1 of water. 
 
 It usually occurs in serpentine ; and is thus found in 
 Cornwall associatf?d with compact felspar ; it is likewise 
 found at the Col de Cerviere in the Alps, at Matray in, 
 the Tyrol, at Basta in the duchy of Wolfenbuttel, and 
 in Hungary, &c. 
 
 It is very nearly allied to the following substance. 
 
 SCHILLER SPAR. 
 
 .;_,_ !'*j|k^V' : 
 
 Schiller Spar, like the preceding mineral, is always 
 found in serpentine, in which it generally occurs disse- 
 minated. It is of an olive, or bottle-green colour, and 
 when held in certain directions, has a shining lustre, 
 nearly approaching that of some of the metals : it is 
 opake and yields to the knife. A principal difference 
 between the schiller spar and hypersthene is, that the for- 
 mer fuses, though with some difficulty, into a black ena- 
 mel ; the latter is infusible. By one analysis it yields 41 
 of silex, 3 of aiumine, 1 of lime, 29 of magnesia, 14 of 
 oxide of iron, and 10 of water. 
 
 It is met with in the serpentine of Cornwall and of An- 
 glesey, and generally speaking, wherever the hypersthene 
 is found. 
 
 AUGITE. PYROXENE. 
 
 Augite usually occurs in translucent six-sided crytals, 
 terminated by dihedral summits ; they are of a Wackish- 
 green colour, variously mixed with brown ; it is also met 
 with in angular and rounded pieces. The form of the pri- 
 mitive crystal is an oblique rhomboidal prism of 87 42" 
 and 92 IS'. It scratches glass with ease. Its specific 
 gravity is about 3.3; and it is composed of 52 of silex, 
 3.3 of alumine, 13.2 of lime, 10 of magnesia* 14.6 of 
 oxide of iron, and 2 of oxide of manganese, 
 
 D 
 
tXJ ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Augite is met with in the productions of volcanoes ; 
 but whether it existed in certain rocks, previously to 
 their being subjected to volcanic action, or whether it 
 has been formed in the lavas and scoriaceous matters in 
 which it is found, since their ejection, is matter of un- 
 certainty and dispute. The greater number of mine- 
 ralogists incline to the former opinion. 
 
 It is found in the volcanic countries of Vesuvius, Etna. 
 Stromboli, Auve r gne, &c. 
 
 It is also said to occur in the basalts of Bohemia, 
 Hungary, Transylvania, Hessia, and in the iron mines of 
 Arendahl, in Norway. The crystals met with in basalt 
 are larger, of a finer green, and more brilliant than those 
 found in lavas. 
 
 The coccolite and sahlite are regarded as varieties of 
 augite 
 
 The coccolite is of various shades of green, and occurs 
 in little round translucent masses, or in grains of irregu- 
 lar shapes, which are very slightly coherent, but are hard 
 enough to scratch glass : the structure is lamellar, and 
 the lustre vitreous. It consists of 50 per cent, of silex, 
 1.5 of alumine, 24 of lime, 10 of magnesia, 7 of oxide 
 of iron, and 3 of oxide of manganese. 
 
 It is said to have been met with only in primitive 
 countries; in certain veins near Arendahl, in Norway, 
 and Nericia in Sweden ; and in the iron mines of Hel- 
 lesta and Assebo, in Sudermania. 
 
 The sahlite occurs in crystals of which the prisms are 
 four or eight-sided, and the summits diedral, and which 
 are of a greenish grey colour, and scarcely hard enough 
 to scratch glass ; they are translucent on the edges. The 
 sahlite is composed of 53 of silex, 3 of alumine, 20 of 
 lime; 19 of magnesia, and 4 of oxide of iron and manga- 
 nese. 
 
 It has been found in the silver mine of Sahla (whence 
 its name) in Westmania, in Sweden, and at Buoen, near 
 Auen, in Norway. It has also been met with in the 
 mountain of Odon-Tchelon, in Siberia, accompanied by 
 mica, beryl, and crystallized phosphorescent carbonate 
 of lime. 
 
TO MINEHALOGY. 
 
 PYHOPE. 
 
 The Pyrope occurs in round or angular grains, of a 
 blood-red coiour : which is sometimes clouded with yel- 
 low ; it never is found crystallized. It is transparent, 
 has a conchoidal fracture, and vitreous lustre, and is hard 
 enough to scratch glass. Its specific gravity is about 3.8, 
 and it is composed of 40 percent, of silex, 28.5 of alu- 
 mine, 3.5 of lirne, 10 of magnesia, and 16.75 of oxide of 
 iron and manganese. It is sometimes, from its general 
 colour, ranked among garnets ; from which it essential-- 
 ly differs in respect to form and composition 
 
 It occurs imbedded in serpentine at Zeoblitz, in Sax- 
 ony, and in wacke, in Bonemia; but is more common 
 in the latter country in alluvial deposites, accompanied 
 by hyacinths and sapphires. It is me- with in the sand 
 of the sea-shore at Ely, in Fifeshire, and in Cumberland 
 in clay-stone. 
 
 Pliny and Ovid mention a stone by the name of Py- 
 rope, which is supposed to be nearly allied to this mine- 
 ral. 
 
 POTSTONE.* 
 
 This substance is found massive ; such is its structure, 
 that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish it from massive 
 talc ; its colour is greenish grey, passing into leek-green, 
 with a glistening or pearly lustre ; it is so soft as to yield 
 to the nail, and is unctuous to the touch, but is not easily 
 broken ; that of Chiavenna consists of about 38 parts of 
 silex, 7 of alumine, 35 of magnesia, 15 of iron, together 
 with very small portions of lime and tfuoric acid. 
 
 Potstone is plentifully found at Chiavenna, in the 
 Valteline ; at Coma, in Lombardy ; and, generally 
 speaking, in serpentine countries. Its infusibility, joined 
 to its softness, and the readiness with which it is turned 
 by the lathe, have for time immemorial caused it to be 
 
 * Potstone is brought from Connecticut, in the form of ink-stands, weU 
 turned in .aJathe. . 
 
ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 formed into vessels in the Valais and Orisons. Pliny 
 describes its having been used in like manner in his 
 time. 
 
 SMARAGDITE. 
 
 The Smaragdite is of a brilliant green colour, of a silky 
 or pearly lustre, and transparent at the edges, or opake : 
 it is scarcely so hard as glass, and yields' to the knife ; 
 its specific gravity is 3 ; and it is composed of 50 of si- 
 lex, 21 of alumine, 13 of lime, 3 of magnesia; the re- 
 mainder being oxide of chrome and oxide of iron. 
 
 - It is commonly found massive, or disseminated in 
 rounded masses of the Saussurite, on the banks of the 
 Lake of Geneva ; near Turin it occurs at the foot of the 
 mountain Mussinet; in Corsica imbedded in felspar. 
 
 ACTINOLITE.* 
 
 This mineral is of a pale or of an emerald-green co 
 lour, and occurs in single crystals, but more often in 
 masses consisting of diverging hexahedral prisms, which, 
 in the general, are not regularly terminated ; they have 
 a shining pearly lustre, and are translucent or transpa- 
 rent; it also occurs in fine fibres, having a silky lus- 
 tre Actinolite is hard enough to scratch glass; its spe- 
 cific gravity is about 3.3; and it is composed of about 
 50 per cent, of silex, 0.75 of aluminc, 9.75 of lime, 
 19.25 of magnesia, 11 of oxide of iron, 5 of oxide of 
 chrome, and 3 of water. The fibrous variety is dis- 
 tinguishable from Amianthus by its being extremely 
 brittle. 
 
 Actinolite is found only in some nf the primitive rocks, 
 and accompanies talc and mica. It is not found in se- 
 condary rocks, or in the veins that traverse them. 
 
 It occurs in long six-sided prisms imbedded in white 
 talc, at Zillerthal, in the Tyro!, and in Mount St. Go- 
 thard; it is also met with near Salzburg, in Saxony; in 
 Norway ; in Piedmont, &c. 
 
 * Beautiful green crystals of Aetinolto, from one to two inches long, 
 are found at New- York, shooting through rocks of indurated fteatitc an<* 
 Ctcllatcd asbestus. fierce. 
 
TO MINER ALOOF. 
 
 ,^. COLOPHON ITE. 
 
 This mineral is of a blackish or yellowish brown, or 
 of an orange red colour ; and is, both on the surface and 
 when fractured, of a shining vitreous lustre It is 
 usually ranked as a variety of garnet, but differs from 
 it in yielding by analysis both magnesia and oxide of 
 titanium, and in being much lighter: its specific gravity 
 is only 2.5 ; and it is composed of 35 per cent, of silex, 
 15 of alumine, 2.9 of lime, 6.5 of magnesia, 7.5 of oxide 
 of iron, 4.75 of oxide of manganese, and 0.5 of oxide 4 o 
 titanium. It is found near Pitigliano, in Italy. 
 
 LEUCITE. 
 
 The Leucite occurs in crystals, whose planes are 24 
 equal and similar trapeziums : by mechanical means it 
 may be reduced either to the rhomboidal dodecahedron, 
 or the cube.,* the latter of which, being the most simple 
 of the two, is considered to be the form of the primitive 
 crystal. The Leucite is generally of a dirty white co- 
 lour, and is somewhat translucent; it scratches glass 
 with difficulty ; its fracture is imperfectly conchoidal, and 
 has mostly a vitreous lustre. It consists of 53.75 of si- 
 lex, 24.62 of alumine, and 21.35 of potash. Its specific 
 gravity is 2.i>7. 
 
 The Leucite is most commonly found among the pro- 
 ductions of volcanoes ; that which occurs in lava is most' 
 ly opake and earthy, while that found in basalt is viterous* 
 The lavas of Vesuvius, and basalts of Italy and Bohe- 
 mia abound with this mineral. The road from Roma 
 to Frascati is in many places quite covered with it. 
 
 
 
 LITHOMARGA. 
 
 Lithomarga varies in colour from white to yellow,- 
 red and brown ; it is dull, yields to the nail, is unctuous 
 to the touch, and adheres strongly to the tongue ; its 
 fracture is mostly earthy. 
 
 It is found in masses, somewhat round, in basalts and 
 ainygdaloids ; and 13 often met with in veins passing; 
 
42 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 through porphyry, gneiss, serpentine, Sic. sometimes 
 accompanies tin, mercury, and topazes. It seems 
 therefore chiefly to belong to primitive countries ; it 
 occurs in France ; at Laschitz, in Bohemia ; at Pln- 
 riitz, near Zwickau, in Saxony, and at Steinmark. That 
 brought from the latter place consists of about 45 parts 
 of silex, 36 of alumine, 3 of iron, 14 of water, and a 
 email portion of potash. 
 
 MICA.* 
 
 Mica mostly occurs crystallized in six-sided plates, or 
 in right rhomboidal prisms of 60 and 120, which is 
 considered to be the form of its primitive crystal. It is 
 easily divisible, parallel with the terminating planes, into 
 thin laminae, which are flexible and very elastic ; this 
 last character serves at once to distinguish mica from 
 talc, which i* not elastic. 
 
 This mineral is of various shades of white, yellow. 
 green and brown ; It yields readily to the knife, but the 
 edges of the laminae will scratch glass. The mica of 
 different countries does not perfectly agree in the re- 
 spective proportions of its ingredients ; that of Muscovy 
 (called Muscovy Glass) consists of about 48 silex, 34 
 alumine, 9 Potash, 4 oxide of iron, and nearly 1 ol 
 oxide of manganese. Its sp. gr. is about 2.7. 
 
 Mica is one of the most abundant mineral substances : 
 it is never found in beds, or in considerable isolated 
 masses, but it eqters into the composition of very many 
 rocks, especially the oldest primitive, as granite, gneiss, 
 micaceous schistus, &c and is often found filling up 
 their fissures, or crystallized in the cavities of the veins 
 which traverse them. Mica is therefore of the most an- 
 cient formation ; but is also met with in the newest crys- 
 talline rocks. It also occurs in sandstones, in schists, and 
 
 * Mica is found in Maine, in plates of a foot fquare or even more. It 
 occurs in New- York, in fix-ftded plates, evidently of a cryftallized figure, 
 It.isufually an ingredient in granite and gneiss. Sometimes, however, it 
 occurs of the like nexagonal form in calcareous carbonates. It is fometimes 
 licarly as tranfparent as the beft glafs, and affumes all the dusky fhades to 
 % ; deep fmoke-colour, without lofmg its tranfparency. 
 "l have fine rofe-coloured fpecimens from Northampton, -ffVerfs. /-an . 
 green oees from Brunfwick, Maine. (Gkavtfaul-J 
 
TO MINERALOGY, 40 
 
 in the slaty sandstone that accompanies the independent 
 coal formation. It is sometimes abundant in sands, and 
 in alluvial deposites very distant from primitive moun- 
 tains ; and is said to be very plentiful in certain volcanic 
 products. 
 
 According to HaQy, Muscovy Glass, which occurs in 
 plates of a yard or more in diameter, in veins of granite 
 and of macaceous schistus, in some parts of Russia, may 
 be divided into plates no thicker than yowo^th part of 
 an inch. It is used for inclosing objects for the solar 
 microscope, and instead of glass in the Russian ships 
 of war, as less liable to be broken by the concussion of 
 the air, during the discharge of heavy artillery: an infe- 
 rior kind, which is found in Pennsylvania 3 is used there 
 instead of window glass. 
 
 MESOTYPE. 
 
 The Mesotype is generally of a white, or greyish' 
 colour, and is transparent, or translucent ; it yields easily 
 to the knife, and becomes electrical by heat. It occurs 
 crystallized in radiated acicular prisms ; in filaments ,- 
 or in globular concretions, composed of stellated fibres. 
 It is one of those substances which are commonly called 
 Zeolites. It assumes about 10 varieties in the form of 
 the crystal, the primitive of which is a right prism with 
 square bases. Its specific gravity is 2; and it consists of 
 49 of silex, 27 of alumine, 17 of soda, and 9.5 of wa- 
 ter, according (o Simpson ; but according to Vauque- 
 lin, 50.24 of silex, 29.3 of alumine, 9.46 of lime, and 
 10 of water*- 
 
 Mesotype is- found in Iceland ; Scotland; the Ferroe- 
 islands ; in Hessia ; the Isle of Bourbon, &c. 
 
 This mineral is generally considered to be of doubtful 
 origin. It is found in lavas, but principally, if not only, 
 ia those that are ancient ; and, it is said by some, only 
 in such as have been exposed to the action of water. It 
 is also met with in basalts ; as in those of the Giant's 
 Causeway in . Ireland ; and in those of the Cyclop 
 Islands, and of the Vicentine mountains ; the basalt of 
 the two latter is surrounded and covered by the remains 
 of sea animals. The mesotype also occurs in basalt,, 
 
44. ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 amygdaloid, and other trap rocks of England and Scot- 
 land, and is particularly abundant and beautiful at Ta- 
 lesker, in the Isle of Sky. 
 
 The Natrolite is composed of the same elementary 
 substances, and very nearly in the same proportions, and 
 is therefore considered to be merely a variety of the 
 mesotype. It is always of a fibrous and radiated struc- 
 ture $ and is of a whitish, yellowish, or of a brown co- 
 lour. In its cavities are found crystals presenting the 
 form of common mesotype, viz. a rectangular prism, 
 with tetrahedral pyramids. 
 
 RUBELLiTE.^ 
 
 The Rubellite is of a red or violet colour, and occurs 
 crystallized, but the crystals are rarely distinct. It is 
 found in Moravia ; in Ceylon ; it occurs in a granite 
 mountain in the Uralian chain in Siberia, in a vein com- 
 posed of felspar, quartz, mica, and common schorl ; 
 \vhence this mineral has been also called Siberite. It 
 consists of 42 per cent, of silex, 40 of alumine, 10 
 of soda, and 7 of oxide of manganese and iron. It is 
 commonly considered to be a variety of tourmaline, 
 from which it differs, in not having either lime or mag- 
 nesia among its constituent elements, and in being in- 
 fusible. This mineral is commonly known by the name 
 of Reci Schorl, 
 
 TUMICK.f 
 
 Pumice is sometimes found massive ; more often it is 
 extremely porous, of a fibrous structure, and harsh to 
 the touch ; its colour is grey, tinged with brown or 
 yellow, and it has a shining pearly lustre ;. it is translu- 
 cent in the edges, very light, and sometimes so light as 
 to swim on water. It is composed of 77.5 parts of silex, 
 
 ? The memoir of Profeflor Hauy already mentioned, corrects, from, 
 the examination of the American Tourmalines, feveral errors into which 
 Mineralogifts had fallen, by feparating Indicolite and Siberite from Tour- 
 maline, of ivhich they are but varieties. 
 
 f Pumict-itone floats down the Miffouri. It is formed by the fire of 
 the burning plains through which that river runs. The pieces I poffe& 
 are of a reddifh brown, or brick colour, and float in water. 
 
TO MINEHALOCr. 45 
 
 17.5 of alumine, 1.75 of oxide of iron, and 3 soda and 
 potasb. 
 
 Pumice is generally believed to be a volcanic product ; 
 it sometimes accompanies obsidian ; it is said that the 
 vitreous obsidian of Hungary, may, by heat, be changed 
 into a substance perfectly resembling pumice. 
 
 It is but sparingly found near Vesuvius, not at all near 
 Etna. It is very abundant in the Lipari islands, which 
 furnish the pumice of commerce. It is met with in 
 Auvergne in France, in Iceland, Tenerifie, &c. 
 
 ICIITHYOPHTUALM1TE J Or FISH-EYE-STONE. 
 
 At first s'ght this mineral resembles the variety of fel- 
 spar called adularia, but is much softer, being easily cut 
 by the knife ; it does not scratch glass. Its general co- 
 lour is white, which is sometimes tinged with red or 
 green; it has a shining pearly lustre. The form of its 
 primitive crystal is a rectangular parallelepiped, in which 
 it sometimes occurs ; as well as nearly in the proportions 
 of the cube, and in flat tables. Its specific gravity is 
 2.46; and it is composed of 51 parts of silex, 28 of 
 lime, 4 of potash, and 7 of water. 
 
 it is met with in the iron mine of Otoe in Sweden ; 
 its gangue is a lamellar carbonate of lime, of a red vio- 
 let colour ; it is accompanied by hornblende and some 
 ores of iron. The massive occurs at Dunvegan in the 
 We of Sky. 
 
 TALC. 
 
 Talc is for the most part either white, apple-green, 
 or yellowish. It occurs in hexagonal laminae, and mas- 
 sive. It always consists of plates or lamina, which are 
 easily separated from each other, and are flexible, but 
 not elastic. This last character serves to distinguish this 
 mineral from mica, which is very elastic. Talc is of a 
 shining lustre, is very unctuous to the touch ; yields 
 easily to the nail ; it leaves a white, and somewhat 
 pearly streak, when rubbed on paper* Its specific gra- 
 vity is 2.77 ; and it consists of 61 of silex, 30.5 of mag- 
 nesia, 2.75 of potasb, 2.5 of oxide of iron, and 0.5 of 
 water, 
 
46 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Crystallized talc, which is mostly white, or of a light 
 green colour, is met with in small quantities in serpen- 
 tine rocks, with actinolile, carbonated lime, steatite, 
 compact talc, &zc. It is ?ound in the mountains of Sals- 
 burg and the Tyrol, and is taken to * enice ; whence it 
 has obtained the name of J^enelian Talc. It occurs 
 also at Brianori ; at Zreblitz in Saxony ; in Silecia, &c. 
 
 Massive talc is less flexible and translucent than the 
 crystallized ; it is principally of an apple-green colour, 
 and is sometimes of a radiated structure. It is met with 
 in considerable beds in mountains of micaceous schistus, 
 gneiss, and serpentine. At Grenier in the Tyrol, it oc- 
 curs in a species of serpentine, accompanied by actino- 
 lite, corbonate of lime, sulphuret of iron, green mica, 
 &c. At Zillerthal, in the Tyrol, it is met with enclo- 
 sing long prisms of actinolite, and of tourmaline. It 
 occurs also in Austria, Stiria. &c 
 
 Talc is found in Glen Tilt, in Perthshire, in a granu- 
 lar limestone. 
 
 Indurated Talc, of a greenish-grey colour, and massive,, 
 is met with at the Lizard, in Cornwall, which is a ser- 
 pentine country. 
 
 GREEN KAHTH. 
 
 This mineral is met with in sm&H masses, or lining 
 the cavities of amygdaloid ; and is of a greyish or bluish- 
 green colour, passing into blackish green ; it is dull, and 
 yields to the nail ; its fracture is generally earthy. It is 
 found wherever amygdaloid occurs ; as in Saxony, Bo- 
 hemia, Monte Boldo, near Verona, the hill of Kinnoul 
 near Perth in Scotland, &c. That of Verona consists of 
 53 of silex, 2 of magnesia, 10 of potash, 28 of oxide of 
 iron, and 6 of water. When of a good colour it is 
 made some use of by painters. 
 
 A substance of a green colour may be observed in 
 little round masses in certain sand stones, as in that of 
 the coast near Folkstone, which is, by some, considered 
 to be a variety of green earth. 
 
TO MINKRALOG7. 4-7 
 
 SPODUMENE. TR1PHANE. 
 
 This rare mineral is of a greenish white colour, of a 
 shining pearly lustre, and translucent It considerably 
 resembles adularia, but differs essentially from it in re- 
 spect of mechanical cleavage. Spodumene is divisable 
 into prisms with rhombic bases, having alternate angles of 
 80 and 100. It is hard enough to scratch glass, and to 
 give sparks by the steel : its specific gravity is 3.192, 
 and it is composed of 64.4 of uilex, 24.4 of aluinine, 3 
 of lime, 5 of potash, and V 2.2 of oxide of iron. 
 
 It has only been found in the iron mine of Utoe, in 
 Sweden, in a gangue of red felspar, fat quartz, and black 
 mica. 
 
 FELSPAR.* 
 
 Felspath, in German, signifies rock-spar : fehlspath, 
 field-spar. 
 
 The general form of the crystals of felspar is an ob- 
 lique prism, having very unequal planes ; Haiiy notices 
 21 varieties : the structure is lamellar, and felspar may 
 be cleaved into an oblique angled parallelopiped, which 
 therefore is the primitive form. The alliance of the 
 crystals with each other is not easily traced, on account 
 of the great difference frequently existing in the size, 
 and consequently in the form, of its secondary planes, 
 as well as on account of its being often in hemitrope 
 or uiacled crystals ; it is hard enough to scratch glass. 
 but not so hard as quartz, and yields to the knife with 
 some difficulty ; it becomes phosphorescent by friction. 
 There are several varieties of felspar. 
 
 Mularia, so called from its having been first met 
 with on one of the heights of St. Golhard, called Adula, 
 
 * The white FelJfpar is the common ingredient in our granite-rocks, 
 giving them their -white colour. In many cafes, it is crumbling to pi eces, 
 and decompofing the rocks to which ir belongs. 
 
 Red or flefti-coloured Feldfpar is alfo of frequent occurrence in the Fre' 
 donran granites and fyenites, imparting to them their red complc x ion . 
 
16 ELEMENRARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Is found both massive, and crystallized ; it is of a green- 
 ish white colour, but almost limpid, and has a pearly 
 lustre ; its fracture is imperfectly conchoidal. Its spe- 
 cific gravity is 2.54 ; and it consists of 64 per cent, of 
 silex, 20 of alumine, 2 of lime, and 14 of potash In 
 the veins of mount St. Gothard it occurs in large and 
 well defined crystals in gneiss and micaceous schistus ; 
 and in the mountains near Mont Blanc, in crystals much 
 smaller and less transparent. 
 
 The Moon stone, so called from its pale white hue, 
 is considered to be a kind of adularia; and is brought 
 from the East, particularly from Arabia and Persia. 
 
 Common felspar occurs of a whitish, yellowish, red- 
 dish or red colour, and either granular, massive, disse- 
 minated or crystallized ; it is sometimes opake, some- 
 times translucent ; its specific gravity is 2.54, and it is 
 composed of 62.83 parts of silex, 17,02 of alumine, 3 
 of lime, 13 of potash, and 1 of oxide of iron. 
 
 Common felspar is the most generally diffused, both 
 as to its local and geological situation, of any other mi- 
 neral, except quartz and oxide of iron. It is an essen- 
 tial constituent of granite and gneiss, and frequently oc- 
 curs in micaceous and argillaceous schistus ; it forms a 
 large proportion of sieniie, and is contained in almost 
 all porphyries, in some very abundantly : it is occasion- 
 ally, though rarely, found in primitive limestone : it 
 abounds in primitive and secondary traps, and in the 
 greater part of real lavas. 
 
 A variety of a beautiful apple green colour has been 
 met with only in a hill at the eastern base of the Uralian 
 mountains, near the fortress of Troitzk. 
 
 Felspar is occasionally met with, which is more com- 
 pact than the common, but agreeing with it in most re- 
 spects, except that its structure is less decidedly lamel- 
 lar, .and that its specific gravity is greater; being 2.63. 
 
 Lamellar Felspar. Petuntze. Under these names 
 has been described felspar in the first stage of decom- 
 position, but preserving its lamellar character. Its or- 
 dinary colour is dirty white, and it sometimes occurs in 
 Targe masses, enclosing small portions of quartz. It is 
 chiefly employed in giving the enamel to porcelain 
 The manufactories of France are chiefly supplied from 
 
TO MINERALOGV. 49 
 
 the neighbourhood of Limoges. A slightly saline taste 
 belongs to it, which also is characteristic of the petuntze 
 of China. The perfectly disintegrated felspar, being 
 usually considered as one of the clays, is noticed with 
 them under the name of Kaolin. 
 
 Glassy Felspar, Sanidin. This mineral is chiefly 
 found in crystals, sometimes longitudinally striated 5 it 
 occurs imbedded in porphyry -slate, in Bohemia, at Dra- 
 chenfels near Born on the Rhine, at Solfatara in Italy, 
 and in Pitchstone in the Isle of Arran. It obtained its 
 name of Glassy, from its vitreous lustre, which some- 
 times approaches to pearly : it is semi-transparent and 
 translucent, and of a greyish or yellowish white colour. 
 Its specific gravity is 2.57 ; and it is composed of 68 
 parts of silex, 15 of alumine, 14.5 of potash, and 0.5 of 
 oxide of iron. 
 
 Labrador Felspar. The beautiful and varied tints of 
 this mineral, when viewed in particular directions, are 
 well known ; it has the usual characters of felspar, ex- 
 cept that its general colour is grey, or dark ash grey j 
 and that, by the analyses of this mineral, which are 
 not greatly relied on, it appears that potash does not en- 
 ter into its composition. Its specific gravity is 2.6. 
 
 It was first discovered by the Moravian missionaries 
 in the island of St. Paul, on the coast of Labrador ; it 
 has since been found in Ingermannland in Norway ; near 
 the lake Baikal in Siberia ; in granite near St. Peters- 
 burg ; also at Memelsgrund in Bohemia, and near Halle 
 in Saxony. It is sometimes accompanied by mica, 
 schorl, and iron pyrites. 
 
 SCALY TALC. NACR1TE. 
 
 This mineral occurs in minute aggregated scales, of 
 a silvery white or greenish colour, and of a glimmering 
 pearly lustre ; they are friable, very unctuous* to the 
 touch, light, and adhere to the fingers. Scaly talc * 
 composed of 50 per cent of silex, of 26 alumine, I/ 
 lime, 17.5 of potash, 5 of oxide of iron, and a 
 portion of muriatic acid. Its colour distinguish? 
 ficiently from chlorite j it differs from the ' 
 
 E 
 
5B ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 principally in respect of colour, and in being extremely 
 unctuous. 
 
 It is chiefly met with in small masses in the cavities 
 of primitive rocks, and in the interstices of crystallized 
 quartz. It occurs at Sylva in Piedmont, near Frey- 
 berg in Saxony, and near Meronitz in Bohemia. 
 
 PEARLSTONE. 
 
 Pearlstone occurs in large coarse angular concretions^ 
 including smaller round concretions, composed of very 
 thin lamella;. The surface is smooth and shining, with 
 a lustre remarkably resembling that of pearl. The co- 
 lour of the mass is grey, greyish black, black, reddish or 
 blackish. It is fragile, translucent on the edges, and 
 scarcely hard enough to scratch glass. Its specific gravity 
 is 2.34 ; that of Hungary is composed ofsilex 75.25, alu- 
 mine 12, lime 4.5, potash 4.50, oxide of iron 1.6, and 
 water 4.5. It almost always gives out an argillaceous 
 smell when breathed on. Some of the varieties are said 
 te bear a striking resemblance to pumice. 
 
 At Tokay in Hungary, it is found enclosing round 
 masses of black vitreous obsidian, and is intermixed 
 with the debris of granite, gneiss, and porphyry, and 
 alternating in beds with the latter. A variety met with 
 at Cenapecuaro in Mexico, is hard enough to scratch 
 glass ; another found at Cape de Gat in Spain, of a 
 greenish or bluish colour, does not give out the argilla- 
 ceous odour. Pearlstone is also met with at Sandy 
 Brae, in the island of Egg, one of the Hebrides. 
 
 AGALMATOLITE. 
 
 This mineral obtained the French and German names 
 of Pierre de Lard and Bildstein, from the resemblance 
 of some of its varieties to Lard . and Brongniart has 
 given it that of steatite pagodite, from its being always 
 brought from China in the form of little grotesque 
 figures and chimney ornaments ; but all the analyses of 
 it, distinguish it sufficiently from steatite, which is al- 
 ways in part constituted of magnesia. The agalmatolite 
 is also found at Nagyag in Transylvania. It consists of 
 
 ' 
 

 TO MINERALOGY. 51 
 
 6 of silcx, 29 of alumine, 2 of lime, 7 of potash, 1 of 
 oxide of iron, and 5 of water. In the varieties of the 
 Chinese, analyzed by Klaproth, no indication of potash 
 was found, and one of them was without lime. 
 
 LEPIDOLITE. 
 
 The Lepidolite is of a pearl grey, rose red, or of a 
 lilac red, or purple colour, whence it has also been cal- 
 led the Lilalite. It consists of an assemblage of small 
 flexible scales, which are translucent : the mass has a 
 pearly or silvery lustre, yields to the nail, and is some- 
 what unctuous to the touch. Its specific gravity is 2.85 : 
 that of Moravia consists of 54 per cent, of silex, 20 of 
 alurnine, 4 of fluate of lime, 18 of potash, 4 of oxide of 
 manganese, and 1 of iron. 
 
 It was first discovered on the mountain Gradisko, near 
 Rozena, in Moravia, of a pale rose colour and pearly 
 lustre ; it occurred also in a thin bed in gneiss, accom- 
 panied by quartz, mica, schorl, &c. It has since been 
 met with in Sweden in a quartzose rock ; in France, 
 near Limoges, in a vein of quartz, passing through gra- 
 nite, enclosing large beryls ; at Campoin, in the island 
 of Elba, of a rose colour, in a rock composed of quartz 
 and felspar. 
 
 OBSIDIAN". 
 
 Common obsidian is of a greenish or brownish black, 
 or of a smoke brown colour, with a shining vitreous lus- 
 tre ; its fracture is conch oidal ; some varieties are trans- 
 lucent, others nearly opake, and it is hard enough to 
 scratch glass : its specific gravity is about 2.35. That 
 of Hecla yields by analysis 78 of silex, 10 of alumine, 2 
 of lime, 6 of potash, 1 of oxide of iron, and 1 of manga- 
 nese. Potash and lime do not enter into the composi- 
 tion of all the varieties. It occasionally very much re- 
 sembles common glass. 
 
 The origin of obsidian has been very warmly cow- 
 tested ; it is most common in the neighbourhood of 
 Volcanoes, and has been considered as a vitrified lava ; 
 whence it has obtained the familiar name of Volcanic 
 
2 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 glass. It occurs in beds, masses, and in small isolated 
 pieces. 
 
 Fragments of blackish obsidian are met with, not 
 only at the foot of Hecla, but in almost every part of 
 Iceland : It is also found in the Lipai i islands ; some 
 varieties enclose felspar. In Peru it is met with in paral- 
 lel beds of a greenish black, and greyish colour ; the 
 latter enclosing opake, spherical masses, of a slate co- 
 lour, composed of diverging fibres. In New Spain, 
 some obsidians, which have been long exposed to the 
 air, are covered by a white opake enamel. 
 
 Obsidian, of a greenish black colour, constitutes the 
 greater part of the mountain della Castagna, in the 
 island of Lipari ; it encloses small crystals of felspar ; 
 and near the peak of Tenerifie obsidian appears in the 
 form of considerable currents, (like lava) presenting 
 some fibrous appearances, denoting its passage into Pu- 
 mice 
 
 A variety of a silky and chatoyant lustre is also found 
 in New Spain. ^ 
 
 Obsidian in the form of little grains of the size of 
 peas, of a pearly white, and consisting of very thin con- 
 centric layers ; together with fragments of these ; also 
 vitreous globes of the size of a nut, and others like 
 enamel, traversed by red and black veins ; forming 
 altogether a species of vitreous sand, is found at Mari- 
 kan in the Gulph of Kamschatka ; and is thence termed 
 the Marekanite. 
 
 In the island of Ponce, obsidian is met with, enclosing 
 yellow mica, and white vitreous grains, which appear to 
 be semi-vitrified felspar. 
 
 Obsidian is in some places traversed by veins of stony 
 or earthy matter of various kinds"; thin beds of which 
 also occur between beds of obsidian. In the Madona 
 mountain, in the island of Ponce, the beds are nearly 
 vertical. In Hungary, obsidian occurs, intermingled 
 with the debris of decomposed granite, gneiss and por- 
 phyry j and even alternates with beds of the latter. 
 These circumstannes have induced some mineralogists 
 to doubt the igneous origin of obsidian ; but their 
 
 Strongest arguments are the violent intumescence 
 
 which it undergoes when subjected to heat, which 
 
TO MINEBALOGY. 53 
 
 causes it to melt into a glass, and the quantity of aqueous 
 vapour disengaged during the process. Humboldt sus- 
 pects this to be one of the causes of the violent earth- 
 quakes so often felt in the Cordilleras of the Andes. 
 
 But it is agreed universally, that whenever obsidian is 
 found, there exist indications of volcanic agency in the 
 neighbouring country. 
 
 In Europe, obsidian has been fashioned into reflectors 
 for telescopes ; in Mexico and Peru, it was made into 
 looking glasses and knives. 
 
 HAUYNE. LATIAL1TE. 
 
 The Haliyne is usually found massive, but, in one 
 instance, has been observed in extremely brilliant crys- 
 tals, but so minute, and crossing each otherin so many 
 directions, that it was impossible to discover their form. 
 When this mineral is opake, it is of an indigo blue co- 
 lour ; when translucent, bluish green. It is somewhat 
 harder than quartz, is very brittle, and its fracture is un- 
 even, and considerably splendent. Its specific gravity is 
 about 3.2; and it consists of 30 percent, of silex, 15 of 
 alumine, 20.5 of sulphate of lime, 5 of lime, 11 of pot- 
 ash, 1 of oxide of iron, 17.5 water, sulphuretted hydro- 
 gen and loss. In some of its external characters and in 
 its chemical composition, it bears considerable analogy 
 to Lapis Lazuli. 
 
 It occurs massive in Italy, in the neighbourhood of 
 Nemi, Albano, and Frascati, accompanied by mica, and 
 green pyroxene ; and hear Vesuvius, its gangue consists 
 of the fragments of rocks ejected by volcanic eruptions, 
 and it is accompanied by idocrase, augite, mica, and 
 roeionite. 
 
 Haiiy seems to be of opinion that the mineral, here- 
 tofore termed Blue Spindle, which occurs in the form of 
 a rhomboidal dodecahedron, in the productions of volca- 
 noes atAndernach, on the banks of the Rhine, ought to 
 fee considered as a variety of this mineral; as well as the 
 sapphirin, which occurs in the granular form on the banks 
 of the lake of Lach, in a rock principally composed o 
 grainy and of small crystals, of vitreous felspar, 
 
 K-Ju 
 
54 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 ANALCIME. CUBIC ZEOLITE. 
 
 The Analcime is usually met with in round or radiated 
 masses, or in cubic crystals, either perfect, or having 
 each of the solid angles replaced by three planes ; or iu 
 the trapezoidal dodecahedron, which is a variety of the 
 cube ; the lustre is shining, and between pearly and 
 vitreous. The colour of the analcime is white, yel- 
 lowish, reddish, or deep red ; it is hard enough to 
 scratch glass, and is mostly transparent or translucent, 
 occasionally opake ; it becomes electric by rubbing. 
 Its specific gravity is below &. It consists of 58 of silex, 
 18 of alumine, 2 of lime, 10 of soda, and 8.5 of water. 
 
 The analcime is sometimes confounded with stilbite, 
 l}ut amongst their distinctive characters, the superior 
 pearly lustre of the stilbite, is that by which they are 
 mostly readily distinguished. 
 
 According to Brongniart, this mineral has been met 
 with only among the products of volcanoes ; as in the 
 lavas of Etna : according to Jameson, the cubic zeolite 
 is met with lining the cavities of amygdaloid, basalt, &c. : 
 and occurs in Staffa, and near Talysker, in the island of 
 Sky : it is found also in the Hartz, Bohemia, &c. ; in 
 Iceland and the Ferroe islands. At Oberstein, it occurs 
 in the cavities of geodes. 
 
 . A variety from somma, called the Sarcolite, from its 
 being of a flesh red colour, is met with in cubes, having 
 each solid angle replaced by planes. 
 
 LAVA* 
 
 Lava is externally yellowish or greenish grey, greyish 
 black, or greenish black, and is internally spotted red- 
 dish, yellowish brown, or grey ; sometimes, when sul- 
 phureous vapours have acted much upon it, it is yel- 
 lowish or sulphur yellow. It is vesicular and knotty ; the 
 > vesicles are empty ; sometimes it is porous. Its fracture 
 is imperfectly conchoidal ; internally its lustre is glisten- 
 ing or shining. It is opake, translucent on the edges, 
 brittle, mostly attracts strongly the magnetic needle, and. 
 it is somewhat remarkable, is easily fused into a black 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 5 
 
 glass. The compact lava of Calabria yields, by analysis, 
 about 51 of silex, 19 of alumine, 10 of lime, 4 of soda, 
 14 of iron, and 1 of water 
 
 Lava usually encloses crystals of augite, hornblende, 
 felspar, and leucite ; which sometimes have no appear- 
 ance of being altered by heat. 
 
 The above description, generally speaking, belongs 
 to those substances, which, by common consent, are true 
 lavas ; the products of Etna, Vesuvius, Hecla, and other 
 Volcanoes. But there are many substances, considered 
 by some mineralogists as lavas, which, by others are not 
 allowed to be of volcanic origin. Karsten enumerates 
 nine species of lava ; and Haiiy six, which are again 
 subdivided ; amongst them are pearlstone and obsidian. 
 
 Werner notices only two, one of which he calls Slag 
 Lava, the other Foam Lava* The slag lava is above 
 described ; foam lava is of a greenish grey colour, ap- 
 proaching to greenish black ; it is light, brittle, and often 
 crumbling ; and has often been confounded with pumice. 
 
 PITCH STONE. 
 
 The colours of this mineral, which obtained the name 
 of Pitchstone, from the resemblance which some of its 
 varieties bear to pitch, are very various ; it is met with 
 in shades of grey, blue, green, yellow, red, brown, and 
 black ; but its colours are not lively : it has a glistening 
 resino-vitreous lustre. It occurs generally in distinct 
 masses or considerable beds, and has an imperfect cori- 
 choidal fracture, which in some varieties is the chief 
 characteristic distinction between pitchstone and obsi- 
 dian ; and it is not unfrequently confounded with horn- 
 stone and semi-opal. It is almost always opake, or only 
 translucent on the edges, and is hard enough to scratch 
 glass. The specific gravity of that of Meissen in Saxo- 
 ny, is 2.64 or 2.32. Pitcbstone is composed of 73 per 
 cent, of silex, 14.5 of alumine, 1 of lime, 1.75 of soda, 
 1 of oxide of iron, 0.1 of manganese, and 8.5 of water. 
 
 The pitchstone of which the analysis is given, is of a 
 yellowish grey colour, and alternates, in the mountain 
 of Gersebach between Meissen and Freyberg, with a 
 porphyry, having a base of petrosilex, which alternates 
 
56 ELEMEffTARr INTRODUCTION 
 
 \vith gneiss, and is traversed by metalliferous veins. 
 Fitchstone is found in veins traversing granite, near 
 Newry, in the county of Down, in Ireland. In these 
 instances the pitchstone, it seems reasonable to conclude, 
 must be of the same origin as the rocks in which it is 
 imbedded. Mineralogists are not agreed in opinion re- 
 specting that of pitchstone in general. Those of Planitz 
 in Saxony, and of Cantal in France, are considered to 
 be of volcanic origin. Pitchstone is met with in Dum- 
 frieshire in Scotland, and in several of the Scottish 
 islands. 
 
 CLINKSTONE. 
 
 The clinkstone is always found massive, and whea 
 struck with a hammer, gives a ringing metallic sound ; 
 whence its name. It is of a dark greenish, yellowish, or 
 ash grey colour : its fracture in one direction is slaty, 
 and it is hard, brittle, and commonly translucent on the 
 edges. Its specific gravity is 2.57 ; and it consists of 
 siFex 57.25, alumine 25.50, lime 2.75, soda 8.1, oxide 
 of iron 3.25, oxide of manganese 0.25, and 8 of water. 
 
 The clinkstone is usually columnar, and generally 
 rests upon basalt. It occurs near Zittau in Upper Lu- 
 sace ; in the Bohemian Mittelgebirge ; in South Ame- 
 rica ; in the island of Lamlash in the firth of Clyde ; the 
 isles of Mull and Arran ; the Ochil and Pentland hills in 
 Scotland ; the Breidden hills in Montgomeryshire, and 
 in the Dirris mountain in the county of Antrim in Ire- 
 flnd. 
 
 SODALITE. 
 
 This rare mineral has only been found associated with 
 sahlite, augite, bornblede, and garnet, in Greenland. 
 Its colour is light green, or bluish green, and it occurs 
 massive, but more often crystallized in rhomboidal da- 
 decahedrons. It is translucent, and yields with difficul- 
 ty to the knife. Its specific gravity is about 2.37 ; and 
 according to the analysis of Thomson, it is composed 
 *f 38.42 of silex, 27.48 of alumine, 2.70 of lime, 23.5 
 of soda, 3 of muriatic acid, 1 of oxide of iron, and 1 
 of volatile matter. 
 
TO MKVERALOGV. 57 
 
 CHABASIE. 
 
 This mineral is only met with in crystals very nearly 
 approaching the cube, having the edges and sometimes 
 the angles, replaced by planes ; but oniy three varieties 
 of form have been noticed by Haiiy, who considers 
 their primitive to be an obtuse rhomboid of 9(5 48' and 
 8S 12'. 
 
 The colour of the Chabasie is white or greyish, some- 
 times pale red superficially ; it is transparent or translu- 
 cent, and scarcely hard enough to scratch glass. Its 
 specific gravity is about 2.7 ; and it consists of 43.83 of 
 silex, 26 6 of alumine, 3.34 of lime, 9.34 of potash and 
 soda, and 21 of water. 
 
 The Chabasie is met with in the fissures or cavities of 
 some basaltic rocks, or within geodes of quartz or agate 
 which are disseminated in rocks. Ft is thus found in the 
 quarries of Alteberg, near Obersteiii in Saxony. It is 
 also said to occur in the lavas of the Isie of Ferroe ; at 
 Talisker in the Isle of Skye ; at Glen Farg in Perth- 
 shire, and at Portrusu in- the North of Ireland. 
 
 FETTSTEIN. 
 
 The Fettstein has been found only in Norway ; it oc- 
 curs massive, and of a darkish green, bluish grey, or 
 flesh red colour ; with natural joints parallel to the 
 faces of a right rhomboidal prism ; it is translucent, and 
 scratches glass. Its specific gravity is 2.6 ; and, accord- 
 ing to Vauquelin it is composed of 44 of silex, 34 of 
 alumine, 0. 2 of lime, 16.5 of potash and soda, and 4- 
 of oxide of iron. 
 
 The Fettstein is by some mineralogists supposed to 
 bear considerable affinity to some varieties of felspar. 
 It has a slight chatoyant lustre when held in particular 
 directions, like that of Labradore felspar. Both soda 
 and potash enter into the composition of Fettstein, the 
 former predominating ; the latter only is found in fel- 
 spar, 
 
58 ELEMENTARr INTRODUCTION 
 
 SCAPOLITE. 
 
 The Scapolite is usually met with in prisms of four 01 
 eight sides, either terminated by planes or by tetrahe- 
 dral pyramids, and aggregated laterally. Their coloun 
 are grey or yellowish, sometimes with a pearly lustre ; 
 or an almost metallic grey ; sometimes deep red and 
 opake ; occasionally apple green. The crystals posses 
 sing a pearly lustre will scratch glass ; but when dull 
 with an appearance like that of efflorescing, they are 
 tender and even friable. The scapolite is composed o! 
 4.*) of silex, 33 of alumine, 17.6 of lime, 0.5 of potash, 
 1.5 of soda, I of oxide of iron and manganese . but the 
 efflorescing variety differs, in including some magnesia, 
 and in *ewg without potash. 
 
 The Scapolite has hitherto only been met with in the 
 iron mine of Langloe, at Arendahl m Norway : its crys- 
 tals appear variously grouped, and accompanied b} 
 brown mica, quartz, garnet, epidote, carbonate of lirae ; 
 c. 
 
 JADE. 
 
 The general character of Jade, of which there are 
 three varieties, are, that it al vays occurs massive, oi 
 various shades of green and whitish green, with a greasy 
 lustre ; it is unctuous to the touch, harder than quartz, 
 and very tough. 
 
 Common Jade is of a lake green colour, passing into 
 greenish white, semi-transparent, extremely tough, with 
 a glimmering lustre and broad splintery fracture. Its 
 specific gravity is 2.95 ; and it is composed of 53.75 oi 
 silex, 1.5 of alumine, 12.75 of lime, 8.5 of potash ; 
 10.75 of soda, 5 of oxide of iron, 2 of oxide of manga- 
 nese, and 2.25 of water. 
 
 Of the geological history of common Jade, nothing is 
 known. It is found in Switzerland, Piedmont and Ty- 
 rol ; China and India. It is regarded in the latter coun- 
 tries as a specific for the nephritic cholic, and is fashion- 
 ed into forms of great delicacy. The Hindoos and Chi- 
 nese form it into talismans and idols ; the Turks into 
 sword and dagger handles. 
 
1 
 
 TO MINERALOGY. 59 
 
 - ' 
 
 The Jlxestone*, or Beilstein, differs from common 
 jade in having a slaty structure, and in being less trans- 
 parent and less tough. In America, it is found in the 
 banks of the river Amazon ; whence it obtained the 
 name of the Amazonian stone. It is also met with in 
 Corsica, Switzerland, and Saxony; and in New Zea- 
 land and other islands in the Pacific ocean, where it is 
 made into hatchets, tomahawks, and other instruments ; 
 whence its common name. 
 
 The Saussurite, or Tough Felspar, is greener than 
 the preceding varieties, and at least as hard and as tough 
 as common Jade : according to Saussure, it consists of 
 44 parts of silex, 30 of alumine, 4 of lime, 0*25 of pot- 
 ash, 6 of soda, 12.5 of oxide of iron, and 0.5 of oxide 
 of manganese 
 
 It was first found by Saussure, whence its name, in 
 rounded masses on the edge of the lake of Geneva, and 
 afterwards near Turin, in the mountain Mussinet, which 
 is principally composed of serpentine, which enloses 
 bydrophane. Jt has since been met with in Corsica ; in 
 sand, in the neighbourhood of Potsdam, and near Aff- 
 chanffenberg. 
 
 SOAPSTONE.f 
 
 The Soapstone is found massive, and nearly white or 
 of a grey colour, sometimes with tinge of yellow, and 
 mottled with green or purple ; it is translucent on the 
 edges. Its fracture is somewhat splintery ; it yields to 
 the nail ; from its general aspect and unctuous feel, its 
 name has been derived. 
 
 * Well wrought Stone- Axes , of this material, fmooth, hard, and deep 
 ^reen, are brought from the Fegee and Friendly Jflands by our navigators. 
 Thofe ufed by the natives formerly inhabiting the region around New- 
 York, j^cre formed of a fort of coarfe chert. 
 
 f It is probably this Stone which has been brought from the banks of the 
 Schuylkill, for the purpofe of conftructing fire places in Sugar- houfcs and 
 Steam-boats. A few years ago, a beautiful variety was brought from Or- 
 ford in New-Hampihire. It was manufactured into stoves, hearths, chim- 
 ney-backs, and cooking apparatus, which for a feafon were confiderably iu 
 rife. But the (lone, in addition to its natural brittleness, and liability to be 
 warped by heat, was found to be penetrated by veins of quartz, that 
 cracked and fplit by expofure to fire. The ftonc was maffive, fine, and 
 yielded readily to the plane and duffel, except in the parts where the fill* 
 ckms material prevailed. 
 
GO ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 It is met with in a vein in serpentine at the Lizard 
 point of Cornwall, where it may sometimes be found 
 with the appearance of passing into asbcstuy, which oc- 
 curs in veins in the serpentine. It is much used in the 
 manufactory of porcelain. It also occurs near the 
 Cheesering, at St. Cleer, in Cornwall. 
 
 The soapstone of Cornwall consists of 45 per cent, 
 of silex, 9.25 of alumine, 24.75 of magnesia, 0.75 of 
 potash, and one of oxide of iron. It is commonly sup- 
 posed to be a variety of steatite, but is much softer. 
 In the composition of the latter, no alumine has been 
 detected. 
 
 CHLORITE. 
 
 Chlorite is composed of very minute plates intersect- 
 ing each other in various ways, giving to the mass a 
 granular or earthy structure : it also occurs crystallized 
 in flat six-sided crystals, which are readily divisable into 
 thin lamina?. It is usually of a dark green, sometimes 
 of a yellowish green, with a shining lustre ; it is opake, 
 yields to the nail, is somewhat uuctuous ; and when 
 massive, gives out an earthy smell when breathed on. 
 
 Common Chlorite is usually found massive and some- 
 what solid ; its specific gravity is 2.56. 
 
 . Common chlorite is not found in very considerable 
 masses ; but chiefly in the veins and cavities of primitive 
 rocks ; sometimes it is enclosed in crystals of quartz, 
 chalcedony, felspar, axinite, &c. in so large a portion 
 as to impart a colour to them. It frequently accompa- 
 niesthe oxide of tin and mispickle in the veins of Corn- 
 wall ; and occasionally, though rarely, yellow copper. 
 It is met with in most chains of primitive mountains. 
 
 When the structure of chlorite is slaty, it is termed 
 Chlorite slate ; its specific gravity is greater than that of 
 the preceding variety, being 3.03. Its ordinary colour 
 is blackish brown. It is met with in. beds in primitive 
 mountains, enclosing crystals of quartz, octahedral mag 
 nHic iron ore, garnets &c. and is found in Cors ca, at 
 Fahlun in Sweden, in Norway, &c. ; and in Perthshire. 
 
 Scaly Chlorite is of a dark green colour, and is com- 
 posed of small glimmering particles, having a pearly 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 6 
 
 lustre ; it is somewhat unctuous to the touch ; is friable, 
 or loose ; and greatly resembles green earth. It is very- 
 light, and consists of 26 of silex, 18.5 of alumine, 8 of 
 magnesia, 2 of muriate of soda or of potash, and 43 per 
 cent of oxide of iron. 
 
 It mostly occurs in the veins of primitive mountains, 
 principally in clay slate, mixed with quartz, common 
 chlorite, calcareous spar, and micaceous iron ore : it is 
 also met with in granular limestone, and in primitive 
 sandstone. It is found in Saxony, Switzerland, Savoy, 
 Sweden, Hungary, and North Wales, 
 
 SCHORL.* 
 
 Schorl is found massive, disseminated, and crystal- 
 lized ; the common form of the crystals is a prism most- 
 ly striated longitudinally and deeply, and terminated at 
 each end by 3 planes ; but the crystals are sometimes 
 very minute, closely aggregated, and divergent. This 
 substance is black, brittle, opake, and has a glistening 
 lustre. Its specific gravity is about 3.2, and it is com- 
 posed of about 33 parts of silex, 34 of alumine, 1 of 
 magnesia, 6 of potash, 21 of oxide of iron, and a trace 
 of manganese. 
 
 Schorl, except by the Wernerian school, is arranged 
 among tourmalines, from which it differs in respect of 
 analysis, transparency and colour. The latter mostly 
 occur imbedded in single crystals ; the former is mostl^ 
 aggregated, and occurs in beds. 
 
 It is found in primitive rocks ; chiefly in quartz and. 
 granite ; more rarely in gneiss and micaceous scbistus^ 
 and is frequently met with in tin veins. 
 
 Schorl was first found near the village of SchorlawiQ 
 Saxony, whence its name. It is also met with in Bohe- 
 mia, Bavaria, Switzerland, Spain and Hungary > and at 
 Portsoy in Scotland, and beneath the Logan Rock, and 
 at various places near the Lands' End in Cornwall. 
 
 * For the obfcrvations on this article, tee Tourmalint. 
 
Pf 
 
 2 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 CLAY-SLATE.* ARGILLACEOUS SCHISTUSi 
 
 The prevailing colour of clay-slate is grey of various 
 shades ; it is also bluish or blue ; and sometimes green- 
 ish, passing into blackish green. Its structure is slaty. 
 and it has a glistening lustre, sometimes approaching to 
 pearly ; it is opake, and yields to the knife, but varies in 
 hardness, and some varieties are somewhat unctuous to 
 the touch. Its specific gravity is about 2.7 ; and it is 
 composed of 48 per cent, of silex, 23.5 of alumine, 1.6 
 of magnesia, 1 1.3 of oxide of iron, 0.5 of oxide of man- 
 ganese, 4.7 of potash, 0.3 of carbon, and 7.6 of water. 
 
 Clay-slate occurs in vast strata in primitive mountains, 
 and sometimes in veins. It is very universally distribu- 
 ted in Britain ; it is met with in Scotland and the 
 Scottish isles, in the northern parts of England, and 
 plentifully in Cornwall, being the Killas of the miner. 
 The principal part of the numerous copper and tin 
 mines of that county are situated in clay-slate ; which in 
 most countries abounds in mineral veins. 
 
 Some varieties which readily split into thin platet 
 are used for the roofing of houses ; another is used for 
 writing on ; another as pencils ; * and some varieties as 
 whetstones. 
 
 GABKGN1TE. 
 
 The GUbrOnite occurs massive, and is of a bluish or 
 greenish grey colour ; its fracture is lamellar, it is trans- 
 lucent on the edges, and hard enough to scratch glass, 
 though not to give fire with the steel. Its specific gra- 
 vity is nearly 3 ; and it is composed of 54 per cent, of 
 silex, 24 of alumine, 1.5 of magnesia, 17.25 of potash 
 
 * Clay Slate. Argillaceous fchiftus, proper for covering houfes, h 
 brought to New- York, from Rhinebeck, Troy, and other places near the 
 banks of the Hudfon. It is brought to Baltimore from the quarries near 
 the Sufquehannah. As the flate region is of vaft extent in the Fredoniau 
 States and territories, the fupply for internal and domeftic purpofes will 
 be adequate to the demands. 
 
 A coarfer and more brittle kind from the fame formations affords good 
 ftone for walls, furnace?, and other purpofes. 
 
TO MINERALOGY, 63 
 
 and soda, 1.25 of the oxides ofiron and manganese, and 
 2 of water. 
 
 The Gabronite has only been found in Norway. The 
 bluish variety, near Arendahl, with hornblend ; the 
 greenish, at Fredericksvarn, disseminated in a large 
 grained sienite. 
 
 FULLER'S EARTH. 
 
 Fuller's earth occurs massive, and is usually of a 
 greenish brown colour, sometimes nearly of the colour 
 of slate ; it is dull, possesses an earthy fracture, and 
 yields to, and receives a polish from the nail : in water 
 it becomes semi-transparent, and falls into a pulpy im- 
 palpable powder. The English Fuller's earth is com- 
 posed of 53 of silex, 10 of alumine, 0.5 of lime, 1.25 of 
 magnesia, 9.5 of oxide ofiron, 1 of muriate of soda, and 
 24 of water. 
 
 AtNutfield, near Riegate, in Surry, it occurs in regu- 
 lar beds near the summit of a hill of considerable eleva- 
 tion, between beds of ferruginous sand or sandstone 
 containing fossil wood, cornu ammonis, impressions of 
 the nautilus and other sea-shells. There are two distinct 
 beds of Fuller's earth ; the upper, of a greenish clay 
 colour and 5 feet in thickness, rests upon the other, 
 which is of a light slate blue, and 11 feet thick ; in these 
 beds but mostly in the latter, are found considerable 
 masses of sulphate of barytes, sometimes exhibiting re- 
 gular crystalizations, the interstices of which are occa- 
 sionally filled up by compact quartz. 
 
 Fuller's earth is also found at Deptling, near Maid- 
 stone in Kent, and at Aspley, near Woburn in Bedford- 
 shire, under nearly the same circumstances as at Nut- 
 field. At Old Down near Bath, it occurs mixed with 
 shells, forming a bed between the upper and under 
 oolite ; and near Nottingham in lumps in the red marl. 
 
 It is found near Rosswein in Saxony, under very dif- 
 ferent circumstances to that of England. It occurs 
 among primitive rocks, and is supposed to originate in 
 the decomposition of greenstone- slate,, beneath which 
 it lies. 
 
64 ELEMENTARF INTRODUCTION 
 
 Fuller's earth was formerly much used in the fulling, 
 of cloth (whence its name,) and was forbidden to he 
 exported under severe penalties : soap is now generally 
 substituted. 
 
 BASALT.* 
 
 Basalt is of a greyish black colour, and when polished, 
 of a bluish aspect. It is not easily broken ; its fracture 
 is dull, but fine grained. Some varieties strike fire by the 
 steel, others may be scratched by the knife. It has a 
 tendency to form six-sided irregular prisms or pillars j 
 of which the Island of StafFa is entirely composed. The 
 Giant's causeway, on the coast of Antrim in Ireland, is 
 a huge pavement of strait pillars of Basalt, running to 
 an unknown distance into the sea ; and the promontory 
 of Fair-head, a little further north, exhibits a continued 
 range, about a mile in length, of columns 250 feet high r 
 and from 10 to 20 in diameter, being the largest yet 
 known. When exposed to weather, basalt crumbles 
 down into a fine black mould, which constitutes a very 
 fertile soil. It is to this rock that some of the richest parts 
 of Scotland owe their fertility. 
 
 The basalt of Saxony is composed of 44.5 per cent 
 ofsilex, 16.75 of alumine, 9.5 of lime, 2.25 of mag- 
 nesia, 2,6 of soda, 20 of oxide of iron, 0.12 of oxide of 
 manganese, and 2 of water. 
 
 Basalt is found under very different circumstances : 
 it occurs filling up veins and fissures in many primitive 
 and secondary mountains ; sometimes forms beds or 
 strata on their summits ; and not unfrequenfly, it tra- 
 verses coal-formations, in a direction nearly perpendicu- 
 lar to the beds of coal, which it seems to have the effect 
 of dislocating. 
 
 * Basalt. Trap is the name more generally applied, throughout Eu- 
 rope,, for the rock called Wbin in Scotland, and Green Stone in Connecti- 
 cut, efpecially in the vicinity of New-Haven. (Slltiman.) It con- 
 ftitutes the Pallifado Rock, on the weft of the Hudfon, between WchawL 
 and Haverftraw. 
 
 There is a remarkable dyke or wall of the Bafaltic kind in North- Ca- 
 rolina^-(2>zp.) The Trap of Patterfon, at Puflaick falls, very 
 
 nearly refembles the Bafalt of the Giant's caufe-way. {Pierce.} 
 

 TO 
 
 Geologists are divided in opinion respecting the origin 
 of Basalt. Werner supposes it to have been deposited, 
 like other minerals, by water which covered the whole 
 earth. Dolomieu conceived basalt to be lava, and all 
 basaltic mountains to be the remains of extinct volca- 
 noes. Dr. Button and Professor Playfair conceive it 
 to have been fused by a central fire of the earth, while 
 at the bottom of the sea, and to have been raised up 
 by some natural agent, in common with all other moun- 
 tains. 
 
 With a view to determine the correctness of these 
 opinions, Daubiusson examined the basalt of Saxony, 
 which chiefly lies in the Erzebiirge, or metalliferous 
 mountains; a chain separating Bohemia from Saxony, 
 of^ about 120 miles long, and 3600 feet above the 
 level of the sea. The lower rock is granite, which is 
 covered, or rather wrapt round, by beds of gneiss, mica- 
 slate, and clay-slate, lying above each other in that or- 
 der. In these beds are situated the great mines of 
 Saxony. In a chain of rocks of serpentine and quartz, 
 are found beds of limestone, of coal, &c. The whole of 
 the eastern part of the chain is covered on one side by a 
 huge bed of porphyry, and on the other by a bed of 
 sandstone of equal magnitude. 
 
 - Basalt forms the summits of about 20 mountains of 
 this chain, under various forms, as of tables, comes, or 
 domes: the mountains are connected by their sides 5 
 the basaltic top alone remaining separate. 
 
 In several instances, between the basalt and the body 
 of the mountains, he found beds of sand, gravel, and 
 day : in others, the basalt rests on sandstone ; in others, 
 an porphyry ; in one, on mica slate ; in three, on gra- 
 nite ; and in one, on gneiss. 
 
 After a complete investigation of these mountains, 
 Daubuisson is of opinion that there is no analogy be 
 tvveen them and volcanic mountains. They are regularly 
 stratified, which is never the case in volcanic mountains; 
 no trace of a crater can be perceived ; nor any thing 
 decidedly volcanic. Besides, basalt, wherever found, is 
 always composed of the same consistuents ; lava varies 
 considerably. The substances contained in basalt, as 
 felspar, mica, &c. retain their crystalline characters 
 
 K 2- 
 
66 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 without exhibiting the slightest traces of the action of 
 fire, though the felspar is more fusible than the basalt 
 istelf. Basalt contains 20 per cent, of iron, and there 
 is no rock which could furnish such a proportion. It 
 contains 5 per cent, of water of composition, which is 
 never found in lava. It is found lying immediately un- 
 der or over coal, which is in no degree altered in its na- 
 ture ; and Dolomieu has described no less than 20 beds 
 of basalt alternating with as many beds of limestone 
 Containing marine shells. For these and many other 
 conclusive reasons, Daubuisson is decidedly of opinion 
 that the Saxon basalt is altogether of aqueous origin. 
 
 He was afterwards induced by some zealous advocates 
 for the igneous origin of basalt, to explore the baslt 
 country of Auvergne in France. The base of this coun- 
 try he found to be granite ; which, m the western part, 
 js covered with gneiss and micaceous schistus, contain 
 jog metalliferous veins. Limestone and coal also ap- 
 pear in other districts. The chain of the Puys extenas 
 fibove 20 miles : most of them are detached ; their form 
 is a truncated cone ; and on their summits there are 
 Cup-like depressions, in some instances 200 feet deep. 
 Their general elevation is from 900 to 1300 feet above 
 the plain; the central and highest, the Puy de Dome 
 being near 2000 feet. 
 
 The substances chiefly composing these hills, are, 
 scoria?, lava, and other decided volcanic matter. 
 
 In one instance he traced the appearance of a stream 
 like that of lava, 200 feet broad ; which afterwards di 
 ?idecl \ the soil it affords is unfruitful. 
 
 Its characters differ in some respects from common 
 basalt ; the felspar has a vitreous aspect, and the quartz 
 g altered by heat. 
 
 Many other circumstances also contributed to induce 
 the full belief that the basalt of Auvergne is of igneous 
 origin. 
 
 There see.ms therefore sufficient grounds for conclu- 
 ding that, as the basalt of Saxony is altogether of aque- 
 ous,origin, and that of Auvergne of igneous origin, these 
 two rocks ought not, however, in point of composition 
 and aspect, they may resemble each other, to receive 
 Ihfi common name of basalt, This seems to be oae of* 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 67 
 
 the numerous causes of confusion in geological nomen- 
 clature. 
 
 In Scotland, basalt is included, together with many 
 other rocks of very different natures, in the vague, bizt 
 comprehensive term Whin-stone. 
 
 The Eight following substances have not been analyzed, 
 but are in most mineralogical arrangements associated 
 with those of which the principal ingredient is Silex. 
 
 HORNSTONE. 
 
 This substance occurs in nodules and massive, with a 
 splintery fracture, and is translucent, passing into opa&e ; 
 it is scarcely so hard as quartz, and is infusible. Its ge- 
 neral colour is grey, which is tinged blue, green, brown^ 
 red or yellow. 
 
 Hornstone is described as occurring in round masses 
 in limestone, as in Bavaria; and in beds in limestone on 
 the banks of the Menai in Caenarvonshire ; and some- 
 times as forming the basis of porphyry, as in Sweden, 
 at Dannemera and Garbenburg, and also in the Shet- 
 land istes. Wood, petrified by hornstone, thence term- 
 ed Woodstone is met with in ferruginous sand near wo- 
 burn in Bedfordshire, and near Nutfield in Sorry. I 
 have met with Hornstone in Pednandrae Mine in Corn- 
 wall, passing into Chert, which is considered to be al* 
 lied to it ; the fracture of Chert is flat conchoidal, and 
 it generally has a waxy or greasy lustre, and is translu- 
 cent on the edges. Its general colour is grey. 
 
 There is a considerable bed of Chert near the summit 
 of the Cliff at the Western lines in the [sle of Wight, 
 resting, I believe, on sandstone, which having given way 
 by exposure, the fall of the Chert has been the prin- 
 cipal occasion of the now beautiful ruin beneath. Chert 
 also occurs in some parts of Devonshire and Dorsetshirei 
 and is employed for repairing the roads. It also occurs 
 resting upon the ferruginous sand or sandstone of Leith 
 Hill in Surry ; near the summit of which, the sand, like 
 that beneath the Chert in the Isle of Wight, contains or*- 
 game remains which aje denominated Alcyonia. 
 
%J- : 
 
 68 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 "' S-i ;V;^>: : ' > f ;V 'sj ;. _^.;J.'? i.. 
 CHIASTOL1TE. 
 
 This mineral has only been met with crystallized in 
 long slender rhomboidal prisms, composed of two dis- 
 tinct substances. The exterior is greyish white or red- 
 dish, the interior is black or bluish black, and its sides 
 are perfectly parallel with those of the exterior sub- 
 stance, which, in some specimens, is so thin as to form a 
 mere coating. From each of the angles of the interior 
 prisms, there often proceeds a black line which some- 
 times reaches the corresponding angles of the coating, 
 but is sometimes terminated by a black rhomboidal 
 prism ; so that the Chiastolite occasionally consists of 
 5 black rhomboidal prisms, communicating by black 
 threads, and as it were imbedded in a greyish white or 
 reddish substance, which has a lamellar structure, is 
 translucent, and hard enough to scratch glass. 
 
 This substance seems only to have been discovered 
 imbedded in argillaceous or micaceous scbistus. In the 
 former, it occurs in the Wolf-crag near Kesvvick, and 
 on the summit of Skiddaw, in Cumberland ; and also at 
 St. Jaques de Compostella in Spain. In the latter, it 
 is met with in the Sierra del Marao in Portugal. The 
 Chiastolite is also found in Britany in France, in the 
 valley of Barege in the Pyrennees, and at Aghava- 
 nagh, and Baltinglasshill, in the county of Wicklow in 
 Ireland. 
 
 SPINELLANE, 
 
 The Spinellane has only been found on the borders of 
 the lake of Laacb, in a rock composed of grains and 
 small crystals of glassy felspar, quartz, hornblende, black 
 inica, and magnetic iron ore. -It occurs in small rhom- 
 boidal dodecahedrons of a dark brown colour, and is sc 
 &ard as to scratch glass. 
 
 HELILITE. 
 
 This rare mineral has been met with chiefly in smaE 
 septangular parallelepipeds , occasionally in rectangular 
 
 
TO MINERALOGF* 69 
 
 octahedrons. Internally the crystals are of a honey yel-> 
 low or orange colour ; externally they are usually coat- 
 ed by oxide of iron of a yellowish brown colour ; they 
 give sparks by the steel. The Melilite has only been 
 found at Capo di Bove near Rome, in the fissures of a 
 compact black lava. 
 
 WACKU.* 
 
 Wacke is of various shades of greenish and yellowish 
 grey, and occurs either solid or cellular : when the cells 
 are hollow, or filled by some other substance, as quartz, 
 chalcedony, or carbonate of lime, the compound is de- 
 nominated Amygdaloid. Wacke has an earthy fracture, 
 is opake, and generally yields easily to the knife* 
 
 According to Werner it occurs in beds, which gene- 
 rally lie under basalt, and above clay, as at Fichtelberg, 
 and Marienberg, in the hills of Schnegenberg ; and fre- 
 quently contains imbedded crystals of mica, and basaltic 
 hornblende. It also occurs in veins. At Joachimsthal 
 in Bohemia it encloses petrified wood, native bismuth, 
 and fragments of certain primitive rocks ; and at Kal- 
 lennordheim in Franconia, fossil bones : it is found also 
 at Westmanland in Sweden, and in Iceland. 
 
 The Amygdaloid or Toadstonc of Derbyshire is consi- 
 dered by Werner to be a variety of transition Trap. 
 
 Iron Clay, the Eisenthon of Werner, is considered by 
 some as a variety of Wacke ; their general characters 
 are the same ; but the colour of the former is reddish 
 brown ; they both occasionally constitute the basis of 
 amygdaloid. 
 
 SHALE.f 'SLATE-CLAY. 
 
 Shale occurs only massive ; its general colour is grey, 
 which sometimes is bluish, yellowish or blackish ; in 
 
 * Wacke. This has been found in detached mafias. Fine Amygdaloid, 
 of a brown colour, and interfpcrfed with white fpots, has been brought 
 from Labrador. 
 
 t Shale. Carbonaceous fliale, or coal flate, overlays the ftrata of Coal 
 in Rhode-Ifland, and is diftinguished by impreflions of fern and capillary 
 plants. (Case.) 
 
 At Olaftonbury, near Connecticut river, bituminous Shale esifts, ccr^ 
 
70 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 one direction its structure is slaty, in the other, earthy ; 
 it usually adheres a little to the tongue and yields to the 
 nail, and is opake, meagre to the touch, and dull, excepi: 
 from casually imbedded mica, which sometimes imparts 
 a glimmering lustre : its specific gravity is about 2.6. 
 
 Shale has the usual characters of clays, by becoming 
 plastic in water ; it disintegrates on exposure to air. A 
 variety found at Menil-rnontant near Paris, enclosing the 
 menilite, yielded 66 per cent, of silex : it adheres strong- 
 ly to the tongue. 
 
 It is found in beds and strata in schist ; in alluvial de- 
 posites; and resting upon, as well as interposed between, 
 beds of coal, which it invariably accompanies. It often 
 contains impressions of reeds and of ferns ; and I am 
 informed by my friend L. W. Dillwyn, well known for 
 his curious botanical researches, that he has never dis- 
 covered a single impression of fern in shale, perfect as 
 these impressions usually are, exhibiting its well known 
 appearance of fructification. 
 
 A variety of shale usually accompanies coal, and is 
 sometimes intermixed with it, which, from its black co- 
 lour and bituminous quality, is termed black bituminous 
 shale. It occurs in every independent coal-formation. 
 Its structure is slaty : when subjected to the flame of a 
 candle, it blazes ; in the fire it crackles, emits a black 
 smoke and bituminous odour, loses a considerable por- 
 tion of its weight, and is converted into a whitish or 
 reddish Oaky ash. 
 
 Another variety of Bituminous shale, of a brown co- 
 lour, is met with at Kirnmeridge in Hampshire, which 
 from its giving out a bituminous odour when placed in 
 the flame of a candle, or in the fire, is termed Kim- 
 meridge Coal. By exposure to a considerable heat, the 
 
 taining plain impreflions of fi(h, with their fcalea, fins, rays, and other 
 parts, very apparent. (Bruta.) 
 
 Argillaceous Shale has been brought to me from Wilkesbarre, in which 
 were impreffions of feras, and of the bark, to all appearance, of the Palm- 
 tree.- ( Bradbury.) 
 
 The Killas of the Waalkill, near Montgomery, abounds with fliells oi 
 bivalve mollufcas, fuch as anomias and terebratulas. In thefe, the real 
 {hells exift ; being neither wafted away fo as to leave cavities and impres- 
 sions, nor converted by petrifaction to a ftony condition. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 71 
 
 bituminous part is consumed, and it is reduced to a 
 grey earthy ash. 
 
 FLINTY SLATE.* INDURATED SLATE. 
 SILICEOUS SCHISTUS. 
 
 Of Indurated Slate, there are two or three varieties, 
 
 Common indurated Slate. This substance is of about 
 the same hardness as quartz, which commonly traverses 
 it in small white veins. Its colour is very various ; grey 
 bluish grey, and red ; its structure is somewhat slaty, 
 and it is translucent on the edges. 
 
 A specimen analized by Weiglib yielded 75 per cent, 
 of silex, the remainder being lime, magnesia, and oxide 
 of iron. 
 
 It is chiefly found in beds in transition mountains, 
 and occurs in Saxony, the Hartz, in the Lead hills and 
 other places in the South of Scotland. At Saaska in 
 the Bannat, and in Greece, it occurs in large masses in 
 transition limestone. 
 
 Lydian Stone, or Basanite, is of a black or greyish 
 black colour, and is always found massive, never with a 
 slaty structure ; it is often traversed by veins of quartz ; 
 it is opake, less hard than the foregoing variety, and its 
 fracture is flat conchoidal. 
 
 It occurs in similar formations and repositories with 
 common indurated slate ; and is found near Prague and 
 Carlsbad in Bohemia ; near Freyberg in Saxony ; and 
 in the Moorfoot and Pentland Hills near Edinburgh. It 
 was first brought from Lydia in Lesser Asia ; whence its 
 name. 
 
 When polished, it is used to try gold and silver upon, 
 by a comparison of colour, and has thence obtained the 
 familiar name of the Touchstone. 
 
 Stripe'* Jasper by some is considered as a variety of 
 agate or jasper, by others, of flinty slate ; it sometimes 
 shews a tendency to a slaty structure ; it occurs in bands 
 or stripes of various shades of yellow, green, purple, and 
 
 * Flinty Slate. The Touch-ftone is occafionally found along the fhore* 
 near New-York, in rounded mattes ; which, by the blackness of their 
 ftaoothed furfaces, contraft well with the gold, filver and copper, which 
 are rubbed upon them. 
 
72 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 red ; from which it has obtained the familiar name of 
 Ribbon Agate, or Ribbon Jasper. 
 
 It is found in considerable beds. It occurs in Sax- 
 ony, the Hartz, and in Sicily ; and forms whole hills in 
 Siberia. 
 
 WHET SLATE.* 
 
 It is found massive, with a slaty structure, and is most 
 commonly of a greenish grey colour, sometimes yellow- 
 ish or brownish grey ; it is translucent on the edges, 
 yields to the knife, and is somewhat unctuous to the 
 touch. 
 
 It occurs in primitive mountains at Lauenstein in 
 Bayreuth, in Saxony, and near Freyberg in Bohemia : 
 it was first brought to Europe from the Levant. When 
 cut and polished, it is used for sharpening knives and 
 other instruments ; whence its name. 
 
 * Whetslate. A fpecies of flaty whjstftone is quarried in the north-east* 
 cm part of Pennfylvania, and has been brought to New- York, for the 
 Tmrpofe of Sharpening edged tools. It is of an olive-brown colour, of a 
 fcne fmooth grain, and eafy to work ; but its foftness tnakes it wear away 
 
 t. 00 ftlSt. 
 
ALUMINE or ARGIL. 
 
 THIS substance obtained the name of Alumine from 
 its forming the base of common Alum ; and that of Ar- 
 gil, from the Latin, Argilla, Clay, on account of its 
 being a constituent of Clays, though rarely in a greater 
 proportion than one third or one-fourth; nevertheless, 
 clays are termed argillaceous substances, and those rocks, 
 of which Argil forms a notable proportion, are termed 
 Argillaceous rocks ; one character of which is, that they 
 give out a peculiar odour when breathed on, that may 
 always be regarded as a mineralogical test of the pre- 
 sence of Argil, whence it has been termed the Argilla- 
 ceous odour ; but as it does not belong to pure Alumine, 
 it is considered to be owing to a combination of that 
 substance with the oxide of iron, which generally enters 
 into the composition of argillaceous minerals. 
 
 Alumine, when pure, is perfectly white, and is desti- 
 tute of taste and srnell ; its specific gravity is 2.0 : and it 
 is infusible, except by voltaic electricity. It has already 
 been said, in treating of the Earths generally, that Alu- 
 mine is not a simple substance, and that Sir H. Dav^ 
 has ascertained it to be composed of oxygen united with. 
 a base, /llumium, in the proportion of 46 of the former 
 to 54 of the latter; but though the results afford a strong 
 presumption that Alumine is a metallic oxide, its base 
 has not been yet obtained in such a state as to make it a 
 fit object for investigation. 
 
 As the precise nature of its base is unknown, Alumine 
 is still ranked among the Earths. As an earth, it may 
 be said that it is never found pure. It enters largely 
 into the composition of many earthy minerals, and ic 
 small quantity in some metalliferous ores. Jt is an in- 
 gredient, in a large portion, of some of the most abun- 
 dant rocks, primitive, secondary and alluvial, and is 
 found in all soils. It is the most abundant of all the 
 Earths, except Silex. 
 
 G 
 
 
174 ELEMESTARy INTRODUCTION 
 
 It occurs combined with the fluoric and sulphuric acids; 
 and with the Alkalies, Potash and Soda. 
 
 Aluraine is found in the greatest purity in corundum 
 and its varieties. 
 
 tlORUNDUM. 
 
 The varieties included under this term, viz. Corun- 
 dum, Oriental Ruby, Saphire, and Emery, are the hard- 
 est substance in nature, except the Diamond, and the 
 most ponderous of stony substances ; their specific gravi- 
 ty varies from 3.66 to 4.08. The saphire is the heavi- 
 est. The lamellar structure is remarkably visible in the 
 common Corundum, which readiiy splits into rhomboids, 
 of which the angles are considered to be 86 38' and 
 93 22'. All the varieties of Corundum belong exclu- 
 sively to primitive countries. 
 
 Common Corundum, probably from its texture, has 
 received the name of imperfect Corundum ; and from it? 
 hardness, that of Adamantine Spar. It is sometimes 
 nearly colourless, and somewhat translucent; but more 
 often has a greyish or greenish tint, occasionally reddish, 
 or brownish, with a metallic chatoyant lustre ; it is more 
 rarely yellow and transparent, or black and opake. 
 The common form of its crystal is the hexahedral prism, 
 which rarely shews a tendency to flat triedral termina- 
 tions ; it occurs also in obtuse, and in acute, hexahe- 
 dral pyramids. It consists of about 90 per cent, of alu- 
 mine, 5 of silex, and some oxide of iron : in some va- 
 rieties of Corundum, the latter does not exceed one 
 per cent. 
 
 Adamantine spar is found in India, in a granite rock, 
 imbedded, after the manner of felspar. It is often ac- 
 companied by the fibrolite, talc, garnet, zircon, and 
 magnetic iron. It is also found in China, nearly under 
 the same circumstances. It occurs every where from 
 China to Bengal ; in the kingdom of Ava, and on the 
 coast of Malabar : its gangue, in the Carnatic, is a 
 coarse-grained white marble. It has been found in Italy 
 
TO MINEHALOGY. 73 
 
 in micaceous schistus, and entering into the composi- 
 tion of granite in North America.* 
 
 The yellow is found in Bengal ; the brown, with a 
 chatoyant lustre, on the coast of Malabar; the black in 
 China. . 
 
 In the East Indies it is used for polishinfg steel, and 
 cutting and polishing gems ; but the lapidaries of Eu- 
 rope prefer diamond-powder, on account of the greater 
 rapidity with which it works. 
 
 The Oriental Ruby, or Oriental Amethyst, is "usually 
 of a brilliant red colour; sometimes nearly of a violet 
 colour ; occasionally either wholly, or partly, colour- 
 less and transparent ; often chatoyant, when it is termed 
 Asteria, or Star-stone. 
 
 The Saphire varies from the preceding variety prin- 
 cipally in respect of its colours, which are blue, yellow, 
 or yellowish green ; when blue, it is properly the sa- 
 phire ; when yellow, it is by lapidaries termed the Ori- 
 ental Chrysolite, or Oriental Topaz*, when yellowish 
 green, the Oriental Emerald. 
 
 The Oriental ruby and the saphire do not essentially 
 differ from common corundum in respect of analysis. 
 A variety of the latter consisted so nearly of pure alu- 
 mine, that Klaproth found only (K5 of silex and 1 of 
 oxide of iron. The general forms of their crystals are 
 much the same as those of common corundum, but their 
 planes are usually more numerous. These gems are 
 said to have been found in granite, and in sienite, in 
 the kingdom of Pegu and the Island of Ceylon : but 
 they are more commonly met with in alluvial deposites, 
 and in brooks in the neighbourhood of primitive moun- 
 tains. They have been thus found in the brook Ex- 
 
 * Good judges affirm that Adamantine Spar has been found near Phila* 
 delphia, in the neighbourhood of Baltimore, and at Had dam, Conn, in 
 granite.. That of Chefnut-hill is, in external appearance, very much like 
 that of Bombay, but differs from it in being free from pyrites, and in 
 being much more regularly figured. Its colour is a light green, and its 
 hardnefs fuch as to cut glafs very readily. Some fpecimens have the 
 luftre of glafs, while others are not fo bright. It is bedded in granite, or 
 rather forms an ingredient of that rock, afTociated with flefh-coloured 
 ieldfpar, fmoky quartz i grcenifli mica, ftriated cry ftals of black fchoerl,an4 
 ibmetimea fmall garnets. (Med. Repos. PoL.^ $>. 303.) 
 
 
76 ELEMENRABY INTRODUCTION 
 
 pailly in France ; near Meronitz and Billin in Bohemia j 
 they have also been found in the province of Forez in 
 France. 
 
 The value of these gems in jewellery is well known. 
 It is said that those of a light blue colour, rpay be divest- 
 ed of it by heating them in a charcoal crucible, without 
 injuring their other properties, and that they are then 
 often sold as diamonds. 
 
 Emery, though it bears very little resemblance to the 
 preceding, is, from its hardness and anal) sis, consider- 
 ed to be a variety of Corundum. It usually occurs in 
 masses of a blackish or bluish grey colour, having the 
 aspect rather of a fine grained rock, than of a simple 
 mineral. 
 
 It is found in the East Indies, enclosing whitish or 
 reddish talc, and small portions of magnetic iron. That 
 of Jersey resembles magnetic iron in mass, enclosing 
 white Mica. That of Smyrna is also micaceous ; and 
 encloses magnetic iron and sulphuret of iron. In the 
 isle of Naxos, emery is found in rounded masses at the 
 foot of primitive mountains. It occurs in Italy and in 
 Spain : but that of Ochsenkopf, near Swartzenberg in 
 Saxony, seems to be the only variety which has been 
 seen in its native place. It is disseminated in a bed of 
 hard steatite, of a yellowish grey or apple green colour, 
 mixed with common talc. 
 
 It is largely used for cutting and polishing by lapida- 
 ries, and by workers in glass, steel, &c. 
 
 FIBIIOLITE. 
 
 The Fibrolite is white, or of a dirty grey colour : it 
 is fibrous, and harder than quartz. The fibres are rarely 
 so large as to present any very determinate form ; but 
 the Count de Bournon observed some in that of a right 
 prism with rhombic bases, of which the angles are 100 
 and 80. The Fibrolite is infusible ; its specific gravity 
 is about 3.2 ; and it is composed of 58 of alumine and 
 38 of silex. 
 
 It is found accompanying crystals of corundum in the 
 Carnatic and in China. * 
 
TO MINER ALOGi'. 77 
 
 ROTTENSTONE. 
 
 The Rottenstone is commonly considered as a variety 
 of Tripoli, from which it essentially differs in respect of 
 composition. It is found at Bake well in Derbyshire. 
 It is of a dirty reddish brown or nearly black colour, 
 yields to the nail, and is fetid when rubbed or scraped : 
 it is composed of 86 parts of alumine, 4 of silex, and 10 
 of carbon. 
 
 FINITE.* 
 
 The Finite is found generally in six-sided crystals, 
 sometimes modified, of a brown, blackish-brown or grey 
 colour : externally ks crystals are ochreous, and usually 
 give out an argillaceous smell when breathed on. The 
 Finite consits of about 74 of alumine, 29 of silex, and 7 
 of oxide of iron. 
 
 It was first discovered in granite, near Schneeberg in 
 Saxony, in the mine called Pini, whence its name : it 
 has since been found in the Puy de Dome in France, ift. 
 a porphyritic felspar : it also occurs at St. Michael's 
 Mount, in Cornwall, in granite veins 5 at Ben Gloe 
 and Blair-Gowrie in porphyry. 
 
 CYANlTE,f Or SAPPARE, 
 
 This mineral usually occurs in lamellar oblique prisms^ 
 of a bluish or pearl-grey colour, having a pearly lustre : 
 it scratches glass when held in one direction, but yields 
 to glass in another direction : it becomes electric by 
 friction. Its specific gravity is about 3.5, and it con- 
 sists of about 55*5 per cent, of alumine, 43 of silex, and 
 0.5 of oxide of iron. It is infusible. 
 
 It is usually found in primitive rocks ; and occurs in 
 Scotland, at Bohan in BamTshire ; near Banchory in 
 
 * PiniteAt Haddam, in cryftals which are fomethnes feveral inches in 
 length, fituated in micaceous rocks. (5/7/Aa.) ' 
 
 f Cyanite. Found in large lamellar maffes, at Chefterfield, Mass. (Hunt.) 
 and various other places, in Maryland, Pennfylvania, Connecticut and 
 Maincv 
 
 n o 
 
. 
 
 78 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Aberdeenshire : and in the Mainland, the largest of tht 
 Shetland islands : it also occurs in the Tyrol ; in Siberia ;. 
 and near Lyons, in France, in granite, &tc. 
 
 DIASPORE. 
 
 The Diaspore is a rare mineral, having for its gangue 
 a ferruginous clay, but nothing is known of its geologi 
 cal situation. It is composed of a mass of slightly cur- 
 vilinear laminae of a pearly lustre, which may be readily 
 separated from each other. By exposure to the heat of 
 a candle, k crackles and flies off in minute fragments 
 with a brisk decrepitation : this is supposed to be owing 
 ko the water it contains. The Diaspore scratches glass : 
 it specific gravity is 3.43 ; and it consists of 80 per 
 Cent, of alumine, 0.3 of iron, and 17 of water. It is 
 Conjectured by some to be a variety of the Wavelite, 
 
 STAUROLITE.* 
 
 The Staurolite is of a greyish or reddish brown co- 
 iour, and occurs usually in rhomboidal or hexahedral 
 prisms, of which the terminal edges are sometimes re- 
 placed. Haliy has noticed seven varieties in the form 
 of its crystals, which commonly intersect each other at 
 right angles ; and he considers the primitive to be a 
 right rhomboidal prism of 129 30' and 50 30'. The 
 Staurolite is sometimes opake, sometimes translucent, 
 with a vitreous lustre ; of about the hardness of quart/. 
 and infusible. Its specific gravity is about 3.30 ; and it 
 *s composed of 52.25 of alumine, 27 ofsilex, 18.5 of 
 Oxide of iron, and 0.25 of oxide of manganese. 
 
 When of a reddish brown colour, and in the form of 
 four or six-sided prisms, it has sometimes, from its re- 
 6embling the garnet in colour, been called the Grenatite. 
 
 The Staurolite belongs to primitive countries. It has' 
 
 * Staurolite. The firft American Staurolitcs I faw, were from Vir- 
 ginia, having been found loofe on the ground of the upper country, where 
 they might be gathered by handfulk The cryftals crofled each other ob 
 fiquely. (#wr-u>,.-//.j This mineral was brought from Maine. (GoJon.] 
 Vine fpecimens have been received from Bowdoinhaci or its vicinity. 
 (Cleveland.) 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 79 
 
 been found in Brittany, near Quimper, in a micaceous 
 clay, considered to be the debris of a primitive rock : it 
 occurs also at St. Gothard, imbedded in micaceous 
 schistus ; and at St. Jago de Compostella in a primitive 
 rock, and is accompanied by the Cyanite. 
 
 AUTOMALITE. 
 
 The Automalite is by some considered to be a variety 
 of tbe Spinelle Ruby ; and as it contains a considerable 
 proportion of the oxide of zinc, it has obtained the name 
 of the Zinciferous Spinelle ; sometimes it is called the 
 Gahnite, in honour of Gahn, its discoverer. The spe- 
 cific gravity of the Automalite is 4.26 4,69 : it is there- 
 fore much heavier than the Spinelle Ruby, from which 
 it also differs in being nearly opake, and of a dark bluish- 
 green colour, as well as essentially in respect of compo- 
 sition : it consists according to Vauquelin of 42 parts of 
 alumine, 4 of silex, 28 of oxide of zinc, 5 of oxide of 
 iron, and 17 of sulphur. Some mineralogists have con- 
 cluded that the Automalite is the Pleonaste loaded 
 with sulphuret of zinc ; which amounts to an acknow- 
 ledgment that it is essentially a very different substance ; 
 and therefore it ought not to be considered, any more 
 than the Pleonaste, as a variety of the Spinelle Ruby. 
 
 It is found only at Fahlun in Sweden in a talcosed 
 rock. 
 
 CHRYSOBERYLL. 
 
 This substance occurs in rounded pieces> mas9ive r 
 and crystallized ; it is of a green colour, sometimes 
 with a yellowish or brownish tinge, and occasionally 
 shows an opalescing bluish white light internally. The 
 general form of the crystals is prismatic ; the prisms are 
 terminated by a variable number of planes. It readily 
 becomes electric by frition ; is infusible, semi-transpa- 
 rent, and scratches quartz. Its specific gravity is about 
 3.8. That of Brazil is composed of 71.5 per cent, of 
 alumine, 16 of silex, 6 of lime, and 1.5 of oxide of iron. 
 It is sometimes called the Oriental or Opalescent Chry* 
 solite. 
 
SO ELEMENTARY INTKODUCTION 
 
 It is chiefly procured from Brazil, where it is found 
 accompanying topazes ; and has been noticed in sand 
 from Ceylon, together with rubies and saphires : a few 
 specimens have been brought from Nerbschinsk in Sibe- 
 ria. Its geological situation is not known. 
 
 SOMMITE. 
 
 The Sommite usually occurs in grains, or in small re 
 gular hexahedral prisms (the form of the primitive crys- 
 tal,) of which the lateral edges are sometimes replaced. 
 It is of a greyish or greenish-white colour, with a shining 
 vitreous lustre, and scratches gtass. The Sommite con- 
 siderably resembles phosphate of lime, but may be dis- 
 tinguished by its superior hardness, and by its not giving 
 a phosphorescent light when placed on a live coal. Its 
 .specific gravitv is about 3.2 ; and it is composed of 49 of 
 alumine, 46 of silex, 2 of lime, and 1 of oxide of iron. 
 
 It has been found only in the cavities of the lava of 
 that part of Vesuvius called Mont Somma ; where it is 
 accompanied by mica and idocrase. 
 
 MfilONlTE. 
 
 This mineral, like the preceding,, has only been mei 
 with among the substances ejected by Vesuvius, in the 
 cavities of white granular limestone. It usually occurs 
 in four or eight-sided prisms, terminated by tetrahedral 
 pyramids. Haiiy notices three varieties in the form of 
 its crystals, of which he considers the primitive to be a 
 right prism with square bases : its colour is whitish, or 
 greyish white, with a shining vitreous lustre, and it is 
 translucent or transparent. Its specific gravity is 3.1. 
 
 PLEONASTE, 
 
 :,""'V :i ," ' J 
 
 The Pleonaste is comraoflly considered to be a vari- 
 ety of the Spinelle Ruby ; but it is less hard, and a little 
 heavier, and differs from it greatly in colour and in com- 
 position. Its specific gravity is about 3.8 ; and it is com- 
 fosedof 72.25. of ulunaine, 5.48 of silex, 14.63 of mag- 
 nesia, and 4.26 of prot-Qxide. qf iron. Its general co- 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 81 
 
 lours also differ from the Ruby : the Pleonaste appears 
 nearly black ; but when placed between ihe eye and the 
 light, it is translucent, and green or blue. Some have 
 been brought from Ceylon of a sky-blue, others of a yel- 
 lowish colour. 
 
 The Pleonasle principally agrees with the Spinelle 
 Ruby, in being chiefly composed of aiumine, and in ex- 
 ternal form ; both occur in the octohedron, which pas- 
 ses into the rhomboidal dodecahedron. 
 
 The geological situation of the Pleonaste differs for 
 the most part from that of the Spinelle Ruby. The 
 Pieonaste is found, accompanied by tourmalines, &c. in 
 the rivers and alluvial country of Ceylon. It has often 
 been found in the cavities of the lavas of Vesuvius, and 
 of Sornma. It is also met with in the volcanic rocks of 
 Somma, both calcareous and granitic ; and in those of 
 Laach, near Andernach, on the banks of the Rhine. 
 Haliy seems to be of opinion that the latter, which is 
 commonly termed the blue Spinelle, should be consider- 
 ed as a variety of the Haiiyne. 
 
 LAZULITE. 
 
 This mineral is by Jameson called the Azurite, and 
 is perfectly distinct from Lapis Lazuli, which is not 
 satisfactorily ascertained ever to have been found in a 
 crystalline form ; whereas the Lazulite is often found in 
 quadrangular, though riot very perfect, crystals of a blue 
 colour; it is rarely massive, and then in fine grains, or 
 in masses not exceeding the size of a hazel nut ; it is 
 translucent on the edges, brittle, and nearly as hard as 
 quartz. It is composed of 68 per cent, of aiumine, 10 
 of silex, 2 of lime, 18 of magnesia, and 2.5 of oxide of 
 iron. 
 
 It occurs in Vorau in Siiria, in a gangue of quartz, in 
 a vein passing through micaceous schistus ; but the most 
 beautiful specimens are found in the bisLoprick of Salz- 
 burg. 
 
82 ELEMENT AHY INTRODUCTION- 
 
 ANDALUSITE. 
 
 The Andalusite occurs in small masses of a reddish 
 or purplish colour, having a lamellar structure, with 
 natural joints parallel wilh the sides of a rectangular 
 prism ; it scratches quartz, and sometimes even the 
 Spindle Ruby. Its specific gravity is 3.16 ; and it is 
 composed of 52 of aluraine, 38 of silex, 3 of potash, and 
 2 of oxide of iron. 
 
 This mineral is, on the one hand, considered by some 
 to be a variety of felspar, which is very fusible ; but 
 the Andalusite is infusible : on the other hand, k is con- 
 sidered by others, probably from its hardness, as allied 
 to Corundum. 
 
 The Andalusite belongs to primitive countries. It 
 occurs in a vein of felspar traversing granite in Forez in 
 France : also in granite in Castelle in Spain ; in Aber- 
 deenshire in Scotland ; and in Dartmoor in Devonshire : 
 k has also been found in Douee Mountain, in the county 
 of Wicklow, and at Kiliiney in the county of Dublin, in 
 Ireland. 
 
 BLUE FELSPAR. 
 
 This mineral is by some considered to be a variety of 
 Felspar, from which it differs in respect of colour and of 
 composition ; also, it is less fusible and somewhat harder. 
 In most of these respects it likewise differs from the An- 
 dalusite, of which il has also been considered as a varie- 
 ty. It occurs massive ; its colour is pale blue or sky- 
 blue ; it has a lamellar structure, being divisable, though 
 with difficulty, into rectangular prisms ; and it is not 
 quite so hard as quartz. Its specific gravity is 3.06 ; 
 and it is composed of 71 of alumine, 14 of silex, 3 of 
 magnesia, 3 of lime, 0.25 of potash, 0.75 of oxide of 
 iron, and 5 of water. 
 
 Hitherto it has only been found at Krieglach in Styris, 
 forming part of a rock, consisting likewise of quartz, and 
 mica, or talc* 
 
TO MINERALOGY. S3 
 
 WAVELL1TE. 
 
 This mineral is most commonly to be observed in 
 small fibres, occasionally in six-sided prisms, diverging 
 from a common center ; it is said also to have occurred 
 in small octohedrons either perfect, or having the apices 
 replaced. The VVavellite, when fibrous, has a silky 
 lustre ; when crystallized, a vitreous lustre ; it is tran- 
 slucent : its colour is various ; white, or greyish, green- 
 ish or bluish-white : it is harder than calcareous spar ; 
 its specific gravity is about 2.4 ; that from Barnstaple is 
 composed of 71.3 of alumine, 0.5 of oxide of iron, and 
 28 of acidulous water, which, as it corrodes glass, by 
 the application of heat is supposed to contain a slight 
 portion of fluoric acid : from its being chiefly composed 
 of water and argil, it is sometimes termed the Hydrar- 
 gillite. The Wavellite of Brazil contains about 4 per 
 cent, of silex. 
 
 It was first discovered by Ur. Wavel in small veins 
 and in cavities of a tender argillaceous schistus, near 
 Barnstaple in Devonshire ; it has been since found at 
 Steiana Gwyn, in Cornwall : on a specimen in my pos- 
 session from the latter place, of which the gangue is 
 quartz, VVavellite is accompanied by small crystals of 
 Uranium of a bright yellow colour : it has also been 
 found near Cork in Ireland ; and has been brought from 
 Brazil by M. Mawe, in the form of stalactites. 
 
 TOPAZ. 
 
 The Topaz is found only crystallized : its general 
 form is prismatic, and it is variously and dissimilarly ter- 
 minated : the prism is usually striated longitudinally, 
 and modified. It is sometimes limpid, and nearly tran- 
 sparent, or of shades of yellow, green, lilac, and red, 
 and translucent. It mostly becomes electric by beat, 
 with polarity ; it exhibits a double refraction : its speci- 
 fic gravity is 3.5 ; the white Brazilian topaz consists of 
 50 per cent, of alumine, 29 of silex, and 19 of fluoric 
 aeid : those of a yellow colour occasionally yield a small 
 
84 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 portion of oxide of iron. The topaz of Saxony con- 
 sists of moje silex and alumine, and less fluoric acid. 
 
 The pale greenish and almost transparent topaz of 
 Siberia becomes electric by being heated, not by being 
 rubbed : the Saxon Topazes, of a pale yellow colour, 
 become electric by friction, not by heat ; but lose their 
 colour by being subjected to fire ; the deep yellow To- 
 pazes of Brazil, become electric by heat, and red by 
 being placed in the fire. Haiiy now considers the pri- 
 mitive crystal of the Topaz to be a rectangular octohe- 
 dron of 82. 2' and J22. 42'; but these admeasure- 
 ments are not corroborated by the reflecting goniome- 
 ter. The crystals in my possession exhibit 37 varieties 
 of form : many of them are from Cornwall 
 
 The Topaz is found almost exclusively in primitive 
 countries of the oldest formation ; chiefly in tin veins 
 traversing granite ; in which it is sometimes found im- 
 bedded. 
 
 It occurs in the tin veins of Schlackenwald in Bohe- 
 mia, and occasionally in those of Cornwall, accompany- 
 ing tin, fluate of lime, and mispickel. The Topazes of 
 Cornwall are mostly small, colourless, sometimes tran- 
 parent, sometimes opake and nearly milk white : they 
 occur in the mines in St. Agnes, and in veins in the gra- 
 nite of St. Michael's mount, and are frequently accom- 
 panied by phosphate of lime and quartz. In the valley 
 of Danneberg in Saxony, the Topaz is imbedded in a 
 rock together with quartz, black schorl, mica, and litho- 
 marga, forming an aggregate which has obtained the 
 name of the Topaz Rock. In the Uralian mountains, 
 Topazes are found in graphic granite : in Brazil, they 
 occur imbedded in an argillaceous earth, resulting, as it 
 is believed, from the decomposition of primitive rocks. 
 
 Pyrophysalite is considered to be a variety of the To- 
 paz ; it is of a greenish white colour, and not quite so 
 hard as quartz ; by heat it gives out a greenish phospho- 
 ric light. It is found at Fahlun in Sweden in round 
 masses, in a granite composed of white quartz, of fel- 
 spar, and silvery white mica ; from which these masses 
 are separated by talc of a greenish yellow colour : it is 
 composed of about 54? alumine, 34 silex, and 10 fluoric 
 acid. 
 
 :--- 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 85 
 
 PYCNITE, OR SCHORLACEOUS BERYL, 
 
 The Pycnite is only found in six-sided prisms which 
 are deeply striated longitudinally, and are composed of 
 minute parallel prisms, to which the longitudinal striae 
 may be owing. It is usually of a dull yellowish or red- 
 dish white colour, and translucent ; it may be readily 
 broken across the prism : it scratches quartz : its speci- 
 fic gravity is 3.5 ; and it is composed, according to Van* 
 quelin, of 60 per cent, of alumine, 30 of silex, 2 of lime, 
 6 of fluoric acid, and 1 water. 
 
 It is found entering into the composition of a rock, 
 chiefly consisting of quartz and mica, at Altenberg in 
 Saxony : it is said also to have been met with in Bava- 
 ria. 
 
 SPINELLE RUBY. 
 
 The Spinelle Ruby is usually found crystallized, 
 cither in the form of its primitive, the regular octohe- 
 dron, or its variety, an acute rhomboid, or having the 
 edges of the octohedron replaced ; and occasionally in 
 macles presenting alternate re-entering angles. It is of 
 various shades of red, violet, or yellow ; more rarely 
 black. It scratches quartz easily, but is not so hard as 
 oriental ruby, from which it is readily distinguished both 
 by its colour and crystallization. It is infusible : its spa* 
 cific gravity is 3.7 ; and it consists of 84.47 alumine, 
 8.78 magnesia, 6.18 of chromic acid ; to the latter its 
 colour is supposed to be owing. 
 
 Like the greater number of the gems, the geological 
 situation of the Spinelle Ruby is not accurately known. 
 
 It sometimes occurs with saphires and oriental rubies 
 in the sand of rivers: it is found in the sand of the rivers 
 f>f Ceylon. It has been met with in India in a lamellar 
 carbonate of lime, enclosing red mica, sulphuret of iron, 
 and phosphated lime ; also in a substance greatly resem- 
 bling adularia. 
 
 The scarlet coloured is properly termed the Spinelle 
 Ruby : the rose red, the Balas Ruby : the yellow, or 
 
 H 
 
98 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 orange red, the Rubicelle ; the violet coloured, the 
 Almandine Ruby. 
 
 The pleonaste and automalite are usually considered 
 to be varieties of the Spinelle Ruby, but they differ 
 essentially in respect of composition. 
 
 SUBSULPHATE OF ALUMINE. 
 
 This mineral has been found in two places : it is said 
 to have occurred in others. 
 
 It was first discovered in the neighbourhood of Halle 
 in Saxony, in small masses, immediately under the soil, 
 accompanied by foliated gypsum and selenite. These 
 aaasses are snow white, or yellowish white and opake. 
 adhere slightly to the tongue and yield to the nail ; they 
 are very meagre to the touch, light and infusible. By 
 the aid of a glass, they appear to consist of a multitude 
 of transparent, prismatic crystals. 
 
 This mineral has by some mineralogists been con- 
 sidered as an artificial production : a suspicion arising 
 from the proximity of the place at which it is discovered 
 to the college of Halle. Jameson is of opinion that its 
 form is a sufficient proof of its being a natural production 
 and adds that there is no laboratory nearer to the spot 
 where it is found, than a quarter of a league. 
 
 The Subsulphate of Alumine has been since discovo 
 red by M. Webster in small masses, of a snow white colour 
 and opake, lying upon the chalk, and filling up a hollow 
 in it, at Newhaven in Sussex ; it has very much the 
 same characters as that found at Halle ; but is considered 
 to be purer. 
 
 ALUM.* 
 
 ALUM (of La Tolfa) consists of 49 per cent, of 
 sulphate of alumine, 7 of sulphate of potash, and 44 of 
 water; and is therefore improperly termed Sulphate 
 
 * Alum. Native Alum has been found in various places in the United 
 State*. It fometimes appears to follow the deconipofition of pyrites, and 
 at others to be formed without. Occafionally fmall quantities are gathered 
 j a falme (bee, after the evaporation of the water in dry weather. 
 
TO MINEKALOGY; 
 
 of JHumine. It crystallizes artificially in the regular 
 octohedron. 
 
 It seems scarcely decided whether Alum is or is not a 
 natural production, in so singular a manner is it enveloped 
 in the mineral substances which contain it, or from which 
 it is procured, or produced. From several of these it is 
 procured merely by their exposure to the operation of 
 the atmosphere upon them ; thus far, therefore, it may 
 be esteemed a natural production ; and as it is largely 
 met with in certain volcanic countries, it has an equal 
 claim with many other substances to be considered as a 
 mineral. 
 
 Alum is found in, or procured from, at least three 
 earthy substances of somewhat different external charac- 
 ters, which are described as alum earth, alum stone, and 
 alum slate. 
 
 Alum Earth is of a brownish black colour, occasionally 
 with a glimmering lustre, owing to the intermixture of 
 mica ; its fracture is earthy, somewhat inclining to slaty 5 
 and it is light, soft, and friable. It occurs, frequently, 
 in beds of great magnitude, in alluvial land, and some- 
 times in the floetz-trap formation ; and is met with ia 
 Bohemia, Saxony, Austria, Naples, Hungary, and in the 
 Vivarais in France. 
 
 Alum is procured by lixiviation from alum earth, 
 which seems to be considerably bituminous, and has a 
 strong resemblance to bituminized wood ; when left 
 exposed to a moist atmosphere, it becomes warm, and 
 at length takes fire : occasionally, it is used as fuel. 
 
 Alum stone is greyish, or yellowish white, of various 
 shades : it occurs in considerable masses which are 
 translucent at the edges, somewhat hard and brittle ; it 
 adheres slightly to the tongue, and gives out an* 
 argillaceous odour when breathed on. 
 
 It is met with only at La Tolfa, in the states of the 
 church, in Tuscany, and in Upper Hungary : at La Tolfa 
 the alum-stone is found in large strata, and in large mas- 
 ses, among compact iron-shot argillaceous limestone, 
 and is mixed with lithomarga, fluor, and calcareous 
 spar ; and penetrated by veins of quartz. In Hungary, 
 pyrites, native sulphur, and quartz, are often found dis- 
 persed through it. The pure Roman Alum is prepared 
 from it. 
 
$8 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Alum-slate is of a greyish, bluish, brownish, or iron- 
 black colour, and sometimes irridescent on the surface : 
 its structure is slaty, and it is soft, brittle, and has a mea- 
 gre feel ; by exposure to weather, it falls to pieces, and 
 is covered by an efflorescence, often somewhat bitumi- 
 nous. By one analysis, it consists of alumine 44, sulphu- 
 ric acid 25, silex 24, potash 3, water 4. It is found in 
 round masses, in beds and strata, more rarely in veins, 
 in the newer argillaceous schistus, and also in transition 
 mountains. It occurs in Saxony, Bohemia, Hungary, 
 France ; also in the valley of the lead hills in Scotland, 
 in the mountains near Moffat, and in the transition rocks 
 of the south of Scotland. At Whitby, in Yorkshire. 
 there are very extensive alum works ; but the nature 
 of the earth or rock from which the Alum is procured, 
 or its geological situation, has not been accurately des- 
 cribed. 
 
 Alum can only be procured from alum-slate by burn- 
 ing it. 
 
 Alum is rarely found massirc ; that which is met with 
 in the island of Melo, most nearly approaches to this 
 character ; if taken away, it shortly appears again, 
 whence it is supposed to be merely close aggregations 
 of efflorescences. The mines of Melo are volcanic; 
 there are also other volcanic mines, as of Latera, near 
 Bolsena, in Italy, also at 'Solfaterra : those of Tolfa, 
 above-mentioned, are likewise by some considered to 
 be volcanic, while others assert that the beds of La 
 Tolfa may be traced to the Apennines. Mines of Alum, 
 in volcanic countries, are situated in whitish or reddish 
 friable lavas. 
 
 Alum is likewise found in the waters of a few springs 
 as of those of Stikkenitz in Bohemia, and of some in 
 Hungary. 
 
 CRYOLITE. 
 
 Of this rare mineral, which has only been brought 
 from Greenland, the Geological history is not known. 
 It occurs massive, white, or greyish white, and occasion- 
 ally brown, from an admixture of iron, and may be frao 
 
TO MINERALOGY, 89 
 
 tared into rectangular parallelepipeds : it is not so hard 
 as fluor spar, and is translucent ; but by immersion in 
 *yater, it becomes transparent. The name of Cryolite 
 was given on account of its easy fusibility ; it fuses, and 
 becomes liquid before the blow pipe : and even in the 
 Oame of a candle. Its specific gravity is 2.94 ; and it 
 consists of 21 of alurfline, 32 of soda, and 47 of fluoric 
 acid and water. 
 
 LIME. 
 
 LIME has never been found pure ; when BO prepared- 
 by the chemist, it is white, moderately hard, of a hot 
 acrid taste, and infusible except by voltaic electrity. 
 
 It is not a simple or elementary body ; but a com- 
 pound, consisting of oxygen united with a base which 
 possesses the colour and lustre of silver ; but which Sir 
 H. Davy has not hitherto been able to examine : he 
 considers it to be a metal, and has denominated it Co/- 
 dum. Berzelius estimates Lime to consist of about 28 
 per cent, of oxygen, and 72 per cent, of calcium* 
 
 Lime is obtained- artificially, by heating the various 
 species of carbonates, till the carbonic acid is driven off; 
 hence the lime obtained for cements and agricultural 
 purposes. For nice chemical purposes, it is procured 
 in a purer state, by subjecting to a red heat, for some 
 iTours, either the white Carrara statuary marble, er 
 oyster shells ; the outer coat being first taken off. From 
 the former, lime is obtained which is mixed only with 
 small portions of silex, and sometimes with an atom of 
 iron ; the lime procured from the latter, contains only 
 a little phosphate of lime. These impurities are after- 
 wards got rid of, by chemical processes. 
 
 Lime enters into the composition of a considerable 
 number of earthy or stony minerals, but is not found in 
 any earthy compound in the proportion of 50 per cent 
 except when mineralized by an acid ; thus combined, 
 it is found in so great abundance, that some geologists 
 have estimated that it enters into the composition of 
 he crust of the globe, in the proportion of one-eighftfc. 
 t>f the whole. - H 21 
 
80 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Lime, and its natural compounds, generally speaking 
 are of infinite importance and utility ; in which respecte 
 they are inferior to no other mineral substances, but 
 may, on the contrary, be estimated as superior to all. 
 ^ Lime is found mineralized by the carbonic, phospho- 
 ric, fluoric, sulphuric, nitric, boracic, and arsenic acids ^ 
 forming carbonate, phosphate, fluate, sulphate, nitrate, 
 borate, and arseniate of Lime ; these compounds, in 
 common with all other natural combinations of earths 
 with acids, are, by some mineralogists, termed Earth/ 
 
 CARBONATE OF LIME. 
 
 The numerous minerals comprehended under the 
 term Carbonate of Lime, differ greatly in exterior cha 
 cacters. Scarcely more can be said of them in the 
 general, than that they all readily yield to the knife, and 
 -^pat their specific gravity is below 3. Carbonate oi* 
 _^fnfi occurs crystallized, fibrous, foliated, granular, com- 
 jpact, and earthy. When crystallized, it is termed 
 Ualeareous Spar, from the Latin, calx, lime; when 
 granular or compact, limestone. 
 
 Calcareous Spar- is often extremely pure carbonate of 
 time, and is frequently very transparent, when it is strong- 
 
 * Rhombic Calcareous Spar fills the veins of fchistic rock, at Battenkir 
 and that vicinity, in Waftungton co. N. Y. where it is probably primitive, 
 f Primitive carbonate of lime forms a ftratum reaching from Sunderlanu 
 tn Vermont, through the weftern border of Maffachufetts, almoft to Nev. 
 ork city. Of thefe, the magnificent City Hall, in New- York, i 3 built, 
 from fome of the quarries, or rather layers, it is of that open and granu- 
 lar conftitution which enables it to be bent, making thereby elaftic marble. 
 There is a flab of it in New- York, about 6 feet long by 3 broad, and be* 
 tween a and 3 inches thick, which can be bent to a meafurable curve. 
 ft may be fljafcen backward and forward at the middle, while the two - 
 ttemities are faft. It imbibes water readily ; and when this water freezes, 
 tfeeice ftiffens the ftone, and impairs, to a confiderable degree, its elafticity^ 
 
 The Marble of Singfing and of Weft-Farms, in Weftchefter county, h 
 alto a primitive rock, and is mixed with fo much file* that it is hard to work 
 and to polifh. 
 
 The Ifland of New- York, near Kingsbridge, affords a compact marble, 
 iat is now employed in architecture. It is white and granular, and fro 
 quentlf gives fire under the ftroke of the hammer. In fome places, it i* 
 penetrated by brilliant pyrites. In fome fpots, the grains are as large as the 
 -particles of coarfc fait, and they fall afunder fponuneoufly, or with the 
 gentlcft motion. Some of die ftrata of the quarries afford excellent quick 
 
 The extenfive ftrata of Lime-ftone beginning in Poughkeepfie, and 
 ipeuetrated by the Hudfpn at Barnegat, nerth of Newburgb, afford great 
 fluanutica of- excellent lime ; and may be ranked as of tranfitioa formation^ 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 91 
 
 }y double refractive. Its colours are very various, and it 
 is found crystallized in upwards of 300 varieties of form r 
 all originating from an obtuse rhomboid of 105 5' and 
 74 55' ; this rhomboidal may be readily obtained by 
 cleavage ; and the brilliant surfaces of the fragments 
 are well adapted to the use of the reflecting goniometer. 
 It is not often found in the forra of its primitive 
 crystal, which nevertheless has been met with in several 
 parts of England. It is extremely subject to that species 
 of cr) 7 stallization which is known by the term macle, or, 
 according to Haiiy, heraitrope. Calcareous spar is not 
 
 Secondary Lim:stane is a calcareous carbonate of very great extent in the 
 Fredonian States. It occupies great fpace in the vallies extending from 
 north-east to fouth-west from New- York to Alabama : and it conftitutes 
 vaft and wide extended layers on the north-weft of the great dividing 
 Ridges, from Canada to Louisiana. It is fomethnes excavated in caverns 
 of great fize, as in the Helleberg weft of Albany ; as at the fouth of the 
 Kaat&kill near Efopus ; a* in the valley of the Shenandoah, Virginia, and 
 above all near the green river, in Kentucky. Perhaps this lacter is 'the 
 rnoft cxteniive in the known world. It is figured and delcribed in Med. 
 Repos. Vol. 17. p. 393. 
 
 Stalactites abound in thefe fubterranean recefics, and are often exceed- 
 ingly large and beautiful. 
 
 The remains of marine animals', fuch as {bell-fiih, or teftaccous mollua- 
 cas, abound in thefe rocks, proving inconteftibly the former dominion o 
 fait water, over thefe extenfive regions before the iincient barriers gave 
 way and shrunk the ancient fea of the interior to the comparatively di* 
 minutive lakes. On the fubfidence of the fait water, the land to a greai 
 extent, was laid bare, and the lakes gradually changed to frefh water. 
 The facts and reafoning in favour of this opinion, too long for infertion 
 here, may be feen in my Memoir on the Geology of North America, 
 published at New- York in 1818. 
 
 Many beautiful marbles are found in our country. The quarries 
 of Bennington and its vicinity in^ Vermont ; of Stockbridge and its 
 neighbourhood in Maflachufetts ; of Kinglbrklge and its contiguity ia 
 New York ; of Norriftown, and the adjacent region in Pennfylvania ; of 
 1-Yedericktovvn and the bordering region in Pvlaryland ; and of Milfordin 
 Connecticut ; are among thofe which furnifh marble of various and 
 elegant qualities for the architect. 
 
 The breccia of which the pillars of the Capital at Wafiiington, are 
 now preparing, pofleffes a character as worthy of the eye of the minera- 
 logiit, as of the connoiffeur. It is an aggregate of fmall calcareous water- 
 worn ftones, of ail lhapes and colours, conglutinated by a calcareous ce- 
 ment into a rock of perfect folidity. From thefe maffive layers the ma- 
 terial is broken up in any fhape and fize that is required. It is as varie- 
 gated and elegant as any breccia that Italy, Sicily, or any other place 
 affords. 
 
 Some of the Calcareous Carbonates, that abound in fhells, have been 
 worked into Lumacbella Marble*. The variety of animal rclicks that, 
 fome of them contain, is very remarkable, as in that found at Coeyman's 
 Patent, in Albany County. JBat few or none of tbxm hithrt 
 
cfcJ ELEMESf-ABV 
 
 Sp hard as fluor spar : its specific gravity is 2.7 : it con- 
 sists of 57 per cent, of lime, and 43 of carbonic acid. 
 That of Iceland, which is considered to be the purest 
 form of carbonate of lime, is transparent, and double 
 refractive in a high degree. It is familiarly termed Ice- 
 land Spar, or Double refracting spar. Some varieties of 
 calcareous spar, especially those from Derbyshire, be- 
 come phosphorescent when laid on a hot coal. 
 
 It occurs in veins in almost every kind of roek, from 
 the oldest, to the newest alluvial strata, and accom- 
 panies, or constitutes the gangue of a great variety of 
 minerals; and sometimes it appears in strata, between 
 the beds of calcareous mountains. It is so generally 
 distributed, that it would be impossible to give a list of 
 its localities. The rarest and most beautiful crystals 
 are found in the northern parts of England ; from which 
 were obtained a very considerable number of the vast 
 variety described by the Count de Bournon. 
 
 Stalactitic carbonated lime, the Calc singer of Jame- 
 son, is of various colours : the most common of which 
 b yellowish white. Stalactites are deposited from water 
 loaded with particles of carbonated lime, in the hollow 
 places and caverns of mountains : the water, finding its 
 *vay into these caverns through crevices in the roof, be- 
 comes exposed to the air; evaporation ensues, causing 
 particles of lime to precipitate. These stalactites are 
 sometimes solid, Laving a lamellar structure ; but some- 
 times are of a fibrous texture, radiating from the centra 
 to the circumference, as may be observed when they arc 
 
 curious and Intcrcfting as they are to the. Geologift, are capable of the 
 iplendid polifli which fits them for the nice purposes of building. In time, 
 it may be expected that fuch will be found. 
 
 Fetid Lime {lone abounds in the United States* It conftitutes very 
 extensive ifcrata. The falls of Niagara roll over it. Madrepores, orthd 
 cerites, anomias, oyfters and pectens, are frequently found in it, as is a 
 Ifcrt of black flint or hornftone. 
 
 I have fpecimens of a coarfe chalk from the neighbourhood of St. Ste- 
 phens, on the Tombigbee River. Bivalve fhells and fca-nrchins, of feveral 
 ipecies, are feen in their ftajres of converfion into lime-ftone, marie and 
 &alk. 
 
 Calcareous marie is formed from marine fhells, in the bays and coves on 
 the fouth-fide of Long Ifland ; and from frefh-water mollufcas in the 
 Boles and poncfc of Orange and IMer Counties, adjacent to tile 
 ork. 
 

 TO MINERALOGY. 93 
 
 broken. The precise mode of their formation does not 
 seem to be understood ; some are extremely thin tubes, 
 which has caused the suspicion that, at least some of 
 those which are solid, are filled within ; some increase 
 externally, and are covered by minute crystals, or are 
 terminated in a manner somewhat resembling a mush- 
 room. 
 
 Stalactites are sometimes of prodigious dimensions, 
 and very numerous ; of which the grotto of Antiparos, 
 inlhe Archipelago ; the Woodman's Cave, in the Hartz j 
 the Cavern of Castleton, and other caverns in Derby- 
 shire, and that of Auxelle in France, are remarkable 
 instances. 
 
 Some caverns have been entirely filled with calcareous 
 Stalactite, so that it is occasionally obtained in large 
 masses ; in this state it is called Oriental Alabaster, and 
 is much used in statuary and in the formation of vases : it 
 was greatly employed by the ancients. That which was 
 brought from the mountains of Thebais, situated in 
 Egypt, between the Nile and the Red Sea, from near 
 a village called Alabastron, was much prized : a nearly 
 collossal figure of an Egyptian idol, formed of this ala- 
 baster, was in the museum (ci-devant Napoleon) at 
 Paris. 
 
 Stalactites are not always very pendulous; sometimes 
 they are of a botryoidal form. The flat or tabular por- 
 tions formed on the floors of caverns, by deposition 
 from the water dropping from the roof, are called Sta- 
 lagmites. 
 
 Fibrous Carbonate of lime, familiarly, from its cha- 
 toyant lustre, termed Satin Spar, is composed of fine 
 parallel fibres. It occurs near Alston- rnoor, in the north 
 of England, in strata from one to four inches thick, ac- 
 companied by veins of pyrites, in a brown schist. It 
 is susceptible of a fine polish, and is employed in inlay- 
 ing, and in the manufacture of necklaces in imitation of 
 pearl. Fibrous carbonate of lime is also found at Ber- 
 gere in France. 
 
 Schiefer Spar, the Slate spar of Jameson, occurs mas- 
 sive, having a straight, or undulated foliated structure ; 
 it is white, with a remarkably pearly lustre, and trans- 
 lucent. 
 

 &i ELEMEJSTABY INTRODUCTION 
 
 It is considered to belong to primitive countries. Pt 
 is generally found in chlorite, with sulphutre of zine 
 and of lead. It occurs hi the Vosges, near St. Marie 
 aux Mines ; at Bermsgriin, near Schwartzenberg in Sax- 
 ony ; at Kongsberg in Norway, &c. It was also found 
 in a tin vein traversing argillaceous schistus in Polgooth 
 mine in Cornwall, accompanied by tin and chlorite ; 
 sometimes it passed into lamellar and nearly transparent 
 carbonate of lime. 
 
 *%pkrite. This mineral is only found in a friable state,, 
 and consists of white scales of a shining pearly lustre, 
 and very soft to the touch. It is termed by Werner, 
 Schaumerde (Earth-foam) and is by him considered to 
 be nearly allied to Schieffer spar : it is usually found in 
 calcareous rocks. 
 
 It occurs at Gera in Misnia, and more abundantly at 
 Eisleben in Thuringia, in mountains consisting of strati- 
 form limestone. 
 
 Agaric Mineral is of a white colour, or yellowish or 
 greyish white ; and is soft, very tender, opake, and is 
 so light as to float for a short time on water. It is con- 
 sidered to be nearly pure carbonate of lime. It is found 
 in the beds and crevices of calcareous rocks in Switzer- 
 land, where it is employed to whiten houses. It is also 
 found near Ratisbon ; likewise at Sunderland in the 
 county of Durham. 
 
 Granular Limestone is massive, and composed of small 
 grains which are of a lamellar texture and brilliant lustre ; 
 but as these grains intersect each other in every direc- 
 tion, the lustre of the mass is only glimmering. It is of 
 various colours ; the whitest and most esteemed, from its 
 resemblance to sugar, has been termed by the French 
 mineralogists, chaux carbonatee saccbaro'i'de ; but it 
 has more generally, from its important uses in the arts, 
 obtained the name of Statuary Marble. Granular lime- 
 stone is also called Primitive Limestone ; the largest 
 grained is generally esteemed to be of the oldest for- 
 mation. Its colour varies from white, through various* 
 shades of yellow, green, grey, blue, red, almost to 
 black ; and it is sometimes clouded, spotted, or veined :: 
 it is translucent at the edges, and is very brittle. It ne- 
 ver encloses the remaios of organized bodies, but fre-i 
 

 TO MINERALOGY. 95 
 
 cment]y contains certain other substances dispersed 
 through its masses ; as quartz, garnets, mica, hornblende, 
 talc, actinolite, asbestus, sulphuret of zinc and of lead, 
 magnetic iron, &c. 
 
 Granular limestone is found in many, if not most pri 
 rnitive countries ; it sometimes forms entire mountains, 
 but more often occurs in beds. It is considered to be 
 of contemporaneous formation with gneiss, porphyry, 
 argillaceous and micaceous schistus, with which it fre- 
 quently alternates. In the Alps, and especially the Py- 
 renees, examples of this are of frequent occurrence. 
 In the peak, on the south of Bagnere, in the Pyrenees, 
 vertical beds of granular limestone alternate \vith beds 
 of granite. 
 
 The most celebrated statuary marble was found in the 
 island of Paros, thence termed Parian marble ; the 
 marbles of Naxos and Tenos, were also called by the 
 same name, being both almost equally valuable for the 
 purposes of the statuary ; the quarries of those islands 
 are said to be quite exhausted. Parian marble is white, 
 large grained, and considerably translucent ; it was call- 
 ed by the ancients Lichnites. The celebrated statues of 
 the Venus de Medicis, of the Venus Capitolini, of 
 the Pallas de Velletri, and many others, are of this 
 marble. The statutary marble called by the ancients 
 Marmor Pentilicus, was taken from quarries on a moun- 
 tain called Pentelicus, near Athens : it is traversed by 
 greenish or greyish veins, which are commonly micace- 
 ous. Of this marble, the head of Alexander, the Indian 
 Bacchus, the statue of Esculapius, the head of Hippo- 
 crates, &c. were made. The marble of Carrara or of 
 Luni, is of a much finer grain, and closer texture, than 
 the foregoing ; and is now usually employed by statua- 
 ries : the quarries of this marble are on the eastern coast 
 of the gulph of Genoa. Among many other celebrated 
 statues made of this marble, are the Antinous of the 
 Capitol ; a colossal bust of Jupiter, &c. : and Dolomieu 
 is of opinion that the Apollo Belvidere is of Carrara 
 marble, but the marble- merchants of Rome consider it 
 to be of an ancient Greek marble, differing from any 
 now known. Dr. Clarke remarks, that the Carrara mar- 
 ble is milk white, and less crystalline than the Parian ; 
 that the Parian is whiter and tesa crvstajized than the 
 
96 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Naxian ; and further, that while the works executed in 
 the Parian marble retain, with all the delicate softness 
 of wax, the mild lustre of their original polish, those 
 which were finished in the Pentelican marble have been 
 decomposed ; and sometimes exhibit a surface as earthy 
 and as rude as common limestone, owing to the veins 
 of extraneous substances which intersect the Pentelic 
 quarries. Statuary marble was anciently brought also 
 from many other places besides those abovementioned : 
 it is now found in Saxony, Bohemia, Norway, Sweden, 
 England, France, &c. 
 
 Of marbles, there is an almost endless variety. Those 
 most esteemed for ornamental purposes, as for chim- 
 ney pieces, &:c. are brought from Spain, and the Pyre- 
 nees, and from Italy. The environs of Verona are 
 quarried in every direction. Many marbles consist al- 
 most entirely of shells ; it is to be regretted that no pre- 
 cise account is to be found of the many beautiful varie- 
 ties abounding in almost every country. Those of our 
 own country are scarcely noticed beyond the limits of 
 the districts in which they occur, although many varie- 
 ties are admirably adapted to ornamental purposes. 
 
 In Derbyshire there are two quarries of marble of a 
 deep uniform black colour and without shells ; one of 
 them is situated at Hadderi, the other at Ashford, and 
 both are near Hakeweli ; the former belongs to the duke 
 of Rutland, the latter to the duke of Devonshire ; both 
 the marbles are largely employed for the purposes of 
 chimney pieces and ornaments, of which the, manufac- 
 tory is carried on by Brown &z Co. at Derby ; who have 
 fixed up in their ware-rooms a large slab to be used as a 
 looking-glass; of so high a polish are those marbles sus- 
 ceptible. 
 
 Near the Peak in Derbyshire, a marble is quarried, 
 which consists almost entirely of fossil shells, chiefly of 
 entrochi ; this marble is used for chimney pieces. 
 
 At Wetton, near Asbbourn, in the same county, a 
 beautiful variety of marble is quarried, which is of a 
 greyish black colour, and contains a vast number of very 
 minute shells of a whitish colour, giving to the mass very 
 much the appearance of porphyry. This is used for the 
 f?ame purposes as the black marbles above mentioned. 
 
TO MINEEALOGT. 97 
 
 Near Kendall in Westmoreland some varieties of 
 'black and grey marbles are quarried ; which have some 
 resemblance to some of the Derbyshire marbles, and 
 are employed for the same purposes. 
 
 At Babbicombe in Torbay, in Devonshire, is quar- 
 ried one of the most beautiful marbles in existence ; its 
 colours vary from a light brown to a deep red, which 
 are finely variegated. This marble is extensively ma- 
 nufactured into chimney pieces in the west of England ; 
 an attempt was lately made to introduce this beautiful 
 marble in London ; but the marble not being foreign, 
 it failed of success. 
 
 In Durham, Buckinghamshire, and other counties of 
 England, other marbles of less note are quarried. 
 
 At Kilkenny in Ireland, a marble is found of a fine 
 black, enclosing shells of a whitish colour, which, when 
 the marble is cut and polished, exhibit segments of cir- 
 cles. This marble is much used for chimney pieces and 
 ornaments. 
 
 Two or three varieties of marble commonly found in 
 mineralogical collections, deserve a slight notice, though 
 somewhat out of place. 
 
 The Verd Antique consists of carbonate of lime im- 
 bedded in green serpentine : its geological situation is 
 not known. 
 
 For Ruin marble, see Index. 
 
 The Lamachelli marble exhibits beautiful irridescent 
 colours, which are sometimes prismatic internally, but 
 more commonly of various shades of red or orange, 
 whence it has also obtained the name of Fire marble. 
 It is found in veins at Bleyberg in Carinthia. Its co- 
 lours are attributed to the shells of a variety of nautilus. 
 
 The Cottam marble, found near Bristol, which exhi- 
 bits when cut and polished, the appearance of a land- 
 scape, consists of carbonate of lime mixed with a large 
 proportion of argillaceous matter. 
 
 Common, or Compact, Limestone is in great degie 
 allied to marble ; it is fine grained, solid, and generally 
 susceptible of a polish, which, as well as its colour, is 
 duller than that of marble. Its fracture is earthy, or 
 flat conchoidal ; more rarely splintery. Its colours are 
 various ; yellowish-white, grey, brown, reddish, er blu- 
 
 I 
 
98 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 ish, of different shades. Two or more of these colours 
 often occur in veins, zones, bands, &tc. : it frequently 
 exhibits appearances of arborizations. It is translucent 
 on the edges, hard, and brittle. Its specific gravity is 
 2.6. Compact limestone usually contains small and va- 
 riable proportions of silex, alumine, of the oxides of 
 iron and manganese, and sometimes of inflammable 
 matter. 
 
 Some varieties of compact limestone, and of marble, 
 properly so called, or granular limestone, are not often 
 found enclosing organic remains ; these are therefore 
 considered to be of early formation. Werner considers 
 marble as a transition rock, compact limestone, as a 
 floetz rock ; their age is characterized by the fossils they 
 contain : the older contain ammonites, belemnites, gry- 
 phites, &c. ; the newer, abundance of such marine shells 
 as are now found in the sea, and the remains of fish. 
 Both these rocks are found in thick beds parallel with 
 each other, though rarely horizontal ; more frequently, 
 nearly vertical. They are found together, forming a 
 chain of stratified mountains, in the Pyrenees, above 
 10,000 feet in height. The summits of these mountains 
 are rarely pointed, being mostly flat and of considerable 
 breadth, with very steep sides, to a prodigious height. 
 These appearances are remarkable on the edge of the 
 Alpine, and in the centre of the Pyrenean chain, espe- 
 cially near Grenoble. Compact or granular limestone, 
 encloses beds or masses of red oxide of iron, of sulphu- 
 ret of mercury, sulphuret and molybdate of lead, manga- 
 ,nese, oxide and sulphuret of zinc, &c. These metals 
 'are also found in veins passing through these rocks, to* 
 gether with lamellar carbonate of lime, iron pyrites, 
 malachite copper, &c. Garnets and steatite are occa- 
 sionally, though rarely, found disseminated in these 
 rocks. Brongniart mentions having seen flint imbedded 
 in compact limestone, near Bakewell in Derbyshire. % 
 
 The uses of compact limestone for building, paving. 
 &c. and when deprived of its carbonic acid, for cements 
 and the purposes of agriculture, are well known. 
 
 The houses of Paris are built of a large grained and 
 soft calcareous stone, which is incapable of polish, and 
 is of a dingy white, grey, or yellowish white colour* It 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 99 
 
 is found in immense horizontal beds, forming the plains 
 south of Paris. It is a very impure limestone, and fur- 
 nishes, when calcined, a very bad lime. The use to 
 which it is put, has occasioned its receiving the familiar 
 name of Pierre b&tir. Haiiy describes it under that of 
 Chaux carbonate grossiere. Its geological situation is 
 between chalk and gypsum ; it is above the chalk, from 
 which it is separated only by a bluish plastic clay, as 
 may be seen at Meudon. This variety is said to be al- 
 most peculiar to France. 
 
 Swinestone, or Stinkstone, so called from the strong 
 fetid odour given out when scraped or rubbed, is found 
 massive and compact, and of various shades of grey, 
 brown, and black. By calcination it becomes white, 
 and burns into quick lime. The offensive odour which 
 it gives out when scraped, is considered to be owing to 
 its including sulphuretted hydrogen : it is commonly at- 
 tributed to bitumen, which does not seem to enter into 
 the composition of Swinestone. 
 
 The harder and more compact varieties, which receive 
 a good polish, are useu IH C: nfal architecture, 
 
 It is said to occur forming whole mountains; it fs 
 more commonly found alternating with strata of gypsum, 
 or of compact limestone. It occurs in Germany, France, 
 and most other countries : in Shropshire and Northum- 
 berland in our own : the Cliffs on each side the Avon 
 at Clifton near Bristol are in part or wholly composed 
 of it. 
 
 Bituminous Limestone is brown or black, which co- 
 lours are supposed to be owing to the bitumen it con- 
 tains : its structure is sometimes lamellar ; sometimes 
 compact, when it receives a good polish ; when rubbed 
 or heated it gives out an unpleasant bituminous odour ; 
 by the continuation of heat, it loses both colour and 
 odour, and burns into quick lime. 
 
 It belongs to secondary countries, and is sometimes 
 found in coal formations, as in Galway in Ireland, where 
 it is employed as a combustible. In Dalmatia it is so 
 bituminous that it may be cut like soap, and is employed 
 in the construction of houses ; when finished, they set 
 fire to the walls j the bitumen burns out, and the stone 
 
100 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 becomes white ; the roof is then put on, and the house 
 afterwards completed. 
 
 Oolite, or Roe-stone, so denominated from the re- 
 semblance between the little round masses of which it is 
 composed, and the roe of a fish, is always found mas- 
 sive, and in beds, whose geological situation is between 
 sandstone, common limestone, and gypsum. The glo- 
 bular particles are sometimes composed of concentric 
 lamella>, and usually adhere by means of a calcareous 
 cement. The Roe-stone is very soft when first quar- 
 ried, but hardens by exposure to the air. Its colour is 
 whitish, yellowish white, or ash grey, depending, as it is 
 believed, on the quantity and quality of the argillaceous 
 matter with which it is usually combined. It is a very 
 impure carbonate of lime, and will not burn into quick- 
 lime. 
 
 The houses of Bath are for the most part built of this 
 mineral. The Ketton-stone, and, by some, the Port- 
 land-stone, is considered to be a variety of Roe-stone. 
 It is also found in Sweden ; ?iv:tzcrhr.ii, almnuanily in 
 Thuringia in Saxony, and near Alengon in France. 
 
 It is sometimes used as a marl for agricultural purpo- 
 ses. It was heretofore supposed actually to consist ot* 
 the roes of fishes, petrified : the cause of its singular for- 
 mation is not understood. Daubenlon, Saussure, Spal- 
 lanzani, and others, suppose it to have originated in 
 small grains of carbonated lime, which received addi- 
 tional coatings by the movement of the waters which 
 contained it. 
 
 Pea-stone, or Pisolite, differs from the roe-stone both 
 in colour and structure ; it is generally white, and is 
 composed of round or spheroidal masses, from the size 
 of a pea to that of a hazel nut ? imbedded in a calca- 
 reous cement : these masses always consist of concentric 
 lamella?, in the midst of which is uniformly found a grain 
 of sand. It is less abundant than the Roe-stone. 
 
 The waters of Carlsbad in Bohemia issue from the 
 beds of the Pea stone, which is found in the waters of the 
 brooks that supply the baths of St. Philip in Tuscany, 
 which suffer a whirling motion in their course. It also- 
 occurs in Hungary, and at Perscheesberg in Silesia, 
 
TO 
 
 Madreporite is found in large, detached, roundish 
 masses, of a greyish brown, or greyish black colour, 
 and opake ; which are composed of cylindrical, prisma- 
 tic, parallel, or diverging concretions. Its name was gi- 
 ven from its structure and appearance. It consists of 
 93 per cent, of carbonate of lirne, together with small 
 portions of carbonate of magnesia and of iron, carbon, 
 and siliceous sand. 
 
 It occurs in detached masses in the valley of Rusbacb 
 in Saltzburgh. Some naturalists have supposed it to be 
 a real petrifaction, which has been doubted by others, 
 who are of opinion that its internal structure does not 
 warrant the conclusion. 
 
 Chalk is usually white, occasionally greyish or yellow- 
 ish white; it has an earthy fracture, is meagre to the 
 touch, and adheres to the tongue ; it is soft, light, and 
 always occurs massive. The purest consists or carbo- 
 nate of lime and water, but it more often contains va 
 riable portions of alumine or silex. 
 
 It is one of the newer secondary rocks, and wherever 
 found is alway the prevailing substance, forming hills of 
 three or four hundred feet in elevation, which are re- 
 markable for the smooth regularity of their outline. 
 Chalk is far less abundant in nature than compact lime- 
 stone. The countries in which it is principally found, 
 are Poland, France and England ; most abundantly in 
 the latter, forming long continuous hills, in the direction 
 nearly of east and west, and separated by ranges of sand' 
 stone, and low tracts of gravel and clay. 
 
 Of Chalk there are two formations, the upper and the 
 lower; the latter is without flints ; the former, whatever 
 may be its elevation, is characterized by containing pa- 
 rallel and horizontal layers of flints. Chalk, likewise, 
 contains abundance of the remains of marine organic 
 oodles, and of amphibious and land animals. 
 
 The uses of Chalk are numerous : when compact it is 
 used for building ; it furnishes lime for cements and ma- 
 nure; it is employed in the polishing of metals and of 
 glass; by mechanics, as a marking material, and as 
 moulds to cast metals in ; by chemists and starch-makers. 
 to dry precipitates on, for which it is peculiarly quali- 
 fied by the facility with which it absorbs water. It is 
 
10A. 'EJ.pIjp.AY INTRODUCTION 
 
 the while of distemper painting, and, when washed and 
 purified, forms the substance termed whiting. 
 
 Marl. Of this substance there are many varieties : 
 some of them effervesce strongly with acids, and are 
 employed as manures : they vary much in respect of co- 
 lour, and are greyish or yellowish, bluish or reddish. 
 Marl, in the general, is massive, but falls to pieces by 
 exposure to the air, when it becomes plastic in water. 
 
 Calcareous marl, of an earthy texture, occurs in bed? 
 in secondary limestone, and often contains shells; it is 
 found in most calcareous countries ; occasionally in coal 
 formations. It is sometimes found of a slaty structure 
 and bituminous, when it is termed Bituminous Marl 
 Slate, or Marlite ; which occurs in beds with the oldest 
 flcetz limestone, intermixed with the ores of copper : in 
 Thuringia extensive works are employed in the smelting 
 of the copper it contains. It is remarkable that a large 
 number of fish of the same species, are also contained 
 in this substance in regular layers ; the bodies of which 
 are carbonized, or are converted into coal, and some- 
 times their scales are plated with copper ore ; but every 
 fish is in a contorted position, as though it had undergone 
 violent death by a sudden irruption or deposition of 
 sulphureous and metallic matter : accompanying the fish, 
 are found petrified plants, which appear to belong to the 
 genus, fucus. 
 
 Tufa is the most impure, the most irregular, and the 
 most porous of all the varieties or carbonate of lime. It 
 is light, cellular, and often incrasts other substances. 
 The various articles which, being placed in certain 
 springs, or waters, in Derbyshire, become covered by 
 an earthy substance, and which thereby acquire the ex- 
 ternal appearance of petrifactions, are in fact, only in- 
 crusted by a kind of Tufa. It is sometimes sufficiently 
 massive to be employed as a building stone. 
 
 It generally occurs in alluvial land, and is found both 
 in Essex and in Derbyshire. 
 
 ARRAGONITE. 
 
 The Arragonite, so called from its having been first 
 discovered at Arragon in Spain, is commonly found m 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 103 
 
 six-sided crystals of a greyish, or greenish white, and of 
 various shades of brown ; sometimes of a brownish red 
 colour. The crystals, however, are not perfect prisms; 
 down the centre of each lateral plane, there generally 
 runs a seam, which is considered to be owing to the pe- 
 culiar construction of the crystal. The Count de Bour- 
 non considers this substance as a hard carbonate of lime ; 
 it readily scratches the common carbonate, and some- 
 times glass ; and he conceives that the six-sided prism 
 of the Arragonite is derived from the rhomboid, which 
 he imagines to be the common primitive crystal, of 
 Arragonite and the carbonate of lime ; but he shows 
 that the six-sided prisms of these substances cannot -be 
 derived in the same manner from the rhomboid, because 
 they cannot be cleaved in the same directions. Haiiy, 
 on the contrary, considers the primitive form of the crys- 
 tal to be a rectangular octohedron. The Arragonite is 
 sometimes seen in crystals, which appear to be elon- 
 gated octohedrons, crossing each other at right angle?. 
 
 Like the common carbonate of lime, the arragonite 
 possesses a double refractioii; but differs from it, in be- 
 ing somewhat heavier, of an imperfect lamellar struc- 
 ture, and considerably harder. 
 
 These circumstances are sufficient to render the ideiv 
 tity of Arragonite and common carbonate of lime doubt- 
 ful; nevertheless Vauquelin, Klaprotb, Chenevix, &c. 
 have not discovered any difference in their component 
 elements ; but Stromeyer by three analyses discovered 
 from 2 to 3 per cent, of strontain involved in its com- 
 position. 
 
 In Arragon, in Spain, it occurs disseminated in a fer- 
 ruginous clay, accompanied by sulphate of lime : at 
 Leogang, in Salzburg, in an argillaceous or a quartoze 
 rock, accompanied by calcareous spar, yellow copper* 
 and arsenical pyrites. It has also been found in the caj 
 vities of basalt near Glasgow. The greenish varieties 
 are brought from Marienberg in Saxony, and Sterzing 
 in the Tyrol. It is also met with at Bastan and Cau- 
 penne, in the lower Pyrenees. 
 
 The Arragonite is also found acicular ; either in slen- 
 der diverging, or in parallel fibres. It occurs in radiated 
 masses, terminated by crystals, in the fissures of a com- 
 
104 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 pact basalt, at Vertaison, in the department of Allier, 
 in France. 
 
 The substance termed Flos Ferri, because it was 
 originally found in mines of spathose iron, is now consi- 
 dered to be a variety of Arragonite ; though for what 
 reason it is difficult to say, as it has never been analyzed. 
 It is usually of a snow while, and either in^small branches 
 which are strait, or bending in various directions, having 
 commonly an external silky lustre, arising probably from 
 the crystalline terminations of the minute fibres of which 
 it is composed ; these fibres radiate from the centre, 
 presenting, when the substance is broken, a brilliant 
 silky lustre. 
 
 The finest specimens are brought from the mines of 
 Eisen-ertz in Stiria : it occurs also at Schemnitz, at St. 
 Marie aux Mines, and in the mines of Baygorri and 
 Vicdessos in the Pyrenees. Small, but beautiful spe- 
 cimens have also been brought from Dufton in West- 
 moreland. 
 
 B1TTERSPAH. 
 
 Bitterspar is usually found in crystals in the form of 
 its primitive crystal, the rhomboid, which is so nearly 
 allied to that of the carbonate of lime, that it was con- 
 sidered to be the same, until Dr. Wollaston discovered 
 the difference by means of the reflecting goniometer. 
 Its angles are 106 15' and 73 e 45'. The colour of this 
 mineral is yellow, with a somewhat pearly lustre ; and it 
 is harder than carbonate of lime, is semi-transparent, 
 and very brittle. That from the Tyrol consists of 52 
 carbonate of lime, 45 carbonate of magnesia, and 3 of 
 oxide of iron and of manganese. 
 
 It is commonly imbedded in chlorite, steatite, or ser- 
 pentine ; and is found in the mountains of the Tyrol 
 and of Salzburg ; in that of Taberg in Sweden, and on 
 the borders of Loch Lomond in Scotland. 
 
 A variety found in compressed hexahedrons, or in 
 small masses of a light green colour, by Dr. Thompson, 
 at Miemo in Tuscany, thence called the Miemite, occurs 
 in the cavities of alasbaster. It consists of the same 
 
TO MINEB&IOGT. 103 
 
 elements as the former variety, in about the same pro- 
 portions. 
 
 A variety in the form of somewhat oblique tetrahedral 
 prisms, was found at Gluckbrunn in the territory of Go- 
 tha. The proportions of the component elements dif 
 fer from those of the preceding varieties. 
 
 B&OWN SPAR. PEARL SPAR. 
 
 The Brown Spar is of various shades of grey, brown ; 
 sometimes reddish brown. It occurs crystallized in va- 
 rieties of the rhomboid, which, as its primitive crystal, 
 differs somewhat from that of the carbonate of lime oi' 
 the bitterspar, as was discovered by Dr. Wollaston- by 
 means of the reflecting goniometer. Its angles are 107 
 and 73. The fracture of massive Brown Spar is curved- 
 foliated ; rarely perfectly lamellar : it is translucent on 
 the edges : it contains a very variable proportion of iron 
 Some varieties greatly resemble spathose iron. 
 
 It is commonly found in veins, accompanied by 
 quartz, carbonate and fluate of lime, lead, zinc, iron,, 
 silver, &c. It occurs in the Pyrenees, Saxony, France, 
 Sweden, &c. At Ormes-head in Caernarvonshire, it 
 occurs in veins with copper and manganese, and very 
 abundantly in mass. 
 
 Pearl Spar is white, greyish or yellowish white, and 
 occurs in rhomboids usually with curvilinear faces ; 
 sometimes of a pearly lustre which is remarkably bril- 
 liant, from which it obtained its name : it occurs in near- 
 ly the same places and under the same circumstances, 
 as Brown Spar ; and is abundant in some of the mines 
 of the north of England. That of Sweden, consists of 
 29.97 of lime, 21.14 of magnesia, 44.8 of carbonic acid, 
 3.4 of iron, and 1.5 of manganese. 
 
 DOLOMITE. 
 
 : j ' 
 
 The Dolomite mostly occurs massive, but is some- 
 times of a slaty texture ; it consists of fine grains, which 
 are lamellar ; the mass is generally white, occasionally 
 with a tinge of yellow or grey ; it is soft, yields to the 
 nail, is tFanslucent on the edges, and when struck, most* 
 
106 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 :.v.., +$&' ,.. 
 
 }y emits a phosphorescent light, which is visible in the 
 dark. It greatly resembles primitive limestone, but is 
 much softer. That of the Apennines consists of 59 car- 
 bonate of lime and 40 carbonate of magnesia ; that of 
 St. Gothard contains some oxide of iron and of man- 
 ganese. 
 
 It occurs only in primitive mountains, in veins or beds, 
 accompanied by iron, zinc, orpimont, yellow copper, 
 mica, c. To the intermixture of this latter substance 
 in Dolomite, its occasional slaty texture is owing. It is 
 found at Mont St. Gothard in the Alps ; and at Simplon 
 in the valley of Ranter ; and in large veins traversing 
 granite near Varallo, in the valley of Sesia : it also oc- 
 curs in Siberia. 
 
 MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE.* 
 
 The Magnesian limestone differs from common lime- 
 stone in its external characters, in having generally a 
 granular, sandy structure, a glimmering or glistening 
 lustre, and in being of a yellowish colour. It consists 
 of about 30 of lime, 21 of magnesia, 47 of carbonic acid, 
 1 of clay and oxide of iron. 
 
 It occurs iij strata -at Bredon hill near Derby ; at 
 Mallock in the same county. A great range of hills ex- 
 tending from Nottingham to Sunderland, overlaying the 
 coal, are entirely composed of it ; it forms beds in the 
 Mendip hills in Somersetshire ; it occurs at Ballyshan- 
 non in Ireland, and at Houth, near Dublin. The Min- 
 ater and city walls of York are built of magnesian lime- 
 stone ; sometimes, though rarely, it contains shells, &c. 
 
 The lime obtained from it is greatly esteemed for ce- 
 ments, being less subject to decay, owing to its absorb- 
 ing less carbonic acid from the atmosphere than the lime 
 of common limestone. But for agricultural purposes it 
 is less esteemed ; when laid on particular soils it tends 
 rather to injure than to improve vegetation ; which is 
 wholly destroyed when the quantity is large : this effect 
 
 * Magnefian Minerals are frequent in and around N^w-York. There 
 is reafon to doubt the affcrtion that magnefia renders the foil barren. 
 Was this the fact, New York ifland, Staten ifland and Hoboken ought to 
 feel the bad effects of it j which does not appear to be the cafe. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 107 
 
 is owing to the magnesia it contains. An immense 
 tract of chalk in France is wholly divested of vegeta- 
 tion, owing to its containing about 11 per cent, of mag- ^ 
 nesia. 
 
 LIAS. CALP. ARGILLO-FEREUGINOUS LIMESTONE. 
 
 Argillo-ferruginous Limestone is found massive in 
 beds, or in globular and spheroidal masses, traverses by 
 veins of calcareous spar. It is tougher than common 
 Limestone, and is of a bluish black, (blue Lias) or grey- 
 ish blue colour (white Lias) ; it has an argillaceous odour 
 when breathed on, and when burnt is of a buff colour. 
 Calp is composed of 68 per cent, of carbonate of lime, 
 18 of silex, 7.5 of alumine, 2 of oxide of iron, 3 of car- 
 bon and bitumen, and 5 of water. 
 
 It is quarried at Leixlip near Dublin, (Calp of Kir- 
 wan) and occurs in beds at Abertlmw in Glamorgan- 
 shire, whence it has obtained the familiar name of Mer- 
 ihaw Limestone. The name of Lias, which originally 
 was provincial, has of late been much adopted by mi- 
 neralogists. The blue and white varieties alternate 
 with each other, generally, in thin beds. The Lias en- 
 closes ammonites ,and great variety of sea shells ; and is 
 remarkable for containing the remains of crocodiles at 
 Lyme in Dorsetshire. Its geological situation is under 
 the Oolite, near Bath, and above the red marl, as in 
 some parts of Somersetshire. It occurs in spheroidal 
 masses in the blue clay of the Isle of Sheppey, and of 
 Higbgate Hill, &c. When burnt, it forms a cement, 
 which has the property of setting very strongly under 
 water, and for this reason was used in constructing the 
 Edystone Lighthouse. 
 
 Lias has of late been employed in a manner which 
 merits notice, as being a branch of the curious and im- 
 portant art of multiplying copies of drawings or of pen- 
 manship. A drawing is made on prepared paper with a 
 peculiar ink. A slab of Lias, perhaps an inch thick, is 
 then heated, the drawing is placed upon it, and both 
 are passed through a rolling press. The paper is after- 
 wards wetted, and washed from off the stone ; but the 
 ink, being of a gummy or glutinous quality, becomes in 
 
K)8 ELEMENTAB* INTRODUCTION 
 
 part abs&fbed by the stone, and remains. It is then 
 ready for the printer. Previously to the taking of each 
 impression, fresh ink is added ; but the stone is first 
 wetted with a sponge, in order to prevent the ink, which 
 is said considerably to resemble printer's ink, and to be 
 put on with a ball similar to that used by letter-press 
 printers, from adhering to it : the consequence is, that 
 it adheres only to the ink absorbed by the stone from 
 the paper on which the drawing was originally made : 
 paper is then placed on the stone, and both are passed 
 through a rolling press as before. This art has been 
 practiced in Germany with great success, though, it is 
 said, not precisely in the same manner ; the practice 
 there, being, to make the drawing upon the stone, with 
 a prepared ink, whence it may correctly be termed the 
 Lithographic Art ; the Lias of that country, is particu- 
 larly adapted to it ; some beautiful specimens of this 
 art may be seen in this country. It is also said that 
 copies of military drawings and orders were multiplied 
 by this means, to a very large amount, at the head- 
 quarters of the armies lately employed on the continent. 
 An artificial composition is sometimes used instead of 
 the Lias. 
 
 APATITE. PHOSPHATE OF LIME. 
 
 Apatite is both harder and heavier than the carbonate 
 or fluate of lime. It occurs massive, and crystallized in 
 the six-sided prisms, (which is the form of primitive 
 crystals), variously terminated. The crystals in my 
 possession, exhibit 27 varieties of form, which are ex- 
 tremely beautiful, and were principally brought from 
 Cornwall. The Apatite is white, or of various shade.-? 
 of green, blue, red, or yellow, but not brilliant : its spe- 
 cific gravity is about 3. and it is composed of 53.73 of 
 .Time, and 46.25 of phosphoric acid. 
 
 The crystallized is chiefly met with in the veins of 
 primitive mountains, especially in those containing tin ; 
 and it accompanies quartz, fluate of lime, sulphate of 
 
 * Apatite Apatite has been found in ftnatl maflcs, at Greenwid^ City 
 df New York. ( 'Jones. ) 
 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 109 
 
 barytes, felspar, wolfram, &c. It is thus found in the 
 mines of Saxony and Bohemia. It occurs in St. Go- 
 thard in a chlorite rock, with adularia and mica : at 
 Stenna-Gwyn in Cornwall, in yellowish or greenish talc : 
 near Nantes in France, it is met with in granite : and 
 in mount St. Michael in Cornwall, in the fissures of 
 granite, accompanied by oxide of tin and topazes. 
 
 The Apatite is commonly phosphorescent by heat, 
 and it was remarkable that the prisms of such crystals 
 as are not phosphorescent are terminated by six-sided 
 pyramids, like crystals of quartz, but are less acute ; 
 the others are terminated by planes ; and it is also re- 
 markable that those which are not phosphorescent, have 
 only been found in volcanic products : in those of Vesu- 
 vius, they accompany the idocrase ; they are found at 
 Cap de Gate in Spain, in a cellular stone, resembling 
 lava. These crystals were heretofore termed Chryso- 
 lites ; they are of an orange brown, or asparagus green j 
 whence they are sometimes called Asparagus-stone. 
 
 Massive phosphate of lime is of a granular, fibrous, or 
 earthy texture, and sometimes encloses a small portion 
 of carbonate of lime. The fibrous variety is found at 
 Schlackenwald in Bohemia, in radiated masses in tin 
 veins : in the same veins also occur round masses, which 
 are granular, sometimes even compact, and are phos- 
 phorescent by heat. Near Truxillo in Spain, this latter 
 variety forms entire hills, traversed by beds of quarts. 
 It consists principally of lime and phosphoric acid, but 
 also contains small portions of fluoric acid, silex, oxide 
 of iron, and water. 
 
 FLUOB. FLUATE OF LIME.* 
 
 Fluor is found both massive and crystallized ; the lat- 
 ter has a perfectly lamellar structure, and may be 
 cleaved with great ease into the. form of the regular oc- 
 tohedron, which is that of the primitive crystal. The 
 crystals are found passing into the cube, the acute rhoin- 
 
 * Piuatt of Lime. Flnate of Lime has been found in New-Hampfliire , 
 Maflachufctts, Vermont, New- York, New-Jerfey, Maryland, Virginia 
 and Mifiburi) moftly in (mail pieces, fame times loofe> and fometimes at- 
 
 tailed 
 
 K 
 
110 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 boid, the dodecahedron with rhomboidal planes, and 
 the regular tetrahedron : those, in my possession, exhi- 
 bit 46 varieties of form, which are extremely interest- 
 ing. The colour of Fluor varies from the perfectly 
 white and transparent, through various shades of blue, 
 green, red, yellow, and purple, almost to black : when 
 pounded, and thrown on a live coal, Fluor gives out a 
 phosphoric light ; when thrown, in mass, into the fire, it 
 decrepitates and flies. It is harder than calcareous spar ; 
 its specific gravity is about 3 ; and it is composed of 
 67.75 of lime, and 32.25 of fluoric acid, according to 
 Klaproth ; a variety analyzed by Scheele afforded 27 
 per cent, of water. 
 
 The varied colours of Fluor formerly gave rise to the 
 now exploded names of false sapphire, false emerald, 
 false amethyst, false ruby, and false topaz. 
 
 Crystallized Fluor is found at Mont Blanc and St. 
 Gothard ; in Saxony, Germany, and in many other 
 countries, it occurs in veins in primitive mountains ; 
 and accompanies oxide of tin, mica, apatite, and quartz, 
 in Cornwall, and at Zinnwald in Bohemia. It occurs in 
 argillaceous schistus in Cumberland and Durham, with 
 iron ore, quartz, calcareous spar, and sulphate of bary- 
 tes : in Derbyshire in secondary limestone, with the 
 last-mentioned substances, together with clay and bitu- 
 men : in limestone with galena at Beeralston in Devon- 
 shire : it also occurs in Aberdeenshire and in Shetland. 
 
 In the Odin mine, near Castleton in Derbyshire. 
 Fluor is found in veins, in detached masses, from three 
 inches to a foot in thickness ; their structure is diver- 
 gent, and their colours, as grey, yellow, blue, brown, 
 are generally disposed in concentric bands : of this va- 
 riety, called blue John by the miner, are made beautiful 
 vases, obelisks, &c. by Mawe & Co. of Derby. Fluor 
 is no where else found adapted to these purposes. 
 
 Compact Fluor is harler than common Fluor, and is 
 sometimes of a granular texture ; in general, it is tran- 
 slucent only on the edges : when placed on a live coal, 
 it mostly gives out a green light : some specimens in my 
 possession from Pednandrae mine in Cornwall, exhibit 
 lights of various shades of green, blue, violet, and red 
 
TO MINfiRALOOr. Ill 
 
 Chlorophane is esteemed to be a variety of compact 
 fluor ; of which it has not perfectly the aspect. It is 
 usually of a pale violet colour, and translucent. It does 
 not fly in the fire, but gives out a phosphorescent light of 
 a most beautiful emerald green colour ; a specimen in 
 my possession, from Pednandrae, gives out this light 
 when placed in the flame of a candle ; but Pallas men- 
 tions a specimen from Siberia, of a pale violet colour, 
 which gave a white light merely by the heat of the 
 hand ; by the heat of boiling water, a green light ; and 
 when placed on a live coal, a brilliant emerald light, 
 that might be discerned from a long distance. 
 
 Fluzite of lime is commonly found in veins ; some- 
 times in beds, but not of considerable extent ; it never 
 forms mountains, and is less abundant in nature than sul- 
 phate of lime, and very much less than carbonate of 
 lime. The variety termed Chlorophane only has been 
 found entering into their composition of primitive rocks : 
 it occurs in granite in Siberia- Fluate of lime some- 
 times fills veins almost entirely. 
 
 Fluate of lime is principally used in the reduction of 
 metalliferous ores, as a flux ; whence its name. The 
 fluoric acid has been used for etching on glass, in the 
 same manner as nitric acid is used upon copper. From 
 glass plates thus engraved, a considerable number of im- 
 pressions have sometimes been taken, by great care. 
 
 ANHYDROUS GYPSUM. 
 
 It is sometimes found in eight-sided prism?, but more 
 often massive ; it is lamellar, and may be cleaved into 
 the form of a right rectangular prism, which therefore 
 is the primitive form. Its colours are milk white, rose, 
 violet, or bluish : it is serni-transparent, with a double re- 
 fraction, and is harder than common gypsum ; it scratches 
 calcareous spar. When pure it consists of 40 per cent, of 
 lime, and 60 of sulphuric acid ; it is sometimes called 
 the Anhydrite^ in reference to its being without water. 
 Occasionally it yields a variable proportion of muriate of 
 soda, which has occasioned its obtaining also the name 
 Muriacite. The former has only been found in the salt 
 wines of Bex in the Canton of Berne in Switzerland ; 
 
M2 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 the latter only in those of Halle in the Tyrol ; but in 
 fibrous, or globular masses, or in ramose contortions 
 (Pierres de trippes) it is found in some of the mines of 
 Saxony and of Derbyshire. 
 
 Anhydrous gypsum, affording by analysis 8 per cent, 
 of silex, and having the compact texture of certain varie- 
 ties of marble, is found at Vulpino in Italy. It is of a 
 greyish white colour, with bluish grey veins, and is trans- 
 lucent on the edges. At Milan it is employed for ta- 
 bles and chimney-pieces, under the name of Marbrc 
 Bardiglio di Bergamo. 
 
 GYPSUM.* SELENITE. SULPHATE OF LIME. 
 
 This mineral is found crystallized, fibrous, massive* 
 and earthy. The crystallized is generally called Sele- 
 nite ; the amorphous and earthy, Gypsum : but these 
 terms are sometimes used indiscriminately. The pri- 
 mitive form of its crystals, of which Hauy has noticed 5 
 varieties, is a rhomboidal prism, of 113 8' and 66 52' 
 terminated by oblique angled parallelograms, into which 
 
 * Gypsum* Gypfum is found abundantly in the counties of Madifon, 
 Onondaga and Cayuga in New- York, in the neighbourhood of the Sale 
 Springs of Montezuma and Salina. It is frequently lamellar or tabular ; 
 very tranfparent and beautiful : then it is amorphous and maflive; in 
 other places it is almoft black, but becomes white by a continued red-heat. 
 Sometimes again it is mixed with a dark argillaceous fluff refembling 
 dried mud. 
 
 Fine Gypfum of Onondaga, was found on analysis to contain in one 
 hundred grains, ai of water, 34 of lime and 47 of fulphuric acid. (War* 
 den in Med. Rep. Vol. 13. p. 77.) 
 
 At the cataract of Niagara gypfum is found in the fetid limeftone, 
 evidently produced by the decompofition of pyrites. Here the newh 
 formed Sulphuric acid combines with the lime and difcharges the carbonic 
 acid and hydrogene. When picked up at the foot of the falls, in loof;. 
 and white lumps, it has been called " petrified foam." 
 
 From the bay of Fundy in Nova-Scotia, it is brought to us, in a greaf 
 variety of forms, tabular, massive, in ftellated or globular cryftals, &c. I 
 have fpecimens of beautiful fibrous gypfum from Labrador. 
 
 Ten-fided cryftals have been brought me from the State of Ohio, when 
 they are faid to lie loofe in an argillaceous foil. 
 
 JLoofe pieces, of a fine quality, though fmall, have been difcovered in St 
 Mary's county, Maryland. 
 
 The employment of gypfum as a manure, has been and continues to bt. 
 a practice of the utmoft moment to the agriculture and produce of all the 
 interior country. It has not been found as yet, to anfwcr fo good a pur- 
 pofe along the fea coaft, or in the neighbourhood of fait- water. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 113 
 
 the crystals may with care be reduced by fracture ; the 
 natural joints are very visible : the crystals are generally 
 transparent, with a shining pearly lustre ; and are of va- 
 rious shades of white, yellow, grey, brown, red, or violet 
 colour : sulphate of lime may readily be distinguished* 
 from carbonate of lime ; it is much softer, and yields 
 easily to the nail : its specific gravity is about 2, and it 
 is composed of 32.7 per cent, of lime, 46.3 of sulphuric; 
 acid, and 21 of water. 
 
 Crystallized Selenite is found at Alston in Cumber- 
 land, and in great abundance at Shotover bill in Oxford- 
 shire. Selenite is most commonly met with dis- 
 seminated in argillaceous deposites ; not often in veins : 
 but it is said to have been met with in a vein of yellow 
 copper ore, traversing a primitive mountain, near Nusol 
 in Hungary : in a lead vein in Bohemia ; and in the sil- 
 ver mine of Seinenofske in the middle of the Altaic 
 mountains in Siberia. 
 
 It occurs in remarkably long slender fibres, which are 
 generally associated and curved (Plumose Gypsum) ; it 
 is found in Derbyshire, and in some of the mines of the 
 Hartz and of Hungary. At Matlock in Derbyshire, 
 Gypsum occurs also in straight fibres of great brilliancy, 
 of which the cross fracture is lamellar, and of remarka- 
 ble lustre. 
 
 When massive, sulphate of lime is termed alabaster, 
 but is readily distinguished from that variety of carbo- 
 nate of lime which has obtained the same name ; the 
 former yields to the nail, the latter does not. It is either 
 granular or compact ; the granular is composed of little 
 lamellar masses, intersecting each other in every direc- 
 tion ; the compact has a lamellar structure, and is found 
 in the form of stalactites, at Mont Cenis, and other pla- 
 ces. 
 
 Granular massive gypsum is found overlaying the most 
 decent of the primitive rocks, and sometjmes, it is said, 
 is enclosed by them : its colour is mostly white ; and it 
 has been found mingled with mica, felspar, and serpen- 
 tine, in Siberia ; but encloses neither argillaceous mat- 
 ter nor organic remains : it seems therefore to have some 
 claim for being considered as a primitive rock. In the 
 Levantine valley near St. Gothard, it occurs between 
 
 K2 
 
114 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 two beds of gneiss, and also at Bellinzina in the Alps : 
 granular gypsum also occurs near Mont Cenis, and at 
 Moutier near Mont Blanc. 
 
 Gypsum is also found accompanying carbonate of 
 lime, and abundantly overlaying the rock salt deposites: 
 tt covers transition rocks in Scotland. 
 
 A posterior formation of gypsum, for there appears to 
 be at least three formations, is found in horizontal beds, 
 and is more intermingled with marl, and frequently en- 
 closes organic remains both of plants and animals, some- 
 times of birds, as surrounding Paris, and in other places 
 in France. 
 
 Earthy Gypsum has very much the appearance of 
 chalk, but is of a looser texture. It occurs near Zella 
 and (Epitz in Saxony, and is employed as a manure. 
 It is constantly deposited by water in the crevices of 
 gypseous mountains. 
 
 It also occurs in efflorescences, or in round fibrous 
 masses, sometimes in stalactites, in the lavas of the Isle 
 of Bourbon, and of Solfatera. 
 
 Gypsum is diffused through the water of almost ever} 
 spring, to which it gives (in common with other earthy 
 salts) the property of hardness, as it is usually termed. 
 
 Gypsum sometimes forms hills. It abounds in Switzer- 
 land, Italy, the Tyrol, in Bavaria, Thuringia, Poland. 
 Spain; and in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and Nottingham- 
 shire in England ; and in Pennsylvania in North Ame- 
 rica. 
 
 The uses of Gypsum are very extensive ; the variety 
 called alabaster is employed by the architect, for columns 
 and other ornaments, being more easily worked than 
 marble ; it is also turned by the lathe into cups, basins, 
 vases and other similar articles. The manufacture of 
 these articles in gypsum is carried on by Brown and Co. of 
 Derby, to a considerable extent. Alabaster is found 
 in the neighbqurhood, both white, and with veins of 
 a reddish brown colour. The large columns employed 
 in the building of the elegant mansion called Kedleston 
 Hall which is in Derbyshire, are of the variegated 
 alabaster of that county. When sulphate of lime o? 
 gypsum, is subjected to a certain heat, it loses what 
 is termed its water of crystallization; and is converted 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 115 
 
 into fine powder called plaster of parts ; the uses of which, 
 when beaten up with water into a paste, for taking casts 
 of gems and statues, are well known. In some coun- 
 tries, especially in North America, it is largely employ- 
 ed as a manure. 
 
 GLAUBERITE. 
 
 This singular and rare mineral has only been found at 
 Ocagna, in New Castile in Spain, disseminated in rock 
 salt. It occurs crystallized, in the form of an oblique 
 prism, whose alternate angles are 104 30' and 75 30', 
 and whose lateral planes are transversely striated, but 
 the terminal planes, which are of a rhombic form, are 
 smooth and brilliant ; its colour is reddish yellow or 
 grey ; it is transparent, and less hard than calcareous 
 spar, but harder than gypsum : its spec, gravity is 2.7. 
 and it is composed 49 per cent, of sulphate of lime and 
 51 of sulphate of soda. It therefore contains no water 
 of crystallization ; when immersed in water, it becomes 
 opake. 
 
 NITRATE OF LIME.* 
 
 Nitrate of Lime is rare as a natural production ; be- 
 ing only found in silky efflorescences on old walls ; in ca- 
 verns, or on calcareous rocks, in the neighbourhood of 
 decayed vegetable matter ; and in some mineral waters. 
 Its taste is bitter and disagreeable ; when prepared arti- 
 ficially, it is obtained in six-sided prisms, terminated by 
 six-sided pyramids. 
 
 * Nitrate of Lime. In the States of Virginia and Kentucky there arc: 
 Jime-ftone caves of great extent, abounding in a faltpetrous earth. This, 
 on being lixiviated with potash, forms excellent falt-petre. The remain- 
 ing earth carried back to the caves, is capable of being impregnated anew 
 with the acid. And the quantity of the calcareous nitrate is so great, in 
 thefe numerous and vaft lime-ftone caverns, that there is no ready means 
 *>f calculating the extent to which falt-petre may be prepared. In time of 
 war, it is enough for all the home confumption and more. Daring the 
 Jate conteft with Great Britain, the falt-petre of Kentucky was brought 
 abundantly to New York, for the Powder Milli, See Mei JRefos. Fol. o ? 
 >. 8688. 
 
116 ELEMENTABY INTRODUCT10N 
 
 DA.THOLITE. 
 
 This rare mineral has only been found at Arendahl in 
 Norway ; of its geological situation nothing is known, but 
 some specimens have been accompanied by greenish 
 talc. The Datholite is greyish-white and translucent ; 
 it has been found only in ten-sided prisms, of which the 
 primitive form is, according to Haiiy, a rhomboidal 
 prism of 109. 28' and 70 32'. terminated by rhom- 
 boidal planes. The analyses of this mineral differ a 
 little ; according to Vauquelin, it is composed of 34 of 
 lime, 21.67 of boracic acid, 37.66 of silex, and 5.5 of 
 water. 
 
 A variety of this substance called the Botryolite. 
 which is also found at Arendahl, occurs in concentric 
 layers composed of very slender fibres j it consists of 
 39.5 of lime, 13.5 of boracic acid, 36 of silex, 6.5 of 
 water, and 1 of oxide of iron. 
 
 THARMACOLItE. 
 
 The Pharmacolite is found in minute fibrous, or aci- 
 cular crystals, of a white, grey, yellowish, or purplish 
 colour; these crystals are aggregated into globular 
 masses, or disseminated on the sides of a vien. 
 
 It is extremely rare j having only been found at two 
 places : at Wittichen, near Furstemberg in Germany, 
 it is disseminated on silky or roundish masses on granite, 
 in a vein containing cobalt, barytes, and sulphate of lime. 
 
 Its purple colour is attributed to cobalt. At St Marie 
 aux Mines, in the Vosges, it is found perfectly white : 
 its specific gravity is 2.6, and it consists of 25 per cent. 
 of lime, 50.54 of arsenic acid, and 24.46 of water. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 117 
 
 MAGNESIA. 
 
 Magnesia is a light earth of a perfect whiteness, and is 
 absolutely insipid ; it is infusible except by voltaic elec- 
 tricity. It consists of oxygen united with a base Mag- 
 nesium, which is but imperfectly known, but which is 
 considered to be a metal, and is of the same whiteness 
 and lustre as the bases of some of the other earths, 
 
 Berzelius states magnesia to consist of about 38 per 
 cent, of oxygen, and 62 of magnesium. 
 
 Magnesia is not, like Silex and Alumine, found ia 
 very large quantity, either nearly pure, or entering, in 
 very great proportion, into the composition of numerous 
 and abundant earthy substances : it is found in about 
 thirty, in different proportions ; but in most of these, 
 magnesia is not the prevailing ingredient, though in 
 several it exceeds 25 per cent. It is involved in a few 
 metalliferous minerals in small quantity. It occurs 
 combined with the carbonic, sulphuric, and boracic 
 acids ; but is found in the greatest purity in the mineral 
 which is termed native magnesia. 
 
 NATIVE MAGNESIA.* 
 
 This rare mineral has been found only at Hoboken 
 in New Jersey, in veins from a few lines to a few inches 
 thick, traversing serpentine in every direction. Its 
 
 * Native Magnefia.l had this mineral in my poffeffion for feveral years, 
 without knowing what it was. Nor could I learn from any of my mine- 
 ralogical friends what opinion ought to be formed of it. But we judged by 
 external characters only. Dr. Bruce at length undertook a chemical analy- 
 sis of the mineral ; and proved it to be a native magnefia, or a combina- 
 tion in which 70 parts of magnefia were combined with 30 parts of water, 
 It is defcribed by him in his American Mineralogical Journal 
 thus : colour white pafling into greenifh white ; luftre pearly ; ftructurc 
 foliated ; the folia or leaves frequently having a radiated pofition ; the 
 leaves when feparate, tranfparent ; in the mafs femitranfparent ; the fur- 
 face after expofure to the weather, becoming opake ; fomewhat elaftic j 
 adheres flightly to the tongue ; foft ; powder, pure white ; fpecific gra- 
 vity 2.13 ; before the blowpipe becomes opake and friable, and lofes 
 weight ; foluble in fulphuric, nitric, and muriatic acids. Found at Hobo? 
 ken on the weft bank of the Hudfon, oppofite New York, in veins of fer- 
 pentine. Thefe veins vary in breadth from a few lines to two inches, and 
 traverfe the rock in all directions. It alfo contains files and iron, 
 
118 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 colour is white, or greenish white, with a pearly lustre. 
 It occurs in laminrx?, which have a laminated texture, 
 and are frequently disposed in a radiated position. It is 
 semitransparent, but becomes opake by exposure ; is 
 somewhat elastic, adheres slightly to the tongue, and is 
 soft : its specific gravity is 2.13. and from the analysis of 
 Dr. Bruce, it appears to consist of magnesia 10, and of 
 water 30 per cent. 
 
 A variety analyzed by Vauquelin, yielded 2 per cent, 
 of silex, and 2 of iron. 
 
 CHRYSOLITE. 
 
 The Chrysolite occurs in angular, or in somewhat 
 rounded masses, or crystallized, usually in compressed 
 eight sided prisms, which are variously terminated ; their 
 primitive form, . according to Haiiy, id a right prism 
 with rectangular bases The colour of the chrysolite is 
 yellow, sometimes mixed with green or brown ; it is 
 transparent, and possesses double refraction ; it scratches 
 glass : its specific gravity is 3.4 ; and it consists of 50.5 
 per cent, of magnesia, 38 of silex, and 9.5 of oxide of 
 iron. 
 
 It is found near Schelkowitz in Bohemia, and at Jur- 
 nau, in the Circle of Bunzlau ; in serpentine, at Leats- 
 chau in Hungary ; in the river St. Denis, at the foot of 
 the volcano of the isle of Bourbon ; and in the debris of 
 the volcano of Bolsano. The chrystolite of commerce is 
 brought from the Levant ; it is in little masses which 
 appear to be rounded by attrition ; but nothing is known 
 of its geological situation. 
 
 The Qlivin is considered to be a variety of the chry- 
 solite, though it differs in respect of analysis; the pro- 
 portions of silex and alumine contained in it being near- 
 ly reversed, and it contains a trace of lime : its external 
 characters agree in many respects with those of the chry- 
 solite, but it is never found crystallized; both are by some 
 considered to be of volcanic origin ; but the correctness 
 of this opinion, in respect to both of them, may, from 
 their occasional geological situation, be doubted. The 
 olivin is chiefly found in little semi-transparent masses, 
 which, sometimes, from their being in a state of decom- 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 
 
 position, have an irridescent and somewhat metallic lus- 
 tre ; it is found principally in basalts and lavas. 
 
 It occurs in basalt near the village of Colombier in the 
 Vivarais ; in the basalt of Bohemia ; of Kalkberg in 
 Russia ; of Hungary ; and in masses of considerable size 
 in that of Unkel on the banks of the Rhine, near Co- 
 logne. It is also found in the same kind of rock at Tees- 
 dale in Durham ; in the county of Donegal in Ireland : 
 near Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, and in the isle of Rum. 
 It is found in the lavas of Etna, and of Piperino near 
 Rome. 
 
 The semi-transparent yellowish substance enclosed in 
 the mass of native iron found in Siberia by Professor 
 Pallas, is generally considered to be a variety of olivin. 
 It consists, according to Klaproth, of 41 per cent, of si- 
 lex, 38.5 of magnesia, and 18.5 of iron. 
 
 SERPENTINE.* 
 
 Serpentine is always found massive ; it is translucent 
 at the edges, somewhat unctuous to the touch, and in 
 general, yields easily to the knife. Serpentine varies 
 exceedingly in respect of colour ; which, generally speak- 
 ing, is green of various shades, or bluish green, yellowish, 
 or reddish : sometimes its colour is uniform; more of- 
 
 * Serpentine. Detached pieces of Serpentine, are found fcattered 
 through the alluvial bails of New-York city. Some of them are beautifully 
 coloured. The colours vary from deep green to cream coloured and 
 whitilh. I have pieces that prefent the appearance of vegetable forms 
 in painting, and are in reality a kind of landscape-ftone. 
 
 The promontory of Hoboken con lifts chiefly of ferpentine is a maflivf 
 form. It is cracked through in all directions with veins and fiffures. Be- 
 fides the two forms of magnefia herein mentioned, thofe veins contain 
 asbeftos, of a finning luftre. It is greenish and cryftallized, but the 
 cryftals generally crofs the vein obliquely and not at right" angles. 
 This serpentine alfo embraces a white mineral, of considerable hardnefs, 
 whofe furface is frequently covered with minute cryftals. This has been 
 confidered as a variety of tremoHte. 
 
 Serpentine admitting a neat polish has been brought from Rhode* 
 Ifland. 
 
 Some of the huge rorks of ftellated afbeftos, in New- York city, run 
 into ferpentine. For many years fuch a mafs has been lying in Cherry- 
 Street near Clinton Street. Though the radiations of cryftals are very 
 plain, the material neverthelefs yields eafily U the faw, and can be made 
 into fiabs like marble. It is greenifh and variegated with whitish clouds. 
 
120 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 ten, it is spotted or veined with various colours ; when 
 thus variegated, it is considered to be less pure and of 
 more recent formation, that when of one colour : the 
 latter consists of 37.24 of magnesia, 32 of silex, 10.2 
 lime, 0.5 of alumine, 0.6 of iron, and 14 of water. 
 
 The more ancient serpentine is ranked among primi- 
 tive rocks: it accompanies, is mixed with, or alternates 
 with, primitive granular limestone, resting upon gneiss, 
 or micaceous schistus, hence it has been called Primi- 
 tive serpentine ; by some Noble serpentine. It occurs 
 in horizontal beds on the summit of Mont Rosa ; the 
 greatest elevation at which it has been observed. The 
 more recent formation, sometimes called Common ser- 
 pentine, is considered to be a transition rock ; it often 
 encloses steatite, talc, asbestus, chlorite,*inica, garnet, 
 magnetic iron, &c. ; but it rarely includes metalliferous 
 veins or beds. In the large serpentine tract of Corn- 
 wall, native copper has been found disseminated. 
 
 Serpentine occurs on the side of the Alps towards 
 Genoa; as Zceblitz in Saxony; in Bohemia and Hun- 
 
 firy ; at Dobsrhau in Transylvania ; at Zillerthal in the 
 yrol ; in the Milanese ; in Piedmont, alternating with 
 beds of magnetic iron ; in Spain and France. In a 
 word, serpentine, though less abundant than many other 
 rocks, is met with in most mountain chains. Primitive 
 serpentine of uncommon beauty is found at Portsoy in 
 Scotland ; that of Cornwall is considered to be of more 
 recent formation. 
 
 It is fashioned by the lathe into vases for ornamental 
 purposes at Zceblitz in Saxony, and at Bareuth; it is 
 also made into chimney pieces, which are very beau- 
 tiful. 
 
 Steatite and Potstone are considered by mineralogists 
 to be nearly allied to serpentine. 
 
 CARBONATE OF MAGNESIA.^ MAGNES1TE. 
 
 Carbonate of Magnesia was heretofore considered as 
 
 * The native carbonate of Magnefia has been difcovered alfo at Hobo* 
 ken, in the crevices of the ferpentine rock, which contains the native mag-, 
 aefia, by Mr. J. Pierce. The fpecimens exhibited to the .Lyceum of Natn* 
 
TO MINERALOGY, 121 
 
 pure Native magnesia, until, by analysis, the presence 
 of carbonic acid was detected : it has nevertheless been 
 asserted of some varieties of this mineral, particularly 
 that of Castellamonte, that when first brought from the 
 quarry or mine, it contains no carbonic acid, which af- 
 terwards it absorbs from the atmosphere. It is usually 
 found inj large masses, (which are sometimes cellul- 
 lar, and soft enough to yield to the nail, which occa- 
 sionally gives a polish by passing over it ; but internally, 
 it is sometimes harder than calcareous spar : it adheres to 
 the tongue. 
 
 The carbonate of magnesia of Roubschitz in Moravia, 
 is found in a serpentine rock, accompanied by meers- 
 chaum. It is opalce, tender, and of a yellowish grey 
 colour, spotted with black. It consists of equal parts of 
 magnesia and carbonic acid. 
 
 It also occurs in serpentine, in veins or beds near 
 Piedmont : that of Baudissero, is accompanied by hy- 
 drophane, and contains 15 of silex, and 3 of sulphate of 
 lime : that of Castellamonte consists of magnesia, car- 
 bonic acid, silex and water. Both these varieties are 
 employed in the porcelain manufactory at Piedmont. 
 
 SULPHATE OF MAGNESIA.* 
 
 Sulphate of Magnesia occasionally occurs in the natu- 
 ral state, in the form of fine capillary crystals, on the 
 surface of decomposing schistus, or of gypsum, or of 
 the soil, and often in coal pits. It has been observed 
 in the quicksilver mines of Idria ; on the surface of gyp- 
 sum in the quarries of Piedmont, and of Mont-martre 
 near Paris; on the surface of the soil in many large 
 tracts of Andalusia in Spain, after floods ; and in the 
 foundation and lower walls of most of the houses in Ma- 
 drid, it issues in efflorescences from the mortar, arising 
 from its decomposition, and therefore to the injury of 
 
 ral Hiftory, are white, powdery, and in external appearance very much 
 like the common magnefia of the (hops. The quantity found is fmali, 
 and particles of grit feem to be scattered through it. 
 
 * Sulphate of Magnefia.From a iample or two I have feen, native 
 Epfom fait fcems to be a production of Come of the caverns in Wcfteru 
 Virginia. 
 
122 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 the building. Similar effects are occasionally to be no- 
 ticed in this country. 
 
 Sulphate of Magnesia is also an ingredient of certain 
 saline springs. It was first discovered in the mineral wa- 
 ter of Epsom in Surry, in 1675, from which it is extract- 
 ed by boiling, and consitutes that substance which in 
 medicine is called Epsom Salts. It has been since dis- 
 covered in the mineral water of Sedlitz and of Egra in 
 Bohemia. At the salt-works of Portsmouth and Ly- 
 niington, it is obtained from what is termed the bittern 
 of sea-water ; which is the residue, after ail the muriate 
 of soda, or common salt, has been extracted. The 
 mode of preparing it is not generally known. 
 
 The regular form of the crystals of this salt, is a four- 
 sided prism, terminated at each end, by a two or four- 
 sided pyramid : its primitive crystal is a four-sided rec- 
 tangular prism. The crystals show a double refraction. 
 
 Epsom salts contain 19 parts of magnesia, 33 of sul- 
 phuric acid, and 48 of water. 
 
 BORACITE. BORATE OF MAGNESIA. 
 
 The Boracite has only been found in the mountain of 
 Kalkberg in the Duchy of Brunswick ; where it occurs 
 in small crystals imbedded in compact of sulphate of 
 lime. These crystals are sometimes transparent, some- 
 times opake, and are hard enough to give sparks with 
 the steel. Their primitive form is the cube, which is not 
 often found perfect ; the edges and angles being mostly 
 replaced by the planes of certain modifications to which 
 it is subject, and which are not common to other mine- 
 rals ; four of the angles constantly present a greater num- 
 ber of faces, than the other four. The crystals become 
 electric by the application of heat; manifesting the 
 vitreous electricity on the angles which present the 
 greatest number of planes, and resinous electricity on 
 the others. The Boracite consists of about 83 parts of 
 the boracic acid, and 17 of magnesia: when translu- 
 cent or opake, it contains a proportion of carbonate^of 
 lime. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 123 
 
 ZIRCON* 
 
 *,.V' r * 5 '*'*^*1f^, i&Vj.-^fc.V 
 
 ZIRCON, when pure, is white, rougb to the touch, in- 
 sipid, and insoluble in water ; and is about 4 times its 
 weight. Like the other earths, it is infusible, except 
 by the powerful action of voltaic electricity ; by the as- 
 sistance of which it has been ascertained that Zircon is 
 a compound, consisting of oxygen united with a base 
 Zirconium ; the nature of which is unknown. The pro- 
 portions in which oxygen and zirconium enter into the 
 composition of Zircon, have not been determined- 
 It is very sparingly found ; and then only entering into 
 the composition of three substances, together with silex 
 and oxide of iron ; and in one instance with a small por- 
 tion of oxide of titanium : it has not been detected as a 
 component part of any rock. 
 
 Zircon has not been put to any use. 
 The three minerals which are principally composed 
 of Zircon, viz. the hyacinth, the Jargoon, and the zir- 
 conite, all occur crystallized. The form of their primi- 
 tive crystal is an obtuse octohedron, but their crystals 
 commonly have twelve planes, four of which are six- 
 sided, and are the consequence of the replacement of 
 the lateral solid angles of the primitive crystal, causing 
 each of its four terminal planes to assume a rhombic 
 form, instead of the triangular, as in the primitive crys- 
 tal. The crystals of these substances, of which I pos- 
 sess about 45 varieties, resemble, in a remarkable de- 
 gree, those of the oxide of tin, which also have for their 
 primitive crystal a flat octohedron : they are doubly re- 
 fractive, when translucent, and somewhat harder than 
 quartz, and their specific gravity exceeds 4. These sub- 
 stances are infusible, but sometimes lose their colour by 
 exposure to heat 
 
 Zircon. This mineral is reported to have been difcovered among the 
 primitive and tranfition rocks, in various places ; fuch as the vicinity oi 
 .Baltimore, Trenton, Sdioolcy's mountain, and Sharon. 
 
124 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 HYACINTH. 
 
 The Hyacinth is of various shades of red, passing into 
 orange red : it is transparent or translucent : its struc- 
 ture is lamellar, which is readily discovered in one direc- 
 tion. 
 
 The hyacinth, as well as the two following substances, 
 are considered to belong to primitive countries. The 
 hyacinth, in the form of its primitive crystal, has been 
 found among the corundum of the East Indies ; but is 
 commonly found in the beds of rivers or of brooks. It 
 occurs in the brook Expailly, in Auvergne in France, in 
 a sand that is considered to be of volcanic origin ; and is 
 also met with in a sand of the same description in the 
 territory of Vicenza, near Pisa in Italy, and in Ceylon : 
 it is also found at Scbelkowilz in Bohemia, and in Bra- 
 zil. That of Ceylon consists of 70 per cent, of zircon, 
 25 of silex, and 0.5 of oxide of iron : that of Expail- 
 ly consists of less zircon and more silex. 
 
 JAllGOON. 
 
 The Jargoon occurs in small transparent or translu- 
 cent crystals, which are considerably prismatic, and of a 
 greyish, yellowish, brownish or reddish colour, having 
 frequently a smoky tinge ; and in rounded masses, as 
 well as in crystals of considerable dimension, very near- 
 ly approaching their primitive form, and of a brown co- 
 lour and opake : they seem to possess no regular struc- 
 ture. This substance is usually called the Jargon of 
 Ceylon : it is found in the sand of rivers in the middle 
 of that island, and has been met with in granite, near 
 Cuffel, in Dumfrieshire in Scotland. Jargoon consists, 
 according to Vauquelin, of 66 per cent, of zircon, 31 of 
 silex, and 2 of oxide of iron. 
 
 ZIBCONITE. 
 
 The Zirconite is of a reddish brown colour, and nearly 
 opake : it occurs in crystals imbedded in a rock, cc-rc- 
 eisting of felspar and hornblende, at Frederick-Schwerin 
 
T(T MINERALOGY, 1 
 
 in Norway ; by one analysis, it consists of 64 of zircon, 
 34 of silex, 0.25 of oxide of iron, and 1 of titanium. 
 
 The yellow and smoke coloured varieties of the above 
 substances are called, by the Jewellers, Jargoons, and 
 are said to sometimes passed off as diamonds, when de* 
 prived of their colour by heat : the red, or orange red, 
 they call hyacinths : the commercial value of each is in* 
 ferior to that of all the oriental gems : in Norway, the 
 zirconite, when cut and polished, is employed as one of 
 the habiliments of mourning. 
 
 GLUCINE. 
 
 GLUCINE obtained that name from the Greek 
 signifying sweet, on account of the sweet taste by which 
 its salts are distinguished. When pure, glucine is a 
 white powder, soft, and somewhat unctuous to the touch } 
 its specific gravity is nearly 3. 
 
 Sir H. Davy has proved that glucine consists of oxy- 
 gen united with a base, Glucinum, of which the nature 
 is not known. It is computed that this earth is consti- 
 tuted of about 30 per cent, of oxygen united with 70 
 per cent, of glucinum. 
 
 Glucine has only been met with combined with other 
 substances, and then only in small quantities, and in a 
 very few minerals, viz. eucla.se, beryl, emerald, and 
 gadoiipite. 
 
 EUCLASE. 
 
 The Euclase is extremely rare; it has only been 
 brought from Peru by one traveller ; nothing is known 
 of its geological situation. It has only been met with in 
 one form, which is so complicated, that the crystals, if 
 perfect, would have exhibited 78 planes ; by cleavage, 
 it may be reduced to a rectangular prism, which there- 
 fore is esteemed to be the form of the primitive crystal. 
 It is of a light green colour and transparent, and readily 
 
 L 21 
 
126 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 separates into thin laminae ; but is hard enough to scratch 
 glass, and possesses double refraction. It has not been 
 analyzed with accuracy ; by analysis of 36 grains, it 
 yielded about 14 percent, of glucine, 35ofsilex, 18 
 of alumine, and 2 of oxide of iron ; Vauquelin consider- 
 ed the greatest part of the remainder to be water of crys- 
 tallization. 
 
 BERYL.* AQUAMARINE. 
 
 The Beryl is of various shades of yellow, green, and 
 -4blue ; its most common form is the hexahedral prism, 
 which commonly is deeply striated longitudinally : it is 
 double refractive in a slight degree, but only when held 
 in particular directions. It occurs in crystab of vari- 
 ous sizes.; they have been met with a foot or more in 
 length, and 4 inches in diameter, and nearly transpa- 
 rent. According to Vauquelin, the Beryl consists of 14 
 per cent, of glucine, 68 of silex, 15 of alumine, 2 of 
 lime^ and 1 of oxide of iron. 
 
 It belongs to primitive countries : it occurs in veins 
 traversing granite, chiefly of the variety termed gra- 
 phite : its gangue is quartz, or compact ferruginous 
 elay. 
 
 It is found in the greatest abundance and purity near 
 Nertchink in Daouria, on the confines of China, in com- 
 pact ferruginous clay. It occurs in the Altaic chain in 
 Siberia ; and in Persia in a vein traversing a granite 
 mountain, and is accompanied by quartz, topaz, and 
 Crystallized felspar. It has also been found in a vein 
 passing through granite near Limoges in France ; and 
 near Autun, in a rock chiefly consisting of felspar; in 
 graphic granite in Pennsylvania. The Beryl is also 
 found in Brazil, Saxony, and the isle of Elba. 
 
 It occurs inKinloch, Raimochand Cairngorm in Aber- 
 deenshire ; at Dundrum in the county of Dublin ; and 
 
 * Beryl. Our mineralogists have detected Beryl, in feveral different 
 places : fuch, among others, are Bowdoinham and Topiham, in Maine ; 
 Chesterfield, Maflachufetts ; Haddam and other places, Connecticut ^ 
 Siagfing, New- York ; banks of the Schuylkill, Pennfylvania ; and Balti? 
 <ngre, in Maryland. 
 
TO MINEHALOGY. . 127 
 
 at Lough Bray, and Cronebane in the county of Wick- 
 low in Ireland. 
 
 It is usually considered as a variety of the emerald, 
 but differs from it both in hardness and composition, and 
 mostly in colour. 
 
 EMERALD.* 
 
 The form in which the emerald usually occurs, is that 
 of a six-sided prism, which also is that of its primitive 
 crystal ; it is occasionally modified at the terminations ; 
 sometimes each of the six lateral edges is replaced by a 
 plane. Its colour is a pure and beautiful green ; it is 
 somewhat harder than quartz, but not so hard as the 
 beryl : it never occurs in very large crystals. Accord- 
 ing to Vauquelin, it consists of 13 of glucine, 64.5 of 
 silex, 16 of alumine, 1.6 of lime, and 3.25 of oxide of 
 chrome ; it is supposed to be coloured by the latter sub- 
 stance. 
 
 The emeralds known to the ancients were found in 
 Upper Egypt, and in the mountains of Ethiopia. The 
 finest are now found in Peru. The mine of Manta is 
 exhausted ; the present mine is situated in the valley of 
 Tunca, in Santa-Fe, between the mountains of New 
 Grenada and Popayan : Emeralds occur there in veins, 
 or in cavities, in granite. They have also been found 
 in some secondary countries ; in which they are suppos- 
 ed not to have been in their original situation. 
 
 * Emeralds occur in feverai parts of the Fredonian territory. Theybe^ 
 
 long to the class of primitive rocks, in which they occafionally refide. 
 
 Emeralds, refcmbling in clearnefs and tranfparency thofe of Siberia, have 
 been found at Topftam, in well defined hexahedral prifms. They arc 
 often contained in the coarft -grained granite ; and fometimes equal in co- 
 lour the fined Peruvian emerald. (Cleaveiand and Bruce.} 
 
 Cheflerfield, in Maflachufetts, furniihes them in great abundance, from 
 the weight of an ounce and lefs, to fix pounds. Their figure is a hexangu* 
 lar prifm, and their diameter fometimes twelve inches. Colour, a light 
 green. (Waterlome*} They are also found at Northampton and Go- 
 Jhen. (Hunt.} Haddani affords a plenty of Emeralds, some of which are 
 feverai inches long ; generally of a lightifh green, and fometimes of an 
 amber colour, refembling topaz. An extraordinary one, feven inches long 
 by nine inches, of diagonal diameter, was found there. (Mother.) Eme- 
 ralds are fcarce in New- York ; yet the granite veins traverfing the gneifs, 
 liave afforded a few tali ones, They have been alfo found at Clwfbr , 
 ia Pennfylvania, 
 
128 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 The emerald is reckoned among the gems ; and when 
 of a fine colour, and without flaws, is highly esteemed. 
 The large emeralds spoken of by various writers, such 
 as that in the Abbey of Richenau, of the weight of 28 
 pounds, and which formerly belonged to Charlemagne, 
 are believed to be either green fiuor, or prase. The 
 most magnificent specimen of genuine emerald was pre- 
 sented to the church of Loretto by one of the Spanish 
 kings ; it consists of a mass of white quartz, thickly im- 
 planted with emeralds, more than an inch in 'diameter. 
 
 GADOLINITE. See Index. 
 
 YTTRIA. 
 
 YTTRIA, in many of its properties and appearances in- 
 ks pure state, bears considerable afnnity to glucine ; it 
 has the same saccharine taste, but is easily distinguished 
 from it, inasmuch as it is nearly five times heavier than 
 water, and by some properties discoverable only by the 
 chemist. 
 
 It has been ascertained by Sir H. Davy, that oxygen 
 enters into the composition of Yttria : but the base, 
 Yttrium, with which it is combined, has not yet been 
 9jcn in a separate form ; nor have the proportions in 
 which oxygen and yttrium respectively enter into the 
 composition of Yttria, hitherto been decided. 
 
 In the natural state, Yttria occurs as a component part 
 of a rare mineral substance called the gadolinite, which 
 is brought only from Sweden, and which is so called on 
 account of its having been first analyzed by the Swedish 
 professor Gadolin, who named the earth Yttria, because 
 the mineral in which it was discovered, was brought 
 from Ytterby in Sweden. 
 
 Yttria has not been found entering into the composi 
 tion of any other mineral except the Yttrotantalite. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 129 
 
 GADOL1N1TE. 
 
 The Gadolinite is of a greenish or brownish black 
 colour, and occurs massive, and crystallized, though not 
 very determinately, in rhomboidal prisms. It is opake, 
 slightly translucent, and hard enough to scratch glass ; 
 it generally affects the magnetic needle, and is composed 
 of 54.75 of Yttria, with a trace of manganese, 21.25 of 
 silex, 5.5 of glucine, 0.5 of alumine, 17.5 of oxide of 
 iron, and 0.6 of water. 
 
 It is found adhering to felspar and mica, in veins prin- 
 cipally composed of the former, traversed by other veins 
 composed of the latter substance ; and is accompanied 
 by the rare mineral called Yttrotantalite, noticed in the 
 description of the metal Tantalium. It has been found 
 only at Ytterby in Sweden* 
 
 BARYTES. 
 
 BARYTES, when pure, is white, has a sharp caustic 
 taste, and as it possesses some of the characters of the 
 alkalies, it has by some chemists been classed amongst 
 them ; others have denominated it an Alkaline Earth. 
 
 Barytes consists of oxygen united with a base Barium, 
 with which it is united in the proportion of about 10 per 
 cent, of oxygen to 90 per cent, of Barium. This base 
 has the appearance of a dark grey metal, which requires 
 considerable force to flatten it, and has a lustre interior 
 to that of cast iron ; but it has not been obtained in 
 quantity sufficient to allow of the examination of its phy- 
 sical or chemical qualities : some circumstances render 
 it probable that Barium is four or five times heavier 
 than water. 
 
 Barytes has never been found pure : it is combined 
 either with the carbonic acid, forming carbonate of Ba- 
 rytes, or with sulphuric acid forming sulphate of Ba- 
 rytes, These compounds (or, to use the term given to 
 
 
130 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 minerals composed of earths mineralized by acids,) these 
 earthy salts may be readily distinguished from other 
 earthy minerals by their superior weight ; being more 
 than four times the weight of water. 
 
 Though Barytes is found, thus mineralized, in con- 
 siderable quantity in certain countries, it is by no means 
 plentifully distributed, since it has not hitherto been de- 
 tected entering into the composition of any rock ; nor 
 in more than one or two earthy minerals ; it is not be- 
 lieved to be common in soils. 
 
 Barytes is a violent and certain poison, 
 
 CARBONATE OF BARXTES. W1THERITE. 
 
 The carbonate of Barytes is of much less frequent 
 occurence than the sulphate. It obtained the name of 
 Witherite, from its having been discovered by Dr. 
 Withering, who first noticed it at Anglesark in Lanca- 
 shire, in a vein, with sulphuret of lead, and some of the 
 ores of zinc, traversing a stratified mountain, composed 
 of beds of sandstone, slate, and coal ; the carbonate of 
 Barytes is chiefly found in the lower part of the vein, 
 the sulphate nearer the surface : the carbonate occurs in 
 this vein in globular masses, having a radiated structure. 
 It has since been found in cellular masses near Neaberg 
 in Stiria, and at Schlangenberg in Siberia ; it is also 
 found in a lead mine near St. Asaph in Flintshire, and 
 in many places in the north of England : at Alston in 
 Cumberland ; Arkendale, Weltborpe, and Dufton in 
 Durham ; Merton Fell in Westmoreland, and at Snail- 
 bach mine in Shropshire. 
 
 It is sometimes crystallized in hexahedral prisms ter- 
 minated by hexahedral pyramids, and much resembles 
 crystallized quartz. The primitive crystal is a some- 
 what obtuse rhomboid of 88 6' and 91 54', according 
 to Haiiy, who describes 4 varieties to which it is sub- 
 ject ; it is generally white and translucent, sometimes 
 yellowish, or brownish white, and easily yields to the 
 knife. Its specific gravity is 4.3; and it is composed of 
 78 of barytes and 22 of carbonic acid. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 131 
 
 SULPHATE OF BARYTES.^ HEAVY SPAR. 
 
 This mineral is found massive and crystallized : it oc- 
 curs white and transparent or opake, and of various 
 shades of yellow, green, red and blue. Occasionally it 
 resembles carbonate of lime, but may readily be distin- 
 guished by its superior weight, as well as by the internal 
 appearance of its natural joints, parallel to the sides of a 
 right rhornboidal prism, (the form of its primitive crys^ 
 tal), which may mostly be seen, when held up to the 
 light. The crystals in my possession, exhibit 111 varie- 
 ties of form, which are extremly interesting ; the angles 
 of the primitive crystal, into which it may readily be 
 broken, are, according to Hauy, 101 32' 13" and 78 
 217' 47", but when taken by means of the reflecting goni- 
 ometer by clear reflections on fractured surfaces, these 
 angles afford, 101 42' and 78 18' ; which I have no 
 hesitation in believing, is their true value. It is, how- 
 ever, remarkable, that measurements taken by that go- 
 niometer on the natural primitive planes, however bril- 
 liant, neither agree with the measurements above quoted, 
 nor with those of Hauy, nor with each other. 
 
 Heavy spar is harder than carbonate of lime, but not 
 so hard as fluatc of lime ; it possesses a double refrac- 
 tion when held in a particular direction : its specific gra- 
 vity is 4.7 ; and it is composed of 67 of barytes, and 33 
 of sulphuric acid. 
 
 Finely crystallized specimens are found in the mines 
 of Hungary, Transylvania, the Hartz, Saxony, Spain, 
 &c. ; and in our own country, in those of Durham, 
 Westmoreland, and Cumberland : and some have lately 
 been found, though in small quantity, in the United 
 Mines in Cornwall. It is said to occur in stalactites in 
 Derbyshire : it occurs in opake and compact, and some- 
 times in concentric lamellae, or in fine concentric fibres, 
 in the same county, and is there termed Cawk. 
 
 * Sulphate of Barytes received from the Louifiana lead mines ; from the 
 head waters of James River ; from Monocafy, near Fredericktowu Mary- 
 land ; from Newtown, in Suflex county, New-Jerfey ; and from feveral 
 ether places. 
 
132 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 A variety has been found in the mines of Saxony and 
 of Derbyshire, in small white rhomboidal prisms, late- 
 rally aggregated in columns, which have a pearly lustre 
 and are generally translucent. It is called columnar heavy 
 spar, or stangenspath ; it is sometimes mistaken for car- 
 bonate of lead. 
 
 Sulphate of Barytes is also met with of a granular 
 texture, somewhat resembling that of statuary marble, 
 from which it is at once distinguished by its greater 
 weight ; it is composed of 90 per cent, of sulphate of 
 Barytes, and 10 of silex. It is found at Pegau in Stiria, 
 r.-ith sulphuret of lead ; at Freyberg in Saxony ; at 
 Schlan^enberg in Siberia, with malachite and native 
 copper. 
 
 Another variety which occurs near Bologna in Italy, 
 thence termed the Bolognian Stone, in translucent pie- 
 ces of a smoke grey colour, gives out, when rubbed, a fe- 
 tid smell ; which by some has been attributed to the 
 presence of bitumen. 
 
 The sulphate of Barytes is never found forming moun- 
 tains, rarely in beds ; but it alternates in thin beds with 
 spathose iron at Poratsch in Hungary. Nor is it often 
 found in large masses : but it often occurs in considera- 
 ble veins, rich in metalliferous ores, in primitive, tran- 
 sition, and flo3tz mountains. It accompanies sulphuret 
 of antimony in the mines of Hungary, and sulphuret of 
 jnercury in those of the Palatinate ; sometimes also zinc, 
 iron, lead, and sulphuret of copper. 
 
 The uses of sulphate of Barytes are very limited ; it 
 is sometimes used in metallurgy, to facilitate the fusion 
 of certain metalliferous gangues. It is said that the va- 
 riety called Cawk is used in the smelting of copper at 
 .Birmingham. 
 
 HEPATITE. 
 
 This mineral occurs in lamellar or globular masses, 
 of a yellowish, brownish, or blackish colour, which give 
 out a fetid odour on being rubbed or heated ; it consists 
 of 85.2 of sulphate of Barytes, 6 of sulphate of lime ; 1 
 of alumine, 5 of oxide of iron, and 0.5 of carbon. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 133 
 
 It has been met with at Andrarum, and in the silver 
 mine of Kongsberg in Norway ; at Lublin in Galicia ; 
 and at Buxton in Derbyshire. 
 
 STRONTIAN. 
 
 Strontiao, when pure, is white, and possesses a caus- 
 tic taste : it has a strong affinity to the alkalies. 
 
 It consists of oxygen united with a base, Strontium. 
 which much resembles Barium, being of a dark grey 
 colour, and having much the appearance of a metal, but 
 has not mucti lustre. 
 
 Strontian has never been found pure ; but only com- 
 bined with the carbonic or sulphuric acid, forming sul- 
 phate or carbonate of Strontian : and it has only been 
 detected in one or two instances, entering into the com- 
 position of earthy substances, and then only in very 
 small proportions ; and as it has not been found as a 
 component part of any rock, it may be said to be a rare 
 earth. 
 
 CARBONATE OF STRONTIAN. STRONTIANITE. 
 
 It is of a greenish or yellowish white, or of a green 
 colour, and is somewhat harder than carbonate of Ba- 
 rytes ; it occurs in radiated masses, the cavities of which 
 are sometimes lined with acicular crystals : among 
 which, regular hexahedral prisms have sometimes been 
 observed. 
 
 Its specific gravity is 3.67 ; it consists of 69.5 of Stron- 
 tian, 30 of carbonic acid, and 0.5 of water Occasion- 
 ally, it very much resembles carbonate of barytes, but it 
 is not quite so heavy, and is somewhat harder. 
 
 It was first discovered at Strontian in Scotland, 
 whence its name, in a vein passing through gneiss, and 
 accompanied by galena, heavy spar, calcareous spar, 
 and iron pyrites : it has since been found in the lead 
 
 M 
 
134 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION, &C. 
 
 hills ; and Humbodt discovered in Peru, a variety which 
 is white, translucent, and radiated. 
 
 SULPHATE OF STRONTIAN.* CELESTINE. 
 
 This mineral is whitish or of a delicate blue ; whence 
 it obtained the name of Celestine : it occurs in opake 
 masses, or fibrous, or, more rarely, crystallized ; the pri- 
 mitive form, according to Haiiy, is a right prism of 104 
 28' and 15 12', with rbomboidal bases ; he has noticed 8 
 varieties in the form of its crystals. It is not so heavy 
 as carbonate of Barytes, its specific gravity being only 
 somewhat above 3 ; and it is not quite so hard as fluor : 
 it possesses double refraction. It consists, according to 
 Vauquelin, of 54 per cent, of strontian, and 46 of sul- 
 phuric acid. 
 
 In opake spheroidal masses, it is found at Montmartre 
 near Paris, disseminated in beds of argillaceous marl, 
 separating beds of sulphate of lime. This variety con- 
 tains 8 per cent, of carbonate of lime, and somewhat 
 less than 1 per cent, of iron. The fibrous variety of a 
 blue colour, is found in a plastic clay, at Beuvron, near 
 Toul, in the department of la Meurtbe in France ; at 
 Frankfort in Pennsylvania, of a sky blue colour : and in 
 Egypt. The spheroidal masses above mentioned, as 
 well as specimens from Strontian in Scotland, occasion- 
 ally present minute crystals. The best crystallized spe- 
 cimens are said to be found at Noto and Mezzara in Sici- 
 ly, in beds of sulphur, alternating with beds of sulphate 
 of lime : it also occurs in beds of sulphur in Spain ; in 
 sulphate of lime, in the department of la Meurthe in 
 France ; and in beds of ferruginous marl near Bristol. 
 sometimes finely crystallized. 
 
 * Sulphate of Strontian. The fibrous variety has been difcovered fom< 
 where weft of Albany, (Z.ew.) and in one or two other places. 
 
 ' 
 
ALKALINE MINERALS. 
 
 Including such as chiefly consist of an Alkali 
 united with an Add. 
 
 POTASH.* 
 
 IT has already been remarked, in noticing the alkalies 
 generally, that potash is not a simple body ; that it con- 
 sists of oxygen united with a base (Potassium,) which 
 bears a strong affinity, in certain respects, to the metals; 
 and that it much resembles quicksilver, but is lighter 
 than water. 
 
 Potash is constituted of about 17 per cent, of oxygen 3 
 united with about 80 per cent, of potassium. 
 
 It is found in the mineral kingdom, entering into com- 
 bination in at least 15 earthy compounds ; amongst 
 which are felspar and mica, two principal ingredients of 
 
 * Potash. The preparation of Potato in New- York, by burning wood 
 and letching the alhes, has furnilhed a body of inftructive facts. I here 
 flate the refult of much careful inquiry 
 
 A bufhel of wood-aihes ufually weighs about 60 Ibs. and it requires 500 
 bumels of aihe^, or 500X60=30000 Ibs. to mak^a ton, or zooo Ibs. of 
 marketable potafh. Thus, no more than i- 15 th^of the alhes is vegetable 
 alkaline fait. Of courfe, a bushel ot afb.es affords 4lbs of alkali. 
 
 A cord of wood weighs about 3000 Ibs. and fo little folid matter is left 
 after burning, that fuch a pile of wood v/ill not yield more than ico Ibs. 
 of afhes, or 6f Ibs. of alkali. So much of the matter of wood is con- 
 verted to gas, or efcapes in vapour by the action of fire, that only i-3Oth 
 remains behind in the form of afhes. 
 
 By this calculation it appears that i-45Oth part of the weight of wood, 
 before incineration, is potafli ; and it follows that 300 cords of wood, or 
 wood to the weight of 900000 Ibs. muft be burned to make a ton of potafh. 
 
 All kinds of wood are not capable of affording this amount of potash. 
 There are fome forts, fuch as cedar, pine, and generally the wood of trees 
 abounding in gum or refin, which afford little or none of this alkali : 
 But birch, maple, baffwocd, oak and hickory, yield potafli of the best 
 quality, and in the greatest quantity. 
 
136 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 the oldest of the primitive rocks ; it likewise occurs in 5 
 others combined with soda ; therefore the term vegeta- 
 ble alkali, as applied to potash, is not correct, although 
 it is procured in the greatest abundance from the com- 
 bustion of vegetable matter of various kinds. 
 
 Potash is likewise found combined with the carbonic 
 and nitric acids. 
 
 CARBONATE OF POTASH. 
 
 Carbonate of potash, in its various states of prepara- 
 tion from different kinds of vegetable matter, is also cal- 
 led familiarly, potash, pearlash, or salt of tartar. 
 
 The combustion of vegetable stems, leaves ashes con- 
 sisting of the earthy and metallic ingredients of vegeta- 
 bles, and a proportion of the carbonate of potash. The 
 latter is dissolved out by water, and being dried, is the 
 potash of commerce. This when calcined, is called 
 pearlash. In England and Ireland, potash is obtained 
 from the combustion, principally, of the common fern; 
 1000 parts of which, afford about 37 of ashes, and four 
 and a quarter of potash. In the mountainous forests of 
 Germany, and woodland tracts of Poland and Russia, it 
 is prepared in considerable quantity. The British mar- 
 ket is chiefly supplied from North America, where the 
 employment of making potash is subsidiary to clearing 
 the ground for agriculture. The tartar that is deposited 
 on the sides of the casks in wine countries is, when soft, 
 formed into masses, which being dried in the sun, are 
 afterwards piled upon a furnace with alternate strata of 
 charcoal : the aCid.and inflammable matter of the tartar 
 is then burned off, without fusing the alkaline part, 
 which becomes very porous and perfectly white : it is 
 then dissolved in hot water, and being afterwards eva- 
 porated, dried, and slightly calcined, becomes fit for 
 sale, and is the salt of tartar used in medicine. It con- 
 sists of 48 parts of potash, 43 of carbonic acid, and 9 of 
 water. 
 
 It has long been a question among chemists, whethei 
 the potash obtained by the combustion of vegetables is 
 formed by this process., or whether it previously existed 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 137 
 
 in the plant. Some of the older eminent chemists were 
 of the former opinion, but the latter is now gaining 
 ground. 
 
 NITRATE OP POTASH.* 
 
 Nitrate of potash, Nitre, or Saltpetre, is naturally 
 found only in an efflorescent state, in extremely delicate 
 fibres, and is very abundant. There are few countries 
 in which it is not found ; it mostly occurs on the surface 
 of the earth ; never far beneath it. Old walls, afford- 
 ing animal or vegetable matter in a state of decompo 
 sition, dry chalky plains, or sands containing carbonated 
 lime, are frequently covered by it Argillaceous earths, 
 or pure sand, never contain it ; whence it seems proba- 
 ble that lime is essential to its composition, and that 
 during its spotaneous formation, it absorbs at least one 
 of its principles from the atmosphere. 
 
 Nitre is occasionally, though rarely, found in water ^ 
 but it enters into the composition of several plants, as of 
 tobacco, the sunflower, hemlock, &c. It consists of 
 49 parts of potash, 33 of nitric acid, and 18 of water. 
 
 it is found on many of the plains of Spain; and on 
 the chalk near Evreux in France, from which it is ga- 
 thered 7 or 8 times every year; and in the deep grottos 
 of Mont Horn burg, in Germany. In Italy it is afforded 
 
 Nitrate of Potash. A native earth is faid to cxift on one of the South- 
 ern branches of the river Potomac, in Maryland, bordering on Virginia, 
 from which Saltpetre is manufactured. The material was rufty or reddilh 
 brown, and foft enough to be fcraped by the finger-nail. The bafe feemcd 
 to be a botar or argillaceous earth. On powdering fome of it, and adding 
 iulphuric acid, I was faluted by the fumes of the nitrous acid. (Law, in 
 Med. Repos. Vol. 12, p. 296. 
 
 Native falt-petre exiils in Kentucky affociated with particles of quartz 
 and fand-rock. Of this, it is reported there are extenfive ftrata, horizon- 
 tally difpofed. In the fpecimens I have feen, the fait petre feenied to be 
 uiftributed thrqugh the whole rocky mafs, to cement the filicious particles 
 together, and to afliil their coherence. Though in fome parts, the falt- 
 petre filled up fiffures between the parallel layers of the land-rock, and 
 occupied in like manner veins and cracks acrofs the strata. 
 
 The falt-petre caves of Virginia and Kentucky have been mentioned 
 already. The eftimate of their product is highly confoling to our country ,v 
 Their hiftory as well as that of the fahpetrous fand rocks afford curious 
 problems for chemifts to folve. (firoivn, 6 Trans. Am. Pbilos. Soe. I 
 Med. Repos. p. 367. 
 
 Thus Poufti is a mineral as well as a vegetable alkali, 
 
 M 2 
 
13Q ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 by the calcareous soil of Molfetta. Hungary, the Uk- 
 raine, and Podolia, furnish Europe with abundance of 
 nitre. In Arabia it occurs in a valley between Mount 
 Sinai and Suez. Persia affords it, and it is very com- 
 mon in India, especially in a large plain about 60 miles 
 from Agra in Bengal, which is said to have been formerly 
 well peopled. It is found at the Cape of Good Hope. 
 The Mountainous regions of Kentucky, which are cal- 
 careous and full of caverns, afford it to the inhabitants 
 of North America. In South America, the plains bor- 
 dering the sea, near Lima, are covered with it. 
 
 But nitre is not naturally produced in sufficient quan- 
 tity for its multiplied uses. It is therefore procured ar- 
 tificially. In order to this, heaps of Rubbish, of plas- 
 ter and of earth, with dung and other vegetable matter, 
 are placed under sheds ; these are moistened with vari- 
 ous animal fluids, as blood, &c. and the mass is then 
 exposed to rot in the air. The consequence seems to 
 be, that the azote disengaged by the putrefaction of the 
 animal matter, combines with the oxygen of the atmos- 
 phere, producing nitric acid ; which, by uniting with 
 the potash of the vegetable matter, forms nitre. This is 
 afterwards purified. 
 
 Nitre is employed in medicine, the arts, and in me- 
 tallurgy, for assisting the processes of oxidating and 
 smelting; but its principal if not its chief use is in the 
 manufacture of gunpowder, for which that imported 
 from Egypt is the most esteemed, as it contains least cal- 
 careous matter. Gunpowder consists of 76 parts of nitre, 
 9 of sulphur, and 15 of light charcoal. 
 
 SODA. 
 
 Soda is not a simple, elementary body, but a com- 
 pound, consisting of oxygen united with a base (Sodium), 
 which possesses several characters common to the me- 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 139 
 
 tals ; it most resembles silver, but is lighter than water. 
 Soda consists of about 22^. of oxygen, and 774- of so- 
 dium. 
 
 Soda is no where found in the pure state ; it enters 
 into combination in about 12 earthy minerals already 
 described, in proportions vary ing from 1 to 35 per cent. ; 
 and is met with in 5 others combined with potash. 
 
 Soda is found both in the mineral and vegetable 
 kingdoms ; it occurs combined with the carbonic, sul- 
 phuric, boracic, and muriatic acids ; forming carbonate, 
 sulphate, borate, and muriate of soda. 
 
 CARBONATE OF SODA.* 
 
 Carbonate of soda is both mineral and vegetable. 
 When mineral, it is met with either dissolved in the 
 water of certain hot springs, as those of Carlsbad in 
 Bohemia, and Rykum in Iceland, or in certain lakes, 
 as in Egypt and Hungary ; or in the state of a solid 
 salt found beneath the surface of the soil : when 
 vegetable, it has been found to exist ready formed in 
 the plant called Salsola Soda, and in certain sea weeds. 
 It is procured from both these sources. Pure carbonate 
 of soda by analysis yields 22 of soda, 15 of carbonic 
 acici, 62 of water. 
 
 Carbonate of soda is found in the natural state nearly 
 compact, but somewhat striated, between Tripoli and 
 Fezzan in Africa; and according to Dr. D. Munro, in 
 a stratum only one inch thick, in contact, both above 
 and below, with muriate of soda (common salt). It is 
 collected to the amount of hundreds of tons annually. It 
 is called Trona* It rarely reaches Europe. Trona 
 
 * Several species of .maritime plants, particularly of Salsola or Glass- 
 wort, on being reduced to allies by fire, afford a Kelp, or mass of afhes 
 replete with Soda. 
 
 This same alkali ha* alfo been prepared by the burning of certain ma- 
 rine vegetables, such as the fuel and ulvx that grow upon the rocks under 
 Salt water. 
 
 A fample of fait, brought to me from a well in one of the Saline districts 
 of Kentucky, was a mixture of Carbonate of Soda vtfrh muriate of Soda ; 
 of which the quantity of the former was so considerable as to render it un- 
 fit for seasoning and curing provisions The water from which these Salts 
 were extracted may be compared to the Nitrian pools of Egypt. 
 
 Soda therefore, like potash, is both a vegetable and a mineral alkali. 
 
140 ELEMENTARY* INTRODUCTION 
 
 consists of 37 soda, 38 carbonic acid, 22f water, 2f 
 sulphate of soda. 
 
 The mineral carbonate of soda called Ala/row, is pro- 
 cured from the lakes of Egypt and Hungary. The for- 
 mer are six in number, situated in a barren valley, called 
 Bahr-bela-ma, about 33 miles westward of the Delta. 
 The soil consists of calcareous rock, mixed with gyp- 
 sum and covered with sand. These lakes contain both 
 the muriate and carbonate of soda, and the edges of the 
 lakes are surrounded by a band some yards in breadth, 
 of these substances, chiefly of the latter; but the prin- 
 cipal accumulation is at a little distance from the bank, 
 It is taken out and exported in that impure state. 
 
 The lakes of Hungary are four in number, arid lie 
 between Dobritzin and Groswaradin ; they are much 
 neglected. The soil is a stiff blue clay covered by white 
 calcareous sand. The lakes are from one to two miles 
 in circumference, and in the winter are full of water : 
 about April they are generally dry, and the saline efflo- 
 rescences of natron, mixed with a little sulphate of soda, 
 appear ; which, being gathered, re-appear in three or 
 four days ; this kind of harvest continues till towards the 
 end of October, when winter begins, and the lakes be- 
 come full of water. The Natron, both of Egypt and 
 Hungary, is imported in pulverulent masses of a tiirty 
 grey colour. 
 
 The Natron of Egypt yields by analysis about 32 of 
 carbonate of soda, 21 of sulphate of soda, 15 of muriate 
 of soda, and 32 of water. That of Hungary is compo- 
 sed of the same salts, but varies in respect of their pro- 
 portions. 
 
 Vegetable carbonate of soda is of two kinds, Barilla 
 and Kelp. The former is the residuum left after the 
 combustion of the plants, salsola soda, salicornia, &c, 
 which are cultivated by the Spaniards on the coast of the 
 Mediterranean. The sea water is occasionally admitted 
 to these plantations* When the seed is ripe the plant 
 is cut down, the seed rubbed out, and the plant is burnt 
 in a furnace. Kelp is made from sea weeds, principally 
 from the leafy fuei, vesiculosus and serratus, which grow 
 n rocks between high and low water marks. These 
 plants are gathered on the shores of Britain and othes 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 141 
 
 countries from May to August, and after being dried, 
 are burnt in pits ; during combustion the mass becomes 
 fluid, and when cold is broken into large pieces, for sale. 
 It is very impure : the proportion of pure soda contain- 
 ed in the mass, varies from one and a half, to 5 per cent. 
 
 SULPHATE OF SODA.^ 
 
 Sulphate of Soda is found in an efflorescent state, of 
 a yellowish or greyish white colour, or in an earthy 
 form, or more commonly dissolved iii certain mineral 
 waters : it is of a bitter saline taste, and is most com- 
 monly met with in the neighbourhood of rock-salt or brine 
 springs. It consists of 27 of sulphuric acid, 15 of soda, 
 and 58 of water. 
 
 Sulphate of Soda is found in many of the lakes of 
 Austria, Lower Hungary, Siberia, and Russia, and in 
 Switzerland ; near Madrid in Spain it occurs in efflores- 
 cences at the bottom of a ravine, and it is said to form 
 an ingredient of the waters of the Tagus. It has been 
 found in the workings of old mines near Grenoble in 
 France, and sometimes on old walls in the same manner 
 as nitre. It is also found in the ashes of some vegetables, 
 especially of sea-weeds, of the tamarind, and of some 
 kinds of turf; and is therefore not an uncommon sub- 
 stance. When purified of the iron with which it is usu- 
 ally tinged in the native state, or when prepared artifi- 
 cially, it is used in medicine under the name of Glauber's 
 Salt. 
 
 BORATE OF SODA. 
 
 Borate of Soda, or Borax, is chiefly, if not only, 
 brought from Thibet, where it is procured from a lake 
 which is entirely supplied by springs, and is fifteen days 
 journey from Tisoolumbo the capital. The water con- 
 tains both borax and common salt, and being in a very 
 high situation, is frozen the greater part of the year. ' 
 
 * Sulphate of Soda has been found native in fomc of the Limestone Ca- 
 verns. Alfo, in the preparation of fea-falt from ocean-water : (this article 
 has been procured in large quantity.) Glauber's fait therefore is an ingre- 
 dient in the liquid of the fea. 
 
142 
 
 ELEMENTARV INTRODUCTION 
 
 The edges and shallows of the lake are covered with a 
 stratum of borax, which is dug up in considerable masses, 
 and the holes thus made are gradually filled by a fresh 
 deposition : from the deeper parts of the lake, common 
 salt is procured. The borax in its rough state is called 
 Tincal, and is brought to Europe in the form of a brown- 
 ish grey impure salt ; or in detached crystals about an inch 
 in length, of a pale greenish hue, arid in the form of 
 compressed hexahedral prisms. 
 
 But it is said also to be found in the island of Ceylon, 
 in Tartary, in Transylvania, and in Lower Saxony, and 
 abundantly in the province of Potosi in Peru. 
 
 The purification of Borax is an art confined only to a 
 few chemists : when pure it consists of 34 parts of bora- 
 cic acid, 17 of soda, and 47 of water. 
 
 MURIATE OF SODA.* HOCK SALT. COMMON SALT. 
 
 Rock Salt is found in beds or masses ; sometimes 
 crystallized in the form of the cube, which is that of its 
 primitive crystal, and into which pure Rock Salt may 
 
 readily be cleaved ; when impure, as when its brown co- 
 
 
 
 * Common fait has been prepared from sea-water in various places, 
 very pure, elegantly crystallized and of great purity. The water is 
 feparated by fpontaneou& evaporation, and the salt left behind to concrete 
 in shallow pans. 
 
 The fait fprings in the internal parts of the Fredish ftates and territories, 
 are numerous and in feveral places very rich in muriate of foda. 
 
 In New York, thofe of Salina, Montezuma, and Galen, are among the 
 moft diftinguifhed, and afford inexhauftible quantities of excellent Salt. 
 The Onondaga Lake, which receives the wafer of the .^alina-Springs, has 
 on that account, been Ibmetimes called the fait- lake, (bee Deivitt in tie 
 Trans, of the Society for the promotion of arts, and Med. Repof* Vol. 2.) In 
 Indiana, there are fait fprings of great importance, to the inhabitants near 
 the Wabafh. (Acts of Congrets.) 
 
 In Virginia, Prefton's falt-wells afford a fupply for the adjacent region, 
 and appear to be inexhauftible. 
 
 In Kentucky the falt-fprings and fait- licks, are a very remarkable fea- 
 ture in that curious and interefting fection of our country. 
 
 In Upper Louifiana the falines or fait prairies, or fait plains near the 
 northern fources of the Arkanfa excite the attention of all vifitors and 
 travellers The foil in many parts of the extenfive tracts fituated between 
 the Miffouri and the Arkanfa, is faid to be fo highly impregnated with falt s 
 that frefh water to drink is a rarity. 
 
 It may be rationally prefumed that thefe fprings and others not herein 
 enumerated, are fed by ftrata or depofits of rock-falt, forming ftrata below. 
 Water running over fuch thick and folid mafies of felt, carries away a 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 143 
 
 I-our is derived from an intermixture of clay, its structure 
 is less deterrninately lamellar ; its lustre is shining or vi- 
 treous ; it is either translucent or transparent, and its co- 
 lour is very various, as white, grey, reddish brown, brick 
 red, violet, blue, and green. It yields easily to the 
 knife ; 'its specific gravity is 2.54 ; pure muriate of soda, 
 according to Berzelius, is composed of 46.55 of muriatic 
 acid, and 53.44 of soda. Rock Salt, according to Kir- 
 wan, is composed of 33 of muriatic acid, 50 of soda, and 
 17 of water : when of any of the forementioned colours, 
 it is always somewhat impure. It is sometimes, though 
 not often, of a fibrous texture. 
 
 Muriate of Soda is one of the most abundant substan- 
 ces in nature ; not only is it found in large beds and mas- 
 ses, but also in the waters of certain springs and lakes ; 
 and in those of every sea. It forms about one-thirtieth 
 part of the waters of the Ocean. 
 
 Salt, or Brine Sp?*ings are not found in primitive 
 countries ; but generally arise from the newer seconda- 
 ry : nevertheless they are said never to be far distant 
 from the chains of primitive mountains : they are found 
 at the foot of the Alps, the Vosges, the Pyrenees, the 
 Carpathian mountains, &ic. ; those of Droitwich, in our 
 own country, are surrounded by a brownish red sand- 
 stone, which is considered to be the old red sandstone 
 of Werner. So immense is the quantity which rises 
 from the fourpits,*which are sunk through various kinds 
 of soil, rock, and gypsum, that, although that which is 
 used bears but a small proportion to that which runs to 
 waste, the quantity of salt annually made from them 
 amounts to about 16,000 tons. Salt springs are said to 
 arise in countries in which no deposition of Rock salt 
 has been discovered , the brine commonly contains some 
 portions of certain other salts, as sulphate of soda, and 
 
 part of it. When the brine runs away, there is faid to be a falt-fpring ; 
 when it is ftagnant and reached only by digging, ittconftitutes a falt-well. 
 The fuppofed beds of rock-falt fupplying the fprings and wells, were pro- 
 bably derelictions of the i'alt ocean which originally covered the whole of 
 North America, or of the fait lakes that continued to cover extenfive 
 tracts of that continent, after the primitive ocean had retired. The rea- 
 fons for this opinion may be feen in my memoir on the organic remains 
 which were depofited during thofe periods, and that have come to view 
 flnce the waters retired to their prefent refervoirs, 
 
144 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 sulphate of lime, &c. and it has been remarked in re- 
 gard to some springs, that the quantity of brine always 
 increases after heavy rains. 
 
 Rock Salt is commonly disposed in thick beds ; either 
 superficial, as in Africa, or of a very great depth, as in 
 Poland : sometimes they are very high above tlfe level 
 of the sea, as in the Cordilleras of America, and also in 
 Savoy ; where they are found at an elevation equal to 
 that of perpetual snow. In Spain, Rock salt occurs in 
 vast masses, which seem to be isolated. 
 
 Sulphate of lime, or gypsum, almost always accom- 
 panies Rock salt ; and is sometimes so impregnated by 
 it, as to be worked as a Salt mine, as at Arbonne in 
 Savoy. 
 
 Red or greyish clay frequently alternates in beds with 
 Rock salt ; but blocks or masses of clay are said more 
 often to be enclosed in it: when in beds the clay is ac- 
 companied by sand, grit-stone, and rounded pebbles, 
 and by compact carbonate of lime, which is sometimes 
 fetid, sometimes bituminous. Rock salt commonly 
 rests upon sulphate of lime, and is covered by car- 
 bonate of lime. In the beds of various substances 
 which accompany it, are sometimes found the remains 
 of organized bodies, the bones of elephants and other 
 mammalia, carbonized wood, fossil- shells, and bitu- 
 men ; and frequently masses of sulphur are found in the 
 sulphate or carbonate of lime. 
 
 Several countries in Europe abound in Rock salt and 
 Salt springs ; Spain, Germany, Italy, part of Russia, 
 &c. ; in England in Worcestershire and Cheshire ; in 
 France there are many Salt springs, but no known de- 
 posite of salt, Sweden and Norway are without salt. 
 It is abundantly found in many countries of Asia, Africa, 
 and America. 
 
TO MINERALOGY, 145 
 
 AMMONIA. 
 
 Ammonia, or Volatile Alkali, when pure, subsists in a 
 gaseous form. It is commonly believed to consist of 
 hydrogen and nitrogen; but some experiments of 
 Sir H. Davy have induced the suspicion that it contains 
 7 or 8 per cent, of oxygen. 
 
 It is only found combined with the sulphuric and 
 muriatic acids ; forming sulphate and muriate of am- 
 monia. 
 
 SULPHATE OF AMMONIA. 
 
 Sulphate of Ammonia has an acrid, bitter taste. It 
 occurs in the form of stalactites, of a yellowish colour, 
 and covered by a whitish, farina-like dust, which are 
 found in the fissures of the earth surrounding certain 
 small lakes near Sienna in Tuscany. It consists of 40 
 per cent, of ammonia, 42 of sulphuric acid, and 18 of 
 water. 
 
 MURIATE OF AMMONIA. SAL AMMONIAC. 
 
 The Muriate of Ammonia is not abundant ; it chiefly 
 appears in efflorescence of a greyish white, yellowish, 
 apple green, or brownish black colour; but sometimes 
 occurs in small crystals which are not very determinate, 
 It consists of 40 per cent, of ammonia, 52 of muriatic 
 acid, and 8 of water 
 
 This salt is characterized by its insolubility in water, 
 and by the amrnoniacal odour which it gives out when 
 triturated with lime, better than by any of its external 
 characters. It sometimes exists in the substances which 
 enclose it, in such a manner, as to be without the reach 
 of the eye or the feel. 
 
 It is principally found in the neighbourhood of volca- 
 noes, sublimed in the cracks of lava, among other vola- 
 tile matters near their craters. It thus occurs in the 
 lavas of Etna and Vesuvius. At Solfatara it escapes in 
 
 N 
 
140 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 bubbles, which are caught and condensed in long earthen 
 pipes. It is said to appear in efflorescences on certain 
 rocks in Turquestan in Persia, in Calmuc Tartary, Bu- 
 charia and Siberia ; in some lakes of Tuscany, and cer- 
 tain Springs of Germany ; and in some English coal, 
 especially that of Newcastle. 
 
 Volatile alkali is obtained from Muriate of Ammonia. 
 The Sal Ammoniac of commerce is chiefly brought from 
 Egypt, where the soot proceeding from the combus- 
 tion of the excrements of certain ruminating animals 
 who feed on saline plants, is collected in chimnies, 
 whence the soot is taken and placed in large glass ves- 
 sels : it is then heated sufficiently to drive off the mu- 
 riate of ammonia, which is sublimed, and attaches itself 
 to the upper edges of the vessel in cakes, which are al- 
 ways, in some degree, tinged by the soot ; in this state 
 it is sometimes preferred for use in the arts. The soot 
 affords nearly one third its weight of Sal ammoniac. 
 
 It is obtained in various parts of Europe by the dis- 
 tillation of animal matter. 
 
 It is used in medicine, and in the art?. 
 
NATIVE METALS 
 
 AND 
 
 METALLIFEROUS MINERALS: 
 
 Including such Metals as occur nearly pure, or 
 combined with oxygen, or sulphur^ or one or 
 more of the acids ; together with those compound 
 substances commonly denominated Metalliferous 
 ores. 
 
 IRON.* 
 
 PURE Iron is of a bluish grey colour, and has a granu- 
 lar texture ; it is hard, ductile, and malleable, and is 
 the most tenacious of metals next to gold. Like cobalt 
 and nickel, it is magnetic ; and so readily is polarity 
 acquired by iron, that a bar remaining a long time in a 
 vertical position, or even approaching to it, becomes 
 magnetic. The northern pole is always at the lower 
 extremity. The specific gravity of iron is about 7. 
 
 Iron is an ingredient of mica, which enters largely 
 into the composition of some of the oldest and most 
 abundant primitive rocks ; and being found in all soils, 
 and in almost every rock, it is therefore considered to 
 be the most generally diffused substance in nature. It 
 has been met with in the nearly pure metallic state in 
 considerable masses, reputed to have fallen from the at- 
 mosphere ; but these masses are generally alloyed by 
 
 Jro/j. Iron is found abundantly in the United States ; in the veins of 
 the primitive and tranfition rocks of New- York and New-Jerfey ; and in, 
 fecondary and alluvial tracts of both thefe States, and of feveralx>thers. 
 
148 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 nickel. Native Iron is also said to have been found dis- 
 seminated in certain metalliferous veins. The ores of 
 iron are very numerous ; it occurs combined with sul- 
 phur, oxygen, the oxides of titanium, manganese, and 
 chrome ; the phosphoric, sulphuric, carbonic, and arse- 
 nic acids ; with silex, alumine, lime, and with water. 
 Mineralogists are not well agreed either in respect of the 
 names or the arrangement of the ores of Iron. 
 
 The ores of Iron, which are of a dark brown or black 
 colour, and in which the iron is considered to be com- 
 bined with a small proportion of oxygen, such as the 
 magnetic and brown iron ores, belong chiefly, though 
 not exclusively, to primitive countries : they often form 
 an integral part of primitive rocks. 
 
 The Red Iron ores chiefly belong to secondary and 
 alluvial countries ; they are occasionally met with in the 
 veins of primitive mountains, but are not found entering 
 into the composition of primitive rocks. 
 
 The red and argillaceous varieties, but particularly 
 the latter, it is remarkable, are generally found in the 
 neighbourhood of coal, so essential to their reduction 
 ~icrtue metallic state ; either resting on the coal or filling 
 up the fissures in it. Iron ore is thus found in the col- 
 lieries of Glamorgan, ofMonmouth, Staffordshire, Shrop- 
 shire, and of those of Carron in Scotland. 
 
 It would be vain to attempt the enumeration of the 
 uses to which iron is put by man. Steel is an artificial 
 combination of iron with carbon. The brown colour 
 used in Porcelain painting is oxide of iron. 
 
 An ore, in which iron is combined with alumine, is 
 used in the making of what are termed red lead pencils. 
 Plumbago, or black lead, is a natural compound of iron, 
 with a large proportion of carbon. 
 
 NATIVE IRON. 
 
 Native Iron is said to have been found in veins. 
 - ;a ''.'- Scrieber mentions having met with it in the form of a 
 ramose stalactite covered by brown fibrous oxide of iron, 
 mingled with quartz and clay, in a vein traversing the 
 mountain of gneiss, called Ouile, near Grenoble in, 
 France. 
 
TO MINER ALOGF. 140 
 
 Bergman cites instances of malleable iron having been 
 found in a gangue of brown garnets, near Steinbach in 
 Saxony. 
 
 Lehman says that it was found in a vein at Eibestock 
 in Saxony. 
 
 Karsten describes a brown oxide of iron mingled with 
 spathose iron and sulphate of barytes, which contained 
 native iron disseminated through the mass. It was found 
 at Kamsdorf ; and consisted of about 92 parts of iron, 
 6 of lead, and li of copper. 
 
 NATIVE METEORIC IRON.^ 
 
 Native Meteoric Iron is somewhat paler and lighter 
 than common metallic iron, and is often more mallea- 
 ble : it is supposed that its colour and superior mallea- 
 bility may be owing to a small portion of nickel combi- 
 ned with it, and that its lightness is owing to the very 
 numerous minute ceils observable in it. It is magnetic, 
 flexible, and cellular; the cells are occasionally filled by 
 a yellowish and translucent substance, of a somewhat resi- 
 nous appearance, by some considered as a variety of olivin. 
 
 Meteoric Iron has been fount! in different quarters of 
 the globe ; in Bohemia, in Senegal, in South America,, 
 and in Siberia ; of the latter we have the best account. 
 It was found by professor Pallas on the top of a moun- 
 tain, on which there was a considerable bed of magnetic 
 iron-stone, on the banks of the river Jenisei. It weighed 
 
 * Native Meteoric Iron. In the New- York Inftitution Col. Gibbs has 
 placed a mafs of nacive iron, brought from one of the weftern branches 
 of the Red River, in Louifiana. It weighs 3000 Ibs. Its greateft length 
 exceeds three feet, and its greateft breadth amounts to about two and a 
 half feet. Its exterior furface is irregular, abounding in elevations and de- 
 
 preflions (Med. Repos. vol. \5,f. 88, and -vol. i6,f. 424.) Pieces have 
 
 been liberally beftowed on curious individuals and mufeums. It is perfectly 
 malleable, and feveral articles hammered out of pieces directly from the 
 mafs, are in my poffcffion. Its outfide is covered with a blackifh cruft, 
 on the removal of which the bright metal foon becomes oxyded again. It 
 appears to be remarkably pure, containing neither nickel nor any other 
 metal. (Amer. Min. Jour. p. 124.) 
 
 The meteoric ftones, which fell at Wefton, in Connecticut, contained 
 iron, the greater part of which was in a perfectly metallic ftate. A 
 whole ftone attracts the magnet, and its powder is attracted by the mag- 
 net. Portions of metallic iron may be feparated, large enough to be ex- 
 tended under the hammer. Some of the iron is combined with fulphur 
 into pyrites. (SiMiman and Kingsley.) 
 
 N2, 
 
150 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 1680 Russian pounds, and possessed some of the impor- 
 tant characters of pure iron, as malleability and flexibili- 
 ty, and was reported by the inhabitants to have fallen 
 from the sky. The mass found in the Vice-royalty of 
 Peru in South America, was described by Don Rubin 
 de Celis : it weighed about fifteen tons ; it was compact 
 externally, and was marked with impressions as if of 
 hands and feet, but much larger, and of the claws of 
 birds; internally it presented many cavities : it was near- 
 ly imbedded in white clay, and the country round it was 
 quite flat and destitute of water. Meteoric Iron is alloyed 
 by about 3 parts in the 100 of nickel ; which, it is wor- 
 thy of remark, is also found by analysis to be a consti- 
 tuent part of all those stones, which in various parts of 
 the European Continent, in England, and in America, 
 have been known to fall from the atmosphere, and are 
 therefore termed meteoric stones. 
 
 In the imperial cabinet at Vienna there is a very con- 
 siderable mass of meteoric iron, which fell from the at- 
 mosphere in 1751 at Hraschina, near Agrarn in Croatia, 
 appearing in the air like a globe of fire. It consists of 
 964 per cent, of iron and 3* of nickel. 
 
 The Abbe Haiiy is of opinion that some appearances 
 of crystallization approaching the regular octohedron 
 be traced in meteoric iron. 
 
 IRON PYttlTES. SULPHURET OF IRON. 
 
 Iron Pyrites is tin-white, steel-grey, or of various 
 shades of yellow, and is found in mass, and of various 
 shapes, as stalactitic, nodular, &tc. and crystallized. It 
 includes several varieties some of which greatly resem- 
 ble yellow copper ore, but may be readily distinguished, 
 as the latter yields to the knife, which iron pyrites does 
 not. 
 
 * Iron Pyrites. -This mineral exifh in primitive and fecondary rocks 
 abundantly in New- York, New-Jerfey and elfewhere, and is frequent in 
 alluvial fituationt, It exifts in cubes, parallellopipeds, rounded balls, irre- 
 gular globules, and in maffive forms. Its colours are bright yellow, pale 
 yellow, and brown. Some of its forms are permanent ; in other cafes, it 
 decoaipofes fpontaneoufly, and crumbles down. 
 
 Pyrites often penetrates wood that has been buried long in the earth 
 and carbonated. Such kinds of mineralized timber have been dug up on 
 Long-lfland, Staten-Ifhnd, Waftungton city, and innumerable other places* 
 
TO MTNEP^ALOGY. 151 
 
 One variety, which affects the magnetic needle, is 
 therefore called Magnetic Pyrites. It is not found crys- 
 tallized ; it is generally of a bronze yellow, but is some- 
 times brown. Its magnetic property is supposed to be 
 derived from its containing a larger proportion of iron 
 than common pyrites ; it consists of 63.5 metallic iron, 
 and 36.5 of sulphur ; and its specific gravity is 4.5. 
 
 It is believed to belong almost exclusively to primi- 
 tive countries. It is met with in Saxony, Bohemia, Si- 
 lesia ; at Moel Elion in Caernarvonshire, it occurs with 
 common pyrites in a kind of serpentine, and near 
 Nantes in France in limestone. 
 
 When nearly of a tin-white, yellowish, or steel-grey, 
 it is termed White Pyrites. The principal difference 
 between it and ConTmon Pyrites seems to be, that the 
 former decomposes much easier. The specific gravity 
 of the former is 4.7 ; of the latter 4.8. Both are found 
 crystallized in the cube, which is considered to be the 
 form of the primitive crystal : the crystals of common 
 pyrites, in my possession, afford 38 varieties of form, 
 which are very beautiful and interesting. White and 
 common pyrites differ very little in the results of their 
 analyses. The latter yields about 47i parts of iron, and 
 5 If of sulphur. The former contains a rather larger 
 proportion of sulphur. 
 
 A variety is occasionally found containing both sul- 
 phur and arsenic ; it is of a paler colour than common 
 pyrites. The arsenical ore of iron called Mispickel is 
 noticed under the head Arsenic, to which it properly be- 
 longs. 
 
 Iron Pyrites occurs in almost every species of rock. 
 It abounds in granite, and particularly in argillaceous 
 schistus. It is never wrought as an ore of iron, but is 
 largely employed in the manufacture of green vitriol ; 
 and sulphur is often procured from it by sublimation. 
 
 MAGNETIC IRON 
 
 Magnetic Iron Ore is generally of an iron-black co- 
 
 * Magnetic Iron Ore. The Magnet is found abundantly in the high- 
 lands of New- York, near the Military Academy at Wdft-Poim, in the 
 primitive formation of rocks. It is alfo fo plentiful in the tranfition rocks 
 

 152 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 lour, with a slight metallic lustre. It is found massive, 
 and crystallized in some varieties of the octohedroD, 
 which is considered to be its primitive crystal. It is 
 sufficiently magnetic to take up iron filings, and possesses 
 polarity. It is nearly a pure oxide of iron. Its specific 
 gravity is about 4.5. 
 
 It is most commonly found in primitive countries, 
 generally in beds and large masses ; and is accompa- 
 nied by hornblende, granular limestone, and garnet ; 
 and occasionally by blende, all the varieties of pyrites, 
 fluate of lime, oxide of tin, and sulphuret of lead, &c. 
 
 The mountains called Taberg in Swedish Lapland, 
 and Pumachanche in Chili, are said to consist almost 
 entirely of Magnetic Iron Ore. It is plentifully found 
 also in Corsica, Saxony, Bohemia, Silesia, Russia, and 
 the East Indies. In Great Britain, in Cornwall, Devon, 
 and the Isle of Unst in the Hebrides. 
 
 It exists in great abundance and purity at Roslagia 
 in Sweden, where it is manufactured into the best bar 
 iron, so much sought after by our manufacturers of steel, 
 though it affords only middling cast iron. 
 
 Some varieties of Magnetic Iron ore, either compact, 
 sandy, or earthy, have been found, containing from 12 
 to 22 per cent, of oxide of titanium. The sandy variety 
 is found in angular or rounded masses, and in octohedrai 
 crystals. It occurs at Hunstanton, in Norfolk ; in 
 Agyleshire; and rt Arklow, near Wicklow in Ireland, 
 with native gold. 
 
 RED IRON ORE.* IRON GLANCE. 
 
 Red Iron ore presents itself under many varieties of 
 form and colour ; most if not all of which are very fee- 
 
 f Sehooley's Mountain in New-Jerfey, that furreyors are embarrafied to 
 find the true courfe by the needle of the compafs. The load-ftone affects 
 it very much in certain places. Magnetical Iron Ore is found in many 
 other places. Indeed, as the globe we inhabit exhibits fuch ftrong evi- 
 dence of magnetical attraction, I entertain no doubt of the prevalence of 
 iron, or of forae other magnetical metal, throughout its denfe body, efpe- 
 cially in the northern hemifphere. 
 
 * Pieces of the red ore of Iron, are frequently picked up along the 
 coafts of New- York. They are soft enough to be employed by the millers 
 to make marks on barrels of flour, in addition to the brands from hot 
 
 
TO MINERALOGF. 153 
 
 bly magnetic : and though fragile, many of them are 
 hard enough to scratch glass : they all afford a red pow- 
 der. Iron Glance is considered, by many mineralogists } 
 to be an oxide of iron, but not one variety has yet been 
 analyzed. It occurs crystallized ; in lamellae ; mica- 
 ceous ; in scales ; in globular masses, and in stalactites ; 
 also compact and ochrey. 
 
 Chrystallized Iron Glance occurs under very different 
 circumstances. It is abundantly found in the old and 
 famous mines of the Island of Elba, in very brilliant and 
 frequently, very large crystals ; and in Saxony, Bohe- 
 mia, Silesia, Switzerland, France, Norway, Sweden, 
 and in Cornwall. It is also met with, principally in irre- 
 gular and compressed crystals, in the fissures of the lavas 
 of the Pay de Dome in France, of Vesuvius, also in the 
 Lipari islands, and the volcano of Stromboli. 
 
 It affords an excellent malleable iron, but somewhat 
 hard ; and also a good, but not the very best, cast iron. 
 Its specific gravity is about 5. ^*v; 
 
 In lamella of a shining metallic lustre, it is met with 
 in Caernarvonshire, and at Kskdale in Cumberland. 
 
 The micaceous variety is found piincipally with other 
 ores of iron, and sometimes with coal ; it occurs in mi- 
 nute scales of a reddish black colour, and unctuous to 
 the touch. It is found in the Hartz, at Schemnitz in 
 Saxony, &c. and at Tavistock in Devonshire, and Dun- 
 keld in Perthshire ; the scaly variety seems to differ ve- 
 ry little from it. 
 
 Red Haematites Iron ore, is of a bluish grey colour, 
 with a metallic lustre, and passes into brownish red ; it 
 occurs in globular and stalactitic masses, which internal- 
 ly have a fibrous diverging structure ; and are sometimes 
 in concentric layers. Its specific gravity is nearly 5. It 
 
 irons. They were in all probability wafhed from the interior country, 
 where iron ore abounds, to the sea coaft, by the weight and preffure of 
 water that broke the barriers, and covered the alluvion of the ocean with 
 another and more recent alluvion from the mountains. 
 
 My fpecimens from Elba, are diverfified and elegant. Ore of the crys- 
 tals has the faces of a mirror ; and the fides are fo bright:, that the face, the 
 eye, and even, a hair are reflected in the moft perfect manner to the behol- 
 der. Quartz, opal, and (hort-afbeftos (mineral cow itch) accompanied 
 my box of articles. 
 
 The micaceous ore of iron ore exifts in New- York, Vermont, and va^ 
 vious other places, 
 
154 ELEMENTARI INTRODUCTION 
 
 is found in Saxony, France, Silesia, and in England ; 
 very abundantly at Ulverstone in Lancashire ; and in 
 the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire ; but Norway, and 
 other Northern countries, seem almost destitute of this 
 variety. It affords excellent iron, both cast and mal- 
 leable ; most of the plate iron and iron wire of England 
 are made of it. When ground to fine powder, it is large- 
 ly employed in the polishing of rnetal. 
 
 The Compact variety is of a dark steel-grey, brownish, 
 or blood red colour, and is found in mass, disseminated, 
 &c. and sometimes in crystals that have taken the forms 
 and places of those of other substances. Jt is found in 
 France, Germany, Norway, Siberia, and at Ulverstone 
 in England, and occurs both in primitive and secondary 
 countries. It affords good cast iron, and malleable though 
 somewhat soft, bar iron. 
 
 Reddle, Red Ochre, or Red Chalk, is of a blood red, 
 passing into brownish red. It is dull, earthy, and is nearly 
 without lustre. It generally accompanies the two pre- 
 ceding varieties. It is used in the arts. Near Platte in 
 Bohemia it is smelted, and affords very excellent mallea- 
 ble iron. 
 
 BROWN IRON ORE. 
 
 Brown iron ore, like the preceding species, is found 
 under several varieties of form ; but does not resemble 
 it in being slightly, magnetic : all its varieties afford a 
 brown powder. It is riot certain wherein it differs from 
 the Red Iron ore ; most of the varieties of the Brown 
 Iron ore have been proved to contain a small proportion 
 of oxide of manganese, and this is supposed to constitute 
 the difference between the two species. It also occurs 
 scaly ; in globular masses, and stalactites ; also compact 
 and ochrey. 
 
 The scaly variety seems to differ in its internal cha- 
 racters from the scaly variety of the red, only in being 
 of a colour between steel grey and clove brown. 
 
 The Brown Hcematites* is found under nearly the same 
 
 ""* ''.''-.'.'. O. ' ' 
 
 * A compact variety of this ore, containing encrivites and shells appa- 
 rently of the fea, was brought to me from Oneida, by Gov. D. \V. Clin- 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 155 
 
 circumstances, but not altogether in the same countries 
 as the red ; it yields a better cast iron than the brown ; 
 but the bar iron of the latter is both very malleable and 
 very hard, probably from the manganese which it con- 
 tains ; hence it yields excellent steel. Though it is 
 found in England, it does not occur in sufficient quantity 
 to be wrought. 
 
 The Compact variety is found accompanying the pre- 
 ceding in the form of stalactites, and in masses of vari- 
 ous shapes. It is remarkable in respect of its forming 
 the substance of several petrifactions, as of madreporites 
 and coralites. It is dull internally. 
 
 Brown Iron Ochre also accompanies brown haematites. 
 It is destitute of lustre, and has an earthy fracture ; it is 
 tender, soils the fingers, and is of a yellowish brown co- 
 lour. It does not contain any manganese. 
 
 BLACK IRON ORE.* 
 
 Black Iron Ore is a rare mineral of a bluish black 
 colour; ancKs found globular, massive, &c. It is of a 
 fine fibrous diverging structure, and has a glimmering 
 and somewhat metallic lustre. 
 
 The Compact variety seems to have been found only 
 in Saxony, Hesse, and some other parts of Germany, in 
 primitive and secondary mountains, accompanying the 
 preceding species. It was long confounded with com- 
 pact grey manganese ; but it yields a good iron which 
 corrodes the sides of the furnace. 
 
 Black Hematites Iron ore has been found only at 
 Schmalkalden in Hesse. In form it greatly resembles 
 the Red Haematites, but differs in being more of a steel 
 grey, and of a more delicately fibrous structure. 
 
 Neither of these varieties has been analyzed. 
 
 ton. It is delineated in the laft figure of the third plate of my Geological 
 Memoir on North America. 
 
 * Is not the beautiful fibrous iron ore whofe cryftals radiate from centre 
 to circumference, a variety of this fpecies ? I mean that fort which is work- 
 ed at Ancram ; and whole lumps are found among the inland alluvial ar- 
 ticles of Staten ifland. 
 
156 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 CLAY IRON-STONE.* ARGILLACEOUS IRON-STONE. 
 
 Argillaceous Iron-Stone is of an ash grey colour, in- 
 clining to yellowish and bluish ; also brown or reddish 
 brown, which last colour is usually the effect of exposure 
 to the atmosphere ; some varieties have a slaty struc- 
 ture ; some are glimmering, others dull. It occurs in 
 globular masses, solid or pulverulent within ; and in 
 masses of various shapes, as columnar and lenticular, 
 and in little rounded portions about the size of peas. 
 
 The globular masses, consisting of concentric layers 
 either hollow, or enclosing a yellowish brown pulveru- 
 lent substance, are termed JEtites : externally, these 
 masses are very compact, bard and brown : they are 
 found in argillaceous beds in some secondary countries, 
 and sometimes abundantly disseminated in alluvial hills; 
 and are occasionally accompanied by bituminized wood. 
 .^Etites consists of about 77 parts of peroxide of iron, 14 
 of water, 2 of oxide of manganese, 5 of silex, and 1 of 
 alumine : it is found in Bohemia and Saxony; in France, 
 in beds of sand and of ochre. It is frequently met with 
 in the newer secondary rocks, and in the shale of coal 
 formations; it occurs at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, 
 and Merthyr Tydvil in Wales, and in Scotland ; at which 
 places it yields an iron of a fine quality. It also occurs 
 in Staffordshire, Yorkshire, &c. 
 The Columnar variety is of a brownish red colour, and 
 
 * Argillaceous iron ore is found in many places along the fea coaft and 
 ihores of New- York. It is found in the form of globular or roundilh maf- 
 fes, which on being broken, are found to contain a kernel of fofter matter, 
 ufually ochreous, refembling the yelk of an egg, within its ft ell. 
 
 Mafles of this kind are frequently found, after having been accidentally 
 broken. Through the fractured part, die friable internal core or kernel 
 occafionally efcapes by wafting and attrition, and leaves a cavity behind 
 yefembling a tea-cup, an ink-fland, a hollow fphere, &c. 
 
 Ferruginous iron, in the form of a bafaltic ore has been found at 
 JPlandome. ( ' Med. JRef. Vol. z,f>. zip. ) The form was an irregular pen- 
 tagon, with truncated extremities, and fomewhat convex furfaces. 
 
 Pea-iron ore from Egg Harbour, was ftown me by John G. Bogert, 
 Bfquire. 
 
 Granular iron ore, is common in the Highlands. The mafies are about 
 the fize of peas, and the fpaces are ufually filled by quartz. The conftitu- 
 tion of the ore is very compact. 
 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 157 
 
 is dull, soft, brittle and magnetic ; it is met with in 
 round masses and in columns. It occurs occasionally in 
 beds of shale, above coal, and in many cases seems a 
 pseudo-volcanic product, being accompanied by burnt 
 clay, c. and is met with in Germany in several places, 
 and in the isle of Arran. It is not a common mineral, 
 and is never wrought as an ore of iron. 
 
 Pisiform or Pea Iron Ore, is mostly found in round 
 grains of a dark brown colour; having an external po- 
 lish, and internal earthy fracture, imbedded in a ferru- 
 ginous, argillaceous, or calcareous cement. It is found 
 in beds of clay, and in flat beds beneath the surface : 
 but mostly in cavities in secondary limestone. It in- 
 cludes less iron, and more alumine and silex, than 
 jEtites. It supplies very considerable iron works at 
 Arau, near Berne in Switzerland ; and the greater part 
 of the French iron is said to be produced from this ore : 
 but the iron yielded by it is said to be often of a bad 
 quality, and very brittle. 
 
 BOG IRON ORE.* 
 
 Bog Iron Ore is of various shades of black and brown, 
 and is generally of a soft earthy texture. It has obtained 
 its name from its being chiefly met with in marshy 
 places, or in those which have been so ; it consists of 
 about 66 parts peroxide of iron, 2 of oxide of manga- 
 nese, 8 of phosphoric acid, and 23 of water. A variety 
 which is nearly black is termed pitchy, and occurs mas- 
 sive, with a shining lustre ; it contains about the same 
 proportion of iron, combined with 8 of sulphuric acid 
 and 25 of water. The earthy variety, which occurs in 
 yellowish brown cellular masses, has not been analyzed. 
 it is found in Saxony, Prussia, Poland, and many parts 
 
 * Bog-ore of iron abounds in North America. It is found on the ifland. 
 of New- York. It is worked into Bloomery-iron, near Ballftown Springs. 
 It fupports the large iron works at Egg- harbour. It fupplies great furna- 
 ces and forges on both fides of the Chefapeake, in Maryland. It is worked 
 in many other places. 
 
 Part of it appears to have been brought to the ftrata where it lies, part- 
 ly by the wain from the inland region, when the barriers which confined 
 the interior feas or lakes, gave way ; and partly by the chalybeate fprings 
 and oozings of water trickling over the foil, and depofiting their iron. 
 
 o 
 
158 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION' 
 
 of the north of Europe ; in the Highlands of Scotland 
 and the Orkneys. The acids contained in this species 
 are supposed to have arisen from decayed vegetable 
 matter ; and it is believed that owing to their presence, 
 the iron obtained from Bog Iron Ore is what is termed 
 cold-short, and therefore can scarcely ever be used for 
 plate iron, never for wire. 
 
 BLtfE IRON ORE 
 
 Is of a pale or dirty blue colour : it occurs in slender 
 rhomboidal prisms, which are of an earthy texture : 
 when fresh dug it is white, but by exposure becomes 
 blue ; and has been found consisting of about 47 parts of 
 oxide of iron, 32 of phosphoric acid, and 20 of water. It 
 is usually found in small portions or nests in certain clays, 
 bog iron ore, or peat. It occurs in France, Saxony, 
 Poland, and Scotland ; in Siberia, in fossil shells ; in the 
 lavas of Etna ; and in England, in the river-mud at Tox- 
 teth near Liverpool, and in the Isle of Dogs on the bor- 
 ders of the Thames. 
 
 SPATHOSE IRON.f 
 
 .' r .. - .u,,-. : . ,'" '-' iff. ** >":, '. ' '- ..-: 
 
 Spathose Iron is of a white or yellowish grey colour, 
 passing by decomposition into yellow, brown, and 
 brownish black ; when translucent, it has not the ap- 
 pearance of a metalliferous substance. It mostly occurs 
 in rhombs, which are rarely perfect, and is found in 
 veins, principally, of primitive mountains ; it is some- 
 times accompanied by sulphuret of iron, yellow copper 
 ore, grey copper, quartz, carbonated lime, &c. It is 
 met with in Saxony, Hungary, &ic. and in many places, 
 in sufficient quantity for working as an ore of iron. At 
 Schmalkalden in Hesse, there is a bed of the black va- 
 
 * There is an ore of iron, brought from Allentown, near Trenton, N. 
 J. that is brown when dug out of the earth, but turns blue by expofure to 
 the atmofphere. The colour is fine, and as Col. Trumbull believes, pro- 
 mifes a valuable article for painters. It is compact, hard and amorphous, 
 and contains no phofporic acid. (Cutbufi, in Am. Mm. "Journal, p. 86.y~ 
 
 f I have American fpecimens of the Spathofe iron-ore ; but do not now 
 rgnember from what place they came. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 159 
 
 riety 150 feet thick, which has been worked for several 
 centuries ; and at Somororstro in Spain, there is a hill 
 entirely composed of it. It occurs in small quantities 
 in several of the mines of Cornwall. Spathose iron ore 
 consists of 58 parts of oxide of iron, 35 of carbonic acid, 
 4.25 of oxide of manganese, 0.5 of lime, and 0.75 of 
 magnesia. The iron obtained from it is particularly va- 
 luable, as it may be converted into excellent steel im- 
 mediately from the state of cast iron ; the bar iron form- 
 ed from it is both hard and tough. 
 
 SULPHATE OF IRON.* GREEN VITRIOL. 
 
 Sulphate of Iron is found in fibres of a whitish, green- 
 ish, or yellowish colour, occasionally of an emerald green 
 colour ; it occurs massive, in stalactites, and pulverulent. 
 Jt is also found crystallized in an acute rhomboid, ac- 
 cording to Haiiy of 81 33'. and 98 37', which is the 
 form of its primitive crystal ; it presents a few varieties 
 of form. It is met with in most mines of sulphuret of 
 iron, of copper, and of zinc ; the two latter being rarely 
 exempt from iron. 
 
 .. * 
 
 CHROMATE OF IRON.f 
 
 Cbromate of Iron has hitherto been found only mas- 
 sive : its aspect is somewhat metallic, and it is hard 
 enough to cut glass; it is of a blackish brown colour, 
 
 * Copperas is found native in various places ; being formed chiefly from 
 the decompofition of pyrites. My abftracl: of the manufactures of the 
 United States, returned by the Marshals of the feveral diftricts, to the Se- 
 cretary of State in 1810, contains the quantities of copperas, or vitriol of 
 iron, manufactured in Vermont, New-Jerfey, Tenneffee, and other ftates. 
 It is now underftood that it may be prepared to any demand ; but the 
 cheapnefs of the article imported from foreign parts, fupercedes, in a great 
 degree, the domeftic manufacture. It was in a copperas cave that fome of 
 the Malay mummies were found. (Miller in Med. Repos.} 
 
 f Great quantities of this mineral exift near Baltimore, in Maryland. 
 It is brownifli, inclined towards a rofe-colour. Its ufual form is granular 5 
 though fometimea compact and maffive. It is frequently bedded in Steati- 
 tes, or Soap-rock. Beautiful yellow paint has been prepared by combining 
 the chromic acid with lead (Keyser.} A lamellated chromate of iron 
 has been found in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. 
 
 Solution of iron in water. Chalybeate fprings are very frequent in New- 
 York and around. My experiments on that of Schooley's mountain, may 
 
160 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 and when reduced to powder, of an ash grey. It has 
 been found in the Uralian mountains in Siberia ; and 
 since, in nodules and veins in serpentine, near Gassin, in 
 the department of the Var, in France. The latter con- 
 sists of oxide of iron 34 parts, chromic acid 43 ; alumine 
 20 ; silex 2. That of Siberia differs principally in con- 
 taining 10 per cent, more of the chromic acid and 10 
 per cent, less of alumine : it also contains small portions 
 of lime and of manganese. 
 
 ARSENIATE OF IRON. 
 
 This beautiful substance is rarely found massive, but 
 mostly in cubes of various shades of green, vellow, and 
 brown, sometimes nearly red ; they are translucent, 
 and occasionally almost transparent, but possess more 
 of the appearance of an earthy, than of a metalliferous 
 substance ; by decomposition they become of a dull 
 brown, lose their trarislucency, and at length assume the 
 pulverulent form. The cube is considered to be the 
 form of the primitive crystal ; I possess seven varieties; 
 and it is remarkable, in some of them, that only 4 of the 
 8 solid angles are replaced by planes ; but in the more 
 complex variety, each angle is replaced. This mineral 
 is said hitherto to have been found only in some of the 
 copper veins of Cornwall. In that called liuel Gorland, 
 which is partly in argillaceous schistus and partly in gra- 
 nite, it was found in the same vein with native copper, 
 and some of its ores, as the vitreous, red oxide, and ar- 
 seniate of copper ; also with arsenical pyrites, quartz, 
 and flu ate of lime; but the arseniate of iron was gene- 
 rally met with nearer to the surface than these substances. 
 The arseniale of iron consists of 48 per cent of iron, 18 
 of arsenic acid, arid 30 of water. 
 
 te perufed in the American Min. Journal, Vol. I. p. 7778. My expe- 
 riments and remarks on that of the Chappequa fpring near Mount Plea- 
 fant. contained in my letter to J. Smith, Efq. reprefent it as a delicate folu- 
 tion of iron. My opinion of the mineral fpring at Flufhing, expreffed in 
 my note to Dr. Bloodgood, exhibits it as containing a higher charge of the 
 ferruginous mineral, than is common. Several pumps in the city of New - 
 York, afford ftrong chalybeate waters. The like are frequent in the vici* 
 nity. There is a plenty of iron in the Ballflown mineral water. t 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 161 
 
 MANGANESE. 
 
 Manganese is so difficult to be obtained in tbe metal- 
 lic state, that very little more is known of it than that it 
 is of a whitish or iron grey colour, somewhat malleable, 
 brittle, almost infusible, and that its specific gravity is 
 nearly 7. 
 
 From the black oxide of manganese, * all the oxygen 
 gas used by the chemist is obtained, and all the oxygen 
 entering into the composition of the oxymuriatic acid 
 consumed in the bleacheries of Britain, France, and 
 Germany. The violet colour employed in porcelain 
 painting is obtained from manganese. In glass-making, 
 it is employed in thq^ner kinds of glass, both as a co- 
 louring material and a destroyer of colour : this applica- 
 tion of it is ancient ; it is mentioned by Pliny. 
 
 Manganese belongs perhaps rather more to primitive 
 than to secondary countries. In the state of an oxide it 
 is found combined in a very considerable number both 
 of earthy and metalliferous minerals, though for the 
 most part, only in very small proportions. It may be 
 said to be found almost universally : it is met with both 
 in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and is an ingre- 
 dient of mica, which is a constituent of the oldest of the/ 
 primitive rocks. 
 
 Manganese is found in ores of great variety of aspect. 
 They may be divided into four kinds. 
 
 GREY MANGANESE, 
 
 Grey manganese is either compact, acicular, or crys* 
 tallized. When compact, it occurs in masses of various 
 shapes, which are internally of a glistening metallic lus* 
 
 * It has been found, in combination with iron, at Ancram, N. Y. For 
 its particular hiftory , fee Med. Repos. Vol^ 1 1 , />. 4423. Alfo diflemina- 
 ted among the rocks in the neighbourhood of Baltimore, (Gilmor, American 
 Min> Journal, p. 232.) not far from Vergeanes, in Vermont, (Gibbs} and 
 JUFI fcveral other places. 
 
 O2 
 
162 *L T JS:i>IENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 tie ; it is met with in France, Saxony, Piedmont, Bohe- 
 mia, and at Upton Pyne in Devonshire, where it is cal- 
 led Black-wad. It has the singular property of inflaming 
 spontaneously when mixed with one-fourth of its weight 
 of linseed oil and set in a dry warm place It is compo- 
 posed of about 83 parts of oxide of manganese, 14 of 
 barytes, together with some silex and carbon : its speci- 
 fic gravity is about 4.8. 
 
 The crystallized variety occurs in acicular, rhomboi- 
 dal prisms, variously placed in regard to each other, but 
 generally in radii. Haiiy has described four varieties of 
 their crystalline forms. It consists of the oxide of man- 
 ganese, with an additional but variable proportion of 
 oxygen. It is found in nearly the same places as the 
 former variety, and at Mendip in Somersetshire, and 
 near Aberdeen in Scotland. Both varieties are found 
 in primitive, secondary, and alluvial countries. 
 
 SLPHURET OF MANGANESE. 
 
 The Sulphuret of Manganese is of a blackish or 
 brownish grey colour, and has a shining metallic lustre 
 when newly fractured. It occurs in mass ; and is fine 
 grained, and somewhat lamellar. It is met with at Nag- 
 yag in Transylvania, in the veins in which the ores of 
 gold and tellurium are found, for which it serves as a 
 gangue or matrix ; it also occurs in Cornwall. It con- 
 sists of 82 parts of oxide of manganese, 11 of sulphur, 
 and 5 of carbonic acid : its specific gravity is about 4. 
 
 WHITE MANGANESE. 
 
 White Manganese is of a whitish, yellowish, or pale 
 rose red colour ; and is found in the same place, and 
 tinder the same circumstance, as the preceding variety. 
 It also occurs at Kapnic and Offenbariya, in masses of 
 various shapes. It consists of 47 parts protoxide of man- 
 ganese, 40 of silex, 4.6 of oxide of iron, and l.o of lime * 
 its specific gravity is about &8 
 
TO MINERALOGY. I 63 
 
 PHOSPHATE OF MANGANESE. 
 
 The Phosphate of Manganese is a rare mineral, hav- 
 ing hitherto been found only near Limoges in France, 
 in granite, and in the same vein with beryls. It is of a 
 reddish brown colour ; is hard enongh to scratch glass, 
 and may be broken into rectangular prisms with square 
 bases. Its specific gravity is 3.46 ; and it consists of 42 
 parts oxide of manganese, 31 of oxide of iron, and 27 of 
 phosphoric acid. 
 
 MOLYBDENA> 
 
 Molybdena is a rare metal, which has never been 
 found pure : it is with difficulty reduced to a pure state, 
 and has only been obtained in brittle infusible grains of 
 a greyish white. It is found combined in the metallic 
 state with sulphur ; and in the acid state with lead, in 
 the state of an oxide, forming a mineral called Molyl> 
 date of Lead, described under that head. 
 
 SULPHURET OF MOLYBDENA.* 
 
 Sulphuret of Molybdena is nearly of the colour of 
 fresh cut metallic lead. It is found massive, and disse- 
 minated, more rarely crystallized in six-sided prisms. It 
 is opake, stains paper or the fingers, is very soft, lami- 
 nated, and easily divisible in the direction of its laminae ; 
 and is unctuous to the touch, and flexible : it yields by- 
 analysis 60 of metallic molybdena and 40 of sulphur. 
 
 It belongs exclusively to primitive countries, and is 
 rarely found except in granite, in which it is sometimes 
 disseminated, and therefore occasionally forms one of 
 
 * The fulphuret of Molybdena, is found frequently in the primitive 
 jocks of New- York. It is foliated, fhining, and flexible ; and imparts a 
 ftain like black lead, readily, to paper and the fingers. 1 have fpecimcas 
 &em many places ; and granite or gneiss accompanies them all,. 
 
164 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION, &C. 
 
 its constituent parts. It has been found in veins produ- 
 cing tin ; and is generally accompanied by wolfram, 
 quartz, and mica ; less frequently by native arsenic, flu- 
 ate of lime, topaz, &e. 
 
 It is found disseminated in a grey granite at the foot 
 of a rock called Talefre near Mont Blanc. It occurs in 
 the tin mines of Bohemia, in the Vosges, and Sweden : 
 near Norberg, in the latter place, in a white steatite : in 
 Iceland, in granite, of which the felspar is red. It has 
 lately been discovered in Huel Gorland and some other 
 mines of Cornwall ; it occurs also at Coldbeck in Cum- 
 berland, at Shap in Westmoreland, and at Glen Elg in 
 Invernessshire. 
 
 TIN.* 
 
 ;^ ; ,;i/ *&. 
 
 In its pure state, the specific gravity of Tin is about 
 7 ; but it has never been found pure. It is of a white 
 colour, approaching that of silver; and is harder, more 
 ductile, and more tenacious than lead ; it is very fusi- 
 ble, and gives out a peculiar crackling noise while bend- 
 ing. It is the litghtest of the ductile metals. Tin was 
 for a considerable time supposed to have been met with 
 in the native or pure state ; but it has been pretty well 
 ascertained that the specimens which gave rise to the 
 opinion, were found on the sites of old smelting works, 
 whence these specimens have since obtained the name 
 of Jew's House Tin. In the natural state, Tin is found 
 as a nearly pure oxide, or combined, in that state, with 
 small portions of oxide of iron and silex ; it generally 
 occurs crystallized ; rarely in mass ; sometimes in de- 
 lached rounded pieces from the size of a grain of sand to 
 that of a man's fist. It is also found in combination with 
 copper, sulphur, and iron. Tin belongs exclusively to 
 primitive countries. 
 
 * Tin is mentioned as afforded by a mine, not very far from Kafkaf- 
 tias. (Med. Rep. Vol. y^f. 306.) My fpecimens of Tin from Malacca and 
 Banca, received from capt, Henry Auftin, are m a powdery form and black. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 165 
 
 The alloys of tin with other metals, are mentioned in 
 treating of lead, copper, and quicksilver. Another will 
 be noticed under the article Bismuth. In a fine leaf, as 
 tin foil, it is used for many purposes ; its salts are used 
 in dyeing : its economical purposes are well known. 
 
 OXIDE OF TIN. 
 
 Oxide of Tin rather resembles an earthy than a 
 metalliferous substance. It occurs in nearly colourless 
 and translucent crystals, and in crystals of various shades 
 of yellow, brown, and black, which are either translu- 
 cent or opake. The form of the primitive crytal, is an 
 obtuse octohedron of 112.10' and 67.50', which has 
 not hitherto been found uncornbined with the planes of 
 one or more of the several modifications to which it is 
 subject: the crystals in my possession afford about ISO 
 varieties of form, besides numerous compound crystals 
 or macles. 
 
 Tin is by no means a universally diffused metal ; 
 many countries are entirely without it : but it is found in 
 Gallicia in Spain, and lately 2 or 3 veins have been 
 discovered in a granite mountain in Brittany in France : 
 it occurs also at Seiffen, at Geir, and at Altenberg in 
 Saxony ; at Schlackenwald in Bohemia, in Bunca and 
 Malacca in the East Indies, and in Chili in South Ame- 
 rica : but most abundantly in the western parts of Devon- 
 shire and in Cornwall. Though Tin is he lightest of 
 the ductile metals, it is remarkable that the natural 
 oxide is one of the heaviest of the metalliferous ores : its 
 specific gravity is nearly 7. 
 
 The oxide of Tin belongs chiefly, and almost exclu- 
 sively, to the oldest of the primitive mountains, and is 
 found in veins or beds, mostly the former, in granite, 
 gneiss, and micaceous and argillaceous schistus. It is 
 often found disseminated in granite. In veins and beds, 
 it is accompanied by quartz, mica, Hthomarga, talc, 
 steatite, fluate and phosphate of lime, topaz, wolfram, 
 arsenical pyrites, &tc. which, like Tin, are considered 
 to be among the substances of the most ancient formation. 
 But it is said rarely to be found with carbonate of lime, 
 sulphate of barytes, lead, or silver, which often accom- 
 
160 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 pany other metals. It is remarkable that in the veins 
 of Cornwall, Tin is frequently found nearer the surface 
 than copper. 
 
 In some of the valleys and low grounds of Cornwall, 
 the oxide of Tin is found in grains arid masses, rounded 
 by attrition, which frequently bear the marks of crystal- 
 lization. The tin is generally intermixed with, or cover- 
 ed by, the rubbish resulting from the disintegration of the 
 rocks, which doubtless once held it in its native place. 
 Small grains of gold are occasionally found with it. As 
 in order to separate the tin from the alluvial matte'-, 
 streams of water are passed over them : these deposites 
 are called Stream works ; one of the most remarkable of 
 which is in a branch of Falmouth harbour. 
 
 In these stream works also a variety of the oxide of 
 Tin is found, which has obtained the name of Wood 
 Tin ; which occurs sometimes in wedge-shaped pieces, 
 banded with various shades of brown ; and which, from 
 their diverging and fibrous structure, appear to be por- 
 tions of globular masses ; they are mostly rounded by 
 attrition. Minute portions of this variety have lately 
 been met with in cellular quartz ; they have a very 
 silky lustre. 
 
 TIN PYRITES. BELL-METAL ORE. SULPHURET OP 
 TIN. 
 
 This rare substance has only been found in the mine 
 called Huel Rock in Cornwall, in a vein 9 feet wide, 
 accompanied by sulphuret of zinc and of iron. Its 
 colour is steel grey, passing into yellowish white : it has a 
 metallic lustre and granular fracture, and yields easily to 
 the knife. Its specific gravity is 4.3 : and it consists of 
 34 parts of tin, 86 of copper, 25 of sulphur, and 2 of 
 iron ; but it does not seem to be ascertained in what 
 manner the sulphur is combined with either of those 
 metals. 
 
 I 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 167 
 
 TUNGSTEN. 
 
 Tungsten, called Scheelin by the French chemists 
 and mineralogists, in honor of its discoverer, Scheele, 
 is a hard, brittle, granular metal, of a light steel grey 
 colour and brilliant metallic lustre. It is not found in 
 the pure state ; but only in the state of an oxide* 
 principally combined with lime, forming a mineral, 
 commonly, though improperly, called Tungstate of 
 Lime ; or in that of an acid, combined chiefly with 
 iron ; the latter combination is called Tungstate of Iron 
 or Wolfram. 
 
 The ores of Tungsten are chiefly, if not exclusively, 
 found in primitive countries. 
 
 TUNGSTATE OF LIME. 
 
 Tungstate of Lime completely resembles a stone ; it 
 is commonly translucent, limpid, and of a yellowish 
 colour : it has a laminated structure ; it considerably 
 resembles carbonate of lead, oxide of tin, and sulphate 
 of barytes It occurs both in mass and crystallized. 
 The primitive form of its crystals is that of the rectan- 
 gular parallelepiped ; it is more commonly found in the 
 form of an octobedron. The varieties of form assumed 
 by its crystals are not numerous. 
 
 It is commonly found in tin veins. It occurs in those 
 of Saxony, Bohemia, Sweden and England ; and is 
 accompanied by wolfram, quartz, mica, c. 
 
 The translucent crystals of this mineral are composed 
 of oxide of tungsten 78 parts; of lime 18; and ofsilex 
 3 : those of Cornwall contain a little iron and manganese. 
 
 TUNGSTATE OF IRON. WOLFUAM. 
 
 *-. i.-: 
 
 Wolfram is generally of a brownish black colour, and 
 principally occurs in veins in primitive mountains, ac- 
 companying the oxide of tin ; it somewhat resembles 
 certain ores of iron, but is generally heavier 5 it is met 
 
168 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 with in mass, and crystallized. It may be cleaved into 
 a rectangular parallelepiped, which therefore is consi- 
 dered to be the form of its primitive crystal ; the varie- 
 ties assumed by it do not exceed three or four. 
 
 It is met with in the tin veins of Saxony and Bohemia, 
 at Puy les Mines in France, and abundantly in several 
 of the tin veins of Cornwall. In the mine called Huel 
 Fanny, near Redrutb, Wulfam is met with in the form 
 of the primitive crystal, but very minute. 
 
 By analysis Wolfram yields 67 parts of tungstic acid. 
 18 of oxide of iron, and about 7 parts of oxide of man- 
 ganese. 
 
 TITANIUM.* 
 
 Titanium is so difficult of fusion, that the attempts to 
 reduce it to a pure metallic state have scarcely suc- 
 ceeded. It is of a copper red colour. 
 
 Two of its ores are nearly pure oxides; in the others, 
 Titanium, in the state of an oxide, is in combination 
 with other metallic oxides, or with lime, and silex. 
 Titanium belongs exclusively to primitive countries. 
 
 Tbe only use to which titanium has ever been put, 
 was in the porcelain manufactory at Sevres, where it 
 was emplyed to produce the rich browns in painting it. 
 The want of uniformity in colour occasioned its disuse. 
 
 * The combinations of fome of the ores of titanium, were firft difcribed 
 with great care by Dr. Bruce, in his Mineralogical Journal, p. 231 243. 
 He has given figures of the oxyd and the Silicic- calcareous oxyd, in their 
 cryftalline forms. To thefe two forms, and to that of theferrugirou.- oxyj+ 
 he refers all the fpecies of titanium that he has feen. Four kinds were 
 found on the ifland of New- York, in the limeflone ridge near Kingfi. 
 bridge. Two came from the vicinity of Richmond in Virginia. One 
 from Worthington, Maffachufetts. One from the neighbourhood of 
 Baltimore. One from an infulated mafs of quartz in Bergen county, 
 New-Jerfey. One from Ticonderoga. One from Lake George. Three 
 from Staten-lfland. One from Peekfkill. One from Wantage, New*. 
 Jerfey. There are many ether places ID the U. S, where tiunium has 
 been difcovered. 
 
TO MIXERALOGF. 169 
 
 TITANITE. RUTIL. RED SCHORL. 
 
 This mineral is of a brownish red colour, and is mostly 
 opake, but occasionally is somewhat translucent, and is 
 of about the hardness of quartz ; it may be broken into 
 a square prism with square bases, which therefore is the 
 form of its primitive crystal. It is nearly a pure oxide 
 of titanium. 
 
 It is generally found imbedded in quartz, sometimes 
 in granite ; the hair-like appearance traversing some 
 crystals of quartz in every direction, are generally crys- 
 tals of titanite. It is found almost exclusively in primi- 
 tive countries, or in alluvial deposites in their neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 It occurs in a schistose mountain near Mont Blanc, 
 accompanied by carbonate of lime, and some ores of 
 iron ; at Rosenau in Hungary, and in New Castilie in 
 Spain, it is implanted in rock crystal in mountains of 
 gneiss ; at St. Gothard, it occurs in the cavities of gra- 
 nite, mixed with rock crystal, &c. : and near St. Yrieix 
 in France, and in South Carolina in America, it is found 
 in alluvial soil. It is met with also near Beddgelu in 
 Caernarvonshire; and Cairgonn, and Craig Cailleach 
 near Killin in Scotland. 
 
 ANATASE. OCTOHEDRITE. 
 
 Anataste is also nearly a pure oxide of titanium ; it is 
 found in octohedrons which are somewhat acute ; Haiiy 
 bas described four varieties of form to which it is sub- 
 ject : its colour is generally bluish or reddish brown. It 
 it met with in the neighbourhood of Passau in Bavaria, 
 at Bouen in Norway, at St. Gothard in Switzerland, and 
 in the valley of Oysans in France, mixed with portions 
 of granite. 
 
 KIGBINE. 
 
 In the Nigrine, the oxide of titanium is combined 
 with about 14 of oxide of iron, and 2 of manganese. It 
 is found in primitive rocks, often imbedded in them, in 
 
 P 
 
170 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Bavaria, Norway, in Mont Blanc, Mont Rosa, and in 
 the granite of Egypt. 
 
 RUTILITE. 8PHENE. 
 
 The Rutilite is composed of nearly equal parts of ox- 
 ide of titanium, silex, and lime : it occurs in small crys- 
 tals of a yellowish or blackish brown colour, in the form 
 of rhomboidal prisms, terminated by 4 sided pyramids : 
 it is also found in mass. It is met with nearly in the 
 same places as the Nigrine. 
 
 MENACCANITE. 
 
 In the Menaccanite, which is found in grains of a bluish 
 black colour, mixed with quartzose sand, in the bed of 
 a rivulet at Menaccan in Cornwall, the oxide of titanium 
 is combined with 54 parts of oxide of iron, a trace of 
 oxide of manganese, and 3 of silex. 
 
 1SERINE. 
 
 In the Iserine, about 48 parts of oxide of titanium 
 are combined with 48 of oxide of iron, and 4 oxide of 
 uranium. It is found in angular masses and rolled pieces, 
 near the source of the river Iser in the Reisengebirge, 
 in granite sand ; and in the bed of the river Don in 
 Aberdeenshire in Scotland. 
 
 CERIUM. 
 
 Cerium, in its metallic state is scarcely known ; Vau- 
 quelin succeeded in procuring, by the reduction of one 
 of its ores, a metallic globule, not larger than a pin's 
 head. It was harder, whiter, much more brittle, and 
 more scaly in its fracture, than pure cast iron. 
 
 Cerium has hitherto been found entering into combi- 
 nation in a few rare minerals, the other ingredients of 
 
TO MINERALOGF. 171 
 
 which are principally earthy substances. The Cerite 
 and the Alanite differ considerably in their composition \ 
 in both, the Cerium is in the state of an oxide. 
 
 CERITE. 
 
 The Cerite was brought from the copper mine of 
 Bastnaes, near Riddachyta in Sweden ; the mine is si- 
 tuated in gneiss, and the Cerite was accompanied by the 
 ores of copper, rnolybdena, and bismuth; and with mi- 
 ca, hornblende, &c. 
 
 It is generally of a pale rose colour, but sometimes 
 inclines to brown. It occurs massive or disseminated ; 
 it is granular, brittle, and easily scratches glass; and 
 consists of 54.5 parts of oxide of cerium, 34.5 of silex > 
 1.25 of lime, 3.5 of oxide of iron, and 5 of water. 
 
 ALLANITE. 
 
 The Allanite occurs in oblique four-sided, or com- 
 pressed six-sided, prisms, of llf and 63 terminated 
 by four-sided summits: it also occurs massive, or disse- 
 minated in black mica, and felspar. Externally it is of 
 a dull brownish black colour, and is opake and brittle. 
 It was brought from Greenland, but nothing is known of 
 its geological history ; it obtained its name in honour of 
 its discoverer, M. Allen of Edinburgh. It is composed 
 of 33.9 parts of oxide of cerium, 25.4 of oxide of iron, 
 35.4 of silex, 9.2 of lime, 4.1 of alumine, and 4 of mois- 
 ture. 
 
 Two minerals, one from Bastnaes in Sweden, the other 
 from the Mysore^ have lately been found among others 
 brought from those countries, which have been found to 
 contain cerium ; the former has been analyzed by Berze- 
 lius, the latter by Dr. Wollaston ; they considerably re- 
 semble the Allanite in composition. That from Bast- 
 naes is called the Cerin. 
 
172 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 URANIUM.*. 
 
 Uranium is a brittle, granular, hard metal, of ex- 
 tremely difficult fusibility. 
 
 It is remarakble that this metal has never been found 
 in any state having a metallic appearance ; consequent- 
 ly never in the pure state. 
 
 It is of a dark grey colour, may be cut by the knife, 
 and is, next to tellurium, the lightest of the metals ; its 
 specific gravity being very little more than 6. 
 
 Its ores are only two in number : in both, it occurs in 
 the state of an oxide : they are considered to belong to 
 primitive countries. No use has hitherto been made of 
 Uranium* 
 
 I7RANITE. 
 
 Uranite occurs principally in small crystals of various 
 shades of yellow, green, and brown, which are some- 
 limes transparent, sometimes opake. It is met with in 
 nearly the same places and under the same circumstan- 
 ces as the uran-ochre. In France, at Chanteloube and 
 St. Symphorien, and in two or three mines in Cornwall 
 it is found in a friable granite. It is nearly a pure oxide 
 of uranium. 
 
 At first sight the Uranite considerably resembles a va- 
 riety of the arseniate of copper; but differs in the form 
 of the crystal. The primitive crystal of the Uranite 
 seems to approach the cube. Its crystals present seve- 
 ral modifications. I possess 47 varieties of form, which 
 are all from Cornwall. The variety from Gunnis Lake 
 mine, near Callington in that county, exhibits quadran- 
 gular plates, very thin, of a beautiful green colour, and 
 transparent. 
 
 The oxide of uranium is seldom found entering into 
 the composition of other metalliferous substances, but 
 
 * Suppofed to exift in the form of eartby grctn oxyf, near Baltimore^ 
 and at Brwnfwick Maine. (Cleaveland.) 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 173 
 
 is met with in a small quantity in the iserine, one of the 
 ores of titanium. 
 
 UBAN-OCHRE. PITCH-BLENDE. 
 
 Uran-ochre is mostly of a brown or brownish black 
 colour; it occurs globular or massive, is sometimes dis- 
 seminated, or pulverulent : it frequently resembles pitch, 
 and is very brittle It consists of 86.5 parts of oxide of 
 uranium, combined with 6 of galena, 2.5 black oxide 
 of iron, and 5 of silex. 
 
 It is met with in veins of copper, lead, silver, &c. 
 in Bohemia, Saxony ; and in two or three of the cop- 
 per veins of Cornwall, passing through a friable gra- 
 nite. 
 
 TANTALIUM; OR, COLUMBIUM.* 
 
 Tantalium is a metal, having but a slight external me- 
 tallic lustre ; it is dull and almost black internally ; its 
 specific gravity is ; little more than 6. 
 
 It is only found in the state of an oxide combined with 
 other substances ; its ores are only two. They have 
 been found only in a primitive, mountain. 
 
 TANTAL1TE. 
 
 The Tantalite is found principally in crystals in the 
 form of an acute octahedron, and of a bluish grey or 
 
 * As foon as it was known that an American mineral had afforded 
 a new metal, I endeavoured to make known the particulars, by a ftate- 
 ment of them in a periodical work of science. (6 Med. Ref>> p. ai2 -323.) 
 I employed all the means in my power to difcover the place whence 
 Gov. Winthrop's fpecimen, found by Mr. Halchett, in Sir Hans Hoane's 
 collection, might be fuppofed to have been taken. After about two 
 years of inquiry, his defcendant, Francis B. Winthrop, Efq. of New- York, 
 gave me rcalbn to believe the mineral in queftion was originally found 
 near a fpring at Nautneague, a place where Gov. Winthrop ufed to live s 
 about 3 miles from the margin of the falt-water, at New-London- Har- 
 bour. (8 Med, Repos.p, 437.) 
 
 P21 
 
174 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 iron black colour. It occurs disseminated, in globular 
 masses, in a vein composed of red felspar, traversing a 
 mountain of gneiss, near Brokaern in Abo in Finland. 
 It has a metallic lustre when broken ; and is composed 
 of 83 parts of oxide of tantalium, 12 of oxide of iron, 
 and 8 of oxide of manganese : its specific gravity is 7.9. 
 
 YTTROTANTALITE. 
 
 The other compound mineral in which tantaliura is 
 found is called the Yttrotantalite, from its also contain- 
 ing a portion of the rare earth Yttria. It is found at 
 Ytterby in Sweden, in a vein of felspar with the gado- 
 linite f it occurs disseminated in masses about the size 
 of a nut. It is nearly black ; when broken, it is of a shin- 
 ing metallic lustre, and granular. The Yttrotantalite 
 consists of 45 parts of oxide of tantalium, and 55 of yttria 
 and oxide of iron : its specific gravity is 5.1. 
 
 CHROME,* 
 
 Chrome is a metal of a greyish-white colour, and ex- 
 tremely brittle ; it is remarkable that it has never been 
 found in the metallic form, either pure or combined with 
 any other substance, but only in the acid state, or in that 
 of an oxide. 
 
 The chromic acid is found in combination with lead, 
 forming a compound mineral called chromate of lead, 
 already described. 
 
 * Chromate of Iron is found in large quantities at the bare hills, 7 miles 
 on the Falls turnpike, maflive and granular, in veins and lumps difiemina- 
 ted through a ferpentine rock. Perhaps in no part of the world, has fo 
 much been difcovered in one place. It furnifties the means of preparing 
 the beautiful paint called the chromic yellow, with which the carriages 
 and furniture are now painted, in Baltimore. (Gilmor.) It is found alfo in 
 octahedral cryftals, very fmall and magnetic, along the ravines and among 
 the fand of rivulets, mingled with the granular chromatc of iron.- (ibid.} 
 it is prefumed the red, green, yellow and purple, of the Staten-ifland ftear 
 tites, near New- York, may be derived from Chrome. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 175 
 
 The Chromic acid enters into the composition of the 
 spinelle ruby. 
 
 The Oxide of Chrome is found in combination with 
 iron ; forming a compound already described as chro- 
 mate of iron. It is also found in the emerald, and in 
 two or three other earthy minerals ; it has likewise 
 been detected in some of the meteoric stones, or aero- 
 lites. 
 
 Chrome, as obtained in the metallic state by the che- 
 mist, from either of the foregoing compounds, has not 
 been applied to any important use : it tinges glass of a 
 green colour. It has been ascertained that the emerald 
 owes its beautiful green colour to oxide of chrome : it 
 seems therefore probable that chrome may hereafter be 
 employed as paint. 
 
 BISMUTH* 
 
 Bismuth is of a reddish-white colour, and very brittle, 
 Its specific gravity is nearly 10. 
 
 It is found in the pure or native state somewhat alloy- 
 ed by arsenic. 
 
 The ores of Bismuth are few ; in one of them it is 
 combined with sulphur ; in another with inferior por- 
 tions of other metals, and with sulphur. It is also met 
 with combined with oxygen. All its ores are considerd 
 to belong exclusively to primitive mountains. 
 
 Bismuth is very little used, but it enters into the com- 
 position of some of the soft solders, and of sympathetic 
 ink. It forms alloys with other metals. Tin und bis* 
 muth are two of the most fusible metals. The fusible 
 metal of Sir Isaac Newton, is composed of 8 parts of 
 bismuth, 5 of lead, and 3 of tin ; when this is thrown in- 
 
 * Native Bifmuth in brilliant plates, interfperfed through a. vein of 
 quartz, has been found in Huntington, Connecticut. The largeft plate is 
 not more than an inch in diameter, and its forface beautifully reticulated, 
 (Sillimqn in Am, Min. Journal. f>. 267.} 
 
176 ELEMENTARV INTRODUCTION 
 
 to water and heat applied, it melts a little before the 
 water has reached the boiling point. 
 
 NATIVE BISMUTH. 
 
 Native Bismuth is of a silvery white, tinged with red ; 
 and occurs massive, dendritical, and crystallized in the 
 regular octohedron, which is considered to be the form 
 of its primitive crystal ; also in cubes, and in the form of 
 an acute rhomboid. It is rarely quite pure, but mostly 
 contains a small portion of cobalt or arsenic : it is some- 
 times so disseminated throughout its gangue or matrix, 
 as to be scarcely perceptible ; but on subjecting it to 
 heat, globules of Bismuth appear on the surface. Its 
 specific gravity is about 9. 
 
 It is met with in Bohemia, Saxony, France, Swabia, 
 Transylvania, Sweden, and in Cornwall ; it chiefly 
 occurs in veins in primitive mountains in a gangue of 
 quartz, calcareous spar, sulphate of barytes, indurated 
 clay, or of jasper, and is accompanied by ores of co- 
 balt and nickel ; and sometimes of silver, zinc, and lead 
 
 SULPHURET OF BISUUTH. 
 
 Sulphuret of Bismuth is of a colour between tin white 
 and lead grey, and is found massive and acicular > it is 
 splendent and shining, and brittle. It consists of 60 
 parts of bismuth, 36 of sulphur, and a little iron ; but 
 in some specimens, the proportion of sulphur does not 
 amount to more than 5 per cent. Its specific gravity is 
 about 6. 
 
 It is a rare mineral ; but has been found at Joachims- 
 thai in Bohemia, at Scbneeburg in Saxony, and at Bast- 
 uaes in Sweden, in a gangue of quartz ; in spathose iron 
 ore, at Biber in Hesse ; and in Cornwall. 
 
 It resembles sulphuret of antimony in colour and is 
 Jiable to be mistaken for it. 
 
 A variety, of a dark steel grey colour, has been found 
 ,to consist of about 43 parts of bismuth, 24 of lead, 12 of 
 copper, 1 of nickel, 1 of tellurium, and 11 of sulphur, 
 and has therefore been termed Plumbo-cupriferous &id- 
 ptiuret of Bismuth. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 17T 
 
 Another variety of a steel grey colour has yielded 
 about 47 parts of bismuth, 35 of copper, and 13 of sul- 
 phur, and has received the name of Cupriferous sulphu- 
 rp.t of Rismuth. 
 
 BISMUTH OCHRE. OXIDE OF BISMUTH. 
 
 Bismuth ochre occurs both massive and pulverulent, 
 and is of yellowish grey colour, tinged with green. It is 
 readily reduced on charcoal to the metallic state, and is 
 therefore considered to be a pure oxide of bismuth : its 
 specific gravity is 4.37. 
 
 It is very rare ; and has been principally found at 
 Schneeburg in Saxony, accompanying native bismuth. 
 It has also been met with in Cornwall. 
 
 ARSENIC* 
 
 Arsenic, when pure, is of a bluish white colour; but* 
 by exposure to air, becomes at length almost black. Its 
 specific gravity is above 8. It is extremely brittle, and 
 has a granular fracture. 
 
 Arsenic is a metal of very frequent occurrence : it is 
 found nearly pure, when it is called Native Arsenic, and 
 in combination with most other metals : its presence, 
 when in considerable quantity, may be detected by ex- 
 posing the substance to heat, or by striking it with a 
 hammer, which cause the arsenic to give out an odour 
 like that of garlic. It is also found in combination with 
 
 * Arfenic, in the form called White Pyrites or Arfenical Pyrites, is occa- 
 flonally found adhering to quartz, in primitive rocks. My fpecimens of 
 Mifpickel, from Warwick, hi Orange County, N. Y. are in roundifli lumps 
 of different magnitudes, from that of a man's fift, to that of a moderate 
 fized melon. Externally, the mafles are rough and tarniihed ; but within,, 
 they exhibit a tin-celoured luftre. They are very heavy ; and readily 
 emit garlic-flavoured vapours of a white colour, by expofure to even a mo* 
 derate heat. My informant laid there was a great quantity there. 
 
178 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 oxygen ; with sulphur ; and in the state of an acid, with 
 some of the metals, and also with lime. 
 
 Arsenic belongs chiefly to primitive countries. 
 
 NATIVE ARSENIC. 
 
 Native Arsenic is found only in veins in primitive 
 mountains. It is of a greyish white colour and metallic 
 lustre ; but by exposure becomes dull ; it occurs in irre- 
 gular masses : it is nearly pure, being alloyed only by a 
 very small proportion of iron, or of gold or silver. Na- 
 tive arsenic is composed by some of the ores of silver, 
 cobalt, lead, nickel and iron; also by carbonate and 
 fluate of lime, quartz, and some other substances. It 
 is usually found in masses, somewhat round : never crys- 
 tallized. 
 
 It occurs in the mines of St. Marie aux Mines in 
 France, in those of Freyberg in Saxony ; and of Bohe* 
 mia, Cornwall, and Siberia. 
 
 OXIDE OF ARSENIC. 
 
 Arsenic in the state of an oxide occurs tn the pris- 
 matic, acicular, and pulverulent form, in the mines of 
 Hesse, Saxony, Hungary, and in a cobalt mine in the 
 Spanish Pyrennees. It is also found as an efflorescence 
 in the fissures of the lavas in some volcanic mountains. 
 
 REALGAR. ORP1MENT. SULPHURET OF ARSENIC. 
 
 Arsenic in the metallic state, combined with sulphur, 
 forming sulphuret of Arsenic, is termed, when of a red 
 colour, Realgar ; when yellow, Orpiment. 
 
 Realgar is of a red colour, passing into scarlet, or 
 orange. It is found disseminated, in mass, or crystal- 
 lised. Its primitive crystal is the same as that of sul- 
 phur, an acute octoheron. Haiiy has mentioned six 
 Varieties of its crystals. It is very tender and brittle. 
 
 It occurs in the primitive mountains of Germany, 
 Switzerland, Hungary, Saxony, and Transylvania, 
 De Born mentions a vein of it between Galicia and 
 Transylvania, about twelve feet thick. It occurs also 
 
TO MIffEBALOGY, 179 
 
 In the vicinity of volcanoes, as of Etna, Vesuvius &c. 
 
 It is employed as a paint ; and in Siberia, it is given 
 as a medicine in intermittent fevers. 
 
 Orpiment is of a bright lemon or golden yellow co 
 lour; it is found disseminated ; in mass ; or crystallized 
 in octahedrons, which are not^well defined. It seems 
 rather to belong to stratified or secondary mountains 
 than primitive ; and is sometimes accompanied by real- 
 gar. 
 
 It occurs in Moldavia in Hungary, in a vein of Pyri- 
 tous copper ; and in a ferruginous clay at Thajoba ; it is 
 also found in Transylvania, Georgia, Wallachia, and 
 Natolia. 
 
 It is employed as a paint. The Romans used the 
 bright gold coloured orpiment from Syria for that pur- 
 pose, and esteemed it highly. 
 
 Realgar consists of 75 of arsenic, and 25 of sulphur : 
 Orpiment, 57 of arsenic, and 43 of sulphur. 
 
 MISPICKLE. ARSENICAL PYRITES, 
 
 This substance is of a silvery or yellowish white, and 
 occurs in mass, disseminated, or crystallized, in almost 
 all metalliferous primitive mountains ; and abounds in 
 many of the tin and copper veins of Cornwall. A spe- 
 cimen analyzed by Thompson yielded 48.1 of arsenic, 
 36.5 of iron, and 15.4 of sulphur; another analyzed by 
 Berzelius yielded only arsenic, and iron. 
 
 A variety containing from one to ten per cent, of sil- 
 ver, is found only at Freyberg in Saxony. 
 
 The primitive crystal of Mispickel is considered to 
 be a right rhomboidal prism. It is subject to several 
 modifications ; the crystals in my possession exhibit the 
 planes of 7 modifications, combined in 34 varieties of 
 form. 
 
IW ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 COBALT.* 
 
 Cobalt is of a grey colour, with a tinge of red, and 
 has the magnetic properties of iron : it is very difficult 
 of fusion ; its specific gravity is about 8. 
 
 It has never been found in the pure, or native state ; 
 but is mostly combined with arsenic and sulphur ; some- 
 times mineralized by the sulphuric acid, &c. 
 
 The ores of cobalt occur in veins both in primitive 
 and in secondary mountains : mostly accompanied by 
 some of the numerous ores of copper, sometimes by 
 native bismuth, native silver, native arsenic, and the 
 ores of silver. 
 
 In Cornwall, cobalt occasionally occurs in copper 
 veins ; sometimes in those of a contrary direction. In 
 one of the latter description, it is found in a mine called 
 Huel Sparnon, near Redruth, (which is situated in ar- 
 gillaceous schistus) combined with bismuth, nickel,, 
 arsenic and sulphur : a block, principally consisting of 
 these substances, which weighed 1333 IDS. was lately 
 raised from that mine. 
 
 Cobalt is very little used except in the arts. It is 
 brought to this country reduced to the state of an oxide, 
 of an intense blue colour, called zaffre, which when 
 melted with 3 parts of sand and 1 of potash, forms a 
 blue glass, and when pounded very fine is called smalts, 
 and is then employed to give a blue tint to writing pa- 
 pers, and in the preparation of cloths, laces, linens, 
 muslins, c. ; for colouring glass, and for painting 
 blues on porcelain. So intense is the blue of zaffre, 
 that one grain will give a full blue to 240 grains of 
 glass. 
 
 * A ioniiderable quantity of ore from the Cobalt mine at Chatham-, 
 near Middletown in Connecticut, was brought to New- York a few years 
 ago. The metal is difleminated through a very folid rock, of the horn- 
 blende kind. It appears in fhining veins and fpecks, almoft refembling 
 arfenical pyrites. The colour of the rock is grecnilh. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 1 81 
 
 GREY COBALT. 
 
 The Bright White Cobalt of Aikin is commonly called 
 Grey Cobalt. It is of a nearly silver white colour, but 
 has a slight reddish tinge : it occurs crystallized ; yields 
 with difficulty to the knife ; is brittle ; attracts the mag- 
 netic needle ; gives a spark by the hammer, and yields 
 a garlicky odour. It occurs in masses of various shapes, 
 and in crystals of great regularity. The form of the 
 primitive crystal is considered to be the cube ; the crys- 
 tals in my possession exhibit the planes of four modifi- 
 cations in 22 varieties of form, remarkably resembling 
 those of the sulphuret of iron. 
 
 It consists of 44 parts of cobalt, 55.5 of arsenic, 0.5 
 of sulphur : its specific gravity about 6.4. 
 
 It is found in Norway ; at Tunaberg in Sweden ; An- 
 naberg in Saxony ; also, though rarely, in Swabia and 
 Stiria. In Soxony and Norway, it is contained in beds of 
 micaceous schistus, and is accompanied by quartz, py- 
 rites, &c. 
 
 The Grey Cobalt of Aikin, and which is of a steel 
 grey colour, hard and brittle, is found in several of the 
 copper veins of Cornwall : it is generally compact and 
 massive, and has much the aspect of native arsenic. It 
 consists of 20 parts of cobalt, 24 of iron, 33 of arsenic, 
 together with some bismuth and earth, and appears to 
 be a variety of arsenical cobalt. 
 
 ARSENICAL COBALT. 
 
 This mineral is of a shining white colour, and is found 
 in masses of various forms, and crystallized in the form 
 of the cube : Hatty describes four varieties in the form 
 of its crystals, which pass into the octohedron. It does 
 not attract the magnet. It is found in some of the cop- 
 per veins of Cornwall ; also in France and Spain ; at 
 Annaberg and Sehneeberg in Saxony; and in Bohemia, 
 &c. Klaproth says that it contains arsenic, iron, and 
 sometimes silver and nickel. It is heavier than grey 
 cobalt ; its specific gravity being 7.7. 
 
182 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 EARTHY COBALT. 
 
 Earthy Cobalt is of various shades of yellow, brown, 
 and black. It has no metallic splendour ; it sometimes 
 occurs in masses, sometimes almost pulverulent, and is 
 remarkably lighter than the preceding variety, not being 
 equal to half its weight. It has not been analyzed, but 
 the cobalt is considered to be in the state of an oxide 
 in this variety. 
 
 It is found in some of the Cornish mines ; and at Al- 
 derly Edge in Cheshire in red sandstone. It is also found 
 in Saxony, at Schneeberg and Kamsdorf ; and in the 
 Tyrol, Thuringia, &c. 
 
 BED COBALT. 
 
 Red Cobalt is also called arseniated Cobalt, on ac- 
 count of its being supposed to be cobalt mineralized by 
 the arsenic acid . but it has not been analyzed. It is 
 also called Cobalt Bloom, and passes from nearly white, 
 through peach bloom, to a crimson red colour : it is 
 found in small quantity in silver and copper veins. It 
 is said to have been found in Cornwall ; in Stirlingshire ; 
 and near Edinburg. 
 
 RED VITRIOL. SULPHATE OF COBALT. 
 
 Red Vitriol has been found only at Hessingrund near 
 Neusohl in Hungary, in the form of translucent stalac- 
 tites of a pale rose colour, and enclosing drops of water. 
 It consists only of cobait mineralized by the sulphuric 
 acid. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 
 
 NICKEL* 
 
 Nickel is of a yellowish white colour ; it is attractable 
 bylhe magnet, though in a degree considerably less than 
 iron ; it is ductile, and nearly as malleable as silver ; its 
 specific gravity is about 9. It has never been found pure, 
 and its ores are only two in number. 
 
 It is remarkable that nickel, which is one of the least 
 abundant metals, has been found by analysis to enter 
 into the composition of meteoric iron, and of all those 
 stony substances which in various parts of Europe and 
 America, have fallen from the atmosphere ; whence 
 they are termed meteoric stones. 
 
 The uses of nickel are not numerous ; it is chiefly 
 employed in alloys with other metals. 
 
 KUPFERNICKEL. COPPER NICKEL* 
 
 Kupfernickel is of a pale copper-red colour, and is 
 commonly found massive ; its fracture is granular, with 
 a metallic lustre ; it yields with difficulty to the knife, 
 but is brittle. It is hard enough to give sparks by the 
 steel, giving out an arsenical odour. It has not been 
 analyzed ; but it is ascertained that it consists principally 
 of nickel and arsenic, combined with sulphur, iron, co- 
 balt and bismuth. 
 
 It is most abundantly found at Joachimsthal in Bohe- 
 mia ; Schneeberg, Freyberg, and Annaberg, in Saxony ; 
 and Andreasberg in the Hartz. It is also met with in 
 Cornwall ; at Allemont in France ; in Stiria ; in Arra- 
 gon in Spain ; and at Koly wan in Siberia. It is met 
 
 * I have ftrong reafons to believe Nickel is only a modification of iron ; 
 though the great authorities lean the other way, favouring the notion of 
 its being a diftin& metal. So it is now to be confidered. 
 
 It is reported on good evidence that nickel accompanies copper in Ma- 
 ryland, and cobalt in Connecticut. It was an ingredient in the atmof- 
 pheric ftones, that fell at Wefton in Connecticut, in Dec. 1807, hi fuch 
 combination that the metallic iron, which was a large ingredient in the 
 ftone, was believed to be moftly alloyed by nickel, (xx Med. Rsfos.p. 203. 
 "30 
 
184 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 with principally in veins in primitive mountains, accom- 
 panying the ores of silver, cobalt and copper. 
 
 NICKEL OCHRE. 
 
 Nickel Ochre has only been met with in the pulveru- 
 lent form, generally investing the preceding ore of nick- 
 el, and sometimes the ores of cobalt. It has been de- 
 tected in the chrysoprase (to which it probably imparts 
 its green colour.) and in the soft green substance in 
 which it is found. 
 
 It is considered to be an oxide of nickel : but has not 
 been analyzed. 
 
 SILVER.* 
 
 Silver, when pure, is soft, opake, and flexible ; a piece 
 one-tenth of an inch in diameter will support two hun- 
 dred and seventy pounds without breaking. Its specific 
 gravity is about 10. It is very white, shining, and malle- 
 able, and is found in the pure or native state ; its ores 
 are numerous. It occurs combined with antimony, iron, 
 arsenic, lead, copper, bismuth, alumine, and silex ; and 
 mineralized by sulphur, and by the carbonic, sulphuric, 
 and muriatic acids. 
 
 The ores of silver, whatever may be their composi- 
 tion, are principally met with in primitive rocks, but not 
 of the oldest formation; they are also found in veins in 
 secondary rocks ; but never in alluvial deposites. Silver 
 
 * Native Silver was difcovered at Singling, N. Y. and the mine work- 
 ed as long ago as 1775. When I vifited the fpot in 1816, the fhaft and 
 every part was filled with water. A few fpecimens of the native filver 
 found there are full extant. There is a little piece in my collection. The 
 quantity was very fmall, and the adventurers loft money by the under- 
 taking. Inconfiderable quantities have been obferved in a few other places. 
 A rich collection from Chili, was made by Mr. Taber, and brought to 
 New- York. I faw thefe fuperb fpecimens feveral times. It is faid that 
 filver exifts in the copper of the Schuyler mine, near New- York, to the 
 amount of (corn 4 to 7 ounces in xoo Ibs. f6 Med, Rcfns. 
 

 
 TO MIJJERALOGT. 
 
 therefore is not regarded as being one of the most an- 
 cient metals. 
 
 The mines of Peru and Mexico furnish annually ten 
 times more silver than all the mines of Europe united. 
 
 According to Helms, the mine of Jauricocha, in Peru 
 \vhich is about three miles above the sea, contains a pro- 
 digious mass of porous brown iron-stone, half a mile 
 long, as much broad, and about one hundred feet in 
 depth, which is throughout interspersed with pure silver; 
 and contains a white argillaceous vein, which is very 
 much richer. It is asserted that Jauricocha and the mines 
 of the district surrounding it, have yielded forty millions 
 of dollars in a year. 
 
 The uses of silver are numerous, and for the most 
 part obvious. In coin, silver is alloyed by one part of 
 copper to fifteen of silver. The yellow colour, used in- 
 porcelain painting, is oxide of silver. 
 
 NATIVE SILVER. 
 
 Native silver, when pure, is white, and has a shining: 
 metallic lustre, but it is generally tarnished externally ; 
 it is softj flexible, and malleable ; it occurs massive, ca- 
 pillary, ramose, and crystallized in cubes and octohe- 
 drons ; but as the structure of the crystals is not of that 
 description which admits of regular cleavage, their pri* 
 mitive form has not been determined. It is less mallea- 
 ble than silver that has been melted in the furnace, on- 
 occount, as it is supposed, of its being generally alloyed 
 with small portions of other metals ; as gold, copper^, 
 arsenic, and iron. A specimen assayed by Dr. Fordyce, 
 yielded 28 per cent, of gold : when this metal is mixed 
 with it, the colour approaches to that of pale brass j 
 when alloyed by copper, it has a tinge of red. 
 
 Native silver has been found in rocks of almost every 
 description ; principally in the newer primitive. In the 
 mines of Kongsberg in Norway, now almost exhausted, 
 it was found in carbonate and fluyte of lime, &c. ; at 
 Schlangenberg in Siberia, on sulphate of barytes : at 
 Allemont, it is disseminated in a ferruginous clay. In 
 Cornwall, it was found in the Herland mine imbedded 
 in a soft marl, and accompanied by sulphuret of lead>, 
 
1S6 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 cobalt, quartz, &c. in a vein passing through argillaceous 
 schistus : this vein ran north and south, intersecting 
 veins of copper, which always in Cornwall run east and 
 west. But native silver is found in Europe, most plen- 
 tifully in the mines of Saxony, Bohemia, and Swabia. 
 
 ANTIMON1AL SILVER. 
 
 Antimonial Silver is of a yellowish white, has a shining 
 metallic lustre, and is often tarnished externally: it 
 occurs in grains, massive, and crystallized in prismatic, 
 but not very determinate crystals. It consists of silver 
 united with antimony in variable proportion ; but the 
 former, according to two analyses, is not less than 77 
 per cent, of the mass. It is not abundant ; but is met 
 with in veins of calcareous spar and sulphate of barytes, 
 accompanied by native silver, sulphuret of lead, c. at 
 Guadalcanal in Spain, and in Swabia. 
 
 An ore consisting of about 12 parts of silver, united 
 with about 44 of iron, 35 of arsenic, and 4 of antimony. 
 is called Arsenical Antimonial silver. 
 
 SULPHURET OF SILVER. VITREOUS SILVER. 
 
 This mineral is of a dark metallic lead grey colour, 
 and is often tarnished externally ; it is soft, malleable, 
 easily cut by the knife, and occurs of indeterminate 
 shapes, capillary, ramose and crystallized in the cube, 
 octohedron and dodecahedron ; but not admitting oi 
 regular cleavage, the primitive form of its crystal has 
 not been determined. It consists of 85 parts of silver, 
 and 15 of sulphur. Its tenacity is so great, that Augustus^ 
 king of Poland, had some medals struck of it. 
 
 It occurs in. veins, mingled with other ores of silver, 
 and accompanied by native silver, sulphate of barytes. 
 and sulphuret of lead, iron, copper and zinc. It is 
 found in the Saxon, Bohemian, Swabian, Hungarian and 
 Norwegian mines, and it is said to have been found in 
 Cornwall : but the most brilliant specimens are brought 
 from Siberia, consisting of groupes of crystals covered 
 by capillary native silver, 2 or 3 inches in length. 
 
TO MINERALOGT. 187 
 
 RED SILVER. RUBY SILVER. 
 
 This mineral is of a brilliant red colour, and is fre- 
 quently transparent ; it occurs dendritic, massive, and 
 crystallized, generally in the hexahedral prism, which 
 is sometimes modified ; it assumes about 40 varieties in 
 the forms of its crystals, the primitive of which is an 
 obtuse rhomboid of 109 28' and 70 32', according to 
 Hauy. It is brittle, yields easily to the knife, and 
 consists of about 70 parts of sulphuret of silver, combi- 
 ned with about 29 parts of sulphuret of antimony. It is 
 usually found in veins, mingled with other minerals ; such 
 as sulphuret of lead, cobalt, native arsenic, realgar, grey 
 copper, spathose iron, iron pyrites, sulphuret of zinc, &c. 
 and is met with in all silver mines; but principally in 
 those of Freyberg, St. Marie-aux-mines, and Guadal- 
 canal, &c. 
 
 BRITTLE 8ULPHUHET OF SILVER. BRITTLE SILVER 
 GLANCE. 
 
 The colour of this mineral is dark grej r , passing into 
 iron black, and is of a bright and shining metallic lustre 
 externally ; it is soft and brittle, and occurs massive, 
 and in hexahedral prisms variously terminated, and in 
 quadrangular tables. It consists of 66.5 parts of silver, 
 10 of antimony, 12 of sulphur, 5 of iron, 0.5 of cop- 
 per and arsenic, and one of earthy impurities. It is met 
 with in veins containing some other ores of silver and 
 sulphuret of lead, c. in Hungary, Transylvania, Saxo- 
 ny, Bohemia, Peru, c. 
 
 WHITE SILVER, 
 
 White silver is of a light lead grey colour, passing into 
 steel grey ; it is found massive and disseminated, and 
 has a metallic lustre ; it is soft and somewhat brittle. 
 Its specific gravity is 5.3 ; it consists of 48.06 of lead, 
 20.4 of silver, 7.88 of antimony, 2.25 of iron, 12.25 of 
 sulphur, 7 of alumine, and 0.25 of silex. It has been 
 procured from the mine Himraelfurst near Freyberg in 
 
188 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Saxony, where it was accompanied by other ores of 
 silver, and with antimony, brown spar, and calcareous 
 spar. Some specimens have been met with passing 
 into brittle sulphuret of silver; others into plumose an- 
 timony. 
 
 BLACK SILTE1L 
 
 % Black silver is iron black, passing into a steel grey 
 colour ; it occurs disseminated, massive, and crystalli- 
 zed in tetrahedrons ; it is somewhat hard, brittle, and 
 has a shining metallic lustre. It is by some considered 
 to be an argentiferous variety of the sulphuret of cop- 
 per. 
 
 BISMUTHIC SILVER 
 
 This mineral is of a light lead grey colour, which' 
 becomes deeper on exposure to the air : it occurs dis- 
 seminated, rarely massive, and consists of 33 parts of 
 lead, 27 of bismuth, 15 of silver, 4.3 of iron, 0.9 of 
 copper, and 16.3 of sulphur. It has only been found 
 in a mine in the valley of Shapbach in the Black Forest; 
 and was accompanied by quartz, hornstone, and copper 
 pyrites. 
 
 CARBONATE OP SILVER. 
 
 Carbonate of silver is greyish, passing into iron black, 
 and has a glimmering or shining metallic lustre. It is 
 soft, somewhat brittle, and heavy ; and consists of 72.5 
 per cent, of silver, 12 of carbonic acid, 15.5 of oxide 
 of antimony, and a trace of copper. It was found about 
 thirty years ago, accompanied by native silver, sulphu- 
 ret of silver, and grey copper, in a vein of sulphate of 
 barytes at Altwolfatch. 
 
 HORN SILVER. MURIATE OF SILVER. 
 
 This mineral is of a pearl grey colour; occasionally 
 it is greenish blue or reddish brown, and is remarkable 
 for being SQ soft as easily to take the impression gf the 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 189 
 
 nail, and for its translucency. It has a waxy lustre ; is 
 fusible in the flame of a candle, and is generally found 
 investing and massive, rarely crystallized in small cubes. 
 The massive consists of 88.7 per cent, of muriate of sil- 
 ver, six of oxide of iron, 1.75 of alumine, and 0.25 of 
 sulphuric acid. It has been found at Andreasburg in 
 the Hartz, in the Mexican, Peruvian, Saxon, and Bo- 
 hemian mines; those of John^eorgenstadt formerly af- 
 forded large quantities of it. It is also met with in 
 Hungary at Schemnitz ; in France near Allemont, and 
 in several mines in Cornwall, though not abundantly. 
 It has been remarked that Horn silver is commonly met 
 with near the surface in veins, and frequently with or- 
 ganic remains. 
 
 A variety is met with of a brownish white, but exter- 
 nally of a slate blue colour ; it is massive, dull, opake, 
 and earthy ; and consists of about 33 parts of muriate of 
 silver, combined with about 67 of aim/line. It is called 
 Buttermilk silver, and is found at Andreasberg in the 
 Hartz. 
 
 COPPER.* 
 
 Copper, in its pure state, is so tenacious, that a wire 
 one-tenth of an inch in diameter will support two hun- 
 dred and ninety-nine pounds and a half, without break- 
 ing : its specific gravity is about 8. 
 
 Copper is harder and more elastic than silver ; and is 
 the most sonorous of metals : in respect of fusibility it is 
 between gold and iron. It is of a pale red colour, with a 
 tinge of yellow. Its ores are numerous. It occurs in the 
 
 * Native Copper has been found in many places. I mention a few of 
 the localities. In conftructing the fortifications at the Narrows on Staten- 
 ifland, between the city of New- York and the ocean, feveral pieces of na- 
 tive copper were found by the workmen in that alluvial foil. The par- 
 cels were buried at different depths. Mr. Dawfon brought me fmall flat- 
 ted pieces of native copper from Virginia, which, if I recollect right, were 
 found near Frederickiburgh. At WoodbriJge, N. J. there is a native cop- 
 per of remarkable beauty. 
 
 ' 
 
190 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 pure or native state ; also combined with iron, antimony, 
 silver, arsenic, and with silex, lime, and water, arid mi- 
 neralized by oxygen, sulphur, "and by the carbonic, mu- 
 riatic, phosphoric and arsenic acids. 
 
 The greater part of the ores of Copper seem to belong 
 chiefly, though not exclusively, to primitive countries ; 
 and are found both in veins and in beds. Native copper, 
 the red oxide, the sulphuret, yellow copper, grey cop- 
 per, and the arseniate, have been found principally in 
 these countries ; the localities of the phosphate and mu- 
 riate are less known; but the variety of green carbonate, 
 termed Malachite, is said to have been met with in every 
 variety of country The mines of Tunaberg in Sweden, 
 and some others, as well as that of Ecton in Stafford- 
 shire, (which yielded the yellow copper ore) are situated 
 in compact limestone. The mines of Cornwall are situ- 
 ated both in argillaceous schistus and granite. 
 
 Veins containing copper are not esteemed to be of so 
 ancient formation as those enclosing tin ; because, when 
 the veins meet with each other, those of tin are always 
 traversed by those of copper ; but the ore? of both these 
 metals are often found in the same veins in Cornwall ; 
 the copper being generally beneath the tin. 
 
 Mines of Copper are largely wrought in England, 
 Germany, Sweden, and Siberia : those of Spain, France, 
 Ireland, Norway, and Hungary, are much less extensive 
 and numerous. Copper has been found in Asia, Africa, 
 and America, in considerable abundance. 
 
 The uses of copper in all its various states are almost 
 endless, and only, if at all, inferior to those of iron. Al- 
 loyed with certain proportions of zinc it forms brass, 
 pinchbeck, tinsel, and Dutch gold, in imitation of gold 
 jeaf. With a small proportion of tin, copper forms 
 bronze or bell metal ; but if the proportion of tin amount 
 to one-third, it forms speculum metal, used for reflecting 
 telescopes. With zinc and iron, it forms tutenag. In 
 porcelain painting, the green is obtained from copper. 
 
 ** 
 
TO MINERALOGY 
 
 NATIVE COPPERV* 
 
 Native copper is of a yellow red colour, has a metal- 
 lic lustre, and is often tarnished externally of various co- 
 lours ; it occurs massive, capillary, dendritic, and crys- 
 tallized, and is malleable and flexible. It assumes the 
 form of the cube and of the regular octohedron ; but 
 not possessing that structure which allows of regular 
 cleavage, either of these solids may be considered as the 
 primitive form of its crystals, which are very numerous, 
 but not very intelligible, on account of their extreme 
 
 * There is reafon to believe, that native copper exifts in larger blocks or 
 maffes, on the Couth fide of Lake Superior, than in any other part of the 
 world. It is found too at Green Bay, on the weft fide of Lake Michigan. 
 J have fpecimens of both. The metal is remarkably pure, as appears by the 
 following analyfis, made at the mint of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, at 
 the requcft of Dr. Euftis, the Minifter Plenipotentiary of the United 
 States, who carried fpecimens with him to Europe. 
 
 The report from the mint, is in thefe words : " From every appear- 
 ance, the piece of copper feems to have been taken from a mafs that has 
 undergone fufion. The melting was, however, not an operation of art, 
 but a natural effect caufed by a volcanic eruption. 
 
 The flream of lava probably carried along in its courfe the aforefaid 
 body of copper that had formed into one collection, as faft as it was heat- 
 ed enough to run, from all parts of the mine. The united mafs was pro- 
 bably borne, in this manner, to the place where it now refts in the foil. 
 
 The cryftallized form, obfervable every where on the original furface 
 of the metal that has been left untouched or undifturbed, leads me to pre- 
 fume that the fufion it has fuftained was by a procefs of nature ; fince this 
 cryftallized furface can only be fuppofed to have been produced by a flow 
 and gradual cooling, whereby the copper affumed regular figures as ics 
 heat paffed into other fubftances and the metal itl'elf lay expofed to the 
 air. 
 
 As to the properties of the copper itfelf, it may be obferved that its co* 
 lour is a clear red ; that it is peculiarly qualified for rolling and forging \ 
 and that its excellence is indicated by its refemblance to the copper ufuafiy 
 employed by the Englifh for plating. 
 
 The dealers in copper call this fort Peruvian copper , to diftinguifh it from 
 that of S-weJen, which is much lefs malleable. The fpecimen, under con- 
 iideration, is incomparably better than Swedifli copper, as well on account 
 of its brilliant colour, as for the finenefs of its pores, and its extreme duc- 
 tility. 
 
 Notwithftanding, befere it is ufed in manufactures, or for the coining 
 of money, it ought to be melted anew, for the purpofc of purifying it from 
 fuch earthy particles as it may contain. 
 
 The examination of the North- American copper, in the fample received 
 from his excellency the minifter, by the operations of the cupel and the 
 teft by fire, has proved that it does not contain the fmalleft particle of fil- 
 ver, gold, or any other metal." 
 
192 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 liability to that kind of compound structure which consti- 
 tutes the made. The crystals in my possession exhibit 
 about 80 varieties of form, and were all brought from 
 Cornwall ; where Native Copper has occasionally been 
 found in considerable abundance, accompanied by the red 
 oxide, (into which it sometimes passes,) and occasionally 
 by the green carbonate and the arseniate of Copper; and 
 by quartz and fluate of lime. The copper veins of Corn- 
 wall are situated both in argillaceous schistus and gra- 
 nite. Native Copper is occasionally found disseminated 
 in the serpentine of the Lizard point in that county. 
 
 Native Copper is rare in France ; but is very abun- 
 dant in some parts of the Uralian mountains in Siberia ; 
 at Herngrund in Saxony, the Hartz, at Fahlun in Sweden, 
 and near the Copper Mine River within the arctic circle 
 in America. That of Japan and that of Brazil, are said 
 to contain a considerable proportion of gold. Quartz, 
 fluate of lime, carbonate of lime, and sulphate of barytes, 
 usually accompany Native Copper ; the two latter have 
 rarely been met with in Cornwall, and not at all accom- 
 panying Native Copper. 
 
 SUtPHURET OF COPPER.* GLANCE COPPER. 
 
 Sulphuret of copper is of a lead or iron grey colour ; 
 it has a shining metallic lustre, and yields easily to the 
 knife. It occurs massive, and crystallized. The form 
 of its primitive crystal is the hexahedral prism, which pas- 
 ses into an obtuse, and also into an acute dodecahedron, 
 with triangular planes ; the crystals in my possession ex- 
 hibit 83 varieties of form besides 2 or 3 macles : they 
 are all from Cornwall, where the suiphuret of copper 
 has been abundantly found in several mines ; sometimes 
 intermixed with the yellow copper ore, and occasion- 
 
 * Found in the red fand-ftone formation, near New- York, accompanied 
 with the oxyd and carbonate of copper ; and in the neighbourhood of 
 New Haven and Baltimore. (Cleaveland and Gilbs.} Found at the Schuyler 
 mine in Bergen county, (N. J.) In the green- ftone mountains running 
 north and fouth, in Connecticut, between the Sound and Simsbury, with 
 native copper and the red oxyd of the fame. (Silliman.') At Perkiomen in 
 Montgomery county, and near Chefter in Delaware county, Pennfylvania, 
 (Conrad and Wl*tarl) and in feverai other places. I have received very 
 fine yellow fulphuret of copper, from fome place in the upper country of 
 Georgia. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 193 
 
 ally accompanied by the succeeding variety ; and by 
 spathose iron ore and fluate of lime. It is also found at 
 Llandidno in Caernarvonshire, and at Middleton Tyas, 
 in Yorkshire. It occurs also in Siberia, Sweden, and 
 Saxony ; principally, as it is said, in primitive moun- 
 tains. 
 
 The crystallized consists of 81 parts of copper, and 19 
 of sulphur ; the massive contains rather less copper, 
 about the same sulphur, with about 2 per cent, of oxide 
 of iron, and 1 ofsilex. 
 
 PURPLE COPPER. BUNTKUPFERERZ. 
 
 This mineral is of a tombac brown colour ; and has an 
 irridescent tarnish ; it occurs massive, capillary, and 
 crystallized : it is found in the cube, mostly with curvi- 
 linear faces, passing into the perfect octohedron. It 
 consists of about 70 parts of copper, 19 of sulphur, and 
 7 of iron. It is generally found in the same countries as 
 the preceding variety, and accompanying it. 
 
 GREY COPPER. 
 
 Grey copper is mostly of a steel grey colour ; it oc- 
 curs massive and crystallized, and -has a brilliant metallic 
 lustre ; it is brittle, but is much harder than the sulphu- 
 ret of copper ; it is found in the cube, passing into the 
 regular octohedron, and in the dodecahedron with rhom- 
 bic planes. I am not aware that it has been analyzed. 
 I possess crystals of it in 26 varieties of form ; they are 
 all from Cornwall. 
 
 This mineral seems mostly to be confounded with 
 the Fahlerz of Werner, Cuivre gris of Ha'dy, which was 
 formerly considered as a silver ore, and in which cop- 
 per, iron, antimony, silver, and sulphur, enter into com- 
 bination ; some varieties also yield arsenic : it crystal- 
 lizes in the form of the regular tetrahedron, variously 
 modified. 
 
 R 
 
194 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Grey Copper is found in Cornwall in the same veins 
 as the two preceding varieties ; the Fahlerz, I believe, 
 has not been found there ; but has been met with in 
 the silver mines at Beeralston in Devonshire, and in 
 Wales. It is found also in Transylvania, the Hartz. 
 Saxony, &c. 
 
 YELLOW COPPER. COPPER PYRITES. 
 
 This mineral is of various shades of yellow, and is 
 often irridescently tarnished externally ; it occurs mas- 
 sive, stalactitic, and crystallized in the form of the regu- 
 lar tetrahedron, which is its primitive form ; its varieties 
 are not numerous. It has a metallic lustre, and yields 
 easily to the knife. It consists of copper united with 
 variable proportions of iron and of sulphur : in general, 
 the copper does not exceed 20 per cent. It is the most 
 abundant of all the ores of copper, and is the chief ore of 
 the Cornish mines, where it is found in veins, passing 
 through argillaceous schistus and granite. It is met with 
 in Derbyshire, and was abundant in the Ecton mine 
 in Staffordshire in limestone. It is generally accom- 
 panied by quartz, iron pyrites, aud sometimes by mis- 
 pickel and the sulphuret of copper. In the mine cal- 
 led Huel To wan, it was accompanied by spathose iron. 
 
 WHITE COPPER.* 
 
 White Copper seems to be a variety of the preceding 
 species, distinguished by its being of a silvery white or 
 pale brass yellow colour, and by its affording an arseni- 
 cal odour before the blow- pipe ; its whiteness may per- 
 haps be attributed to the arsenic it contains : it has not 
 been analyzed. It is not common, but occasionally ac- 
 companies yellow copper ; it is said to have been found 
 in the mine called Huel Gorland in Cornwall 
 
 * At Fairfield, Connecticut, in a compact ore of Copper, whofe recent 
 fracture is metallic white, which foon turns, by expofure, to a dirty white, 
 and in time acquires a green hue. It contains arfenic. (Silliman.) 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 195 
 
 RUBY COPPER. RED OXIDE OF COPPER.f 
 
 This beautiful mineral is of a fine crimson red colour, 
 and Is frequently translucent, but externally, is mostly 
 tarnished, sometimes of a metallic grey colour ; it yields 
 easily to the knife, and is brittle ; it occurs massive, and 
 crystallized in the regular octohedron, which passes into 
 an acute rhomboid, the cube, and the dodecahedron 
 with rhombic planes : the crystals in my possession are 
 very numerous and exhibit about 70 varieties of form ; 
 all of them are from Cornwall. The specific gravity of 
 the red oxide of copper is 3.9 ; it consists of 91 copper 
 and 9 of oxygen. A variety of the red oxide of copper, 
 is met with in fine capillary crystals which are lengthened 
 cubes; another of a red or reddish brown colour, com- 
 pact, and with an earthy fracture, is called Tile ore. 
 
 This mineral is found at Moldava in Hungary ; near. 
 Cologne ; in the eastern part of tne Uralian mountains 
 in Siberia, accompanied by the variety of green carbo- 
 nate of copper called Malachite; and has been met 
 with in several mines in Cornwall, and in considerable 
 abundance in those called Huel Unity and Huel Gor- 
 land, which are situated both in granite and argillaceous 
 schistus ; the vein was principally occupied by a brown 
 ferruginous friable substance, called gossan by the miner; 
 in the same vein, but above the red copper, which was 
 generally accompanied by native copper and sometimes 
 black copper, considerable quantities of arseniated cop- 
 per, and arseniated iron were met with. 
 
 BLACK COPPEK. 
 
 Black copper occurs in a pulverulent form, investing 
 some other of the ores of copper, chiefly the red oxide ; 
 it is generally considered to be an oxide of copper, but it 
 gives out sulphureous vapours before the blowpipe. 
 
 t The feveral localities of this ore, are in Virginia, on the Fairfax 
 eftate, near the Shenandoah, (/%<&) ; in Pcnnfylvania, near Lancafter, 
 with malachite ; in the Schuyler Copper mine, near New- York ; and in 
 the Connecticut mountains, mentioned in a preceding note. 
 
196 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION* 
 
 CARBONATE OF COPPER.* 
 
 Carbonate of copper is of various shades of blue and 
 of green. The Blue is chiefly of a beautiful azure blue, 
 and is found in small globular masses, massive, earthy, 
 and crystallized ; it frequently accompanies the succeed- 
 ing variety. I possess crystals of it, in about 30 varieties 
 of form, but they are not very intelligible ; they appear 
 to be principally of that variety which is termed the sec- 
 tion of the octohcdron ; which solid is esteemed to be 
 their primitive form. It is not of abundant occurrence, 
 but has been met with in the mining countries of Bohe- 
 mia, Saxony, the Hartz, Siberia, &ic ; also in Cornwall, 
 and at Wanluck-head, and the Lead hills in Scotland. 
 Some crystals from France very nearly approach the 
 cube, others are rhomboidal, but not determinate, 
 
 The Green Carbonate of copper, or Malachite, is 
 found massive, and in slender prismatic crystals or fibres, 
 which are of a silky lustre, and aggregated in bundles, 
 or stellated ; frequently it is almost massive, with a silky 
 iibrous texture. It does not present regular crystals, 
 This beautiful mineral is said occasionally to accompany 
 the greatest part of the other ores of copper. The finest 
 specimens are brought from the Uralian mountains in 
 Siberia : it is also met with in the copper mines of Sax- 
 ony, Bohemia, the Tyrol, Hungary, &c. ; and some- 
 times, though rarely, in Cornwall. The massive green 
 variety consists of about 58 copper, 12 oxygen, 18 car- 
 bonate acid, and 11 of water. ! he blue variety consists 
 of the same elements, varying somewhat in their re- 
 spective proportions : and there is a variety of the green 
 carbonate of copper, called Chrysocolla, which consists of 
 the same substances in smaller proportions, together 
 
 * Both the mountain blue and mountain green forms of copper exift fpa- 
 ringly, but with diftinct characters, at Pcrkiomen, Bergen, Cnefhirc, and, 
 it is believed, in fome other places. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 19 ( 7 
 
 with about 26 per cent, of silex ; it is of various shades 
 of green and brown, and of very different degrees of 
 hardness ; it presents, when broken, a conchoidal frac- 
 ture, and a resinous shining lustre. It is found accom- 
 panying the foregoing varieties ; and has been met with- 
 in Cornwall, and in the vale of Newlands, near Keswick 
 in Cumberland. 
 
 The Turquoise, so called because it was first brought 
 from Turkey, is said to consist of the bone or tooth of 
 an animal in the fossil state, penetrated by blue or green 
 carbonate of copper. It is also brought from Persia. 
 
 EMERALD COPPER. DIOPTASE. 
 
 The Dioptase is of an emerald-green colour; and is 
 met with crystallized only in the dodecahedron, the 
 primitive form of which is an obtuse rhomboid. It is 
 an extremely rare mineral, having only been found in a 
 vein in Daouria, on the Chinese and Russian frontiers ;. 
 it was accompanied by malachite copper. It is com- 
 posed of about 29 parts of oxide of copper, 43 of carbo- 
 nate of lime, and 28 of silex. The portion from which* 
 the anatysis was made, was only four grains. 
 
 SULPHATE OF COPTER. 
 
 Sulphate of copper is of a blue colour, soraetimea 
 bluish green, and is generally translucent. It has a- 
 nauseous, bitter, metallic taste ; and is found massive,, 
 stalactitical or pulverulent, in certain copper mines, but 
 it is not a common substance. It has taen met with in 
 the Parys mine in Anglesea : and in various countries^ 
 in crystals of eleven varieties of form, of which the pri- 
 mitive is considered to be an oblique-angled parallelepi- 
 ped. It consists of copper mineralized by the sulphuric 
 acid. 
 
 MUIUATE OF COPPER* 
 
 This rare mineral is of various shades of green, and is 
 rnet with in extremely minute octohedral crystals, either 
 loose, in the form of a green sand, in Peru, or investing; 
 
 R.2. 
 
198 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 a dark ochreous quartz, at Remolinos in Chili. The 
 crystals in my possession exhibit 13 varieties of form ; 
 the primitive, which is a cuneiform octohedron, and se- 
 ven of the most simple varieties, were discovered among 
 the green sand of Peru : the remainder are from Chili. 
 The latter consists of 73 per cent, of oxide of copper, 
 10.1 of muriatic acid, and 16.9 of water. 
 
 PHOSPHATE OF COPPER. 
 
 Phosphate of copper is externally of a greyish black, 
 internally between emerald and verdigris green ; it oc- 
 curs in small rhomboids with curvilinear faces; also 
 massive, or disseminated in an opake quartz. It is a rare 
 mineral, having only been found at Rheimbreidbach 
 near Cologne, and at Finneberg, and at Nassau-risingen. 
 It is sometimes mingled with arseniated copper, and 
 accompanied by carbonate of lead : it consists of about 
 68 parts of oxide of copper, and 31 of phosphoric acid, 
 
 ARSENIATE OF COPPER. 
 
 Of this mineral there are several varieties. 
 
 It occurs in very fiat octahedral crystals, which are of a 
 grass green, deep blue, or bluish white colour ; and are 
 sometimes slightly transparent, with a vitreous lustre : 
 this variety consists of 49 oxide of copper, 14 arsenic 
 acid, and 35 water. 
 
 Another variety occurs in six-sided tabular crystals, 
 which are transparent, and of an emerald green colour, 
 or occasionally, though rarely, white and opake. The 
 sides of the crystals alternately incline different ways, and 
 are generally striated : but I possess some crystals much 
 thicker than they are commonly found, of which the six 
 sides are not striated but very brilliant. All the tabular 
 crystals of this variety, ought, as I conceive, to be con- 
 sidered as sections of an octohedron ; in this opinion I 
 am the more confirmed, because I also possess some 
 crystals on which the solid angles of the octohedron are 
 replaced by planes ; others on which the edges are re- 
 placed ; and again others, on which the planes of both 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 199 
 
 these modifications are combined : none of these crystals 
 have heretofore been described. 
 
 Another variety, by some called the triedral arseniatc, 
 is of a very beautiful bluish green, or deep verdigris co- 
 lour, and transparent ; but as their surface is often de- 
 composed and black, the crystals are then opake ; their 
 form is an octohedron, which is generally elongated, 
 and their summits are sometimes deeply replaced, giv- 
 ing them the appearance of six-sided prisms with diedral 
 summits ; in others, two of the four lateral edges are 
 also deeply replaced, the crystals then assume the ap- 
 pearance of four-sided prisms with diedral summits, 
 The crystals of this variety also assume the form of the 
 tetrahedron, and of a very acute rhomboid, sometimes 
 perfect, sometimes passing into the octohedron; they 
 have been said to occur also in the rare form of the trie- 
 dral prism, but as the acute rhomboids are often placed 
 on the gangue on one of their extremities, having the 
 other, which if perfect would appear as an acute apex, 
 deeply replaced by a regular triangular plane, I conceive 
 this appearance has given rise to the opinion that the 
 crystals assume the form of triedral prism. 
 
 The preceding varieties differ in their respective pro- 
 portions of oxide of copper, arsenic acid, and water, 
 from the first variety : in the succeeding variety there is 
 no water. 
 
 This variety occurs in slightly acute octahedrons, 
 which are usually of a bottle green colour ; sometimes 
 brown, or nearly black, and somewhat transparent. 
 These crystals are mostly elongated ; in some of them, 
 the summits of the octohedron are replaced, as well as 
 two of the four lateral edges ; and as these crystals are 
 generally long, they assume the appearance of four, six, or 
 eight-sided prisms, having diedral summits, whence this 
 variety has been termed the prismatic arseniate. It 
 sometimes exhibits capillary crystals of indeterminate 
 forms ; and others which are regular for some length, 
 but fibrous at the extremity. 
 
 The two following varieties agree in their respective 
 proportions of oxide of copper, arsenic acid, and water, 
 but differ from the two first varieties. 
 
 One of them, which is of various shades of green, 
 
200 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 brown, yellow, and white, is of a fine diverging fibrous 
 structure, and a silky lustre ; it is called the Hcematitic 
 arseniate of copper. 
 
 The other occurs in extremely minute, flexible fibres, 
 occasionally so small as to have the appearance of dust ; 
 they are of various shades of blue, green, brown, yellow, 
 and white ; and possess a silky lustre. It is called the 
 Jlmianthifonn arseniate. 
 
 Martial Arseniate of Copper, which, until lately, has 
 been termed Cupreous Jlrwniate of Iron, is of a pale 
 bluish green colour, and occurs in small four, six, or 
 eight-sided prisms, with tetrahedral summits, generally 
 grouped in small globular radiated masses, they are 
 transparent, and have a shining vitreous lustre. 
 
 All the above varieties of the arseniate of copper were 
 found in the same veins which produced the red oxide 
 of copper, in the mines called Huel Gorland and Huel 
 Unity, which adjoin each other in Cornwall ; their 
 veins pass through both granite and argillaceous schis- 
 tus. 
 
 GOLD. 
 
 The specific gravity of Gold, when pure and beaten, 
 is about 19 ; it is very soft, and perfectly ductile and 
 flexible. So great is its tenacity, that a piece one-tenth 
 of an inch in diameter, will hold five hundred pounds 
 without breaking ; and it is computed that a single grain 
 of gold will cover the space of fifty-six square inches, 
 when beaten out to its greatest extent. 
 
 Gold is always found in the metallic form, whence by 
 the mineralogists it is said to occur in the native or pure 
 slate 5 but it is generally alkyed by small portions of 
 other metals, as silver, copper, &c. 
 
 The uses of gold are well known. Alloyed by cop- 
 per, it is employed for ornamental purposes, coin and 
 plate. 
 
 In English coin it was alloyed by two parts of copper, 
 to twenty-two of gold. The alloy of gold used in plate 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 201 
 
 was formerly the same as the coin : it is now 18 carats, 
 or i-fths gold. The purple colour used in porcelain 
 painting is obtained from a preparation of gold. 
 
 NATIVE 
 
 '- .- - : ". 
 
 Native Gold is yellow, orange yellow, or greyish yel- 
 low, with a shining metallic lustre ; it occurs crystallized, 
 capillary, ramified, and in masses of various sizes, from 
 the weight of very minute portions to that of several 
 pounds ; it is soft, inelastic, flexible, and malleable. It 
 is rarely perfectly pure, but mostly contains small por- 
 
 * The grand fpecimen of Native Gold, which was examined by me in 
 1800, at New- York, on its way from the Viceroy of Mexico to the King 
 of Spain was connected with quartz. Both the metal and the rock were 
 amorphous, and exhibited no fign of cryftallization. It feemed to be a loofe 
 nodule, rounded by rolling ; and weighed forty-fix ounces. The colour 
 of the gold was a fine yellow, with a hue in one part of whitifh, and in 
 the other of greenifh. The quartz was white, with a dufky tinge. (Metl* 
 Refos. Vol. 4, p. 201 202.) 
 
 Meadow Creek, a branch of Rocky River, a principal flream of the Pe- 
 dee, in Cabarrus county, North Carolina, is more remarkable than any re- 
 gion of the Fredonian States, for native gold. About the year 1803, 
 grains and lumps to the amount of fifteen thoufand dollars were gathered. 
 The firft piece was found by a boy, who was exercifing himfelf in fhooting 
 fmall fiflies with a bow and arrows. The maffcs were of different weight 
 from gold-duft to the unparalelled bulk of a lump of nearly twenty -eight 
 pounds. The heavieft of thefe natural fpecimens, loft only 15 per cent, on 
 being melted and refined. The fmaller and lighter of them lofe only 
 from a to 5 per cent. The grains of gold are found fcattered among the 
 fand. 
 
 The rocks are of the primitive formation, and the gold is difleminated 
 among their ruins. 
 
 The fpecimen which I received from Governor Alexander, is of a rich 
 and beautiful yellow, and is blended with particle* of white quartz. (MeJ. 
 Repos. Vol. 7, p. 307.) The director of the mint reported, that during 
 1804, about eleven thoufand dollars of the golden money coined there, 
 was from the gold of North Carolina. 
 
 For a year or more after the firft difcovery, pieces were occafionally 
 found of four and five pounds weight, and a great number of the fize of 
 fmall grains ; and the laft I heard of this gold-finding bufinefs was, that 
 quickfilver had been employed by the workers, for feparating the minute 
 particles of gold from the fand. (Ibid. Vol. 8,/>. 439 440.) 
 
 The fands of Long creek, about eighteen miles from Meadow creek, 
 have alfo afforded gold duft. Whenever the maize and cotton are weed- 
 ed, and the bufinefs of the plantation is in advance, the proprietors have 
 been in the habit of taking their labourers to the ftream, and of wafhing 
 and fearching for gold. By conducting the undertaking in this manner, 
 it was found, that it not only paid wages, but afforded a profit. Expe- 
 rience has proved that a bufhel of the fand, would often afford gold to 
 
 * ;ic 
 
202 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 tions of other metals; as of silver, copper, &c. It oc- 
 curs crystallized in the form of the cube and octohedron, 
 but as its crystals do not admit of regular fracture, their 
 structure is not sufficiently known to enable mineralo- 
 gists to decide which of those two solids is the form oi its 
 primitive crystal. I possess crystals exhibiting 21 varie- 
 ties of form, besides 12 others in that compound species 
 of crystallization, expressed by the term macle ; each 
 consisting of equal portions of the octohedron united 
 together. 
 
 Gold is sometimes combined in other metalliferous 
 minerals, in various proportions, but is said always to be 
 in the metallic state. An argentiferous variety has yield- 
 ed by analysis, 36 per cent, of silver; and an auriferous 
 variety of silver (mentioned under that head) 28 per 
 cent, of gold. It is combined with other metals in the 
 ores of tellurium, and not unfrequently forms an ingre- 
 dient in iron pyrites, which thence is termed auriferous. 
 It is also said to have been occasionally found in certain 
 sulpburets of iron, zinc, lead, and mercury, and in some 
 varieties of copper and of arsenical pyrites. 
 
 In veins, gold is found only in primitive mountains^ 
 but not in those of the most ancient formation ; these 
 veins principally contain quartz, felspar, carbonate of 
 lime, arid sulphate of barytes ; but the gold is sometimes 
 accompanied by sulphuret of iron, of silver, and of lead, 
 and occasionally red silver, manganese, grey cobalt, 
 and nickle. 
 
 Gold is found in veins ; also in rivers, and alluvial 
 matter, in several countries of Europe. From Spain 
 the Phrenicians and Romans are supposed to have drawn 
 their principal riches ; it is also found in Germany and 
 
 the value of fifty cents. A lump weighing twenty-feven pennyweights, 
 was found in July, 1808. Small pieces of four, fix, and even fourteen 
 pennyweights, have been alfo found. 
 
 The common way of working was, firft, to pick out all the vifible 
 grains from the auriferous fand, and to throw the refidue into a heap ; and 
 afterwards, to feparate the more minute particles by amalgamation with 
 quickfilver. It has been fuppofed that the alluvial flratum in which th3 
 gold lies, is very extenfive. A mafs weighing a pound was found in An- 
 fon county. (Med. Repot. Vol. ia,/>. 192193.) 
 
 A few years ago, a publication was made, that gold had been found in 
 'he fand of James river, or one of its ilreams, at Lynchburgh iu Virginia* 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 203 
 
 Sweden ; and very sparingly in France and Italy. The 
 principal European mines are those of Cremnitz and 
 Chemnitz, in Hungary; which, together with some 
 others of inferior note, annually produce, by estimate, 
 about 2000 pounds weight. Small quantities are also 
 found in alluvial deposits in Switzerland, and in Ireland ; 
 the latter of which contains about fifteen per cent, of sil- 
 ver. It is found occasionally in small grains intermixed 
 with tin in some of the stream-works of Cornwall. 
 
 In Asia ; gold is found in Siberia in veins, and in ma- 
 ny of the Asiatic islands in sands. 
 
 From the rivers and alluvial deposits of Africa, large 
 quantities were furnished to the ancients. 
 
 By far the greater part of the gold now brought into 
 use, is obtained from the rivers of South America ; in 
 various parts of which continent, it is also found in veins, 
 and in considerable abundance. In the Vice Royalty 
 of La Plata alone there are 30 gold mines or workings. 
 It is calculated that the annual produce of America is 
 about 30,000 pounds weight. 
 
 Helms says, that when a projecting part of one of the 
 highest mountains in Paraguay fell down, about thirty 
 years ago, pieces of gold, weighing from two to fifty 
 pounds each, were found in it. 
 
 PLATINA.* 
 
 The specific gravity of Platina when pure, is about 
 23 ; its colour is between tin-white and iron grey. Its 
 
 * Three hundred pounds of Platina, were offered to me for examination, 
 at New- York, in 1802. It had been brought from Chaco, in Terra Fir- 
 ma, by the way of Jamaica. It confifted principally of fmall grain.", 
 fmooth to the touch, fomewhat like flax- feed, and rather flat than round. 
 The fize of the grains was confiderably coarfer than the large rafpings ot 
 iron, and they were more varied and irregular in their forms. Some 
 pieces were, however, much larger ; and I now pofiefs one as large as a 
 middling bean. The colour was fomewhat between filver and iron j 
 and the native metal as it lay expofed to the eye, brought to mind a re- 
 femblance, though by no means an exa& one, to filings of filver and pow- 
 
204 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 malleability is so considerable that it may be beaten into 
 leaves as thin as tin foil, and its ductility so great, that 
 Dr. Wollaston has succeeded in drawing it into a wire 
 TsfnF lft P art f an * nc * J * n diameter, which will support 
 about one grain and one third of a grain without break- 
 ing. It possesses considerable elasticity, and in hard- 
 ness is not much inferior to iron ; but is very difficult of 
 fusion. It is only found in the native state. 
 
 Pure PJatina in thin plates is very ductile and flexible. 
 Of late it has been formed into mirrors for reflecting 
 telescopes, spoons, crucibles, and some vessels of con- 
 siderable dimension for the use of the chemist in parti- 
 cular processes. 
 
 NATIVE PLATINA. 
 
 Native Platina, is between steel grey and silver- white 
 colour, and is nearly as hard as iron, and malleable, but 
 is infusible. It has hitherto only been found in small 
 flattened grains rarely exceeding the size of a pea ; the 
 largest that has been seen is of the size of a pigeon's 
 egg, and was presented by Humboldt to the King of 
 Prussia. Native Platina is much lighter than pure pla- 
 
 der of tin. The grains were lefs angular and fhining than the former, 
 and not fo dark and globular as the latter. A portion of iron, feemed to 
 be mixed with the platina ; for, on applying the magnet, numerous 
 particles of a dufky hue, adhered to it. It appeared alfo, that many 
 pieces of platina, known to be fuch by their whitifh complexion, were at- 
 tracted by the load-ftone. Pieces of lead-ore in the form of galena, and 
 of iron in the form of pyrites, were mixed with the platina, in the bags. 
 There was alfo a quantity of earth and fand. The grains of platina were 
 readily capable of extenfion between the anvil and hammer, and fhowed 
 neither rurc nor tarnifli. M Carendeffez determined by experiment, that 
 two hundred and eighty- eight grains of this platina, confifted of the fol- 
 lowing ingredients, to wit : 
 
 Carbune of iron, 56 
 
 Silicious fand, ia 
 
 Magnetical iron, 40 
 
 Gold grains or duft, i 
 
 Platina, 179 
 
 288 grains. 
 
 Which is confiderably more than a third of foreign ingredients. Platina is 
 reckoned to be about ten times as fcarce as gold. (Med. Ref. Vol. 6, p. 
 213 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 205 
 
 tina : it has been found in St. Domingo, Brazil, and 
 Peru. 
 
 In St. Domingo it is met with in the eastern part of 
 that island, in the sands of a river called Jaki, at the 
 foot of the mountains of Sibao. The grains are some- 
 what larger than those of Peru, and are accompanied by 
 magnetic iron ore, gold, c. It has not been ana- 
 lyzed. 
 
 In Brazil it is found in the gold mines of that country 
 in small grains of a spongy texture, free from tarnish, 
 and with very little lustre, mixed with grains of gold, 
 and of palladium ; perhaps also with the natural alloy 
 of iridium and osmium. It does not contain any of the 
 magnetic iron sand, or of the minute hyacinths, which 
 always accompany the Peruvian ore. It consists of pla- 
 tina alloyed by very minute portions of gold and of pal~ 
 ladium. 
 
 In Peru, it is only met with in the Rio del Pinto, in 
 the districts of Citara and Novita in the province of 
 Choco, and near Carthagena in New Grenada. It is 
 found in a magnetic iron sand, in which are mixed grain? 
 of gold, minute hyacinths, and fossil wood : and it is 
 said that the whole is covered by rounded pieces of ba- 
 salt enclosing olivine and pyroxene. The grains of 
 platina are small, flattened, and have occasional inden- 
 tations, the surfaces of which are generally tarnished; 
 but the other parts have a shining metallic lustre. It 
 consists of platina alloyed with small proportions of 
 iron, copper, lead, palladium, iridium, rhodium, and 
 osmium. 
 
 The grains of Crude Platina analyzed by Descotils 
 were accompanied by grains of menachanite and of chro- 
 mate of iron. 
 
 -t.it 
 
 3o'ivW ;r :*??: ^''^- t .'i-U4|R 
 
 jr 
 
20G ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 RHODIUM. 
 
 This metal has hitherto been found only alloying the 
 native platina of Peru. When pure, Rhodium has a 
 bright metallic surface, but is not malleable ; its specific 
 gravity is about 11. 
 
 IRIDIUM. OSMIUM. 
 
 The former of these two metals, when pure, is white, 
 and perfectly infusible ; the latter is of a dark grey or 
 blue colour. They occur, alloying native platina in 
 very small proportion ; and likewise together, forming 
 a natural alloy of the two metals. 
 
 ALLOY OF IBID1UM AND OSMIUM. 
 
 This natural alloy is found accompanying native pla- 
 tina, in the form of very small, irregular, and flattened 
 grains, which have a shining metallic lustre, but are of 
 a somewhat paler colour than native platina, and are 
 harder and heavier; their specific gravity being 19.5 : 
 they possess a lamellar structure, and are brittle. 
 
 "4j {> ' '*''* 
 
 PALLADIUM.* 
 
 The specific gravity of Palladium, when pure, is about 
 11. In colour, it greatly resembles platina ; in thin la- 
 
 * Palladium has been difcovered in an alloy with Brazilian gold, by Jo- 
 feph Cloud, Efcj. of the U. S. mint. He is fatisfied that Palladium has a 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 207 
 
 niinse it is very flexible, but not very elastic ; it is some- 
 what harder than bar-iron, and is very malleable. 
 
 It occurs, together with some other metals, alloying, in 
 small proportion, the native platina of Brazil : and also 
 in the native state. 
 
 NATIVE PALLADIUM. 
 
 Native Palladium occurs in grains apparently compo- 
 sed of diverging fibres ; in other respects these grains 
 differ little in external character from those of the native 
 platina, amongst which they are found. Native palla- 
 dium is infusible; its specific gravity is 11.8; and it 
 consists of palladium, alloyed by minute portions of pla- 
 tina and iridium. 
 
 TELLURIUM. 
 
 Tellurium, when pure, is about the colour of tin ; it is 
 brittle, and nearly as fusible as lead ; its specific gravity 
 is little more than 6. 
 
 It is an extremely rare metal, and is found only in 
 the metallic state ; but is always alloyed, though in very 
 different proportions, by other metals. Its ores are few 
 and rare. 
 
 NATIVE TELLURIUM. 
 
 Native tellurium is of a tin white colour, and has a 
 metallic lustre : it occurs in small grains, which are brit- 
 tle, and yield to the knife. It very much resembles 
 grey antimony. It is found in the veins of a transition 
 mountain of compact carbonate of lime, at Fazebay in 
 
 real exigence ; that it is one of the pure, or unoxydable metals ; and in 
 this refpect, on a par with gold, filver, and platina. He found it in a na 
 tive conbination with gold, without the prefence of Platina, or any other 
 metal. (Amer. Phil. Trans. Vol. 6, and Med. Rtpos. Vol. 14, />. 6973.) 
 
.208 ELEMENTARY" INTRODUCTION 
 
 Transylvania ; and also at Beresof in Siberia. It con- 
 sists of 92.55 parts of tellurium, 7.2 of iron, and 0.25 of 
 gold. Its specific gravity is about 6. It is procured for 
 the sake of the gold it contains, though so small in quan- 
 tity. 
 
 GRAPHIC TELLURIUM. AUliUM GRAPHICUM. 
 
 This mineral is of a steel grey colour, with a splen- 
 dent metallic lustre ; and occurs in small flat six-sided 
 prisms, with or without four-sided summits ; the crystals 
 are generally disposed in rows on the surface of quartz, 
 and are so arranged as to give the appearance of certain 
 characters ; whence its name : it is also sometimes 
 found in granular masses ; it yields easily to the knife, 
 and is brittle. 
 
 It is met with only at Oflenbanya in Transylvania, 
 together with sulphuret of zinc, pyrites, grey copper, 
 &;c. in veins which traverse a porphyritic mountain. Its 
 specific gravity is 5.7 ; and it is composed of 60 parts 
 of tellurium, 30 of gold, and 10 of silver. 
 
 PLUMB1FEROUS TELLURIUM. 
 
 This substance is either yellow or black. The yellow 
 variety ocr.urs in grains and in minute flat four-sided 
 prisms, of a bright metallic lustre ; it is somewhat flexi- 
 ble, and soft. It consists of 44.75 parts of tellurium, 
 2G.75 of gold, 19.5 of lead, 8.5 of silver, and 0.5 of 
 sulphur. 
 
 The Black is found in irregular shapes, or in length- 
 ened and six-sided plates of a shining metallic lustre. It 
 consists of 32.2 of tellurium, 54 of lead, 9 of gold, 1.3 
 of copper, 3 of sulphur, and 0.5 of silver. 
 
 This variety, which is much heavier than the former, 
 is only found at Nagyag in Transylvania, and is procured 
 as an ore of gold ; it is accompanied principally by the 
 same substances as the former variety. 
 
 
TO MINERALOGY, 209 
 
 < ;,*'* - ,.-,; 
 
 * ANTIMONY* 
 
 Antimony is a compact, brittle, bluish white metal, 
 whose specific gravity is between 6 and 7 ; it is found 
 nearly pure. 
 
 The ores of antimony are only five in number ; all of 
 which have not been analyzed. In some of them, it is 
 found combined with oxide of iron, arsenic, silex, sul- 
 phur, and oxygen. 
 
 Antimony is found both in primitive and secondary 
 countries. It forms alloys with other metals, and is used 
 in the arts. It enters largely into the composition of 
 printing types ; it is also used in medicine. 
 
 NATIVE ANTIMONY. 
 
 This substance is found of irregular shapes; never 
 crystallized regularly. It occurs at Sahlberg in Sweden 
 in calcareous spar ; at Allemont in Dauphine, in white 
 quartz ; at Andreasburg in the Hartz, in quartz and spa- 
 those iron ore. 
 
 The form of its primitive crystal in the regular octo- 
 hedron. 
 
 It consists of 98 parts of antimony, the rest being sil- 
 ver and iron ; but some specimens, on being exposed to 
 heat, give out a garlicky odour, indicating the presence 
 of arsenic. 
 
 * This metal does not appear to exift in great quantity in the Fredifli 
 dominions. A fpecimen which I once announced, on the authority of 
 Dr. D. B. Warden, as having been found at Saugherties in Ulfter county, 
 N. Y. turned out to be European ; it having got by miftake, among fome 
 American minerals, at Paris. 
 
 Another fpecimen fent me from Maine, could certainly not have been 
 native ; for it bore the plaineft marks of fufion, and was undoubtedly an 
 imported fulphuret of antimony. Still, it is affirmed upon the moft respec- 
 table authority, that Harwinton in Connecticut, affords broad plated na- 
 tive antimony, aflbciated with fulphuretted antimony, (Silliman) ; and 
 that Maine, Maflachufetts, Virginia and Louifiana, have each fumiflie<i 
 famples. ( Cleaveland.) 
 
 S 2 
 
210 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 GREY ANTIMONY. SULPHURET OF ANTIMONY, 
 
 Grey antimony is of a light lead grey colour externally, 
 but presents, when fractured, a brilliant metallic lustre ; 
 it is occasionally lamellar, fibrous, and is often crystal- 
 lized : it is extremely brittle, and so fusible, that it rea- 
 dily mells in the flame of a candle : when in minute ca- 
 pillary crystals, it is termed plumose antimony. 
 
 The form of its primitive crystal has not been ascer- 
 tained. It occurs in oblique four-sided prisms, termina- 
 ted by four-sided pyramids ; the crystals in my posses- 
 sion exhibit 14 varieties of form. It consists of 75 parts 
 of antimony, and 25 of sulphur. 
 
 It is found in Saxony, Hungary, and France ; also in 
 Cornwall and Dumfrieshire. It is mostly met with in 
 micaceous schistus, or clay porphyry, mixed with oxide 
 of iron ; and is accompanied by quartz and spathose iron 
 ore ; in Hungary by sulphate of barytes, sometimes cal- 
 careous spar, fluor spar, and chalcedony. It is remarka- 
 ble that in Cornwall it is only met with in veins in a di- 
 rection contrary to that of the copper and tin veins, 
 which they pass through. 
 
 RED ANTIMONY. 
 
 This mineral is brownish, bluish, or reddish external- 
 ly ; and is principally found in minute diverging crystals, 
 which are brittle. 
 
 It often accompanies the preceding varieties, and is 
 met with in Hungary, Saxony, in Dauphine, but princi- 
 pally in Tuscany. It consists of about 67.5 parts of anti- 
 mony, 10.8 of oxygen, and 19.7 of sulphur. 
 
 WHITE ANTIMONY. OXIDE OF ANTIMONY. 
 
 White antimony is of a white, yellowish white, or grey 
 colour ; it is rarely found in mass, but mostly in slender 
 diverging crystals^ which are very tender, heavy, and 
 translucent* 
 
TO MINERALOGY 
 
 It is a rare mineral ; at Allemont in France it is found 
 on native antimony. In Bohemia, on sulphuret of lead, 
 In Saxony, Hungary, and Spain, it is met with investing 
 sulphuret of antimony. It consists of 86 parts of anti- 
 mony, 8 parts of silex, and 3 of oxide of antimony and 
 oxide of iron. 
 
 ANT1MONIAL OCHRE. 
 
 Antimonial ochre has been found at Endellion in 
 Cornwall, in Saxony, and Bohemia, upon some of the 
 ores of antimony ; it is earthy, of a yellowish or brown 
 colour, and is extremely rare. 
 
 LEAD. 
 
 Lead is of a bluish grey colour, and is malleable, duc- 
 tile, inelastic, and very soft ; it has never been found in 
 the pure or native state : its specific gravity is between 
 11 and 12. 
 
 The ores of lead are numerous ; they appear under 
 very different circumstances and aspects, and present a 
 considerable diversity of combination. Lead is found 
 mineralized, mostly in the state of an oxide, by sulphur 
 and by the carbonic, muriatic, phosphoric, arsenic, mo- 
 lybdic, and chromic acids, and by oxygen : it is also 
 found in combination with the metals antimony, iron, 
 manganese, and silver, or their ores ; with the earths, 
 silex, alurnine, lime, and magnesia, and with water. Some 
 of the ores of lead, which are very numerous, present 
 combinations of several of these substances ; a few of 
 them have a metallic aspect, but several of them have 
 rather the appearance of earthy minerals, being in con- 
 siderable degree transparent or translucent. The ores 
 of lead chiefly occur in secondary countries ; sometimes 
 in the veins of primitive mountains. 
 
 It would scarcely be possible to enumerate all the 
 valuable purposes to which lead is applied in the arts, in 
 
212 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 medicine, and in the common wants of man. Among its 
 less obvious uses, lead is employed to glaze pottery, and 
 its oxide enters into the composition of glass. Four 
 parts of lead and one of antimony form printing types, to 
 which by some is added a little copper or brass. With 
 tin and bismuth it forms alloys, which are used in the 
 arts. 
 
 GALENA. SULPHURET OF LEAD.* 
 
 Galena has nearly the colour and lustre of pure lead : 
 it is met with crystallized in the form of the cube, which 
 is that of its primitive crystal, and in nine varieties of 
 form ; among which is the regular octohedron. It oc- 
 curs also specular, radiated, granular, and compact. Its 
 specific gravity is 7.5 ; and it consists of about 85.13 per 
 cent, of lead, 13.8 of sulphur, and 0.5 of oxide of iron; 
 but carbonated lime and silex are found entering into 
 combination in some varieties, in proportions varying 
 between 29 and 38 per cent. Galena is rarely found 
 without some proportion of silver, which varies from T f^ 
 or less, to tr- The presence of silver is said considerably 
 to diminish the lustre of the Galena, and it is also said 
 that it is much more frequently found in the octohedral, 
 than in the cubical varieties. 
 
 * The Sulphuret of Lead is found in many parts of the United States. 
 In New- York, in Ulfter, Duchefs, Renflalacr, and Geneflee counties, fome- 
 times in limeftone, fometimes in quartz, and fometimes in Ihift. An in- 
 fiructive catalogue of localities in other States, may be feen in Profeflbr 
 Cleaveland's Elementary Treatife, p. 513514. 
 
 But the moft extenfive bodies of Galena, perhaps, on the globe, cxift in 
 JLouiilana and the region to the northward, on the eaft fide of the Miilif- 
 flppi. It commonly refts upon carbonate of lime, and is often accompa- 
 nied by fulphate of barytes. It frequently exifts in nodules and detached 
 lumps. When Mr. Mofes Auftin wrote his report in 1804, there were 
 ten principal mines or openings : Now, it i underftood, there are many 
 more. They are chiefly in the region fituated weft of St. Genevieve and 
 St. Louis. Above two hundred miles up the river Merrimack, valuable 
 lead mines have been difcovered* Veins of the galena are found beyond 
 the River aux Moiens. After various interruptions, the Teams of metallic 
 matter appear again above the falls of St. Anthony. Mafles of it are plen- 
 tiful, further to the north than the junction of the Ouifconfin with the 
 Mifliflippi. It is fo abundant that the Tatar natives of the region around 
 the Prairie des Chiens melt the lead, and bring it to the trading houfes as 
 an article of exchange. (Mtd. Repot. Vol. o, />. 8788, and Pol. i? y 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 213 
 
 The specular variety is sometimes called Looking 
 Glass Lead ore, on account of its great brilliancy, and in 
 Derbyshire, Slikenside ; the radiated variety is said always 
 to contain a portion of antimony. The granular variety 
 is sometimes nearly as fine-grained as steel. 
 
 Gelena is almost the only ore of the numerous ores 
 of lead, which is found in sufficient quantity to be 
 wrought for the lead it contains. This substance oc- 
 curs under great diversity of circumstance ; which owing 
 to the importance of the mineral, deserves a slight no- 
 tice. 
 
 In France, in the mine of Pompean, it is accompa- 
 nied by fossil wood ; near Medrin, it traverses nearly 
 perpendicular beds of limestone ; near Vienna it occurs 
 in schistus ; in Languedoc and the Vosges, in decom- 
 posed granite ; and in some places, in large veins, pas- 
 sing through primitive mountains. 
 
 At Bieyberg in Cafinthia, it occurs in beds, alterna- 
 ting with beds of compact carbonate of lime ; and in 
 grains disseminated through sandstone, and accompa- 
 nied by oxide of copper, and brown iron ore. 
 
 In Silesia it occurs in veins, and in rounded masses 
 in horizontal beds of ferruginous marl, resting upon 
 thicker beds of compact carbonate of lime, enclosing fos- 
 sil shells, and asphaltum. 
 
 In Spain the most important mines of sulphuret of 
 lead are situated in granite hills, in the province of Jaen, 
 and near the city of Canjagar. 
 
 In England, the most important mines are those of 
 Derbyshire, which are principally situated in compact 
 limestone, enclosing shells : the veins of lead ore are 
 sometimes nearly vertical, occasionally horizontal, and 
 they sometimes open into large caverns. In these moun- 
 tains is found the amygdaloid or toad stone, which in- 
 terrupts the vertical veins, but not the horizontal veins, 
 or rather beds. The lead ore is accompanied by carbo- 
 nated lime, sulphate of barytes, (of the variety called 
 cauk)and fluate of lime ; occasionally by petroleum and 
 elastic bitumen. It is confidently asserted that when the 
 variety of sulphuret of lead called Siikenside, is met 
 with, and by any means disturbed, a terrible explosion 
 ensues, by which considerable masses are detached 
 
214 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 from the vein : this singular circumstance has not been 
 explained. 
 
 This substance is found in almost every mineral dis- 
 trict in the known world, and perhaps, next to certain 
 ores of iron, is the most common of metalliferous ores : 
 but it is said not to have been met with in any consider- 
 able quantity in the Altaic or Uralian chains of moun- 
 tains in the northern parts of Asia ; nor is it common in 
 Peru. 
 
 BLUE LEAD ORE. 
 
 Blue Lead Ore has only been found as Zschoppau in 
 Saxony, in veins, accompanied by other ores of lead, 
 and with quartz, tluor spar, &tc ; it occurs massive, and 
 crystallized in small six-sided prisms, and is of a colour 
 between lead grey and indigo blue, with a slight metal- 
 lic lustre. 
 
 TRIPLE SULPHURET OF LEAD. 
 
 This mineral is generally of a dark lead grey colour, 
 and shining metallic lustre ; it is mostly crystallized in 
 the form of the cube and its varieties ; it yields easily 
 to the knife, and is very brittle. It consists of 50 parts 
 ofsulpburet of lead, 30 of sulphuret of antimony, and 
 20 of sulphuret of copper. It has hitherto only been 
 found *n Huel Boys mine in Cornwall, in a north and 
 south vein passing through argillaceous schistus, and ac- 
 companied by sulphuret of zinc ; but some minerals 
 very nearly approximating to this substance in composi- 
 tion have been met with in other countries. 
 
 NATIVE MINIUM. 
 
 Native Minium is believed to be a pure oxide of lead, 
 which does not appear to have been ascertained by 
 analysis. Its ordinary colour is scarlet, but it is also 
 met with of various shades of grey, yellow, and brown ; 
 it occurs of indeterminate shapes, and pulverulent; the 
 latter variety is found in small beds, alternating with 
 clay and sulphuret of lead. It occurs in several places 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 21 6 
 
 in Saxony, Germany, and France; also at Grassing- 
 ton Moor, in Craven ; and at Grasshill Chapel in York- 
 shire. 
 
 CARBONATE OP LEAD.* 
 
 This beautiful mineral is white, or of various shades 
 of grey and brown, and of a resinous lustre. It occurs 
 crystallized, acicular, and fibrous. The crystals are 
 translucent or transparent ; the acicular and fibrous most- 
 ly opake : it yields easily to the knife, is brittle, and 
 possesses double refraction in a high degree. The pri- 
 mitive form is a rectangular octohedron ; its crystals are 
 found in 12 varieties of form. The specific gravity of 
 Carbonate of Lead is 6.7 ; and it consists of 77 per 
 cent, of lead, 5 of oxygen, 16 of carbonic acid, and 
 about 2 of water. The Carbonate of lead is not very 
 abundant ; it is not found in large masses, and is always 
 accompanied by other ores of lead. It is met with in 
 Languedoc and Brittany, in France ; in the Hartz ; in 
 the lead hills in Scotland ; at Alston Moor in Cumber- 
 land ; in Durham ; and occasionally in Cornwall, but 
 principally of the acicular variety. 
 
 Sometimes this substance is tinged of a green colour 
 on the surface, by the carbonate of copper ; occasional- 
 ly it is of a metallic lead grey, exhibiting the partial 
 conversion of the carbonate into sulphuret of lead : and 
 at Grassfield mine near Nent-Head in Durham, carbo- 
 nate of Lead is found abundantly of an earthy texture, 
 and of a grey colour; but is tinged sometimes greenish, 
 yellowish, or reddish : it occurs massive, or granular, 
 and is very heavy. 
 
 * This beautiful white ore of lead is found near Abingdon in Virginia. 
 It occurs in lumps or mafles of flender, and fometimes radiating cryftals. 
 In the box of cryftals which I received from the proprietor, Mr. Sheffey, 
 were contained, befides the white ore, mafles of galena, and amorphous 
 1 umps of a yellowifh colour, like ochre. 
 t Found alfo at Perkiomen and Coneftoga. (Cc/trad,) 
 
--.""' ; W 
 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 .. * ... iJfl.i ' ^, : 
 
 MURIATE OF LEAl).^ 
 
 Muriate of Lead is of a greenish yellow colour, and is 
 found crystallized in quadrangular prisms, which are 
 sometimes terminated by pyramids ; it is soft and some- 
 what transparent, and consists of 85.5 of oxide of lead; 
 8.5 of muriatic acid, and 6 of carbonic acid. It is 
 found at Cromford Level near Matlock, and in the 
 mountains of Bavaria. 
 
 '. , . . v " }\ t - ,'". : x ' ' ' Jr 
 
 PHOSPHATE OF LEAD.f 
 
 Phosphate of Lead is of various shades of green, yel- 
 low, and yellowish brown ; but when reduced to pow- 
 der is always of a grey colour. It is found principally 
 in six-sided prisms, sometimes having six-sided pyra- 
 mids, but does not afford many varieties of form ; it is 
 divisible into an obtuse rhomboid, which therefore is 
 considered to be its primitive crystal. Its crystals are 
 generally somewhat translucent, possess a resinous lus- 
 tre, and are brittle. The green phosphate of lead 
 consists of 80 parts of oxide of lead, 18 of phosphoric 
 acid, and nearly 2 of muriatic acid. 
 
 The brown variety contains about 2 per cent, more of 
 the phosphoric acid, and 2 per cent, less of the oxide of 
 lead. A variety is found at Johngeorgenstadt in Saxo- 
 ny, consisting of about 77 parts of oxide of lead, 9 of 
 phosphoric acid, and 4 of arsenic acid, the rest being 
 water. 
 
 The Phosphate of Lead occurs in veins in primitive 
 and secondary mountains ; it sometimes accompanies 
 sulphuret of lead, carbonate of lead, iron ochre, quartz, 
 sulphate of barytes, and carbonate of lime. The green 
 phosphate occurs at Alston Moor in Cumberland, at Al- 
 
 * A carbonated muriate of lead of a cubic form with tetrahedral cryf- 
 tals, occurs in the lead mine of Southampton, Maffachufetts, among the 
 galena. The cryftals are nearly transparent, of a very light green, and 
 muated in clufters, (Meade.} 
 
 | Found at Perkiomen, Weftar and Southampton; among the other 
 forms of lead. 
 
TO MINERALOGY 217 
 
 lonhead, Grasshill, and Teesdale in Durham ; at Nithis- 
 dale in Yorkshire ; and at Wanlockhead in Scotland. 
 
 SULPHATE OP LEAD.' 
 
 This substance mostly occurs in translucent crystals, 
 which are colourless, or of a smoke or yellowish grey 
 colour. The form of the primitive crystal is a rectan^ 
 gular octohedron ; the crystals in my possession exhibit 
 30 varieties of form ; they are all from Cornwall. Sul- 
 phate of Lead is composed of about 71 parts of oxide 
 of lead, 24.8 of sulphuric acid, 2 of water, and 1 of 
 oxide of iron. It has been found in Andalusia in Spain ; 
 at Wanlockhead and the Lead hills in Scotland; but prin- 
 cipally in the Parys mine in Anglesea. In Cornwall, it 
 was met with in a copper vein in a mine called Veleno- 
 weth, very near the surface, and was accompanied by 
 the sulphuret of lead ; it occured in an ochreous brittle 
 substance, termed by the miner Gossen. 
 
 ARSENIATE OF LEAD. 
 
 The arseniate of Lead occurs principally in slender 
 six-sided crystals, which sometimes are fasciculated ; 
 or in fibres, of various shades of yellow, sometimes with 
 a tinge of green ; they are generally translucent, and 
 have a resinous lustre. The specific gravity of Arseni- 
 ate of Lead is about 6 ; it consists of 69.76 per cent, of 
 oxide of lead, 26.4 of arsenic acid, and 1.58 of muriatic 
 acid. In France, it has been met with in a Jead mine, 
 accompanied by quartz, fluate of lime, and sulphuret of 
 lead. In Andalusia, in felspar, with quartz and galena j 
 and in Hue I Unity mine in Cornwall, in a copper vein 
 situate in granite. 
 
 * Found in the Southampton mine in plates or tables, upon the cubes 
 of galena, and fometimes in the cavities of the quartzy matrix. Colour 
 with a ftrong glafly luftre. (Meade.) 
 
 T 
 
218 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 MOLYBDATE OF LEAD.* 
 
 The Molybdate of Lead is met with principally in 
 crystals of various shades of yellow, having a glistening 
 resinous lustre ; it is soft, brittle, and somewhat trans- 
 lucent. The primitive crystal is an octohedron, with si- 
 milar and equal isosceles triangular planes. The crys- 
 tals in my possession exhibit 35 varieties of form. The 
 specific gravity of Molybdate of Lead is about 5 ; and 
 it consists of 58.4 parts of oxide of lead, 38 of molyb- 
 dic acid, and 2.08 of oxide of iron. It was first dis- 
 covered at Bleyberg in Carinthia, upon a compact lime- 
 stone ; and has been since found at Zimapan in Mexico, 
 on the same substance. It occurs also near Freyberg 
 and at Annaberg in Saxony, and at Felsobanya in Hun- 
 gary. 
 
 CHROMATE OF LEAD. 
 
 This beautiful substance is of an orange red colour ; it 
 has mostly been met with crystallized : the primitive 
 form of its crystals is an oblique four-sided prism ; the 
 varieties it assumes are very few. It consists of 64 parts 
 of oxide of lead, and 36 of chromic acid. This mine- 
 ral is extremely rare ; it was found in the gold mine of 
 Beresof, in the Uralian mountains in Siberia, upon a 
 quartzose gangue containing oxide of lead and oxide of 
 antimony, which occurred in a vein containing sulphuret 
 of lead, parallel with another containing decomposed 
 auriferous pyrites. These veins are situated in gneiss 
 and micaceous schistus. Pallas mentions having also 
 discovered this mineral 15 leagues higher north, dis- 
 seminated in beds of clay, and dispersed on beds of 
 sandstone, alternating with each other, and accompanied 
 by cubic crystals of auriferous pyrites. 
 
 This substance is said to be occasionally accompanied 
 by small acicular crystals of a green colour, which are 
 
 * Found at Perkionaen, cryftallized in fmall quadrangular tables with 
 bevelled edges. (Conrad") At Southampton, in fraall tabular cryftals of a 
 dark waxen colour, (Mcade.) 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 1 219 
 
 considered to consist of oxide of lead and Joxide of 
 chrome, but have not been analyzed. 
 
 ZINC. 
 
 Zinc is a bluish grey metal ; its tenacity is not great; 
 a piece one-tenth of an inch in diameter will hold iwen- 
 tysix pounds without breaking ; and being far less duc- 
 tile than some other metals, its importance is thereby 
 diminished. Its specific gravity is about 7. 
 
 Zinc is never found in the pure metallic state, but mi- 
 neralized by sulphur, oxygen, the carbonic or the sul- 
 phuric acids ; and combined with oxide of iron, silex, 
 and with water. All the varieties of its ores may be said 
 to be comprehended in the four following species, most 
 of which have the appearance rather of earthy than of 
 metalliferous substances ; they belong chiefly to second- 
 ary countries. 
 
 Zinc is employed by the Chinese for coins : it enters 
 into the composition of many alloys. It is sometimes 
 used in medicine, and in oil painting. 
 
 BLENDE. SULPHUKET OF ZINC.* 
 
 Blende is met with of various shades of yellow, 
 brown, and black ; it occurs of indeterminate shapes,- 
 massive and crystallized ; it yields easily to the knife, 
 and is brittle. 
 
 The form of the primitive crystal of Blende, into 
 which the compact variety is readily reduced by clea- 
 vage, is the rhomboidal dodecahedron ; but the varieties 
 of form assumed by its crystals are very numerous, 
 
 * The Sulphuret of Zinc frequently accompanies the Sulphuret of 
 Lead ; as at the Rochefter mine in Ulfter county, N. Y. ; in that near 
 Baltimore ; at Perkiomen ; and Southampton. 
 
 Blende of different colours, is found in feveral other places ; its impor- 
 tance is derived more from its fitnefs for mineralogical cabinets, than its 
 value as an ore fit for working. 
 
220 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 though not very intelligible, except such as are obvious- 
 ly allied to the tetrahedron, octohedron and the cube. 
 
 The massive variety of a brown colour, affords 50 parts 
 of zinc, 12 of iron, arid about 29 of sulphur ; some varie- 
 ties are phosphorescent by friction. 
 
 Blende is found in most mineral countries, especially 
 in beds in the older secondary. It is met with in metal- 
 liferous veins traversing primitive mountains, principally 
 in those containing copper and lead ; it often accompa- 
 nies, or is accompanied by, iron pyrites, native silver, 
 grey antimony, spathose iron, sulphate of barytes, calca- 
 reous spar, and quartz. It is very abundant in many of 
 the copper and tin veins of Cornwall, especially the 
 former, and at a small depth beneath the surface. Some 
 of the blendes of Hungary and Transylvania are auri- 
 ferous. 
 
 CALAMINE. CARBONATE OF ZINC. 
 
 ^.'; 'ii*jj * . - i ' ' % ' i '. ,/0"-<' 
 
 This substance is found earthy, compact, and crystal- 
 lized ; it yields easily to the knife, and has remarkably 
 the appearance of an earthy or stony substance. 
 
 The form of its primitive crystal is an obtuse rhom- 
 boid. It does not assume many varieties of form : but is 
 often found investing crystals of carbonated lime ; which, 
 in some instances, being decomposed, leave the cala- 
 raine in the forms they had assumed. 
 
 It is chiefly found accompanying sulphuret of lead, in 
 shell limestone ; and is particularly abundant in the 
 Mendip bills in Somersetshire ; at Holywell and other 
 places in Flintshire ; in Derbyshire ; and in Carinthia, 
 &c. In France, near Juliers, it forms very extensive 
 beds, and is accompanied by certain ores of lead and 
 iron. 
 
 It yields about 65 per cent, of oxide of zinc, and 35 
 of carbonic acid ; a variety is found in the Rutland 
 mine at Mallock, which is combined with carbonate of 
 copper. 
 
 
TO MINERALOGi*. 221' 
 
 ELECTRIC CALAMINE. 
 
 The name of this mineral is derived from its property 
 of becoming electric when gently heated. Its colour is 
 greyish, bluish, or yellowish white ; it is found, in mass, 
 and also crystallized in small flat hexahedral prisms 3 
 which are harder than common calamine. 
 
 It is found in Hungary, at Fribourg; and in Leices- 
 tershire, Flintshire, and at Wanlockhead. It differs 
 from the other ores of zinc in always containing a con- 
 siderable proportion of silex. The variety from Wan- 
 lockhead yields 66 of oxide of zinc, and 33 of silex. 
 
 SULPHATE OF ZINC. ; 
 
 This mineral is a white, limpid, soluble salt, and* is by 
 some mineralogists ranked amongst saline minerals; it 
 has a nauseous metallic taste, and is found filamentous, 
 massive, and stalactitical. 
 
 In the natural state it is rare, and chiefly occurs in 
 capillary efflorescences, or in stalactites, on the sides of 
 the workings in veins of sulphuret of zinc. It is thus 
 occasionally seen at Ramelsberg in Switzerland, it Idria 
 in Carniola, and at Schemnitz in Hungary. It also oc- 
 curs at Holywell in Flintshire. That of Ramelsberg 
 yields by analysis about 27 parts of oxide of zinc, 22 
 of sulphuric acid> 50 of water, and a trace of oxide of 
 manganese. 
 
 RED OXIDE OK ZINC. 
 
 This mineral was brought to me as long ago as the year 1 799, by a 
 perfon from New-Jerfey, who faid it contained zinc. He wifhed me to 
 make experiments upon it ; but I did not find opportunity or inclination 
 to analize it. I however gave fpecimens freely to my mineralogical 
 friends ; and among others, to Dr. Bruce. 
 
 It occurs among the iron ores of Sufiex county ; and is indeed the ce- 
 ment or matrix which connects the grains of various figures and magni- 
 tudes of an oxyd of iron that is cryftallized, though more commonly irre- 
 gular. It is found imbedded in calcareous fpar. Now and then, the oxyd 
 of zinc is whitifh, adhering to the black oxyd of iron. 
 
 It conSfls of Zinc 76 parts. 
 
 Oxygen 16 
 
 Oxides of manganefe and iron 8 
 
 zoo 
 
 T2 
 
ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Its colour is light and dark red, approaching to blood red, ruby and au- 
 rora red. It is opaque, though generally tranflucent on the edges. Its 
 fracture foliated ; crofs-fracture flightly conchoidal. Luftre on the frefli 
 fracture, (hining ; after long expofure to the atmofphere, dull ; the furface 
 ii? time becoming covered with a pearly -white cruft. Conftitution brittle, 
 eafy to be powdered, and the powder brownifli-yellow, approaching to 
 orange. Steel fcratches it eafily. Its fpecific gravity is 6.aa. (Amer. Min. 
 Jour. p. 9697.) 
 
 A very curious and interefting queftion arofe in Congrefs, when I was, 
 in 1810, a reprefentative from the city of New- York, to the popular 
 forjnch of that body. It involved the fubject of zinc, fpelter, teutenague, 
 and brafs teutenague, as connected with duties on importing them into the 
 United States, from foreign ports. The whole correfpondence and contro- 
 verfy, are recorded in Med. Repos. Vol. 15, p. 107112. In my collec- 
 tion of minerals are fpecimens of each article, as I received them from thr 
 Collector of the Cuftoms at New- York. 
 
 " Zinc, is a metal well known to be abfolutely neceflary in making 
 brafs. It is imported from England and the Eaft- Indies. From the In- 
 dies, it is imported under the name of Teutenague, which the ftatute fays 
 is free. A metal by this name is not known in mineralogy ; how it ihould 
 have been noticed as free, is a myftery to thofe who know that it derived 
 ks name from a Spoon-maker, who lived in Birmingham about the year 
 1730. He made the difcovery, that tin and a fmall quantity of regulus of 
 antimony, produced a compound fomewhat better than tin and lead, which 
 makes pewter. Teutan, proud of the difcovery, gave it the name of Teu- 
 fenague, or Teutania, as it is more generally called. Little did the honeft 
 fpoon-maker think he would have been fo much honoured in our ftatute 
 Labis calaminaris is free ; this is the ore of zinc ; none of which is .impor- 
 ted, except a fmall quantity of the calcine, as a drug. It is well known, that 
 the Britifh prohibit the exportation of all metals, not manufactured : the 
 fhippers of zinc, therefore, are neceflitated to fhip zinc under the name of 
 fpelter. Spelter, in fadt, is a mixture of fine brafs and zinc granulated, 
 ufed by brafs founders and braziers, to folder. The brafs founders in this 
 country, make all they ufe ; it is not imported except in fmall quantities. 
 The only difference between Englifh and India zinc is about 5 per cent, in 
 favour of the Englilh, on account of its being lefs droffy. If the article of 
 zinc is to be admitted as free from duty it Ihould be exprefled under the 
 naflte of Spflftr, or Zinc" (Cr//V.) 
 
 QUICKSILVER on MERCURY. 
 
 The liquidity of Mercury at the ordinary temperature 
 of the atmosphere, is a remarkable character, and dis- 
 tinguishes it from all other metals, It is thirteen times 
 heavier than water. It is found pure ; and also com- 
 bined with silver, with sulphur, and with small quanti- 
 ties of silex, oxide of copper, carbon of bitumen ; and 
 
TO MIXERALOGY. 223 
 
 mineralized in the state of an oxide, by the muriatic and 
 sulphuric acids. 
 
 Its ores are not numerous ; and being rarely found in 
 primitive rocks, is not considered to be a metal of the 
 newest formation. 
 
 The quicksilver mines of Idria, in Saxony, are said 
 to yield 100 tons annually; and those of Spain a still 
 greater quantity. The mines of Peru are by some sup- 
 posed to be still richer. 
 
 The uses of mercury in medicine, in the arts, and in 
 experimental philosophy are numerous ; but its chief 
 use is in the separation of gold and silver from their ores, 
 by a process called amalgamation. When amalgama- 
 ted with tin, and laid on glass, it forms mirrors. 
 
 NATIVE QUICKSILVER. 
 
 Native Quicksilver is of a silver white colour, and 
 splendent metallic lustre ; it occurs disseminated in glo- 
 bules, or collected in the cavities of its mines, which 
 are commonly situated in calcareous rocks, indurated 
 clay, or argillaceous schistus. It is mostly met with in 
 the mines containing the ores of quicksilver. It some- 
 times contains a little silver. 
 
 Quick silver is found in the Palatinate, Saxony, Bo- 
 hemia, Hungary and Transylvania ; and abundantly in 
 Peru. 
 
 NATIVE AMALGAM. SILVER AMALGAM. 
 
 This mineral is of a silver white, or of a greyish co- 
 lour, and is sometimes semi-fluid ; when compact it is 
 very brittle, which at once distinguishes it from silver : 
 it is mostly tarnished externally. It occurs also in small 
 octohedrons, in rhomboidal dodecahedrons, and in thin 
 laminae; and is commonly found in a kind of clay, which 
 is of various colours. It consists of 64 of mercury, and 
 36 of silver. It is a rare minei^l, and has principally 
 been met with at Rosenau in Hungary, and at Maers- 
 feldt and Moschellandsberg in the duchy of Deux-ponts. 
 It is said to be found in veins containing silver, travers- 
 ing tiiose enclosing quicksilver. 
 
224 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION, 
 
 CINNABAR. 
 
 Cinnabar is of various shades of red, frequently co- 
 chineal red. It is very heavy ; it occurs massive, when 
 it is dull and opake; it also occurs of a minutely fibrous 
 structure, with a glimmering silky lustre ; also lamellar, 
 of a shining lustre and translucent; and crystallized in the 
 regular hexahedral prism, which is considered to be 
 the form of its primitive crystal ; only one variety of 
 form has been noticed. It consists of 81 of mercury, 
 1-5 of sulphur, and 4 of iron. 
 
 A variety called Hepatic Cinnabar is united with 
 small portions of carbon, silex and oxide of copper; 
 and this variety sometimes occurs mixed in various pro- 
 portions with coarse coal or bituminous shale, and is 
 then called Bituminous Cinnabar. 
 
 The most abundant European mines of Cinnabar, are 
 those at Idria in Carniola (which principally yield the 
 hepatic variety), and those of Almaden in Spain, which 
 are situated in the independent coal-formation. The 
 ores of Cinnabar are usually accompanied by calcareous 
 spar, spathose iron, micaceous iron, and iron and cop- 
 per pyrites. 
 
 Cinnabar is said to occur sparingly in primitive strata. 
 
 HORN QUICKSILVER. 
 
 Horn Quicksilver is of a pearl grey colour, sometimes 
 of a greenish yellow ; it is soft, translucent, and of a 
 vitreous lustre ; it occurs massive ; also crystallized in 
 small 4 sided short prismatic crystals, terminated by 4 
 sided pyramids, and therefore in dodecahedrons : but 
 the plants of the summits are rhombic, the lateral 
 planes are six-sided. It consists of about 76 parts of 
 oxide of mercury, 16 of muriatic acid, and 7 of sulphu- 
 ric acid. It is found at Almaden in Spain, at Horso- 
 witz in Bohemia, and^ in the mines of Deux-ponts in 
 the cavities of a ferruginous clay, mingled with mala* 
 chite and grey copper, &c. 
 
COMBUSTIBLE MINERALS. 
 
 Including non-metallic substances, the greater part 
 of which are eminently combustible, and whose 
 bases are carbon and sulphur. 
 
 SULPHUR.* 
 
 The nature and properties of Sulphur have already 
 been noticed in treating of combustibles generally. 
 
 Sulphur is found in the mineral, vegetable and ani* 
 mal kingdoms ; in the two latter it occurs so rarely, that all 
 the vast commercial demands for it are supplied from 
 
 * In the town of Phelps, about eleven miles to the northweft of Geneva, 
 are fituated the fulphureous fountains of Clifton. 
 
 From a fide-hill, in front of the public houfe, numerous fprings dif- 
 charge their waters. The ftones and rocks through which they iffue are 
 calcareous. The main body of them are filled with the remains of tefta- 
 ceous animals, and marine exuvisc. Some of them are formed differently 
 from any fhells I ever faw. Their ftiapes are fo fmgular and fantaftic, 
 that it is hard to refer feverul of them to any known or living fpecies. 
 There are likewife plentiful depofites of calcareous carbonate. This lime 
 feems to have been held in folution by the water, and colled s among the 
 flones and other bodies where the current is gentle, or approaches to flag- 
 nation. It is affociated with a portion of the fulphur deposited by the in- 
 flammable air. 
 
 The water iflues in the greateft quantity from three principal fources. 
 It is as abundant as from the moft plentiful fprings 1 ever faw. The wa- 
 ter, as it comes forth, is perfectly tranfparent. But it loon becomes 
 opaque, and of a yellowifh colour, refembling a diluted mixture of cream 
 with water. This hue appears, as it defcends the declivity, and becomes 
 ftill more manifeft as it traverfes the meadow, at the foot of the hill. 
 
 This yellowilh matter fettles on the rocks, ftones, mofe, and other 
 plants. On being collected, it proves to be brimftone. It is in a ft ate to 
 be friendly to vegetable life. For though it covers the leaves and ftems of 
 the aquatic plants, over which the water flows, it feems to do them no in- 
 jury. Though coated with fulphur, they enjoy entire health. There did 
 not appear any fign of blacknefs or erofion from this caufe, on the blades 
 of grafs which were conftantly expofed to it. 
 
 The water is equally friendly to the life of animals* Horfes drink it free- 
 
226 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 the former source. It is found nearly pure ; and is then 
 termed Native sulphur. It is also found in combina- 
 tion with several of the metals, forming the various 
 pyrites, and the sulphuretted ores. In the state of an 
 acid, it occurs combined with some of the earths and 
 metals. 
 
 ly, and without any inconvenience. Other domeftic creatures do the 
 fame, and are refrefned as much by it, to all appearance, as by common 
 water. Human beings alib drink it, without any bad effedt. In Come, 
 it excites a little naufea, efpecially upon an empty ftomach. But this feems 
 to arife from the offenfivenefs of iulphur to the fmeli and tafte of fuch per- 
 fons, rather than from any thing deleterious in the water. A fifherman 
 aflured me that he had taken trouts with the hook in this fulphureous 
 brook. And it cannot be well fuppofed that there fhould be any thing 
 very difagreeable in the water, voluntarily vifited by fuch delicate and 
 dainty fifties. They probably are induced to approach the fource, for the 
 purpofe of feeding upon certain fpecies of worms, (one of which has fome 
 refemblance to the leech) which adhere in great numbers to the lower 
 fides of the ftones. This water is their refidence, and the trouts probably 
 enter it to make a prey of them. 
 
 The depofites of calcareous and fulphureous matters are not the only 
 things which diftinguifh thcfc fprings. A great quantity of vapour ef- 
 capes from them. This rifes to a confiderable height, and may be fmelled 
 many rods to leeward as you approach. The odour is that of inflammable 
 air holding fulphur in folution. In the ordinary condition of fulphur, the 
 hydrogen is too I'm all in quantity, relatively to the fuiphur, to rife with it 
 into the atmofphere. But when the proportions are reverfed, and the hy- 
 drogen is in a very large ratio to the fulphur, it carries away with itfelf a 
 portion of that material. Upon the fame principle that an abfolutely 
 large body of inflammable gas cai; elevate a balloon, a relatively large por- 
 tion of it can carry up atoms of fulphur. Thefe are wafted about, and dif- 
 fufed through the air. 
 
 Though the water, when it firft rifes from the earth is perfectly clear, 
 yet as was before obl'erv.t-d, it foon becomes turbid. This probably hap- 
 pens in confequence of the efcape of the inflammable air, leaving behind 
 that portion of fulphur which it is unable to carry off: and this dilengaged 
 fulphur firft changes the colour of the water, and then fettles on the leaves, 
 grafs, and ftones. In confequence of this copious extrication of gafeous 
 matters, the water is cold ; and it contains fome ingredient, which is pro- 
 bably a little uncombined fulphuric acid, which decompofes foap. For on 
 attempting to form a lather with it, curdles were immediately produced. 
 
 At a fhort diftance, lefs I fhould think than a quarter of a mile, and on 
 the other fide of the road, are other fulphureous oozings. In thefe, the 
 water is fmall in quantity. The fulphuretted hydrogen immediately ef- 
 capes : the fulphur which it does not carry off with it, is left behind. 
 There being too little water to wafh it away, it accumulates in beds or 
 jloughs. This is alfo on a fide- hill : but, notwithftanding the favourable- 
 nefs of the fituation for carrying away the fulphur, it has gathered until a 
 fort of marfli or puddle, of perhaps ten rods in diameter has been formed. 
 Here it lies mixed with mud, leaves, flicks, and every ingredient that acci- 
 dent has thrown into it. The mafs is fo confiderable that it would be eafy 
 to (hovel uj> cart-loads of it ; but I did not hear that any attempts had been 
 made to refine, purify, or in any other way to manufacture it. 
 
TO MIUERALOGr. 227 
 
 Native Sulphur is of a pale greenish yellow colour. 
 It occurs in mass, disseminated, in rounded fragments, 
 stalactitic, and crystallized. Its specific gravity is about 
 two. 
 
 It is sometimes, though rarely, found in veins in pri- 
 mitive mountains; its common repository is in beds of 
 
 If I was difpofed to offer a conjecture concerning th produ&ion of this 
 inflammable air, and of the fulphur which accompanies it, I (hould derive 
 them from the animal remains which make fo large a proportion of the 
 calcareous ftrata hereabout. The rocks at this place, as well as at Niaga- 
 ra, and along the fhores of Lake Erie, are remarkable for the fetid fmell 
 they emit, on being rubbed or ftruck. This leads to a belief that both 
 hydrogen and fulphur enter into their competition. This is further mani- 
 fefted by the frequent appearance of them both, where thefe beds of mate- 
 rials are undergoing fpontaneous decompofition from internal caufes. In 
 fuch cafes, they are evident to the fenfes in their proper and feparate 
 forms. The incruftations of fulphur, in the fiflures of fome rocks, and the 
 extrication of hydrogen gas from the crevices of others, in this curious and 
 interefting region, perfuade one ftrongly, that fuch is the fact. 
 
 How it happened that organic fubftances make part of the deep and ex- 
 tenfive ftrata which underlay this country, may be refolved into the 
 greater queftion, by what means fuch materials enter into the compofition 
 of rocks in other parts of the world, and in fituations very remote from 
 the ocean. They lead the mind by indubitable evidence to the time when, 
 in ages too diftant for the chronologift to compute, the waters of the fea 
 covered the face of the land. 
 
 The country lying fouth of the lakes Ontario and Erie, bears within 
 itfelf full teftimony of the former dominion of oceanic water there. The 
 fait fpringsin Galen, Montezuma, Salina, and other places, may be conceived 
 as proceeding from beds of fal-gem in the bowels of the earth. And this 
 native fait may be confidered as a depofite made from the brine of the fea, 
 fometime fince the ftrata of limeftone were formed. When the fait- water 
 withdrew to the lakes, the upland was gradually freed from its fait, here, 
 as in other places, by the rains and the floods. The land being thus frefh- 
 ened, the falt-water collected in the lakes and refervoirs ; and had there 
 been no outlets, they would have been collections of briny fluids ftill. But 
 as all the lakes of our continent have channels for difcharging their con- 
 tents, it has happened in the courfe of aqueous circulation, that the primi- 
 tive faltnefs has difappeared, and thefe refervoirs of falt-water are now fil- 
 led with frefli. The lakes of North America have long fince undergone 
 the frefhening operation which the Black Sea is now undergoing. For it 
 may be predicted that the Euxine, which is now but a brackifh water, will, 
 in procefs of time, lofe the whole of its faltnefs. 
 
 The lakes having undergone this transformation, and fo altered then- 
 character, we look at firft with furprize upon the fait and (hells which are 
 left behind. Thefe, however, are monuments of the former ftate of things ; 
 and when duly confidered by the light which geology affords, enable us to 
 comprehend many of the fails which would be otherwife inexplicable. 
 
 My theory, then, of the fulphureous fprings at Clifton, is concifely this t 
 before the water of the ocean retired to the lakes, ftrata of limeftone were 
 depofited, and as parts thereof, vaft quantities of fhells, and other remains 
 of teftaceous and perhaps other animal matter. From thefe, there are ex> 
 tricated in fome places, hydrogen gas and fulphur : and water, gufhing 
 
228 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 secondary gypsum, where it occurs in rounded masses ; 
 it is sometimes met with in beds of indurated marl, and 
 compact limestone : occasionally it occurs as an ingre- 
 dient in mineral waters. Volcanoes abound with sul- 
 phur, which sublimes in the rifts and cavities of the lava 
 in the neighbourhood of their craters. 
 
 Humbolt mentions its occurrence in a bed of quartz, 
 traversing a primitive mountain of micaceous schistus, 
 in Quito. He also cites two deposites in primitive por- 
 
 pfcyry- III 
 
 Sulphur occurs in rounded masses in blue marl in the 
 Apennines of Piedmont. In some of the glaciers of 
 Mont Blanc, it is disseminated in masses of sulphate of 
 lime and clay. At Conilla, near Cadiz in Spain, it oc- 
 curs in swine-stone. It is met with in the gypsum of 
 
 along, carries \vlth it a portion of the lime. The hydrogen gas fo fepara - 
 ted, is the menftruum for the fulphur, and the water for the lime. On 
 coming into the open air, the portions of fulphur and lime, which the gas 
 and the water cannot any longer retain in folution, are precipitated on the 
 adjacent bodies. 
 
 I have fpecimens from Clifton, of the fetid limeftone, madreporites, and 
 other marine animals, and of recent vegetable fubftances, incrufted with 
 Brimftone. I pofiefs, likewife, pieces of the fetid carbonate of lime, from 
 the falls of Niagara, carrying fulphur in a layer of the thicknefs of the 
 eighth of an inch. 
 
 - The fulphur fpnng, N.W. of Geneva, N. Y. is of fufficient fize and fall 
 for an overfhot mill, and its fcent is conveyed by the wind, nearly the dif- 
 tance of two miles. This fpring iffues out of the ground in two branches, 
 and adjoining to it are two large bogs of fulphur, into which a ftick may 
 be thruft fix feet deep or more. It is fuppofed, that at this fpring, the ma- 
 nufacture of brimftone, might be confiderably important. (Munro, MeJ, 
 Kefos. Pol. it, p. 69 70.) 
 
 The fulphur evolved by the putrefaction of maritime plants and marine 
 animals, fometimes floats in the form of a yellow fcum on the furface of 
 the pools and ftagnant ponds of fait water, along the coaft of New-York. 
 As a proof of it, among other evidences, I relate the following occurrence. 
 Being a few years ago, on a trip along the Sound, our party landed upon 
 Riker's ifland. The greater part of the company were amufing them- 
 felves at the Inn, when I returned from a (hort excurfion. I brought 
 with me a parcel of the fulphur I had gathered upon the furface of a pond, 
 on a fait marfh. Secretly, and without any knowledge on the part of my 
 fellow-voyagers, I threw fome of the brimftone into the fire, and brought 
 it forward on the hearth, while it was burning. The vapours, inftead of 
 afcending through the chimney, circulated through the room. The confe- 
 quence was, an univerfal cry arofe that a match was lighted, and that fome- 
 body was fmoktng them with brimftone. 
 
 Very lately, I received fpecimens of fulphur, elegantly cryftallizcd, from 
 the volcano, nearly extinct, fituate about fisty miles from Batavia, in the 
 ifland of Java. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 229 
 
 the salt springs of Lorraine. It also occurs in Hanover, 
 Hungary, Poland, Siberia, and other countries. 
 
 The warm springs of Aix la Chapelle, of Tripoli, &c. 
 deposite Sulphur when in contact with the air : it is also 
 contained in the waters of certain springs in France. 
 
 Volcanic Sulphur is met with in Italy, Iceland, and 
 Gaudaloupe in a volcanic mountain yet in activity. The 
 volcanoes of the Cordilleras in Quito, yield it in great 
 abundance and very pure. 
 
 But perhaps the most remarkable deposite of volca- 
 nic sulphur is that of Solfatara near Naples, in a kind 
 of sunken plain surrounded by rocks, which is regarded 
 as the crater of an ancient volcano ; and from it, ever 
 since the age of Pliny, has been obtained, a considerable 
 portion of the sulphur used in Europe. 
 
 The crystals of sulphur are not always well defined : 
 those from Sicily are the best, being frequently perfect ; 
 they have been met with 5 inches in length. The pri- 
 mitive crystal is a very acute octohedron, on which 
 are occasionally found the planes of several modifications. 
 The crystals are often semi-transparent : they are soft, 
 brittle and easily broken. 
 
 DIAMOND. 
 
 The Diamond, which is the hardest substance in na- 
 ture, was heretofore considered as an earthy or stony 
 substance ; but it is proved beyond a doubt not to be an 
 earthy substance. When exposed to a current of air, 
 and heated to the temperature of melting copper, it is 
 found to be gradually, but completely combustible. By 
 this process it may be wholly converted into carbonic 
 acid, and therefore consists of pure carbon. 
 
 Diamonds are either colourless, or of a yellowish, blu- 
 ish, yellowish green, clove brown, black brown, Prus- 
 sian blue, or rose red colour. They are always found 
 in detached crystals, the primitive form of which is the 
 regular octohedron ; but the varieties of form in which 
 they occur are numerous. Although the Diamond is so 
 extremely hard, it may be readily cleaved in particular 
 directions. When heated, it becomes phosphorescent. 
 It possesses only a simple refraction, but this may be at- 
 
230 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 tributed greatly to its density, considered as a stone, 
 Newton, in remarking this, suspected that the Diamond 
 ought to be placed among combustibles. It is about 
 3y times heavier than water. 
 
 In India, the Diamond mines extend through a long 
 tract of country, from Bengal to Cape Comorin, at the 
 foot of a chain of mountains 50 miles in length : the chief 
 of them are now between Golconda and Masulipatam. 
 Diamonds are also procured from the Isle of Borneo 
 and from Brazil ; where, as well as in India, they are 
 found in beds of ferruginous sand or gravel. 
 
 Fifty years ago there were more than 20 places in the 
 kingdom of Golconda in which diamonds of different 
 sizes were found. At that period, 50 workings were 
 also wrought in the kingdom of Visapour. These mines 
 furnished more diamonds than the others j but being 
 smaller, the workings were abandoned. The Diamonds 
 of Pastael, 20 miles from Golconda, at the foot of the 
 Gate mountains, are the most in request. The mines 
 are situated at the conflux of two rivers ; they have pro- 
 duced the most noted diamonds, and amongst them that 
 which has obtained the name of the Pitt or Regent 
 Diamond, the finest of the crown jewels of France, 
 weighing 136 carats, or nearly one ounce, and which 
 was purchased for 2,500,000 livres. 
 
 From Mawe's Travels in the Interior of Brazil, we 
 find that the Diamond mines of that country are situated 
 Dearly due north of the mouth of the Rio Janeiro. The 
 capital of the district is called Tjuco. The country is 
 covered in all directions by grit-stone rocks, full of 
 rounded quartzose pebbles. The hills are very nume- 
 rous, and consist of grit alternating with micaceous 
 schistus, and present an immense number of blocks 
 composed of grit-stone imbedding rounded masses of 
 quartz, giving to the whole the appearance of a pud- 
 ding-stone. The general level of the country must be 
 considerably elevated ; it is very full of streams, which 
 fall into the rivers traversing the lower country in almost 
 every direction. Diamonds have been largely obtained 
 in various places in this district, and always from the 
 beds of the streams or rivers; most of which have 
 yielded them. The principal work is that called Man- 
 
 
1-0 MINERALOGY. 231 
 
 danga on the river Jigitonhonha : which being shallow, 
 though broad, its waters are either dammed out, or di- 
 verted from their course, or pumped out by a particular 
 contrivance. The mud of the river is then removed, 
 discovering a stratum of cascalhao, which consists of 
 rounded pebbles and gravel ; this is taken up, and the 
 diamonds are washed out of it. Diamonds are by no 
 means peculiar to the beds of rivers or ravines ; they 
 have been found in cavities and water courses, on the 
 summits of the most lofty mountains of the district. 
 
 A diamond, found about 15 years ago in a rivulet cal- 
 led Abaite, a few leagues north of the Rio Plata, and 
 now in the possession of the Prince Regent of Portugal, 
 weighs seven-eighths of an ounce. It is of an octohe- 
 dron form. 
 
 One of the largest known diamonds was in the pos- 
 session of the late Empress of Russia ; it was of the 
 size of a pigeon's egg and weighed 193 carats or nearly 
 one ounce and one-third of an ounce. 
 
 The largest diamond hitherto found, is in the posses- 
 sion of the Rajah of Mattan, in the island of Borneo, in 
 which island it was found about 80 years ago. It is 
 shaped like an egg, with an indented hollow near the 
 smaller end. It is said to be of the finest water. It 
 weighs 367 carats. Now as 156 carats are equal to 1 
 oz. Troy, it is obvious that this diamond weighs 2 oz. 
 169.87 gr. Troy. Many years ago the governor of 
 Batavia tried to purchase this diamond. He sent a Mr. 
 Stuvart to the Rajah, who offered 150,000 dollars, two 
 large war brigs with their guns and ammunition, toge- 
 ther with a certain number of great guns, and a quantity 
 of powder and shot. The Rajah, however, refused to 
 deprive his family of so valuable an hereditary posses- 
 sion, to which the Malays attach the miraculous power 
 of curing all kinds of diseases, by means of the water 
 in which it is dipped, and with which they imagine that 
 the fortune of the family is connected. 
 
 The principal use of the diamond is in ornamental 
 jewellery; it is also employed by glaziers to cut glass, 
 and by lapidaries to engrave the harder gems ; but for 
 
232 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 these purposes such only are used as cannot be cleaved 
 in particular directions. 
 
 MINERAL CARBON. 
 
 Mineral Carbon is of a greyish black colour, and is 
 destitute of bitumen : it consists of charcoal, with vari- 
 ous proportions of earth and iron. 
 
 It has a glimmering, silky lustre, and a fibrous appear- 
 ance, discovering a wood-like texture. It is somewhat 
 heavier than common charcoal, and is easier reduced 
 to ashes before the blowpipe, without either flame 'or 
 smoke. 
 
 It occurs in thin layers, in brown coal, slate coal, slaty 
 glance coal, and pitch coal ; but in quantities too small 
 to make separate use of. 
 
 PLUMBAGO. GRAPHITE.* 
 
 Plumbago is found in England, Scotland, France, 
 Spain, Germany, and some other countries. Plumba- 
 go is of a dark iron black, passing into steel grey. 
 
 It occurs in mass, in kidney-shaped lumps, or disse- 
 minated, in rocks. It has a glistening metallic lustre, 
 its fracture is granular and uneven ; it is unctuous to the 
 feel, soft, and not very brittle. When heated it does 
 not flame, nor can it support combustion by itself. Its 
 specific gravity somewhat exceeds 2. 
 
 Plumbago seems to belong exclusively to primitive 
 countries ; sometimes it enters into the composition of 
 rocks ; but is more usually found in detached masses, or 
 in beds. 
 
 The principal use of plumbago is in the making of what 
 are called black-lead pencils ; for which purpose none 
 has yet been discovered equal to that from Borrowdale in 
 Cumberland, where it occurs in a considerable moun- 
 tain of argillaceous schistus, traversed by veins of quartz; 
 
 * A manufacture of black-lead pencils, exifts in the city of New- York. 
 Graphite with rofy quartz, was lately brought to me from Fiflikill. SmalJ 
 quantities of it are not unfrequent. It is found in North Carolina, Penn- 
 (ylvania, New-Jerfey, New- York, Connecticut, Rhode-Ifland, Maflachu- 
 fetts, New-Hampftrirc, and Maine. (Cleave/and.) 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 233 
 
 some account of the mine may be found in Parkes's 
 * Chemical Essays.' An inferior kind is met with in 
 several places in France. It is also found in Bavaria, 
 in Spain, and in Norway. 
 
 Whence this mineral obtained the name of black-lead 
 it is difficult to say, unless it was from the lead-coloured 
 streak which it gives upon paper. It has been ascertain- 
 ed that lead does not enter into its composition, but 
 that the purest plumbago consists of about 90 parts of 
 carbon and 10 of iron : an impure variety affords more 
 of silex and alumine than of carbon or iron. 
 
 MINERAL OIL.* 
 
 : >v '"- < ''' ! -i i** : ' *' '4 '*' v ' ( ( i ' 
 
 Under this term are comprehended two substances, 
 Naptha and Petroleum ; both of which are liquid, high- 
 ly inflammable, and lighter than water. 
 
 Naptha is nearly colourless and transparent ; it burns 
 with a blue flame, much smoke, gives out a penetrating 
 odour, and leaves no residuum. It appears to be the on- 
 ly fluid iu which oxygen does not exist in a consider- 
 able proportion ; advantage has been taken of this cir- 
 cumstance by Sir H. Davy, who employed it, for that rea- 
 son, in preserving the new metals discovered by him. 
 
 The most copious springs of naptha are on the coast 
 of the Caspian sea in the peninsula of Apcheron ; the 
 surrounding country is calcareous, and the soil which 
 affords the naptha is sandy and marly. It perpetually 
 gives out vapours of a penetrating odour and very in*- 
 flammable : it is said that the people of the country dress 
 their food by means of it, for which purpose they pass it 
 through earthen pipes. By distillation it yields naptha 
 pure for medicine. The Persians employ the residuum 
 to burn in their lamps instead of oil. A considerable 
 revenue is derived from it by the Chief of the coun- 
 try. 
 
 * Petroleum is found native in the weftern diftri<a of New- York,, 
 where it is colle&ed from the furface of certain waters, and fold by the name 
 of Seneka Oil. It is employed both inwardly and outwardly, as a remedy-; 
 and is extolled by the people, for its efficacy againft difeafes, more efpe 
 daily of the ftomach, inteftines, kidneys, fldn, joints, &c. It is procured?, 
 too, in Ohio, and rated by many as a valuable medicine, 
 
234 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Naptha is also found in Calabria; on Mount Zibio 
 near Modena ; in Sicily, and in America, &c. ; but it is 
 supposed that travellers have sometimes mistaken pe- 
 troleum for naptha. 
 
 In 1802, near the village of Amiano, in the state of 
 Parma, a spring of naptha of a topaz yellow colour, 
 was discovered, which readily burns without leaving any 
 residue ; it rises in sufficient quantity to light up the city 
 of Genoa, for which purpose it is employed. 
 
 Petroleum, at the usual temperature, is rather thicker 
 than common tar, has a strong disagreeable odour, and 
 is of a blackish or reddish brown colour. It is very 
 combustible, giving out during combustion a very thick 
 black smoke, and leaving very little residue in the form 
 of a black coal. 
 
 It is found in many countries, principally in those pro- 
 ducing coal. At several places in France. In England, at 
 Ormskirk in Lancashire, and at Coalbrookdale ; occa- 
 sionally in Cornwall and in Scotland. It occurs also in 
 Bavaria, Switzerland, and in Italy near Parma. Near 
 the latter place, the Petroleum gives out so powerful an 
 odour, that the workmen cannot long endure it at the 
 bottom of the Petroleum wells, without danger of faint- 
 ing. It is found in many other parts of Europe and in 
 America. 
 
 It is most plentifully found in Asia : round the town of 
 Rainanghong in the Birman empire, there are 520 wells 
 in full activity, into which petroleum flows from over 
 coal. No water ever penetrates into these wells. The 
 quantity of petroleum annually produced by them 
 amounts to more than 400,000 hogsheads. To the in- 
 habitants, its uses are important ; from Moussoul to Bag- 
 dad it is used instead of oil for lamps ; mixed with eartli 
 Or ashes, it serves for fuel 
 
 When naptha is exposed to the air and light, it be- 
 comes brown, thickens, and seems to pass into petro- 
 leum : and when petroleum is distilled, an oil is obtain- 
 ed from it similar to naptha. When petroleum is expo- 
 sed to the air, it thickens and passes into a kind of bitu- 
 tnen. Considerable alliance is thus proved to exist be- 
 tween Mineral Oil and Bitumen. 
 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 235 
 
 BITUMEN.^ 
 
 The elementary constituents of Bitumen are carbon 
 and hydrogen, occasionally nitrogen, and most probably 
 some oxygen, which it is supposed, by its action on the 
 other principles, and in proportion to its quantity, tends 
 to form the harder Bitumens. 
 
 Bitumen is either elastic or compact. 
 
 Elastic bitumen is of various shades of brown. It has 
 a slightly bituminous odour, and is about the weight of 
 water. It burns readily with a large flame and much 
 smoke, but melts by a gentle heat, and is thereby con* 
 verted into a substance resembling petroleum, or mal- 
 tha, or asphalt, according to its previous consistence. 
 
 Elastic bitumen takes up the traces of a pencil in 
 the same manner as the Caoutchouc or India rubber, 
 whence it has obtained the name of Mineral Caout- 
 chouc. 
 
 Hitherto it has only been found in the Odin mine, 
 near Castleton in Derbyshire, in a secondary limestone, 
 accompanied by calcareous spar, fluor, blende, galena, 
 pyrites, and asphalt. Elastic bitumen consists chiefly 
 of bituminous oil, hydrogen gas, and charcoal ; very 
 small proportions of other substances have been detected 
 by analysis. 
 
 Compact bitumen is of a brownish-black colour ; one 
 variety may be impressed with the nail, and is called 
 maltha ; another is very brittle, and is called asphalt. 
 
 * The ancient bricks of Babylon, feveral of which I have had the beft 
 opportunities to examine, have a portion of bitumen adhering to them. 
 This is black, and emits by burning, a fomewhat aromatic vapour. It ap- 
 pears to have loft none of its peculiar qualities, during the term of per- 
 haps 3000 or 4000 years, fmcc it was firft incorporated as a cement, in the 
 walls and towers conftrucled by the ancient inhabitants of Shinaar. The 
 fpecimens I poflefs, of modern bitumen from Bofrah, or its vicinity, are 
 fubftantially the fame with that ufed of old. (H. Austin.} 
 
 Afphaltum of St. Antonio, at the weftern extremity of Cuba, is com- 
 pact, deep black, and capable of fupporting a flame, when heated and fet 
 on fire. 
 
 That from Trinidad ifland is not fo pure ; but is dated to be much more 
 abundant. 
 
 Specimens from St, Stephens, near the Alabama river, were fent me by 
 Mr, Magoffin. 
 
236 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Maltha is brownish black and opake : it is tough, and 
 soft enough to take an impression of the nail : it has a 
 strong disagreeable odour, and is nearly twice as heavy 
 as water. It consists of bitumen mixed with about 8 per 
 cent, of carbon and a little earth. 
 
 Maltha is found in France, at a place called Puy de 
 la Pege ; where it renders the soil so viscous, that it ad- 
 heres strongly to the foot of the traveller. It is also 
 found in a mountain in Persia, between Schiraz and 
 Bender-congo, where it is called baumemomie. It is 
 collected with care, and sent to the King of Persia as 
 being efficacious in the cure of wounds. It is occasion- 
 ally used as a pitch, and in certain varnishes to preserve 
 iron from rust ; it is said to enter into the composition 
 of black sealing wax. 
 
 Asphalt is brownish black ; it occurs in mass, or dis- 
 seminated, or stalactitic ; it is opake, smooth and brittle, 
 and somewhat unctuous to the touch, and gives out when 
 rubbed a slightly bituminous odour. It is not so heavy 
 as maltha. 
 
 By combustion, it leaves a small quantity of ashes. It 
 consists chiefly of bituminous oil, hydrogen gas and 
 charcoal, but the latter is in much greater proportion 
 than in elastic bitumen ; oxide of iron, and two or three 
 of the earths, sometimes constitute very small propor- 
 tions of it. 
 
 It is found in the Palatinate ; in France ; at Neufcha- 
 tel in Switzerland ; in large strata at Aolona in Albania ; 
 and in large pieces on the shores, or floating on the sur- 
 face, of the Asphaltic lake in Judea, called the Dead 
 Sea ; which is said to have obtained the latter name 
 from the belief that the Asphaltum caused the death of 
 birds attempting to fly over it. It abounds in the islands 
 of Barbadoes and Trinidad in the West Indies. In the 
 latter it occurs in a vast stratum, three miles in circum- 
 ference, called the Tar-lake ; the thickness of which is 
 unknown. A gentle heat renders it ductile, and when 
 mixed with grease or common pitch, it is used for pay- 
 ing the bottoms of ships, and is supposed to protect 
 them from that pest of the West Indian seas, the teredo 
 or borer. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 237 
 
 Asphalt is also employed as a varnish, and an essen- 
 tial part of the best wax, or varnish, for the use of en- 
 gravers. 
 
 Both varieties of Bitumen, as well as the Mineral Oils, 
 are unknown in primitive rocks, except in veins ; they 
 seem to belong exclusively to alluvial or primitive for- 
 mations, in which they most commonly occur in calca- 
 reous, or clayey soils, or in the productions of volcanoes. 
 They are said to be mostly found in the neighbourhood 
 of salt formations. Some have conceived that the bitu- 
 mens and mineral oils have originated in the destruction 
 of the multitude of animals and vegetables found in the 
 earth ; of which we are every day discovering the re- 
 mains. 
 
 The ancients employed bitumen in the construction 
 of their buildings ; and it is said that all historians agree 
 that the bricks of which the walls of Babylon were built, 
 were cemented with hot bitumen ; which gave them 
 very great solidity. Bitumen was carried down by the 
 waters of a river which joined the Euphrates ; it was also 
 found in the salt springs in the neighbourhood of Baby- 
 lon. The Egyptians are also said to have employed it 
 for the embalming of bodies ; constituting what we now 
 call mummies. 
 
 Bitumen enters into the composition of the black in- 
 durated marl or shale which accompanies common coal ; 
 and which is generally mixed with it in variable propor- 
 tions. It is likewise found in certain limestones ; for 
 instance that of Aberthaw, of which bitumen forms about 
 2 per cent. 
 
 COAL. 
 
 The bituminous substance called coal, though ranked 
 among minerals because its basis is pure carbon, is now 
 by many believed to be of vegetable origin, because the 
 substance which lies upon the coal, is always filled with 
 vegetable remains ; as well as because a wood-like ap- 
 pearance may be traced through every species of coal, 
 even the most compact. 
 
 Mineralogists are not agreed in their arrangement of 
 this important genus of mineral inflammables. 
 
238 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Coal may be divided into four species : brown coal, 
 black coal, cannel coal, and glance coal. 
 
 BIIOWN COAL is imperfectly bituminous, of a brown 
 colour, and of a vegetable texture. It may be divided 
 into three varieties : Bituminized wood, Earthy Brown 
 Coal, Compact Brown Coal, and Moor Coal. 
 
 Bituminized wood is of a dark brown colour. Its ex- 
 ternal shape exactly resembles that of compressed trunks 
 and branches of trees ; its internal texture is precisely 
 that of wood, retaining not unfrequently that of the 
 bark. It is opake, soft, somewhat flexible, and almost 
 light enough to float upon water. It burns with a clear 
 flame, though with but little heat, and gives out a bitu- 
 minous odour, often mixed with that of sulphur. 
 
 The surturbrand of Iceland contains 58 per cent, of 
 watery and volatile inflammable matter, leaving 42 per 
 cent, of carbonaceous and earthy residue. 
 
 Bituminized wood occurs in alluvial land among beds 
 of compact brown coal ; sometimes also forming beds of 
 itself. It is also met with in dispersed fragments in al- 
 luvial soil. It abounds in the newest floetz-trap forma- 
 tion, and forms masses in limestone and sandstone be- 
 longing to the independent coal formation. In the Prus- 
 sian amber mines, it forms the stratum immediately 
 above the amber, and nodules and stalactites of this 
 beautiful substance are generally found intermixed with 
 it. 
 
 Earthy Brown Coal is blackish or wood brown, or 
 yellowish grey ; it occurs in mass, of a consistence be- 
 tween solid and friable ; it is without lustre ; soils the 
 fingers a little ; it is very soft, falls easily to pieces, and 
 it is a little heavier than water. 
 
 It readily takes fire, and burns with a weak flame and 
 disagreeable bituminous odour. It contains 15 to 20 per 
 cent, of earth and oxide of iron, the remainder being 
 water and inflammable matter. It often contains pyrites, 
 and then passes into alum earth. 
 
 It is found in similar situations with bituminized 
 wood : in the neighbourhood of Leipsig it occurs in 
 beds from 20 to 40 feet thick, and of great extent. 
 
 It is used as an inferior kind of fuel, when little heat 
 is required ; for which purpose it is moistened with wa- 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 230 
 
 ter, well beaten, and made into masses like bricks. In 
 the vicinity of Cologne, a variety is found of a rich reddish 
 brown colour, which is prepared as a pigment under the 
 name of Cologne umber, which is employed as a colour 
 both in distemper and oil painting. It is also found in 
 Hesse, Bohemia, Saxony, and Iceland. The Dutch are 
 said to employ it in the adulteration -of snuff, to which it 
 imparts, when used in certain proportion, a peculiar 
 softness. 
 
 Compact Brown Coal, is of a blackish brown colour. 
 It occurs in mass ; its fracture is fibrous lamellar ; its 
 cross fracture somewhat conchoidal ; it has a resinous 
 lustre, and is moderately hard. Its specific gravity is 
 about 4.5. 
 
 It burns readily with a weak flame, and a disagreeble 
 odour ; by combustion, it leaves a small quantity of 
 white ashes : 200 grains yield by distillation, 90 of char- 
 coal, 60 of acidulous water, 21 of thick, brown, oily 
 bitumen, and 29 of hydrogen, carburelted hydrogen, 
 and carbonic acid. 
 
 In England, it is found at Bovey near Exeter, and is 
 called Bovey coal : at this place there are 17 strata 
 within the depth of 74 feet from the surface, alternating 
 with alluvial clay ; the greatest thickness of the seams 
 or beds is between 6 and 8 feet. Brown coal is also 
 found in various parts of the territory of Hesse, and in 
 other parts of Germany ; also in Denmark, Greenland, 
 and Italy. 
 
 It is used for fuel : it passes into bituminous wood and 
 moor coal, and sometimes into pitch coal. 
 
 Moor coal is of a darkish brown colour. It occurs in 
 mass, forming verv thick beds, and is always full of cre- 
 vices. Internally it displays a considerably resinous lus- 
 tre. Its longitudinal fracture is somewhat slaty ; its cross 
 fracture approaches to conchoidal; its fragments are 
 trapezoidal or rhomboidal. In its chemical characters 
 it resembles the preceding variety of Brown coal. 
 
 It occurs in alluvial land, and in the newest floetz-trap 
 formation. It is met with very frequently in Bohemia ; 
 it is also found in Transylvania, and other parts of the 
 Austrian dominions \ also in Denmark, and the Ferroe 
 islands. 
 
240 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 BLACK COAL, the SLATE COAL of Mineralogists, is 
 perfectly bituminous ; it may be said to comprehend all 
 the varieties of common coal used for economical pur- 
 poses. It may generally be said to be of a black colour, 
 having an irridescent tarnish, and a high resinous lustre. 
 It is composed of about 60 parts of carbon, and 36 of 
 maltha and asphalt, and from 3 to 6 per cent, of earth 
 and oxide of iron. 
 
 Slate coal is found principa"y in the independent coal 
 formation, and is the most widely diffused of any of the 
 species. It is often mixed with pyrites, and penetrated 
 by thin veins of quartz or calcareous spar. It always 
 occurs in nearly horizontal strata, which are abundant 
 in Durham, Northumberland, Yorkshire, and in some 
 other parts of England, and in several parts of Europe. 
 
 The two points which are principally to be attended 
 to with regard to common coal, in an economical point 
 of view, are the intensity of heat and the duration of com- 
 bustion, and these are chiefly influenced by the propor- 
 tion of asphalt contained in the coal. That in which 
 the bituminous part is chiefly maltha, with only a small 
 quantity of asphalt, kindles very easily, burns briskly and 
 quickly with a bright blaze, cakes but little, requires no 
 stirring, and by a single combustion is reduced to loose 
 ashes ; such are the varieties of coal from Lancashire, 
 Scotland, and most of those which .are raised on the 
 western side of England. 
 
 Those on the other hand, in which asphalt prevails, 
 kindle difficultly, and after lying some time on the fire, 
 become soft, and almost in a state of semifusion ; they 
 then cohere and cake, swell considerably, and throw out 
 on every side tubercular scoriae, accompanied by bright 
 jets of flame. In consequence of the cohesion and tu- 
 mefaction of the coals, the passage of the air is inter- 
 rupted, the fire burns hollow, and would be extinguished 
 if the top were not broken in from time to time. The pro- 
 duce of ashes is smaller than in the free burning coals ; 
 the greater part of them being mixed in the carbona- 
 ceous part of the coal and forming grey scorias, com- 
 monly known by the name of cinders, which being burnt 
 again with fresh fuel, give out an intense heat, and are 
 slowly reduced, partly to heavy ashes, partly to slag. The 
 
TO MINER ALOG IT, 241 
 
 best coal of Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire, 
 is of this kind ; it burns slower, and gives out more heat 
 than the preceding, and in general bears a higher price. 
 
 Cannel Coal or Candle Coal, is of a greyish black co- 
 lour, and has a glistening resinous lustre. Its fracture is 
 cpnchoidal. It is brittle, but is the most difficultly fran- 
 gible of all the coals, and is somewhat heavier than jet. 
 It is very inflammable, and burns quickly, but does not 
 cake, and leaves behind 3 or 4 per cent of ashes. 
 
 It occurs in the independent coal formation. It is 
 found in great plenty and remarkably pure, at Wigan in 
 Lancashire, and occasionally in most other English 
 collieries. 
 
 Its chief use is as fuel, but the purest from Wigan may 
 be worked in the turning lathe, from which it receives 
 a high polish ; hence it is shaped into various ornamen- 
 tal utensils ; and when cut into beads, is not to be dis- 
 tinguished from jet. 
 
 The Splent Coal, which abounds at Glimerton, near 
 Edinburgh, is considered to be an inferior variety of 
 cannel coal. 
 
 Glance CoaL Of this there are three varieties, the 
 conchoidal, the columnar, and the slaty. 
 
 Conchoidal Glance Coal is iron black ; it occurs in 
 mass, with a bright shining metallic lustre and a perfect- 
 ly conchoidal fracture. It is moderately hard, frangible, 
 and light. 
 
 It burns without flame or smell, and leaves a white 
 ash. It is of rare occurrence, having been met with 
 only at Newcastle and in the Meissner at Hesse. That 
 from the latter place has been analyzed, and contains 
 nearly 97 of charcoal, 2 of alumine, and 1 of oxide of 
 iron. 
 
 Columnar Glance Coal is of a dark greyish black ; it 
 occurs in mass and possesses a shining lustre, between 
 resinous and metallic. Its fracture is not perfectly con- 
 choidal ; is very soft, frangible, and light, and always 
 occurs in thick, curved, parallel, columnar, distinct con- 
 cretions, having smooth glimmering surfaces. 
 
 It burns without flame or smell, leaving a greyish white 
 ash. It has hitherto only been found at the Meissreria 
 
 X 
 
ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 Hesse, where it occurs, together with other coal, in the 
 newest flcetz-trap formation. 
 
 Slaty Glance Coal, Anthracite, Kilkenny Coal y or 
 Welch Culm, is a dark iron black colour, verging on 
 steel grey ; it occurs in mass ; has a bright metallic 
 lustre ; its fracture is somewhat slaty and curved in one 
 direction, and somewhat conchoidal in the other ; it 
 breaks easily, and is but little heavier than water. 
 
 When pulverized and heated, it becomes red and 
 slowly consumes with a very light lambent flame, with- 
 out smoke, and when pure emits no sulphureous or bitu- 
 minous odour ; it leaves a variable proportion of reddish 
 ashes. 
 
 The Kilkenny coal is somewhat harder than is cus- 
 tomary with this variety. 
 
 Slaty Glance coal consists of carbon, with from 3 to 
 30 per cent, of earth and iron. 
 
 This mineral occurs in imbedded masses, beds, or 
 veins, in primitive, transition, and floetz rocks. It is 
 found in gneiss, in micaceous schistus, in mineral veins, 
 with calcareous spar, native silver, mineral pilch, arid 
 red iron ore ; and has been discovered by Jameson in 
 the independent coal formation in the isle of Arraq. 
 
 -> JET. PITCH COAL.* 
 
 Jet is generally of a velvet black ; it occurs in mas?, 
 and sometimes in the shapes of branches, with a regular 
 woody structure, it has a brilliant, resinous lustre, and 
 a perfectly conchoidal fracture : it is soft and brittle, 
 and is but little heavier than water. 
 
 It burns with a greenish flame and a strong bitu- 
 
 * Coal is faid to exift abundantly near Cape Breton, and in the N. E, 
 part of Nova Scotia. 
 
 The coal of Rhode-lfland is mingled with quartz, and occafionally with 
 fibrous afbeftos. Yet it has but little hydrogen, and Ids bitumen It is 
 overlaid by coarfe fhale, containing numerous and flrong impreflions of 
 ferns. 
 
 The indications of coal along Connecticut river, have raifed high expec- 
 tations, even in the minds of miners and geologifts. But the digging, 
 boring and fearching, have not hitherto difclofed any thing very confide- 
 rable. Tht fmall famples I have feen, abound in bitumen, and icem to 
 be fufficiently inflammable. It has been fuppofed that the bituminous 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 243 
 
 minous smell, leaving a yellowish ash. It occurs princi- 
 pally in marly, schistose, calcareous, or sandy beds. 
 
 It is met with in several places in France : where it is 
 sometimes found enclosing amber. In one place it oc- 
 curs in oblique beds, at a considerable depth, between 
 beds of sandstone. It is likewise found near Wettem- 
 berg in Saxony, and in several places in Spain. It oc- 
 curs in the Prussian amber mines in detached fragments, 
 and is there called black amber. 
 
 In France, Germany, and Spain, it is worked into va- 
 rious trinkets, chiefly worn as part of the mourning habit; 
 but when not sufficiently fine and hard for that purpose, 
 it is used as fuel. 
 
 AMBER. 
 
 '. V vX ; * 
 
 Is a mineral of a yellow or- reddish' brown, or of a 
 greenish or yellowish" white colour. It is found in no- 
 
 fchiftus which contains th figures of fifties, overlays co2ff and the con- 
 jecture carries great weight. 
 
 The coal around New-York, as on Lnng-Tfland and Staten-Ifland, for 
 example, confifts moftly of carbonized or vitriolated wood. The speci- 
 mens of coal from the neighbourhood of Newark, Mi4dletown. and feme, 
 other places, though they afford indications of bitumen, are too fcanty to 
 be of any economical ufe. 
 
 In Pennfylvania, there are two great coal formations ; one fituated S.E 
 of the mountains, and the other N.W. The former is the glance coal, ex- 
 tending almoft from Delaware along the head waters of the Lehigh and 
 Schuylkiil, and to Wilkefbarre on the Sufquehannah, and along the Junia- 
 ta. The latter abounds at Pit* (burgh, and in the adjoining lands along the 
 Allegheny and Monongahela riven., as well as extenfively on both fides 
 of ihe Ohio. (Darby.} 
 
 A confiderahle body of coal exifts on the fouth fide of James river, in 
 Virginia. This is extenfively in ufe for fuel, and tranfported to dmant 
 places, coaftwife. It refts upon a primitive bottom, and is overlaid by 
 ihale, containing vegetable impreffions. (Maclure.) 
 
 * Amber has been found near Crofwick's Creek, a few miles from 
 Trenton. There are two varieties, the white and the yellow. Of the lat- 
 ter, I have a fpecimen from General Wilfon, about two inches long, and 
 an inch broad ; a part of a larger mafs. It has a granular or cryftaJline 
 conftitution internally ; and appears externally, as if it had been moulded 
 r figured by the contact of wood. There vcz fragments offtells connected 
 with it. Thefe are probably marine, as a belemnite was brought along, 
 the better to (how the locality. 1 his amber lies in the alluvial foil, reft- 
 ing upon carbonated wood, fcattered in grains through ihell-marl, and 
 minglt-d with decompofmg pyrites. Though after friction it readily at- 
 tracts light fubftances, it is not fine and tranfparent enough for ornamen- 
 tal purpofes. 
 
244 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION 
 
 dules or rounded masses, from the size of coarse sand U 
 that of a man's head. 
 
 It is sometimes transparent, always translucent, and 
 occasionally encloses insects of the ant species, in re- 
 markable preservation. It is somewhat heavier than 
 water. The strong electric powers of amber are gene- 
 rally known. This property gave rise to the science of 
 electricity, which was so called from HAEKT^V (Electron) 
 the Greek name for amber. It seems to belong exclu- 
 sively to countries of late formation. 
 
 In Greenland, Kamschatka, and Moravia, it is found 
 in grains disseminated through coal. It also occurs on 
 the shores of the Baltic, of Sicily, and of the Adriatic 
 sea ; in Poland, France, Italy, and many other coun- 
 tries ; and occasionally in the beds of gravel in the 
 neighbourhood of London, and on the coast of Norfolk 
 and of Suffolk. Near the sea coast in Prussia, there are 
 regular mines of amber : under a stratum of sand and 
 clay about 20 feet thick, succeeds a stratum of trees 40 
 or 50 feet tbick, half decomposed, impregnated with py- 
 rites and bitumen, and of a blackish brown colour. 
 Parts of these trees are impregnated with amber, which 
 sometimes is found in stalactites depending from them. 
 Under the stratum of trees were found pyrites, sulphate 
 of iron and coarse sand, in which were rounded masses 
 of amber. The mine is worked to the depth of JOO 
 feet, and from the circumstances in which the amber is 
 found, it seems plain that it originates from vegetable 
 juices. 
 
 The real nature and origin of amber are not under- 
 stood : it is generally considered to be a fossil resin, 
 somewhat mineralized. It yields by distillation an acid, 
 called the succinlc acid, (succinum being the Latin for 
 amber) and leaves as the residue, an extremely black, 
 shining coal, which is employed as the basis of the finest 
 black varnishes. When exposed to flame in the open 
 air, amber takes fire and burns with a yellowish flame, 
 giving out a dense, pungent^ aromatic smoke, and leav- 
 ing a light, shining, black coal. 
 
TO MINERALOGY. 
 
 MF.LL1TE. HONETSTONE. 
 
 The MelJite is a rare mineral, having hitherto only 
 been found in Thuringia, in the district of Saal, and m 
 Switzerland. It occurs on bituminous wood, and earthy 
 coal, and is generally accompanied by sulphur. In 
 Switzerland it is accompanied by asphaltum. 
 
 The honeystone is softer than amber, is transparent, 
 brittle, and electric ; possesses a double refraction, and 
 is found crystallized in the octohedron. 
 
 When burnt in the open air, neither smoke nor flame 
 are observable, and it eventually acquires the colour and 
 consistence of chalk. The Mellite is composed of 84 
 parts of mellitic acid, about 14 of alurnine, 2 of silex, 
 anil some iron. Its composition differs essentially from 
 that of every other combustible mineral. 
 
 RETINASPHALT. 
 
 Retinasphalt has been found at Bovey Tracey in De- 
 vonshire, adhering to brown coal in the form of irregu- 
 lar opake lumps of a pale brownish yellow colour, with 
 a glistening lustre and imperfect conchoidal fracture- It 
 is very brittle and soft, and somewhat heavier than wa- 
 ter. When placed on a hot iron, it rnelts, smokes, and 
 burns with a bright flame, giving out a fragrant odour ; 
 it consists of 55 parts of resin, 42 of asphalt, and 3 of 
 earth. 
 
 FOSSIL COPAL.* HIGHGATE RSIN. 
 
 Fossil Copal or Highgate Resin was found in con- 
 siderable quantity in the bed of blue clay of which 
 
 * I have received Foflil Copal from Jucatan, whence it is fometimes> 
 brought to New- York. The mafles are as large occafionally as a man's- 
 fift, of a yellowifh tranfparency and a refinous fracture. It is ufually dug-; 
 out of the ground, and feems occafionally to be wafhed from the upland! 
 into the fea ; for navigators have obferved cepal to be raifed from the boo- 
 torn, with the mud that adheres to their anchors. 
 
 x a 
 
246 ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION, &C. 
 
 Highgate Hill near London, in great measure consists. 
 It is in irregular roundish pieces of a light yellowish 
 dirty brown colour, sometimes transparent and with a 
 resinous lustre ; it is brittle, yields easily to the knife, 
 and is but little heavier than water. It gives out a 
 resinous aromatic odour when heated, and melts into 
 a limpid fluid; when applied to the flame of a can^ 
 die it takes fire, and before the blow-pipe burns away 
 entirely, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Aberthaw Limeftone, 107 
 
 Analcitne 
 
 '54 
 
 Acanticonite 27 
 
 Anatafe 
 
 169 
 
 ACCESSARY CONSTITUENTS 
 
 Andalufite ' 
 
 8a 
 
 OF MINERALS vi 
 
 Anhydrite 
 
 in 
 
 ACIDS x 
 
 Anhydrous Gypfuni 
 
 III 
 
 relative ages of t as Mineral 
 
 Anthophyllite 
 
 33 
 
 Constituents^ x 
 
 ANTIMONY 
 
 209 
 
 Actinolite 40 
 
 native 
 
 209 
 
 Adamantine fpar 74 
 
 grey 
 
 2IO 
 
 Adularia 47 
 
 fulphuret of 
 
 210 
 
 ./Elites 156 
 
 red 
 
 110 
 
 Agate ii 
 
 white 
 
 2IO 
 
 ribbon iz 74 
 
 oxide of 
 
 210 
 
 ruin 12 
 
 Antimonial ochre 
 
 211 
 
 Agalmatolite 50 
 Agaric Mineral 94 
 Alabafter 113 
 
 filver 
 Anthracite 
 Apatite 
 
 1 86 
 24* 
 108 
 
 oriental 93 
 
 Aphrite 
 
 94 
 
 ALKALIES xyii 
 
 Aplome 
 
 27 
 
 analysts of xviii 
 
 Aquam-Sne 
 
 126 
 
 as Mineral Consti- 
 
 ARGU, 
 
 
 tuents xviii 
 
 Argillaceous substances 
 
 73 
 
 ALKALINE MINERALS 135 
 
 rocks 
 
 73 
 
 Allanite 171 
 
 odour 
 
 73 
 
 Alloy of Indium and Olmium 206 
 Allochroite 30 
 
 fchiftus 
 Iron-ftone 
 
 75 
 156 
 
 Almandine 13 
 ruby 86 
 
 Argillo-ferruginous limeftone 
 Arragonite 
 
 107 
 
 IO2 
 
 Alluvial clay 24 
 
 Arfenic 
 
 177 
 
 Alum 86 
 
 native 
 
 178 
 
 earth 87 
 
 oxide of 
 
 17* 
 
 Hone 87 
 
 fulphuret of 
 
 178 
 
 ilate 88 
 
 Arfenical pyrites 
 
 179 
 
 ALUMINE 78 
 
 cobalt 
 
 181 
 
 fubfulphate of 86 
 
 antimonial filve? 
 
 186 
 
 fulphate of 86 
 
 Arfeniate of iron 
 
 1 60 
 
 ALUMIUM 73 
 
 copper 
 
 198 
 
 Amalgam, native 223 
 
 lead 
 
 217 
 
 filver 323 
 
 Afbeftus 
 
 34 
 
 Amazonian-done 59 
 
 ligniform 
 
 35 
 
 Amber 243 
 
 common 
 
 36 
 
 Amethyft 3 
 
 Afteria 
 
 75 
 
 oriental 75 
 
 Afparagus-ftone 
 
 109 
 
 Amianthus 3J 
 
 Avanturine 
 
 4 
 
 AMMONIA 145 
 
 Augite 
 
 37 
 
 fulphate of 145 
 
 Automalite 
 
 79 
 
 muriate of -145 
 
 Aurum graphicum 
 
 208' 
 
 Amygdaloid 69 
 
 Axc-ftone 
 
 5$ 
 
INDEX, 
 
 Axinite 
 
 29 1 Briftol diamonds 
 
 Azurite 
 
 81 
 
 Brittle fulphuret of filver 
 
 
 
 filver glance 
 
 Baikalite 
 
 3^ 
 
 Bronzite 
 
 Balas Ruby 
 
 85 
 
 Brown coal 
 
 BARIUM 
 
 129 
 
 earthy 
 
 Barytes 
 
 129 
 
 compact 
 
 carbonate of 
 
 130 
 
 iron- ore 
 
 fulphate of 
 
 
 iron-ochre 
 
 Bafalt 
 
 *64 
 
 fpar 
 
 Bafakic hornblende 
 Bafanite 
 Beilftein 
 
 36 
 
 7 
 59 
 
 volcanic hyacinth 
 Cacholong 
 Calcareous fpar 
 
 Bell-metal-ore 
 
 1 66 CALCIUM" 
 
 Beryl 
 
 126 
 
 Calc-finter 
 
 BISMUTH 
 
 *75 
 
 Calamine 
 
 native 
 
 176 
 
 eledric 
 
 fulphuret of 
 
 176 
 
 Calp 
 
 ochre 
 
 177 
 
 Cannel coal 
 
 oxide of 
 
 177 
 
 CARBON 
 
 Bifmuthic filver 
 
 188 
 
 mineral 
 
 Biftre 
 
 23 
 
 Carbonate of barytes 
 
 Bitterfpar 
 
 104 
 
 copper 
 
 Bitumen 
 
 235 
 
 lead 
 
 elaftic 
 
 2 15 
 
 lime 
 
 compact 
 
 "235 
 
 magnefia 
 
 Bituminized wood 
 
 238 
 
 potafh 
 
 Bituminous cinnabar 
 
 324 
 
 filver 
 
 limeftonc 
 
 99 
 
 foda 
 
 Black chalk 
 
 13 
 
 ftrontian 
 
 coal 
 
 240 
 
 zinc 
 
 copper 
 
 
 Carbuncle 
 
 iron- ore 
 
 *5? 
 
 Carnelian 
 
 filver 
 
 188 
 
 Carrara marble 
 
 lead 
 
 *33 
 
 Cat's- eye 
 
 Black-wad 
 
 162 
 
 Cawk 
 
 Blende 
 
 2*19 
 
 Celeftine 
 
 Blood- ftone 
 
 12 
 
 Cerin 
 
 Blue carbonate of copper 
 
 I 9 6 
 
 Cerite 
 
 felfpar 
 
 82 
 
 CERIUM 
 
 iron-ore 
 
 158 
 
 Chabafie 
 
 lead -ore 
 
 
 Chalcedony 
 
 fpinelle 
 
 53 81 
 
 Chalk 
 
 Bog iron-ore 
 
 
 black 
 
 Bolognian-ftone 
 
 132 
 
 red 
 
 Bole 
 
 33 
 
 Chert 
 
 , 
 
 armemc 
 
 
 Chiaftolite 
 
 brown 
 
 23 
 
 CHLORINE 
 
 red 
 
 
 Chlorite 
 
 yellotr 
 
 *3 
 
 common 
 
 Boracitc 
 
 122 
 
 fcaly 
 
 Borate of magnefia 
 
 123 
 
 flate 
 
 foda 
 
 X4I 
 
 Chlorophane 
 
 BORON 
 
 xiii CHROME 
 
 Botryolite 
 
 2 1 6 (Chroma te of iron 
 
 Bright white- cobalt 
 
 llftj lead 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Chryfoberyll 
 
 79 
 
 COPPER, carbonate of 196 
 
 Chryfocolla 
 
 196 
 
 emerald 197 
 
 Chryfolite 
 
 109 118 
 
 fahlerz 193 
 
 opalefcent 
 
 79 
 
 glance 192 
 
 oriental 
 
 75 79 
 
 grey 193 
 
 of Vefuvius 
 
 20 
 
 martial arfeniate of 200 
 
 Chryfoprafe 
 
 t 
 
 muriate of 197 
 
 Cimolite 
 
 12 
 
 native 191 
 
 Cinnabar 
 
 224 
 
 nickel 183 
 
 hepatic 
 
 22^ 
 
 pyrites 194 
 
 bituminous 
 Cinnamonftone 
 
 22; 
 22 
 
 purple 195 
 phofphate of 198 
 
 Clay 
 
 24 
 
 red oxide of 195 
 
 alluvial 
 
 . 5^ 
 
 ruby 195 
 
 fire 
 
 2< 
 
 fulphate of 197 
 
 indurated 
 
 26 
 
 fulphuret of 19* 
 
 iron 
 
 6 9 
 
 white 194 
 
 iron-ftone 
 
 156 
 
 yellow 194 
 
 pipe 
 
 5 
 
 Sornifh diamonds 3 
 
 potter's 
 
 
 Corundum 74 
 
 porcelain 
 
 *5 
 
 3ottam marble 97 
 
 flate 
 
 62 
 
 Crofs-ftone 34 
 
 Clinkftone 
 
 56 
 
 Cryolite 88 
 
 Coal 
 
 
 Cubic Zeolite 54 
 
 black 
 
 240 
 
 Cupreous arfeniate of iron 200 
 
 brown 
 
 238 
 
 Cyanite 77 
 
 earthy 
 
 238 
 
 
 compact 
 
 
 Datholite 116 
 
 cannel 
 
 241 
 
 Diamond 229 
 
 glance 
 
 241 
 
 Diafpore 78 
 
 columnar 
 
 241 
 
 Dioptafe 197 
 
 conchoid*] 
 
 241 
 
 Dipyre 17 
 
 flaty 
 
 242 
 
 Dolomite 105 
 
 Kilkenny 
 
 242 
 
 Double- refracting- fpar 9* 
 
 Kimmeridge 
 
 70 
 
 )rawing-flate 13 
 
 moor 
 
 % ^Q 
 
 
 pitch 
 flate 
 
 242 
 240 
 
 EARTHS xiv 
 analysis of the XV 
 
 fplent 
 
 241 
 
 as mineral constituents XV 
 
 COBALT 
 
 180 
 
 r dative ages of the XVI 
 
 arfenical 
 
 181 
 
 
 bright white 
 
 181 Earthy cobalt 182 
 
 earthy 
 
 182 
 
 Egyptian jafpcr 31 
 
 grey 
 red 
 
 181 
 182 
 
 pebble 31 
 Eifenkeifel 6 
 
 fulphate of 
 
 182 
 
 Eifenthon 69 
 
 Coecolite 
 
 38 
 
 Elaftic bitumen 235 
 
 Colophonite 
 
 41 
 
 Electric calamine 221 
 
 COMBUSTIBLES 
 
 xxiv 
 
 ELEMENTS OF MINERALS vi 
 
 CO MBUSTIBLE MINERALS 225 
 
 Emerald 127 
 
 Common limeftone 
 Compact limeftone 
 
 97 
 97 
 
 copper 197 
 oriental 75 
 
 bitumen 
 
 
 Emery 76 
 
 COPPER 
 
 189 
 
 Epidote 27 
 
 arfeniate 
 
 198 
 
 Epfom falts 122 
 
 black 
 
 195 Euclafe 125 
 
INDEX. 
 
 EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS 
 
 Sritftone 
 
 
 [xxvii 
 
 Jypfum 
 
 Fahlerz 
 
 193 
 
 anhydrous 
 
 Falfe Topazes 
 
 13 
 
 earthy 
 
 Felfpar 
 
 47 
 
 plumofe 
 
 blue 
 
 8z 
 
 
 common 
 
 48 
 
 laematites red 
 
 compact 
 
 48 
 
 brown 
 
 glafly 
 
 49 
 
 black 
 
 green 
 
 48 
 
 larmotome 
 
 Labradore 
 
 49 
 
 lauyne 
 
 lamellar 
 
 48 
 
 ieavy-fpar 
 
 tough 
 
 59 
 
 columnar 
 
 Fettftein 
 
 57 
 
 granular 
 
 Fibrolite : 
 
 76 
 
 ieliotrope 
 
 Fire clay 
 
 26 
 
 iepatic Cinnabar 
 
 marble 
 
 97 
 
 lepatite 
 
 Fiflveye ftone 
 
 45 
 
 iighgate Refin 
 
 Flint 
 
 9 
 
 loiiey ftone 
 
 ferruginous 
 
 9 
 
 iorn ftone 
 
 Flinty flatc 
 
 7 1 
 
 iorn filver 
 
 Flos Ferri 
 
 104 
 
 quickfilver 
 
 Fluate of lime 
 
 109 
 
 lyacinth 
 
 Fluor 
 
 109 
 
 "*', brown volcanic 
 
 FlA'ORINE 
 
 xii 
 
 of Compoftella 
 
 Foflil copal 
 
 345 
 
 iyalite 
 
 Fuller's Earth 
 
 63 
 
 riydrargillite 
 
 
 
 HYDROGEN 
 
 Gabronite 
 
 62 
 
 i-lydrophane 
 
 Gadolinite 
 
 1*9 
 
 Hyperfthene 
 
 Gahnite 
 
 79 
 
 
 Galena 
 
 ftI2 
 
 Iceland fpar 
 
 Garnet 
 
 ai 
 
 xhthyophthalmite 
 
 noble or precious 
 
 Xj 
 
 !docrafe 
 
 Glance coal 
 
 441 
 
 [ndicolite 
 
 columnar 
 
 241 
 
 Indurated clay 
 
 conchoidal 
 
 241 
 
 flatc 
 
 flat/ 
 
 
 talc 
 
 < copper 
 
 19* 
 
 IRIDIUM 
 
 Glauberite 
 
 "5 
 
 [RON 
 
 GLUCINE 
 
 
 arfeniate of 
 
 GLUCINUM 
 
 *2J 
 
 chromate of 
 
 GOLD . 
 
 loo 
 
 clay 
 
 native 
 
 aoi 
 
 cupreous arfeniate of 
 
 Graphite 
 
 232 
 
 glance 
 
 Granular limeftone 
 
 94 
 
 native 
 
 Graphic tellurium 
 
 ao8 
 
 meteoric 
 
 Green earth 
 
 4 ( 
 
 ochre 
 
 felfpar 
 
 48 
 
 ore, blue 
 
 vitriol 
 
 
 bog 
 
 carbonate of copper 
 Grenatite 
 
 196 
 78 
 
 black- 
 haematites 
 
 rey antimony 
 cobalt 
 
 aio 
 18 
 
 brown 
 haematites 
 
 A ^# copper 
 
 19' 
 
 magnetic 
 
 tnanganefe 
 
 16 
 
 pea 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Iron ore pifiform 
 
 J57 
 
 Jme, tungftate of 
 
 167 
 
 red 
 
 152 
 
 jimeftone 
 
 90 
 
 haematites 
 
 153 
 
 Aberthaw 
 
 107 
 
 phofphated 
 
 158 
 
 bituminous 
 
 99 
 
 pyrites 
 
 3 cQ 
 
 common 
 
 97 
 
 fpathofe 
 iulphate 
 
 158 
 159 
 
 compact, 
 granular 
 
 97 
 94 
 
 fulphuret of 
 
 150 
 
 magnefian 
 
 106 
 
 tungftate of 
 
 167 
 
 primitive 
 
 94 
 
 Iferine 
 
 170 
 
 Jthomarga 
 
 
 
 
 Lithographic art 
 
 108 
 
 Jade 
 
 58 
 
 !,oam 
 
 24 
 
 common 
 
 58 
 
 L,umachelli marble 
 
 97 
 
 Jargoon 
 
 124 
 
 L,ychnites 
 
 95 
 
 Jargoon of Ceylon 
 
 124 
 
 Madreporite 
 
 101 
 
 Jafper 
 
 ii 
 
 MAGNESIA 
 
 117 
 
 oriental 
 
 12 
 
 borate of 
 
 122 
 
 ribbon 
 
 12 
 
 carbonate of 
 
 12O 
 
 Jenite 
 
 14 
 
 native 117 
 
 121 
 
 Jet 
 JewVhoufe tin 
 
 242 
 164 
 
 fulphate of 
 Magnefian limeftone 
 
 121 
 106 
 
 
 
 Magnefite 
 
 120 
 
 Kaolin 
 
 26 49 
 
 MAGNESIUM 
 
 117 
 
 Kilkenny coal 
 Kiilas 
 
 242 
 62 
 
 Magnetic iron ore 
 Malachite 
 
 196 
 
 Kimmeridge coal 
 
 70 
 
 MANGANESE 
 
 161 
 
 Koupholite 
 
 19 
 
 grey 
 
 161 
 
 Kuplernickel 
 
 183 
 
 phofphate of 
 
 163 
 
 
 
 fulphuret of 
 
 162 
 
 Labradore Felfpar 
 
 49 
 
 white 
 
 16* 
 
 Lapis Lazuli 
 
 
 Marble, Carrara 
 
 95 
 
 Latialite 
 
 53 
 
 cottam 
 
 97 
 
 Laumonite 
 
 16 
 
 fire 
 
 97 
 
 Lava 
 
 j, 
 
 lumachelli 
 
 97 
 
 Lazulite 
 
 81 
 
 (lychnites) 
 
 95 
 
 LEAD 
 
 21 
 
 of Luni 
 
 95 
 
 arfeniate of 
 
 21 
 
 Parian 
 
 95 
 
 carbonate of 
 
 21, 
 
 (Pentelicus) 
 
 95 
 
 chromate of 
 
 21 
 
 ruin 
 
 97 
 
 mo ly bate of 
 
 21 
 
 ftutuary 
 
 94 
 
 muriate of 
 
 21 
 
 verd antique 
 
 97 
 
 ore, blue 
 
 21 
 
 Marekanite 
 
 52 
 
 phofphate of 
 
 21 
 
 Marl 
 
 102 
 
 fulphate of 
 fulphuret of 
 
 21 
 21 
 
 Martial arfeniate of copper 
 Meerfchaum 
 
 200 
 32 
 
 triple fulphuret of 
 
 21 
 
 Meionite 
 
 80 
 
 Lepidolite 
 
 5 
 
 Melanite 
 
 26 
 
 Leucite 
 
 4 
 
 MclJite 
 
 245 
 
 Lias 
 
 IO 
 
 Mcllitic acid 
 
 XIV 
 
 Lilalite 
 
 5 
 
 Melilite 
 
 68 
 
 LIME 
 
 8S 
 
 Menaccanite 
 
 170 
 
 carbonate of 
 
 9 C 
 
 > Menilite 
 
 8 
 
 fluare ot 
 
 109 MERCURY 
 
 222 
 
 nun.e of 
 
 115 Mcfotype 
 
 43 
 
 phofphate of 
 iulphate of 
 
 108 MetalliferiMU ore, description of 
 
 II2< METALLIFEROUS MINERALS 
 
 XX 
 
INDEX. 
 
 METALS 
 
 xvii 
 
 i Nitre 
 
 u comparative ages of the XX 
 
 NITROGEN 
 
 comparative vieiu 
 
 of 
 
 Noble opal 
 
 the 
 
 XXI 
 
 
 Meteoric iren 
 
 149 
 
 Obfidian 
 
 Mica 
 
 42 
 
 Ochre 
 
 Miemite 
 
 104 
 
 red 
 
 MINERAL ELEMENTS 
 
 V 
 
 Octohedrite 
 
 Mineral caoutchouc 
 
 335 
 
 Olivin 
 
 oil 
 
 333 
 
 Onyx 
 
 Mifpickel 
 
 179 
 
 eye 
 
 Mocha-ftone 
 
 ii 
 
 Oolite 
 
 Molybdate of lead 
 
 218 
 
 Opal 
 
 MOLYBDENA 
 
 163 
 
 common 
 
 sulphuret of 
 
 163 
 
 ferruginous 
 
 Moon-ftone 
 Moor- coal 4 
 
 48 
 
 jafper 
 noble 
 
 Mountain cork 
 
 35 
 
 femi 
 
 leather 
 
 35 
 
 wood 
 
 wood 
 Muller's glafs 
 
 
 Dpalefcent chryfolite 
 Oriental alabafter 
 
 Muriacite 
 Muriate of ammonia 
 
 in 
 
 145 
 
 atnethyft 
 chryfolite 
 
 sr 
 
 197 
 216 
 
 emerald 
 jafper 
 
 filver 
 
 188 
 
 ruby 
 
 foda 
 
 142 
 
 topaz 
 
 Mufcovy glafs 
 
 42 
 
 Orpiment 
 OSMIUM 
 
 Nacrite 
 
 49 
 
 Oxide of antimony 
 
 Naptha 
 
 
 arfenic 
 
 Native amalgam 
 
 223 
 
 bifmuth 
 
 antimony, 
 
 209 
 
 copper 
 
 arfenic 
 
 178 
 
 tin 
 
 bifmuth 
 
 176 
 
 OXYGEN 
 
 copper 
 
 181 
 
 
 gold 
 
 201 
 
 Parian marble 
 
 iron 
 
 148 
 
 PALLADIUM 
 
 magnefia 117 121 
 
 native 
 
 NATIVE METALS, &c. 
 
 147 
 
 Pea iron-ore 
 
 meteoric iron 
 
 149 
 
 Pea-ftone 
 
 minium 
 
 214 
 
 Pearlftone 
 
 palladium 
 
 207 
 
 Pearlfpar 
 
 platina 
 
 204 
 
 Petroleum 
 
 quickfilver 
 
 323 
 
 Petuntze 
 
 filver 
 
 185 
 
 Pharmacolite 
 
 fulphur 
 
 227 
 
 Phofphate of copper 
 
 tellurium 
 
 207 
 
 iron 
 
 Natrolite 
 
 44 
 
 lead 
 
 Natron 
 
 140 
 
 lime 
 
 Nickel 
 
 183 
 
 manganefe 
 
 copper 
 
 183 
 
 PHOSPHORUS 
 
 ochre 
 
 184 
 
 Pierre a batir 
 
 Nigrine 
 
 169 
 
 de tnppes 
 
 Nitrate of lime 
 
 "5 
 
 Finite 
 
 potato 
 
 137 Pipe clay 
 
 95 
 
 206 
 [207 
 157 
 
 TOO 
 
 50 
 
 105 
 
 *34 
 48 
 116 
 198 
 158 
 216 
 108 
 163 
 
 XI 
 
 99 
 JtZ 
 
 77 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Pifiform iron ore 
 
 157 
 
 Red haematites iron-ore 
 
 Pifolile 
 
 100 
 
 iron -ore 
 
 Pitch- blende 
 
 173 
 
 ochre 
 
 Pitchftone 
 
 55 
 
 fchori 
 
 of Menil-moutant 
 
 8 
 
 filver 
 
 Plafma 
 
 11 
 
 vitriol 
 
 PLATINA 
 
 aca 
 
 Meddle 
 
 native 
 
 20J 
 
 ' etinafphalt 
 
 Pleonafte 
 
 to 
 
 RHODIUM 
 
 Plumbago 
 
 232 
 
 -< ibbon agate 
 
 Plumhiferous tellurium 
 
 208 
 
 jaiper 
 
 Porcelain clay 
 
 25 
 
 loe-ftone 
 
 Porcellanite 
 
 26 
 
 *ock-falt 
 
 POTASH 
 
 135 
 
 ,ottenflone 
 
 carbonate of 
 
 136 
 
 :iubellite 
 
 nitrate of 
 
 137 
 
 .! ubicelle 
 
 POTASSIUM 
 
 135 
 
 Ruby, almandine 
 
 Potftone 
 
 39 
 
 balas 
 
 Potter's clay 
 Prafe 
 
 25 
 4 
 
 oriental 
 fpinelle 
 
 Prehnite 
 
 18 
 
 copper 
 
 Pumice 
 
 44 
 
 filver 
 
 Purple copper 
 
 193 
 
 Ruin agate 
 
 Pycnite 
 
 85 
 
 Rutil 
 
 Pyrites, arfenical 
 
 179 
 
 Rutillite 
 
 common 
 
 1 ci 
 
 
 copper 
 
 194 
 
 Sahlite 
 
 iron 
 
 150 
 
 Sal ammoniac 
 
 magnetic 
 
 151 
 
 Saline minerals 
 
 tin 
 
 166 
 
 Salt, common 
 
 white 
 
 15 * 
 
 rock 
 
 Pyrope 
 
 39 
 
 fprings 
 
 Pyrophyfolite 
 Pyroxene 
 
 84 
 
 37 
 
 Saltpetre 
 Sandftone 
 
 
 
 Sanidin 
 
 Quartz 
 compacH 
 cryftaBized 
 
 a 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 Sapphire 
 Sapphirin 
 Sappare 
 
 fat 
 
 5 
 
 Sarcolite 
 
 ferruginous 
 
 6 
 
 Sard 
 
 fibrous 
 
 4 
 
 Sardonyx 
 
 granular 
 
 4 
 
 Satin fpar 
 
 milk 
 
 5 
 
 Sauffurite, 
 
 pfeudomorphous 
 
 5 
 
 Scaly talc 
 
 rofe 
 
 5 
 
 chloride 
 
 fpongiform 
 
 5 
 
 Scapolite 
 
 QUICKSILVER 
 
 22Z 
 
 Scheelin 
 
 horn 
 
 224 
 
 Schiefer fpar 
 
 native 
 
 223 
 
 Schiller fpar 
 
 
 
 Schorl 
 
 Realgar 
 
 178 
 
 red 
 
 Red antimony 
 
 210 
 
 violet 
 
 bole 
 chalk 23 
 cobalt 
 
 154 
 
 182 
 
 Schorlaceous beryl 
 Scotch pebble 
 Selenite 
 
 copper 
 
 *95 Semi-opal 
 
 154 
 154 
 154 
 
 169 
 
 3 T 54 
 
 245 
 
 20$ 
 
 12 7* 
 
 12 7* 
 
 100 
 
 14* 
 
 77 
 
 I 
 
 86 
 86 
 
 75 
 
 85 
 
 195 
 
 187 
 
 12 
 
 l6 9 
 
 170 
 
 38 
 
 145 
 
 X 
 
 142 
 142 
 143 
 J37 
 7 
 
 49 
 75 
 53 
 77 
 
 12 
 
 93 
 
 59 
 49 
 60 
 
 58 
 167 
 
 93 
 37 
 61 
 
 44 169 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 112 
 
Serpentine 
 
 119 Spodumeof 
 
 47 
 
 common 
 
 120' 
 
 Stalagamite 
 
 93 
 
 noble 
 
 120 
 
 Star-done 
 
 75 
 
 primitive 
 
 I2CK 
 
 Stangenfpath 
 
 
 Shale 
 
 69- 
 
 Staurolite 
 
 78 
 
 * bituminous 
 
 70 
 
 Statuary marble 
 
 94 
 
 brown bituminous 
 
 7' 
 
 Steatite 
 
 15 
 
 Siberite 
 
 44 
 
 Stilbite 
 
 17 
 
 SILEX 
 
 I 
 
 Stinkftone 
 
 99 
 
 Siliceous fchiftas 
 
 71 
 
 Stourbridge clay 
 
 26 
 
 earth 
 
 I 
 
 Striped jafper 
 
 13 7t 
 
 S1LICIUM 
 
 I 
 
 STRONTIAN 
 
 j-r* 
 
 SILVER 
 
 184 
 
 carbonate of 
 
 x '33 
 
 Amalgam 
 antimonial 
 
 223, 
 
 IS 
 
 fulphate of 
 Strontianite 
 
 134 
 
 133 
 
 bifmuthic 
 
 188 
 
 STRONTIUM 
 
 133 
 
 black 
 
 188 
 
 Subfulphate of alumine 
 
 86 
 
 brittle fulphurejt of 
 carbonate of 
 
 187 
 188 
 
 Succinic acid 
 Sulphate of alumine 
 
 xiii 
 86 
 
 glance 
 
 187 
 
 ammonia 
 
 1 45 
 
 horn 
 
 188 
 
 barytes 
 
 *3 r 
 
 muriate of 
 
 188 
 
 cobalt 
 
 182 
 
 cative 
 
 185 
 
 copper 
 
 197 
 
 red 
 
 187 
 
 iron 
 
 1 59 
 
 ruby 
 
 
 lead 
 
 
 fulphuret of 
 
 186 
 
 lime 
 
 112 
 
 vitreous 
 
 1-86 
 
 magnefia 
 
 X2X 
 
 white 
 
 187 
 
 foda 
 
 141 
 
 Sfate-clay 
 
 69 
 
 ftrontian 
 
 134 
 
 coal 
 
 24 
 
 zinc 
 
 221 
 
 flinty 
 
 7 1 
 
 SULPHUR xxvi 22.? 
 
 indurated 
 
 
 native 
 
 227 
 
 fpar 
 
 93 
 
 volcanic 
 
 229 
 
 Smaragdite 
 
 40 
 
 Sulphnret of antimony 
 
 210 
 
 Soap-ftone 
 
 59 
 
 arfenic 
 
 I 7 8 
 
 S.ODA 
 
 138 
 
 bifmuth 
 
 176 
 
 borate of 
 
 141 
 
 copper 
 
 192 
 
 carbonate of 
 
 139 
 
 iron 
 
 150 
 
 muriate of 
 
 
 lead 
 
 212 
 
 fulpbate of 
 Sodalite 
 
 14* 
 
 manganefe 
 molybdena - 
 
 l62 
 163 
 
 SQDIU1S/I 
 
 138 
 
 filvcr 
 
 186 
 
 Spmmite 
 
 80 
 
 tin 
 
 166 
 
 Spar, calcareous 
 
 90 
 
 zinc 
 
 210 
 
 double refracting 
 
 92 
 
 Surturbrand 
 
 238 
 
 Iceland 
 
 92 
 
 Swimming-ftone 
 
 5 
 
 fatin 
 
 93 
 
 Swine-ftone 
 
 99 
 
 fchiefer 
 
 93 
 
 
 
 flate 
 
 93 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 XXV 
 
 Spathofe iron 
 
 158 
 
 Tabular fpar 
 
 14 
 
 Sphen* 
 
 170 
 
 Tak 
 
 45 
 
 Spioelle ruby 
 
 85 
 
 indurated 
 
 46 
 
 blue 
 
 53 81 
 
 fcaly 
 
 49 
 
 xincifcfous 
 
 79 
 
 Venetian 
 
 46 
 
 Spincllane 
 
 68 
 
 Tantalite 
 
 173 
 
 .Splent coal 
 
 241 TANTALIUJfl 
 
 
TELLURIUM 
 
 207 Vitriol, gree* 
 
 Tellurium, native 
 
 207 
 
 red 
 
 graphic 
 
 208 
 
 Volcanic glafe 
 
 plumbiferoaa 
 
 loft 
 
 fulphut 
 
 TERMS, explanation of 
 
 xxvi 
 
 
 Terra figillata 
 
 23 
 
 Wacke 
 
 Thallfte 
 
 27 
 
 WATR 
 
 Thumerftone 
 
 
 Wavellite 
 
 TIN 
 
 164 
 
 Welch culm 
 
 oxide 6f 
 
 165 
 
 Wernerite 
 
 pyrites 
 fulphuret eC 
 
 166 
 166 
 
 WhetHate 
 Whin-ftone 
 
 wood 
 
 166 
 
 White antimony 
 
 Titanite 
 
 169 
 
 copper 
 
 TITANIUM 
 
 168 
 
 manganefe 
 
 Toadftone 
 
 69 
 
 filvef 
 
 Topaz 
 
 83 
 
 Wither ite 
 
 oriental 
 
 
 Wolfram 
 
 rock 
 
 84 
 
 Wood opal 
 
 Touchftone 
 
 7' 
 
 ftone 
 
 Tourmalines 
 
 
 tin 
 
 Tremolite 
 
 32 
 
 
 Triphane 
 
 47 
 
 Yellow bole 
 
 Triple fulphuret of lead: 
 
 214 
 
 copper 
 
 Tripoli 
 
 22 
 
 Yenite 
 
 Trona 
 
 139 
 
 YTTRIA 
 
 Tufa 
 
 102 
 
 Yttrotantalitte 
 
 TUNGSTEN 
 
 I6 7 
 
 YTTRIUM 
 
 Tungftate of iron 
 
 167 
 
 
 lime 
 
 l6 7 
 
 Zeolite, cubic 
 
 Turquoiffe 
 
 197 
 
 ZINC 
 
 
 
 carbonate of 
 
 URANIUM 
 
 172 
 
 fulphate 
 
 Uranite 
 
 162 
 
 fulphuret 
 
 Uran-ochre 
 
 173 
 
 Zinciferous fpinelle 
 
 
 
 ZIRCON 
 
 Verd antique 
 
 97 
 
 Zirconite 
 
 Vefuvian 
 
 20 
 
 ZIRCONIUM 
 
 Violet fchorl of Danphine 
 
 30 
 
 Zoyfite 
 
 Vitreous filver 
 
 186 
 
 18* 
 51 
 
 229 
 
 69 
 ix 
 
 67 
 
 aio 
 194 
 i6z 
 187 
 130 
 
 6? 
 
 166 
 
 23 
 194 
 
 14 
 ia8 
 
 374 
 
 54 
 
 79 
 123 
 
 124 
 
 123 
 
 19 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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