SMITHSONIAN
LIBRARIES —

4 Qe = = =z GGA |
== ox = eet
2 SS < a < 3
a Se . ae ia
2 vam ey = om Ss
Lee ONT SONTAN INSTITUTION NOILALILSNI NVINOSHLINS
ae iS 6 a z
= hay a rs
=. a 5 9) =
E * ik S a =
wn” m ” m w
2 wn z= wo RY cee
pT Sy INOS Te ee 1yvud rioul BRARI ES | SMITHSONIAN
E = 2) Se <
V7, 5 = Biel S . = Ss
MY 7) 7) Yj 72) no a
: ac Oo Uypeyy a 2) —
Y/ ES = L4G r & = i
i SG =
wo Ue me ap) Bl cS ”
ARIES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILNLILSNI

NVINOSHLIWS

(79) => ” = ne n
pe iO a a Ca
oa Aa ee _- Ke ‘ ae
O i fy onl [aa ea Xs oc
ge 4 = <x A YX Nee
fa Wy aur o 5 N o
, a “Gi 3S = 3 ci
y O Zz iy ed ay Oe
LILSNI NVINOSHLINS S3IYVYEIT LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN _INSTITUTI
> S aS = a
oo s — ow = wo
Be) ESQ § > eee = Ut
2 WE = E ss
— NOs ae i a
wo = w 2 wo

ARIES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILMLILSNI NVINOSHLINS SAIYVUE

ps Zi ie te) = 7)

= < = = = Wy
i oa PA eS. = = = WY;
NA 5 S WA Ag ee,
SS Se a z
JLILSNI NVINOSHLINS Saiuvdad 11 LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTI

2 if 2 eo Ps

n 7) = wo

a e 4 a a td

= : = a : ear

Sc es e S ie

. ma :

Z ey S ay S
ARIES SMITHSONIAN NOILNLILSNI SAIYUVYE

Pes Ci = c =

2 ‘ to 2) oan oO

a = = Se rm

2. a = nae =

te 5 E ae E

rl = ie A Rin -

”

a 2 = o . 2
TEI SSN ENYINOSHIUNS 2A 1uVvy aril BRARI ES SMITHSONIAN

Z = ee a x
Sfte 5 z = =
Mp 3 | a : a
Yj ra a = = =
A : ast Fs
ARIES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILONLILSNI NVINOSHLIWS Sa Luvs

Wy pe — b cihssd es of?
= tc a a , =
c Pe: e ae c
S a = nd ay
Bie Mec iS zh 2
|
RES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILNLILSNI” NVINOSHLINS” S31uvual
m 2 5 6 a as
2 2 2 2 5
>: Ca 2 a =
— %, A — eo) 5
7 Fs — Ys E
. 2 D z o z
LSNI S3IMVUGIT_ LIBRARIES INSTITUTIOI
z 2 Sh ee ite = af
4 = 4 tf, od Wy . z Xs = z ‘S : .
iif 9 B\FDY OSS = S We
Y r re) Uy Gp = oy \ \. oO He \
yp = 2 = “XS Zz E
a Sie a ae a ,
RIES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILNLILSNI NVINOSHLINS S31NVUSI’
Se gS - @ WY =
ce Wy px S =i. \
ao yl, ss oc c YS Ps
Ly = Pr = Ss om
is cee a 2 ay
ISNI_NVINOSHLINS. SSINVUGIT LIBRARIES INSTITUTION
a. Ge : S 2
Qy & 2 e =
WO 2 ; - .
MS" 5 : be ;
~ AY z m z bh
= w = wn

SES

NVINOSHLINS S3iYVYSIT_LIB

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILNLILSNI

NVINOSHLINS S3iuVvudt”

= * ” z= a ;
- i @% z s WY
z Sj it fy, = = Yr,
\. S = GEG: S os Gers
\\ 2 S ey as 2 oO Y Leg:
S F 2,0 YY’ & 24 7
i = a z
LSNI_NVINOSHLIWS LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
see i a 2 nif : 2
ti tus
w rea wn us w
= ie a = [oad Zs, 2
c ,< = < ses.
Stn | NG" es 2 a a
Saale 2 = :
-!
FES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILMLILSNI NVINOSHLINS SaIlNVUuaI-
=z Ee z = z
= es 2 mn =
5 a = 2 iE
rer a — jess: =
oD a = a
2 n = ie ein gr=
LSNI SS1YVYAIT_ LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN iNSTITUTION
z Z ee =) ak
fz EI aor ae lied AS ar = WY
3 2 hy S We KR = DS Ws
ae 2 "Gy = S\. 8 =
— — tfe oy ete: . — ae
5 = a » 2B 2 .
ES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILNLILSNI_NVINOSHLINS saluvugi
~ ENO sti pen, ER RA Boro Oda OC CL

ales OF -THE

(ON Ne

NATURAL HISTOR i.

IN‘o. +.

AUGUST, 1888.

SOME NEW YORK MINERALS AND THEIR LOCALITIES,

Prepared for the New York State Museum of Natural History,
BY

BRAN Ke i tNAS ONE

PRINTED FOR THE MUSEUM.

ALBANY:
CHARLES VAN BENTHUYSEN & SONS,
1888.

NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM |

O-93299/
CEG del

Tor THE

NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM

OF

Rew AL PISTOR Y.

No. +t.

AUGUST, 1888.

SOME NEW YORK MINERALS AND THEIR LOCALITIES,

Prepared for the New York State Museum of Natural History,
BY

FRANK L. NASON.

PRINTED FOR THE MUSEUM.

ALBANY:
. CHARLES VAN BENTHUYSEN & SONS,
1888.

PENS OD UC TiON.

This bulletin has been prepared at my request by Mr. Frank L.
Nason, of the Geological Survey of New Jersey, formerly of the
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy.
| Mr. Nason was employed for a time by the State Museum to assist -
in the work of arranging for exhibition the general collection of min-
erals; and, also, in collecting minerals in Essex and Warren counties.
_ Three suites of minerals in the general mineralogical collection of the
| Museum are noticed in this bulletin. And it is divided into the
following parts, descriptive of these three several collections:
| f. 1. A description of a new locality of fine brown tourmaline and
associated minerals, brought to the notice of the Museum by Mr.
YC. E. Beecher, consulting paleontologist of the New York State
/Museum and assistant in the Yale University Museum. ,|¢ &
2. A notice of some pyroxenes and associated minerals, found at
the Chilson Hill mine, in the town of Ticonderoga, Essex county, by
C. E. Beecher and Frank L. Nason.

3. Calcites collected by the late Prof. E. Emmons, State Geologist,
at the lead mines of Rossie, St. Lawrence county, N, Y.

The first and second collections, here mentioned, represent the direct

work of the Museum within the past two years; the last represents,
also, although indirectly, work done about fifty years ago.
_ No attempt has been made to give a strictly technical description
of the minerals noticed, but it is hoped that this bulletin may serve
to direct the attention of students to them and to some special fea-
tures of the Museum collections.

JOHN C. SMOCK,
Assistant-in-charge N. Y. State Museum.
Aupany, N. Y., August, 1888.

£s

may
b Sa
ees

SOME NEW YORK MINERALS AND THEIR LOCALITIES.

I.—NEWCOMB TOURMALINES.

There are many specimens in the collection which, for various
reasons, demand more than casual mention. Among these may be
noted, material from a newly discovered locality at Newcomb, Essex
county, N.Y. This locality has yielded some of the finest specimens
of brown tourmaline yet found. The exact position of the bed is on
the south shore of Lake Harris about one mile east of the post-office
In Newcomb. These tourmalines occur in the Laurentian limestones
which are so abundant in the valleys of the Adirondacks. The same
limestones occurring in the northern part of New Jersey, in Orange
county and in northern New York, all bear more or less brown tourma-
‘line. The most famous locality, however, is Gouverneur, N. Y. For
_ the most part, the tourmalines occurring in other places are very frag-
mentary, presenting the appearance of having been nearly dissolved
after being formed. It is not of infrequent occurrence that crystals are
found having only one or two of the R-faces present with traces of
the prism, or that a fine termination is present with a diameter of
one to three cm. with the c. axis no more than five mm. in length,
In other cases mere crystalline shells appear, or fine veins may be
completely filled with the formless mass, In general the mineral is
only feebly transparent and more usually opaque. Even when in
large, finely developed crystals the contrary is a rare exception. In
many cases, however, the opacity of the crystal is due to numerous
fine shivers passing in every direction, and there is a decided cloudi-
ness which renders the crystalline masses opaque. Many of the
larger crystals have a single termination at one extremity, while
the other will have from two to twelve distinct terminations, and
should the inclosing calcite be dissolved away for a short distance,
they would give the impression of as many distinct crystals having

coi dal AE VANE 3
eae ree, |

‘ a
yi

6 BULLETIN OF THE New York Strate Museum.

a parallel growth. Color is also a varying characteristic of these
tourmalines. In northern New Jersey, for instance, the crystals”
have a faded, appearance, evidently not arising from incipient de-
composition, since, on ail sides they presetit a highly vitreous
lustre, and the polish of the surfaces is hardly broken. So far
as instances have come under my personal observation this rule
admits of hardly an exception. In the New York limestones, how.
ever, even when the color is not deep there is a vividness about
them which makes a decided contrast to the New Jersey crystals, I
mentioned the fact that these crystals often had the appearance of
being nearly or quite dissolved. In addition it will be well to state
that this condition is owing to other causes than solution. Within
most of the crystals of larger size, rounded masses of calcite, as
coarsely crystallized as the surrounding rock, are enclosed and also
globules of quartz. |

The tourmaline is distributed irregularly through the entire mass
of the limestone in the localities named. Graphite, apatite, sphene
and wernerite are associated with it. Quartz, crystallized, is found very
rarely, but it is quite abundant, either as irregular shaped, pitted nod-
ules or as flattened and warped plates with the same pitted appearance.
The graphite occurs in thin laminze, often in decidedly hexagonal
tablets. Though generally lying between the crystals of calcite and
parallel to their faces it often cuts through them irregularly and is
found enclosed in the body of nearly all of its associates.

The limestone itself is very coarsely crystalline, some of the
cleavage surfaces measuring a cm., more or less. The color varies
from a dull grayish-white, to white, blue and red. Cleavage pieces |
vary from dull opaque-milky to almost transparent.

The foregoing, are briefly, the general characteristics of the
Laurentian limestones in localities which I have visited. In the im-
mediate vicinity of Newcomb these characteristics remain the same.
Everywhere are evidences of intense metamorphism.

One very limited area, however, presents an entirely different —
appearance. The area covered by the ‘ brown tourmaline locality,’
is about ten feet wide by fifteen broad, and from three to five feet in
depth. In this pocket the limestone has been changed to an almost
transparent, yellowish-white and coarsely crystallized calcite. Hmbed-
ded in this gangue the following minerals were found in good crystals,
some very fine: Tourmaline, brown and green, blue apatite, sphene,

NEWCOMB TOURMALINES. 7

zircon, muscovite, smoky quartz, scapolite, albite, graphite, tremolite,
pyroxene and pyrite.

The difference between the enclosed minerals is even greater than
between the limestones within and without this area. The tourma-
lines are occasionally of very large size ; one crystal measures eight
inches in length by four inches in breadth, or twelve inches in cir-
cumference. Excepting on the surface, and thus exposed to weather-
ing, the crystals are all remarkably fresh in appearance. They are of
a rich brown or green color (rarely greenish-black and subtranslu-
cent, from depth of color), and perfectly transparent. <A large
number were found entirely free from flaws and furnished beautiful
gems, though of small size. The greater number of the stones thus
cut were fragments of crystals. A number of crystals were found,
however, of the length of five to ten mm., doubly terminated and
without a flaw. Larger crystals, from one to two cm. in diameter,
are very clear and are translucent notwithstanding their many flaws.
Fragments, which would cut a fine stone, may often be broken from
these crystals.

These tourmalines show no new or even rare faces. The zero
plane is of infrequent occurrence. The general habit of the crystals
is short and stout. They often exhibit a parallel growth of a large
number of crystals, having a common termination with adventitious
crystals of shorter length along their sides. The phenomenon be-
fore mentioned, of one crystal having a single termination at one end
and several at the other, is here of frequent occurrence. These crys-
tals also enclose large rounded globules of calcite, and occasionally of

_ quartz. Graphite and scapolite are of more rare occurrence. It
not infrequently happens that large, beautiful and apparently perfect
crystals turn out to be no more than thin shells or series of shells,
enclosing masses of calcite. Sometimes one termination will be per-
fect, with the body of the prism a mass of cells; or the prism faces
will be apparently perfect, while the terminations are entirely want-
ing. Thin plates with the polished surfaces of the R-faces are very
common. Finally, fragments of quartz and scapolite are often found
with innumerable fine veins filled with tourmaline.

Another mineral of common occurrence in this locality is sphene
or titanite. It is found in very small, tabular-shaped crystals, and
more rarely in crystals of eight em. or more in length, and with corres-
ponding dimensions. In color the crystals range from nearly black
to chocolate, brown, red and clear honey-yellow ; varying from
opaque to semi-transparent.

8 BULLETIN OF THE NEw YORK STATE MUSEUM.

In many of the larger crystals there is a very distinct cleavage,
more nearly perfect flan usual and, seemingly, to be referred to the
same cause which, according to Dr. G. H. Williams (Am. Jour.
Sci., Vol. X XIX, p. 486), produces the apparently perfect cleavage in
many American sphenes. Twinning in the smaller crystals with the
re-entrant angles, ‘‘ arrow twins,” is the most common.

Large crystals quite frequently are found evidently altering to
rutile. At least one large crystal was found having long needles of
rutile, fifteen mm. in length by one to two in diameter. The mineral
gives a strong fetid odor when struck ; before the blow-pipe it changes
from a dull gray to a translucent honey-yellow, fusing at about four
to a grayish-black glass; in the closed glass tube it gives off consid-
erable water. Calcite is initimately mingled with the crystal, but
whether from inclusion or the result of decomposition, I cannot say.
There are yellow crystalline (zanthitone ?) substances enclosed, which
give distinct titanium reactions. The enclosed rutile crystals, splen-
dent, show a distinct crystalline form, and are distributed irregu-
larly throughout the mass of the crystal. The fetid odor is probably
due to the presence of sulphur, since it looses this odor when heated.

Perfect crystals of tremolite are also found, rather dark in color,
but yet translucent. Beautiful, translucent crystals of blue apatite
are very abundant, but are too small to be of much value as cabinet
specimens. They occur in the calcite, though often penetrating
crystals of wernerite.

The zircons found in this locality are deep greenish-black, and are
opaque except on the edges. The crystals are of the simple prism
combined with one set of pyramidal planes. They are not nu-
merous.

Pyrite is found in large octahedral crystals, and always much de-
composed. In many cases decomposition is complete.

In form the smoky quartzes are somewhat unusual, though not
at all rare. The pyramidal faces are, in the majority of cases, want-
ing, the crystal terminating in a long taper, the result of successive
attempts at termination. ‘Though the crystals are usually very clear
and transparent, it is not noticed at first on account of the rough-
ened, apparently corroded faces. Crystals are found, however, with
polished faces, having the appearance of quartz partially dissolved,
and having a ‘‘ washed-out” or faded color. Quartz of a milky-
white color is found, but such crystals are not common. They
follow the general form of the smoky quartzes.

a ae

Newcoms TouRMALINES. 9

_, Muscovite occurs of a clear, yellowish-green color in the direction
of the a. axis, but reddish-brown in the direction of c., and viewed
through a., it is transparent; through c., feebly translucent in thick
crystals. The largest crystals are no more than two cm. by one or
one and a half. The general hexagonal form of the crystal is easily
distinguished, though perfect faces are rare.

The albite occurs in druses generally, though some crystals are
from one to three mm. long, and these druses are glassy and _per-
fectly transparent. The mineral occurs coating the surfaces of all
the other minerals, and sometimes filling seams of broken crystals.
Fragments of large, translucent crystals are found measuring more
than five cm. in diameter. These fragments often have a beautiful,
pearly lustre and a soft opalescence. Very handsome stones have
been cut from some of these fragments.

Graphite occurs much in the same form as in the surrounding
limestones, though apparently not quite as abundant.

Dipyre crystals occur from minute drusy, to large crystals, five
to ten cm. in length. All are glassy, translucent to transparent, and
in color, vary from a grayish-green to apple green. Large crystal-
line masses occur, enclosing crystals of sphene, penetrating quartz
and tourmaline, and the surface of the masses, as it reaches into the
enclosing calcite, is covered with glassy, drusy crystals, though
some are of considerable size. The dipyre crystals also have the
pitted appearance, as though incipient fusion had taken place, or
solution had begun to remove part of the mass. The large crystals
enclose in globular cavities masses of perfectly crystallized calcite.

Many crystals have long, dark, acicular enclosures, which are ar-
ranged parallel to the vertical axis with great regularity. These
acicular crystals vary from one to fifteen mm..or more in length.
Some are barely visible to the naked eye, while others, show a
splendent metallic lustre when properly turned. Some crystals are
apparently tree from these enclosures, but the microscope reveals
them in great numbers. In general, under the objective they are too
minute to give any intimation as to their form. They are usually
nearly or quite opaque. What little light is transmitted appears of a
reddish brown.

Rosenbusch, in his ‘‘ Mikroskopische Physiographie,” second edi-
tion, page 318, describes minerals of the scapolite group occurring
under similar conditions and containing similar inclusions, but in
the granular limestones, the crystals are quite regular and free from

10 BULLETIN OF THE NEw York STATE MuSEUM.

inclusions. With the exception of muscovite and quartz inclusions
and the fact that the mineral occurs in granular limestones, Rosen-
busch’s description is quite applicable to this mineral. Since there is
no way of distinguishing wernerite from dipyre, save by chemical
analysis, a quantitative silica determination was made. The average
percentage of silica was 57.20. Since the percentage in wernerite
ranges from 44 to 48 per cent, and in dipyre from 55 to 60 percent ;
and, since both Hussak and Rosenbusch agree that rutile is a rare
inclusion in wernerite, I think the minéral may safely be called dipyre.

I1.-CALCITES FROM ROSSIE, ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY.*

The calcites from Rossie, N. Y., collected by Prof. E. Emmons,
deserve special mention. They were taken from the Coal Hill and ad-
joining lead mines in the town of Rossie, St. Lawrence county.
The mine was opened about 1836, but was operated at a loss, and was
abandoned a few years later. During the process of working, how-
ever, some of the finest calcites in the world were obtained. Of
these, the Museum has, probably, the finest and most extensive col-
lection extant. All the different forms figured by Prof. Beck in his
‘« Mineralogy of New York,” and by Prof. J. D. Dana in his “ Sys-
tem of Mineralogy,” with a few exceptions, are represented.

There are no unmodified rhombohedra, and it is quite probable
that none were found. Scalenohedra of the simple type are not
common. Every crystal, without exception, is twinned, some of the
twins being very complex. The descriptions given by Prof. Beck,
will be found on page 224, ‘‘Mineralogy of New York.” The twins
found at Rossie are usually parallel to the O-fuce. Sometimes the
Q-plane is present on one of the crystals and not on the other,
sometimes on both, ‘and then on neither.! It frequently happens
that when two crystals are thus twinned only three of the R-planes of
each crystal are present, while the O-planes are developed to such an
extent that the crystals appear in the form of a thick, triangular
crystal with bevelled edges, or rather, in the form of a truncated
triangular pyramid.?

in another form two crystals are twinned parallel to i. and to a third
crystal parallel to the O-face.? On two crystals the O-face is developed,
on the third it is lacking. Not rarely crystals are found with from

* Collection made by the late Prof. E. Emmons, of Williams College, about 1838, at the Rossie
lead mines.

1 For references see plate at the end of Bulletin.

2 see fig. V.

3 This form is a combination of fig. 11L with one of the twinned crystals of fig. Y.

CALCITES FROM ROSSIE. il

one to three thin lamellz, twinned between crystals twinned parallel to
“the O-fuce1 On account of the developing of one crystal more than
another, or the unequal development in different directions, forms,
though in reality quite simple, appear at first very complex. For
instance, a crystal in the collection and which will be readily
recognized, has the appearance of two oblong rhombohedra placed
parallel to a cleavage face, while a third crystal lies in the re-entrant
angle. In reality two crystals are twinned parallel to the O-face,
and one is so developed that it nearly shuts in the smaller one.?

A peculiar feature of all crystals is that the R-faces of the primary
are all more or less roughened, the O-faces decidedly so, while the
other R-faces and the scalenohedral planes are highly polished. In
some crystals this seems to be simply due to etching, but in others to
a subsequent deposition of matter of less purity. In this latter case
the last addition has a milky opacity. Additions never seem to take
place on any but the primary rhombohedral and zero planes.

Prof. Beck seems to infer that the roughness of these crystals is due
to incipient solution on the surface. The results of my studies lead
me to a different conclusion. A cleavage piece was taken from one
of these roughened crystals and placed under a low power objective.
The piece was then examined by reflected light. Focussing as nearly
as possible and turning a bright ray of light on the fragment, the
light was simultaneously flashed from a large number of the appar-
ently rough points. On turning the stage about 90°, the light was
again flashed from a large number of planes. As these planes were
parallel to the cleavage lines of the crystal, it appears to me that this
roughness must be referred to the regular development of the crystal
in a manner analogous to the striz on the prism faces of quartz.

In case of the milky coatings, however, though the roughness is
again due to rhombohedral faces, there was evidently an interrupted
growth of the crystal. This is evident, since between the crystal and
its coating is a thin layer of iron pyrites. The secondary coatings are
not, however, always of a less degree of transparency than the body of
the crystal. In one or two instances the rhombohedron was devel-
oped, the growth interrupted, a deposition of cubical pyrite followed,
and finally the crystal received fresh additions, but each of the rhom-
bohedral planes was replaced by two sets of scalenohedral planes,
thus giving the crystal the appearance of a tetrahexahedron. There

1 Twinned lamellz placed between the twinned crystals, fig. V.
2 Fig. II gives a partial representation of this instance.

12 BULLETIN OF THE NEw York STATE MusEuUM.

is one crystal of great beauty which shows nee characteristics to
perfection.

There is yet another form in which the calcite occurs. This,
though not as interesting as the other, is yet worthy of notice. In
this form the mineral appears in large, branching masses having much
the appearance of coral. These branches are made up of fine sca-
lenohedrons coating the surface of larger crystals. Among these
branches are small, medium sized, and quite large ue of lee
a mineral very common in this locality. :

According to Emmons, the vein in which these minerals occur cuts
through a gneiss formation.

Associated with the calcite were found fine, large crystals of ga-
lenite ; pyrite, in cubic and octahedral crystals ; sphalerite (in many
cases, crystals of exceptional beauty), and also celestite.

Though Rossie has, without doubt, produced the finest crystals,
yet other towns in St. Lawrence county, have produced crystals
remarkable on account of their size. The neighboring county of
Jefferson has contributed the largest of any. In the Museum there
is a fine, large crystal from Oxbow, a post-office in Antwerp township,
measuring 12x10x10 inches. The crystal, though very bright and
fresh looking, has been attacked by weathering. Very large and
perfect scalenchedrons are also found in this locality. The Museum
has good representatives of these also.

JII.— PYROXENES FROM THE MINERAL LOCALITY AT
CHILSON HILL, TICONDEROGA, N. Y.

The locality at Chilson Hill, Ticonderoga, Essex county, is the site
of the old graphite mine of the American Graphite Co. The mine has
now been abandoned for about thirty years. It was not abandoned on
account of exhaustion, but the great depth, the great influx of water,
together with the discovery of a new locality at Hague determined
its shut-down for a time. Though the new mine at Hague yields a
poorer grade of ore and is worked with greater difficulty, I am told
that on account of the heavier minerals with which it is associated and
which render washing and refining so much easier, the new workings
pay much better. At Hague ae graphite occurs in a gneiss vein,
while at Ticonderoga it occurs ina gangue of calcite. It is this vein
of: calcite located in the gneiss which bears the minerals of this
locality. Here as in nearly all mines what is valued by mineralogists

PYROXENES. 13

is to be found in the ‘‘dump.” As the tunnels and drifts were run,
‘the wall-rock encountered was thrown in one place while the ‘ un-
dressed ore” was carried to the surface and sorted. Lying as these
sorted lumps have lain for so many years exposed to the weather, one
would not expect to find minerals in a fresh condition, but the
locality is more interesting on account of other things than the intrin-
sic value of the minerals. Yet it is of no rare occurrence to break a
large mass of calcite and to find enclosed, perfectly fresh and unde-
composed crystals of pyroxene.

The following is a list of the minerals found by me in this place :
Pyroxene, scapolite, quartz, graphite, apatite, sphene, calcite.

The pyroxenes found here are peculiar on account of their size, the
inclusions which they carry and their external appearance. There
are at present, in the Museum, two of the largest ever found in the
State and probably in the world. The largest of the two measures
thirty-six inches in circumference and eighteen in length. The sec-
ond one is about eighteen inches in circumference by twelve in height.
Both crystals have their prism planes perfectly developed, the prism
planes I and i-i (Dana) being both present and about equally devel-
oped. Basal planes in both cases are lacking, appearances favoring
the idea that each is a fragment broken from larger crystals in blast-
ing or in dressing the ore. They are badly decomposed, though |
as yet quite firm. ‘The crystals are coarsely lamellar, parallel to O, |
the lamelle varying in thickness from two to five mm. In external
appearance they are very rough, though the indentations are not deep.
These indentations are more like long, rather deep and interrupted striz.
It is rarely that the calcite causes a real indentation, though when
in contact with quartz the pyroxene is always moulded around it,
never penetrating it. In the fresher crystals which are broken from
the calcite the latter mineral is found closely fitting into the striations,
and has a peculiarly fine, granular, crystalline structure. The prism
angles of all crystals are quite sharp, but when the crystals are termi-
nated by pyramidal faces the interfacial angles are invariably rounded.
In the body of the crystals, especially the larger ones, are cnclosed
rounded globules of well crystallized calcite and quartz. These
masses vary in size from inclusions of microscopic dimensions to that
of awalnut. Under these circumstances the calcite can be in no way
distinguished from that outside the crystals. Graphite is a very
common inclusion. Thin lamelle of graphite occur within the body
of the pyroxene and also gashing the exterior of the crystals. Large ~

14 BULLETIN OF THE NEw YorK STATE MUSEUM.

as the crystals occur, they are not always to be found of extraordi-
nary size. The mineral often occurs in exceedingly compact, tough
masses, cleavage well developed, but with no trace of a crystal form,
save when a mass of calcite is enclosed, when the surface in contact
will have either prism faces or terminal faces well developed. Ocea-
sionally tough fragments of this nature will be found, thrown out by
blasts, which show a passage from the tough, compact crystalline mass,
with little or no calcite to a side of the block where will be a gangue
of calcite literally packed with small, doubly terminated crystals of
pyroxene. If a little care be exercised in breaking off a piece, a
fragment can be obtained which, when treated with acid, will leave a
perfect network of interlaced crystals of varying sizes.

Quartz is another mineral which occurs in this locality, and
though neither beautiful nor rare in form, yet possesses much of
interest to one who chooses to study it. It invariably occurs in
forms which Emmons and others have denominated “fused.” Ex-
actly what is meant by this term does not clearly appear; but
certainly, taken in its literal meaning, it is untenable, whether aque-
ous or purely igneous fusion is meant. Nor can I bring myself to
believe the peculiar forms to be the result of partial solution. In
general the crystals have the appearance of being water-worn, or of
perfect crystals having been rolled until the angles are all more or
less rounded. In some cases no crystal form can be distinguished,
only globular or lenticular shaped masses are the result. These
globules vary in size in the same mass of calcite. Again, it is of
frequent occurrence that a rounded, ‘“‘ worn” crystal will be found an
inch or more im length by one-half inch in diameter beside a slender
crystal an inch or more in length but with a diameter of less than
one-fourth. The angles of the smaller crystals will also be as per-
fect as those of the larger. In short, crystals will lie side by side,
one nearly perfect, the other with no trace of angularity. It is also
common to find large clusters of crystals, all having this ‘‘ fused” or
‘‘ worn” appearance and completely imbedded in the calcite. Lest
I have not emphasized this latter idea, I will repeat that all of the
quartzes thus far spoken of are completely imbedded in the calcite.
The walls of many of the veins are lined by large patches, several
feet square, of these crystals, having individual terminations, rounded
as before, and with an unindividualized base. Deep indentations
often occur in these crystals, amounting to more than one-half of
their diameter. Crystals are often found with a saucer-shaped de-

PYROXENES. 15

pression where the apex of the pyramidal faces should. be, while the
' pyramidal planes meet in a rounded edge about the depression.

The inclusions of quartz are confined exclusively to graphite.
This latter mineral occurs gashing the quartz in the same way as it
does the pyroxene.

Of the graphite but little need be said as in appearance it differs
but little from the ordinary occurrence. Disseminated through the
bodies of other crystals it occurs in the usual six-sided tablets. There
is one form, which is quite frequent here, which Dana’s Min-
eralogy describes as of rare occurrence. This is the radiated, glob-
ular mass. These globules, the size of a buckshot, have been
found by Mr. Beecher and myself, and there are specimens of them
in the Museum at Albany. They have not been found except in the
calcite. The tablets enclosed in the calcite cut the prisms at all
apgles, and even when lying approximately parallel to any face, the
graphite is apt not to lie in one plane, but to have a warped surface.

The scapolite group is represented by a mineral which is assumed,
pending analysis, to be wernerite. It occurs in the usual simple
form, but rarely with rounded angles. Microscopic sections show
infiltrated veins of radiating chalcedony. Nearly all specimens are
more or less decomposed. Apatite occurs here in such small quan-
tities as hardly to deserve notice, yet, on account of its presenting
the same ‘‘ fused” appearance as the other minerals, it is mentioned.
It has the same light green color as nearly all of the apatites found in
the Laurentian limestones. About the same degree of transparency
also obtains. In form they have the simple prism and pyramidal
faces with the O-faces occasionally developed. They vary in size
from crystals a foot in length with a diameter of from one to two
inches, to slender crystals one-eighth inch in diameter and from one
to two in length. The crystals occur usually in the calcite but are
sometimes found modifying and being modified by contact with
quartz and pyroxene. The mineral differs in this respect from all
others noticed, in the fact that however irregular or ‘‘fused”’ its
surface may appear it is always with a perfect polish.

Sphene occurs in crystals never more than one-half inch in length
and of the usual simple form. Its occurrence is limited to the com-
pact masses of pyroxene, or where pyroxene, calcite and graphite are
intimately mingled.

It remains now to mention the calcite which occurs here. It is in
reality the ‘‘ veinstuff” or gangue of the mineral sought as well as

16 BULLETIN OF THE New Yorx StaTE Museum.

of the others. Though never found in perfect crystals, it is yet per-
fectly crystalline. In color it is a light straw yellow. It can often
be cleaved in perfect rhombs from one to five inches across the face.
On every rhomb, striz run diagonally across the faces, indicating the
fact that, as usual, the mass is twinned, not simple. In fact, many
times the mass will part parallel to these twinning striz rather than
to the prism faces.

The appearance of the mineral is also much modified by its asso-
ciations. Whenever enclosing another mineral, the cleavage surfaces
always present a warped appearance. This warping varies directly
with the size and number as well as with the variety of the mineral en-
closed. In the first case, suppose the enclosed mineral, say a crystal
of pyroxene, be very small: then the warping would be noticed with
ditticulty, if at all, whereas if the size of the crystal were increased
the warping would extend over a surface of two or more inches
across, with a departure from a straight line, at that distance, of
nearly one-fourth of an inch.

In addition to the warping there will also be noticed a granulation
extending various distances from the surface of the crystai. These
granulations are nothing but smaller crystalline masses surround-
ing the enclosed mineral, which, for some reason, have not been
free to assume the more coarsely crystalline state. This peculiar
aggregation conforms closely to the shape of the enclosed crystals,
about as it reaches away from the enclosure, the angularity is lost.
Untortunately there was no opportunity to test this peculiarity in
connection with the largest crystals, since they were wholly free from
the calcite. If, however, the bulk of the surrounding calcite was
not proportionate to the size of the crystals, the warping must have
been very great.

Thus far the facts of occurrence, of these minerals as well as those
from Newcomb, alone have been stated. The question now arises, do
these facts warrant any other explanation than that of the fusion
theory ? It is difficult to understand how either dry, or aqueous
fusion could have produced these results. In both cases it would
seem that in cooling slowly they would have assumed their original
form, if, indeed, we could safely assume a perfect form originally. This
explanation is too complex, when a simpler one is at hand, which ap-
pears to answer every purpose. The explanation by the assumption
of a partial solution appears to involve even greater difficulties. For,
while there is no doubt that a sufficient degree of heat could be

PYROXENES. 17

obtained and ‘an abundance of a solvent agent, it appears impossible
to explain why the smallest crystals always have the most nearly perfect
form, and that, even, when a large crystal and a small one lie close
to each other in the gangue. Ifa large crystal of calcite be dropped
in an acid solution together with a smaller one, it will invariably follow
that the smaller will disappear first, and that it will wholly lose its
external form before it so disappears. The same holds true of all
easily dissolved minerals, and it appears safe to assume it true of min-
erals like quartz, pyroxene, apatite, etc., which are more refractory.

Again, the abundance of free silica present would render the ac-
counting for the silica removed by solution a task by no means easy.
Not only does the ‘‘ country rock,” which in this case is gneiss, con-
tain much quartz, but the walls of the veins are in many cases com-
pletely covered with quartz crystals, ‘‘ fused,” and with their apices
pointing towards the center of the vein. It would seem as if, had
the solvent action been present, the silica would have been carried
into the vein, not out of it, especially when such an abundance of
bases existed in the form of lime.

It seems as if minerals could readily be divided into three classes.
First, those formed by volatilization ; second, those formed from
solution ; third, those formed by segregation in beds or veins while
undergoing metamorphism, As examples of the first class crystals
_ of sulphur formed in volcanoes, the different chlorides, etc., found

under the same conditions, may be given, to which may, in all.

probability, be added the diamond. Minerals of the second class may

be recognized by their fluid inclusions, such as quartz, and many may
_ be formed artificially. Of the third class, the mineral constituents of
rocks, such as granites, gneisses, diorites, may be given. Intrusive
veins, dykes, and veins of segregation, whether metalliferous or not,
would also come under this third division.

Among rocks that are wholly crystalline, it is impossible that their
mineral constituents should be deposited from solution in the sense
in which the word is usually employed. Each mineral, if indeed any
individuals existed in the beginning, would be ina semi-fluid or pasty
condition, As time went on each would separate more or less per-
fectly from the mass, and as nearly as possible each would assume its
peculiar form. With large rock masses, however, which Rosen-
busch designates as ‘‘ hypidiomorphic-granular,” individualization is
rendered impossible from lack of space, and from the fact that the
factors of solution are nearly the same in the case of each. In fact

18 BULLETIN OF THE NEw YorK STratTeE MUSEUM.

the ‘allotriomorphic” and ‘riliomorphic,” designated by the same
author, could be explained by means of the well founded assumption
of more rapid crystallization of some minerals than others.

From the well known homogeneity of granites and gneisses this
inference can be legitimately drawn. At the same time, it is easy to
imagine exceptions to these circumstances which would allow a
mineral to assume its own form with greater or less perfection, and
such exceptions are actually found. Leta cavity, however small, be
formed in a rock undergoing metamorphism and it will bristle with
crystals either of quartz, feldspar or mica or all together. It will also be
readily called to mind that in coarsely crystalline rocks that the
quartz is usually the gangue in which perfection of form most readily
occurs. Minerals, such as spodumene, feldspar, beryl, triphyllite,
tourmaline, etc., which are found at the spodumene locality at Hun-
tington, Mass., have great perfection of form, irrespective of size, so
long as they are developed in quartz, but at once lose their individ-
uality when masses of feldspar and mica occur. It is quite rare to
find these minerals in the feldspar and mica, but when they do thus
occur they are invariably misshapen. To those who are familiar
with the occurrence of zinciferous minerals in the calcite gangue of
the Franklin Furnace and Ogdensburg zine mines in New Jersey,
additional facts will readily offer themselves. It is comparatively rare
in these localities to find minerals in the gangue with sharp angles
and perfected forms.

Among miners the term ‘‘shot ore” is employed to designate a
mass of ore perfectly crystalline and well individualized save external
form. This external form is produced by the great amount of mineral
matter attempting to crystallize ina limited space. The phenomenon
is noticed more frequently in iron and zine ores, but it is by no means
confined to them. In the garnet beds or pockets so abundant in
Warren and Essex counties, N. Y., by far the greater number of
these deposits break up in a manner exactly similar to the “shot
ores”? of the miners. In one place in Thurman, N. Y., a bed or
pocket of hornblende is similarly formed.

Again the deformation and distortion of nearly every species of
minerals, deposited from solution, in space, limited either by size of
cavity or by interference with each other, are ample evidence that such
distortion may occur from crowding. Evidence might be also adduced
from the class of pseudomorphism where one mineral fills a cavity
formed by another, which has been removed by solution. The same

PYROXENES. 19

line of reasoning would also be favored by the common explanation
~ of infiltrated veins which have been “locked.”

Finally I would say that there seems to me to be the best of
reasons for discarding the explanation ordinarily adopted in all cases,
namely, by corrosion or by imperfect crystallization, a worse explan-
ation, which does not explain at all. In a vein of infiltration and in
very many other individual cases, corrosion may be and probably is
the correct explanation. But in veins of segregation, or in highly
metamorphic rock masses where crystals occur with rounded angles
and edges, neither “fusion” nor ‘“ corrosion” appear equal to the
task which is set for them.

Explaining their forms, however, by saying that they are the
result of crowding, or growing in a pasty mass, or of a general
crystallization throughout the entire mass, clears away much that is
otherwise hard to explain and affords at least an excellent working
hypothesis.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE.

All the figures given in this plate are copied from drawings in Prof. Beck’s Min-
eralogy of New York. These drawings were made from crystals in the possession
of Prof. Emmons, and the crystals are now on exhibition in the Museum. ‘

The crystallographic nomenclature has been changed to the corresponding sym-
bols of Dana’s ‘System of Mineralogy.”

With the exception of fig. 1, each crystal is selected to illustrate one point only,
and the crystal is drawn simply according to its primary form. For the rare planes
so common to all of these crystals the reader is referred to the illustration in Dana’s
«‘System of Mineralogy.”

Fig. I. Rhombohedron, with its edges replaced by scalenohedral planes.

Fig. II. Two crystals twinned parallel toii; one crystal much larger and more
perfectly developed than the other.

. Fig. III. Two rhombohedrons twinned parallel to i-i.

Fig. IV. Rhombohedra in which the O planes are developed. This is frequently
carried to such. an extent that the crystal is reduced to a thin plate on which the
rhombohedral planes are observed as mere bevelments.

Fig. V. Two crystals twinned parallel to O. Crystals sometimes much distorted
through unequal development.

Fig. VI. Distorted crystal of fig. V. The crystal is probably hemimorphic.

Fig. VII. Scalenohedral planes developed at the expense of the rhombohedral
planes. The reverse of fig. I

Figs. VIII and IX. Distorted and twinned crystals. These forms are common
though much more complex.

SE 5

ES

A Pe ae FNAME! RR ARIA CWNN RAIA (Ar - ads
AAA A A an oe RS a Erne ee aCe * ronnanannn’ aA AAPA DOE ne RA nnannAAnahrAarrr
SNA AE ‘ an ee Ts pPaeeg Lie? ies ati GARAAR RR ARP AAR

A ~ AAA Waa: ; OAR ARR AAR Rg RO RR SeE POMPE A
a ona, OATS ha Aas mas pane > APE PPOoanAAADA Ran, VW ARA I 14 Cet ee

NAnann AAA AARARAAN, 4 +¥ E ‘AAS et ee ic Vi a! A A ay AY ny ae OT may * aA AEN AON ANA ny
RARARAARRARNA nnn os a Mann nmatnn BRAD 262 SANARAEN ANN NYA a CORAR AAA RAR ay
AVA AAR A AA .fP - Ag! ! An a aye '.Y. PY i I aA AR: Ae WoeRS AR LARS BAA panrnnnnnnn nan. A fe J RAEN
Bonk, ye Saat AK nnn WAnanannna A LMA AAAN,Anggg BAR A paar AnAnann AR ANIRARED CANA

a PED RAA nm AAR. NAAROANAAAIAAE a AMAANA aan span nnn AnAAA
Danan Aira Rann own eo anh ano aA AAAANM

\ A A nA atl : . A ARAALL

a Din ohanasanmmga arate A a AAMEARAA PAA aaa Appa NPAAR ApARed :
Bane Anh ’ es An nahn sme Ras Annee af Naa shen ARAM NC amn nhl SAVANNA \NAAR AR AA e
AARAAA NANA AMAA Annan, Oncan “apAnat ant, a Ane Ww a. & ma OP fi AANARAAAAA MnnnannsthNnhnn
LAR AARA BAA A Ar Ng! : co Bs NAN. ee

SRARBA AP ARA ANA ainy Fee B
MaeAat a ~AANNNWR | “ant atone n Ar

BELISA - Ae f

. WAAAY Aaa | WMA ae nDNA 2 | atonal nN dre inet ARaPO

oe PP Papal Ba Rd
z z PA. - : ‘ RY .
AV APARAAAA 23 canna RRA sal |

ag “tontennatnann

gee "he ‘A Ppa da” phi Ae AAR A RAR, | AR
NAAAA Onan Piss AR RAR ae NAAR
ar YN oa es MRahanns WAN haat pe ;
AP A Ann Se aRAar 2 Re SON AA
Sana A Naan, ROOD n\- acter ARR Bila

%

at Aap Aa we Nata a ae ae wee
¢ ¥ oH rl a NANA NA 2 nh A ra . as :
~ . . -

aa An A MANNA, AA ans A Aanrannnnentnernn nnn” ee
MANN me nA cestted SP Oe ie

BCAARAC a sence ah
AR OAL IN 5A rhe’ gaan BE Ap,

IWS o Sli as NS 06 LSYFH =x EFNRS.
NY 2 UD EA 2 Ey 2
SS = = = = z Me = inose> >
VLILSNI, NVINOSHLINS S31YVYGIT_ LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN _INST
> “” z wn >
uw Ww
7 a 7) 77)
et o pa, « ee
= V4
om » =
(@) ae fo) oe for)
Zz a 2 at Zz
2ARIES SMITHSONIAN _INSTITUTION NOILNLILSNI NVINOSHLINS $3
ze Ly : = ie a
oO rs (@) —o Oo R
=I a > =|
eke, fe cz ie
- * 2 = 2 =
= m n Ss wn
= ; uw = re) . &
INLILSNI NVINOSHLINS SSIYVYaIT LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN INS
ee w z= we w” =
= = Vi ws a <
z CS Se z= S co z
‘Y ve) LOY ‘My Ore Byatt ae os
lf 2 g cy 2 g g
yj . 2°G E s 2 =
li = > = nes =
w 2 wo Sh nce a
RARIES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOJLNILILSNI NVINOSHLINS SJ
: 3 2 2
= “3 z 4 AS z
% —_ waa
< 4 = < a % ‘SN <
a = Nes a Ss
2 os} cS rs} =
if ie 2 ay z2 sas
LOLILSNI NVINOSHLINS SS!¥VvVudi7_ LIBRARIES I
ee SiS J = i
wo < = w = wo
r) Leg, = x Ee oe)
> Wee — es = bras
a NX = ey Ee, a
RARIES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILALILSNI NVINOSHLIWS Sil
= SSG ie = Wy = =
a z NN = fy, z =
3 a Sa oe: 5
= = NS Ze Gf Fie =
z oe =
ia SJINVUSIT LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN _INSTI)
2 6 Z a wy, =
- = = = Gy,4 |
eu _< = < Yrs |
mai ae bar oe SEAN
= oO = mm v =
o) es ro) eS Oo
= «J a I 2
3RARIES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOILNLILSNI NVINOSHLINS Sd
Ce < é s é
= O = ow =
Ee yal fs ea - oy -
BGM * : = E
- Gy, oe io ais -
a fa £ 7 a
= 77) = wn ae
ILALILSNI NVINOSHIINS (Sa 1uWwy qryoul BRARI ES | SMITHSONIAN _
< —ASON, = <x AS Ne = SV, <x
Se E> PON ieee ‘> WS = SLR
dt pe 2 (ROR Fuh fo = CS 7 KRM Z
ut fi & (EOD) 3 A fy 5 QS a MeO oF

| Sew, \ A
a eS Al er Wsy = = aa STI
= iy oe 2 IBRARIES SMITHSONIAN IN
\ > 7) a a) =
| ies Ze 2 S3SIuYVYd iano Ww
ILM LILSNI_NVINOSHLIWS 2 va Jo
@! - = = = ae
=a) a oa wc +
= a S =a
e ce = ee
a |
= = Zz LSNI_NVINOSHLIWS _
| a “INSTITUTION. NOILALI ee z
SRARIES SMITHSONIAN _ = = < =
| o o i= aa =
— : S Pi oe
E ca = es) =
cae 3 i 2 ie |
BS m ac SMITHSONIAN Ney)
Toe Sele a AIMVUGIT LIBRARIES |S z i
1SNI_NVINOSHLINS |S z e = Z S
Se eS > INS
POI voi SS 3 a
| ” 2 = thie =
ey DY z rates Z
li E Seater LLALISNINVINOSHLINS S312
“dl za — Sere
MG a SONIAN_ INSTITUTION NO =a ul
BRARIES SMITH a @ o im
4 is ra S = <
ba a Pee = ec
ae A o =! 7a
e 2 “'LIBRARIES~ SMITHSONIAN INS
3 Salayvads7 = y ow
4% on Ss ra 2) rs es
aN OO eae
WIS - ree wn
a NS @ an = OSHLINS SJ?
1 Se 2 ? NOLLALILSNI NVIN w
| ES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION eS = 4
BRARI = = fh == y
ae : i Le: 8 A
; = tjsda fn ‘
Quy)! WOE 4 LS) 8
MQ S p S Fa
Oo ~- . — +
. eee IBRARIES, SMITHSONIAN
eM SHLINS SAIYVYaIT L ts e
ILALILSNI_ NVINO wn = — Lee
{ 2 a = & oe
| =I = a oe 2
= : = roa O
E ce = oi 2
S a c LILSNI_NVINOSHLIWS
z “INSTITUTION” NoILN ~ Oo
RARIES_ SMITHSONIAN, a te = 5
S aw i- rad < te
a OL, 2 a 5 E
say ee ey a iii
- vo ZY 70 eR m e
| Gy = ~ 5 o iAN INST
@ “iff o TLBRARIES SMITHSONIAN |
= WS S3IuVaaIT LIB See) peer ee \
SGN NVINOSHLIWS “2 Ss & SAW = ~\
= > 2 SO Be S i= =) 2
, a = 3 pid Y ih ME SON
radi Al

ce SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES
“WAPI
, 3 9088 01300 6382