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SMITHSONIAN    INSTITUTION. 

UNITED     STATES     NATIONAL     MUSEUM. 


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GUIDE  TO   THE   STUDY  OF   THE   COLLECTIONS 

IN   THE   SECTION   OF  APPLIED 

GEOLOGY. 

THE   NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


GEORGE   P.  MERRILL, 

Curator,  Division  of  Physiwd  and  Chemical  Geology,  and  Head  Curator, 
Department  of  Cfeology,  U.  S.  Rational  Museum. 


From  the  Report  of  the  U.  S.  National  Museum  for  1H£»,  pages  '155-483, 
with  thirty  plates. 


WASHINGTON: 

PRIM 
1901. 


GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 

,. 


Geology 
Library 


3-72 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899. — Merrill. 


PLATE  1. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1  899.- Merrill. 


PLATE  2. 


VIEW  SHOWING  RAIL  CASE  AND  INSTALLATION  OF  NONMETALLIC  MINERALS  IN  GALLERY 
OF  SOUTHWEST  COURT  OF  U.  S.  NATIONAL  MUSEUM.    LOOKING  NORTH. 


Geology 


GUIDE  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  THE  COLLECTIONS  IN 
THE  SECTION  OF  APPLIED  GEOLOGY. 


GEORGE  P.  MERRILL, 

Curator,  Division  of  Physical  and  Chemical  Groloyi/, 
and  Head  Curator  of  the  Department. 


155 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


The  accompanying  handbook  and  guide  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  work 
of  installing  and  labeling  the  collections  of  the  economic  section  of  the 
Division  of  Physical  and  Chemical  Geology.  The  term  nonmetallic, 
as  used,  includes  those  minerals  which,  as  here  exhibited,  are  utilized 
in  other  than  metallic  forms.  The  collections,  comprising  as  now 
arranged,  some  2,500  specimens,  include  therefore  some  materials 
which — like  the  iron  oxides — may  be  utilized  as  ores  of  metals.  As 
such  they  have  already  been  considered  in  Bulletin  No.  42,  under  the 
title  A  Preliminary  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  the  Systematic  Collec- 
tions in  Economic  Geology  and  Metallurgy,  by  F.  P.  Dewey.  The 
collection  of  building  and  ornamental  stones  which  might  perhaps  be 
included  herewith  has  been  also  the  subject  of  a  special  handbook 
published  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  National  Museum  for  1886, 
and  entitled  The  Collection  of  Building  and  Ornamental  Stones  in  the 
United  States  National  Museum:  A  Handbook  and  Catalogue.  By 
George  P.  Merrill. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark  that  in  the  preparation  of  this 
work  the  curator  has  been  hampered  by  a  great  dearth  of  information 
on  certain  subjects  and  burdened  with  a  superabundance  on  others. 
Certain  materials,  such  as  the  coals,  phosphates,  limes,  and  cements, 
would  each  require  a  volume,  and  necessarily  must  be  very  imper- 
fectly treated  here.  In  such  cases  the  curator  has  aimed  to  give  as 
brief  and  concise  an  abstract  as  the  requirements  of  a  handbook 
would  permit,  and  make  up  for  the  deficiencies  in  the  bibliography. 
In  other  cases  the  subjects  are  treated  as  fully  as  the  knowledge  at 
hand  will  allow.  In  describing  occurrences  the  aim  has  been  to  give 
in  detail  one  or  two  fairly  typical  deposits,  referring  to  others  more 
briefly.  Naturally  the  preference  has  been  given  to  American  mate-  \ 
rials.  Statements  as  to  prices  and  annual  production  are  quite  unsatis- 
factory and  of  very  temporary  value  at  best.  But  little  space  has 
therefore  been  devoted  to  this  branch  of  the  subject.  Technical, 
chemical,  and  crystallographic  points  have  been  but  lightly  touched 
upon,  such  being  already  covered  by  existing  literature.  Only  such 
statements  as  to  hardness,  color,  etc. ,  are  given  as  it  is  thought  may 
be  of  value  in  rough  preliminary  determinations. 

The  satisfactory  installation  and  classification  of  collections  of  this 
nature  are  matters  of  no  inconsiderable  difficulty.  As  the  materials 

157 


158  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,    1899. 

are  utilized  for  industrial  purposes,  it  might  at  first  thought  appear 
that  they  should  be  grouped  according  to  the  uses  to  which  they 
are  put,  as  is  commonly  done  at  expositions.  Such  a  plan,  however, 
involves  a  great  amount  of  repetition,  since  many  of  the  materials,  as 
diatomaceous  earths,  the  clays,  steatite,  etc.,  are  used  for  a  variety  of 
purposes.  On  this  account  the  method  of  installation,  or  grouping, 
adopted  is  somewhat  loose,  the  materials  being  grouped  (1)  by  kinds, 
and  under  kinds  so  far  as  possible  (2)  by  uses.  Further  than  this  the 
character  of  the  material  has  in  many  instances  rendered  it  necessary 
to  install  those  closely  related  and  used,  it  may  be,  for  quite  similar 
purposes  in  cases  of  quite  different  type  as  is  shown  in  the  hydrocar- 
bon series,  the  coals,  asphalts,  etc.,  being  in  the  deep- wall  cases  while 
the  petroleums,  in  bottles,  are  exhibited  in  the  upright  portion  of  the 
rail  cases. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  AND  SCHEME  OF  CLASSIFICATION. 


1.   Piemen ts:  l'aj?o. 

1.  Carbon 1(5 

Diamond 165 

Graphite 168 

2.  Sulphur 174 

3.  Arsenic 182 

4.  Allemontite 182 

II.  Sulphides  and  arsenides: 

1.  Realgar 183 

2.  Orpiment ;  auripigment, _ 1 83 

3.  Cobalt  minerals 184 

Cobaltite 184 

Smaltite 185 

Skutterudite 186 

Glaucodot 1 8(> 

Linna'ite 1 86 

Sychnodymite _ 187 

Erythrite  or  cobalt  bloom 187 

Asbolite 1 87 

4.  Arsenopyrite;  mispickel  or  arsenical  pyrites 1 89 

5.  Lollingite;  leucopyrite 18!) 

6.  Pyrites 190 

7.  Molybdenite 193 

III.  Halides: 

1.  Halite;  sodium  chloride;  or  common  salt 195 

2.  Fluorite 213 

3.  Cryolite 214 

IV.  Oxides: 

1.  Silica 215 

Quartz 215 

Flint 216 

Buhrstone • 217 

Tripoli 217 

Diatomaceous  or  infusorial  earth 218 

2.  Corundum  and  emery 220 

3.  Bauxite 229 

4.  Diaspore 239 

5.  Gibbsite;  hydrargillite 239 

6.  Ocher 239 

7.  Ilmenite;  menaccanite;  or  titanic  iron 245 

8.  Rutile 245 

9.  Chromite 246 

10.  Manganese  oxides 252 

Franklinite 253 

Hausmannite 253 

159 


IQQ  KEPOBT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

IV.  Oxides— Continued. 

10.  Manganese  oxides— Continued. 

Braunite 254 

Polianite /a* 

Pyrolusite 

Manganite 

Psilomelane 

Wad  or  bog  manganese 255 

V.  Carbonates: 

1.  Calcium  carbonate 

Calcite;  calc  spar;  Iceland  *par 258 

Chalk 

Limestones;  mortars;  and  cements 

Portland  cement 

Roman  cement 

Playing  marbles 270 

Lithographic  limestones 270 

2.  Dolomite 274 

3.  Magnesite 275 

4.  Witherite 279 

5.  Strontianite 279 

6.  Rhodochrosite;  dialogite 280 

7.  Natron,  the  nitrum  of  the  ancients 280 

8.  Trona;  urao 281 

VI.  Silicates: 

1.  Feldspars 281 

2.  Micas 283 

3.  Asbestos 2% 

4.  Garnet 307 

5.  Zircon 308 

6.  Spodumene  and  petalite • 308 

7.  Lazurite;  lapis  lazuli;  or  native  ultramarine 309 

8.  Allanite;  orthite 311 

9.  Gadolinite 313 

10.  Cerite 314 

11.  Rhodonite 314 

12.  Steatite;  talc;  and  soapstone 315 

13.  Pyrophyllite;  agalmatolite;  and  pagodite 322 

14.  Sepiolite;  meerschaum 323 

15.  Clays 325 

VII.  Niobates  and  tantalates: 

1.  Columbite  and  tantalite 353 

2.  Yttrotantalite 354 

3.  Samarskite 354 

4.  Wolframite  and  Hiibnerite 355 

5.  Scheelite 355 

VIIL  Phosphates: 

1.  Apatite;  rock  phosphates;  guano,  etc 356 

2.  Monazite 3g3 

3.  Vanadinite 3g7 

4.  Descloizite 388 

5.  Amblygonite gcjQ 

6.  Triphylite  and  iithiophilite 39] 


CONTENTS.  161 

IX.  Nitrates:  Page. 

1.  Niter,  potassium  nitrate 391 

2.  Soda  niter 392 

3.  Nitro-calcite 394 

X.  Borates: 

1.  Borax  or  tincal;  borate  of  soda 396 

2.  Ulexite;  boronatrocalcite 397 

3.  Colemanite 397 

4.  Boracite  or  stassfurtite;  borate  of  magnesia 397 

XI.  Uranates: 

1.  Uraninite;  pitchblende 402 

XII.  Sulphates: 

•NJB.  Barite;  heavy  spar 405 

2.  Gypsum 406 

3.  Celestite 411 

4.  Mirabilite;  or  Glauber  salt 412 

5.  Glauberite 415 

6.  Thenardite 415 

7.  Epsomite;  Epsom  salts 415 

8.  Polyhalite 416 

9.  Kainite 416 

10.  Kieserite 416 

11.  Alums: 

Kalinite 416 

Tschermigite 416 

Aluminite 419 

Alunite 419 

Alum  slate  or  shale 421 

XIII.  Hydrocarbon  compounds: 

1.  Coal  series 423 

Peat 424 

Lignite  or  brown  coal 425 

Bituminous  coals 426 

Anthracite  coal 427 

2.  Bitumen  series 429 

Marsh  gas;  natural  gas 433 

Petroleum 434 

Asphaitum;  mineral  pitch 441 

Manjak 445 

Elaterite;  mineral  caoutchouc 446 

Wurtzillite '. 446 

Albertite 446 

Grahamite 447 

Carbonite  or  natural  coke 449 

Uintaite;  gilsonite 450 

3.  Ozokerite;  mineral  wax;  native  paraffin 451 

4.  Resins 455 

Succinite;  amber 455 

Retinite 456 

Chemawinite 456 

Gum  copal 457 

NAT  MU8  99 11 


162  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

XIV.  Miscellaneous:  Page. 

1.  Grindstones;  whetstones;  and  hones 463 

2.  Pumice 470 

3.  Rottenstone 473 

4.  Madstones  / 474 

5.  Molding  sand 474 

6.  Mineral  waters 477 

7.  Road-making  materials 482 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PLATES. 

Facing  page 

1.  View  showing  wall  and  rail  cases  and  installation  of  nonmetallic  minerals 

on   gallery    of    southwest   court,   U.    S.    National    Museum.     Looking 
west 155 

2.  View  showing  rail  case  and  installation  of  nonmetallic  minerals  in  gallery 

of  southwest  court  of  U.  S.  National  Museum.     Looking  north 1 55 

3.  Views  in  graphite  mine  near  Hague,  Warren  County,  New  York.     From 

photographs  by  C.  D.  Walcott 170 

4.  Section  of  the  salt  deposits  at  Stassfurt.     From  the  Transactions  of  the 

Edinburgh  Geological  Society,  V,  1884,  p.  11 1 204 

5.  Views  of  brine-evaporating  tanks  at  Syracuse,  New  York.     From  photo- 

graphs by  I.  P.  Bishop 210 

6.  View  of  Tripoli  mines  in  Carthage,  Missouri 218 

7.  Deposit  of  diatomaceous  earth,  Great  Bend  of  Pitt  River,  Shasta  County, 

California.     From  a  photograph  by  J.  S.  Diller 219 

8.  Map  showing  distribution  of  corundum   and   peridotite  in  the  eastern 

United  States.     After  J.  V.  Lewis,  Bulletin  II,  North  Carolina  Geo- 
logical Survey 222 

9.  Microstructure  of  emery.     After  Tschermak,  Mineralogische  und  Petro- 

graphische  Mittheilungen  XIV,  Part  4 224 

10.  Section  showing  the  formation  of   manganese    deposits   from   dec-ay   of 

limestone.     After  Penrose,  Annual  Report  Geological  Survey  of  Arkan- 
sas, I,  1890  252 

11.  Botryoidal     psilomelane,     Crimora,     Virginia.      Specimen     No.    66722, 

U.S.N.M 255 

12.  Views  showing  occurrence  Calcite  in  Iceland.     After  Thoroddsen 259 

13.  View  in  a  cement  quarry  near  Whitehall,  Ulster  County,  New  York. 

From  a  photograph  by  N.  H.  Barton 268 

14.  View  in  a  soapstone  quarry,  Lafayette,  Pennsylvania 319 

15.  Microsections  showing  the  appearance  of  (1)  kaolinite  and  (2)  washed 

kaolin 330 

16.  Microsections  showing  the  appearance  of  (1)  halloysite  and  (2)  ledaclay.       331 

17.  Microsections  showing  the  appearance  of  (1)  Albany  County,  Wyoming, 

clay  and  (2)  fuller's  earth 332 

18.  Leda  clays,  Lewiston,  Maine.     From  a  photograph  by  L.  H.  Merrill 333 

19.  View  in  a  Kaolin  pit,  Delaware  County,  Pennsylvania 339 

20.  Map  showing  phosphate  regions  of  Florida.     After  G.  H.  Eldridge 366 

21.  Borax  mine  near  Daggett,  California.     Interior  and  exterior  views 398 

22.  View  of  a  gypsum  quarry.     From  a  photograph  by  the  Iowa  Geological 

Survey 408 

23.  Peat  beds  overlying  gold-bearing  gravels,  Mias,  Russia.     From  a  photo- 

graph by  A.  M.  Miller , , 424 

163 


164  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

Facing  page, 

24.  Map  showing  the  developed  coal  fields  of  the  United  States.     From 
the  Eeport  of  the  Eleventh  Census 

25  Map  showing  areas  where  bitumen  occurs   in  the  United  States  and 

Canada.     From  the  Report  of  the  Tenth  Census  . . 

26  Plan  of  Pitch  Lake,  Trinidad.     After  S.  F.  Peckham 442 

27.  Nodule  of  gum  copal  from  Congo  River  region,  Africa.     Specimen  No. 

62717,  U.S.N.M 457 

28.  Microsection  of  mica  schist  used  in   making  whetstone.     Fig.    1,    cut 

across  foliation.     Fig.  2,  cut  parallel  to  foliation 467 

29.  View  of  Novaculite  Quarry,  Arkansas.     After  Griswold,  Annual  Report  of 

the  Geological  Survey  of  Arkansas,  III,  1890 468 

30.  Microsections  showing  the  appearance  of  (1)  Arkansas  Novaculite  and  (2) 

Ratisbon  razor  hone.     The  dark  bodies  in  (2)  are  garnets 470 


TEXT  FIGURES. 

Page. 

1.  Block  of  limestone  with  alternating  bands  of  sulphur.    Sicily,  Italy.    Spec- 

imen No.  60932,  U.S.N.M .---       179 

2.  Cluster  of    halite   crystals,   Stassfurt,   Germany.     Specimen   No.   40222, 

U.  S.  N.  M 195 

3.  Geological  section  of  Petite  Anse  Island,  Louisiana 201 

4.  Cluster  of    sylvite  crystals,   Stassfurt,   Germany.     Specimen   No.  40223, 

U.S.N.M 203 

5.  Pisolitic  bauxite.   Bartow  County,  Georgia.   Specimen  No.  63335, U.S.N.M.       229 

6.  Map    showing   geological    relations  of   Georgia  and    Alabama    bauxite 

deposits.     After  C.  W.  Hayes 235 

7.  Section  showing  relation  of  bauxite  to  mantle  of  residual  clay  in  Georgia. 

After  C.  W.  Hayes 236 

8.  Section  across  paint  mine  at  Lehigh  Gap,  Pennsylvania.     After  C.  E.  Hesse .       242 

9.  Section  of  mica  veins  in  Yancey  County,   North  Carolina.     After  W.  C. 

Kerr 288 

10.  Asbestos  fibers.    After  G.  P.  Merrill,  Proceedings  of  the  U.  S.  National 

Museum,  XVIII,  p.  283 297 

11.  Serpentine  asbestos  in  massive  serpentine.     Specimen  No.  72836 302 

12.  Map  of  Nitrate  region,  Chile.     After  Fuchs  and  De  Launay 393 

13.  Section  through  Sulphur  Mountain,  California.     After  S.  F.  Peckham  . .  432 


GUIDE  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  THE  COLLECTIONS  IN  THE 
SECTION  OF  APPLIED  GEOLOGY. 

THE  NONMETALLIC  MINERALS. 


By  GEORGE  P.  MERRILL, 
Curator,  Division  of  Physical  and  Chemical  Geology  and  Head  Curator  of  the  Department. 


I.  ELEMENTS. 
1.  CARBON. 

The  numerous  compounds  of  which  carbon  forms  the  chief  constit- 
uent are  widely  variable  in  their  physical  properties  and  origin.  As 
occurring  in  nature  few  of  its  members  possess  a  definite  chemical 
composition  such  as  would  constitute  a  true  mineral  species,  and  they 
must  for  the  most  part  be  looked  upon  as  indefinite  admixtures  in 
which  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen  play  the  more  important  roles. 
For  present  purposes  the  entire  group  may  be  best  considered  under 
the  heads  of  (1)  The  Pure  Carbon  series;  (2)  The  Coal  series,  and  (3) 
The  Bitumen  series,  the  distinctions  being  based  mainly  on  the  gradu- 
ally increasing  amounts  of  volatile  hydrocarbons,  a  change  which  is 
accompanied  by  a  variation  in  physical  condition  from  the  hardest  of 
known  substances  through  plastic  and  liquid  to  gaseous  forms.  Here 
will  be  considered  only  the  members  of  the  pure  carbon  series,  the 
others  being  discussed  under  the  head  of  hydrocarbon  compounds. 

DIAMOND. — This  mineral  crystallizes  in  the  isometric  system,  with 
a  tendency  toward  octahedral  forms,  the  crystals  showing  curved  and 
striated  surfaces.  (Specimen  No.  53558,  U.S.N.M.)  The  hardness  is 
great,  10  of  Dana's  scale;  the  specific  gravity  varies  from  3.1  in  the 
carbonados  to  3.5  in  good  clear  crystals.  The  luster  is  adamantine; 
the  colors,  white  or  colorless,  through  yellow,  red,  orange,  green, 
brown  to  black.  The  transparent  and  highly  refractive  forms  are  of 
value  as  gems,  and  can  best  be  discussed  in  works  upon  this  subject. 
We  have  to  do  here  rather  with  the  rough,  confused  crystalline  aggre- 
gates or  rounded  forms,  translucent  to  opaque,  which,  though  of 
no  value  as  gems,  are  of  the  greatest  utility  in  the  arts.  To  such 

165 


166  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

forms  the  name  Hack  diamond,  bort,  and  carbonado  are  applied.     (Speci- 
mens Nos.  53668-53671,  U.S.N.M.) 

Origin  and  Occurrence.— The  origin  of  the  diamond  has  long  been  a 
matter  of  discussion.  A  small  proportion  of  the  diamonds  of  the 
world  are  found  in  alluvial  deposits  of  gravel  or  sand.  In  the  South 
African  fields  they  occur  in  a  so-called  blue  gravel,  formed,  according 
to  Lewis,  along  the  line  of  contact  between  an  eruptive  rock  (perido- 
tite)  and  highly  carbonaceous  shales.  They  were  regarded  by  Lewis 
as  originating  through  the  crystallization  of  the  carbon  of  the  shales 
by  the  heat  of  the  molten  rock.  De  Launay  states,  however,  that 
there  is  no  necessary  connection  betwreen  the  shales  and  the  diamond, 
and  shows  with  apparent  conclusiveness  that  the  latter  occur  often  in 
a  broken  and  fragmental  condition,  such  as  to  indicate  beyond  doubt 
that  they  originated  at  greater  depths  and  were  brought  upward  as 
phenocrysts  in  the  molten  magma  at  the  time  of  its  intrusion.  The 
primary  origin  of  the  diamonds  he  regards  as  through  the  crystalliza- 
tion, under  great  pressure,  of  the  carbon  contained  in  the  basic  magma 
in  the  form  of  metallic  carbides. 

The  diamond-bearing  rock  as  above  noted  is  a  peridotite  often  brec- 
ciated  and  more  or  less  serpentinized  (Specimen  No.  62108,  U.S.N.M.). 
The  blue  and  green  gravel  formed  by  the  decomposition  of  this  rock  is 
shown  in  Specimen  No.  73188,  U.S.N.M.  With  these  are  others  of  the 
associated,  eruptive,  and  metamorphic  rocks,  as  melaphyr  (Specimen 
No.  73184,  U.S.N.M.),  quartzite  (Specimen  No.  73185,  U.S.N.M.), 
shale  (Specimen  No.  73186,  U.S.N.M.),  and  basalt  (Specimen  No.  73187, 
U.S.N.M). 

Whether  or  not  a  similar  origin  to  that  outlined  above  can  be  attrib- 
uted to  the  Brazilian  diamonds  is  as  yet  unproven.  Their  occurrence 
and  association  with  detrital  materials  resulting  from  the  breaking 
down  of  older  rocks,  with  which  they  may  or  may  not  have  been 
originally  associated,  renders  the  problem  obscure  and  difficult  of 
solution. 

According  to  Kunz,1  95  per  cent  of  all  diamonds  at  present  obtained 
come  from  the  Kimberly  Mines,  Griqua  Land,  west  South  Africa;  of 
these,  some  47  per  cent  are  bort.  The  remainder  come  from  Brazil, 
India,  and  Borneo.  A  few  have  been  found  in  North  America,  the 
Ural  Mountains,  and  New  South  Wales,  but  these  countries  are  not 
recognized  as  regular  and  constant  sources  of  supply. 

Uses.—  The  material,  aside  from  its  use  as  a  gem,  owes  its  chief  value 
to  its  great  hardness,  and  is  used  as  an  abrading  and  cutting  medium 
in  cutting  diamonds  and  other  gems,  glass,  and  hard  materials  in  gen- 
eral, such  as  can  not  be  worked  by  softer  and  cheaper  substances. 

With  the  introduction  of  machinery  into  mining  and  quarrying  there 
1  Gems  and  Precious  Stones.  New  York,  1890. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  167 

has  arisen  a  constant  and  growing  demand  for  black  diamonds,  or  bort, 
for  the  cutting  edges  of  diamond  drills,  and  to  a  less  extent  for  teeth 
to  diamond  saws.  (Specimens  Nos.  53668  to  53670,  U.S.N.M.) 

According  to  a  writer  in  the  Iron  Age1  the  crystallized  diamond  is 
not  suitable  for  these  purposes  owi  ng  to  its  cleavage  property.  The  best 
bort  or  "carbonado"  comes,  it  is  said,  from  Bahia,  Brazil,  where  it  is 
found  as  small,  black  pebbles  in  river  gravels.  The  ordinary  sizes 
used  for  drills  weigh  but  from  one- half  to  1  carat,  but  in  special  cases 
pieces  weighing  from  4  to  6  carats  are  used.  It  is  stated  that  the 
crowns  of  large  drills,  10  inches  in  diameter,  armed  with  the  best 
grade  of  carbonado,  are  sometimes  valued  as  high  as  $10,000. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

M.  BABINET.  The  Diamond  and  other  precious  stones. 

Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  1870,  p.  333. 
A  DAUBREE.  Annales  des  Mines,  7th  ser.,  IX,  1876,  p.  130. 

Remarking  on  the  occurrence  of  platinum  associated  with  peridotites,  he  calls 
attention  to  the  fact  that  Maskelyne  had  shown  the  diamonds  of  South  Africa 
and  Borneo  to  occur  in  a  decomposed  peridotite. 

ORVILLE  A.  DERBY.   Geology  of  the  Diamantiferous  Region  of  the  Province  of  Parand, 
Brazil. 

American  Journal  of  Science,  XVIII,  1879,  p.  310. 

Geology  of  the  Diamond. 

American  Journal  of  Science,  XXIII,  1882,  p.  97. 
H.  COHEN.  Igneous  origin  of  the  Diamond. 

Proceedings,  Manchester  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,  1884,  p.  5. 
H.  CARVILL  LEWIS.     The  Genesis  of  the  Diamond. 

Science,  VIII,  1886,  p.  345. 
GARDNER  F.  WILLIAMS.     The  Diamond  Mines  of  South  Africa. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XV,  1886,  p.  392. 
ORVILLE  A.  DERBY.     The  Genesis  of  the  Diamond. 

Science,  IX,  1887,  p.  57. 
Discovery  of  Diamonds  in  a  Meteoric  Stone. 

Nature,  XXXVII,  1887,  p.  110. 
Diamond  Mining  in  Ceylon. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  XLIX,  1890,  p.  678. 
A.  MERVYN  SMITH.     The  Diamond  Fields  of  India. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LIII,  1892,  p.  454. 
OLIVER  WHIFFLE  HUNTINGTON.     Diamonds  in  Meteorites. 

Science,  XX,  1892,  p.  15. 
Diamonds  in  Meteoric  Stones. 

The  American  Geologist,  XI,  1893,  p.  282.     (Abstract  of  paper  by  H.  Moissan, 
Comptes  Rendus  1893,  pp.  116  and  228.) 
HENRI  MOISSAN.     Study  of  the  Diamantiferous  Sands  of  Brazil. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXII,  1896,  p.  222. 

HENRY  CARVILL  LEWIS.     I.  Papers  and  Notes  on  the  Genesis  and  Matrix  of  the 
Diamond,  edited  by  Prof.  T.  G.  Bonney. 

The  Geological  Magazine,  IV,  1897,  p.  366. 
Sir  WILLIAM  CROOKES.     Diamonds. 

Nature,  LV,  1897,  p.  325. 


1  Volume  XXXVI,  December  24,  1885,  p.  11. 


168  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

L.  DE  LA  UNA  Y.     Les  Diamants  du  Cap. 

ORVILLB  A.  'DERBY.     Brazilian  Evidence  on  the  Genesis  of  the  Diamond. 

The  Journal  of  Geology,  VI,  1898,  p.  121. 
H.  W.  FCRMISS.     Carbons  in  Brazil.     U.  S.  Consular  Reports,  1898,  p.  604.     See  also 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXVI,  1898,  p.  608. 
M.  J.  KLINCKB.     Gites  Diamantiferes  de  la  Republique  sud-Africaine. 

Annales  des  Mines,  XIV,  1898,  p.  563. 

GRAPHITE.— Graphite,  plumbago,  or  black  lead,  as  it  is  variously 
called,  is  a  dark  steel  gray  to  black  lustrous  mineral  with  a  black 
streak;  hardness  of  but  1.2,  and  a  specific  gravity  of  from  2.25  to  2.27. 
The  prevailing  form  of  the  mineral  is  scaly  or  broadly  foliated  (Speci- 
men No.  51007,  U.  S.  N.  M.),  with  a  bright  luster,  but  it  is  sometimes 
quite  massive  (Specimen  No.  61138,  U.  S.  N.  M.)  and  columnar  (Speci- 
men No.  59976,  U.S.N.M.)  or  earthy,  with  a  dull  coal-like  luster 
(Specimens  Nos.  64795  and  63133,  U.S.N.M.). 

Its  most  characteristic  features  are  its  softness,  greasy  feeling,  and 
property  of  soiling  everything  with  which  it  conies  in  contact. 
Molybdenite,  the  sulphide  of  molybdenum,  is  the  only  mineral  with 
which  it  is  likely  to  become  confounded.  This  last,  however,  though 
very  similar  in  general  appearance,  gives  a  streak  with  a  slight  green- 
ish tinge,  and  when  fused  with  soda  before  the  blowpipe  yields  a  sul- 
phur reaction.  Chemically,  graphite  is  nearly  pure  carbon.  The 
name  black  lead  is  therefore  erroneous  and  misleading,  but  has  become 
too  firmly  established  to  be  easily  eradicated. 

The  analyses  given  below  show  the  composition  of  some  of  the  purest 
natural  graphites. 


Locality.                                      Carbon. 

Ash. 

Volatile 
matter. 

Ceylon  98.  817 

0  280 

0  90 

Buckingham,  Canada  97.  626 
Do  99815 

1.78 
076 

.594 
109 

As  mined  the  material  is  almost  invariably  contaminated  by  mechan- 
ically admixed  impurities.  Thus  the  Canadian  material  (Specimens 
Nos.  59977,  62153,  U.S.N.M.)  as  mined  yields  from  22.38  to  30.51 
per  cent  of  graphite;  the  best  Bavarian,  53.80  per  cent  (Specimen  No. 
52050,  U.S.N.M.).  The  grade  of  ore  that  can  be  economically  worked 
naturally  depends  upon  the  character  of  the  impurities  and  the  extent 
and  accessibility  of  the  deposit.  It  is  said1  that  deposits  at  Ticonde- 
roga,  New  York,  have  been  worked  in  which  there  was  but  6  per  cent 
of  graphite  (Specimen  No.  37825,  U.  S.  N.  M.). 

Occurrence  and  origin,—  Graphite  occurs  mainly  in  the  older  crystal- 
1  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXV,  1898,  p.  256. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  169 

line  metamorphic  rocks,  both  siliceous  and  calcareous,  sometimes  in 
the  form  of  disseminated  scales,  as  in  the  crystalline  limestone  of  Essex 
County,  New  York  (Specimen  No.  37825,  U.S.N.M),  or  in  embedded 
masses,  streaks,  and  lumps,  often  of  such  dimensions  that  single  blocks 
of  several  hundred  pounds  weight  are  obtainable.  (Specimen  No. 
59976,  U.S.N.M.)  It  is  also  found  in  the  form  of  veins. 

The  fact  that  the  mineral  is  carbon,  one  of  the  constituents  of  animal 
and  vegetable  life,  has  led  many  authorities  to  regard  it,  like  coal,  as 
of  vegetable  origin.  While  this  view  is  very  plausible  it  can  not,  how- 
ever, be  regarded  as  in  all  cases  proven. 

That  graphite  may  be  formed  independently  of  organic  life  is  shown 
by  its  presence  in  cast  iron,  where  it  has  crystalized  out,  on  cooling, 
in  the  form  of  bright  metallic  scales.  See  Specimens  Nos.  51298  and 
51312  in  the  metallurgical  series  of  the  manufacture  of  iron. 

Carbon  is  also  found  in  meteorites  which  are  plainly  of  igneous 
origin,  and  which  have  thus  far  yielded  no  certain  traces  of  either 
plant  or  animal  organisms.  It  is,  however,  a  well-known  fact  that 
coal— itself  of  organic  origin — has  in  some  cases  been  converted  into 
graphite  through  metamorphic  agencies,  and  intermediate  stages  like 
the  graphitic  anthracite  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  afford  good  illus- 
trations of  such  transitions.  (Specimen  No.  59099,  U.S.N.M.)  Certain 
European  authorities1  have  shown  that  amorphous  carbonaceous  par- 
ticles in  clay  slates  have  been  converted  into  graphite  by  the  metamor- 
phosing influence  of  intruded  igneous  rocks.  Prof.  J.  S.  Newberry 
described  an  occurrence  of  this  nature  in  the  coal  fields  of  Sonora, 
Mexico.2  He  says: 

All  the  western  portion  of  this  coal  field  seems  to  be  much  broken  by  trap  dikes 
which  have  everywhere  metamorphosed  the  coal  and  converted  it  into  anthracite. 
At  the  locality  examined  the  metamorphic  action  has  been  extreme,  converting 
most  of  the  coal  into  a  brilliant  but  somewhat  friable  anthracite,  containing  3  or  4 
per  cent  of  volatile  matter.  At  an  outcrop  of  one  of  the  beds,  however,  the  coal  was 
found  converted  into  graphite,  which  has  a  laminated  structure,  but  is  unctuous  to 
the  touch  and  marks  paper  like  a  lead  pencil.  The  metamorphism  is  much  more 
complete  than  at  Newport  (Rhode  Island)  [Specimen  No.  59099,  U.S.N.M.],  furnishing 
the  best  example  yet  known  to  me  of  the  conversion  of  a  bed  of  coal  into  graphite. 

In  New  York  State,  and  in  Canada,  graphite  occurs  in  Laurentian 
rocks,  both  in  beds  and  in  veins,  a  portion  of  the  latter  being  appar- 
ently true  fissure  veins  and  others  shrinkage  cracks  or  segregation  veins 
which  traverse  in  countless  numbers-the  containing  rocks.  It  is  said3 
that  in  the  Canadian  regions  (Specimens  Nos.  51007,  59976,  U.S.N.M.), 
the  deposits  occur  generally  in  limestone  or  in  their  immediate  vicinity, 
and  that  granular  varieties  of  the  rock  often  contain  large  crystalline 

1  Beck  and  Luzi,  Berichte  der  Deutschen  Chemischen  Gesellschaft,  1891,  p.  24. 

2Schoolof  Mines  Quarterly,  VIII,  1887,  p.  334. 

3  See  On  the  Graphite  of  the  Laurentian  of  Canada,  by  J.  W.  Dawson,  Proceedings 
of  the  Geological  Society  of  London,  XXV,  1870,  p.  112,  and  an  article  on  Graphite 
by  Prof.  J.  F.  Kemp  in  The  Mineral  Industry,  II,  1893,  p.  335. 


170  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

plates  of  plumbago.  At  other  times  the  mineral  is  so  finely  dissemi- 
nated as  to  give  a  bluish-gray  color  to  the  limestone,  and  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  bands  thus  colored  seems  to  mark  the  stratification  ot  the 
rock.  Further,  the  plumbago  is  not  confined  to  the  limestones;  large 
crystalline  scales  of  it  are  occasionally  disseminated  in  pyroxene  rock 
or  pyrallolite,  and  sometimes  in  quartzite  and  in  feldspathic  rocks,  or 
even  in  magnetic  oxide  of  iron.  In  addition  to  these  bedded  forms, 
there  are  also  true  veins  in  which  graphite  occurs  associated  with  cal- 
cite,  quartz,  orthoclase,  or  pyroxene,  and  either  in  disseminated  scales, 
in  detached  masses,  or  in  bands  or  layers  separated  from  each  other 
and  from  the  wall  rock  "by  feldspar,  pyroxene,  and  quartz.  Kemp 
describes  *  the  graphite  deposit  near  Ticonderoga,  New  York  (Specimens 
Nos.  37825,  66759,  U.S.N.M.),  as  in  the  form  of  a  true  fissure  vein, 
cutting  the  lamination  of  the  gneissic  walls  at  nearly  right  angles. 
The  wall  rock  is  a  garnetiferous  gneiss,  with  an  east  and  west  strike, 
and  the  vein  runs  at  the  ubig  mine"  north  12°  west,  and  dips  55°  west. 
The  vein  filling,  he  says,  was  evidently  orthoclase  (or  microcline)  with 
quartz  and  biotite  and  pockets  of  calcite.  Besides  graphite,  it  con- 
tained tourmaline,  apatite,  pyrite,  and  sphene. 

Walcott8  describes  the  graphite  at  the  mines  4  miles  west  of  Haguo, 
on  Lake  George,  New  York,  as  occurring  in  Algonkian  rocks,  and  as 
probably  of  organic  origin. 

At  the  mines  the  alternating  layers  of  graphite  shale  or  schist  form  a  bed  varying 
from  3  to  13  feet  in  thickness.  The  outcrop  may  be  traced  for  a  mile  or  more.  The 
garnetiferous  sandstones  form  a  strong  ledge  above  and  below  the  graphite  bed.  The 
appearance  is  that  of  a  fossil  coal  bed,  the  alteration  having  changed  the  coal  to 
graphite  and  the  sandstone  to  indurated,  garnetiferous,  almost  quartzitic  sandstones. 
The  character  of  the  graphite  bed  is  well  shown  in  the  accompanying  plate,  from  a 
photograph  tat  en  by  me  in  1890.  It  is  here  a  little  over  9  feet  in  thickness  and  is 
formed  of  alternating  layers  of  highly  graphitic  sandy  shale  and  schist.  [See  Plate  3.] 

According  to  J.  Walther3  the  Ceylonese  graphite  (Specimens  Nos. 
66857,  62073,  U.S.N.M.)  occurs  in  coarsely  foliated  or  stalky  masses  in 
veins  in  gneiss  which,  where  mined,  is  decomposed  to  the  condition  of 
laterite.  The  veins  are  regarded  as  true  fissures,  and  vary  from  12  to 
22  cm.  (about  4f  to  8f  inches)  in  width. 

The  graphite  of  Northern  Moravia  occurs  in  gray  to  black  crystal- 
line granular  Archaean  limestone  interbedded  with  amphibolitos  juid 
muscovite  gneiss,  the  limestone  itself  being  often  serpentinous,  in  this 
respect  apparently  resembling  the  graphitic  portions  of  the  ophical- 
cites  of  Essex  County,  New  York.  (Specimen  No.  70084,  U.S.N.M.). 
The  material  is  quite  impure,  showing  on  the  average  but  53  per  cent 
of  carbon  and  44  per  cent  of  ash,  the  latter  being  made  up  largely  of 

1  Preliminary  Report  on  the  Geology  of  Essex  County,  Contributions  from  the  Geo- 
logical Department  of  Columbia  College,  1893,  pp.  452,  453. 
"Bulletin  of  the  Geological  Society  of  America,  X,  1898,  p.  227. 
3  Records  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  India,  XXIV,  1891,  p.  42. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,   1  899.— Mer 


PLATE  3. 


VIEWS  IN  GRAPHITE  MINE  NEAR  HAGUE,  WARREN  COUNTY,  NEW  YORK. 

From  photographs  by  Charles  D.  \Valcott. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  171 

silica  and  iron  oxide,  with  a  little  sulphur,  magnesia,  and  alumina. 
This  graphite  is  regarded  as  originating  through  the  metamorphism 
of  vegetable  matter  included  in  the  original  sediments,  the  agencies  of 
metamorphism  being  both  igneous  intrusions  and  the  heat  and  pressure 
incidental  to  the  folding  of  the  beds.1 

As  to  so  much  of  the  graphite  as  occurs  in  beds  there  seems,  then, 
little  doubt  as  to  its  origin  from  plant  remains  which  may  be  imagined 
to  have  existed  in  the  form  of  seaweeds  or  to  have  been  derived  from 
diffused  bituminous  matter.  The  origin  of  the  vein  material  is  not  so 
evident,  though  it  seems  probable  that  it  is  due  to  the  metamorphism 
of  bituminous  matter  segregated  into  veins,  like  those  of  albertite  in 
New  Brunswick  or  of  gilsonite,  etc.,  in  Utah.  Kemp  states  that  the 
Ticonderoga  graphite  must  have  reached  the  fissure  as  some  volatile  or 
liquid  hydrocarbon,  such  as  petroleum,  and  become  metamorphosed  in 
time  to  its  present  state.  Walther  believes  the  Ceylon  material  to  have 
originated  by  the  reduction  of  carburetted  vapors.  (See  also  under 
origin  of  diamonds,  p.  166.) 

The  total  quantity  of  carbon  in  the  form  of  graphite  in  the  Lauren- 
tian  rocks  of  Canada  has  been  estimated  by  Dawson  as  equal  to  that  in 
any  similar  areas  of  the  Carboniferous  system  of  Pennsylvania. 

Sources. — The  chief  sources  of  the  graphite  of  commerce  are  Austria 
and  Ceylon.  Other  sources  of  commercial  importance  are  Germany, 
Italy,  Siberia  (Specimen  No.  61138,  U.S.N.M.),  the  United  States,  and 
Canada.  The  chief  deposits  of  commercial  value  in  the  United  States 
are  at  Ticonderoga,  New  York,  where  the  graphite  occurs  in  a  granu- 
lar quartz  rock,  or,  according  to  J.  F.  Kemp,  in  "Elliptical  Chimneys 
in  Gneiss  which  are  filled  with  Calcite  and  Graphite."  An  earth}', 
impure  graphite,  said  to  be  suitable  for  foundry  facings,  is  mined  near 
Newport,  Rhode  Island  (Specimen  No.  53797,  U.S.  X.M.).  About  one 
hundred  years  ago  the  material  was  mined  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania. Other  American  localities  represented  in  the  collections  are 
Bloomingdale,  New  Jersey  (Specimen  No.  56272,  U.S.N.M.);  Clinton- 
ville,  New  York  (Specimen  No.  31597,  U.S.N.M.);  Hague,  Warren 
County,  New  York  (Specimen  No.  63132,  U.S.N.M.);  Raleigh,  Wake 
County,  North  Carolina  (Specimen  No.  63133.  U.S.N.M.);  Lehigh  and 
Berks  counties,  Pennsylvania  (Specimens  Nos.  66952;  66953,  U.S. N.  M. ) ; 
Salt  Sulphur  Springs,  West  Virginia  (Specimen  No.  63423,  U.S.N.M.); 
St.  Johns,  Tooele  County,  Utah  (Specimen  No.  62721,  U.S.N.M.).  ' 

Graphite  is  a  very  common  mineral  in  the  Laurentian  rocks  of 
Canada.  The  most  important  known  localities  are  north  of  the  Ottawa 
River,  in  the  townships  of  Buckingham,  Lochaber,  and  Grenville 
(Specimens  Nos.  59976,. 51007,  U.S.N.M.).  At  Buckingham  it  is  stated 
masses  of  graphite  have  been  obtained  weighing  nearly  5,000  pounds. 

JJahrbuch  k.  k.  Geologische  Reichsanstalt,  1897,  XL VII,  p.  21. 


172  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

At  Grenville  the  graphite  occurs  in  a  gangue  consisting  mainly  of 
pyroxene,  wollastonite,  feldspar,  and  quartz,  while  the  country  rock 
is  limestone.  Blocks  of  graphite  have  been  obtained  weighing  from 
700  to  1,500  pounds.1 

Graphite  is  also  found  in  Japan  (Specimen  No.  34359,  U.S.N.M.), 
Australia  (Specimen  No.  62177,  U.S.N.M.),  New  Zealand  (Specimens 
Nos  17796  and  64795,  U.S.N.M.),  Greenland  (Specimen  No.  65374, 
U.S.N.M.),  Guatemala  (Specimen  No.  33990,  U.S.N.M.),  Germany, 
and  in  almost  all  the  Austrian  provinces,  the  most  important  and  best 
known  deposits  being  those  of  Kaiserberg  at  St.  Michel,  where  there 
are  five  parallel  beds  occurring  in  a  grayish  black  graphite  schist,  the 
beds  varying  from  a  few  inches  to  6  yards.  The  only  workable 
deposit  in  Germany  is  stated  to  be  at  Passau  in  Bavaria.  The  material 
occurs  in  a  feldspathic  gneiss,  seeming  to  take  the  place  of  the  mica 
(Specimen  No.  52050,  U.S.N.M.).  The  beds  have  been  worked  chiefly 
by  peasants  for  centuries,  and  the  output  used  mainly  for  crucibles.2 

"  lfses, — Graphite  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  "lead"  pencils, 
lubricants,  stove  blacking,  paints,  refractory  crucibles,  and  for  foun- 
dry facings.  In  the  manufacture  of  pencils  only  the  purest  and  best 
varieties  are  used,  and  high  grades  only  can  be  utilized  for  lubricants 
(Specimens  Nos.  51608-51619,  U.S.N.M.).  For  the  other  purposes 
mentioned  impure  materials  can  be  made  to  answer.  In  the  manufac- 
ture of  the  Dixon  crucibles  (Specimens  Nos.  51598-51600,  U.S.N.M.)  a 
mixture  of  50  per  cent  graphite,  33  per  cent  of  clay,  and  17  per  cent 
of  sand  is  used. 

Preparation. — In  nature  graphite  is  usually  associated  with  harder 
and  heavier  materials,  which  it  is  necessary  to  get  rid  of  before  the 
material  is  of  value.  In  New  York  it  is  the  custom  to  crush  the  rock 
in  a  battery  of  stamps,  such  as  are  used  in  gold  mining,  and  then 
separate  the  graphite  by  washing,  its  lighter  specific  gravity  permit- 
ting it  to  be  floated  off  on  water,  while  the  heavy,  injurious  constitu- 
ents are  left  behind.  Mica,  owing  to  its  scaly  form,  can  not  be 
separated  in  this  manner,  and  hence  micaceous  ores  of  the  mineral  are 
of  little  if  any  value. 

An  improvement  in  the  manufacture  of  plumbago  or  graphite  has 
been  described  in  a  recent  patent  specification.  Graphite,  crushed  and 
passed  through  a  sieve  of  from  120  to  150  meshes  per  inch,  is  stirred 
into  a  saturated  solution  of  alum  or  aluminum  sulphate  at  a  temperature 
of  212°  F. ;  steatite  is  then  added,  and  more  water,  if  required.  After 
mixing,  excess  of  water  is  evaporated  until  a  consistency  suited  to 
grinding  in  a  chilled  steel  or  other  mixer  is  obtained.  More  graphite 
may  here  be  added;  then,  after  thorough  grinding,  the  material  may 
be  compressed  into  cakes  for  household  use,  or  is  ready  for  the  manu- 

1  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  Economic  Minerals  of  Canada,  1876,  p.  122. 

2  The  Journal  of  the  Iron  and  Steel  Institute,  1890,  p.  739. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


173 


fact  lire  of  pencils  or  crucibles.  The  average  formula  of  the  mixture 
is:  Graphite,  80  parts;  steatite,  soapstone,  or  talc,  14  parts;  alum,  6 
parts;  but  this  varies  with  the  purpose  to  which  the  material  is  to  be 
applied.  When  several  different  kinds  of  graphite  have  to  be  employed, 
the  richest  in  carbon  is  first  mixed  into  the  alum  solution.  By  this 
process  graphites  previously  regarded  as  incapable  of  being  compacted 
are  utilized,  and  are  improved  in  polishing  power.  For  pencils  the 
material  may  be  hard  without  being  brittle,  and  black  without  being 
soft,  while  crucibles  made  from  the  treated  graphite  are  at  once  harder, 
more  durable,  and  lighter.1 

Prices. — The  value  of  the  mineral  varies  with  its  quality.  In  1899 
the  crude  lump  was  reported  as  worth  $8  a  ton  and  the  pulverized  $30. 

The  annual  output  as  given2  for  the  principal  countries  is  as  follows: 

World 's  production  of  graphite. 


Year. 

Austria. 

Canada. 

Ceylon. 

Germany. 

India. 

Italy. 

United 
States. 

1892  

Metric 
tons. 
20,  978 

Metric 
tons. 
151 

Metric 
tons. 

21,300 

Metric 
tons. 
4,036 

Metric 
tons. 

(a) 

Metric 
tons. 
1  ,  645 

Metric 

ton*. 
707 

1893 

23  807 

Nil 

21  900 

3  140 

(a) 

1  465 

634 

1894  
1895 

24,121 
28  443 

C3 
199 

10,718 
13  711 

3,  133 
3  751 

1,623 

1,575 

349 
171 

18%  
1897  
1898 

35,972 
38,504 
33  062 

126 
396 
1  107 

10,463 
619,275 
678  509 

5,248 
3,861 
4  593 

(«) 
61 
2° 

3,  148 
5,  650 
6  435 

184 
450 

,X'>4 

a  Not  reported  in  the  Government  statistics. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


b  Exports. 


J.  W.  DAWSON.     On  the  Graphite  of  the  Laurentian  of  Canada. 

Quarterly  Journal  Geological  Society  of  London,  XXVI,  1870,  p.  112. 
M.  BONNEFOY.     M^moire  sur  la  Geologie  et  1' Exploitation  des  Gites  de  Graphite  de 
la  Boheme  Meridionale. 

Annales  des  Mines.  7th  Ser.,  XV.  1879,  p.  157. 
JOHN  S.  NEWBERRY.     The  Origin  of  Graphite. 

School  of  Mines  Quarterly,  VIII,  1887,  p.  334. 
Der  Graphitbergbau  auf  Ceylon. 

Berg-  und  Huttenmannische  Zeitung,  XLVII,  1888,  p.  322. 
J.  WALTHER.     Ueber  Graphitgange  in  zersetztem  Gneiss  (Laterit)  von  Ceylon. 

Zeitschrift  der  Deutschen  Geologischen  Gesellschaft,  XLI,  1889,  p.  359. 
A.  PALLAUSCH.     Die  Graphitbergbaue  im  siidlichen  Bohmen. 

Berg-  und  Huttenmiinnisches  Jahrbuch,  XXXVII,  p.  95,  1889. 
T.  ANDREE.  Graphite  Mining  in  Austria  and  Bavaria.     (Abstract.)  . 

Journal  of  the  Iron  and  Steel  Institute,  1890,  p.  738. 

1  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVI1I,  1894,  p.  440. 
3  The  Mineral  Industry,  VI,  1897;  VIII,  1899. 


174  REPORT   OF    NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

J.  POSTLETHWAITE.     The  Borrowdale  Plumbago;  its  Mode  of  Occurrence  and  Probable 
of  the  Geological  Society  of  London,  Session,  1889-1890,  p.  124. 


ischen  Gesellschaft,  XXIV,  pp.  4085-4095.    1891.) 

Neues  Jahrbuch  fur  Mineralogie,  Geologic  und  Paleontologie.    1393.    II,  P< 
2  p. 241.     (Abstract.) 

E.WEINSCHENK.     Zur   Kenntniss  der   Graphitlagerstatten.      Chemisch-geologisc 
Studien  von  Dr.  Ernst  Weinschenk. 

1    Die  Graphitlagerstatten  des  bayerischen    Grenzgebirges.     Habihtations- 
schrift  zur  Erlangung  der  venia  legendi  an  der  K.  technischen  Hochschule. 
Miinchen,  1897. 
FRANZ  KRETSCHMER.     The  Graphite  Deposits  of  Northern  Moravia. 

Transactions  of  the  North  of  England  Institute  of  Mining. and  Mechanical 
Engineer,  XLVII,  1898,  p.  87. 

2.  SULPHUR. 

Color  of  the  mineral  when  pure  yellow,  sometimes  brownish,  red- 
dish, or  gray  through  impurities.  Hardness,  1.5  to  2.5.  Specific 
gravity,  2.05.  Insoluble  in  water  or  acids.  Luster  resinous.  Occurs 
native  in  beautiful  crystals  (Specimens  Nos.  53115,  53116,  and  60660, 
U.S.N.M.)  or  in  massive  (Specimens  Nos.  16092,  60849,  U.S.N.M.), 
stalactitic  and  spheriodal  forms  (Specimens  Nos.  57137  and  60864, 
U.S.N.M.).  Once  seen  the  mineral  is  as  a  rule  readily  recognized, 
and  all  possible  doubts  are  set  at  rest  by  its  ready  inflammability, 
burning  with  a  faint  bluish  flame  and  giving  the  irritating  odors  of 
suiphurous  anhydride.  In  nature  often  impure  through  the  presence 
of  clay  and  bituminous  matters;  sometimes  contains  traces  of  selenium 
or  tellurium  (Specimens  Nos.  60856  and  60864,  U.S.N.M.). 

Origin  wild  mode  of  occurrence. — Sulphur  deposits  of  such  extent  as 
to  be  of  economic  importance  occur  as  a  product  of  volcanic  activity, 
or  result  from  the  alteration  of  beds  of  gypsum.  On  a  smaller  scale, 
and  of  interest  from  a  purely  mineralogical  standpoint,  are  the  occur- 
rences of  sulphur  through  the  alteration  of  pyrite  and  other  metallic 
sulphides. 

As  a  product  of  volcanic  action  sulphur  is  formed  through  the  oxida- 
tion of  hydrogen  disulphide  (H2S),  which,  together  with  steam  and 
other  vapors,  is  a  common  exhalation  from  volcanic  vents  and  solf ataras. 
Such  deposits  on  a  small  scale  may  be  seen  incrusting  f  umaroles  in  the 
Roaring  Mountain  (Specimen  No.  72872,  U.S.N.M.)  or  associated  with 
the  sinter  deposits  of  the  Mammoth  Hot  Springs  in  the  Yellowstone 
Park  (Specimen  No.  72877,  U.S.N.M.).  It  may  also  be  produced 
through  the  mutual  reaction  of  hydrogen  disulphide  (H8S)  on  sulphuric 
anhydride  (SO3),  the  product  being  sulphur  (S)  and  water  (H2O)  as 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  175 

before.  To  these  types  belong  the  sulphur  deposits  of  Utah,  Cali- 
fornia, Nevada,  and  Alaska  in  the  United  States,  as  well  as  those  of 
Mexico,  Japan,  Iceland,  and  other  volcanic  regions.  Sulphur  is  derived 
from  the  sulphate  of  lime  (gypsum  or  anhydrite)  through  the  reducing 
action  of  organic  matter.  The  sulphate,  through  the  loss  of  its  oxygen, 
becomes  converted  into  a  sulphide,  which,  through  the  carbonic  acid 
in  the  air  and  water,  becomes  finally  reduced  to  hydrogen  disulphide 
with  the  formation  of  calcium  carbonate. 

According  to  Fuchs  and  De  Launay 1  there  is  formed  at  the  same 
time  with  the  hydrogen  disulphide  a  polysulphide,  which  in  its  turn 
yields  a  precipitate  of  sulphur  and  carbonate  of  lime.  The  maximum 
amount  of  sulphur  which  would  thus  result  from  the  decomposition  of 
a  given  amount  of  gypsum  is  stated  to  be  24  per  cent.  This  method 
of  origin  is  illustrated  in  the  celebrated  deposit  of  Sicily,  where  we 
have  the  sulphur  partially  disseminated  through  and  partly  interbedded 
with  a  blue-gray  limestone.  (See  Specimen  No.  60932,  U.S.N.M.). 
Beneath  the  sulphur  beds  as  they  now  exist  are  found  the  older  gyp- 
seous beds,  which  through  decomposition  have  yielded  the  materials 
for  the  lime  and  sulphur  beds  now  overlying. 

With  these  Sicilian  sulphurs  occur  a  number  of  beautiful  secondary 
minerals,  as  celestite  (Specimens  Nos.. 60866,  60869,  60877,  U.S.N.M.), 
calcite  (Specimens  Nos.  60854,  60865,  60871,  U.S.N.M.),  aragonite 
(Specimen  No.  60859,  U.S.N.M.),  and  selenite  (Specimen  No.  60857, 
U.S.N.M.). 

Sulphur  derived  directly  from  metallic  sulphides  is  of  little  economic 
interest.  Kemp  states2  that  masses  of  pyrite  in  the  calciferous  strata 
on  Lake  Champlain  may  yield  crusts  of  sulphur  an  inch  or  so  thick, 
and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  small  crystals  of  the  mineral  resulting 
from  the  alteration  of  galena,  as  described  by  George  H.  Williams3 
at  the  Mountain  View  (Maryland)  lead  mine. 

The  minute  quantities  of  sulphur  found  in  marine  muds  are  regarded 
by  J.  Y.  Buchanan*  as  due  to  the  oxidation  of  metallic  sulphides, 
which  are  themselves  produced  by  the  action  of  animal  digestive  secre- 
tions on  preexisting  sulphates,  mainly  of  iron  and  manganese. 

Localities. — The  principal  localities  of  sulphur  known  in  the  United 
States  are,  in  alphabetical  order:  Alaska,  California,  Idaho,  Louisi- 
ana, Nevada,  Texas,  Utah,  and  Wyoming.  With  the  possible  excep- 
tion of  those  of  Idaho  and  Texas,  and  that  of  Louisiana,  these  may 
all  be  traced  to  a  solfataric  origin.  The  Alaskan  deposit,5  according 
to  Dall,  are  best  developed  on  the  islands  of  Kadiak  and  Akutan. 

1  Trait6  des  Gites  Mineraux  et  Metalliferes,  I,  p.  259. 

2The  Mineral  Industry,  II,  1893,  p.  585. 

3  Johns  Hopkins  University  Circulars,  X,  1891,  p.  74. 

Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  XVIII,  1890-91,  p.  17. 

5  Alaska  and  its  Resources,  Boston,  1870. 


176 


REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM, 


California  deposits  have  in  times  past  been  worked  at  Clear  Lake,  in 
Modoc  County,  in  Colusa  County,  in  Tehama  County  (Specimen  No. 
30118, U.S.N.M.),  and  in  Napa  County  (Specimen  No.  67697,U.S.N.M.). 
The  Louisiana  deposits  lie  in  strata  of  Quaternary  age,  and  are  derived 
from  gypsum.  The  following  facts  relative  to  this  deposit  are  from 
Professor  Kemp's  paper,  already  alluded  to  : 

Probably  the  richest  and  geographically  the  most  accessible  of  the  American 
localities  is  in  southwestern  Louisiana,  230  miles  west  of  New  Orleans  and  12  miles 
from  Lake  Charles.  The  first  hole  which  revealed  this  sulphur  was  sunk  in  search 
of  petroleum,  of  which  the  presence  of  oil  and  tarry  matter  on  the  surface  were 
regarded,  quite  justly,  as  an  indication.  While  more  or  less  of  these  bituminous 
substances  were  revealed  by  the  drill,  the  great  bed  of  sulphur  is  the  main  object  of 
interest.  A  number  of  holes  have  since  been  put  down  with  the  results  recorded 
below,  and  they  leave  no  doubt  that  there  is  a  very  large  body  which  awaits  exploi- 
tation. The  first  explorations  were  made  by  the  Louisiana  Petroleum  and  Coal  Oil 
Company.  It  was  succeeded  by  the  Calcasieu  Sulphur  and  Mining  Company.  The 
Louisiana  Sulphur  Mining  Company  followed,  and  now  the  owners  are  the  American 
Sulphur  Company.  The  records  of  four  holes  are  appended.  Nos.  1  and  2  were  the 
first  sunk,  and  were  about  150  feet  apart.  Nos.  2,  3,  and  4  were  put  down  in  1886. 
No.  3  is  northwest  of  No.  1. 

Records  of  several  of  the  bore  holes  that  have  penetrated  the  sulphur  bed. 


Strata. 

Original 
well 
No.  1. 

Granet's  Wells. 

Van 
Slooten's 
well 
No.  5. 

American  Sulphu  r 
Company. 

No.  2. 

No.  3. 

No.  4. 

No.  6. 

350 
95 
125 
32 
602 

No.  7. 

No.  8. 

Clay,  quicksand,  and  gravel  
Soft  rock  
Sulphur  bed,  70  to  80  per  cent  
Gypsum  and  sulphur  

Depth  of  hole  

110 
108 
680 

344 
84 
112 
12 

426 
70 
119 
6 

332 
138 
45 

(o) 

345 
91 
110 

57 

370 
72 
126 
30 

598 

499 
44 

52 
(«) 

1,231 

552 

621 

525 

603 

5% 

o  Stopped  in  sulphur. 


Analyses  from  the  large  bed  in  holes  No.  2  and  No.  3  gave  the 
following: 


Depth. 

Sulphur. 

Depth. 

Sulphur. 

HoleNo.2. 
428  feet  

Per  cent. 
62 

Hole  No.  S. 
503  feet 

441  feet  

70 

459  feet  

80 

549  feet  

60 

466  feet  

83 

486  feet  

90 

91 

—  feet  

004  Ieet  

98 

—  feet  

—  feet  

540  feet  

THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  177 

The  difficulties  in  development  lie  in  the  -quicksands  and  gravel, 
which  are  wet  and  soft,  and  in  the  soft  rock  (hole  1),  which  yields  sul- 
phurous waters  under  a  head,  at  the  surface,  of  about  15  feet. 

The  Nevada  deposits  occupy  the  craters  of  extinct  hot  springs  near 
Humboldt  House.  These  craters  are  described  by  Russell 1  as  situated 
on  the  open  desert,  above  the  surface  of  which  they  rise  to  a  height  of 
from  20  to  50  feet. 

Nearly  all  of  the  cones  are  weathered  and  broken  down,  and  are  all  extinct,  the  water 
now  rising  to  the  surface  for  miles  around.  The  outer  surface  of  the  cones  is  composed 
of  calcareous  tufa  and  siliceous  sinter,  forming  irregular  imbricated  sheets  that  slope 
away  at  a  low  angle  from  the  orifice  at  the  top.  The  interiors  of  these  structures  are 
filled  with  crystalline  gypsum,  that  in  at  least  two  instances  is  impregnated  with  sul- 
phur. One  of  the  cones  has  been  opened  by  a  cut  from  the  side  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  expose  a  good  section  of  the  material  filling  the  interior,  and  a  few  tons  of  the  sul- 
phur and  gypsurn  removed.  The  percentage  of  sulphur  is  small,  and  the  economic 
importance  of  the  deposit,  as  shown  by  the  excavation  already  made,  will  not  war- 
rant the  further  expenditure  of  capital.  The  cone  that  has  been  opened  is  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  a  large  deposit  of  calcareous  and  siliceous  material,  thus  forming  a  low 
dome  or  crater,  with  a  base  many  times  as  great  in  diameter  as  the  height  of  the 
deposit.  These  cones  correspond  in  all  their  essential  features  with  the  structures 
that  surround  hot  springs  that  are  still  active  in  various  parts  of  the  Great  Basin, 
thus  leaving  no  question  as  to  their  origin.  They  are  situated  within  the  basin  of 
Lake  Lahontan,  and  must  have  been  formed  and  become  extinct  since  the  old  lake 
evaporated  away. 

Sulphur  is  reported  as  occurring  in  the  chemically  formed  deposits 
that  surrounded  Steamboat  Springs,  situated  midway  between  Carson 
and  Reno,  Nevada.  The  conditions  at  these  springs  must  be  very  simi- 
lar to  those  that  existed  near  Humboldt  House  at  the  time  the  cones 
containing  the  sulphur  were  formed.  Sulphur  is  also  said  to  occur  in 
the  Sweetwater  Mountains,  situated  on  the  boundary  between  Cali- 
fornia and  Nevada,  in  latitude  38°  30'.  The  extent  and  geological 
relations  of  these  deposits  are  unknown. 

Another  illustration  of  sulphur  deposits  of  the  volcanic  type  is  that 
furnished  by  the  Rabbit-Hole  Sulphur  Mines  (Specimen  No.  16092, 
U.S.N.M.).  These  are  located  in  northwestern  Nevada,  on  the  eastern 
border  of  the  Black  Rock  Desert,  and  derive  their  name  from  the  Rab- 
bit-Hole Springs,  a  few  miles  to  the  southward.  The  hills  bordering 
the  Black  Rock  Desert  on  the  east  are  mainly  of  rhyolite,  with  a  narrow 
band  of  volcanic  tufa  along  the  immediate  edge  of  the  desert.  These 
beds  of  tufa  are  stratified  and  evidently  water-lain,  and  are  identical  with 
tufa  deposits  that  occur  over  an  immense  area  in  Oregon  and  Nevada. 
At  the  sulphur  mines  the  tufas  contain  angular  fragments  of  volcanic 
rock,  and  have  been  cemented  by  opal  and  other  siliceous  infiltrations 
since  their  deposition,  so  that  they  now  form  brittle  siliceous  rocks, 
with  pebbles  and  fragments  of  older  rocks  scattered  through  the  mass. 

1  Transactions  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Sciences,  I,  1881-1882,  p.  172. 
NAT  MUS   99 — — 12 


178  KEPORT   OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

In  manv  places  these  porous  tufas  and  breccias  are  richly  charged  with 
sulphur^  which  fills  all  the  interstices  of  the  rock  and  sometimes  lines 
large  cavities  with  layers  of  crystals  5  or  6  feet  in  thickness.  In  the 
Rabbit-Hole  District  sulphur  has  been  found  in  paying  quantities  for 
a  distance  of  several  miles  along  the  border  of  the  desert,  but  the  dis- 
tribution is  irregular  and  uncertain,  and  is  always  superficial  so  far 
as  can  be  judged  by  the  present  openings.  The  sulphur  has  undoubt- 
edly been  derived  from  a  deeply  seated  source,  from  which  it  has  been 
expelled  by  heat,  and  escaping  upward  along  the  lines  of  faulting  has 
been  deposited  in  the  cooler  and  higher  rocks  in  which  it  is  now  found, 
though  whether  the  deposition  took  place  by  direct  sublimation  or 
through  the  decomposition  of  hydrogen  disulphide  can  not  now  be  told 
with  certainty.  Judging  from  the  siliceous  material  that  cements  the 
tufas,  it  is  evident  that  the  porous  rocks  in  which  the  sulphur  is  now 
found  were  penetrated  by  heated  waters  bearing  silica  in  solution  pre- 
vious to  the  deposition  of  the  sulphur.  The  mines  occur  in  a  narrow 
north-and-south  belt  along  a  line, of  ancient  faulting  which  is  one  of 
the  great  structural  features  of  the  region.  The  association  of  faults 
with  sulphur-bearing  strata  of  tufa  is  here  essentially  the  same  as  at 
the  Cove  Creek  Mines,  yet  to  be  noted.  At  the  Rabbit- Hole  Mines, 
however,  no  very  recent  movement  of  the  ancient  fault  could  be  deter- 
mined. This  absence  of  a  recent  fault-scarp,  together  with  the  fact 
that  the  mines  are  now  cold  and  do  not  give  off  exhalations  of  gas  or 
vapor,  shows  that  the  solfataric  action  at  this  locality  has  long  been 
extinct,  though  at  the  Cove  Creek  Mines,  mentioned  below,  the  depo- 
sition is  still  in  progress. 

According  to  A.  F.  Du  Faur1  this  Cove  Creek  (Utah)  deposit  is  in 
Beaver  County,  near  Millard  County  line.  It  was  first  discovered  in 
1869,  but  owing  to  lack  of  railroad  communications  remained  undevel- 
oped until  1883.  The  region  is  one  of  comparatively  recent  volcanic 
activity.  The  sulphur  occurs  impregnating  limestone  and  slate  to  such 
a  degree  that  very  pure  pieces  as  large  as  one  foot  in  diameter  are 
obtainable.  It  also  occurs  impregnating  a  decomposed  andesite  (Speci- 
men No.  14921,  U.S.N.M.).  The  Cove  Creek  mines  are  situated  about 
2  miles  southeast  of  Cove  Creek  fort  and  to  the  east  of  the  Beaver  road 
in  a  small  basin  near  the  foot  of  the  Sulphur  Mountains,  surrounded  by 
low  hills,  with  a  narrow  ravine  opening  in  the  west-northwest  direction 
into  the  plain.  The  basin  is  about  6,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  while  the  Sulphur  Mountains  to  the  east  rise  about  2,000  feet 
higher.  The  hills  surrounding  the  basin  consist  mainly  of  andesite, 
partly  also  of  a  very  light  white  trachyte. 

As  far  as  explored,  the  sulphur  bed  extends  at  least  1,800  feet  by 
1,000  feet,  and  the  quantity  of  sulphur  contained  therein  was  estimated 

transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVI,  1888,  p.  33. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEKALS. 


179 


by  Professor  vom  Rath,  at  a  time  when  the  bed  was  not  as  fully  exposed 
as  it  now  is,  to  be  at  least  1,300,000  tons. 

A  curved  cut  has  been  made  through  the  sulphur  bed  near  the  west- 
ern end,  exposing  a  vertical  wall  34  feet  high  of  rich  yellow  sulphur. 
The  sulphur  extends  up  to  the  surface  over  part  of  the  basin,  but  is 
mostly  covered  with  sand  or  rather  decomposed  andesite.  The  sur- 
face of  the  deposit  is  wavy,  giving  the  impression  of  an  agitated  mass 
gradually  cooled.  The  sulphur  is  partly  mixed  with  sand  or  gypsum. 
Most  of  it  is  yellow  color,  while  some  of  it  is  dark  gray,  and  is  called 
"black  sulphur."  The  deposits  of  pure  sulphur  partly  resemble  the 
so-called  "virgin  rock,"  which  is  formed  as  a  product  of  distillation  in 
the  sulphur-flower  chambers,  particularly  when  distillation  goes  on  too 
rapidly.  Some  also  resemble  the  delicate  crystals  formed  on  the  walls 
of  such  chambers;  others  are  like  the  crystals  formed  in  slowly  cooled 
masses  of  sulphur.  Gases  escape  in  many  places  in  the  cut  and  in  the 
prospect  holes,  together  with 
water  holding  salts  in  solution. 
At  some  points  also  a  consider- 
ably elevated  temperature  is 
observed. 

Of  the  foreign  localities  of 
sulphur,  the  most  noted  at 
present  are  those  of  Sicily 
and  Japan.  The  first-named 
deposits  are  described  as  occur- 
ring in  Miocene  strata  involv- 
ing, from  below  up,  sandy 
marls  with  beds  of  salt,  limey 

Fig.  1. 

marls  and  lignite,  gypsum  and 
limestone  impregnated  with 
sulphur,  black  shales,  and 
micaceous  sands.  Overlying  all  tliese  is  a  white,  marly  Pleocene  lime- 
stone, while  below  the  Miocene  is  the  Eocene  nummulitic  limestone. 
The  sulphur  is  found  in  veinlets  and  sometimes  in  larger  masses, 
which  ramify  through  the  cellular  limestone,  as  shown  in  fig.  1  and 
Specimens  Nos.  60932,  60862,  60852,  U.S.N.M. 

The  yield  in  sulphur  varies  from  8  to  25  per  cent,  rarely  running  as 
high  as  40  per  cent.  Below  8  per  cent  the  rock  can  not  be  worked. 
More  or  less  petroleum  and  bitumen  are  found  in  the  mines.  .  Barite 
and  celestite  sometimes  accompany  the  sulphur. 

The  mining  regions  are  in  the  southern  central  portion  of  the  island 
Girgenti  and  Larcara  are  the  chief  centers,  The  mines  are  distributed 
over  an  area  160  to  170  kilometers  (about  100  miles)  from  east  to  west, 
and  85  to  90  kilometers  (55  miles)  from  north  to  south.  They  occur 
in  groups  around  centers,  partly  because  the  sulphur-bearing  stratum 


SULPHUR. 

Sicily,  Italy. 

nen  No.  60932,  U.S.N.M. 


180  REPORT   OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

is  not  continuous,  and  partly  because  the  sulphur  indications  are  con- 
cealed by  later  deposits.  The  region,  moreover,  is  much  faulted. 

According  to  Professor  Kemp,  the  common  methods  of  mining  are 
of  the  crudest  description.  In  most  cases  the  deposits  are  reached  by 
steep  slopes  or  circular  stairways  ("  scala"),  with  wide  steps,  up  which 
boys  laboriously  bring  the  crude  rock  in  baskets  or  sacks.  No  mine 
maps  are  made,  and  no  precautions  taken  to  work  beds  on  a  systematic 
scale.  Timbering  or  any  supports  for  the  roof  are  not  generally 
thought  of.  A  feeling  of  distrust  prevails  between  the  owners  of  the 
land  and  the  operators,  and  between  the  latter  and  the  miners. 

These  objectionable  features  arise  partly  from  the  irregular  nature 
and  uncertainty  of  the  deposits,  partly  from  excessive  subdivision  of 
ownership  and  ill-adapted  property  laws,  and  partly  from  the  local 
prejudices  against  innovations.  Even  in  one  case  where  an  American 
and  an  Englishman  in  partnership  secured  the  right  to  work  a  mine, 
and  set  about  installing  suitable  hoisting  machinery,  they  were  ham- 
pered by  a  lawsuit  with  the  owner  because  of  this  innovation,  and 
had  a  long  legal  contention  to  establish  their  undoubted  rights.  It  is 
a  striking  fact  that  in  the  new  developments  in  Japan,  on  a  remote 
island  and  against  great  natural  difficulties,  the  most  modern  methods 
and  management  prevail,  while  in  Sicily,  in  the  center  of  the  oldest 
civilization,  these  are  to  a  great  extent  of  the  crudest. 

The  Japanese  sulphur  deposits -are  all  of  volcanic  origin,  and  the 
Abosanobori  mine  (Specimen  No.  61941,  U.S.N.M.),  in  Kushiro  village, 
Kawakami-gori,  Kushiro  Province,  Hokkaido,  may  be  taken  as  fairly 
typical.  The  mine  is  on  a  conical-shaped  mountain  of  augite  andesite 
which,  on  its  northern  side  is  open,  and  looks  down  upon  a  plain  cov- 
ered with  lava  and  shut  in  by  the  walls  of  the  old  crater  on  the  other 
sides.  Sulphur  is  found  in  different  parts  of  these  walls  in  massive 
heaps  and  sulphur  fumes  still  issue  nearly  everywhere  about  the  mines. 
The  ore  as  taken  from  the  mines  carries  from  35  per  cent  to  90  per 
cent  of  sulphur,  which  is  extracted  by  steam  refining  works  at  Hyocha, 
some  35  miles  north  of  the  mine.1 

Other  Japanese  localities  represented  in  the  collection  are  the 
Aroya  mines,  at  Onikobe  village,  Rikuzen  Province  (Specimen  No. 
61945,  U.S.N.M.),  refined  sulphur  from  the  Mitsui  Production  Com- 
pany at  Tokio  (Specimen  No.  61944,  U.S.N.M.),  and  the  active  vol- 
cano of  Icvo-San,  in  Yezo  (Specimen  No.  72801,  U.S.N.M.). 

In  addition  to  these  localities  may  be  mentioned  the  following,  in 
alphabetical  order:  Austria,  Celebes,  Egypt,  France,  Greece,  Hawaii, 
Iceland,  Italy,  Mexico  (Specimens  Nos.  57136  and  57137  from  Popo- 
catepetl), New  South  Wales,  New  Zealand,  Peru,  Russia,  Spain,  and 
the  West  Indies  (Specimen  No.  33309,  U.S.N.M.). 

'The  Mining  Industry  of  Japan,  by  Wada  Tsunashiro,  1893. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  181 

Extraction  and  'preparation.—  Sulphur  rarely  occurs  in  nature  in  any 
quantity  sufficiently  pure  for  commercial  purposes.  In  freeing  it  from 
its  impurities  three  methods  are  employed:  (1)  Melting,  (2)  distillation, 
and  (3)  solution.  In  the  first  the  ore  is  simply  dry  washed  at  a  low 
temperature  or  treated  with  superheated  steam  until  the  sulphur  melts 
and  runs  off.  Specimen  No.  60861  shows  the  rock  after  being  subjected 
to  this  treatment.  The  first  process  is  extremely  wasteful;  the  second 
much  more  economical  in  the  end,  but  demanding  a  more  expensive 
plant.  A  process  of  fusion  in  a  calcium  chloride  solution  has  come  into 
use  of  late  years,  and  bids  fair  to  yield  better  results  than  either  of 
the  above.  In  the  distillation  process  the  ore  is  heated  in  iron  retorts 
until  the  sulphur  distills  off  and  is  condensed  in  chambers  prepared 
for  it.  Specimen  No.  60860  shows  the  rock  after  removal  of  the  sulphur 
by  this  process.  The  product  is  mostly  in  the  form  of  "flower  of 
sulphur."  The  method  is  expensive,  but  the  resultant  sulphur  very 
pure.  In  the  third  process  mentioned  the  ore  is  treated  with  carbon 
disulphide,  which  dissolves  out  the  sulphur  and  from  which  it  is  recov- 
ered by  evaporation.  This  method,  while  giving  good  results,  is  expen- 
sive and  spmewhat  dangerous,  owing  to  the  explosive  nature  of  the 
gases  formed.1 

Uses. — Sulphur  is  used  mainly  for  making  of  sulphuric  acid — though 
small  amounts  are  utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  matches — for  medici- 
nal purposes,  and  in  the  making  of  gunpowder,  fireworks,  insecticides, 
for  vulcanizing  india  rubber,  etc.  In  the  manufacture  of  sulphuric 
acid  the  sulphur  is  burned  to  sulphurous  anhydride  (SO2)  on  a  grate 
and  then  conducted  with  a  slight  excess  of  air  into  large  lead-lined 
chambers  and  mixed  with  steam  and  nitrous  fumes,  where  the  SO2  is 
oxidized  to  the  condition  of  SO3  (sulphuric  anhydride)  and  takes  up 
water  from  the  steam  forming  H2SOt  (sulphuric  acid).  Ordinary  roll 
sulphur  is  quoted  in  the  current  price  lists  at  from  1£  to  2£  cents  per 
pound.  (See  also  under  iron  pyrites,  p.  190.) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

R.  PUMPELLY. — Sulphur  in  Japan. 

Geological  Researches  in  China,  Mongolia,  and  Japan.     Smithsonian  Contri- 
butions, XV,  1867,  p.  11. 
I.  C.  RUSSELL.— Sulphur  Deposits  of  Utah  and  Nevada. 

Transactions  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Science,  I,  1882,  p.  168. 
A.  FABER  DU  FAUR.— The  Sulphur  Deposits  of  Southern  Utah. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XVI,  1887,  p.  33. 
The  Sulphur  Mines  of  Sicily. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  XL VI,  1888,  p.  174. 
V.  LAMANTIA.     Sulphur  Mines  of  Sicily. 

U.  S.  Consular  Report  No.  108,  1889,  pp.  146-155. 

1  The  Mineral  Industry,  II,  1893,  p.  600. 


182  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

3.  ARSENIC. 

This  substance  occurs  native  in  the  form  of  a  brittle,  tin-white  metal, 
with  a  specific  gravity  of  5.6  to  5.7  and  a  hardness  equal  to  3.5  of  the 
scale.  On  exposure  it  becomes  dull  black  on  the  immediate  surface. 
It  is  found,  as  a  rule,  in  veins  in  the  older  crystalline  rocks  associated 
with  antimony  and  ores  of  gold  and  silver.  Some  of  the  more  cele- 
brated localities  for  the  mineral,  as  given  by  Dana,  are  the  silver  mines 
of  Freiberg  (Specimens  Nos.  60924  and  67730,  U.S.N.M.),  Annaberg, 
Marienberg,  and  Schneeberg  in  Saxony;  Joachimsthal  in  Bohemia; 
Andreasberg  in  the  Harz;  Kapnik  and  Orawitza  in  Hungary;  Kongs- 
berg  in  Norway;  Zmeov  in  Siberia;  St.  Maria  aux  Mines,  Alsace; 
Mount  Coma  dei  Darden,  Italy;  Chanarcillo,  Chili;  San  Augustin, 
Hidalgo,  Mexico,  and  New  Zealand.  In  the  United  States  it  has  been 
found  at  Haverhill,  New  Hampshire;  Greenwood,  Maine;  near  Lead- 
ville,  Colorado;  and  on  Watson  Creek,  Frozen  River  in  British 
Columbia. 

The  arsenic  of  commerce  is,  however,  rarely  obtained  from  the 
native  mineral,  but  is  prepared  by  the  ignition  of  arsenical  pyrites 
(FeAs2)  or  arsenical  iron  pyrites  (FeS2,FeAs2).  The  white  arsenic  of 
commerce  (arsenious  acid,  As2O3),  though  occurring  sometimes  native 
as  arsenolite  in  the  form  of  botryoidal  and  stalactitic  crusts  of  a  white 
or  yellowish  color,  is,  as  a  rule,  obtained  as  a  by-product  in  the  metal- 
lurgical operations  of  extracting  certain  metals,  particularly  cobalt 
and  nickel,  from  their  ores.  Such  ores  as  niccolite,  a  nickel  arsenide 
(NiAs),  gersdorffite  (NiAsS),  Rammelsbergite  (NiAs2),  Smaltite 
(CoAs2),  Skutterudite  (CoAs3),  Proustite  (Ag3AsS3),  and  other  arsen- 
ides and  sulpharsenides  on  roasting  give  up  their  arsenic  in  the  form 
of  fumes,  which  are  condensed  in  chambers  prepared  for  this  purpose. 
Uses.  —Arsenic  is  utilized  in  the  form  of  arsenious  acid  (AszO3)  in 
dyeing,  calico  printing,  in  the  manufacture  of  various  pigments,  in 
arsenical  soaps,  in  the  preparation  of  other  salts  of  arsenic,  and  as  a 
preservative  in  museums,  particularly  for  the  skins  of  animals  and 
birds. 

4.  ALLEMONTITE. 

Allemontite,  or  arsenical  antimony  of  the  formula  SbAs3,  =  arsenic 
65.2;  antimony  34.8,  occurs  somewhat  sparsely  at  Allemont  in  France, 
Pribram,  Bohemia,  and  other  European  localities  associated  with 
sphalerite,  antimony,  etc.  (Specimen  No.  67728,  U.S.N.M.).  So  far 
as  the  writer  has  information  the  mineral  has  not  as  yet  been  found 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  be  of  economic  value. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  183 

II.  SULPHIDES  AND  ARSENIDES. 
1.  REALGAR. 

This  is  a  monosulphide  of  arsenic,  AsS,  =  sulphur  29.9  per  cent; 
arsenic,  70.1  per  cent;  hardness,  1.5  to  2;  specific  gravity,  3.55;  color, 
aurora  red  or  orange  yellow,  streak  the  same. 

2.  ORPIMENT;  AURIPIGMENT. 

A  trisulphide  of  arsenic,  of  the  formula  As2S3,  =  sulphur  39  per  cent, 
arsenic,  61;  hardness,  1.5;  specific  gravity,  3.4  to  3.5.  Color,  lemon 
yellow.  This  mineral  occurs  usually  associated  with  realgar  at  the 
localities  mentioned  below. 

Occurrences. — Realgar  and  orpiment  are  very  beautiful,  though  not 
abundant  minerals  which  occur  associated  with  ores  of  silver  and  lead 
in  various  European  mining  regions  and  also  those  of  Japan  (Specimen 
No.  11864,  U.S.N.M.),  Hungary  (Specimen  No.  66813,  U.S.X.M.), 
Bohemia,  Transylvania,  and  Saxony.  They  have  been  reported  in 
the  United  States  in  beds  of  sandy  clay  beneath  lava  in  Iron  County, 
Utah,  and  form  the  so-called  "Arsenical  gold  ore"  of  the  Golden  Gate 
Mine,  Mercur,  Tooele  County,  this  same  State  (Specimen  Xo.  53363, 
U.S.N.M.);  also  in  San  Bernardino  County,  California;  Douglas 
County,  Oregon  (Specimen  No.  62101,  U.S.N.M.),  and  in  minute 
quantities  in  the  geyser  waters  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park. 

The  realgar  and  orpiment  of  the  Coyote  mining  district.  Iron  County, 
Utah,  occur  in  a  compact,  sandy  clay,  occupying  a  horizontal  seam  or 
layer  about  2  inches  thick,  not  distinctly  separated  from  the  clay, 
but  lying  in  its  midst  in  lenticular  and  nodular  masses.  The  bulk  of 
the  layer  consists  of  realgar  in  divergent,  bladed  crystals,  closely  and 
confusedly  aggregated,  sometimes  forming  groups  of  brilliant  crystal- 
line facets  in  small  cavities  toward  the  center  of  the  mass.  The  orpi- 
ment is  closely  associated  with  the  realgar  in  the  form  of  small  and 
delicately  fibrous  crystalline  rosettes,  and  small  spherical  aggregations 
made  up  of  fine  radial  crystals,  and  also  in  bright  yellow,  amorphous 
crusts  in  and  around  the  mass  of  the  realgar.  Fine  parallel  seams  of 
gypsum  occur  both  above  and  below  the  layer,  and  the  strata  of  arena- 
ceous clays  above  for  30  feet  or  more  are  charged  with  soluble  salts 
which  exude  and  effloresce  upon  the  surface  of  the  bank,  forming  hard 
crusts.  The  whole  appearance  and  association  of  the  minerals  indi- 
cates that  they  have  been  formed  by  aqueous  infiltration  since  the 
deposition  of  the  beds.1 

Orpiment  is  said2  to  occur  at  Tajowa,  near  Xeusohl,  Hungary,  as 
nodular  masses  and  isolated  crystals  in  clay  or  calcareous  marl. 

1 W.  P.  Blake,  American  Journal  of  Science,  XXI,  1881,  p.  219. 
2  H.  A.  Miers,  Mineralogical  Magazine,  July,  1892,  p.  24. 


184 


KEPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


.  —Realgar  is  used  mainly  in  pyrotechny,  yielding  a  very  bril- 
liant white  light  when  mixed  with  saltpeter  and  ignited.  It  is  now 
artificially  prepared  by  fusing  together  sulphur  and  arsenious  acid.1 
Orpiment  is  used  in  dyeing  and  in  preparation  of  a  paste  for  removing 
hair  from  skins.  According  to  the  British  consular  reports  there  were 
exported  from  Baghdan,  in  1897,  some  55,600  pounds  of  the  mineral 
for  use  as  a  pigment.  As  with  realgar,  the  mineral  is  now  largely 
prepared  artificially.  The  name  "orpiment"  is  stated  by  Dana  to  be 
a  corruption  of  auripigment,  golden  paint,  in  allusion  to  the  color. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

W.  I*.  BLAKE.     Occurrence  of  Realgar  and  Orpiment  in  Utah  Territory. 

American  Jourual  of  Science,  XXI,  1881,  p.  219. 

H.  B.  FULTON.     Arsenic  in  Spanish  Pyrites,  and  its  elimination  in  the  local  treat- 
ment for  production  of  copper  precipitate. 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  V,  1886,  p.  296. 
Production  of  Arsenic  in  Cornwall  and  Devon. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LII,  1891,  p.  96. 
WILLIAM  THOMAS.     Arsenic. 

The  Mineral  Industry,  II,  1893,  p.  25. 

3.  COBALT  MINERALS. 

Several  minerals  contain  cobalt  as  one  of  their  essential  constituents 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  make  them  of  value  as  ores.  In  other  cases 
the  cobalt  exists  in  too  small  quantities  to  pay  for  working  for  this 
substance  alone,  and  it  is  obtained  as  a  by-product  during  the  process 
of  extraction  of  other  metals,  notably  of  nickel.  The  common  cobalt- 
bearing  minerals,  together  with  their  chemical  composition,  mode  of 
occurrence,  and  other  characteristics  are  given  below : 

COBALTITE. — Cobaltine,  or  cobalt  glance.  (Specimens  Nos.  60922, 
34266,  U.S.N.M.)  This  is  a  sulpharsenide  of  cobalt  of  the  formula  Co 
AsS,  =  Sulphur  19.3  per  cent;  arsenic,  45.2  per  cent;  cobalt,  35.5  per 
cent;  hardness  5.5,  and  specific  gravity  6  to  6.3.  The  luster  is  metallic 
and  color  silver  white  to  reddish.  When  in  crystals,  commonly  in 
cubes  or  pyritohedrons.  Analysis  of  a  massive  variety  from  I,  Siegen, 
Westphalia;  II,  Skutterud,  Norway,  and  III  and  IV,  Daschkessan,  in 
the  government  of  Elizavetpol,  Caucasus,  as  given  by  various  author- 
ities, yielded  results  as  below: 


Constituents. 

I. 

ii. 

in. 

IV. 

Arsenic. 

Sulphur  

19.35 

20  08 

Cobalt  

33  71 

Iron  

Nickel  

0  22 

0  26 

Undetermined... 

44  26 

1  Wagner's  Chemical  Technology,  p.  87. 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  185 

In  Saxony  the  mineral  (Specimens  Nos.  60922  and  67736,  U.S.N.M.) 
occurs  in  lodes  in  gneiss  and  in  which  heavy  spar  (baryte)  forms  the 
characteristic  gangue.  It  is  associated  with  other  metallic  sulphides, 
notably  those  of  lead  and  copper.  At  Skutterud  and  Snarum,  Nor- 
way, the  cobaltiferous  fahlbands,  according  to  Phillips1 — 

Occur  in  crystalline  rocks  varying  in  character  between  gneiss  and  mica  schists,  but 
from  the  presence  of  hornblende  they  sometimes  pass  into  hornblende  schists;  among 
the  accessory  minerals  are  garnet,  tourmaline,  and  graphite.  These  schists,  of  which 
the  strike  is  north  and  south,  and  which  have  an  almost  perpendicular  dip,  contain  fahl- 
bands very  similar  in  character  to  those  of  Kongsberg.  They  differ  from  those  of  that 
locality,  however,  inasmuch  as  while  here  the  fahlbands  are  often  sufficiently  impreg- 
nated with  ore  to  pay  for  working,  those  of  Kongsberg,  although  to  some  extent  contain- 
ing disseminated  sulphides,  are  only  of  importance  as  zones  of  enrichment  for  ores 
occurring  in  veins.  The  ore  zones  usually  follow  the  strike  and  dip  of  the  surround- 
ing rocks,  and  vary  in  breadth  from  2£  to  6  fathoms.  The  distribution  of  the  ores  is 
by  no  means  equal,  since  richer  and  poorer  layers  have  received  special  names  and 
are  easily  recognized.  The  Erzbander,  or  ore  bands,  are  distinguished  from  the 
Reicherzbander,  or  rich  ore  bands,  while  the  bands  of  unproductive  rock  are  known 
as  Felsbander.  The  predominant  rock  of  the  fahlbands  is  a  quartzose  granular  mica 
schist,  which  gradually  passes  into  quartzite,  ordinary  mica  schist,  or  gneiss.  The 
ores  worked  are  cobalt  glance,  arsenical,  and  ordinary  pyrites  containing  cobalt, 
skutterudite,  magnetic  iron  pyrites,  copper  pyrites,  molybdenite,  and  galena.  It  is 
remarkable  that  in  these  mines  nickel  ores  do  not  accompany  the  ores  of  cobalt  in 
any  appreciable  quantity.  The  principal  fahlband  is  known  to  extend  for  a  distance 
of  about  6  miles,  and  is  bounded  on  the  east  by  a  mass  of  diorite  which  protrudes 
into  the  fahlband,  while  extending  from  the  diorite  are  small  dikes  or  branches 
traversing  it  in  a  zigzag  course.  It  is  also  intersected  by  dikes  of  coarse-grained 
granite  which  contain  no  ore,  but  which  penetrate  the  diorite. 

The  Skutterud  mine  in  1879  produced  7,700  tons  of  cobalt  ore,  which  yielded  108 
tons  of  cobalt  schlich  (concentrates),  containing  from  10  to  11  per  cent  of  cobalt, 
and  worth  about  £11,000. 

At  Dacshkessan  the  ore  occurs  under  a  sheet  of  diabase,  the  cobaltite 
being  in  the  wall  rock  of  this  sheet,  and  which  carries  also  garnets  and 
copper  pyrites.  In  1887, 1,216  kilograms  of  the  mineral  were  extracted; 
in  1888,  928  kilograms,  and  in  1889,  12,960  kilograms,  besides  some 
3,000  kilograms  of  cobaltiferous  matter  obtained  in  treating  the  cobal- 
tiferous copper  ores.2 

SMALTITE.— (Specimen  No.  66757,  U.S.N.M.)  This  is  essentially 
a  cobalt  diarsenide  of  the  formula  CoAs2,  =  arsenic,  71.8  per  cent; 
cobalt,  28.2  per  cent;  hardness,  5.5  to  6;  specific  gravity,  6.4  to  6.6. 
Color,  white  to  steel  gray.  Through  the  assumption  of  nickel  the  min- 
eral passes  by  gradations  into  chloanthite. 

JOre  Deposits,  by  J.  A.  Phillips,  p.  389.      2  Annales  des  Mines,  II,  1892,  p.  503. 


18g  KEPOET    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

Analyses  of  samples  from  (I)  Schneeberg,  Saxony,  and  (II)  Gunnison 
County,  Colorado,  as  given  by  Dana,  yielded  results  as  below: 


Constituents. 

II. 

Areenic                                           1        71.53 

63.82 

ArS>eU1L  n    OQ 

Sulphur  ;          1'*i 
Cobalt                       ,        18-07 

1.55 
11.59 

Iron  -  7'31 
v.  Vpl                                                                   ;           1.02 

15.99 
Trace. 

Copper  

0.16 

The  mineral  occurs  like  cobaltite  in  veins  associated  with  other 
metallic  arsenides  and  sulphides. 

SKUTTERUDITE  is  the  name  given  to  a  cobaltic  arsenide  of  the 
formula  CoAs3,  =  arsenic^  79.3;  cobalt.  20.7.  It  is  of  a  tin- white  color, 
varying  to  lead-gray,  has  a  hardness  of  6,  and  specific  gravity  of  6.72  to 
6.86.  It  occurs  associated  with  cobaltite,  titanite,  and  hornblende  in 
a  vein  in  gneiss  at  Skutterud,  Norway,  The  name  safflorite  is  given 
to  a  cobalt  diarsenide  closely  resembling  smaltite  but  differing  in  being 
orthorhombic,  rather  than  isometric  in  crystallization.  The  composi- 
tion as  given  by  Dana  is  quite  variable,  running  from  61  per  cent  to  70 
per  cent  arsenic,  and  10  to  23  per  cent  cobalt,  with  4  to  18  per  cent  of 
iron  and  smaller  amounts  of  sulphur,  copper,  nickel,  and  bismuth.  It 
is  found  associated  with  smaltite  in  various  localities. 

GLAUCODOT  is  a  sulpharsenide  of  cobalt  and  iron  of  the  formula 
(Co,  Fe)  AsS,  =  sulphur,  19.4  per  cent;  arsenic,  45.5  per  cent;  cobalt, 
23.8  per  cent;  iron,  11.3  per  cent.  Color,  grayish;  hardness,  5;  specific 
gravity,  5.9  to  6.  Actual  analysis  of  a  Chilean  variety  yielded  (accord- 
ing to  Dana)  As  43.2,  S  20.21,  Co  24.77,  Fe  11.90.  It  is  therefore  essen- 
tially a  ferriferous  cobaltite,  that  is,  a  cobaltite  in  which  a  part  of  the 
cobalt  has  been  replaced  by  iron.  The  mineral  is  found  at  Huasco, 
Chile,  associated  with  cobaltite  in  a  chloritic  schist.  The  name  allo- 
clasite  is  given  to  a  variety  of  glaucodot  containing  bismuth  and 
answering  to  the  formula  Co  (As,  Bi)  S.  The  composition  as  given  is 
somewhat  variable.  Arsenic,  28  to  33  per  cent;  bismuth,  23  to  32  per 
cent;  sulphur,  16  to  18  per  cent;  cobalt,  20  to  24  per  cent;  iron,  2.7 
to  3.8  per  cent.  It  is  reported  only  from  Orawitza,  Hungary. 

LINN^EITE  (Specimens  Nos.  56159,  65309,  U.S.N.M.)  is  a  sulphide  of 
cobalt  with  the  formula  Co3S4,  =  sulphur,  42.1per  cent;  cobalt,  57.9 
per  cent;  a  part  of  its  cobalt  is  commonly  replaced  by  nickel,  giving 
rise  to  its  variety  siegenite.  The  mineral  is  brittle,  of  a  pale  steel- 
gray  color,  tarnishing  red.  Hardness,  5.5  and  specific  gravity  4.8 
to  5.  When  crystallized  it  is  commonly  in  octahedrons.  The  fol- 
lowing analyses  of  a  nickel-bearing  variety  (siegenite)  are  quoted  from 
Dana: 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEKALS. 


187 


Constituents. 

S. 

CO. 

Ni. 

Fe. 

Cu. 

Miisen,  Prussia 

41  00 

43  86 

5  31 

4  10 

Mineral  Hill,  Maryland  
Mine  La  Motte  Missouri 

39.70 
41  54 

25.68 
21  34 

29.56 
30  53 

1.% 
3  37 

2.23 

The  mineral  occurs  in  gneiss  in  Sweden;  with  barite  and  siderite  at 
Miisen;  in  limestone  with  galena  and  dolomite  at  Mine  La  Motte, 
Missouri,  and  with  sulphides  of  iron  and  copper  in  chloritic  schists  in 
Maryland. 

SYCHNODYMITE  has  the  formula  (Co,  Cu)t  S5,  and  yields  sulphur, 
40.64  per  cent;  copper,  18.98  per  cent;  cobalt,  35.79  per  cent;  nickel, 
3.66  per  cent;  iron,  0.93  per  cent.  It  is  of  a  steel-gray  color,  metallic 
luster,  and  has  a  specific  gravity  of  4.75. 

ERYTHRITE  or  COBALT  BLOOM  (Specimens  Nos.  17698,  51909,  56463, 
53096,  and  67759,  U.S.N.M.)  is  the  name  given  to  a  hydrous  cobalt 
arsenate  of  the  formula  Co3As2O8-h8H2O,  =  arsenic  pentoxide,  38.4 
per  cent;  cobalt  protoxide,  37.5  per  cent,  and  water,  24.1  per  cent. 
It  occurs  in  globular  and  reniform  shapes  and  earthy  masses  of  a 
crimson  to  peach-red  color  associated  with  the  arsenides  and  sulphar- 
senides  mentioned  above  and  from  which  it  is  derived  by  a  process  of 
oxidation.  In  Churchill  County,  Nevada,  it  occurs  as  a  decomposition 
product  of  a  cobalt  bearing  niccolite.  It  is  also  found  at  the  Kelsey 
mine,  Compton,  in  Los  Angeles  County,  California;  associated  vith 
cobaltite  at  Tambillo  and  at  Huasco,  Chile,  and  under  similar  con- 
ditions in  various  p..rts  of  Europe. 

ASBOLITE,  or  earthy  cobalt  (Specimen  No.  60993,  U.S. N.LI.),  is  a 
black  and  earthy  ore  of  manganese  (wad)  which  sometimes  carries  as 
high  as  30  per  cent  of  cobaltic  oxide.  It  takes  its  name  from  the  Greek 
ctfffioXaivG),  to  soil  like  soot.  ROSELITE  is  an  arsenate  of  lime,  mag- 
nesia and  cobalt  with  the  formula  (Ca,  Co,  Mg)3As2Og,  2H2  O,  =  arsenic 
pentoxide,  51.4  per  cent;  lime,  28.1  per  cent;  cobalt  protoxide,  12.5  per 
cent;  water,  8  per  cent.  It  is  of  a  light  to  dark  rose-red  color,  hardness 
3. 5 ;  specific  gravity  3. 5  to  3. 6,  and  vitreous  luster.  SPH^ROCOBALTITE 
is  a  cobalt  protocarbonate  of  the  formula  CoCO3,  =  carbon  dioxide,  37.1 
per  cent;  cobalt  protoxide,  62.9  per  cent.  It  is  also  of  a  rose-red  color, 
varying  to  velvet  black.  Hardness  4,  and  specific  gravity  4.02  to  4.13. 
It  occurs  but  sparing,  associated  with  roselite  at  Schneeberg  in  Saxony. 
REMINGTONITE  is  a  hydrous  carbonate  the  exact  composition  of  which 
has  not  been  ascertained.  COBALTOMENITE  is  a  supposed  selenide  of 
cobalt.  BIEBERITE,  or  cobalt  vitriol,  is  a  sulphate  of  the  formula 
CoSO4  +  7  H2O.  The  color  is  flesh  to  rose  red.  It  is  soluble  in  water, 
has  an  astringent  taste,  and  occurs  in  secondary  stalactitic  form. 
Pateraite  is  a  possible  molybdate  of  cobalt. 

Aside  from  the  possible  sources  mentioned  above,  cobalt  occurs 


188 


REPORT   OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


very  constantly  associated  with  the  ores  of  nickel  (niccolite,  millerite, 
chloanthite,  etc.),  and  is  obtained  as  a  by-product  in  smelting.  Con- 
siderable quantities  have  thus  from  time  to  time  been  obtained  from 
the  Gap  mines  of  Pennsylvania,  Mine  La  Motte,  Missouri,  and  Love- 
lock, Nevada.  (Specimen  No.  61324,  U.S.N.M.)  The  nickel  mines  of 
New  Caledonia  are  perhaps  the  most  productive.  The  ore  here  (a  sili- 
cate), carries  some  3  per  cent  of  cobalt  protoxide.  (Specimen  No. 
61027,  U.S.N.M.) 

A  vein  of  cobalt  ore  near  Gothic,  Gunnison  County,  Colorado,  is 
described  as  lying  in  granite,  the  gangue  material  being  mainly  cal- 
cite,  throughout  which  was  disseminated  the  ore  in  the  form  of 
smaltite.  With  it  were  associated  erythrite,  a  small  amount  of  iron 
pyrites,  and  native  silver.  An  analysis  of  this  ore  yielded  as  below: 


Bismuth 1. 13 

Copper 0. 16 

Nickel Trace. 

Silver...  ..  Trace. 


Cobalt  11.59 

Iron 11.99 

Arsenic; 63.  82 

Silica 2.  60 

Lead 2. 05 

Sulphur 1.  55 

A  cobalt  ore,  consisting  of  a  mixture  of  glaucodot  and  erythrite, 
occurring  near  Carcoar  Railway  Station,  New  South  Wales,  has  the 
composition  given  below: 


94.  89 


Constituents. 

'• 

II. 

Moisture  
Metallic  arsenic  

.120 
51.  810 

2.180 
29.010 

Metallic  cobalt  .' 
Metallic  nickel  

10.447 
.590 

13.830 
390 

Metallic  iron 

Alumina  ...  . 

Metallic  manganese  

\il 

Nil 

Metallic  calcium  

Nil 

71 

Magnesium  

1.480 

.22 

Gold  

Silver  

Sulphur  

Gangue  (insoluble  in  acids)...  . 

22  078 

26  31 

Specific  gravity  

99.905 
5  43 

99.67 

According  to  the  Annual  Report,  Department  of  Mines,  for  1888, 
this  ore  occurs  concentrated  in  irregular  hollows  and  bunches,  often 
intimately  mixed  with  diorite  in  a  line  of  fissure  between  an  intrusive 
diorite  and  slate,  the  fissure  running  for  some  distance  following  the 
line  of  junction  between  the  two  rocks,  and  being  presumably  formed 
at  the  time  of  the  extrusion  of  the  diorite. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEEALS.  189 

Other  cobalt  ores,  carrying  from  13  to  15  per  cent  of  cobalt  oxide, 
occur  near  Nina.1 

Uses. — Cobalt  is  produced  and  sold  in  the  form  of  oxide  and  used 
mainly  as  a  coloring  constituent  in  glass  and  earthen  wares.  Only 
some  200  tons  are  produced  annually  the  world  over.  The  market 
value  of  the  material  is  variable,  but  averages  about  $2  a  pound. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
Fuchs  et  De  Launay,  Traite  des  Gites  Mineraux,  II,  pp.  75-91. 

4.  ARSENOPYRITE;  MISPICKEL;  OR  ARSENICAL  PYRITES. 

Composition.—  Somewhat  variable.  Essentially  a  sulpharsenide  of 
iron  of  the  formula  FeAsS,  or  FeS2,  FeAs2,=  arsenic,  46  per  cent; 
sulphur,  19.7  per  cent,  and  iron,  34.3  per  cent.  The  name  danaite  is 
given  to  a  cobaltiferous  variety.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  min- 
eral varies  from  5.9  to  6.2.  Hardness,  5.5  to  6.  Colors,  silver  white 
to  steel  gray,  streak  dark  gray  to  black;  luster,  metallic.  Brittle, 

Occurrence.—  The  mineral  occurs  principally  in  crystalline  rocks,  and 
is  a  common  associate  of  ores  of  silver,  gold,  tin,  and  lead.  It  is  at 
times  highly  auriferous,  forming  a  valuable  ore  of  gold,  as  -in  New 
South  Wales  and  more  rarely  in  California  and  Alaska.  It  is  found 
in  nearly  all  the  States  bordering  along  the  Appalachian  Mountain 
system,  but  in  no  instance  is  regularly  mined  excepting  incidentally 
in  the  process  of  working  other  metals.  Concerning  its  occurrence 
abroad  Dana  states  that  it  is  "abundant  at  Freiberg  and  Munzig,  where 
it  occurs  in  veins  (Specimens  Nos.  62803, 66809, 66810, 73104, U.S.N.M.); 
at  Reichenstein  in  Silesia  in  serpentine;  at  Auerbach  in  Baden;  in  beds 
at  Breitenbrunn  and  Raschau,  Andreasberg  and  Joachimsthal;  at 
Tunaberg  in  Sweden;  at  Skutterud  in  Norway;  at  Wheal  Mawdlin 
and  Unanimity,  Cornwall,  and  at  the  Tamar  mines  in  Devonshire, 
England  (Specimens  Nos.  67456,  67457,  U.S.N.M.)  and  in  Bolivia. 

Uses. — The  only  use  of  the  mineral  is  as  an  ore  of  arsenic. 

5.  LOLLINGITE;  LEUCOPYRITE. 

The  prismatic  arsenical  pyrites,  or  leucopyrite,  is  essentially  a  diar- 
senide  of  iron,  with  the  formula  FeAs2,  though  usually  contaminated 
with  a  little  sulphur  and  not  infrequently  cobalt,  bismuth,  or  antimony. 
It  has  a  specific  gravity  of  7  to  7.4,  hardness  of  5  to  5.5,  metallic  luster 
and  silver-white  to  steel-gray  color. 

The  mineral  has  been  found  at  Edenville,  New  York  (Specimen  No. 
67744,  U.S.N.M.);  Roxbury,  Connecticut,  and  other  places  in  the 
United  States  and  associated  with  other  arsenides  and  sulpharsenides 
in  the  gold  and  silver  mines  of  Europe. 

1  Complete  analyses  of  these  are  given  in  Catalogue  of  the  New  South  Wales 
Exhibit,  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  Chicago,  1893,  p.  330. 


190  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

6.  PYRITES. 

Two  forms  of  the  disulphide  of  iron  are  common  in  nature.  The 
first,  known  simply  as  pyrite  or  iron  pyrites,  occurs  in  sharply  denned 
cubes  and  their  crystallographic  modifications  (Specimen  No.  51740, 
U.S.N.M.).  or  in  granular  masses  of  a  brassy -yellow  color  (Specimen 
No.  62152, 'u.S.N.M.). 

The  second,  identical  in  composition,  crystallizes  in  the  othorhombic 
system  (Specimens  Nos.  17124, 55206,  and  73613,U.S.N.M.),  but  is  more 
common  in  concretionary  (Specimen  No.  62976,  U.S.N.M.),  botryoidal 
(Specimen  No.  30772,  U.S.N.M.),  and  stalactitic  (Specimens  Nos.  62800 
and  67761,  U.S.N.M.)  forms,  which  are  of  a  dull  grayish-yellow  color. 
This  form  is  known  as  the  gray  iron  pyrites.  Both  forms  have  the 
chemical  composition,  FeS2?=iron  46.6  per  cent  and  sulphur  53.4  per 
cent. 

The  ore  as  mined  is.  however,  never  chemically  pure,  but  contains 
admixtures  of  other  metallic  sulphides,  besides,  at  times,  considerable 
quantities  of  the  precious  metals.  The  following  analyses l  of  materials 
from  well-known  sources  will  serve  to  show  the  general  variation: 


Constituents. 

I.            II. 

III.          IV. 

V.          VI. 

VII.     } 

Sulphur 

48.0        48.0 

48.02       40.00 

47.76       46.40 

45.60 

Iron  

..       43.0        44.0 

42.01       35.0 

43.99       29.00 

88.92 

1.6          16 

4.00 

3.69         1.5t 

Zinc  
Silica  

1.5          1.5 
5.0          3.7 

7.60       20.00 

0.24    
1.99         9.25 
3.75 

6.00 
8.70 

Trare 

...  Trace. 

0.83        0.10 

Trace. 

Silver  and  gold... 
Lead 

, 

1  i  

Trace. 

Trace.    
'      010 

0  64 

I.  Milan,  Coos  County,  New  Hampshire;  II.  Ro we,  Massachusetts; 
III.  Louisa  County.  Virginia;  IV.  Sherbrooke,  Canada;  V.  Rio  Tinto, 
Spain;  VI.  near  Lyons,  France:  VII.  Westphalia,  Germany. 

Pyrite  is  sufficiently  hard  to  scratch  glass,  and  this,  together  with  its 
color,  crystalline  form,  and  irregular  fracture,  is  sufficient  for  its  ready 
determination  in  most  cases.  Once  known,  it  is  thereafter  readily  rec- 
ognized. Owing  to  its  yellow  color,  the  mineral  has  by  ignorant  per- 
sons been  mistaken  not  infrequently  for  gold — which,  however,  it  does 
not  at  all  resemble — and  has  hence  earned  the  not  very  flattering  but 
quite  appropriate  name  of  ••fool's  gold."  In  certain  cases,  however, 
it  carries  the  precious  metals,  and  in  many  regions  is  sufficiently  rich 
in  gold  to  form  a  valuable  ore. 

Jfode  of  occurrence. — Pyrite  is  one  of  the  most  widely  disseminated 
of  minerals,  both  geologically  and  geographically,  occurring  in  rocks  of 
all  kinds  and  of  all  ages  the  world  over.  It  is  found  in  the  form  of 


1  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1883-1884,  p.  877. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  191 

disseminated  grains  throughout  the  mass  of  a  rock,  or  along  the  line 
of  contact  between  basic  eruptivesand  sedimentaries;  as  irregular  and 
sporadic  and  concretionary  masses  in  sedimentary  rocks  and  modern 
sands  and  gravels;  in  the  form  of  true  fissure  veins,  and  as  interbedded, 
often  lenticular  masses,  sometimes  of  immense  size,  lying  conformably 
with  the  stratification  (or  foliation)  of  the  inclosing  rock.  On  the 
immediate  surface  the  mineral  is  in  most  cases  considerably  altered  by 
oxidation  and  hydration,  forming  the  caps  of  gossan  or  limonite. 

The  origin  of  the  mineral  in  the  older  crystalline  rocks,  as  that  of 
the  rocks  themselves,  is  not  infrequently  somewhat  obscure.  In  sedi- 
mentary rocks  it  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  precipitation  of  the  included 
ferruginous  matter  by  sulphureted  and  deoxidizing  solutions  from 
decomposing  animal  and  vegetable  matter. 

Some  of  the  pyritiferous  deposits,  as  those  of  Louisa  County,  Virginia 
(Specimens  Nos.  54239, 54241,  and  54242,  U.S.N.M.),  and  Huelva.  Spain, 
are  of  enormous  proportions.  The  first  named  is  described1  as  over 
2  miles  in  length,  and  to  have  been  exploited  to  upwards  of  600  feet  in 
depth  and  in  width,  from  foot  to  hanging  rock,  as  high  as  60  feet  of 
pure  ore  (see  large  Specimen  No.  54242,  U.S.N.M.).  The  average 
width  of  the  two  worked  beds  is  upward  of  18  feet.  The  rocks 
inclosing  the  deposits  consist  principally  of  talcose  and  hydromica 
slates.  At  Rio  Tinto  the  ore  is  described2  as  occurring  in  immense 
masses  several  thousand  feet  in  length  and  from  300  to  800  feet  in 
width,  extending  in  depth  to  an  unknown  distance.  The  ore  (Specimen 
No.  11427,  U.S.N.M.)  is  very  clean  and  massive,  containing  besides 
sulphur  and  iron  only  some  2  to  4  per  cent  of  copper  and  traces  of 
silver  and  gold.  The  material  is  mined  wholly  from  open  cuts  and 
to  a  depth  of  some  400  feet.  The  country  rock  is  described  as  of 
Silurian  and  Devonian  schists  near  contact  with  diorites. 

Uses. — With  the  exception  of  the  small  amount  utilized  in  the  prep- 
aration of  vermilion  paints  and  the  still  smaller  amount  used  for 
jewelry,  almost  the  sole  value  of  the  mineral  is  for  the  manufacture  of 
sulphuric  acid  and  the  sulphate  of  iron,  known  as  green  vitriol  or  cop- 
peras. In  the  process  of  making  sulphuric  acid  the  ore  is  roasted  or 
burnt  in  specially  designed  ovens  and  furnaces  until  the  mineral  is 
decomposed,  the  sulphur  fumes  being  caught  and  condensed  in  cham- 
bers prepared  for  the  purpose.  By  the  Glover  and  Ga^v-Lussac  method 
from  280  to  290  parts  of  sulphuric  acid  of  a  density  of  66°  Baume  may 
be  obtained  for  each  100  parts  of  sulphur  in  the  ore  or  about  2,565 
pounds  of  acid  to  1  ton  (2,000  pounds)  of  average  ore. 

In  the  manufacture  of  copperas  the  ore  is  broken  into  small  pieces 
and  thrown  into  piles  over  which  water  is  allowed  to  drip  slowly.  A 

1  Origin  of  the  Iron  Pyrites  Deposits  in  Louisa  County,  Virginia,  by  F.  L.  Nason, 
Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVII,  1894,  p.  414. 
-  A  Visit  to  the  Pyrite  Mines  of  Spain,  Eng.  and  Min.  Jour.,  LVI,  1893,  p.  498. 


192  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

natural  oxidation  takes  place,  whereby  the  sulphide  is  transformed 
into  a  hydrated  sulphate.  The  latter  being  soluble  runs  off  in  solution 
in  the  water,  which  must  be  collected  and  evaporated  in  order  to  obtain 
the  salt.  Thus  prepared  the  sulphate  is  used  in  dyeing,  in  the  manu- 
facture of  writing  ink,  as  a  preservative  for  wood,  and  as  a  disinfectant. 
It  has  also  been  used  in  the  manufacture  of  certain  brands  of  fertilizers. 
The  method  of  manufacture  as  formerly  carried  on  at  Strafford, 
Vermont,  is  given  below: 

The  process  consists  in  first  raising  the  ore  from  the  bed,  which  is  principally  done 
with  the  help  of  gunpowder.  The  blocks  of  ore  are  then  broken  up  into  small  pieces, 
to  facilitate  the  decomposition,  by  suffering  the  oxygen  contained  in  water  and  the 
atmosphere  to  come  more  directly  in  contact  with  the  material  composing  the  ore. 
Large  heaps  of  these  pieces,  called  leaches,  are  made  upon  a  tight  plank  bottom  or 
upon  a  sloping  ledge  of  solid  rock,  where  the  liquor  or  lye  that  subsequently  runs  from 
them  may  be  saved. 

In  dry  weather  a  small  stream  of  water  is  made  to  flow  upon  and  penetrate  these 
leaches  in  order  to  produce  a  spontaneous  combustion,  which  in  warm  weather  com- 
mences in  a  few  days,  and  if  properly  managed  will  continue  several  weeks.  When 
combustion  is  taking  place  great  care  is  requisite  in  order  to  have  the  work  go  on  suc- 
cessfully, for  if  too  much  water  is  suffered  to  penetrate  the  leach  or  heap  the  decom- 
position is  checked  by  the  reduction  of  temperature  and  the  lye  or  liquor  issuing  from 
it  is  too  weak  to  be  valuable,  and  if  there  is  not  water  enough  put  on  the  leach  the 
decomposition  is  also  arrested  by  the  absence  of  the  oxygen  found  in  the  water, 
which  is  necessary  to  convert  the  sulphurous  acid  into  the  sulphuric,  that  sulphate 
of  iron  or  copperas  may  be  produced. 

The  liquor  that  runs  from  the  leaches  is  collected  in  reservoirs,  from  which  it  can 
be  taken  at  pleasure.  Below  the  reservoirs  upon  the  hillside  buildings  are  erected, 
called  evaporators,  to  which  liquor  is  conducted  in  troughs  from  the  reservoirs  in 
small  streams  that  are  divided  and  subdivided  by  means  of  perforated  troughs, 
brush,  etc.  Several  tiers  of  brush  are  arranged  in  the  building,  through  which  the 
liquor  is  made  to  pass  to  facilitate  the  process  of  evaporation.  In  dry,  windy  weather 
the  evaporation  is  oftentimes  so  rapid  that  the  brush  and  other  substances  with 
which  the  liquor  comes  in  contact  during  the  latter  part  of  its  journey  often  have  an 
incrustation  of  copperas  formed  upon  them;  but  upon  the  return  of  rainy  weather  the 
humid  atmosphere  checks  the  evaporation,  and  the  crust  of  copperas  is  dissolved  and 
passes  with  the  liquor  into  reservoirs  prepared  to  receive  it. 

The  liquor,  which  is  now  very  strongly  impregnated  with  copperas,  is  conducted 
into  leaden  boilers,  where  heat  is  applied  and  the  liquor  redi-ced  to  a  strength  indi- 
cated by  the  acidimeter  to  be  right  for  the  production  of  copperas.  The  liquor  is 
then  placed  in  vats  of  lead  or  of  brick  and  water  cement,  called  crystallizers,  and 
after  remaining  from  eight  to  ten  days  a  crust  of  copperas  is  formed  upon  the  bottom 
and  sides  of  the  vats,  composed  of  nicely  formed  crystals.  The  water  remaining  in 
the  crystallizers  is  then  pumped  back  into  the  boilers,  the  crust  of  copperas  removed, 
and,  after  being  sufficiently  drained,  it  is  packed  in  casks  ready  for  market.1  [See 
also  under  Alum  shale  and  vitriol  stone,  p.  421.] 

The  analyses  given  below  show  (1)  the  composition  of  fresh  pyrite 
from  the  Coal  Measures  of  Mercer  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  (2)  and 
(3)  that  of  two  varieties  of  paint  produced  from  it  by  calcination.2 

Geology  of  Vermont,  II,  1861,  p.  830. 

2  Report  M.  M.  Second  Report  of  Progress  in  the  Laboratory  of  the  Survey  at  Har- 
risburg,  Second  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania,  1879,  p.  374. 


V 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINEBALS. 


193 


Constituents. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

Bisulphide  of  iron  
Bisulphide  of  copper  

96.161 
Trace. 

0.415 

0.405 

Sesquioxide  of  iron. 

66  143 

77  143 

Alumina  

.653 

.697 

.543 

6  800 

5  142 

Lime  

.450 

.160 

160 

140 

100 

100 

Silica                                          

.680 

3.880 

3.980 

Sulphuric  acid  

13.  110 

7.334 

Water  and  carbonaceous  matter  
Undetermined  

1.916 

9.195 

5.194 

Total 

100  000 

100  000 

100  000 

Pyrite  on  decomposing  in  the  presence  of  moisture  in  the  ground 
sometimes  gives  rise  to  an  acid  sulphate  of  iron.  This  may  attack 
aluminous  minerals  when  such  are  present,  giving  rise  thus  to  solutions 
of  sulphate  of  iron  and  alumina,  which  come  to  the  surface  as  "alum 
springs,"  or,  if  no  alumina  is  present,  merely  as  iron  or  chalybeate 
springs,  which  are  of  more  or  less  medicinal  value.  The  presence  of 
such  sulphates  in  a  soil  is  readily  detected  by  the  well-known  astrin- 
gent taste  of  green  vitriol  and  alum,  even  where  the  quantity  is  not 
sufficient  to  appear  as  a  distinct  efflorescence.  Impregnation  of  these 
salts  in  soils  are  by  ignorant  persons  sometimes  assumed  to  be  of  great 
medicinal  value,  and  the  writer  has  in  mind  a  case  in  one  of  the  Southern 
States,  in  which  the  aqueous  leachings  of  such  a  soil  were  regularly 
bottled  and  sold  as  a  specific  for  nearly  all  the  ills  to  which  the  flesh  is 
heir,  though  prescribed  especially  for  flux,  wounds,  and  ulcers.  (See 
also  under  Alum,  p.  416.) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

W.  H.  ADAMS.     The  Pyrites  Deposits  of  Louisa  County,  Virginia. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XII,  1883,  p.  527. 
WILLIAM  MARTYN.     Pyrites. 

Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1883-84,  p.  877. 
J.  H.  COLLINS.     The  Great  Spanish  Pyrites  Deposits. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  XL,  1885,  p.  79. 
E.  1).  PETERS.     A  Visit  to  the  Pyrites  Mines  of  Spain. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVI,  1893,  p.  498. 
FRANK  L.  NASON.     Origin  of  the  Iron  Pyrites  Deposits  in  Louisa  County,  Virginia. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVII,  1894,  p.  414. 
M.  DRILLON.     The  Pyrites  Mines  of  Sain-Bel. 

Minutes  of  Proceedings  of  the  Institute  of  Civil  Engineers,  CXIX,  1894-95,  p. 
470. 

7.  MOLYBDENITE. 

A  disulphide  of  molybdenum  having  the  formula  MoS2,  =  sulphur 
40  per  cent,  molybdenum  60  per  cent. 

NAT   MUS   99 13 


194  KEPOBT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,  1899. 

This  mineral,  like  graphite,  occurs,  as  a  rule,  in  small,  black,  snmmg 
scales,  sometimes  hexagonal  in  outline  and  with  a  bright  metallic 
luster.  It  is  soft  enough  to  be  readily  impressed  with  the  thumb  nail, 
and  leaves  a  bluish-gray  trace  on  paper.  On  porcelain  it  leaves  a  lead 
gray,  slightly  greenish  streak.  This  faint  greenish  tinge,  together  with 
its  property  of  giving  a  sulphur  reaction  when  fused  with  soda,  furnish 
a  ready  means  of  distinguishing  it  from  graphite,  which  it  so  closely 
resembles.  Through  alteration  it  sometimes  passes  over  into  molybdite 
or  molybdic  ocher,  a  straw-yellow  to  white  ocherous  mineral  of  the 
formula  MoO3,  =  oxygen  33.3  per  cent,  molybdenum  66.7  per  cent. 

Occurrence. — The  mineral  has  a  wide  distribution,  occurring  in 
embedded  masses  and  disseminated  scales  in  granite  (Specimen  No. 
62169,  U.S.N.M.),  gneiss,  syenite,  crystalline  schists,  quartz  (Specimen 
No.  60995,  U.S.N.M.),  and  'granular  limestone.  It  is  found  in  Nor- 
way, Sweden,  Russia,  Saxony,  Bohemia,  Austria,  France,  Peru,  Brazil, 
England,  and  Scotland,  throughout  the  Appalachian  region  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada  (Specimen  No.  53046,  U.S.N.M.),  and  in 
various  parts  of  the  Rocky  and  Sierra  Nevada  mountains.  In  Okan- 
ogan  County,  Washington,  the  mineral  occurs  in  beautiful  large  flakes 
in  an  auriferous  quartz  vein  traversing  slates.  (Specimen  No.  53126, 
U.S.N.M.) 

On  Quetachoo-Manicouagan  Bay,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence,  the  mineral  is  reported1  as  occurring  disseminated  in  a 
bed  of  quartz  6  inches  thick,  in  the  form  of  nodules  from  1  to  3 
inches  in  diameter  and  in  flakes  which  are  sometimes  12  inches  broad 
by  i  inch  in  thickness. 

Molybdenite  is  also  found  in  the  form  of  finely  disseminated  scales 
or  small  bunches  among  the  iron  ores  of  the  Hude  mine  at  Stanhope, 
New  Jersey,  sometimes  constituting  as  high  as  2  per  cent  of  the  ore. 

Molybdenum  is  also  a  constituent  of  the  mineral  wulfenite,  or 
molybdate  of  lead. 

Uses. — The  principal  use  to  which  molybdenite  has  as  yet  been  put 
is  in  the  preparation  of  molybdates  for  the  chemical  laboratory.  It 
is  stated  that  a  fine  blue  pigment  can  be  prepared  from  it,  which 
it  has  been  proposed  to  use  as  a  substitute  for  indigo  in  dyeing  silk, 
cotton,  and  linen.  The  metal  molybdenum  is  produced  but  rarely  and 
only  as  a  curiosity,  and  has  a  purely  fictitious  value.  Up  to  the  present 
time  there  has  been  no  constant  demand  for  the  mineral  nor  regular 
source  of  supply. 

1  Geology  of  Canada,  1863,  p.  754. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS. 


195 


HI.  HALIDES. 
1.  HALITE;  SODIUM  CHLOKIDE;  OR  COMMON  SALT. 

Composition  Na  Cl,= sodium  60.6  per  cent;  chlorine  39.4  per  cent. 
The  natural  substance  is  nearly  always  more  or  less  impure,  as  noted 
later.  Hardness,  2.5;  specific  gravity,  2.1  to  2.6  per  cent.  Colorless 
or  white  when  pure,  but  often  yellowish  or  red  or  purplish  by  the 
presence  of  metallic  oxides  and  organic  matter.  Readily  soluble  in 
cold  water,  and  has  a  saline  taste.  Crystallizes  in  the  isometric  system, 


Fig.  2. 

CLUSTER    OP    HALITE    CRYSTALS. 

Stassfurt,  Germany. 
Specimen  No.  40222,  U.8.N.M. 

usually  in  cubes  (fig.  2,  Specimen  No.  40222,  U.S.N.M.),  but  some- 
times in  octahedrons,  the  faces  of  the  crystals  (particularly  when  pre- 
pared artificially)  being  often  cavernous  or  hopper  shaped.  Sometimes 
occurs  in  fibrous  forms,  which  it  has  been  suggested  are  pseudomor- 
phous  after  fibrous  gypsum  (Specimen  No.  64733,  U.S.N.M.).  Often 
found  in  the  form  of  massive,  crystalline  granular  aggregates  com- 
monly known  as  rock  salt  (Specimens  Nos.  67558,  64736,  62946, 
U.S.N.M.). 

Sylvite,  the  chloride  of  potassium,  sometimes  occurs  associated  with 
halite,  where.it  has  formed  under  similar  conditions.     From  halite 


ig6  REPOBT   OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

it  can  be  distinguished  by  its  crystalline  form,  that  of  a  combination 
of  cube  and  octahedron  (Specimen  No.  40223,  U.S. KM.  See  fig.  4, 
p.  203),  and  more  biting  taste.  Owing  to  its  ready  solubility  it  is 
rarely  found  in  a  state  of  nature.  Bischofite,  the  chloride  of  mag- 
nesium (Specimen  No.  62428,  U.S.N.M.)  is  still  more  soluble  and 
practically  unknown  except  in  crystals  artificially  produced. 

Origin  and  occurrences.—  Sodium  in  the  form  of  chloride,  to  which 
is  commonly  given  the  simple  name  of  salt,  is  one  of  the  most  widely 
disseminated  of  natural  substances,  and  not  infrequently  occurs  in 
large  masses  interstratified  with  other  rocks  of  the  earth's  crust  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  constitute  a  true  rock  mass. 

The  geological  history  of  these  beds  of  rock  salt  is  as  follows: 

No  terrestrial  waters  are  absolutely  pure,  but  all  hold  in  solution 
more  or  less  mineral  matter  which  has  been  taken  up  from  the  rocks 
and  soils  with  which  they  have  come  in  contact.  The  nature  of  these 
impurities  depends  on  the  nature  of  the  formations  permeated  and 
their  relative  solubility.'  Numerous  analyses  of  river  waters  have 
shown  that  the  substances  mentioned  below,  though  sometimes  exist- 
ing as  mere  traces,  are  almost  invariably  present;  these  are  sodium, 
potassium,  magnesium,  silicon,  aluminum,  and  iron,  which  exist  mostly 
in  the  form  of  carbonates,  oxides,  sulphates,  and  chlorides. 

When  a  stream  bearing  these  substances  in  solution  flows  into  a  lake 
with  no  outlet,  as  the  Great  Salt  Lake  or  the  Dead  Sea,  the  water  is 
returned  to  the  atmosphere  by  evaporation,  while  the  impurities 
remain.  In  this  way  the  water  gradually  becomes  charged  more  and 
more  heavily  with  mineral  matter,  until  the  point  of  saturation  is 
reached  and  further  concentration  is  impossible  without  precipitation. 
When  such  precipitation  of  mineral,  matters  takes  place,  it  is  in  the 
inverse  order  of  their  solubilities;  that  is,  those  substances  which  are 
least  soluble  will,  under  like  conditions  of  temperature,  be  first  precipi- 
tated. Hence  a  water  containing  the  ingredients  before  mentioned  on 
being  subjected  to  complete  evaporation  would  deposit  its  load  in  the 
following  order:  (1)  Carbonates  of  lime  and  magnesia  in  the  form  of 
limestones,  marls,  and  dolomites;  (2)  sulphate  of  lime  in  the  form  of 
anhydrite  and  gypsum;  (3)  chloride  of  sodium,  or  common  salt;  and 
these  followed  in  regular  order  by  the  sulphates  of  magnesia  and  soda 
(Epsom  salt  and  Glauber's  salt)  and  the  chlorides  of  potassium  and 
magnesium.  These  last  are,  however,  so  readily  deliquescent  that  they 
are  rarely  found  crystallized  out  in  a  state  of  nature  as  above  noted. 

It  rarely  happens,  however,  that  nature's  processes  are  sufliciently 
regular  and  uninterrupted  to  allow  a  complete  precipitation  of  the 
pure  salts  as  above  outlined.  During  periods  of  flood  suspended  silt 
may  be  poured  into  the  inclosed  basin  to  finally  settle,  forming  thus 
alternating  beds  of  saliferous  clay  or  marl. 

Such  having  been  the  method  of  formation,  it  is  scarcely  necessary 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINEBALS.  197 

to  state  that  salt  beds  are  not  confined  to  strata  of  any  one  geological 
horizon,  but  are  to  be  found  wherever  suitable  circumstances  have 
existed  for  their  formation  and  preservation.  The  beds  of  New  York 
State  and  of  Canada  and  a  part  of  those  of  Michigan  lie  among  rocks 
of  the  Upper  Silurian  Age.  They  are  regarded  by  Professor  New- 
berry  as  the  deposits  of  a  great  salt  lake  that  formerly  occupied  central 
and  western  New  York,  northern  Pennsylvania,  northeastern  Ohio, 
and  southern  Ontario,  and  which  he  assumes  to  have  been  as  large  as 
Lake  Huron,  or  possibly  Lake  Superior.  A  part  of  the  Michigan 
beds,  on  the  other  hand,  were  laid  down  near  the  base  of  the  Carbon- 
iferous series,  as  were  also  those  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  presumably 
those  of  Virginia,  while  those  of  Petite  Anse,  Louisiana,  are  of 
Cretaceous,  or  possibly  Tertiary  Age.  The  beds  of  the  Western  States 
and  Territories  are  likewise  of  recent  origin,  many  of  them  being  still 
in  process  of  formation. 

The  English  beds  at  Cheshire,  the  source  of  the  so-called  "Liver- 
pool "  salt,  are  of  Triassic  Age,  as  are  also  those  of  Vic  and  Dieuze  in 
France,  Wurtemburg  in  Germany,  and  Salzburg  in  Austria,  while 
those  of  Wieliczka  in  Austrian  Poland,  and  of  Parajd  in  Transylvania 
are  Tertiary. 

Salt  is  now  manufactured  from  brines  or  mined  as  rock  salt  in 
fifteen  States  of  the  American  Union.  These,  in  the  order  of  their 
apparent  importance,  are  Michigan,  New  York,  Kansas,  California, 
Louisiana,  Illinois,  Utah,  Ohio,  West  Virginia,  Nevada,  Pennsylvania, 
Virginia,  Kentucky,  Texas,  and  Wyoming.  At  one  time  Massachusetts 
was  an  important  producer  of  salt  from  sea  waters.  The  industry  has, 
however,  been  gradually  languishing  and  may  ere  now  be  wholly 
extinct.  In  California  salt  is  obtained  largely  from  sea  water,  but  also 
from  salt  lakes  and  salines.  In  Michigan,  Ohio,  the  Virginias,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Kentucky  salt  is  obtained  from  brines  obtained  from 
springs  or  by  sinking  wells  into  the  salt-bearing  strata,  while  in  New 
York,  Kansas,  Louisiana,  and  the  remaining  States  it  is  obtained  both 
from  brines  and  by  mining  as  rock  salt. 

Of  the  foreign  sources  of  rock  salt  the  following  districts  are  the 
most  important:  (1)  The  Carpathian  Mountains,  (2)  the  Austrian  and 
Bavarian  Alps,  (3)  western  Germany,  (4)  the  Vosges,  (5)  Jura,  (6)  Spain, 
(7)  the  Pyrenees  and  the  Celtiberian  Mountains,  and  (8)  Great  Britain, 
while  sea  salt  is  an  important  product  of  Turks  Island  in  the  Bahamas, 
of  the  island  of  Sicily,  and  of  Cadiz,  Spain. 

We  have  space  here  for  details  concerning  but  a  few  of  these  beds, 
preference  naturally  being  given  to  those  of  the  United  States. 

The  beds  of  New  York  State,  of  Ontario,  northern  Pennsylvania, 
northeastern  Ohio,  and  eastern  Michigan  all  belong  to  the  same  geo- 
logic group — are  the  product  of  similar  agencies.  They  have  been 
penetrated  in  many  places  by  wells,  and  from  the  results  obtained  we 


198  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,  1899. 

are  enabled  to  form  some  idea  of  their  extent  and  thickness.  Below 
is  given  a  summary  of  results  obtained  in  boring  one  of  these  wells  to 
a  depth  of  1,517  feet  at  Goderich,  Canada.  Beginning  at  the  top,  the 
rocks  were  passed  through  in  the  following  order: 

I.  Clay,   gravel,    marls,    limestone,  dolomite,  and  gypsum   variously 

interstratified "7      ° 

II.  First  bed  of  rock  salt 30    n 

III.  Dolomite  with  marls 32      1 

IV.  Second  bed  of  rock  salt 25      4 

V.  Dolomite 6     10 

VI.  Third  bed  of  rock  salt 34    10 

VII.  Marl,  dolomite,  and  anhydrite 80      7 

VIII.  Fourth  bed  of  rock  salt 15      5 

IX.  Dolomite  and  anhydrite 7      0 

X.  Fifth  bed  of  rock  salt 13      6 

XI.  Marl  and  anhydrite 135      6 

XII.  Sixth  bed  of  rock  salt 6      0 

XIII.  Marl,  dolomite  and  anhydrite 132      0 

Total  thickness  of  formations  passed  through 1,517  feet. 

Total  thickness  of  beds  of  salt 126  feet. 

The  above  section  shows  that  the  ancient  sea  or  lagoon  underwent 
at  least  six  successive  periods  of  desiccation,  and  especial  attention 
is  called  to  the  remarkable  regularity  of  the  deposits.  On  the  oldest 
sea  bottom  (XIII)  the  carbonates  and  sulphates  of  lime  and  magnesia 
were  deposited  first,  being  least  soluble.  Then  followed  the  salt,  and 
this  order  is  repeated  invariably.  The  other  constituents  mentioned 
as  occurring  in  the  waters  of  lakes  and  seas  are  not  sufficiently  abun- 
dant to  show  in  the  section,  or  owing  to  their  ready  solubility  they 
have  been  in  large  part  removed  since  the  beds  were  laid  down. 
Chemical  tests,  however,  reveal  their  presence. 

Although  salt  was  manufactured  from  the  brine  of  springs,  near 
Onondaga  Lake,  in  New  York,  as  early  as  1788,  and  has  been  regu- 
larly manufactured  from  the  brine  of  wells  since  1798,  it  was  not  until 
subsequent  to  the  discovery  of  extensive  beds  of  rock  salt  in  the 
Wyoming  Valley,  while  boring  for  petroleum,  that  the  mining  of  the 
material  in  this  form  became  an  established  industry.  In  June,  1878, 
a  bed  of  rock  salt  70  feet  in  thickness  was  found  in  the  valley  above 
mentioned,  at  a  depth  of  1,270  feet.  Subsequently  other  borings  in 
Wyoming,  Genesee,  and  Livingston  counties  disclosed  beds  at  vary- 
ing depths.  In  1885  the  first  shaft  was  sunk  at  Pifford  by  the  Retsof 
Mining  Company,  the  salt  bed  being  found  at  a  depth  of  1,018  feet. 
Three  other  shafts  have  since  been  sunk,  the  first  about  a  mile  west  of 
the  Retsof,  the  second  about  2  miles  south  of  Leroy,  and  the  third 
at  Livonia,  in  Livingston  County.  The  salt  when  'taken  from  the 
bed  is  stated  to  be  of  a  gray  color,  due  to  the  presence  of  clay,  which 
renders  solution  and  recrystallization  necessary  when  designed  for 
culinary  purposes.  The  thickness  of  the  salt  beds  and  their  depth 
are  somewhat  variable.  The  following  figures  are  quoted  from 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  199 

Dr.  Engelhardt's  report.1  At  Morrisville,  in  Madison  County,  it  is 
12  feet  thick  and  at  a  depth  of  1,259  feet;  at  Tully,  in  Onondaga 
County,  it  varies  from  25  to  318  feet,  at  depths  of  from  974  to  1,465 
feet.  The  seven  beds  found  at  Ithaca  have  a  total  thickness  of  248  feet, 
the  uppermost  lying  at  a  depth  of  2,244  feet.  In  the  Genesee  Valley 
the  beds  vary  in  depth  from  750  to  2,100  feet  and  in  thickness  from  40 
to  93  feet.  In  the  Wyoming  Valley  the  depth  varies  from  610  to  2,370 
feet  below  the  surface  and  in  thickness  from  12  to  85  feet.2 

Michigan. — The  salt-producing  areas  of  this  State  are,  so  far  as 
now  known,  limited  to  the  counties  of  losco,  Bay,  Midland,  Gratiot, 
Saginaw,  Huron,  St.  Clair,  Manistee,  and  Mason,  the  beds  of  the 
Saginaw  Valley  lying  in  the  so-called  Napoleon  sandstone,  at  the  base 
of  the  Carboniferous.  Professor  Winchell  has  estimated  this  forma- 
tion to  cover  an  area  of  some  17,000  square  miles  within  the  State 
limits.  The  beds  of  the  St.  Clair  Valley,  on  the  other  hand,  are  in 
Upper  Silurian  strata,  being  presumably  continuous  with  those  of 
Canada.  The  manufacture  of  salt  from  brines  procured  from  these 
beds  began  in  the  Saginaw  Valley  in  1860  and  has  since  extended  to 
the  other  regions  mentioned.  According  to  F.  E.  Engelhardt  the 
rock  salt  deposits  in  the  Upper  Silurian  beds,  with  a  thickness  of  115 
feet,  were  reached  at  Marine  City,  in  St.  Clair  County,  at  a  depth  of 
1,633  feet;  at  St.  Clair,  St.  Clair  County,  at  a  depth  of  1,635  feet  and 
with  a  thickness  of  35  feet.  At  Caseville,  in  Huron  County,  the  beds 
lie  at  a  depth  of  1,164  feet,  and  at  Bay  City,  Saginaw  Bay,  at  2,085 
feet,  the  salt  beds  being  115  feet  in  thickness.  At  Manistee  the  bed 
is  34  feet  thick,  lying  2,000  feet  below  the  surface,  while  at  Muskegon, 
in  the  Mason  well,  it  was  50  feet  thick  at  a  depth  of  2,200  feet. 
Although  of  so  recent  development,  Michigan  is  rapidly  becoming  one 
of  the  leading  salt-producing  regions  of  the  world,  the  estimated  manu- 
facturing capacity  being  now  upward  of  5,000,000  barrels  annually. 
The  total  product  of  all  the  years  since  1868  is  given  as  60,614,464 
barrels  of  280  pounds  each. 

In  Kansas  the  rock  salt  occurs  in  beds  regarded  as  of  Permian  age, 
and  has  been  reached  by  means  of  shafts  in  several  counties  in  the 
southern  and  central  part  of  the  State.  The  following  is  a  section  of 
a  shaft  sunk  at  Kingman  in  1888-89: 

Feet. 
"Red-beds,"  red  arenaceous,  limestones,   ferruginous  clays,  and  clay  shales 

with  thin  streaks  of  gray  shales  and  bands  of  gypsum  as  satin  spar 450 

Gray  or  bluish  '  <  slate, ' '  with  2  feet  of  limestone  at  500  feet 140 

Red  clay  shale 4 

Gray  "slate,"  with  occasional  streaks  of  limestone,  2  to  8  inches  thick,  and  some 

salt  partings  and  satin  spar  with  ferruginous  stain 78 

1  The  Mineral  Industry,  its  Statistics  and  Trade  for  1892,  by  R.  P.  Rothwell. 

2  For  a  very  complete  historical  and  geological  account  of  these  salt  beds  and  the 
method  of  manufacture,  see  Bulletin  No.  11,  of  the  New  York  State  Museum,  1893, 
by  F.  J.  H.  Merrill. 


200          BEPOBT  OF  NATIONAL  MUSEUM, 


Feet. 
2 


First  rock  salt,  pure  white  ...............................  '~'~~"f  ----  ~"~" 

Shale  and  "slate,"  bluish,  with  vertical  and  other  seams  of  salt,  from  1  to  3 
inches  thick  ............................................................     26 

Rock  salt  ...........................  .....................................       4 

Shales,  with  salt  .........................................................     n 

Kocksalt  ................................................................       7 

Shale  ....................................................................       3 

Rock  salt  ................................................................ 

Salt  and  shale,  alternate  thin  seams  .........................  -  .............     < 

Rock  salt  ........................................ 

Shale  ...........................  •  l 

Rock  salt  ................................................................       5 

Shales  and  limestone  ..................................................... 

Rock  salt,  bottom  of  it  not  reached  .........................  -  .............        5 


Total  .......................................  --  820 

Borings  and  shafts  have  also  proven  the  existence  of  beds  of  salt  in 
other  parts  of  the  State,  as  at  Kanopolis,  Lyons,  Caldwell,  Rago,  Pratt, 
and  Wilson.  According  to  Dr.  Robert  Hays  l  it  is  safe  to  assume  that 
beds  of  rock  salt  from  50  to  150  feet  in  thickness  underlie  fully  half 
the  area  from  the  south  line  of  the  State  to  north  of  the  Smoky  River, 
an  area  from  20  to  50  miles  in  width.  Although  the  mining  of  rock 
salt  began  in  this  region  only  in  1888,  the  annual  output  has  already 
reached  over  1,000,000  barrels. 

^Louisiana.  —  Salt  in  this  State  is  derived  from  Petite  Anse,  a  small 
island  rising  from  the  marshes  on  the  southern  coast  and  connected 
with  the  mainland  by  a  causeway  some  2  miles  in  length.  According 
to  E.  W.  Hilgard  2  the  deposit  is  probably  of  Cretaceous  age,  and  is 
presumably  but  a  comparatively  small  residual  mass  of  beds  once 
extending  over  a  much  larger  area,  but  now  lost  through  erosion. 
(See  fig.  3.)  Exploration  has  shown  the  area  occupied  by  the  beds  to 
be  some  150  acres,  but  the  full  thickness,  though  known  to  be  upward 
of  165  feet,  has  never  been  fully  determined. 

Salt  in  Kentucky  is  obtained  from  the  brine  of  springs  and  wells  in 
Carboniferous  limestone.  In  Meade  County  brine  accompanies  the 
natural  gas,  the  latter  in  some  cases  being  utilized  as  fuel  for  its  evap- 
oration. Springs  in  Webster  County  furnished  salt  for  Indians  long 
anterior  to  the  occupancy  of  the  county  by  whites,  and  fragments  of 
their  clay  kettles  and  other  utensils  used  in  the  work  of  evaporation 
are  still  occasionally  found. 

Texas.  —  The  occurrences  of  salt  are  numerous  and  widespread.  Along 
the  coast  are  many  lagoons  and  salt  lakes,  from  which  considerable 
quantities  are  taken  annually.  "Besides  the  lakes  along  the  shores 
many  others  occur  through  western  Texas,  reaching  to  the  New  Mexico 

'Geological  and  Mineral  Resources  of  Kansas,  1893,  p.  44. 

"Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge,  XXIII.  Qn  the  Geology  of  Lower 
Louisiana  and  the  Salt  Deposit  on  Petite  Anse  Island. 


THE    HONMETALLIC   MINERALS. 


201 


w  3 

II 

u  b 


.  s  ^:: 


202  REPOBT   OF   NATIOKAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

line  while  northeast  of  these,  in  the  Permian  region  the  constant 
recurrence  of  such  names  as  Salt  Fork,  Salt  Creek,  etc.,  tell  of  the 
prevalence  of  similar  conditions."  In  addition  to  the  brines  there  are 
extensive  beds  of  rock  salt.  That  which  is  at  present  best  developed 
is  located  in  the  vicinity  of  Colorado  City,  in  Mitchell  County.  The 
bed  of  salt  was  found  at  a  depth  of  850  feet,  with  a  thickness  ot  140 
feet  In  eastern  Texas  there  are  many  low  pieces  of  ground  calle 
salines,  where  salt  has  been  manufactured  by  evaporation  of  the  brines 
obtained  from  shallow  wells.  At  the  "Grand  Saline,'  in  Van  Zandt 
County,  a  bed  of  rock  salt  over  300  feet  in  thickness  was  found  at  a 
depth  of  225  feet. 

In  England  the  salt  occurs  at  Cheshire  in  two  beds  mterstratified 
with  marls  and  clays.  The  upper,  with  a  thickness  varying  from  80 
to  90  feet,  lies  at  a  depth  of  some  120  feet  below  the  surface,  and  the 
second  at  a  depth  of  226  feet  has  a  thickness  varying  between  96  and 
117  feet.  The  accompanying  general  sections  are  from  Davies'  Earthy 
and  Other  Economic  Minerals. 
Detailed  section  of  strata  sunk  through  at  Witton,  near  Northwich,  to  the  lower  bed  of  suit. 

Ft.  In. 

1.  Calcareous  marl 

2.  Indurated  red  clay 

3.  Indurated  blue  clay  and  marl 

4.  Argillaceous  marl 

5.  Indurated  blue  clay 

6.  Red  clay  with  sulphate  of  lime  in  irregular  branches. . . 

7.  Indurated  red  clay  with  grains  of  sulphate  of  lime  interspersed -4    0 

8.  Indurated  brown  clay  with  sulphate  of  lime  crystallized  in  irregular  masses 

and  in  large  proportions 

9.  Indurated  blue  clay  with  laminae  of  sulphate  of  lime 

10.  Argillaceous  marl. . .- 

11.  Indurated  brown  clay  laminated  with  sulphate  of  lime 3    0 

12.  Indurated  blue  clay  laminated  with  sulphate  of  lime 3    0 

13.  Indurated  red  and  blue  clay •         12    ° 

14.  Indurated  brown  clay  with  sand  and  sulphate  of  lime  irregularly  inter- 

spersed through  it.     The  fresh  water,  at  the  rate  of  360  gallons  a 
minute,  forced  its  way  through  this  stratum 13    0 

15.  Argillaceous  marl 5    0 

16.  Indurated  blue  clay  with  sand  and  grains  of  sulphate  of  lime 3    9 

17.  Indurated  brown  clay  as  next  above 15    0 

18.  Blue  clay  as  strata  next  above ': 1     6 

19.  Brown  clay  as  strata  next  above j 7    0 

20.  The  top  bed  of  rock  salt 75    0 

21.  Layers  of  indurated  clay  with  veins  of  rock  salt  running  through  them. .  .31     6 

22.  Lower  bed  of  rock  salt...  ..115    0 


Total 341    9 

At  Wieliczka,  in  Austrian  Poland,  the  salt  occurs  in  massive  beds 
stated  to  extend  over  an  area  some  20  by  500  miles,  with  a  maximum 
thickness  of  1,200  feet.  At  Parajd,  in  Transylvania,  beds  belonging 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  203 

to  the  same  geological  horizon  are  estimated  to  contain  upward  of 
10,000,000,000,000  cubic  feet  of  salt. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  deposits  of  the  world,  remarkable  for 
its  extent  as  well  as  for  the  variety  of  its  products,  is  that  of  Stass- 
furt,  in  Prussian  Saxony.  On  account  of  its  unique  character,  as 


Fig.  4. 

CLUSTER    OF   8YLVITE   CRYSTALS. 

Stassfurt,  Germany. 
Specimen  No.  10223,  U.S.N.M. 


well  as  its  commercial  importance,  being  to-day  the  chief  source  of 
natural  potash  salts  of  the  world,  a  little  space  may  well  be  given  here 
to  a  detailed  description.1 

Stassfurt  is  a  small  town  of  some  12, 000  inhabitants,  about  25  miles  southwest  of 
the  city  and  fortress  of  Magdeburg,  in  Prussia.  It  lies  in  a  plain,  and  the  river 
Bode,  which  takes  its  rise  in  the  Harz  Mountains,  flows  through  it.  The  history  of 
the  salt  industry  in  Stassfurt  is  a  very  old  one,  and  dates  back  as  far  as  the  year 
806.  Previous  to  the  year  1839  the  salt  was  produced  from  brine  pumped  from  wells 
sunk  about  200  feet  into  the  rock.  The  brine,  in  the  course  of  time,  became  so  weak, 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  II,  1883,  pp.  146,  147. 


204  BEPOKT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,  1899. 

as  regards  the  common  salt  it  contained,  that  it  was  impossible  to  carry  on  the 
manufacture  from  this  source  without  loss.  In  1839  the  Prussian  Government  who 
were  the  owners  of  these  saline  springs,  commenced  boring  with  the  object  of  dis- 
covering the  whereabouts  of  the  bed  of  rock  salt  from  which  the  brine  had  been 
obtained  and  in  the  year  1843,  seven  years  after  the  commencement  of  the  borings, 
the  top  of  the  rock  salt  was  reached  at  a  depth  of  256  metres.  The  boring  was  con- 
tinued through  another  325  metres  into  the  rock  salt  without  reaching  the  bottom  of 
the  layer.  At  this  total  depth  of  581  metres  the  boring  was  suspended.  On  ana- 
lysing the  brine  obtained  from  the  bore-hole,  it  was  found  to  consist,  in  100  parts  by 

weight,  of-        Sulphateofcalcimn 4.01 

Chloride  of  potassium 2.  24 

Chloride  of  magnesium - 19. 43 

Chloride  of  sodium 5.  61 

A  result  not  only  unexpected  but  disappointing,  since  the  presence  of  chloride  of 
magnesium  in  such  quantities  dispelled  for  the  time  all  hopes  of  striking  on  the  pure 
rock  salt.  The  Government,  however,  guided  by  the  opinions  expressed  by  Dr. 
Karsten  and  Professor  Marchand,  namely,  that  the  presence  of  chloride  of  magnesium  in 
such  quantities  was  probably  due  to  a  deposit  lying  above  the  rock  salt,  determined 
to  further  investigate  the  matter,  and  in  the  year  1852  the  first  shaft  was  commenced, 
which  after  five  years  had  penetrated,  at  a  depth  of  330  metres,  into  a  bed  of  rock 
salt,  passing  on  its  way,  at  a  depth  of  256  metres,  a  bed  of  potash  and  magnesia  salts 
of  a  thickness  of  25  metres. 

On  referring  to  the  section  of  the  mines  [Plate  4],  it  will  be  seen  that  the  lowest 
deposit  of  all  consists  of  rock  salt.  The  bore-hole  was  driven  381  metres  into  it 
without  reaching  the  bottom  of  the  layer.  Its  depth  is  therefore  unknown.  The 
black  lines  drawn  across  the  rock  salt  deposit  represent  thin  layers  of  sulphate  of  cal- 
cium 7  millimetres  thick,  and  almost  equidistant.  The  lines  at  the  top  of  the  rock 
salt  represent  thin  layers  of  the  trisulphate  of  potash,  magnesia,  and  lime  as  the 
mineral  Polyhallite  [Specimen  No.  67754,  U.S.N.M.].  The  deposit  lying  immediately 
on  the  bed  of  rock  salt  consists  chiefly  of  sulphate  of  magnesia  as  the  mineral  Kie- 
serite  [Specimen  No.  62417,  U.S.N.M.].  Still  farther  toward  the  surface  the  deposit 
consists  of  the  double  chloride  of  potassium  and  magnesium,  known  as  the  mineral 
Carnallite,  [Specimens  Nos.  40225,  62416,  U.S.N.M.]  mixed  with  sulphate  of  magnesia 
and  rock  salt.  The  deposit  to  the  right,  on  the  rise  of  the  strata,  consists  of  the 
double  sulphate  of  potash  and  magnesia  combined  with  one  equivalent  of  chloride 
of  magnesium,  and  intermingled  with  common  salt  to  the  extent  of  40  per  cent. 
This  double  sulphate  is  known  as  the  mineral  Kainite  [Specimen  No.  64735,  U.  S.  N.  M.  ] 
and  is  a  secondary  formation,  resulting  from  the  action  of  a  limited  quantity  of  water 
on  a  mixture  of  sulphate  of  magnesia  and  the  double  chloride  of  potassium  and 
magnesium,  as  contained  in  the  uppermost  deposit  previously  spoken  of. 

The  upper  bed  of  the  rock  salt,  resting  on  a  thick  bank  of  Anhydrite  [Specimen 
No.  64740,  U.S.N.M.],  is  also  a  later  formation.  Almost  imperceptible  layers  of  Poly- 
hallite are  present  in  this  deposit  and  at  greater  intervals  than  in  the  lower  and 
older  deposit.  It  has  therefore  probably  originated  from  the  action  of  water  on  the 
older  deposit.  This  upper  bed  of  rock  salt  varies  in  thickness  from  40  to  90  metres, 
and  its  extent  is  comparatively  limited.  It  is  worked  in  preference  to  the  older 
deposit,  where  both  exist  in  the  same  mine,  it  being  of  much  purer  quality,  aver- 
aging about  98  per  cent  in  the  mines  of  the  New  Stassfurt  Mining  Company  and  in 
the  Royal  Prussian  mines. 

Sixteen  different  minerals  have  as  yet  been  discovered  in  the  Stassfurt  deposits. 
They  may  be  divided  into  primary  and  secondary  formations.  Those  of  primary 
formation  are  rock  salt,  Anhydrite  [Specimen  No.  64740,  U.S.N.M.],  Polyhallite 
(K2S04,  MgS04)  2CaS04,  2H20)  [Specimen  No.  67754,  U.S.N.M.],  Kieserite  (MgSO4, 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899.     Merrill. 

Prussian  5  hafts. 


PLATE  4. 


., 

x     ^<A  STASSFURT. 


SECTION  OF  THE  SALT  DEPOSITS  AT  STASSFURT. 
From  the  Transactions  of  the  Edinburgh  Geological  Society,  V,  1884,  p.  111. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  205 

H2O)  [Specimen  No.  62417,  U.S.N.M.],  Carnallite  (KC1,  MgCl2,  6H20)  [SpecimenNo. 
40225,.  U.S.N.M.],  Boracite  (2 (Mg3B8O15) ,  MgCl2)  [Specimen No.  64742, U.S.N.M.], and 
Douglasite  (2KC1,  FeCl2,  2H2O) .  Those  of  secondary  formation,  resulting  from  the 
decomposition  of  the  primary  minerals  are,  nine  in  number,  namely:  Kainite  (K2SO4, 
MgSO4,  MgCl26H2O);  Sylvin  (KC1)  [Specimen  No.  62419,  TJ.S.N.M.];  Tachydrite 
(CaCl2,  2MgCl2+12H2O)  [Specimen  No.  40230,  U.S.N.M.];  Bischofite  (MgCl2,  6H2O) 
[SpecimenNo.  62428,  U.S.N.M.];  Krugite  (K2SO4,  MgSO4,  4CaS04,  2H2O)  [Specimen 
No.  62426,  U.S.N.M.];  Reichardtite  (MgSO4,  7H2O);  Glauberite  (CaSO4,  Na,SO4) 
[Specimen  No.  40229,  U.S.N.M.];  Schonite  (K2SO4,  MgSO4,  6H2O)  [Specimen  No. 
62418,  U.S.N.M.],  and  Astrakanite  (MgSO4,  4H20)  [Specimen  No.  64738,  U.S.N.M.]. 
Only  four  of  these  minerals  have  any  commercial  value,  namely:  Carnallite,  Kainite, 
Kieserite,  and  rock  salt.  The  yield  of  boracite,  which  is  found  in  nests  in  the  Carnallite 
region  of  the  mine,  is  too  insignificant  to  be  classed  among  those  just  mentioned. 

The  mine  may  be  divided  chemically  into  four  regions:  (1)  The  rock  salt,  (2)  the 
Kieserite,  (3)  the  Carnallite,  (4)  the  Kainite  region. 

The  rock  salt  region  has  almost  the  same  composition  throughout.  Its  character 
is  crystalline,  though  in  this  region  well-defined  crystals  are  never  met  with.  In 
other  parts  of  the  mine,  especially  in  the  Carnallite  region,  it  is  found  crystallised  in 
the  form  of  the  cube  [Specimen  No.  40222,  U.S.N.M.]  and  the  octahedron,  sometimes 
coloured  different  shades  of  red  and  blue  [Specimen  No.  64731,  U.S.N.M.].  Specimens 
have  also  been  found  of  varied  structure,  laminated,  granular,  and  fibrous  [Specimen 
No.  64733,  U.S.N.M.]. 

The  deposit  lying  on  the  top  of  the  rock  constitutes  the  so-called  Kieserite  region. 
The  thickness  of  this  deposit  is  about  56  metres,  and  its  average  composition  as 

follows: 

Per  cent. 

Kieserite 17 

Rock  salt 66 

Carnallite 13 

Tachydrite 3 

Anhydrite • 2 

100 

In  the  pure  state  Kieserite  is  amorphous  and  translucent,  possessing  a  specific 
gravity  of  2.517.  It  contains  87.1  per  cent  sulphate  of  magnesia  and  12.9  per  cent 
water,  corresponding  to  the  formula  MgSO4,  H2O.  Exposed  to  the  air  it  becomes 
opaque  from  the  absorption  of  moisture,  and  is  converted  into  Epsom  salts;  100  parts 
of  water  dissolve  40.9  parts  of  this  mineral  at  18°  C.  The  solution,  however,  takes 
place  very  slowly  at  this  temperature. 

This  deposit  has  not  been  worked  to  any  great  extent.  Its  composition  is  interest- 
ing as  showing  the  gradual  decrease  of  the  proportion  of  common  salt  and  the  com- 
mencement of  the  separation  of  the  more  soluble  salts. 

Each  of  the  two  divisions  of  the  mine  just  described  contains  only  one  mineral  of 
importance.  The  third  division,  called  the  Carnallite  region,  contains  a  variety 
of  minerals,  and  to  this  deposit  Stassfurt  owes  its  world-wide  fame.  The  average 
thickness  of  this  deposit  is  about  25  metres,  and  its  composition  is  as  follows: 

Per  cent. 

Carnallite 60 

Kieserite 16 

Rock  salt 20 

Tachydrite 4 

besides  small  quantities  of  magnesium  bromide.  These  minerals  are  deposited  in 
the  order  given  above,  in  successive  layers,  varying  in  thickness  from  ^  to  1  metre, 
the  different  colours  of  these  minerals  giving  the  deposit  a  remarkable  appearance. 


206  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

The  predominating  mineral  in  this  region  is  Carnallite  [Specimen  No.  40225, 
U.S.N.M.],  a  double  chloride  of  potassium  and  magnesium,  containing  26. 76  percent 
chloride  of 'potassium,  34.50  percent  chloride  of  magnesium,  and  38.74  per  cent  water, 
corresponding  to  the  formula  KC1,  MgCl2,  6H2O.  In  the  pure  state  it  is  colorless  and 
transparent,  and  possesses  a  specific  gravity  of  1.618.  It  is  very  hygroscopic,  and  is 
easily  soluble  in  water,  100  parts  of  which  dissolve  64.5  parts  of  the  mineral.  It  may 
be  artificially  formed  from  a  solution  of  chloride  of  potassium,  containing  not  less 
than  26  per  cent  of  chloride  of  magnesium.  The  deposit  which  figures  to  the  right 
of  the  Carnallite  region  is,  as  before  mentioned,  a  secondary  formation,  and  consists 
principally  of  the  mineral  Kainite  [Specimen  No.  64735,  U.S.N.M.].  This  deposit, 
though  limited  as  compared  to  the  other  salt  deposits,  is  yet  of  vast  extent.  The 
average  composition  of  this  deposit  is: 

Sulphate  of  potash 23.0 

Sulphate  of  magnesia 15. 6 

Chloride  of  magnesium 13. 0 

Chloride  of  sodium 34.  8 

Water 13.6 

100.0 

In  the  pure  state  it  is  colorless  and  almost  transparent,  and  possesses  a  specific 
gravity  of  2.13;  100  parts  of  water  dissolve  79.5  parts  of  it.  Cold  water  does  not 
decompose  it,  but  from  its  saturated  hot  solution  the  double  sulphate  of  potash  and 
magnesia  separates,  and  chloride  of  magnesium  remains  in  solution. 

Methods  of  mining  and  manufacture. — In  the  manufacture  of  salt 
three  principal  methods  are  employed.  The  first,  if,  indeed,  it  can  be 
called  manufacture,  consists  in  mining  the  dry  salt  from  an  open 
quarry,  as  in  the  Rio  Virgen  and  Barcelona  deposits,  or  by  means  of 
subterranean  galleries,  the  methods  employed  at  Petite  Anse  and  in 
Galicia. 

At  Petite  Anse  the  method  of  mining  and  preparation,  as  given  by 
Mr.  R.  A.  Pomeroy,1  is  as  follows: 

Mining  is  done  by  means  of  galleries  on  two  levels.  There  are  16 
to  25  feet  of  earth  above  the  salt  deposit.  The  contour  of  the  latter 
conforms  nearly  with  that  of  the  surface.  The  working  shaft  is  168 
feet  deep.  The  depth  to  the  first  level  or  floor  is  90  feet;  to  the  sec- 
^ond,  70  feet  farther.  The  remaining  8  feet  are  used  for  a  dump. 
The  galleries  of  the  first  level  were  run,  on  an  average,  40  feet  in 
width  and  25  feet  and  upwards  in  height,  leaving  supporting  pillars  40 
feet  in  diameter. 

The  galleries  of  the  second  level  are  run  80  feet  in  width  and  45  feet 
in  height,  leaving  supporting  pillars  60  feet  in  diameter.  The  lower 
pillars  are  so  left  that  the  weight  of  the  upper  ones  rests  upon  them 
in  part,  if  not  wholly,  with  a  thickness  of  at  least  25  feet  of  salt  rock 
between. 

Galleries  aggregating  nearly  1  mile  in  length  have  been  run  on  the 
upper  level  and  some  700  feet  on  the  lower. 

In  running  a  gallery  the  first  work  is  the  "undercutting"  on  the 
level  of  the  floor,  of  suflicient  height  to  enable  the  miners  to  work 

transactions  of  the  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XVII,  1888-89,  pp.  111. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  207 

with  ease.  The  salt  is  then  blasted  down  from  the  overhanging  body. 
The  yearly  output  is  about  50,000  tons. 

The  salt  as  it  comes  from  the  mine  is  dumped  into  corrugated  cast- 
iron  rolls,  which  crush  it.  Next  it  goes  into  revolving  screens,  which 
take  out  the  coarser  lumps  for  "crushed  salt"  and  let  the  fine  stuff 
pass  to  the  buhrstones.  These  grind  the  salt,  and  from  them  it  goes 
to  the  pneumatic  separators,  which  take  out  the  dust  and  separate  the 
market  salt  into  various  grades.  Taking  the  dust  out  is  essential  to 
the  production  of  a  salt  that  will  not  harden,  since  the  fine  particles  of 
dust  deliquesce  readily  and  on  drying  cement  the  coarse  particles 
together.  The  drill  used  in  the  mine  is  what  is  known  as  the  "Russian 
auger."  It  is  turned  by  hand  and  forced  by  a  screw  of  12  threads  per 
inch.  The  holes  take  cartridges  H  inches  diameter.  Two  men  will 
bore  75  feet  of  hole  each  working-day  of  eight  hours.  Three-quarters 
of  a  pound  of  18  per  cent  dynamite  is  used  to  the  ton  of  salt  mined. 

On  the  Colorado  Desert  the  salt  occurs  in  the  form  of  a  crust  a  foot 
or  more  in  thickness,  resting  on  a  lake  of  shallow  brine.  This  crust, 
which  is  covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  dust  and  sand  blown  over  it  from 
the  surrounding  desert,  is  cut  away  longitudinally,  much  as  ice  is  cut 
in  the  North.  When  loosened,  the  block,  falling  into  the  water  beneath, 
is  cleaned  of  its  impurities,  and  is  then  thrown  out  on  a  platform  to 
dry,  after  which  it  is  ground  and  packed  for  market.  In  many  parts  of 
the  arid  West  the  salt  is  obtained  merely  by  shoveling  up  the  impure 
material  deposited  by  the  evaporation  of  salt  lakes  and  marshes  during 
seasons  of  drought.  In  this  way  is  obtained  a  large  share  of  the 
material  used  in  chloridizing  ores. 

In  the  preparation  of  salt  from  sea  water,  solar  evaporation  alone 
is  relied  upon  nearly  altogether.  This  method,  like  the  next  to  be 
mentioned,  depends  for  its  efficiency  upon  the  fact  already  noted — that 
sea  water  holds  in  solution  besides  salt  various  other  ingredients, 
which,  owing  to  their  varying  degrees  of  solubility,  are  deposited  at 
different  stages  of  the  concentration.  In  Barnstable  County,  Massa- 
chusetts, it  was  as  follows:  A  series  of  wooden  vats  or  tanks,  with 
nearly  vertical  sides  and  about  a  foot  in  depth,  is  made  from  planks. 
These  are  set  upon  posts  at  different  levels  above  the  ground,  and  so 
arranged  that  the  brine  can  be  drawn  from  one  to  another  by  means 
of  pipes.  Into  the  first  and  highest  of  these  tanks,  known  as  the 
"long  water  room,"  the  water  is  pumped  directly  from  the  bay  or 
artificial  pond  by  means  of  windmills,  and  there  allowed  to  stand  for 
a  period  of  about  ten  days,  or  until  all  the  sediment  it  may  carry  is 
deposited.  Thence  it  is  run  through  pipes  to  the  second  tank,  or 
"short  water  room,"  where  it  remains  exposed  to  evaporation  for 
two  or  three  days  longer,  when  it  is  drawn  off  into  the  third  vat,  or 
"pickle  room,"  where  it  stands  until  concentration  has  gone  so  far 
that  the  lime  is  deposited  and  a  thin  pellicle  of  salt  begins  to  form  on 


208  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

the  surface.  It  is  then  run  into  the  fourth  and  last  vat,  where  the 
final  evaporation  takes  place  and  the  salt  itself  crystallizes  out.  Care 
must  be  exercised,  however,  lest  the  evaporation  proceed  too  far,  in 
which  case  sulphate  of  soda  (Glauber's  salt)  and  other  injurious  sub- 
stances will  also  be  deposited,  and  the  quality  of  the  sodium  chloride 
thereby  be  greatly  deteriorated. 

As  to  the  capabilities  of  works  constructed  as  above,  it  may  be  said 
that  during  a  dry  season  vats  covering  an  area  of  3,000  square  feet 
would  evaporate  about  32,500  gallons  of  water,  thus  producing  some 
100  bushels  of  salt  and  400  pounds  of  Glauber's  salt.  The  moist 
climate  of  the  Atlantic  States,  however,  necessitates  the  roofing  of 
the  vats  in  such  a  manner  that  they  can  be  protected  or  exposed  as 
desired,  thereby  greatly  increasing  the  cost  of  the  plant.  Sundry 
parts  of  the  Pacific  coast,  on  the  other  hand,  owing  to  their  almost 
entire  freedom  from  rains  during  a  large  part  of  the  year,  are  pecu- 
liarly adapted  for  the  manufacture  by  solar  evaporation.  Hence, 
while  the  works  on  the  Atlantic  coast  have  nearly  all  been  discon- 
tinued, there  has  been  a  corresponding  growth  in  the  West,  and  par- 
ticularly in  the  region  about  San  Francisco  Bay. 

The  methods  of  procedure  in  the  California  works  do  not  differ 
materially  from  that  already  given,  excepting  that  no  roofs  are  required 
over  the  vats,  which  are  therefore  made  much  larger.  One  of  the 
principal  establishments  in  Alameda  County  may  be  described  as  fol- 
lows: The  works  are  situated  upon  a  low  marsh,  naturally  covered  by 
high  tides.  This  has  been  divided,  by  means  of  piles  driven  into  the 
mud  and  by  earth  embankments,  into  a  series  of  seven  vats  or  reser- 
voirs, all  but  the  last  of  which  are  upon  the  natural  surface  of  the 
ground — that  is,  without  wooden  or  other  artificial  bottoms.  The  entire 
area  inclosed  in  the  seven  vats  is  about  600  acres,  necessitating  some 
15  miles  of  levees.  The  season  of  manufacture  lasts  from  May  to 
October.  At  the  beginning  of  the  spring  tides,  which  rise  some  12  to 
15  inches  above  the  marsh  level,  the  fifteen  gates  of  reservoir  No.  1,  com- 
prising some  300  acres,  are  opened  and  the  waters  of  the  bay  allowed 
to  flow  in.  In  this  great  artifical  salt  lake  the  water  is  allowed  to  stand 
until  all  the  mud  and  filth  has  become  precipitated,  which  usualty 
requires  some  two  weeks.  Then,  by  means  of  pumps  driven  by  wind- 
mills, the  water  is  driven  from  reservoir  to  reservoir  as  concentration 
continues,  till  finally  the  salt  crystallizes  out  in  No.  7,  and  the  bittern  is 
pumped  back  into  the  bay.  The  annual  product  of  the  works  above 
described  is  about  2,000  tons. 

A  somewhat  similar  process  is  pursued  in  the  manufacture  of  salt 
from  inland  lakes  as  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  Utah.  The  following  account 
of  the  method  here  employed  is  by  Dr.  J.  E.  Talmage: 

The  Inland  Salt  Company's  gardens  are  situated  near  Garfield  Beach,  the  most 
popular  pleasure  resort  on  the  lake.  In  the  method  employed  the  water  is  pumped 


THE   NCXPTMETALLIC   MINEBALS.  209 

from  the  lake  into  ponds  prepared  for  its  reception  and  situated  above  the  level  of 
the  lake  surface.  The  mother  liquors  flow  off — are  returned  to  the  lake,  in  fact — 
when  the  evaporation  has  reached  the  proper  stage.  From  the  establishment  of  the 
works  until  1883  the  lake  was  close  to  the  ponds;  but,  owing  to  the  unusually  high 
rate  of  evaporation  attending  the  dry  seasons  of  the  immediate  past,  the  water  has 
receded,  so  that  at  present  it  has  to  be  conveyed  over  2,500  feet  to  the  evaporating 
receptacles.  This  is  effected  by  the  aid  of  two  centrifugal  pumps,  raising  together 
14,000  gallons  of  water  per  minute.  The  pumps  throw  the  water  to  a  height  of  14 
feet  into  a  flume,  through  which  it  flows  to  the  ponds.  These  are  nine  in  number, 
and  are  arranged  in  series.  In  the  first  pond  the  mechanically  suspended  matters 
are  left  as  sediment  or  scum,  and  the  water  passes  into  the  second  in  a  clear  condi- 
tion. The  ponds  cover  upward  of  a  thousand  acres,  and  the  drain  channels  leading 
from  them  aggregate  9  miles  in  length.  The  pumping  continues  through  May,  June, 
and  July.  A  fair  idea  of  the  rate  of  evaporation  in  the  thirsty  atmosphere  of  the 
Great  Basin  may  be  gained  from  contemplating  the  fact  that  to  supply  the  volume 
of  water  disappearing  from  the  ponds  by  evaporation  requires  the  action  of  the  pumps 
ten  hours  daily  in  June  and  July.  This  is  equal  to  the  carrying  away  of  8,400,000 
gallons  per  day  from  the  surface  of  the  ponds. 

The  "salt  harvest"  begins  in  August,  soon  after  the  cessation  of  pumping,  and  con- 
tinues till  all  is  gathered,  frequently  extending  into  the  spring  months  of  the  succeed- 
ing year.  An  average  season  yields  a  layer  of  salt  7  inches  deep,  which  amount 
would  be  deposited  from  49  inches  of  lake  water.  The  density  at  which  salt  begins 
to  deposit,  as  observed  at  the  ponds  and  confirmed  by  laboratory  experiments,  is 
1.2121,  and  that  of  the  escaping  mother  liquors  is  1.2345.  The  yield  of  salt  is  at  the 
rate  of  150  tons  per  inch  depth  per  acre.  The  crop  is  gathered  on  horse  cars,  which 
run  on  movable  tracks  into  the  ponds.  At  the  works  the  operations  are  simple  and 
effective.  A  link-belt  conveyor  carries  the  coarse  salt  to  the  crusher;  thence  to  the 
dryer,  after  which  a  sifting  process  is  employed  by  which  the  salt  is  separated  into 
table  salt  and  dairy  salt.1  [See  Specimens  Nos.  53630-53634,  U.S.N.M.] 

Owing  to  the  depth  below  the  surface  of  the  salt  beds  in  Ohio, 
Michigan,  and  other  inland  States,  the  material  is  never  mined  as  in 
the  cases  first  mentioned,  but  is  pumped  to  the  surface  as  a  brine  and 
there  evaporated  by  artificial  heat.  In  the  Warsaw  Valley  region 
the  beds  lie  from  800  to  2,500  feet  below  the  surface,  and  are  reached 
by  wells.  These  are  bored  from  5£  to  8  inches  in  diameter  and  are 
cased  with  iron  pipes  down  to  the  salt.  Inside  the  first  pipe  is  then 
introduced  a  second,  2  inches  in  diameter,  with  perforations  for  a  few 
feet  at  its  lower  end,  and  which  extends  nearly  if  not  quite  to  the  bot- 
tom. Fresh  water  is  then  allowed  to  run  from  the  surface  down 
between  the  two  pipes.  This  dissolves  the  salt,  and  forms  a  strong 
brine  which,  being  heavier,  sinks  to  the  bottom  of  the  well  and  is 
pumped  up  through  the  smaller  or  inner  tube.  At  S}7racuse  the  wells 
are  not  sunk  into  the  salt  bed  itself,  but  into  an  ancient  gravel  deposit 
which  is  saturated  with  the  brine.  Here  the  introduction  of  water 
from  the  surface  is  done  away  with.  In  those  cases,  not  at  all 
uncommon,  where  the  brine  flows  naturally  to  the  surface  in  the  form 
of  a  spring,  pumping  is  of  course  dispensed  with. 

The  methods  of  evaporation  vary  somewhat  in  detail.     In  New 

1  Science,  XIV,  1889,  p.  445. 
NAT  MUS  99 14 


210  REPOBT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

York  the  brine  is  run  in  a  continuous  stream  in  large  pans  some  130 
feet  long  by  20  feet  wide  and  18  inches  deep.  As  it  evaporates  the  salt 
is  deposited  on  the  bottom  and,  by  means  of  long-handled  scrapers, 
is  drawn  on  the  sloping  sides  of  the  pan.  Here  it  is  allowed  to  drain, 
and  is  afterwards  taken  to  the  storage  bins  for  packing  or  grinding.1 
Salt  thus  produced,  it  should  be  noticed,  is  never  so  coarse  as  the 
so-called  rock  salt,  or  that  which  has  formed  by  natural  evaporation. 
In  Michigan  the  brine  from  the  wells  is  first  stored  in  cisterns,  whence 
it  is  drawn  off  into  large  shallow  pans,  known  technically  as  "settlers," 
where  it  is  heated  by  means  of  steam  pipes  to  a  temperature  of  175°, 
until  the  point  of  saturation  is  reached.  It  is  then  drawn  into  a  second 
series  of  pans,  called  "grainers,"  where  it  is  heated  to  a  temperature 
of  185°,  until  crystallization  takes  place. 

The  strength  of  brines,  and  therefore  the  quantity  of  water  that 
must  be  evaporated  to  produce  a  given  quantity  of  salt,  varies  greatly 
in  different  localities.  At  Syracuse  the  brine  contains  15.35  per  cent 
of  salt;  at  the  Saginaw  Valley,  17.91  per  cent;  at  Saltville,  Virginia, 
25. 97  per  cent;  while  Salt  Lake  contains  11.86  per  cent,  and  the  waters 
of  San  Francisco  Bay  but  2.37  cent.  The  amount  of  impurities 
depends  on  the  care  exercised  in  process  of  manufacture,  rapid  boil- 
ing giving  less  satisfactory  results  than  slower  methods.  The  Syra- 
cuse salt  has  been  found  to  contain  98.52  per  cent  sodium  chloride; 
California  Bay  salt  98.43  per  cent  and  99.44  per  cent;  and  Petite 
Anse  99.88  per  cent.  The  impurities  in  these  cases  are  nearly  alto- 
gether chlorides  and  sulphates  of  lime  and  magnesia. 

The  Cheshire  (England)  salt  beds  are  worked  both  by  mining  as  rock 
salt  and  by  pumping  the  brine.  Formerly  both  upper  and  lower  beds 
were  mined,  but  flooding  and  falling  in  of  the  roofs  caused  the  work 
to  be  discontinued  on  the  upper  beds.  That  now  mined  as  rock  salt 
comes  wholly  from  the  lower  bed,  and  being  impure  is  used  mainly  for 
agricultural  purposes. 

At  Wieliczka  the  salt  is  likewise  mined  from  galleries  resembling  in 
a  general  way  those  of  a  coal  mine.  These,  according  to  Brehm,2 
begin  at  a  depth  of  about  95  meters,  forming  several  levels  connected 
by  stairways,  the  lowermost  gallery  being  at  a  depth  of  312  meters,  or 
some  50  meters  below  sea  level.  These  galleries  have  a  total  length  of 
some  680  kilometers.  They  are  connected  with  one  another  by  means 
of  "onzepuits,"  of  which  seven  are  utilized  for  hoisting  purposes. 
The  work  goes  on  continually  night  and  day  the  year  through.  The 
salt  is  cut  out  in  the  form  of  blocks,  leaving  huge  chambers,  the  roof 
being  sustained  by  means  of  large  columns  of  salt  left  standing.  The 

'For  details,  see  Salt  and  Gypsum  Industries  of  New  York,  by  Dr.  F.  J.  H.  Mer- 
rill, Bulletin  No.  11,  New  York  State  Museum,  1893. 
2Merveilles  De  La  Nature.    La  Terre,  etc.,  p  315 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum.  1899...  Me 


PLATE  5. 


VIEWS  OF  BRINE-EVAPORATING  TANKS  AT  SYRACUSE,  NEW  YORK. 

From  photographs  by  I.  ]'.  Bishop. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEBALS. 


211 


temperature  within  these  chambers  is  very  uniform,  varying  only 
between  10°  and  15°  C.  The  air  is  dry  and  healthful.  The  miners  hew 
out  of  the  salt  statues  of  the  saints,  pyramids,  and  chandeliers,  where 
they  can  place  300  lights.  One  chamber,  called  the  Chapel  of  St. 
Antoine,  with  its  altar,  statues,  columns,  etc.,  is  still  in  a  condition  of 
perfect  preservation  after  a  lapse  of  two  centuries.  The  statements 
to  the  effect  that  the  workmen,  and  indeed  entire  families,  pass  a  good 
share  of  their  lives  in  these  mines,  almost  never  coming  to  the  surface, 
is  stated  by  Brehm  to  be  wholly  erroneous.  In  reality,  all  the  workers 
leave  daily,  only  the  horse  remaining  below. 

The  following  statistics  relative  to  the  salt  industry  in  the  United 
States,  are  taken  from  Rothwell's  Mineral  Industry,  1892,  page  419: 


18 

». 

18 

a. 

1« 

92. 

Barrels. 

Value. 

Barrels. 

Value. 

Barrels. 

Value. 

Michigan  

3,  837,  632 

82,  302,  579 

3,  927,  671 

$2,  136,  653 

3,812,054 

$1,906,027 

New  York 

2,532  036 

1  266,018 

3,  532,  600 

1,942,930 

4  400  000 

2  200  000 

Ohio  

West  Virginia  

231,303 
229,938 
273  553 

136,617 
134,688 
132,000 

397,000 
275,000 
221,  430 

264,000 
192,500 
93,000 

460,000 
278,000 
192,  850 

276,000 
166,800 
81  000 

California  
Utah 

62,363 
427  500 

57,085 
126,  100 

200,000 
465,000 

100,000 
150  000 

250,000 
700  000 

125,000 
295  000 

Nevada  

15,000 

10,000 

10,000 

6,000 

882  666 

397  199 

1  000  000 

650  000 

1  232  850 

698  395 

Allother  

300,000 

200,000 

200,000 

100,000 

250,000 

125,000 

Total  barrels  .  . 

8,776,991 

4,752,286 

10,233,701 

5,639,083 

11,585,754 

5,879,222 

Total  tons 

1  228  779 

1  432  718 

1  622  006 

The  total  production  of  salt  in  the  United  States  for  1899  amounted 
to  19,861,948  barrels,  or  2,780,677  short  tons. 

Uses. — The  principal  uses  of  salt  have  always  been  for  culinary  and 
preservative  purposes.  Aside  from  these,  it  is  also  used  in  certain 
metallurgical  processes  and  in  chemical  manufacture,  as  in  the  prep- 
aration of  the  so-called  soda  ash  (sodium  carbonate),  used  in  glass 
making,  soap  making,  bleaching,  etc. ,  and  in  the  preparation  of  sodium 
salts  in  general.  Clear,  transparent  salt  has  been  utilized  in  a  few 
instances  in  optical  and  other  research  work.  Secretary  S.  P.  Lang- 
ley  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  in  his  astrophysical  work  made  use 
of  a  salt  prism  some  19  centimetres  in  length  and  with  faces  15  centi- 
metres in  breadth. 


212 


BEPORT   OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 
Composition  of  salt  from  various  localities. 


Varieties  of  salt. 

Chloride  of  sodium. 

1 

S| 

r^'7 
\ 
•} 

1 

"o 
»fi 

10  5 
o 

A 
O 

oride  of  magne- 
sium. 

phate  of  potash.  1 

3 

"H  _• 
f! 
i 

phates  of  magne- 
sia and  soda. 

•Donates  of  mag- 
esia  and  lime. 

Alumina  and  iron. 

Residue. 

•I 

| 

Percentage  of  sa- 
line residue. 

Authorities. 

si 
o 

i 

OD 

2 

CO 

<r 

Rock  salt. 

Tr 

Bischof. 
Do. 
Do. 

Heine. 
Bisehof. 

Berthier. 

Fournet.  (?) 
Do. 
G.H.Cook. 
Do. 
C.  B.  Hayden. 
Goessman. 
Do. 

G.H.Cook. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Falkenan     & 
Reese. 

Do. 
Do. 

Do. 
Goessman. 
G.H.Cook. 
Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Do. 
Goessman. 
E.S.Wayne. 
Goessman. 
Do. 

Berchtesgaden,  yellow 
Hall  in  Tyrol 

99.928 
99  43 

0  07 

0.25 

0.12 

i  •>(> 

Sen  wabire,  Hall  
Stassfurt  

Hallstadt  in  Up.  Aus- 
tria. 
Wilhelmsgliick 

99.63 
94.57 
98.14 

98  36 

Tr. 

0.09 

0.28 
0.97 

0.89 
1  86 

.... 

1.12 

2.  'S.', 

>.22 

ii.  56 

)  .">(! 

0.03 

1.  1;:> 

1.58 

)  "0 

Vic    in   German   Lo- 
raine. 
Jeb-el-Melah  Algeria 

99.30 

;  IK) 

Ouled  Kebbah.Algeria 
Cheshire,  England  
Carrickfergus,  Ireland. 
Holston  Virginia 

98.53 
99.32 
96.28 
99  55 

0.93 

0.57 
0.02 

).  -1C, 

1.50 

0.08 

i  i") 

Ul 

Tr 

Petite  Anse,  Louisiana. 
Santo  Domingo 

98.88 
98.33 
98.55 

96.76 
97.21 
99.77 
99.85 

Tr. 

0.99 

Tr. 
0.04 
0.02 

0.14 
0.26 
0.01 
0.03 

i.  71) 
1.48 

i  1  1 

i  •;••; 

1.01 

1.07 



Cardona,  Spain  
Sea  sail. 
Turks  Island  
St.  Martins  
StKitts  
Curacoa  

1.66 
1.54 
0.08 

0  I'1 

0.64 
0.24 

I.  '.K,) 

1  .  75 
)  1  1 

Cadiz  

95.76 
94.17 
96.78 
94.91 
99.46 
98.435 

96.36 
97.39 

96.93 
97.03 
97.41 
96.70 

91.31 

99.11 
92.97 
93.07 
96.42 
98.12 
9*.  06 

0.57 
1.11 
0.49 
0  ?4 

.... 

0.49 
1.43 
1  4? 

0.48 
1.39 
0.68 
0.19 

)   11 

Lisbon  

... 

'  SJ 

Trapani,  Sicily  
Marthas  Vineyard  
Texas  
Pacific   coast   (Union 
Pacific  Salt  Co.). 
Salt  from  springs  and 

Cheshire,  England  
Dienze,   German   Lo- 
raine. 
Droitwich,  England... 
Goderich,  Ontario  
Onondaga,  New  York  .  . 
Pittsburg,  Pennsylva- 
nia. 
Kanawha,  West  Vir- 
ginia. 
Holston,  Virginia  
Saginaw,  Michigan.... 
Hocking  Valley,  Ohio. 
Pomeroy,  Ohio  
Nebraska  

•--- 

1.64 
3  24 



0  365 

1    '"0 

0.01 

0.02 

1  17 

0.89 

J.  f.o 



0.02 

;  o: 

0.01 
0.15 
0.33 

1.26 

0.03 
0.18 
0.07 

0.43 

1  r> 

i.2< 

1   (K) 

>  7() 

1.09 
0.61 
0.53 

0.50 
0.04 
0.18 
0  07 

0.68 

i.  :;; 

I.  H 

0.11 

.... 

o.  or, 

0.  01 
0.16 

0.10 
').!() 
!.  -W 

j.  c>t; 

.).  SO 
1.80 



Kansas  

0.241.... 

1.12 

0.18 

THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS. 


213 


Composition  of  salt  from  various  localities  —  Continued. 


Varieties  of  salt. 

Chloride  of  sodium. 

i. 

i1 

"2, 
3 

Chloride  of  cal- 
cium. 

Chloride  of  magne- 
sium. 

Sulphate  of  potash. 

Sulphates  of  cal- 
cium. 

Sulphates  of  magne- 
sia and  soda. 

Carbonates  of  mag- 
nesia and  lime. 

Alumina  and  iron. 

§ 

I 

Water. 

Percentage  of  sa- 
line residue. 

Authorities. 

Sail  from  springs  and 
lakes.—  Cont'd. 

Onondaga   "factory 
filled." 
Great  Salt  Lake 

98.28 
97  61 

0.91 

LOS 

0.  51 

>  o-i 

0.09 

0.08 
0.35 

.... 

).12 

).  (10 
1   '>S 

Goessman. 

G.H.Cook. 
Gobel. 

Meissner. 

Heine. 
Herman. 
Watts    Diet,    of 
Chem.,  Vol.V, 
p.  334. 

Heine. 

Do. 
Bromeis. 
Figuer  and  Mi- 
alho. 
Wm.  Henry. 
G.  H.  Cook. 
Boussingault. 
G.H.Cook. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Usiglio. 
Rose. 
Booth     and 
Muckle. 
L.  D.  Gale. 
F.  Gutzkow. 

Elton  Lake,  Russia  

Solid  residue  of  brines 
and  sea  water. 

Halle,  in  Prussia  and 
Saxony. 
Stassfurt 

98.95 

94.43 

94.49 
95.71 
93.72 

95.35 

89.88 

0.21 

1.03 

0.19 

1.69 

0.99 
1.09 
0.67 

1.59 

i  -,•'» 

12.28 

17.16 
2.00 
11.10 

26.50 

8.39 
2.87 
1.27 

26.00 
15.20 
21.20 
18.54 
0  80 

).;;i 

>.  OS 

1.34 

1  1i 

2.80 

l.iil 
2.55 

i  :>i 

1.20 
1.37 
1.18 

I.  IS 

i.or, 

).  19 

0.  (>: 

Tr. 

.... 

Schonebeck  

0.08 

>.  15 



Do  

Artern,  from  bore  in 
rock  salt. 

1.49 
1.18 
2.24 

0.25 

>.  99 

0.04 

US 

1.66 

1  on 

0.63 



>.  17 
7.63 

s.  79 

i.  77 
i  ••( 

).()•_ 
0.07 
1.51 

Manheim  

Soden 

82.23 
86.01 

97.40 

84.87 

1.88 
1.81 

6.74 
0.25 

Cheshire  
Dieuze                 

1.83 

:.o'. 

3.30 

China  

75.47 
95  42 

-... 

17.92 
0.84 
13.93 
16.48 

5.97 
0.64 
4.80 
4.07 

Mil 
Tr 

Pittsburg  
Kanawha  

Holston 

81.27 
79.45 
98  39 

TV 

9.20 
26.40 
24  90 

]  .,.> 

0  39 

Tr 

Salt  Lake  Texas 

97  08 

i.  82 

;.  17 

1.87 

2.10 
6.42 
18.26 

8.18 

Sea  water  

78.61 
13.15 
29.86 

90.07 

1.34 

).  79 
2.51 

11.81 

8.56 
67.80 
55.45 

1.12 

.... 

0.  l'7 

3.74 
29.13 
26.42 

22.42 
3.038 

Elton  Lake 

Dead  Sea  

Great  Salt  Lake  
Sea  water  (San  Fran- 
•  Cisco  Bay). 

2.  FLUORITE. 

This  is  a  calcium  fluoride,  CaF2  =  fluorine  48.9  per  cent,  cal- 
cium 51.1  per  cent.  The  most  striking  features  of  this  mineral  are  its 
cubic  crystallization  (Specimens  Nos.  51226,  66831,  66832,  U.S.N.M.), 
octahedral  cleavage  (Specimen  No.  48270,  U.S.N.M.),  and  fine  green 
(Specimen  No.  48270,  U.S.N.M.),  yellow  (Specimen  No.  49160, 
U.S.N.M.),  purple  (Specimen  No.  51226,  U.S.  N.M.),  violet,  and 
sky  blue  colors.  White  (Specimen  No.  36091,  U.S.N.M.)  and  red- 


214  REPOKT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

brown  varieties  are  also  known.  The  mineral  is  translucent  to  trans- 
parent, and  of  a  hardness  somewhat  greater  than  calcite  (4  of  Dana's 
scale). 

Occurrence. — The  mineral  occurs  as  a  rule  in  veins,  though  some- 
times in  beds  in  gneiss,  the  schists,  limestones,  and  sandstones.  It  is 
also  a  common  gangue  of  metallic  ores,  particularly  those  of  lead 
and  tin. 

At  Rosiclare,  in  southern  Illinois,  the  fluorspar  veins,  according  to 
Emmons,1  are  true  fissure  veins,  varying  from  4  to  20  feet  in  width  in 
limestones  immediately  underlying  the  coal  measures.  He  regards 
the  original  crevice  as  formed  by  dynamic  action,  as  probably  com- 
paratively small  and  subsequently  enlarged  by  solution  by  percolat- 
ing waters.  The  source  of  the  fluorspar  of  the  veins  would  seem  to 
be  the  surrounding  limestones. 

The  associated  minerals  are  galena  and  calcite,  with  smaller  quanti- 
ties of  sphalerite  and  iron  and  copper  pyrites. 

Uses. — The  material  is  used  mainly  as  a  flux  for  iron,  in  the  manu- 
facture of  opalescent  glass  and  for  the  production  of  hydrofluoric 
acid.  The  chief  source  of  supply  in  the  United  States  is  Rosiclare, 
Illinois,  the  annual  output  being  some  6,000  to  10,000  tons,  valued  at 
about  $5  a  ton. 

3.  CRYOLITE. 

Composition. — Na3AlF6,= aluminum  12.8  per  cent;  sodium  32.8  per 
cent;  fluorine  54.4  per  cent.  The  mineral  is  as  a  rule  of  snow-white 
color,  though  sometimes  reddish  or  brownish,  rarely  black,  and 
coarsely  crystalline  granular,  translucent  to  subtransparent.  It  has 
a  hardness  of  2.5;  specific  gravity  of  2.9  to  3,  and  in  thin  splinters 
may  be  melted  in  the  flame  of  a  candle. 

The  name  is  from  the  Greek  word  /c-p^o?,  ice,  in  allusion  to  its  trans- 
lucency  and  ice-like  appearance  (Specimen  No.  17571,  U.S.N.M.). 

Mode  of  occurrence. — Cryolite  occurs,  as  a  secondary  product,  in  the 
form  of  veins.  It  is  rarely  found  in  sufficient  abundance  to  be  of 
commercial  value,  the  supply  at  present  coming  almost  wholly  from 
Evigtok  in  South  Greenland.  The  country  rock  here  is  said  to  be 
granite  and  the  vein  as  described  in  1866 2  was  150  feet  in  greatest 
breadth  and  was  exposed  for  a  distance  of  600  feet.  The  principal 
mineral  of  the  vein  was  cryolite,  but  quartz,  siderite,  galena,  and  chal- 
copyrite  were  constant  accompaniments,  irregularly  distributed 
through  the  mass.  In  1890  the  mine  as  worked  was  described  as  a 
hole  in  the  ground  elliptical  in  shape,  450  feet  long  by  150  feet  wide, 
the  pit  being  some  100  feet  deep.  The  drills  had  penetrated  150  feet 

transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXI,  1893,  p.  31. 
2  Paul  Quale,  Report  of  Smithsonian  Institution,  1866,  p.  398. 


.     THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  215 

deeper  and  found  cryolite  all  the  way.  Johnstrup,  as  quoted  by  Dana,1 
describes  the  cryolite  as: 

Limited  to  the  granite;  he  distinguishes  a  central  and  a  peripheral  part;  the  former 
has  an  extent  of  500  feet  in  length  and  1,000  feet  in  breadth  and  consists  of  cryolite 
chiefly,  with  quartz,  siderite,  galena,  sphalerite,  pyrite,  chalcopyrite,  and  wolframite 
irregularly  scattered  through  it.  The  peripheral  portion  forms  a  zone  about  the  cen- 
tral mass  of  cryolite;  the  chief  minerals  are  quartz,  feldspar,  and  ivigtite,  also  fluor- 
ite,  cassiterite,  molybdenite,  arsenopyrite,  columbite.  Its  inner  limit  is  rather  sharply 
denned,  though  there  intervenes  a  breccia-like  portion  consisting  of  the  minerals  of 
the  outer  zone  enclosed  in  cryolite;  beyond  this  it  passes  into  the  surrounding  granite 
without  distinct  boundary. 

Cryolite  in  limited  quantity  occurs  at  the  southern  base  of  Pike's 
Peak,  in  Colorado,  and  north  and  west  of  St.  Peter's  Dome  (Specimen 
No.  48220,  U.S.N.M.).  It  is  found  in  vein-like  masses  of  quartz  and 
microcline  embedded  in  granite. 

Uses. — Until  within  a  few  years  the  material  has  been  utilized  only 
in  the  manufacture  of  soda,  and  sodium  and  aluminum  salts,  and  to  a 
small  extent  in  the  manufacture  of  glass  and  porcelain  ware.  It  is  also 
used  in  the  electrotytic  processes  of  extracting  aluminum  from  its  ores, 
as  now  practiced. 

The  principal  works  utilizing  the  Greenland  cryolite  in  chemical 
manufacture  are,  at  time  of  writing,  those  of  the  Pennsylvania  Salt 
Manufacturing  Company  at  Natrona,  Pennsylvania  (see  series  of 
crude  and  manufactured  products  Nos.  6332T  to  63334,  TJ.S.N.M). 

IV.     OXIDES. 
1.  SILICA. 

QUARTZ. — The  mineral  quartz,  easily  recognized  by  its  insolubility 
in  acids,  glassy  appearance  (Specimen  No.  67985,  U.S.N.M.),  lack  of 
cleavage,  and  hardness,  which  is  such  that  it  readily  scratches  glass, 
is  one  of  the  most  common  and  widely  disseminated  of  minerals. 
Chemically  it  is  pure  silica,  of  the  formula  SiO2.  It  crystallizes  in 
the  hexagonal  system  with  beautiful  terminations,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  attractive  of  minerals  for  the  amateur  collector  (Specimen  No. 
61768,  U.S.N.M.).  The  common  form  is,  however,  massive,  occurring 
in  veins  in  the  older  crystalline  rocks  (Specimen  No.  55244,  U.S.N.M.). 
Common  sand  is  usually  composed  mainly  of  quartzose  grains  which, 
owing  to  their  hardness  and  resistance  to  atmospheric  chemical  agen- 
cies, have  withstood  disintegration  to  the  very  last. 

The  terms  rose,  milky  (Specimen  No.  62381,  U.S.N.M.),  and  smoky 
(Specimen  No.  67986,  TJ.S.N.M.)  are  applied  to  quartzes  which  differ 
from  the  ordinary  type  only  in  tint,  as  indicated.  Chalcedony  is  the  name 
given  to  a  somewhat  hornlike,  translucent  or  transparent  form  of  silica 
occurring  only  as  a  secondary  constituent  in  veins,  or  isolated  con- 
cretionary masses,  and  in  cavities  in  other  rocks.  Agate  is  a  banded 

System  of  Mineralogy,  1892,  p.  167. 


216 


REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 


variety  of  chalcedony.  The  true  onyx  is  similar  to  agate,  except  that 
the  bands  or  layers  of  different  colors  lie  in  even  planes.  Jasper  is  a 
ferruginous,  opaque  chalcedony,  sometimes  used  for  ornamental  pur- 
poses. Opal  is  an  amorphous  form  of  silica,  containing  somewhat 
variable  amounts  of  water. 

Quartz  occurs  as  an  essential  constituent  of  granite,  gneiss,  mica 
schist,  quartz  porphyry,  and  liparite,  and  also  as  a  secondary  constitu- 
ent in' the  form  of  veins,  filling  joints  and  cavities  in  rocks  of  all  kinds 
and  all  ages. 

£fos._The  finer  clear  grades  of  quartz  are  used  to  some  extent  for 
spectacle  lenses  and  optical  work,  as  well  as  in  cheap  jewelry  (Specimen 
No.  11893,  U.S.N.M.).  Its  main  value  is,  however,  for  abrading  pur- 
poses, either  as  quartz  sand  or  as  sandpaper  (Series  Nos.  55877-55884, 
U.S.N.M.),  and  in  the  manufacture  of  pottery  (Specimens  Nos.  62123, 
63035-63038,  U.S.N.M.).  For  abrading  purposes  it  is  crushed  and 
bolted,  like  emery  and  corundum,  and  brings  a  price  barely  sufficient 
to  cover  cost  of  handling  and  transportation.  Pure  quartz  sand  is  also 
of  value  for  glass  making  (Specimens  Nos.  53188,  60683,  63128,  63123, 
63122,  U.S.N.M.),  and  ground  quartz  to  some  extent  as  a  "filler"  in 
paints  (Specimen  No.  63119,  U.S.N.M.),  and  as  a  scouring  material  in 
soaps.  The  following  analyses  show  the  composition  of  some  glass 
sands  from  (I)  Clearfield  and  (II)  Lewistown,  Pennsylvania: 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

Silica  

99.79 

98.84 

0.12 

0.17 

Iron  oxides  

0.014 

0.34 

Lime  

0  8 

Traces. 

Ignition 

0  23 

100.  724 

99.58 

FLINT  is  a  chalcedonic  variety  of  silica  found  in  irregular  nodular 
forms  in  beds  of  Cretaceous  chalk.  These  nodules  break  with  a  con- 
choidal  fracture  and  interiorly  are  brownish  to  black  in  color  (Speci- 
men No,  62120,  U.S.N.M.).  By  the  aboriginal  races  the  flints  were 
utilized  for  the  manufacture  of  knives  and  general  cutting  imple- 
ments. Later  they  were  used  in  the  manufacture  of  gun  flints  and 
the  "flint  and  steel"  for  producing  fire.  At  present  they  are  used 
to  some  extent  in  the  manufacture  of  porcelain,  being  calcined  (Speci- 
men No.  62061,  U.S.N.M.)  andground  (Specimen  No.  62122,  U.S.N.M.) 
to  mix  with  the  clay  and  give  body  to  the  ware.  In  this  country  the 
same  purpose  is  accomplished  by  the  use  of  quartz.  Small  round 
nodules  of  flint  from  Dieppe,  France,  are  said  to  be  used  in  the  Tren- 
ton (New  Jersey)  pottery  works  for  grinding  clay  by  being  placed  in 
revolving  vats  of  water  and  kaolin.  All  the  flint  now  used  in  this 
country  is  imported  either  as  ballast  or  as  an  accidental  constituent 
of  chalk. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINEBALS.  217 

As  the  material  is  worth  but  from  $1  to  $2  a  ton  delivered  at 
Trenton,  it  may  be  readily  understood  that  transportation  is  a  rather 
serious  item  to  be  considered  in  developing  home  resources. 

According  to  Mr.  R.  T.  Hill,  nodules  of  black  flint  occur  in  enormous 
quantities  in  the  chalky  limestones — the  Caprina  limestones — of  Texas. 
Numerous  localities  are  mentioned,  the  most  accessible  being  near 
Austin,  on  the  banks  of  the  Colorado  River. 

BUHRSTONE,  or  burrstone,  is  the  name  given  to  a  variety  of 
chalcedonic  silica,  quite  cavernous,  and  of  a  white  to  gray  or  slightly 
yellowish  color.  The  cavernous  structure  is  frequently  due  to  the 
dissolving  out  of  calcareous  fossils.  The  rock  is  of  chemical  origin — 
that  is,  results  from  the  precipitation  of  silica  from  solution,  and  pre- 
sumably through  the  action  of  organic  matter.  In  France  the  material 
occurs  alternating  with  other  unaltered  Tertiary  strata  in  the  Paris 
basin  (Specimen  No.  36140,  U.S.N.M.).  It  is  also  reported  in  Eocene 
strata  in  South  America,  and  in  Burke  and  Screven  counties  along  the 
Savannah  River  in  southern  Georgia  in  the  United  States  (Specimen 
No.  36051,  U.S.N.M.).  The  toughness  of  the  rock,  together  with  the 
numerous  cavities,  impart  a  sharp  cutting  power  such  as  renders  them 
admirably  adapted  for  millstones,  and  in  years  past  material  for  this 
purpose  has  been  sent  out  from  French  sources  all  over  the  civilized 
world. 

TRIPOLI  is  the  commercial  name  given  to  a  peculiar  porous  rock 
regarded  as  a  decomposed  chert  associated  with  the  Lower  Car- 
boniferous limestones  of  southwest  Missouri  (Specimen  No.  55028, 
U.S.N.M.).  The  rock  is  of  a  white  cream  or  slight  pink  cast,  fine 
grained  and  homogeneous,  with  a  distinct  gritty  feel,  and,  though  soft, 
sufficiently  tenacious  to  permit  of  its  being  used  in  the  form  of  thin 
disks  of  considerable  size  for  filtering  purposes  (Specimen  No.  62044, 
U.S.N.M.).  According  to  Hovey1  the  deposit  is  known  to  underlie 
between  80  and  100  acres  of  land,  in  the  form  of  a  rude  ellipse,  with  its 
longer  diameter  approximately  north  and  south.  From  numerous 
prospect  holes  and  borings  it  has  been  shown  to  have  an  average  thick- 
ness of  15  feet,  the  main  quarry  of  the  present  company  showing  a 
thickness  of  8  feet.  The  following  section  is  given  from  a  well  sunk 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  area: 

Feet. 
Earth 0    to    4 

Tripoli 4        20 

Stiff  red  clay 20        21% 

Mixed  chert,  clay,  and  ochre 21  £      40 

Cherty  limestone 40        93 

Cherty  limestone  bearing  galena 93      103 

Limestone 103      128 

Limestone  bearing  sphalerite  and  galena 128      136 

Soft  magnesian  limestone 136      173 

1  Scientific  American  Supplement,  July  28,  1894,  p.  15487. 


218  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,  1899. 

The  tripoli  is  everywhere  underlain  by  a  relatively  thin  bed  of 
stiff  red  clay,  and  also  traversed  in  every  direction  by  seams  of  the 
same  material  from  1  to  2  inches  thick.  These  seams  and  other  joints 
divide  the  rock  into  masses  which  vary  in  size  up  to  30  inches  or  more 
in  diameter.  Microscopic  examinations  as  given  by  Hovey  show  the 
rock  to  contain  .no  traces  of  organic  remains,  but  to  be  made  up  of 
faintly  doubly  refracting  chalcedonic  particles  from  0.01  to  0.03  milli- 
metre in  diameter.  The  chemical  composition,  as  shown  from  analysis 
by  Prof.  W.  H.  Seaman,  is  as  follows: 

Silica  (Si02) 98.100 

Alumina  (A1203) 0-240 

Iron  oxide  (Fe  O  and  Fe2Os) 0.  270 

Lime  (CaO) 0.184 

Soda  (Na,O) 0.230 

Water  (ignition) 1. 160 

Organic  matter 0. 008 

100. 192 

Silica  soluble  in  a  10  per  cent  solution  of  caustic  soda  on  boiling  three  hours,  7.28 
per  cent. 

Aside  from  its  use  as  a  filter  (Specimens  Nos.  62044  and  62045, 
U.S.N.M.)  the  rock  is  crushed  between  burr  stones,  bolted,  and  used 
as  a  polishing  powder  (Specimens  Nos.  51231  and  55029,  U.S.N.M.). 
To  a  small  extent  it  has  been  used  in  the  form  of  thin  slabs  for  blotting 
purposes,  for  which  it  answers  admirably  owing  to  its  high  absorptive 
property,  but  is  somewhat  objectionable  on  account  of  its  dusty  char- 
acter. The  view  (Plate  6)  shows  the  character  of  a  quarry  of  this 
material  as  now  worked  by  the  American  Tripoli  Company  at  Seneca, 
in  Newton  County. 

DIATOMACEOUS  OR  INFUSORIAL  EARTH,  as  it  is  sometimes  called, 
is,  when  pure,  a  soft,  pulverulent  material,  somewhat  resembling 
chalk  or  kaolin  in  its  physical  properties,  and  of  a  white  or  yellow- 
ish or  gray  color.  Chemically  it  is  a  variety  of  opal  (see  analyses 
on  page  220). 

Origin  and  occurrence  of  deposits. — Certain  aquatic  forms  of  plant 
life  known  as  diatoms,  which  are  of  microscopic  dimensions  only,  have 
the  power  of  secreting  silica,  in  the  same  manner  as  mollusks  secrete 
carbonate  of  lime,  forming  thus  their  tests  or  shells.  On  the  death  of 
the  plant  the  siliceous  tests  are  left  to  accumulate  on  the  bottom  of 
the  lakes,  ponds,  and  pools  in  which  they  lived,  forming  in  time  beds 
of  very  considerable  thickness,  which,  however,  when  compared  with 
other  rocks  of  the  earth's  crust  are  really  of  very  insignificant  propor- 
tions. Like  many  other  low  organisms  the  diatoms  can  adapt  them- 
selves to  a  wide  range  of  conditions.  They  are  wholly  aquatic,  but 
live  in  salt  and  fresh  water  and  under  widely  varying  conditions  of 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899.— Me 


PLATE  6. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899.— Me 


PLATE  7. 


DEPOSIT  OF  DIATOMACEOUS  EARTH,  GREAT  BEND  OF  PITT  RIVER,  SHASTA  COUNTY, 
CALIFORNIA. 

From  fi  photograph  by  J.  S.  Diller. 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  219 

depth  and  temperature.  They  may  be  found  in  living  forms  in  almost 
any  body  of  comparatively  quiet  water  in  the  United  States.  The 
exploring  steamer  Challenger  dredged  them  up  in  the  Atlantic  from 
depths  varying  from  1,260  to  1,975  fathoms  and  from  latitudes  well 
toward  the  Antarctic  Circle.  Mr.  Walter  Weed,  of  the  U.  S.  Geolog- 
ical Survey,  has  recently  reported  them  as  living  in  abundance  in  the 
warm  marshes  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  while  Dr.  Blake 
reported  finding  over  50  species  in  a  spring  in  the  Pueblo  Valley, 
Nevada,  which  showed  a  temperature  of  J  63°  F. 

Although  beds  of  diatomaceous  earth  are  still  in  process  of  forma- 
tion, and  in  times  past  have  been  formed  at  various  epochs,  the  Tertiary 
period  appears  for  some  reason  to  have  been  peculiarly  fitted  for  the 
growth  of  these  organisms,  and  all  of  the  known  beds  of  any  impor- 
tance, both  in  America  and  foreign  countries,  are  of  Tertiary  age.  The 
best  known  of  the  foreign  deposits  is  that  of  Bilin,  in  Bohemia.  This 
is  some  14  feet  in  thickness.  When  it  is  borne  in  mind  that,  according 
to  the  calculations  of  Ehrenberg,  every  cubic  inch  of  this  contains  not 
less  than  40,000,000  independent  shells,  one  stands  aghast  at  the  mere 
thought  of  the  myriads  of  these  little  forms  which  such  a  bed  repre- 
sents. Some  of  the  deposits  in  the  United  States  are,  however,  con- 
siderably larger  than  this.  What  is  commonly  known  as  the  Richmond 
bed  extends  from  Herring  Bay,  on  the  Chesapeake,  Maryland,  to 
Petersburg,  Virginia,  and  perhaps  beyond.  This  is  in  some  places  not 
less  than  30  feet  thick  in  thickness,  though  very  impure  (Specimen 
No.  67984,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Calvert  County,  Maryland,  is  fairly  repre- 
sentative). Near  Drakes ville,  in  New  Jersey,  there  occurs  a  smaller 
deposit,  covering  only  some  3  acres  of  territory  to  a  depth  of  from  1  to 
3  feet.  Some  of  the  largest  deposits  known  are  in  the  West.  Near 
Socorro,  in  New  Mexico,  there  is  stated  to  be  a  deposit  of  fine  quality 
which  crops  out  in  a  single  section  for  a  distance  of  1,500  feet  and 
some  6  feet  in  thickness. 

Geologists  of  the  fortieth  parallel  survey  reported  abundant  deposits 
in  Nevada,  one  of  which  showed  in  the  railroad  cutting  west  of  Reno 
a  thickness  not  less  than  300  feet,  and  of  a  pure  white,  pale  buif,  or 
canary  yellow  color  (Specimen  No.  67916,  U.S.N.M.).  Along  the  Pitt 
River,  in  California,  there  is  stated  to  be  a  bed  extending  not  less  than 
16  miles  and  in  some  places  over  300  feet  thick  (see  Plate  7).  Near 
Linkville,  Klamath  County,  Oregon  (Specimens  Nos.  53402,  53093, 
U.S.N.M.),  there  occurs  a  deposit  which  has  been  traced  for  a  dis- 
tance of  10  miles,  and  shows  along  the  Lost  River  a  thickness  of  40 
feet.  Beds  are  known  also  to  occur  in  Idaho  (Specimens  Nos.  63843, 
66950,  U.S.N.M.),  near  Seattle,  in  Washington  (Specimen  No.  53200, 
U.S.N.M.),  and  doubtless  many  more  yet  remain  to  be  discovered.  A 
deposit  of  unknown  extent,  pure  white  color,  and  almost  pulp-like 
consistency  has  been  worked  in  South  Beddington,  Maine  (Specimens 


220 


EEPOBT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,  1899. 


Nos.  73253,  73254,  U.S.N.M.).  Others  of  less  purity  occur  near 
South  Framingham,  Massachusetts  (Specimens  Nos.  62767,  62768, 
U.S.N.M.),  Lake  Umbagog,  New  Hampshire  (Specimen  No.  29322, 
ILS.N.M.),  at  White  Head  Lake,  Herkimer  County,  New  York  (Spec- 
imen No.  62913,  U.S.N.M.),  and  at  Grand  Manan,  New  Brunswick 
(Specimen  No.  57339,  U.S.N.M.). 

Chemical  Composition.— As  already  intimated,  this  earth  is  of  a 
siliceous  nature,  and  samples  from  widely  separated  localities  show 
remarkable  uniformity  in  composition.  Of  the  following  analyses, 
No.  1  is  from  Lake  Umbagog,  New  Hampshire,  No.  II,  from  Morris 
County,  New  Jersey,  and  No.  HI,  from  Popes  Creek,  in  Maryland.  As 
will  be  noted,  the  silica  percentage  is  nearly  the  same  in  all. 


Constituents. 

I 

II 

III 

Silica                                 

80.53 

80.66 

81.53 

5.89 

3.84 

3.43 

Iron  oxides  
Lime 

1.03 
0.35 

0.58 

3.34 
2.61 

Soda 

1  43 

Potash 

1.16 

12  03 

14  01 

6  04 

The  substance  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  a  variety  of  opal. 

Uses. — The  main  use  of  infusorial  earth  is  for  a  polishing  powder. 
It  is,  however,  an  excellent  absorbent,  and  has  been  utilized  to  mix 
with  nitroglycerine  in  the  manufacture  of  dynamite.  It  has  also  been 
used  to  some  extent  in  the  preparation  of  the  soluble  silicate  known 
as  water  glass.  The  demand  for  the  material  is  therefore  quite  smal1, 
not  nearly  equal  to  the  supply.  The  Maryland  and  Nevada  deposits 
are  said  to  be  the  principal  ones  now  worked.  During  the  year  1897 
the  entire  output  was  about  3,000  tons,  valued  at  some  $30,400. 

2.  CORUNDUM  AND  EMERY. 

CORUNDUM. — Composition,  sesquioxide  of  aluminum  A12O3, = oxygen, 
47.1  per  cent;  aluminum,  52.9  per  cent.  In  crystals  often  quite  pure, 
but  frequently  occurring  associated  in  crystalline  granular  masses  with 
magnetic  iron,  and  often  more  or  less  altered  into  a  series  of  hydrated 
aluminous  compounds,  as  darnourite  (Specimen  No.  82492,  U.S.N.M.). 
The  crystalline  form  of  the  mineral  is  hexagonal,  or  sixsided  in  out- 
line, and  often  with  curved  sides  and  square  terminations,  giving  rise 
to  roughly  barrel-shaped  forms,  as  shown  in  specimen  No.  81450  from 
Bengal,  India. 

A  prominent  basal  cleavage  causes  the  crystals  to  break  readily  with 
smooth,  flat  surfaces  at  right  angles  with  the  axis  of  elongation.  The 
massive  forms  often  show  a  nearly  rectangular  parting  or  pseudo- 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  221 

cleavage  (Specimen  No.  63480,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Pine  Mountain, 
Georgia). 

The  most  striking  physical  property  of  the  mineral  is  its  hardness, 
which  is  9  of  Dana's  scale.  In  this  respect  it  ranks  then  next  to  the 
diamond.  The  color  of  the  mineral  varies  from  white  through  gray 
(Specimen  No.  46283,  U.S.N.M),  brown,  yellow,  blue  (Specimens  Nos. 
73531  and  48182,  U.S.N.M.),  pink  (Specimen  No.  81922,  U.S.N.M.), 
and  red;  luster  adamantine  to  vitreous;  specific  gravity,  3.95  to  4.1. 
The  highly  colored  transparent  red  and  blue  forms  are  valuable  as 
gems,  and  are  known  under  the  names  of  ruby  and  sapphire.  The 
consideration  of  these  forms  is  beyond  the  limits  of  this  work.  (See 
Mineral  and  Gem  Collections.) 

Occurrences. — Athough  widespread  as  a  mineral,  corundum,  unmixed 
with  a  large  proportion  of  magnetite  (forming  emery),  has  been  found 
in  but  few  localities  in  sufficient  abundance  to  be  of  commercial  value. 
The  most  important  deposits  in  the  United  States  are  in  southwestern 
North  Carolina  and  in  the  Laurel  Creek  region  of  northern  Georgia. 
The  country  rock  in  both  these  regions  is  hornblendic  gneiss,  through 
which  has  been  intruded  a  basic  eruptive  (dunite,  Specimen  No.  70069, 
U.S.N.M.),  and  it  is  mainly  along  the  decomposed  lines  of  contact 
between  the  two  that  the  corundum  is  found.  According  to  Dr.  T.  M. 
Chatard,  the  Corundum  Hill  Mine  is  situated  on  a  ridge  which  runs  in 
the  northeast  and  southwest  direction  characteristic  of  this  section,  the 
dunite  outcrops  being  on  the  crest,  and  apparently  surrounded  on  all 
sides  except  toward  the  east  by  hornblende  gneiss.  On  the  east  side 
mica  schist  (probably  damourite  schist)  takes  the  place  of  the  gneiss, 
and  it  is  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  dunite  that  the  so-called  "  sand  vein" 
is  found.  This  is  a  vein-like  mass  of  brown  vermiculite  in  small  scales 
containing  an  abundance  of  small  crystals  of  corundum  which  are  usually 
brown  in  color  and  often  broken  into  fragments  (Specimen  No.  73529, 
U.S.N.M.).  The  easterly  wall  of  this  vein  is  the  mica  schist  very 
much  decomposed,  while  on  the  western  side  is  found  enstatite  (Speci- 
men No.  70070,  U.S.N.M.),  next  vermiculite  mixed  with  chlorite,  then 
talc  (Specimen  No.  70071,  U.S.N.M.),  which  in  turn  gives  place  to 
nodules  of  more  or  less  altered  dunite. 

The  specimens  of  corundum  crystals  for  which  this  locality  is  so 
celebrated  (Specimen  No.  73530,  U.S.N.M.)  have  been  found  mainly,  if 
not  wholly,  on  the  westerly  side  of  the  dunite,  and  on  or  near  the  line 
of  contact  between  the  gneiss  and  dunite. 

State  Geologist  Yeates  has  stated1  that  in  the  Laurel  Creek  region 
the  corundum  is  not  confined  to  the  vermiculite  and  chlorite  bands, 
but  is  abundant  in  the  lime  soda  feldspar  as  well.  The  same  authority 
states  that  in  this  region  the  dunite  is  not  inclosed  by  the  hornblendic 

Bulletin  No.  2,  Geological  Survey  of  Georgia,  1894. 


222  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

gneisses,  but  intruded  between  these  and  other  gneiss  or  mica  schist; 
also  that  the  corundum-bearing  veins  lie  in  the  dunite  close  to  the  con- 
tact and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  hornblendic  gneiss.  It  should  be  said 
before  leaving  the  subject  that  certain  micaceous  minerals,  as  margarite 
and  chloritoid  (Specimen  No.  63107,  U.S. KM.,  from  Chester,  Massa- 
chusetts) are  almost  invariable  accompaniments  of  corundum  and 
emery  deposits,  and  that  it  was  the  finding  of  these  minerals  that  led 
to  the  discovery  of  the  emery  beds  at  Chester.  Chatard  reports  that 
in  the  North  Carolina  mines  chlorite  or  vermiculite  is  considered  a 
"corundum  sign,"  and  in  mining  such  indications  are  followed  so  long 
as  they  hold  out  (Specimen  No.  63153,  U.S.N.M.). 

The  geographical  distribution  of  corundum-bearing  rocks  in  the 
eastern  United  States  has  been  worked  out  in  detail  by  J.  V.  Lewis  of 
the  North  Carolina  Geological  Survey,  from  whose  report1  the  accom 
panying  map  (Plate  8)  is  taken.  According  to  this  authority  the 
corundum  occurring  in  such  quantities  as  to  be  of  commercial  value  is 
almost  universally  found  in  connection  with  basic  eruptive  rocks,  as 
peridotites  or  their  varietal  forms  pyroxenite  and  amphibolite,  which 
are  themselves  intruded  into  gneisses. 

At  Yogo  Gulch,  Montana,  corundum  in  the  form  of  sapphire  (see  Gem 
Collections)  occurs  as  a  constituent  of  a  basic  eruptive  rock  near  the 
line  of  contact  with  aluminous  shales  (Specimen  No.  53519,  U.S.N.M.). 
In  Gallatin  County  the  mineral  is  found  in  well-defined  crystals  of  all 
sizes  up  to  an  inch  or  more  in  length  abundantty  disseminated  through- 
out a  granite  (Specimen  No.  83838,U.S.N.M.).  In  the  Russian  Urals  it 
occurs  in  disseminated  crystals  and  large  cleavage  masses  in  feldspar 
(Specimens  Nos.  40323,  40315,  40334,  73532,  U.S.N.M.).  In  India  it 
occurs  as  an  original  constituent  associated  with  both  acid  and  basic 
rocks,  but  in  most  cases  where  the  mineral  is  in  the  basic  rocks  there 
have  been  found  intrusions  of  pegmatite  (an  acid  rock)  in  the  near 
vicinity.  In  the  celebrated  Mogok  Ruby  Mines  the  corundum  is  found 
in  a  crystalline  limestone  and  the  detritus  resulting  from  its  decay,  the 
limestone  itself  being  regarded  by  Professor  Judd  as  an  extreme  form 
of  alteration  of  rocks  of  igneous  origin  (see  further  under  Emery). 

Corundum  has  recently  been  reported  as  a  constituent  of  both  nephe- 
line  syenites  and  ordinary  syenites  in  the  counties  of  Renfrew,  Hast- 
ings, and  Peterborough,  in  Eastern  Ontario,  Canada.  According  to 
W.  G.  Miller2  these  syenites  are  dike  rocks,  consisting  essentially  of 
feldspar,  nepheline,  and  black  mica  or  hornblende,  the  corundum 
occurring  more  abundantly  in  the  ordinary  syenite  than  in  that  which 
carries  nepheline.  The  dikes  are  from  a  few  inches  to  some  feet  in 
diameter,  and  the  corundum  is  distributed  in  a  somewhat  capricious 

Bulletin  No.  11.     Corundum  and  the  Basic  Magnesian  Rocks  of  Western  North 
Carolina,  by  J.  V.  Lewis,  1896. 
2  Report  of  the  Canadian  Bureau  of  Mims,  VII,  Pt.  3,  1898,  p.  207. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1  899.  —  Merir!. 


APPALACHIAN 
CRYSTALLINE 


„.?•     Perldntilt-s  and  other  Basic 
;•/       Mngncsian  Rocks. 

X       Corundum  localities. 


MAP  SHOWING  DISTRIBUTION  OF  CORUNDUM  AND  PERIDOTITE  IN  THE  EASTERN  UNITED 
STATES. 

After.!.  V.  Lewis,  Bulletin  11.  North  Carolina  (Jeoloincal  Snrvev. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  223 

manner,  being  quite  uniformly  distributed  in  some  of  the  smaller 
dikes,  or  segregated  irregularly  along  certain  lines  or  patches.  In  some 
of  the  dikes  the  mineral  is  quite  lacking.  The  total  area  covered  by 
the  corundum-bearing  rocks,  in  the  three  counties  mentioned,  is  100 
square  miles  (Specimen  No.  53538,  U.S.N.M.). 

Origin. — Dr.  Chatard,  as  a  result  of  his  observations  already  quoted, 
regards  the  corundum  of  Franklin  County,  North  Carolina,  and  the 
Laurel  Creek  region  of  Georgia  as  a  secondary  mineral  produced  by  a 
mutual  reaction  between  the  various  elements  of  the  dunite  and 
gneiss  during  decomposition,  the  solutions  formed  during  such  decom- 
position giving  rise  to  such  reactions  as  are  productive  of  chlorite  and 
vermiculites,  and,  where  the  necessary  conditions  of  proportion  are 
reached,  to  corundum. 

On  the  other  hand,  Dr.  J.  H.  Pratt,1  who  has  made  a  detailed  study 
of  the  North  Carolina  region,  regards  the  corundum  as  an  original 
constituent  of  the  peridotite — as  having  been  held  in  solution  in  the 
molten  magma  at  the  time  of  its  intrusion  into  the  country  rock, 
and  having  been  one  of  the  first  minerals  to  crystallize  on  its  cooling. 
This  view  is  most  in  accord  with  recent  synthetic  work  done  by  Moro- 
zewicz  and  others. 

Pirsson,  who  has  described2  the  occurrence  of  sapphires  in  a  basic 
eruptive  rock  from  Yogo  Gulch,  Montana,  regards  them  as  of  pyro- 
genetic  origin — that  is,  they  result  from  the  direct  crystallization  of  the 
oxide,  but  which  has  been  derived  from  aluminous  material  dissolved 
from  shales  by  the  molten  rock  during  its  intrusion.  The  sharp  out- 
lines of  the  crystals  in  the  granite  from  Gallatin  County,  Montana 
(Specimen  No.  83838,  U.S.N.M.),  is  also  indicative  of  a  direct  crystalli- 
zation from  a  molten  magma  containing  an  excess  of  aluminum.  A  like 
origin  must  also  be  recognized  for  the  Canadian  mineral,  and  a  part 
at  least  of  that  of  India. 

EMERY. — The  rock  emery  takes  its  name  from  Cape  Emeri,  on  the 
island  of  Naxos,  where  it  occurs  in  great  abundance.  Mineralogically 
it  has  been  regarded  by  various  authorities  as  either  a  mechanical 
admixture  of  corundum  and  magnetic  iron  ore  or  as  simply  a  massive 
iron  spinel — hercynite.  So  far  as  the  Naxos  emery  is  concerned,  the 
first  view  is  undoubtedly  correct.  Physically  emery  is  a  massive, 
nearly  opaque,  dark  gray  to  blue-black  or  black  material,  with  a  specific 
gravity  of  4  and  hardness  of  8,  Dana's  scale,  breaking  with  a  tolerably 
regular  fracture,  and  always  more  or  less  magnetic. 

Chemically  the  material  is  quite  variable  in  composition,  a  fact 
which  gives  support  to  the  opinions  of  those  who  hold  it  to  be  a  mixture 
rather  than  a  true  chemical  compound.  Below  are  the  results  of 

American  Journal  of  Science,  VI,  1898,  pp.  49-65. 
3  Idem,  IV,  1897,  p.  421. 


224 


REPORT   OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


analyses  by  Dr.  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  from  whose  papers  on  the  subject 
these  notes  are  partially  compiled: 


Localities. 

Alumina. 

Iron. 

Lime. 

Silica. 

Water. 

61.05 

27.15 

1.30 

9.63 

2.00 

I      63.50 
70.10 

33.25 
22.21 

0.92 
0.62 

1.61 
4.00 

1.90 
2.10 

- 

,      60.10 

33.20 

0.48 

1.80 

5.62 

Nicaria                       

\      77.  82 
i      71.06 

8.62 
20.32 

1.40 

4.12 

2.53 

I      75.  12 
60.10 

13.06 
33.20 

0.72 
0.48 

6.88 
1.80 

3.10 
5.62 

Ep  csu 

44  01 

50  21 

3  13 

50.02 
51  92 

44.11 

3.25 
5.46 

1 

74.22 

(      84  02 

19.31 
9  63 

5.48 
4.81 

• 

Geologically  emery,  like  corundum,  belongs  mainly  to  the  older 
crystalline  rocks.  In  Asia  Minor  it  occurs  in  angular  or  rounded 
masses  from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  those  of  several  tons  weight,  embedded 
in  a  blue-gray  or  white  crystalline  limestone,  which  overlies  micaceous 
or  hornblendic  schists,  gneisses,  and  granites.  Superficial  decompo- 
sition has,  as  a  rule,  removed  more  or  less  of  the  more  soluble  portions 
of  the  limestone,  leaving  the  emery  nodules  in  a  red  ferruginous  soil. 
With  the  emery  are  associated  other  aluminous  minerals  as  mentioned 
below. 

According  to  Tschermak1  the  Naxos  emery  (Specimen  No.  60465, 
U.S.N.M.)  occurs  mostly  in  the  form  of  an  iron-gray,  scaly  to  schistose, 
rarely  massive,  aggregate  consisting  essentially  of  magnetite  and  corun- 
dum, the  latter  mineral  being  in  excess.  In  addition  to  these  two 
minerals  occur  hematite  and  limonite,  as  alteration  products  of  the 
magnetite;  margarite,  muscovite,  biotite,  tourmaline,  chloritoid,  dias- 
pore,  disthene,  staurolite,  and  rutile  occur  as  common  accessories; 
rarely  are  found  spinel,  vesuvianite,  and  pyrite.  Under  the  microscope 
he  finds  the  emery  rock  to  show  the  corundum  in  rounded  granules 
and  sometimes  well-defined  crystals  with  hexagonal  outlines,  particu- 
larly in  cases  where  single  individuals  are  embedded  in  the  iron  ores. 
(Plate  9,  fig.  2.)  In  many  cases,  as  in  the  emery  of  Krenino  and 
Pesulas,  the  granules  are  partially  colored  blue  by  a  pigment  some- 
times irregularly  and  sometimes  zonally  distributed.  The  corundum 
grains,  which  vary  in  size  between  0.05  mm.  and  0.52  mm.  (averaging 
about  0.22  mm.),  are  very  rich  in  inclosures  of  the  iron  ores,  largely 
magnetite  in  the  form  of  small,  rounded  granules.  The  quantity  of 
these  is  so  great  as  at  times  to  render  the  mineral  quite  opaque,  though 
at  times  of  such  dust-like  fineness  as  to  be  translucent  and  of  a  brownish 

1Mineralogische  und  Petrographische  Mittheilungen,  XIV,  1894,  p.  313. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899.— Me 


PLATE  9. 


MlCROSTRUCTURE  OF   EMERY. 
After  Tscliermak.  Mineralogische  und  Petrographische  Mittheilungon,  XIV.  Part  4. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  225 

color.  The  larger  corundums  are  often  injected  with  elongated,  par- 
allel-lying clusters  or  groups  of  the  iron  ores,  as  shown  in  fig.  3,  Tscher- 
mak's  paper.  The  corundums  in  turn  are  often  surrounded  by  borders 
of  very  minute  zircons.  The  iron  ore,  as  noted  above,  is  principally 
magnetite,  but  which,  by  hydration  and  oxidation,  has  given  rise 
to  abundant  limonite.  The  magnetites  are  in  the  form  of  rounded 
granules  and  dust-like  particles,  and  also  at  times  in  well-defined  octa- 
hedrons. In  their  turn  the  magnetites  also  inclose  particles  of  corun- 
dum very  much  as  the  metallic  iron  of  meteorites  of  the  pallosite  group 
inclose  the  olivines  and  as  shown  in  Plate  9,  fig.  4.  The  iron  ores, 
as  a  rule,  occur  in  parallel  layers  and  lenticular  masses  or  nests. 

The  following  account  of  these  deposits  and  the  method  of  working 
is  by  A.  Gobantz:1 

Naxos,  the  largest  of  the  Cyclades  Islands,  is  remarkable  as  being  one  of  the  few 
localities  in  the  world  producing  emery  on  a  large  scale;  the  deposits,  which  are  of 
an  irregularly  bedded  or  lenticular  form,  being  mostly  concentrated  on  the  moun- 
tains at  the  northern  end  of  the  island,  the  most  important  ones  being  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  village  of  Bothris.  The  island  is  principally  made  up  of 
archsean  rocks,  divisible  into  gneiss  and  schist  formations,  the  latter  consisting  of 
mica  schists  alternating  with  crystalline  limestones.  The  lenticular  masses  of 
emery,  which  are  very  variable  in  size,  ranging  in  length  from  a  few  feet  to 
upward  of  100  yards  and  in  maximum  thickness  from  5  to  50  yards,  are  closely 
associated  with  the  limestones,  and,  as  they  follow  their  undulations,  they  vary  very 
much  in  position,  lying  at  all  kinds  of  slope,  from  horizontal  to  nearly  vertical. 
Seventeen  different  deposits  have  been  discovered  and  worked  at  different  times. 
These  range  over  considerable  heights  from  180  to  700  meters  above  sea-level,  the 
largest  working,  that  of  Malia,  being  one  of  the  lowest.  This  important  deposit 
covers  an  area  of  more  than  30,000  square  metres,  extending  for  about  500  metres 
in  length  with  a  height  of  more  than  50  metres.  This  was  worked  during  the 
Turkish  occupation,  and  it  has  supplied  fully  one-half  of  all  the  emery  exported 
since  the  formation  of  the  Greek  Kingdom.  The  highest  quality  of  mineral  is 
obtained  from  two  comparatively  thin  but  extensive  deposits  at  Aspalanthropo  and 
Kakoryakos,  which  are  435  metres  above  the  sea  level.  The  mineral  is  stratified 
in  thin  bands  from  1  to  2  feet  in  thickness,  crossed  by  two  other  systems  of  divisional 
planes  so  that  it  breaks  into  nearly  cubical  blocks  in  the  working.  The  floor  of 
the  deposit  is  invariably  crystalline  limestone,  and  the  roof  a  loosely  crystalline  dolo- 
mite covered  by  mica  schist.  The  underlying  limestones  are  often  penetrated  by 
dykes  of  tourmaline  granite,  which  probably  have  some  intimate  connection  with 
the  origin  of  the  emery  beds  above  them. 

Mineralogically  emery  is  a  compact  mixture  of  blue  corundum  and  magnetic  iron 
ore,  its  value  as  an  abrasive  material  increasing  with  the  proportion  of  the  former 
constituent.  This  proportion  has,  however,  been  usually  much  overestimated. 
Seven  samples  collected  by  the  author  have  been  examined  at  the  Technical  High 
School  in  Vienna,  and  found  to  contain  from  60  to  66  per  cent  of  alumina.  The 
average  composition  may  be  considered  to  be  f  corundum,  the  remainder  being 
magnetite  and  silica  in  the  proportion  of  about  2  to  1,  with  some  carbonate  of  lime. 

The  working  of  the  deposits  is  conducted  in  an   extremely  primitive  fashion. 

^esterreichische  Zeitschrift  fur  Berg-  und  Hiittenwesen,  XLII,  p.  143.  Abstract 
in  the  Minutes  and  Proceedings  of  the  Institute  of  Civil  Engineers,  CXVII,  pp. 
466-468.  > 

NAT  MUS  99 15 


226  EEPOBT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

During  the  period  of  Turkish  rule  the  exclusive  right  of  emery  mining  was  given  to 
two  villages,  and  this  rule  has  prevailed  up  to  the  present  time;  no  Greek  Govern- 
ment having  ventured  to  break  down  the  monopoly.  These  privileged  workmen 
are  about  600  in  number,  and  have  the  right  of  working  the  mineral  wherever  and 
in  what  manner  they  may  think  best.  The  produce  is  taken  over  by  the  Govern- 
ment official  at  the  rate  of  about  £3  12s.  for  50  cwte.  The  rock  is  exclusively  broken 
by  fire-setting.  A  piece  of  ground,  about  5  feet  broad  and  the  same  height,  is  cleared 
from  loose  material,  and  a  pile  of  brushwood  heaped  against  it  and  lighted.  This 
burns  out  in  about  twenty-four  or  thirty  hours,  when  water  is  thrown  upon  the 
heated  rock  to  chill  it  and  develop  fractures  along  the  secondary  divisional  planes  in 
the  mass  of  emery,  and  so  facilitate  the  breaking  up  and  removal  of  the  material. 
Sometimes  a  crack  is  opened  out  by  inserting  a  dynamite  cartridge,  but  the  regular 
use  of  explosives  is  impossible,  owing  to  the  hardness  of  the  mineral  which  can  not 
be  bored  with  steel  tools.  Only  the  larger  lumps  are  carried  down  to  the  shipping 
place,  the  smaller  sizes,  up  to  pieces  as  large  as  the  fist,  being  left  on  the  ground. 

As  most  of  the  suitable  places  for  fire-setting  at  the  surface  have  been  worked  out, 
attempts  have  been  made  to  follow  the  deposits  underground,  but  none  of  these 
have  been  carried  to  any  depth,  partly  on  account  of  the  suffocating  smoke  of  the 
fires,  rendering  continuous  work  difficult;  but  more  particularly  from  the  dangerous 
character  of  the  loose  dolomite  roof,  which  is  responsible  for  many  fatal  accidents 
from  falls  annually.  These  might,  of  course,  be  prevented  by  the  judicious  use  of 
timber  or  masonry  to  support  the  roof,  but  this  appears  to  be  beyond  the  skill  of 
the  native  miners. 

The  rapid  exhaustion  of  the  forests  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  mines,  owing  to 
the  heavy  consumption  of  fuel  in  fire-setting,  has  been  a  cause  of  anxiety  to  the 
Government  for  some  years  past,  and  competent  experts  have  been  employed  to 
suggest  new  methods  of  working.  These  have  been  tolerably  unanimous  in  recom- 
mending the  institution  of  systematic  quarry  workings,  using  diamond  boring 
machines  and  powerful  explosives  for  winning  the  mineral,  and  the  construction  of 
wire-rope  ways  and  jetties  for  improving  the  methods  of  conveyance  and  shipping; 
but  as  funds  for  these  improvements,  owing  to  the  disastrous  condition  of  the 
national  finances,  are  not  obtainable,  the  primitive  method  of  working  still  con- 
tinues. Meanwhile  the  competition  of  the  mines  in  Asia  Minor  has  become  so 
intense  that  the  export  of  emery  from  Naxos  has  almost  entirely  ceased  for  a  year 
past. 

According  to  Jackson,  the  principal  emery  deposit  at  Chester,  Mas- 
sachusetts, in  the  United  States,  occurs  at  South  Mountain,  in  the  form 
of  a  bed  from  4  to  10  feet  in  width,  with  a  nearly  N.  20°  E.,  S.  20° 
W.,  course,  and  dipping  to  the  eastward  at  an  angle  of  70°.  The  bed 
widens  rapidly  as  it  rises  in  the  mountain,  and  is  in  one  place,  where 
it  is  associated  with  a  bed  of  iron  ore  (magnetite),  IT  feet  wide,  the 
emery  itself  being  not  less  than  10  feet  in  the  clear.  The  highest 
point  of  outcrop  is  750  feet  above  the  immediate  base  of  the  mountain. 
The  bed  cuts  through  both  the  South  and  North  Mountains,  and  has 
been  traced  in  length  4  miles.  Frequently  large  globular  masses  of 
the  emery  are  found  in  a  state  of  great  purity,  separated  from  the 
principal  masses  of  the  bed  and  surrounded  by  a  thin  layer  of  bright 
green  chloritoid  and  a  thicker  layer  of  interwoven  laminated  crystals 
of  delicate  lilac-colored  margarite  (Specimen  No.  63107,  U.S.N.M.), 
sometimes  2  or  more  inches  in  thickness.  Some  of  these  balls  of 
emery  are  3  or  more  feet  in  diameter  and  extremely  difficult  to  break. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  227 

(Specimens Nos.  63102, 63103, 63104, 63105,  63106,  U.S.N.M.),  showthe 
character  of  the  ore  as  mined  and  the  character  of  the  wall  or  country 
rock. 

The  chief  commercial  sources  of  emery  are  those  of  Gumuch-dagh, 
between  Ephesus  and  the  ancient  Tralles;  Kulah,  and  near  the  river 
Hermes  in  Asia  Minor,  and  the  island  of  Naxos,  whence  it  is  quarried 
and  shipped  from  Smyrna,  in  part  as  ballast,  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 
The  only  commercial  source  of  importance  in  the  United  States,  or 
indeed,  in  North  America,  is  Chester,  Massachusetts,  as  above  noted. 
The  island  of  Naxos  is  stated  to  have  for  several  centuries  furnished 
almost  exclusively  the  emery  used  in  the  arts,  the  material  being 
chiefly  obtained  from  loose  masses  in  the  soil.  The  mining  at  Kulah 
and  Gumuch-dagh  was  begun  about  1847  and  at  Nicaria  in  1850.  The 
emery  vein  at  Chester,  Massachusetts,  was  discovered  by  Dr.  H.  S. 
Lucas  in  1863,  and  described  by  Dr.  C.  T.  Jackson  in  1864. 

In  preparing  for  use  the  mineral,  after  being  dug  from  the  soil  or 
blasted  from  the  parent  ledge,  is  pulverized  and  bolted  in  various 
grades,  from  the  finest  flour  to  a  coarse  sand  (Specimens  Nos.  59844  to 
59864,  U.S.N.M.,  inclusive).  The  commercial  prices  vary  according 
to  grade  from  3  to  10  cents  a  pound.  At  the  end  of  the  last  century  the 
price  of  the  Eastern  emery  is  given  at  from  $40  to  $50  a  ton.  About 
1835  an  English  monopoly  controlled  the  right  of  mining  and  the  price 
rose  in  1847  to  as  high  as  $140  a  ton. 

The  chief  uses  of  emery  and  corundum,  as  is  well  known,  are  in  the 
form  of  powder  by  plate-glass  manufacturers,  lapidaries,  and  stone 
workers;  as  emery  paper,  or  in  the  form  of  solid  disks  made  from  the 
crushed  and  bolted  mineral  and  cement,  known  commercially  as  emery 
wheels.  The  great  toughness  and  superior  cutting  power  of  these 
wheels  renders  them  of  service  in  grinding  glass,  metals,  and  other 
hard  substances,  where  the  natural  stone  is  quite  inefficient. 

(See  further  under  Grind  and  Whet  Stones,  p.  463.) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  CORUNDUM  AND  EMERY. 

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Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  XCIV,  p.  7. 
J.  VOLNEY  LEWIS.  Corundum  of  the  Appalachian  Crystalline  Belt. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXV,  1895, 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 

J.  VOLNEY  LEWIS.  Valuable  Discovery  of  Corundum. 

Canadian  Mining  Review,  XV,  1896,  p.  230. 
The  Corundum  Lands  of  Ontario. 

Canadian  Mining  Review,  XVII,  1898,  p.  192. 
Corundum  in  Ontario. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXVI,  1898,  p.  303. 
A.  M.  STONE.  Corundum  Mining  in  North  Carolina. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXV,  1898,  p.  490. 


229 


PISOLITIC    BAUXITE. 

Bartow  County,  Georgia. 
Specimen  No.  63335,  U.S.N.M. 

3.  BAUXITE. 

Composition  A12O3.2H2O,=  alumina,  73.9  per  cent;  water,  26.1 
per  cent.  Commonly  impure  through  the  presence  of  iron  oxides, 
silica,  lime,  and  magnesia.  Color,  white  or  gray  when  pure,  but  yel- 
lowish, brown,  or  red  through  impurities.  Specific  gravity,  2.55; 
structure,  massive,  or  earthy  and  clay  like.  According  to  Hayes l  the 

1  The  Geological  Relations  of  the  Southern  Appalachian  Bauxite  Deposits.  Trans- 
actions of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXIV,  1894,  pp.  250-251. 


230 


REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 


bauxites  of  the  Southern  United  States  show  considerable  variety  in 
physical  appearance,  though  generally  having  a  pronounced  pisolitic 
structure.  (See  Specimens  Nos.  63335,  66576,  6657T,  and  66578, 
U.S.N.M. ,  from  Floyd  and  Bartow counties,  Georgia;  also  fig.  5,  p.  229.) 

The  individual  pisolites  vary  in  size  from  a  fraction  of  a  millimeter  to  3  or  4  centi- 
meters in  diameter,  although  most  commonly  the  diameter  is  from  3  to  5  millimeters. 
The  matrix  in  which  they  are  embedded  is  generally  more  compact  and  also  lighter 
in  color.  The  larger  pisolites  are  composed  of  numerous  concentric  shells,  separated 
by  less  compact  substance  or  even  open  cavities,  and  their  interior  portions  readily 
crumble  to  a  soft  powder. 

In  thin  sections  the  ore  is  seen  to  be  made  up  of  amorphous  flocculent  grains,  and 
the  various  structures  which  it  exhibits  are  produced  by  the  arrangement  and  degree 
of  compactness  of  these  grains.  The  matrix  in  which  the  pisolites  are  imbedded 
may  be  composed  of  this  flocculent  material  segregated  in  an  irregularly  globular 
form  or  in  compact  oolites,  with  sharply-defined  outlines.  Or  both  forms  may  be 
present,  the  compact  oolites  being  embedded  in  a  matrix  composed  of  the  less  defi- 
nite bodies.  In  some  cases  the  interstices  between  the  oolites  are  filled  either  wholly 
or  in  part  with  silica,  apparently  a  secondary  deposition. 

The  pisolites  also  show  considerable  diversity  in  structure.  In  some  cases  they 
are  composed  of  exactly  the  same  flocculent  grains  as  the  surrounding  matrix, 
from  which  they  are  separated  by  a  thin  shell  of  slightly  denser  material.  This 
sometimes  shows  a  number  of  sharply-defined  concentric  rings,  and  is  then  dis- 
tinctly separated  from  the  matrix  and  the  interior  portion  of  the  pisolite.  The  latter 
is  also  sometimes  composed  of  imperfectly  defined  globular  masses,  and  in  other 
cases  of  compact,  uniform,  and  but  slightly  granular  substance.  It  is  always  filled 
with  cracks,  which  are  regularly  radial  and  concentric,  in  proportion  as  the  interior 
substance  has  a  uniform  texture.  Branching  from  the  larger  cracks,  which,  as  a  rule, 
are  partially  filled  with  quartz,  very  minute  cracks  penetrate  the  intervening  por- 
tions. Thus  the  pisolites  appear  to  have  lost  a  portion  of  their  substance,  so  that  it 
no  longer  fills  the  space  within  the  outer  shell,  but  has  shrunk  and  formed  the  radial 
cracks.  No  analyses  have  been  made  of  the  different  portions  of  the  pisolites  or  of 
the  pisolites  and  matrix  separately,  and  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether  any  differ- 
ences in  chemical  composition  exist.  It  may  be  that  some  soluble  constituent  has 
been  removed  from  the  interior  of  the  pisolites,  but  it  is  more  probable  that  the 
shrinking  observed  is  due  wholly  to  desiccation. 

Scattered  throughout  the  ground-mass  are  occasional  fragments  of  pisolites,  whose 
irregular  outlines  have  been  covered  to  varying  depths  by  a  deposit  of  the  same 
material  as  forms  the  concentric  shells,  and  thus  have  been  restored  to  spherical  or 
oval  forms. 

Composition. — The  following  tables  will  serve  to  show  the  wide  range 
of  composition  of  bauxites  from  various  sources: 

Composition  of  bauxites  from  various  localities. 


SiO2. 

T102. 

A1203. 

FesOs. 

(ign) 
H20. 

as? 

P*06. 

Analyst. 

Baux,  France: 
1.  Compact  variety  ' 

2  8 

2.  Pisiform  . 

4  8 

3  2 

55  4 



3.  Hard  and  compact  calcareous 

30  3 

34  9 

paste. 
4.  Calabres,  France 

5.  Thoronet,  France,  red  variety  

0.30 

3.40 

69.30 

22.90 

14 

10 

THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS. 


Composition  of  bauxites  from  various  localities — Continued. 


231 


Si02. 

TiO2.  A12O3. 

Fe*o,  gg> 

(100°) 
H20. 

PZ06. 

Analyst. 

6.  Villeveyrac,  Herault,  France,  white 
variety            

2.20 
6  29 

4.00 

76.90 
64.24 

50.85 
49.02 
50.92 
39.44 

45.94 

47.52 
41.38 
41.00 

48.92 
52.21 
57.25 
56.88 

52.  13 

39.75 
56.10 
58.61 
59.82 
45.  21 
61.25 

55.59 
57.62 
62.05 
46.40 
58.60 
55.64 
51.90 

.10 
2.40 

14,36 
12.90 
15.70 

2.27 

11.86 

19.95 
.85 
25.25 

2.14 
13.50 

3.21 
1.49 

1.12 

1.62 
10.64 
2.63 
2.16 
0.52 
1.82 

6.  OS 
1.83 
1.60 
22.  15 
9.11 
1.95 
3.16 

15 
25 

27.03 
25.88 
27.75 
12.80 

21.20 

23 
23 
20.43 

23.41 

27 

80 
74 

1.35 
.93 
.85 
9.20 

1.40 

57 
72 
.65 

.45 
72 

.46 

.48 
.38 

trace 
trace 

.07 



.... 

Lill. 

Lang. 
Do. 
Liebreich. 
Dr.    Wm.     B. 
Phillips. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 
W.    F.     Hille- 
brand. 
Do. 
Nichols. 
Do. 
Do. 

Prof.      H.     0. 
White. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

Langsdorf,  Germany: 

5  14 

9    Light  red 

10.27 
1.10 
37.87 

18.67 

7.73 
23.72 
10.25 

21.08 

3.20 

2.53 

2.52 
3.52 
3.60 
3.55 

2.08 

10.  Vogelsberg,  Germany  
11.  Cherokee  County,  Alabama  

12.  Jacksonville,  Calhoun  County, 
Alabama. 
13.  Red  
14    White 

15.  Red                  

16.  White                            

2.80 
2.30 
19.56 

41.47 

2.56 

18.          Do  
19.         Do  

Georgia: 
20.  No.  1  

21    No  2 

24 

10 
30 

31 
17 
31 

28 
28 
30.31 
26 
28 
27.62 
24.86 

14 
10 
42 
10 
13 
43 

99 
63 

68 
63 

22.  No.  3  

23    No  4 

8.29 
6.62 
35.88 

3.15 

24.  No.  5  
26.  No.  6  

26.  Barnsley  estate,  Dinwood  Sta- 
tion, Georgia,  No.  7. 
Pulaski  County,  Arkansas: 
27.  Black  
28.          Do  

1.98 

10.13 
11.48 

2.38 


29.          Do  
30.  Red  

2.00 
4.89 

3.50 

31           Do 

3  34 

32.          Do  

33           Do 

10.38 
16.76 

3.50 
3.50 

No.  1.— Contains  also  0.4  CaCO3.  No.  2.— 0.2  CaCO3.  No.  3.— 12.7  CaCO3.  No.  5.— 22.90  FeO  +  Fe,O3. 
No.  6—0.10  FeO  +  Fe^A,.  No.  7.— 0.85  CaO,  0.38  MgO,  0.20  SO3.  No.  8.— 0.35  FeO,  0.41  CaO,  0.11  MgO, 
0.09  K2O, 0.17  Na»O,  trace  CO2.  No.  9.— FeO  not  det.,  0.62  CaO,  trace  MgO,  0.11  KoO,  0.20  NaaO,  0.26  CO2. 
No.  10.— 0.80  CaO,  0.16  MgO. 

Origin  and  mode  of  occurrence. — The  mineral  received  its  name 
from  the  village  of  Baux,  in  southern  France,  where  a  highly  ferrifer- 
ous, pisolitic  variety  was  first  found  and  described  by  Berthier  in 
1821.  The  origin  of  the  mineral,  both  here  and  elsewhere,  has  been 
a  matter  of  considerable  discussion.  The  following  notes  relative  to 
the  foreign  occurrences  are  from  a  paper  by  R.  L.  Packard:1 

The  geological  occurrence  of  the  bauxite  of  Baux  was  studied  by  H.  Coquand 
[Bulletin  de  la  Society  Geologique  de  France,  XXVIII,  1871,  p.  98],  who  describes 

1  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1891,  p.  148. 


232  EEPOET   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

the  mineral  as  of  three  varieties,  pisolitic,  compact,  and  earthy.  The  pisolitic 
variety  does  not  differ  in  structure  from  the  iron  ores  of  Tranche  Comte"  and  Berry, 
although  the  color  and  composition  are  different.  It  occurs  in  highly  tilted  beds 
alternating  with  limestones,  sandstones,  and  clays,  belonging  to  the  upper  cre- 
taceous period,  and  in  pockets  or  cavities  in  the  limestone.  The  limestone  con- 
taining the  bauxite  and  that  adjacent  thereto  is  also  pisolitic,  some  nodules  being  as 
large  as  the  fist,  and  the  pisolitic  bauxite  has  sometimes  a  calcareous  cement,  and  at 
others  is  included  in  a  paste  of  the  compact  mineral.  M.  Coquand  supposed  that 
the  alumina  and  iron  oxide  composing  the  bauxite  were  brought  to  the  ancient  lake 
bed  in  which  the  lacustrine  limestone  was  formed  by  mineral  springs,  which,  dis- 
charging in  the  bottom  of  the  lake,  allowed  the  alumina  and  iron  oxide  to  be  dis- 
tributed with  the  other  sediment.  In  some  cases  the  discharge  occurred  on  land, 
and  the  deposit  then  formed  isolated  patches.  He  refers  to  other  similar  deposits 
of  bauxite  of  the  same  period  in  France.  Sometimes  the  highly  ferriferous  mineral 
predominates  over  the  aluminous  (white),  at  others  diaspose  is  found  enveloping 
the  red  mineral,  while  in  other  cases  it  is  mixed  with  it,  predominating  largely,  and 
sometimes  manganese  peroxide  replaces  ferric  oxide.  In  some  places  the  ground 
was  strewed  with  fragments  of  tuberous  menilite,  very  light  and  white. 

M.  Ang6  [Bull.  Soc.  Geolog.  de  France,  XVI,  1888,  p.  345]  describes  the  bauxite 
of  Var  and  HeVault  and  gives  analyses  of  it.  Over  20,000  tons  were  being  mined  in 
this  region  annually  at  the  time  of  writing  his  report  [1888].  In  the  red  mineral  of 
Var  druses  occur  with  white  bauxite  running  as  high  as  85  per  cent.  Al-jOj,  and  15 
per  cent.  H2O,  corresponding  to  the  formula  A12OS+H2O.  He  refers  to  the  prevail- 
ing theory  of  the  formation  of  bauxite,  according  to  which  solutions  of  the  chlorides 
of  aluminum  and  iron  in  contact  with  carbonate  of  lime  undergo  double  decomposi- 
tion, forming  alumina,  iron  oxide,  and  calcium  chloride.  Other  deposits  in  the 
south  of  France,  in  Ireland,  Austria,  and  Italy,  he  says,  confirm  this  view,  because 
they  also  rest  upon  or  are  associated  with  limestone.  The  bauxite  deposit  in  Puy 
de  Dome  which  he  studied  could  not,  however,  be  explained  by  this  theory  because 
it  was  not  associated  with  limestone,  but  rested  directly  upon  gneiss  and  was  partly 
covered  by  basalt.  The  geological  sketch  map  of  the  deposit  near  Madriat,  Puy  de 
Dome,  which  he  gives  shows  gneiss,  basalt,  with  uncovered  bauxite  largely  predomi- 
nating, and  patches  of  miocene  clay,  while  a  geological  section  of  the  deposit  near 
Villeveyrac,  Herault,  shows  the  bed  of  bauxite  conformably  following  the  flexures 
of  the  limestone  formation  when  covered  by  more  recent  beds,  and  when  exposed 
and  denuded  occupying  cavities  and  pockets  in  the  limestone.  This  occurrence  is 
substantially  the  same  as  that  of  the  neighboring  Baux.  M.  Ang6  agrees  with  M. 
Coquand  in  attributing  the  bauxite  to  geyserian  origin.  He  uses  as  an  illustration 
of  the  contemporaneous  formation  of  bauxite  the  deposits  from  the  geysers  of  the 
Yellowstone  Park,  which  is  evidently  due  to  a  misunderstanding.  He  made  no 
petrographical  examination  of  the  bauxite  of  Puy  de  Dome,  nor  did  he  attempt  to 
trace  any  genetic  relation  between  the  latter  and  the  accompanying  basalt,  The 
occurrence  is,  however,  noteworthy,  and  an  examination  might  show  that  it  is 
another  instance  of  the  direct  derivation  of  bauxite  from  basalt,  which  is  maintained 
in  the  two  following  instances,  somewhat  imperfectly  in  the  first  to  be  sure,  but  with 
greater  detail  in  the  second. 

The  first  is  a  paper  by  Lang  [in  the  Berichte  der  Deutschen  Chemischen  Gesell- 
schaft,  XVII,  1884,  p.  2892].  He  describes  the  bauxite  in  Ober-Hessen,  which  is 
found  in  the  fields  in  round  masses  up  to  the  size  of  a  man's  head,  embedded  in  a 
clay  which  is  colored  with  iron  oxide.  The  composition  varies  very  widely.  The 
petrographical  examination  showed  silica,  iron  oxide,  magnetite,  and  augite.  The 
chemical  composition  and  petrographical  examination  shows  the  bauxite  to  be  a 
decomposition  product  of  basalt.  By  the  weathering  of  the  plagioclase  feldspars, 
augite,  and  olivine,  nearly  all  the  silica  had  been  removed,  together  with  the  greater 


THE   KONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  .     233 

part  of  the  lime  and  magnesia;  the  iron  had  been  oxidized  and  hydrate  of  alumina 
formed  as  shown  by  its  easy  solubility  in  hydrochloric  acid.  The  residue  of  the 
silica  had  crystallized  as  quartz  in  the  pores  of  the  mineral. 

The  more  detailed  account  of  the  derivation  of  bauxite  from  basalt  is  given  in  an 
inaugural  dissertation  by  A.  Liebreich,  abstracted  in  the  Chemisches  Centralblatt, 
1892,  p.  °>4.  This  writer  says  that  the  well-known  localities  of  bauxite  in  Germany 
are  the  bouthern  slope  of  the  Westerwald  near  Miihlbach,  Hadamar,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Lesser  Steinheim,  near  Hanau,  and  especially  the  western  slope  of  the 
Vogelsberg.  Chemical  analyses  show  certain  differences  in  the  composition  of 
bauxite  from  different  places,  the  smaller  amount  of  water  in  the  French  bauxite 
referring  it  to  diaspore,  while  the  Vogelsberg  mineral  is  probably  Gibbsite  (hydrar- 
gillite) .  The  bauxites  of  Ireland,  of  the  Westerwald,  and  the  Vogelsberg,  show  by 
certain  external  indications  their  derivation  from  basalt.  The  bauxite  of  the  Vogels- 
berg occurs  in  scattered  lumps  or  small  masses,  partly  on  the  surface  and  partly 
imbedded  in  a  grayish  white  to  reddish  brown  clay,  which  contains  also  similar 
masses  of  basaltic  iron  ore  and  fragments  of  more  or  less  weathered  basalt  itself. 
Although  the  latter  was  associated  intimately  with  the  bauxite,  a  direct  and  close 
connection  of  the  two  could  not  be  found,  but  an  examination  of  thin  sections  of  the 
Vogelsberg  bauxite  showed  that  most  specimens  still  possessed  a  basaltic  (anamesite) 
structure,  which  enabled  the  author  to  determine  the  former  constituents  with  more 
or  less  certainty.  The  clays  from  different  points  in  the  district  carrying  basalt, 
basaltic  iron  ore,  and  bauxite  were  examined,  some  of  which  showed  clearly  a  sedi- 
mentary character.  Some  of  the  bauxite  nodules  were  a  foot  and  a  half  in  diameter 
and  possessed  no  characteristic  form.  They  were  of  an  uneven  surface,  light  to  dark 
brown,  white,  yellowish,  and  gray  in  color,  speckled  and  pitted,  sometimes  finely 
porous  and  full  of  small  colorless  or  yellowish  crystals  of  hydrargillite.  The  thin 
sections  showed  distinct  medium-granular  anamesitic  structure.  Lath-shaped  por- 
tions filled  with  a  yellowish  substance  preponderated  (the  former  plagioclases)  and 
filling  the  spaces  between  these  were  cloudy,  yellow,  brown,  and  black  transparent 
masses  which  had  evidently  taken  the  place  of  the  former  augite.  Laths  and  plates 
of  titanic  iron,  often  fractured,  were  commonly  present  and  the  contours  of  altered 
olivine  could  be  clearly  made  out.  The  anamesitic  basalt  of  the  neighborhood 
showed  a  structure  fully  corresponding  with  the  bauxite.  Olivine  and  titanic  iron 
oxide  were  found  in  the  clay  by  washing.  The  basaltic  iron  ore  also  showed  the 
anamesite  structure. 

But  two  localities  in  the  United  States  have  thus  far  yielded  bauxite 
in  commercial  quantities.  These  are  in  Arkansas  and  the  Coosa  Valley 
of  Georgia  and  Alabama. 

According  to  Branner  the  Arkansas  beds  occur  near  the  railway  in 
the  vicinity  of  Little  Hock,  Pulaski  County,  and  near  Benton,  Saline 
County.  "The  exposures  vary  in  size  from  an  acre  to  20  acres  or 
more,  and  aggregate  something  over  a  square  mile."  This  does  not, 
in  all  probability,  include  the  total  area  covered  by  bauxite  in  the 
counties  mentioned,  for  the  method  of  occurrence  of  the  deposits  leads 
to  the  supposition  that  there  are  others  as  yet  undiscovered  by  the 
survey. 

In  thickness  the  beds  vary  from  a  few  feet  to  over  40  feet,  with  the 
total  thickness  undetermined;  the  average  thickness  is  at  least  15  feet. 

These  Arkansas  deposits  occur  only  in  Tertiary  areas  and  in  the 
neighborhood  of  eruptive  syenites  ("granites71)  to  which  they  seem 


234  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

to  be  genetically  related.  In  elevation  they  occur  only  at  and  below 
300  feet  above  tide  level,  and  most  of  them  lie  between  260  and  270 
feet  above  tide.  They  have  soft  Tertiary  beds  both  above  and  below 
them  at  a  few  places,  and  must,  therefore,  be  of  Tertiary  age.  As  a 
rule,  however,  they  have  no  covering,  the  overlying  beds  having  been 
removed  by  erosion,  and  are  high  enough  above  the  drainage  of  the 
country  to  be  readily  quarried.  Erosive  action  has  removed  a  part 
of  the  bauxite  in  some  cases,  but  there  are,  in  all  probability,  many 
places  at  which  it  has  not  yet  been  even  uncovered. 

It  is  pisolitic  in  structure,  and,  like  all  bauxite,  varies  more  or  less  in 
color  and  in  chemical  composition.  (Specimen  No.  67600  from  Pulaski 
County.)  At  a  few  places  it  is  so  charged  with  iron  that  attempts  have 
been  made  to  mine  it  for  iron  ore.  Some  of  the  samples  from  these 
pits  assay  over  50  per  cent  of  metallic  iron.  This  ferruginous  kind  is 
exceptional,  however.  From  the  dark  red  varieties  it  grades  through 
the  browns  and  yellows  to  pearl  gray,  cream  colored,  and  milky  white, 
the  pinks,  browns,  and  grays  being  the  more  abundant.  Some  of  the 
white  varieties  have  the  chemical  composition  of  kaolin,  while  the  red, 
brown,  and  gray  have  but  little  silica  and  iron,  and  a  high  percentage 
of  alumina.  The  analyses  given  on  page  231  show  that  this  bauxite 
compares  favorably  with  that  of  France,  Austria,  and  Ireland,  and  is 
apparently  well  adapted  for  the  manufacture  of  chemical  products,  for 
refractory  material,  and  for  the  manufacture  of  aluminum  by  the 
Deville  process. 

The  Georgia  and  Alabama  deposits  have  been  the  subject  of  exhaust- 
ive study  by  Willard  Hayes,  to  whose  paper  reference  has  already 
been  made. 

According  to  this  authority  the  ore  is  found  irregularly  distributed 
within  a  narrow  belt  of  country  extending  from  Adairsville,  Georgia, 
southwestward,  a  distance  of  60  miles,  to  the  vicinity  of  Jackson- 
ville, Alabama.  The  only  points  at  which  it  has  been  worked  on  a 
commercial  scale  are  at  Hermitage  furnace,  5  miles  north  of  Rome, 
Georgia,  near  Six  Mile  Station,  south  of  Rome,  and  in  the  dike  dis- 
trict near  Rock  Run,  Alabama.  (See  fig.  6.)  The  oldest  rocks  of  the 
region  are  of  Cambrian  age  and  are  subdivided  on  lithologic  grounds 
into  two  formations,  the  Rome  sandstone  below  and  the  Connasauga 
shale  above.  The  former  consists  of  TOO  to  1,000  feet  of  thin-bedded 
purple,  yellow,  and  white  sandstones  and  sandy  shales.  In  the  south- 
ern portion  of  the  region  the  Rome  sandstone  is  replaced  by  the 
Weisner  quartzite,  which  consists  of  a  series  of  interbedded  lenticular 
masses  of  conglomerate,  quartzite,  and  sandy  shale.  It  apparently 
represents  delta  deposits  contemporaneous  with  a  part  or  the  whole 
of  the  Rome  sandstone.  These  rocks  form  Weisner  and  Indian 
mountains,  and  in  the  latter  they  attain  a  thickness  of  10,000  feet  or 
more. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS. 


235 


The  Connasauga  is  between  2,000  and  3,000  feet  in  thickness.  It 
consists  at  the  base  of  fine  aluminous  shales;  the  upper  portion  is 
more  calcareous,  and  locally  passes  into  heavy  beds  of  blue  seamy 
limestone. 

Above  Connasauga  shale  is  the  Knox  dolomite,  the  most  uniform 
and  persistent  formation  of  the  southern  Appalachian  region.  It  con- 
sists of  from  3,000  to  4,000  feet  of  gray,  semicrystalline,  siliceous 
dolomite.  The  silica  is  usually  segregated  in  nodules  and  beds  of 


MAP  SHOWING  THE 

GEOLOGICAL  RELATIONS 

OF  THE 

GEORGIA  AND  ALABAMA  BAUXITE  DEPOSITS. 

C.W.HAYES 


Fig.  6. 

MAP  SHOWING  THE  GEOLOGICAL  RELATIONS  OF  GEORGIA  AND  ALABAMA  BAUXITE  DEPOSITS. 

After  C.  W.  Hayes. 

chert.  These  remain  upon  the  surface,  and  with  the  other  insoluble 
constituents  form  a  heavy  residual  mantle  covering  all  the  outcrops 
of  the  formation.  It  is  associated  with  these  residual  materials  that 
the  extensive  deposits  of  limonite  and  bauxite  are  found.  The  geo- 
logical structure  of  the  region  is  complicated  and  for  its  details  the 
present  reader  is  referred  to  Dr.  Hayes's  original  paper. 

Subaerial  decomposition  has  progressed  for  a  long  period,  and  the 
surface  is  deeply  covered  with  a  mantle  of  residual  material,  consisting 
of  the  more  insoluble  portions  of  the  original  rock  masses.  This 


236  EEPOBT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

residual  material  consists  mainly  of  ferruginous  clay  with  large 
amounts  of  chert,  and  reaches  a  thickness  of  100  feet  or  more.  The 
bauxite  deposits  in  the  Rock  Run  district  are  regarded  as  typical  for 
the  entire  region,  and  are  described  as  follows: 

Four  bodies  of  the  ore  were  being  worked  in  1893  on  a  considerable  scale,  and  all 
show  practically  the  same  form.  The  southernmost  of  the  four,  called  the  Taylor 
bank,  is  located  3£  miles  northeast  of  Rock  Run,  near  the  western  base  of  Indian 
Mountain.  Although  the  heavy  mantle  of  residual  material  effectually  conceals  the 
underlying  rocks,  the  ore  appears  to  be  exactly  upon  the  faulted  contact  between  the 
narrow  belt  of  Knox  dolomite  on  the  northwest  and  the  sandy  shales  and  quartzites 
of  Indian  Mountain  on  the  southeast.  The  ore  is  covered  by  3  or  4  feet  of  red  sandy 
clay  in  which  numerous  fragments  of  quartzite  are  imbedded.  The  ore- body  is  an 
irregularly  oval  mass,  about  40  by  80  feet  in  size.  Its  contact  with  the  surrounding 
residual  clay,  wherever  it  could  be  observed,  appeared  to  be  sharp  and  distinct,  and, 
about  the  greater  portion  of  its  circumference,  very  nearly  vertical.  A  certain  amount 
of  bedding  is  observable  in  the  ore-body,  although  no  trace  of  bedding  can  be  detected 
in  the  surrounding  residual  material.  Upon  the  northwestern  or  down-hill  side  of 
the  ore-body,  this  bedding  is  very  distinct.  Layers  of  differently  colored  and  differ- 
ently textured  ore  alternate  in  regular  beds,  a  few  inches  in  thickness,  and  above 
these  are  thinner  beds  of  chocolate  and  red  material,  probably  containing  consider- 


'     '  DRAINAGE  DITCH  ' v-    ~- 

Fig.  7. 

SECTION  SHOWING  RELATION  OP  BAUXITE  TO  MANTLE  OF  RESIDUAL  CLAY  IN  GEORGIA. 

After  C.  W.  Hayes. 

able  kaolin.  These  beds  have  a  steep  dip,  somewhat  greater  than  the  slope  of  the 
hill-side,  but  in  the  same  direction.  They  are  not  simply  inclined  planes,  however, 
but  are  curved,  so  as  to  form  a  steeply-pitching  trough.  With  increasing  distance 
from  the  ore-body,  the  lamination  becomes  less  distinct,  and  the  beds  pass  gradually 
into  a  homogeneous  mottled  clay.  The  accompanying  section,  fig.  7,  shows  these 
relations  of  the  ore  and  residual  mantle. 

At  the  Dike  bank  [see  Fig.  6],  about  a  mile  northeast  of  the  one  above  described, 
the  stratification  is  well  shown  in  portions  of  the  deposit.  Beds  of  yellow  and  gray, 
fiiTe-grained  material,  alternate  with  others  of  pisolitic  ore.  The  beds  dip  at  an  angle 
of  about  40°,  and  are  curved  so  as  to  form  a  steep  trough.  The  compact  material 
also  shows  distinct  cross-bedding;  both  primary  and  secondary  planes  dipping  in 
the  same  direction. 

In  the  Gain's  Hill  bank,  about  250  yards  north  of  the  Dike  bank,  the  ore-body 
shows  a  more  regularly  oval  form  than  in  most  of  the  other  deposits,  and  is  also 
somewhat  dome-shaped,  swelling  out  laterally  from  the  surface  downward,  as  far  as 
the  working  has  progressed. 

Although  some  of  the  workings  have  gone  to  a  considerable  depth  (in  a  few  cases 

0  feet  or  more),  the  bottom  of  the  ore-body  has  not  been  reached  in  any  case. 

••  ore  vanes  in  composition  with  depth,  but  not  in  a  uniform  manner,  nor  more 

to  different  portions  at  the  same  depth.      The  deepest  pits  have  not  gone 

e  base  of  the  surrounding  residual  mantle,  so  that  no  observations  have  yet 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  237 

been  made  with  regard  to  the  relations  between  the  ore  and  the  country-rock;  and 
nothing  has  yet  been  observed  which  warrants  the  conclusion  that  the  ore  if  fol- 
lowed to  sufficient  depth,  will  be  found  inter-bedded  with  the  underlying  forma- 
tions, or  even  that  it  will  be  found  occupying  cavities  in  the  limestone — although  the 
latter  is  quite  possible. 

Concerning  the  origin  of  these  deposits  the  author  says: 

No  eruptive  rocks,  either  ancient  or  modern,  are  found  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
latter,  nor  are  there  any  rocks  in  this  region  which,  by  weathering,  could  yield 
bauxite  as  a  residual  product.  Hence,  any  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  origin  of 
these  deposits  must  give  the  source  from  which  the  material  was  derived,  the  means 
by  which  it  was  transported,  and  the  process  of  its  local  accumulation. 

As  already  stated  in  describing  the  stratigraphy  of  the  region,  the  ore  is  associated 
with  the  Knox  dolomite  or  with  calcareous  sandy  shales  immediately  overlying  the 
dolomite.  The  Connasauga,  consisting  of  2,000  feet  or  more  of  aluminous  shales, 
invariably  underlies  the  dolomite  at  greater  or  less  distance  beneath  the  ore-bearing 
regions,  and  is  probably  the  source  from  which  the  alumina  was  derived. 

The  faults  of  the  region  have  been  briefly  described.  Undoubtedly  such  enormous 
dislocations  of  the  strata  generated  a  large  amount  of  heat.  The  fractures  facilitated 
the  circulation  of  water,  and  for  considerable  periods  the  region  was  probably  the 
seat  of  many  thermal  springs.  These  heated  waters  appear  to  have  been  the  agent 
by  which  the  bauxite  was  brought  to  the  surface  in  some  soluble  form  and  there 
precipitated. 

The  chemical  reactions  by  which  the  precipitation  was  effected  are  not  well  under- 
stood, and  the  conditions  were  not  such  as  can  be  readily  reproduced  in  the  labora- 
tory. Of  the  few  soluble  compounds  of  aluminum  which  occur  in  nature,  only  the 
sulphate  and  the  double  sulphate  of  potash  and  alumina  need  be  considered. 

The  oxygen  contained  in  the  meteoric  waters  percolating  at  great  depths  through 
the  fractured  strata  would  readily  oxidize  the  sulphides  disseminated  in  the  aluminous 
shales.  Sulphates  would  thus  be  formed  by  a  process  strictly  analogous  to  that  com- 
monly employed  in  the  manufacture  of  alum.  Probably  the  mo.«t  abundant  product 
of  the  process  in  nature  was  ferrous  sulphate.  Some  sulphate  of  aluminum  must  also 
have  been  formed  together  with  the  double  sulphate  of  potassium  and  aluminum, 
especially  in  the  absence  of  sufficient  potash  to  form  alum  with  the  whole. 

In  its  passage  from  the  underlying  shales  through  several  thousand  feet  of  dolo- 
mite the  heated  water  must  have  become  highly  charged  with  lime,  in  addition  to  the 
ferrous  and  aluminous  salts  already  in  solution.  But  calcium  carbonate  reacts  upon 
aluminum  sulphate  and  to  some  extent  also  on  alum,  forming  a  gelatinous  or  floc- 
culent  precipitate  which  consists  of  aluminum  hydroxide  and  the  basic  sulphate. 
This  reaction  may  have  taken  place  at  great  depth  and  the  resulting  flocculent  pre- 
cipitate may  have  been  brought  to  the  surface  in  suspension.  From  analogy  with 
pisolitic  sinter  and  travertine  now  forming,  such  conditions  would  appear  to  be 
highly  favorable  for  the  production  of  the  structures  actually  found  in  the  bauxite. 
The  precipitate  was  apparently  collected  in  globular  masses  by  the  motion  of  the 
ascending  water,  and  constant  changes  in  position  permitted  these  to  be  coated  with 
successive  layers  of  more  compact  material.  Finally,  after  having  received  many 
such  coatings,  the  pisolites  were  deposited  on  the  borders  of  the  basin,  and  the 
interstices  were  filled  by  minute  oolites  formed  in  a  similar  manner  or  by  the  floc- 
culent precipitate  itself.  Slight  differences  in  the  conditions  prevailing  in  the  sev- 
eral springs,  such  as  concentration  and  relative  proportion  of  the  various  salts  in 
solution,  also  temperature  and  flow  of  the  water,  would  produce  the  variation  in  the 
character  of  the  ore  observed  at  different  points. 

The  bedding  observed  in  the  bauxite-deposits  may  have  been  produced  by  the 
successive  layers  deposited  on  the  steeply  inclined  outlet  of  the  basin.  After  the 


238  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

cessation  of  the  spring-action,  surface-creep  of  the  residual  mantle  from  the  higher  por- 
tions of  the  ridges  covered  the  deposits  to  varying  depths,  as  they  are  found  at  present. 
A  small  portion  of  the  ferrous  sulphate  was  oxidized  and  precipitated  along  with 
the  bauxite,  but  the  greater  part  was  carried  some  distance  from  the  springs  and 
slowly  oxidized,  forming  the  widespread  deposits  of  limonite  in  this  region. 

ffggg. The  better  known  use  of  bauxite  is  as  an  ore  of  aluminum, 

for  which  purpose  it  lies  beyond  the  scope  of  the  present  work.  It 
may,  however,  be  well  to  state  that  before  the  aluminum  can  be  satis- 
factorily extracted  the  ore  is  purified  by  chemical  processes.  The 
principal  use  is  for  the  manufacture  of  alums  and  other  aluminum 
salts  such  as  are  used  in  the  manufacture  of  baking  powders  and  dyes. 
It  is  believed  that  the  mineral,  owing  to  its  highly  refractive  qualities, 
will  in  the  near  future  be  utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  fire  brick  and 
crucibles.  An  alumino-ferric  cake,  a  by-product  obtained  in  the  puri- 
fying process,  is  claimed  as  of  value  for  sanitary  and  deodorizing 
purposes.  The  price  of  the  crude  ore  varies  greatly,  according  to 
purity.  The  average  price  for  the  past  few  years  has  been  about  $5 

a  ton. 

BIBLIOGKAPHY  OF  CRYOLITE  AND  BAUXITE. 

PAUL  QUALE.     Account  of  the  Cryolite  of  Greenland. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  1866,  p.  398. 

M.  H.  COQUAND.     Sur  les  Bauxites  de  la  chaine  des  Alpines  (Bouches-du-Rhone)  et 
leur  age  geologique. 

Bulletin  de  la  Socie"te  Geologique  de  France,  2d  ser.,  XXVIII,  1870-71,  pp. 
98-115. 
EDWARD  NICHOLS.     An  Aluminum  Ore. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVI,  1887,  p.  905. 
P.  JOHNSTRUP.     Sur  le  Gisement  de  la  Kryolithe  au  Greenland. 

Bulletin  de  la  Soci<§te  Mineralogie  of  France,  II,  1888,  p.  167. 
M.  AUGE.     Note  sur  la  Bauxite,  son  origine,  son  age  et  son  importance  geologique. 

Bulletin  de  la  Societe"  Geologique  de  France,  3d  ser.,  XVI,  1888,  p.  345. 
STAINSLAS  MEUNIER.     Response  a  des  observations  de  M.  Aug6  et  de  M.  A.  de  Gros- 
souvre  sur  Phistoire  de  la  Bauxite  et  des  Minerals  Side"rolithiques. 

Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Geologique  de  France,  3d  ser.,  XVII,  1889,  p.  64. 
R.  L.  PACKARD.     Aluminum. 

Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1891,  p.  147. 

This  paper  contains  numerous  references  to  which  the  present  compiler  has 
not  had  access. 
HENRY  MCCALLEY.     Bauxite. 

The  Mineral  Industry,  II,  1893,  p.  57. 
Bauxite  Mining. 

Science,  XXIII,  1894,  p.  29. 

C.  WILLARD  HAYES.     The  Geological  Relations  of  the  Southern  Appalachian  Bauxite 
Deposits. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXIV,  1894,  p.  243. 
W.  P.  BLAKE.     Alunogen  and  Bauxite  of  New  Mexico. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXIV,  1894,  p.  571. 
FRANCIS  LAUR.     The  Bauxites.     A  Study  of  a  new  Mineralogical  Family. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXIV,  1894,  p.  234. 
On  Bauxite. 

Minutes  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Institute  Civil  Eng.,  CXX,  1894-1895,  pt.  2, 
p.  442. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  239 

4.    DlASPORE. 

This  is  a  hydrous  oxide  of  aluminum  corresponding  to  the  for- 
mula A12O3,H2O,=  alumina,  85  per  cent;  water,  15  per  cent;  hard- 
ness, 6.5  to  7.  It  is  a  whitish,  grayish,  sometimes  brownish  or  yel- 
lowish mineral,  occurring  in  the  form  of  thin  flattened  or  acicular 
crystals  and  also  foliated,  massive  and  in  thin  plates  or  rarely  stalactitic. 
(Specimen  No.  53573,  U.  S.  N.  M.)  It  is  transparent  to  subtranslucent, 
and  sometimes  shows  violet-blue  colors  when  looked  at  in  one  direc- 
tion, or  reddish-blue  or  asparagus -green  in  others.  Luster,  vitreous 
or  pearly. 

Occurrence. — The  mineral  commonly  occurs  with  corundum  and 
emery  in  dolomite  and  granular  limestone  or  crystalline  schists.  In 
the  United  States  it  occurs  in  large  plates  in  connection  with  the  emery 
rock  at  Chester,  Massachusetts. 

Uses. — See  under  Gibbsite. 

5.  GIBBSITE;  HYDRARGILLITE. 

This  is  also,  like  diaspore,  a  hydrous  oxide  of  aluminum,  corre- 
sponding to  the  formula  A12O3,  3H2O= alumina  65.4  per  cent,  water 
34.6  per  cent.  The  mineral  is  of  a  whitish,  grayish,  or  greenish  color, 
sometimes  reddish  through  impurities,  and  occurs  in  flattened,  hexag- 
onal crystals,  or  in  stalactitic  and  inammillary  and  incrusting  surfaces. 
(Specimen  No.  4602,  U.S.N.M.).  Its  occurrence  is  similar  to  that  of 
diaspore. 

Uses. — Neither  diaspore  nor  gibbsite  have  as  yet  been  found  in  suf- 
ficient quantities  to  be  of  economic  importance.  Should  the}7  be  so 
found,  their  value  as  a  source  of  alumina  is  easily  apparent. 

6.  OCHER. 

The  term  ocher  as  commonly  used  applies  to  earthy  and  pulverulent 
forms  of  the  minerals  hematite  and  limonite,  but  which  are  almost 
invariably  more  or  less  impure  through  the  presence  of  other  metallic 
oxides  and  argillaceous  matter.  In  nature  the  material  rarely  occurs 
in  a  suitable  condition  for  immediate  use,  but  needs  first  to  be  pre- 
pared by  washing  and  grinding  and  perhaps  roasting. 

Various  varietal  names  are  applied  to  the  ochers,  according  to  their 
natural  colors  or  sources.  The  original  "Indian  red"  was  a  red  argil- 
laceous ocher,  with  a  purplish  tinge,  found  on  the  island  of  Ormuz,  in 
the  Persian  Gulf.  A  large  part  of  the  pigment  of  this  name  is  now 
prepared  artificially  from  iron  pyrites.  Umber  is  a  gray,  brown,  or 
reddish  variety  containing  manganese  oxides  and  clay.  It  derives  its 
name  from  Umbria,  in  Italy,  where  material  of  this  nature  was  first 
utilized.  Sienna  is  a  highly  argillaceous  variety,  also  from  Italy, 
near  Sienna. 


240 


REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


The  natural  colors  of  the  ochers  is  dependent  on  the  degree  of  hydra- 
tion  and  oxidation  of  material  and  the  kind  and  amount  of  impurities. 
In  a  general  way  the  hematites  are  of  a  deep-red  color  (Specimen  No. 
56075,  U.S.N.M.),  while  the  limonites  are  yellow  or  brown  (Specimen 
No.  61101,  U.S.N.M.).  Either  color  is  liable  to  shade  variations, 
according  to  amount  and  kind  of  impurities.  The  colors  are  intensi- 
fied or  otherwise  varied  by  roasting  (Specimens  Nos.  63056  and  63057, 
U.S.N.M.). 

Artificial  ochers  are  produced  by  roasting  iron  pyrites  (sulphide  of 
iron)  or  an  artificial  sulphate  (green  vitriol)  (Specimen  No.  61122, 
U.S.N.M.).  (See  under  Py rite.)  The  materials  known  commercially 
as  rouge,  crocus,  and  Indian  red  are  quite  pure  ferric  oxide,  pre- 
pared by  roasting  pyrite  or  by  other  artificial  means. 

Composition  of  ochers  in  their  natural  condition. 


Natural  color.                                   Locality. 

Fe^Oa. 

A1203. 

Si02. 

H20. 

Alks. 

Marksville  Page  County,  Virginia  

39.0 

1.50 

33.0 

11.5 

0.5 

90.2 

rlnsol. 
\      7.2 

I 

1.2 

'     y         g 

[•*•' 

Yellow  brown...  Hancock,    Berks    County,    Pennsylvania 

a  36.  67 

50.00 

10.60 



(Specimen  No.  62787,  U.S.N.M.)  . 

Deep  brown  Anne  Arundel  County,  Maryland  (Speci- 

19.67 

76.  57 

2.60 



men  No.  60843,  U.S.N.M.). 

Deep  red  brown  .  Northampton  County,  Pennsylvania  (Speci- 

542.45 

30.58 

11.85 



men  No.  61103,  U.S.N.M.). 

Gray  Northampton  Countv,  Pennsylvania  (Speci- 

C12.20 

74 

10 

5.23 

men  No.  61098,  U.S.N.M.). 

Dark  brown  Brandon,  Vermont  (Specimen   No.  66732, 

d52.92 

2.88 

14.62 



U.S.N.M.)  Montgomery  County,  Alabama 

a  10.  57 

69 

30 

7.40 

(Specimen  No.  63339,  U.S.N.M.). 

Cartersville,  Georgia  (Specimen  No.  63340, 

655.84 

32.20 

12.00 

U.S.N.M.). 

a  A  part  of  the  iron  in  a  ferrous  condition, 
clron  exists  mainly  in  a  ferrous  condition. 


6  Contains  also  some  manganese. 
d  Contains  much  manganese. 


Composition  of  manufactured  mineral  paints. 


Variety. 

FejOs 

A1203 

Si02 

H20 

P203, 
MnO, 
CaO. 

Lowe's  metallic  paint  a 

78  87 

3  29 

11    % 

5  07 

0  80 

Rossie  red  paint  b  

60  50 

5  63 

18  00 

0  33 

CaCOg 

Light-brown  paint  c 

77  26 

7  00 

15.66 

S.   and 

0.06 

a  Made  from  red  fossiliferous  ores  mined  at  Atalla,  Alabama,  and  Ooltewah,  Tennessee. 
6  Made  by  Iron  Clad  Paint  Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  from  ore  mined  in  Wayne  County,  Ne\ 
fork. 

c  From  ore  mined  at  Lake  Superior,  Michigan. 
d  Ore  from  Jackson  mlae,  Michigan. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  241 

A  "blue  ocher,"  formed  by  the  decomposition  of  the  Utica  shales  in 
Lehigh  County,  Pennsylvania,  has  the  following  composition: 

Ignition  (water  and  carbon ) 9. 10 

Quartz 44.50 

Combined  silica 26.  25 

Alumina  with  traces  of  ferric  oxide 17. 95 

Magnesia 94 

Alkalies,  etc 1.26 

100.00 

A  second  variety,  from  1£  miles  northwest  of  Breinigsville,  and 
which  was  sold  as  a  yellow  ochre,  yielded: 

Silica,  60.53;  alumina,  17.40;  ferric  oxide,  9.27;  lime,  0.08;  mag- 
nesia, 1.92;  water,  5.51;  alkalies,  5.27. 

Origin  and  mode  of  occurrence. — These  vary  greatly.  In  some 
cases  deposits  of  this  nature  are  formed  by  springs.  Such  result  from 
the  leaching  out  from  the  rocks,  by  carbonated  waters,  of  iron  in  the 
protoxide  condition  and  its  subsequent  deposition  as  a  hydrated  ses- 
quioxide.  In  other  cases  they  are  residual  products  formed  by  the 
removal  by  solution,  of  the  lime  carbonates  of  calcareous  rocks, 
leaving  their  insoluble  residues — the  clay  and  iron  oxides— in  the 
form  of  a  red,  yellow,  or  brown  ocherous  clay.  Again,  they  may 
result  from  the  decomposition  (oxidation)  of  beds  of  pyrite  (iron 
disulphide)  and  from  the  decomposition  of  beds  of  hematite,  and  by 
the  disintegration  and  perhaps  partial  hydration  of  the  more  compact 
forms  of  limonite.  Still,  again,  they  may  result  from  the  decomposi- 
tion of  schists  and  other  rocks  rich  in  iron-bearing  silicate  minerals. 
The  yellow  ochers  of  the  Little  Catoctin  Mountains,  near  Leesburg, 
Virginia,  are  thus  stated  to  be  residual  products  from  the  decomposi- 
tion of  hydro-mica  or  damourite  schists. 

A  paint  ore  found  near  Lehigh  Gap,  Carbon  County,  Pennsylvania 
(Specimens  Nos.  61115,  63481,  63482,  U.S.N.M.),  though  not  properly 
an  ocher,  may  be  described  here  for  want  of  a  better  place.  The 
raw  material  is  a  dull  shaly  or  slaty  rock,  of  a  dark  gray  color,  sandy 
texture,  and  quite  hard,  and  if  descriptions  are  correct  is  probably 
an  arenaceous  siderite,  or  carbonate  of  iron. 

According  to  C.  E.  Hesse1  the  "paint  bed"  is  of  unknown  extent 
except  so  far  as  indicated  by  outcrops  along  the  southern  border  of 
Carbon  County,  about  27  miles  north  of  Bethlehem,  where  it  occurs  in 
a  well-defined  ridge  of  Oriskany  sandstone.  Along  the  outcrop  the 
beds  are  covered  by  a  cap  of  clay  and  by  the  decomposed  portion  of 
the  Marcellus  slate.  Beginning  with  this  slate  the  measures  occur  in 
the  following  descending  order: 

a.  Hydraulic  cement  (probably  Upper  Helderberg),  very  hard  and 
compact. 

transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XIX,  1891,  p.  321. 
NAT  MUS  99 16 


242 


KEPOKT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


I.  Blue  clay,  about  6  inches  thick. 

c.  Paint  ore,  varying  from  6  inches  to  6  feet  in  thickness. 

d.  Yellow  clay,  6  feet  thick; 

e.  Oriskany  sandstone,  forming  the  crest  and  southern  side  of  the 
ridge.     It  is  extremely  friable,  and  disintegrates  so  readily  that  it  is 
worked  for  sand  at  many  points.     (See  fig.  8.) 

The  paint  bed  is  not  continuous  throughout  its  extent.  It  is  faulted 
at  several  places;  sometimes  it  is  pinched  out  to  a  few  inches,  and  again 
increases  in  width  to  6  feet.  The  ore  is  bluish-gray,  resembling  lime- 
stone, and  is  very  hard  and  com- 
pact. The  bed  is  of  a  lighter 
tint,  however,  in  the  upper  than 
in  the  lower  part,  and  this  is 
probably  due  to  its  containing 
more  hydraulic  cement  in  the 
upper  strata.  The  paint  ore 
contains  partings  of  clay  and 
slate  at  various  places.  At  the 
Rutherford  shaft  there  are  fine 
bands  of  ore  alternating  with 
clay  and  slate,  as  follows :  Sand- 
stone (hanging  wall),  clay,  ore, 
slate,  ore,  clay,  ore,  slate,  ore, 
cement,  slate  (foot  wall).  These 
partings,  however,  are  not  con- 
tinuous, but  pinch  out,  leaving 
the  ore  without  the  admixture 
of  clay  and  slate.  Near  the  out- 
crop the  bed  becomes  brown 
hematite,  due  to  the  leaching  out 
of  the  lime  and  to  complete  oxi- 
dation .  Occasionally  streaks  of 
hematite  are  interleaved  with 
the  paint  ore.  In  driving  up  the 
breasts  toward  the  outcrop  the 
ore  is  found  at  the  top  in 

rounded,  partially  oxidized,  and  weathered  masses,  called  "bomb- 
shells," covered  with  iron  oxide  and  surrounded  by  a  bluish  clay.  In 
large  pieces  the  ore  shows  a  decided  cleavage. 

Preparation. — As  alreadv  intimated,  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
ocher  is  used  in  its  natural  condition,  it  being  first  roasted  and  then 
ground,  the  grinding  being  either  "dry"  or  in  oil.  The  roasting 
deepens  the  color  to  a  degree  dependent  upon  the  length  of  time  the 
ore  is  exposed.  Yellows  are  converted  into  browns  and  reds,  and  the 
ocher  rendered  less  hydrous  at  the  same  time.  The  crude  ore  as  mined 


SECTION  ACROSS  THE  BED.  RUTHERFORD  AND  BARCLAY  MINE. 

Fig.  8. 

SECTION    ACROSS    PAINT   MINE  AT    LEHIGH    GAP,  PA. 

After  C. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  243 

is  not  infrequently  separated  from  the  coarser  or  heavier  impurities  by 
a  process  of  washing  in  running  water,  whereby  the  ochre,  in  a  state  of 
suspension,  is  drawn  off  into  vats,  where  it  is  allowed  to  settle,  the  water 
decanted,  and  the  sediment  made  up  into  bricks  and  dried,  when  it  is 
ready  for  grinding. 

The  following  description  of  the  occurrence  of  umber  and  its  prep- 
aration at  the  Caldbeck  Fells,  in  Cumberland,  England,  is  taken  from 
the  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry  for  October,  1890, 
p.  953: 

The  vein  of  umber  contains  crystals  of  quartz,  and  lies  in  a  granitic  rock  largely 
decomposed.  The  method  of  working  is  as  follows:  The  umber  is  brought  down  by 
an  overhead  tramway  and  passed  through  a  hopper  into  a  wash  barrel  consisting  of 
a  cylinder  formed  of  parallel  bars  one-eighth  of  an  inch  apart,  having  a  perforated 
pipe  conveying  water,  for  its  axis.  By  this  means  the  umber  is  washed  through,  the 
quartz  being  retained;  the  former  then  passes  to  an  edge-runner,  the  casing  of 
which  is  of  sufficient  depth  to  allow  of  the  submersion  of  the  rollers.  The  rate  of 
revolution  is  about  14  to  the  minute,  and  the  finer  floating  particles  flow  into  the 
drag  mill.  The  bed  of  this  mill  is  a  single  block  of  granite  and  over  it  the  four  burr- 
stone  blocks  are  dragged;  the  finer  "floating"  particles  of  umber  pass  to  a  second 
mill  of  the  same  kind,  then  through  a  brass  wire  sieve  (to  remove  particles  of  peat 
and  heather  that  have  been  floating  throughout  the  process)  to  settling  tanks,  com- 
posed of  brickwork  lined  with  cement.  After  settling  for  four  hours  four-fifths  of  the 
water  are  drawn  off,  and  the  umber,  now  of  the  consistency  of  slurry,  filter-pressed 
and  dried.  It  has  the  following  composition: 

Ferricoxide 47.14 

Manganese  dioxide 11.17 

Cupric  oxide 3.23 

Alumina 7.  66 

Lime Trace. 

Magnesia _  Trace. 

Silica 24.70 

Combined  water 6. 18 


100.08 

In  this  condition  it  may  be  put  on  the  market,  serving  for  colouring  coarse  brown 
paper  (that  being  the  chief  use  to  which  umber  is  put),  or  it  may  be  re-ground  in  a 
conical  burrstone  mill  and  sold  to  paint  and  oil-cloth  manufacturers  and  the  makers 
of  the  finer  kinds  of  brown  paper.  The  fine  state  of  division  to  which  it  is  reduced 
may  be  judged  from  the  facts  that  the  workman  in  charge  of  the  mill  is  compelled 
to  wear  a  respirator,  and  the  stain  is  not  easily  removed  from  the  hands. 

At  the  Lehigh  Gap  mines  the  ore,  as  it  comes  from  the  mines,  is 
free  from  refuse,  great  care  having  been  taken  to  separate  slate  and 
clay  from  it  in  the  working  places.  It  is  hauled  in  wagons  to  kilns, 
which  are  situated  on  a  hillside  for  convenience  in  charging.  The 
platform  upon  which  the  ore  is  dumped  is  built  from  the  top  of  the 
kiln  to  the  side  of  the  hill.  The  ore  is  first  spalled  to  fist  size  and 
freed  from  slate,  and  is  then  carried  in  buggies  to  the  charging  hole 
of  the  kiln. 


244  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

The  kiln  works  continuously,  calcined  ore  being  withdrawn  and 
fresh  charges  made  without  interruption.  The  ore  is  subjected  for 
forty-eight  hours  to  the  heat,  which  expels  the  moisture,  sulphur,  and 
carbon  dioxide.  About  1£  tons  of  calcined  ore  are  withdrawn  every 
three  hours  during  the  day.  The  outside  of  the  lumps  of  calcined  ore 
has  a  light-brown  color,  while  the  interior  shows  upon  fracture  a 
darker  brown.  Great  care  is  necessary  to  regulute  the  heat  so  that 
the  ore  is  not  overburnt.  When  this  happens  the  product  has  a  black, 
scoriaceous  appearance,  and  is  unfit  for  the  manufacture  of  metallic 
paint,  as  it  is  extremely  hard  to  grind. 

The  calcined  ore  is  carried  from  the  kiln  in  wagons  to  the  mill, 
where  it  is  broken  to  the  size  of  grains  of  corn  in  a  rotating  crusher. 
The  broken  ore  is  carried  by  elevators  to  the  stock  bins  at  the  top  of 
the  building,  and  thence  by  shutes  to  the  hopper  of  the  mills,  which 
grind  it  to  the  necessary  degree  of  fineness.  Elevators  again  carry  it 
to  the  packing  machine  by  a  spout,  and  it  is  packed  into  barrels  hold- 
ing 500,  300,  or  100  pounds  each. 

A  ''mineral  paint"  mined  on  Porter  Creek,  near  Healdsburg,  Sonoma 
County,  California,  is  said l  to  consist  of  hematite  and  silicate  of  iron 
in  the  form  of  a  compact  mass  lying  between  hornblendic  rock,  actin- 
olite  and  mica  schist  on  the  one  side  and  rotten  serpentine  on  the 
other.  The  vein  has  a  north  of  east  course,  and  is  some  60  feet  in 
width.  The  material  is  mined  from  a  tunnel,  crushed,  ground  between 
buhrstones,  and  bolted,  making  a  paint  fit  for  mixing  with  oils  or  japan. 

Uses. — The  ochers  are  among  the  most  widespread  and  readily 
accessible  of  coloring  materials,  and  have  been  used  by  savage  and 
civilized  people  both  ancient  and  modern.  The  war  paint  of  the 
American  Indian  was  not  infrequently  an  ocher  mixed  with  oil  or 
grease. 

According  to  William  J.  Russell,2  the  pigments  used  by  the  Egyptians 
and  others  since  the  earliest  times  were  of  hematite,  and  mostly  of  an 
oolitic  variety,  apparently  closely  corresponding  to  the  Clinton  hema- 
tites of  New  York  State.  As  tested,  such  were  found  to  contain  from 
79.11  to  81.34  per  cent  ferrio  oxide. 

Yellow  ocherous  pigments,  presumably  limonite,  are  also  described 
by  the  same  authority.  These  yield  only  about  33  per  cent  ferric  oxide 
and  some  7  to  10  per  cent  of  water,  together  with  clay.  The  ochers 
are  now  used  mainly  in  the  manufacture  of  paints  for  exteriors,  as  of 
buildings,  the  rolling  stock  of  railways,  bridges,  and  metal  roofing. 
They  are  also  used  as  a  pigment  for  coloring  mortars,  and  in  the 
manufacture  of  linoleums  and  oilcloths.  Mixed  with  a  certain  pro- 
portion of  oxide  of  manganese,  the  ochers  have  been  used  to  produce 
desirable  colors  in  earthenware. 

1  Twelfth  Annual  Report  of  the  State  Mineralogist,  1894.  p.  406. 
3  Nature,  XLIX,  1894,  p.  374. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  245 

The  raw  ocher  (that  is,  ocher  not  roasted),  of  a  light-yellow  color, 
was  at  one  time  in  great  demand,  particularly  throughout  New  Eng- 
land, for  painting  floors. 

The  value  of  the  prepared  material  is  but  a  few  cents  a  pound. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

FRANK  A.  HILL.     Report  on  the  Metallic  Paint  Ores  along  the  Lehigh  River. 

Annual  Report,  Pennsylvania  Geological  Survey,  1886,  pt.  4,  pp.  1386-1408. 

This  is  an  important  paper,  giving  position  of  ore  beds,  methods  of  mining 
and  manufacture. 
CONRAD  E.  HESSE.    The  Paint  Ore  Mines  at  Lehigh  Gap. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XIX,  1890,  p.  321. 

7.  ILMENITE;  MENACCANITE;  OB  TITANIC  IRON. 

Composition  FeTiO3,=  oxygen,  31.6;  titanium,  31.6;  iron,  36.8; 
hardness,  5  to  6;  specific  gravity,  4.5  to  5;  color,  iron  black  with  a 
submetallic  luster  and  streak;  opaque.  Differs  from  magnetite,  which 
it  somewhat  resembles,  by  its  crystalline  form  and  by  its  influencing 
but  slightly  the  magnetic  needle. 

Node  of  occurrence. — Its  common  form  is  massive,  or  in  thin  plates 
or  laminse,  or  as  small  granules,  sometimes  disseminated  through  the 
mass  of  rock  or  loose  in  the  sand.  In  microscopic  forms  it  is  a  com- 
mon constituent  of  eruptive  rocks,  both  acid  and  basic.  Not  infre- 
quently it  occurs  in  large  masses,  closely  resembling  magnetic  iron 
ore  (Specimen  No.  63861,  U. S.N.M.).  In  the  parish  of  St.  Urbian,  Bay 
St.  Paul,  Province  of  Quebec,  Canada,  is  such  a  bed,  stated  to  be  90 
feet  in  thickness  and  to  have  been  traced,  with  some  interruptions,  for 
a  mile.  The  bed  is  in  anorthite  feldspar  rock  of  Laurentian  age.  The 
ore  is  quite  pure,  and  carries  some  48.6  per  cent  titanic  acid.  At 
Kragero,  in  Norway,  the  mineral  occurs  in  the  form  of  veins  in  diorite. 
In  Virginia  it  is  found  in  granular  masses,  containing  apatite.  (See 
Phosphate  Series.) 

Uses. — The  mineral  has  as  yet  proved  of  little  economic  importance. 
It  is  stated  that  the  presence  of  titanium  has  an  important  bearing 
upon  the  qualities  of  iron  and  steel,  but  as  such  it  is  beyond  the  scope 
of  this  work.  As  long  ago  as  1846  an  attempt  was  made  to  use  a 
ferrocyanide  of  titanium  as  a  green  paint  in  place  of  the  poisonous 
arsenical  greens.  Later  (1861)  other  patents  were  granted  in  England 
for  titanium  pigments.  A  deep-blue  enamel,  resembling  the  smalt 
prepared  with  the  oxide  of  cobalt,  has  also  been  prepared  from  it, 
but  as  yet  the  mineral,  though  abundant  and  cheap,  has  practically  no 
economic  use. 

8.  RUTILE. 

Composition  and  general  properties. — This,  like  ilmenite,  is  a  titanium 
oxide,  having  the  formula  TiO2,  =  oxygen,  40  per  cent,  and  titanium, 
60  per  cent.  The  hardness  is  6  to  6.5;  specific  gravity,  4.18  to  4.25; 


246  EEPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

luster  metallic-adamantine,  opaque  as  a  rule,  rarely  transparent;  color, 
reddish  brown  to  red,  rarely  yellowish,  blue,  or  black;  streak,  pale 
brown.  The  mineral  crystallizes  in.  the  tetragonal  system,  and  is 
commonly  found  in  prismatic  forms  longitudinally  striated  (Specimen 
No.  14410,  U.S.N.M.)  and  often  in  geniculate  or  knee-shaped  twins 
(Specimen  No.  81904,  U.S.N.M.).  Not  infrequently  it  occurs  in  the 
form  of  fine  thread-like  or  acicular  crystals  penetrating  quartz.  It  is 
insoluble  in  acids  and  infusible. 

Mode  of  occurrence. — Kutile  occurs  mainly  in  the  older  crystalline 
granitic  rocks,  schists,  and  gneisses,  but  is  also  found  in  metamorphic 
limestones  and  dolomites,  sometimes  in  the  mass  of  the  rock  itself,  or 
in  the  quartz  of  veins.  Being  so  nearly  indestructible  under  natural 
conditions,  it  gradually  accumulates  in  the  debris  resulting  from  rock 
decomposition,  and  is  hence  not  an  uncommon  constituent  of  auriferous 
sands. 

Localities. — Some  of  the  more  noted  localities  are,  according  to 
authorities,  the  apatite  deposits  of  Kragero,  in  Norway;  Yrieux,  near 
Limoges,  in  France;  the  Ural  Mountains;  and  the  Appalachian  regions 
of  the  United  States.  Graves  Mountain,  Georgia  (Specimen  No. 
46081,  U.S.N.M.);  Randolph  County,  Alabama  (Specimen  No.  65354, 
U.S.N.M.);  and  the  Magnet  Cove  region  of  Arkansas  are  celebrated 
localities. 

Uses. — Like  ilmenite,  the  mineral  may  serve  as  a  source  for  titanium 
for  a  pigment  for  porcelain,  but  as  yet  it  is  little  used. 

Brookite  (Specimen  No.  45256,  U.S.N.M.)  and  octahedrite  have  the 
same  composition  and  essentially  the  same  physical  properties  and 
mode  of  occurrence. 

9.  CHROMITE. 

Chromite  is  a  mineral  of  the  spinel  group,  and  of  the  theoretical 
formula  FeO,  Cr2O3.  This  equals  a  percentage  of  chromic  oxide  of 
68  per  cent,  but  the  natural  mineral  has  often  alumina  and  ferric  iron 
replacing  a  part  of  the  chromium,  so  that  50  per  cent  chromic  oxide 
more  nearly  represents  the  general  average.  The  ordinary  demand, 
it  may  be  stated,  is  for  an  ore  carrying  45  per  cent  and  upward  of 
chromic  acid. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


247 


The  analyses  given  below l  will  serve  to  show  the  varying  character 
of  the  mineral: 

Composition  of  chromite  from  various  localities. 


Location. 

Constituents. 

A1403. 

MgO. 

Cr203. 

Fe,03. 

FeO. 

Si02. 

CaO. 

Miscellaneous. 

Total. 

Kynouria,  Greece  
Near  Athens,  Greece.  .  . 
Bare  Hills,  Baltimore, 
Maryland  
Chester,  Pennsylvania. 
Franklin,  Macon  Coun- 
ty, North  Carolina.  .  . 
Wilmington  ,  Delaware  . 
Bolton,  Canada  
Ekaterinburg,  Russia.  . 
Chester  County,  Penn- 

30.17 
20.80 

13.002 

17.27 
11.78 

4.74 
9.80 

39.514 
41.55 

44.15 
45.50 
45.90 
49.49 

51.562 
52.12 

55.14 
56.55 

63.39 

2.30 
7.00 

26.01 

4.85 

10.596 

13.26 
5.50 

CO2+H2O=4.45 
FeCO3=37.75 

98.20 
100.20 

99.116 
104.82 

99.77 
100.00 
*99.81 
100.00 

99.326 
+99.60 

99.16 
97.53 

104.33 

99.40 
99.40 

100.88 

2.72 

36.004 
62.02 

5.78 

1  25 

22.41 
6.66 
3.20 
6.77 

9.723 
2.18 

5.75 
0.86 

15.67 
2.06 
15.03 
13.40 

12.29 

9.39 
9.89 

11.76 
42.78 
35.68 

3.00 

23.27 

7.07 
2.901 
12  12 

35.14 

15.24 

5  65 

MnO,  trace. 

Monterey  County,  Cal- 
ifornia 

Lancaster    County, 
Pennsylvania  

28.88 



Do 

30  23 

Chester  County,  Penn- 

38.66 

NiO=2.28 
Al203+FeO 
29.33 
30.05 
28.60 

5.04 
6.15 
.6.28 

64.00 
62.25 
63.40 

1.03 

0.95 
2.60 

Chromite,  like  magnetic  iron,  is  black  in  color  and  of  a  metallic  lus- 
ter, but  differs  in  being  less  readily  if  at  all  attracted  by  the  magnet. 
On  a  piece  of  ground  glass  or  white  unglazed  porcelain  it  leaves  a 
brown  mark,  and  fused  with  borax  before  the  blowpipe  it  gives  a  green 
bead. 

Occurrence. — Chromite  is  a  common  constituent  in  the  form  of  dis- 
seminated granules  of  basic  eruptive  rocks  belonging  to  the  peridotite 
and  pyroxenite  groups  and  in  the  serpentinous  and  talcose  rocks  which 
result  from  their  alteration  (Specimens  Nos.  63032,  36845,  U.S.N.M., 
from  Maryland  and  North  Carolina).  It  is  never  found  in  true  veins 
or  beds,  though  sometimes  in  segregated,  nodular  masses  somewhat 
simulating  veins  on  casual  inspection.  Masses  of  pure  material,  like 
Specimen  No.  17288,  U.S. N.M.,  from  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania  (weight 
1,000  pounds),  are  quite  usual.  The  more  common  form,  as  noted 
above,  is  that  of  detached  granules,  which  when  freed  from  the  inclosing 
rock  form  the  ore  known  as  chrome  sand  (Specimens  Nos.  5179,  63032, 
56310,  U.S.N.M.),  and  small  masses  like  Specimens  Nos.  11681,  40320, 
63032,  TJ.S.N.M. 

Deposits  of  chromite  are  now  being  worked  near  Black  Lake  Station, 

1  As  compiled  from  various  sources  in  Wadsworth's  Lithological  Studies.  Memoirs 
of  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  XI,  Part  1, 1884,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 


248  KEPOBT   OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

on  the  Quebec  Central  Railway,  in  close  proximity  to  the  asbestos 
mines.  The  ore  here  occurs  in  a  series  of  pockets  extending  in  an 
east  and  west  direction.  Some  of  the  pockets  are  found  lying  in  a 
dike  of  fine-grained  granulite,  but  the  possible  relationship  between 
the  two  has  not  been  made  out.  While  other  deposits  occur  not  asso- 
ciated with  the  granulite,  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  largest  pockets 
of  high-grade  ore  are  thus  associated.  From  one  such  pocket  on  the 
Lambly  property  over  500  tons  of  ore  were  taken,  yielding  54  per 
cent  to  56  per  cent  sesquioxide  of  chromium. 

Aside  from  the  localities  above  mentioned,  chromic  iron  is  found  in 
pocket  masses  in  the  Cambrian  and  serpentinous  rocks  lying  between 
the  Vermont  line  and  the  Gaspe  peninsula,  but  has  never  been  success- 
fully mined  owing  to  the  great  uncertainty  attending  its  occurrence. 

It  is  rarely  found  in  beds  or  veins,  but  in  detached  pockets  which  yield  from  a 
few  pounds  to  hundreds  of  tons,  the  larger  pockets  being  comparatively  rare. 

Chrome  ore  is  also  found  in  Newfoundland;  the  Russian  Urals 
(Specimen  No.  40322,  U.S.N.M.);  in  Asia  Minor  (Specimen  No.  40156, 
U.S.N.M.)  and  European  Turkey  (Specimen  No.  4674,  U.S.N.M.)  and 
in  Macedonia;  in  Australia  (Specimens  Nos.  62532,  60999,  U.S.N.M.) 
and  New  Zealand  (Specimen  No.  70346,  U.S.N.M.).  In  all  cases  so  far 
as  known  the  deposits  occurring  in  peridotite  or  serpentine. 

The  principal  domestic  sources  of  chromite  are  at  present  Del  Norte 
(Specimen  No.  65349,  U.S.N.M.);  San  Luis  Obispo,  Shasta  (Specimen 
No.  66498,  U.S.N.M.),  and  Placer  (Specimen  No.  65351,  U.S.N.M.) 
counties  in  California,  though  formerly  mines  in  Lancaster  County, 
Pennsylvania  (Specimens  Nos.  11681,  5179,  U.S.N.M.),  and  at  the  Bare 
Hills,  near  Baltimore,  Maryland  (Specimen  No.  63032,  U.S.N.M.)  were 
very  productive. 

Uses. — Chromium  is  used  in  the  production  of  the  pigments 
chrome  yellow,  orange,  and  green,  and  in  the  manufacture  of  bichro- 
mate of  potash  for  calico  printing,  and  which  is  also  used  in  certain 
forms  of  electric  batteries.  A  small  amount  is  also  used  in  the  pro- 
duction of  what  is  known  as  chrome  steel. 

According  to  P.  Speier,  chrome  ore  linings  for  reverberatory 
furnaces  have  been  successfully  adopted  in  French,  German,  and  Rus- 
sian steel  works.  The  bottom  and  walls  of  the  furnace  are  lined 
with  chrome  ore  in  large  blocks,  united  by  a  cement  formed  by  two 
parts  of  chrome  ore  finely  ground,  and  one  part  of  lime  as  free  from 
silica  as  possible. 

The  introduction  of  chromium  from  the  lining  into  the  bath  of 
molten  steel  only  takes  place  to  a  very  limited  extent.  From  660  to 
1,100  pounds  of  limestone  is  charged  into  the  furnace,  and,  according 
to  the  percentage  of  sulphur,  from  220  to  440  pounds  of  manganese  ore, 
for  a  charge  of  1.5  to  1.7  ton  of  pig  iron  and  1,100  to  1,300  pounds  of 
cast-iron  scrap.  About  one-third,  including  steel  scrap,  is  introduced 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEBALS.  249 

into  the  furnace;  and  to  this  quantity  is  afterwards  added  from  660  to 
1,100  pounds  of  wrought-iron  scrap  as  soon  as  the  melting  is  com- 
plete. When  a  suitable  temperature  is  attained  the  slag  is  run  off, 
and  the  next  charge  is  introduced  into  the  furnace  when  the  bath  is 
quiescent.  A  sample  is  then  taken  and  tested  by  bending,  and  if  it  be 
found  that  the  percentage  of  phosphorus  is  too  high,  more  lime,  or 
lime  and  iron  scale,  are  added,  as  much  being  introduced  as  the  bath 
will  take,  and  the  addition  of  ferro-manganese  is  also  made. 

The  iron  chromate  is  decomposed  only  under  the  influence  exerted 
by  the  reagents  and  oxidizing  alkaline  substances.  Heat  alone  is 
insufficient  to  decompose  chromate  of  iron,  which  may  float  in  a  bath 
of  molten  steel  covered  with  basic  slag  without  dissolving.  One  of 
the  principal  conditions  of  success  in  the  employment  of  the  chrome 
ore  lining  consists  in  carefully  picking  the  pieces  of  ore  used,  which 
should  be  of  uniform  composition;  and  the  best  composition  of  ore 
used  for  lining  reverberatory  furnaces  is  found  to  be  from  36  to  40 
per  cent  of  chromic  oxide,  18  to  22  per  cent  of  clay,  9  to  10  per  cent 
of  magnesia,  and  at  most  5  per  cent  of  silica.1 

The  total  annual  product  of  American  mines  does  not  exceed  between 
3,000  and  4,000  tons,  valued  at  the  mines  in  California  at  not  more 
than  $8  a  ton  for  50  per  cent  ore.  Delivered  in  Baltimore  its  value 
is  from  $20  to  $25  a  ton. 

Some  4,000  tons  are  annually  imported.  The  chief  foreign  sources 
are  Russia,  New  Zealand,  New  Caledonia,  and  Australia. 

The  following  notes  relative  to  the  chrome  industry  in  America  are 
of  sufficient  interest  to  warrant  reprinting  here:2 

The  chrome  industry  is  one  of  the  most  unique  and  characteristic  in  Baltimore. 
It  originated  in  the  early  discovery  of  chrome  ore  in  the  serpentine  of  Maryland,  and 
has  ever  since  maintained  its  prestige  as  one  of  the  sources  of  the  world's  supply  of 
the  chromates  of  potassium  and  sodium,  which  have  many  applications  in  the  arts. 
The  following  is  the  substance  of  an  historical  account  of  the  Maryland  chrome 
industry,  kindly  prepared  by  Mr.  William  Glenn: 

In  1827  chrome  ore  was  first  discovered  in  America  on  land  belonging  to  Mr.  Isaac 
Tyson,  in  what  are  known  as  the  Bare  Hills,  6  miles  north  of  Baltimore.  Mr.  Tyson's 
son,  Isaac  Tyson,  jr.,  then  in  business  with  his  father,  was  persuaded  by  an  English 
workman  to  attempt  the  manufacture  of  "chrome  yellow"  from  this  material,  and 
this  was  done  in  a  factory  on  what  is  now  Columbia  avenue,  in  Baltimore,  in  1828. 
In  the  year  of  the  discovery  of  the  Bare  Hill  ore,  Mr.  Isaac  Tyson,  jr.,  who  seems  to 
have  possessed  a  very  keen  power  of  observation,  as  well  as  a  considerable  knowledge 
of  chemistry,  recognized  in  a  dull  black  stone,  which  he  saw  supporting  a  cider  barrel 
in  Belair  market,  more  of  the  same  valuable  material.  Inquiry  disclosed  the  fact 
that  this  had  been  brought  from  near  Jarrettsville,  in  Harford  County,  where  much 
more  like  it  was  to  be  found.  Mr.  Tyson  at  once  examined  the  locality,  and  finding  it 
covered  with  boulders  worth  $100  a  ton  in  Liverpool,  purchased  a  considerable  area. 

1  Journal  of  the  Iron  and  Steel  Institute,  1895,  pp.  506, 507.     Abstract  from  L'Echo 
des  Mines,  XXI,  p.  584. 

2  From  Maryland,  Its  Eesources,  Industries,  and  Institutions,  Baltimore,  1892,  pp. 
120-122. 


250  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

Finding  that  the  chrome  ore  was  always  confined  to  serpentine,  Mr.  Tyson  began 
a  systematic  examination  of  the  serpentine  areas  of  Maryland,  which  could  be  easily 
traced  by  the  barren  character  of  the  soil  which  they  produce.  A  narrow  belt  of 
serpentine  extends  across  Montgomery  County,  and  while  chrome  ore  is  occasionally 
found  in  it  (as,  for  instance,  at  Etchison  post-office) ,  nothing  of  economic  importance 
has  ever  been  discovered  in  Maryland  south  of  the  areas  known  as  "Soldiers  Delight" 
and  "Bare  Hills."  Northeastward,  however,  the  deposits  become  much  richer. 
The  region  near  Jarrettsville  was  productive,  and  thence  the  serpentine  was  traced 
to  the  State  line  in  Cecil  County.  Near  Rock  Springs  the  serpentine  turns  and 
follows  the  State  line  eastward  for  15  miles.  On  the  Wood  farm,  half  a  mile  north 
of  the  State  line  and  5  miles  north  of  Rising  Sun,  in  Cecil  County,  Mr.  Tyson  dis- 
covered in  1833  a  chromite  deposit,  which  proved  to  be  the  richest  ever  found  in 
America.  This  property  was  at  once  purchased  by  Mr.  Tyson  and  the  mine  opened. 
At  the  surface  it  was  30  feet  long  and  6  feet  wide,  and  the  ore  so  pure  that  each  10 
cubic  feet  produced  a  ton  of  chrome  ore  averaging  54  per  cent  of  chrome  oxide.  The 
ore  was  hauled  12  miles  by  wagon  to  Port  Deposit,  and  shipped  thence  by  water  to 
Baltimore  and  Liverpool.  At  a  depth  of  20  feet  the  vein  narrowed  somewhat,  but 
immediately  broadened  out  again  to  a  length  of  120  feet  and  a  width  of  from  10  to  30 
feet.  The  Wood  mine  was  worked  almost  continuously  from  1828  to  1881,  except 
between  the  years  1868  and  1873.  During  that  time  it  produced  over  100,000  tons  of 
ore  and  reached  a  depth  of  600  feet.  It  is  not  yet  exhausted,  but  the  policy  of  its 
owners  is  to  reserve  their  ores  while  they  can  be  elsewhere  purchased  at  a  cheap 
rate.  Another  well-known  chrome  mine  in  this  region  is  exactly  on  the  State 
boundary  at  Rock  Springs,  and  is  called  the  Line  pit.  So  much  of  this  deposit  as 
lay  within  the  limits  of  Maryland  was  owned  by  Mr.  Tyson,  while  he  worked  the 
Pennsylvania  portion  on  a  royalty. 

Other  chrome  openings  near  the  Line  pit  were  known  as  the  "Jen- 
kins mine,"  "Low  mine,"  "Wet  pit,"  and  "Brown  mine."  This 
region  has  proved  one  of  the  best  in  the  country  for  fine  specimens  of 
rare  minerals.  As  a  mineral  locality  it  is  usually  given  as  "Texas, 
Pennsylvania,"  * 

During  his  exploration  of  the  serpentine  belt  Mr.  Tyson  also  noticed 
deposits  of  chromite  sand,  and  to  control  the  entire  supply  of  this  ore 
he  either  bought  or  leased  these  also,  and  worked  them  to  some  extent 
with  his  mines. 

Between  1828  and  1850  Baltimore  supplied  most  of  the  chrome  ore  consumed  by 
the  world;  the  remainder  came  from  the  serpentine  deposits  and  platinum  washings 
of  the  Uraig.  The  ore  was  at  first  shipped  to  England,  the  principal  consumers 
being  J.  and  J.  White,  of  Glasgow,  whose  descendents  are  still  the  chief  manufac- 
turers of  chromic  acid  salts.  In  1844  Mr.  Tyson  established  the  Baltimore  Chrome 
Works,  which  are  still  successfully  operated  by  his  sons. 

After  1850  the  foreign  demand  for  Baltimore  ore  declined  gradually  till  1860,  since 
which  time  almost  none  has  been  shipped  abroad.  The  reason  for  this  was  the 
discovery  in  1848  of  great  deposits  of  chromite  near  Brusa,  57  miles  southwest  of 
Constantinople,  by  Prof.  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  who  was  employed  by  the  Turkish 
Government  to  examine  the  mineral  resources  of  that  country.  Other  deposits  were 
also  discovered  by  him  15  miles  farther  south,  and  near  Antioch.  These  regions 
now  supply  the  world's  demand. 

After  the  discovery  of  the  magnitude  of  Wood  pit,  and  of  the  bountiful  supply  of 

1  P.  Frazer,  Se^  :>  ad  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania,  CCC,  Lancaster  County  1880 
pp.  176;  192. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  251 

sand  chrome  to  be  found  within  the  Baltimore  region,  Isaac  Tyson,  jr.,  began  to  fear 
that  the  sources  of  supply  could  not  much  longer  be  restricted  to  his  ownership.  In 
such  an  event  he  realized  that  he  would  be  compelled  to  manufacture  his  ores  or  to 
sacrifice  them  in  competition. 

The  method  of  manufacture  previously  in  use  was  to  heat  a  mixture  of  chrome  ore 
and  potassium  nitrate  upon  the  working  hearth  of  a  reverberatory  furnace.  The 
potash  salt  yielded  oxygen  to  the  chromic  oxide  present,  forming  chromic  acid, 
which,  in  turn,  united  with  the  base,  producing  potash  chromate.  The  process  was 
wasteful  and  exceedingly  costly.  Afterwards  the  process  was  somewhat  cheapened 
by  substitution  of  potassium  carbonate  for  the  more  costly  nitrate;  oxygen  was  taken 
from  heated  air  in  the  furnace.  But  not  until  1845,  when  Stromeyer  introduced  his 
process,  was  the  manufacture  of  chromic  acid  placed  upon  a  safe  mercantile  basis. 
In  this  process  pulverized  chromic  iron  is  mixed  with  potassium  carbonate  and 
freshly  slaked  lime,  and  the  mixture  is  heated  in  a  reverberatory  furnace.  After 
chromic  oxide  is  set  free  in  the  charge  it  is  freely  oxidized  because  of  the  spongy 
conditions  of  the  lime-laden  charge. 

Among  the  first  steps  of  Isaac  Tyson,  jr.,  was  to  apply,  in  1846,  to  Yale  College 
for  a  chemist  for  his  chrome  works.  In  response  a  young  man  named  W.  P.  Blake, 
who  was  then  a  student  in  the  chemical  laboratory,  was  sent.  For  a  while  Mr.  Blake 
did  excellent  service  in  the  new  factory,  but  he  was  not  willing  to  remain. 

Mr.  (now  Professor)  Blake  was  the  first  chemist  to  be  employed  in  technology 
upon  this  continent,  while  the  Baltimore  works  were  the  first  to  appreciate  the  value 
of  chemistry.  After  the  departure  of  Mr.  Blake  another  chemist  was  secured  from 
the  first  laboratory  ever  instituted  for  the  teaching  of  chemistry,  that  founded  at 
Giessen  by  Liebig.  In  succession  cauie  another  chemist  from  the  same  laboratory, 
and  this  gentleman  is  yet  employed  in  the  works. 

Between  1880  and  1890  the  American  production  of  chrome  ore 
has  varied  between  1,500  and  3,000  tons.  The  total  eastern  product 
in  1886  was  100  tons  only.  Chrome  ore  was  discovered  in  California 
in  1873,  and  since  1886  this  State  has  been  the  only  one  to  produce 
this  mineral.  From  2,000  to  4,000  tons  of  Turkish  chrome  ore  are 
now  annually  imported  into  the  United  States,  most  of  which  is 
utilized  in  Baltimore. 

BIBLIOGKAPHY. 


.     Lake  Chrome  and  Mineral  Company,  of  Baltimore  County. 

American  Mineral  Gazette  and  Geological  Magazine,  I.  April  1,  1864,  p.  253. 
HARRIE  WOOD.  Chromite  and  Manganese.  Chromic  iron  and  manganese  ores  have 
been  found  in  considerable  quantities,  but  the  deposits  have  not  yet  been  exten- 
sively worked.  The  chromite  occurs  in  the  Bowling  Alley  Point,  Grafton,  Young, 
and  Bingera  districts.  Manganese  ores  are  found  widely  distributed  throughout  the 
Colony;  but  the  principal  deposits  are  at  Bendemere,  near  Moonbi,  Glanmire, 
Rocky,  and  Broken  Hill. 

Mineral  Products  of  New  South  Wales,  Department  of  Mines,  1887,  p.  42. 
Ueber  schwedisches  Chromroheisen  und  Martinchromstahl. 

Berg-und  Hiittenmannische  Zeitung,  XL VII,  1888.  p.  267. 
Die  Chromersenerz-Lagerstatten  Xeuseeland. 

Berg-und  Hiittenmannische  Zeitung,  XL VII,  1888.  p.  375. 
Chrome  Iron. 

Eighth  Annual  Report  of  the  State  Mineralogist  of  California,  1888,  p.  326. 
Chromite  Mined  at  Cedar  Mountain. 

Eighth  Annual  Report  of  the  State  Mineralogist  of  California,  1888,  p.  32. 


252  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

Chrome  Iron  Ore  from  Orsova. 

Journal  of  the  Iron  and  Steel  Institute,  1889,  p.  316. 
Chrome  Iron,  Shasta  County. 

Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the  State  Mineralogist  of  California,  1890,  p.  638. 
Chromium  in  San  Luis  Obispo  County. 

Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the  State  Mineralogist  of  California,  1890,  p.  582. 
Chrome  Iron  in  New  Zealand. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LIV,  1892,  p.  393. 
Chromic  Iron. 

Twelfth  Report  of  the  State  Mineralogist  of  California,  1894,  p.  35. 
J.  T.  DONALD.    Chromic  Iron  in  Quebec,  Canada. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVIII,  1894,  p.  224. 
Chromic  Iron:  Its  Properties,  Mode  of  Occurrence  and  Uses. 

Journal  of  the  General  Mining  Association  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  1894-95, 
p.  108. 
W.  F.  WILKINSON.     Chrome  Iron  Ore  Mining  in  Asia  Minor. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LX,  1895,  p.  4. 
WM.  GLENN.     Chrome  in  the  Southern  Appalachian  Region. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXV,  1895,  p.  481. 
Chromic  Iron. 

Thirteenth  Report  of  the  State  Mineralogist  of  California,  1896,  p.  48. 
GEORGE  W.  MAYNARD.     The  Chromite  Deposits  on  Port  au  Port  Bay,  New  Foundland. 

Transactionsof  theAmericanlnstituteof  Mining  Engineers,  XXVII,  1897,  p.  283. 
J.  H.  PRATT.     Chromite  in  North  Carolina. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXVII,  1899,  p.  261. 

The  Occurrence,  Origin,  and  Chemical  Composition  of  Chromite,  with  especial 

reference  to  the  North  Carolina  Deposits. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineeers,  XXIX,  1899, 
p.  17. 

10.  MANGANESE  OXIDES. 

The  element  manganese  exists  in  nature  under  many  different  forms, 
of  which  those  in  combination  as  oxides,  carbonates,  and  silicates 
alone  need  concern  us  in  this  work.  The  principal  known  oxides 
are  manganosite  (MnO);  Hausmanite  (MnO,Mn2O3);  Braunite 
(3Mn2O3,  MnSiO3);  Polianite  (MnO2) ;  Pjrolusite  (MnO2);  Manganite 
(Mn2O3,H2O);  Psilomelane  (H4MnO5);  and  Wad,  the  last  being,  perhaps, 
an  earthy  impure  form  of  psilomelane.  To  this  list  should  be  added 
the  mineral  f ranklinite,  a  manganiferous  oxide  of  iron  and  zinc.  Of 
these  the  first  named,  manganosite,  is  rare,  having  thus  far  been  reported 
only  in  small  quantities  associated  with  other  oxides  in  Wermland, 
Sweden.  The  other  forms  are  described  somewhat  in  detail  as  below. 
It  should  be  stated,  however,  that  with  the  exception  of  the  well- 
crystallized  forms  it  is  often  diflacult  to  discriminate  between  them,  as 
they  occur  admixed  in  all  proportions,  and,  moreover,  one  variety, 
as  pyrolusite,  may  result  from  the  alteration  of  another  (manganite). 
The  better  defined  species  may  be  separated  from  one  another  by  their 
comparative  hardness,  streak,  and  hydrous  or  anhydrous  properties,  as 
shown  in  the  accompanying  table. 


Report  of  U    S.  National  Museum,  1899.— Merril 


PLATE  10. 


IDEAL  SECTIONS  SHOWING  THE  FORMATION  OF  MANGANESE-BEARING 

CLAY  FROM  THE  DECAY  OF  THE   ST.CLAIR  LIMESTONE. 

MANGANE  SE-BEARING  CLAY  LZulZARD  LIMESTONE 

ED  SACCHAROIDAL  SANDSTONE 


sdBooNE  CHERT 
I  -i-'-'\  ST.CLAIR  LIMESTONE: 

FIG.I.     ORIGINAL  CONDITION  OF  THE    ROCKS. 


1,1 


FIG. 2.  FIRST  STAGE  OF  DECOMPOSITION. 


FIG.3.  SECOND  STAGET   OF  DECOMPOSITION. 


FIG.  4.  THIRD   STA8E  OF  DECOMPOSITION. 


SECTION  SHOWING  THE  FORMATION  OF  MANGANESE  DEPOSITS  FROM  DECAY  OF 

LIMESTONE. 
After  Penrose,  Animal  Report  Geological  Survey  of  Arkansas,  I,  1K90. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


253 


Variety. 

Hardness. 

Specific 
gravity. 

Color. 

Streak. 

Anhydrous 
or  hydrous. 

Franklinite  ... 

5.5  to  6.5 

5      to  5.22 

Iron  black 

Reddish    brown    to 

Anhydrous. 

black. 

Hausmannite  . 

5           5.5 

4.  7        4.  85 

Brown  black  

Chestnut  brown  

Do. 

Braunite  

6           6.5 

4.7       4.85 

Brown  black  to  steel 

Brown  black  

Do. 

gray. 

Polianite  

6            6.5 

4.8        4.9 

Light  steel  gray  

Black  

Do. 

Pyrolusite  

2           2.5 

4.8 

Iron   black    to  steel 

Black  or  blue  black  .  . 

a  Do. 

gray  or  bluish. 

Manganite  

4 

4.2        4.4 

Dark   steel    gray   to 

Red  brown  to  black  .  . 

Hydrous. 

iron  black. 

Psilomelane  .  .  . 

5.6        3.7 

4.7 

Iron   black   to  steel 

Brown  black  

Do. 

gray. 

a  Usually  yields  water  in  closed  tube. 


The  chemical  relationship  of  the  ores  as  found  in  nature  is  thus  set 
forth  by  Penrose:1 


Chemical  composition. 

Anhydrous  form. 

Hydrous  form. 

Protoxide  (MnO)  

Manganosite  (MnO)  

Pyrochroite  (MnO.HoO). 

Sesquioxide  (Mn2O3)  
Peroxide  (MnO2)  

Braunite  (Mn2O3)  
Pyrolusite,  Polianite  (  MnO»)  

Manganite  (Mn2O3,H2O). 
{Psilomelane. 

Wad. 

Manganese  oxides  frequently  occur  admixed  in  indefinite  propor- 
tions with  the  hydrous  oxides  of  iron  limonite,  giving  rise  to  the 
manganiferous  limonites  as  shown  in  Specimens  Nos.  66090,  10867, 
U.S.N.M.  from  Spain. 

FRANKLINITE. — This  may  be  termed  rather  as  a  manganiferous  ore 
of  iron  and  zinc  than  a  true  ore  of  manganese.  Nevertheless,  as  the 
residue  after  the  extraction  of  the  zinc  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
spiegeleisen,  we  may  briefly  refer  to  it  here.  The  mineral  occurs  in 
rounded  granules  or  octahedral  crystals  of  a  metallic  luster  and  iron 
black  color,  associated  with  zinc  oxides  and  silicates  in  crystalline  lime- 
stones, at  Franklin  Furnace,  New  Jersey.  (Specimen  No.  83941, 
U.S.N.M.)  It  bears  a  general  resemblance  to  the  mineral  magnetite, 
but  is  less  readily  attracted  by  the  magnet  and  gives  a  strong  manga- 
nese reaction.  Its  average  content  of  manganese  oxides  Mn2O3  and 
MnO  is  but  from  15  to  20  per  cent. 

HAUSMANNITE. — This  form  of  the  ore  when  crystallized  usually  takes 
the  form  of  the  octahedron,  and  may  be  readily  mistaken  for  franklin- 
ite,  from  which,  however,  it  differs  in  its  inferior  hardness,  lower 
specific  gravity,  and  in  being  unacted  upon  by  the  magnet.  (Specimen 
No.  64241,  U.S.N.M.)  It  occurs  in  porphyry,  associated  with  other 

Annual  Report  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Arkansas,  I,  1890,  p.  541. 


254  BEPOET   OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

manganese  ores,  in  Thuringia;  is  also  found  in  the  Harz  Mountains; 
Wermland,  Sweden,  and  various  other  European  localities.  In  the 
United  States  it  is  reported  as  occurring  only  in  Iron  County,  Missouri. 
The  mineral  in  its  ideal  purity  consists  of  sesquioxide  and  protoxide 
of  manganese  in  the  proportion  of  69  parts  of  the  former  to  31  of  the 
latter.  Analyses  of  the  commercial  article  as  mined  are  not  at  hand. 

BRAUNITE. — This,  like  hausmannite,  crystallizes  in  the  form  of  the 
octahedron,  but  is  a  trifle  harder.  Chemically  it  differs,  in  that 
analyses  show  almost  invariably  from  7  to  10  per  cent  of  silica, 
though  as  to  whether  or  no  this  is  to  be  considered  an  essential  con- 
stituent it  is  as  yet  difficult  to  say.  Analyses  1  and  2,  on  p.  256,  show 
the  composition  of  the  mineral  as  found.  The  ore  is  reported  as 
occurring  both  crystallized  and  massive  in  veins  traversing  porphyry 
at  Oehrenstock  in  Ilmenau,  in  Thuringia,  near  Ilefeld  in  the  Harz; 
Schneeberg,  Saxony  (Specimen  No.  68136,  U.S.N.M.),  and  various 
other  European  localities.  Also  at  Vizianagram  in  India;  in  New 
South  Wales,  Australia,  and  in  the  Batesville  region,  Arkansas. 

POLIANITE. — Like  pyrolusite,  yet  to  be  noted,  this  form  of  the  ore  is 
chemically  a  pure  manganese  binoxide,  carrying  some  63.1  per  cent 
metallic  manganese  combined  with  36.9  per  cent  oxygen.  From 
pyrolusite  it  is  distinguished  by  its  anhydrous  character  and  increased 
hardness.  So  far  as  reported,  it  is  a  rather  rare  form  of  manganese, 
though  possibly  much  that  has  been  set  down  as  pyrolusite  may  be  in 
reality  polianite. 

PYROLUSITE  occurs  in  the  form  of  iron  black  to  steel  gray,  sometimes 
bluish  opaque  masses,  granular,  or  commonly  in  divergent  columnar 
aggregates  sufficiently  soft  to  soil  the  fingers,  and  in  this  respect  easily 
separated  from  the  other  common  forms  excepting  wad.  Not  known 
in  crystals  except  as  pseudomorphs  after  manganite.  Its  composition 
is  quite  variable,  usually  containing  traces  of  iron,  silica,  and  lime  and 
sometimes  barium  and  the  alkalies.  Analyses  III  and  IV,  on  p.  256,  as 
given  by  Penrose,  will  serve  to  show  the  general  average.  This  is  a  com- 
mon ore  of  manganese,  and  is  extensively  mined  in  Thuringia,  Mora- 
via, Bohemia,  Westphalia,  Transylvania,  Australia,  Japan  (Specimen 
No.  61936,  U.S.N.M.),  India,  New  Brunswick  (Specimen  No.  36825, 
U.S.N.M.),  Nova  Scotia,  and  various  parts  of  the  United  States 
(Specimens  Nos.  42011,  Tennessee,  56354,  Georgia,  etc.). 

MANGANITE  differs  and  is  readily  distinguishable  from  the  other 
ores  thus  far  described,  in  carrying  from  3  to  10  per  cent  of  combined 
water,  which  can  readily  be  detected  when  the  powdered  mineral  is 
heated  in  a  closed  tube.  From  either  psilomelane  or  pyrolusite  it  is 
distinguished  by  its  hardness.  When  in  crystals  it  takes  prismatic 
forms  with  the  prism  faces  deeply  striated  longitudinally  (Specimen 
No.  67922,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Thuringia).  Its  occurrence  is  essentially 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899—Merr 


PLATE  1 1 , 


BOTRYOIDAL   PSILOMELANE,   CfilMORA,   VIRGINIA. 

Weight,  37J  pounds. 
Specimen  No.  66722,  U.S.X.M. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  255 

the  same  as  that  of  braunite.  The  composition  of  the  commercial  ore 
is  given  in  the  analyses  on  p.  256. 

PSILOMELAXE. — This  is,  with  the  possible  exception  of  pyrolusite, 
the  commonest  of  the  manganese  minerals.  The  usual  form  of  occur- 
rence is  that  of  irregular  nodular  or  botryoidal  masses  embedded  in 
residual  clays.  It,  is  readily  distinguished  from  manganite  or  wad  by 
its  hardness,  and  from  hausmannite,  braunite,  or  polianite  by  yielding 
an  abundance  of  water  when  heated  in  a  closed  tube.  The  sample 
(Specimen  No.  66722,  U.S.N.M.),  from  the  Crimora  mines  in  Virginia, 
is  characteristic.  See  Plate  11.  The  composition  of  the  commercial  ore 
is  given  in  analyses  V,  VI,  and  VII  on  p.  256. 

WAD  or  BOG  MANGANESE  (Specimen  No.  66602,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Cuba) 
is  a  soft  and  highly  hydrated  form  of  the  ore,  as  a  rule  of  little  value, 
owing  to  impurities  (analysis  VIII).  Asbolite  is  the  name  given  to  a 
variety  of  wad  containing  cobalt  (see  p.  187).  See  further  Rhodonite 
and  Rhodochrosite,  pp.  280,  314. 

Origin. — The  deposits  of  manganese  oxides  which  are  of  sufficient 
extent  to  be  of  commercial  importance  are  believed  to  be  in  all  cases 
of  secondary  origin;  that  is,  to  have  resulted  from  the  decomposition 
of  preexisting  manganiferous  silicate  constituents  of  the  older  crys- 
talline rocks  and  the  subsequent  deposition  of  the  oxides  in  secondary 
strata.  Indeed,  in  many  instances  the  ore  has  undergone  a  natural 
segregation,  owing  to  the  decomposition  of  the  parent  rock  and  the 
accumulate  of  the  manganese  oxide,  together  with  other  difficult  sol- 
uble constituents  in  the  residual  clay.  Thus  Penrose  has  shown1  that 
the  deposits  of  the  Batesville  (Arkansas)  region  result  from  the  decay 
of  the  St.  Clair  limestone,  the  various  stages  of  which  are  shown  in 
the  accompanying  Plate  10.  The  fresh  limestone,  as  shown  by  analy- 
sis, contains  but  4.30  per  cent  manganese  oxide  (MnO),  while  the 
residual  clay  left  through  its  decomposition  contains  14.98  per  cent  of 
the  same  constituent. 

Occurrence. — As  above  noted,  the  ore  is  found  in  secondary  rocks, 
and  as  a  rule  in  greatest  quantities  in  the  clays  and  residual  deposits 
resulting  from  their  breaking  down.  The  usual  form  of  the  ore  is  that 
of  lenticular  masses  or  nodules  distributed  along  the  bedding  planes, 
or  heterogeneously  throughout  the  clay.  Penrose  describes  the  Bates- 
ville ores  as  sometimes  evenly  distributed  throughout  a  large  body  of 
clay,  but  in  most  places  as  being  in  pockets  surrounded  by  day  itself 
barren  of  ore.  These  pockets  vary  greatly  in  character,  being  some- 
times comparatively  solid  bodies  separated  by  thin  films  of  clay,  and 
containing  from  50  to  500  tons  of  ore;  sometimes  they  consist  of  large 
and  small  masses  of  ore  embedded  together,  and  again  at  other  times 
of  small  grains,  disseminated  throughout  the  clay.  In  the  Crimora 

1  Annual  Report  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Arkansas,  I,  1890. 


256 


REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


(Virginia)  deposits  the  ore  (psilomelane)  is  found  in  nodular  masses 
in  a  clay  resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  a  shale  which  has  been 
preserved  from  erosion  through  sharp  synclinal  folds. 

Bog  manganese  is  described  as  occurring  in  an  extensive  deposit  near 
Dawson  settlement,  Albert  County,  New  Brunswick,  on  a  branch  of 
Weldon  Creek,  covering  an  area  of  about  25  acres.  In  the  center  it 
was  found  to  be  26  feet  deep,  thinning  out  toward  the  margin  of  the 
bed.  The  ore  is  a  loose,  amorphous  mass,  which  could  be  readily 
shoveled  without  the  aid  of  a  pick,  and  contained  more  or  less  iron 
pyrites  disseminated  in  streaks  and  layers,  though  large  portions  of 
the  deposit  have  merely  a  trace.  The  bed  lies  in  a  valley  at  the  north- 
ern base  of  a  hill,  and  its  accumulation  at  this  particular  locality 
appears  to  be  due  to  springs.  These  springs  are  still  trickling  down 
the  hillside,  and  doubtless  the  process  of  producing  bog  manganese  is 
still  going  on.1  A  bed  of  manganese  ore  in  the  government  of  Kutais, 
in  the  Caucasus,  is  described  as  occurring  in  nearly  horizontal ly  lying 
Miocene  sandstones.  The  ore  is  pyrolusite  and  the  bed  stated  as  being 
6  to  7  feet  in  thickness. 

Composition  of  manganese  oxides. 


Constituents. 

Braunite. 

Pyrolusite. 

Psilomelane. 

Wad. 

I.. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

MnO  
O  
Fe»O3  

87.47 
9.62 

86.95 
9.85 

90.15 

88.98 

84.99 
10.48 

80.27 
14.10 

63.46 

25.42 

2.55 

0.21 

1.75 

CaO  
BaO  
SiO2  

0.34 
0.48 
0.18 

0.51 
4.35K20 
2.84 

2.25 
0.95 

1.12 
2.80 
2.05 

9.80 
6.00 

H2O  

33.52 

I.  Batesville  region,  Arkansas. 
II.  Elgersburg,  Germany. 

III.  Cheverie,  Nova  Scotia. 

IV.  Cape  Breton. 


V.  Batesville  region,  Arkansas. 
VI.  Schneeberg,  Saxony. 
VII.  Crimora,  Virginia. 
VIII.  Big  Harbor,  Cape  Breton. 


Uses. — According  to  Professor  Penrose,2  the  various  uses  to  which 
manganese  and  its  compound  are  put,  may  be  divided  into  three 
classes:  Alloys,  oxidizers,  and  coloring  materials.  Each  of  these 
classes  includes  the  application  of  manganese  in  sundry  manufactured 
products;  or  as  a  reagent  in  carrying  on  different  metallurgical  and 
chemical  processes.  The  most  important  of  these  sources  of  con- 
sumption may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

1  Anaual  Report  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada,  VII,  1894,  p.  146  M. 

2  Annual  Report  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Arkansas,  I,  1890. 


Allovs 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEEALS.  257 

Spiegeleisen r..  ,  . 

_f  1  Alloys  of  manganese  and  iron. 

Ferrornanganese (^ 

/Alloys  of  manganese  and  copper,  with  or 
Manganese  bronze.. (    without  iron> 

{An  alloy  of  manganese,  aluminum,  zinc, 
and  copper,  with  a  certain  quantity  of 
silicon. 

Alloys  of  manganese  with  aluminum,   zinc,   tin,   lead,   mag- 
nesium, etc. 

Manufacture  of  chlorine. 
Manufacture  of  bromine. 

As  a  decolorizer  of  glass  (also  for  coloring  glass,  see  coloring 
materials). 


Oxidizers Ag  &  dryer  in  varnishes  and  paints. 


LeClanche's  battery. 
Preparation  of  oxygen  on  a  small  scale. 

Manufacture  of  disinfectants  (manganates  and  permanganates). 
j-Calico  printing  and  dyeing. 

Coloring  glass,  pottery,  and  brick. 
Coloring  materials ..<  ,.,-, 

lpaints Wet 

Besides  these  main  uses  a  certain  amount  is  utilized  as  a  flux  in 
smelting  silver  ores,  and,  in  the  form  of  its  various  salts,  is  employed 
in  chemical  manufacture  and  for  medicinal  purposes.  Pyrolusite  and 
some  forms  of  psilomelane  are  utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  chlorine, 
and  for  bleaching,  deodorizing,  and  disinfecting  purposes.  For  this 
purpose  the  ore  must  be  very  pure  and  free  from  iron,  lime  carbonates, 
and  alkalies.  It  is  also  utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  bromine. 

In  glass  manufacture  the  manganese  is  used  to  accomplish  two 
different  results:  First,  to  remove  the  green  color  caused  by  the 
presence  of  iron,  and  second,  to  impart  violet,  amber,  and  black  colors. 

According  to  Mr.  J.  D.  Weeks1  the  amount  of  manganese  actually 
used  for  other  than  strictly  metallurgical  purposes  in  the  United  States 
is  small. 

The  value  of  a  manganese  ore  depends  somewhat  upon  the  uses  to 
which  it  is  to  be  applied. 

Pyrolusite  and  psilomelane  only  are  of  value  in  the  production  of 
chlorine  as  above  noted.  These  are  rated,  as  stated  by  Penrose, 
according  to  their  percentages  of  peroxide  of  manganese  (MnO2). 
The  standard  for  the  German  ores  is  given  at  57  per  cent  MnO2  and 
70  per  cent  for  Spanish.  For  the  manufacture  of  spiegeleisen  the 
prices  are  based  on  ores  containing  not  more  than  8  per  cent  silica 
and  0.10  per  cent  phosphorus,  and  are  subject  to  deductions  as  follows: 
For  each  1  per  cent  silica  in  excess  of  8  per  cent,  15  cents  a  ton;  for 
each  0.02  per  cent  phosphorus  in  excess  of  0.10  per  cent,  1  cent  per 

1  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1892,  p.  178. 
NAT  MUS   99 17 


258  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

unit  of  manganese.  Settlements  are  based  on  analysis  made  on  sam- 
ples dried  at  212°,  the  percentage  of  moisture  in  samples  as  taken 
being  deducted  from  the  weight.  .  The  prices  paid  at  Bessemer,  Penn- 
sylvania in  1894,  based  on  these  percentages,  were  as  below: 


Manganese. 

Prices  per  unit. 

Iron. 

Man- 
ganese. 

Cents. 
6 
6 
6 
6 

Cents. 
28 
27 
26 
25 

Otherwise  expressed,  the  value  ranges  from  $5  to  $12  a  ton, 
according  to  quality  and  condition  of  the  market. 

It  is  probable  that  the  total  consumption  in  pottery  and  glass  manu- 
facture does  not  exceed  500  tons  a  year,  of  which  about  two-thirds  is 
used  in  glass  making.  The  amount  used  in  bromine  manufacture  and 
the  other  uses  enumerated  probably  amounts  to  another  500  tons. 
The  remainder  is  used  in  connection  with  iron  and  steel  manufacture, 
chiefly  in  the  production  of  steel  and  a  pig  iron  containing  considera- 
ble manganese  for  use  in  cast-iron  car  Avheels.  In  the  crucible  process 
of  steel  manufacture  manganese  is  charged  into  the  pots,  either  as  an 
ore  at  the  time  of  charging  the  pots  or  it  is  added  as  spiegeleisen  or 
ferromanganese  at  the  time  of  charging  or  during  the  melting,  usually 
toward  the  close  of  the  melting,  so  as  to  prevent  too  great  a  loss  of 
manganese  by  oxidation.  In  the  bessemer  and  open-hearth  process 
the  manganese  is  added  as  spiegeleisen  or  ferromanganese  at  or  near 
the  close  of  the  process,  just  before  the  casting  of  the  metal  into 
ingots. 

It  has  been  found  in  recent  years  that  a  chilled  cast-iron  car  wheel 
containing  a  percentage  of  manganese  is  much  tougher,  stronger,  and 
wears  better  than  when  manganese  is  absent.  For  this  reason  large 
amounts  of  manganif erous  iron  ores  are  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
Lake  Superior  pig  iron  intended  for  casting  into  chilled  cast-iron  car 
wheels.  (See  also  The  Mineral  Industry,  VIII,  p.  419.) 

V.     CARBONATES. 

1.  CALCIUM  CARBONATE. 

CALCITE,  CALC  SPAR,  ICELAND  SPAR. — These  are  the  names  given  to 
the  variety  of  calcium  carbonate  crystallizing  in  the  rhombohedral 
division  of  the  hexagonal  system.  The  mineral  occurs  under  a  great 
variety  of  crystalline  forms,  which  are  often  extremely  perplexing  to 
any  but  an  expert  mineralogist.  The  chief  distinguishing  characteris- 
tics of  the  mineral  are  (1)  its  pronounced  cleavage,  whereby  it  splits 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899—Merrill. 


PLATE  12. 


Fig.  i. 


\Basalt  ^[Gravel 

Fits.  2. 


Fig.  3. 


XTheCaveD 


VIEWS  SHOWING  OCCURRENCE  OF  CALCITE  IN  ICELAND. 

After  Thoroddsen. 


THE    NOIOIETALLIC    MINEBALS.  259 

up  into  rhombohedral  forms,  with  smooth,  lustrous  faces,  and  (2)  its 
doubly  refracting  property,  which  is  such  that  when  looked  through 
in  the  direction  of  either  cleavage  surfaces  it  gives  a  double  image. 
(Specimen  No.  53673,  U.S.N.M.)  It  is  to  this  property,  accompanied 
with  its  transparency,  that  the  mineral,  as  a  crystallized  compound, 
owes  its  chief  value,  though  as  a  constituent  of  the  rock  limestone  it 
is  applied  to  a  great  variety  of  industrial  purposes.  When  not  suffi- 
ciently transparent  for  observing  its  doubly  refracting  properties  the 
mineral  is  readily  distinguished  by  its  hardness  (3  of  Dana's  Scale)  and 
its  easy  solubility,  with  brisk  effervescence,  in  cold -dilute  acid.  This 
last  is  likewise  a  characteristic  of  aragonite,  from  which  it  can  be  dis- 
tinguished by  its  lower  specific  gravity  (2.65  to  2. 75)  and  its  cleavage. 
Calcium  carbonate,  owing  to  its  ready  solubility  in  terrestrial  waters, 
is  one  of  the  most  common  and  widely  disseminated  of  compounds. 
Only  the  form  known  as  double  spar,  or  Iceland  spar,  need  here  be 
considered. 

Origin  and  mode  of  occurrence. — Calc  spar  is  invariably  a  secondary 
mineral  occurring  as  a  deposit  from  solution  in  cracks,  pockets,  and 
crevices  in  rocks  of  all  kinds  and  all  ages.  The  variety  used  for 
optical  purposes  differs  from  the  rhombohedral  cleavage  masses  found 
in  innumerable  localities  only  in  its  transparency  and  freedom  from 
flaws  and  impurities  (Specimen  No.  53673,  U.S.N.M.).  The  chief 
commercial  source  of  the  mineral  has  for  many  years  been  Iceland, 
whence  has  arisen  the  term  Iceland  spar,  so  often  applied.  For  the 
account  of  the  occurrences  of  the  mineral  at  this  locality,  as  given 
below,  we  are  indebted  mainly  to  Th.  Thoroddsen.1  The  quarry  is 
described  as  situated  on  an  evenly  sloping  mountain  side  at  Reydar- 
fjorden,  about  100  meters  above  the  level  of  the  ocean  and  a  little  east 
of  the  Helgustadir  farm.  (See  Plate  12.) 

The  veins  of  spar  are  in  basalt  and  at  this  spot  have  been  laid  bare 
through  the  erosive  action  of  a  small  stream  called  the  "Silfurlakur," 
the  Icelandic  name  of  the  spar  being  "  Silf urberg. "  The  quarry  open- 
ing is  on  the  western  side  of  this  brook,  and  at  date  of  writing  was 
some  72  feet  long  by  36  feet  wide  (see  fig.  1).  In  the  bottom  and 
sides  of  this  opening  the  calc-spar  is  to  be  seen  in  the  form  of  numer- 
ous interlocking,  veins,  ramifying  through  the  basalt  in  every  direction 
and  of  very  irregular  length  and  width,  the  veins  pinching  out  or 
opening  up  very  abruptly.  In  fig.  2  of  plate  is  shown  an  area  of 
some  40  square  feet  of  the  basaltic  wall  rock,  illustrating  this  feature 
of  the  occurrence.  Fig.  3  of  the  same  plate  shows  the  largest  and 
most  conspicuous  vein,  the  smaller  having  been  omitted  in  the  sketch. 
The  high  cliff's  on  the  north  side  of  the  quarry  are  poorer  in  calc-spar 
veins,  the  largest  dipping  underneath  at  an  angle  of  about  40°. 

1  Geologiska  Foreningens  I,  Stockholm  Forhandlingar,  XII,  1890,  pp.  247-254. 


260  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

A  comparatively  small  proportion  of  the  calc-spar  as  found  is  fit  for 
optical  purposes.  That  on  the  immediate  surface  is,  as  a  rule,  lacking 
in  transparency.  Many  of  the  masses,  owing  presumably  to  the 
development  of  incipient  fractures  along  cleavage  lines,  show  internal, 
iridescent,  rainbow  hues,  such  are  known  locally  as  "litsteinar" 
(lightstones).  Others  are  penetrated  by  fine,  tube-like  cavities,  either 
empty  or  filled  with  clay,  and  still  others  contain  cavities,  sometimes 
sufficiently  large  to  be  visible  to  the  unaided  eye,  filled  with  water  and 
a  moving  bubble.  The  most  desirable  material  occurs  in  compara- 
tively small  masses  imbedded  in  a  red-gray  clay,  filling  the  veinlike 
interspaces  in  the  bottom  of  the  pit.  The  nontransparent  variety, 
always  greatly  in  excess,  occurs  in  cleavable  masses  and  imperfectly 
developed  rhombohedral,  sometimes  1  to  2  feet  in  diameter,  associated 
with  stilbite. 

Calc-spar  has  been  exported  in  small  quantities  from  Iceland  since 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  though  the  business  was  not 
conducted  with  any  degree  of  regularity  before  the  middle  of  the 
present  century,  prior  to  that  time  everyone  taking  what  he  liked 
or  could  obtain,  asking  no  one's  permission.  About  the  time  Bartholin 
discovered  the  valuable  optical  properties  of  the  mineral  (in  1669),  the 
royal  parliament  under  Frederick  III  granted  the  necessary  permission 
for  its  extraction.1  It  was  not,  however,  until  1850  that  systematic 
work  was  begun,  when  a  merchant  by  name  of  T.  F.  Thomsen,  at 
Seydisf jord,  obtained  permission  of  the  owner  of  some  three-fourths 
the  property  (the  pastor  Th.  Erlendsson)  to  work  the  same.  The 
quarried  material  was  then  transported  on  horseback  to  the  North- 
fjord,  and  thence  to  Seydisf  jord  by  water.  In  1854  the  factor  H.  H. 
Svendsen,  from  Eskif  jord,  leased  the  pastor's  three-fourths  right  for  10 
rigsdalers  a  year,  and  the  remaining  fourth,  belonging  to  the  Govern- 
ment, for  5  rigsdalers.  Svendsen  worked  the  mine  successfully  up  to 
1862,  when  one  Tullinius,  at  Eskif  jord,  purchased  the  pastor's  three- 
fourths  and  leased  the  Government's  share  for  five  years,  paying  there- 
for the  sum  of  100  rigsdalers  [about  $14  or  $15].  This  lease  was 
renewed  for  four  years  longer  at  the  rate  of  5  rigsdalers  per  year 
and  for  the  year  1872  at  the  rate  of  100  rigsdalers,  when  the  entire 
property  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Government  in  .consideration  of 
the  payment  of  16,000  kroner  [about  $3,800].  From  that  time  until 
1882  the  mine  remained  idle,  when  operations  were  once  more  renewed, 
though  not  on  an  extensive  scale,  owing,  presumably  in  part,  to  the 
fact  that  Tullinius,  the  last  year  he  rented  the  mine,  had  taken  out  a 
sufiicient  quantity  to  meet  all  the  needs  of  the  market.  Over  300 
tons  of  the  ordinary  type  of  the  spar  is  stated  to  have  been  sent  to 
England  and  sold  to  "factory  owners"  (Fabrikanter)  at  about  30 
kroner  a  ton,  though  to  what  use  it  was  put  is  not  stated. 

1  Laws  of  Iceland,  I,  1668,  pp.  321,  322. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  261 

Aside  from  the  locality  at  Helgustadir,  calc-spar  in  quantity  and 
quality  for  optical  purposes  is  known  to  occur  only  at  Djupifjordur, 
in  West  Iceland. 

The  Reydharf  jordhr  localh"y  was  also  visited  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Hoskyns- 
Abrahall  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1889,  and  whose  account1  is 
reproduced  in  part  below. 

Sudhrmula  Sysla,  of  which  Reydharf  jordhr,  the  largest,  bisects  the 
east  coast  of  Iceland,  are  cut  out  of  an  immense  plateau,  formed  of 
horizontal  sheets  of  volcanic  rock,  chiefly  trachyte,  between  3,000  and 
4,000  feet  high.  This  has  been  subsequently  eroded  into  sharp,  bare 
ridges  with  immense  cliffs  or  steep  slopes  falling  from  them,  parted 
by  torrent  valleys  and  fjords,  the  greater  part  of  the  district  not  reach- 
ing the  present  snow  line.  It  is  on  one  of  these  slopes,  which  slants 
down  at  an  angle  of  forty  degrees  into  Reydharf  jordhr,  that  the  unique 
quarry  of  Iceland  spar  is  found.  It  consists  of  a  cavity  in  the  rock 
about  12  by  5  yards  and  some  10  feet  high,  originally  filled  almost 
entirely,  but  now  only  lined,  with  immense  crystals,  which  are  fitted  so 
closely  together  as  to  form  a  compact  mass,  like  a  lump  of  sugar,  with 
grains  averaging  10  inches  across.  % 

The  Syslurnadhur,2  Jon  Asmundarson  Johnsen,  had  given  me  leave 
to  examine  the  cave  and  take  as  many  specimens  as  I  liked,  but  the 
permission  was  not  of  very  much  use,  there  being  about  5  feet  of 
water  nearly  all  over  the  bottom;  and  such  specimens  as  1  did  get 
involved  doing  severe  penance  in  walking  barefoot  over  sharp  crystals. 
The  floor  is  covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  very  fine  chocolate-brown  mud, 
which  sticks  as  tenaciously  to  one's  feet  as  to  the  crystals.  I  had  to 
resort  to  tooth  powder  to  get  the  latter  clean,  though  the  great  heaps 
of  spar  which  lie  on  the  path  side  and  in  front  of  the  mouth  of  the 
cave  were  all  washed  by  the  rain  till  they  were  as  bright  and  trans- 
parent as  ice.  The  water  now  running  through  the  cave  is  incapable 
of  forming  calc-spar.  It  appears,  like  the  surrounding  rocks,  to  con- 
tain an  excess  of  silicic  acid,  and  either  etches  the  surface  of  the  spar 
wherever  it  comes  in  contact  with  it,  or  covers  it  with  stilbite,  the 
characteristic  zeolite  of  the  doleritic  and  basaltic  rocks  in  Iceland.  The 
rock  in  which  the  cave  is  formed  is  a  dolerite,  and  darker  in  color  than 
the  surrounding  phonolite,  which  is  traversed  by  veins  of  black  and 
green  pitchstone.  In  the  neighborhood  df  the  spar  it  is  disintegrated, 
colored  slightly  with  green  earth,  and  full  of  microscopic  crystals  of 
stilbite  and  calcite. 

The  quany  was  worked  till  1872  by  Herra  Tulinius,  a  Danish  mer 
chant  of  Eskif  jordhr.  The  trading  station  is  an  hour  and  a  half's  ride 
from  Helgastadhir,  the  nearest  farm  to  the  quarry.  (In  Iceland  all 
distances  are  measured  in  terms  of  the  hour's  ride,  tima,  and  the  day's 

1  Mineralogical  Magazine,  IX,  1890,  p.  179. 

2  Magistrate,  public  notary,  receiver  of  taxes,  liquidator,  auctioneer,  etc. 


262  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

journey,  leidh.)  The  Icelandic  government  in  that  year  bought  a  quarter 
share  of  the  quarry,  and  stopped  the  work,  so  that  Tulinius  Avas  glad 
to  sell  them  the  rest.  Five  years  ago  an  attempt  was  made  to  reopen 
it.  One  man  was  employed,  and  after  spending  about  a  week  in  the 
cave  he  succeeded  in  pumping  out  the  water  and  extracting  a  fine 
block  of  clear  spar,  which  was  sold  at  a  high  price  in  London.  Here, 
however,  the  work  dropped,  and  in  consequence  Tulinius  remains  the 
proprietor  of  the  whole  of  the  calc  spar  that  is  available  for  physical 
work,  and  naturally  sells  it  at  a  price  that  is  calculated  to  make  his 
very  moderate  stock  last  for  a  considerable  time.1  The  reason  of  the 
Icelandic  government  is  not  very  clear,  but  as  the  working  of  the  quarry 
is,  perhaps  from  patriotic  motives,  delegated  to  Herr  Gunnarsson,  an 
Icelandic  merchant,  whose  nearest  warehouse  is  at  Seydhisf  jordhr,  a 
good  day's  ride  from  Eskifjordhr,  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the 
buried  treasure  will  soon  see  the  light.  Perhaps,  too,  the  specimens 
of  the  best  quality  have  been  already  removed.  Certainly  clear  pieces 
do  not  constitute  the  great  mass  of  the  spar,  and  if  M.  Labonne,  who 
visited  the  cave  in  May,  1877  (the  water  being  at  that  time  frozen), 
could  extract  it  "en  assez  grande  abondance" 2  he  did  not  leave  much 
exposed  for  me  to  take  two  years  later.  M.  Labonne  speaks  in  his 
note  of  ramifications  into  the  environing  rock  which  have  never  been 
worked  and  suggests  that  this  investigation  might  increase  the  impor- 
tance of  the  quarry.  Such  ramifications  as  I  could  see  were  on  a  very 
small  scale.  On  the  other  hand,  the  thickness  of  the  deposit  has  not 
yet  been  ascertained,  but  it  is  said  that  the  best  pieces  occurred  near 
the  surface.  For  the  most  part  the  calcite  is  rendered  semiopaque  by 
innumerable  cracks,  generally  following  the  gliding  and  cleavage  planes 
( —  i  R  and  R),  and  apparently  produced  by  the  pressure  of  the  spar 
itself,  but  sometimes  following  the  conchoidal  fracture.  Remarkable 
examples  of  the  latter  kind  are  in  the  British  Museum. 

CHALK. — This  is  the  name  given  to  a  white,  somewhat  loosely  coherent 
variety  of  limestone  composed  of  the  finely  comminuted  shells  of  marine 
mollusks,  among  which  microscopic  forms  known  as  foraminifera  are 
abundant.  The  older  text-books  gave  one  to  understand  that  f  oraminif- 
eral  remains  constituted  the  main  mass  of  the  rock,  but  the  researches 
of  Sorby3  showed  that  fully  one-half  the  material  was  finely  com- 
minuted shallow-water  fortns,  such  as  inoceramus,  pecten,  ostrea, 
sponge  spicules,  and  echinoderms. 

Chalk  belongs  to  the  Cretaceous  era,  occurring  in  beds  of  varying 
thickness,  alternating  with  shales,  sands,  and  clays,  and  often  including 
numerous  nodules  of  a  dark  chalcedonic  silica  to  which  the  name 

1  It  is  sold  by  Thor  E.  Tulinius,  Slotsholmsgade  16,  Copenhagen  K. 

"Comptes  Rendus,  CV.,  1887,  p.  1144. 

3  Address  to  Geological  Society  of  London,  February,  1879. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


268 


flint  is  given.  Though  a  common  rock  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  it  is 
known  to  American  readers  mainly  for  its  occurrence  in  the  form  of 
high  cliffs  along  the  English  coast,  as  near  Dover.  Until  within  a 
few  years  little  true  chalk  was  known  to  exist  within  the  limits  of 
the  United  States.  According  to  Mr.  R.  T.  Hill 1  there  are,  however, 
extensive  beds,  sometimes  500  feet  in  thickness,  extending  throughout 
the  entire  length  of  Texas,  from  the  Red  River  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and 
northward  into  New  Mexico,  Kansas,"  and  Arkansas.  These  chalks  in 
many  instances  so  closely  simulate  the  English  product,  both  in  phys- 
ical properties  and  chemical  composition,  as  to  be  adaptable  to  the  same 
economic  purposes.  The  following  analyses  from  the  report  above 
alluded  to  serve  to  show  the  comparative  composition: 


Constituents. 

Lower 
Cretace- 
ous 
chalk, 
Burnet 
County, 
Texas. 

Upper 
Cretace- 
ous 
chalk, 
Rocky 
Comfort, 
Arkan- 
sas. 

White 
Cliff 
chalk, 
Little 
River, 
Arkan- 
sas. 

White 
chalk  of 
Shore- 
ham,  Sus- 
sex, Eng- 
land. 

Gray 
chalk, 
Folk- 
stone, 
England. 

92  42 

88  48 

94  18 

98  40 

94  09 

Carbonate  of  magnesia  
Silica  and  insoluble  silicates 

1.38 
1  59 

Trace. 

9  77 

1.37 
3  49 

.08 
1  10 

.31 

3  61 

Ferric  oxide  and  alumina  
Phosphoric  acid,  alumina,  and  loss  

.41 

1.25 

1.41 

Trace. 

1  29 

Water  

.18 

.55 

.70 

99.98 

99.50 

101 

100 

100 

Chalk  is  used  as  a  fertilizer,  either  in  its  crude  form  or  burnt,  in  the 
manufacture  of  whiting  (Specimen  No.  26499,  from  Trego  County, 
Kansas),  in  the  form  of  hard  lumps  by  carpenters  and  other  mechanics, 
and  in  the  manufacture  of  crayons  (Specimen  No.  62063,  U.S.N.M.). 
Washed,  chalk  (Specimen  No.  62085,  U.S.N.M.)  is  used  to  give  body  to 
wall  paper;  as  a  whitewash  for  ceilings;  as  a  thin  coating  on  wood 
designed  for  gilding,  being  for  this  purpose  mixed  with  glue;  to  vary 
the  shades  of  gray  in  water-color  paints,  and  as  a  polishing  powder  for 
metals. 

Concerning  the  importation  and  uses  of  chalk,  Williams  states:2 

Paris  white  is  the  name  given  to  the  white  coloring  substance  prepared  by  grinding 
cliffstone,  a  variety  of  chalk  or  limestone  which  is  as  hard  as  some  building  stones  and 
has  a  greater  specific  gravity  than  the  ordinary  chalk.  It  is  imported  from  Hull,  Eng- 
land, and  sells  at  from  $2  to  $4  per  ton  ex  vessel,  according  to  freight  rates  from  Hull. 
During  the  calendar  year  1884  3,905£  tons  of  cliffstone  were  imported  at  New  York. 

The  paris  white  made  in  this  country  is  sold  at  from  $1.10  to  $1.25  per  hundred- 
weight, in  casks,  according  to  make  and  quality.  The  paris  white  made  in  England, 
of  which  508,185  pounds  were  imported  at  New  York  during  the  calendar  year  1884, 


1  Annual  Report  of  the  Arkansas  Geological  Survey,  II,  1888. 

2  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1883-84,  p.  930. 


254  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,    1899. 

sells  at  from  $1.25  to  $1.30  per  hundredweight.  There  in  apparently  no  difference  in 
quality  between  the  cliffstone  ground  in  this  country  and  the  imported  paris  white. 
Its  principal  use  is  in  the  preparation  of  kalsomine.  It  is  also  employed  in  the 
manufacture  of  rubber,  oilcloth,  wall  papers,  and  fancy  glazed  papers.  * 

Until  recently  all  of  the  whiting  used  in  this  country  was  ground  from  chalk  imported 
from  Hull,  P^ngland.  [See  Specimen  No.  36013,  U.S.N.M.]  The  annual  production 
of  whiting  is  about  300,000  barrels.  The  price  varies,  according  to  the  quality,  from 
35  to  90  cents  per  hundredweight.  There  are  four  grades  made,  as  follows:  Common 
whiting,  worth  from  35  to  40  cents;  gilders'  whiting,  60  to  65  cents;  extra  gilders' 
whiting,  70  to  75  cents;  American  paris  white,  80  to  85  cents.  The  uses  of  whiting 
are  about  the  same  as  paris  white,  which  it  closely  resembles. 

The  material,  as  should  be  stated,  is  brought  mainly  as  ballast  from  England  and 
France. 

LIMESTONES;  MORTARS;  AND  CEMENTS. — Pure  limestone  or  calcium 
carbonate  is  a  compound  of  calcium  oxide  and  carbonic  acid  in  the 
proportion  of  56  parts  of  lime  (CaO)  to  44  parts  of  the  acid  (CO2). 
In  its  crystalline  form  as  exemplified  in  some  of  our  white  marbles 
the  rock  is  therefore  but  an  aggregate  of  imperfectly  outlined  calcite 
crvstals,  or,  otherwise  expressed,  is  a  crystalline  granular  aggregate  of 
calcite.  In  this  "form  the  rock  is  white  or  colorless,  sufficiently  soft 
to  be  cut  with  a  knife,  and  dissolves  with  brisk  effervescence  when 
treated  with  dilute  hydrochloric  or  nitric  acid.  Sulphuric  acid  will 
not  dissolve  it  except  in  small  proportions,  since  the  exteriors  of  the 
granules  become  converted  shortly  into  insoluble  calcium  sulphate 
(gypsum),  which  protects  them  from  further  attack. 

As  a  constituent  of  the  earth's  crust,  however,  absolutely  pure  lime- 
stone is  practically  unknown,  all  being  contaminated  with  more  or  less 
foreign  material,  either  in  the  form  of  chemically  combined  or  mechan- 
ically admixed  impurities.  Of  the  chemically  combined  impurities  the 
most  common  is  magnesia  (MgO),  which  replaces  the  lime  (CaO)  in  all 
proportions  up  to  21.7  per  cent,  when  the  rock  becomes  a  dolomite. 
This  in  its  pure  state  can  readily  be  distinguished  from  limestone  by 
its  greater  hardness  and  in  its  not  effervescing  when  treated  with  cold 
dilute  acid.  (See  p.  274.)  It  dissolves  with  effervescence  in  hot  acids, 
as  does  limestone.  As  above  noted,  all  stages  of  replacement  exist, 
the  name  magnesian  or  dolomitic  limestone  being  applied  to  those  in 
which  the  magnesia  exists  in  smaller  proportions  than  that  above 
given  (21.7  per  cent).  Iron  in  the  form  of  protoxide  (FeO)  may  also 
replace  a  part  of  the  lime.  Of  the  mechanically  admixed  impurities 
silica  in  the  form  of  quartz  sand  or  various  more  or  less  decomposed 
silicate  minerals,  clayey  and  carbonaceous  matter,  together  with  iron 
oxides,  are  the  more  abundant.  These  exist  in  all  proportions,  giving 
rise  to  what  are  known  as  siliceous,  aluminous  or  clayey,  carbonaceous, 
and  ferruginous  limestones.  Phosphatic  material  may  exist  in  vary- 
ing proportions,  forming  gradations  from  phosphatic  limestones  to 
true  phosphates. 

Limestones  are  sedimentary  rocks  formed  mainly  through  the  depo- 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEEALS.  265 

sition  of  calcareous  sediments  on  sea  bottoms;  many  beds,  however,  as 
the  oolitic  limestones,  show  unmistakable  evidences  of  true  chemical 
precipitation.  They  are  in  all  cases  eminently  stratified  rocks,  though 
the  evidences  of  stratification  may  not  be  evident  in  the  small  speci- 
men exhibited  in  museum  collections.  Varietal  names  other  than 
those  mentioned  above  are  given  and  which  are  dependent  upon  struc- 
tural features  or  other  peculiarities.  A  shaly  limestone  is  one  partak- 
ing of  the  nature  of  shale.  Chalk  is  a  fine  pulverulent  limestone 
composed  of  shells  in  a  finely  comminuted  condition  and  very  many 
minute  foraminifera.  (See  p.  262.)  The  name  chalky  limestone  is  fre- 
quently given  to  an  earthy  limestone  resembling  chalk.  Marl  is  an 
impure  earthy  form,  often  containing  many  shells,  hence  called  shell 
marl.  An  oolitic  limestone1  is  one  made  up  of  small  rounded  pellets 
like  the  roe  of  a  fish.  The  name  marble  is  given  to  any  calcareous  or 
even  serpentinous  rock  possessing  sufficient  beauty  to  be  utilized  for 
ornamental  purposes. 

Uses. — Aside  from  their  uses  as  building  materials,  lithographic 
purposes,  etc.,  as  described  elsewhere,  limestones  are  utilized  for  a 
considerable  variet}"  of  purposes,  the  more  important  being  that  of 
the  manufacture  of  mortars  and  cements.  Their  adaptability  to  this 
purpose  is  due  to  the  fact  that  when  heated  to  a  temperature  of  1,000° 
F.  they  gradually  lose  the  carbonic  acid,  becoming  converted  into 
anhydrous  calcium  oxide  (CaO),  or  quicklime,  as  it  is  popularly  called; 
and  further,  that  this  quicklime  when  brought  in  contact  with  water 
and  atmospheric  air  greedily  combines  with,  first,  the  water,  forming 
hydrous  calcium  oxide  (CaOH2O),  and  on  drying  once  more  with  the 
carbonic  acid  of  the  air,  forming  a  more  or  less  hyd rated  calcium  car- 
bonate. In  the  process  of  combining  with  water  the  burnt  lime  (CaO) 
gives  off  a  large  amount  of  heat,  swells  to  nearly  twice  its  former 
bulk,  and  falls  away  to  a  loose,  white  powder.  This  when  mixed  with 
siliceous  sand  forms  the  common  mortar  of  the  bricklayers,  or,  if  with 
sand  and  hair,  the  plaster  for  the  interior  walls  of  houses.  (Specimens 
Nos.  63144, 63145,  U.S.N.M.,fromVermont;No.  53195,U.S.N.M.,  from 
Maine,  and  No.  53168,  from  Pennsylvania,  show  the  character  of  the 
rocks  commonly  used  for  these  purposes.)  Quicklime  formed  from 
fairly  pure  calcium  carbonate  sets  or  hardens  after  but  a  few  days' 
exposure,  the  induration,  it  is  stated,  being  due  in  part  to  crystallization. 
The  less  pure  forms  of  limestone,  notably  those  which  contain  upwards 
of  10  per  cent  of  aluminous  silicates  (clayey  matter),  furnish,  when 
burned,  a  quicklime  which  slakes  much  more  slowly — so  slowly,  in  fact, 
that  it  is  not  infrequently  necessary  to  crush  to  powder  after  burning. 
These  same  quicklimes  when  slaked  are  further  differentiated  from 
those  already  described  by  their  property  of  setting  (as  the  process  of 
induration  is  called)  under  water.  Hence  they  are  known  as  hydraulic 
limes,  and  the  rocks  from  which  they  are  made  as  hydraulic  limestones. 


266  REPOKT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

Their  property  of  induration  out  of  contact  with  the  air  is  assumed 
to  be  due  to  the  formation  of  calcium  and  aluminum  silicates.  Inas- 
much as  these  silicates  are  practically  insoluble  in  water,  -it  follows  that 
quite  aside  from  their  greater  strength  and  tenacity  they  are  also  more 
durable;  indeed,  there  seems  no  practical  limit  to  the  endurance  of 
a  good  hydraulic  cement,  its  hardness  increasing  almost  constantly 
in  connection  with  its  antiquity.  Certain  stones  contain  the  desired 
admixture  of  lime  and  clayey  matter  in  just  the  right  proportion  for 
making  hydraulic  cement.  In  the  majority  of  cases,  however,  it  has 
been  found  that  a  higher  grade,  stronger  and  more  enduring  material, 
can  be  made  by  mixing  in  definite  proportions,  determined  by  experi- 
ment, the  necessary  constituents  obtained,  it  may  be,  from  widely  sep- 
arated localities.  The  exact  relationship  Existing  between  composition 
and  adaptability  to  lime  making  does  not  seem  as  yet  to  be  fully  worked 
out.  As  is  well  known,  the  pure  white  crystalline  varieties  yield  a 
quicklime  inferior  to  the  softer  blue-gray,  less  metamorphosed  varie- 
ties. Nevertheless  there  are  certain  distinctive  qualities,  due  to  the 
presence  and  character  of  impurities,  which  led  Gen.  Q.  A.  Gillmore 
to  adopt  the  following  classification: 

( 1 )  The  common  or  fat  limes,  containing,  as  a  rule,  less  than  10  per  cent  of  impurities. 

(2)  The  poor  or  meager  limes,  containing  free  silica  (sand)  and  other  impurities  in 

amounts  varying  between  10  per  cent  and  25  per  cent. 

(3)  The  hydraulic  limes,  which  contain  from  30  to  35  per  cent  of  various  impurities. 

(4)  The  hydraulic  cements,  which  may  contain  as  much  as  60  per  cent  of  impurities 

of  various  kinds. 

As  above  noted  most  cements  are  manufactured  from  a  variety  of 
materials,  and  their  consideration  belongs  therefore  more  properly  to 
technology.  Nevertheless  it  has  been  thought  worth  the  while  here 
to  give  in  brief  the  matter  below  relative  to  a  few  of  the  more  impor- 
tant and  well-known  varieties  now  manufactured. 

PORTLAND  CEMENT. — This  takes  its  name  from  a  resemblance  of  the 
hardened  material  to  the  well-known  oolitic  limestone  of  the  island  of 
Portland  in  the  English  Channel.  As  originally  made  on  the  banks 
of  the  Thames  and  Medway  it  consists  of  admixtures  of  chalk  and  clay 
dredged  from  the  river  bottoms,  in  the  proportions  of  three  volumes 
of  the  former  to  one  of  the  latter,  though  these  proportions  may  vary 
according  to  the  purity  of  the  chalk.  These  materials  are  mixed  with 
water,  compressed  into  cakes,  dried  and  calcined,  after  which  it  is 
ground  to  a  fine  powder  and  is  ready  for  use.  The  following  analyses 
from  Heath's  Manual  of  Lime  and  Cement  will  serve  to  show  the  vary- 
ing composition  of  the  chalk  and  clay  from  the  English  deposits. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


267 


Constituents. 

Upper  chalk. 

Gray  chalk. 

Clay. 

97  90  to  98  60 

87  35  to  96  52 

Silica                                       do 

.66          1.59 

1.67          6.84 

55  to  70 

Magnesium  carbonate  do  

.10            .21 

.10            .50 

35             74 

38             46 

3       15 

Alumina  do  

1.14            .93 
42          4  29 

11       24 
3         4 

Lime  do  

4         8 
1         2 

4         5 

It  is  stated  that  the  presence  of  more  than  very  small  quantities  of 
sand,  iron  oxides,  or  vegetable  matter  in  the  clay  is  detrimental.  A 
good  cement  mud  before  burning  may  contain  from  68  to  78  per  cent 
of  calcium  carbonate,  21  to  15  per  cent  of  silica,  and  from  10  to  7  per 
cent  of  alumina. 

The  following  analyses  from  the  same  source  as  the  above  serve  to 
show  (I)  the  composition  of  the  clay;  (II)  the  mixed  clay  and  chalk  or 
"slurry,"  as  it  is  called,  and  (III)  the  cement  powder  prepared  from 
the  same: 


Constituents. 

I. 
Clay. 

II. 
Slurry. 

III. 

Cement. 

Lime 

62  13 

Calcium  sulphate  

2.13 

2  01 

09  97 

Silica  (soluble)  

54.14 

11.77 

20.  45 

14  68 

4  45 

8  05 

Magnesium  carbonate  
Magnesia  

4.48 

2.87 

1.48 

Iron  oxide  
Sand  

7.76 

.87 

2.13 
1.24 

4.37 
.98 

Water 

15  03 

7  59 

Several  brands  of  Portland  cement  are  manufactured  in  America, 
usually  from  a  mixture  of  materials,  the  proportions  of  which  have 
been  worked  out  by  experiment.  At  the  Coplay  Cement  Works,  in 
Lehigh  County,  Pennsylvania,  a  blue-gray  crystalline  limestone  and 
dark  gray  more  siliceous  variety  are  ground  and  mixed  into  the  desired 
proportions,  molded  into  a  brick,  and  burnt  to  the  condition  of  a 
slag.  The  material  is  then  ground  to  a  powder  and  forms  the  cement. 
Through  the  courtesy  of  the  manager,  the  Museum  collections  contain 
samples  of  the  crude  and  manufactured  materials,  as  follows:  Lime- 
stone (Specimen  No.  53541,  U.S.N.M.);  cement  rock  (No.  53542, 
U.S.N.M.).  Composition  formed  by  admixing  the  two  rocks  (No. 
53543,  U.S.N.M.);  and  the  clinker  (No.  53544,  U.S.N.M.)  obtained  by 


268 


KEPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


burning  the  composition.    The  chemical  composition  of  the  sampl< 
as  given  are  as  follows: 


Constituents. 

Limestone. 

Cement 
rock. 

Compound 
of 
the  two. 

Clinker. 

2.10 

15.22 

13.22 

22.74 

}             .84 

4.24 

5.20 

10.50 

Calcium  carbonate  (CaCO3)... 
Magnesian  carbonate  (MgCO3) 

96.17 
Trace. 

69.88 
4.60 

77.00 
4.20 

C&O61.82 
MgO2.05 

An  impure  limestone,  forming  a  portion  of  the  water-lime  group  of 
the  Upper  Silurian  formations  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  forms  a  "natural 
cement"  rock  which  is  utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  the  so-called 
Buffalo  Portland  cement.1 

The  so-called  Rosendale  cement  is-  made  from  the  tentaculite  or 
water  limestones  of  the  Lower  Helderburg  group  as  developed  in 
the  township  of  Rosendale,  Ulster  County,  New  York.  According 
to  Darton2  there  are  two  cement  beds  in  the  Rosendale- Whiteport 
region,  at  Rosendale  the  lower  bed  or  dark  cement  averaging  some 
21  feet  in  thickness  and  the  upper  or  light  cement  11  feet,  with  14 
to  15  feet  of  water-lime  intervening.  In  the  region  just  south  of 
Whiteport  the  upper  white  cement  beds  have  a  thickness  of  12  feet 
and  the  lower  or  gray  cement  of  18  feet,  with  19  to  20  feet  of  water- 
lime  beds  between  them.  The  underlying  formation  is  quartzite. 
The  method  of  mining  the  material  from  the  two  beds,  as  well  as 
their  inclination  to  the  horizon,  is  shown  in  Plate  13.  (See  Specimens, 
Nos.  63062-63086,  U.S.  KM.,  from  Ulster,  Onondaga,  and  Erie 
Counties,  New  York;  Nos.  63090-63099,  U.S.N.M.,  Cumberland  and 
Hancock,  Maryland;  No.  53173,  from  Lisbon,  Ohio,  and  No.  53193, 
from  Sandusky,  Ohio). 

ROMAN  CEMENT. — The  original  Roman  cement  appears  to  have  been 
made  from  an  admixture  of  volcanic  ash  or  sand  (pozzuolana,  pepe- 
rino,  trass,  etc.)  and  lime,  the  proportions  varying  almost  indefinitely 
according  to  the  character  of  the  ash.  The  English  Roman  cement  is 
made  by  calcining  septarian  nodules  dredged  up  from  the  bottoms  of 
Chichester  Harbor  and  off  the  coast  of  Hampshire,  and  from  similar 
nodules  obtained  from  the  Whitby  shale  beds  of  the  Lias  formations 
in  Yorkshire  and  elsewhere.  The  following  analysis  of  the  cement 
stone  from  Sheppey,  near  South  End,  will  serve  to  show  the  character 
of  the  material: 


dement  Rock  and  Gypsum  Deposits  in  Buffalo.    J.  Pohlman.    Transactions  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVII,  1889,  p.  250. 
2  Report  of  the  State  Geologist  of  New  York,  1, 1893. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1  899.— Merrill. 


PLATE  13. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  269 

Carbonate  of  lime 64. 00 

Silica 17.  75 

Alumina 6.  75 

Magnesia 50 

Oxide  of  iron 6. 00 

Oxide  of  manganese 1. 00 

Water 3.00 

Loss...  1.00 


100.00 

The  names  concrete  and  beton  are  applied  to  admixtures  of  mortar, 
hydraulic  or  otherwise,  and  such  coarse  materials  as  sand,  gravel, 
fragments  of  shells,  tiles,  bricks,  or  stone.  According  to  Gillmore  the 
matrix  of  the  beton  proper  is  a  hydraulic  cement,  while  that  of  the 
concrete  is  nonhydraulic.  The  terms  are,  however,  now  used  almost 
S}7nonymously. 

Aside  from  their  uses  as  above  indicated  limestones  are  used  in  the 
preparation  of  lime  for  fertilizing  purposes.  For  this  purpose,  as 
before,  the  lime  carbonate  is  reduced  to  the  condition  of  oxide  by  burn- 
ing, and  then  allowed  to  become  air  slaked,  when  it  remains  in  the 
condition  of  a  fine  powder  suitable  for  direct  application  to  the  land 
as  is  the  plaster  made  from  gypsum.  A  lime  prepared  by  burning 
oyster  shells  is  utilized  in  a  similar  manner. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Out  of  the  many  hundreds  of  titles  that  might  be  given,  a  few  only  are  selected. 
Those  desiring  may  find  a  very  full  bibliography  in  a  series  of  papers  on  The  Chemi- 
cal and   Physical   Examinations  of  Portland  Cement.     Journal   of  the  American 
Chemical  Society,  XV  and  XVI.     1893-1894. 
Q.  A.  GILLMORE.     Practical  Treatise  on  Limestones,  Hydraulic  Cements,  and  Mortars. 

New  York,  1863,  333  pp. 
The  Cement  Works  on  the  Lehigh. 

Second  Pennsylvania  Geological  Survey,  Lehigh  District,  D.  D.  1875-76,  p.  59. 
HENRY  C.  E.  REID.     The  Science  and  Art  of  the  Manufacture  of  Portland  Cement 
with  Observations  on  some  of  its  Constructive  Applications. 

London,  1877. 

JOHANN  BIELENBERG.  Method  for  Utilizing  Siliceous  Earths  and  Rocks  in  the  Manu- 
facture of  Cements,  for  the  purpose  of  imparting  to  them  Hydraulic  Properties. 
(German  Patent  No.  24038,  November  28, 1882.) 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  III,  1884,  p.  110. 
U.  CUMMINGS.    Hydraulic  Cements,  Natural  and  Artificial,  their  Comparative  Values. 

Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  November,  1887. 

M.  H.  LE  CHATELIER.  Recherches  Experimental  sur  la  Constitution  des  Mortiers. 
Hydrauliques. 

Chas.  Dunod,  Paris,  1887. 
M.  A.  PROST.     Note  sur  la  Fabrication  et  les  Proprietes  des  Ciments  de  Laitier. 

Annales  des  Mines,  XVI,  1889,  p.  158. 
H.  PEARETH  BRUMELL.     Natural  and  Artificial  Cements  in  Canada. 

Science,  XXI,  1893,  p.  177. 

M.  H.  LE  CHATELIER.     Precedes  d'Essai  des  Materiaux  Hydrauliques. 
Annales  des  Mines,  IV,  1893,  p.  367. 


270  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

A.  H.  HEATH.     A  Manual  of  Lime  and  Cement. 

London,  1893,  215  pp. 
G.  R.  REDGRAVE.    Calcareous  Cements:  Their  Nature  and  Uses. 

London,  1895,  222  pp. 
URIAH  CUMMINGS.     American  Cements. 

Boston,  1898,  299,  pp. 
CHARLES  D.  JAMESON.     Portland  Cement,  its  Manufacture  and  Use. 

New  York,  1898,  192  pp. 
BERNARD  L.  GREEN.     The  Portland  Cement  Industry  of  the  World. 

(Reprinted  from  Journal  of  the  Association  of  Engineering  Societies.     XX, 
June,  1898). 

PLAYING  MARBLES.— At  Oberstein  on  the  Nahe,  Saxony,  playing 
marbles  are  made  in  great  quantities  from  limestone.  The  stone  is 
broken  into  square  blocks,  each  of  such"  size  as  to  make  a  sphere  the 
size  of  the  desired  marble.  These  cubes  are  then  thrown  into  a  mill 
consisting  of  a  flat,  horizontally  revolving  stone  with  numerous  con- 
centric grooves  or  furrows  on  its  surface.  A  block  of  oak  of  the  same 
diameter  as  the  stone  and  resting  on  the  cubes  is  then  made  to  revolve 
over  them  in  a  current  of  water,  the  cubes  being  thus  reduced  to  the 
spherical  form.  The  process  requires  but  about  fifteen  minutes. 

LITHOGRAPHIC  LIMESTONE. — For  the  purpose  of  lithography  there 
is  used  a  fine-grained  homogeneous  limestone,  breaking  with  an  imper- 
fect, shell-like  or  conchoidal  fracture,  and  as  a  rule  of  a  gray,  drab,  or 
yellowish  color.  A  good  stone  must  be  sufficiently  porous  to  absorb  the 
greasy  compound  which  holds  the  ink  and  soft  enough  to  work  readily 
under  the  engraver's  tool,  yet  not  too  soft.  It  must  be  uniform  in 
texture  throughout  and  be  free  from  all  veins  and  inequalities  of  any 
kind,  in  order  that  the  various  reagents  used  may  act  upon  all  exposed 
parts  alike.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  suitability  of  this  stone 
for  practical  purposes  depends  more  upon  its  physical  than  chemical 
qualities.  An  actual  test  of  the  material  by  a  practical  lithographer 
is  the  only  test  of  real  value  for  stones  of  this  nature.  Nevertheless  the 
analyses  given  below  are  not  without  interest  as  showing  the  variation 
in  composition  even  in  samples  from  the  same  locality. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


271 


li       I 


II 

-5^ 


£  s  K  8 


|   |   |   |   g   §   E  «   H   S   f 


II 


272  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

Localities.—  Stones  possessing  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  the  proper 
qualities  for  lithographic  purposes  have  from  time  to  time  been 
reported  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States;  from  near  Bath  and 
Stony  Stratford,  England;  Ireland;  Department  of  Indre,  France, 
and  also  Silesia,  India,  and  the  British  American  possessions.  By 
far  the  best  stone,  and  indeed  the  only  stone  which  has  as  yet  been 
found  to  satisfactorily  fill  all  the  requirements  of  the  lithographer's 
art,  and  which  is  the  one  in  general  use  to-day  wherever  the  art  is 
practiced,  is  found  at  Solenhofen,  near  Pappenheim,  on  the  Danube,  in 
Bavaria.  (Specimens  Nos.  35888  and  35706,  U.S.N.M.)  These  beds 
are  of  Upper  Jurassic  or  Kimmeridgian  age  and  form  a  mass  some 
80  feet  in  thickness,  though  naturally  not  all  portions  are  equally 
good,  or  adapted  for  the  same  kind  of  work.  The  stone  varies  both  in 
texture  and  color  in  different  parts  of  the  quarry,  but  the  prevailing 
tints  are  yellowish  or  drab.  In  the  United  States  materials  partak- 
ing of  the  nature  of  lithographic  stone  have  been  reported  from 
Yavapai  County,  Arizona  (Specimens  Nos.  62798  and  68162,  U.S.N.M.); 
Talladega  County,  Alabama;  Arkansas;  Lawrence  County,  Indiana 
(Specimen  No.  25030,  U.S.N.M.);  near  Thebes  and  Anna,  Illinois 
(Specimens  Nos.  61344  and  62570,  U.S.N.M.);  James  and  Van  Buren 
counties,  Iowa;  Hardin,  Estelle,  Kenton,  Clinton,  Rowan,  Wayne,  and 
Simpson  counties,  Kentucky  (Specimen  No.  36897,  U.S.N.M.,  from 
Simpson  County);  near  Saverton,  Rails  County,  Missouri  (Specimen 
No.  28498,  U.S.N.M.);  Clay  and  Overton  counties,  Tennessee;  Burnet 
and  San  Saba  counties,  Texas  (Specimens  Nos.  38624  and  70671, 
U.S.N.M.);  near  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  and  at  Fincastle,  Virginia. 
While,  however,  from  nearly,  if  not  quite  every  one  of  these  localities, 
it  was  possible  to  get  small  pieces  which  served  well  for  trial  purposes, 
each  and  every  one  has  failed  as  a  constant  source  of  supply  of  the 
commercial  article,  and  this  for  reasons  mainly  inherent  in  the  stone 
itself.  It  is  very  possible  that  ignorance  as  to  proper  methods  of 
quarrying  may  have  been  a  cause  of  failure  in  some  cases. 

The  Arizona  stone  is  one  of  the  most  recent  discoveries,  and  accord- 
ing to  first  reports  seems  also  the  most  promising.  Samples  of  the 
stone  submitted  to  the  writer,  as  well  as  samples  of  work  done  upon 
it,  seemed  all  that  could  be  desired  (Specimens  Nos.  62798  and  68162, 
U.S.N.M.).  It  is  stated  by  Mr.  W.  F.  Blandy  that  the  quarries  are 
situated  on  the  east  slope  of  the  Verdi  Range,  about  2  miles  south  of 
Squaw  Peak  and  at  an  elevation  of  about  1,200  feet  above  the  Verdi 
Valley,  40  miles  by  wagon  road  east  of  Prescott.  Two  quarries  have 
thus  far  been  opened  in  the  same  strata,  about  1,000  feet  apart,  the  one 
showing  two  layers  or  beds  384  feet  in  thickness,  and  the  other  three 
beds  3,188  feet  in  thickness.  As  at  present  exposed  the  beds,  which 
are  of  Carboniferous  age,  are  broken  by  nearly  vertical  fissures  into 
blocks  rarely  4  or  5  feet  in  length.  Owing  to  the  massive  form  of 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  273 

the  beds  and  this  conchoidal  fracture  the  stone  can  not  be  split  into 
thin  slabs,  but  must  be  sawn.  No  satisfactory  road  yet  exists  for  its 
transportation  in  blocks  of  any  size,  and  such  material  as  has  thus  far 
been  produced  is  in  small  slabs  such  as  can  be  ' '  packed. "  Those  who 
have  inspected  the  properties  express  themselves  as  satisfied  that 
blocks  of  good  size  and  satisfactory  quality  can  be  had  in  quantity. 

The  Alabama  stone  as  examined  by  the  writer  is  finely  granular  and 
too  friable  for  satisfactory  work.  Qualitative  tests  showed  it  to  be  a 
siliceous  magnesian  limestone.  It  is  of  course  possible  that  the  single 
sample  shown  does  not  fairly  represent  the  product.  The  Arkansas 
deposit  is  situated  in  Township  14°  N.,  R.  15°  W.  of  the  5th  p.  m., 
sections  14,  23,  and  24,  Searcy  County.  The  color  is  darker  than  that 
of  the  Bavarian  stone.  The  reports  of  those  who  have  tested  it  are 
represented  as  being  uniformly  favorable. 

The  Illinois  stone  is  darker,  but  to  judge  from  the  display  made  in 
the  Illinois  building  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  1893,  is 
capable  of  doing  excellent  work  and  can  be  had  in  slabs  of  good  size 
(Specimens  Nos.  61344  and  62570,  U.S.N.M.).  The  Kentucky  stone  is 
hard  and  brittle,  though  that  from  Rowan  County  is  stated  to  have 
received  a  medal  at  the  exposition  of  1876.  It  is  fine  grained  and 
homogeneous  and  very  pure,  only  a  small  flocoulent  residue  of  organic 
matter  remaining  insoluble  in  dilute  hydrochloric  acid. 

The  Indiana  stone  is  harder  than  the  Bavarian,  and  samples  exam- 
ined were  found  not  infrequently  traversed  by  fine,  hard  veins  of 
calcite.  (Specimen  No.  25030,  U.S.N.M.) 

The  stone  from  Saverton,  Missouri,  is  compact  and  fine  grained,  with, 
however,  fine  streaks  of  calcite  running  through  it.  (Specimen  No. 
28498,  U.S.N.M.)  It  leaves  only  a  small  brownish  residue  when  dis- 
solved in  dilute  acid.  This  stone  has  been  worked  quite  successfully 
on  a  small  scale.  The  State  geologist,  in  writing  on  the  subject,  says: 1 

Some  of  the  beds  of  the  St.  Louis  limestone  (Subcarboniferous)  have  been  success- 
fully used  for  lithographic  work.  No  bed  is,  however,  uniformly  of  the  requisite 
quality,  and  the  cost  of  selection  of  available  material  would  seem  to  preclude  the 
development  of  an  industry  for  the  production  of  lithographic  stone.  From  the 
deposit  at  Overton,  Tennessee,  it  is  stated  slabs  40  by  60  inches  by  3J  inches  thick 
were  obtained,  though  little,  if  anything,  is  now  being  done.  An  analysis  of  this 
stone  is  given  in  the  table.  Other  promising  finds  are  reported  from  McMinn 
County,  in  the  same  State.  According  to  the  State  geological  reports,  the  stone 
lies  between  two  beds  of  variegated  marble.  The  stratum  is  thought  to  run  entirely 
through  the  county,  but  some  of  the  stone  is  too  hard  for  lithographic  purposes. 
The  best  is  found  8  miles  east  of  Athens  on  the  farm  of  Robert  Cochrane,  and  a 
quarry  has  been  opened  by  a  Cincinnati  company,  which  only  pays  a  royalty  of  $250 
per  annum.  It  is  sold  for  nearly  the  same  price  as  the  Bavarian  stone.  It  is  a  cal- 
careous and  argillaceous  stone,  formed  of  the  finest  sediment,  of  uniform  texture, 
and  possesses  a  pearl-gray  tint.  The  best  variety  of  this  stone  has  a  conchoidal 
fracture  and  is  free  from  spots  of  all  kinds. 

Bulletin  No.  3,  Geological  Survey  of  Missouri,  1890,  p.  38. 
NAT  MUS   99 18 


274  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

A  lithographic  stone  is  described  in  the  State  survey  reports  of 
Texas  as  occurring  at  the  base  of  the  Carboniferous  formations  near 
Sulphur  Springs,  west  of  Lampasas,  on  the  Colorado  River,  and  to  be 
traceable  by  its  outcrops  for  a  distance  of  several  miles,  the  most 
favorable  showing  being  near  San  Saba.  The  texture  of  the  stone  is 
good;  but  as  it  is  filled  with  fine  reticulating  veins  of  calcite  (Specimen 
No.  70671,  U.S.N.M.),  and  as  moreover  the  lithographic  layer  itself  is 
only  some  6  or  8  inches  in  thickness,  it  is  obvious  that  little  can  be 
expected  from  this  source.  The  Texas  Lithographic  Stone  Company, 
with  headquarters  at  Burnet,  have  used  the  stone,  it  is  said,  in  con- 
siderable quantities.  A  stone  claiming  many  points  of  excellence  has 
for  some  years  been  known  to  exist  in  the  Wasatch  range  within  a 
few  miles  of  Salt  Lake  City,  and  several  companies  are  or  have  been 
engaged  in  its  exploitation. 

Very  encouraging  reports  of  beds  examined  by  men  whose  opinions 
should  be  conservative,  come  from  Canadian  sources,  and  it  is  possible 
a  considerable  industry  may  yet  be  here  developed,  though  little  is 
being  done  at  present.  The  descriptions  as  given  in  the  geological 
reports  are  as  follows: l 

The  lithographic  stones  of  the  townships  of  Madoc  and  Marmora  and  of  the 
counties  of  Peterboro  and  Bruce  have  been  examined  and  practically  tested  by 
lithographers,  and  in  several  cases  pronounced  of  good  quality;  they  have  also 
obtained  medals  at  various  exhibitions.  They  were  obtained  from  the  surface  in 
small  quarries,  and  possibly  when  the  quarries  are  more  developed  better  stones, 
•free  from  "specks"  of  quartz  and  calcite,  will  be  available  in  large  slabs. 

It  should  be  stated  that  in  actual  use  the  principal  demand  is  for 
stones  some  22  or  28  by  40  inches;  the  largest  ones  practically  used 
are  some  40  by  60  inches  and  3  to  3i  inches  thick.  As  the  better 
grades  bring  as  high  as  22  cents  a  pound,  it  will  be  readily  perceived 
that  the  field  for  exploration  is  one  offering  considerable  inducement. 

2.  DOLOMITE. 

This  is  a  carbonate  of  calcium  and  magnesium  (Ca,  Mg),  CO3,  = 
calcium  carbonate  54.35  per  cent,  magnesium  carbonate  45.65  per 
cent.  Hardness  3.5  to  4;  specific  gravity,  2.8  to  2.9;  colors  when  pure, 
white,  but  often  red,  green,  brown,  gray,  or  black  from  impurities. 
(Specimen  No.  82167,  attached  crystals  on  limestone  from  Joplin,  Mis- 
souri.) Dolomite,  like  calcite,  occurs  in  massive  beds  or  strata  either 
compact  (Specimen  No.  37795,  U.S.N.M.)  or  coarsely  crystalline,  and 
is  to  the  eye  alone  often  indistinguishable  from  that  mineral.  Like 
limestone,  the  dolomites  occur  in  massive  forms  suitable  for  building 
purposes,  or  in  some  cases  as  marble.  (Specimen  No.  25075,  U.S.N.M.) 
From  the  limestone  they  may  be  distinguished  by  their  increased  hard- 
ness and  being  insoluble  in  cold  dilute  hydrochloric  acids.  The  dolo- 
mites, like  the  limestones,  are  sedimentary  rocks,  though  it  is  doubtful 

1  Geology  of  Canada,  1863. 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS. 


275 


if  the  original  sediments  contained  sufficient  magnesium  carbonate  to 
constitute  a  true  dolomite.  They  are  regarded  rather  as  having  resulted 
from  the  alteration  of  limestone  strata  by  the  replacement  of  a  part 
of  the  calcium  carbonate  by  carbonate  of  magnesium. 

Uses,— Aside  from  its  use  as  a  building  material,  dolomite  has  of  late 
come  into  use  as  a  source  of  magnesia  for  the  manufacture  of  highly 
refractory  materials  for  the  linings  of  converters  in  the  basic  processes 
of  steel  manufacture.  According  to  a  writer  in  the  Industrial  World1 
the  magnesia  is  obtained  by  mixing  the  calcined  dolomite  with  chloride 
of  magnesia,  whereby  there  is  formed  a  soluble  calcic  chloride  which 
is  readily  removed  by  solution,  leaving  the  insoluble  magnesia  behind. 
According  to  another  process  the  calcined  dolomite  is  treated  with 
dissolved  sugar,  leading  to  the  formation  of  sugar  of  lime  and  deposi- 
tion of  the  magnesia;  the  solution  of  sugar  of  lime  is  then  exposed  to 
carbonic  acid  gas,  which  separates  the  lime  as  carbonate,  leaving  the 
sugar  as  refuse.  Recently  it  has  been  proposed  to  use  magnesia  as  a 
substitute  for  plaster  of  paris  for  casts,  etc. 

The  snow-white  coarsely  crystalline  Archean  dolomite  commercially 
known  as  snowflake  marble,  and  which  occurs  at  Pleasantville,  in  West- 
chester  County,  New  York  (Specimen  No.  30863,  U.S.N.M.),  is  finely 
ground  and  used  as  a  source  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  manufacture  of 
the  so-called  soda  and  other  carbonated  waters.  (Specimen  No.  3080-1, 
U.S.N.M.) 

3.  MAGNESITE^ 

This  is  a  carbonate  of  magnesium,  MgCO3,  =  carbon  dioxide  52.4 
per  cent,  magnesia  47.6  per  cent.  Usually  contaminated  with  carbon- 
ates of  iron  and  free  silica. 

The  following  analysis  will  serve  to  show  the  average  run  of  the  ma- 
terial, both  in  the  crude  state  and  after  calcining: 


Constituents. 

Styria. 

Greece. 

Crude  magncsite. 
Carbonate  of  magnesia  

90.  0  to  96.  0 

94.  4G 

Carbonate  of  lime  

0.  5  to   20 

4  40 

3  0  to   60 

FeO          0  08 

Silica  

1  0 

0  52 

0  5 

Water       0  54 

Burnt  magncgite. 

77  6 

82  46  to  95  36 

7  3 

0  83  to  10  92 

Alumina  and  ferric  oxide  

13.0 

0.56  to    3.64 

Silica  

1  2 

0  73  to    7.  98 

The  mineral  occurs  rarely  in  the  form  of  crystals,  but  is  commonly 
in  a  compact  finely  granular  condition  of  white  or  yellowish  color  some- 

»Junel,  1893. 


276  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

what  resembling  unglazed  porcelain  (Specimen  No.  16070,  from  Gilroy, 
California),  and  more  rarely  crystalline  granular,  like  limestone 'or 
dolomite  (Specimen  No.  48273,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Wells  Island). 

It  is  hard  (3.5  to  4.5)  and  brittle,  with  a  vitreous  luster,  and  is 
unacted  upon  by  cold,  but  dissolves  with  brisk  effervescence  in  hot 
hydrochloric  acid. 

Localities  and  mode  of  occurrence. — Most  commonly  the  mineral  is 
found  in  the  form  of  irregular  veins  in  serpentinous  and  other  magne- 
sian  rocks,  being  a  decomposition  product  either  of  the  serpentine 
itself  or  of  the  original  rock  from  which  the  serpentine  is  derived.  It 
is  also  found  in  granular  aggregates  disseminated  throughout  serpen- 
tinous rocks.  It  is  stated  by  Dana  to  occur  associated  with  gypsum. 

Prof.  W.  P.  Blake  has  described1  immense  beds  of  very  pureinag- 
nesite  as  occurring  in  the  foothills  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas,  between  Four 
and  Moore  creeks,  in  what  is  now  Tulare  County.  The  beds  are  from 
1  to  6  feet  in  thickness  and  are  interstratified  with  talcose  and  chloritic 
schists  and  serpentine.  Mr.  H.  G.  Hanks,  who  has  since  inspected 
these  deposits,  reports  them  as  existing  in  several  hills  or  low  moun- 
tains, the  mineral  cropping  out  boldly  in  distinct  and  clearly  marked 
veins,  varying  from  2  inches  to  4  feet,  and  of  a  maximum  length,  as 
exposed,  of  500  feet.  In  section  5,  T.  15  S.,  R.  24  E., Fresno  County, 
California,  there  is  stated 2  to  be  a  large  vein  of  the  material  averaging 
10  feet  in  width,  incased  in  hornblendic  and  micaceous  shales.  A 
white  marble-like  crystalline  granular  variety  has  been  found  in  the 
form  of  drift  bowlders  on  an  island  in  the  St.  Lawrence  River  near  the 
Thousand  Islands  Park.  (Specimen  No.  48273,  U.  S.  N.  M. )  According 
to  Canadian  geologists  magnesite  forming  rock  masses  occurs  associ- 
ated with  the  dolomites,  serpentines,  and  steatites  of  the  eastern  town- 
ships of  Quebec.  In  Bolton  it  occurs  in  an  enormous  bed  resembling 
crystalline  limestone  in  appearance.  An  analysis  of  this  yielded:  Car- 
bonate of  magnesia,  59.13  per  cent;  carbonate  of  iron,  8.72  per  cent; 
silica,  32. 20  per  cent.  In  the  township  of  Sutton  a  slaty  variety  yielding 
as  high  as  80  per  cent  of  carbonate  of  magnesium  occurs  admixed  with 
feldspar  and  green  chromiferous  mica.  In  Styria  the  material  lies  in 
Silurian  beds  consisting  of  argillaceous  shales,  quartzites,  dolomites, 
and  limestones,  resting  upon  gneiss.  The  extensive  deposit  of  mag- 
nesite occurring  associated  with  Subcarboniferous  limestones  in  the 
Swiss  Tyrol  is  regarded  by  M.  Koch8  as  due  to  a  decomposition  of 
the  original  limestone  through  percolating  magnesia-bearing  solutions. 
Magnesia  being  the  stronger  base  replaces  the  lime,  which  is  carried 
away  in  solution. 

The  chief  localities   of  magnesite,  native  and  foreign,  are  as  fol- 

1  Pacific  Railroad  Reports,  V,  p.  308 

2  Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the  State  Mineralogist  of  California,  1890,  p.  185. 
3Zeitschrift  der  Deutschen  Geologischen  Gesellschaft,  XLV,  Pt.  2, 1893,  p.  294. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  277 

lows:  Maryland,  Bare  Hills,  Baltimore  County.  New  Jersey,  Hobo- 
ken.  Massachusetts,  Roxbury.  New  York,  near  Rye,  Westchester 
County;  Warwick,  Orange  County;  Stony  Point,  Rockland  County; 
New  Rochelle,  Westchester  County;  Serpentine  Hills,  Staten  Island. 
North  Carolina,  Webster,  Jackson  County ;  Hamptons,  Yancey  County, 
McMakins  Mine,  Cabarrus  County.  Pennsylvania,  Goat  Hill,  West 
Nottingham,  Chester  County;  Scotts  Mine,  Chester  County;  Low's 
Chrome  Mine,  Lancaster  County  (Specimen  No.  53101,  U.S.N.M.). 
California,  Coyote  Creek,  near  Madison  Station,  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad,  Santa  Clara  County  (Specimen  No.  16070,  U.S.N.M.);  Gold 
Run,  Iowa  Hill,  and  Damascus,  Placer  County;  Arroyo  Sero,  Monterey 
County;  Mariposa  and  Tuolumne  counties;  Diablo  Range,  Alaineda 
County;  between  Four  Creek  and  Moores  Creek,  near  Visalia, 
Tulare  County  (Specimen  No.  63842,  U.S.N.M.);  Alameda  County; 
Napa  County  (Specimen  No.  62594,  U.S.N.M.);  Millcreek,  Fresno 
County.  Washington,  Spokane  County(Specimen  No.  53235, U.S.N.M.). 
Sutton,  Quebec,  lot  12,  range  7;  Bolton,  Quebec.  Regla,  near  Havana, 
Cuba.  Kongsberg,  Norway.  Piedmont,  Italy.  Bingera  Diamond 
Fields,  New  South  Wales.  Victoria,  South  Australio  (Specimens  Nos. 
28466  and  28472,  U.S.N.M.).  Kosewitz  and  Frankenstein,  Silesia. 
Styria,  in  Austria-Hungary.  Greece  (Specimens  Nos.  62895  and  (J7983, 
U.S.N.M.). 

Uses. — Magnesite  is  used  in  the  preparation  of  magnesian  salts 
(Epsom  salts,  magnesia,  etc.),  in  the  manufacture  of  paint,  paper,  and 
fire  brick.  For  the  last-named  purpose  it  is  said  to  answer  admirably, 
particularly  where  a  highly  refractive  material  is  needed,  as  in  the 
so-called  basic  process  of  iron  smelting. 

Magnesia  made  from  the  carbonate  [magnesite]  by  driving  off  the  carbonic  acid 
is  very  refractory,  if  pure.  It  is  made  into  any  shape  that  is  required,  and  is  one  of 
the  most  refractory  of  substances.  It  was  formerly  very  difficult  to  get  the  carbon- 
ate of  magnesia,  but  large  quantities  of  it  have  been  found  on  the  island  of  Eubcea, 
so  that  it  can  now  be  had  for  $15  to  $25  per  ton,  instead  of  $60  to  $70  as  formerly. 
It  can  be  calcined  at  a  lesa  cost  than  ordinary  lime,  losing  half  of  its  weight,  so  that  if 
calcined  before  it  is  transported  the  cost  may  be  still  further  reduced.  It  contains  a 
little  lime,  silicates  of  iron,  and  some  serpentine  and  silica.  After  calcination,  the 
serpentine  and  silica  can  be  separated,  as  it  is  easily  crushed,  but  the  most  of  the 
work  can  be  done  by  hand-picking  beforehand.  Before  moulding,  it  must  be  sub- 
mitted to  about  the  temperature  it  is  to  undergo  in  the  furnace,  otherwise  it  would 
contract.  It  is  then  mixed  with  a  certain  portion  of  less  calcined  material,  which  is 
one-sixth  for  steel  fusion,  and  10  to  15  per  cent,  water  by  weight,  and  pressed  in  iron 
moulds.  If  for  any  reason — either  because  there  was  too  much  or  too  little  water,  or 
because  the  material  was  not  properly  mixed,  or  contains  silica — the  crucible  is  not 
strong  enough,  it  has  only  to  be  dipped  in  water,  which  has  been  saturated  with 
boracic  acid,  and  then  heated.1 

Twenty  or  more  years  ago  the  mineral  was  mined  from  serpentinous 

JT.  Egleston,  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  IV, 
1876,  p.  261. 


278  REPOBT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

rocks  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  by  McKim,  Sines  and  Com- 
pany, of  Baltimore,  by  whom  it  was  used  for  the  manufacture  of 
Epsom  salts  (sulphate  of  magnesia). 

Although  it  is  said1  that  these  gentlemen  made  a  pure  salt  at  less 
price  than  it  could  be  imported,  and  thereby  excluded  the  foreign 
material  almost  exclusively,  the  mines  are  now  wholly  abandoned. 
Isaac  Tyson  &  Co.,  of  this  same  city,  also  operated  mines  in  Lan- 
caster County. 

Early  in  the  fall  of  1886  a  small  force  of  men  was  set  to  work  on  the  deposits  of 
magnesite  discovered  on  Cedar  mountain,  Alameda  county,  California.  Since  that 
time  several  carloads  of  the  mineral  have  been  gotten  out  and  shipped  by  rail  to 
New  York,  these  deposits  being  only  a  few  miles  from  the  line  of  the  Central  Pacific 
Railroad.  The  mineral  occurs  here  in  a  decomposed  serpentine  rock  and  in  a  yellow 
clay  in  which  are  embedded  large  bowlders.  It  lies  in  pockets  and  small  veins,  the 
latter  running  in  every  direction.  The  richest  spots  are  found  under  the  bowlders, 
where  the  mineral  is  quite  pure.  A  machine  is  used  to  sift  out  the  small  stones  from 
the  powdered  magnesite,  a  good  deal  of  which  is  met  with.  A  number  of  veins  of 
this  mineral  has  been  exposed  by  the  occurrence  of  landslides  on  the  side  of  the 
mountain  where  they  are  situated;  only  a  few  of  them,  however,  contain  good 
mineral,  nor  is  there  any  certainty  as  to  how  long  these  will  last.  The  claims  are 
being  opened  by  tunnels,  of  which  two  have  been  started.  The  process  of  gathering 
this  mineral  is  slow,  as  every  piece  has  to  be  cleaned  by  hand  and  the  whole  has  to 
be  carefully  assorted  according  to  purity.  Having  been  divided  into  three  classes,  it 
is  put  up  in  sacks  weighing  from  80  to  100  pounds  each.  This  sacking  is  preliminary 
not  only  to  shipping  but  to  getting  it  down  from  the  mountains,  which  can  be  done 
only  on  the  backs  of  animals.  While  carbonate  of  magnesia  occurs  at  a  great  many 
places  in  California  and  elsewhere  on  the  Pacific  coast,  the  above  is  the  only  deposit 
of  this  mineral  that  is  being  worked.  An  artificial  article  of  this  kind  is  obtained  as 
a  by-product  in  the  manufacture  of  salt  by  the  Union  Pacific  Salt  Company  of 
California.2 

Th.  Schlossing  has  proposed3  to  utilize  magnesian  hydrate  obtained 
by  precipitation  from  sea  water  by  lime,  for  the  preparation  of  fire 
brick,  the  hydrate  being  first  dehydrated  by  calcination  at  a  white 
heat,  after  which  it  is  made  up  into  brick  form. 

According  to  the  Industrial  World*  magnesite  as  a  substitute  for 
barite  in  the  manufacture  of  paint  is  likely  to  prove  of  importance. 
The  color,  weight,  and  opacity  of  powder  add  to  its  value  for  this 
purpose.  In  Europe  it  is  stated  the  material  is  used  as  an  adulterant 
for  the  cheaper  grades  of  soap. 

Prices.—  During  1892  the  material,  96  to  98  per  cent  pure,  was  quoted 
as  worth  $9  to  $15  a  ton  in  New  York  City.  Material  containing  as 
high  as  15  to  30  per  cent  silica  and  8  to  10  per  cent  of  iron  is  said  to 
be  practically  worthless.  In  1899  crude  California  magnesite  was  quoted 
as  worth  $3  a  ton  at  the  mines. 

1  Report  C.  C.  C.     Second  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania,  p.  178. 

2  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1886,  p.  696. 
3Comptes  Rendus,  1885,  p.  137. 

industrial  World,  XXXVI,  No.  20,  1891. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEKALS.  279 

4.    WlTHERITE. 

This  is  a  carbonate  of  barium  of  the  formula  BaCO3,  =  baryta 
77.7  per  cent,  carbon  dioxide  22.3  per  cent.  Color,  white  to  yellow 
or  gray,  streak  white;  translucent.  Hardness,  3  to  3.75;  specific 
gravity,  4.29  to  4.35.  When  crystallized,  usually  in  form  of  hexagonal 
prisms,  with  faces  rough  and  longitudinally  striated.  Common  in 
globular  and  botr}Toidal  forms,  amorphous,  columnar,  or  granular  in 
structure.  The  powdered  mineral  dissolves  readily  in  hydrochloric 
acid,  like  calcite,  but  is  easily  distinguished  from  this  mineral  by  its 
great  weight  and  increased  hardness,  as  well  as  by  its  vitreous  luster 
and  lack  of  rhomboidal  cleavage,  which  is  so  pronounced  a  feature  in 
calcite.  From  barite,  the  sulphate  of  barium,  with  which  it  might 
become  confused  on  account  of  its  high  specific  gravity,  it  is  readily 
distinguished  by  its  solubility  in  acids  as  above  noted.  From  stronti- 
anite  it  can  be  distinguished  by  the  green  color  it  imparts  to  the 
blowpipe  flame. 

Localities  and  mode  of  occurrence. — The  mineral  occurs  apparently 
altogether  as  a  secondary  product  filling  veins  and  clefts  in  older  rocks 
and  often  forming  a  portion  of  the  gangue  material  of  metalliferous 
deposits.  The  principal  localities  as  given  by  Dana  are  Alston  Moor, 
Cumberland  (Specimen  No.  67923,  U.S.N.M.),  where  it  is  associated 
with  galena.  In  large  quantities  at  Fallowfield  near  Hexain  in  North- 
umberland; at  Anglezarke  in  Lancashire;  at  Arkendale  in  Yorkshire, 
and  near  St.  Asaph  in  Flintshire,  England.  Tarnowitz,  Silesia; 
Szlana,  Hungary;  Leogang  in  Salzburg;  the  mine  of  Arqueros  near 
Coquimbo',  Chile;  L.  Etang  Island;  near  Lexington,  Kentucky,  and 
in  a  silver-bearing  vein  near  Rabbit  Mountain,  Thunder  Bay,  Lake 
Superior. 

Uses. — The  mineral  has  been  used  to  but  a  slight  extent  in  the  arts. 
As  a  substitute  for  lime  it  has  met  with  a  limited  application  in  mak- 
ing plate  glass,  and  is  also  said  to  have  been  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  beet  sugar,  but  is  now  being  superseded  by  magnesite. 

5.  STEONTIANITE. 

This  is  a  carbonate  of  strontium,  SrCO3,  =  Carbon  dioxide  29.9 
per  cent;  strontia  70.1  per  cent.  Often  impure  through  the  presence 
of  carbonates  and  sulphates  of  barium  and  calcium.  Colors,  white  to 
gray,  pale  green,  and  yellowish.  Hardness  3.5  to  4.  Specific  gravity 
3.6  to  3.7.  Transparent  to  translucent.  When  ciystallized  often  in 
acute  spear-shaped  forms.  Also  in  granular,  fibrous,  and  columnar 
globular  forms.  Soluble  like  calcite  in  hydrochloric  acid,  with  effer- 
vescence, but  readily  distinguished  by  its  cleavage  and  greater  density. 
The  powdered  mineral  when  moistened  with  hydrochloric  acid  and 
held  on  a  platinum  wire  in  the  flame  of  a  lamp  imparts  to  the  flame  a 
very  characteristic  red  color. 


280  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

Occurrence. — According  to  Dana  the  mineral  occurs  at  Strontian  in 
Argyllshire,  in  veins  traversing  gneiss,  along  with  galena  and  barite; 
in  Yorkshire,  England;  at  the  Giants  Causeway,  Ireland;  Clausthal,  in 
the  Harz;  Braunsdorf,  Saxony;  Leogang,  in  Salzburg;  near  Brix- 
legg,  Tyrol;  near  Hamm  and  Minister,  Westphalia.  In  the  United 
States,  at  Schoharie,  New  York,  in  the  form  of  granular  and  columnar 
masses  and  also  in  crystals,  forming  nests  and  geodes  in  the  hydraulic 
limestone;  at  Clinton,  Oneida  County;  Chaumont  Bay  and  Theresa, 
Jefferson  County;  and  Mifflin  County,  Pennsylvania. 

lfseSt — Strontianite,  so  far  as  the  writer  has  information,  has  but  a 
limited  application  in  the  arts.  It  is  stated1  that  "  basic  bricks "  are 
prepared  from  it  by  mixing  the  raw  or  burnt  strontianite  with  clay  or 
argillaceous  ironstone  in  such  proportions  that  the  brick  shall  contain 
about  10  per  cent  of  silica,  and  then  working  into  a  plastic  mass  with 
tar  or  some  heavy  hydrocarbon.  After  molding,  the  bricks  are 
dusted  with  fine  clay  or  ironstone,  dried,  and  burned.  The  effect  of 
the  dusting  is  to  form  a  glaze  on  the  surface,  which  protects  the  brick 
from  the  moisture  of  the  air.  Like  celestite,  it  is  also  used  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  red  fire  of  fireworks.  The  demand  for  the  material  is 
small,  and  the  price  but  from  $2.50  to  $4  a  ton. 

6.  RHODOCHROSITE;  DIALOGITE. 

This  is  a  pure  manganese  carbonate  of  the  formula  MnCO3,=  carbon 
dioxide,  38.3  per  cent;  manganese  protoxide,  61.7  per  cent.  The  color 
is  much  like  that  of  rhodonite  (see  p.  314),  from  which,  however,  it 
is  readily  distinguishable  by  its  rhombohedral  form,  inferior  hard- 
ness (3.5  to  4.5),  and  property  of  dissolving  with  effervescence  in  hot 
hydrochloric  acid,  while  rhodonite  is  scarcely  at  all  attacked.  The 
mineral  is  a  common  constituent  of  the  gangue  of  gold  and  silver 
ores,  as  at  Butte,  Montana;  Austin,  Nevada,  etc.  (Specimen  No.  26T45, 
U.S. KM.)  So  far  as  known  the  mineral  has  as  yet  no  commercial 
value. 

7.  NATRON,  THE  NITRUM  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 

This  is  a  hydrous  sodium  carbonate;  Na2CO3+10H2O,  =  carbon 
dioxide,  15.4  per  cent;  soda,  21.7  per  cent;  water,  62.9  per  cent. 
Occurs  in  nature,  according  to  Dana,  only  in  solution,  as  in  the  soda 
lakes  of  Egypt  and  elsewhere,  or  mixed  with  other  sodium  carbonates. 
The  artificially  crystallized  material  is  of  white  color  when  pure,  soft 
and  brittle,  and  with  an  alkaline  taste.  Crystals,  thin,  tabular, 
monoclinic.  Thermonatrite,  also  a  hydrous  sodium  carbonate  of  the 
formula  Na2CO3+H2O= carbon  dioxide,  35.5  per  cent;  soda,  50  percent, 
and  water  14.5  per  cent,  occurs  under  similar  conditions,  and  is  con- 
sidered as  derived  from  natron  as  a  product  of  efflorescence.  (See 
further  under  Sodium  sulphates,  p.  405.) 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  III,  1884,  p.  33. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  281 

8.  TRONA;  URAO. 

This  is  a  hydrous  sodium  carbonate,  corresponding  to  the  formula 
Na2CO3.HNaCO3+2H2O,=carbon  dioxide,  38.9  per  cent;  soda,  41.2 
per  cent;  water,  19.9  per  cent. 

Found  in  nature  as  an  efflorescence  or  incrustation  from  the  evapo- 
ration of  lakes,  particularly  those  of  arid  regions.  W.  P.  Blake  has 
recently  described1  crude  carbonate  of  soda  (Trona)  occurring  in  the 
central  portion  of  a  basin-shaped  depression  or  dry  lake  in  southern 
Arizona,  near  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  California.  The  deposit  covers 
an  area  of  some  60  acres  to  a  depth  of  from  1  to  3  feet,  the  lower 
portion  being  saturated  with  water  from  a  solution  so  strong  that 
when  exposed  to  the  air  soda  is  deposited  at  the  rate  of  an  inch  in 
thickness  for  every  ten  days.  In  its  native  condition  the  soda  is 
naturally  somewhat  impure,  from  silt  blown  in  from  the  surrounding 
land.  The  analysis  given  below  shows  the  general  average: 

Sand,  silt,  etc 13.00 

Iron  oxides  and  alumina 2.  80 

Lime 1.14 

Salt(NaCl.?) 4.70 

Sulphate  of  soda 4.  70 

Carbonate  of  soda  . .                                       . .  73.  66 


100.  00 
See  further  under  Thernardite,  p.  415. 

VI.  SILICATES. 
1.  FELDSPARS. 

The  name  feldspar  is  given  to  a  group  of  minerals  resembling  each 
other  in  being,  chemically,  silicates  of  aluminum  with  varying  amounts 
of  lime  and  the  alkalies  potash  and  soda.  All  members  of  the  group 
have  in  common  two  easy  cleavages  whereby  they  split  with  even, 
smooth,  and  shining  surfaces  along  planes  inclined  to  one  another  at 
angles  of  nearly  if  not  quite  90°.  (Specimen  No.  67361,  U.S.N.M.) 
They  vary  from  transparent  through  translucent  to  opaque,  the  opaque 
form  being  the  more  frequent.  In  colors  they  range  from  clear  and 
colorless  through  white  and  all  shades  of  gray  to  yellowish,  pink  and 
red,  more  rarely  greenish. 

On  prolonged  exposures  to  the  weather  they  become  whitish  and 
opaque,  gradually  decomposing  into  soluble  carbonates  of  lime  and  the 
alkalies,  and  soluble  silica,  any  one  of  which  may  be  wholly  or  in  part 
removed  by  percolating  waters,  leaving  behind  a  residual  product,  con- 
sisting essentially  of  hydrous  silicates  of  alumina,  to  which  the  names 
kaolin  and  clay  are  given  (see  p.  325).  The  hardness  of  the  feld- 
spars varies  from  5  to  7  of  Dana's  scale;  specific  gravity  2.5  to  2.8. 

1  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXV,  1898,  p.  188. 


282 


BEJfOBT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM, 


They  are  fusible  only  with  difficulty,  and  with  the  exception  of  the 
mineral  quartz  are  the  hardest  of  the  common  light-colored,  minerals. 
From  quartz  they  are  readily  distinguished  by  their  cleavage  charac- 
teristics noted  above.  Geologically  the  feldspars  belong  to  the  gneisses 
and  eruptive  rocks  of  all  ages,  certain  varieties  being  characteristic  of 
certain  rocks  and  furnishing  important  data  for  schemes  of  rock  classi- 
fication. Nine  principal  varieties  are  recognized,  which  on  crystallo- 
graphic  grounds  are  divided  into  two  groups.  The  first,  crystallizing 
in  the  monoclinic  system,  including  only  the  varieties  orthoclase  and 
hyalophane;  the  second,  crystallizing  in  the  triclinic  system,  including 
microclinic,  anorthoclase,  and  the  albite-anorthite  series,  albite,  oligo- 
clase,  andesine,  labradorite,  and  anorthite.  The  above-mentioned 
properties  are  set  forth  in  the  accompanying  table. 


Constituents. 

Ortho- 
clase. 

Hyalo- 
phane. 

Micro- 
cline. 

Anorth- 
oclase. 

Alhite. 

Oligo- 
clase. 

Ande- 
sine. 

Labra- 
dorite. 

Anor- 
thite. 

Silica  SiO2  
Alumina  A12O3  
Potash  K»O 

64.7 
18.4 
16.9 

51.6 
21.9 
10.1 

64.7 
18.4 
16.9 

66.0 
20.0 
5.0 
8.0 

68.0 
20.0 

62.0 
24.0 

60.0 
26.0 

53.0 
30.0 

43.0 
37.0 

Soda  Na^O 

12.0 

9.0 

8.0 

4.0 

Barite  BaO 

16.4 

LimeCaO    '  

5.0 
2.56-2.7 
6.  0-7.  0 

7.0 
2.6-2.7 
5.0-6.0 

13.0 
2.6-2.7 
6.0 

20.0 
2.6-2.8 
6.0-7.0 

Specific  gravity  

2.4-2.6 
6.0-6.5 

2.8 
6.0-6.5 

2.4-2.6 
6.0-6.5 

2.0-5.8 

2.5-2.6 
6.0-7.0 

Crystalline  system.  .  . 

Monoclinic. 

Triclinic. 

.  Of  the  above  those  which  most  concern  us  here  are  the  potash  feld- 
spars orthoclase  and  microcline,  two  varieties  which  for  our  purposes 
are  esssentially  identical,  both  as  regards  composition  and  general 
physical  properties  as  well  as  mode  of  occurrence.  Indeed,  although 
crystallizing  in  different  systems  they  are  as  a  rule  indistinguishable  but 
by  microscopic  means  or  by  careful  crystallographic  measurements. 

Occurrence. — The  feldspars  are  common  and  abundant  constituents 
of  the  acid  rocks — such  as  the  granites,  gneisses,  syenites — the  ortho- 
clase and  quartzose  porphyries,  and  the  tertiary  and  modern  lavas — 
such  as  trachyte,  phonolite,  and  the  liparites. 

Among  the  older  rocks  they  not  infrequently  occur  in  large  veins  or 
dike-like  masses  of  coarse  pegmatitic  crystallization,  the  individual 
crystals  being  in  some  cases  a  foot  or  more  in  diameter.  The  asso- 
ciated minerals  are  quartz  and  white  mica,  with  beryl,  tourmaline, 
garnet,  and  a  great  variety  of  rarer  minerals.  The  ordinary  white 
mica  of  commerce  comes  from  deposits  of  this  nature  and  often  the 
two  minerals  are  mined  contemporaneously.  Such  of  our  feldspars  as 
have  yet  been  worked  for  economic  purposes  occur  associated  only 
with  the  older  rocks — the  granites  and  gneisses  of  the  Archean  and 
Lower  Paleozoic  formations. 

Near  Topsham,  Maine,  is  one  of  these  pegmatitic  veins,  running 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEKALS.  283 

parallel  with  the  strike  of  the  gneissoid  schists  in  which  it  lies,  i.  e. 
northeast  and  southwest.  The  vein  material  is  quartz,  feldspar,  and 
mica.  The  quarry,  as  described  by  R.  L.  Packard,  is  in  the  form  of  an 
open  cut  in  the  hillside,  being  some  300  feet  long  by  100  feet  wide, 
and  of  very  irregular  contours.  The  present  floor  and  the  sides  of  the 
cut  are  of  feldspar  (Specimen  No.  61086,  U.S.N.M.),  containing  irreg- 
ular bodies  of  quartz  and  mica,  the  first  named  occurring  in  large  masses 
entirely  free  from  other  minerals,  though  a  second  grade  is  taken 
out  which  is  in  reality  an  intimate  mixture  of  quartz  and  feldspar. 

The  quartz  occurs,  besides  as  mentioned  above,  in  the  form  of  irreg- 
ular bodies,  sometimes  6  or  8  feet  across  and  15  feet  or  more  long.  It 
also  occurs  in  cavities,  or  geodes,  in  the  form  of  flattened  crystals 
(Specimen  No.  61085,  U.S.N.M.).  The  mica  is  hereof  little  economic 
importance,  being  found  in  the  mass  of  the  feldspar  and  along  the  seams 
in  the  form  of  narrow,  lanceolate  masses,  often  arranged  in  small  radi- 
ating conical  forms  with  their  apexes  outward. 

The  principal  feldspar  quarries  thus  far  worked  are  in  the  Eastern 
United  States,  from  Maine  to  New  Jersey.  The  material  is  mined  from 
open  cuts,  being  blasted  out  with  powder  and  separated  from  adhering 
quartz,  mica,  and  other  minerals  by  hand,  after  which  it  is  shipped  in 
the  rough  to  the  potteries,,  or  in  some  cases  ground  and  bolted  in  the 
near  vicinity.  In  Connecticut  the  material  has  in  times  past  been 
ground  by  huge  granite  disks  mounted  like  the  wheels  of  a  cart  on  an 
axle  through  the  center  of  which  extended  a  vertical  shaft.  By  the 
slow  revolution  of  this  shaft  the  wheels  traveled  around  in  a  limited 
circle  over  a  large  horizontal  granite  slab.  The  pieces  of  spar  being 
placed  upon  the  horizontal  slab  were  thus  slowly  ground  to  powder, 
after  which  it  was  bolted  and  sacked.  The  modern  method  of  pulver- 
izing is  by  means  of  the  so-called  "Cyclone"  crusher.  The  value  of 
the  uncrushed  material  delivered  at  the  potteries  is  but  a  few  dollars 
a  ton.  Hence,  while  there  are  unlimited  quantities  of  the  material  in 
different  parts  of  the  Appalachian  region,  but  few  are  so  situated  as 
to  be  profitably  worked. 

Uses. — The  feldspars  are  used  mainly  for  pottery,  being  mixed  in 
a  finely  pulverized  condition  with  the  kaolin  or  cjay.  When  subjected 
to  a  high  temperature  the  feldspar  fuses,  forming  a  glaze  and  at  the 
same  time  a  cementing  constituent.  There  are  other  substances  more 
readily  fusible  which  are  utilized  for  this  purpose  in  the  cheaper  kinds 
of  ware,  but  it  is  stated  that  in  the  highest  grades  of  porcelain,  as 
those  of  Sevres,  feldspar  is  the  material  used.  The  proportions  used 
vary  with  different  manufacturers,  each  having  adopted  a  formula  best 
adapted  for  his  own  workings. 

2.  MICAS. 

Under  this  head  are  comprised  a  number  of  distinct  mineral  species, 
alike  in  crystallizing  in  the  nionoclinic  system  and  having  a  highly 


284 


REPOKT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


perfect  basal  cleavage,  whereby  they  split  readily  into  thin,  trans- 
lucent to  transparent,  more  or  less  elastic  sheets.  Chemically  they 
are  in  most  cases  orthosilicates  of  aluminum  with  potassium  and 
hydrogen,  and  in  some  varieties  magnesium,  ferrous,  and  ferric  iron, 
sodium,  lithium,  and  more  rarely  barium,  manganese,  titanium,  and 
chrornium.  Seven  species  of  mica  are  commonly  recognized,  of  which 
but  three  have  any  commercial  value,  though  a  fourth  form,  lepidolite, 
may  perhaps  be  utilized  as  a  source  of  lithia  salts.  Of  these  three 
forms,  the  white  mica,  muscovite,  and  the  pearl  gray,  phlogopite,  are 
of  greatest  importance,  the  black  variety,  biotite,  being  but  little  used. 
Muscovite,  or  potassium  mica,  is  essentially  a  silicate  of  aluminum 
and  potassium,  with  small  amounts  of  iron,  soda,  magnesia,  and  water. 
Its  color  is  white  to  colorless,  often  tinted  with  brown,  green,  and  violet 
shades.  When  crystallized  it  takes  on  hexagonal  or  diamond-shaped 
forms,  as  do  also  phlogopite  and  biotite  as  shown  in  samples  (Speci- 
mens Nos.  62377  and  30763,  U.S.N.M.).  Its  industrial  value  lies  in  its 
great  power  of  resistance  to  heat  and  acids,  its  transparency,  and  its 
wonderful  fissile  property,  in  virtue  of  which  it  may  be  split  into 
extremely  thin,  flexible  sheets.  It  has  been  stated,  though  I  know 
not  how  correctly,  that  sheets  but  one  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sandths (1/250000)  of  an  inch  in  thickness  have  been  obtained.  Phlog- 
opite, or  magnesian  mica,  differs  from  muscovite  in  being  of  a  darker, 
deep  pearl  gray,  sometimes  smoky,  often  yellowish,  brownish  red,  or 
greenish  color.  Biotite,  or  magnesia  iron  mica,  differs  in  being  often 
deep,  almost  coal  black  and  opaque  in  thick  masses,  though  trans- 
lucent and  of  a  dark  brown,  yellow,  green,  or  red  color  in  thin  folia. 
It  further  differs  from  the  preceding  in  that  its  folia  are  less  elastic, 
and  the  sheets  of  smaller  size.  Lepidolite,  a  lithia  mica,  is  much  more 
rare  than  either  of  the  above,  is  of  a  pale  rose  or  pink  color,  folia 
usually  of  small  size,  commonly  occurring  in  scaly  granular  forms 
without  crystal  outlines.  The  following  table  will  serve  to  show  the 
varying  composition  of  the  four  varieties  mentioned: 


Variety. 

SiO2 

A1203 

Fetf, 

FeO 

MgO 

CaO 

K20 

Na^O 

F. 

H20 

Muscovite  
Phlogopite  

45.71 
44.48 
45.40 
39.66 
43.00 
40.64 
44.94 
34.67 
39.30 
40.16 
50.39 
49.62 

36.57 
35.70 
33.66 
17.00 
13.27 
14.11 
31.69 
30.09 
16.95 
15.79 
28.19 
27.30 

1.19 
1.09 
2.36 
0.27 
1.71 
2.28 
4.75 
2.42 
0.48 
2.53 

1.07 
1.07 

0.20 

0.69 
3.90 
16.99 
8.45 
4.12 

0.71 
Trace. 
1.86 
26.49 

27.70 
27.97 

0.46 
0.10 

9.22 
9.77 
8.33 
9.97 
10.32 
8.16 
8.00 
7.55 
7.79 
7.64 
12.34 
11.19 

0.79 
2.41 
1.41 
0.60 
0.30 
1.16 
0.59 
1.57 
0.49 
0.37 

2.17 

0.12 
0.72 
0.69 
2.24 
5.67 
0.82 
0.93 
0.28 
0.89 

5.15 
5.45 

4.83 
5.50 
5.46 
2.99 
0.78 
3.21 
3.85 
4.64 
4.02 
3.58 
2.36 
1.52 

Biotite  

Lepidolite  

1.98 
21.89 
26.15 
5.08 
4.34 

0.82 

Li20 
Li20 

0.31 

0.07 

THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEKALS.  285 

Although  the  basal  cleavage  which  permits  of  the  ready  splitting  of 
the  mica  into  thin  sheets  is  the  only  one  sufficiently  developed  to  be 
of  economic  importance,  the  mica  as  found  is  often  traversed  by  sharp 
lines  of  separation,  called  gliding  planes,  which  may,  by  their  abun- 
dance, be  disastrous  to  the  interests  of  the  miner.  Such  partings,  or 
gliding  planes,  supposed  to  be  induced  by  pressure,  are  developed  at 
angles  of  about  66i°  with  the  cleavage,  and  may  cut  entirely  through 
a  block  or  extend  inward  from  the  margin  only  a  short  distance  and 
come  to  an  abrupt  stop.  In  many  cases  the  mica  is  divided  up  into 
long  narrow  strips,  from  the  breadth  of  a  line  to  several  inches  in 
thickness,  with  sides  parallel,  and  as  sharply  cut  as  though  done  with 
shears.  (Specimens  Nos.  62517,  63134,  U.S.N.M.) 

The  imperfections  in  mica  are  due  to  inclosures  of  foreign  minerals, 
as  flattened  garnets,  to  the  presence  of  free  iron  oxides,  often  with  a 
most  beautiful  dendritic  structure,  to  the  partings  or  gliding  planes 
noted  above,  and  to  crumplings  and  V-like  striations  which  destroy  its 
homogenity.  (Specimens  Nos.  63139,  44450,  U.S.N.M.) 

Occurrence. — Mica  in  quantity  and  sizes  to  be  of  economic  impor- 
tance is  found  only  among  the  older  rocks  of  the  earth's  crust,  par- 
ticularly those  of  the  granite  and  gneissoid  groups.  Muscovite  and 
biotite  are  among  the  commonest  constituents  of  siliceous  rocks  of  all 
kinds  and  ages,  while  phlogopite  is  more  characteristic  of  calcareous 
rocks.  It  is,  however,  only  when  developed  in  crystals  of  consider- 
able size  in  pegmatitic  and  coarsely  feldspathic  veins,  or,  in  the  case 
of  phlogopite,  in  gneissic  and  calcareous  rocks  associated  with  erup- 
tive pyroxenites,  that  it  becomes  available  for  economic  purposes. 
The  associated  minerals  are  almost  too  numerous  to  mention.  The 
more  common  for  muscovite  are  quartz  and  potash  feldspar,  which 
form  the  chief  gangue  materials  in  crystals  and  crystalline  masses, 
sometimes  a  foot  or  more  in  diameter.  With  these  are  almost  inva- 
riably associated  garnets,  beryls,  and  tourmalines,  with  more  rarely 
cassiterite,  columbite,  apatite,  fluorite,  topaz,  spodumene,  etc.  In- 
deed, so  abundant  are,  at  times,  the  accessory  minerals  in  the  granitic 
veins,  and  so  perfect  their  crystalline  development,  that  they  furnish 
by  far  the  richest  collecting  grounds  for  the  mineralogists.  Of  these 
minerals  the  quartz  and  feldspars  are  not  infrequently  contemporane- 
ously with  the  mica  and  utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  pottery  and 
abrasives. 

The  origin  of  these  pegmatitic  veins  is  a  matter  of  considerable 
doubt.  The  finer  grained  pegmatites  are,  in  certain  cases,  undoubted 
intrusives,  though  to  some  authorities  it  seems  scarcely  possible  that 
the  extremely  coarse  aggregates  of  quartz,  feldspar,  and  mica,  with 
large  garnets,  beryls,  and  tourmalines,  can  be  a  direct  result  of  cooling 
from  an  igneous  magma.  To  such  it  seems  "more  probable  that  they 
are  portions  of  an  original  rock  mass  altered  by  exhalations  of  fluor- 


286  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

hydric  acids,  like  the  Saxon  "greisen."  Others  regard  them  as 
resulting  from  the  very  slow  cooling  of  granitic  material  injected  in  a 
pasty  condition,  brought  about  by  aqueo-igneous  agencies,  into  rifts  of 
the  preexisting  rocks.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  high  degree 
of  dynamic  metamorphism  which  these  older  rocks  have  undergone 
render  the  problems  relating  to  their  origin  extremely  difficult. 

Localities. — From  what  has  been  said  regarding  occurrences,  it  is 
evident  that  mica  deposits  are  to  be  looked  for  only  in  regions  occupied 
by  the  older  crystalline  rocks.  In  the  United  States,  therefore,  we 
need  only  look  for  them  in  the  States  bordering  immediately  along 
the  Appalachian  range  and  in  the  Granitic  areas  west  of  the  front 
range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.1  In  the  Appalachian  region  south  of 
Canada  mica  mines,  worked  either  for  mica  alone  or  for  quartz  and 
feldspar  in  addition,  have  from  time  to  time  been  opened  in  various 
parts  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  Maryland,  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  and  perhaps  other  States,  but  in  none  of  them,  with 
the  exception  of  New  Hampshire  and  North  Carolina,  has  the  business 
proven  sufficiently  lucrative  to  warrant  continuous  and  systematic 
working.  Indeed,  were  it  not  for  the  increased  demand  lately  arising 
for  the  use  of  mica  in  electrical  machines  it  is  doubtful  if  any  but 
the  most  favorably  situated  mines  would  remain  longer  in  operation 
in  the  United  States.  This  for  the  reason  not  so  much  that  foreign 
mica  is  better  as  that  it  is  cheaper. 

In  Maine  muscovite  has  been  mined  in  an  intermittent  manner  along 
with  quartz  and  feldspar  at  the  well-known  mineral  localities  at  Paris 
Hill  and  Rumford,  Oxford  County;  Auburn,  Androscoggin  County; 
Topsham,  Sagadahoc  County;  Edgecomb,  Lincoln  County,  and  other 
counties  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  State.  In  New  Hampshire 
the  industry  has  assumed  greater  importance.  The  mica-bearing  belt 
is  described  by  Prof.  C.  H.  Hitchcock  as  usually  about  2  miles  in  width, 
and  extending  from  Easton,  in  Graf  ton  County,  to  Surry,  in  Cheshire 
County;  being  best  developed  about  the  towns  of  Rumney  and  He- 
bron. The  mica  occurs  in  immense  coarse  granite  veins  in  a  fibrolitic 
mica  schist  (Specimen  No.  63029,  U.S.N.M.)  of  Montalban  age,  and  is 
found  in  sheets  sometimes  a  yard  in  length,  but  the  more  common  sizes 
are  but  10  or  12  inches  in  length.  Immense  beryls,  sometimes  a  yard  in 
diameter,  and  beautiful  large  tourmalines  occur  among  the  accessory 
minerals.  Mines  for  mica  were  opened  at  Graf  ton  as  early  as  1840,  and 
as  many  as  six  or  eight  mines  have  been  worked  at  one  time,  though 
by  no  means  continually.  Other  mines  have  been  worked  in  Groton, 
Alexandria,  Graf  ton,  and  Alstead,  in  Graf  ton  Country;  Acworth 
and  Springfield,  Sullivan  County;  Marlboro,  Cheshire  County;  New 
Hampton,  Belknap  County,  and  Wilmot,  Merrimack  County,  though 
only  those  of  Groton  are  in  operation  at  date  of  writing  (1894). 

1  The  region  of  the  Black  Hills  of  South  Dakota  is  an  important  exception. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  287 

As  seen  by  the  writer,  the  veins  at  the  latter  place  cut  sharply  across  the  fibrolitic 
schist,  and  though  the  vein  materials  adhere  closely  to  the  wall  rock  on  either  side, 
without  either  selvage  or  slickensides,  still  the  line  of  demarcation  is  perfectly  sharp. 
There  seems  no  room  for  doubt  but  that  the  vein  material  was  derived  by  injection 
from  below,  though  from  their  extremely  irregular  and  universally  coarsely  crystal- 
line condition  we  must  infer  that  the  condition  of  the  injected  magma  was  more  in 
the  nature  of  solution  than  fusion,  as  the  word  is  ordinarily  used,  and  also  that  the 
rate  of  cooling  and  consequent  crystallization  was  very  slow.  The  feldspars  not  infre- 
quently occur  in  huge  crystalline  masses  several  feet  in  diameter,  though  sometimes 
more  finely  intercrystallized  with  quartz  in  the  form  known  as  pegmatite.  [Specimen 
No.  62519,  U.S.N.M.]  The  mica  is  by  no  means  disseminated  uniformly  throughout 
the  vein,  but  on  the  contrary  is  very  sporadic,  and  the  process  of  mining  consists  merely 
in  following  up  the  mineral  wherever  indications  as  shown  in  the  face  of  the  quarry 
are  sufficiently  promising.  Most  of  the  mines  are  in  the  form  of  open  cuts  and  trenches, 
though  in  a  few  instances  underground  cuts  have  been  made  for  a  distance  of  a  hun- 
dred feet  or  more.  The  mica  blocks  as  removed  are  of  a  beautifully  smoky-brown 
color,  and  often  show  a  distinct  zonal  structure,  indicating  several  periods  of  growth. 
The  associated  feldspar  is  not  in  all  cases  orthoclase,  but,  as  at  the  Alexandria  mines, 
sometimes  a  faintly  greenish  triclinic  variety. 

Samples  of  the  New  Hampshire  micas,  with  the  accompanying 
gangue  and  wall  rocks,  are  shown  in  Specimens  Nos.  02515  to  (32519 
and  63028  to  63030,  U.S.N.M. 

In  Connecticut  some  mica  (muscovite)  has  been  obtained  in  connec- 
tion with  the  work  of  mining  feldspar  and  quart/  in  and  about  the 
towns  of  Haddam,  Glastonbury,  and  Middletown,  but  the  business  has 
never  assumed  any  importance.  Mica  mines  have  also  been  worked 
in  Montgomery  County,  Maryland.  South  of  the  glacial  limit  mica 
mining  has  proven  more  successful  from  the  reason  that  the  gangue 
minerals  (feldspar  and  quartz)  were  in  a  state  of  less  compact  aggre- 
gation, due  to  weathering,  the  feldspar  being  often  reduced  to  the 
state  of  kaolin,  and  hence  readily  removed  by  pick  and  shovel.  The 
following  account  of  the  deposits  of  North  Carolina  is  given  by  Prof. 
W.  C.  Kerr:1 

I  have  stated  elsewhere,  several  years  ago,  that  these  veins  were  wrought  on  a 
large  scale  and  for  many  ages  by  some  ancient  peoples,  most  probably  the  so-called 
Mound  Builders;  although  they  built  no  mounds  here,  and  have  left  no  signs  of  any 
permanent  habitation.  They  opened  and  worked  a  great  many  veins  down  to  or 
near  water-level;  that  is,  as  far  as  the  action  of  atmospheric  chemistry  had  softened 
the  rock  so  that  it  was  workable  without  metal  tools,  of  the  use  of  which  no  signs  are 
apparent.  Many  of  the  largest  and  most  profitable  of  the  mines  of  the  present  day  are 
simply  the  ancient  Mound  Builders'  mines  reopened  and  pushed  into  the  hard  unde- 
com posed  granite  by  powder  and  steel.  Blocks  of  mica  have  often  been  found  half 
imbedded  in  the  face  of  the  vein,  with  the  tool-marks  about  it,  showing  the  exact 
limit  of  the  efficiency  of  those  prehistoric  mechanical  appliances.  As  to  the  geolog- 
ical relations  of  these  veins,  they  are  found  in  the  gneisses  and  schists  of  the 
Archaean  horizons.  *  *  *  These  rocks  are  of  very  extensive  occurrence  in 
North  Carolina,  constituting  in  faot  the  great  body  of  the  rocks  throughout  the 
whole  length  of  the  State, — some  400  miles  east  and  west, — being  partially  covered 

1  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  VIII,  1880,  p.  457. 


288 


REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 


up,  and  interrupted  here  and  there  by  belts  of  later  formation.     Mica  veins  are  found 

here,  in  fact  may  be  said  to  char- 
acterize this  horizon  everywhere, 
from  its  eastern  outcrop,  near  the 
seaboard,  to  and  quite  under  the 
flanks  of  the  Smoky  Mountains.  It 
is,  however,  in  the  great  plateau  of 
the  west,  between  the  Blue  Ridge 
and  the  Smoky,  that  the  mica  veins 
reach  their  greatest  development, 
and  have  given  rise  to  a  very  new 
and  profitable  industry, — new  and 
at  the  same  time  very  old. 

It  may  be  stated  as  a  very  gen- 
eral, almost  universal,  fact,  that  the 
mica  vein  is  a  bedded  vein.  Its 
position  (as  to  strike  and  dip)  is 
dependent  on  and  controlled  by, 
and  quite  nearly  conformable  to, 
that  of  the  rocks  in  which  it  occurs, 
and  hence,  as  well  as  on  account  of 
their  great  size,"  some  observers, 
accustomed  to  the  study  of  veins 
and  dikes  and  the  characters  of 
intrusive  rocks  in  other  regions, 
have  been  disposed  to  question  the 
vein  character  of  these  masses  at 
first.  But  a  good  exposure  of  a  sin- 
gle one  of  them  is  generally  suffi- 
cient to  remove  all  doubt  on  this 
score.  The  mica  vein  is  simply  and 
always  a  dike  of  very  coarse  granite. 
It  is  of  any  size  and  shape,  from  a 
few  inches — generally  a  few  feet — 
to  many  rods  (in  some  cases  several 
hundred  feet)  in  thickness,  and  in 
length  from  a  few  rods  to  many 
hundred  yards,  extending  in  some 
cases  to  half  a  mile  or  more.  The 
strike,  like  that  of  the  inclosing 
rocks,  is  generally  northeast,  and 
the  dip  southeast,  at  a  pretty  high 
angle;  but  they  are  subject,  in  these 
respects,  to  many  and  great  local 
variations,  all  the  conditions  being 
occasionally  changed,  or  even  re- 
versed. An  idea  may  be  formed  of 
the  coarseness  of  these  veins  from 
this  statement,  that  the  masses  of 
cleavable  feldspar  and  of  quartz 
(limpid,  pale  yellow,  brown,  or, 
more  generally,  slightly  smoky), 

and  of  mica,  are  often  found  to  measure  several  yards  in  two  or  three  of  their  dimen- 
sions, and  weighing  several  tons.     I  have  a  feldspar  crystal  from  one  of  these  mines 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  289 

of  nearly  a  thousand  pounds  weight,  and  I  have  known  a  single  block  of  mica  to 
make  two  full  two-horse  wagon-loads,  and  sheets  of  mica  are  sometimes  obtained 
that  measure  three  and  four  feet  in  diameter. 

There  are  many  peculiarities  about  these  veins.  Among  the  most  important,  in  a 
practical  sense,  is  the  arrangement  of  the  different  constituents  of  the  vein  inter  se, 
Sometimes  the  mica,  for  example,  will  be  found  hugging  the  hanging- wall;  some- 
times it  is  found  against  both  walls;  again  it  may  be  distributed  pretty  equally 
through  the  whole  mass  of  the  vein;  sometimes,  again,  it  will  be  found  collected  in 
the  middle  of  the  vein;  in  other  cases,  where  the  vein  varies  in  thickness  along 
its  course,  the  mica  will  be  found  in  bunches  in  the  ampullations,  or  bellies,  of  the 
vein;  in  still  other  cases,  where  the  vein  has  many  vertical  embranchments,  the 
mica  will  be  found  accumulated  in  nests  along  the  upper  faces  of  these  processes  or 
offshoots.  Those  features  of  structure  will  be  best  understood  from  a  few  repre- 
sentative diagrams. 

Figure  9  is  a  horizontal  section,  with  several  transverse  vertical  sections,  of  a  typ- 
ical vein  in  Yancey  County,  at  the  Presnel  Mine.  The  length  of  the  section,  i.  e., 
of  the  portion  of  the  vein  that  has  been  stripped,  is  125  feet;  the  thickness  varies  from 
3  to  10  feet,  except  at  a  few  points,  as  b  c  where  it  is  nearly  20  feet. 

The  crystals  of  mica  are  found  in  this  mine  generally  near  the  foot  wall,  in  the 
recesses  or  pouches;  at  c,  however,  as  seen  in  section  D,  it  is  found  next  the  hanging- 
wall. 

The  inclosing  rock  in  this  case  is  a  hard,  gray  slaty  to  schistose  gneiss.     *    *    * 

The  feldspar,  which  constitutes  the  larger  part  of  the  mass  of  these  veins,  is  often 
found  converted  into  beds  of  the  finest  kaolin;  and,  curiously  enough,  this  was  one 
of  the  first  and  most  valuable  exports  to  England  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  "packed"  by  the  Indians  out  of  the  Unaka  (Smoky)  Mountains,  and  sold 
under  the  name  "unakeh"  (white).  This  kaolin,  like  the  mica,  will  doubtless  soon 
come  again  into  demand,  after  lying  forgotten  for  generations. 

Characteristic  samples  of  the  micas  of  the  region  are  shown  in 
Specimens  Nos.  18205, 18207,  62962,  and  62964,  U.S.N.M. 

In  Alabama,  along  a  line  stretching  from  Chilton  County,  north- 
east, through  Coosa,  Clay,  and  Cleburne  counties,  there  are  numer- 
ous evidences  of  prehistoric  mica  mining.  Many  pits  are  met  with 
around  which  pieces  of  mica  are  still  to  be  seen.  In  some  places,  just 
as  in  Mitchell  County,  North  Carolina,  large  pine  trees  have  grown 
up  on  the  debris,  so  that  a  considerable  time  must  have  elapsed  since 
the  mines  were  worked.  About  ten  years  ago,  Col.  James  George,  of 
Clanton,  Chilton  Count}',  prospected  for  mica,  and  some  fairly  good 
specimens  were  obtained,  but  the  investigations  were  not  continued. 
It  is  not  thought  that  any  mica  has  been  marketed  from  Alabama. 
The  indications  of  good  mica  along  the  line  mentioned  aie,  however, 
sufficient  to  warrant  additional  and  more  extended  examinations.  Lit- 
tle mica  is  reported  from  other  Southern  States,  though  some  mines 
have  been  opened  in  South  Carolina,  Georgia  (Specimens  Nos.  63139  to 
63141,  U.S.N.M.),  Virginia,  and  West  Virginia,  In  1881,  a  mica  mine 
was  opened  in  Anderson  County,  South  Carolina,  and  some  miners  from 
Mitchell  County,  North  Carolina,  employed.  The  enterprise  was  not 
successful,  and  the  miners  returned  home  shortly  afterwards.  Good 
mica  has  been  found  in  South  Carolina,  notably  in  Anderson,  Oconee, 
and  Pickens  counties.  The  mica-bearing  rocks  of  western  North  Caro- 
NAT  MUS  99 19 


290  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

lina  do  not  protrude  into  Tennessee,  except  at  intervals,  and  then 
only  for  short  distances.  Some  prospecting  has  been  done  in  Tennes- 
see near  Roan  Mountain,  but  the  results  were  not  considered  satis- 
factory.1 

In  Colorado  mica  has  long  been  known  to  be  widely  disseminated 
and  to  occur  in  many  places  in  bodies  of  workable  size,  but  mining  has 
until  lately  always  proved  the  mica  to  be  "plumose"  and  unfit  for  cut- 
ting into  sheets.  Many  mines  have  been  located,  but  the  product  has 
always  proved  worthless,  until  in  the  summer  of  1884  the  Denver  Mica 
Company  opened  a  mine  near  Turkey  Creek,  about  35  miles  from  Den- 
ver. This  mica  is  of  fair  quality,  and  quite  a  considerable  quantity  of 
it  has  been  mined.  It  is  slightly  brown  and  the  largest  plates  which 
have  yet  been  cut  are  not  more  than  2f  by  6  inches  in  size.  Only  an 
extremely  small  percentage  of  the  gross  weight  is  available  for  cutting 
into  sheets.  An  effort  is  being  made  to  put  it  upon  the  market,  and 
at  present  four  workmen  are  employed  in  trimming  the  sheets.  Mica 
of  good  quality  and  in  large  plates  has  also  been  recently  reported 
from  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Collins. 

In  Wyoming,  mica  has  been  found  in  workable  quantities  near  Dia- 
mond Park  and  in  the  Wind  River  country,  as  well  as  at  many  points 
along  the  mountain  ranges  in  Laramie  County.  It  has  recentty  been 
mined  to  some  extent  at  Whalen  canon,  20  miles  north  of  Fort  Lara- 
mie, and  some  of  the  product  has  been  shipped  to  the  Eastern  market. 

In  New  Mexico  mica  occurs  near  Las  Vegas,  and  reports  of  ship- 
ments have  been  published.  At  Petaca,  the  Cribbenville  mica  mines 
are  being  worked  at  present  by  sixteen  men.  Work  was  commenced 
at  these  mines  July  2,  1884,  and  the  amount  of  excavation  at  present 
is  13,160  cubic  feet.  The  plates  cut  range  from  2  by  2  inches  to  5  by 
8  inches  in  size.  Some  specimen  plates  have  been  cut  10  by  12  inches, 
but  the  general  average  is  about  3£  by  4£  inches.  Some  12  tons  of 
mica  have  been  handled,  but  the  amount  sold  and  the  average  price 
obtained  are  not  reported.  Other  localities  in  New  Mexico  also  yield 
mica,  but  none  have  been  developed,  except  the  two  above  mentioned. 
(Specimen  No.  61335,  U.S.N.M.). 

In  California  many  deposits  of  mica  have  been  noted,  especially  at 
Gold  lake,  Plumas  county;  in  Eldorado  county;  Ivanpah  district,  San 
Bernardino  county;  near  Susanville,  Lassen  county,  and  at  Tehachapi 
pass,  Kern  county.  In  1883  a  large  deposit  was  discovered  in  the 
Salmon  mountains,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State,  and  some 
prospecting  was  done.2 

The  mica-bearing  deposits  of  the  Black  Hills  of  South  Dakota  hyve 
been  variously  regarded  by  different  observers  as  intrusive  granites 
or  true  segregation  veins  lying  parallel  to  the  apparent  bedding.  New- 

1  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1887,  p.  671. 

2  Idem,  1883-84,  p.  911. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  291 

ton  and  Jenny,1  Blake,2  and  Vincent  regard  them  as  intrusive,  while 
Carpenter3  and  Crosby4  hold  the  opposite  view. 

According  to  Blake  the  mica  occurs  in  granitic  masses,  remarkable 
for  the  coarseness  of  their  crystallization,  the  constituent  minerals 
being  usually  large  and  separately  segregated.  "  Large  masses  of  pure 
quartz  are  found  in  one  place  and  masses  of  feldspar  in  another,  and 
the  mica  is  often  accumulated  together  instead  of  being  regularly  dis- 
seminated through  the  mass.  It  also  occurs  in  large  masses  or  crys- 
tals, affording  sheets  broad  enough  for  cutting  into  commercial  sizes." 
Associated  with  the  mica  at  this  point  are  the  minerals  quartz  and 
feldspar,  mainty  a  lamellar  albite  (Clevelandite),  which  form  the  gangue, 
and  irregularly  disseminated  cassiterite  (tinstone),  gigantic  spodumenes, 
black  tourmalines,  and,  in  small  quantities,  block  mica,  beryls,  garnets, 
columbite,  and  a  variety  of  phosphatic  minerals,  such  as  apatite,  tri- 
phylite,  etc. 

In  Nevada  mines  have  been  worked  in  the  St.  Thomas  mining  dis- 
trict, Lincoln  County,  the  mica  occurring  in  hard,  glassy  quartz  rock 
forming  an  outcrop  some  200  feet  wide  by  600  feet  long  in  gneiss  and 
schists.  At  the  Czarina  Mine,  located  in  May,  1891.  near  Rioville,  the 
mica  occurs  under  similar  conditions.  The  mineral  seems  to  follow 
the  division  plane  of  the  stratification,  along  the  line  or  axis  of  fold. 
This  line  runs  north  and  south,  slightly  east  of  north  of  the  main  trend 
of  the  range,  thus  running  into  Arizona  a  few  miles  north  of  Rioville. 
In  fact,  the  mica  belt  forms  the  boundary  line  between  Nevada  and 
Arizona  for  50  miles  The  mica,  mostly  small,  is  abundant,  but  mar- 
ketable sizes  are  rare,  and  not  to  be  had  without  a  great  deal  of  hard 
work.5 

Merchantable  mica  has  been  reported  on  the  Payette  River  and  Bear 
Creek,  in  the  Coeur  d'Alene  region  of  Idaho,  and  also  in  Oregon  and 
Alaska. 

According  to  Mr.  R.  W.  Ells6  the  Canadian  micas  of  commercial 
importance  occur  associated  with  eruptive  dikes  of  pyroxenite  and 
pegmatite  cutting  the  Laurentian  gneisses.  More  rarely,  as  in  the 
Gatineau  area,  they  are  found  where  dikes  of  the  pyroxenite  cut  the 
limestone.  This  authority  gives  the  condition  of  occurrence  as  below: 

1.  In  pyroxene  intrusive  rocks  which  either  cut  directly  across  the  strike  of  grey- 
ish or  other  colored  gneisses  or  are  intruded  along  the  line  of  stratification.  Some 
of  these  deposits  have  been  worked  downward  along  the  contact  with  the  gneiss, 
where  the  mica  is  most  generally  found,  for  250  feet,  as  at  the  Lake  Girard  Mine,  and 
irregular  masses  of  pink  calcite  are  abundant.  In  certain  places  apatite  crystals 

1  Geology  of  the  Black  Hills  of  Dakota,  Monograph,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1880. 

2  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  XXXVI,  1883,  p.  145. 

3  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XVII,  1889,  p.  570. 
Proceedings  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History,  XXIII,  1884-1888,  p.  488. 
;>  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1893.  p.  754. 

"Bulletin  of  the  Geological  Society  of  America,  V,  1894,  p.  484. 


292  REPORT   OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

occur  associated  with  the  mica,  but  at  other  times  these  are  apparently  wanting. 
As  in  the  case  of  apatite  deposits,  mica  occurring  in  this  condition  would  apparently 
be  found  at  almost  any  workable  depth. 

2.  In  pyroxene  rocks  near  the  contact  of  cross-dikes  of  diorite  or  feldspar,  the 
action  of  which  on  the  pyroxene  has  led  to  the  formation  of  both  mica  and  apatite. 
Numerous  instances  of  this  mode  of  occurrence  are  found,  both  in  the  mines  of 
apatite  and  mica,  the  deposits  of  the  latter  in  certain  areas  being  quite  extensive 
and  the  crystals  of  large  size. 

3.  In  pyroxene  rock  itself  distinct  from  the  contact  with  the  gneiss.     In  these 
cases  the  mica  crystals,  often  of  large  size  but  frequently  crushed  or  broken,  appar- 
ently follow  certain  lines  of  faults  or  fracture.     Some  of  these  deposits  can  be  traced 
for  several  yards,  but  for  the  most  part  are  pockety.     Some  of  these  pyroxene  masses 
are  very  extensive,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Cascade  mine  on  the  Gatineau  river  and 
elsewhere  in  the  vicinity.     In  these  cases  calcite  is  rarely  seen  and  apatite  is  almost 
entirely  absent.     When  cut  by  cross-dikes  conditions  for  the  occurrence  of  mica  or 
apatite  should  be  very  favorable. 

4.  Dikes  of  pyroxene,  often  large,  cutting  limestone  through  which  subsequent 
dikes  of  diorite  or  feldspar  have  intruded  as  in  Hincks  township.     The  crystals 
occurring  in  the  pyroxene  near  to  the  feldspar  dikes  are  often  of  large  size  and  of 
dark  color,  resembling  in  this  respect  a  biotite  mica. 

The  mica  found  under  the  conditions  stated  above,  in  one,  two,  three,  and  four 
is  all  amber-colored  and  of  the  variety  known  as  phlogopite,  or  magnesia  mica. 
[Specimens  Nos.  30763,  62149,  U.S.N.M.] 

5.  In  feldspathic-quartzose  rocks  which  constitute  dikes  often  of  very  large  size, 
cutting  red  and  greyish  gneiss,  as  at  Villeneuve  and  Venosta.     These  are  distinct 
from  the  smaller  veins  of  pegmatite  which  occur  frequently  in  the  gneiss  as  the 
anorthosite  areas  are  approached.     In  this  case  the  mica  is  muscovite  or  potash  mica 
and  is  invariably  found  in  that  portion  of  the  dike  near  the  contact  with  the  gneiss. 
The  crystals  frequently  are  of  large  size  and  white  in  color,  associated  with  crystals 
of  tourmaline,  garnet,  et  cetera,  but  with  no  apatite,  unless  pyroxene  is  also  present. 

6.  In  quartz-feldspar  dikes  cutting  crystalline  limestone,  in  which  case  the  crystals 
are  generally  of  small  size,  mostly  of  dark  color  and  of  but  little  value. 

In  the  case  of  the  amber  micas  this  peculiarity  was  noted  that  when  the  pyroxene 
was  of  a  light  shade  of  greenish  gray  and  comparatively  soft,  the  mica  was  cor- 
respondingly light  colored  and  clear,  and  in  some  places  almost  approached  the  mus- 
covite in  general  appearance.  As  the  pyroxene  became  darker  in  color  and  harder 
in  texture,  the  mica  assumed  a  correspondingly  darker  tint  and  a  brittle  or  harder 
character,  and  in  certain  cases  where  dikes  of  blackish  hornblendic  diorite  were 
present  the  mica  also  assumes  a  black  color  as  well. 

The  chief  Canadian  localities,  as  given  by  the  authority  quoted,  are 
as  below: 

Along  the  Ottawa  Eiver  it  is  found  from  a  point  nearly  100  miles  west  of  Ottawa 
to  the  township  of  Greenville,  60  miles  east  of  that  city,  while  on  the  Gatineau 
River,  which  flows  into  the  Ottawa  at  the  city  of  Ottawa,  mines  have  been  located 
and  worked  for  80  miles  north  from  its  mouth,  and  the  mineral  is  reported  from 
points  many  miles  farther  north  along  that  stream.  To  the  east  of  Quebec  it  is 
known  on  the  branch  of  the  Saguenay  called  the  Manouan  and  in  the  townships  of 
Escoumains,  Bergeronnes,  and  Tadoussac,  situated  east  of  the  mouth  of  that  river, 
as  well  as  at  several  other  places  along  the  river  St.  Lawrence.  The  mica  found  in 
this  last  district  is  chiefly  muscovite. 

The  principal  areas  where  mica  is  at  present  worked  are  in  the  belt  which  extends 
from  North  Burgess,  in  the  Province  of  Ontario,  approximately  along  the  strike  of  the 
gneiss,  into  the  territory  adjacent  to  the  Gatineau  and  Lievre.  Over  much  of  this 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  293 

area  south  of  the  Ottawa  River  the  Lauren tian  is  concealed  by  the  mantle  of  Cambro- 
Silurian  rocks  belonging  to  the  Ottawa  River  basin,  but  it  may  be  said  that  the  geo- 
logic conditions  and  the  stratigraphic  sequence  in  the  area  south  of  the  Ottawa  and 
in  the  rear  of  Kingston  are  the  same  as  those  found  in  the  mineral-bearing  belts 
north  of  the  Ottawa,  and  that  the  most  favorable  conditions  under  which  the  deposits 
of  mica  and  apatite  may  be  looked  for  wrhere  traces  of  igneous  agency  are  visible  in 
the  presence  of  dikes  of  pyroxene  and  quartz  feldspar,  though  it  should  be  stated 
that  the  mere  occurrence  of  these  in  the  gneiss  does  not  warrant  the  presence  of 
either  of  these  minerals. 

The  India  mica  mines  occur  in  coarse  intrusive  pegmatitic-granite 
dikes,  cutting  what  is  known  as  the  "newer  gneiss"  of  Singrauli.  At 
Inikurti  the  crystals  (of  mica)  are  as  much  as  10  feet  in  diameter. 
Sheets  4  or  5  feet  across  have  been  obtained  free  from  adventitious 
inclusions  which  would  spoil  their  commercial  value.1 

Black  mica  (biotite,  lepidomelane,  etc.,)  is  a  much  more  common 
and  widely  distributed  variety  than  the  white,  but  unlike  the  latter  is 
found  not  so  much  in  veins  as  an  original  constituent  disseminated  in 
small  flakes  throughout  the  mass  of  eruptive  and  metamorphosed 
sedimentary  rocks.  The  small  sizes  of  the  sheets,  their  color,  and 
lack  of  transparency  render  the  material  as  a  rule  of  little  value.  In 
Renfrew  County,  Canada,  the  mineral  occurs  in  large  cleavable  masses, 
which  yield  beautiful  smoky-black  and  greenish  sheets  sufficiently 
elastic  for  industrial  purposes  (Specimens  Nos.  62735, 62709,  U.S.N.M.). 

Lepidolite. — This  variety  of  mica  is  much  more  rare  than  any  of 
the  others  described.  While  in  a  few  instances  it  has  been  reported  as 
accompanying  rnuscovite  in  certain  granites,  as  those  of  Elba  and 
Schaistausk,  its  common  form  of  occurrence  is  in  the  coarse  pegmatitic 
veins  already  described,  where  it  is  associated  with  muscovite,  tourma- 
lines, and  other  minerals  of  similar  habit.  As  a  rule  it  is  readily  distin- 
guished from  other  micas  by  its  beautiful  peach-blossom  red  color, 
though  sometimes  colorless  and  to  be  distinguished  only  by  the  lithia 
reaction.2  The  folia  are  thicker  than  those  of  muscovite  and  of  small 
size,  the  usual  form  being  that  of  a  scaly  granular  aggregate.  At  Au- 
burn, Maine,  it  is  found  both  in  this  form  (Specimen  No.  61079, 
U.S.N.M.)  and  forming  a  border  a  half  inch,  more  or  less,  in  width 
about  the  muscovite  folia  (Specimen  No.  13810,  U.S.N.M.).  The 
more  noted  localities  in  the  United  States  are  Auburn,  Androscoggin 
County;  Hebron,  Paris,  Rumford  (Specimen  No.  63003,  U.S.N.M.), 
and  Norway,  Oxford  County,  Maine,  where  it  is  associated  with  beau- 
tiful red  and  green  tourmalines  and  other  interesting  minerals;  Ches- 
terfield, Massachusetts;  Iladdam,  Connecticut  (Specimen  No.  53540, 
U.S.N.M.),  and  near  San  Diego,  California  (Specimen  No.  62593, 
U.S.N.M.).  The  most  noted  foreign  locality  is  Zinnwald,  Saxony, 

Geology  of  India,  2d  ed.,  1893,  p.  34. 

2  The  pulverized  mineral  when  moistened  with  hydrochloric  acid  and  held  on  a 
wire  in  the  flame  of  a  lamp  imparts  to  the  flame  a  brilliant  lithia  red  color. 


294  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

where  the  mineral  occurs  in  large  foliated  masses  together  with  quartz 
forming  the  gangue  minerals  of  the  tin  veins.  Also  found  in  Moravia 
(Specimen  No.  62580,  U.S.N.M.). 

Uses, — Until  within  a  few  years  almost  the  only  commercial  use  of 
mica  was  in  the  doors  or  windows  of  stoves  and  furnaces,  the  peep- 
holes of  furnaces  and  similar  situations  where  transparency  and  resist- 
ance to  heat  were  essential  qualities.  To  a  less  extent  it  was  used  in 
lanterns,  and  it  is  said,  in  the  portholes  of  naval  vessels,  where  the 
vibrations  would  demolish  the  less  elastic  glass.  In  early  days  it  was 
used  to  some  extent  for  window  panes,  and  is,  in  isolated  cases,  still  so 
used  to  some  extent.  For  all  these  purposes  the  white  variety  musco- 
vite  is  most  suited.  For  use  in  stoves  and  furnaces  "the  mica  is  gen- 
erally split  into  plates  varying  from  about  one-eighth  to  one  sixty- 
fourth  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  In  preparing  these  plates  for  market 
the  first  step  is  to  cut  them  into  suitable  sizes.  Women  are  frequently 
employed  in  this  work,  and  do  it  as  well  as,  if  not  better,  than  the 
men.  The  cutter  sits  on  a  special  bench  which  is  provided  with  a  huge 
pair  of  shears,  one  leg  of  which  is  tirmly  fixed  to  the  bench  itself,  while 
the  movable  leg  is  within  convenient  grasp. 

The  patterns  according  to  which  the  mica  is  cut  are  arranged  in  a 
case  near  at  hand.  They  are  made  of  tin,  wood,  or  pasteboard,  accord- 
ing to  the  preference  of  the  establishment.  Generally  they  are  simple 
rectangles,  varying  in  size  from  about  four  square  inches  to  eighty. 

The  cutter  selects  the  pattern  which  will  cut  to  the  best  advantage, 
lays  it  on  the  sheet  of  mica,  and  then,  holding  the  two  firmly  together, 
trims  off  the  edges  of  the  mica  to  make  it  correspond  to  the  pattern. 

The  cleaning  process  comes  next.  The  cleaner  sits  directly  in  front 
of  a  window  and  must  examine  each  sheet  of  cut  mica  by  holding  it  up 
between  her  eyes  and  the  light.  If  there  be  any  imperfections,  and 
there  nearly  always  are,  they  must  be  removed  by  stripping  off  the 
offending  layers  of  mica  until  a  clear  sheet  remains. 

Finally,  the  cut  and  cleaned  mica  is  put  up  in  pound  packages  and 
is  ready  for  the  market.  There  is  an  enormous  waste  in  the  processes 
of  preparation.  One  hundred  pounds  of  block  mica  will  scarcely  yield 
more  than  about  fifteen  pounds  of  cut  mica,  and  sometimes  it  is  even 
less.  The  proportion  varies,  of  course,  with  different  localities.1 
Professor  Kerr  states  with  reference  to  the  North  Carolina  mines  that 
there  is  a  waste  of  from  nine-tenths  to  nineteen-twentieths  of  the 
material,  even  in  a  good  mine. 

Mica  being  a  nonconductor  is  of  value  for  insulating  purposes,  and 
since  the  introduction  of  the  present  system  of  generating  electricity 
there  has  arisen  a  considerable  demand  for  it  in  the  construction  of 
dynamos  and  electric  motors.  For  these  purposes  the  mica  must  be 

1  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LV,  1893,  p.  4. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  295 

smooth  and  flexible,  as  well  as  free  from  spots  or  inequalities  of  any 
kind.  It  is  stated  that  it  should  be  sufficiently  fissile  to  split  into  sheets 
not  above  three  one-hundredths  inch  in  thickness,  and  which  may  be 
bent  without  cracking  into  a  circle  of  3  inches  diameter.  Strips  of 
various  dimensions  are  used  in  building  up  the  armatures,  the  more 
common  sizes  being  about  1  inch  wide  by  6  or  8  inches  long.  Musco- 
vite serves  the  purposes  well,  but  is  less  used  than  phlogopite,  the 
latter  serving  equally  well,  and  being  less  desirable  for  stoves  and  fur- 
naces. Black  mica  would  doubtless  serve  for  electrical  purposes,  could 
it  be  procured  in  sheets  of  sufficient  size. 

Mica  scraps  such  as  until  within  a  few  years  have  been  thrown  away 
as  worthless  are  now  utilized  by  grinding,  the  product  being  used  for 
a  variety  of  purposes,  noted  below.  The  material  is  as  a  rule  ground 
to  five  sizes,  such  as  will  pass  through  sieves  of  80, 100, 140, 160,  and  200 
meshes  to  the  inch,  respectively.  The  prices  of  this  ground  material 
vary  from  5  to  10  cents  a  pound  according  to  sizes.  Large  quanti- 
ties of  this  ground  material  are  used  in  the  manufacture  of  wall  paper, 
in  producing  the  frost  effects  on  Christmas  cards,  in  stage  scenery,  and. 
as  a  powder  for  the  hair,  being  sold  for  the  latter  purposes  under  the 
name  of  diamond  powder.  The  so-called  French  "silver  molding"  is 
said  to  be  made  from  ground  mica.  It  is  also  used  as  a  lubricant,  and 
as  a  nonconductor  for  steam  and  water  heating;  in  the  manufacture  of 
door  knobs  and  buttons.  It  is  stated  further  that  owing  to  its  elas- 
ticity it  can  be  used  as  an  absorbent  for  nitroglycerin.  rendering  ex- 
plosion by  percussion  much  less  likely  to  occur.  Small  amounts  of 
inferior  qualities  are  also  mixed  with  fertilizers  where  it  is  claimed  to 
be  efficacious  in  retaining  moisture.  A  brilliant  and  unalterable  mica 
paint  is  said  to  be  prepared  by  first  lightly  igniting  the  ground  mica 
and  then  boiling  in  hydrochloric  acid,  after  which  it  is  dried  and  mixed 
with  collodion,  and  applied  with  a  brush.  Owing  to  the  unalterable 
nature  of  the  material  under  all  ordinary  conditions,  and  the  fact  that 
it  can  be  readily  colored  and  still  retain  its  brilliancy  and  transparency, 
the  ground  mica  is  peculiarly  fitted  for  many  forms  of  decoration. 
Much  of  the  ground  material  now  produced  is  stated  to  be  sent  to 
France. 

The  chief  and  indeed  only  use  for  lepidolite  thus  far  developed  is  in 
the  manufacture  of  the  metal  lithium  and  lithia  salts. 

Prices. — The  total  value  of  the  cut  mica  produced  annually  in  the 
United  States  during  the  past  ten  years  has  varied  from  $50,000  to  over 
$360,000,  while  the  value  of  the  imports  has  varied  between  $5,000 
and  $100,000.  The  price  of  the  cut  mica,  it  should  be  stated,  varies 
with  the  size  of  the  sheets,  the  larger  naturally  bringing  the  higher 
price.  The  average  price  of  the  cut  mica,  all  sizes,  is  not  far  from 
$1  a  pound,  while  the  scrap  mica  is  worth  perhaps  half  a  cent  a 
pound.  The  dealers'  lists,  as  published,  include  193  sizes,  varying 


296  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,    1899. 

from  1|  by  2  inches  up  to  8  by  10  inches,  the  prices  ranging  from  40 
cents  to  $13  a  pound.  For  electrical  work  upward  of  400  patterns 
are  called  for,  the  prices  varying  from  10  cents  to  $2.50  a  pound. 

3.  ASBESTOS. 

The  name  asbestos  in  its  original  sense  includes  only  a  fibrous  variety 
of  the  mineral  amphibole;  hence  is  a  normal  metasilicate  of  calcium 
and  magnesium  with  usually  varying  amounts  of  iron  and  manga- 
nese and  not  infrequently  smaller  quantities  of  the  alkalies.  As  is 
well  known,  the  amphiboles  crystallize  in  the  monoclinic  system  in 
forms  varying  from  short,  stout  crystals,  like  common  hornblende,  to 
long  columnar  or  even  fibrous  forms,  to  which  the  names  actinolite, 
tremolite,  and  asbestos  are  applied.  The  word  asbestos  is  derived 
from  the  Greek  afffifffros,  signifying  incombustible,  in  allusion  to  its 
fireproof  qualities.  The  name  "amianthus"  was  given  it  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  the  word  signifying  undefiled,  and  was  applied  in 
allusion  to  the  fact  that  cloth  made  from  it  could  be  readily  cleansed 
by  throwing  it  into  the  fire.  As  now  used,  this  term  is  properly 
limited  to  fibrous  varieties  of  serpentine.  Owing  to  careless  usage,  and 
in  part  to  ignorance,  the  name  asbestos1  is  now  applied  to  at  least  four 
distinct  minerals,  having  in  common  only  a  fibrous  structure  and  more 
or  less  fire  and  acid  proof  properties.  These  four  minerals  are:  First, 
true  asbestos;  second,  anthophyllite;  third,  fibrous  serpentine  (chryso- 
tile),  and,  fourth,  crocidolite.  The  true  asbestos  is  of  a  white  or  gray 
color,  sometimes  greenish  or  stained  yellowish  by  iron  oxide.  Its 
fibrous  structure  is,  however,  its  most  marked  characteristic,  the  entire 
mass  of  material  as  taken  from  the  ledge  or  mine  being  susceptible  of 
being  shredded  up  into  fine  fibers  sometimes  several  feet  in  length.  In 
the  better  varieties  the  fibers  are  sufficiently  elastic  to  permit  of  their 
being  woven  into  cloth.  Often,  however,  through  the  effect  of 
weathering  or  other  agencies,  the  fibers  are  brittle  and  suitable  only 
for  felts  and  other  nonconducting  materials.  The  shape  of  an  asbestos 
fiber  is  as  a  rule  polygonal  in  outline  and  of  a  quite  uniform  diameter, 
as  shown  in  the  illustration  (fig.  10);  often,  however,  the  fibers  are 
splinter  like,  running  into  fine,  needle-like  points  at  the  extremity. 
The  diameters  of  these  fibers  is  quite  variable,  and,  indeed,  in  many 
instances  there  seems  no  practical  limit  to  the  shredding.  Down  to  a 
diameter  of  0.002  mm.  and  sometimes  to  even  0.001  mm.  the  fibers 
retain  their  uniform  diameter  and  polygonal  outlines.  Beyond  this, 
however,  they  become  splinter  like  and  irregular  as  above  noted. 

The  mineral  anthophyllite  like  amphibole  occurs  in  both  massive, 
platy,  and  fibrous  forms,  the  fibrous  form  being  to  the  unaided  eye 
indistinguishable  from  the  true  asbestos. 

1  Also  spelled  asbestus.  The  termination  o»  seems  most  desirable  when  the  deriva- 
tion of  the  word  is  considered. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


297 


Chemically  this  is  a  normal  metasilicate  of  magnesia  of  the  formula 
(Mg,Fe)  SiO3,  differing,  it  will  be  observed,  from  asbestos  proper  in 
containing  no  appreciable  amount  of  lime.  It  further  differs  in  crys- 
tallizing in  the  orthorhombic  rather  than  the  monoclinic  system,  a 
feature  which  is  deterniinable  only  with  the  aid  of  a  microscope. 

The  shape  and  size  of  the 
fibers  is  essentially  the  same 
as  true  asbestos.  The  fibrous 
variety  of  serpentine  to  which 
the  name  asbestos  is  commer- 
cially given  is  a  hydrated  met- 
asilicate of  magnesia  of  the 
formula  H4Mg3Si2O9  with  usu- 
ally a  part  of  the  magnesia 
replaced  by  ferrous  iron.  It 
differs,  it  will  be  observed, 
from  asbestos  and  anthophyl- 
lite  in  carrying  nearly  14  per 
cent  of  combined  water  and 
from  the  first  named  in  con- 
taining no  lime.  This  mineral 
is  in  most  cases  readily  distin- 
guished from  either  of  the  others  by  its  soft,  silk-like  fibers  and  further 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  more  or  less  decomposed  by  acids.  As  found  in 
nature  the  material  is  of  a  lively  oil  yellow  or  greenish  color,  compact 
and  quite  hard,  but  may  be  readily  reduced  to  the  fluffy,  fibrous  state 
by  beating,  handpicking,  or  running  between  rollers.  The  length  of 
the  fiber  is  quite  variable,  rarely  exceeding  6  inches,  but  of  very  smooth 
uniform  diameter  and  great  flexibility. 

The  mineral  crocidolite,  although  resembling  somewhat  fibrous  ser- 
pentine, belongs  properly  to  the  amphibole  group.  Chemically  it  is 
anhydrous  silicate  of  iron  and  soda,  the  iron  existing  in  both  the  sesqui- 
oxide  and  protoxide  states.  More  or  less  lime  and  magnesia  may  be 
present  as  combined  impurities.  The  color  varies  from  lavender  blue 
to  greenish,  the  fibers  being  silky  like  serpentine,  but  with  a  slightly 
harsh  feeling.  The  composition  of  representative  specimens  of  these 
minerals  from  various  sources  is  given  in  the  accompanying  table.1 

'From  Notes  on  Asbestos  and  Asbestiform  Minerals  by  George  P.  Merrill.  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  U.  S.  National  Museum,  XVIII,  1895,  pp.  281-292. 


Fig.  10. 
ASBESTOS    FIBERS. 

After  G.  P.  Merrill. 


298 


REPORT  OF  NATIONAL  MUSEUM,  1899. 


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THE    NONMEtALLlC    MINERALS. 


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Taberg,  Sweden  
Cow  Flats,  New  South  Wai 
Bolton.Mass  
Maiden,  Mass  
Nahant,  Mass  
Mexico  

South  Africa  (50877)  
Idaho  (49521)  
Glen  Urquhart,  Scotland.. 

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Shinness,  Sutherland,  Sco 
land. 

Portsoy,  Scotland  
Italy  

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Victoria,  British  Columbia 
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300  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

Mode  of  occurrence  and  origin.—  Concerning  the  associations,  occur- 
rence, and  origin  of  the  fibrous  structure  of  these  minerals  existing 
literature  is  strangely  silent.  It  is  known  that  all  occur  only  in  regions 
occupied  by  the  older  eruptive  and  metamorphic  rocks.  It  is  prob- 
able that  in  the  fibrous  forms  the  mineral  is  always  secondary,  and  the 
fibrous  structure  due  in  part,  at  least,  to  shearing  agencies;  that  is,  to 
movements  in  the  mass  of  a  rock  whereby  a  mineral  undergoing  crys- 
tallization would  be  compressed  laterally  and  drawn  out  along  a  line  of 
least  resistance.  This  is,  however,  not  the  case  with  the  fibrous  varieties 
of  serpentine,  which  undoubtedly  result  from  the  crystallization  in 
preexisting  fractures,  or  gash  veins,  of  the  serpentinous  material. 
The  process  is  evidently  the  same  as  that  which  is  seen  in  studying, 
under  the  microscope,  thin  sections  of  olivine-bearing  rocks  which 
have  undergone  hydration.  The  asbestos  in  Alberene,  in  Albeinarle 
County,  Virginia  (Specimen  No.  62550,  U.S.N.M.),  occurs  in  thin, 
platy  masses  along  slickensided  zones  in  the  so-called  soapstone 
(altered  pyroxenite)  of  the  region,  the  fibers  always  running  parallel 
with  the  direction  of  the  movement  which  has  taken  place.  At 
Alberton,  Maryland,  the  fibrous  anthophyllite  (Specimen  No.  62604, 
U.S.N.M.)  occurs  along  a  slickensided  zone  between  a  schistose  acti- 
nolite  rock  and  a  more  massive  serpentinous  or  talcose  rock,  which 
is  also  presumably  an  eruptive  peridotite  or  pyroxenite.  The  fibration 
here  runs  also  parallel  with  the  direction  of  movement  as  indicated  by 
the  slickensided  surfaces. 

Localities. — As  already  stated  true  hornblende  asbestos  occurs  only 
in  regions  of  eruptive  and  metamorphic  rocks  belonging  to  the  paleo- 
zoic formations.  The  same  is  true  of  anthophyllite.  Fibrous  ser- 
pentine occurs  sporadically  with  the  massive  forms  of  the  same  rock 
which  is,  so  far  as  known,  almost  invariably  an  altered  eruptive.  The 
three  forms  are  therefore  likely  to  occur  in  greater  or  less  abundance 
in  any  of  the  States  bordering  along  the  Appalachian  system,  but  are 
necessarily  lacking  in  the  great  Interior  Plains  regions,  reoccurring 
once  more  among  the  crystalline  rocks  of  the  Eocky  Mountains  and' 
the  Pacific  coast.  The  principal  States  from  which  either  the  true 
asbestos  or  anthophyllite  has  been  obtained  in  anything  like  commer- 
cial quantities  are  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  York,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Alabama, 
though  it  has  been  reported  from  other  Eastern  as  well  as  several  of 
the  Western  States.  Fibrous  serpentine  (chrysotile,  or  amianthus) 
occurs  in  small  amounts  at  Deer  Isle,  Maine;  in  northern  Vermont;  at 
Easton,  Pennsylvania;  Montville,  New  Jersey;  in  the  Casper  Moun- 
tains of  Wyoming,  and  in  Washington.  It  is  known  also  to  occur  in 
Newfoundland.  The  chief  commercial  sources  of  the  material  are, 
however,  Canada  and  Italy.  The  Canadian  source  is  in  a  belt  of  ser- 
pentinous rocks  extending  more  or  less  interruptedly  from  the  Ver- 
mont line  northeastward  to  some  distance  beyond  the  Chaudiere 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  301 

River.  The  geological  horizon  is  that  subdivision  of  the  Lower  Silu- 
rian known  as  the  Quebec  Group.  The  material  has  also  been  found 
in  the  Laurentian  rocks  of  this  region. 

Among  the  principal  areas  of  serpentine  which  are  found  at  so  many  widely  scat- 
tered points,  the  most  easterly  yet  known  is  at  a  point  called  Mount  Serpentine,  about 
10  miles  up  the  Dartmouth  River  from  its  outlet  in  Gaspe  Basin.  The  serpentine  is 
here  associated  with  limestone  and  surrounded  by  strata  of  Devonian  age.  Small 
veins  of  asbestos  are  found  in  the  rock,  but  not  yet  in  quantity  sufficient  to  be  eco- 
nomically valuable.  West  of  this  the  next  observed  is  the  great  mass  of  Mount 
Albert,  whence  it  extends  west  in  a  great  ridge  for  some  miles.  This  mass  is  known 
to  contain  veins  of  chromic-iron,  and  traces  of  asbestos  have  also  been  observed, 
but  the  area  has  never  yet  been  carefully  explored  with  a  view  to  ascertain  the 
presence  of  the  mineral  in  quantity,  owing  largely  to  the  present  difficulty  of  access. 

In  Cranbourne  and  Ware,  to  the  north  of  the  Chaudiere  River  and  in  the  vicinity 
of  that  stream  between  the  villages  of  St.'  Joseph  and  St.  Francis,  seVeral  small 
knolls  are  seen,  in  all  of  which  small  and  irregular  veins  are  visible,  but  apparently 
not  in  quantity  sufficient  to  render  them  economically  important,  at  least  in  so  far 
as  yet  examined.  Further  to  the  southwest,  in  Broughton,  Thetford,  Coleraine, 
Wolfestow  and  Ham,  a  very  great  development  of  these  rocks  is  observed,  forming 
at  times  mountain-masses  from  600  to  900  feet  above  the  surrounding  country  level, 
and  presenting  very  peculiar  and  boldly  marked  features  in  the  landscape  by  their 
rugged  outlines  and  curiously  weathered  surfaces.  The  large  areas  of  this  division 
terminate  southward  at  a  point  termed  Ham  Mountain,  a  very  prominent  peak  of 
diorite  which  marks  the  extremity  of  the  ridge.  In  this  great  area,  which  we  may 
style  the  central  area,  asbestos  can  be  found  at  many  points  in  small  quantity,  but  at 
a  comparatively  few  does  it  occur  in  quantity  and  quality  sufficient  to  warrant  the 
expenditure  of  much  capital  in  its  extraction. 

The  third  area,  regarding  that  of  the  Shickshocks  as  the  first,  begins  near  the 
village  of  Danville,  and  may  be  styled  the  southwestern  area.  Thence  it  extends 
through  Melbourne,  Brompton,  Orford,  Bolton,  and  Potton,  in  a  series  of  discon- 
nected hills,  to  the  American  boundary,  beyond  which  the  continuation  of  the  serpen- 
tines can  be  traced  into  Vermont.  In  these  areas,  with  the  exception  of  the  peculiar 
isolated  knoll  near  Danville,  the  asbestos  has,  as  yet,  been  observed  in  small  quantity 
only,  and  generally  of  inferior  quality.  Large  areas  of  soapstone  are  found  at  points 
throughout  the  area,  and  the  associated  diorites  have  a  large  development.  It  must, 
however,  be  said  of  this  section,  that  considerable  areas,  whose  outcrops  can  be  seen 
along  the  roads  which  traverse  the  district,  are  concealed  by  a  dense  forest  growth, 
and  the  true  value  of  such  portions  must,  for  some  considerable  time,  be  largely  con- 
jectural. In  fact,  until  the  forest  and  soil  are  completely  removed  by  the  action  of 
forest  fires,  as  was  the  case  at  Black  Lake  and  Thetford,  the  search  for  asbestos  is 
likely  to  prove  difficult  and  unsatisfactory.  It  is,  however,  very  evident  from  the 
studies  already  made  on  this  interesting  group  of  rocks  in  Canada,  that  all  serpen- 
tines are  not  equally  productive— a  fact  very  evident  even  in  the  heart  of  the  great 
mining  centers  themselves,  where  large  areas  of  the  belt  are  made  up  of  what  is 
known  as  barren  serpentine.  As  a  general  rule,  however,  the  rock  likely  to  prove 
asbestos-producing  can  be  determined  by  certain  peculiarities  of  texture,  color  or 
weathering. 

At  the  Thetford  mines,  and  in  that  portion  of  Coleraine  lying  to  the  northeast  of 
Black  Lake,  certain  conditions  favorable  to  the  production  of  asbestos  appear  to 
have  prevailed,  and  have  led  to  the  formation  of  numerous  veins,  often  of  large 
size,  which,  in  places,  interlace  the  rock  in  all  directions.  These  veins  range  in  size 
from  small  threads  to  a  width  of  3  to  4  inches  [fig.  11],  and  in  rare  cases  even  reach 
athickness  of  over  6  inches.  [See  large  Specimens  Nos.  72836  and  61348,  U.S.N.M.]. 
The  quality  of  the  fiber,  however,  varies  even  in  these  localities,  and  while  much  of 


302  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

it  is  soft,  fine  and  silky,  other  portions  are  characterized  by  a  harshness  or  stiffness 
which  detracts  greatly  from  its  commercial  value. 

The  veins  while  not  disturbed  by  faulting  generally  improve  so  far 
as  quality  of  material  is  concerned  as  the  depth  below  the  surface 
increases.  They  are,  however,  very  irregular  in  their  distribution, 
and  are  rarely  persistent  for  any  great  distance. 

A  small  vein  at  the  surface,  of  half  an  inch  in  thickness,  may  quickly  enlarge  to  one 
of  three  inches  or  more,  and,  continuing,  may  die  out  entirely,  while  others  come  in 
on  either  side.  They  have  much  the  aspect  of  the  gash  veins  in  slaty  rocks,  though 
there  are  many  instances  seen  where  the  fiber  maintains  a  tolerably  uniform  size 
for  considerable  distances.  [See  large  Specimen  No.  61348,  U.S.N.M.  J. 


Fig.  11, 

SERPENTINE    ASBESTOS    IN    MASSIVE   SERPENTINE. 

Specimen  No.  72836. 

The  containing  rocks  show  the  presence  of  numerous  faults,  as  m  other  mineral 
localities,  but  possibly  in  the  serpentine  these  are  often  more  plainly  marked.  These 
faults  throw  the  veins  from  side  to  side,  and  frequently  are  of  sufficient  extent  to 
cut  off  entirely  the  working  face  of  a  highly  productive  area,  the  rock  on  the  other 
side  of  the  fissure  being  often  entirely  barren.  The  sides  o'f  the  fault,  in  such  cases, 
show  extensive  slickensides,  and  frequently  have  great  sheets  of  coarse  or  woody- 
fibered  or  imperfect  asbestos,  along  the  planes  of  fracture.  Occasionally,  pockets  or 
small  veins  of  chromic  iron  are  found  in  close  proximity  to  the  asbestos!1 

Specimens  Nos.  62135,  62150,  U.S.N.M.  from  Marmora  and  Thetford 
show  the  characteristic  manner  of  the  occurrence  of  the  mineral  on  a 
small  scale,  while  No.  62151,  U.S.N.M.,  shows  the  material  as  freed 
from  the  wall  rock,  before  shredding.  See  also  Specimens  Nos.  53682 
to  53690  from  Danville,  Province  of  Quebec. 


1 R.  W.  Ells,  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVIII, 
90,  p.  322. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  303 

The  Italian  asbestos  which  finds  It  way  to  the  American  markets 
is  both  of  the  amphibolic  and  serpentinous  varieties,  both  being  remark- 
able for  the  beautiful  long  fibers  they  yield.  The  amphibolic  variety, 
the  true  asbestos,  from  Mont  Cenis,  is  shown  in  Specimen  No.  53164, 
U.S.N.M.,  and  the  serpentinous  variety,  from  Aosta,  in  the  sample, 
No.  53161.  U.S.N.M.  Both  are  in  the  form  of  fibrous  aggregates  over 
a  metre  in  length. 

Methods  of  mining  and  preparation. — The  mining  of  asbestos  is 
carried  on  almost  wholly  from  open  cuts  and  shallow  tunnels.  Rarely 
does  it  pay  to  follow  the  material  to  any  great  depth.  In  the  United 
States  the  mines  are  worked  very  irregularly,  and  in  most  cases  aban- 
doned at  the  end  of  a  short  season. 

The  mining  of  the  Canadian  material  is  carried  on  by  means  of  open 
cuts,  much  as  a  farmer  cuts  down  a  stack  of  hay  or  straw,  or  by  open 
quarry  on  a  level.  The  rock  is  blasted  out  and  the  asbestos  separated 
from  the  inclosing  rock  by  a  process  known  as  "cobbing,"  and  which 
consists  in  breaking  away  the  fibrous  material  from  the  walls  of  the 
vein  or  from  other  foreign  ingredients  by  means  of  hammers. 

The  cobbed  material  is  separated  into  grades,  according  to  quality, 
which  depends  upon  the  length,  fineness,  and  flexibility  of  the  fiber. 
During  1888  the  finest  grades  brought  prices  varying  from  $80  to  Si  10 
a  ton.  In  1899  the  price  had  fallen  to  about  $26  a  ton. 

Uses. — The  uses  of  asbestos  are  manifold,  and  ever  on  the  increase. 
Among  the  ancient  Greeks  it  was  customary  to  wrap  the  bodies  of 
those  to  be  burned  in  asbestos  cloth,  that  their  ashes  might  be  kept 
intact.  In  the  eighth  century  Charlemagne  is  said  to  have  used  an 
asbestos  tablecloth,  which,  when  the  feast  was  over,  he  would  throw 
into  the  fire,  after  a  time  withdrawing  it  cleaned  but  unharmed,  greatly 
to  the  entertainment  of  his  guests.  The  most  striking  use  to  which 
the  material  is  put  is  the  manufacture  of  fireproof  cloths  for  theater 
curtains,  for  suits  of  firemen  and  others  liable  to  exposure  to  great 
heat.  It  is  also  used  for  packing  pistons,  closing  joints  in  cylinder 
heads,  and  other  fittings  where  heat,  either  dry  or  from  steam  and  hot 
water,  would  shortly  destroy  a  less  durable  substance.  For  this  pur- 
pose it  is  used  in  the  form  of  a  yarn,  or  as  millboard.  The  lower 
grades,  in  which  the  fibers  are  short  or  brittle,  are  made  into  a  felt 
which,  on  account  of  its  nonconducting  powers,  is  utilized  in  covering 
steam  boilers.  It  is  also  ground  and  made  into  cements  and  paints, 
the  cement  being  used  as  a  nonconductor  on  boilers,  and  the  paint  to 
render  wooden  structures  less  susceptible  to  fire.  In  the  chemical 
laboratory  the  finely  fibered,  thoroughly  purified  asbestos  forms  an 
indispensable  filtering  medium.  For  this  purpose  the  true  asbestos  is 
preferable  to  the  fibrous  serpentine.1  Examples  of  the  manufactured 
products  mentioned  are  exhibited  with  the  crude  products. 

'Prof.  A.  H.Chester:  Some  Misconceptions  Concerning  Asbestos.  Engineering  and 
Mining  Journal,  LV,  1893,  p.  531. 


304  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

The  chief  commercial  use  of  the  material  is  based  upon  its  highly 
refractory  or  noncombustible  nature.  The  popular  impression  that  it 
is  a  nonconductor  of  heat  is,  according  to  Professor  Donald,  erroneous, 
the  nonconducting  character  of  the  prepared  material  being  due  rather 
to  its  porous  nature  than  to  the  physical  properties  of  the  mineral 
itself.1  Owing  to  the  comparative  high  price  of  asbestos,  it  is,  in  the 
manufacture  of  the  so-called  nonconducting  materials,  largely  admixed 
with  plaster  of  paris,  powdered  limestone,  dolomite,  magnesite,  diato- 
maceous  earth,  or  carbonaceous  matter,  as  hair,  paper,  sawdust,  etc. 
With  the  possible  exception  of  the  magnesite  (carbonate  of  magnesia) 
these  are  all  less  effective  than  the  asbestos,  and  deteriorate  as  well  as 
cheapen  the  manufactured  article.  The  following  table  will  serve  to 
convey  some  idea  of  the  relative  portions  of  the  various  materials  used 
as  nonconducting  pipe  coverings,  etc. : 

Parts. 
Asbestos  sponge,  molded: 

Plaster  of  paris 95.  80 

Fibrous  asbestos 4. 20 


100.00 

Fire  felt  sectional  covering: 

Asbestos 82. 00 

Carbonaceous  matter  ( hair,  paper,  sawdust,  etc. ) 1 8. 00 

100. 00 


Magnesia  sectional  covering: 

Carbonate  of  magnesia 92.  20 

Fibrous  asbestos 7]  80 


100.00 

Magnesia  plastic: 

Carbonate  of  magnesia 92  20 

Fibrous  asbestos ?!  80 


100.00 

Asbestos  cement  felting: 

Powdered  limestone 64  50 

Plaster  of  paris ."I"I"I."IIII"II"™IIH!  3.50 

Asbestos .     32.00 


100.00 
Asbestos  ST 


Powdered  limestone  ...  ^q  no 

Plaster  of  paris 1000 

1 


100.00 
Fossil  meal: 

Insoluble  silicate 75  00 

Carbonaceous  matter  (hair,  paper", "sawdust"  etc.")  "  ll'  0( 

Soluble  mineral  matter  . .  «  ™ 

"" 


100.00 


'The  Mineral  Industry,  II,  1893,  p.  4. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  305 

The  following  catalogue  shows  the  mineral  nature  and  localities  repre- 
sented in  the  Asbestos  collection  of  the  Museum: 

Fibrous  anthophyllite.     Tallapoosa  County,  Alabama.     62763. 

Fibrous  anthophyllite.     San  Diego  County,  California.     67001. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     California.     50899. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Colorado.     50878,  50879,  and  50880. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Connecticut.     50912. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Black  Hills,  South  Dakota.     50916,  50917. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Lawrence  County,  South  Dakota.     63487. 

Fibrous  anthophyllite.     Sails  Mountain,  Georgia.     61305,  61357. 

Fibrous  anthophyllite.     Cleveland,  White  County,  Georgia.     62749. 

Fibrous  anthophyllite.     Near  Nacoochee,  White  County,  Georgia.     60842,  63155. 

Fibrous  anthophyllite.     Fulton  County,  Georgia.     63156. 

Fibrous  anthophyllite.     Alberton,  Howard  County,  Maryland.     62604,  62605. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Maryland.     50891  and  50892. 

Asbestos  in  limestone.  West  end  of  lower  bridge,  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad, 
over  Patapsco  River,  just  west  of  Alberton,  Maryland.  62778. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Parkton,  Baltimore  County,  Maryland.     8536. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Jefferson,  Frederick  County,  Maryland.     63479. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Harford  County,  Maryland.     63033. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Massachusetts.     50909, 50910. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Gallatin  County,  Montana.     53341. 

Fibrous  anthophyllite.     Warrenton,  Warren  County,  North  Carolina.     62748. 

Fibrous  anthophyllite.     Mitchell  County,  North  Carolina.     50876,  63158,  63159. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Nevada.     50885. 

Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.     New  Hampshire.     50914. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     New  York.     50867-50871  and  63160. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Delaware  County,  Pennsylvania.     62754. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Pennsylvania.     50895, 50896,  73507. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Chester,  Chester  County,  South  Carolina.     73462. 

Fibrous  anthophyllite.     South  Carolina.     50874,  50875. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Tennessee.     50905. 

Mountain  leather,  amphibole.     Minersville,  Beaver  County,  Utah.     67266,  55379. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Utah.     50907, 50908. 

Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.     Vermont.     50898, 63161. 

Fibrous  amphibole  in  calcite.  Alberene,  Albemarle  County,  Virginia.  62550, 
62551. 

Fibrous  amphibole,  near  Roanoke,  Roanoke  County,  Virginia.     5694. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Virginia.     50872. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Washington.     63206. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Wisconsin.     50906. 

Fibrous  anthophyllite.     Carbon  County,  Wyoming.     62090. 

Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.  Casper  Mountain.  12  miles  south  of  Casper, 
Wyoming.  67377,62091. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Wyoming.     66674. 

Fibrous  crocidolite.     Weinthal,  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  South  Africa.     62107. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Transvaal,  South  Africa.     50877. 

Fibrous  crocidolite.     Orange  River,  Mount  Hopetown,  Africa.     73128. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Gundagai,  New  South  Wales,  Australia.     62450. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Australia.     50893. 

Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.     Victoria,  British  Columbia.     50902. 

Fibrous  serpentine  in  ophicalcite.     Canada.     72836. 

Fibrous  amphibole,  variety  of  mountain  cork.     Buckingham,  Canada.     68138. 

NAT   MUS   99 20 


306  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.     Black  Lake,  Quebec,  Canada.     62151. 
Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.     Thetford,  Quebec,  Canada.     62150. 
Veins  of  chrysotile.     Marmora,  Ontario,  Canada.     62135. 
Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.     Algoma  District,  Ontario,  Canada.     62134. 
Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.     Danville,  Quebec,  Canada.     53682-53684. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Canada.     50889. 
Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.     Manitoba.     50904. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Canada.     50888. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Canada.     50890. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Canada.     50887. 
Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.     Canada.     50886. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     China.     50900. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Corsica.     73000. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Corsica.     82359. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     France.     50883. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     France.     50882. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     France.     50881. 

Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.     Erese,  about  20  miles  east  of  Aosta,  Italy.     53161. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Monte  Lunella,  spur  of  Monte  Cenis,  5  miles  from  Usseglio, 
Italy.     53164. 

Fibrous  amphibole.     Italy.     50894. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Zillerthal,  Tyrol.     66838. 
Fibrous  serpentine,  chrysotile.     Piedmont,  Italy.     73539. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Caterce,  San  Luis  Potosi,  Mexico.    57168. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Goldenstein,  Moravia.     66837. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Newfoundland.     50919. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Nova  Scotia.     50911. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Spain.     50913. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Tasmania.     50918. 
Fibrous  amphibole,  mountain  cork.     Venezuela.     50884. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Argentine  Republic.     63416. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Bohemia.     73538. 
Fibrous  amphibole.     Smyrna.     50901 . 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

A.  LIVERSIDGE.     Minerals  of  New  South  Wales,  1888,  p.  180.     Gives  list  of  localities. 
ROBERT  H.  JONES.     Asbestos,  Its  Properties,  Occurrence,  and  Uses. 

London,  1890,  pp.  236. 
L.  A.  KLEIN.     The  Canadian  Asbestos  Industry. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LIV,  1892,  p.  273. 
J.  T.  DONALD.     Asbestos  in  Canada. 

The  Mineral  Industry,  I,  1892,  p.  30. 
L.  A.  KLEIN.     Notes  on  the  Asbestos  Industry  of  Canada. 

The  Mineral  Industry,  I,  1892,  p.  32. 
J.  T.  DONALD.     Asbestos. 

The  Mineral  Industry,  II,  1893, p.  37. 
RUDOLF  MARLOCH.     Asbestos  in  South  America. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVIII,  1894,  p.  272. 
C.  E.  WILLIS.     The  Asbestos  Fields  of  Port-au-Port,  Newfoundland. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVIII,  1894,  p.  586. 
GEORGE  P.  MERRILL.     Notes  on  Asbestos  and  Other  Asbestiform  Minerals. 

Proceedings  of  the  U.  S.  National  Museum,  XVIII,  1895,  p.  281. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  307 

H.  NELLES  THOMPSON.     Asbestos  Mining  and  Dressing  at  Thetford. 

The  Journal  of  the  Federated  Canadian  Mining  Institute,  1897,  II,  p.  273. 
See  also  the  Canadian  Mining  Review  ,  XVI,  1897,  p.  126. 
ROBERT  H.  JONES.     Asbestos  and  Asbestic:  Their  Properties,  Occurrence,  and  Use. 

London,  1897,  pp.  368. 

4.  GARNET. 

The  chemical  composition  of  the  various  minerals  of  the  garnet 
group  is  somewhat  variable,  though  all  are  essentially  silicates  of 
alumina,  lime,  iron,  or  magnesia.  The  more  common  types  are  the 
lime-alumina  garnet  grossularite,  and  the  iron  alumina  garnet  alaman- 
dite.  Other  varieties  of  value  as  minerals  or  as  gems  are  pi/rope,  spess- 
artite,  andradite,  bredbergite,  and  uvarovite. 

The  ordinary  form  of  the  garnet  is  the  regular  12  or  24  sided  solid, 
the  dodecahedron  and  trapezodedron,  as  shown  in  Specimen  No.  53241, 
U.S.N.M.,  from  Roxbury  Falls,  Connecticut.  The  color  is  dull  red  or 
brown,  though  in  the  rarer  forms  yellow,  green,  and  white.  Hardness 
from  6.5  to  7.5  of  the  scale. 

Occurrence. — Garnets  occur  mainly  in  metamorphic  siliceous  rocks, 
such  as  the  mica  schists  and  gneisses,  and  though  sometimes  found  in 
limestones  and  in  eruptive  rocks,  are  rarely  sufficiently  abundant  to 
be  of  economic  importance.  In  the  gneisses  and  schists,  however, 
they  not  infrequently  preponderate  over  every  other  constituent, 
varying  from  sizes  smaller  than  a  pin's  head  to  masses  of  100  pounds 
weight,  or  more. 

The  most  important  garnet-producing  regions  of  the  United  States 
are  Warren  County,  New  York,  and  Delaware  County,  Pennsylvania. 
At  the  first-named  locality,  the  garnets  occur  in  laminated  pockets 
scattered  through  beds  of  a  very  compact  hornblende  feldspar  rock, 
the  size  of  the  pockets  ranging  from  5  or  6  inches  in  diameter  to  such  as 
will  yield  1,000  pounds  or  more  (Specimen  No.  53228,  U.S.N.M.).  In 
the  Delaware  County  localities  the  garnets  occur  in  aggregates  of  small 
crystals  in  a  quartzose  gneiss1  (Specimens  Nos.  53221,  66710,  U.S.N.M.). 

One  of  the  most  noted  garnet  regions  of  the  world  is  that  near 
Prague,  Bohemia.  According  to  G.  F.  Kunz,2  the  garnets  of  the 
pyrope  variety  are  indigenous  to  an  eruptive  rock  now  changed  to  ser- 
pentine, and  the  mineral  is  found  "loose  in  the  soil  or  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  diluvium,  or  embedded  in  a  serpentine  rock.  In  min- 

ing for  garnets  the  earth  is  cut  down  in  banks  and  only  the  lower  layer 
removed,  and  the  garnets  are  separated  by  washing.  The  earth  is 
first  dry  sifted  and  then  washed  in  a  small  jig  consisting  of  a  sieve 
moved  back  and  forth  in  a  tank  of  water." 

Uses. — Aside  from  their  use  in  the  cheaper  forms  of  jewelry  garnets 

'The  Mineral  Industry,  V,  1896. 

2  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XXI,  1892,  p.  241. 


308  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

are  used  mainly  for  abrading  purposes  and  mainly  as  a  sand  for  sawing 
and  grinding  stone  or  for  making  sandpaper.  .The  material  is  of  less 
value  than  corundum  or  emery,  owing  to  its  inferior  hardness.  The 
commercial  value  is  variable,  but  as  prepared  for  market  it  is  worth 
about  2  cents  a  pound. 

5.  ZIRCON. 

This  is  a  silicate  of  zirconium,  ZrSiO4,  =  silica  32.8  per  cent;  zirconia 
67.2  per  cent;  specific  gravity  4.68  to  4.7;  hardness  7.5;  colorless,  gray- 
ish, pale  yellow  to  brown  or  reddish  brown.  Ordinarily  in  the  form 
of  square  prisms.  Specimens  Nos.  61133  and  62581,  U.S.N.M.,  are 
characteristic. 

Zircon  is  a  common  constituent  of  the  older  eruptives  like  granite 
and  syenite,  and  also  occurs  in  granular  limestone,  gneiss,  and  the 
schists.  It  is  so  abundant  in  the  elseolite  syenites  of  southern  Norway 
as  to  have  given  rise  to  the  varietal  name  Zircon  syenite.  Although 
widespread  as  a  rock  constituent  it  has  been  reported  in  but  few 
instances  in  sufficient  abundance  to  make  it  of  commercial  value. 
Being  hard  and  very  durable  it  resists  to  the  last  ordinary  atmospheric 
agencies,  and  hence  is  to  be  found  in  beds  of  sand,  gravel,  and  other 
debris  resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  rocks  in  which  it  primarily 
occurs.  It  has  thus  been  reported  as  found  in  the  alluvial  sands  in 
Ceylon,  in  the  gold  sands  of  the  Ural  Mountains,  Australia,  and  other 
places.  In  the  United  States  it  occurs  in  considerable  abundance  in 
the  elseolite  syenite  of  Litchfield,  Maine,  and  is  also  found  in  other 
States  bordering  along  the  Appalachian  Mountains.  The  most  noted 
localities  are  in  Henderson  and  Buncombe  counties  in  North  Carolina, 
whence  several  tons  have  been  mined  during  the  past  few  years  from 
granite  debris.  (Specimen  No.  61133,  U.S.N.M.) 

Uses.— See  under  monazite,  p.  383. 

6.  SPODUMENE  AND  PETALITE. 

This  is  an  aluminum  lithium  silicate  of  the  formula  LiAl  (SiO3)2,  = 
silica,  64. 5  per  cent;  alumina,  27.4  per  cent;  lithia,  8. 4  per  cent;  in  nature 
more  or  less  impure  through  the  presence  of  small  amounts  of  ferrous 
oxide,  lime,  magnesia,  potash,  and  soda.  Luster  vitreous  to  pearly; 
colors  white,  gray,  greenish,  yellow,  and  amethystine  purple.  Trans- 
parent to  translucent.  Usual  form  that  of  flattened  prismatic  crystals, 
with  easy  cleavages  parallel  with  the  faces  of  the  prism.  Also  in  mas- 
sive forms.  Crystals  sometimes  of  enormous  size,  as  noted  below. 

Mode  of  occurrence.—  Spodumene  occurs  commonly  in  the  coarse 
granitic  veins  associated  with  other  lithia  minerals,  together  with  tour- 
maline, beryls,  quartz,  feldspar,  and  mica.  The  chief  localities  as 
given  by  Dana  are  as  below: 

In  the  United  States,  in  granite  at  Goshen,  Massachusetts,  associated  at  one  locality 
with  blue  tourmaline  and  beryl;  also  at  Chesterfield,  Chester,  Huntington  (formerly 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  309 

Norwich)  [Specimen  No.  62579,  U.S. N.M.], and  Sterling,  Massachusetts;  atWindham, 
Maine,  with  garnet  and  staurolite;  at  Peru  with  beryl,  triphylite,  petalite;  at  Paris, 
in  Oxford  County  [Specimen  No.  62578,  U.S.N.M.];  at  Winchester,  New  Hampshire; 
at  Brookfield,  Connecticut,  a  few  rods  north  of  Tomlinson's  tavern,  in  small  grayish 
or  greenish  white  individuals  looking  like  feldspar;  at  Branchville,  Connecticut,  in  a 
vein  of  pegmatite,  with  lithiophilite,  uraninite,  several  manganesian  phosphates,  etc. ; 
the  crystals  are  often  of  immense  size,  embedded  in  quartz;  near  Stony  Point,  Alex- 
ander County,  North  Carolina,  the  variety  hiddenite  in  cavities  in  a  gneissoid  rock 
with  beryl  (emerald),  monazite,  rutile,  allanite,  quartz,  mica,  etc. ;  near  Ballground, 
Cherokee  County,  Georgia;  in  South  Dakota  at  the  Etta  tin  mine  in  Pennington 
County,  in  immense  crystals.  [Specimen  No.  73,642,  U.S.N.M.].  At  Huntington, 
Massachusetts,  it  is  associated  with  triphylite,  mica,  beryl,  and  albite;  one  crystal 
from  this  locality  was  16£  inches  long  and  10  inches  in  girth. 

At  the  Etta  tin  mine,  in  the  Black  Hills  of  South  Dakota,  the  mineral 
occurs,  according  to  W.  P.  Blake,  in  sizes  the  magnitude  of  which 
exceeds  all  records.  Crystalline  masses  extend  across  the  face  of  the 
open  cut  from  2  to  6  feet  in  length  and  from  a  few  inches  to  12  and  18 
inches  in  diameter.  Blocks  too  large  to  lift  have  been  freely  tumbled 
over  the  dump  with  the  waste  of  the  feldspar,  quartz,  and  mica.  The 
gigantic  crystals  preserve  the  cleavage  characteristics  and  show  the 
common  prismatic  planes.  The  color  is  lighter  and  is  without  the 
delicate  creamy  pink  hue  of  the  specimens  from  Massachusetts.  It  is 
very  hard,  compact,  and  tough,  and  is  difficult  to  break  across  the 
grain.  Some  of  the  fragments  are  translucent. 

The  chief  foreign  localities  of  spodumene  are  Uto  in  Sodermanland, 
Sweden,  where  it  is  associated  with  magnetic  iron  ore,  tourmalines, 
quartz,  and  feldspar;  near  Sterzing  and  Lisens,  in  Tyrol;  embedded  in 
granite  at  Killiney  Bay  near  Dublin,  and  at  Peterhead,  Scotland. 

Uses. — So  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  the  mineral  has  as  yet  been  put 
to  no  economic  use.  There  seems  no  reason  for  its  not  being  utilized 
as  a  source  of  lithia  salts  as  well  as  amblygonite  and  lepidolite. 

PETALITE,  another  lithium  aluminum  silicate  containing  2.5  to  5  per 
cent  lithia  occurs  associated  with  lepidolite,  tourmaline,  and  spodumene 
in  an  iron  mine  at  Uto,  Sweden  (Specimen  No.  62582,  U.S.N.M.),  with 
spodumene  and  albite  at  Peru,  Maine,  and  with  scapolite  at  Bolton, 
Massachusetts. 

7.  LAZUBITE;  LAPIS  LAZULI;  OR  NATIVE  ULTRAMARINE. 

Composition  essentially  Na4  (NaS3.Al)  Al2Si3O12,=  silica,  31.7  per 
cent;  alumina,  26.9  per  cent;  soda,  27.3  per  cent;  sulphur,  16.9  per 
cent;  hardness,  5.5;  specific  gravity,  2.38  to  2.45.  Color,  rich  azure- 
violet  or  greenish  blue,  translucent  to  opaque.  The  ordinary  lapis 
lazuli  is  not  a  simple  mineral  as  given  above,  but  a  mixture  of  lazurite, 
hauynite,  and  various  other  minerals. 


310 


EEPOET    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM, 


The  following  analyses  quoted  from  Dana  serve  to  show  the  hetero- 
geneous character  of  the  material  as  found: 


Localities.          |    •§£• 

Alu- 
mina, 
A1203. 

Ferric 
iron, 
Fe^03. 

Lime, 
CaO. 

Soda, 
NaaO. 

Water, 
H20. 

Sulphur, 
S03. 

Orient  45.33 

12.33 
43  00 

2.12 
0.86 

23.56 
1.14 

11.45 
12.54 

0.35 
1.92 

3.22 

1  30 

7  48 

10  55 

4  32 

Occurrence.—  The  localities  are  mostly  foreign.  The  ultramarine 
reported  not  long  since  as  occurring  near  Silver  City,  New  Mexico, 
has  been  shown  by  R.  L.  Packard  to  be  a  magnesian  silicate. 

Mexico,  Chile,  Siberia,  India,  and  Persia  are  the  chief  sources.  The 
following  regarding  the  Indian  localities  is  taken  from  Ball's  Geology 
of  India,  Part  III. 

According  to  Captain  Hutton,  the  lapis  lazuli  sold  in  Kandahar  is 
brought  from  Sadmoneir  and  Bijour,  where  it  is  said  to  occur  in  masses 
and  nodules  embedded  in  other  rocks.  He  obtained  a  small  specimen 
from  Major  Lynch,  which  was  said  to  have  been  brought  from  Hazara, 
and  he  heard  that  it  occurred  in  Khelat.  Several  writers  speak  of 
its  occurrence  in  Biluchistan,  but  possibly  this  may  be  due  to  some 
confusion  in  names.  Beyond  a  question  of  doubt  it  does  exist  in 
Badakshan,  the  mines  south  of  Firgamu,  in  the  Kokcha  valleys, 
having  been  described  by  Wood  in  the  narrative  of  his  journey  to  the 
Oxus. 

The  entrance  to  the  mines  is  on  the  face  of  the  mountain  at  an  ele- 
vation of  about  1,500  feet  above  the  level  of  the  stream.  The  rocks 
are  veined,  black  and  white  limestones.  The  principal  mine,  as  repre- 
sented in  elevation,  pursues  a  somewhat  serpentine  direction.  The 
shaft  by  which  you  descend  to  the  gallery  is  about  10  feet  square,  and 
is  not  so  perpendicular  as  to  prevent  your  walking  down.  The  gallery 
is  30  paces  long,  with  a  gentle  descent,  but  it  terminates  in  a  hole  20 
feet  in  diameter  and  as  many  deep.  The  gallery  is  12  feet  in  diameter, 
and  as  it  is  unsupported  by  pillars  accidents  sometimes  occur.  Fires 
are  used  to  soften  the  rock  and  cause  it  to  crack;  on  being  hammered 
it  comes  off  in  flakes,  and  when  the  precious  stone  is  disclosed  a  groove 
is  picked  round  it,  and  together  with  a  portion  of  the  matrix  it  is  prised 
out  by  means  of  crowbars.  Three  varieties  are  distinguished  by  the 
miners,  the  nili,  or  indigo  colored,  the  asmani,  or  sky-blue,  and  the 
sabzi,  or  green.  The  labour  was  compulsory ;  and  mining  was  only  prac- 
tised in  the  winter.  According  to  Wood,  these  mines  and  also  those  for 
rubies  had  not  been  worked  for  four  years  as  they  had  ceased  to  be 
profitable.  Possibly  this  may  have  been  partly  due  to  the  fall  in  value; 
according  to  Mr.  Baden-Powell,  recent  returns  represent  the  exports 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  311 

as  amounting  to  only  2  seers;  but  Colonel  Yule,  in  his  book  of  Marco 
Polo,  states  that  the  produce  was  30  to  60  poods  (36  Ibs.  each)  annually, 
the  best  qualities  selling  at  prices  ranging  from  £12  to  £24  a  pood. 
Mr.  Powell's  figures  perhaps  only  refer  to  the  exports  to  India.  For- 
merly the  produce  from  these  mines,  which  must  have  been  consider- 
able, was  exported  principally  to  Bokhara  and  China,  whence  a  portion 
found  its  way  to  Europe. 

Marco  Polo  says  that  the  azure  found  here  was  the  finest  in  the 
world,  and  that  it  occurred  in  a  vein  like  silver.  The  Yamgan  tract, 
in  which  the  mines  were  situated,  contained  many  other  mines,  and 
doubtless  Tavernier  referred  to  it  when  he  spoke  of  the  territory  of  a 
Raja  beyond  Kashmir  and  toward  Thibet,  where  there  were  three 
mountains  close  to  one  another,  one  of  which  produced  gold,  another 
granats  (garnets,  or  rather  balas  rubies),  and  the  third  lapis  lazuli. 

A  small  quantity  of  lajward  is  said  to  be  imported  into  the  Punjab 
from  Kashgar,  and  a  mine  is  reported  to  exist  near  the  source  of  the 
Koultouk,  a  river  which  falls  into  Lake  Baikal. 

Uses. — Ultramarine  for  coloring  purposes  has  in  modern  times  lost 
much  of  its  value,  owing  to  the  discovery  by  M.  Guimet  in  1828  of  an 
artificial  substitute.  Formerly  it  was  much  used  as  a  pigment,  being 
preferred  by  artists  in  consequence  of  its  possessing  greater  purity  and 
clearness  of  tint.  According  to  Ball,1  the  artificial  substitute  is  now 
commonly  sold  in  the  bazars  of  India  under  the  same  name,  lajward, 
for  about  4  rupees  a  seer,  while  at  Kandahar  in  the  year  1841,  accord- 
ing to  Captain  Hutton,  the  true  lajward,  which  was  used  for  house 
painting  and  book  illuminating,  was  sold,  when  purified,  at  from  80 
to  100  rupees  a  seer.  Mr.  Emanuel  states  that  the  value  of  the  stone 
itself,  when  of  good  color,  varies,  according  to  size,  from  10  to  50 
shillings  an  ounce.  In  Europe  the  refuse  in  the  manufacture  is 
calcined,  and  affords  delicate  gray  pigments,  which  are  known  as 
ultramarine  ash. 

Lajward  is  prescribed  as  a  medicine  internalhr  by  native  physicians; 
it  has  been  applied  externally  to  ulcers.  That  it  possesses  any  real 
therapeutic  powers  is  of  course  doubtful. 

Although  no  longer  a  source  of  any  considerable  amount  of  the 
ultramarine  of  commerce,  the  compact  varieties  of  the  mineral,  such  as 
that  from  Persia,  are  highly  esteemed  for  the  manufacture  of  mosaics, 
vases,  and  other  small  ornaments. 

8.  ALLANITE;  ORTHITE. 

This  is  a  cerium  epidote  of  the  formula  HRIIRIII3Si3O13,  in  which 
R11  may  be  either  calcium  or  iron  (or  both)  and  Rm  aluminum,  iron, 
cerium,  didymium,  or  lanthanum.  The  following  analyses  are  selected 

1  Geology  of  India,  III,  p.  528. 


312 


EEPOET    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


from  Dana's  Mineralogy  as  showing  variation  in  the  composition  suffi- 
ciently for  present  purposes: 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

31.63 

33.03 

30.04 

0.87 

1.12 

None. 

Alumina  (  A12O3)  

13.21 

17.63 

16.10 

Iron  sesquioxide  (Fe^)  
Cerium  sesquioxide  (Ce->O3)  

8.39 
8.67 
5.60 

5.26 

2.84 
7.68 

5.06 
11.61 
5.39 

Lanthanum  sesquioxide  (LaoO3)  — 

5.46 
0.87 

None. 
2.92 

4.11 
None. 

Erbinum  sesquioxide  (Er2O3)  

0.52 
7.86 

None. 

7.01 

None. 
9.89 

Manganese  (MnO)  

1.66 
10.48 

0.64 
12.78 

Trace. 
13.02 

Magnesia  (MgO)  

0.08 
0  28 

0.11 
0  40 

1.11 
0  02 

Soda  (NajO)  

None. 
3  49 

None. 
9  37 

0.28 
2  56 

99.07 

100.79 

99.19 

(I)  Hittero,  Norway;  (II)  Ytterby,  Sweden;  (III)  Nelson  County,  Virginia. 

When  in  crystals  often  in  long  slender  nail-like  forms  (orthite);  also 
massive  and  in  embedded  granules.  Color  pitch  black,  brownish,  and 
yellow.  Brittle.  Hardness  5.5  to  6.  Specific  gravity  3.5  to  4.2. 
Before  the  blowpipe  fuses  and  swells  up  to  a  dark,  slaggy,  magnetic 
glass. 

Localities  and  mode  of  occurrence. — The  more  common  occurrence  is 
in  the  form  of  small  acicular  crystals  as  an  original  constituent  in 
granitic  rocks.  It  also  occurs  in  white  limestone,  associated  with  mag- 
netic iron  ore,  and  in  igneous  rocks  as  andesite,  diorite,  and  rhyolite. 
At  the  Cook  Iron  Mines,  near  Port  Henry,  New  York,  it  is  reported 
as  occurring  in  great  abundance  and  in  crystals  of  extraordinary  size, 
in  a  gangue  of  quartz  and  orthoclase. 

The  variety  orthite  occurs  in  forms  closely  simulating  rusty  nails  in 
the  granitic  rock  about  Brunswick,  Maine.  In  Arendal,  Norway,  it 
is  found  in  massive  forms  (Specimen  No.  66853,  U.S.N.M.).  At  Finbo, 
near  Falun,  Sweden,  in  acicular  ciystals  a  foot  or  more  in  length.  In 
Amherst  and  Fauquier  counties,  Virginia,  it  occurs  in  large  masses 
(Specimen  No.  68661,  U.S.N.M.)  from  Fauquier  County,  as  it  also  does 
near  Bethany  Church,  Iredell  County,  North  Carolina,  and  Llano 
County,  Texas  (Specimen  No.  62756,  U.S.N.M.).  At  Balsam  Gap, 
Buncombe  County,  North  Carolina,  it  occurs  in  slender  crystals  6  to 
12  inches  long  and  in  crystalline  masses,  in  a  granitic  vein  and  under 
similar  conditions  at  the  Buchanan  and  Wiseman  mines  in  Mitchell 
County. 

Uses.— See  under  Monazite,  p.  383. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


313 


9.  GADOLINITE. 

This  is  a  basic  orthosilicate  of  yttrium,  iron,  and  glucinum,  though 
with  frequently  varying-  amounts  of  didymium,  lanthanum,  etc.  The 
formula  as  given  by  Dana  is  Gl2FeY2Si2O10,— silica  23.9  per  cent, 
yttrium  oxides  51.8  per  cent,  iron  protoxide  14.3  per  cent,  and  glu- 
cina  10  per  cent.  Actual  analyses  yielded  results  as  below: 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

Silica  (SiO2) 

''4  35 

23  79 

Thorina  (ThO2)  

0.30 

0.58 

Yttrium  sesquioxide  (Y2Os) 

45  % 

41  55 

Cerium  sesquioxide  (Ce2O3)  

1.65 

2.62 

Lanthanum  sesquioxide  (LaoO3)  
Iron  sesquioxide  (  FeoO3)  

}    3.06 
2.03 

5.22 
0.% 

Iron  protoxide  (FeO)  
Berylium  (Glucina)  protoxide  (BeO)  ... 
Lime  (CaO) 

11.39 
10.17 
0  30 

12.  42 
11.33 

0  74 

Soda(NaoO)           

0  17 

Trace 

Water  (  H»O)  

0.52 

1.03 

99.90 

100.24 

(I)  Ytterby,  near  Stockholm,  Sweden;  (II)  Llano  County,  Texas. 

The  mineral  is  sometimes  found  in  form  of  rough  and  coarse  crystals, 
but  more  commonly  in  amorphous,  glassy  forms.  Hardness  6.5  to  7; 
specific  gravity  4  to  4.47.  Color  brown,  black  and  greenish  black, 
usually  translucent  in  thin  splinters  and  of  a  grass  green  to  olive  green 
color  by  transmitted  light.  No  true  cleavage;  fracture  conchoidal  or 
splintery  like  glass,  and  with  a  vitreous  or  somewhat  greasy  luster. 
Through  oxidation  and  hydration  the  mineral  becomes  opaque,  brown, 
and  earthy.  Hence  masses  are  not  infrequently  found  consisting  of  the 
normal  glassy  gadolinite  enveloped  in  a  brown  red  crust  of  oxidation 
products.  (Specimen  No.  62780,  U.S.N.M.)  On  casual  inspection 
the  mineral  closely  resembles  samarskite  and  the  dark,  opaoue  varie- 
ties of  orthite,  but  is  easily  distinguished  from  the  fact  that  before  the 
blowpipe  it  glows  brightly  for  a  moment  and  then  swells  up,  cracks 
open,  and  becomes  greenish  without  fusing.  Some  varieties  (the  nor- 
mal anisotropic  forms)  swell  up  into  cauliflower-like  forms  and  fuse 
to  a  whitish  mass.  Like  orthite,  it  gives  a  jelly  when  the  powdered 
mineral  is  boiled  in  hydrochloric  acid. 

Localities  and  mode  of  occurrence. — The  mineral  occurs  mainly  in 
coarse  pegmatitic  veins  associated  with  allanite,  and  other  allied 
minerals.  The  principal  locality  in  the  United  States  thus  far  described 
is  some  five  miles  south  of  Bluffton  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Colorado 
River,  in  Llano  County,  Texas  (Specimen  No.  62780,  U.S.N.M).  The 
region  is  described  *  as  occupied  by  Archaean  rocks  with  granite,  and 
occasional  cappings  of  limestone. 

'American  Journal  of  Science,  XXXVIII,  1889,  p.  474. 


314 


REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


A  coarse  deep  red  granite  is  the  most  abundant,  and  is  cut  by  numer- 
ous extensive  veins  of  quartz  and  feldspar  which  carry  the  gadolinite, 
in  pockety  masses,  and  the  other  minerals  mentioned.  Most  of  the 
mineral  thus  far  found  is  altered  into  the  brown-red  waxy  material 
noted  above  and  occurs  in  the  form  of  masses  weighing  half  a  pound 
and  upward.  One  "huge  pointed  mass,  in  reality  a  crystal,  weighed 
fully  60  pounds; "  another  42  pounds.  One  of  the  earliest  opened 
pockets  yielded  some  500  kilos  (227  .pounds)  of  the  mineral. 

Of  the  foreign  localities  those  of  Kararfvet,  Broddbo  and  Finbo, 
near  Falun,  Sweden,  and  at  Ytterby,  near  Stockholm  (Specimen  No. 
62793,  U.S.N.M.),  are  important,  the  mineral  here  occurring  in  the 
form  of  rounded  masses  embedded  in  a  coarse  granite.  On  the  island 
of  Hittero,  in  the  Flecke  fiord,  southern  Norway,  crystals  sometimes 
four  inches  across  have  been  obtained. 

Uses. — See  under  monazite,  p.  383. 

10.  CERITE. 

This  is  a  silicate  of  the  metals  of  the  cerium  group;  of  a  com- 
plex and  doubtful  formula.  The  analyses  below,  taken  from  Dana's 
System  of  Mineralogy,  will  serve  to  show  the  varying  character  of 
the  mineral. 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

Silica  (SiO»)  

19.18 

22.79 

18.18 

Cerium  oxide  (Ce»O3) 

64  55 

24  06 

33  25 

Didynium  oxide  (Di2O3)  
Lanthanum  (La^Os)  

}7.28 

35.37 

34.60 

Iron  oxide  (FeO)  

1.54 

3.92 

3.18 

Alumina  (AU)3)  

1.26 

Lime  (CaO)  

1.35 

4.35 

1.69 

Water  (H»0)  

5.71 

3.44 

5.18 

The  mineral  occurs  in  gneiss  and  mica  schist,  and  is  of  a  prevailing 
pink  to  gray  color.  Specimen  No.  62794,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Bastnass, 
Westmanland,  Sweden,  is  characteristic, 

Uses. — See  under  monazite,  p.  383. 

11.  RHODONITE. 

This  is  a  metasilicate  of  manganese  of  the  formula  MnSiO3,  =  Silica 
45.9  per  cent;  manganese  protoxide  54.1.  As  a  rule,  iron,  calcium,  or 
zinc  replaces  a  part  of  the  manganese.  The  prevailing  form  of  the 
mineral  when  in  crystals  is  that  of  rough,  tabular,  or  elongated  prisms 
with  rounded  edges  (Specimen  No.  83927,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Franklin, 
New  Jersey).  It  is  also  common  in  massive  highly  cleavable  forms,  and 
in  disseminated  granules  (Specimens  Nos.  83927  and  83929,  U.S.N.M.). 
Barely,  as  in  the  Ekaterinburg  district  of  Russia,  it  occurs  in  massive 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  315 

forms  suitable  for  ornamental  work.  (See  Collection  Building  and 
Ornamental  Stones.)  Color  brownish  red,  flesh  red,  and  pink;  some- 
times rose  red.  Hardness,  5.5  to  6.5.  Specific  gravity,  3.4  to  3.68. 

On  exposure  the  mineral  undergoes  oxidation,  becoming  coated 
with  a  black  film  and  giving  rise  thus  to  indefinite  admixtures  of  silicate, 
oxides,  and  carbonates  of  manganese. 

The  mineral  occurs  in  abundance  associated  with  the  iron  ores  of 
Wermland,  Sweden,  and  at  other  localities  in  Europe;  in  Ekaterin- 
burg, Russia,  as  above  noted.  The  zinciferous  variety  commonly  asso- 
ciated with  the  zinc  ores  in  granular  limestones  of  Sussex  County,  New 
Jersey,  is  known  as  fowlerite.  (Specimen  No.  67405,  U.S.N.M.) 

So  far  as  the  writer  has  information,  rhodonite  has  as  yet  little  com- 
mercial value,  excepting  as  an  ornamental  stone.  To  some  extent  it 
has  been  utilized  in  glazing  pottery  and  as  a  flux  in  smelting  furnaces. 

12.  STEATITE;  TALC;  AND  SOAPSTONE. 

The  mineral  steatite,  or  talc,  is  a  soft  micaceous  mineral,  consisting 
when  pure  of  63.5  percent  of  silica,  31.7  per  cent  of  magnesia,  and  4.8 
per  cent  of  water.  Its  most  striking  characteristics  are  its  softness, 
which  is  such  that  it  can  be  readily  cut  with  a  knife  or  even  with  the 
thumb  nail,  and  soapy  feeling,  there  being  an  entire  absence  of  anything 
like  grit.  The  prevailing  colors  are  white  or  gray  and  apple  green. 
Several  varietal  forms  are  recognized;  the  name  talc  as  a  rule  being 
applied  to  the  distinctly  foliaceous  or  micaceous  variety  (Specimen  No. 
72838,  U.S.N.M.),  while  that  of  steatite  is  reserved  for  the  compact 
cryptocrystalline  to  coarsel  v  granular  forms  (Specimens  Nos.  26137  and 
63448,  U.S.N.M.). 

Pyrallolite  and  rensselaerite  are  names  given  to  varied  forms  of  talc 
resulting  from  the  alteration  of  hornblende  or  pyroxene.  Such  forms 
are  found  in  various  portions  of  northern  New  York,  Canada,  and 
Finland. 

According  to.  Dana,  a  part  of  the  so-called  agalmatolite  used  by  the 
Chinese  is  steatite. 

The  name  soapstone  is  given  to  dark  gray  and  greenish  talcose 
rocks,  which  are  soft  enough  to  be  readily  cut  with  a  knife,  and  which 
have  a  pronounced  soapy  or  greasy  feeling;  hence  the  name.  Such 
rocks  are  commonly  stated  in  text-books  to  be  compact  forms  of  stea- 
tite, or  talc,  but  as  the  writer  has  elsewhere  pointed  out,  and  as  shown 
by  the  analyses  here  given,  few  of  them  are  even  approximately  pure 
forms  of  this  mineral,  but  all  contain  varying  proportions  of  chlorite, 
mica,  and  tremolite,  together  with  perhaps  unaltered  residuals  of 
pyroxene,  granules  of  iron  ore,  iron  pyrites,  quartz,  and  in  seams 
and  veins  calcite  and  magnesian  carbonates.1 

1  Rocks,  Rock  weathering,  and  Soils,  p.  101. 


316  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,    1899. 

Composition. — The  varying  composition  of  talc  is  shown  in  the  series 
of  analyses  given  below. 

Analyses  of  talc. 


Locality. 

SiO». 

A1203. 

St.  Lawrence  County,  New 
York                            

60.59 

0.13 

Do 

62.10 

Luzenach,  France  

61.85 

2.61 

Valley  of  Pignerolles,  Italy  . 

60.60 

0.30 

FeO. 


MgO. 


CaO. 

MnO. 

Na»O. 

K«O. 

1  16 

2.15 

0. 

17 

Trace. 

.77777. 

77777. 

0.40 

2.80 

Totals. 


Not 
deter- 
min- 
ed. 


100.00 
100.00 


The  following  analyses  of  soapstone  have  been  made  in  the  labora- 
tory of  the  department: 

Analyses  of  soapstone. 


Locality. 

SiO2. 

A1203. 

FeO. 

MgO. 

CaO. 

MnO. 

Na<>O. 

K20. 

H2O. 

Totals. 

Francestown,  New  Hamp- 
shire (Specimen  No.  63166, 

U  SN  M  ) 

42  43 

6  08 

13  07 

25  71 

3  27 

0  16 

0  32 

8  45 

99  49 

Grafton,  Vermont  (Speci- 
men No.  17569,  U.S.N.M.). 

51.20 

5.22 

8.45 

26.79 

1.17 

0.32 

6.90 

100.05 

Dana,  Massachusetts  (Speci- 
men No.  26439,  U.S.N.M.)  .  . 

38.37 

5.64 

8.86 

28.62 

3  90 

14  49 

99  88 

Baltimore  County,  Mary- 
land (Specimen  No.  26628, 
U.S.N.M.)  

52.70 

5.57 

7.63 

1.77 



5.48 

100.03 

Guilford  County,  North  Car- 
olina (Specimen  No.  "7662, 
U.S.N.M.)  

40.03 

10.86 

9.59 

26.97 

1.70 

10.78 

99.93 

Lafayette,  Pennsylvania 
(Specimen  No.  63168, 
U.S.N.M.)  

33.47 

0.45 

7.38 

33.72 

1.34 

0.21 

23.00 

99  57 

Occurrence  and  origin. — Talc  in  all  its  forms  is  presumably  always 
a  secondary  mineral,  a  product  of  alteration  of  other  magnesian 
silicates. 

Smyth  has  shown  *  that  the  talc  beds  of  St.  Lawrence  County,  New 
York  (Specimen  No.  63173),  are  alteration  products  from  schistose 
aggregates  of  enstatite  or  tremolite,  principally  the  former.  Accord- 
ing to  this  author,  the  talc  occurs,  not  as  has  been  stated,  in  the  form 
of  a  well-defined  vein  with  walls  of  granite  or  gneiss,  but  in  the  beds 
lying  wholly  within  the  schistose  portions  of  the  prevailing  limestone. 

The  following  account  of  these  deposits  as  occurring  near  Gouv- 
erneur  is  by  A.  Sahlin  :2 

The  village  of  Gouverneur  is  situated  near  the  northwest  edge  of  a 
geological  island  of  Azoic  rocks;  granite,  gneiss,  limestone,  and  marble 

School  of  Mining  and  Forestry,  XVII,  No.  4,   1896.     Also  Fifteenth  Annual 
Report  of  the  State  Geologist  of  New  York,  1895,  pp.  665-671. 
2  Mining  and  Scientific  Press,  May  11,  1893. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  317 

being  the  representative  features  of  the  formation.  To  the  west  of 
Gouverneur,  extending  to  and  beyond  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  the 
Potsdam  sandstone  is  encountered;  to  the  southeast,  the  Trenton  lime- 
stones extend  toward  the  Adirondack  Mountains.  The  talc  belt  is 
found  in  the  towns  of  Fowler  and  Edwards,  from  7  to  14  miles  south- 
east of  Gouverneur.  It  has  a  length  of  about  8  miles,  a  width  of  1  mile, 
more  or  less,  and  crosses  the  above-named  Azoic  island  in  the  general 
direction  of  WNW.  to  ESE.  The  "veins"  generally  dip  from  45°  to 
75°  toward  the  northeast.  Their  width  varies  from  a  few  inches  to  20 
feet  or  more.  Surface  out  croppings  are  frequent,  and  local  experts 
contend  that  there  is  no  use  in  looking  for  talc  where  it  does  not  appear 
on  the  surface.  The  abrupt  change  of  formation  precludes  the  prob- 
ability of  discovering  new  deposits  beyond  the  small,  and  now  most 
thoroughly  explored,  belt  already  known.  Within  this  narrow  terri- 
tory, "veins"  of  talc  minerals,  separated  by  layers  of  granite  and 
gneiss,  are  found  and  worked.  They  are  principally  made  up  of  the 
hydrated  silicates  of  magnesia,  known  as  agalite  and  rensselaerite,  the 
former  of  a  smooth,  fibrous  texture,  the  latter  scaly  and  lamellar,  and 
both  beautifully  white  or  bluish-white.  In  the  agalite  veins  are  found 
nodules  of  handsome  pink  to  purple,  columnar  crystals  of  hexagonite, 
and  also  large  "horses"  of  yellowish- white  hornblende.  The  occur- 
rence of  the  two  latter  minerals,  representing  the  anhydrous  silicates 
of  magnesia,  has  given  rise  to  the  theory  that  the  talc  deposits  origi- 
nally occurred  as  hornblende,  which  has  gradually  become  hydrated. 

Since  1879,  ten  distinct  mines  have  been  opened,  and  some  of  these 
have  reached  a  depth  of  400  feet  or  more  on  the  slope.  The  present 
output  from  these  ten  mines  amounts,  according  to  a  close  estimate,  to 
51,000  tons  a  year,  which  figure,  however,  could  be  readily  doubled  if 
the  reducing  mills  had  the  capacity  to  handle  the  larger  quantity. 
(Specimens  Nos.  53590  to  53592,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Gouverneur  are 
characteristic.) 

In  western  North  Carolina  and  northern  Georgia,  particularly  in 
Cherokee,  Moore,  Guilford,  and  Murphy  counties  in  the  first-named 
State,  and  in  the  Cohutta  Mountains  of  Murray  County  in  the  last,  are 
numerous  beds  of  very  clean  white  or  greenish  fibrous  talc  occurring 
in  part,  at  least,  in  connection  with  the  marble  beds.  Some  of  the 
material  is  soft,  white,  and  almost  translucent  (Specimens  Nos.  26137, 
27654,  63448,  U.S.N.M.),  while  other  is  tough  and  semitranslucent, 
hornlike.  The  beds  are  mostly  very  irregular  in  extent  as  well  as  in 
quality  of  material. 

In  Stockbridge,  Windsor  County,  Vermont,  talc  is  mined  from  veins 
from  3  to  12  feet  in  width  in  soapstone.  (Specimen  No.  53206, 
U.S.N.M.)  A  greenish  schistose  talc  is  also  mined  in  Murray  County, 
Georgia,  (Specimen  No.  53226,  U.S.N.M.) 

Soapstone  occurs  mainly  associated  with  the  older  crystalline  rocks, 


318  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

and  in  some  eases  is  undoubtedly  an  altered  eruptive;  in  others  there  is 
a  possibility  of  its  being  a  product  of  metamorphism  of  magnesian 
sediments.  The  principal  beds  now  known  lie  in  the  Appalachian 
regions  of  the  eastern  United  States,  though  others  have  recently  been 
found  in  California,  and  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that  many 
more  may  not  exist  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  regions.  The  beds,  if  such 
they  can  be  called,  are  not  extensive  as  a  rule,  but  occur  in  lenticular 
masses  of  uncertain  age  intercalated  with  other  magnesian  and  horn- 
blendic  or  micaceous  rocks  frequently  more  or  less  admixed  with  ser- 
pentine. The  rock,  like  serpentine,  is,  as  a  rule,  traversed  by  bad 
seams  and  joints,  and  the  opening  of  any  new  deposit  is  always 
attended  with  more  or  less  risk,  as  there  is  in  many  cases  no  guarantee 
that  sound  blocks  of  sufficient  size  to  be  of  value  will  ever  be  obtainable. 
The  following  facts  relative  to  the  occurrence  of  soapstone  in  the 
United  States  are  taken  mainly  from  a  handbook  by  the  writer  on 
Stones  for  Building  and  Decoration,  issued  by  Messrs.  Wiley  &  Co., 
of  New  York. 

An  extensive  bed  of  fine  quality  soapstone  was  discovered  as  early  as 
1794  at  Francestown,  New  Hampshire  (Specimen  No.  10774,  U.S.N.M.). 
This  was  worked  as  early  as  1802,  and  up  to  1867  some  5,500  tons  had 
been  quarried  and  sold.  In  this  latter  year  some  3,700  stoves  were 
manufactured  by  one  company  alone.  The  business  has  been  conducted 
on  a  large  scale  ever  since,  and  the  bed  has  been  followed  some  400 
feet,  the  present  opening  being  40  feet  wide  80  feet  long  and  80  feet 
deep.  Other  beds,  constituting  a  part  of  the  same  formation,  occur  in 
Weare,  Warner,  Canterbury,  and  Richmond,  in  the  same  State,  and  all 
of  which  have  been  operated  to  a  greater  or  less  extent. 

Fine  beds  of  the  stone  also  occur  in  the  town  of  Orford,  and  an 
important  quarry  was  opened  as  early  as  1855  in  Haverhill,  but  it  has 
not  been  worked  continuously. 

At  least  sixty  beds  of  soapstone  are  stated  to  occur  in  Vermont, 
mostly  located  along  the  east  side  of  the  Green  Mountain  range,  and 
extending  nearly  the  entire  length  of  the  State.  The  rock  occurs  asso- 
ciated with  serpentine  and  hornblende,  and  the  beds  as  a  rule  are  not 
continuous  for  any  distance,  but  have  a  great  thickness  in  comparison 
with  their  length.  It  not  infrequently  happens  that  several  isolated 
outcrops  occur  on  the  same  line  of  strata,  sometimes  several  miles 
apart,  and  in  many  cases  alternating  with  beds  of  dolomitic  limestone 
that  are  scattered  along  with  them. 

The  sixty  beds  above  mentioned  occur  mainly  in  the  towns  of  Reads- 
boro,  Marlboro,  New  Fane,  Windham  (Specimen  No.  26626,  U.S.N.M.), 
Townsend,  Athens,  Grafton,  Andover,  Chester  (Specimen  No.  53244, 
U.S.N.M.),  Cavendish,  Baltimore.  Ludlow,  Plymouth,  Bridgewater, 
Thetford,  Bethel,  Rochester,  Warren,  Braintree, Waitsfield,  Moretown, 
Duxbury,  Waterbury,  Bolton,  Stow,  Cambridge,  Waterville,  Berk- 
shire, Eden,  Lowell,  Belvidere,  Johnson,  Enosburg,  Westfield,  Rich- 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899,-Merrill. 


PLATE  14. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  319 

ford.  Troy,  and  Jay.  Of  these  beds  those  of  Grafton  (Specimen  No. 
17569,  U.S.N.M.)  and  Athens  are  stated  to  have  been  longest  worked 
and  to  have  produced  the  most  stone.  The  beds  lie  in  gneiss,  and  were 
profitably  worked  as  early  as  1820.  Another  important  bed  occurs  in 
the  town  of  Weatherfield.  This,  like  that  of  Grafton,  is  situated  in 
gneiss,  but  has  no  overlying  rock,  and  the  material  can  be  had  in  inex- 
haustible quantities.  It  was  first  worked  about  1847.  The  Rochester 
beds  were  also  of  great  importance,  the  stone  being  peculiarly  fine- 
grained and  compact.  It  was  formerly  much  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  refrigerators.  The  bed  at  New  Fane  occurs  in  connection  with  ser- 
pentine, and  is  some  half  mile  in  length  by  not  less  than  12  rods  in 
width  at  its  northern  extremity.  The  soapstone  and  serpentine  are 
strangely  mixed,  the  general  courses  of  the  bed  being  like  that  of  an 
irregular  vein  of  granite  in  limestone. 

In  Massachusetts  quarries  of  soapstone  have  been  worked  from  time 
to  time  in  Lynnfield  and  North  Dana  (Specimen  No.  26439,  U.S.N.M.). 
The  Lynnfield  stone  occurs  associated  with  serpentine.  It  has  not 
been  quarried  of  late,  but  was  formerly  used  for  stove  backs,  sills, 
and  steps.  In  New  York  State  soapstone  and  talc  occur  in  abundance 
near  Fowler  and  Edwards  in  St.  Lawrence  County.  Some  of  this 
is  very  pure,  nearly  snow-white  talc,  and  is  quarried  and  pulverized 
for  commercial  purposes,  as  already  noted. 

In  Pennsylvania,  in  the  southern  edge  of  Montgomery  County, 
extending  from  the  northern  brow  of  Chestnut  Hill  between  the  two 
turnpikes  across  the  Wissahickon  Creek  and  the  Schuylkill  to  a  point 
about  a  mile  west  of  Marion  Square,  there  occurs  a  long,  straight  out- 
crop of  steatite  and  serpentine.  The  eastern  and  central  part  of  this 
belt  on  the  southern  side  consists  chiefly  of  steatite,  while  the  northern 
side  contains  much  serpentine,  interspersed  through  it  in  lumps. 
Only  in  a  few  neighborhoods,  as  at  Lafayette,  does  either  the  steatite 
or  serpentine  occur  in  a  state  of  sufficient  purity  to  be  profitably 
quarried.  On  the  east  bank  of  the  Schuylkill,  about  2  miles  below 
Spring  Mill,  a  good  quality  of  material  occurs  that  has  long  been 
successfully  worked  (Specimen  No.  63168,  U.S.N.M.)  The  material 
is  now  used  principally  for  stoves,  fireplaces,  and  furnaces,  though 
toward  the  end  of  the  last  century  and  during  the  early  part  of  the 
present  one,  before  the  introduction  of  the  Montgomery  County  mar- 
ble, it  was  in  considerable  demand  for  doorsteps  and  sills.  It  proved 
poorly  adapted  for  this  purpose,  owing  to  the  unequal  hardness  of  the 
different  constituents,  the  soapstone  wearing  away  rapidly,  while  the 
serpentine  was  left  projecting  like  knots,  or  "  hobnails  in  a  plank." 

Several  small  deposits  of  soapstone  occur  in  Maryland  and  some  of 
them  have  been  worked  on  a  small  scale.  The  material  is  of  good 
quality,  but  apparently  to  be  had  only  in  small  pieces  (Specimens  Nos. 
25010  and  26628)  from  Montgomery  and  Baltimore  Counties. 

In  Virginia  soapstone  occurs  in  Fairfax  (Specimens  Nos.  25254,  28649, 


320  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

U.S.N.M.),  Fluvanna  and  Buckingham,  counties.  There  is  also  a  bed  at 
Alberene,  Albemarle  County,  a  little  west  of  Green  Mountain.  This 
is  the  bed  so  extensively  worked  by  the  Albemarle  Soapstone  Com- 
pany (Specimen  No.  62547,  U.S.N.M.)  From  these  points  the  beds 
extend  in  a  southwesterly  direction  through  Nelson  County,  where 
they  are  associated  with  serpentine;  thence  across  the  James  River 
above  Lynchburg  and  present  an  outcrop  about  2  miles  west  of  the 
town  on  the  road  leading  to  Liberty;  also  one  some  2£  miles  west 
of  New  London.  Continuing  in  the  same  direction  the  bed  is  seen 
at  the  meadows  of  Goose  Creek,  where  it  has  been  quarried  to 
some  extent.  Parallel  ranges  of  soapstone  appear  near  the  Pigg 
River  in  Franklin  County.  About  30  miles  southwest  from  Rich- 
mond, at  Chula,  in  Amelia  County,  there  are  outcrops  of  soapstone 
said  to  be  of  fine  quality,  and  which  in  former  times  were  quite 
extensively  operated  by  the  Indians.  They  have  been  reopened  within 
a  few  years  and  the  material  is  now  on  the  market. 

North  Carolina  contains,  in  addition  to  an  abundance  of  the  finest 
grades  of  talc  and  steatite  as  already  noted,  beds  of  the  compact  com- 
mon soapstone.  Deposits  in  Cherokee  and  Moore  counties  furnish 
especially  desirable  material  for  lubricating  and  other  purposes. 
Murphy,  Guilford,  Ashe,  and  Alamance  counties  (Specimen  No.  27664, 
U.S.N.M.)  are  also  capable  of  affording  good  materials,  but  much  of 
it  is  inaccessible  at  present  on  account  of  poor  railroad  facilities 
(Specimens  Nos.  27662,  28118,  U.S.N.M.). from  Greensboro  and  Ball 
Mountain. 

Beds  of  soapstone  are  stated  to  occur  in  Salina  County,  Arkansas 
(Specimen  No.  39061,  U.S.N.M.),  and  in  Chester,  Spartanburg,  Union, 
Pickens,Oconee,  Anderson,  Abbeville,  Kershaw,  Fail-field,  and  Richland 
counties  in  South  Carolina  (Specimens  Nos.  37590,  39019,  U.S.N.M.). 
Texas  is  also  stated  to  have  an  abundance  of  material  and  of  good 
quality  on  the  Hondo  and  Sandy  creeks  in  Llano  County.  The  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  contains  a  bed  which  is,  however,  probably  too  small 
to  ever  prove  of  value  (Specimen  No.  38510,  U.S.N.M.). 

Uses. — The  use  to  which  the  material  is  put  varies  greatly  according 
to  its  purity  and  physical  characteristics.  The  white,  fibrous  variety 
of  great  purity  from  St.  Lawrence  County,  New  York,  is  used  as  a 
filler  in  paper  manufacture,  something  like  30  per  cent  of  the  weight 
of  printing, paper  being  made  up  of  this  material.  For  the  purpose  it 
is  run  successively  through  coarse  and  finer  crushers  and  then  through 
buhrstones,  after  which  it  is  placed  into  what  is  known  as  an  Alsing 
cylinder,  some  6  feet  in  diameter  by  about  the  same  length.  This 
cylinder  is  lined  with  porcelain  brick  and  filled  to  one-third  its  volume 
with  rounded  pebbles  or  quartz,  and  when  in  motion  revolves  at  about 
the  rate  of  20  revolutions  a  minute.  At  the  end  of  some  three  to  four 
hours  the  talc  is  reduced  to  the  form  of  an  impalpable  powder.  The 
so-called  cyclone  crusher  has  also  been  used  to  good  advantage  in  this 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  321 

work.  The  pulverized  material  is  also  used  as  a  lubricator,  for  which 
purposes  it  is  remarkably  well  adapted.  Rubbed  between  the  thumb 
and  finger  the  powder  is  smooth  and  oily  without  a  particle  of  grit. 
It  is  also  used  in  soap  making,  for  which  purpose  it  can,  however,  be 
considered  only  as  an  adulterant,  increasing  the  weight  but  not  the 
cleaning  properties  of  the  article.  It  is  further  used  as  a  dressing  for 
fine  leathers.  Small  quantities  are  used  by  shoe  and  glove  dealers  also. 
The  pure,  creamy  white  talc,  such  as  is  obtained  from  North  Carolina, 
is  used  for  crayons  and  slate  pencils,  while  the  still  finer,  cryptocrys- 
talline  varieties,  such  as  are  at  present  obtained  almost  wholly  from 
abroad,  are  used  by  tailors  under  the  name  of  "French  chalk"  and 
for  making  the  tips  for  gas  burners.  Fine  compact  grades  of  a  some- 
what similar  rock  (agalmatolite)  are  used  extensively  in  China  and 
Japan  for  small  ornaments.  The  stone  is  readily  carved  in  fine  sharp 
lines,  and  is  a  general  favorite  for  making  the  grotesque  images  for 
which  these  countries  are  noted,  and  which  are  often  sold  throughout 
the  country  under  the  name  of  jadestone. 

The  following  account  of  the  soapstone  industry  of  China  is  taken 
from  the  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal  of  September  30, 1893.  The 
material  referred  to  as  soapstone  is,  however,  very  probably  agalmato- 
lite. (See  p.  322.) 

The  British  consul  at  Wenchow,  in  his  last  report,  gives  some  interesting  details 
respecting  the  manufacture  of  steatite  or  soapstone  ornaments  in  China.  The  mines 
are  distant  42  miles  from  Whenchow,  and  are  reached  by  a  boat  journey  of  35  miles 
up  the  river,  followed  by  a  land  journey  of  7  miles  over  rough  ground.  The  hills 
containing  steatite  are  owned  by  20  to  30  families,  who  in  some  cases  work  the 
mines  themselves,  in  others  engage  miners  to  do  it  on  their  account.  The  gal- 
leries are  driven  into  the  sides  of  the  hills,  and  are  often  nearly  a  mile  in  length. 
The  composition  of  the  hills  is  soft,  and  the  shafts  require  to  be  propped  up  by  sup- 
ports of  timber;  for  the  same  reason  the  floors  are  full  of  mire  and  clay,  so  that  the 
miners  wear  special  clothing,  made  principally  of  rhea  fiber.  They  lead  a  hard  life, 
living  in  straw  huts  on  the  hillside.  The  stone  when  first  extracted  is  soft,  hardening 
on  exposure  to  the  air.  It  is  brought  out  of  the  mine  in  shovels,  and  is  sold  at  the  pit 
mouth  to  the  carvers  at  a  uniform  price  of  about  one-half  a  penny  per  pound.  This 
would  be  when  the  purchaser  buys  it  in  gross,  without  first  selecting  it  in  any  way. 
When  picked  over,  the  mineral  varies  very  considerably  in  value — according  to  the 
size  of  the  lump,  its  shape,  and  above  all,  its  colors.  The  colors  are  given  as  purple, 
red,  mottled  red,  black,  dark  blue,  light  blue,  gray,  white,  eggshell  white,  "jade," 
beeswax,  and  "frozen."  Of  these  "jade"  (the  white  variety,  not  the  green)  and 
"frozen"  are  the  most  valuable.  Indeed  so  valuable  is  the  latter  that  good  speci- 
mens of  it  are  said  to  fetch  more  than  real  jade  itself.  The  industry  finds  employ- 
ment at  the  present  time  for  some  2,000  miners  and  carvers.  A  great  impetus  was 
given  to  it  by  the  opening  of  Wenchow  to  foreign  trade.  Previous  to  that  event  the 
chief  purchasers  of  soapstone  were  officials  and  literary  men,  and  the  article  most 
often  carved  was  a  stamp  or  seal.  When  it  was  discovered  that  foreigners  admired 
the  stone,  articles  were  produced  to  meet  what  was  supposed  to  be  their  taste.  Such 
were  landscapes  in  low  or  high  relief,  flower  vases,  plates,  card  trays,  fruit  dishes, 
cups,  teapots,  and  pagodas.  If  left  to  his  own  devices,  the  native  carver  proceeds 
first  to  examine  his  stone,  much  as  a  cameo  cutter  would  do,  to  discover  how  best  he 
can  take  advantage  of  its  shape  and  shades  of  color.  ( See  further  under  Agalmatolite. ) 

NAT  MUS   99 21 


322 


REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 


The  following  quotation  from  an  English  writer  will  serve  to  show 
the  advantages  gained  by  a  use  of  talc  in  paper  making: 

There  is  a  decided  advantage  in  substituting  agalite  for  China  clay,  because  not 
only  is  there  an  increase  of  dry  paper,  but  such  is  obtained  by  a  saving  of  fiber,  as 
well  as  a  decrease  of  the  waste  in  the  actual  loading  material  and  a  lessened  amount 
of  polluting  matter  to  be  dealt  with.  Moreover,  the  fibrous  character  of  the  agalite 
causes  it  to  yield  a  paper  of  higher  class  quality  than  is  the  case  with  China  clay. 
The  extra  gloss  which  it  is  possible  to  obtain  with  papers  containing  agalite  is  shown 
in  various  American  journals  and  books. 

The  soapstones  are  suited  for  a  considerable  range  of  application. 
Although  so  soft,  they  are  among  the  most  indestructible  and  lasting 
of  rocks,  but  are  too  slippery  and  perhaps  of  too  sombre  a  color  for 
general  structural  purposes.  At  present  the  chief  use  of  the  material 
in  the  United  States  is  in  the  form  of  thin  slabs  for  sinks  and  stationary 
washtubs.  At  one  time  it  was  quite  extensively  used  throughout  New 
England  in  the  manufacture  of  stoves  for  heating  purposes  and  to  some 
extent  for  fire  brick,  the  well-seasoned  stone  being  thoroughly  fire- 
proof. The  putting  upon  the  market  of  unseasoned  materials  or  of 
material  with  bad  veins,  which  caused  the  stone  to  crack  or  perhaps 
fly  to  fragments  when  subjected  to  high  temperature,  aroused  a  preju- 
dice against  the  employment  of  this  material,  and  the  manufacture  is 
stated  to  have  been  to  a  considerable  extent  discontinued  as  a  conse- 
quence. In  the  manufacture  of  either  stoves  or  washtubs  slabs  of 
considerable  size,  free  from  segregation  nodules  of.  quartz,  pyrite,  or 
other  minerals  or  from  dry  seams,  are  essential.  As  but  few  of  the 
now  known  outcrops  can  furnish  material  of  this  nature,  the  main 
part  of  the  business  of  the  country  is  in  the  hands  of  but  two  or  three 
companies.  The  waste  material  from  the  quarries,  or  the  entire  out- 
put in  certain  cases,  is  pulverized  and  used  as  a  lubricant  or  white  earth, 
as  is  the  micaceous  variety. 

13.  PYROPHYLLITE;  AGALMATOLITE;  AND  PAGODITE  (IN  PART). 

This  is  a  hydrous  silicate  of  aluminum  corresponding  to  the  formula 
H2O,  A12O3,  4SiO2.  The  analyses  given  below  show  the  average  com- 
position of  the  material  as  it  occurs  in  nature: 


Locality. 

Silica. 

Aluminum. 

Water. 

Remarks. 

Westana,  Sweden  
China  

65.61 
66  38 

26.09 

7.08 

With  small  amounts  of 

Deep  River,  North  Carolina  .  .  . 

65.93 

29.54 

5.40 

lime. 

The  mineral  is  not  known  in  distinct  crystals,  but  occurs  rather 
in  foliated  lamellar,  massive  and  compact  forms,  closely  resembling 
some  forms  of  talc,  for  which  its  soapy  or  greasy  feeling  renders  it 
very  likely  to  be  mistaken,  though  its  hardness  (2  to  2.5)  is  somewhat 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEEALS. 


323 


greater.  The  prevailing  colors  are  white  or  greenish  gray  to  dull  red, 
often  mottled. 

Occurrence. — The  material  sometimes  occurs,  as  in  the  Deep  River 
region  (Chatham,  Moore,  and  Orange  counties),  North  Carolina,  in  com- 
pact to  schistose  masses  of  beds  of  considerable  extent  and  purity. 

Uses.- — The  more  compact  varieties,  like  that  of  Deep  River  (Speci- 
men No.  27665,  U.S.N.M.),  are  used  for  making  slate  pencils  and  tailors' 
chalk,  or  French  chalk,  so  called.  The  still  more  compact  forms,  known 
as  agalmatolite  (Specimens  Nos.  37812,  from  Sonora,  Mexico,  and  27133 
and  27134,  Japan)  and  pagodite,  are  used  extensively  by  the  Chinese 
and  Japanese  for  making  small  images  and  art  objects  of  various  kinds. 
Dana  states,  however,  that  a  part  of  the  so-called  Chinese  agalmatolite 
is  in  reality  pinite  and  a  part  of  steatite.  The  objects  sold  by  Chinese 
dealers  at  the  various  expositions  of  late  years  under  the  name  of  jade 
stone  are,  however,  of  agalmatolite. 

FINITE:  Agalmatolite  in  part.  Composition,  a  hydrous  silicate  of 
alumina  and  the  alkalies.  According  to  Dana,1  the  name  is  made  to 
include  a  large  number  of  alteration  products  of  white  spodumene, 
nepheline,  feldspar,  etc.  Professor  Heddle  has  described 2  a  pinite 
(agalmatolite)  occurring  in  large  lumps  of  a  sea-green  color,  surround- 
ing crystalline  masses  of  feldspar  in  the  granites  of  Scotland,  and  which 
he  regards  as  alteration  products  of  oligoclase.  The  composition  as 
given  is:  Silica,  48.72  per  cent;  alumina,  31.56  per  cent;  ferric  oxide, 
2.43  per  cent;  magnesia,  1.81  per  cent;  potash,  9.48  per  cent;  soda,  0.31 
per  cent;  water,  5.75  per  cent. 

14.  SEPIOLITE;  MEERSCHAUM. 

This  mineral  is  a  hydrous  silicate  of  magnesia,  having  the  composi- 
tion indicated  by  the  formula  H4Mg2  Si3O10,  =  silica  60.8  per  cent;  mag- 
nesia, 27.1  per  cent;  water,  12.1  per  cent.  The  prevailing  colors  are 
white  or  grayish,  sometimes  with  a  faint  yellowish,  reddish,  or  bluish 
green  tinge.  It  is  sufficiently  soft  to  be  impressed  by  the  nail,  opaque, 
with  a  compact  structure,  smooth  feel,  and  somewhat  clay-like  aspect; 
rarely  it  shows  a  fibrous  structure.  Specimens  Nos.  62545,  66861,  and 
67749  are  characteristic.  In  nature  it  rarely  occurs  in  a  state  of 
absolute  purity.  The  following  analyses  are  quoted  from  Dana's 
Mineralogy : 


Locality. 

SiO2. 

MgO. 

FeO. 

H«O. 

C02. 

61  17 

28  43 

0  06 

9  83 

0  67 

Greece  

61.30 

28.39 

0.08 

9  74 

0.56 

Utah  (fibrous)  

52.97 

22.50 

r      CuO. 

}        9.90 

i   Hygroscopic  H2.O 

' 

1  System  of  Mineralogy,  6th  ed.,  p.  621.         2  Mineralogical  Magazine,  IV,  p.  215. 


324  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

The  name  is  from  the  German  words  Meer,  sea,  and  Schaum,  foam, 
in  allusion  to  its  appearance. 

Mode  of  occurrence  and  origin.—  According  to  J.  Lawrence  Smith,1 
the  Asiatic  material  occurs  in  the  form  of  nodular  masses  in  alluvial 
deposits  on  the  plain  of  Eski-Shehr,  and  is  regarded  by  him  as  derived 
by  a  process  of  substitution  from  magnesium  carbonate  which  is  found 
in  the  serpentine  of  the  neighboring  mountains. 

In  an  article  by  Dr.  E.  D.  Clarke  in  the  Cyclopedia  of  Arts  and 
Sciences  it  is  stated  that  the  meerschaum  of  the  Crimeria  forms  a 
stratum  some  2  feet  thick  beneath  a  much  thicker  stratum  of  marl. 
Cleveland  in  his  elementary  treatise  on  minerals  (1822)  states  that  at 
Analotia,  in  Asia  Minor,  meerschaum  occurs  in  the  form  of  a  vein 
more  than  6  feet  wide,  in  compact  limestone.  At  Vallecas,  Spain,  a 
very  impure  form  is  stated  to  occur  in  the  form  of  beds  and  in  such 
abundance  as  to  be  utilized  for  building  material.  Aside  from  the 
localities  above  mentioned,  sepiolite  is  known  to  occur  in  Greece,  at 
Hrubschitz  in  Moravia,  and  in  Morocco,  in  all  cases  being  associated 
with  serpentine,  with  which  it  is  apparently  genetically  related. 

Uses. — The  mineral  owes  its  chief  value  to  its  adaptability  for 
smokers'  use,  being  utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  what  are  known  as 
meerschaum  pipes.  At  Vallecas,  as  above  noted,  the  material  is  said  to 
occur  in  such  abundance  as  to  be  utilized  as  a  building  stone.  In 
Algeria  a  soft  variety  is  used  in  place  of  soap  at  the  Moorish  baths 
and  for  washing  linen. 

According  to  Kunz,2  meerschaum  has  occasionally  been  met  with  in 
compact  masses  of  smooth,  earthy  texture  in  the  serpentine  quarries  of 
West  Nottingham  Township,  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania.  Only  a 
few  pieces  were  found,  but  they  were  of  good  quality.  It  also  occurs 
in  grayish  and  yellowish  masses  in  the  serpentine  in  Concord,  Dela- 
ware County,  Pennsylvania.  Masses  of  pure  white  material,  weighing 
a  pound  each,  have  been  found  in  Middletown,  in  the  same  county,  and 
of  equally  good  quality  at  the  Cheever  Iron  Mine,  Richmond,  Mas- 
sachusetts, in  pieces  over  an  inch  across;  also  in  serpentine  at  New 
Rochelle,  Westchester  County,  New  York.  A  fibrous  variety,  in 
masses  of  considerable  size,  has  within  a  few  years  been  found  in 
the  Upper  Gila  River  region,  New  Mexico  (Specimen  No.  67840, 
U.S.N.M.). 

According  to  a  writer  in  the  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,3  the 
Eski-Shehr  mineral  is  mined  from  pits  and  horizontal  galleries  in 
much  the  same  manner  as  coal.  As  first  brought  to  the  surface  it  is 
white,  with  a  yellowish  tint,  and  is  covered  with  red  clayey  soil.  In 
this  condition  it  is  sold  to  dealers  on  the  spot.  Before  exporting  the 

1  American  Journal  of  Science  1849,  VIII,  p.  285. 

2  Gems  and  Precious  Stones,  p.  189. 

3  Volume  LIX,  1895,  p.  464. 


TH.E    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  325 

material  is  cleaned,  dried,  and  assorted,  the  drying  taking  place  in  the 
open  air,  without  artificial  heat  in  summer,  and  requiring  from  five  to 
six  days.  The  bulk  of  the  material  is  sent  direct  to  Vienna  and  Paris. 

15.  CLAYS. 

The  term  "clay,"  as  commonly  used  comprises  materials  of  widely 
diverse  origin  and  mineral  and  chemical  composition,  but  which  have 
in  common  the  property  of  plasticity  when  wet,  and  usually  that  of 
becoming  indurated  when  dried  either  by  natural  or  artificial  means. 
Of  so  variable  a  nature  is  the  material  thus  classed  that  no  brief 
definition  can  be  given  that  is  at  all  satisfactory.  One  may  perhaps 
describe  the  clays,  as  a  whole,  as  heterogeneous  aggregates  of  hydrous 
and  anhydrous  aluminous  silicates,  free  quartz,  and  ever-varying  quan- 
tities of  free  iron  oxides  and  calcium  and  magnesian  carbonates,  all  in 
a  finely  comminuted  condition. 

Origin  and  mode  of  occurrence. — The  clays  are  invariably  of  sec- 
ondary origin — that  is,  they  result  from  the  decomposition  of  pre- 
existing rocks  and  the  accumulation  of  their  less  soluble  residues,  either 
in  place  (as  residual  clays)  or  through  the  transporting  power  of  ice 
and  water  (drift  clays).  The  fact  that  silicate  of  aluminum  is  so  char- 
acteristic a  constituent  of  nearly  all  clays  is  due  to  the  fact  that  this 
substance  is  one  of  the  most  insoluble  of  natural  compounds,  and 
hence  when,  under  the  action  of  atmospheric  or  subterranean  agencies, 
rocks  decompose  and  their  more  soluble  constituents — as  lime,  mag- 
nesia, potash,  soda,  or  even  silica — are  removed,  the  aluminous  silicate 
remains. 

The  kaolins,  which  may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  the  simplest  of  clays, 
are  the  product,  as  a  rule,  of  decomposition  in  place  of  feldspathic 
rocks,  as  gneisses,  granites,  and  pegmatites.  Those  of  Hockessin, 
Delaware  (Specimens  Nos.  63427  to  63430),  are  mainly  of  gneissic  origin, 
though  from  some  of  the  pits  the  material  is  in  part  at  least  derived 
from  the  decomposition  of  feldspathic  conglomerate.  In  other  cases 
the  rock,  as  in  the  case  of  that  from  Blandford,  Massachusetts  (Speci- 
mens Nos.  68219  and  68221,  U.S.N.M.),  is  a  quite  pure  pegmatite,  com- 
posed almost  wholly  of  quartz  and  orthoclase.  The  samples  show  the 
material  in  various  stages  of  decomposition.  In  all  these  cases  the 
material  as  mined  contains  particles  of  free  quartz  and  other  substances 
detrimental  to  its  use  as  a  clay,  and  which  must  be  removed  by  washing. 
It  sometimes  happens  that  the  natural  admixture  of  silica  and  unde- 
composed  silicates  is  of  just  the  right  proportions  to  be  utilized  after 
merely  griixling  and  bolting.  The  so-called  "Cornwall  stone"  (Speci- 
mens Nos.  65136  and  62118,  U.S.N.M.)  is  but  a  granite,  very  free  from 
mica  and  ferruginous  impurities,  and  in  which  the  feldspar  only  has  in 
part  decomposed  to  the  condition  of  kaolin.  In  some  instances  the 
natural  conditions  are  such  that  running  waters  have  assorted  out  the 


326  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

fine  clay  particles  from  the  coarser  jmpurities  and  deposited  them  by 
themselves,  as  in  the  case  of  that  from  Florida  (Specimen  No.  67256, 
U.S.N.M.).  In  the  majority  of  cases,  however,  natural  washing-  has 
but  served  to  still  further  contaminate  the  materials,  giving  rise  to  the 
complex  transported  clays  to  be  noted  later.  Many  rocks,  such  as  the 
aluminous  limestones,  are  so  impure  that  on  decomposing  and  the 
losing  of  their  soluble  lime  carbonates  they  leave  only  very  inferior 
varieties  of  clay,  suitable  for  brick  and  tile  or  pottery  making.  Such 
are  often  highly  colored  by  iron  oxides  (Specimens  Nos.  62564,  62673, 
63463,  and 63493,  U.S.N.M.,  in  Rockweathering  series). 

The  assorting  and  transporting  power  of  running  waters  rarely 
allow  the  beds  of  kaolin  or  of  clay  to  remain  in  a  condition  of  virgin 
purity  or  even  in  the  place  of  their  origin.  The  minute  size  and  the 
shape  of  their  constituent  particles  render  them  easily  transported 
by  rains  and  running  streams,  to  be  deposited  again  in  regularly 
laminated  beds  (see  Plate  18)  when  the  streams  lose  their  carrying 
power  by  flowing  into  lakes  or  seas.  It  is  through  such  agencies  that 
have  in  times  passed  been  formed  the  so-called  Leda  clays  (Specimen 
No.  73036,  U.S.N.M.)  and  the  loess.  Such  may  contain  a  very  large 
proportion  of  mechanically  derived  material  and  proportionately  little 
kaolin. 

Speaking  of  clays  of  this  nature  as  they  exist  in  Wisconsin,  Cham- 
berlain says: 

They  owe  their  origin  mainly  to  the  mechanical  grinding  of  glacial  ice  upon  strata 
of  limestone,  sandstone,  and  shale,  resulting  in  a  comminuted  product  that  now 
contains  from  25  to  50  per  cent  of  carbonates  of  lime  and  magnesia.  This  product 
of  glacial  grinding  was  separated  from  the  mixed  stony  clays  produced  by  the  same 
action  by  water  either  immediately  upon  its  formation  or  in  the  lacustrine  epoch 
closely  following.  The  process  of  separation  must  have  been  rapid  and  comparatively 
free  from  the  agency  of  carbonated  waters,  otherwise  the  lime  and  magnesia  would 
have  been  leached  out. 

The  formation  of  beds  of  clay  has  been  confined  to  no  particular 
period  of  the  earth's  history,  but  has  evidently  gone  on  ever  since  the 
first  rocks  were  formed  and  when  rock  decomposition  began.  The 
older  beds  are  as  a  rule  greatly  indurated  and  otherwise  altered,  and 
in  many  instances  no  longer  recognizable  as  clays  at  all.  Throughout 
the  Appalachian  region  clay  beds  of  Cambrian  and  Silurian  ages  have, 
by  the  squeezing  and  sheering  incident  to  the  elevation  of  this  mountain 
system,  become  converted  into  argillites  and  roofing  slates. 

Mineral  and  chemical  composition. — Formed  thus  in  a  variety  of 
ways,  and  consisting  not  infrequently  of  materials  brought  from  diverse 
sources,  it  is  easy  to  comprehend  that  the  substances  ordinarily  grouped 
under  the  name  of  clays  may  vary  widely  in  both  mineral  and  chemical 
composition.  It  may  be  said  at  the  outset  that  the  statements  so  fre- 
quently made  to  the  effect  that  kaolinite  or  even  kaolin  is  the  basis  of 
of  all  clays  is  not  yet  well  substantiated. 


TflE    NONMETALLIC    MINEEAL8. 

Kaolinite  is  in  itself  not  properly  a  clay,  nor  is  it  plastic.  Further, 
in  many  cases  it  is  present  only  in  nonessential  quantities.  More  open 
to  criticism  yet,  because  more  concise,  is  the  statement  sometimes  made 
that  clay  is  a  hydrated  silicate  of  alumina  having  the  formula  A12O3, 
2SiO2+2H2O.  It  is  doubtful  if  a  clay  was  ever  found  which  could  be 
reduced  to  such  a  formula  excepting  by  a  liberal  exercise  of  the  imagi- 
nation. There  is  scarcely  one  of  the  silicate  minerals  that  will  not 
when  sufficiently  finely  comminuted  yield  a  substance  possessing  those 
peculiar  physical  properties  of  unctuous  feel,  plasticity,  and  color, 
which  are  the  only  constant  characteristics  of  the  multitudinous  and 
heterogeneous  compounds  known  as  clays.  Even  pure  vitreous  quartz 
when  rubbed  to  the  condition  of  an  impalpable  powder  has  when  wet 
the  plasticity  and  odor  of  clay.1  Daubree  so  long  ago  as  1878 2  pointed 
out  the  fact  that  by  the  mechanical  trituration  of  feldspars  in  a  revolv- 
ing cylinder  with  water  an  impalpable  mud  was  obtained,  which 
remained  many  days  in  suspension,  and  on  drying  formsd  masses  so 
hard  as  to  be  broken  only  with  a  hammer,  resembling  the  argillites  of 
the  coal  measures. 

The  ever  varying  chemical  nature  of  the  materials  classed  as  clays  is 
brought  out  to  some  extent  by  a  comparison  of  the  analyses  in  the 
table  (p.  349),  but  is  even  more  evident  in  microscopic  and  mechanical 
examinations.  Indeed,  as  stated  by  Chamberlain:3 

While  it  is  convenient  and  customary  to  speak  of  the  crude  material  of  brick  as 
clay,  that  which  is  really  made  use  of  is  a  mixture  of  clay  and  sand,  or,  in  the  cream- 
colored  brick,  of  aluminous  clay,  calcareous  clay  or  marl,  and  sand.  The  mixture  is 
really  a  loam  and  but  for  the  appropriation  of  that  term  as  the  designation  of  a  soil, 
it  would  doubtless  be  more  generally  applied  to  such  mixtures. 

Professor  Crosby,  as  noted  elsewhere,  has  shown  that  the  blue-gray 
brick  clays  of  Cambridge  contain  only  from  one-fourth  to  one-third  of 
their  bulk  of  "true  clay,"  the  remainder  being  finely  comminuted 
material  to  which  he  gives  the  name  rock  flour. 

An  examination  of  certain  English  fire  clays  has  shown4  that  they 
can  not  properly  be  considered  as  mere  hydrous  silicates  of  alumina, 
but  are  very  complex  mineral  admixtures,  among  which  scales  of 
hydrous  micas,  grains  of  feldspar,  more  rarely  quartz  and  rutile  needles 
greatly  preponderate  over  the  kaolin.  The  Leda  clays  of  Maine,  as 
the  writer  has  noted  elsewhere,  contain  a  comparatively  small  amount 

1  Referring  to  the  odor  of  clay  when  a  shower  of  rain  first  begins  to  wet  a  dry,  clayey 
soil,  Mr.  C.  Tomlinson  has  remarked  that  it  is  commonly  attributed  to  alumina,  and 
yet  pure  alumina  gives  off  no  odor  when  breathed  upon  or  wetted.     The  fact  is,  the 
peculiar  odor  referred  to  belongs  only  to  impure  clays,  and  chiefly  to  those  that  con- 
tain oxide  of  iron.     (Proceedings  of  the  Geological  Association,  I,  p.  242;  quoted  in 
Woodward's  Geology  of  England  and  Wales,  p.  439.) 

2  Geologic  Experimentale;  1879,  p.  251. 

3  Geology  of  Wisconsin,  I,  p.  673. 

*W.  M.  Hutchings,  Geological  Magazine,  VII,  1890,  p.  264,  and  VIII,  1891,  p.  164. 


328  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

of  kaolin  but  much  free  quartz,  scales  of  mica,  bits  of  still  fresh  feld- 
spar, and  more  rarely  tourmalines  and  other  of  the  less  destructible 
silicates. 

Iron  in  the  hydrated  sesquioxide  state  is  found  in  nearly  all  clays, 
even  the  whitest  varieties.  More  than  1  per  cent  was  found  in  a  sili- 
ceous clay  from  Ohio,  although  the  clay  itself  was  almost  of  snowy 
whiteness. 

Iron  also  exists  in  the  form  of  a  silicate  and  protoxide  carbonate,  and 
sometimes  as  a  sulphide  in  the  form  of  disseminated  pyrite.  Lime 
and  magnesia  are  also  common  constituents,  either  as  free  carbonates 
or  as  lime-magnesia  silicates,  and  may  exercise  an  important  bearing 
upon  the  suitability  of  a  clay  for  any  particular  purpose,  as  will  be 
noted  later.  The  clay  from  which  the  well-known  Milwaukee  cream- 
colored  bricks  are  made  contains  sometimes  as  high  as  23  per  cent 
carbonate  of  lime  and  17  per  cent  carbonate  of  magnesia,  together  with 
nearly  5  per  cent  of  iron. 

The  alkalies,  potash  and  soda,  are  common  constituents  in  small  pro- 
portions, and  also  lithia,  the  first  named  being  most  common  as  well  as 
most  detrimental.  It  is  a  fair  assumption  that  these  substances  are 
constituent  of  still  undecomposed  fragments  of  feldspar  and  the  micas. 
To  the  presence  of  rutile  needles  and  particles  of  ilmenite  are  due  the 
frequent  traces  of  titanic  acid  revealed  by  chemical  analysis.  The 
presence  of  any  quartz  and  undecomposed  feldspathic  material  in  a 
clay  can  as  a  rule  be  detected  by  the  gritty  feeling  manifested  when 
tho  material  is  rubbed  between  the  thumb  and  fingers.  Mica  is,  how- 
ever, not  readily  detected  by  this  means. 

The  above  remarks  will  explain  why  a  purely  chemical  analysis  of  a 
clay  may  be  of  little  value  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  its  suitability 
for  any  particular  purpose.  It  is  essential  that  we  know  not  merely 
the  presence  or  absence  of  certain  elements  but  also  how  these  elements 
are  combined.  Further  than  this  few  clays  are  used  in  their  natural 
condition,  being  first  purified  by  washing  and  usually  mixed  with  other 
constituents  to  give  them  body  or  fire-resisting  properties. 

Kinds  and  classification. — From  a  geological  standpoint  the  clays 
may  be  divided  into  two  general  classes,  as  above  noted,  (1)  residual 
and  (2)  transported,  the  first  class  including  a  majority  of  the  kaolin, 
halloysite,  etc.,  and  the  second  the  ordinary  brick  and  potter's  clays, 
the  loess,  adobe,  Leda,  and  the  bedded,  alluvial  deposits  of  the  Cre- 
taceous, Carboniferous,  and  other  geological  periods.  Special  names, 
based  upon  such  properties  as  render  them  peculiarly  adapted  to  eco- 
nomic purposes,  are  common.  We  thus  have  (1)  the  kaolin  and 
China  clay,  (2)  potter's  clay,  (3)  pipe  clay,  (4)  fire  clay,  (5)  brick,  tile, 
and  terra  cotta  clays,  etc.,  (6)  slip  clays,  (7)  adobe,  and  (8)  fuller's 
earth.  These  will  be  discussed  in  the  order  given,  though  they  must 
necessarily  be  discussed  but  briefly,  since  the  subject  of  clays  alone 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS. 


329 


could  be  made  to  far  exceed  the  entire  limits  of  the  present  volume. 
The  names  fat  and  lean  clays  are  workmen's  terms  for  clays  relatively 
pure  and  plastic  or  carrying  a  large  amount  of  mechanical  admixtures, 
such  as  quartz  sand. 

In  the  Kaolin  and  China  Clays  are  included  a  series  of  clays  used 
in  the  manufacture  of  the  finer  grades  of  porcelain  and  china  ware 
and  which  consist  in  large  proportion  of  the  material  kaolin,  the  name 
being  derived  from  the  Chinese  locality  Kaoling,  from  whence  have 
for  ages  been  obtained  the  materials  for  the  highest  grades  of  Chinese 
porcelain. 

According  to  Richthofen,1  however,  the  material  from  which  the 
porcelain  of  King-te-chin  is  made  is  not  kaolin  at  all,  but  a  hard 
greenish  rock  having  somewhat  the  appearance  of  jade  and  which 
occurs  intercalated  between  beds  of  clay  slate.  He  says: 

This  rock  is  reduced,  by  stamping,  to  a  white  powder,  of  which  the  finest  portion 
is  ingeniously  and  repeatedly  separated.  This  is  then  moulded  into  small  bricks. 
The  Chinese  distinguish  chiefly  two  kinds  of  this  material.  Either  of  them  is  sold 
in  King-te-chin  in  the  shape  of  bricks,  and  as  either  is  a  white  earth,  they  offer 
no  visible  differences.  They  are  made  at  different  places,  in  the  manner  described, 
by  pounding  hard  rock,  but  the  aspect  of  the  rock  is  nearly  alike  in  both  cases.  For 
one  of  these  two  kinds  of  material,  the  place  Kaoling  ("high  ridge")  was  in  ancient 
times  in  high  repute;  and,  though  it  has  lost  its  prestige  since  centuries,  the  Chinese 
still  designate  by  the  name  "  Kao-ling,"  the  kind  of  earth  which  was  formerly  derived 
from  there,  but  is  now  prepared  in  other  places.  The  application  of  the  name  by 
Berzelius,  to  porcelain  earth  was  made  on  the  erroneous  supposition,  that  the  white 
earth  which  he  received  from  a  member  of  one  of  the  embassies  (I  think,  Lord 
Amherst)  occurred  naturally  in  this  state.  The  second  kind  of  material  bears  the 
name  Pe-tun-tse  ( ' '  white  clay  " ) . 

The  following  analyses  will  serve  to  show  the  average  composition 
of  (I)  the  natural  material  from  King-te-Chin,  such  as  is  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  the  finest  porcelain;  (II)  that  from  the  same  locality 
used  in  the  so-called  blue  Canton  ware;  (HI)  that  of  the  English  Cor- 
nish or  Cornwall  stone;  (IV)  washed  kaolin  from  St.  Yrieux,  France, 
and  (V)  washed  kaolin  from  Hockessin,  Delaware.2 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

Silica    - 

73  55 

73  55 

73  57 

48  68 

48  73 

Alumina  

Ferric  oxide 

21.09 

18.98 

16.47 

27 

36.92 

37.02 
79 

Lime  

2.55 

1.58 

1  17 

16 

15 

1  08 

21 

52 

11 

Potash  

.46 

I         41 

Soda 

2  09 

|    5.84 

.58 

J 
I          04 

Combined  water  

2.62 

1.96 

2.45 

13.13 

• 
12.83 

Total  

99.62 

99.70 

y.i  '.).s 

99.83 

100.09 

1  American  Journal  of  Science,  1871,  p.  180. 

2 Analyses  I  and  II  by  J.  E.  Whitfield,  Bulletin  27,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey;  III 
from  Langenbeck's  Chemistry  of  Pottery;  IV  from  Zirkel's  Lehrbuch  der  Petrog- 
raphy, III,  p.  758,  and  V  by  George  Steiger,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 


330 


REPOET   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM, 


Plate  15,  figs.  1  and  2,  will  serve  to  show  the  shape  and  kind  of  the 
particles  in  the  mineral  kaolinite  and  in  a  prepared  sample  of  the 
Hockessin  kaolin,  as  seen  under  the  microscope. 

The  name  halloysite  is  given  to  a  white  or  yellowish  material  closely 
simulating  kaolin  in  composition,  but  occurring  in  indurated  masses, 
with  a  greasy  feel  and  luster,  and  which  adheres  strongly  to  the 
tongue,  a  property  due  to  its  capacity  for  absorbing  moisture.1  As  it 
is  utilized  for  much  the  same  purpose  as  is  kaolin,  it  is  included  here. 

Halloysite  is  described  by  Gibson 2  as  occurring  in  a  bed  some  3  feet 
in  thickness,  lying  near  the  base  of  the  Lower  Siliceous  (L.  Carbon- 
iferous) formation,  a  little  above  or  close  to  the  Black  Shale  (Devonian), 
in  Murphrees  Valley,  Alabama.  This  bed  has  been  worked  with  satis- 
factory results  near  Valley  Head,  in  Dekalb  County.  The  present 
writer  has  found  the  material  in  comparatively  small  quantities,  asso- 
ciated with  kaolin,  in  narrow  veins  in  the  decomposing  gneissic  rock 
near  Stone  Mountain,  Georgia.  A  similar  occurrence  is  described 
near  Elgin,  Scotland.  (Analysis  below.)  Near  Tiiffer,  Styria,  halloy- 
site is  described3  as  occurring  in  extensive  thick  and  veinlike  agglom- 
erations in  porphyry.  It  is  quite  pure,  and  in  the  form  of -irregular 
nodules  of  various  sizes,  frequently  with  a  pellucid,  steatitelike  cen- 
tral nucleus,  passing  outwardly  into  a  pure  white  substance,  greasy  to 
the  touch,  m  which  are  occasionally  included  minute  pellucid  granules. 
Outside  it  passes  into  an  earthy,  friable  substance.  The  following 
analyses  show  the  varying  composition  of  halloysite  from  (I)  Elgin, 
Scotland,  (II)  Steinbruck,  Styria,  and  (III)  Detroit  Mine,  Mono  Lake, 
California. 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

Silica  

39  30 

40  7 

Alumina  
Lime  

38.52 
0  75 

38.40 
0  60 

38.4 
0  6 

Magnesia. 

0  83 

Ferric  oxide  

1  42 

Manganese  

0  25 

Water  

19  34 

18  00 

99.20 

A  white  chalky  halloysite  from  the  pits  of  the  Frio  Kaolin  Mining 
Company  in  Edwards  County,  Texas  (Specimen  No.  53253,  U.S.N.M.), 

1  This  property  is  characteristic  of  nearly  all  clay  compounds  when  they  are  dry. 
It  is  to  this  same  property  that  many  of  the  so-called  "madstone"  owe  their  imagi- 
nary virtues.     Nearly  all  the  stones  of  this  type  examined  by  the  writer  have  proved 
to  be  of  indurated  clay,  halloysite,  or  a  closely  related  compound.     When  applied 
to  a  fresh  wound,  such  adhere  until  they  become  saturated  with  moisture,  when  they 
faU  away.     Their  curative  powers  are  of  course  wholly  imaginary. 

2  Geological  Survey  of  Alabama.     Report  on  Murphrees  Valley,  1893,  p.  121 
"Mineralogical  Magazine,  II,  1878,  p.  264. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899,-Merri 


PLATE  15. 


Fig.  2. 
MlCROSECTIONS  SHOWING  THE  APPEARANCE  OF  (0   KAOLINITE  AND  (2)   WASHED 

KAOLIN. 

The  enlargement  is  the  same  in  both  cases. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899,-Merr 


PLATE  16. 


,*v 


MlCROSECTIONS  SHOWING  THE  APPEARANCE  OF  (D    HALLOYSITE  AND  (2)   L.EDA 

CLAY. 
The  enlargement  is  the  same  in  both  cases. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  331 

has  the  composition  given  below  as  shown  by  analyses  made  in   the 
laboratory  of  the  department: 

Silica ._  45.82 

Alumina 39.  77 

Potash 30 

Ignition 13.38 


99.27 

The  material  is  somewhat  variable,  corresponding  in  part  to  the 
halloysite  described  by  Dana,  and  being  nonplastic,  and  in  part  being 
plastic  to  an  extraordinary  degree.  The  plastic  portions  are  almost 
as  gritless  as  starch  paste.  Its  appearance  under  the  microscope  is 
shown  in  Plate  16,  fig.  1,  the  interspaces  of  the  visible  angular  par- 
ticles being  occupied  by  the  past}7,  almost  amorphous  material.  The 
particles  themselves  act  very  faintly  on  polarized  light,  and  it  is  not 
possible  to  determine  their  mineralogical  nature. 

The  name  Indianaite  has  been  given  by  Cox  to  a  variety  of  halloy- 
site found  in  Lawrence  County,  Indiana,  and  which  he  regarded  as 
resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  Archimedes  (Lower  Carbonifer- 
ous) limestone.  It  is  represented  as  forming  a  stratum  from  6  to  10 
feet  thick,  underlying  a  massive  bed  of  Coal  Measure  conglomerate 
100  feet  thick  and  overlying  a  bed  of  limonite  2  to  5  feet  thick.  The 
material  like  kaolin  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  porcelain  ware. 
The  composition  of  this  material  as  given  by  Dana  is  as  follows:  Sil- 
ica 39  per  cent,  alumina  36  per  cent,  water  23.50  per  cent,  lime  and 
magnesia  0.63  per  cent,  alkalies  0.54  per  cent;  99.67  per  cent.  (See 
Specimens,  Nos.  29714,  34441,  U.S.N.M.) 

The  potters'  and  pipe  clays  belong  mainly  to  what  are  known 
geologically  as  bedded  clays,  and  are  as  a  rule  very  siliceous  com- 
pounds, carrying  in  some  instances  as  much  as  50  per  cent  of  free 
quartz  and  6  to  10  per  cent  of  iron  oxides  and  other  impurities. 
They  are  highly  plastic  and  of  a  white  to  blue,  gray,  or  brown  color 
(See  Specimens,  Nos.  17245,  33975,  20286,  67796,  to  67798,  from  the 
United  States  and  England)  and  burn  gray,  brown,  or  red.  The  tables 
on  page  349  will  show  the  varying  composition  of  materials  thus 
classed.  The  fire  clays,  so  called  on  account  of  the  refractory  nature, 
differ  mainly  in  the  small  percentages  of  lime  and  the  alkalies  they 
carry,  and  to  the  absence  of  which  they  owe  their  refractory  proper- 
ties. (Specimens,  Nos.  11629,  New  Jersey;  53179,  Maryland;  59258, 
West  Virginia;  68248,  California;  53249-53251,  South  Dakoka,  etc., 
are  characteristic.) 

The  bedded  clays  of  the  United  States  reach  their  maximum  devel- 
opment in  strata  of  Cretaceous  and  Carboniferous  ages.  To  the  Cre- 
taceous age  belong  the  celebrated  plastic  clays  of  New  Jersey  and  a 
very  large  proportion  of  the  brick,  tile,  and  terra  cotta  clays  of  Dela- 


332  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

ware,1  Maryland,  and  Virginia.  The  New  Jersey  beds  are  very  exten- 
sively utilized  in  Middlesex  County  and  fully  described  in  the  State 
Geological  Reports.2. 

As  described,  the  entire  plastic  clay  formation  consists  of  several 
members  as  below,  arranged  in  a  descending  series: 

Feet. 

(1)  Dark-colored  clay  (with  beds  and  laminee  of  lignite) 50 

(2)  Bandy  clay,  with  sand  in  alternate  layers —  40 

(3)  Stoneware  clay  bed - 30 

(4)  Sand  and  sandy  clay  (with  lignite  near  the  bottom)  50 

(5)  South  Amboy  fire-clay  bed 20 

(6)  Sandy  clay  (generally  red  or  yellow) 3 

(7)  Sand  and  kaolin 10 

(8)  Feldspar  bed 5 

(9)  Micaceous  sand  bed 20 

(10)  Laminated  clay  and  sand 30 

(11)  Pipe  clay  (top  white) 10 

(12)  Sandy  clay  (including  leaf  bed) 5 

(13)  Woodbridge  fire-clay  bed 20 

(14)  Fire-sand  bed 15 

Raritan  clay  beds: 

(15)  Fire  clay 15 

(16)  Sandy  clay 4 

(17)  Potters'  clay 20 

Total 347 

The  following  section  of  the  Coal  Measure  clays  at  St.  Louis,  as  pub- 
ilshed  in  Bulletin  No.  3  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Missouri,  will 
serve  to  show  the  alternating  character  of  these  beds,  and  their  vary- 
ing qualities  as  indicated  by  the  uses  to  which  they  are  put.3 

(1)  Loess,  20  feet. 

(2)  Limestone  (Coal  Measure),  5  feet, 

(3)  Clay,  white  and  yellow,  used  for  sewer-pipe  manufacture,  called  "bastard  fire 
clay,"  3  to  4  feet. 

(4)  Clay,  yellow  and  red,  sold  for  paint  manufacture  and  for  coloring  plaster  and 
mortar,  called  "ochre,"  3  feet. 

(5)  Clay,  gray  to  white,  used  for  paint  manufacture  and  filling,  1  foot  6  inches. 

(6)  Pipe  clay,  variegated,  reddish  brown  and  greenish,  called  "keel,"  12  feet. 

(7)  Sandstone. 

(8)  Slaty  shale. 

(9)  Coal. 

(10)  Fire  clay,  becoming  sandy  toward  the  base. 

When  first  mined  these  Coal  Measure  clays  are  usually  very  hard, 
but  on  exposure  to  the  weather  slack  and  fall  into  powder.  They  are 

lThis  of  course  does  not  include  the  kaolin  deposits  of  Hockessin,  Newcastle 
County,  and  similar  deposits. 

2  Report  on  Clay  Deposits  of  Woodbridge,  South  Amboy,  and  other  places  in  New 
Jersey,  1878. 

3  Bulletin  No.  3,  Geological  Survey  of  Missouri,  1890. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1  899.— Merrill. 


PLATE  17. 


Fig.  1. 


%    *  •  ••• 


Fig.  2. 

MlCROSECTIONS  SHOWING  THE  APPEARANCE  OF  (1)  ALBANY  COUNTY,  WYOMING, 
CLAY  AND  (2)  FULLER'S  EARTH. 

The  enlargement  is  the  same  in  both  cases. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1  899.- Merrill 


PLATE  18. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  333 

as  a  rule  much  less  fusible  than  are  the  glacial  or  stratified  clays,  and 
are  used  mainly  in  the  manufacture  of  fire  brick,  sewer  pipe,  terra 
cotta  stoneware,  as  crocks,  fruit  jars,  jugs,  etc.,  glass  and  gas  retorts, 
smelting  pots,  etc.  Some  of  these  articles  are  made  direct  from  the 
natural  clays,  while  others  are  from  a  mixture  of  several  clays  or  of  a 
clay  mixed  with  powdered  quartz  and  feldspar. 

For  ordinary  brick-making  purposes  a  great  variety  of  materials 
are  employed;  in  some  cases  residuary  deposits,  and  in  others  alluvial 
and  sedimentary.  Throughout  the  glacial  regions  of  the  United  States 
a  fine  unctious  blue-gray  material,  laid  down  in  estuaries  during  the 
Champlain  epoch,  the  so-called  Leda  clays,  are  the  main  materials  used 
for  this  purpose.  Such  are  also  sometimes  used  in  making  the  cheaper 
kinds  of  pottery.  The  bowlder  clays  of  the  glacial  regions  are  also 
sometimes  used  when  sufficiently  homogeneous. 

The  prevailing  colors  of  the  Leda  clays  are  blue -gray  or  yellowish. 
They  all  carry  varying  amounts  of  iron,  lime,  magnesia,  and  the 
alkalies,  and  when  burned  turn  to  red  of  varying  tints.  They  fuse 
with  comparative  ease  and  are  used  mainly  for  brick  and  tile  making 
and  for  the  coarser  forms  of  earthenware,  such  as  flower  pots,  being 
as  a  rule  mixed  with  siliceous  sand  to  counteract  shrinkage.  The 
mining  of  such  material  is  of  the  simplest  kind,  and  consists  merely  of 
scraping  away  the  overlying  soil  and  sand,  if  such  there  be,  and  remov- 
ing the  clay  in  the  form  of  sidehill  cuts  or  open  pits. 

Plate  18,  facing  this  page,  shows  a  cut  in  one  of  the  beds  at  Lewiston, 
Maine.  The  material  here  is  fine  and  homogeneous,  of  a  blue-gray 
color,  and  contains  no  appreciable  grit.  It  is  mixed  with  siliceous 
sand  and  used  for  making  bricks,  baking  red.  An  analysis  of  the 
material  in  its  air-dry  state  yielded  results  as  below: 

Silica  (SiO2) 56. 17 

Alumina  ( A12O3) 24.  25 

Ferrous  oxide  (FeO) 3.  54 

Lime(CaO) 2.09 

Magnesia  (MgO) 2.57 

Potash(K2O) 4.06 

Soda  (Na,O) 2.25 

Ignition  (H,O) 4.69 


99.62 


Under  the  microscope  these  clays  are  seen  to  be  made  up  of  beauti- 
fully fresh,  angular  bits  of  quartz,  feldspar,  mica,  hornblende,  and 
augite,  with  more  rarely  tourmalines,  zircons,  and  other  refractory 
minerals,  with  a  basis  of  extremely  fine  undetermined  material  which 
may  perhaps  be  kaolin,  though  the  general  structure  of  the  clay  is 
such  as  to  suggest  it  owes  its  origin  mainly  to  mechanical  trituration, 
rather  than  chemical  decomposition.  The  appearance  of  the  Lewiston 
clay  under  the  microscope  is  shown  in  Plate  16,  fig.  1.  (See  Specimens 


334 


REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 


Nos.  73036,  61041,  and  61042,  of  these  clays  in  their  natural,  mixed, 
and  baked  condition.) 

One  of  the  most  constant  distinctions  between  the  so-called  clays  of  glacial  and 
nonglacial  origin,  are  the  relatively  large  amounts,  in  the  first  mentioned,  of  lime  car- 
bonate and  alkalies  and  the  extremely  finely  comminuted  siliceous  material  to  which 
the  name  rock  flour  is  commonly  given.  Prof.  W.  O.  Crosby,  has  shown  that  the 
smooth  and  plastic  bluish-gray  brick  clays  of  West  Cambridge  contain  only  from 
one-fourth  to  one-third  their  bulk  of  the  clay  kaolin,  the  remainder  being  largely 
rock  flour.  [Proceedings  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History,  XXV,  1890.] 

Leda  clays  from  Beaver  County,  Pennsylvania,  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  terra  cotta  at  New  Brighton,  are  reported x  as  having  the 
following  composition: 


Silica 

46.160 

67.780 

26.  976 

16.290 

7.214 

4.670 

Titanic  acid           

.740 

.780 

2.210 

600 

Magnesia               

1.620 

.727 

Alkalies 

3  246 

2  001 

Water                     

11.220 

6.340 

99.286 

99.088 

Vitrified  brick  for  street  pavements  are  made  from  fusible  clays, 
sometimes  in  their  natural  condition  and  sometimes  mixtures  of  ground 
shale  and  clay.  (See  Specimens,  Nos.  61141,  61142,  and  68049,  from 
Evansville,  Indiana.) 

The  following  analyses  of  the  materials  used  by  the  Onondaga  Vit- 
rified Pressed  Brick  Comjj  •  *\y  show  the  character  of  the  materials 
there  used:2 


Constituents. 

Calcareous 
layer  in 
shale  bank. 

A  green 
brick;  be- 
ing a  mix- 
ture of  the 
different 
shales. 

Red  shale. 

Blue  shale. 

Clay. 

Silica  

25  40 

57  79 

45  35 

Peroxide  of  iron.  .  . 

2  24 

6  55 

5  20 

4  41 

Lime    . 

Magnesia  

10  39 

4  67 

6  38 

Carbonic  acid  .  .  . 

Potash. 

Soda  

Water  and  organic  matter 

Oxide  of  manganese  



Total  

OQ    ^Q 

_ 

The  name  slip  clay  is  given  to  a  readily  fusible,  impalpably  fine  clay 
used  for  imparting  a  glaze  to  earthenware  vessels.     These  clays  carry 

1  Second  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania,  Report  of  Chemical  Analyses,  p.  257. 

2  Bulletin  of  the  New  York  State  Museum,  III,  No.  12,  March,  1895.     Clay  Indus- 
tries of  New  York,  p.  200. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


335 


iron  oxides,  potash  and  soda,  together  with  lime  and  magnesia  in  such 
proportions  that  they  vitrify  readily,  forming  thus  an  impervious 
glass  over  those  portions  of  the  ware  to  which  they  are  applied. 

The  following  analyses  show  (I)  the  composition  of  a  slip  clay  used 
in  pottery  works  in  Akron,  Ohio,  and  (II)  one  from  Albany,  New 
York.  (Specimen  No.  53583,  U.S.N.M.): 


Constituents. 

(I.) 

(II.) 

Silica        '.  

60.40 

58.54 

10  42 

15  41 

5.36 

3.19 

Lime 

9  88 

6  30 

Magnesia  
Alkalies  

4.28 
0.87 

3.40 
4.45 

Sulphuric  acid  
Phosphoric  acid  

0.65 
0.09 

1.10 

Carbonic  acid  and  water  

8.05 

8.08 

Total  

100.00 

100.47 

The  Albany  clay  is  stated  by  Nason *  to  glaze  at  comparatively  low 
temperatures  and  to  rarely  crack  or  check.  It  occurs  in  a  stratum  4  to 
5  feet  thick.  It  is  used  very  extensively  in  the  United  States,  and  has 
even  been,,  shipped  to  Germany  and  France.  (See  also  Specimens 
Nos.  53582,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Brimfield,  Ohio;  53580,  U.S.N.M.,  from 
Rowley,  Michigan,  and  52985,  52995,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Meissen,  Saxony.) 

The  name  adobe  is  given  to  a  calcareous  clay  of  a  gray-brown  or 
yellowish  color,  very  tine  grained  and  porous,  which  is  sufficiently 
friable  to  crumble  readily  in  the  lingers,  and  yet  has  sufficient  coher- 
ency to  stand  for  many  years  in  the  form  of  vertical  escarpments, 
without  forming  appreciable  talus  slopes.  It  is  in  common  use  through- 
out Arizona,  New  Mexico,  and  Mexico  proper  for  building  material,  the 
dry  adobe  being  first  mixed  with  water,  pressed  in  rough  rectangular 
wooden  molds  some  10  by  18  or  more  inches  and  3  or  4  inches  deep, 
and  then  dried  in  the  sun.  In  some  cases  chopped  straw  is  mixed  with 
it  to  increase  its  tenacity.  Buildings  formed  of  this  material  endure  for 
generations  and  even  centuries  in  these  arid  climates.  The  material  of 
the  adobe  is  derived  from  the  waste  of  the  surrounding  mountain  slopes, 
the  disintegration  being  mainly  mechanical.  According  to  Prof.  I.  C. 
Russell  it  is  assorted  and  spread  out  over  the  valley  bottoms  by  ephem- 
eral streams.  It  consists  of  a  great  variety  of  minerals,  among  which 
quartz  is  conspicuous.  The  chemical  nature  of  the  adobes  vary  widely, 
as  would  naturally  be  expected,  and  as  is  shown  in  the  following  analyses 
from  Professor  Russell's  paper:2 

1  Forty-seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  State  Geologist  of  New  York,  1893,  p.  468. 

2  Subaerial  Deposits  of  North  America,  Geological  Magazine,  VI,  1889,  pp.  289  and 
342. 


336 


BEPOBT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 
Analyses  of  adobe. 


Constituents. 

I, 
Santa  Fe, 
New 
Mexico. 

II, 
Fort  Win- 
gate,  New 
Mexico. 

III, 
Humboldt, 
Nevada. 

IV, 
Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah. 

SiO2 

66.69 

26.  67 

44.64 

19.  24 

A1203                                       

14.16 

0.91 

13.19 

3.26 

FeoOn 

4  38 

0.64 

5.12 

1.09 

MnO                                        

0.09 

Trace. 

0.13 

Trace. 

2  49 

36.40 

13.91 

38.94 

MgO                                      -     -  - 

1.28 

0.51 

2.% 

2.75 

KoO 

1  21 

Trace. 

1.71 

Trace. 

Na»O 

0.67 

Trace. 

0.59 

,    Trace. 

co»              

0.77 

25.84 

8.55 

29.57 

p2O5 

0.29 

0.75 

0.94 

0.23 

SO3                         

0.41 

0.82 

0.64 

0.53 

Cl  

0.34 

0.07 

0.14 

0.11 

H2O                     

4.94 

2.26 

3.84 

1.67 

2.00 

5.10 

3.43 

2.96 

Total  

99.72 

99.97 

99.79 

100.35 

The  name  loess  is  given  to  certain  quaternary  surface  deposits 
closely  simulating  adobe,  but  concerning  the  origin  of  which  there  is 
considerable  dispute.  Deposits  in  the  United  States  are,  according  to 
the  best  authorities,  of  subaqueous  origin.  Clays  of  this  nature  are, 
as  a  rule,  higher  in  silica  than  the  adobes  and  correspondingly  poorer 
in  alumina.  Loess  is  a  common  surface  deposit  throughout  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  and  is  in  many  instances  of  such  consistency  as  to  be 
utilized  for  brickmaking. 

The  analyses  given  below  are  from  Professor  Russell's  paper: 

Analyses  of  the  loess  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 


Constituents. 

No.l. 

No.  2. 

No.  3. 

No.  4. 

SiO2  

72  68* 

64  61 

74  46 

60  69 

A12O3 

12  03 

Fe»0,  

FeO 

3.63 
0  96 

2.61 

3.25 

2.61 

TiOjj 

PaO6  .  .  . 

0  23 

MnO 

CaO  

1  59 

MgO  

1  11 

3  69 

1  12 

4  56 

NaoO  

1  68 

K»0  

H20  

a2  50 

co» 

so,  

c  

' 

' 

U.  lo 

Total... 

_. 

a  Contains  H  of  organic  matter,  dried  at  100°  C. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  337 

The  name  fullers'  earth  (Walkerde,  volaorde,  terre  a  foulon,  terra 
da  purgatori,  etc.)  includes  a  variety  of  clay  of  a  greenish  white, 
greenish  gray,  olive  and  oil  green  or  brownish  color,  very  soft,  with  a 
greasy  feeling.  It  falls  into  powder  in  water,  imparts  a  milky  hue  to 
the  liquid,  and  appears  to  melt  on  the  tongue  like  butter.  It  was  for- 
merly used  by  fullers  to  take  the  grease  out  of  cloth;  hence  the  name. 

The  English  beds,  according  to  Geikie1  occur  in  Jurassic  and  Cre- 
taceous formations.  Fullers'  earth  from  beds  at  Nutfield,  near  Red- 
hill,  Surrey,  England,  is  described2  as  a  heavy  blue  or  yellow  clay, 
with  a  greasy  feel  and  an  earthy  fracture. 

When  examined  with  a  microscope  it  is  found  to  consist  of 
extremely  irregular  corroded  particles  of  a  siliceous  mineral  which  in 
its  least  altered  state  is  colorless,  but  which  in  nearly  every  case  has 
undergone  a  chloritic  or  talcose  alteration  whereby  the  particles  are 
inverted  into  a  faintly  yellowish  green  product  almost  wholly  on  polar- 
ized light.  The  particles  are  of  all  sizes  up  to  0.07  mm.  The  larger 
portion  of  the  material  is  made  up  of  particles  fairly  uniform  in  size 
and  about  the  dimensions  mentioned.  In  addition  to  these  are  minute 
colorless  fragments  down  to  sizes  0.01  mm.  and  even  smaller. 

The  minute  size  of  these  colorless  particles  renders  a  determination 
of  their  mineral  nature  practically  impossible.  But  the  outline  of  the 
cleavage  flakes  is  evidently  suggestive  of  a  soda  lime  feldspar.  The 
high  percentage  of  silica  in  the  insoluble  residue  would  indicate  the 
presence  of  a  considerable  amount  of  free  quartz.  This,  however,  the 
microscope  only  partially  substantiates,  very  few  of  the  particles 
showing  the  brilliant  polarization  colors  characteristic  of  this  mineral. 

When  the  powder  is  treated  with  hydrofluorsilicic  acid  it  yields 
abundant  crystals  of  potassium  and  aluminum  fluosilicate,  together 
with  radiating  forms  of  calcium  fluosilicate.  The  material  differs 
from  that  last  described  in  that  its  particles  are  much  larger  and  more 
angular  in  outline  and  the  various  elements  in  a  different  state  of  com- 
bination. (See  Plate  17,  fig.  2.) 

A  substance  recently  put  upon  the  American  market  as  a  fullers'  earth 
(Specimen  No.  62737,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Enid,  Oklahoma),  under  the 
trade  name  of  "glacialite,"  has  the  following  chemical  composition,  the 
material  being  dried  at  100°  C.  before  analyzing: 

Silica 50.  36 

Alumina 33.  38 

Ferric  oxide 3.  31 

Sodium,  lithium,  potassium  oxide 88 

Water 12.  05 

Organic  matter Trace. 

Titanium  . .  . .  Trace. 


99.98 


*Text  book  of  Geology.  3d.  ed.  p.  133.  2  Geological  Magazine,  VI,  1889,  p.  4-KC 

'NAT  MUS  99 22 


338  KEPOKT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

This  material  when  placed  in  water  falls  away  to  a  loose  flocculent  pow- 
der, which  shows  up  under  the  microscope  in  the  form  of  sharply  angu- 
lar colorless  particles,  very  faintly  doubly  refracting,  without  crystal 
outlines  or  other  physical  properties,  such  as  will  determine  their  exact 
mineral  nature.  The  particles  are  of  all  sizes,  from  the  larger  floccu- 
lent masses,  some  0.25  mm.  in  greatest  diameter,  down  to  those  too  small 
for  measurement.  The  greater  number  lie  between  0.005  and  0.01 
mm.,  though  a  very  large  proportion  are  even  smaller,  not  exceeding 
0.002  mm.  These  smaller  particles  are  angular  in  outline  and  almost 
perfectly  colorless.  Their  appearance  under  the  microscope  is  some- 
what that  of  decomposed  cherts. 

In  addition  to  the  faintly  doubly  refracting  particles  above  men- 
tioned, there  are  occasional  clear,  colorless,  sharply  angular  particles 
of  a  doubly  refracting  mineral  which  can  only  be  referred  to  quartz. 
A  few  yellowish  iron-stained  particles  are  suggestive  of  residual  prod- 
ucts from  decomposition  of  iron  magnesian  silicates. 

The  Gadsden  County,  Florida,  fullers'  earth  (Specimens  Nos.  53254 
and  53255,  U.S.N.M.)  is  a  light-gray  material,  often  blackened  by 
organic  matter,  and  which  shows  under  the  microscope  the  same 
greenish,  faintly  doubly  refracting  particles  as  does  the  English,  inter- 
mixed with  numerous  angular  particles  of  quartz.  This  earth  is  quite 
plastic  and  sticky  when  wet.  A  section  of  the  beds  at  the  pits  of  the 
Cheesebrough  Manufacturing  Company,  as  given  in  The  Mineral 
Resources  for  1895-96,  is  as  follows: 

Soil inches. .  18 

Red  clay feet 3 

Blue  clay do 3 

Fullers'  earth do 5J 

Sandy  blue  earth do 3 

Fullers'  earth  (second  bed) 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1  899.— Merrill. 


PLATE  19. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


339 


The  following  table l  as  compiled  by  Dr.  Ries  shows  the  variable  char- 
acter of  the  material  from  different  sources: 


j, 

£ 

4 

it 

J>^ 

S^ 

Si 

on 

AS-1 

S 

Constituents. 

e  from  Cilly.  a 

earth  from  R 
gate,  b 

e  from  Steindc 
fel.c 

earth  from  En 
land,  d 

earth  from  En 
land.e 

earth  from  Ga 
aunty,  Florida 

earth  from  Dec 
unty,  Georgia. 

OQ 

1 

*IU 

rs'  earth  fro 
east  of  Riv 
ion,  Florida,  h 

earth  from  I 
i  Mount  Pleasa 
orway,  Floridi 

earth  from  ne 
vay,  Florida../ 

1 

1 

1 

m 

I 

1 
1 

11 

Fullers 
tur  Co 

ill 

P-H 

|!i 

|l 

SiO2 

51  21 

53.00 

50.17 

44  00 

44.00 

62.83 

67.46 

58  72 

50.70 

58.30 

54.60 

A1.O3  

12.25 

10.00 

10.66 

11.00 

23.06 

10.35 

10.08 

16.90 

21.07 

10.63 

10.99 

FejO3  

2.07 

9.75 

3.15 

10.00 

2.00 

2.45 

2.49 

4.00 

6.88 

6.72 

6.61 

CaO  

2.13 

.50 

.25 

5.00 

4.08 

2.43 

3.14 

4.06 

4.40 

1.71 

6.00 

MgO 

4  89 

1  25 

2  00 

2  00 

3  12 

4  09 

2  56 

30 

3  15 

3  00 

H20  

27.89 

24.00 

35.83 

24.95 

7.72 

5.61 

8.10 

9.60 

9.05 

10.30 

Na<>O 

5.00 

0.20 

1 

K»O 

0  74 

j.    2.11 

Moisture  

6.41 

6.28 

2.30 

7.90 

9.55 

7.45 

Total  

100.44 

98.50 

100.06 

77.00 

100.09 

96.25 

99.15 

98.75 

100.85 

99.11 

98.95 

grE.J.  Riederer,  analyst. 

^Standard  Oil  Company's  property,  E.  J.  Rie- 
derer,  analyst. 

iHowell  property,  E.  J.  Riederer,  analyst, 
j  Morgan  property,  E.  J.  Riederer,  analyst. 


aPogg.  Ann.,  LXXVII,  1849,  p.  591. 

b  Klaproth.  Beitr.,  Vol.  IV,  1807, p.  338. 

c  Dana,  System  of  Min.,  1893,  p.  695. 

dGeikie,1893,p.!33. 

e  Penny  Encyclopedia,  XI,  Dr.  Thompson,  analyst. 

/P.  Fireman,  analyst. 

Properties  of  clay. — To  what  the  peculiar  properties  displayed  by  the 
clays  are  due  can  not  as  yet  be  said  to  have  been  fully  determined. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  with  the  property  of  plasticity  and  that 
of  becoming  indurated  when  dried.  "Various  explanations  have  been 
offered,  but  none  are  yet  advanced  which  make  clear  all  points.  It  has 
been  ascribed  to  the  impurities,  to  the  alumina,  to  the  combined  water, 
and  to  other  causes,  against  each  of  which,  examples  can  be  cited  that 
seem  to  set  it  aside  as  inadequate.  The  impurities  do  not  appear  to 
cause  the  plasticit}^,  for  the  sand  acts  unfavorably  to  it.  The  alumina 
is  not  responsible,  or  kaolins  would  be  the  most  plastic  of  all,  while 
the  flint  clays  of  Ohio  are  many  of  them  approximately  pure  kaolins, 
and  at  the  same  time  eminently  non-plastic.2  The  combined  water 
exerts  some  influence  it  is  evident,  as  its  expulsion  entails  permanent 
loss  of  plasticity,  but  it  can  not  be  the  sole  cause  of  plasticity,  as  clays 
equally  hydrated  are  just  as  liable  to  differ  in  this  respect  as  to  agree. 
No  theory  is  so  well  received  at  present  as  that  advanced  by  Cook. 
He  shows  that  the  microscope  reveals  a  crystalline  structure  which  the 
eye  does  not  detect,  and  that  this  structure  varies  greatly  in  degree  of 
perfection  in  different  samples.  Some  are  composed  of  masses  of 

1  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1895-96,  p.  880. 
*  As  is  also  kaolinite,  the  theoretically  pure  hydrous  silicate  of  aluminum  corre- 
sponding to  the  formula  Al?O?.2SiO?.2H3O, 


340  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

hexagonal  plates  or  scales  piled  up  in  long  bundles  or  faces  and  masses 
of  unattached  scales  nearly  perfect.  Such  clays  are  always  but  little 
plastic,  but  may  become  so  on  mechanical  treatment  such  as  grinding 
and  kneading;  on  re-examination  the  clay  then  shows  the  same  ele- 
ments of  structure,  but  broken  and  confused,  no  bundles  left  intact, 
scales  broken  and  a  homogenous  matrix  of  the  crushed  material  derived 
from  the  still  crystalline  part.  Clays  are  found  in  all  states  of  this 
breaking  up,  from  the  highly  crystalline  mass  to  the  homogenous 
matrix  showing  no  plates  at  all;  and  on  the  degree  in  which  the  crys- 
talline structure  is  retained,  its  plasticity  depends.  This  theory  is  cer- 
tainly plausible,  and  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  we  always  subject 
our  clays  to  secure  increased  plasticity  to  mechanical  disturbance 
which  has  the  effect  that  the  microscope  reveals.  This  view  harmon- 
izes with  more  points  than  any  other  advanced  as  yet,  and  offers  a  fair 
solution  of  the  different  degrees  of  plasticity  which  plastic  clays  exhibit, 
but  it  does  not  explain,  nor  attempt  to  explain,  the  differences  which 
exist  between  flint  clays  and  plastic  clays,  as  Professor  Cook's  exami- 
nations were  entirely  confined  to  the  latter.1 

According  to  Russian  authorities  quoted  by  Ries,2  the  plasticity  is 
not  only  due  to  the  interlocking  of  the  clay  particles,  but  varies  with 
the  fineness  of  the  grain,  the  extremely  coarse  and  fine  varieties  having 
less  plasticity  than  those  of  intermediate  texture.  This  view  is  also 
held  by  Drs.  Ries  and  Wheeler. 

So  far  as  the  compiler's  own  observations  go,  plasticity  is  not  de- 
pendent wholly  upon  hydration  nor  size  nor  shape  of  the  constituent 
particles.  The  glacial  (Leda)  clays  are  made  up  of  fresh,  sharply  an- 
gular particles  of  various  minerals  and  contain  less  than  5  per  cent  com- 
bined water;  yet  in  their  natural  condition  they  are  extremely  plastic, 
and  scarcely  less  so  when  mixed  with  two-fifths  their  bulk  of  ordinary 
siliceous  sand,  as  is  done  in  the  process  of  brickmaking.  The  Albany 
County,  Wyoming,  clay  (Specimen  No.  53229,  U.S.N.M.),  on  the  other 
hand,  equally  or  even  more  plastic  and  exceedingly  pasty,  is  made  up  of 
extremely  minute  particles  of  fairly  uniform  size,  scarcely  angular,  and 
apparently  all  of  the  same  mineral  nature  throughout.  This  yields 
some  16  per  cent  of  water,  on  ignition,  as  shown  in  analysis,  p.  348.  On 
the  whole,  the  evidence  seems  to  show  that  the  plasticity  is  due  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  particles  conduct  themselves  toward  moisture,  and 
this  is  apparently  dependent  upon  the  size  and  shape  and  the  propor- 
tional admixture  of  varying  sizes  of  the  constituents  rather  than  upon 
their  chemical  composition.  The  work  now  being  done  by  Dr.  Whit- 
ney, of  the  Agricultural  Department,  on  the  relationship  of  soils  to 
moisture  bids  fair  to  throw  important  light  upon  this  branch  of  the 
subject. 

1  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio,  Economic  Geology,  V,  pp.  651-652. 
2Clay  Deposits  and  Clay  Industry  in  North  Carolina,  Bulletin  No.  13,  North  Caro- 
lina Geological  Survey,  1897. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  341 

The  expulsion  of  the  combined  water  in  a  clay  is. nearly  always 
accompanied  by  a  diminution  in  volume,  which  varies  directly  as  the 
water,  or  the  purity  of  the  clay.  Pure  kaolin  shrinks  as  much  as  one- 
fourth  of  its  bulk,  it  is  stated,  sometimes  even  more.  The  sandy  clays 
used  in  making  sewer-pipe  and  stoneware  shrink  from  the  tempered 
state  from  one-ninth  to  one-sixteenth,  usually  about  one-twelfth.  The 
shrinkage  of  the  raw  clay  would  be  very  much  less,  probably  not 
over  3  or  4  per  cent. 

A  clay,  when  all  the  water  of  crystallization  is  expelled,  will  not 
shrink  any  more  at  red  heat,  but  with  increased  heat  will  shrink  more 
and  more  up  to  the  moment  of  fusion.  A  pure  kaolin  apparently 
shrinks  when  heated  a  second  time,  even  if  the  water  is  all  expelled 
by  the  first  heat,  yet  it  is  practically  impossible  to  fuse  it.  But  a  good 
flint  clay  containing  some  sand  will  lose  all  shrinkage  on  being  once 
calcined  at  white  heat.  Such  clay  is  then  used  to  counteract  shrinkage 
in  a  body  of  green  clay,  as  this  effect  is  obtained  by  mixing  in  sand  or 
some  nonshrinking  body.  Many  clays  contain  sand  enough  naturally 
to  shrink  little  or  none  on  heating,  and  some  are  so  sandy  as  to 
actuall}T  expand,  though  usually  at  the  expense  of  soundness  of  struc- 
ture; for  the  particles  of  clay  will  shrink  away  from  the  grains  of 
sand  and  this  renders  the  structure  very  friable. 

The  qualifications  of  a  clay  for  common  pottery  and  building  mate- 
rial are  simple,  viz.,  plasticity  when  wet,  and  solidity  and  hardness 
when  burned,  but  those  products  involving  the  highest  qualities  of  clay, 
refractoriness,  require  much  sharper  tests. 

The  first  requisite  is  purity,  at  least  purity  within  limits,  and 
though  the  other  points,  density,  plasticity,  and  non-shrinkage  add 
greatly  to  the  value  of  a  pure  clay,  they  can  in  no  degree  supply  its 
place. 

Infusibility  in  clays  rests  in  the  aluminous  base  and  the  quartz. 

Long  and  intense  heat  applied  to  an  intimate  mixture  of  clay  and 
silica  is  apt  to  result  in  a  silicate  of  another  ratio  of  base  to  acid,  and 
which  is  likely  to  be  fusible.  But  the  great  trouble  with  free  silica  in 
clay,  in  a  fine  state  of  division,  is  the  fact  that  any  fluxing  agent  read- 
ily unites  with  it,  and  makes  a  fluid  slag;  and  in  a  refractory  body  the 
fusing  of  any  one  part  is  the  beginning  of  the  end. 

The  constituents  tending  to  make  a  clay  fusible  are  iron,  the  alkalies 
soda  and  potash,  and  lime  and  magnesia.  It  is  hard  to  state  which  is  of 
the  most  consequence.  Of  the  first  two,  iron  is  not  so  powerful  a  flux 
as  potash,  which  is  the  worst  of  all  the  common  elements;  but  the  iron 
is  present  in  larger  amounts  than  potash  in  most  clays,  and  consequently 
does  as  much  harm,  if  not  more. 

The  effect  of  the  iron  is  detrimental  to  the  appearance  of  clay  ware, 
and  consequently  has  a  direct  bearing  on  the  price  of  goods,  while 
potash  shows  no  more  on  the  surface  than  on  the  inside,  and  when 


342  KEPOET   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

present  in  the.  usual  small  amounts  it  produces  an  incipient  vitrifica- 
tion which  makes  the  ware  ring  like  a  bell  when  struck,  and  is  often  a 
help  in  selling. 

The  extent  to  which  iron  may  be  present  without  detriment  is  a 
point  on  which  authorities  do  not  agree.  The  Stourbridge  clay  of 
England,  acknowledged  to  be  the  most  refractory  clay  known,  has  2.25 
per  cent  of  iron  on  an  average  of  100  analyses,  with  extremes  of  1.43 
and  3.63.  Gros  Almerode  clay,  has  2.12,  Coblentz,  2.03,  New  Castle, 
2.32,  and  yet  all  these  clays  are  famous.  Test  mixtures  of  iron  and 
pure  kaolin  have  been  run  higher  than  this  and  have  stood  well,  but  as 
a  general  rule  it  is  unsafe  to  rely  for  fine  qualities  on  a  clay  with  over  2 
per  cent  of  iron,  particularly  if  the  other  impurities  are  developed  in 
any  amount.  It  is  a  well-known  principle  in  chemistry  that  mixtures 
of  bases  are  much  more  active  fluxes  than  an  equal  amount  of  any  one 
base;  so  with  iron,  its  effect  shows  worse  when  in  presence  of  other 
fluxing  agents. 

The  state  in  which  the  iron  is  present  makes  some  difference;  if  as 
the  sesquioxide,  it  takes  more  heat  than  when  in  the  protoxide  state 
to  combine  in  the  clay,  for  iron  will  only  combine  with  silica  in  the 
protoxide  state,  and  if  that  state  is  already  developed,  it  is  easier  to 
combine  the  sand  and  iron  than  if  in  the  other  oxide. 

Sulphide  of  iron  has  a  bad  effect  on  the  clay  since  its  decomposition 
gives  rise  to  the  lower  oxide  of  iron,  besides  the  effect  which  the  sul- 
phur may  have. 

Silicate  of  iron  is  also  detrimental,  since  it  melts  at  a  comparatively 
low  temperature.  On  a  piece  of  ware,  iron  in  the  uncombined  state 
imparts  a  buff  or  red  color;  when  combination  begins  and  progresses 
the  ware  is  of  a  bluish-gray  cast,  deepening  as  the  fusion  of  the  iron 
proceeds,  and  running  to  glassy  black  if  much  iron  is  present. 

Lime  and  magnesia  act  as  fluxes  on  clays,  but  in  any  but  the  glacial 
clays  the  comparatively  small  amounts  present  makes  them  but  little 
thought  of  as  detrimental.  They  are  probably  present  as  silicates, 
and  as  these  are  readily  fusible,  their  action  is  evidently  unfavorable. 
When  these  bases  are  present  as  carbonates  they  combine  at  a  higher 
temperature  than  iron  or  potash.  The  Milwaukee  bricks,  as  already 
noted,  are  full  of  carbonates  of  lime  and  magnesia,  and  require  a  very 
hot  burn,  but  when  once  the  lime  and  silica  combine  they  destroy  the 
effect  of  5  per  cent  of  iron,  enough  to  make  the  clay  perfectly  black. 
A  brick  of  this  kind  presents  an  even,  fine-grained,  vitrified  appear- 
ance on  its  fracture.1 

'They  (lime  and  magnesia)  have  also  the  remarkable  property  of  uniting  with  the 
iron  ingredient  to  form  a  light-colored  alumina-lime-magnesia-iron  silicate,  and  thus 
the  product  is  cream-colored  instead  of  red.  Mr.  Sweet  has  shown  by  analysis  that 
the  Milwaukee  light-colored  brick  contain  even  more  iron  than  the  Madison  red 
brick.  At  numerous  points  in  the  Lake  region  and  in  the  Fox  River  valley  cream- 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  343 

The  amount  of  potash  which  a  clay  can  contain  and  keep  its  fire 
properties  is  variously  put  by  different  authorities.  As  with  iron,  pure 
kaolin  will  stand  a  good  deal  when  no  other  base  is  present,  but  a  multi- 
plicity of  bases  makes  fusion  easy.  Titanic  acid  is  regarded  as  neutral 
to  fire  qualities;  the  form  in  which  it  is  present  being  infusible. 

Testing  clays. — The  statement  of  the  tendencies  and  comparative 
power  of  the  dangerous  impurities  of  clay  would  lead  us  to  believe  we 
could  use  predictions  as  to  their  result  in  a  given  clay  with  some  con- 
fidence, but  the  best  practice  does  not  yet  trust  to  analysis  alone. 

The  most  complete  test  of  a  clay  now  known  would  be  obtained  by 
use  of  such  analysis  as  has  been  described,  coupled  with  a  fire  test 
made  especially  to  develop  such  points  as  the  analysis  indicates  to  be 
weak  ones.  Fire  tests  are  of  two  kinds — one  is  subjecting  the  clay  to 
absolute  heat  without  the  action  of  any  accompaniments,  and  the  other 
is  in  putting  the  clay  through  the  course  of  treatment  for  which  it  is 
designed  to  be  used.  The  former  develops  the  absolute  quality  of  the 
clay  as  good  or  bad,  the  latter  proves  or  disproves  the  fitness  of  the 
clay  for  the  work.  The  latter  is  better  of  course  as  a  business  test 
wherever  it  is  practicable  to  use  it.  The  former  can  be  made  only  in 
a  specially  adapted  furnace.  The  clay  is  cut  into  one-inch  cubes  with 
square  edges,  and  is  set  in  a  covered  crucible  resting  on  a  lump  of  clay 
of  its  own  kind,  so  that  it  touches  no  foreign  object.  The  heat  is  then 
applied,  and  its  effect  will  vary  from  fusing  the  mass  to  a  button  to 
leaving  it  with  edges  sharp  and  not  even  glazed  on  the  surface.  Expe- 
rience soon  renders  one  proficient  in  judging  of  clays  by  this  test.1 

A  method  of  testing  the  fusibility  of  clays  by  comparing  them  with 
samples  of  known  composition  and  fusibility  has  of  late  years  come 
into  extensive  use.  These  prepared  samples,  known  from  their  inventor 
and  their  shape  as  Seger's  pyramids,  consist  of  mixtures  in  varying 
proportions  of  kaolin  and  certain  fluxes,  so  prepared  that  there  is  a 
constant  difference  between  their  fusing  points.  When  such  pyramids, 
together  with  the  samples  to  be  tested,  are  placed  in  a  furnace  or  kiln, 

colored  brick  are  made  from  red  clays.  In  nearly  or  quite  all  cases,  whatever  the 
original  color  of  the  clay,  the  brick  are  reddish  when  partially  burned.  The  expla- 
nation seems  to  be  that  at  a  comparatively  moderate  temperature  the  iron  constit- 
uent is  deprived  of  its  water  and  fully  oxidized,  and  is  therefore  red,  while  it  ia 
only  at  a  relatively  high  heat  that  the  union  with  the  lime  and  magnesia  takes  place, 
giving  rise  to  the  light  color.  The  calcareous  and  magnesian  clays  are,  therefore,  a 
valuable  substitute  for  true  aluminous  clays,  for  they  not  only  bind  the  mass  together 
more  firmly,  but  give  a  color  which  is  very  generally  admired.  They  have  also  this 
practical  advantage,  that  the  effects  of  inadequate  burning  are  made  evident  in  the 
imperfect  development  of  the  cream  color,  and  hence  a  more  carefully  burned  pro- 
duct is  usually  secured.  It  is  possible  to  make  a  light-colored  brick  from  a  clay 
which  usually  burns  red  by  adding  lime.  The  amount  of  lime  and  magnesia  in  the 
Milwaukee  brick  is  about  25  per  cent.  In  the  original  clays  in  the  form  of  carbo- 
nates they  make  up  about  40  per  cent.  Geology  of  Wisconsin,  I,  1873-79,  p.  669.) 
1  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio,  Economic  Geology,  V,  pp.  652-655. 


344  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,    1899. 

they  begin  to  soften  as  the  temperature  is  raised,  and  as  it  approaches 
their  fusion  point  the  cones  bend  over  until  the  tip  is  as  low  as  the 
base.  When  this  occurs  the  temperature  at  which  they  fuse  is  con- 
sidered to  be  reached.1 

Uses. — Clay  when  moistened  with  water  is  plastic  and  sufficiently 
firm  to  be  fashioned  into  any  form  desired.  It  can  be  shaped  by  the 
hands  alone;  by  the  hands  applied  to  the  clay  as  it  turns  with  the  pot- 
ter's wheel,  or  it  can  be  shaped  by  moulds,  presses  or  tools.  When 
shaped  and  dried,  and  then  burned  in  an  oven  or  kiln,  it  becomes  firm 
and  solid,  like  stone;  water  will  not  soften  it,  it  has  entirely  lost  its 
plastic  property,  and  is  permanently  fixed  in  its  new  forms,  and  for 
its  designed  uses.  These  singular  and  interesting  properties  are 
possessed  by  clay  alone,  and  it  is  to  these  it  owes  its  chief  uses.  It  is 
used  (1)  for  making  pottery;  (2)  for  making  refractory  materials;  (3) 
for  making  building  materials;  (4)  for  miscellaneous  purposes. 

Pottery. — Pure  clay  worked  into  shapes  and  burned,  constitutes 
earthenware.  The  ware  of  itself  is  porous,  and  will  allow  water  and 
soluble  substances  to  soak  through  it.  To  make  it  hold  liquids,  the 
shaped  clay  before  burning  is  covered  with  some  substance  that  in  the 
burning  of  the  ware  will  melt  and  form  a  glass  coating  or  glazing 
which  will  protect  the  ware  in  its  after  uses  from  absorbing  liquids, 
and  give  it  a  clean  smooth  surface.  The  color  of  the  ware  depends 
on  the  purity  of  the  clay.  Clays  containing  oxide  of  iron  burn  red,  the 
depth  of  color  depending  on  the  amount  of  the  oxide,  even  a  small 
fraction  of  1  per  cent  being  sufficient  to  give  the  clay  a  buff  color. 

Clay  containing  oxide  of  iron  in  sufficient  quantity  to  make  it  par- 
tially fusible  in  the  heat  required  to  burn  it,  when  made  into  forms 
and  burned,  is  called  stoneware  clay.  The  heat  is  carried  far  enough 
to  fuse  the  particles  together  so  that  the  ware  is  solid  and  will  not 
allow  water  to  soak  through  it;  and  the  fusion  has  not  been  carried  so 
far  as  to  alter  the  shapes  of  the  articles  burned.  The  oxide  of  iron 
by  the  fusion  has  been  combined  with  the  clay,  and  instead  of  its 
characteristic  red,  has  given  to  the  ware  a  bluish  or  grayish  color. 
Stoneware  may  be  glazed  like  earthenware,  or  by  putting  salt  in  the 
kiln,  when  its  vapor  comes  in  contact  with  the  heated  ware  and  makes 
with  it  a  sufficient  glaze. 

Clay  which  is  pure  white  in  color  and  entirely  free  from  oxide  of 
iron,  may  be  intimately  mixed  with  ground  feldspar  or  other  minerals 
which  contain  potash  enough  to  make  them  fusible,  and  the  mixture 
still  be  plastic  so  as  to  be  worked  into  forms  for  ware.  When  burned, 
such  a  composition  retains  its  pure  white  color,  while  it  undergoes 

'See  Dr.  Ries's  paper  on  North  Carolina  clays,  already  quoted,  and  also  his 
numerous  contributions  on  their  subject  in  the  volumes  of  the  United  States  Geolog- 
ical Survey  relating  to  mineral  statistics. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  345 

fusion  sufficient  to  make  a  body  that  will  not  absorb  water.  And  its 
surface  can  be  made  smooth  and  clean  by  a  suitable  plain  or  orna- 
mented glaze.  Ware  of  this  kind  is  porcelain  or  china. 

The  analyses  on  page  349,  compiled  from  works  believed  to  be  authori- 
tative, show  the  varying  character,  so  far  as  chemical  composition  is 
concerned,  of  the  clays.  In  most  of  the  analyses,  it  will  be  observed, 
the  silica  existing  in  the  form  of  quartz  is  given  in  a  separate  column 
from  the  combined,  while  in  column  4  is  given  the  actual  calculated 
percentage  of  kaolin  which  the  analyses  indicates  each  sample  contains. 

Refractory  materials. —Modern  improvements  in  metallurgy,  and  in 
furnaces  for  all  purposes,  are  dependent  to  a  great  degree  on  having 
materials  for  construction  which  will  stand  intense  heat  without 
fusing,  cracking,  or  yielding  in  any  way.  The  two  materials  to 
which  resort  is  had  in  almost  all  cases,  are  pure  clay,  and  quartz  in 
the  form  of  sand  or  rock.  They  are  both  infusible  at  the  highest 
furnace  heats.  The  clay,  however,  is  liable  to  have  in  it  small  quan- 
tities of  impurities  which  are  fusible,  and  it  shrinks  very  much  when 
heated  to  a  high  temperature.  Quartz  rocks  are  very  liable  to  crack 
to  pieces  if  heated  too  rapidly,  and  both  the  rocks  and  sand  are  rap- 
idly melted  when  in  contact  with  alkalies,  earths  or  metallic  oxides,  at 
a  high  temperature.  They  do  not  shrink  in  heating.  Sandstone,  or 
quartz  rock,  is  not  as  much  used  as  a  refractory  material  as  it  was 
formerly.  Bricks  to  resist  intense  heat  are  made  of  cla}T,  of  sand, 
and  of  a  mixture  of  clay  and  sand.  The  different  kinds  are  specially 
adapted  to  different  uses. 

Fire  bricks  made  of  clay,  or  clay  and  sand,  are  the  ones  which  have 
been  generally  made  in  the  United  States.  To  make  these,  the  clay 
which  stands  an  intense  heat  the  best,  is  selected  as  the  plastic  mate- 
rial of  the  brick.  This  is  tempered  so  that  it  may  not  shrink  too 
much  or  unevenly  in  burning,  by  adding  to  the  raw  clay  a  portion  of 
clay  which  has  been  burned  till  it  has  ceased  to  shrink  and  then 
ground,  or  a  portion  of  coarse  sand,  or  a  quantity  of  so-called  feld- 
spar. These  materials  are  added  in  the  proportions  which  the  experi- 
ence of  the  manufacturer  has  found  best.  The  formula  for  the 
mixture  is  the  special  property  of  each  manufacturer,  and  is  not 
made  public.  The  materials,  being  mixed  together  and  properly  wet, 
are  molded  in  the  same  way  as  common  bricks  arei,  and  after  they 
have  dried  a  little,  they  are  put  into  a  metallic  mould  and  subjected  to 
powerful  pressure.  They  are  then  taken  out,  dried,  and  burned  in  a 
kiln  at  an  intense  heat. 

It  does  not  appear  which  is  the  best  for  tempering,  burned  and 
ground  clay,  or  coarse  sand,  or  feldspar.  Reputable  manufacturers 
are  found  who  use  each  of  these  materials,  and  make  brick  that  stand 
fire  well.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  select  the  materials  care- 


346  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

fully,  and  to  allow  no  impurity  to  get  in  while  handling  the  clay  or 
working  the  components  together. 

Fire  bricks  intended,  in  addition  to  their  refractory  qualities,  to 
retain  their  size  and  form  under  intense  heat  without  shrinkage,  have 
been  made  to  some  extent.  The  English  Dinas  bricks  are  of  this 
kind,  and  the  German  and  French  "silica  bricks."  The  Dinas  bricks 
are  of  quartz  sand  or  crushed  rock,  and  contain  very  little  alumina 
and  about  one  per  cent  of  lime.  They  stand  fire  remarkably  well,  the 
lime  being  just  enough  to  make  the  grains  of  sand  stick  together 
when  the  bricks  are  intensely  heated.  In  the  other  "silica  bricks," 
lire  clay  to  the  amount  of  5  or  10  per  cent  is  mixed  with  the  sand,  and 
this  plastic  material  makes  the  particles  of  the  sand  cohere  sufficiently 
to  allow  of  handling  the  bricks  before  burning.  They  have  met  the 
expectation  of  those  who  made  them,  and  are  extensively  used.1 

Under  the  head  of  "Miscellaneous  uses  of  clay,"  p.  317,  Cook 
gives  the  following,  which  may  well  be  incorporated  entire: 

Paper  clay. — Clay  which  is  pure  white  and  that  also  which  is  discolored  and  has 
been  washed  to  bring  it  to  a  uniform  shade  of  color,  is  used  by  the  manufacturers 
of  paper  hangings,  to  give  the  smooth  satin  surface  to  the  finished  paper.  It  is  used 
by  mixing  it  up  with  a  thin  size,  applying  it  to  the  surface  of  the  pieces  of  paper,  and 
then  polishing  by  means  of  brushes  driven  by  machinery.  The  finest  and  most 
uniformly  colored  clays  only  are  applicable  to  this  use,  and  they  are  selected  with 
great  care.  Clay  is  also  used  to  some  extent  by  paper  manufacturers,  to  give  body 
and  weight  to  paper. 

Heavy  wrapping  paper,  such  as  is  used  by  the  United  States  Post- 
Office  Department,  must,  according  to  specifications,  contain  95  per 
cent  of  jute  butts  and  5  per  cent  of  clay.  The  cheaper  forms  of  con- 
fectionery, particularly  such  as  is  sold  from  carts  upon  the  streets,  is 
very  heavily  adulterated  with  this  material. 

Alum  clay.— A  large  quantity  of  clay  is  sold  every  year  to  the  manufacturers  of 
chemicals,  for  making  alum.  A  rich  clay  is  needed  for  this  purpose,  but  those  con- 
taining lignite  or  pyrite  which  renders  them  inapplicable  for  refractory  materials, 
do  not  spoil  them  for  this  use.  Alum  is  made  by  digesting  the  clay  in  sulphuric 
acid,  which  forms  sulphate  of  alumina,  then  dissolving  out  the  latter  salt  from  the 
silica  and  other  impurities,  and  forming  it  into  alum  by  the  addition  of  the  necessary 
salt  of  potash,  soda,  or  ammonia,  and  crystallizing  out  the  alum. 

The  white  clay  of  Gay  Head  and  Chilmark,  Marthas  Vineyard, 
Massachusetts,  was  at  one  time  used  extensively  for  alum  making, 
according  to  Edward  Hitchcock.2 

As  a  substitute  for  sand  in  making  mortar  and  concrete  clay  is  per- 
haps the  best  material  to  be  found.  For  this  purpose  the  clay  is  burnt 
so  that  it  is  produced  in  small  irregular  pieces  that  are  very  hard  and 
durable.  These  pieces  are  then  ground  to  a  fairly  fine  powder,  which 
is  used  to  mix  with  the  lime  or  cement  just  as  sand  would  be.  The 

Geological  Survey  of  New  Jersey,  Report  on  Clay  Deposits,  pp.  307-312. 
2  American  Journal  of  Science,  XXII,  1832,  p.  37. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS. 


347 


result  is  a  very  strong1  mortar,  in  some  cases  stronger  than  when  sand 
is  employed.1 

The  so-called  gumbo  clays,  sticky,  tough,  and  dark-colored  clays 
of  the  Chariton  River  region,  Missouri,  are  hard  burned  and  used  for 
railroad  ballast  and  macadam. 

Under  the  names  of  -Rock  Soap  and  Mineral  Soap  there  have  from 
time  to  time  been  described  varieties  of  clay  which,  owing  to  their 
soapy  feeling,  are  suggestive  of  soap,  and  which  in  a  few  instances 
have  been  actually  used  in  the  preparation  of  this  material. 

A  rock  soap  from  Ventura  County,  California,  has  been  described 
by  Prof.  G.  H.  Koenig  as  a  mixture  of  sandy  and  clayey  or  soapy 
material  in  the  proportion  of  45  per  cent  of  the  first  and  55  per  cent 
of  the  second.  The  chemical  composition  of  the  material  and  of  the 
two  portions  is  given  below: 


Constituents. 

Crude 
material. 

Sandy 
portion. 

Soapy 
portion. 

Silica 

67  55 

69  40 

73  10 

Alumina  and  iron  
Lime 

12.97 
0  77 

13.50 
0  30 

14.10 

Magnesia  
Potash 

0.85 
1  43 

Trace. 

Not  de- 
ter - 

Soda  
Water 

3.63 
13  67 

}        4.55 
12  25 

mined. 
6  70 

Nearly  all  the  silica  is  reported  as  being  in  a  soluble  or  opalescent 
state  and  the  alumina  as  either  a  hydrate  or  very  basic  silicate.  It  is 
said 2  that  at  one  time  the  material  was  made  into  a  variety  of  use- 
ful articles,  as  "salt  water  soap,"  scrubbing  and  toilet  soap,  tooth  pow- 
der, etc. 

A  somewhat  similar  material  from  Elk  County,  Nevada,  has  been 
used  for  like  purposes,  and  put  upon  the  market  under  the  name  of 
San-too-gah-choi  mineral  soap.  This  clay  is  of  a  drab  color,  with  a 
slight  pinkish  tint,  a  pronounced  soapy  feeling  and  slight  alkaline 
reaction  when  moistened  and  placed  upon  test  paper.  An  analysis  by 
Packard  in  the  laboratory  of  the  U.  S.  National  Museum  yielded: 

Silica 48.80 

Alumina 18.57 

Iron  oxides 3. 88 

Lime 1. 07 

Magnesia 2. 52 

Soda 2.32 

Potash 1.12 

Ignition 21.13 


Total. 


1  The  Worlds  Progress,  February,  1893. 

2  Sixth  Annual  Report  of  the  State  Mineralogist  of  California,  1886,  Pt.  1,  p.  132. 


348 


REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 


Mention  may  be  made  here  also  of  the  material  sold  in  the  shops 
under  the  name  of  Bon  Ami  and  used  for  cleansing  glass  and  other 
like  substances.  This  under  the  microscope  shows  abundant  minute 
sharply  angular  particles,  consisting  of  partially  decomposed  feldspar 
mixed  with  a  completely  amorphous  mineral  which  may  be  opalescent 
silica  or  possibly  a  very  finely  comminuted  pumice.  An  analysis  by 
Packard  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Department  yielded: 

Silica 59.86 

Alumina 18.  74 

Magnesia 0. 34 

Potash 10.  70 

Soda 3.51 

Ignition 7. 67 

Total 100.82 

Alcohol  extracts  7.43  per  cent,  and  water  0.2M  per  cent  in  addition, 
the  extract  having  a  soapy  appearance  and  the  odor  of  some  essential 
oil. 

A  soapy  clay  occurring  near  Rock  Creek  station,  in  Alban}r  County, 
Wyoming,  has  been  shipped  in  considerable  quantities  during  the  past 
few  years  to  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Chicago,  but  the  use  to 
which  it  was  put  remains  a  secret.  It  is  stated l  that  at  first  the  mate- 
rial was  sold  at  the  rate  of  $25  a  ton,  but  that  the  price  has  now 
dropped  to  $5  a  ton.  Analyses  are  given  as  below.  The  chief 
physical  characteristic  of  this  clay,  aside  from  its  soapy  feeling,  is  its 
enormous  absorptive  power,  the -absorption  being  attended  naturally 
with  an  increase  in  bulk  amounting  to  several  times  that  of  the  origi- 
nal mass.2  Plate  17,  fig.  11  shows  the  extreme  fineness  and  homoge- 
neity of  this  clay  as  seen  under  the  microscope. 


Constituents. 

I. 
Rock 
Creek. 

II. 

Crook 
County. 

HI. 
Weston 
County. 

rv. 

Natrona 
County. 

SiO2 

59  78 

61  08 

63  25 

65  24 

A12O3  

15  10 

17  12 

12  62 

15  88 

Fea03...  - 

2  40 

3  17 

3  70 

3  12 

MgO 

CaO  

0  73 

2  G9 

4  12 

j-         5.34 

Na^O  K2O 

(a)'  ' 

SO 

H.,O  

16  26 

Specific  gravity  

2  132 

a  No  estimate. 


Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXIII,  1897,  p.  600;  LXVI,  1898,  p.  491. 

2  A  small  plug  of  this  clay  fitted  to  accurately  occupy  a  space  of  20  cubic  centi- 
meters in  the  bottom  of  a  conical  measuring  flask,  and  kept  saturated  with  water  for 
two  days,  swelled  to  a  bulk  of  160  cubic  centimeters.  The  absorption  was  so  com- 
plete that  none  of  the  water  ran  off  when  the  flask  was  inverted,  and  the  condition 
of  the  clay  resembled  that  of  flour  or  starch  paste. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


349 


Authority. 

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clay). 

350 


EEPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


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Name  of  company  and  location. 

Potters'  clays  —  Continued. 
H.  Cutter  &  Sons,  Woodbridge, 
New  Jersey. 

Bine  Ball  clay,  Pennsylvania  
Pipe  clay. 

N.  U.  Walker,  Walker's  Station, 
Ohio  (sewer  pipe)  . 
Bolivar  clay,  Island  Siding,  Ohio 
(fit  for  pipe). 
W.  H.  Evans,  Waynesburg,  Ohio 

(drain  pipe). 
A.  O.  Jones,  Columbus,  Ohio  (drain 

tile). 
Whitmore,  Robinson  &  Co.,  Akron, 
Ohio  (kaolite  slip  clay). 

Fire  clay. 
C.  E.  Holden,  Mineral  Point,  Ohio. 

Scioto  Fire  Brick  Co.,  Sciotoville, 
Ohio. 

Do  

Wassail  Fire  Clay  Co.,  Columbus, 
Ohio. 

THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEEALS. 


351 


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Island  Fire  Clay  Co.,  nea 
benville,  Ohio. 
Ballou  clay,  Zanesville,  Oh 
Etna  Fire  Brick  Co.,  Oakhi 
B.  Ellison,  south-southw 

Bonhamtown,  New  Jerse 
Brick  clay 
Milwaukee  brick  clay,  Wia< 

Mount  Savage,  Maryland.. 
Newcastle,  England  

Sayre  &  Fisher,  front  brie 
Sayreville,  New  Jersey. 

352  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

The  bibliography  of  clays  is  very  extensive,  and  but  a  few  references 
are  given  here.  The  reader  is  referred  particularly  to  Branner's  Bibli- 
ography of  Clays  and  the  Ceramic  Arts,1  and  to  the  papers  of  Dr.  H.  Ries 
in  the  reports  on  the  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  published 
annually  by  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 
S.  W.  JOHNSON,  JOHN  M.  BLAKE.  On  Kaolinite  and  Pholerite. 

American  Journal  of  Science,  XLIII,  1867,  p.  351. 

J.  C.  SMOCK.  The  Fire  Clays  and  associated  Plastic  Clays,  Kaolins,  Feldspars,  and 
Fire  Sands  of  New  Jersey. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  VI,  1877,  p.  177. 
GEORGE  H.  COOK.  Report  on  the  Clay  Deposits  of  Woodbridge,  South  Amboy,  and 
other  places  in  New  Jersey. 

Geological  Survey  of  New  Jersey,  1878. 
RICHARD  C.  HILLS.  Kaolinite,  from  Red  Mountain,  Colorado. 

American  Journal  of  Science,  XXVII,  1884,  p.  472.     See  also  Bulletin  No.  20, 
U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1885,  p.  97. 

J.  P.  LESLEY.  Some  general  considerations  respecting  the  origin  and  distribution  of 
the  Delaware  and  Chester  kaolin  deposits. 

Annual  Report  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania,  1885,  p.  571. 
J.  H.  COLLINS.  On  the  Nature  and  Origin  of  Clays:  The  Composition  of  Kaolinite. 

Mineralogical  Magazine,  VII,  December,  1887,  p.  205. 

J.  FRANCIS  WILLIAMS,  R.  N.  BRACKET.  Newtonite  and  Rectorite — two  new  minerals 
of  the  Kaolinite  Group. 

American  Journal  of  Science,  XLII,  1892,  p.  11. 
EDWARD  ORTON.  The  Clays  of  Ohio,  Their  Origin,  Composition',  and  Varieties. 

Report  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio,  VII,  1893,  pp.  45-68. 
EDWARD  ORTON,  jr.  The  Clay  Working  Industries  of  Ohio. 

Report  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio,  VII,  1893,  pp.  69-254. 
H.  0.  HOFMAN,  C.  D.  DEMOND.  Some  Experiments  for  Determining  the  Refractori- 
ness of  Fire  Clays. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXIV,  1894,  p.  42. 
W.  MAYNARD  HUTCHINGS.  Notes  on  the  Composition  of  Clays,  Slates,  etc.,  and  on 
some  Points  in  their  Contact-Metamorphism. 
The  Geological  Magazine,  I,  1894,  p.  36. 

H.  JOCHUM.  The  Relation  between  Composition  and  Refractory  Characters  in  Fire 
Clays. 

Minutes  of  Proceedings  of  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers,  CXX,  1894-95, 
p.  431. 
J.  A.  HOLMES.  Notes  on  the  Kaolin  and  Clay  Deposits  of  North  Carolina. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXV,  1895,  p.  929. 
HEINRICH  RIES.  Clay  Industries  of  New  York. 

Bulletin  No.  12  of  the  New  York  State  Museum,  III,  March,  1895,  pp.  100-262. 
JOHN  CASPER  BRANNER.  Bibliography  of  Clays  and  the  Ceramic  Arts. 

Bulletin  No.  143,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1896. 

W.  S.  BLATCHLEY.  A  Preliminary  Report  on  the  Clays  and  Clay  Industries  of  the 
Coal  and  Coal-Bearing  Counties  of  Indiana. 

The  School  of  Mines  Quarterly,  XVIII,  1896,  p.  65. 
W.  MAYNARD  HUTCHINGS.  Clays,  Shales,  and  Slates. 

The  Geological  Magazine,  III,  1896,  p.  309. 
CHAS.  F.  MABERY,  OTIS  T.  FLOOZ.  Composition  of  American  Kaolins. 

Journal  of  the  American  Chemical  Society,  XVIII,  1896,  p.  909. 

1  Bulletin  No.  143,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1896. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


353 


('HAS.  F.  MABERY,  OTIS  T.FLOOZ.  Clay,  Bricks,  Pottery,  etc. 

Thirteenth  Report  of  the  California  State  Mineralogist,  1896,  p.  612. 
THOMAS  C.  HOPKINS.  Clays  and  Clay  Industries  of  Pennsylvania. 

Appendix  to  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College  for  1897. 
J.  NELSON  NEVIUS.  Kaolin  in  Vermont. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXIV,  1897,  p.  189. 
HEINRICH  RIES.  The  Clays  and  Clay- Working  Industry  of  Colorado. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXVII,  1897, 
p.  336. 
H.  A.  WHEELER.  Clay  Deposits. 

Missouri  Geological  Survey,  XI. 
W.  W.  CLENDENNIN.  Clays  of  Louisiana. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXVI,  1898,  p.  456. 
M.  H.  CRUMP.  The  Clays  and  Building  Stones  of  Kentucky. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXVI,  1898,  p.  190. 
W.  C.  KNIGHT.  Bentonite.     [A  New  Clay.] 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXVI,  1898,  p.  491. 

The  Building  Stones  and  Clays  of  Wyoming. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXVI,  1898,  p.  546. 
HEINRICH  RIES.  Physical  Tests  of  New  York  Shales. 
School  of  Mines  Quarterly,  XIX,  1898,  p.  192. 

The  Ultimate  and  the  Rational  Analysis  of  Clays  and  Their  Relative  Advantages. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXVIII,  1898, 
p.  160. 

EUGENE  A.  SMITH.  The  Clay  Resources  of  Alabama  and  the  Industries  Dependent 
upon  Them. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXVI,  1898,  p.  369. 
J.  E.  TODD.  The  Clay  and  Stone  Resources  of  South  Dakota. 
Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXVI,  1898,  p.  371. 

VII.  NIOBATES  AND  TANTALATES. 

1.    COLUMBITE    AND   TANTALITE. 

These  are  columbates  and  tantalates  of  iron  and  manganese,  colum- 
bite  representing  the  nearly  pure  colurabate  and  tan  tali  te  the  nearly 
pure  tantalate.  Both  are  likely  to  carry  varying  quantities  of  iron 
and  manganese.  The  analyses  given  below  will  serve  to  show  the 
varying  composition,  No.  I  being  coluinbite  from  Greenland,  No.  II 
from  Haddam,  Connecticut,  and  Nos.  Ill  and  IV  from  the  Black  Hills 
of  South  Dakota: 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

Coliimhiiim  ppntnxirtp 

77.97 

51.53 

54.09 

29.78 

Tantalium  pentoxide  

17  33 

28.55 
13  54 

18.20 
11  21 

53.  28 
G  11 

Manganese  protoxide  

3.28 

4.55 

7.07 

10.  40 

With  traces  of  tin,  wolfram,  lime,  magnesia,  etc. 

The  mineral  is  of  an  iron  black,  grayish  or  brownish  color,  opaque, 
often  with  a  bluish  iridescence,  dark  red  to  black  streak,  specific 
gravity  varying  from  5.3  to  7.3  and  hardness  of  6.    Insoluble  in  acids. 
NAT  MUS  99 23 


354 


REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


Occurrence. — The  mineral  occurs  in  granitic  and  feldspathic  veins 
in  the  form  of  crystals,  crystalline  granules,  and  cleavable  masses.  In 
the  United  States  it  has  been  found  in  greater  or  less  abundance  in 
nearly  all  the  States  bordering  along  the  Appalachian  Mountain  sys- 
tem (Specimen  No.  63478,  from  Portland,  Connecticut),  in  the  Black 
Hills  of  South  Dakota,  and  also  in  California  and  Colorado.  It  has 
also  been  found  in  Italy,  Bavaria,  Finland,  Greenland,  and  western 
South  America. 

Uses. — The  material  is  used  only  in  the  preparation  of  salts  of 
columbium  and  tantalium,  and  as  but  a  small  quantity  of  these  salts 
are  used,  the  mineral  is  in  but  little  demand,  except  as  mineralogical 
specimens. 

2.  YTTROTANTALITE. 

This  name  is  given  to  a  mineral  closely  related  to  samarskite  (see 
below),  but  carrying  smaller  percentages  of  uranium  and  lacking  in 
didymium  and  lanthanum.  It  is  essentially  a  tantalate  of  yttrium 
with  small  amounts  of  other  of  the  rarer  earths.  (Specimen  No.  60926, 
U.S.N.M.)  In  appearance  it  is  distinguished  from  samarskite  only 
with  difficulty.  Pyrochlore,  fergusonite,  aeschynite,  euxenite,  etc., 
are  closely  related  compounds,  the  commercial  uses  of  which  have  not 
yet  been  demonstrated. 

3.  SAMARSKITE. 

Composition  as  given  below.  When  crystallized,  in  the  form  of 
rectangular  prisms,  but  occurring  more  commonly  massive  and  in 
flattened  granules.  Cleavage,  imperfect;  fracture  conchoidal;  brittle. 
Hardness,  5  to  6;  specific  gravity,  5.6  to  5.8.  Luster,  vitreous  to 
resinous.  Color,  velvet  black.  (Specimen  No.  62772,  U.S.N.M.) 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

Columbic  oxide  -                           -i 

{37  20 
61.  M 

Tantalic  oxide  / 

54.81 

54.96 

55.13 

18  60 

Tungstic  and  stannic  oxides 

0  le 

0  31 

0  08 

Uranic  oxide.. 

17  03 

Ferrous  oxide  

14  07 

14  02 

11  74 

10  90 

Manganous  oxide  .  . 

Cerous  oxide,  etc  

3  95 

5  17 

4  24 

4  25 

Yttria  

11  11 

14  45 

Magnesia  

Lime  

0  52 

0  55 

Loss  by  ignition  

Insoluble  

1  25 

101.21 

100.40 

99.12 

100.36 

Localities  and  mode  of  occurrence. — The  only  localities  of  importance 
in  the  United  States  are  the  Wiseman  Mica  Mine  and  Grassy  Creek 
Mine,  in  Mitchell  (Specimen  No.  62772,  U.S.N.M.)  and  in  McDowell 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


355 


counties,  North  Carolina.  The  mineral  has  also  been  found  in  the  form 
of  black  grains  and  pebbles,  sometimes  weighing  one-fourth  of  an  ounce, 
in  the  gold-bearing  sands  of  Rutherford  County.  At  the  Wiseman  Mine 
large  masses,  one  weighing  upwards  of  20  pounds,  were  found  some 
years  ago.  The  analyses  quoted  above  were  made  from  material  from 
this  mine.1 

Uses. — See  under  Monazite,  p.  383. 

4.    WOLFKAMITE   AND   HtJ3NEKITE. 

Composition,  a  tungstate  of  manganese,  and  iron.  The  proportion  of 
the  iron  and  manganese  are  quite  variable,  the  tungsten  remaining 
nearly  constant.  The  name  hiibnerite  is  given  to  the  variety  contain- 
ing very  little  iron,  but  consisting  essentially  of  tungsten  and  man- 
ganese. The  following  table  shows  the  range  in  composition: 


Locality. 

WO3. 

FeO. 

MnO. 

CaO. 

MgO. 

Wolframite: 

Adun-Chalon  

75.55 

21.31 

2.37 

0.26 

0.51 

Monroe,  Connecticut  

75.47 

9.53 

14.26 

Hiibnerite: 

Bonita,  New  Mexico  

76.33 

3.82 

19.72 

0.13 

Trace. 

Nye  County,  Nevada  

74.88 

0.5C 

23.87 

0.14 

0.08 

Wolframite  is  dark  reddish  brown  to  black  in  color,  with  a  resinous 
luster;  has  a  hardness  of  about  5,  a  specific  gravity  of  7.55,  and  a  pro- 
nounced tendency  to  cleave  with  flat,  even  surfaces.  Its  great  weight, 
color,  and  cleavage  tendencies  are  strongly  marked  characteristics,  and 
the  mineral  once  identified  is  as  a  rule  easily  recognized. 

Occurrence. — The  mineral  is  found  in  veins  associated  with  tin  ore 
(cassiterite),  and  also  with  quartz,  pyrite,  galena,  sphalerite,  etc.  The 
chief  known  localities  in  the  United  States  are  Monroe  and  Trumbull, 
Connecticut;  Blue  Hill  Bay,  Maine;  Rockbridge  County,  Virginia 
(Specimen  No.  65206,  U.S.N.M.);  the  Mammoth  district,  Nye  and 
Lander  counties,  Nevada  (Specimens  Nos.  15755, 5653,  U.S.  N.M.);  Black 
Hills,  S.  Dakota  (Hubnerite)  (Specimen  No.  53461,  U.S.N.M.);  Bonita 
and  White  Oaks,  Lincoln  County,  New  Mexico;  Falls  County,  Texas 
(Specimen  No.  62766,  U.S.N.M.);  Russellville,  Arizona  (Specimen  No. 
53223, U.  S.  N.  M.).  The  foreign  localities  are  the  tin  regions  of  Bohemia, 
Saxony  (Specimen  No.  67752,  U.S.N.M.),  and  Cornwall  and  Devon- 
shire (Specimens  Nos.  67460,  67753,  67787,  and  67788,  U.S.N.M.), 
England;  also  Australia  (Specimens  Nos.  60978,  60967,  U.S.N.M.)and 
Bolivia  and  Peru,  South  America.  For  uses,  see  under  Scheelite, 
p.  356. 

^ee  the  Minerals  of  North  Carolina,  Bulletin  74,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1891. 


356  KEPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

5.    SCHEELITE. 

This  is  calcium  tungstate,  consisting  when  pure  of  some  80.6  per 
cent  tungsten  trioxide  (WO,)  and  19.4  per  cent  lime;  usually,  however, 
carrying  from  1  to  8  per  cent  of  molybdic  oxide  (MoO3).  The  min- 
eral is  white  and  translucent,  and  yellow  and  brownish  in  color,  with 
a  hardness  of  4.5-5,  gravity  6,  and  a  tendency  to  cleave  into  octa- 
hedral forms.  The  occurrence  is  similar  to  that  of  wolframite,  but 
the  mineral  is  less  common. 

Uses. The  tungstates  have  been  used  mainly  in  the  manufacture  of 

tungstic  acid,  but  the  metal  tungsten  is  coming  into  use  as  an  alloy 
in  making  steel.  Recently  attempts  have  been  made  in  France  to 
utilize  the  material  in  porcelain  glazes,  but  thus  far  without  much 
success.  There  is  at  present  no  regular  source  of  supply  in  America. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

J.  PHILLP.    Tungsten  Bronzes. 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  I,  1882,  p.  152. 
The  Use  of  Wolfram  or  Tungsten. 

Iron  Age,  XXXIX,  1887,  p.  33. 
T.  A,  RICKARD.     Tungsten. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LIII,  1892,  p.  448. 
—  Wolfram  Ore. 

Iron  Age,  XL,  1892,  p.  229. 
ADOLF  GURLT.    On  a  Remarkable  Deposit  of    Wolfram  Ore  in  the  United  States. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XXII,  1893,  p.  236. 
See  also  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVI,  1893,  p.  216. 
F.  CREMER.    The  Place  of  Tungsten  in  the  Industries. 

Iron  Age,  LVI,  1895,  p.  536. 
HENRI  MOISSAN.     Researches  on  Tungsten. 

Minutes  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers,  CXXVI, 
1895-96,  p.  481. 
R.  HELMHACKER.     Wolfram  Ore. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXII,  1896,  p.  153. 
Prof.  BODENBENDER.     Wolfram  in  the  Sierra  de  Cordoba,  Argentine  Republic. 

Transactions  of  the  North  of  England  Institute  of  Mining  and  Mechanical 
Engineers,  XLV,  Pt.  3,  March,  1896,  p.  59. 

VIII.  PHOSPHATES. 
1.  APATITE;  ROCK  PHOSPHATE;  GUANO;  ETC. 

Phosphorus  is  one  of  the  most  widespread  of  the  elements,  and  is 
apparently  indispensable  to  both  animal  and  vegetable  life.  In  nature 
it  occurs  in  various  compounds,  by  far  the  more  common  being  the 
phosphates  of  calcium  and  aluminum,  such  as  are  commercially  used 
as  fertilizers.  These  in  various  conditions  of  impurity  occur  under 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  357 

several  forms,  some  distinct  and  well  defined,  others  illy  defined  and 
passing  by  insensible  gradations  into  one  another,  but  all  classed  under 
the  general  term  of  phosphates.  Their  origin  and  general  physical 
properties  are  quite  variable,  and  any  attempt  at  classifying  must  be 
more  or  less  arbitrary.  For  our  present  purposes  it  is  sufficient  that 
we  treat  them  under  the  heads  of  mineral  phosphates  and  rock  phos- 
phates, as  has  been  done  by  Dr.  Penrose.1  These  two  classes  are  then 
subdivided  as  below: 

(A     t't  -I  ^uor  aPatites, 

(I)  Mineral  phosphates2 ..  -I  _P  (  Chlor  apatites. 

I 1  nospnonte. 

Amorphous  nodular  phosphates   loose 
or  cemented  into  conglomerates. 

Phosphatic  limestones. 

(II)  Rock  phosphates •  ,  0  ,  , , 

1  Guanos..        J  Soluble  guanos. 
(  Leached  guanos. 
Bone  beds. 

APATITE. — Under  the  name  of  apatite  is  included  a  mineral  composed 
essentially  of  phosphate  of  lime,  though  nearly  always  carrying  small 
amounts  of  fluorine  or  chlorine,  thereby  giving  rise  to  the  varieties 
fluar-a,patite  and  chlor-apatite.  The  mineral  crystallizes  in  the  hex- 
agonal system,  forming  well-defined  six-sided  elongated  prisms  of  a 
green,  yellow,  rose,  or  reddish  color,  or  sometimes  quite  colorless. 
(Specimens,  Nos.  62128,  62129,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Renfrew,  Canada.) 
It  also  occurs  as  a  cnTstalline  granular  rock  mass.  (Specimens, 
Nos.  62137,  62148,  65111^  U.S.N.M.)  The  hardness  is  4.5  to  5;  specific 
gravity,  3.23;  luster,  vitreous.  Apatite  in  the  form  of  minute  crystals 
is  an  almost  universal  constituent  of  eruptive  rocks  of  all  kinds  and 
all  ages.  It  is  also  found  in  sedimentary  and  metamorphic  rocks  as 
a  constituent  of  veins  of  various  kinds,  and  is  a  common  accompani- 
ment of  beds  of  magnetic  iron  ore.  It  is  only  when  occurring  segre- 
gated in  veins  and  pockets,  either  in  distinct  crystals  or  as  massive 

1  Bulletin  No.  46  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

2Fuchs  (Notes  Sur  la  Constitution  des  Gites  Phosphate  de  Chaux)  divides  the 
natural  phosphates  into  three  classes.  In  the  first  the  phosphatic  material  is  concen- 
trated in  sedimentary  beds;  in  the  second  it  is  disseminated  throughout  eruptive 
rocks,  and  in  the  third  it  constitutes  entirely  or  partially  the  material  filling  veins 
and  pockets.  That  found  in  sedimentary  beds  occurs  in  rounded  and  concretionary 
masses  called  nodules.  In  eruptive  and  metamorphic  rocks  the  phosphate  occurs  in 
the  crystalline  form  of  apatite,  sometimes  isolated  or  grouped  in  aggregates.  In 
veins  the  phosphate  occurs  massive  and  in  pockets,  crystalline,  but  not  in  distinct 
crystals;  rather  as  globular  and  radiating  masses.  To  such  the  name  phosphorite  is 
given.  The  three  varieties  show  a  like  variation  in  solubility,  the  amorphous  phos- 
phates being  soluble  in  citrate  or  oxalate  of  ammonia  to  the  extent  of  30  to  50  per 
cent;  the  phosphorites  to  the  extent  of  only  15  to  30  per  cent,  and  the  apatite 
scarcely  at  all.  The  amorphous  phosphates  alone  have  proven  of  value  for  direct 
application  to  soils,  the  other  varieties  needing  previous  treatment  to  render  them 
soluble. 


358 


REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


crystalline  aggregates,  as  in  Canada  and  Norway,  that  the  material 
has  any  great  economic  value.  The  average  composition  of  the  apa- 
tites, as  given  in  the  latest  edition  of  Dana's  Mineralogy,  is  as  follows: 


Variety. 

P205 

CaO 

F. 

Cl. 

atite 

41.0 

53.8 

6.8 

or  Ca3P2O8  89.4  +  CaCl,  10.  6. 

ft 

42.3 

55.5 

3.8 

orCa3P20892.25  +  CaF27.75. 

The  name  phosphorite  covers  a  material  of  the  same  composition  as 
apatite,  but  occurring  in  massive  concretionary  and  mammilary  forms. 
(Specimens  No.  37147,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Spain  and  66741,  U.S.N.M., 
from  Florida).  The  name  was  first  used  by  Kir  wan  in  describing  the 
phosphates  of  Estremadura,  Spain,  which  occur  in  veins  and  pockety 
masses  in  Silurian  schists,  as  noted  later. 

ROCK  PHOSPHATE. — The  general  name  of  rock  phosphate  is  given  to 
deposits  having  no  definite  composition  but  consisting  of  amorphous 
mixtures  of  phosphatic  and  other  mineral  matter  in  indefinite  propor- 
tions. Here  would  be  included  the  amorphous  nodular  phosphates 
like  those  of  our  Southern  Atlantic  States  (Specimens  Nos.  34322, 
44244,  66737,  U.S.N.M.),  phosphatic  limestones  and  marls  (Specimens 
Nos.  62718,  U.S.N.M.,  Africa,  and  62723  Utah),  guano  (Speci- 
men No.  69281,  TJ.S.N.M.),  and  bone  bed  deposits  (Specimens  Nos. 
66581,  67332,  U.S.N.M.).  These  are  so  variable  in  character  that  no 
satisfactory  description  of  them  as  a  whole  can  be  given.  The  name 
coprolite  is  given,  to  a  nodular  phosphate  such  as  occurs  among  the 
Carboniferous  beds  of  the  Firth  of  Forth  in  Scotland,  and  which  is 
regarded  as  the  fossilized  excrement  of  vertebrate  animals.  (Specimen 
No.  62731,  U.S.N.M.)  Phosphatic  limestones  and  marl,  as  the  names 
denote,  are  simply  ordinary  limestones  and  marls  containing  an  appre- 
ciable amount  of  lime  in  the  form  of  phosphate.  Such  are  rarely  suf- 
ficiently rich  to  be  of  value  except  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  owing  to 
cost  of  transportation.  Guano  is  the  name  given  to  the  accumulations 
of  sea-fowl  excretions,  such  as  occur  in  quantities  only  in  rainless 
regions,  as  the  western  coast  of  South  America.  The  most  noted 
deposits  are  on  small  islands  off  the  coast  of  Peru.  The  material  is  of  a 
white-gray  and  yellowish  color,  friable,  and  contains  some  20  or  more 
per  cent  of  phosphate  of  lime,  10  to  12  per  cent  of  organic  matter,  30 
per  cent  ammonia  salts,  and  20  per  cent  of  water.  Through  prolonged 
exposure  to  the  leaching  action  of  meteoric  waters,  like  deposits  in  the 
West  India  Islands  have  lost  all  their  ammonia  salts  and  other  soluble 
constituents  and  become  converted  into  insoluble  phosphates,  or 
leached  guanos  like  those  of  the  Navassa  Islands.  (Specimen  No.  73243, 
U.S.N.M.,  to  be  noted  later;  and  also  specimens  from  the  Grand  Con- 
netables,  French  Guiana,  Nos.  73069  to  73075,  U.S.N.M.,  and  Redonda 
Nos.  53147  to  53152,  U.S.N.M.) 

Origin  and  occurrence.  —The  origin  of  the  various  forms  of  phos- 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  359 

phatic  deposits  has  been  a  subiect  of  much  speculation.  Their  occur- 
rence under  diverse  conditions  renders  it  certain  that  not  all  can  be 
traced  to  a  common  source,  but  are  the  result  of  different  agencies 
acting  under  the  same  or  different  conditions.  By  many,  all  forms  are 
regarded  as  being  phosphatic  materials  from  animal  life,  and  owing 
their  present  diversity  of  form  to  the  varying  conditions  to  which 
they  were  at  the  time  of  formation  or  have  since  been  subjected. 
This,  however,  as  long  since  pointed  out,  is  an  uncalled-for  hypothesis, 
since  phosphatic  matter  must  have  existed  prior  to  the  introduction 
of  animal  life,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  it  may  not,  under  proper 
conditions,  have  been  brought  into  combination  as  phosphate  of  lime 
without  the  intervention  of  life  in  any  of  its  forms.  The  almost 
universal  presence  of  apatite  in  small  and  widely  disseminated  forms 
in  eruptive  rocks  of  all  kinds  and  all  ages  would  seem  to  declare  its 
independence  of  animal  origin  as  completely  as  the  pyroxenic,  feld- 
spathic,  or  quartzose  constituents  with  which  it  is  there  associated. 
The  occurrence  of  certain  of  the  Canadian  apatites  as  noted  later, 
in  veins  and  pockets,  sometimes  with  a  banded  or  concretionary 
structure  and  blending  gradually  into  the  country  rock,  is  regarded 
by  some  as  strongly  suggestive  of  an  origin  by  deposition  from  solu- 
tion, that  is,  by  a  process  of  segregation  of  phosphates  from  the 
surrounding  rock  contemporaneously  with  their  metamorphism  and 
crystallization. 

Dr.  Ells,  of  the  Canadian  survey,  would  regard  those  occurring  in 
close  juxtaposition  with  eruptive  pyroxenites  as  due  to  combination 
of  the  phosphoric  acid  brought  up  in  vapors  along  the  line  of  contact 
with  the  calcareous  materials  in  the  already  softened  gneisses.  This 
explanation  as  well  as  others  will  perhaps  be  better  understood  in  the 
part  of  this  work  relating  to  localities.  On  the  other  hand,  the  pres- 
ence of  apatite  in  crystalline  form  associated  with  beds  of  iron  ore, 
as  in  northern  New  York,  has  been  regarded  by  Prof.  W.  P.  Blake 
and  others  as  indicative  of  an  organic  and  sedimentary  origin  for  both 
minerals.  The  Norwegian  apatite  from  its  association  with  an  erup- 
tive rock  (gabbro)  has  been  regarded  as  itself  of  eruptive  origin. 

The  phosphorites,  like  the  apatites,  occur  in  commercial  quantities 
mainly  among  the  older  rocks,  and  in  pockets  and  veins  so  situated  as 
to  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  they  are  secondary  products  derived  by 
a  process  of  segregation  from  the  inclosing  material.  Davies  regards 
the  Bordeaux  phosphorites  occurring  in  the  Jurassic  limestones  of 
southern  France  as  the  result  of  phosphatic  matter  deposited  on  the 
rocky  floor  of  an  Eocene  ocean,  from  water  largely  impregnated  with 
it.  Others  have  considered  them  as  geyserine  ejections,  or  due  to  infil- 
tration of  water  charged  with  phosphatic  matter  derived  from  the  bones 
in  the  overlying  clays.  Stanier,  on  the  other  hand,  regards  the  phos- 
phorites of  Portugal  as  due  to  segregation  of  phosphatic  matter  from 
the  surrounding  granite,  the  solvent  being  meteoric  waters.  These 


360  EEPOKT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

deposits  are  regarded  as  superficial  and  limited  to  those  portions  of  the 
I'ock  affected  by  surface  waters. 

The  origin  of  the  amorphous,  nodular,  and  massive  rock  phosphates 
can,  as  a  rule,  be  traced  more  directly  to  organic  agencies.  All  things 
considered,  it  seems  most  probable  that  the  phosphatic  matter  itself 
was  contained  in  the  numerous  animal  remains,  which,  in  the  shape  of 
phosphatic  limestones,  marls,  and  guanos,  have  accumulated  under 
favorable  conditions  to  form  deposits  of  very  considerable  thickness. 
Throughout  these  beds  the  phosphatic  matter  would,  in  most  cases,  be 
disseminated  in  amounts  too  sparing  to  be  of  economic  value,  but  it 
has  since  their  deposition  been  concentrated  by  a  leaching  out  by  per- 
colating waters  of  the  more  soluble  carbonate  of  lime.  Thus  H.  Losne, 
in  writing  of  the  nodular  phosphates  occurring  in  pockety  masses  in 
clay  near  Doullens  (France),  argues  that  the  nodules  as  well  as  the  clay 
itself  are  due  to  the  decalcification  of  preexisting  chalk  by  percolating 
meteoric  waters. 

In  this  connection  it  is  instructive  to  note  that  phosphatic  nodules, 
in  size  rarely  exceeding  4  to  6  cm. ,  were  dredged  up  during  the  Chal- 
lenge?' expedition  from  depths  of  from  98  to  1,900  fathoms  on  the 
Agualhas  Banks,  south  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  These  are  rounded 
and  very  irregular  capricious  forms,  sometimes  angular  and  have 
exteriorly  a  glazed  appearance,  due  to  a  thin  coating  of  oxides  of  iron 
and  manganese.  The  nodules  yield  from  19.96  to  23.54  per  cent  P2O5. 
In  those  from  deep  water  there  are  found  an  abundance  of  calcareous 
organic  remains,  especially  of  rhizopods.  The  phosphate  penetrates 
the  shell  in  every  part,  and  replaces  the  original  carbonate  of  lime. 

The  nodules  are  most  abundant  apparently  where  there  are  great 
and  rapid  changes  of  temperature  due  to  alternating  warm  and  cold 
oceanic  currents,  as  off  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  eastern  coast  of 
North  America.  Under  such  conditions,  together  with  perhaps  altered 
degrees  of  salinity,  marine  organisms  would  be  killed  in  great  num- 
bers, and  by  the  accumulation  of  their  remains  would,  it  is  believed, 
furnish  the  necessary  phosphatic  matter  for  these  nodules.  It  seems 
probable  that  the  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  deposits  in  various  parts  of 
the  world  may  have  formed  under  similar  conditions. 

Hughes  has  described  *  phosphatic  coralline  limestones  on  the  islands 
of  Barbuda  and  Aruba  (West  Indies),  as  having  undoubtedly  originated 
through  a  replacement  of  their  original  carbonic  by  phosphoric  acid, 
the  latter  acid  being  derived  from  the  overlying  guano.  The  phos- 
phatic guano  has,  however,  now  completely  disappeared  through  the 
leaching  and  erosive  action  of  water,  leaving  the  coral  rock  itself  con- 
taining 70  to  80  per  cent  phosphate  of  lime. 

Hayes2  regards  the  Tennessee  black  phosphates  (Specimens  Nos. 

Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society  of  London,  XLI,  1885,  p.  80. 
"Sixteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  TJ.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1894-95,  Pt.  4,  p.  (520; 
Seventeenth  Annual  Report  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1895-96,  Pt.  2,  p.  22. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEEALS. 


361 


62574  and  62781,  U.S.N.M.)  as  due  to  the  slow  accumulation  on  sea  bot- 
toms of  phosphatic  organisms  (Lingulse),  from  which  the  carbonate  of 
lime  was  gradually  removed  by  the  leaching  action  of  carbonated  waters, 
leaving  the  less  soluble  phosphate  behind.  The  white  bedded  phosphates 
of  Perry  County  (Specimen  No.  52060,  U.S.N.M.),  in  the  same  State,  are 
regarded  as  a  product  of  secondary  replacement — that  is,  as  due  to  phos- 
phate of  lime  in  solution,  replacing  the  carbonate  of  lime  of  preexisting 
limestones,  as  in  the  case  noted  above.  The  source  of  the  phosphoric 
acid,  whether  from  the  overlying  Carboniferous  limestones  or  from  the 
older  Devonian  and  Silurian  rocks,  is  not,  however,  in  this  case  apparent. 
Teall  has  shown1  that  some  phosphatic  rocks  from  Clipperton  Atoll, 
in  the  northern  Pacific,  are  trachytes  in  which  phosphoric  acid  has 
replaced  the  original  silica.  The  replacement  he  regards  as  having 
been  effected  through  the  agency  of  alkaline  (principally  ammonium) 
phosphate  which  has  leached  down  from  overlying  guano.  A  micro- 
scopic examination  of  the  rock  in  thin  sections  showed  that  the  replacing 
process  began  with  the  interstitial  matter,  then  extended  to  the  feldspar 
microlites,  and  lastly  the  porphyritic  sanidin  crystals.  The  gradual 
change  in  the  relative  proportion  of  silica  and  phosphoric  acid,  as  shown 
lay  analyses  of  more  or  less  altered  samples,  is  shown  below,  No.  I  being 
that  of  the  unaltered  rock  and  II  and  III  of  the  altered  forms: 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

II 

SiO2  

54.0 

43.7 

? 

P2O5  

8.4 

17.0 

38 

Loss  on  ignition  

3.8 

12.3 

23 

J 


From  a  comparison  of  these  rocks  with  those  of  Redonda,  in  the 
Spanish  West  Indies,  it  is  concluded  that  the  latter  phosphates  have 
likewise  resulted  from  a  similar  replacement  in  andesitic  rocks.  (Speci- 
mens Nos.  53148  to  53152,  U.S.N.M.)  In  this  connection  reference 
is  made  to  the  work  of  M.  A.  Gautier,2  in  which  he  describes  the 
formation  of  aluminous  phosphates  in  caves  through  the  action  of  the 
ammonium  phosphate  arising  from  decomposing  organic  matter  on 
the  clay  of  the  floor  of  caverns.  (See  under  Occurrences.) 

The  guanos,  as  noted  elsewhere,  owe  their  origin  mainly  to  the  accu- 
mulations of  sea-fowl  excretions.  Such  deposits  when  unleashed,  are 
relatively  poor  in  phosphatic  matter  and  rich  in  salts  of  ammonia. 
Where,  however,  subjected  to  the  leaching  action  of  rains  the  more 
soluble  constituents  are  carried  away,  leaving  the  less  soluble  phos- 
phates, together  with  impurities,  in  the  shape  of  alumina,  silica,  and 
iron  oxides  to  form  the  so-called  leached  guanos  of  the  West  India 
Islands.  As  stated  in  the  descriptions  of  localities,  guano  deposits  are 

1  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society  of  London,  LIV,  1898,  p.  230. 

2  Formation  des  Phosphates  Naturels  d'  Alumina  et  de  Fer,  Comptes  Rendus  de 
1'  Academic  des  Sciences,  Paris,  CXVI,  1893,  p.  1491. 


362  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

not  infrequently  of  a  thickness  such  as  to  cause  their  origin  as  above 
stated  to  seem  well-nigh  incredible  were  there  not  sufficient  data 
acquired  within  historic  times  to  demonstrate  its  accuracy  beyond  dis- 
pute. Thus  it  is  said1  that  in  the  year  1840  a  vessel  loaded  with 
guano  on  the  island  of  Ichabo,  on  the  east  coast  of  Africa.  During 
the  excavations  which  were  necessary  the  crew  exhumed  the  dead  body 
of  a  Portuguese  sailor,  who,  according  to  the  headboard  on  which  his 
name  and  date  of  burial  had  been  carved  with  a  knife,  had  been  interred 
fifty-two  years  previously.  The  top  of  this  headboard  projected  2  feet 
above  the  original  surface,  but  had  been  covered  by  exactly  7  feet  of 
subsequent  deposit  of  guano.  That  is  to  say,  the  deposition  was  going 
on  at  the  rate  of  a  little  over  an  inch  and  a  half  yearly. 

LOCALITIES    OF    PHOSPHATES. 

Canada. — According  to  Dr.  Ells,  of  the  Canadian  Survey,2  the  dis- 
covery of  apatite  in  the  Laurentian  rocks  of  eastern  Canada  was  first 
made  in  the  vicinitv  of  the  Lievre  by  Lieutenant  Ingall  in  1829,  though 
it  was  not  until  early  in  1860  that  actual  mining  was  begun.  The 
mineral  occurs  in  the  form  of  well-defined  crystals  in  a  matrix  of 
coarsely  crystalline  calcite  (Specimen  No.  67942,  U.S.N.M.)  and  in 
vein-like  and  pockety  granular  masses  along  the  line  of  contact 
between  eruptive  pyroxenites  and  Laurentian  gneisses.  The  first 
form  is  the  predominant  one  for  Ontario  only,  the  second  for  Quebec. 
From  a  series  of  openings  made  at  the  North  Star  Mine,  in  the  region 
north  of  Ottawa,  it  appears  that  the  massive  coarsely  crystalline  gran- 
ular apatite  follows  a  somewhat  regular  course  in  the  pyroxenite  near 
the  gneiss,  but  occurs  principally  in  a  series  of  large  bunches  or  chim- 
neys connected  with  each  other  by  smaller  strings  or  leaders.  Some- 
times these  pockety  bunches  of  ore  are  of  irregular  shape  and  yield 
hundreds  of  tons,  but  present  none  of  the  characteristics  of  veins, 
either  in  the  presence  of  hanging  or  foot  walls,  while  many  of  the 
masses  of  apatite  appear  to  be  completely  isolated  in  the  mass  of 
pyroxene,  though  possibly  there  may  have  been  a  connection  through 
small  fissures  with  other  deposits.  The  lack  of  any  connection  between 
these  massive  apatites  and  the  regularly  stratified  gneiss  is  evident, 
and  their  occurrence  in  the  pyroxene  is  further  evidence  in  support  of 
the  view  th&t  these  workable  deposits  are  not  of  organic  origin,  but 
confined  entirely  to  igneous  rocks.  In  certain  cases  where  a  supposed 
true-vein  structure  has  been  found,  such  structure  can  be  explained 
by  noticing  that  the  deposits  of  phosphates  occur,  for  the  most  part  at 
least,  near  the  line  of  contact  between  the  pyroxene  and  the  gneiss. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  Canadian  apatite  thus  far  mined  has 
been  from  the  Ottawa  district  of  Quebec,  where  it  is  mined  or  quar- 
ried mainly  from  open  cuts  and  shafts.  The  principal  fields  lie  in 

1 R.  Ridgway,  Science,  XXI,  1893,  p.  360. 

2  The  Canadian  Mining  and  Mechanical  Review,  March,  1893. 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS. 


363 


Ottawa  County,  Province  of  Quebec  (Specimen  No.  62157,  U.S.N.M.) 
and  Leeds,  Lanark  (Specimens  Nos.  62136,  62137,  U.S.N.M.),  Fron- 
tenac  (Specimen  No.  62148,  U.S.N.M.),  Addington,  and  Renfrew 
(Specimen  No.  62130,  U.S.N.M.)  counties,  Province  of  Ontario.  The 
first  consists  of  a  belt  running  from  near  the  Ottawa  River  on  the 
south  for  over  60  miles  in  a  northerly  direction  through  Buckingham, 
Portland,  Templeton,  Wakefield,  Denholm,  Bowman,  Hincks,  and 
other  townships  to  the  northward  have  an  average  width  of  15  to  25 
miles.  The  second  belt  runs  from  about  15  miles  north  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  River  in  a  northerly  direction  to  the  Ottawa  River,  a  distance 
of  about  100  miles,  and  varies  from  50  to  75  miles  in  breadth. 

Davies  gives  the  following  table  as  showing  the  average  composition 
of  the  Canadian  phosphates: 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

Moisture,  water  of  combination,  and  loss  on  ignition  . 

0.62 
33.51 

0.10 
41  54 

0.11 

37  68 

1.09 
30  84 

0.89 
32  53 

1.83 
31  87 

Lime 

46  14 

54  74 

51  04 

42  72 

44  26 

43  62 

7  83 

3  03 

6  88 

13  3? 

\>>  15 

9  28 

Insoluble  siliceous  matter  

11.90 

0.59 

4.29 

12.03 

10.17 

13.50 

Equal  to  tribasic  phosphate  of  lime  

100.00 
73.15 

100.00 
90.68 

100.00 

82.25 

100.00 

67.32 

100.00 
71.01 

100.10 
69.35 

Norway. — The  principal  apatite  fields  lie  along  the  coast  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  peninsula  between  Langesund  and  Arendal. 
The  material  occurs  in  crystals  and  crystalline  granular  aggregates  of 
a  white,  yellow,  greenish,  or  red  color  in  veins  and  pockets  embedded 
in  the  mass  of  an  eruptive  gabbro,  near  the  line  of  contact  of  the 
gabbro  and  adjacent  rocks,  in  the  country  rock  itself  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  gabbro,  and  in  coarse  pegmatitic  veins  which  are  cut 
by  the  gabbro.  The  largest  veins  are  in  the  mass  of  the  gabbro  itself 
or  near  the  line  of  contact.  Where  the  apatite  occurs  in  the  gabbro 
the  latter  is  as  a  rule  altered  into  a  hornblende  scapolite  rock.  The 
principal  associated  minerals  are  quartz,  mica,  tourmaline,  scapolite, 
feldspars,  rutile,  and  magnetic  and  titanic  iron  and  sulphides  of  iron 
and  copper.  The  country  rock  is  gneiss,  schist,  and  granite.  The 
mineral  belongs  to  the  variety  called  fluor  apatite,  as  shown  by  the 
following  analysis  from  Dr.  Penrose's  Bulletin: 

Apatite  from  Arendal. 

Phosphoric  acid  (P205)  (»)  42.229 

Fluorine  (2) 3. 415 

Chlorine  (3) 0. 512 

Lime  (CaO)  49. 96 

Calcium  . .  .3.  884 


100.  000 


1  Equal  92.189  per  cent  tribasic  phosphate. 
'Equal  7.01  per  cent  fluoride  of  calcium. 


'E.qual  0.801  per  cent  chloride  of  calcium. 


364  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

The  Norway  apatites  have  been  mined  according  to  Penrose  since 
1854,  the  earliest  workings  being  at  Kragero.  According  to  Davies, 
however,  the  discovery  of  deposits  that  could  be  profitably  worked 
dates  only  from  1871.  The  distribution  of  the  material  is  very  uncer- 
tain and  irregular,  and  the  value  of  the  deposits  can  not  be  foretold 
with  any  great  approximation  to  accuracy.  Specimen  No.  65122, 
U.S.N.M.,  is  characteristic.  The  large  specimen  on  floor  of  hall, 
weighing  nearly  2  tons,  shows  well  the  massive  character  of  the 
material. 

A  second  locality  of  phosphates  but  recently  described,  and  which 
seems  to  occur  under  somewhat  similar  conditions,  exists  in  the  Gelli- 
vara  Mountains,  in  Norrland. 

Nodular  phosphatic  deposits  are  described  by  Penrose1  as  being 
found  at  intervals  all  along  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United  States, 
from  North  Carolina  down  to  the  southern  extremity  of  Florida.  The 
North  Carolina  deposits  occur  principally  in  the  counties  of  Sampson, 
Duplin,  Pender,  Onslow,  Columbus,  and  New  Hanover,  all  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  State.  The  deposits  are  of  two  kinds,  (1)  a 
nodular  form  overlying  the  Eocene  marls  and  consisting  of  phosphate 
nodules,  sharks'  teeth  (Specimen  No.  73643,  U.S.N.M.),  and  bones  as 
embedded  in  a  sandy  or  marly  matrix,  and  (2)  as  a  conglomerate  of 
phosphate  pebbles,  sharks'  teeth,  bones,  and  quartz  pebbles,  all  well 
rounded  and  cemented  together  along  with  grains  of  green  sand  in 
a  calcareous  matrix.  (Specimen  No.  44244,  U.S.N.M.) 

The  beds  of  the  first  variety  usually  overlie  strata  of  shell  marl, 
though  this  is  sometimes  replaced  by  a  pale  green  indurated  sand. 
The  two  following  sections  will  serve  to  illustrate  their  mode  of 
occurrence: 

SAMPSON  COUNTY.  DUPLIN   COUNTY. 

(1)  Soil,  sand  or  clay,  5  to  10  feet.  (1)  Sandy  soil,  1  to  10  feet. 

(2)  Shell  marl,  5  to  10  feet.  (2)   Nodule  bed,  1  to  2  feet. 

(3)  Bed  with  phosphate  nodules,  1  to  3     (3)  Shell  marl. 

feet. 

(4)  Sea  green,  sandy  marl,  2  to  4  feet. 

(5)  Ferruginous  hardpan,  6  to  12  inches. 

(6)  Interstratified  lignites  and  sands  as 

in  (4). 

The  nodules  as  described  are  of  a  lead  gray  color,  varying  in  size 
from  that  of  a  man's  fist  to  masses  weighing  several  hundred  pounds. 
In  texture  they  vary  from  close  compact  and  homogeneous  masses  to 
coarse-grained  and  highly  siliceous  rocks  distinguished  by  considerable 
quantities  of  sand  and  quartz  pebbles  sometimes  the  size  of  a  chestnut. 
Occasionally  the  nodules,  which  as  a  rule  are  of  an  oval  flattened  form, 

1  Bulletin  46  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1888. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEBALS.  365 

contain  Tertiary  shells  (Specimens  Nos.  44244  and  34318,  U.S.N.M.). 
The  second  or  conglomerate  variety  occurs  mainly  in  New  Hanover 
and  Fender  counties,  the  beds  in  some  instances  being  6  feet  in  thick- 
ness, though  usually  much  less.  The  following  section,  taken  like 
those  above  from  Dr.  Penrose's  Bulletin,  shows  their  position  and  asso- 
ciation as  displayed  at  Castle  Hayne,  New  Hanover  County. 

(1)  AVhite  sand,  0  to  3  feet. 

(2)  Brown  and  red  ferruginous  sandy  clay,  or  clayey  sand,  1  to  3  feet. 

(3)  Green  clay,  6  to  12  inches. 

(4)  Dark  brown  indurated  peat,  3  to  12  inches. 

(5)  White  calcareous  marl,  0  to  2  feet. 

(6)  White  shell  rock,  0  to  14  inches. 

(7)  Phosphatic  conglomerate,  1  to  3  feet. 

(8)  Gray  marl  containing  smaller  nodules  than  the  overlying  beds,  2£  to  4£  feet. 

(9)  Light-colored,  calcareous  marl,  containing  nodules  which  are  smaller  than 
those  in  the  overlying  beds,  which  grow  fewer  and  smaller  at  a  depth.     Many  shells. 

The  phosphatic  nodules  in  this  conglomerate  are  kidney  and  egg 
shaped  as  sometimes  make  up  as  much  as  three-fourths  the  contents  of 
abed;  usually,  however,  the  proportion  is  smaller,  and  .sometimes there 
are  none  at  all.  The  mass  as  a  whole  does  not  contain  more  than  10 
to  20  per  cent  phosphate  of  lime,  but  it  is  said  to  have  been  successfully 
used  as  a  fertilizer.  The  individual  may  be  richer  in  phosphatic  mat- 
ter on  the  outer  surface  than  toward  the  center. 

Aside  from  the  phosphatic  layer  as  described  above,  phosphatic 
nodules  are  found  in  large  quantities  in  the  beds  of  rivers  of  these 
districts,  where  they  have  accumulated  through  the  washing  action  of 
flowing  water,  the  finer  sand  clay  and  gravel  having  been  carried  away. 
Such  phosphates  naturally  do  not  differ  materially  from  those  on  land 
except  that  they  are  darker  in  color  and  sometimes  more  siliceous. 

The  deposits  of  South  Carolina,  though  of  low  grade  compared  with 
some  others,  are  now  more  generally  used  than  any  other  known  phos- 
phate. The  output  of  the  mines,  which  is  yearly  increasing,  is  shipped 
to  the  North,  South,  and  East  by  sea  and  to  the  West  by  rail.  This 
popularity  is  due  not  only  to  the  cheapness  of  the  phosphate  ($5  to 
$6  a  ton  in  1886),  but  to  the  many  good  qualities  of  the  low-grade 
acid  phosphate  made  from  it.  The  fact  that  the  nodule  bed  extends, 
at  an  accessible  depth,  over  many  miles  of  country,  the  easy  approach 
for  large  vessels  up  to  the  very  mines,  the  abundance  of  water,  fuel, 
and  labor,  and  a  climate  that  permits  mining  operations  to  be  carried 
on  throughout  the  whole  year,  all  combine  to  make  the  South  Carolina 
phosphates  the  cheapest  and  consequently  the  most  productive  source 
of  supply  of  this  material.  Specimens  Nos.  34317  and  34318,  34321  to 
34324,  and  34326  to  34328,  U.S.N.M.  are  characteristic. 

Phosphates  in  the  form  of  nodules  and  phosphatic  marls  and  green- 
sands  occur  in  Alabama  in  both  the  Tertiary  and  Cretaceous  forma- 
tions. Their  geographical  distribution  is  therefore  limited  to  areas 


366  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

south  of  the  outcrops  of  the  lowest  Cretaceous  beds  which  stretch  in 
a  curve  from  the  northwest  corner  of  the  State  across  near  Fayette, 
Courthouse,  Tuscaloosa,  Centerville,  and  Wetumpka,  to  Columbus, 
Georgia.  As  all  the  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  beds  have  a  dip  toward 
the  Gulf  of  from  25  to  40  feet  to  the  mile,  the  phosphate-bearing  strata 
appear  at  the  surface  only  in  a  comparatively  narrow  belt  along  the 
line  above  indicated  and  are  to  be  found  only  at  gradually  increasing 
depths  below  at  points  to  the  southward. 

Phosphatic  nodules  and  marls  of  the  Tertiary  occur  in  four  different 
horizons:  The  Black  Bluffs  and  Nantehala  groups  of  the  Lignitic;  in 
the  white  limestone,  and  in  eastern  Alabama,  at  Ozark,  in  strata  of  the 
Claiborne  group.  Selected  nodules  run  as  high  as  27  per  cent  of 
phosphoric  acid,  and  marls  as  high  as  6.7  per  cent.  The  Tertiary  is 
not,  however,  regarded  by  Professor  Smith  as  a  promising  source  of 
commercial  phosphates  in  the  State.  In  the  Cretaceous  the  phosphates 
occur  in  the  transition  beds  both  above  and  below  the  so-called  Rotten 
Limestone  existing  as  nodules,  shell  casts,  phosphatic  limestones,  marls, 
and  greensands.  The  nodules  have  essentially  the  characteristics  of 
those  of  South  Carolina. 

The  principal  phosphate  region  of  Florida,  as  known  to-day,  com- 
prises an  area  extending  from  west  of  the  Apalachicola  River  eastward 
and  southward  to  nearly  50  miles  south  of  Caloosahatchee  River,  as 
shown  on  the  accompanying  map.1  According  to  Mr.  Eldridge,  the 
deposits  comprise  four  distinct  and  widely  different  classes  of  commer- 
cial phosphates,  each  having  a  peculiar  genesis,  a  peculiar  form  of 
deposit,  and  chemical  and  physical  properties  such  as  readily  distin- 
guish it  from  any  of  the  others. 

According  to  their  predominant  characteristics  or  modes  of  occur- 
rence, these  classes  have  come  to  be  known  as  hard-rock  phosphates, 
soft  phosphate,  land  pebble  or  matrix  rock,  and  river  pebble.  With 
the  exception  of  the  soft  phosphates,  they  underlie  distinct  regions, 
each  class  being  separate  or  but  slightly  commingling  with  one  another. 
The  type  of  the  hard-rock  phosphate,  as  described  by  Mr.  Eldridge,  is 
a  hard,  massive,  close-textured  homogeneous,  light-gray  rock,  showing 
large  and  small  irregular  cavities,  which  are  usually  lined  with  second- 
ary mammillary  incrustations  of  phosphate  of  lime  (Specimens  Nos. 
66737,  66741,  U.S.N.M.),  the  general  appearance  being  that  of  the 
calcareous  deposits  of  the  preglacial  hot  springs  of  the  Yellowstone 
National  Park. 

There  are  numerous  variations  in  color  and  physical  characteristics 
from  this  type,  but  which  can  best  be  comprehended  by  a  study  of 
the  collection.  This  type  carries  some  36.65  per  cent  phosphoric 
anhydride  (P2O5).  The  deposits  of  the  hard-rock  phosphate  lie  in 
Eocene  and  Miocene  strata,  occurring  in  the  first  named  as  a  bowlder 

1  Preliminary  sketch  of  Phosphates  of  Florida,  by  George  H.  Eldridge. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,   1899  —Me 


PLATE  20. 


MAP  SHOWING  PHOSPHATE  REGIONS  OF  FLORIDA 

After  George  H.  EMridge. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEBALS.  367 

deposit  in  a  soft  matrix  of  phosphatic  sands,  clays,  and  other  material, 
resulting  from  the  disintegration  of  the  hard  rock  and  constituting  the 
soft  phosphates.  The  deposits  underlie  sands  of  from  10  to  20  feet  in 
thickness,  and  have  been  penetrated  to  a  depth  of  60  feet.  The  phos- 
phate deposit  proper  is  white,  the  bowlders  of  rounded  and  irregular 
outline,  varying  in  diameter  from  2  or  3  inches  to  10  feet.  None  of  the 
hard-rock  deposits  of  the  Eocene  originated  in  the  positions  they  now 
occupy.  The  Miocene  hard-rock  phosphates,  on  the  other  hand,  lie 
in  regular  bedded  deposits  in  situ,  as  well  as  in  bowlders.  The  beds 
lie  horizontal  but  a  few  feet  below  the  surface,  being  covered  only  by 
superficial  sand.  The  beds  as  a  rule  are  but  from  4  feet  to  5  feet  thick. 
The  name  soft  rock,  or  soft  phosphate,  as  above  indicated,  is  given  to 
the  softer  material  associated  with  the  hard  rock,  which  in  part 
results  from  the  disintegration  of  the  last  named.  It  is  also  applied 
somewhat  loosely  to  any  variety  not  distinctly  hard.  It  therefore 
varies  greatly  in  color,  chemical  and  physical  characteristics,  and  rarely 
carries  more  than  20  to  25  per  cent  of  P2O5  (Specimens  Nos.  67304, 
67319,  67293,  67296,  67297,  U.S.N.M.). 

The  name  land-pebble  phosphate  includes  pebble  from  deposits  con- 
sisting of  either  earthy  material  carrying  fossil  remains,  grains  of 
quartz,  and  pisolitic  grains  of  lime  phosphate,  or  else  of  a  material 
resembling  in  texture  and  other  characteristics  the  hard-rock  phos- 
phate. The  individual  pebbles  vary  in  size  up  to  that  of  the  English 
walnut,  are  normally  white,  but  when  subjected  to  percolating  water 
become  dark  gray  or  nearly  black.  The  exteriors  are  quite  smooth 
and  glossy,  colors  and  textures  uniform,  and  average  some  30  to  35 
per  cent  P2O5  (Specimen  No.  61070,  U.S.N.M.). 

The  river-pebble  varieties  differ  from  the  last  mainly  in  mode  of 
occurrence,  being  found,  as  the  name  would  indicate,  in  the  beds  of 
streams,  where  presumably  they  have  accumulated  through  the  wash- 
ing away  of  finer  and  lighter  materials.  The}'  are  most  abundant  in 
the  Peace,  Caloosahatcb.ee,  Alafia,  and  other  rivers  entering  the  Gulf 
south  of  Tampa  and  Hillsborough  bays,  though  the  Withlacoochee, 
Aucilla,  and  rivers  of  the  western  part  of  the  State,  carry  also  a  mix- 
ture of  pebbles,  hard-rock  fragments,  and  bones  derived  from  the  vari- 
ous strata  through  which  they  have  cut  their  channels.  The  pebbles 
of  the  Western  rivers  show  a  very  uniform  composition,  and  range  from 
25  to  30  per  cent  phosphoric  anhydride  (P2O5),  or  about  65  per  cent  of 
phosphate  of  lime,  the  impurities  being  mainly  siliceous  matter,  car- 
bonate of  lime,  alumina,  and  iron  oxides  (Specimens  Nos.  67299,  67298, 
67355,  U.S.N.M.). 

Phosphates  the  mineralogical  nature  of  which  does  not  seem  to  be 
as  yet  accurately  made  out  occur  in  the  Devonian  Shales  of  Middle 
Tennessee.  They  are  thus  described  by  Professor  Safford:1 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVII,  April  21,  1894,  p.  366. 


368  REPOKT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

There  are  two  distinct  beds  of  the  phosphates,  one  above  a  stratum 
known  as  the  black  shale;  the  other  below  the  shale.  The  one  ubovo  is  u 
bed  or  layer  of  concretionary  masses,  balls,  and  kidney  and  knee-shaped 
forms  from  the  size  of  walnuts  to  that  of  a  man's  head  (Specimen  No. 
52059  from  Hickman  County).  These  are  sometimes  loosely  disposed 
in  a  greenish  or  bluish  shale,  and  sometimes  tightly  packed  together 
like  so  many  cannon  balls  in  a  layer  8  or  10  inches  thick.  Ordinarily 
the  layer  has  less  thickness,  often,  in  fact,  being  represented  by  only 
a  few  scattered  concretions.  But,  thick  or  thin,  it  may  be  said  to  be 
universally  present,  its  kidneys  serving  to  indicate  the  place  of  the 
black  shale  and  the  underlying  bed  when  these  are  concealed  by  debris 
or  soil. 

The  other  phosphate,  that  underlying  the  shale,  and  the  more  impor- 
tant of  the  two,  is,  in  its  best  presentations,  a  well-defined,  continuous 
stratum  of  dark-bluish  or  bluish-black— rarely  grayish — rock,  with  fine 
or  coarse  grain.  Its  regularly  stratified  character  and  its  dark  color 
make  it  look  like  a  bed  of  stone  coal. 

The  geographical  distribution  and  general  geology  of  these  phos- 
phates has  been  worked  out  in  considerable  detail  by  C.  W.  Hayes, 
to  whose  papers  reference  has  been  already  made  (p.  360).  Accord- 
ing to  this  authority  the  phosphates  occur  in  four  distinct  varieties: 
(1)  Black  nodular  phosphate;  (2)  black  bedded  phosphate;  (3)  white 
breccia  phosphate,  and  (4)  white  bedded  phosphate.  The  first  two  of 
these  are  of  Devonian  age,  the  third  is  a  secondary  and  comparatively 
recent  deposit,  while  the  fourth,  perhaps  also  of  secondary  origin,  is 
interbedded  with  rocks  of  Carboniferous  age.  The  black  nodular 
variety  contains  from  60  to  70  per  cent  of  phosphate  of  lime,  and  is 
found  in  commercial  quantities  only  in  the  region  of  the  black  bedded 
phosphate  in  western  middle  Tennessee.  The  black  bedded  variety, 
which  is  the  only  one  that  has  thus  far  proved  of  commercial  importance, 
is  confined,  so  far  as  at  present  known,  "to  an  oval  area  southwest  of 
Nashville,  having  Centerville  about  in  its  center."  It  also  covers 
portions  of  Hickman,  Williamson,  Maury,  Lewis,  Wayne,  Perry,  and 
Decatur  counties. 

Sections  showing  the  relation  of  the  phosphates  to  the  adjacent  for- 
mations are  given  in  Dr.  Hayes's  paper.  The  beds  vary  in  thickness 
from  a  fraction  of  1  to  8  or  10  feet,  the  average  run  of  the  rock  being 
about  50  per  cent  phosphate  of  lime.  The  white  bedded  and  white 
breccia  phosphates  are  limited  to  small  areas  in  Perry  County.  Their 
contents  of  phosphoric  acid  (P2O5)  is  low,  varying  from  14  to  15  per 
cent,  and  as  yet  their  value  for  other  than  local  purposes  is  to  be  deter- 
mined. (See  especially  Specimens  Nos.  52058, 52060, 52061,  U.  S.  N.  M. ) 

England. — Deposits  of  phosphates  sufficiently  concentrated  for  com- 
mercial purposes  lie  near  the  upper  limit  of  Cambro- Silurian  strata  in 
North  Wales.  According  to  Davies,  the  phosphatic  material  occurs 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  369 

in  the  form  of  nodular  concretions  of  a  size  varying  from  that  of  an 
egg  to  a  cocoanut,  closely  packed  together  and  cemented  by  a  black 
slaty  matrix.  The  concretions  have  often  a  black  highly  polished 
appearance,  due  to  the  presence  of  graphite,  but  owing  to  the  pres- 
ence of  oxidizing  pyrite  they  sometimes  become  rusty  brown.  The 
concretions  carry  from  60  to  69  per  cent  of  phosphate  of  lime;  the 
matrix  is  also  phosphatic.  The  phosphate  beds  are  highly  tilted  and 
are  overlaid  by  gray  shales  with  fossilized  echinoderms  and  underlaid 
by  dark  crystalline  limestone,  which  also  contains  from  15  to  20  per 
cent  of  phosphatic  material.  Davies  regards  the  deposit  as  an  old  sea 
bottom  "on  which  the  phosphatic  matter  of  Cretaceous  and  Molluscan 
life  was  precipitated  and  stored  during  a  long  period,  while  certain 
marine  plants  may  also  have  contributed  their  share  of  phosphatic 
matter.  He  thinks  it  also  as  possible  that,  as  in  the  Lauren tian  deposits, 
the  water  of  the  sea  may  have  contained  phosphatic  matter  in  solution, 
to  be  deposited  independently  of  organic  agencies. 

These  phosphated  beds  are  mined  at  Berwin,  where  an  average  pro- 
duction over  a  space  of  360  fathoms  was  2  tons  10  hundredweight  of 
phosphate  per  fathom,  of  an  average  strength  of  46  per  cent. 

The  nodules  average  from  45  to  55  per  cent  of  phosphate  of  lime. 

Amorphous  nodular  phosphates  also  occur  in  both  the  Upper  and 
Lower  Greensands  of  the  Cretaceous  and  in  Tertiary  deposits.  Those 
of  the  upper  beds  have  been  mined  in  Cambridgeshire  and  Bedford- 
shire. The  phosphatic  material  occurs  in  the  form  of  shell  casts, 
fossils,  and  nodules,  of  a  black  or  dark-brown  color,  of  varying  hard- 
ness, embedded  in  a  sand  consisting  of  siliceous  and  calcareous  matter 
as  well  as  phosphatic  and  glauconitic  grains.  The  average  composi- 
tion shows  from  40  to  50  per  cent  of  phosphate  of  lime.  The  thick- 
ness of  the  nodule-bearing  bed  is  rarely  over  a  foot.  The  nodules  of 
the  Lower  Greensands  differ  from  those  of  the  Upper  in  many  details, 
the  more  important  being  their  lower  percentages  of  phosphate  of 
lime  (from  40  to  50  per  cent).  They  occur  in  a  bed  of  siliceous  sand 
which  itself  is  not  phosphatic.  The  Tertiary  phosphates  reach  their 
best  development  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  where  they  are  found  at 
the  base  of  the  Coralline  and  Red  Crog  groups  and  immediately  over- 
lying the  London  clays.  The  beds  consist  of  a  "mass  of  phosphatic 
nodules  and  shell  casts,  siliceous  pebbles,  teeth  of  cretaceans  and  sharks, 
and  many  mammal  bones,  besides  occasional  fragments  of  Lower 
Greensand  chert,  granite,  and  chalk  flints."  The  nodules  vary  in  both 
quality  and  quantity.  They  are  at  times  of  a  compact  and  brittle 
nature,  while  at  others  they  are  tough  and  siliceous.  They  average 
about  53  per  cent  phosphate  of  lime  and  13  per  cent  phosphate  of  iron. 

France. — Phosphates  of  the  nodular  type  occur  in  beds  of  Cretaceous 
age  in  the  provinces  of  Ardennes  and  Meuse,  and  to  a  less  extent  in 
others  in  northern  France;  in  the  department  of  Cote  d'Or,  and  along 
NAT  MUS  99 24 


370  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

the  Rhone  at  Bellegarde,  Seyssel,  and  Grenoble.  As  in  England,  the 
phosphatic  nodules  of  the  northern  area,  such  as  are  of  commercial 
importance,  occur  in  both  the  Upper  and  Lower  Greensands.  They 
resemble  in  a  general  way  the  English  phosphates,  but  are  described 
as  soft  and  porous  and  easily  disintegrating  when  exposed  to  the  air. 
Those  of  the  Upper  Greensand  average  some  55  per  cent  of  phosphate 
of  lime. 

More  recently  deposits  have  been  described  by  M.  J.  Gosselet,1  near 
Fresnoy-le-Grand,  in  the  north  of  France.  The  phosphatic  material 
occurs  in  a  zone  of  gray  chalk  some  6  feet  in  thickness  (1£  to  2  meters), 
and  is  in  the  form  of  concretionary  nodules  forming  a  sort  of  con- 
glomerate in  the  lower  part  of  the  bed.  A  portion  of  the  chalk  is 
also  phosphatic.  Phosphatic  material  (of  the  type  of  phosphorites)  is 
found  in  fissures  and  pockets  in  the  upper  portion  of  limestones  of 
Middle  Jurassic  (Oxfordian)  age,  in  the  departments  of  Tarn-et- 
Garonne,  Aveyron,  and  Zoti,  France. 

The  deposits  are  of  two  kinds.  The  first  occurring  in  irregular 
cavities  or  pockets  never  over  a  few  yards  long,  and  the  second  in  the 
form  of  elongated  leads  with  the  sides  nearly  vertical.  These  are 
generally  shallow,  and  thin  out  very  rapidly  at  a  short  distance  below 
the  surface. 

The  nodules  or  concretions  are  of  a  white  or  gray  color,  waxy  luster, 
and  opal-like  appearance,  and  occur  in  the  form  of  tubercular  or  kidney 
shaped  masses  embedded  in  ferruginous  clay  in  the  clefts  of  the  lime- 
stone, or  in  geodic,  fibrous,  and  radiating  forms. 

The  material  of  this  region  is  known  commercially  as  Bordeaux 
phosphate,  being  shipped  mainly  from  Bordeaux.  They  average  from 
70  to  75  per  cent  phosphate  of  lime,  the  impurities  being  mainly  iron 
oxides  and  siliceous  matter. 

Gautier2  describes  deposits  of  phosphates  estimated  to  the  amount 
of  120,000  to  300,000  tons  on  the  floors  of  the  Grotte  de  Minerve,  near 
the  village  of  Minerve  on  the  northeast  flank  of  the  Pyrenees,  in  Aude, 
France.  The  cave  proper  is  in  nummulitic  limestone  of  Eocene  age, 
the  floors  being  formed  by  Devonian  rocks.  The  filling  material  con- 
sists of  cave  earth  and  bone  breccia  below  which  are  the  aggregates  of 
concretionary  phosphorites  and  other  phosphatic  compounds  of  lime 
and  alumina,  the  more  interesting  being  Brushite^  a  hydrous  tribasic 
calcium  phosphate  hitherto  known  only  as  a  secondary  incrustation  on 
guano  from  the  West  India  islands,  and  Minervite,  a  new  species  hav- 
ing the  formula  A12O3.  P2O5,  7HaO,  a  hydrous  aluminum  phosphate, 
existing  in  the  form  of  a  white  plastic  clay-like  mass  filling  a  vein 
from  a  few  inches  to  2  or  more  feet  in  thickness. 

Germany. — According  to  Da  vies,  the  principal  phosphate  regions  of 

1  Annales  de  la  Societe  Geologique  du  Nord.,  XXI,  1893,  p.  149. 

2  Annals  des  Mines,  V,  1894,  p.  5. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  37 1 

North  Germany  occupy  an  irregular  area  bounded  on  the  northeast  by 
the  town  of  Weilburg,  on  the  northwest  by  the  Westerwald,  on  the 
east  by  the  Taunus  Mountains,  and  on  the  south  by  the  town  of  Dietz. 
The  phosphorite  occurs  in  the  form  of  irregular  nodular  masses  of  all 
sizes  up  to  masses  of  several  tons  weight,  embedded  in  clay  which 
rests  upon  Devonian  limestone  and  is  overlaid  by  another  stratum  of 
clay.  The  phosphate-bearing  clay  varies  in  thickness  from  6  inches  to 
10  feet.  With  the  phosphate  nodules  are  not  infrequently  associated 
deposits  of  manganese  and  hematite.  Davies  regards  the  deposits  as 
of  early  Tertiary  age.  The  color  of  the  freshly  mined  material  varies 
from  pale  buff  to  dark  brown,  varying  in  specific  gravity  from  1.9  to 
2.8,  the  quality  deteriorating  with  the  increase  in  gravity.  Selected 
samples  of  the  staple  nodules  yielded  as  high  as  92  per  cent  phosphate 
of  lime;  but  the  average  is  much  lower,  being  but  about  50  to  60  per 
cent  phosphate  of  lime.  (Specimens  Nos.  66827,  66828,  U.S.N.M., 
from  Gleisenberg  and  Heckholzhausen.) 

Belgium. — Nodular  phosphates  belonging  to  the  Upper  Cretaceous 
formations  occur  in  the  province  of  Hainaut,  where  they  form  the 
basis  of  an  extensive  industry.  The  nodules,  which  are  generally  of 
a  brown  color  and  vary  in  size  from  the  fraction  of  1  to  4  or  5  inches 
in  diameter,  lie  in  a  coarse-grained,  friable  rock  called  the  brown  or 
gray  chalk,  which  itself  immediately  underlies  what  is  known  as  the 
Ciple}7  conglomerate.  The  phosphate-bearing  bed  is  sometimes  nearly 
100  feet  in  thickness,  but  is  richest  in  the  upper  10  feet,  where  it  is 
estimated  the  phosphatic  pebbles  constitute  some  75  per  cent  of  its 
bulk.  Below  this  the  bed  grows  gradually  poorer,  passing  by  grada- 
tions into  the  white  chalk  below. 

The  overlying  conglomerate  also  carries  phosphate  nodules,  which 
carry  from  25  to  50  per  cent  phosphate  of  lime.  Owing  to  the  hard- 
ness of  the  inclosing  rock  they  are  less  mined  than  those  in  the  beds 
beneath.  The  mining  of  phosphates  is  carried  on  extensively  near  the 
town  of  Mons,  on  the  lands  of  the  communes  of  Cuesmes,  Ciply,  Mes- 
vin,  Nouvelles,  Spiennes,  St.  Symphorien,  and  Hyon.  The  annual 
output  has  gradually  increased  from  between  3,000  and  4,000  tons  in 
1887  to  85,000  tons  in  1894.  Other  phosphatic  deposits  are  described 1 
as  occurring  in  the  provinces  of  Antwerp  arid  Liege. 

Spain. — Important  deposits  of  phosphorites  occur  between  Logrosan 
and  Caceres,  in  Estremadura  Province.  The  deposits  are  in  the  form 
of  pockets  and  veins  in  slates  and  schists  supposed  to  be  of  Silurian 
age;  at  times  a  vein  is  found  at  the  line  of  contact  between  the  slate 
and  granite.  The  veins  vary  in  thickness  from  1  to  several  feet,  the 
largest  being  some  20  feet  and  extending  for  over  2  miles.  This  is  by 

1  Annales  de  la  SociSte  G<§ologique  de  Belgique,  XVII,  1890,  p.  185. 


372  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

far  the  largest  of  its  kind  known.  As  described  by  Penrose,  the 
"Logrosan  phosphate  has  a  subcrystalline  structure;  some  specimens 
are  fibrous  and  radiating  and  often  resemble  feathers.  [See  Specimen 
No.  44277,  U.  S.  N.  M.].  It  is  soft  and  chalky  to  the  touch,  easily  broken, 
but  difficult  to  grind  into  a  fine  powder.  An  examination  under  the 
microscope  exhibits  conchoidal  figures,  interrupted  with  spherical 
grains,  devoid  of  color  and  opaque.  (Shepard.) 

"  The  highest-grade  material  is  rosy  white  or  yellowish  white  in 
color,  soft,  concentric,  often  brilliantly  radiated,  with  a  mammillary 
or  conchoidal  surface.  Red  spots  from  iron  and  beautiful  dendrites 
of  manganese  are  not  infrequent.  The  poorer  qualities  are  milky^ 
white,  vitreous,  hard,  and,  though  free  from,  limestone,  contain  con- 
siderable silica." 

In  the  Caceres  district  the  phosphorites  occur  not  in  veins  but 
rather  in  pockety  masses  in  veins  of  quartz  and  dark-colored  lime- 
stone, which  are  found  cutting  both  the  granite  and  slate.  (Specimens 
Nos.  37147,  63779,  63780,  U.S.N.M.) 

The  following  analyses  from  Dr.  Penrose's  paper  show  about  the 
average  composition  of  these  phosphorites: 

Logrosan,  by  Professor  Daubeny. 

Silica 1.  70 

Protoxide  of  iron 3. 15 

Fluoride  of  lime 14.  00 

Phosphate  of  lime 81. 15 

Cdceres,  by  Bobierre  and  Friedel. 

Insoluble  siliceous  matter 21.  05 

Water  expelled  at  a  red  heat 3.  00 

Tribasic  phosphate  of  lime 72. 10 

Loss,  iron  oxides,  etc 3.  85 

Portugal. — Phosphorites  occur  in  Silurian  and  Devonian  rocks  under 
similar  conditions  to  those  of  Spain  in  Estremadura,  Alemetjo,  and 
Beira  provinces,  and  which  need,  therefore,  no  further  notice  here. 
Stanier,1  however,  describes  a  variety  found  in  pockety  and  short  vein- 
like  masses  which  are  worthy  of  a  passing  notice.  These  occur  not 
in  schists  and  sedimentary  rocks  but  in  massive  granites.  They  are 
found  mainly  in  the  superficial  portions,  where  the  granite  has  weath- 
ered away  to  a  coarse  sand,  and  in  short  gashlike  veins  and  pockets 
of  slight  width  and  extent.  The  phosphatic  material  is  described  as 
of  a  milk-white  color,  opaque,  and  showing  when  broken  open  a  pal- 
mately  radiating  structure,  like  hoarfrost  upon  a  window  pane.  As 
a  rule  the  masses  when  found  are  enveloped  in  a  thin  coating  of  kaolin- 
like  material  supposed  to  be  derived  by  decomposition  from  the  feld- 

1Les  Phosphorites  du  Portugal,  Annales  de  la  Societe"  G^ologique  de  Belgique, 
XVII,  1890,  p.  223. 


THE    NONMETALL1C    MINERALS.  373 

spar  of  the  granites.  They  are  mined  only  from  open  cuts  and  in  the 
superficial  more  or  less  decomposed  portions  of  the  rock,  to  which 
they  are  believed  to  be  mainly  limited,  having  originated,  as  elsewhere 
indicated,  through  a  segregation  of  the  phosphatic  material  dissolved 
by  meteoric  waters  from  the  surrounding  granite  and  subsequently 
depositing  it  in  preexisting  fissures.  The  percentage  of  tricalcic 
phosphate  is  given  as  varying  between  60  and  80  per  cent. 

Italy. — Phosphatic  deposits  consisting  of  coprolites,  bones,  etc., 
imbedded  in  a  porous  Tertiary  limestone  occur  between  Gallipoli  and 
Otranto,  Cape  Leuca,  west  of  the  Gulf  of  Taranto,  on  the  Italian 
coast.  There  are  two  beds  having  a  thickness  of  19i  and  31£  inches, 
respectively,  and  which  have  been  traced  for  a  distance  of  some  160 
yards.  Analyses  show  them  to  be  of  low  grade,  rarely  carrying  as 
high  as  10  per  cent  P2O5. 

Tunis.—  Phosphatic  nodules  in  the  form  of  cylindrical  coprolites 
and  clustered  aggregates  have  been  found  in  Tertiary  strata  covering 
considerable  areas  in  the  region  south  of  Tunis.  The  coprolite  nodules 
are  stated  to  carry  as  high  as  70  per  cent  of  calcium  phosphate,  and 
the  clustered  aggregate  some  52  per  cent. 

Russia. — Rich  phosphate  deposits  of  Cretaceous  age  occur  in  the 
governments  of  Smolensk,  Orlow,  Koursk,  and  Vorouez,  between  the 
rivers  Dnieper  and  the  Don  in  European  Russia.  The  deposits  lie 
mostly  in  a  sandy  marl,  undertying  white  chalk  and  overlying  green- 
sands,  which  also  carry  beds  of  from  6  to  12  inches  thickness  of  phos- 
phatic nodules.  The  nodules  are  dark,  often  nearly  black,  in  color 
and  are  intermixed  with  gray,  brown,  and  yellow  sands.  The  depth 
of  the  beds  below  the  surface  is  variable.  Yermolow  *  divides  the 
deposits  into  two  groups,  the  first  presenting  the  form  of  separate 
nodules,  rounded  or  kidney-shaped,  of  variable  size,  and  black,  brown, 
gray,  or  green  in  color.  The.  second  is  in  form  of  an  agglomeration 
of  large  nodules  cemented  together  into  a  sort  of  flag,  which  used  to 
be  quarried  for  road  purposes.  The  nodules  in  this  agglomerate  are 
richer  in  phosphoric  acid  when  most  dense  and  of  a  deep  black  color, 
the  sandy  varieties  being  comparatively  poor.  The  cement  carrying 
the  nodules  contains  numerous  fossil  bones,  shells,  corals,  etc.,  which 
are  also  phosphatic.  The  samples  yield  about  30  to  60  per  cent  phos- 
phate of  lime.  Other  deposits  occur  south  of  Saratov,  on  the  Volga 
(Specimen  No.  52067,  U.S.N.M.);  at  Tambov  and  Spask,  where  the 
overlying  rock  is  a  greensand  in  place  of  the  chalk;  Moscow;  east  of 
Novgorod,  on  the  Msta;  at  Kiev,  on  the  Dnieper;  Kamenetz,  Podolsk, 
on  the  Dniester,  and  at  Grodno,  on  the  Niemen. 

Maltese  Islands.* — Nodular  phosphates  occur  in  Miocene  beds  on  the 

1  Recherches  sur  les  Gisements  de  Phosphate  de  Chaux  Fossil  en  Russie. 

2  J.  H.  Cooke,  The  Phosphate  Beds  of  the  Maltese  Island.     Engineering  and  Min- 
ing Journal,  LIV,  1892,  p.  200. 


374 


REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


islands  of  Malta,  Gozo,  and  Comino,  of  the  Maltese  group  in  the  Med- 
iterranean Sea.  The  bed  containing  the  nodules  is  in  what  is  known 
as  the  Globigerina  limestone,  which  underlies  an  upper  coralline  lime- 
stone, greensands,  and  blue  clays,  and  overlies  the  lower  coralline 
limestone.  Upper  and  lower  beds  all  carry  phosphoric  acid  in  small 
amounts.  There  are  four  seams  of  nodules,  the  first  varying  in  differ- 
ent localities  from  9  to  15  inches  in  thickness.  The  second  is  more 
constant  in  character,  averaging  some  2  feet  in  thickness  and  consist- 
ing of  an  aggregate  of  irregularly  shaped  nodules,  intermixed  with 
which  are  considerable  quantities  of  the  phosphatized  remains  of  mol- 
lusks,  corallines,  echinoderms,  crustaceans,  sharks,  whales,  etc.,  the 
whole  being  firmly  bound  together  by  an  interstitial  cement,  composed 
of  foraminiferal  and  other  calcareous  matter  similar  to  that  of  which 
the  overlying  beds  are  made  up.  The  third  seam  is  the  poorest  of  the 
lot  and  consists  of  two  or  more  thin  layers  of  nodules,  none  of  which 
exceeds  3  inches  in  thickness.  Between  this  and  the  fourth  and  lowest 
seam,  which  is  the  most  important  of  all,  is  a  bed  of  rock  some  50  to 
80  feet  in  thickness.  The  seam  averages  some  3£  feet  in  thickness. 
The  nodules  are  of  a  dark-chocolate  color  embedded  in  a  calcareous 
matrix,  from  which  they  are  freed  by  calcination.  The  composition  of 
I,  the  nodules,  and  II,  the  average  composition  of  nodules  and  inter- 
stitial cement,  is  given  below,  from  analyses  by  Drs.  Murray  and 
Blake: 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

Sulphate  of  lime  ... 

2  26 

1  97 

47  14 

61  12 

Phosphate  of  lime  

38  34 

31  66 

Alumina  (A12O3) 

5  98 

10  59 

Oxide  of  iron  (FeaOs)  

o3  83 

Residue  

6  08 

60  87 

Total  

99  80 

100  00 

GUANO,  SOLUBLE  AND  LEACHED. — The  largest  and  best-known  de- 
posits of  unleached  guanos  are  found  on  the  mainland  and  small 
islands  off  the  coasts  of  Peru  and  Bolivia,  where  abundant  animal  life 
and  lack  of  rainfall  have  contributed  to  their  formation  and  pre- 
servation. These  deposits  are  described  as  consisting  mainly  of  the 
evacuations  of  sea  fowl  and  marine  animals,  such  as  flamingoes,  divers, 
penguins,  and  sea  lions.  Mixed  with  these  deposits  are  naturally  more 
or  less  bone  and  animal  matter  furnished  by  the  dead  bodies  of  both 
birds  and  mammals.  The  deposits  vary  indefinitely  in  extent  and 
thickness,  but  have  attained  in  places  a  depth  of  upward  of  100  feet. 
As  a  rule  they  are  more  compact  beneath  than  at  the  surface,  but 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


375 


may  be  readily  removed  by  pick  and  shovel.  The  first  deposits  to  be 
worked  are  stated  by  Penrose  to  have  been  those  of  the  Chincha 
Islands,  off  the  Peruvian  coast.  These  were  practically  exhausted 
as  early  as  1872.  Other  islands  which  have  been  worked  and  com- 
pletely if  not  entirely  stripped  are  those  of  Macabi,  Guanape,  Bal- 
lestas,  Lobos,  Foca,  Pabellon  de  Pica,  Tortuga,  and  Huanillos. 

A  mean  of  21  analyses  of  Macabi  Island  guano,  by  Barral,  ?s  quoted 
by  Penrose,1  showed: 

Nitrogen -. 10. 90 

Phosphates 27.  60 

Potash 2  to  3 

Other  analyses  are  given  in  the  following  table: 


Constituents. 

Angamos,  coast 
of  Bolivia, 
white  guano. 

Bolivian. 

Los 
Patos. 

Island  of 
Elide,  coast  of 
California. 

Organic  matter  
Containing  nitrogen  
Equivalent  in  ammonia. 
Total  phosphates  

70.  21  to  52.  92           23.00 
20.09       14.38             3.38 
24.36       17.44  !          4.10 

13.30       20.95  j        48.60 

I 

32.45 
5.92 

7.  IS 
34.81 

27.  37  to  34.  50 
1.34         6.98 
1  .  62         8.  46 
a  28.  00       31.00 

Constituents. 

l^S:       Mexican         <*$* 
ofTut.      .      COaSt          •EcESfor. 

Falkland 
Islands. 

6.16      13.  05  to  18.  00 
0.28        0.21         3.45 
0.  34        0.  26         4.  19 
48.52        8.00       25.00 

0.7 
0.85 
60.30 

17.  35  to  28.  08 
0.56         2.26 
0.  68         2.  74 
a  21.  46      25.62 

Containing  nitrogen  
Equivalent  in  ammonia. 
Total  phosphates  

a  Containing  sometimes  very  considerable  quantities  of  phosphates  of  alumina  and  the  oxide  of 
iron. 

Aside  from  on  the  islands,  guano  is  found  all  along  the  coast  of  the 
Chilean  province,  of  Tarapaca,  from  Carmarones  Bay  to  the  mouth  of 
the  river  Loa,  there  being  scarcely  a  prominence  or  rock  on  the  shore 
that  does  not  contain  some  guano.  According  to  the  Journal  of  the 
Society  of  Chemical  Industry,2  the  deposits  have  been  known  from  a 
very  early  date.  The  aborigines  of  the  valleys  and  gullies  of  Tarapaca, 
Mamina,  Huatacondo,  Camina,  and  Quisma  were  acquainted  with  the 
fertilizing  qualities  of  guano,  and  they  conveyed  it  from  the  coast  to 
their  farms  on  the  backs  of  llamas. 

The  southern  beds  vary  so  much  in  aspect  and  color  that  it  fre- 
quently requires  an  experienced  eye  to  make  them  out.  Many  of  the 
deposits  are  covered  with  immense  layers  of  sand,  while  others  are 
buried  beneath  a  solid  layer  of  conglomerate.  Guano  is  also  fre- 
quently found  in  the  fissures  and  gullies  which  descend  to  the  sea- 


1  Bulletin  No.  46  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey. 
*  Volume  VI,  1887,  p.  228. 


376  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

shore.  The  richest  and  largest  beds  are  at  Pabellon  de  Pica,  Punta  de 
Lobos,  Huanillos,  and  Chipana. 

Aside  from  the  localities  above  mentioned,  guano  is  found  on  the 
islands  Itschabo,  Possession,  Pamora,  and  Halifax,  off  the  Namagua 
coast  of  Soutn  Africa.  The  material  is  described  as  forming  a  grayish 
brown  powder,  free  from  large  lumps,  and  possessing  a  faint  ammo- 
niacal  odor.  It  carries  from  8  to  14  per  cent  of  nitrogen  and  8  to  12 
per  cent  of  phosphoric  acid.1 

The  West  India  Islands. — Phosphates  belonging  to  the  class  of  leached 
guanos  occur  in  considerable  abundance  on  several  of  the  islands  of  the 
West  Indies  group,  the  principal  localities  being  Sombrero,  Navassa, 
Turk,  St.  Martin,  Aruba,  Curacao,  Orchillas,  Arenas,  Roncador,  Swan, 
Cat  or  Guanahani,  Redonda,  the  Pedro  and  Morant  Keys,  and  the  reefs 
of  Los  Monges  and  Aves  in  Maracaibo  Gulf.  These,  as  would  natu- 
rally be  expected  from  their  mode  of  origin,  vary  greatly,  not  merely 
in  appearances,  but  in  chemical  composition  as  well.  That  of  Sombrero 
is  described 2  as  occurring  in  two  forms— one  a  granular,  porous,  and 
friable  mass  of  a  white,  pink,  green,  blue,  or  yellow  color  (Specimen  No. 
44275,  U.S.N.M.);  the  other  as  a  dense,  massive,  and  homogeneous 
deposit  of  a  white  or  yellow  color.  Many  bones  occur.  The  phosphate 
carries  from  70  to  75  per  cent  phosphate  of  lime.  An  analysis  as  given 
by  Davies3  is  as  follows: 

Moisture  and  water  of  combination 8. 92 

Phosphoric  acid4 31.  73 

Lime 45.  69 

Carbonic  acid 5 5.  99 

Oxide  of  iron  and  alumina 7. 07 

Insoluble  siliceous  matter. . .  .60 


100. 00 


The  Nevassa  phosphate  is  described  by  D'Invilliers6  as  occurring 
(1)  in  the  form  of  a  gray  phosphate  confined  to  the  lower  levels  of  the 
island,  and  (2)  a  red  variety  occupying  the  oval  flat  of  the  interior. 
The  gray  is  the  better  variety,  as  shown  by  the  analyses  below,  though 
both  are  aluminous,  and  difficult  of  manipulation  on  that  account. 
Both  varieties  occur  in  cavities  and  fissures  in  the  surface  of  the  hard 
gray,  white,  or  blue  limestone,  of  which  the  island  is  mainly  composed. 
These  cavities  or  pockets  are  rarely  more  than  4  or  5  yards  wide  on 
the  surface,  and  frequently  much  smaller,  and  of  depths  varying  from 
5  to  25  feet.  The  deposits,  so  far  as  explored,  are  wholly  superficial. 

1  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  I,  1882,  p.  29. 

2  R.  F.  Penrose,  Bulletin  No.  46  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Society . 
8D.  C.  Davies,  Earthy  and  Other  Minerals,  p.  178. 

4  Equal  to  tribasic  phosphate  of  lime,  69.27  per  cent. 

5 Equal  to  carbonate  of  lime,  13*61  per  cent. 

6  Bulletin  of  the  Geological  Society  of  America,  II,  1891,  p.  75-89. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  377 

Experimental  shafts  sunk  to  a  depth  of  250  feet  have  failed  to  bring  to 
light  any  deeper  lying  beds. 

Analysis  of  gray  Navassa  phosphate. 

Water,  at  100  C 2.33     4 

Organic  matter  and  water  of  combination.  7.  63 

Lime 34.  22 

Magnesia .51 

Sesquioxide  of  iron  and  alumina 15.  77 

Potash  and  soda 86 

Phosphoric  acid 31.34 

Sulphuric  acid 28 

Chlorine .15 

Carbonic  acid 1.84 

Silica 4.53 

Bone  phosphate 68. 46 

Bone  phosphate  (dry  basis)  70.  09 

Analysis  of  red  Navassa  phosphate. 

Loss  on  ignition 14.  223 

Lime 23.  090 

Magnesia Trace. 

Sesquioxide  of  iron 9.  796 

Alumina 18.  425 

Phosphoric  acid 29.  779 

Sulphuric  acid 1. 160 

Carbonic  acid  (by  difference) 3. 527 

Bone  phosphate 65.  037 

Specimens  Nos.  10247,  73245-73248,  U.S.N.M.,  show  the  variable 
character  of  the  phosphate  rock,  and  Nos.  73242,  73243,  U.S.N.M.,  the 
associated  coral  work. 

The  Aruba  phosphate  is  described  as  a  hard,  massive  variety  of  a 
white  to  dark-brown  color.  The  underlying  corals  of  this  island  are 
sometimes  found  phosphatized.  An  analysis  given  by  Davies1  is  as 
follows: 

Per  cent. 

Moisture 8. 50 

Water  of  combination 4. 15 

Phosphoric  acid 2 28. 47 

Lime 34. 07 

Magnesia 45 

Carbonic  acid3 2.  30 

Oxide  of  iron 4. 49 

Alumina 9. 48 

Sulphuric  acid 1.  81 

Insoluble  siliceous  matter ...  6.  28 


100. 00 


aD.  C.  Davies,  Earthy  and  Other  Minerals,  p.  177. 

2  Equal  to  tribasic  phosphate  of  lime,  62.15  per  cent. 

3  Equal  to  carbonate  of  lime,  5.22  per  cent. 


378 


BEPOET    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM, 


The  Pedro  Keys,  Redonda,  Alta  Vela,  and  some  others  differ  in  car- 
rying larger  percentages  of  alumina  and  iron  oxides,  necessitating 
special  methods  of  preparation. 

Deposits  of  leached  guano  of  considerable  extent  have  existed  on 
several  islands  of  the  Polynesian  Archipelago,  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  the 
better  known  being  those  of  Bakers,  Rowland,  Jarvis,  Malders, 
Birmie,  Phoenix,  and  Enderbury  islands.  The  deposits  are  described l 
as  varying  from  6  inches  to  several  feet  in  thickness,  of  a  whitish- 
brown  or  red  color,  pulverulent  when  dry,  sometimes  in  the  form  of 
fine  powder  and  again  in  coarse  grains.  Though  closely  compacted, 
the  material  can  as  a  rule  be  readily  removed  by  pick  and  shovel.  The 
purest  varieties  are  those  lying  on  the  unaltered  coral  limestones,  of 
which  the  islands  are  mainly  composed.  Those  lying  upon  gypsum 
have  become  contaminated  with  sulphate  of  lime.  In  places  the 
deposits  are  covered  with  a  thin  crust  due  to  the  action  of  atmospheric 
agencies.  On  Jarvis  Island  a  considerable  share  of  the  deposit  is  covered 
by  material  of  this  crust-like  character.  Such  on  analysis  are  found  to 
contain  less  water  and  a  corresponding  higher  percentage  of  lime  and 
phosphoric  acid  than  the  loosely  compacted  material,  being  indeed,  as 
shown  by  Mr.  Hague,  a  nearly  pure  diphosphate  of  lime.  The  following 
analyses  show  the  general  character  of  these  guanos  from  Bakers  Island, 
No.  I  being  freshly  deposited  and  consisting  of  the  dung  of  the  frigate 
bird  (Pelicamts  aquihis).  No.  II  is  a  light-colored  variety  from  a  deep 
part  of  the  deposit,  and  No.  Ill  dark  guano  from  a  shallow  part. 

Afialyses  of  guano. 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

„,. 

Moisture  expelled  at  212°  F  

10  40 

2  92 

1  82 

Loss  by  ignition  

36  88 

8  32 

Insoluble  in  HC1  (unconsumed  by  ignition). 

0  78 

Lime  

22  41 

42  74 

Magnesia  

Sulphuric  acid  

2  36 

Phosphoric  acid.. 

Carbonic  acid,  chlorine  and  alkalies,  undetermined  

4.44 

2.48 

3.21 

Total  

inn  nn 

Soluble  in  water  remaining  after  ignition  

3  63 

BAT  GUANO. — The  dry  atmosphere  of  caves  preserves  indefinitely  the 
fecal  matter  of  bats  and  such  other  animals  as  may  frequent  them. 
Such  under  favorable  conditions  may  accumulate  in  sufficient  quanti- 
ties to  become  of  economic  importance,  being  gathered  and  used  as  a 
fertilizer  under  the  name  of  bat  guano.  The  usual  form  of  the 

1 J.  D.  Hague,  American  Journal  of  Science,  XXXIV,  1862,  p.  224. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  379 

entrances  to  caves  is,  however,  such  as  to  make  the  process  of  removal 
tedious  and  expensive. 

Bat  guano  is,  as  a  rule,  dark  in  color,  of  a  glossy,  almost  mucilagin- 
ous appearance,  and  quite  hard  (Specimen  No.  53358,  U.S.N.M.,  from 
Goshen  caves,  Juab  County,  Utah).  Its  composition  is  shown  in  the 
following  analysis  of  a  sample  from  the  Wyandotte  caves l  in  southern 
Indiana : 

Loss  at  red  heat 44. 10 

Organic  matter 4. 90 

Ammonia 4. 25 

Silica 6.13 

Alumina 14.30 

Ferric  oxide 1. 20 

Lime 7.95 

Magnesia 1.11 

Sulphuric  acid 5.21 

Carbonic  acid 3.77 

Phosphoric  acid. 1.  21 

Chloride  of  alkalies  and  loss 5.  82 

100.00 

According  to  the  reports  of  the  State  geologist,  the  caves  in  the  Si- 
lurian strata  in  Burnet  County,  Texas,  are  in  many  instances  enor- 
mously rich  in  bat  guano.  The  following  description  of  one  of  these 
caves  is  taken  from  the  report  for  1889: 

The  bat  cave  in  the  northwest  corner  of  Burnet  County  is  worked  by  a  Georgia 
company,  and  I  learn  from  the  men  there  that  about  157  tons  of  the  material  had 
been  shipped  up  to  December  20,  1889.  The  shipments  are  made  by  wagon  to 
Lampasas,  Texas,  and  from  there  by  rail  to  Georgia  and  other  parts  of  the  United 
States.  The  cave  is  situated  about  8  miles  from  Bluffton,  going  north  up  Beaver 
Creek.  Near  Lacy  Branch,  a  tributary  of  Beaver  Creek,  about  2  miles  north  of 
Silver  Mine  Creek,  there  is  a  fault  on  the  west  side  of  Beaver  Creek,  in  a  branch 
which  is  called  ' '  Bat  Cave  Hollow. "  Proceeding  from  this  point  in  a  northwest  direc- 
tion for  about  2  miles  we  reach  the  bat  cave,  on  top  of  a  higher  chert  bed.  The  way 
from  Beaver  Creek  to  the  cave  is  constantly  ascending,  first  over  Silurian  limestone 
for  about  1  mile,  when  the  chert  formation  appears.  On  the  top  of  a  chert  hill 
there  is  an  opening  of  about  10  feet  in  diameter,  extending  perpendicularly  down- 
ward for  30  feet,  where,  at  the  north  side  of  this  opening,  there  is  an  entrance  to  the 
cave.  The  cave  has  not  been  measured,  but  I  estimate  its  length  from  north  to 
south  to  be  about  600  yards,  with  as  much  if  not  more  space  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. The  top  of  the  cave,  as  well  as  its  sides,  is  solid  chert,  such  as  occurs  in  all  the 
chert  beds  in  San  Saba  and  all  the  neighboring  counties.  The  guano  bed  in  the  heart 
of  the  cave  has  been  burned,  leaving  the  ashes  at  places  26  feet  deep,  and  not  less 
than  18  feet  at  others.  The  ash  is  not  brought  up,  and  the  supply  of  guano  is  taken 
from  the  surrounding  portions  and  sides  of  the  cave.  As  I  understand,  there  are 
some  leaders  to  the  cave  that  have  not  yet  been  explored,  there  being  plenty  of  ma- 
terial near  the  heart  of  the  cave  for  all  present  requirements.  Five  men  were  em- 
ployed in  digging  and  bringing  out  the  guano  by  means  of  a  rail  track  to  the  surface, 
where  it  is  deposited  upon  a  large  platform  erected  for  that  purpose. 

Geology  of  Indiana,  1878,  p.  163. 


380  EEPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

Muntz  and  Marcano1  have  called  attention  to  the  extensive  deposits 
of  guano,  sometimes  amounting  to  millions  of  tons,  in  caves  in  Vene- 
zuela and  other  parts  of  South  America. 

According  to  them  the  deposits  consists  not  merely  of  the  excreta 
of  the  birds  and  bats  which  frequent  the  caves,  but  also  of  the  dead 
bodies  of  these  and  other  animals.  The  excreta  were  found  to  consist 
almost  wholly  of  the  remains  of  insects.  Through  the  agency  of  bac- 
teria, nitrification  takes  place,  whereby  the  organic  nitrogen  is  con- 
verted in  nitric  acid  which  combines  with  the  lime  from  the  bones  or 
the  carbonate  of  lime  in  the  soils  to  form  nitrates,  as  described  on 
page  391. 

JJses. — The  phosphates  of  the  classes  thus  far  described  are  used 
wholly  for  fertilizer  purposes.  In  their  natural  condition  they  exist 
in  the  form  known  to  chemists  as  tribasic  phosphates — that  is  a  com- 
pound in  which  three  atoms  of  a  base  mineral,  usually  calcium,  are 
combined  with  one  of  phosphoric  anhydride  (P2O5).  Thus  the  com- 
mon tribasic  .phosphate  of  lime  has  the  formula  (CaO)3  P2O5  (—  45.81 
parts  by  weight  P2O5  and  54.19  CaO).  Other  bases,  as  alumina,  iron, 
or  magnesia,  may  partially  replace  the  lime,  but  the  phosphate  is 
always  deteriorated  thereby.  This  is  particularly  the  case  when  alu- 
minum and  iron  are  the  replacing  constituents.  Although  when  finely 
ground  the  tricalcic  phosphates  are  of  value  for  fertilizers,  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  first  submit  them  to  chemical  treatment  in  order  to  render 
them  more  readily  soluble. 

This  treatment  consists,  as  a  rule,  in  converting  them  into  a  super- 
phosphate by  treatment  with  sulphuric  acid  whereby  a  portion  of  the 
base  becomes  converted  into  sulphates  and  the  anhydrous  and  insoluble 
tribasic  phosphate  into  a  hydrous  and  soluble  monobasic  form  of  the 
formula  CaO.  (H2O)2.  P2O5.  There  are  other  reactions  than  those 
above  given,  but  the  process  is  one  too  complicated  for  discussion  here, 
and  the  reader  is  referred  to  especial  treatise  on  the  subject. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

R.  A.  F.  PENROSE,  Jr.  Nature  and  Origin  of  Deposits  of  Phosphate  of  Lime.     Bul- 
letin No.  46,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1888,  pp.  143.     Gives  a  bibliography,  up 
to  date,  of  publication.     The  following  have  appeared  since: 
W.  H.  ADAMS.  List  of  Commercial  Phosphates. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVIII,  1889, 
p.  649. 
JOHN  D.  FROSSARD.  About  some  Apatite  Deposits  of  Ontario. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  VIII,  1889,  p.  194. 

PAUL  LEVY.  Des  phosphates  de  chaux.  De  leurs  principaux  gisements  en  France  et 
al'etranger  des  gisements  re"cemment  de"couvertes.  Utilisation  en  agriculture; 
assimilation  par  les  plants. 

Annales  des  Sciences  Geologique,  XX,  1889,  p.  78. 

1Comptes  Rendus  de  1'Academie  des  Sciences,  Paris,  1885,  p.  65. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEEALS.  381 

THEODOR  DELMAR.    Das   Phosphoritlager  von   Steinbach  und  allgemeine  Gesicht- 
spunkte  iiber  Phosphorite. 

Vierteljahrschrift  der  Naturforschenden  Gessellschaft  in  Zurich,  1890,  p.  182. 
HENRI  LASNE.  Sur  les  Terrains  phosphates  des  environs  de  Doullens.     Etage  S^no- 
nien  et  Terrains  superposes. 

.  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Geologique  de  France,  XVIII,  1890,  p.  441. 
Idem,  XX,  1892,  p.  211. 
Idem,  XXII,  1894,  p.  345. 
ALBERT  R.  LEDOUX.  The  Phosphate  Beds  of  Florida. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  XLIX,  1890,  p.  175. 

HJALMAR  LUNDBOHM.  Apatitforekomster  I  Gellivare  Malmberg  och  Kringliggande 
Trakt. 

Sveriges  Geologiska  Undersokning,  ser.  C,  1890,  pp.  48. 
X.  STAINIER.  L6s  depots  phosphates  des  environs  de  Thuillies. 

Annales  de  la  Societe  Geologique  Belgique,  XVII,  1890,  p.  LXVI. 

.  Les  Phosphorites  du  Portugal. 

Idem.,  p.  223. 

WALTER  B.  M.  DAVIDSON.  Suggestions  as  to  the  origin  and  deposition  of   Florida 
phosphates. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LI,  1891,  p.  628. 
EDWARD  V.  D'!NVILLIERS.  Phosphate  Deposits  of  the  Island  of  Navassa. 

Bulletin  of  the  Geological  Society  of  America,  II,  1891,  p.  75. 
N.  DE  MARCY.  Remarques  sur  les  Gites  de  Phosphate  de  Chaux  de  la  Picardie. 

Buletin  de  la  Societe  Geologique  de  France,  XIX,  1891,  p.  854. 
EUGENE  A.  SMITH.  Phosphates  and  Marls  of  Alabama. 

Bulletin  No.  2,  Geological  Survey  of  Alabama,  1892. 

W.  DE  L.  BENEDICT.  Mining,  Washing,  and  Calcining  South  Carolina  Land  Phos- 
phate. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LIII,  1892,  p.  349. 
JOHN  H.  COOKE.  The  Phosphate  Beds  of  the  Maltese  Islands. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LIV,  1892,  p.  200. 

WALTER  B.  M.  DAVIDSON.  The  Present  Formation  of  Phosphatic  Concretions  in 
Deep-Sea  Deposits. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LIII,  1892,  p.  499. 
D.  C.  DAVIES.  Phosphate  of  Lime. 

Chaps.  VII,  VIII,  IX,  X,  pp.  109-180,  of  A  Treatise  on  Earthy  and  other 
Minerals  and  Mining,  3d  ed.,  revised  by  E.  Henry  Davies,  London,  Crosby, 
Lockwood  &  Son,  1892. 
H.IALMAR  LUNDBOHM.  Apatitforekomster  I  Norrbottens  Malmberg. 

Sveriges  Geologiska  Undersokung,  ser.  C,  1892,  p.  38. 

N.  A.  PRATT.  Florida  Phosphates;  The  Origin  of  the  Boulder  Phosphates  of  the  With- 
lacoochee  River  District. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LIII,  1892,  p.  380. 
FRANCIS  WYATT.  Phosphates  of  America. 

New  York,  4th  ed.,  1892. 
W.  P.  BLAKE.  Association  of  Apatite  with  Beds  of  Magnetite. 

Transactions  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XXI,  1893,  p.  159. 
— .  Contribution  to  the  Early  History  of  the  Industry  of  Phosphate  of  Lime  in 
the  United  States. 
Idem.,  p.  157. 

A.  GAUTIER.  Sur  des  phosphates  en  roche  d'origine  animale  et  sur  un  nouveau  de 
phosphorites. 

Comptes  Rendus,  CXVI,  1893,  pp.  928  and  1022. 


382  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

A.  GAUTIER.  Sur  la  genese  des  phosphates  naturels,  et  en  Particulier  de  ceux  qui  ont 
emprunte  leur  phosphore  aux  etres  organises. 

Comptes  Rendus,  CXVI,  1893,  p.  1271. 

J.  GOSSELET.  Note  sur  les  gites  du  Phosphate  de  Chaux  de  Templeux-Bellicourt  et 
de  Buire. 

Societe  Geologique  du  Nord,  XXI,  1893,  p.  2. 
— .  Note  sur  les  gites  de  Phosphate  de  Chaux  des  environs  de  Fresnoy-le-Grand. 

Idem.,  p.  149. 
THOMAS  M.  CHATARD.  Phosphate  Chemistry  as  it  concerns  the  Miner. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XXI,  1893,  p.  160. 
GEO.  H.  ELDRIDGE.  A  Preliminary  Sketch  of  the  Phosphates  of  Florida. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XXI,  1893,  p.  196. 
CHARLES  HELSON.  Notes  sur  la  nature  et  le  gisement  du  phosphate  de  chaux  naturel 
dans  les  departments  du  Tarn-et-Garonne  et  du  Tarn. 
Societe  Geologique  du  Nord,  XXI,  1893,  p.  246. 

WALTER  B.  M.  DAVIDSON.  Notes  on  the  Geological  Origin  of  Phosphate  of  Lime  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XXI,  1893,  p.  139. 
WILLIAM  B.  PHILLIPS.  A  List  of  Minerals  containing  at  least  one  per  cent  of  Phos- 
phoric Acid. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XXI,  1893,  p.  188. 
H.  B.  SMALL.  The  Phosphate  Mines  of  Canada. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XXI,  1893,  p.  774. 
JOHN  STEWART.  Laurentian  Low-Grade  Phosphate  Ores. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  Mining  Engineers,  XXI,  1893,  p.  176. 
CARROLL  D.  WRIGHT.  The  Phosphate  Industry  of  the  United  States. 

Sixth  Special  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor,  1893.  Washington:  Gov- 
ernment Printing  Office. 

M.  BLAYAC.  Description  Geologique  de  la   Region  des  Phosphates  du  dyr  et  du 
Kouif  Pres  Tebessa. 

Annales  des  Mines,  VI,  1894,  p.  319. 

— .  Note  sur  les  Lambeaux  Suessoniens  a  Phosphate  de€haux  de  Bordj  Redir  et 
du  Djebel  Mzeita. 
Idem.,  p.  331. 
EUGENE  A.  SMITH.  The  Phosphates  and  Marls  of  the  State.     Report  on  the  Geology 

of  the  Costal  Plain  of  Alabama,  1894,  pp.  449-525. 

A.  GAOTIER.  Sur  un  Gisement  de  Phosphates  de  Chaux  et  d'Alumine  contenant  des 
especes  rares  ou  nouvelles  et  sur  la  Genese  des  Phosphates  et  Nitres  naturels. 

Annales  des  Mines,  V,  1894,  p.  5. 
THOMAS  C.  MEADOWS  and  LYTLE  BROWN.  The  Phosphates  of  Tennessee. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVIII,  1894,  p.  365. 
WILLIAM  B.  PHILLIPS.  The  Phosphate  Rocks  of  Tennessee. 
Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVII,  1894,  p.  417. 

DAVID  LEV  AT.    Etude  sur  1'industrie  des  Phosphates  et  Superphosphates.      (Tunisie- 
Floride-scories  basiques.) 

Annales  des  Mines,  VII,  1895,  p.  135. 
J.  M.  SAFFORD.  Tennessee  Phosphate  Rocks. 

Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  Nashville,  Tennessee,  1895,  p.  16. 
CHARLES  WILLARD  HAYES.  The  Tennessee  Phosphates. 

Extract  from  the  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey, 
1895-96.  Pt.  2,  Economic  Geology  and  Hydrography.  Washington:  Govern- 
ment Printing  Office.  1896. 

M,  BADOUSEAU.  Sur  les  gisements  de  chaux  phosphates  de  1'Estremadure. 
Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Centrale  Agriculture  de  France,  XXXVIII. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEBALS. 


2.    MONAZITE. 


383 


Composition,  a  phosphate  of  cerium  metals  of  the  general  formula 
(Ce,  La,  Di)  PO4.  Actual  analyses  as  given  by  Dana  yielded  results 
as  below: 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

Phosphoric  anhydride  (PoOs) 

29.28 

27.55 

Cerium  sesquioxide  (Ce»O3)  

31.38 

29.20 

}    30.88 

26.26 

Yttrium  sesquioxide  (Y2O3) 

3  82 

1.13 

Silica  (SiO2)  

1.40 

Thorina  (ThOa) 

6.49 

9.57 

Lime  (CaO)          '.  

0.69 

Ignition 

0  20 

0  52 

Total                               

99.63 

100  60 

I  Burke  County,  North  Carolina. 


IIArendal,  Norway. 


The  crystals  are  commonly  minute,  often  flattened;  not  uncom- 
monly in  form  of  small  cruciform  twins.  The  mineral  also  occurs  in 
coarse  masses  yielding  angular  fragments.  Hardness,  5  to  5.5;  spe- 
cific gravity,  4.9  to  5.3.  Color,  hyacinth-red  to  brown  and  yellowish, 
subtransparent  to  translucent. 

Localities  and  mode  of  occurrence. — The  common  form  of  occurrence 
of  the  mineral  is  that  of  minute  crystals  or  crystalline  granules  dis- 
seminated throughout  the  mass  of  gneissoid  rocks.  Owing  to  their 
small  size  they  have  been  very  generally  overlooked,  and  it  is  only 
where,  through  the  decomposition  of  the  inclosing  rock  and  the  con- 
centration of  these  and  the  accompanying  heavy  minerals — as  magne- 
rtite,  garnet,  etc. — in  the  form  of  sand,  that  it  becomes  sufficiently 
conspicuous  to  be  evident.  Prof.  O.  Derby  was  the  first  to  point  out 
the  widespread  occurrence  of  the  mineral  as  a  rock  constituent,  he 
having  obtained  it  in  numerous  and  hitherto  unsuspected  localities  by 
washing  the  debris  from  decomposed  gneisses  of  Brazil.  Although 
widespread  as  a  rock  constituent  and  of  interest  from  a  mineralogical 
and  petrographical  standpoint,  only  the  localities  mentioned  below  have 
thus  far  yielded  the  mineral  in  commercial  quantities. 

North  Carolina. — The  mineral  is  found  in  considerable  quantities  in 
the  form  of  small  brown,  greenish,  or  yellow-brown  granules,  often 
rounded  by  water  action,  in  the  gold-bearing  sands  of  Rutherford, 
Polk,  Alexander,  Burke,  and  McDowell  counties,  and  also  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Crowders  Mountain,  Gaston  County,  and  at  Todds  Branch, 
in  Mecklenburg  County,  where  it  occurs  associated  with  zircons  and 
an  occasional  diamond.  Fine  crystals  over  an  inch  in  length  have  been 
found  in  Mitchell  County,  and  large  cleavable  masses,  sometimes  3  or 


384  KEPOKT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,    1899. 

4  inches  across  and  of  a  yellowish-brown  color,  at  Mars  Hill,  in  Mad- 
ison County.  From  the  gold-bearing  sands  at  Brindleton,  Burke 
County,  some  15  tons  of  sand,  containing  from  60  to  92  percent  of 
small  crystals,  had  been  obtained  prior  to  1891. 

According  to  Mr.  H.  B.  Nitze 1  the  commercially  economical  deposits 
of  monazite  are  those  occurring  in  the  placer  sands  of  the  streams  and 
adjoining  bottoms  and  in  the  beach  sands  along  the  seashore.  The 
geographical  areas  over  which  such  workable  deposits  have  been  found 
up  to  the  present  time  are  quite  limited  in  number  and  extent.  In 
the  United  States  the  placer  deposits  of  North  and  South  Carolina 
stand  alone.  This  area  includes  between  1,600  and  2,000  square  miles, 
situated  in  Burke,  McDowell,  Rutherford,  Cleveland,  and  Polk  coun- 
ties, North  Carolina,  and  the  northern  part  of  Spartanburg  County, 
South  Carolina.  The  principal  deposits  of  this  region  are  found  along 
the  waters  of  Silver,  South  Muddy,  and  North  Muddy  creeks,  and 
Henrys  and  Jacobs  Forks  of  the  Catawba  River  in  McDowell  and  Burke 
counties;  the  Second  Broad  River  in  McDowell  and  Rutherford 
counties;  and  the  First  Broad  River  in  Rutherford  and  Cleveland 
counties,  North  Carolina,  and  Spartanburg  County,  South  Carolina. 
These  streams  have  their  sources  in  the  South  Mountains,  an  eastern 
outlier  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  country  rock  is  granitic  biotite 
gneiss  and  dioritic  hornblende  gneiss,  intersected  nearly  at  right 
angles  to  the  schistosity  by  a  parallel  system  of  small  auriferous 
quartz  veins,  striking  about  N.  70°  E.,  and  dipping  steeply  to  the  N.W. 
Most  of  the  stream  deposits  of  this  region  have  been  worked  for  placer 
gold.  The  existence  of  monazite  in  commercial  quantities  here  was 
first  established  by  Mr.  W.  E.  Hidden,  in  1879.  The  thickness  of 
these  stream  gravel  deposits  is  from  1  to  2  feet,  and  the  width  of  the 
mountain  streams  in  which  they  occur  is  seldom  over  12  feet.  The 
percentage  of  monazite  in  the  original  sand  is  very  variable,  from  an 
infinitesimal  quantity  up  to  1  or  2  per  cent.  The  deposits  are  naturally 
richer  near  the  headwaters  of  the  streams. 

Brazil. — As  above  noted,  the  original  source  of  the  Brazilian  mo- 
nazite were  gneisses  from  which  the  mineral  has  been  liberated  by 
decomposition.  The  particular  localities  examined  by  Professor 
Derby  are  in  the  provinces  of  Minas  Geraes,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  Sao 
Paulo.  The  most  extensive  accumulation  thus  far  reported  is  in  the 
form  of  considerable  patches  on  the  sea  beach  near  the  little  town  of 
Alcobaca  in  the  southern  part  of  the  province  of  Bahia,  though  it 
has  been  also  found  on  other  sea  beaches  and  in  river  sands.  Nitze 
writes  that 

Sacks  filled  with  this  sand  were  shipped  to  New  York  in  1885,  the  deposit  having 
been  taken  for  tin  ore.  Its  true  character  was,  however,  soon  recognized,  and  since 
then  a  number  of  tons  have  been  shipped  in  the  natural  state,  without  any  further 

1  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1894-95,  pt.  4,  p.  685. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  385 

concentration  or  treatment,  as  ballast,  mainly  to  the  European  markets.  It  is 
reported  to  contain  3  to  4  per  cent  thoria.  *  *  *  Monazite  has  also  been  found 
in  the  gold  and  diamond  placers  of  the  provinces  of  Bahia  (Salabro  and  Caravellas), 
Minas  Geraes  (Diamantia),  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  Sao  Paulo.  It  has  been  found  in  the 
river  sands  of  Buenos  Ayres,  Argentine  Republic,  and  also  in  the  gold  placers  of 
Rio  Chico,  at  Antioquia,  in  the  United  States  of  Colombia. 

In  the  Ural  Mountains  of  Russia  monazite  is  found  in  the  Bakakui  placers  of  the 
Sanarka  River.  The  placer  gold  mines  of  Siberia  are  reported  to  be  rich  in  mona- 
zite, which  is  rafted  down  the  Lena  and  the  Yenesei  rivers  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and 
thence  to  European  ports. 

•  Economic  deposits  of  monazite  are  also  reported  to  exist  in  the  pegmatic  dikes  »of 
Southern  Norway.  It  is  picked  by  the  miners  while  sorting  feldspar  at  the  mines. 
It  is  not  known  to  exist  in  placer  deposits.  The  annual  output  is  stated  to  be  not 
more  than  1  ton,  which  is  shipped  mainly  to  Germany. 

Methods  of  extraction. — The  nionazite  is  won  by  washing  the  sand  and  gravel  in 
sluice  boxes  exactly  after  the  manner  that  placer  gold  is  worked.  The  sluice  boxes 
are  about  8  feet  long  by  20  inches  wide  by  20  inches  deep.  Two  men  work  at  a  box, 
the  one  charging  the  gravel  on  a  perforated  plate  fixed  in  the  upper  end  of  the  box, 
the  other  one  working  the  contents  up  and  down  with  a  gravel  fork  or  perforated 
shovel  in  order  to  float  off  the  lighter  sands.  These  boxes  are  cleaned  out  at  the 
end  of  the  day's  work,  the  washed  and  concentrated  monazite  being  collected  and 
dried.  Magnetite,  if  present,  is  eliminated  from  the  dried  sand  by  treatment  with  a 
large  magnet.  Many  of  the  heavy  minerals,  such  as  zircon,  menaccanite,  rutile, 
brookite,  corundum,  garnet,  etc.,  can  not  be  completely  eliminated.  The  com- 
mercially prepared  sand,  therefore,  after  washing  thoroughly  and  treating  with  a 
magnet,  is  not  pure  monazite.  A  cleaned  sand  containing  from  65  to  70  per  cent 
monazite  is  considered  of  good  quality.  From  20  to  35  pounds  of  cleaned  monazite 
sand  per  hand,  that  is,  from  40  to  70  pounds  to  the  box,  is  considered  a  good  day's 
work.  The  price  of  labor  is  75  cents  per  day. 

But  very  few  regular  mining  operations  are  carried  on  in  the  region.  As  a  rule 
each  farmer  mines  his  own  monazite  deposit  and  sells  the  product  to  local  buyers, 
often  at  some  country  store  in  exchange  for  merchandise. 

At  the  present  time  the  monazite  in  the  stream  beds  has  been  practically  exhausted, 
with  few  exceptions,  and  the  majority  of  the  workings  are  in  the  gravel  deposits  of 
the  adjoining  bottoms.  These  deposits  are  mined  by  sinking  pits  about  8  feet  square 
to  the  bed  rock  and  raising  the  gravel  by  hand  labor  to  a  sluice  box  at  the  mouth  of 
the  pit.  The  overlay  is  thrown  away  excepting  in  cases  where  it  contains  any  sandy 
or  gritty  material.  The  pits  are  carried  forward  in  parallel  lines,  separated  by  nar- 
row belts  of  tailing  dumps,  similar  to  the  methods  pursued  in  placer  gold  mining. 

At  the  Blanton  and  Lattimore  mines  on  Hickory  Creek,  2  miles  northeast  of 
Shelby,  Cleveland  County,  North  Carolina,  the  bottom  is  300  to  400  feet  wide,  and  has 
been  partially  worked  for  a  distance  of  one-fourth  of  a  mile  along  the  creek.  The 
overlay  is  from  3  to  4  feet  and  the  gravel  bed  from  1  to  2  feet  thick.  The  methods  of 
mining  and  cleaning  are  much  more  systematic  in  Spartanburg  County,  South  Caro- 
lina, than  in  North  Carolina  regions.  Although  the  raw  material  contains  on  an 
average  fully  as  much  garnet,  rutile,  titanic  iron  ore,  etc.,  as  that  in  the  North  Caro- 
lina mines,  a  much  better  finished  product  is  obtained,  and  more  economically,  by 
making  several  grades.  Two  boxes  are  used  in  washing  the  gravel,  one  below  the 
other.  The  gravel  is  charged  on  a  perforated  plate  at  the  head  of  the  upper  box,  and 
the  clean-up  from  this  box  is  so  thoroughly  washed  as  to  give  a  high  grade  sand, 
often  up  to  85  per  cent  pure.  The  tailings  discharge  directly  into  the  lower  box, 
where  they  are  rewashed,  giving  a  second  grade  sand.  At  times  the  material  passes 
through  as  many  as  five  washing  treatments  in  the  sluice  boxes.  Even  after  these 
grades  are  obtained  as  clear  as  possible  by  washing,  the  material,  after  being  thor- 
NAT  MUS  99 25 


386  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

oughly  dried,  is  further  cleaned  by  pouring  from  a  cup,  or  a  small  spout  in  a  bin, 
in  a  fine,  steady  stream  from  a  height  of  about  4  feet,  on  a  level  platform;  the  lighter 
quartz  and  black  sand  with  the  fine-grained  monazite  (tailings)  falls  on  the  periphery 
of  the  conical  pile  and  is  constantly  brushed  aside  with  hand  brushes;  these  tailings 
are  afterwards  rewashed.  Instead  of  pouring  and  brushing,  the  material  is  sometimes 
treated  in  a  winnowing  machine  similar  to  that  used  in  separating  chaff  from  wheat. 

Although  the  best  grade  of  sand  is  as  high  as  85  per  cent  pure,  its  quantitative 
proportion  is  small  as  compared  with  the  second  and  other  inferior  grades,  and  there 
is  always  considerable  loss  of  monazite  in  the  various  tailings.  It  is  impossible  to 
conduct  this  washing  process  without  loss  of  monazite,  and  equally  impossible  to 
make  a  perfect  separation  of  the  garnet,  rutile,  titanic  iron  ore,  etc. ,  even  in  the  best 
grades.  The  additional  cost  of  such  rewashing  and  rehandling  must  also  be  taken 
into  consideration. 

If  the  material  washed  contains  gold,  the  same  will  be  collected  with  the  mona- 
zite in  concentrating.  It  may  frequently  pay  to  separate  it,  which  can  easily  be 
accomplished  by  treating  the  whole  mass  over  again  in  a  riffle  box  with  quicksilver. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  monazite  occurs  as  an  accessory  constituent  of  the 
country  rock,  and  that  the  latter  is  decomposed  to  considerable  depths,  sometimes 
as  much  as  100  feet.  On  account  of  the  minute  percentage  of  monazite  in  the  mother 
rock,  it  is  usually  impracticable  to  economically  work  the  same  in  place,  by  such  a 
process  as  hydraulicking  and  sluicing,  for  instance.  However,  even  hillside  mining 
has  been  resorted  to.  Such  is  the  case  at  the  Phifer  mine,  in  Cleveland  County, 
North  Carolina,  2  miles  northeast  of  Shelby.  The  country  rock  is  a  coarse  mica 
(muscovite  and  biotite)  gneiss,  and  the  small  monazite  crystals  may  at  times  be 
distinctly  seen,  unaided  by  a  magnifying  glass,  in  this  rock.  It  is  very  little  decom- 
posed and  still  quite  hard,  and  the  material  that  is  mined  for  monazite  is  the  over- 
lying soil  and  subsoil,  which  is  from  4  to  6  feet  thick.  This  is  loaded  on  wheel- 
barrows and  transported  to  the  sluice  boxes  below  the  water  race.  The  yield  is 
fairly  good,  and  the  product  very  clean,  though  the  cost  of  working  *  *  *  must 
be  considerably  iii  excess  of  that  of  bottom  mining.  Where  the  rock  contains  suf- 
ficient gold,  as  it  sometimes  does,  to  be  operated  as  a  gold  mine,  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  monazite  can  not  be  saved  as  a  valuable  by-product.1 

The  following  localities  are  represented  in  the  Museum  collec- 
tions: 

Specimen  No.  53107, U.S.N.M.  Prado,  Bahia,  Brazil.     Monazite-bearing  sand  from 

the  bed  of  a  small  stream  near  the  beach. 

Specimen  No.  53108,  U.S.N.M.  Monazite  sand,  Prado,  Bahia,  Brazil.     Natural  con- 
centrate of  beach;  represents  the  condition  in  which  much  of  the  material  is 

shipped. 
Specimen  No.  53109,  U.S.N.M.  -Monazite  sand,  Prado,  Bahia,  Brazil.     The  natural 

concentrate  of  the  beach  still  further  concentrated  in  the  batea. 
Specimen  No.  53110,  U.S.N.M.  Monazite  sandstone,  Prado,  Bahia,  Brazil.     A  small 

bit  of  loosely  coherent  standstone,  composed  largely  of  monazite  particles.     Of 

Quaternary   (?)  age,  and  presumably  the  source  of  much  of  the  sand  on  the 

beach. 
Specimen  No.  62568,  U.S.N.M.  Monazite   sand,   with  magnetic   iron  and  other 

impurities.     Henderson  County,  North  Carolina. 
Specimen  No.  63343,  U.S.N.M.  Monazite  sand  from  near  Shelby,  Cleveland  County, 

North  Carolina. 
Specimen  No.  63496,  U.S.N.M.  Monazite  sand,  concentrated,  from  Abbeville,  South 

Carolina. 

1  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1894-95,  Pt.  4,  pp.  686-687. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  387 

s. — The  rare  elements  cerium,  zirconium,  thorium,  yttrium, 
lanthanium,  etc.,  which  are  as  a  rule  associated  with  each  other  in  the 
minerals  cerite,  zircon,  monazite,  samarskite,  etc.,  as  described,  find 
their  commercial  use  not  in  the  form  of  metals,  but  as  oxides  only; 
and  it  is  only  since  the  introduction  of  the  Welsbach  incandescent 
system  of  lighting  that  their  use  in  this  form  has  assumed  any  com- 
mercial importance. 

This  Welsbach  light  consists  of  a  cap  or  hood  to  gas  or  other  burners, 
to  increase  their  illuminating  powers.  The  cap  is  made  of  cotton  or 
other  suitable  material,  impregnated  with  the  oxides  in  proportions  60 
per  cent  zirconia,  20  per  cent  yttria,  and  20  per  cent  lanthanum.  The 
fabric  is  strengthened  and  supported  with  fine  platinum  wire  and 
suspended  in  the  flame.  On  igniting  in  the  flame  the  fabric  is  quickly 
reduced  to  ash,  the  cotton  being  burnt  away  and  the  earthy  matter 
still  retaining  the  form  of  a  cap  or  hood.1 

The  drawback  to  the  use  of  these  oxides  has  been,  it  is  said,2  the 
great  difficulty  in  obtaining  them  in  a  pure  condition.  Several  methods 
have  been  used,  but  usually  with  poor  results,  especially  when  the 
mineral  contains  iron. 

The  demand  for  the  minerals  of  this  group  being  so  limited  there  is 
no  regular  market  price.  The  Mineral  Industry  for  1893  quotes  zir- 
con at  10  cents  a  pound,  monazite  25  cents,  and  samarskite  50  cents. 
It  is  stated  that  1  ton  of  zircon  will  yield  sufficient  zirconia  for  half  a 
million  Welsbach  burners. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

See  paper  on  Monazite,  by  H.  B.  C.  Nitze,  in  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States, 
Part.  4,  of  the  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1894-95,  pp.  667-693. 
This  contains  a  very  satisfactory  bibliography  down  to  date  of  publication.  Also 
see  Les  Terres  Rares  Mineralogie-Properties  Analyse,  by  P.  Truchot.  Carre  et  Naud. 
Paris,  1898. 

3.  VANADINITE. 

This  is  a  vanadinate  and  chloride  of  lead  of  the  formula  (PbCl) 
PbtV3O12,= Vanadium  pentoxide  19.4  per  cent;  lead  protoxide  78.7  per 
cent;  chlorine  2.5.  In  nature  often  more  or  less  impure  through  the 
presence  of  arsenic  and  traces  of  iron,  manganese,  zinc,  and  lime. 
Color  deep  red  to  brown  and  straw-yellow,  resinous  luster;  translucent 
to  opaque.  Hardness  2.75  to  3.  Gravity  6.66  to  7.23.  When  a  drop 
of  nitric  acid  is  applied  to  a  particle  of  a  costal  there  is  soon  formed 
a  yellow  coating  of  vanadic  oxide.  This  reaction  is  quite  characteristic 
and  furnishes  an  easy  and  convenient  means  of  determination. 

Localities  and  mode  of  occurrence. — Occurs  in  prismatic  crystals  with 
smooth  faces  and  sharp  edges;  crystals  sometimes  cavernous  at  the  top, 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  V,  1886,  p.  522. 
2  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1885,  p.  393. 


388  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

as  in  Specimen  No.  61135,  U.S.N.M.  Also  common  in  parallel  grouped 
and  rounded  forms  and  globular  incrustations.  Dana  gives  the  fol- 
lowing relative  to  the  known  localities: 

This  mineral  was  first  discovered  at  Zimapan  in  Mexico,  by  Del  Rio.  Later 
obtained  among  some  of  the  old  workings  at  Wanlockhead  in  Dumfriesshire,  where 
it  occurs  in  small  globular  masses,  on  calamine,  and  also  in  small  hexagonal  crystals; 
also  at  Berezov  in  the  Ural,  with  pyromorphite;  and  near  Kappel  in  Carinthia,  in 
crystals;  at  Undenas,  Bolet,  Sweden;  in  the  Sierra  de  Cordoba,  Argentine  Republic; 
South  Africa. 

In  the  United  States  it  occurs  sparingly  with  wulfenite  and  pyromorphite  as  a 
coating  on  limestone,  near  Sing  Sing,  New  York.  In  Arizona  it  is  found  at  the 
Hamburg,  Melissa,  and  other  mines  in  Yuma  County,  in  brilliant  deep  red  crystals; 
Vulture,  Phoenix,  and  other  mines  in  Maricopa  County;  at  the  Black  Prince  mine; 
also  the  Mammoth  gold  mine,  near  Oracle,  Final  County,  and  in  brown  barrel  - 
shaped  crystals  in  the  Humbug  district,  Yavapai  County.  In  New  Mexico  it  is 
found  at  Lake  Valley,  Sierra  County  (endlichite);  and  the  Mimbres  mines  near 
Georgetown  [Specimen  No.  67844,  U.S.N.M.]. 

The  characteristic  mode  of  occurrence  at  the  Mimbres  Mine,  above 
noted,  is  associated  with  descloizite  in  the  form  of  small  hopper-shaped 
crystals  and  drusy  or  botryoidal  and  globular  masses  coating  the 
siliceous  residues  of  the  limestone  in  the  irregular  cavities  with  which 
the  stone  abounds.  The  color  of  these  coatings  varies  from  beautiful 
ruby  red  to  light  ocherous  yellow.  The  mineral  is  here  nearly  always 
associated  with  descloizites  as  noted  below. 

Uses. — See  under  descloizite. 

4.  DESCLOIZITE. 

This  is  a  vanadinate  of  lead  and  zinc  of  the  formula  4:  (PbZn)  O. 
V2O5,  H2O  =  vanadum  pentoxide  22.7  per  cent;  lead  protoxide  55.4 
per  cent;  zinc  oxide  19.7  per  cent;  water  2.2  per  cent.  The  published 
analyses  show  also  small  amounts  of  arsenic,  copper,  iron,  manganese 
and  phosphorus.  Color,  red  to  brown;  luster,  greasy;  no  cleavage; 
fracture  small  conchoidal  to  uneven.  Occurs  in  small  prismatic  or 
pyramidal  crystals  and  in  fibrous,  mamillated  or  massive  forms. 
Often  associated  with  and  pseudomorphous  after  vanadinite. 

Localities  and  mode  of  occurrence. — Dana  gives  the  following  rela- 
tive to  occurrence: 

Occurs  in  small  crystals,  1  to  2  millimeters  thick,  clustered  on  a  siliceous  and 
ferruginous  gangue  from  South  America,  at  the  Venus  Mine  and  other  points  in  the 
Sierra  de  Cordoba,  Argentine  Republic,  associated  with  acicular  green  pyromor- 
phite, vanadinite,  etc.  At  Kappel,  in  Carinthia,  in  small  clove-brown  rhombic 
octahedrons. 

******* 

Sparingly  at  the  Wheatley  Mine,  Phoenixville,  Pennsylvania,  as  a  thin  crystalline 
crust  on  wulfenite,  quartz,  and  a  ferruginous  clay.  Abundant  at  the  Sierra  Grande 
Mine,  Lake  Valley,  Sierra  County,  New  Mexico,  in  red  to  nearly  black  crystals, 
pyramidal  and  prismatic  in  habit,  associated  with  vanadinite,  iodryite,  etc.;  at  the 
Mimbres  and  other  mines,  near  Georgetown,  New  Mexico,  in  stalactitic  crystalline 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  389 

aggregates  [Specimen  No.  67844,  U.S.N.M.].  In  Arizona  near  Tombstone,  in  Yavapai 
County,  in  brownish  olive-green  crystals;  at  the  Mammoth  Gold  Mine,  near  Oracle, 
Final  County,  in  orange-red  to  brownish  red  crystals  with  vanadinite  and  wulfenite. 
A  vanadinite,  probably  identical  with  descloizite,  occurs  at  the  Mayflower  Mine, 
Bald  Mountain  district,  in  Beaverhead  County,  Montana;  it  is  in  an  impure  earthy 
form  of  a  dull  yellow  to  pale  orange  color.  See  further  under  Carnotite,  p.  404. 

Vanadium  is  also  found  in  small  quantities  in  certain  Swedish  iron 
ores;  in  the  cupriferous  schists  of  Mansfeld,  Saxony;  in  cuprifer- 
ous sands  of  Cheshire,  England,  and  Perm,  Russia;  in  coals  from 
various  localities;  in  beauxite  and  in  clay  near  Paris.  As  stated  by 
Fuchs  and  De  Launey,1  vanadium  has  been  shown  to  exist  in  extremely 
small  proportions  in  primordial  rocks,  from  which  it  became  concen- 
trated in  the  clays  on  their  breaking  up.  Certain  oolitic  iron  ores 
(limonites)  at  Mafenay,  Saone  et  Loire,  France,  contain  the  substance 
in  such  proportions  that  the  slag  from  their  smelting  have  become 
commercial  sources  of  supply,  some  60,000  kilograms  of  vanadic  acid 
being  manufactured  annually  from  them. 

The  following  referring  to  the  occurrence  and  value  of  vanadinates 
in  the  United  States  is  of  sufficient  interest  to  bear  reproduction  here: 

The  lead  vanadates  are  frequently  found  in  association  with  lead  ores,  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  deposits  at  Leadville,  whence  some  very  handsome  specimens  were 
formerly  obtained.  The  most  important  occurrence  of  lead  vanadates  in  the  United 
States,  however,  is  probably  in  Arizona,  where  it  has  been  reported  in  the  ores  of 
several  mines,  among  others  those  of  the  Castle  Dome  district,  the  Crowned  King 
mine  in  the  Bradshaw  Mountains,  and  the  Mammoth  gold  mines  at  Mammoth,  in 
Final  County.  The  last-mentioned  mines  are  probably  the  only  ones  in  the  United 
States  from  which  vanadium  minerals  have  been  won  on  an  industrial  scale.  The 
vanadium  minerals,  of  which  nearly  all  the  known  varieties  occurred,  the  dechenite 
and  descloizite  predominating,  were  found  in  the  upper  levels  of  the  mine,  forming 
about  1  per  cent  of  the  ore  on  the  average,  though  within  limited  areas  they  formed 
from  3  to  4  per  cent.  In  the  lower  levels  they  occurred  less  abundantly,  only  an 
occasional  pocket  and  a  small  quantity  of  disseminated  crystals  being  found.  The 
red  crystals,  according  to  an  analysis  by  the  late  Dr.  F.  A.  Genth,  contained  chlorine, 
2.43  per  cent;  lead,  7.08  per  cent;  lead  oxide,  69.98  per  cent;  ferric  oxide,  0.48  per 
cent;  vanadic  acid,  17.15  per  cent;  arsenic  acid,  3.06  per  cent,  and  phosphoric  acid, 
0.29  per  cent.  In  milling  the  ore  (gold)  the  vanadium  minerals  collected  in  riffles, 
placed  about  18  inches  apart  in  the  sluices.  The  material  thus  obtained  was  worked 
over  by  hand  in  a  sort  of  buddle,  and  the  resulting  concentrates  were  sold  to  the 
Kalion  Chemical  Company,  of  Gray's  Ferry  Road,  Philadelphia.  The  total  quantity 
of  concentrates  obtained. in  this  manner  did  not  exceed  6  tons.  An  average  sample 
of  the  lot,  analyzed  by  Dr.  Genth,  gave  the  following  results:  Vanadic  acid,  15.40 
per  cent;  molybdic  acid,  3.35  per  cent;  arsenic  acid,  1.50  per  cent;  carbonic  acid, 
0.90  per  cent;  chlorine,  0.48  per  cent;  oxide  of  lead,  56.80  per  cent;  oxide  of  zinc, 
10.70  per  cent;  oxide  of  copper,  0.95  per  cent;  oxide  of  iron,  0.35  per  cent;  soluble 
silica,  0.60  per  cent;  insoluble  matter,  5.29  per  cent.  The  value  of  the  gold  and 
silver  contents  of  the  concentrates  was  about  $140  per  ton.  The  price  realized  on 
this  first  lot  was  12.5  cents  per  pound,  or  $250  per  ton,  on  board  the  cars  at  Tucson. 

The  vanadic  salts  manufactured  from  this  lot  of  concentrates  were  said  to  have 

1  Trait^  des  Gites  Mineraux,  II,  p.  95. 


390  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

been  the  first  produced  on  a  commercial  scale  in  the  United  States,  and  owing  to  the 
limited  market  for  the  same  the  price  dropped  over  50  per  cent. 

Frue  vanners  were  then  introduced  into  the  mill,  and  the  product  obtained  from 
them,  amounting  to  about  1  ton  per  100  tons  of  ore  crushed,  contained  from  5  to  6 
per  cent  vanadic  acid  and  $40  to  $80  per  ton  in  gold  and  silver.  The  Kalion  Chem- 
ical Company  offered  to  buy  this  product  according  to  the  following  sliding  scale: 
With  the  market  price  of  ammonium  vanadate  $5  per  pound,  $100  per  ton  for  the 
concentrates;  vanadate  of  ammonium  $4.50  per  pound,  concentrates  $92;  vanadate  of 
ammonium  $4  per  pound,  concentrates  $82;  vanadate  of  ammonium  $3.50  per  pound, 
concentrates  $72;  vanadate  of  ammonium  $3  per  pound,  concentrates  $64.  Only  a 
few  tons  of  these  concentrates  were  shipped  to  Philadelphia,  the  remainder  being 
sold  to  the  Denver  smelters  for  their  gold,  silver,  and  lead  value.1 

Uses. — The  only  uses  thus  far  developed  for  the  mineral  are  as  a 
source  for  vanadium  salts  used  as  a  pigment  for  porcelain;  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  ink  and  in  textile  dyeing  and  printing,  both  vanadate  of 
ammonium  and  vanadic  oxide  being  used  for  the  latter  purpose,  pro- 
ducing an  intense  black  color  with  a  slight  greenish  cast. 

5.  AMBLYGONITE. 

This  is  a  fluo-phosphate  of  aluminum  and  lithium,  of  the  formula 
Li  (Al  F)  P  O4.  Analysis  of  a  sample  from  Paris,  Maine,  as  given 
by  Dana,  shows:  Phosphoric  acid,  48.31  per  cent;  alumina,  33.68 
per  cent;  lithia,  9.82  per  cent;  soda,  0.34  per  cent;  potash,  0.03 
per  cent;  water,  4.89  per  cent;  fluorine,  4.82  per  cent;  hardness,  6; 
specific  gravity,  3.01  to  3.09.  Luster  vitreous  to  greasy,  color  white 
to  pale  greenish,  bluish,  yellowish  to  brownish,  streak  white.  On 
casual  inspection  the  mineral  somewhat  resembles  potash  feldspar 
(orthoclase),  but  when  finely  pulverized  is  soluble  in  sulphuric  acid, 
and  less  readily  so  in  hydrochloric  acid.  The  Hebron  variety,  when 
pulverized  and  moistened  with  sulphuric  acid,  gives  the  characteristic 
lithia  red  color  to  the  flame. 

Mode  of  occurrence. — Amblygonite  occurs  in  the  form  of  coarse 
crystals,  or  compact  and  columnar  forms  in  pegmatic  veins  associated 
with  lepidolite,  tourmalines,  and  other  minerals  so  characteristic  of  this 
class  of  veins.  In  the  United  States  it  occurs  at  Hebron  (Specimen 
No.  62576,  U.S. KM.);  Mount  Mica,  in  Paris  (Specimen  No.  53694, 
U.S.N.M.);  Auburn  and  Peru,  Maine,  at  the  latter  place  associated 
with  spodumene,  petalite,  and  lepidolite.  In  Saxony  the  mineral  is 
found  at  Chursdorf  and  Arnsdorf ,  near  Penig,  and  near  Geier.  Also 
found  at  Arendal,  Norway,  and  at  Montebras  and  Creuze,  France. 

Uses. — Since  1886  the  mineral  has  been  utilized  as  a  source  of  lithia 
salts,  in  place  of  the  lithia  mica.  The  chief  commercial  source  is  at 
present  Montebras,  France,  where  it  occurs  in  a  coarse  granitic  vein 
yielding  also  cassiterite  and  kaolin  in  commercial  quantities. 

1  The  Mineral  Industry,  II,  1893,  p.  574. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEBALS. 


391 


6.  TRIPHYLITE  AND  LITHIOPHILITE. 

These  are  names  given  to  phosphates  of  iron,  manganese,  and  lithium, 
and  which  pass  into  one  another  by  insensible  gradations  through 
variations  in  the  proportional  amounts  of  manganese  protoxide,  the 
triphylite  containing  from  10  to  20  per  cent  of  this  oxide,  while  the 
lithiophilite  contains  twice  that  amount.  The  comparative  composition 
of  extreme  types  is  shown  below: 


Name. 

P206. 

FeO. 

MnO. 

Li2O. 

NajjO. 

H20. 

Triphylite  

Lithiophilite 

43.18 
44  67 

36.21 
4  02 

8.% 
40  86 

8.15 
8  63 

0.26 
0  14 

0.87 
0  82 

Triphylite  is  a  gray  to  blue-gray  mineral  in  crystals  and  coarsely 
cleavable  masses  of  a  hardness  of  4.5  to  5  of  Dana's  scale,  and  specific 
gravity  of  3.42  to  3.56. 

Lithiophilite  differs  mainly  in  color — aside  from  composition  as 
above  noted — being  of  a  pink  to  clove-brown  hue.  Both  minerals 
may  undergo  a  darkening  in  color,  becoming  almost  black  through  a 
higher  oxidation  and  l^d  ration  of  the  manganese  protoxide.  This 
feature  is  best  shown  in  the  lithiophilite  from  Branchville,  Connecticut, 
(Specimen  No.  62583,  U.S.N.M.) 

Occurrence. — These  minerals  occur  chiefly  in  granitic  veins,  associated 
with  spodumene  and  other  lithia  bearing  minerals,  as  at  the  localities 
above  mentioned.  Peru,  Hebron,  and  Norway,  Maine;  Keityo,  Fin- 
land, etc. 

IX.  NITRATES. 

There  are  three  compounds  of  nitric  acid  and  a  base  occurring  in 
nature  in  such  quantities  and  of  sufficient  economic  importance  to 
merit  attention  here.  These  are  (1)  the  true  niter  or  potassium  nitrate 
(KNO3),  (2)  soda  niter  or  sodium  nitrate  (NaNO3),  and  (3)  nitrocal- 
cite,  a  calcium  nitrate  (CaN2O6).  All  are  readily  soluble  in  water,  and 
hence  found  in  any  quantity  only  in  arid  regions  or  where  protected, 
as  in  the  dry  parts  of  caves. 

1.  NITER,  POTASSIUM  NITRATE. 

Composition  KNO3,=nitric  anhydride,  53.5  per  cent;  potash,  46.5 
per  cent.  Hardness,  2;  specific*  gravity,  2.1;  color,  white,  subtrans- 
parent.  Readily  soluble  in  water.  Taste,  saline  and  cooling.  Defla- 
grates vividly  when  thrown  on  burning  coals  and  colors  the  flame 
violet. 

The  mineral  occurs  in  nature  mainly  in  the  form  of  acicular  crystals 
and  efflorescences  on  the  surface  or  walls  of  rocks  and  scattered  in  the 
loose  soil  of  limestone  caves  and  similar  dry  and  protected  places. 


392  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

It  is  also  found  in  certain  soils  of  tropical  countries,  as  noted  under 
origin.  In  the  United  States  it  has  been  found  in  caves  of  the  South- 
ern States,  as  those  of  Madison  County,  Kentucky,  but  never  in 
commercial  qualities.  The  chief  commercial  source  of  the  salt  has 
been  the  artificial  nitrates  of  France,  Germany,  Sweden,  and  other 
European  countries.  It  is  also  prepared  artificially  from  soda  niter. 

2.  SODA  NITER. 

Nitrate  of  sodium,  NaNO3.  This  in  its  pure  state  is  a  white  or 
colorless  salt,  but  in  nature  brown  or  bright  lemon  yellow  (See  Speci- 
mens in  jar,  No.  67278,  U.S.N.M.),  of  a  slight  saline  taste,  but  with  a 
peculiar  cooling  sensation  when  placed  upon  the  tongue.  It  is  by 
far  the  most  common  of  the  nitrates,  and  indeed  the  only  one  of  the 
natural  salts  of  any  great  commercial  value,  owing  to  the  comparative 
rarity  of  the  others.  Though  found  to  a  slight  extent  in  caves  and 
protected  places,  the  commercial  supply  is  drawn  almost  wholly  from 
the  desert  regions  of  the  Pacific  coast  of  South  America  and  particu- 
larly from  Chile,  the  chief  deposits  being  found  in  the  provinces  of 
Tarapaca  and  Antofagasta. 

According  to  the  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry: l 

The  total  area  of  the  province  of  Tarapaca  is  16, 789 £  square  miles,  and  it  is  divided 
naturally  into  five  distinct  and  well-defined  zones.  The  first  of  these  zones  com- 
mences on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  and  has  an  average  width,  west  to  east,  of  18  miles. 
It  is  formed,  in  the  first  place,  of  the  beach;  and,  in  the  second,  of  the  coast  range, 
which  attains  an  altitude  varying  from  1,125  to  5,800  feet  above  the  sea  level.  This 
zone  may  be  denominated  the  guano  and  mining  zone.  *  *  *  This  belt  as  it 
advances  eastward  becomes  more  and  more  depressed  and  terminates  in  a  series  of 
pampas  (open  plains) ,  having  an  elevation  of  3,500  to  3,800  feet  above  the  sea  level. 
Nearly  all  these  pampas  contain  vast  beds  of  salts,  sulphate  of  soda,  and  sulphate  of 
lime.  They  are  known  locally  by  the  name  of ' '  salares. ' '  In  some  parts  of  the  desert 
of  Atacama  the  beds  of  nitrate  of  soda  are  found  under  these  salares  deposits,  but 
in  Tarapaca  the  caliche  (nitrate  earth)  is  found  only  under  a  bed  of  conglomerate 
known  as  "costra."  *  *  * 

The  second  zone — the  nitrate  zone — commences  on  the  edge  of  the  Camarones 
Gully  and  extends  southward  to  the  desert  of  Atacama.  Up  to  1858  it  was  believed 
that  the  nitrate  beds  did  not  extend  southward  beyond  the  Loa  Gully,  but  in  that 
year  beds  were  discovered  in  what  was  then  the  Bolivian  littoral.  Explorations 
which  were  effected  in  1872  proved  that  the  nitrate  beds  extended  northward  beyond 
the  Camarones  Gully  and  that  they  reached  as  far  as  the  Chaca  Gully  and  even  as  far 
as  the  Azapa  Valley,  in  the  province  of  Alrica.  *  *  *  The  quantity  and  quality  of 
the  caliche  varies  very  considerably  in  different  parts  of  the  zone,  but  the  dimensions 
of  the  nitrate  area  may  be  set  down  at  120  geographical  miles  in  length  north  to  south, 
and  2  geographical  miles  in  width  east  to  west.  It  is  estimated  that  the  beds  contain 
the  enormous  quantity  of  1,980,630,502  quintals  of  niter,  and  it  is  stated  that  with  the 
present  export  duty  which  is  equal  to  27  pence  per  quintal,  the  deposits  will  yield  a 
revenue  of  £230,809,474. 

'Volume  VI,  1887,  pp.  228,  229. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEKALS. 


393 


It  is  elsewhere  stated  that  the  point  on  the  slope  of  the  mountains 
where  the  deposits  of  caliche  are  found  is  some  500  or  600  feet  higher 
than  the  valley,  but  that  the  material  diminishes  in  quantity  and  rich- 
ness as  the  valley  is  approached  and  disappears  entirely  at  the  bottom. 

An  examination  of  the  workings  of  these  beds  discloses  the  follow- 
ing conditions: 

(1)  That  the  surface  to  the  depth  of  8  or  10  inches  is  covered  with 
a  \ajer  of  fine,  loose  sand. 


Ifctlite   and   Glattberife 

Fig.  12. 

MAP  OF    KITRATE    REGION,  CHILE. 

After  Fuchs  and  De  Launay. 


Nitrate    of  Sodium 


(2)  That  underneath  the  sand  is  a  conglomerate  of  amorphous-por- 
phyry, feldspar,  chloride  of  sodium,  magnesia,  gypsum,  etc. ,  cemented, 
by  the  sulphate  of  lime  into  a  hard,  compact  mass  to  a  depth  of  6  to 
10  feet,  called  the  "costra"  or  crust. 

(3)  That  below  this  crust  the  caliche,  or  impure  nitrate,  is  found, 
presenting  to  the  view  a  variety  of  colors — yellowish-white,  orange, 
bluish-gray,  etc. 


394  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

The  nitrate  deposit  is  quarried  by  blasting  with  a  coarse-grained 
powder,  of  which  as  much  as  150  pounds  are  sometimes  used  at  a 
single  blast.  Neither  dynamite  nor  nitroglycerine  is  used,  as  it 
would  shatter  and  pulverize  the  caliche  so  as  to  occasion  a  serious  loss. 

After  being  brought  to  the  surface  the  caliche  is  carefully  assorted 
by  experts,  broken  into  pieces  double  the  size  of  an  orange,  and  carted 
to  the  refinery  establishment,  situated  on  the  pampas  or  on  the  sea- 
coast,  or  carried  to  Iquique,  Pisagua,  Patillos,  and  Antofagasta  by 
rail,  all  of  these  places  having  connection,  by  narrow-gauge  rail- 
ways, with  the  nitrate  deposits  and  which,  consequently,  are  rapidly 
becoming  the  chief  centers  of  nitrate  production  and  export. 

According  to  the.  reports  of  Consul-General  Walker,  the  southern 
limit  of  the  nitrate  fields  is  in  Antofagasta  province,  latitude  25°  45'  S., 
and  the  northern  in  latitude  19°  12'  S.,  its  extreme  north  and  south 
length  being  some  260  geographical  miles  and  its  average  width  some 
2£  miles. 

This  narrow  strip  of  nitrate  lands  stretches  along  the  eastern  slope 
of  the  coast  range  of  barren,  verdureless  mountains  which  wall  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean  from  the  northern  limit  of  Peru  to  the  Straits  of  Magel- 
lan, upon  which,  for  more  than  2,000  miles,  no  rain  ever  falls  and 
upon  which  there  is  no  living  vegetation.  Some  of  the  peaks  reach 
an  altitude  of  4,000  or  5,000  feet  above  the  sea  level,  but  the  usual 
height  of  the  range  is  about  2,000.  The  average  distance  from  the 
coast  to  the  nitrate  beds  is  about  14  miles,  but  many  of  them  are  not 
more  than  10  miles. 

The  accompanying  map,  p.  393,  from  Fuchs  and  De  Launays,  Traite 
des  Gites  Mineraux,  will  serve  to  show  the  geographic  position  of  the 
deposits. 

Specimen  No.  62111,  U.S.N.M.,  show  the  varying  character  of  the 
material  as  mined. 

3.  NITRO-CALCITE. 

Nitro-calcite,  or  calcium  nitrate,  CaN2O6+^H2O,  is  not  uncommon 
as  a  silky  efflorescence  on  the  floors  and  walls  of  dry  limestone  caverns 
and  may  be  extracted  in  considerable  quantities  from  their  residual  clays 
by  a  process  of  leaching.  During  the  war  of  1812  the  clays  upon  the 
floors  of  Mammoth  Cave,  Kentucky,  were  systematically  leached  and 
the  dissolved  nitrate  obtained  by  evaporation  and  crystallization.  The 
wooden  tanks  and  log  pipes  for  conducting  the  water  are  still  in  a 
remarkable  state  of  preservation,  owing  to  the  dry  air  of  the  cavern. 

The  nitrous  earths  of  Wyandotte  Cave  in  southern  Indiana,  and 
doubtless  of  other  localities,  were  similarly  treated  during  these  times 
of  temporary  stringency.  (See  Specimens  Nos.  68165, 68166,U.S.N.M. 
in  cave  exhibit.) 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  395 

According  to  the  reports  of  the  State  geologist1  this  earth,  in  its 
air-dry  condition,  has  the  following  composition: 

Loss  at  red  heat 16. 50 

Silica 20.60 

Ferric  oxide 6. 03 

Manganic  oxide 0.  75 

Alumina 20. 40 

Lime 8.06 

Magnesia 4. 58 

Carbonic  acid 10. 38 

Sulphuric  acid 6. 55 

Phosphoric  acid 2. 43 

Nitric  acid 3. 50 

Chlorides  of  alkalies  and  loss...  0.  32 


100.10 

The  researches  of  Muntz  and  Marcano 2  have  shown  that  the  soils  as 
well  as  the  earth  from  the  floor  of  caves,  in  Venezuela  and  other  por- 
tions of  South  America  may  be  rich  in  calcium  nitrate  to  an  extent 
quite  unknown  in  other  countries. 

Origin. — The  source  of  the  nitrates,  both  of  caves  and  of  the  Chilean 
pampas  has  been  a  subject  of  considerable  discussion.  There  appears 
little  doubt  but  the  deposits  in  caves  and  those  disseminated  in  .soils 
are  due  to  the  nitrifying  agencies  of  bacteria  acting  upon  organic  matter 
whereby  the  organic  nitrogen  is  converted  into  nitric  acid  which  imme- 
diately combines  with  the  most  available  bases,  be  they  of  lime,  soda, 
or  potash.  The  accumulation  of  the  niter  in  caves  is  probably  due,  as 
suggested  by  W.  H.  Hess  (see  Bibliography),  to  the  retention  by  the 
clay  of  the  nitrates  brought  in  from  the  surface  by  percolating  waters. 

In  other  words,  the  caves  serve  merely  as  receptacles,  or  store- 
houses, for  nitrates  which  had  their  origin  in  the  surface  soil.  The 
Chilean  nitrate  beds  are  considered  by  Muntz  and  Marcano  as  having  a 
very  similar  origin.  The  material  being  soluble  is  gradually  leached 
out  from  the  soils  in  which  it  originated  and  drained  into  inclosed 
salt  marshes  or  inland  seas  where  a  double  decomposition  takes  place 
between  the  sodium  chloride  and  calcium  nitrate,  whereby  sodium 
nitrate  and  calcium  chloride  are  produced.  That  such  a  double 
decomposition  may  take  place  has  been  shown  by  actual  experiment. 

This  is  not  widely  different  from  the  view  taken  also  by  W.  Newton.3 

After  discussing  briefly  theories  previously  advanced  including 
Darwin's  theory  of  derivation  from  decomposing  seaweeds  accumu- 
lated on  old  sea  beaches,  and  the  even  less  plausible  one  of  its  deriva- 
tion from  guano,  he  goes  on  to  show  that  the  plain  of  Tamarugal 

1  Geological  Keport  of  Indiana,  1878,  p.  163. 

2Comptes  Rendus  de  1' Academic  des  Sciences,  CI,  Paris,  1885,  p.  1265. 

3  Geological  Magazine,  III,  1896,  p.  339. 


396  KEPORT   OF    NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

within  which  the  deposits  lie,  is  covered  by  an  alluvial  soil  rich  in 
organic  matter.  This  organic  matter  under  the  now  well-known  action 
of  bacteria,  aided  by  the  prevailing  high  temperatures  of  the  region, 
gives  rise  to  nitrates,  which  owing  to  the  absence  of  rains  for  long 
periods,  accumulates  to  an  extent  impossible  under  less  favorable 
circumstances.  Mountain  floods  which  occur  at  periods  of  seven  or 
eight  years,  swamp  the  plain,  bringing  in  solution  the  nitrate  drained 
from  the  soils  of  the  surrounding  slope,  and  to  accumulate  in  the 
lower  levels.  On  the  evaporation  of  the  water  this  is  again  depos- 
ited. The  occurrence  of  the  nitrate  so  far  up  the  slope  of  the  hills  is 
regarded  by  Newton  as  due  to  the  tendency  of  the  nitrate  salt,  in 
saturated  solutions,  to  creep  up,  as  in  experiment  it  may  be  seen  to 
creep  up  and  over  the  sides  of  a  saucer  or  other  shallow  dish  in  which 
the  evaporation  is  progressing. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

M.  A.  MTJNTZ.     Recherches  sur  la  formation  des  gisements  de  nitrate  de  soude. 

Comptes  Rendus  de  1'Academie  des  Sciences,  CI,  1885,  p.  1265. 
ROBERT  HARVEY.     Machinery  for  the  Manufacture  of  Nitrate  of  Soda. 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  IV,  1885,  p.  744. 
RALPH  ABERCROMBY.     Nitrate  of  Soda,  and  the  Nitrate  Country. 

Nature,  XL,  1889,  p.  186. 
.     The  Nitrate  Deposits  and  Trade  of  Chile. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  L,  August  9,  1890,  p.  164. 
NICOLAS  RUSCHE.     Die  Saltpetrewiiste  in  Chile. 

Vom  Pels  zum  Meer,  pt.  4,  1891-2. 
G.  M.  HUNTER.     The  Santa  Isabel  Nitrate  Works,  Toco,  Chile. 

Transactions  of  the  Institute  of  Engineers  and   Shipbuilders  of  Scotland, 
XXXVI,  p.  57. 
WILLIAM  NEWTON.    The  Origin  of  Nitrate  in  Chile. 

The  Geological  Magazine,  I  [I,  1896,  p.  339. 
W.  H.  HESS.     The  Origin  of  Nitrates  in  Caves. 

Journal  of  Geology,  VIII,  No.  2,  1900,  p.  129. 

X.  BORATES. 

Of  the  ten  or  more  species  of  natural  borates  but  three,  or  possibly 
four,  are  commercial  sources  of  borax,  and  need  consideration  here. 
These  are,  (1)  borax  or  tincal;  (2)  ulexite,  or  boronatrocalcite;  (3) 
priceite,  colemanite,  or  pandermite,  and  (4)  boracite,  or  stassfurtite. 
Sassolite,  or  native  boric  acid,  occurs  chiefly  in  solution.  The  inti- 
mate association  of  these  minerals  renders  it  advisable  to  treat  of  their 
origin  and  mode  of  extraction  in  common,  after  giving  the  composition 
and  general  physical  characters  of  each  by  itself. 

1.  BORAX  OR  TINCAL;  BORATE  OF  SODA. 

Composition  Na2B,O7.10H2O,= boron  trioxide,  36.6  per  cent;  soda, 
16.2  per  cent;  water,  47. 2  per  cent.  Color,  white  to  grayish,  and 
sometimes  greenish;  translucent  to  opaque.  It  crystallizes  in  short, 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  397 

stout  prisms,  belonging  to  the  monoclinic  system  (Specimen  No.  15514, 
U.S.N.M.)  Hardness,  2  to  2.5;  specific  gravity,  1.7.  Readily  soluble 
in  water;  taste  sweetish  alkaline. 

2.  ULEXITE;  BORONATROCALCITE. 

Composition  NaCaB5O9.8H2O,—  boron  tri oxide,  43  per  cent;  lime, 
13.8  per  cent;  soda,  7.7  per  cent;  water,  35.5.  Color,  white,  with  silky 
luster.  Occurs  usually  in  rounded  masses  of  loose  texture,  which  con- 
sist mainly  of  fine  acicular  crystals  or  fibers.  (See  Specimen  No. 
18128,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Rhodes  Marsh,  Nevada.)  Insoluble  in  cold 
water,  and  only  slightly  so  in  hot,  the  solution  being  alkaline.  Hard- 
ness, 1;  specific  gravity,  1.65. 

3.  GOLEM ANITE. 

Composition  Ca2B6On. 5H2O,—  boron  .trioxide,  50.9  per  cent;  lime, 
27.2  per  cent;  water,  21.9  per  cent.  Color,  milky  to  yellowish- white, 
or  colorless;  transparent 'to  translucent.  Hardness,  4  to  4.5;  specific 
gravity,  2.41.  Insoluble  in  water,  but  readily  so  in  hot  hydrochloric 
acid.  Priceite  and  pandermite  are  hydrous  calcium  borates  closely 
allied  to  colemanite,  occurring  in  loosely  coherent  and  chalky  or  mas- 
sive forms.  (Specimen  No.  63362,  U.S.N.M.). 

4.  BORACITE  OR  STASSFURTITE  ;  Bo  RATE  OF  MAGNESIA. 

Composition  Mg7Cl2B16O30,=  boron  trioxide,  62.5  per  cent;  mag- 
nesia, 31.4  per  cent;  chlorine,  7.9  per  cent.  Color,  white  to  yellow  or 
greenish.  In  crystals  transparent  to  translucent.  Crystals  cubic  and 
tetrahedral.  Insoluble  in  water;  readily  soluble  in  hydrochloric  acid. 
Hardness,  7;  specific  gravity,  2.9 to  3.  (Specimen  No.  64742,  U. S.N.M. , 
from  Stassfurt.) 

Localities  and  mode  of  occurrence. — As  has  been  stated  by  Kemp1 
the  Great  Basin  region  of  the  United  States  contains,  along  the  Nevada- 
California  border  at  least  ten  salines  or  marshes  which  have  been  found 
to  hold  boracic  deposits.  The  marshes  are  regarded  as  the  beds  of 
relatively  restricted  lakes  which  received  boracic  water,  probably  from 
hot  springs.  Volcanic  phenomena  are  abundant  and  were  doubtless 
the  stimulating  causes.  Besides  borax,  ulexite  (borate  of  lime  and 
soda)  and  priceite  (borate  of  lime)  are  found  commingled  with  more 
or  less  gypsum,  carbonate,  chloride,  and  sulphate  of  soda  and  various 
other  alkaline  salts.  The  best  known  of  the  salines  in  Nevada  are 
Teels  Marsh,  Columbus  Marsh,  Fish  Lake  Valley,  and  Rhodes  Marsh, 
all  in  Esmeralda  County.  These  cover  an  area  of  thousands  of  acres, 
but  the  productive  portions  are  comparatively  limited.  In  Churchill 
County,  this  same  State,  there  is  a  minor  deposit  at  Salt  Wells  (Speci- 
men No.  15522,  U.S.N.M.).  In  California  there  is  an  important 
deposit  known  as  Searles  Marsh,  in  San  Bernardino  County,  and  a  vein 

JThe  Mineral  Industry,  1892,  p.  43. 


398  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

of  calcium  borate  (colemanite)  in  the  Calico  District,  this  same  county. 
The  Saline  Valley,  the  Amargosa,  and  Furnace  Creek  deposits,  in  Inyo 
County,  are  also  extensive.  (Specimen  No.  62444,  U.S.N.M.).  Large 
deposits  of  priceite  are  also  found  5  miles  north  of  Chetco,  in  Curry 
County  (Specimen  No.  63362,  U.S.N.M.),  Oregon.  The  mineral  is 
stated  by  Dana  to  occur  in  a  hard,  compact  form  in  layers,  between 
a  bed  of  slate  above,  the  cavities  and  fissures  of  which  it  fills,  and  a 
tough,  blue  steatite  below;  also  occurring  in  bowlders  or  rounded 
masses  completely  embedded  in  the  steatite.  These  masses  vary  from 
the  size  of  a  pea  to  those  of  200  pounds  weight  each. 

The  Calico  District  colemanite  above  referred  to  occurs,  according 
to  W.  H.  Storms,1  as  a  bedded  "vein"  in  sedimentary  strata  which  in 
Tertiary  times  were  uplifted  in  the  Calico  Range,  the  sedimentary 
rocks  consisting  of  sandstones,  sandy  clays,  and  clayey  sands.  "The 
borax  '  vein '  is  traceable  for  several  thousand  feet,  striking  along  the 
western  and  northern  side  of  the  largest  sedimentary  hill  in  the  range, 
and  finally  passing  down  a  canyon  to  the  eastward,  where  it  becomes 
a  well-defined  vein.  Toward  the  western  end  the  borate  of  lime 
appears  to  be  much  mixed  with  the  sandy  sediments,  gypsum,  and 
clays,  giving  the  appearance  of  having  been  formed  near  the  shore 
line  of  the  basin  in  which  this  great  mass  of  material  has  been  left 
as  a  residuary  deposit,  due  to  the  evaporation  of  the  water  containing 
the  calcium  borate."  There  are  apparently  two  beds  of  borate  from 
7  to  10  feet  in  thickness  in  close  proximity,  but  which  are  believed  by 
Mr.  Storms  to  be  portions  of  the  same  bed  repeated  as  the  result  of  an 
anticlinal  fold,  and  exposed  through  erosion.  See  Plate  21. 

The  following  description  of  Searles  Marsh,  in  San  Bernardino 
County,  is  from  the  reports  of  the  State  mineralogist.2 

This  marsh  is  situated  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  San  Bernardino 
County,  occupying  a  portion  of  T.  25  S. ,  R.  43  E. ,  M.  D.  M.  The 
site  is  distant  from  San  Francisco  southeast  500  miles;  from  San  Ber- 
nardino, the  shire  town  of  the  county,  due  north  175  miles,  and  from 
Mohave,  nearest  station  on  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  northeast 
72  miles;  these  distances  being  measured  by  the  usually  traveled 
routes. 

Locally  considered,  Searles  Marsh  lies  near  the  center  of  an  exten- 
sive mountain-girdled  plain,  to  which  the  phrases  "Alkali  Flat,"  "Dry 
Lake,"  "Salt  Bed,"  "Borax  Marsh"  have  variously  been  applied,  the 
contents  and  physical  features  of  the  basin-shaped  depression  well 
justifying  the  several  names  that  have  so  been  applied  to  it.  It  is,  in 
fact,  a  dry  lake,  the  bed  of  which  has  been  filled  up  in  part  with  the 
several  substances  named.  Its  contents  consist  of  mud,  alkali,,  salt, 

1  Eleventh  Annual  Report  of  the  State  Mineralogist  of  California,  1892,  p.  345. 

2  Tenth  Annual  Report-of  the  State  Mineralogist' of  California,  1890,  p.  534. 


Repot  of  U    S.  National  Museum,  1899 —Merrill. 


PLATE  21. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  399 

and  borax,  largely  supplemented  with  volcanic  sand.  This  depression, 
which  has  an  elevation  of  1,700  feet  above  sea  level,  and  an  irregular 
oval  shape,  is  about  10  miles  long  and  5  miles  wide,  its  longitudinal 
axis  striking  due  north  and  south.  It  is  surrounded  on  every  side  but 
the  south  by  high  mountains,  the  Slate  Range  bounding  it  on  the  east 
and  north,  and  the  Argus  Range  on  the  west. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  this  basin  was  once  the  bed  of  a  deep  and 
wide-extended  lake,  the  remains  of  a  former  inland  sea.  The  shore 
line  is  distinctly  visible  along  the  lower  slopes  of  the  surrounding 
mountains  at  an  elevation  of  600  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  marsh. 
Farther  up,  one  above  the  other,  faint  marks  of  former  water  lines 
can  be  seen,  showing  the  different  levels  at  which  the  surface  of  the 
ancient  lake  has  stood.  In  the  course  of  time  the  lake  became  extinct, 
having  been  filled  with  the  sediments  from  the  adjacent  mountains. 

What  may  have  been  the  depth  of  the  lake  has  not  yet  been  ascer- 
tained, borings  put  down  300  feet  having  failed  to  reach  bed  rock. 
These  borings,  commenced  in  1878,  disclosed  the  following  underlying 
formations: 

First,  2  feet  of  salt  and  thenardite  [Na2SOJ;  second,  4  feet  of  clay 
and  volcanic  sand,  containing  a  few  ciystals  and  bunches  of  hanksite, 
[4Na2SO4,  Na2CO3];  third,  8  feet  of  volcanic  sand  and  black,  tenacious 
clay,  with  bunches  of  trona,  of  black,  shining  luster,  from  inclosed 
mud;  fourth,  8-foot  stratum,  consisting  of  volcanic  sand  containing 
glauberite,  thenardite,  and  a  few  flat,  hexagonal  crystals  of  hanksite; 
fifth,  28  feet  of  solid  trona  of  uniform  thickness;  sixth,  20-foot 
stratum  of  black,  slushy,  soft  mud;  smelling  strongly  of  hydro- 
sulphuric  acid,  in  which  there  are  layers  of  glauberite,  soda,  and 
hanksite.  The  water  has  a  density  of  30°  Baume;  seventh,  230  feet 
(as  far  as  explored)  of  brown  clay,  mixed  with  volcanic  sand  and  per- 
meated with  hydrosulphuric  acid. 

Overlying  No.  5  a  thin  stratum  of  a  very  hard  material  was  encoun- 
tered. Being  difficult  to  penetrate,  and  its  character  not  recognized, 
this  was  simply  called  "hard  stuff,"  its  more  exact  nature  being  left 
for  future  determination. 

As  is  the  case  with  all  salines  of  like  character,  this  has  no  outlet, 
the  water  that  comes  into  it  escaping  only  by  evaporation,  which  proc- 
ess goes  on  here  very  rapidly  for  two-thirds  of  the  year. 

While  most  of  the  water  contained  in  this  basin  is  subterranean,  a 
little  during  very  wet  winters  accumulates  and  stands  for  a  short  time 
on  portions  of  the  surface.  In  no  place,  however,  does  it  reach  a 
depth  of  more  than  a  foot  or  two,  hardly  anywhere  more  than  3  or 
4:  inches. 

Within  the  limits  of  the  actively  producing  portion  of  the  marsh, 
which  covers  an  oblong  area  of  about  1,700  acres,  the  water  stands  on 


400  BEPOKT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

a  tract  of  some  300  acres  for  a  longer  period  than  it  does  elsewhere; 
but  even  here  it  nowhere  reaches  a  depth  of  more  than  a  foot. 

Between  this  300-acre  tract  and  the  main  flat  lying  a  little  lower 
there  interposes  a  slight  ridge,  which  prevents  the  surface  water  from 
escaping  to  the  lower  ground. 

The  water  of  the  lake  is  of  a  dark-brown  color,  strongly  impreg- 
nated with  alkali,  and  has  a  density  of  28°  Baume.  The  salts  obtained 
from  it  by  crystallization  contain  carbonate  and  chloride  and  borate  of 
sodium,  with  a  large  percentage  of  organic  matter. 

Summarized,  the  following  minerals  have  been  found  associated  with 
the  borax  occurring  in  the  Searles  marsh:  Anhydrite,  calcite,  celes- 
tite,  cerargyrite,  colemanite,  dolomite,  embolite,  gay-lussite,  glauber- 
ite,  gypsum,  halite,  hanksite,  natron,  soda,  niter,  sulphur,  thenardite, 
tincal,  and  trona,  the  most  of  these  occurring,  of  course,  in  only  minute 
quantities.  There  is,  however,  reason  to  believe  that  hanksite  will 
yet  be  found  abundantly,  both  here  and  in  the  other  salines  of  this 
region. 

The  submerged  tract  above  described  is  called  the  "Crystal  Bed," 
the  mud  below  the  water  being  full  of  large  crystals,  which  occur  in 
nests  at  irregular  intervals  to  a  depth  of  3  or  4  feet.  Many  of  these 
crystals,  which  consist  of  carbonate  of  soda  and  common  salt  with  a 
considerable  percentage  of  borate,  are  of  large  size,  some  of  them 
measuring  7  inches  in  length.  The  water  15  feet  below  this  stratum 
of  mud  contains,  according  to  Mr.  C.  N.  Hake,  who  made,  not  long 
since,  a  careful  examination  of  these  deposits,  carbonate  of  soda,  borax, 
and  salts  of  ammonia.  The  ground  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  a  dry 
hard  crust  about  1  foot  thick,  contains,  on  the  same  authority: 

Sand 50 

Sulphate  of  soda 16 

Common  salt 12 

Carbonate  of  soda 10 

Borax 12 

The  borax  here  occurs  in  the  form  of  the  borate  of  soda  only,  no 
ulexite  (borate  of  lime)  having  yet  been  found. 

The  chief  foreign  sources  of  borax  salts  are  northern  Chili,  Stass- 
furt  in  Germany,-  Italy,  Asia  Minor,  and  Thibet. 

The  Chilean  mineral  is  ulexite  and  is  reported  as  occurring  through- 
out the  province  of  Atacama  and  the  newly  acquired  portions  of  Chile. 
Ascotan,  which  is  now  on  the  borders  of  the  Republic,  but  formerly 
belonged  to  Bolivia,  and  Maricunga,  which  is  to  the  north  of  Copeapo, 
are  the  places  which  have  proved  most  successful  commercially.  The 
crude  material  occurs  in  both  places  in  lagoons  or  troughs,  which, 
instead  of  being  entirely  filled  with  common  salt,  as  is  usually  the  case 
in  the  desert,  contains  zones  or  lavers  of  boronatrocalcite  embedded 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  401 

in  it.  The  lagoons  of  Maricunga  lie  about  64  kilometers  from  the 
nearest  railway  station  and  are  estimated  to  cover  3,000,000  square 
meters.  The  boronatrocalcite  occurs  in  beds  alternating  with  layers 
of  salt  and  salty  earth. 

The  raw  material  contains,  in  the  form  of  gypsum  and  glauberite, 
a  large  amount  of  calcium  sulphate. 

Dana  also  mentions  ulexite  as  occurring  also  in  the  form  of  rounded 
masses  from  the  size  of  a  hazelnut  to  that  of  a  potato  in  the  dry  plains 
of  Iquique,  where  it  is  associated  with  pickeringite,  glauberite,  halite, 
and  gypsum.  The  German  mineral  is  boracite  (stassfurtite)  and  is 
found  in  small  granular  masses  associated  with  the  salt  deposits  of 
Stassfurt.  In  Italy  sassolite,  or  crystallized  boric  acid,  has  long  been 
obtained  by  the  evaporation  of  hot  springs  in  Sienna,  in  Tuscany. 
Concerning  the  deposits  of  Asia  Minor  little  is  accurately  known. 
The  mineral  is  pandermite  (colemanite),  which  is  found  in  thick  white 
lumps  at  Suzurlu,  south  of  the  sea  of  Marmora.  Borax  or  tincal, 
from  Thibet,  in  northern  India,  was  probably  the  first  of  the  boron 
salts  to  be  utilized.  It  is  stated  to  be  brought  on  the  backs  of  sheep 
from  the  lakes  in  which  it  is  formed  across  the  Himalayas  to  the 
shipping  points  in  India. 

Methods  of  mining  and  manufacture. — At  the  East  Calico  Cole- 
manite mine,  in  San  Bernardino  County,  the  mineral  is  taken  out  in 
the  same  manner  as  ores  of  the  precious  metals.  Inclined  shafts  are 
sunk,  drifts  and  levels  run,  and  stopes  carried  up  as  in  any  other  mine. 
The  material,  when  hoisted  to  the  surface,  is  loaded  into  wagons  and 
hauled  to  Dagget,  whence  it  is  shipped  to  the  works  at  Alameda.  The 
process  of  extracting  the  boracic  acid  is  not  known  to  the  public. 

At  Searles's  marsh  the  overlying  crust  mentioned  constitutes  the 
raw  material  from  which  the  refined  borax  is  made. 

The  method  of  collecting  it  is  as  follows:  When  the  crust,  through 
the  process  of  efflorescence,  has  gained  a  thickness  of  about  1  inch, 
it  is  broken  loose  and  scraped  into  windrows  far  enough  apart  to  admit 
the  passage  of  carts  between  them,  and  into  which  it  is  shoveled  and 
carried  to  the  factory  located  on  the  northwest  margin  of  the  flat,  1  to 
2  miles  away. 

As  soon  as  removed,  this  incrustation  begins  again  to  form,  the 
water  charged  with  the  saline  matter  brought  to  the  surface  by  the 
capillar}7  attraction  evaporating  and  leaving  the  salt  behind.  This 
process  having  been  suffered  to  go  on  for  three  or  four  years,  a  crust 
thick  enough  for  removal  is  again  formed,  the  supposition  being  that 
this  incrustation,  if  removed,  will  in  like  manner  go  on  reproducing 
itself  indefinitely.1 

1  In  order  to  determine  the  proportionate  growths  of  the  various  salts  contained  in 
this  crust  while  undergoing  this  recuperative  process,  analyses  were  made  on  samples 
representing  respectively  six  months',  two,  three,  and  four  years'  growth.     From  the 
NAT  MUS   99 26 


402 


REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


jjseSt — The  various  borax  salts  are  used  in  the  preparation  of 
boracic  acid  and  the  borate  of  sodium,  the  borax  of  commerce. 

XI.  URANATES. 

1.  UKANINITE;  PITCHBLENDE. 

Composition  very  complex,  essentially  a  uranate  of  uranyl,  lead, 
thorium,  and  other  metals  of  the  lanthanum  and  yttrium  groups. 
The  mineral  is  unique  in  containing  nitrogen,  being  the  only  one 
among  the  constituents  of  the  primary  rocks  of  the  earth's  crust  in 
Avhich  the  presence  of  this  element  has  been  thus  far  determined.1 
The  analyses  given  below  are  for  the  most  part  by  Hiliebrand,  to  whom 
is  due  the  credit  of  a  large  share  of  the  present  knowledge  on  the 
subject. 


Locality. 

UOg. 

UOo, 

ThO». 

CeO«. 

La-A. 

Y203. 

PbO. 

CaO. 

N. 

H20. 

Feo03. 

Misc. 

Glastonbury,  Con- 

necticut   

23.03 
.5083 

59.  93 
39  31 

2  78 

11 

0  26 

10 

0.50 

0.20 

3.08 
4  20 

0.11 
0.85 

2.41 
0  37 

^.43 
1  21 

0.29 

1.11 
0  48 

Annerod,  Norway  .  . 
Johanngeorgen- 
stadt 

30.63 
59  30 

46.13 

6.00 

0.18 

0.27 

1.11 

9.04 
6  39 

0.37 
1  00 

1.17 
0  02 

0.74 
3  17 

0.25 
0  21 

4.66 
5  53 

Several  varieties  of  uraninite  are  recognized,  the  distinctions  being 
based  upon  the  relative  proportions  of  the  two  oxides  UO2  and  UO3 
(see  analyses  above).  Inasmuch,  however,  as  these  variations  may  be 

ground  from  which  these  were  taken  the  crust  had  been  removed  several  times  dur- 
ing the  preceding  twelve  years. 
The  analysis  of  samples  gave  the  following  results: 


Constituents. 

Six 
months' 
growth. 

Two  years' 
growth. 

Three 
years' 
growth. 

Four 
years' 
growth. 

Sand  

58  0 

55  4 

52  4 

53  3 

Carbonate  of  soda 

5  2 

Sulphate  of  soda  
Chloride  of  soda 

11.7 

10  9 

6.7 

16.6 

16.0 

Borax 

Total 

100  0 

From  this  list  it  will  be  seen  that  the  first  six  months'  growth  is  richest  in  borax, 
and  that  the  proportion  of  carbonate  of  soda  to  borax  increases  regularly.  The 
presence  of  so  much  sand  as  is  here  indicated  is  caused  by  the  high  winds  that  blow 
at  intervals,  bringing  in  great  quantities  of  that  material  from  the  mountains  to  the 
west.  This  .sand,  it  is  supposed,  facilitates  the  formation  of  the  surface  crust  by 
keeping  the  ground  in  a  porous  condition. 

JThe  mineral  has  since  been  found  to  contain  some  0.23  per  cent  of  the  new  ele* 
ments  helium  and  argon. 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINEKALS.  403 

due  merely  to  oxidation  they  need  not  be  taken  into  consideration 
here.  When  crystallized,  the  mineral  assumes  octahedral  and  dodeca- 
hedral  forms,  more  rarely  cubes.  Hardness  5.5,  specific  gravity  9 
to  9.7.  Color  grayish,  greenish  to  velvet  black,  streak  brown;  fracture 
conchoidal,  uneven.  The  massive  and  probably  amorphous  variety, 
containing  few,  if  any,  of  the  rarer  earths  and  no  nitrogen,  is  known 
under  the  name  of  pitchblende.  This  last  is  the  chief  commercial 
source  of  uranium  salts.  Through  oxidation  and  hydration  the  min- 
eral passes  into  gummite,  a  gum-like  yellow  to  brown  or  red  mineral  of 
a  hardness  of  but  2.5  to  3  and  specific  gravity  of  3.9  to  4.2.  (See  Speci- 
men No.  53062,  U.S.N.M.,  showing  zone  of  gummite  around  a  nucleal 
mass  of  unaltered  uraninite.) 

Localities  and  mode  of  occurrence. — Uraninite  occurs  as  a  primary 
constituent  of  granitic  rocks  and  as  a  secondary  mineral,  with  sulphide 
ores  of  silver,  lead,  gold,  copper,  etc.  In  this  form,  according  to  Dana, 
it  is  found  at  Johanngeorgenstadt,  Marienberg,  and  Schneeberg, 
Saxony ;  at  Joachimsthal  (Specimen  No.  53061,  U. S. N. M. )  and  Pribram, 
in  Bohemia  (Specimens  Nos.  66843,  67755,  U.S.N.M.),  and  Rezbanya,in 
Hungary.  Considerable  quantities  have  been  mined  from  the  tin- 
bearing  lodes  of  Cornwall,  England.  The  crystallized  variety  brog- 
gerite  is  found  in  a  pegmatite  vein  near  Annerod,  Norway,  and  the 
variety  cleveite  in  a  feldspar  quarry  at  Arendal.  In  the  United  States 
the  mineral  has  been  found  in  small  quantities  in  several  localities,  but 
only  those  of  Mitchell  and  Yancey  Counties,  North  Carolina  (Speci- 
mens Nos.  53062,  60927,  62755,  U.S.N.M.),  where  the  mineral  occurs 
partially  altered  to  gummite  and  uranaphane,  in  mica  mines;  Llano 
County,  Texas;  Black  Hawk,  near  Central  City,  Colorado  (Specimen 
No.  83629,  U.S.N.M.),  and  the  Bald  Mountain  district  of  the  Black 
Hills  of  South  Dakota  need  here  be  mentioned.  Of  the  above  the 
Cornwall  localities  are  at  present  of  greatest  consequence,  having 
during  1890  yielded  some  22  tons  of  ore,  valued  at  some  <£2,200 
($11,000).  During  1891,  it  is  stated,  the  output  was  31  long  tons, 
valued  at  £620,  and  in  1892,  37  tons,  valued  at  £740.  The  next  most 
important  locality  is  that  of  Joachimsthal,  in  Bohemia,  where  22.52 
metric  tons  of  ore  were  produced  in  1891  and  17.71  tons  in  1892,  the 
value  being  some  1,000  florins  a  ton. 

In  the  Cornwall  mines  the  pitchblende  is  stated *  to  occur  in  small 
veins  crossing  the  tin-bearing  lodes.  At  the  St.  Austell  Consols 
Mines  it  was  associated  with  nickel  and  cobalt  ores;  at  Dolcoath  with 
native  bismuth  and  arsenical  cobalt  in  a  matrix  of  red  quartz  and  pur- 
ple fluorspar;  at  South  Tresavean  with  kupfer-nickel,  native  silver, 
and  argentiferous  galena.  At  the  Wood  Lode,  Russell  district,  in 
Gilpin  County,  Colorado,  pitchblende  was  found  in  the  form  of  a 

xThe  Mineral  Industry,  II,  p.  572. 


404          '  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

lenticular  mass  in  one  of  the  ordinary  gold-bearing  lodes  traversing 
the  gneiss  and  mica  schists  of  the  district.  The  body  occurred  some 
60  feet  below  the  surface  and  was  some  30  feet  long  by  10  feet  deep 
and  10  inches  thick.  The  mass  yielded  some  4  tons  of  ore  carrying 
70  per  cent  oxide  of  uranium. 

Other  natural  uranium  compounds,  but  which  at  present  have  no  use 
in  the  arts,  are  as  below:  Torbernite,  a  hydrous  phosphate  of  uranium 
and  copper;  autunite,  a  hydrous  phosphate  of  uranium  and  calcium; 
zeunerite,  an  arsenate  of  uranium  and  copper;  uranospinite,  an  arse- 
nate  of  uranium  and  calcium;  uranocircite,  a  phosphate  of  barium  and 
uranium;  phosphuranylite,  a  hydrous  uranium  phosphate;  trogerite, 
a  hydrous  uranium  arsenate;  walpurgite,  probably  an  arsenate  of  bis- 
muth and  uranium;  and  uranosphserite,  a  uranate  of  bismuth. 

Carnotite  is  a  recently  described  uranium  compound  containing, 
according  to  analyses,  some  52  per  cent  uranium  oxide  (UO3);  20  per 
cent  of  vanadium  oxide  (V2O5),  and  11  per  cent  of  potash.  It  is  of  a 
beautiful  light  lemon-yellow  color  and  of  an  earthy  or  ocherous  texture. 
According  to  descriptions  gleaned  from  correspondence,  and  from  sam- 
ples received  at  the  U.  S.  National  Museum  (Specimens  Nos.  53491, 
53492, 53649,  U.S.N.M.),  the  material  occurs  mainly  as  an  impregnation 
in  the  form  of  an  extremely  fine,  crystalline  powder  in  the  Dakota  sand- 
stones in  the  vicinity  of  La  Sal  Creek  and  Roc  Creek,  Montrose 
County,  and  near  Placerville,  San  Miguel  County,  Colorado.1 

Uses. — Uranium  is  never  used  in  the  metallic  state,  but  in  the  form 
of  oxides,  or  as  uranate  of  soda,  potash^  and  ammonia,  finds  a  limited 
application  in  the  arts.  The  sesquioxide  salt  imparts  to  glass  a  gold 
yellow  color  with  a  beautiful  greenish  tint,  and  which  exhibits  remark- 
able fluorescent  properties.  The  protoxide  gives  a  beautiful  black  to 
high-grade  porcelains.  The  material  has  also  a  limited  application  in 
photography.  Recently  the  material  has  been  used  to  some  extent  in 
making  steel  in  France  and  Germany,  but  the  industry  has  not  yet 
passed  the  experimental  stage.  It  has  been  stated  that  the  demand,  all 
told,  is  for  about  500  tons  annually.  Should  larger  and  more  constant 
sources  of  supply  be  found,  it  is  probable  its  use  could  be  considerably 
extended.  According  to  Nordenskiold,  £50,000  worth  of  uranium 
minerals  are  consumed  every  year,  the  various  salts  produced  being 
used  in  porcelain  and  glass  manufacture,  in  photography,  and  as  chem- 
ical reagents.8 

1  Since  the  foregoing  was  written  Mr.  W.  F.  Hillebrand,  of  the  U.  S.  Geological 
Survey,  has  published  (American  Journal  of  Science,  Vol.  X,  1900,  pp.  120-144)  the 
results  of  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  material  from  this  and  other  localities,  and 
shows  that  the  so-called  carnotite  is  probably  a  mixture  of  minerals  made  up  to  a 
large  extent  of  calcium  and  barium  compounds  intimately  mixed  with  amorphous 
silicates  containing  vanadium  in  the  trivalent  state. 

2  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society  of  London,  LVI,  1900,  p.  527. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


405 


XII.    SULPHATES. 
1.  BARITE;  HEAVY  SPAR. 

Composition  BaSO^,^  Sulphur  trioxide  34.3  per  cent,  baryta  65.7 
per  cent;  specific  gravity  4.3  to  4.6;  hardness  2.5  to  3.5. 

Occuwence. — The  sulphate  of  barium  to  which  the  mineralogical 
name  of  barite  is  given  occurs  as  a  rule  in  the  form  of  a  white,  trans- 
lucent to  transparent,  coarsely  crystalline  mineral,  about  as  hard  as 
common  calcite.  but  from  which  it  may  be  readily  distinguished  by 
its  great  weight  and  its  not  effervescing  when  treated  with  acid.  A 
common  form  of  the  mineral  is  that  of  an  aggregate  of  straight  or 
somewhat  curved  plates,  separating  readily  from  one  another  when 
struck  with  a  hammer,  and  cleaving  readily  into  rhomboidal  forms 
much  like  calcite.  (Specimens  Nos.  54988,  67372,  U.S.N.M.)  It  is 
also  found  in  globular  and  nodular  concretions  (Specimen  No.  66851, 
U.S.N.M.),  stalactiticand  stalagmitic  (Specimen  No.  63778,  U.S.N.M.), 
granular,  compact,  and  earthy  masses,  and  in  single  and  clustered 
broad  and  stout  crystals.  In  nature  the  material  is  rarely  pure,  but 
nearly  always  contaminated  with  other  elements,  as  noted  in  the 
following  analyses  of  samples  from  Fulton,  Blair,  and  Franklin  coun- 
ties, Pennsylvania.1 


Constituents. 

Fulton  County. 

Blair 
County. 

Franklin 

(735) 
Shockey. 

County. 

(699) 
Locke. 

(345) 
Locke. 

(698) 
Galbreath. 

(582) 
Shockey. 

95.  22 
0.38 
0.05 
0.59 
0.18 
0.  65 
0.23 
2.45 

96.91 
0.31 
None. 
Trace. 
Trace. 
None. 
0.08 
2.35 

97.08 
0.76 
None. 
None. 
Trace. 
None. 
0.32 
1.74 

95.91 
0.24 
None. 
0.17 
0.11 
None. 
0.09 
2.80 

98.  65 
0.14 
None. 
Trace. 
Trace. 
None. 
0.20 
1.11 

Oxides  of  iron  and  aluminum  

Lime 

Magnesia  

Water  

Silica 

Total  .       .  . 

99.75 

99.65  j            99.90 

99.32 

100.  10 

The  mineral  occurs  commonly  in  connection  with  metallic  ores  or  as 
a  secondary  mineral  associated  with  sand  and  limestones,  sometimes 
in  Distinct  veins,  or  as  in  southwest  Virginia,  where  it  fills  irregular 
fractures  in  certain  beds  of  the  Cambrian  limestone  or  in  part  replaces 
the  limestone  itself .  (Specimen  No.  67357,  U.S.N.M.).  In  Washing- 
•ton  County,  in  this  State,  the  mineral  has  been  mined  in  an  itinerant 
manner  by  farmers  on  whose  land  it  occurs,  and  who  work  mostly  from 
open  cuts  or  trenches,  rarely  making  an  opening  of  sufficient  size  to 
be  termed  a  mine.  As  the  material  is  less  soluble  in  atmospheric 
waters  than  is  the  limestone  in  which  it  occurs,  it  follows  that  often 

j    *  Pennsylvania  Second  Geological  Survey,  Chemical  Analyses,  pp.  368, 369. 


406  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

the  barite  is  found  in  loose,  disconnected  masses  embedded  in  a  residual 
clay,  and  the  process  of  mining  is  resolved  into  merely  digging  so  long 
as  the  yield  is  sufficient  to  pay  expenses. 

Preparation  and  uses. — The  mineral  is  washed  and  ground  like  grain 
between  millstones  and  used  as  an  adulterant  for  white  lead  or  to  give 
weight  and  body  to  certain  kinds  of  cloth  and  paper. 

According  to  a  writer  in  the  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States 
for  1885,  the  "floated"  or  "cream-floated"  barite  used  for  paint  is 
prepared  as  follows:  The  crude  mineral  as  mined  is  first  sorted  by 
hand  and  cleaned,  after  which  it  is  crushed  into  pieces  about  the  size 
of  the  tip  of  one's  finger.  Next,  it  is  refined  by  boiling  in  dilute  sul- 
phuric acid  until  all  the  impurities  are  removed,  when  it  is  washed  hy 
boiling  in  distilled  water  and  dried  by  steam.  It  is  then  ground  to 
flour,  mixed  with  water,  and  run  through  troughs  or  sluiceways  into 
receiving  vats,  whence  it  is  taken,  again  dried  by  steam,  and  barreled. 
This  cream-floated  barite  is  quoted  as  worth  about  $30  a  ton,  while 
the  crude  material  is  worth  only  about  one-fourth  as  much. 

Sources. — The  principal  sources  in  the  United  States  are  Lynchburg, 
Hurt,  Toshes,  and  Otter  River,  Virginia;  Sandy  Bottom  and  Hot 
Springs,  in  North  Carolina,  and  Cadet,  Old  Mines,  Mineral  Point, 
Morrellton,  and  Potosi,  in  Missouri.  A  small  amount  is  imported 
from  Mackellar  Islands,  Lake  Superior.  The  total  production  for 
1897  was  some  27,316  tons,  valued  at  $4  a  ton.1 

2.  GYPSUM. 

Composition  CaSO4  +  2  H2O,  =  sulphur  trioxide  46.6  per  cent,  lime 
32.5  per  cent,  water  20.9  per  cent.  The  natural  mineral  is  often  quite 
impure  through  the  presence  of  organic,  ferruginous,  and  aluminous 
matter,  together  with  small  quantities  of  the  carbonates  of  lime  and 
magnesia  (see  analysis,  p.  407).  Specific  gravity  2.3,  hardness  1.5  to 
2.  Color  usually  white  or  gray,  but  brown,  black  and  red  through 
impurities.  The  softness  of  the  mineral,  which  is  such  that  it  can  be 
easily  cut  with  a  knife  or  even  by  the  thumb  nail,  is  one  of  its  most 
marked  characteristics.  Three  principal  varieties  are  recognized,  (1) 
the  crystallized,  foliated,  transparent  variety,  selenite  (Specimens  Nos. 
53593,  53608,  62089,  U.S.N.M.),  (2)  the  fine  fibrous,  often  opalescent 
variety,  satin  spar  (Specimen  No.  62477,  U.S.N.M.),  and  (3)  the  com- 
mon massive,  finely  granular  variety,  gypsum  (Specimen  No.  53348, 
U.S.N.M.).  When  of  a  white  color  and  sufficiently  compact  for  small 
statues  and  other  ornamental  works,  it  is  known  as  alabaster  (Specimen 
No.  63394,  U.S.N.M.),  though  this  name  has  unfortunately  become 
confounded  with  the  calcareous  rock  travertine  and  stalagmite.2 

'The  Mineral  Industry,  VI,  1897,  p.  57. 

2 See  The  Onyx  Marbles,  their  Origin,  Uses,  etc.,  Report  of  the  U.  S.  National 
Museum,  1893,  pp.  539-585. 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  407 

The  following  is  an  analysis  of  a  commercial  gypsum  from  Ottawa 
County,  Ohio,  as  given  by  Professor  Orton:1 

Lime 32. 52 

Sulphuric  acid 45. 56 

Water 20. 14 

Magnesia 0. 56 

Alumina 0. 16 

Insoluble  residue. . .                                      .  0. 68 


99.62 

Origin. — Gypsum  in  considerable  quantities  occurs  associated  only 
with  stratified  rocks  and  is  regarded  mainly  as  a  chemical  deposit 
resulting  from  the  evaporation  of  waters  of  inland  seas  and  lakes;  it 
may  also  originate  through  the  decomposition  of  sulphides  and  the 
action  of  the  resultant  sulphuric  acid  upon  limestone;  through  the 
mutual  decomposition  of  the  carbonate  of  lime  (limestone)  and  the 
sulphates  of  iron,  copper,  and  other  metals;  through  the  hydration  of 
anhydrite  and  through  the  action  of  sulphurous  vapors  and  solutions 
from  volcanoes  upon  the  rocks  with  which  they  come  in  contact. 
According  to  Dana,2  the  gypsum  deposits  in  western  New  York  do  not 
form  continuous  layers  in  the  strata,  but  lie  in  imbedded,  sometimes 
nodular  masses.  In  all  such  cases,  this  authority  says,  the  gypsum  was 
formed  after  the  beds  were  deposited,  and  in  this  particular  instance 
are  the  product  of  the  action  of  sulphuric  acid  from  springs  upon  the 
limestone.  "This  sulphuric  acid,  acting  on  limestone  (carbonate  of 
lime),  drives  off  its  carbonic  acid  and  makes  sulphate  of  lime,  or 
gypsum;  and  this  is  the  true  theory  of  its  formation  in  New  York." 
Dr.  F.  J.  H.  Merrill,  however,  regards  a  portion  at  least  of  the  New 
York  beds  as  a  product  of  direct  chemical  precipitation  from  sea  water.3 

The  gypsum  deposits  of  northern  Ohio  are  regarded  by  Professors 
Newberry  and  Orton  as  deposits  from  the  evaporation  of  landlocked 
seas,  as  was  also  the  rock  salt  which  overlies  it.  By  this  same  process 
must  have  originated  a  large  share  of  the  more  recent  gypsum  deposits 
of  the  Western  States. 

Geological  age  and  mode  of  occurrence. — As  may  be  readily  inferred 
from  what  has  gone  before,  beds  of  gypsum  have  formed  at  many 
periods  of  the  earth's  history  and  are  3till  forming  wherever  proper 
conditions  exist.  The  deposits  of  New  York  State  occur  in  a  belt  ex- 
tending eastward  from  Cayuga  Lake  and  in  beds  belonging  to  the 
Salina  period  of  the  Upper  Silurian  age.  The  rock  is  often  earthy 
and  impure,  and  is  used  nearly  altogether  for  land  plaster.  It  is  asso- 
ciated with  dark,  nearly  black,  limestones  and  shales  and  beds  of  rock 
salt.  In  southwest  Virginia,  along  the  Holston  River,  are  also  beds 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  VI,  1888,  p.  700. 

2  Manual  of  Geology,  p.  234. 

3  Bulletin  No.  11,  of  the  New  York  State  Museum,  April,  1893. 


408  KEPOKT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

Of  gypsum  associated  with  salt  and  referred  by  Dana  to  this  ssiinc 
horizon.  The  rock  is  mined  at  Saltville  in  Washington  County  from 
underground  pits,  and  is  used  mainly  for  fertilizing.  (Specimens  Nos. 
27129,  27153,  U.S.N.M.) 

Gypsum  deposits  of  varying  thickness  and  occurring  at  various 
depths  below  the  surface  are  found  continuous  over  thousands  of  square 
miles  in  northern  Ohio,  but  are  at  present  worked  only  in  Ottawa 
County  at  a  station  on  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railway 
which  bears  the  appropriate  name  of  Gypsum  (Specimens  Nos.  31624, 
17969,  U.S.N.M.).  The  associated  rocks  are  Lower  Helderberg  lime- 
stones and  shales  and  the  beds,  which  vary  from  3  to  7  feet  in  thick- 
ness, are  found  at  all  depths  up  to  200  or  300  feet. 

The  following  is  a  section  of  the  Ottawa  County  beds  as  given  by 
Orton: 

Feet. 

Drift  clays 12  to  14 

No.  1.  Gray  rock,  carrying  land  plaster 5 

Blue  shale £ 

No.  2.  Bowlder  bed  carrying  gypsum  in  separate  masses  embedded  in  shaly 

limestone 5 

Blue  limestone,  in  thin  and  even  courses 1 

No.  3.  Main  plaster  bed 7 

Gray  limestone  in  courses 1 

No.  4.  Lowest  plaster  bed,  variable 3  to    5 

Mixed  limestone  and  plaster,  bottom  of  quarry.1 

Sections  like  the  above  are  stated  to  be  capable  of  yielding  50,000 
tons  of  plaster  an  acre. 

The  purest  gypsum  of  the  region  occurs  in  No.  2,  the  bowlder  bed, 
as  given  above.  It  consists  of  calcareous  shales  through  which  are 
scattered  concretionary  balls  of  gypsum  varying  in  diameter  from  6 
to  24  inches.  This  pure  variety  is  used  mainly  for  terra  alba;  about 
40  per  cent  of  the  total  product  has  in  years  past  been  calcined  for 
use  as  stucco  or  plaster  of  paris  and  60  per  cent  for  land  plaster. 

At  Fort  Dodge,  in  Iowa,  is  a  deposit  of  quite  pure,  light  gray,  regu- 
larly bedded  gypsum,  resting  unconformably  upon  St.  Louis  lime- 
stone and  lower  coal  strata  and  overlain  by  drift.  It  is  supposed  to 
cover  an  area  of  some  25  square  miles.  The  material  was  at  one  time 
used  for  building  purposes  but  proved  too  soft2  and  is  now  used 
mainly  for  land  plaster  (Specimens  Nos.  26804,  63058,  63059,  U.S. 
N.M.).  (See  Plate  22.) 

There  are  large  deposits  of  gypsum  in  Michigan,  the  most  extensive, 
so  far  as  explored,  being  near  Grand  Rapids,  Kent  County,  in  the 
western  part  of  the  State  (Specimen  No.  56397,  U.S.N.M.),  and  at 
Alabaster  Point,  in  losco  County,  on  the  eastern  margin  of  the  State. 

1  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio.     Eocnomic  Geology,  VI,  1888,  p.  698. 

2  Stones  for  Building  and  Decoration,  2d  ed.,  1897,  p.  76. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1  899.— Merrill. 


PLATE  22. 


VIEW  OF  A  GYPSUM  QUARRY,  FORT  DODGE,  IOWA. 

From  a  photograph  by  the  Iowa  Geological  Survey. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  409 

At  both  localities  there  is  a  succession  of  beds  beginning  at  or  near  the 
surface  and  aggregating  many  feet  in  depth.  The  beds  are  regarded 
as  of  Carboniferous  age.  The  following  section  shows  the  number  and 
thickness  of  the  beds  thus  far  discovered: 

Feet. 

Earth  stripping 20 

Gypsum 8 

Soft  shale,  slate 1 

Gypsum 12 

Shale  or  clay  slate 7 

Gypsum 6  J 

do 8* 

Slate,  shale 3 £ 

Gypsum 12J 

Shale  or  clay  slate 1  £ 

Gypsum 9£ 

Shale,  clay  slate 8 

Total 98 

West  of  the  front  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  many  important 
beds  of  gypsum,  but  which  have  as  yet  been  but  little  exploited  owing 
to  cost  of  transportation,  there  being  but  little  local  demand.  These 
beds  so  far  as  yet  worked  are  mostly  of  more  recent  origin  than  those 
in  the  eastern  United  States,  many  being  of  Tertiary  or  even  Quar- 
ternary  age. 

Near  Fillmore,  Utah,  are  deposits  of  gypseous  sand  formed  by  the 
winds  blowing  up  from  the  dry  beds  of  playa  Jakes  the  minute  crys- 
tals deposited  by  evaporation  (Specimen  No.  35380,  U.S.N.M.).  The 
material  thus  blown  together  forms  veritable  dunes  from  which  the 
material  may  be  obtained  by  merely  shoveling.  Prof.  I.  C.  Russell  has 
estimated  these  dunes  to  contain  not  less  than  450,000  tons  of  gypsum. 

Important  deposits  of  gypsum  also  occur  in  Kansas  (Specimen  No. 
53348,  U.S.N.M.),  Colorado  (Specimen  No.  53265,  U.S.N.M.),  South 
Dakota  (Specimen  No.  53462,  U.S.N.M.),  Wyoming  (Specimen  No. 
63485,  U.S.N.M.),  California  (Specimens  Nos*  56419  and  67690,  U.S. 
KM'.),  and  New  Mexico  (Specimens  Nos.  62254,  67948,  and  28586, 
U.S.N.M.). 

Gypsum  is  a  very  abundant  mineral  in  New  Brunswick,  the  deposits 
being  numerous,  large,  and  in  general  of  great  purity.  The}"  occur  in 
all  parts  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous  district  in  Kings,  Albert,  West- 
moreland, and  Victoria,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  Sussex,  in  Upham, 
on  the  North  River  in  Westmoreland,  at  Martin  Head  on  the  bay  shore, 
on  the  Tobique  River  in  cliffs  over  100  feet  high,  and  about  the  Albert 
Mines.  At  the  last-named  locality  the  mineral  has  been  extensively 
quarried  from  beds  about  60  feet  in  thickness,  and  calcined  in  large 
works  at  Hillsborough.1 

1  Dawson's  Acadian  Geology,  p.  249. 


410  REPOKT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

The  mineral  is  usually  met  with  in  very  irregular  masses,  associated 
with  red  marls,  sandstones,  and  limestones,  and  varies  much  in  charac- 
ter. At  Hillsborough,  in  the  quarries  being  worked,  ten  to  fifteen 
years  ago  there  was  exposed  a  total  head  of  rock  from  90  to  100  feet, 
of  which  about  70,  forming  the  upper  portion,  consists  mostly  of 
"soft  plaster"  or  true  gypsum,  which  rests  on  beds  of  hard  plaster  or 
anhydrite  of  unknown  depth.  At  the  same  point  considerable  masses 
of  very  beautiful  snow-white  gypsum  or  alabaster  are  also  met  with, 
associated  with  the  varieties  named  above,  but  comparatively  little 
selenite,  while  at  Petitcodiac,  where  the  deposits  has  a  breadth  of  about 
40  rods  and  a  total  length  of  about  1  mile,  the  whole  is  fibrous  and 
highly  crystalline  and  traversed  by  a  vein  of  nearly  pure  selenite,  8 
feet  wide,  through  its  entire  extent.  The  rock  on  the  Tobique  River, 
which  rises  in  bluffs  along  the  stream  some  30  miles  above  its  mouth, 
is  mostly  soft,  granular  or  fibrous,  and  of  a  more  decidedly  reddish 
color  than  in  the  other  localities. 

Important  beds  of  gypsum  belonging  to  the  same  geological  horizon 
likewise  occur  in  Nova  Scotia,  particularly  at  Wentworth  and  Montague 
in  Hants  County,  at  Oxford,  River  Philip,  Plaster  Cove,  Wallace  Har- 
bor, and  Bras  d'Or  Lake,  Cape  Breton.  At  Wentworth  there  are 
stated  to  be  "cliffs  of  solid  snowy  gypsum  from  100  to  200  feet  in 
height."  (Specimen  No.  13690,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Windsor,  Hants 
County.) 

Gypsum  deposits  occur  in  the  Onondago  formations  of  Ontario, 
Canada,  and  are  exploited  along  the  Grand  River  between  Cayuga  and 
Paris.  The  mineral  here  occurs  in  lenticular  masses  varying  from  a 
few  yards  to  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  horizontal  diameter  and  from  3  to 
7  feet  in  thickness.  (See  Specimen  No.  62145,  U.S.N.M.). 

The  foreign  sources  of  gypsum  are  almost  too  numerous  to  mention. 
Important  beds  occur  in  Lincolnshire  and  Derbyshire,  England;  near 
Paris,  France,  in  Spain,  Italy,  Germany,  Austria,  and  Switzerland. 
The  Paris  beds  are  of  Tertiary  age,  and  the  mineral  carries  some  10  to 
20  per  cent  of  carbonate  of  lime,  together  with  silica  in  a  soluble  form. 
The  presence  of  these  constituents  is  stated  to  cause  the  plaster  to  set 
much  harder,  permitting  it,  therefore,  to  be  used  for  external  work. 
The  Italian  gypsum  is  often  of  great  purity.  The  finest  alabaster  is 
stated  to  come  from  the  Val  di  Marmolago,  near  Castellina.  (Specimen 
No.  63394,  U.S.N.M.) 

Uses. — These  have  been  already,  in  part,  noted.  The  principal  uses 
of  gypsum  of  the  ordinary  massive  varieties  is  for  fertilizers  (land 
plaster)  (Specimen  No.  63059  U.S.N.M.),  and  in  the  manufacture  of 
plaster  of  pans,  or  stucco.  (Specimens  Nos.  53348,  53462,  U.S.N.M.) 

As  above  noted,  gypsum  is  but  little  used  for  building  purposes, 
being  too  soft.  Several  residences,  a  railway  station,  and  other  minor 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  411 

structures  are,  however,  stated  to  have  been  built  of  this  stone  at  Fort 
Dodge,  in  Iowa.  (Specimen  No.  26804,  U.S.N.M.)  The  variety  satin 
spar  is  sometimes  used  for  small  ornamentations,  but  it  is  only  the 
snow-white  variety  (alabaster)  that  is  of  any  economic  importance  as 
an  ornamental  stone.  The  main  use  of  alabaster  is  for  small  statues, 
vases,  fonts,  and  small  columns;  it  is  too  soft  for  exposed  positions 
where  subjected  to  much  wear.  At  present  there  are  not  known  any 
deposits  of  alabaster  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States  which  are 
of  sufficient  purity  and  extent  to  be  of  commercial  value.  A  large 
share  of  the  alabaster  statuettes  now  on  our  markets  are  of  Italian 
make  as  well  as  of  Italian  materials. 

In  preparing  the  gypsum  for  market  the  stone  is  first  broken  in  a 
crusher  into  pieces  of  the  size  of  a  hickory  nut,  after  which  it  is  ground 
between  millstones  (French  buhrstones)  to  a  proper  degree  of  fineness 
and  then  put  up  in  bags  or  barrels,  if  designed  for  land  plaster;  if  for 
stucco  it  is  calcined  after  being  ground.  This  process  is  in  Michigan 
carried  on  in  large  kettles  some  8  feet  in  diameter,  and  capable  of  hold- 
ing about  14  barrels  at  a  charge.  The  powder  is  heated  until  all  the 
included  water  is  driven  off,  being  subjected  to  constant  stirring  in 
the  meantime,  and  is  then  drawn  off  through  the  bottom  of  the  kettles 
and  conveyed  by  carrying  belts  and  spouts  to  the  packing  room.1 

Under  the  name  of  "terra  alba"  (white  earth)  ground  gypsum  is 
used  as  an  adulterant  in  cheap  paints. 

The  commercial  value  of  gypsum  depends  mainly  on  accessibility  to 
market.  In  1899  the  ground  material  was  quoted  at  $2.00  a  ton  in 
New  York.  In  Michigan  the  average  price  of,  crude  material  has 
been  some  $1.25  a  ton,  and  for  calcined  plaster  (plaster  of  paris)  $3.00 
to  $5.00  a  ton. 

3.  CELESTITE. 

Composition  sulphate  of  strontium  SrSO4,  =  sulphur  trioxide,  43.6 
per  cent;  strontia,  56.4  per  cent.  Hardness,  3  to  3.5;  specific  gravity, 
3.99;  color,  white,  often  bluish,  transparent  to  translucent.  Differs 
from  the  carbonate  (strontianite)  by  being  insoluble  in  acids,  but  gives 
the  characteristic  red  color  to  the  blowpipe  flame. 

According  to  Dana  the  mineral  occurs  usually  associated  with  lime- 
stones or  sandstones  of  Silurian  or  Devonian,  Jurassic,  and  other 
geological  formations,  occasionally  with  metalliferous  ores.  It  also 
occurs  in  beds  of  rock  salt,  gypsum,  and  clay,  and  is  abundantly  asso- 
ciated with  the  sulphur  deposits  of  Sicily.  (Specimen  No.  60877, 
U.S.N.M.)  The  principal  localities  in  the  United  States  are  in  the 
limestones  of  Drummond  Island,  Lake  Huron;  Put  in  Bay,  Lake  Erie 
(Specimen  No.  53094,  U.S.N.M.);  Kingston,  Ontario,  in  crystalline 

JSee  Mineral  Statistics  of  Michigan,  1881,  for  details  of  plaster  work  of  that  State. 


412  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

masses,  and  in  radiating  fibrous  masses  in  the  Laurentian  formations 
about  Renfrew.  Large  crystals  of  a  red  color  are  also  found  in 
Brown  County,  Kansas,  and  at  Lampasas  and  near  Austin,  Texas. 
(Specimen  No.  67936,  U.S.N.M.)  Near  Bells  Mills,  Blair  County, 
Pennsylvania,  the  mineral  occurs  in  lens-shaped  masses  between  the 
bottommost  beds  of  the  Lower  Helderberg  (No.  VI)  limestone.  On 
South  Bass  Island,  in  Put  in  Bay,  Lake  Erie,  the  mineral  occurs  fre- 
quently in  the  form  of  beautiful  crystals  of  all  sizes  up  to  100  pounds 
in  weight,  transparent  to  translucent  and  sometimes  of  a  fine  blue 
color,  lining  the  walls  and  floor  of  limestone  caverns. 

#*».— Celestite  is  used  in  the  preparation  of  nitrate  of  strontia 
employed  in  fireworks,  its  value  for  this  purpose  being  due  to  the  fine 
crimson  color  it  imparts  to  the  flame.  The  demand  for  the  material  is 

very  small. 

4.  MIRABILITE  OR;  GLAUBER  SALT. 

This  is  a  hydrous  sodium  sulphate,  NaaSO4+10  H2O,= sulphur 
trioxide,  24.8  per  cent;  soda,  19.3  per  cent;  water,  55.9  per  cent.  In 
its  pure  state  white,  transparent  to  opaque;  hardness,  1.5  to  2;  specific 
gravity,  1.48.  Readily  soluble  in  water,  taste  cool,  then  saline  and 
bitter. 

Occurrence. — Aside  from  its  occurrence  in  soda  lakes  associated  with 
other  salts  as  described  later  this  sulphate  is  of  common  occurrence 
as  an  effloresence  on  limestones,  and  in  protected  places,  as  in  Mammoth 
Cave,  Kentucky,  may  accumulate  in  considerable  quantities,  though  not 
sufficient  to  be  of  economic  value.  (Specimen  No.  68156,  U.S.N.M.,  in 
Cave  series.)  Salt  Lake,  Utah,  contains  a  proportionately  large 
amount  of  this  sulphate,  which  during  the  winter  months  is  precipi- 
tated to  the  bottom,  whence  it  is  not  infrequently  thrown  upon  the 
shore  by  waves. 

According  to  Prof.  J.  E.  Talmage,1  when  the  temperature  falls  to  a  certain  point, 
the  lake  water  assumes  an  opalescent  appearance  from  the  separation  of  the  sulphate. 
This  sinks  as  a  crystalline  precipitate  and  much  is  carried  by  the  waves  upon  the 
beach  and  there  deposited.  Under'  favorable  circumstances  the  shores  become  cov- 
ered to  a  depth  of  several  feet  with  crystallized  mirabilite.  The  writer  has  on  several 
occasions  waded  through  such  deposits,  sinking  at  every  step  to  the  knees.  Speak- 
ing only  of  the  amounts  thrown  upon  the  shores,  and  of  most  ready  access,  the  source 
is  practically  inexhaustible.  The  substance  must  be  gathered,  if  at  all,  soon  after 
the  deposit  first  appears;  as,  if  the  water  once  rises  above  the  critical  temperature, 
the  whole  deposit  is  taken  again  into  solution.  This  change  is  very  rapid,  a  single 
day  being  oftentimes  sufficient  to  effect  the  entire  disappearance  of  all  the  deposit 
within  reach  of  the  waves.  Warned  by  these  circumstances,  the  collectors  heap  the 
substance  on  the  shores  above  the  lap  of  the  waters,  in  which  situation  it  is  compar- 
atively secure  until  needed.  To  a  slight  depth  the  mirabilite  effloresces,  but  within 
the  piles  the  hydrous  crystalline  condition  is  maintained.  At  the  present  time  there 
are  thousands  of  tons  of  this  material,  heaped  in  the  manner  described,  remaining 
from  the  collections  of  preceding  winters.  The  sodium  sulphate  thus  lavishly  sup- 
Science,  XIV,  1889,  p.  446. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


413 


plied  is  of  a  fair  degree  of  purity,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  analyses  of  two 
samples  of  the  crystallized  substance,  taken  from  opposite  shores  of  the  lake: 


Constituents. 

Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

Water  

55.070 

55.760 

Sodium  sulphate  (Na»SO4) 

43  060 

42  325 

Sodium  chloride  (NaCl)  

0.699 

0.631 

0  407 

0  267 

Magnesium  sulphate  (MgSO4)  
Insoluble  

0.025 
0.700 

0.018 
0.756 

Some  14  miles  southwest  of  Laramie,  in  Albany  County,  Wyoming, 
there  exist  deposits  of  sulphate  of  soda,  such  as  are  locally  known  as 
"lakes."  The  deposits  in  question  comprise  three  of  these  lakes  lying 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  one  another.  They  have  a  total  area  of  about 
65  acres,  the  local  names  of  the  three  being  the  Big  Lake,  the  Track 
Lake,  and  the  Red  Lake.  Being  the  property  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  Company,  they  are  generally  known  as  the  Union  Pacific 
Lakes. 

In  these  lakes  the  sulphate  of  soda  occurs  in  two  bodies  or  layers. 
The  lower  part,  constituting  the  great  bulk  of  the  deposit,  is  a  mass  of 
crystals  of  a  faint  greenish  color  mixed  with  a  considerable  amount 
of  black,  slimy  mud.  It  is  known  as  the  "solid  soda,"  of  which  an 
analysis  is  given  below. 


Constituents. 


Anhy-         Crystal- 
drous.  lized. 


CaSO4 
MgCls 

NaCl  . 


1.45 

0.77 
0.21 

38.43 


Insoluble  residue  (at  100  C.) . . 


81.63 
1.82 
1.64 
0.21 

85.30 
13.86 


Total  chloride  calculated  as  NaCl  equals  1.16  per  cent.  This,  calculated  on  100 
parts  anhydrous  Na2S04,  equals  3.22  per  cent  NaCl. 

This  solid  soda  is  stated  to  have  a  depth  of  some  20  or  30  feet. 
Borings  were  made  a  number  of  years  ago  under  the  direction  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  agents,  but,  as  the  records  have  been  mislaid 
or  lost,  with  what  results  is  not  definitely  known.  There  is  nothing 
to  prove  that  the  depth  is  not  less  than  stated  above. 

Above  the  solid  soda  occurs  the  superficial  layer  of  pure  white 
crystallized  sulphate  of  soda.  This  is  formed  by  solution  in  water  of 
the  upper  part  of  the  lower  body,  the  crystals  being  deposited  by 


414  REPOET    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

evaporation  or  by  cooling,  or  by  the  two  combined.  A  little  rain  in 
the  spring  and  autumn  furnishes  this  water,  as  do  also  innumerable 
small,  sluggishly  flowing  springs  present  in  all  the  lakes.  But  on 
account  of  the  dry  air  of  this  arid  region  the  surface  is  generally  dry 
or  nearly  so,  and  in  midsummer  the  white  clouds  of  efflorescent  sul- 
phate that  are  whirled  up  by  the  ever-blowing  winds  of  Wyoming  can 
be  seen  for  miles.  Even  should  there  be  a  little  water  present  there 
is  no  difficulty  in  gathering  the  crystals  by  the  train  load.  The  spring, 
however,  is  the  worst  season  of  the  year,  on  account  of  the  warm 
weather  and  of  the  rains — conditions  unfavorable  to  the  formation  of 
crystals.  The  layer  of  this  white  sulphate  is  from  3  to  12  inches,  in 
thickness.  When  the  crystals  are  removed  the  part  laid  bare  is  soon 
replenished  by  a  new  crop. 

The  following  is  an  analysis  of  the  purest  of  this  white  sulphate  of 
soda,  calculated  upon  an  anhydrous  basis,  that  being  the  condition,  of 
course,  in  which  it  would  be  used: 

Naj8O4  . . .. 99.  73 

MgCl, 26 

Insoluble ...  .    Trace. 


Below  is  given  an  analysis  of  the  water  of  the  lake: 
Density  =  14i°  Tw.  (—1.0725  specific  gravity).     Ten  cubic  centi- 
meters contains: 

Grams.    Per  cent. 

Na^SO4 0.7563=  92.23 

CaSO4 0. 0146=     1.  79 

MgS04 0.0070=      .85 

MgCl2 0. 0300=     3.  66 

0.0121=     1.47 


Total  solids 0.  8200     100. 00 

Total  solids  by  evaporation.  0.8240 

One  cubic  foot  of  this  water  contains  10.72  of  pure  crystallized  sul- 
phate of  soda.1 

(See  Specimens  Nos.  62086,  53427,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Albany  County, 
Wyoming.) 

Other  similar  deposits  occur  in  Carbon  and  Natrona  counties,  and 
still  others  are  reported  in  Fremont,  Johnson,  and  Sweetwater  counties. 

It  has  recently  been  stated 2  that  glauber  salts  has  been  found  on  the 
bottom  of  the  Bay  of  Kara  Bougas,  an  inlet  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  in 
deposits  sometimes  a  foot  in  thickness. 

1  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  CXXXV,  1893,  pp.  53, 54, 56. 

2  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXV,  1898,  p.  310. 


THE  NONMETALLIC  MINEBALS.  415 

5.  GLAUBERITE. 

Composition  sodium  and  calcium  sulphate.  Na2SO4.CaSO4,=sul- 
phurtrioxide,  57. 6  per  cent;  lime,  20.1  per  cent;  soda,  22. 3  per  cent.  This 
is  a  pale  yellow  to  gray  salt,  partially  soluble  in  water — leaving  a  white 
residue  of  sulphate  of  lime — and  with  a  slightly  saline  taste.  On  long 
exposure  to  moisture  it  falls  to  pieces,  and  hence  is  to  be  found  only 
in  protected  places  or  arid  areas.  It  occurs  associated  with  other  sul- 
phates and  carbonates,  as  with  thenardite  and  mirabilite  at  Borax 
Lake,  in  San  Bernardino  County,  California,  and  with  halite  in  rock 
salt  at  Stassfurt  (Specimen  No.  40229,  U.S.N.M.)  and  other  Euro- 
pean localities. 

6.  THENAKDITE. 

Composition  anhydrous  sodium  sulphate.  Na2SO4,=  sulphur  triox- 
ide,  43.7  per  cent;  soda,  56.3  per  cent.  Color  when  pure,  white,  trans- 
lucent to  transparent;  hardness,  2  to  3;  specific  gravity,  2.68;  brittle. 
In  cruciform  twins  or  short  prismatic  forms  roughly  striated.  Readily 
soluble  in  water.  Is  found  in  various  arid  countries,  as  on  the  Rio 
Verde  in  Arizona,  at  Borax  Lake,  California,  and  Rhodes  Marsh  in 
Nevada,  associated  with  other  salts  of  sodium  and  boron. 

7.  EPSOMITE;  EPSOM  SALTS. 

Composition  sulphate  of  magnesia  MgSO4-f7H2O.=  sulphur  tri- 
oxide,  32.5  per  cent;  magnesia,  16.3  per  cent;  water,  51.2  per  cent. 

This  is  a  soft  white  or  colorless  mineral  readily  soluble  in  water  and 
with  a  bitter  saline  taste.  It  is  a  constant  ingredient  of  sea  water  and  of 
most  mineral  waters  as  well.  Being  readily  soluble,  it  is  rarely  met  with 
in  nature  except  as  an  effervescence  in  mines  and  caves.  In  the  dry  parts 
of  the  limestone  caverns  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Indiana  it  occurs 
in  the  form  of  straight  acicular  needles  in  the  dirt  of  the  floor  and  in  pecu- 
liar recurved  fibrous  and  columnar  forms  or  in  loose  snow-white  masses 
on  the  roofs  and  walls.  (Specimens  Nos.  68145,  68153,  U.  S.  N.  M. ,  from 
Wyandotte  Cave,  Indiana. )  In  all  these  cases  it  is  doubtless  a  product  of 
sulphuric  acid  set  free  from  decomposing  pyrites  combining  with  the 
magnesia  of  the  limestone.  It  is  stated  that  at  the  so-called  "alum 
cave"  in  Sevier  County,  Tennessee,  masses  of  epsomite  very  pure  and 
nearly  a  cubic  foot  in  volume  have  been  obtained.  The  material  in  all 
these  cases  is  of  little  value,  the  chief  source  of  the  commercial  supply 
being  that  obtained  as  a  by-product  during  the  manufacture  by  evapora- 
tion of  common  salt  (sodium  chloride). 

In  Albany  County,  Wyoming,  are  several  lakes,  the  largest  of  which 
has  an  area  of  but  some  90  acres,  in  which  deposits  of  epsom  salts  are 
formed  on  a  very  large  scale,  but  which  are  of  little  commercial  value, 
owing  to  cost  of  transportation.  The  material  forms  compact,  almost 


416  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

snow-white  aggregates  of  small  acioular  crystals  of  a  high  degree  of 
purity.  (Specimen  No.  62088,  U.S. KM.)  The  composition  of  the 
natural  salt  is  given  as  follows:1  Insoluble  residue,  0.08  per  cent; 
magnesium  sulphate  (containing  traces  of  calcium  and  sodium  sul- 
phates), 51.22  per  cent;  water,  47.83  per  cent;  chloride  of  sodium, 
calcium,  and  magnesium,  0.42  per  cent;  iron,  trace;  loss,  0.45. 

8.    POLYHALITE.       9.    KAINITE.       10.    KlESERITE. 

For  description  of  these  minerals  see  under  Halite,  p.  195. 
11.  ALUMS. 

Under  this  head  are  included  a  variety  of  minerals  consisting  essen- 
tially of  hydrous  sulphates  of  aluminum  or  iron,  with  or  without  the 
alkalies,  and  which  are  not  always  readily  distinguished  from  one 
another  but  by  quantitative  analyses.  The  principal  varieties  are  kalin- 
ite,  tschermigite,  mendozite,  pickeringite,  apjohnite,  halotrichite,  and 
alunogen.  Aluminite  and  alunite  are  closely  related  chemical  com- 
pounds, but  differ  in  hardness  and  general  physical  qualities  and  in  being 
insoluble  except  in  acids. 

Although  possible  sources  of  alum,  none  of  these  minerals  have  been 
to  any  extent  utilized  in  the  United  States,  owing  to  a  lack  of  quan- 
tity or  inaccessibility,  the  main  source  of  the  alum  of  commerce  being 
cryolite,  bauxite,  and  clay,  as  elsewhere  noted.  (See  pp.  214,  229, 
and  325.) 

KALINITE  is  a  native  potash  alum;  composition  K2SO4.A12(SOJ3+ 
24H2O,= sulphur  trioxide,  33.7  per  cent;  alumina,  10.8  per  cent;  potash, 
9.9  per  cent;  water,45.6  per  cent, or,  otherwise  expressed,  potassium  sul- 
phate, 18.1  per  cent;  aluminum  sulphate,  36.3  percent;  water,  45. 6  per 
cent.  Hardness,  2  to  2.5;  specific  gravity,  1.75.  This  in  its  pure  state 
is  a  colorless  or  white  transparent  mineral,  crystallizing  in  the  isometric 
system,  readily  soluble  in  water,  and  characterized  by  a  strong  astrin- 
gent taste.  In  nature  it  occurs  as  a  volcanic  sublimation  product,  or 
as  a  secondary  mineral  due  to  the  reaction  of  sulphuric  acid  set  free  by 
decomposing  iron  pyrites  upon  aluminous  shales.  Its  common  mode 
of  occurrence  is  therefore  in  volcanic  vents  (Specimen  No.  60685, 
U.S.N.M.,  from  Vulcano)  or  as  an  efflorescence  upon  pyritiferous  and 
aluminous  rocks.  Being  so  readily  soluble,  it  is  to  be  found  in  appreci- 
able amounts  in  humid  regions  only  where  protected  from  the  rains,  as 
in  caves  and  other  sheltered  places.  So  far  as  known  to  the  author,  the 
mineral  is  nowhere  found  native  in  such  quantities  as  to  have  any  great 
commercial  value. 

TSCHERMIGITE  is  an  ammonia  alum  of  the  composition  (NHJ2SOr  A12 
(SO  J3+24H2O,  =  aluminum  sulphate,  37.7  per  cent;  ammonium  sul- 
phate, 14.6  per  cent;  water,  47.7  per  cent.  So  far  as  reported  this  salt 
has  been  found  only  at  Tschermig  and  in  a  mine  near  Dux,  Bohemia. 

1  Bulletin  No.  14,  October,  1893,  Wyoming  Experiment  Station. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEKALS.  417 

It  is  obtained  artificially  from  the  waste  of  gas  works.  Mendozite  is  a 
soda  alum  of  the  composition  Na2SO4.Al2(SO4)3+24H2O,  =  sodium  sul- 
phate, 15.5  per  cent;  aluminum  sulphate,  37.3  per  cent;  water,  47.2. 
The  mineral  closely  resembles  ordinary  alum,  and  has  been  reported 
from  Mendoza,  in  the  Argentine  Republic,  hence  the  name.  Picker- 
ingite  is  a  magnesium  alum  of  the  composition  MgSO4.Al2(SO4)3+22 
H2O,  =  aluminum  sulphate,  39.9  per  cent;  magnesium  sulphate,  14  per 
cent;  water,  46.1  per  cent.  The  mineral  is  of  a  white,  yellowish,  or 
sometimes  faintly  reddish  color,  of  a  bitter,  astringent  taste,  and 
occurs  in  acicular  crystals  or  fibrous  masses.  (Specimen  No.  53043, 
U.  S.  N.  M.,  from  Tarapaca,  Chile.)  Halotrichite  has  the  composition 
FeSO4.  A12  (SO,)3+24H2O,  =aluminum  sulphate,  36.9  per  cent;  ferrous 
sulphate,  16.4  per  cent;  water,  46.7  per  cent.  The  mineral  is  of  a 
white  or  yellowish  color,  and  of  a  silky,  fibrous  structure,  hence  the 
name  from  the  Greek  word  «A.?,  salt,  and  #p/£,  a  hair.  Apjohnite  has 
the  formula  MnSO4.Al2(SO4)3+24H2O,  =  manganese  sulphate,  16.3  per 
cent;  aluminum  sulphate,  37  per  cent;  water, 46.7 percent.  It  occurs 
in  silky  or  asbestiform  masses  of  a  white  or  yellowish  color,  and  tastes 
like  ordinary  alum.  It  has  been  found  in  considerable  quantities  in 
the  so-called  ''alum  cave"  of  Sevier  County,  Tennessee.  According 
to  Safford:1 

This  is  an  open  place  under  a  shelving  rock.  *  *  *  The  slates  around  and 
above  this  contain  much  pyrites,  in  fine  particles  and  even  in  rough  layers.  *  *  * 
The  salts  are  formed  above  and  are  brought  down  by  trickling  streams  of  water. 
*  *  *  Fine  cabinet  specimens  could  be  obtained,  white  and  pure,  a  cubic  foot  in 
volume. 

Dana  states  that  the  cave  is  situated  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Little 
Pigeon,  a  tributary  of  the  Tennessee  River,  and  that  it  is  properly  an 
.overhanging  cliff  80  or  100  feet  high  and  300  feet  long,  under  which 
the  alum  has  collected.  It  occurs,  according  to  this  authority,  in 
masses,  showing  in  the  cavities  tine  transparent  needles  with  a  silky 
luster,  of  a  white  or  faint  rose  tinge,  pale  green  or  yellow.  Epsomite 
and  rnelanterite  occur  with  it.  Alunogen  has  the  composition  A12 
(SO4)3+18H2O,  =  sulphur  trioxide,  36  per  cent;  alumina,  15.3  per 
cent;  water,  48.7  per  cent;  hardness,  1.5  to  2;  specific  gravity,  1.6 
to  1.8.  This  is  a  soft  white  mineral  of  a  vitreous  or  silky  luster, 
soluble  in  water,  and  with  a  taste  like  that  of  the  common  alum  of  the 
drug  stores.  It  occurs  in  nature  both  as  a  product  of  sublimation  in 
volcanic  regions,  and  as  a  decomposition  product  from  iron  pyrites 
(iron  disulphide)  in  the  presence  of  aluminous  shales.  So  far  as  the 
present  writer  is  aware,  the  native  product  has  no  commercial  value, 
being  found  (on  account  of  its  ready  solubility)  in  too  sparing  quanti- 
ties in  the  humid  East,  while  the  known  deposits  in  the  arid  regions 
are  remote  and  practically  inaccessible.  A  white  fibrous  variety  is 


1  Geology  of  Tennessee,  1869,  p.  197. 
NAT   MUS   99 27 


418  EEPOET    OF    NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

stated  by  Dana  to  occur  in  large  quantities  at  Smoky  Mountain,  in 
North  Carolina,  and  large  quantities  of  an  impure  variety,  often  of  a 
yellowish  cast,  are  found  in  Grant  County,  on  the  Gila  River,  about  40 
miles  north  of  Silver  City,  New  Mexico.  (Specimen  No.  07841, 
U.S.N.M.)  The  mineral  is  also  found  in  Crooke  and  Fremont  counties, 
Wyoming  (Specimen  No.  62087,  U.S.N.M.);  in  Schemnitz,  Hungary 
(Specimen  No.  53047,  U.S.N.M.),  and  in  Japan  (Specimen  No.  34402, 
U.S.N.M.). 

The  chief  use  of  the  material,  were  it  procurable  cheaply  and  in 
quantities,  would  be  as  a  source  of  alumina  for  use  in  chemical  manu- 
facture and  as  an  ore  of  aluminum. 

Concerning  the  occurrence  of  alunogen  on  the  Gila  River,  New 
Mexico,  W.  P.  Blake  writes: 

In  a  region  about  half  a  mile  square,  of  nearly  horizontal  strata  of  volcanic  origin, 
there  has  been  extensive  alteration  and  change  by  solfataric  action,  or  possibly  by  the 
decomposition  of  disseminated  pyrites  producing  aluminous  solutions,  which,  flowing 
slowly  by  capillary  movement  from  within  outwards,  suffer  decomposition  at  the  sur- 
face with  the  production  of  sulphate  of  alumina  (alunogen)  in  crusts  and  layers  upon 
the  outer  portions  of  the  rocks,  attended  by  the  deposition  of  siliceous  crusts  and  the 
separation  of  ferric  sulphate,  while  the  rocks  so  traversed  appear  to  be  deprived  of  a 
part,  at  least,  of  their  silica  and  of  their  alkalies,  with  the  formation  of  bauxite. 

The  alunogen  is  thus  an  outer  deposit,  while  the  bauxite  is  not  a  deposit,  but  is  an 
internal  residual  mass  in  place.  Its  color  is  generally  bluish-white;  structure,  amor- 
phous, granular,  without  concentric  or  pisolitic  grains.  When  dried  in  the  sun  and 
air  it  will  still  lose  about  20  per  cent  by  ignition.  It  gives  only  about  1  per  cent  of 
soluble  matter  by  leaching  with  water;  is  infusible,  and  reacts  for  alumina.  The 
amount  of  residual  silica  and  alkalies  has  not  yet  been  ascertained,  and  no  careful 
full  analysis  has  been  made.  The  composition  is  no  doubt  variable  in  samples  from 
different  places,  for  the  original  rocks  give  evidence  of  a  great  difference  within  short 
distances.1 

Material  from  this  locality  (represented  by  Specimen  No.  67841,, 
U.S.N.M.)  analyzed  in  the  laboratories  of  the  United  States  Geolog- 
ical Survey,  yielded  results  as  below:2 

Alumina  ( A12O3) 15.  52 

Sulphur  trioxide  (SO3) 34.  43 

Water  (H2O) 42.  56 

Insoluble  residue...  .     7.62 


100. 13 
An  asbestiform  halotrichite  from  the  same  locality  yielded — 

Alumina  ( A12O3) 7.  27 

Iron  protoxide  (FeO)   13.59 

Sulphur  trioxide  (SO3) 37. 19 

Water 40.62 

Insoluble  residue.  . .  .     0.  50 


99.17 


1  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXIV,  1894,  p. 
572. 
'2  American  Journal  of  Science,  XXVIII,  1884,  p.  24. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  419 

In  New  South  Wales  the  material  is  commonly  met  with  as  an  efflor- 
escence in  caves  and  under  sheltered  ledges  of  the  Coal  Measure  sand- 
stone, usually  with  epsomite,  as  at  Dabee,  County  Phillip;  Wallera- 
wang-  and  Mudgee  road,  County  Cook;  the  mouth  of  the  Shoalhaven 
River,  and  other  places.  Also  found  in  the  crevices  of  a  blue  slate  at 
Alum  Creek,  and  at  the  Gibraltar  Rock,  County  Argyle.  Occurs  as  a 
deposit,  with  various  other  salts,  from  the  vents  at  Mount  Wingen, 
County  Brisbane,  together  with  native  sulphur  in  small  quantities;  and 
at  Appin,  Bulli,  and  Pitt  Water,  County  Cumberland.  At  Cullen 
Bullen,  in  the  Turon  district,  County  Roxburgh;  at  Tarcutta,  County 
Wynyard;  Manero;  Wingello  Siding,  and  Capertee. 

A  specimen  in  the  form  of  fibrous  masses,  made  up  of  long,  acicular 
crystals,  white,  silky  luster,  like  satin  spar,  found  as  an  efflorescence  in 
a  sandstone  cave  near  Wallerawang,  was  found  to  have  the  following 
composition : 

Water 47.  585 

Matter  insoluble  in  water 1. 079 

Alumina 15. 198 

Sulphuric  acid 34.  635 

Soda .931 

Potash 337 

Loss...  .235 


100.  000 

The  formula  for  the  above  is  practically  A12O3.3SO3+18H2O.  An- 
other specimen  from  the  same  place  was  found  to  contain  a  notable 
quantity  of  magnesium  sulphate. 

Water,  by  difference 47.  388 

Silica 1.  908 

Alumina 13. 113 

Sulphuric  acid 33.  067 

Lime 798 

Magnesia 3.  726 

Total 100.  000 

The  formula  for  the  above  is  also  practically  A12O3.3SO3+18H2O. 
ALUMINITE. — Aluminite  is  a  dull,  lusterless  earthy,  aluminum  sul- 
phate of  the  composition  indicated  by  the  formula  A12O3.SO8,9H2O  = 
sulphur  tri oxide  23.3  per  cent;  alumina  29.6  per  cent;  water  47.1  per 
cent.  It  is  soluble  only  in  acids,  white  in  color,  opaque,  and  occurs 
mainly  in  beds  of  Tertiary  and  more  recent  clays. 

ALLTNITE. — Composition  K20. 3  A12O3.4SO3,6H2O= sulphur  trioxide 
38.6  per  cent;  alumina  37.0  per  cent;  potash  11.4  per  cent;  water  13.0 
per  cent.  Hardness  3. 5  to  4;  specific  gravity  2. 58  to  2. 75.  This  mineral 
occurs  native  in  the  form  of  a  fibrous,  or  compact  finely  granular  rock 
of  a  dull  luster  somewhat  resembling  certain  varieties  of  aluminous 
limestones.  It  is  infusible  and  soluble  only  in  sulphuric  acid.  The 
more  compact  varieties  are  so  hard  and  tough  as  to  be  used  for  mill- 


420  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   J899. 

stones  in  Hungary.  No  deposits  of  such  extent  as  to  be  of  economic 
importance  are  known  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States.  Alunite 
as  an  alteration  product  of  rhyolite  has  been  described  by  Whitman 
Cross1  as  occurring  at  the  Rosita  Hills  in  Colorado,  the  alteration  being 
brought  about  through  the  influence  of  sulphurous  vapors  incident  to 
the  volcanic  outbursts.  The  altered  rhyolite  as  shown  by  analyses  had 
the  following  composition:  Silica  65.94  per  cent;  alumina  12.95  per 
cent;  potash  2.32  per  cent;  soda  1.19  per  cent;  sulphur  trioxide  12.47 
percent;  water  4. 47  per  cent;  Fe2O3,  etc.,  0.55  per  cent.  This  indicates 
that  the  rock  is  made  up  of  alunite  and  quartz,  in  the  proportion  of 
about  one-third  of  the  former  to  two-thirds  of  the  latter.  The  most 
noted  occurrences  of  alunite  are  at  Tolfa,  near  Rome;  Montioni,  in 
Tuscany,  Italy  (Specimen  No.  62863,  U.S.N.M.);  Musaz,  in  Hungary 
(Specimens  Nos.  60925,  66854,  U.S.N.M.)  on  the  islands  of  Milo, 
Argentiera  and  Nevis  in  the  Grecian  Archipelago;  Mount  Dore  in 
France,  and  at  Bulledelah  in  New  South  Wales.  At  the  last-named 
locality  the  mineral  occurs  in  compact,  micro-crystalline  forms  of  a 
slight  flesh  pink  tint,  in  "a  large  deposit  forming  the  summit  of  a 
ridge  about  three-fourths  mile  long  by  one-half  mile  wide,  and  rising 
about  1,000  feet  above  the  level  of  Lyall  Creek,  on  which  it  is  situ- 
ated. Viewed  from  the  creek  it  presents  a  massive  outcrop  re- 
sembling limestone.  It  yields  from  60  to  80  per  cent  of  alum  upon 
roasting,  lixiviating,  and  evaporating2  (Specimen  No.  62179,  U.S.N.M.). 
Alunite  from  the  mines  at  Tolfa  varies  considerably  in  composition. 
The  crystallized  variety  contains  about  32  per  cent  alumina,  whereas 
the  cruder  specimens  which  contain  a  large  quantity  of  silica  have 
only  about  17.5  per  cent.  The  following  is  an  analysis  of  an  average 
sample: 

Alumina 27. 60 

Sulphuric  acid 29.  74 

Potash 7. 55 

Water 11.  20 

Iron 1.  20 

Silica ....  .     22.  71 


Total 100. 00 

WThen  crushed  it  is  easily  reduced  to  a  powder,  the  finer  portions  of 
which  are  richer  in  alumina  than  the  coarser  portions,  and  for  this 
reason  the  author  recommends  that  only  the  former  should  be  exported, 
the  latter  being  converted  into  commercial  products  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  mine.8 

1  American  Journal  of  Science,  XLI,  1891,  p.  468. 

2  Catalogue  of  New  South  Wales  Exhibits,  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  Chicago, 
1893,  Dept.  E,  p.  358. 

3  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  I,  1882,  p.  501. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


421 


ALUM  SLATE  OR  SHALE  is  a  somewhat  indefinite  name  given  to 
fine-grained  arenaceous  rocks  consisting  essentially  of  siliceous  ami 
fieldspathic  sands  and  clays  with  disseminated  iron  pyrites.  The  fol- 
lowing analyses  from  Bischofs  Chemical  Geology  will  serve  to  show 
their  varying  composition: 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

Silica                                                                  .  .- 

65.44 

72.40 

50.13 

14.87 

16.45 

10.73 

1.05 

2.27 

.15 

.17 

.40 

Magnesia                  

1.34 

1.48 

1.00 

4.59 

5.08 

Soda 

48 

53 

1.25 

2.26 

7.53 

Carbon  and  water  

Undet. 

Undet. 

25.04 

(I)  An  alum  slate  from  Opsloe.  near  Christiania,  Norway,  (11)  from 
Bornholm,  and  (III)  from  Garnsdorf,  near  Saalfeld,  Prussia.  Concern- 
ing No.  Ill  it  is  stated  that  "on  the  roof  of  the  adit,  driven  into  the 
slate,  there  are  almost  everywhere  yellow  or  white  opaque  stalactites, 
and  more  rarely  a  green  transparent  deposit  is  produced.  Both  con- 
sist of  hydrated  basic  sulphate  of  alumina  and  peroxide  of  iron.  In 
the  former,  iron  predominates;  in  the  latter,  alumina.  Both  substances 
are  quite  insoluble  in  water. 

From  shales  and  slates  of  this  type  the  alum  is  obtained  by  crushing 
and  allowing  to  undergo  prolonged  weathering  or  submitted  to  a  roast- 
ing process.  The  essential  part  of  the  reaction  consists  in  oxidizing 
the  bisulphide  to  the  condition  of  a  sulphate  and  finally  into  iron 
sesquioxide,  with  separation  of  free  sulphuric  acid  which  attacks  the 
alumina,  forming  an  equivalent  quantity  of  sulphate  of  aluminum  or 
alum.  So  far  as  is  known  this  process  is  not  carried  on  at  all  in  the 
United  States. 

The  alum  shale  of  the  English  Upper  Liassian  formation  consists  of 
hard  blue  shale  with  cement  stones.     On  exposure  to  the  air  it  grad- 
ually becomes  incrusted  with  sulphur,  and  occasionally  with  alum. 
In  composition  the  alum  shale  is  as  follows: 

Iron  sulphide 8.  50 

Silica 51. 16 

Iron  protoxide 6. 11 

Alumina 18.  30 

Lime 2. 15 

Magnesia 0. 90 

Sulphuric  acid 2.  5 

Potash Trace. 

Soda Trace. 

Carbon 8.  29 

Water...  .     2.00 


Total. 


99.91 


422  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

From  this  shale  potash-alum  was  formerly  made  near  Whitby  and 
Redcar,  the  aluminum  sulphate  being  extracted  from  the  shale,  and  the 
potash-salt  being  added.  The  trade  which  since  the  days  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  has  been  largely  carried  on,  has  now  almost  passed  away,  as 
alum  is  now  manufactured  in  other  places  from  coal-shale.  Alum 
works  formerly  existed  at  the  Peak,  Robin  Hood's  Bay,  Stow  Brow, 
Sandsend,  Kettleness,  Lofthouse  (Loftus),  Osmotherly,  etc.1 

According  to  F.  Stolba,2  the  so-called  Bohemian  fuming  sulphuric 
acid  is  made  from  vitriol  obtained  from  Silurian  pyritiferous  schists 
("  vitriolschiefer").  The  method  as  given  is  as  follows:  Large  masses 
of  the  schist,  which  consist  essentially  of  a  quartzose  matrix  contain- 
ing pyrite,  carbonaceous  matter,  and  clay,  are  exposed  to  the  weather- 
ing action  of  the  atmosphere  for  three  years.  The  products  of  oxida- 
tion so  formed  are  ferrous  sulphate  and  sulphuric  acid,  which  latter 
acts  energetically  upon  the  clay,  and  finally  aluminum  sulphate  and 
other  sulphates  are  yielded.  The  ferrous  sulphate  at  first  formed  be- 
comes by  oxidation  ferric  sulphate,  which,  together  with  the  aluminum 
sulphate,  is  the  principal  product  of  the  weathering  of  the  vitriol  slate. 
Ferrous  sulphate  remains  only  in  small  quantities.  The  next  operation 
is  lixiviation  of  the  mass  with  water,  after  which  the  liquor  obtained 
is  concentrated  to  a  density  of  40°  Baum^,  and  finally  evaporated 
in  pans  until,  on  cooling,  a  crystalline  cake  of  vitriol  stone  is  obtained. 
The  vitriol  stone  is  now  calcined  in  order  to  remove  the  greater  part 
of  its  water.  The  resulting  product,  when  heated  to  a  very  high  tem- 
perature in  clay  retorts,  yields  sulphuric  anhydride,  and  a  residue, 
termed  colcothar,  remains  in  the  retorts.  The  composition  of  vitriol 
stone  and  colcothar  will  be  seen  from  the  following  analyses: 

VITRIOL  STONE.  VITRIOL  STONE. 

Fe203 20.07                          Fe2(S04)3 50.17 

A12O3 4.67                          A12(SO4)3 11.94 

FeO.. 0.64                         FeSO4 1.35 

MnO. Traces.                         MgSO4 1.17 

CaO 0. 14                          CaSO4 0. 33 

MgO 0. 39                          CuSO4 0. 20 

K,0 0. 07                          K2S04 0. 13 

Na20 0. 05                          Na^SO, 0. 11 

CuO 0. 10                          H2SO4 1. 49 

Si02  . .  .     0. 10  MnO,  As,  and  P2O5 Traces. 

PA----                    -Traces.                          SiO2 9.10 

SO3 40. 51                          H2O 32. 31=99.  29 

As Traces. 

H2O 32.  58=99.  32 

*The  Geology  of  England  and  Wales,  p.  279. 

2  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  V,  1886,  p.  30. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  423 

COLCOTHAR. 

Fe2O3 74. 62 

A12OS 12.  53 

MgO 3.23 

CaO 0.  82 

SO3 5.17 

Si02 1.17 

CuO 0. 20 

H2O 1.  30=99. 04 

XIII.  HYDROCARBON  COMPOUNDS. 

1.  COAL  SERIES. 

Here  are  included  a  variety  of  more  or  less  oxygenated  hydrocar- 
bons varying  widely  in  physical  and  chemical  properties,  but  alike  in 
originating  from  decomposing  plant  growth  protected  from  the  oxidiz- 
ing influences  of  the  air.  According  to  the  amount  of  change  that  has 
taken  place  in  the  original  plant  material,  the  amount  of  volatile  matter 
still  retained  by  it,  its  hardness  and  burning  qualities,  several  varieties 
are  recognized. 

Origin. — The  idea  long  prevalent  but  never  entirely  accepted  to 
the  effect  that  the  coal  beds  resulted  from  the  accumulation  in  situ  of 
organic  matter  growing  on  gradually  subsiding  marshes  has  of  late 
given  way  quite  largely  to  another  more  in  accord  with  the  facts  as 
now  known. 

While  we  have  indubitable  proof  that  peat  may  and  does  thus  origi- 
nate, as  is  to  be  seen  in  many  a  modern  peat  bog,  and  while,  too,  there 
is  no  doubt  as  to  the  possibility  of  such,  under  proper  conditions, 
becoming  converted  into  coal,  still  there  are  many  facts  which  tend  to 
show  that  perhaps  the  most  and  the  largest  of  the  coal  deposits  are 
due  to  the  accumulation  of  transported  plant  remains  laid  down  at  the 
mouths  of  rivers  as  in  deltas  and  lagoons.  They  are  in  fact  as  true 
sedimentary  deposits  as  the  shales  and  sandstones  with  which  they  are 
associated.  This  view  best  accounts  for  the  constant  interlamination 
of  the  coal  with  clay  and  sand,  with  the  marked  stratification  of  the 
coal  itself,  as  well  as  the  amorphous  nature  of  the  material,  since,  as  is 
well  known,  calcium  sulphate,  a  constitueut  of  sea  water,  tends  to 
decompose  organic  matter,  reducing  it  to  a  pulplike,  and  at  times 
almost  mucilaginous  condition. 

The  idea,  too,  long  prevalent,  that  anthracite  is  but  a  bituminous 
coal  from  which  a  large  portion  of  the  volatile  matter  has  been  driven 
off  by  the  heat  and  pressure  incidental  to  mountain  making  or  the 
intrusion  of  igneous  rocks  is  also  in  part  being  set  aside.  Undoubtedly 
anthracite  may  be  thus  produced  and  in  some  cases  has  been  thus  pro- 
duced, as  in  the  Cerrillos  coal  field  of  New  Mexico,  where  a  bitumi- 
nous coal  containing  some  30  per  cent  of  volatile  matter  has  been  locally 


424  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

converted  into  anthracite  through  the  intrusion  of  a  mass  of  an  ande- 
sitic  trachyte.1 

Prof.  J.  J.  Stevenson  has,  however,  argued2  that  the  difference 
between  anthracite  and  the  bituminous  coals  is  due,  not  to  metamor- 
phism  through  heat  and  pressure  after  being  buried,  but  rather  to  the 
former  having  been  longer  exposed  to  the  percolating  action  of  water, 
whereby  the  volatile  constituents  were  removed,  prior  to  its  final 
burial,  and  the  consolidation  of  the  inclosing  rocks. 

The  subject  is,  however,  altogether  too  large  to  be  satisfactorily  dis- 
cussed here,  and  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  special  works  on  the 
subject  noted  in  the  bibliography. 

PEAT  represents  the  plant  matter  in  its  least  changed  condition.  It 
results  from  the  gradual  accumulation  in  bogs  and  marshes  of  growths 
consisting  mainly  of  sphagnous  mosses,  a  low  order  of  plants  having 
the  faculty  of  continuing  in  growth  upward  as  they  die  off  below.  In 
this  way  the  deposits  often  assume  a  very  considerable  thickness. 
When  sufficently  thick  the  weight  of  the  overlying  matter  may  have 
converted  the  lower  portions  into  a  dense  brownish-black  mass  some- 
what resembling  true  coal.  The  deposits  of  peat  are  all  comparatively 
recent  and  occur  only  in  humid  climates.  They  are  developed  to  an 
enormous  extent  in  Ireland — about  one-seventh  of  the  entire  country 
being  covered  by  them — and  average  in  some  cases  25  feet  in  thick- 
ness. (Specimen  No.  53242,  U.S.N.M.,  from  County  Kerry.)  They 
are  also  abundant  on  the  continent  of  Europe  and  various  parts  of 
North  America.  In  Europe,  and  especially  in  Ireland,  the  material 
is  extensively  utilized  for  fuel,  and  there  would  seem  no  good  reason 
for  not  so  utilizing  it  in  America.  As  prepared  for  use  the  material 
is  simply  dug  from  the  bogs  and  stacked  up  until  sufficiently  dry  for 
burning,  or  pressed  into  bricks  of  suitable  size  and  shape  for  conven- 
ient handling.  Many  processes  have  been  invented  for  reducing  the 
material  to  a  pulp  arid  subsequently  condensing  by  pressure,  but  all 
involve  too  great  an  outlay  to  be  profitable.3 

In  America  the  chief  use  of  the  material  is  as  a  fertilizer,  a  material 
for  ''mulching."  An  impure  variety  containing  a  considerable  quan- 

1  Bulletin  of  the  Geological  Society  of  America,  VII,  1895-96,  p.  525. 

2  Idem,  V,  1894,  p.  39. 

3  A  new  method  of  making  charcoal  from  peat  has  been  patented  in  England  by 
Mr.  Blundell  and  is  to  be  tried  in  Italy,  where  there  are  large  deposits  of  peat  which 
can,  it  is  claimed,  be  handled  very  cheaply.     In  this  process  the  peat  is  first  reduced 
to  a  fine  paste  and  leaves  the  machine  in  a  continuous  thick  tube  3  to  5  inches  in 
diameter,  and  is  then  cut  off  in  sticks  and  dried  for  three  days  on  wooden  supports 
and  for  a  longer  period  in  the  air  on  wire  netting.     After  twenty-five  days  the  sticks 
become  dry  and  hard  and  may  be  burned  as  fuel;  but  it  is  more  profitable  to  convert 
these  sticks  into  charcoal.     This  is  accomplished  in  six  hours  in  a  retort,  and  3  tons 
of  peat  make  1  ton  of  charcoal.— Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXV,  February  26, 
1898,  p.  248. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum.  1  899.— Merrill. 


PLATE  23. 


Q 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


425 


tity  of  silicious  sand,  and  locally  known  as  "muck,"  is  thus  used  through- 
out New  England. 

According  to  J.  E.  Kehl,  United  States  consul  at  Stettin,  Germany, 
the  manufacture  of  peat  briquettes  in  that  country  is  likely  to  become 
an  industry  of  some  importance.  The  material  fresh  from  the  moor 
is  cut  and  ground  quite  finely  by  machinery,  dried  by  steam,  and 
pressed  into  the  desired  form.  The  material  thus  prepared  is  said  to 
be  clean  to  handle,  gives  a  good  heat,  and  burns  satisfactorily  in  both 
stoves  and  open  grates.  The  peat  briquettes  retail  at  the  rate  of  8  for 
a  cent,  American  money.1 

From  a  study  made  by  Drs.  J.  W.  Dawson  and  B.  J.  Harrison 
some  years  ago2  it  was  concluded  that  the  peat  deposits  of  Prince 
Edward  Island  were  capable  of  economic  utilization.  Three  deposits 
were  referred  to,  the  possibilities  of  which  were  given  as  below: 

Lenox  Island  bog,  at  $4  a  ton,  20,000  tons,  value $80, 000 

Squirrel  Creek  bog,  at  $4  a  ton,  500,000  tons,  value 2, 000, 000 

Black  Bank  bog,  at  $4  a  ton,  1,777,248  tons,  value 7, 108,  992 


Total. 


9, 189, 992 


The  following  analyses  of  peats  are  given  by  this  authority: 


Constituents. 

Hydro- 
scopic 
water. 

Volatile 
combusti- 
ble matter. 

Champlain  peat  

14.96 
17  06 

59.60 
50  725 

22.20     '        3.24 
25  %            6  265 

Indian  Island  peat  
Black  Bank  peat  

23.71 
16.52 

41.195 
53.29 

19.835         15.26 

22.  48             7.  71 

Below  are  given  the  results  of  analyses  of  I,  peat  from  bog  of 
Allan,  Ireland;  II,* a  "muck"  from  Maine,  United  States;  and  III, 
Commander  Islands  in  Behring  Sea  (Specimen  No.  59320,  U.S.N.M.): 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

Carbon 

Per  cent. 
61  04 

Per  cent. 
21 

Percent. 
60  48 

Volatile  matter  

Ash 

37.53 
1  83 

72 

7 

39.53 
3  30 

LIGNITE  OR  BROWN  COAL. — This  name  is  given  to  a  brownish -black 
variety  of  coal  characterized  by  a  brilliant  luster,  conchoidal  fracture, 
and  brown  streak.  Such  contain  from  55  to  65  per  cent  of  carbon  and 
burn  easily,  with  a  smoky  flame,  but  are  inferior  to  the  true  coals  for 
heating  purposes.  They  are  also  objectionable  on  account  of  the  soot 
they  create,  and  their  rapid  disintegration  and  general  deterioration 

United  States  Consular  Reports,  January,  1899,  p.  99. 

2 Report  on  the  Geological  Structure  and  Mineral  Resources  of  Prince  Edward 
Island,  1871. 


426  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

when  exposed  to  the  air.  They  occur  in  beds  under  conditions  similar 
to  the  true  coals,  but  are  of  more  recent  origin.  The  lignitic  coals  of 
the  regions  of  the  United  States  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  are  mainly 
of  Laramie  (Upper  Cretaceous)  age,  and  often  show  easily  recognizable 
traces  of  their  organic  origin,  such  as  compressed  and  flattened  stems 
and  trunks  of  trees  with  traces  of  woody  liber  (Specimen  No.  4795, 
U.S.N.M.). 

Jet  is  a  resinous,  coal-black  variety  of  lignite  sufficiently  dense  to  be 
carved  into  small  ornaments  (Specimens  Nos.  62930,  62804,  U.S.N.M.). 
According  to  Professor  Phillips,  it  is  simply  a  coniferous  wood,  and 
still  shows  the  characteristic  structure  under  the  microscope.  It  has 
been  known  since  early  British  times,  having  at  first  been  found  on 
the  seashore  at  Whitby  and  other  places.  The  largest  seam  on  record 
was  obtained  from  the  North  Bats,  near  Whitby.  It  weighed  some 
5,180  pounds  and  was  valued  at  about  $1,250.  The  material  is  now 
regularly  mined  both  in  the  cliffs  and  inland,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  products  of  the  Yorkshire  coast.1 

BITUMINOUS  COALS. — Under  this  name  are  included  a  series  of  com- 
pact and  brittle  products  in  which  no  traces  of  organic  remains  are  to  be 
seen  on  casual  inspection,  but  which  under  the  microscope  often  show 
traces  of  woody  fiber,  spores  of  lycopods,  etc.  These  coals  are  usually 
of  a  brown  to  black  color,  with  a  brown  or  gray -brown  streak,  break- 
ing with  a  cubical  or  conchoidal  fracture,  and  burning  readily  with  a 
yellow,  smoky  flame.  They  contain  from  35  to  75  per  cent  of  fixed 
carbon,  18  to  60  per  cent  of  volatile  matter,  from  2  to  20  per  cent  of 
water,  and  only  too  frequently  show  traces  of  sulphur,  due  to  included 
iron  pyrites.  Several  varieties  of  bituminous  coals  are  recognized, 
the  distinctions  being  based  upon  their  manner  of  burning.  ( '<>/,•!  IKJ 
coals  are  so  called  from  the  facility  with  which  they  may  be  made  to 
yield  coke.  Such  give  a  yellow  flame  in  burning  and  make  a  hot  fire. 
(Specimens  Nos.  55490,  U.S.N.M.,  Connellsville,  Pennsylvania,  and 
59260,  U.S.N.M.,  from  New  River,  West  Virginia.)  Other  varie- 
ties of  apparently  the  same  composition  and  general  physical  proper- 
ties can  not  for  some  unexplained  reason  be  made  to  yield  coke,  and 
are  known  as  noncoking  coals.  (Specimens  Nos.  59428,  U.S.N.M., 
from  Vigo  County,  Indiana,  and  59208,  U.S.N.M.  (splint  coal),  from 
Fayette  County,  West  Virginia.)  Cannel  coal  has  a  very  compact 
structure,  breaks  with  a  conchoidal  fracture,  has  a  dull  luster,  ignites 
easily,  and  burns  with  a  yellow  flame.  It  does  not  coke.  Its  chief 
characteristic  is  the  large  amount  of  volatile  matter  given  off  when 
heated,  whereby  it  is  rendered  of  particular  value  for  making  gas. 
(Specimens  Nos.  56280,  56284,  and  58496,  U.S.N.M.,  are  characteristic.) 
Before  the  discovery  of  petroleum  it  was  used  for  the  distillation  of 
oils.  Below  is  given  the  composition  of  a  (1)  coking  coal  from  the 

Geology  of  England  and  Wales,  p.  278. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,    1899  —  Mar 


PLATE  24. 


c    ." 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  427 

Connellsville  Basin  of  Pennsylvania,  and  (II)  a  cannel  coal  froiu  Ka- 
nawha  Countj7,  West  Virginia.1 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

Water 

1  105 

Volatile  matter 

29.885 

58.00 

Fixed  carbon  

Ash 

57.754 
9  895 

23.50 
18  50 

Sulphur 

1.339 

Total  

99.978 

100.00 

ANTHRACITE  COAL. — This  is  a  deep  black,  lustrous,  hard  and  brittle 
variety,  and  represents  the  most  highly  metamorphosed  variety  of  the 
coal  series.  Traces  of  organic  nature  are  almost  entirely  lacking  in 
the  matter  of  the  anthracite  itself,  though  impressions  of  ferns,  lyco- 
pods,  sigillaria  and  other  coal-forming  plants  are  frequently  associated 
with  the  beds  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  little  doubt  as  to  their 
origin.  Anthracite  is  ignited  with  difficulty  and  burns  with  little 
flame,  but  makes  a  hot  fire.  Below  is  given  the  average  composition 
of  a  coal  from  the  Kohinoor  Colliery,  Shenandoah,  Pennsylvania.8 

Water 3. 163 

Volatile  matter 3.  717 

Fixed  carbon 81. 143 

Sulphur 0.  899 

Ash .  11.078 


100. 00 

(Specimens  Nos.  59058,  59062,  from  Pennsylvania,  and  30854,  from 
Colorado,  are  sufficiently  characteristic.)  Like  the  other  coals,  anthra- 
cite occurs  in  true  beds,  but  is  confined  mostly  to  rocks  of  the  Car- 
boniferous age.  Thin  seams  of  anthracite  sometimes  occur  in  Devo- 
nian and  Silurian  rocks,  but  which  are  too  small  to  be  of  economic 
value.  Rarely  coals  of  more  recent  geological  horizon  have  been 
formed  locally,  altered  into  anthracite  hy  the  heat  of  igneous  rocks. 
Through  a  still  further  metamorphism,  whereby  it  loses  all  its  volatile 
constituents,  coal  passes  over  into  graphite  (Specimens  Nos.  17299 
and  59099,  from  near  Newport,  Rhode  Island),  and  it  is  possible,  though 
scarcely  probable,  that  all  graphite  may^  have  originated  in  this  way. 
The  principal  anthracite  coal  regions  of  the  United  States  are  in 
eastern  Pennsylvania.  From  here  westward  throughout  the  interior 
States  to  the  front  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  the  coals  are  all 
soft,  bituminous  coals.  Those  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  proper 
are  largely  lignitic,  passing  into  the  bituminous  varieties. 

1  F.  P.  Dewey,  Bulletin  42,  United  States  National  Museum,  1891,  p.  231. 
1  Idem,  p.  221. 


428  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

The  bibliography  of  coal,  even  though  limited  to  the  United  States,  would  be  enor- 
mous. In  all  cases  reference  should  be  made  to  the  publications  of  the  various  State 
surveys,  where  such  have  existed.  The  few  titles  here  given  are  of  articles  of  general 
interest  and,  as  a  rule,  not  relating  to  the  coals  of  one  particular  locality  alone. 
WALTER  R.  JOHNSON.  A  Report  to  the  Navy  Department  of  the  United  States  on 
American  Coals  Applicable  to  Steam  Navigation  and  to  other  purposes. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  1844,  pp.  607. 

RICHARD  COWLING  TAYLOR.  Statistics  of  Coal.  The  Geographical  and  Geological 
Distribution  of  Mineral  Combustibles  or  Fossil  Fuel,  etc. 

Philadelphia,  1848,  pp.  754. 
J.  LE  CONTE.  Lectures  on  Coal. 

Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  1857,  p.  119. 
T.  H.  LEAVITT.  Peat  as  a  Fuel. 

Second  Edition.     Boston,  1866,  pp.  168. 

Facts  About  Peat  as  an  Article  of  Fuel. 

Third  Edition.    Boston,  1867,  pp.  316. 
E.  W.  HILGARD.  Note  on  Lignite  Beds  and  their  Under  Clays. 

American  Journal  of  Science,  VII,  1874,  p.  208. 
LEO  LESQUEREUX.  On  the  Formation  of  Lignite  Beds  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Region. 

American  Journal  of  Science,  VII,  1874,  p.  29. 
J.  S.  NEWBERRY.  On  the  Lignites  and  Plant  Beds  of  Western  America. 

American  Journal  of  Science,  VII,  1874,  p.  399. 
JAMES  MACFARLANE.  Coal  Regions  of  America. 

New  York,  1875. 
MIALL  GREEN,  THORPE,  RUCKER,  and  MARSHALL.  Coal;  Its  History  and  Uses.    Edited 

by  Professor  Thorpe.     London,  1878,  pp.  363. 

RAPHAEL  PUMPELLY.  Report  on  the  Mining  Industries  of  the  United  States,  with 
special  investigation  into  the  Iron  Resources  of  the  Republic  and  into  the  Creta- 
ceous Coals  of  the  Northwest, 

Tenth  Census  of  the  United  States,  XV,  1880. 
W.  IVISON  MACADAM.  Analyses  of  Coals  from  New  Zealand  and  Labuan. 

Transactions  of  the  Edinburgh  Geological  Society,  IV,  pt.  2,  p.  165,  session 
1881-82. 
J.  S.  NEWBERRY.  On  the  Physical  Conditions  under  which  Coal  was  Formed. 

Science,  I,  March  2,  1883,  p.  89. 

CHARLES  A.  ASHBURNER.  The  Classification  and  Composition  of  Pennsylvania  Anthra- 
cites. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,   XIV,    1885, 
p.  706. 
LEO  LESQUEREUX.  On  the  Vegetable  Origin  of  Coal. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania,  1885,  p.  95. 
S.  W.  JOHNSON.  Peat  and  its  Uses  as  Fertilizer  and  Fuel. 

New  York,  1886,  pp.  168. 
GRAHAM  MACFARLANE.  Notes  on  American  Cannel  Coal. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVIII,   1890. 
p.  436. 
W.  GALLOWAY.  The  South  African  Coal  Field. 

Proceedings  of  the  South  Wales  Institute  of  Engineers,  No.  2,  XVII,  1890,  p.  67. 
LEVI  W.  MEYERS.  L'Origine  de  la  Houille. 

Revue  de  Quest.  Scientifique  Brussels,  July,  1892,  pp.  5-47. 
WILLIAM  H.  PAGE.  The  Carboniferous  Age  and  the  Origin  of  Coal. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LVI,  1893,  p.  347. 
Note  sur  la  formation  des  Terraines  Houillers. 

Bulletin  de  la  Societe"  Geologique  de  France,  XXIV,  1896,  p.  150. 
Making  Coal  of  Bog  Peat. 
The  Iron  Age,  LXII,  Aug.  18,  1898,  p.  3. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899.— Merrill. 


PLATE  25. 


m    - 

•:•• 


•^ 

•  ~-~^AJ^ — -x 

'  " * '   '/ 


il 


t   ./ 

2      S 
=> 


u 

i 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


429 


Bituminous . 


2.  BITUMEN  SERIES. 

Under  this  head  are  included  a  series  of  hydrocarbon  compounds 
varying  in  physical  properties  from  solid  to  gaseous  and  in  color 
from  coal  black  through  brown,  greenish,  red,  and  yellow  to  colorless. 
Unlike  the  members  of  the  series  already  described,  they  are  not  the 
residual  products  of  plant  decomposition  in  situ,  but  are  rather,  in 
part  at  least,  distillation  products  from  deeply  buried  organic  matter 
of  both  animal  and  vegetable  origin.  The  different  members  of  the  series 
differ  so  widely  in  their  properties  and  uses  that  each  must  be  dis- 
cussed independently.  The  grouping  of  the  various  compounds  as 
given  below  is  open  to  many  objections  from  a  strictly  scientific  stand- 
point, but,  all  things  considered,  it  seems  best  suited  for  the  present 
purposes.1 

Tabular  classification  of  hydrocarbons.'* 

Gaseous Marsh  gas  (Natural  gas). 

Fluidal Petroleum  (Naphtha). 

•.,.  fPittasphalt  (Maltha). 

\iscous  and  sem.sohd Minera]  ^ 

I  Asphalt, 

Elastic (Elaterite. 

\Wurtzillite. 
fAlbertite. 

8011(1 Grahamite. 

'Uintaite. 
Succinite. 

Resinous..  Copalite. 

Torbanite. 
Ambrite. 

Cerous  ( waxy) . . .  f  Ozokerite. 

"IHatchettite. 

Tabular  classification  or  grouping  of  natural  and  artificial  bituminous  compounds. 

Mixed  with  limestone,  "asphal-  fSeyssel,    Val    de    Travers,     Lobsan,    Illi- 
tic  limestone."  I    nois,  and  other  localities. 

Mixed  with  silica  and  sand,  "as-  f  California,   Kentucky,     Utah,   and    other 
phal tic  sand."  I     localities.     "Bituminous  silica." 

Mixed  with  earthy  matter,  "as-  f 

phaltic  earth  "  ^  Trinidad,  Cuba,  California,  Utah. 

(.Bituminous  schists...  f  Canada,   California,    Kentucky,    Virginia, 

\    and  other  localities. 
(Thick  oils  from  the  distillation  of  petro- 
"l     leum.     "Residuum." 


Viscous (Gas-tar. 

IPitch. 


Solid 


Refined  Trinidad 
tic  of  asphaltite. 

Gritted  asphaltic 
pounds. 


asphaltic  earth.    Mas- 
mastic.      Paving  com- 


'See  article  What  is  Bitumen?  by  S.  F.  Peckham,  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Insti- 
tute, CXL,  1895,  pp.  370  to  383. 

2  W.  P.  Blake,  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVIII, 
1890,  p.  582. 


430 


REPORT    OF    NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 


Important 

natural 
bitumens. 


Table  of  occurrence  of  important  natural  bitumen.* 

Natural  gas Ohio,   Pennsylvania,    California,  etc.,  in  the 

United  States;  Russia,  France,  etc. 

Natural  naphtha Found  in  petroleum  districts  (of  little  value, 

superseded  by  artificial  naphtha  from  crude 
petroleum). 

Petroleum Pennsylvania,  Ohio,    Wyoming,   California, 

etc.,  in  United  States;  Russia,  etc.  (consult 
books  on  petroleum). 
Maltha California,  Wyoming,  Alabama,  Utah,  Colo- 
rado, Kentucky,  New  Mexico,  Ohio,  Texas, 
Indian  Territory,  etc.;  Russia,  France, 
Germany,  etc. 

North  America Utah,  California,  Texas, 

etc. 
Jentral  America. .  .Cuba,  Mexico,  etc. 

South  America Trinidad,         Venezuela, 

Peru,  Colombia,  etc. 

Europe Caucasia,      Syran-on-the 

Volga,  Germany, 

France,  Italy,  Austria, 
etc. 

Asia Hit  on    the    Euphrates, 

Asia  Minor,  Palestine, 
etc. 

Africa Oran  in  Egypt;  probably 

other  places. 
S^orth  America 


Asphaltum  . 


Asphaltum 
almost 
pure. 


West  Virginia,  Kentucky, 
Texas,  Wyoming,  Utah, 
Colorado,  California, 
Indian  Territory,  Mon- 
tana, New  Mexico. 

Central  America. .  .Mexico,  Cuba,  etc. 

South  America Trinidad  (largest  supply, 

most  used),  Venezuela, 
Asphaltic  Peru,  Colombia,  etc. 

compounds.     Europe Germany,     Switzerland, 

France,  Italy,  Sicily, 
Russia,  Austria,  Spain, 
etc. 

Asia Asia     Minor,    Palestine, 

Bagdad,  and  probably 
in  China. 

Africa Egypt,  and  probably  else- 
where in  Africa. 

Origin. — Of  the  many  views,  mainly  theoretical,  that  have  been  put 
forward  to  account  for  the  origin  of  bituminous  compounds,  but  two 
need  be  noted  in  detail  •  here.  Interested  readers  are  referred  to  the 
bibliography  given  on  page  460,  and  particularly  to  the  works  of 
Peckham,  Orton,  and  Redwood.  Prof.  Edward  Orton,  after  an 

XJ.  W.  Howard,  as  quoted  by  S.  P.  Sadtler,  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute, 
CXL,  1895,  p.  200. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  431 

exhaustive  consideration  of  the  occurrence  of  petroleum,  natural  gas, 
and  asphalt  in  Kentucky,1  gives  the  following  precise  summary: 

1.  Petroleum  is  derived  from  organic  matter. 

2.  Petroleum  of  the  Pennsylvania  type  is  derived  from  the  organic  matter  of  bitumi- 

nous shales,  and  is  probably  of  vegetable  origin. 

3.  Petroleum  of  the  Canadian  type  is  derived  from  limestones,  and  is  probably  of 

animal  origin. 

4.  Petroleum  has  been  produced  at  normal  rock  temperatures  (in  American  fields), 

and  is  not  a  production  of  destructive  distillation  of  bituminous  shales. ' 

5.  The  stock  of  petroleum  in  the  rocks  is  already  practically  complete. 

Hofer2  regards  petroleum  as  of  animal  origin  only,  and  advances  the 
arguments  given  below  in  support  of  his  theory: 

1.  Oil  is  found  in  strata  containing  animal,  but  little  or  no  plant  remains.     This  is 

the  case  in  the  Carpathians,  and  in  the  limestone  examined  in  Canada  and  the 
United  States  by  Sterry  Hunt. 

2.  The  shales  from  which  oil  and  paraffin  were  obtained  in  the  Liassic  oil  shales  of 

Swabia  and  of  Steirdorf,  in  Styria,  contained  animal,  but  no  vegetable  remains. 
Other  shales,  as,  for  instance,  the  copper  shales  of  Mansfield,  where  the  bitumen 
amounts  to  22  per  cent,  are  rich  in  animal  remains  and  practically  free  from 
vegetable  remains. 

3.  Rocks  which  are  rich  in  vegetable  remains  are  generally  not  bituminous. 

4.  Substances  resembling  petroleum  are  produced  by  the  decomposition  of  animal 

remains.3 

5.  Fraas  observed  exudations  of  petroleum  from  a  coral  reef  on  the  .shores  of  the 

Red  Sea,  where  it  could  be  only  of  animal  origin. 

The  relationship  which  exists  between  the  solid  or  viscous  bitumen 
and  the  fluidal  petroleum  have  not  in  all  cases  been  satisfactorily 
worked  out,  though  Peckham  has  shown4  that  in  California  at  least 
there  are  almost  infinite  gradations  from  one  extreme  to  the  other.  In 
Ventura  County,  for  instance,  the  petroleum  is  held,  primarily,  in  strata 
of  shale,  from  which  it  issues  as  petroleum  or  maltha,  accordingly  as 
the  shales  have  been  brought  into  contact  with  the  atmosphere,  the 
asphaltum  being  produced  by  a  still  further  exposure  to  the  atmosphere 
after  the  bitumen  has  reached  the  surface.  This  relationship  between 
the  more  fluidal  and  viscous  varieties  is  shown  in  tig.  18,  copied  from 
Professor  Peckhaur  s  paper  above  referred  to,  and  which  represents  a 
section  across  a  portion  of  Sulphur  Mountain  between  the  Hayward 
Petroleum  Company's  tunnels  in  Wheeler  Canyon,  and  the  Big  Spring 
Plateau  on  the  Ojai  ranch.  In  this  section  it  will  be  noted  that  the 
mountain  is  formed  of  a  synclinal  fold  of  shale,  the  strata  dipping 

'Report  on  the  Occurrence  of  Petroleum,  etc.,  in  Western  Kentucky.     Geological 
Survey  of  Kentucky,  John  R.  Proctor,  director,  1891. 
2As  quoted  by  Redwood,  I,  p.  238. 

3  Dr.  Engler,  as  quoted  by  Redwood,  obtained  by  distillation  of  menhaden  oil, 
among  other  products,  a  substance  remarkably  like  petroleum,  and  a  lighting  oil 
indistinguishable  from  commercial  kerosene. 

4  See  Report  of  the  Tenth  Census,  p.  68. 


432 


REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEEAL8.  433 

inward  on  both  sides  and  coming  to  the  surface  almost  vertically  on 
the  right,  and  more  nearly  horizontally  on  the  left  (the  south).  The 
tunnels  are  driven  into  the  nearly  vertical  face  of  the  mountain  and 
the  oil-bearing  rock  is  protected  by  some  700  or  800  feet  of  overlying 
shales.  The  oil  obtained  is  the  lightest  thus  far  found  in  southern 
California.  On  the  other  hand,  the  material  which  exudes  on  the 
north  side,  when  the  shales  are  upturned  at  such  an  angle  as  to  give 
free  access  to  atmospheric  agencies,  is  in  the  form  of  maltha,  or  min- 
eral tar,  and  so  viscous,  in  December,  1865,  that  it  could  be  gathered 
and  rolled  into  balls  like  dough. 

The  relationship  between  petroleum  and  natural  gas  is  scarcely  better 
defined.  That  the  gas  can  be  derived  from  petroleum  is  undoubted, 
and  indeed  the  latter  apparently  never  occurs  free  from  gas.  But  on 
the  other  hand,  as  Professor  Orton  states,  the  gas  often  originates 
under  many  conditions  in  which  petroleum  does  not  occur.  The 
formation  of  marsh  gas  from  decomposing  plant  remains  on  the  bottom 
of  stagnant  pools,  and  its  presence  in  coal  mines  would  show  with 
seeming  conclusiveness  that  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  gas  is  formed  quite 
independently  of  petroleum.  It  would  seem  on  the  whole  most 
probable  that  no  one  theory  was  universally  applicable  to  all  cases. 

MARSH  GAS:  NATURAL  GAS. — This  is  a  colorless  and  odorless  gas 
arising  from  the  decomposition  of  organic  matter  protected  from  the 
oxidizing  influence  of  atmospheric  air.  By  itself  it  burns  quietly,  with 
a  slightly  luminous  flame,  but  when  mixed  with  air  it  forms  a  dangerous 
explosive.  It  is  this  gas  which  forms  the  dreaded  tire  damp  of  the 
miners.  In  small  quantities  this  gas  may  be  found  and  collected,  if 
desired,  from  the  bottom  of  shallow  pools  and  stagnant  bodies  of  water 
by  merely  disturbing  the  decomposing  plant  matter  at  the  bottom, 
when  the  bubbles  of  the  gas  will  rise  to  the  top.  Under  this  head  may 
property  be  considered  the  so-called  natural  </«#,  which  has  of  late  years 
become  of  so  much  importance  from  an  economic  standpoint.  This  gas 
is,  however,  by  no  means  a  simple  compound,  but  a  variable  admixture 
of  several  gases,  samples  from  different  wells  sfiowing  considerable 
variation  in  composition,  as  well  as  those  from  the  same  well  collected 
at  different  periods.  This  last  is  shown  by  the  seven  analyses  following, 
and  which  may  serve  well  to  illustrate  the  average  composition,  though 
in  some  instances  the  percentage  of  marsh  gas  has  been  found  greater.1 

1  From  Orton' s  Report  on  Petroleum,  Natural  Gas,  and  Asphalt  in  Kentucky,  pp. 
108-110. 

NAT  MUS  99 28 


434 


REPOKT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

vii.  1 

1.89 

1.64 

1.74 

2.35 

1.86 

1.42 

1.20 

92.84 

93.35 

93.85 

92.67 

93.07 

94.16 

93.58 

Olefiant  gas  

0.20 
0  55 

0.36 
0.41 

0.20 
0.44 

0.25 
0.45 

0.49 
0.73 

0.30 
0.55 

0.15 
0.60 

Carbonic  acid  

0.20 
0  35 

0.25 
0.39 

0.23 
0.35 

0.25 
0.35 

0.26 
0.42 

0.29 
0.30 

0.30 
0.55 

Nitrogen  

3.82 
0  15 

3.41 
0  20 

2.98 
0  21 

3.53 
0.15 

3.02 

0.15 

2.80 
0.18 

3.42 
0.20 

Total 

100.00 

I,  Fostoria,  Ohio;    II,  Findlay,  Ohio;   III,  St.  Marys,  Ohio;    IV,  Muncie,  Indiana;   V,  Anderson, 
Indiana;  VI,  Kokomo,  Indiana;  VII,  Marion,  Indiana. 

Natural  gas  in  quantities  to  be  of  economic  importance  is  necessarily 
limited  to  rocks  of  no  particular  horizon.  It  is  not,  however,  indige- 
nous to  the  rocks  in  which  it  is  now  found,  but  occurs  in  an  overlying 
more  or  less  porous  sand  or  lime  rock  into  which  it  has  been  forced  by 
hydrostatic  pressure.  The  first  necessaiy  condition  for  the  presence 
of  gas  in  any  locality  may  indeed  be  said  to  depend  upon  the  existence 
of  such  a  porous  rock  as  may  serve  as  a  reservoir  to  hold  it,  and  also 
the  presence  of  an  impervious  overlying  strata  to  prevent  its  escape. 
In  Pennsylvania  the  reservoir  rock  is  a  sandstone  of  Carboniferous  or 
Devonian  age;  in  Ohio  and  Indiana  a  cavernous  dolomitic  limestone  of 
Silurian  (Trenton)  age. 

PETROLEUM. — This  is  the  name  given  to  a  complex  hydrocarbon  com- 
pound, liquid  at  ordinary  temperatures,  though  varying  greatly  in  vis- 
cosity, of  a  black,  brown,  greenish,  or  more  rarely  red  or  yellow  color, 
and  of  extremely  disagreeable  odor.  Its  specific  gravity  varies  from 
0.6  to  0.9.  Through  becoming  more  and  more  viscous  the  material 
passes  into  the  solid  and  semisolid  forms  asphalt  and  maltha.  Chem- 
ically it  is  considered  as  a  mixture  of  the  various  hydrocarbons  included 
in  the  marsh  gas,  ethyline  and  paraffin  series. 

An  ultimate  analysis  of  several  samples,  as  given  by  the  reports  of 
the  Tenth  Census  of  the  United  States  (1880),  showed  the  following 
percentages  of  the  three  essential  constituents: 


Locality. 

Hydrogen. 

Carbon. 

Nitrogen. 

West  Virginia  
Mecca,  Ohio  

13.359 
13  071 

85.200 
86  316 

0.54 
0  23 

California... 

Petroleum  is  limited  to  no  particular  geological  horizon,  but  is  found 
in  rocks  of  all  ages,  from  the  Lower  Silurian  to  the  most  recent,  its 
existence  in  quantities  sufficient  for  economic  purposes  being  depend- 
ent upon  local  conditions  for  its  generation  and  subsequent  preserva- 
tion. Inasmuch  as  its  accumulation  in  large  quantities  necessitates  a 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  435 

rock  of  porous  nature  to  act  as  a  reservoir,  the  petroleum-bearing 
rocks  are  mostly  sandstones,  though  not  uniformly  so.  Petroleums 
are  found  in  California  and  Texas  in  Tertiary  sands;  in  Colorado  in  the 
Cretaceous;  in  West  Virginia  both  above  and  below  the  Crinnoidal 
(Carboniferous)  limestones;  in  Pennsylvania  in  the  "  mountain  "  sands 
(Lower  Carboniferous)  and  the  Venango  sands  (Devonian);  in  Canada 
in  the  Corniferous  (Lower  Devonian)  limestones;  in  Kentucky  in  the 
Hudson  River  shales  (Lower  Silurian),  and  in  Ohio  in  the  Trenton 
limestone.  (See  series  illustrating  geological  distribution.) 

In  some  instances  petroleum  oozes  naturally  from  the  ground,  form- 
ing at  times  a  thin  layer  on  the  surface  of  pools  of  water,  whence  in 
times  past  it  has  been  gathered  and  used  for  chemical  and  medicinal 
purposes.  The  so-called  "Seneca  oil"  thus  used  some  fifty  or  sixty 
years  ago  was  thus  obtained  from  a  spring  in  Cuba,  Allegany  County, 
in  New  York.  The  immense  supply  now  demanded  for  commercial 
purposes  is,  however,  obtained  altogether  from  artificial  wells  of  vary- 
ing depths,  and  which  are  in  some  cases  self-flowing,  while  in  others 
the  oil  is  raised  by  means  of  pumps.  Wells  of  from  500  to  1,500  feet 
in  de.pth  are  of  common  occurrence,  while  those  upwards  of  2,000  feet 
are  not  rare.  The  principal  sources  of  petroleum  are  in  the  United 
States — New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio,  with  smaller  fields  in 
West  Virginia.  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Indiana,  Texas,  Colorado,  and 
California.  The  chief  foreign  source  is  the  Baku  region  on  the  Cas- 
pian Sea,  and  Galicia,  in  Austria. 

Uses  of  petroleum. — The  earty  uses  of  petroleum  in  America  seem  to 
have  been  for  medicinal  purposes  only  (Specimen  No.  59834,  U.S.N.M. , 
from  Kentucky).  The  oil  as  pumped  from  the  wells  has  but  a  limited 
application  in  its  crude  condition  excepting  as  a  fuel,  and  owes  its 
great  value  to  the  large  and  varied  series  of  derivatives  which  it 
yields.  A  discussion  of  the  methods  employed  in  obtaining  these 
derivatives  belongs  properly  to  the  department  of  chemical  technology 
and  can  not  be  dwelt  upon  here.  It  must  suffice  for  present  pur- 
poses to  say  that  the  treatment  as  ordinarily  carried  out  at  present 
involves  a  process  of  destructive  distillation  whereby  the  crude  mate- 
rial, heated  under  pressure,  is  resolved  into  a  variety  of  products  of 
different  densities,  and  varying  from  gaseous  through  liquid  to  solid 
forms.  Prominent  among  these  derivatives  may  be  mentioned,  aside 
from  the  gaseous  compounds,  rhigolene,  gasoline,  naphtha,  benzine, 
kerosene,  various  lubricating  oils,  paraffin,  and  the  solid  residues  (coke, 
etc.).  Various  pharmaceutical  compounds  are  prepared  from  petro- 
leum products,  many  of  which  are  well  known  to  the  public,  as  vase- 
line, cosmoline,  etc.  It  is  also  used  as  a  basis  for  ointments  and  in 
soaps. 

The  accompanying  map  (Plate  25)  from  the  reports  of  the  Tenth 
Census  will  serve  to  show  the  distribution  of  petroleum  and  allied 


436  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

bituminous  compounds  in  the  United  States.  For  full  and  detailed 
information  relative  to  the  petroleum  industry  of  the  world  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  works  mentioned  in  the  Bibliography,  that  of  Bover- 
ton  Kedwood  being  the  most  systematic  and  complete. 

The  petroleum  series  in  the  Museum  collections  is  quite  large  (some 
303  samples),  and  is  arranged  for  exhibition  so  as  to  illustrate  (1)  varia- 
tion in  specific  gravity,  (2)  in  color,  (3)  geological  distribution,  (4)  depth 
of  source,  (5)  geographical  distribution.  This  last,  nearly  as  it  stands 
to-day,  was  described  in  Mr.  Dewey's  Handbook,  Collections  in  Econo- 
mic Geology,1  and  the  list  is  not  entirely  reprinted  here. 

In  this  connection  reference  should  be  made  to  the  series  of  sands 
and  rocks  associated  with  petroleums  and  bituminous  deposits  in  a  sep- 
arate case.  This  comprises  oil-bearing  sands  from  wells  in  Wash- 
ington County,  Pennsylvania  (Specimens  Nos.  52025,  62997,  59930, 
59932,  U.S.N.M.);  Oil  City,  Venango  County,  Pennsylvania  (Specimen 
No.  62998,  U.S.N.M.);  Butler  County,  Pennsylvania  (Specimen  No. 
62996,  U.S.N.M.),  and  a  block  of  sandstone  weighing  8  pounds,  blown 
from  well  No.  9,  on  Barse  tract,  McKean  County,  Pennsylvania,  at 
a  depth  of  1,730  feet.  Also  oil  sands  from  Marion  County,  West  Vir- 
ginia (Specimens  Nos.  62790,  62994,  62995,  U.S.N.M.);  oil-bearing 
shales  from  Ventura  County,  California  (Specimens  Nos.  62785,  62914, 
62915,  U.S.N.M.);  oil-bearing  shales  from  Santa  Barbara  County, 
California  (Specimens  Nos.  62939-62943,  U.S.N.M.);  core  of  diamond 
drill  from  well  No.  19,  Pico  oil  field,  California  (Specimen  No.  62921, 
U.S.N.M.);  bituminous  dolomite  from  Cook  County,  Illinois  (Specimen 
No.  62789,  U.S.N.M.);  geodes  of  quartz  filled  with  bitumen  from 
Hancock  County,  Illinois  (Specimen  No.  40364,  U.S.N.M.);  asphaltic 
sands  from  Wyoming  (Specimen  No.  62716,  U.S.N.M.);  Indian  Terri- 
tory (Specimen  No.  62245,  U.S.N.M.);  Germany  (Specimen  No.  66855, 
U.S.N.M.);  a  series  of  sands,  sandstones,  and  shales,  with  varieties 
of  asphalt,  from  the  island  of  Trinidad  (Specimens  Nos.  68050-68066, 
U.S.N.M.);  trappean  rock  with  bitumen,  Hartford  County,  Connecti- 
cut (Specimen  No.  59934,  U.S.N.M.);  andesite  with  bitumen,  Lake 
Tahoe,  Nevada  (Specimen  No.  33884,  U.S.N.M.);  shale  associated  with 
albertite,  Albert  County,  New  Brunswick  (Specimens  Nos.  59936, 
59938,  59939,  U.S.N.M.);  and  clays  associated  with  ozokerite  and  salt, 
Boryslaw,  Galicia  (Specimens  Nos.  66087,  66088,  U.S.N.M.). 

1.  EXHIBIT  ILLUSTRATING  VARIATION  IN  SPECIFIC  GRAVITY. 

The  series  is  arranged  to  show  gradually  decreasing  specific  gravity. 
It  begins  with  a  very  dark  oil  of  22°  Baume= 0.9210  specific  gravity. 
In  general  as  the  specific  gravity  decreases  the  color  grows  lighter. 
To  this,  however,  there  are  several  notable  exceptions.  For  instance, 
No.  59736  (32i°  Baume= 0.8614  specific  gravity)  is  much  lighter  in 

Bulletin  No.  42  of  the  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1891. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  437 

color  than  its  associates.  The  same  is  also  true  of  No.  59735  (45° 
Baume =0.8000  specific  gravity)  and  No.  59743  (47°  Baume =0.7909 
specific  gravity).  On  the  other  hand.  Specimens  Nos.  59506  (48° 
Baume= 0.7865  specific  gravity)  and  59591  (48i°  Baume =0.7843 
specific  gravity)  are  darker  than  their  associates,  while  the  color  of 
Specimen  No.  59584,  with  the  very  low  gravity  of  50i°  Baume=0.7755 
specific  gravity,  is  as  dark  as  any  member  of  the  series. 

(1)  22°  Baume=0.9210  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish.     Colorado.     (59741.) 

(2)  23J°  Baume=0.9120  specific  gravity,  black.     From  the  Trenton  limestone. 
J.  W.  Mitchell  well,  Plum  Lick  Creek,  near  Middletown,  Bourbon  County,  Ken- 
tucky.     (59594.) 

(3)  27°  Baume=0.8917  specific  gravity,  black.     From  the  millstone  grit  (Carbon- 
iferous).    Lem  Beck  well,  near  Volcano,  Wood  County,  West  Virginia.     (59553. ) 

(4)  28}°  Baume =0.8833  specific  gravity,  black.     From  the  millstone  grit  (Car- 
boniferous), near  Volcano,  Wood  County,  West  Virginia.     (59555.) 

(5)  29°  Baume=0.8805  specific  gravity,  black.     Brockin  well,  Johnson  County, 
Kentucky.     (59597.) 

(6)  30°  Baume=0.8750  specific  gravity,  black.     From  the  millstone  grit  (Carbon- 
iferous) ,  near  Volcano,  Wood  County,  West  Virginia.      (59557. ) 

(7)  3l£°  Baume=0.8668  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish.     Broward  well,  Johnson 
County,  Kentucky.      (59598.) 

(8)  32i°  Baume =0.8614  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish  red.     Greensburgh,  West- 
moreland County,  Pennsylvania.      (59736. ) 

(9)  33°  Baume=0.8588  specific  gravity,   black.     From  the  Trenton  limestone. 
Taskin  well,  near  North  Baltimore,  Wood  County,  Ohio.      (59566.) 

(10)  34°  Baume"  =0.8536  specific  gravity,  black.     Oil  in  sand;  here  23  feet  in  thick- 
ness; depth  of  well  551  feet;  drilled,  1877;  torpedoed;  yielded  3  barrels  of  oil  on  first 
day  of  flow.     Lot  4823,  Howe,  Forest  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59805.) 

(11)  35°  Baume =0.8484  specific  gravity,  black.     From  the  first  sandstone  of  the 
Great  Conglomerate  (Upper  Carboniferous).     Well  No.  6,  Went  Virginia  Oil  and  Oil 
Land  Company,  White  Oak  district,  Ritchie  County,  West  Virginia.     (59857. ) 

(12)  36°  Baume=0.8433  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish.     From  the  first  sandstone 
of  the  Great  Conglomerate  (Upper  Carboniferous).     Oil  in  sand.     Well  No.  7,  West 
Virginia  Oil  and  Oil  Land  Company,  White  Oak  district,  Ritchie  County,  West  Vir- 
ginia.     (59858. ) 

(13)  37°  Baume=0.8383  specific  gravity,  black.     Oil  in  limestone,  here  50  feet  in 
thickness;  depth  of  well  1,321  feet;  drilled  1885;  torpedoed;  yielded  50  barrels  of 
oil  on  first  day  of  flow.    Brick  Yard  well,  Findlay,  Hancock  County,  Ohio.     (59807. ) 

(14)  38°  Baume=0.8333  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish.     From  the  first  sandstone 
of  the  Great  Conglomerate  (Upper  Carboniferous).     Oil  in  sand.     AVest  Virginia  Oil 
and  Oil  Land  Company,  White  Oak  district,  Ritchie  County,  West  Virginia.    (59860.) 

(15)  39°  Baume=0.8284  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish  red.    From  Clarion  County 
sand;  depth  of  well  860  feet;  drilled  1883;  torpedoed;  yielded  2  barrels  of  oil  on  first 
day  of  pumping.     Gumming' s  well  No.  1,  Gumming' s  farm,  Tionesta,  Forest  County. 
Pennsylvania.      (59816.) 

(16)  40° Baume =0.8235  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish.     Bradford  County,  Penn- 
sylvania.     (59734.) 

(17)  41°  Baume=0.8187  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish.     Parker  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania.    (59733.) 

(18)  42°  Baume=0.8139  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish.    From  the  third  sandstone 
of  the   Petroleum  Measures  (Venango).     Black  Gas  well,   Pleasantville,  Venango 
County,  Pennsylvania.      (59580.) 


438  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

(19)  43°   Baum6 =0.8092  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish   red.     Oil-bearing  sand 
here  20  feet  in  thickness;  depth  of  well  1,855  feet;  drilled  1883;  torpedoed;  yielded 
2,200  barrels  of  oil  on  first  day  of  flow.     Reno  well  No.  1,  Cooper  tract,  Sheffield, 
Warren  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59765.) 

(20)  44°  Baume"=0.8045  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish.     Bullion  district,  Warren 
County,  Pennsylvania.     (59737.) 

(21)  44£°  Baume=0.8023  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish.     From  third  sandstone 
of  the  Petroleum  Measures  (Venango) .    Sand  here  14  feet  in  thickness.    Oil  in  sand; 
depth  of  well  708  feet;  drilled  1868;  torpedoed;  yielded  330  barrels  of  oil  on  first 
day  of  flow.     Well  No.  6,  Hamby  farm,   Rockland,    Venango    County,  Pennsyl- 
vania.    (59788.) 

(22)  45°  Baume =0.8000  specific  gravity,  dark  amber.     Clarion  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania.    (59735.) 

(23)  45£°  Baume =0.7977  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish  red.    Thorn  Creek  district, 
Butler  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59746.) 

(24)  46°   Baume=0.7954  specific  gravity,    dark    greenish.     Foxburgh,    Clarion 
County,  Pennsylvania.     (59739.) 

(25)  46£°  Baume=0.7932  specific  gravity,  black.     Depth  of  well  660  feet;  drilled 
1866;  yielded  600  barrels  of  oil  on  first  day  of  flow.     Well  No.  184,  Burtes  lease, 
Allegheny  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59769. ) 

(26)  46|°  Baume=0.7921  specific  gravity,  black.  'From  the  third  sandstone  of  the 
Petroleum  Measures  (Venango).  Titusville,  Venango  County,  Pennsylvania.   (59507. ) 

(27)  47°  Baume=0.7909  specific  gravity,  dark  amber.     Smith's  Ferry,  Allegheny 
County,  Pennsylvania.     (59743.) 

(28)  475°  Baume=0.7887  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish  red.     From  the  first  sand- 
stone   of   the  Petroleum    Measures  (Venango).     Beck    well,   near  Pleasantville, 
Venango  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59583. ) 

(29)  47f°  Baume  =  0.7876  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish  red.     From  the  fourth 
sandstone  of  the  Petroleum  Measures;  oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  14  feet;  drilled 
1871;  torpedoed;  yielded  900  barrels  of  oil  on  first  day  of  flow.     Well  No.  1,  farm  of 
J.  Blaney,  Fairview,  Butler  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59799. ) 

(30)  48°  Baume--=0.7865  specific  gravity,  black.      Webb  Oil  Company,  Taskill, 
Venango  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59506.) 

(31)  48  J°  Baume =0. 7843  specific  gravity,  dark  greenish.    From  the  third  sandstone 
of  the  Petroleum  Measures  (Venango) ,  Cogley  Field,  Ashley,  Clarion  County,  Penn- 
sylvania.    (59591.) 

(32)  48 £°  Baume=0.7832  specific  gravity,  dark  amber.     Oil  in  sand,  here  16  feet 
in  thickness;  depth  of  well  1,025  feet;  drilled  1878;  torpedoed;  yielded  20  barrels 
of  oil  on  first  day  of  flow.     Well  No.  1,  Lot  No.  55,  Mead,  Warren  County,  Penn- 
sylvania.     (59780.) 

(33)  49°  Baume=0.7821  specific  gravity,  light  greenish  red.     Oil  in  sand;  depth 
of  well  1,254  feet.     Tiona  Oil  Company,  Warren  County,  Pennsylvania.      (59514.) 

(34)  50°  Baum6=0.7777  specific  gravity,  light  greenish  red.     Oil  in  sand,  here  50 
feet  in  thickness.     Cameron  well,  Smith  pool,  Washington  County,  Pennsylvania. 
(59589.) 

(35)  50 \°  Baume=0.7755  specific  gravity,  black.     Haskell  well,  Wigglesworth 
Tract,  Venango  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59584. ) 

(36)  51°  Baume=0.7734  specific  gravity,  light  greenish  yellow.     Oil  in  sand,  here 
50  feet  in  thickness.      Nicholas  well,  Vanceville,  Washington  County,  Pennsylvania. 
(59600.) 

(37)  54°  Baume=0.7608  specific  gravity,  dark  amber.      Oil  in  sand  ;  depth  of  well 
2,113  feet;  drilled  1885;   torpedoed;   yielded  15  barrels  of  oil  on  first  day  of  flow. 
Gantz  well  No.  1,  Little  Washington,  Washington  County,  Pennsylvania.  *   (59777.) 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  439 

2.  EXHIBIT  ILLUSTRATING  VARIATION  IN  COLOR. 

The  series  may  be  divided  into  two  portions,  beginning  with  a  thor- 
oughly black  specimen  and  following  through  increasing  amounts  of 
green  and  red  to  a  light  greenish  yellow  in  the  first  portion,  and  in 
the  second  beginning  with  a  dark  red  and  following  through  to  a  light 
straw,  in  which  the  greenish  element  of  the  color  does  not  appear: 

(1)  Black.     Bear  Creek,  Burkesville,  Cumberland  County,  Kentucky.     (59832.) 

(2)  Black,  tinged  with  green.     Mecca,  Trumbull  County,  Ohio.     (59757.) 

(3)  Dark  greenish.     Anchor  well  No.  3,  Glade,   Warren  County,  Pennsylvania. 
(59761.) 

(4)  Dark  greenish  red.     Dale  Brothers'  well  No.  1,  Batten  farm,  near  Rockland, 
Venango  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59767. ) 

(5)  Dark  greenish  red.     Kane,  Armstrong  County,  Pennsylvania.      (59752.) 

(6)  Light  greenish  red.     Gordon  well,  Washington,  Washington  County,  Penn- 
sylvania.    (59526.) 

(7)  Greenish  yellow.     Leedecker  well,  Butler  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59750.) 

(8)  Dark  red.     New  Brinker  well,  Pleasant  Valley,  Westmoreland  County,  Penn- 
sylvania,     (59520. ) 

(9)  Light  red.      Galtz    well,   Washington,    Washington    County,   Pennsylvania. 
(59527.) 

(10)  Amber.     Hess,  Sacket  &  Eichner  well  No.  1,  Reklsburgh,  Clarion  County, 
Pennsylvania.     (59581.) 

(11)  Yellow.      Riggs  Gas  well,   Moundsville,   Marshall  County,   West  Virginia. 
(59579.) 

(12)  Light  yellow.     Farm  of  J.  Somerville,  near  Brady's  Bend,  Armstrong  County, 
Pennsylvania.      (59494.) 

(13)  Light  straw.     Holden  Run,  Armstrong  County,  Pennsylvania.      (53516.) 

(14)  Nearly  colorless.     Venezuela.     (59835. ) 

3.  EXHIBIT  ILLUSTRATING  GEOLOGICAL  DISTRIBUTION. 

The  series  is  arranged  in  a  generally  descending  order.  There  is  a 
certain  amount  of  overlapping,  however,  between  the  West  Virginia 
and  Pennsylvania  series,  since  the  oil-bearing  strata  in  these  two  States 
have  not  been  correlated. 

(1)  From  the  Tertiary  sandstone.     Dark  greenish.     Pico  district,   Los  Angeles 
County,  California.     (59552.) 

(2)  From  the  Cretaceous  formation.    Dark  greenish.    Canon  City,  Fremont  County, 
Colorado.     (59548.) 

The  following  thirteen  specimens  are  from  the  West  Virginia  oil 
field.  Their  location  in  depth  is  referred  to  the  Crinoidal  limestone  as 
a  datum  line: 

(1)  50  feet  above  the  Crinoidal  limestone.     Black;  specific  gravity  28°  Baume. 
Oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  56  feet;  drilled  1859;  not  torpedoed;  yielded  100  barrels  of 
oil  on  first  day  of  pumping.    Well  No.  1,  Dutton  farm,  Aurelius,  Washington  County, 
Ohio.     (59855. ) 

(2)  100  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.     Dark  greenish.     Oil  in  sand;  depth 
of  well  150  feet;  drilled  1882;  torpedoed;  yielded  10  barrels  of  oil  on  first  day  of 
pumping.     Farm  of  Frank  Atkinson,  Aurelius,  Washington  County,  Ohio.     (59854.) 


440  REPORT   OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,  1899. 

(3)  200  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.     Black.     Oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well 
160  feet;  not  torpedoed.     Rathbone  oil  tract,  Burning  Springs  district,  Wirt  County, 
West  Virginia.     (59837.) 

(4)  250  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.     Dark  greenish.     Oil  in  sand;  depth 
of  well  350  feet.     Well  No.  6,  farm  of  George  Rice,  Aurelius,  Washington  County, 
Ohio.     (59853.) 

(5)  300  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.     Black.     Oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well 
275  feet.     Rathbone  oil  tract,  Burning  Springs  district,  Wirt  County,  West  Virginia. 


(6)  450  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.     Dark  greenish.     Oil  in  sand;  depth 
of  well  500  feet;  drilled  1865;  torpedoed;  yielded  8  barrels  of  oil  on  first  day  of  pump- 
ing.   Well  No.  1,  farm  of  George  Rice,  Aurelius,  Washington  County,  Ohio.     (59852. ) 

(7)  650  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.    Black.    Oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  800 
feet;  not  torpedoed;  yielded  5  barrels  of  oil  on  first  day  of  pumping.    Newton  Farm, 
Aurelius,  Washington  County,  Ohio.     (59850. ) 

(8)  820  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.    Black.    Oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  840 
feet.     Petty  Farm,  Burning  Springs  district,  Wirt  County,  West  Virginia.     (59839. ) 

(9)  930  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.     Dark  greenish;  specific  gravity  28° 
Baum£.    Oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  400  feet.    Volcanic  Coal  and  Oil  Company,  White 
Oak  district,  Ritchie  County,  West  Virginia.     (59844.) 

(10)  980  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.     Dark  greenish;  specific  gravity  30° 
Baume.     Oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  400  feet.     Volcanic  Oil  and  Coal  Company, 
White  Oak  district,  Ritchie  County,  AVest  Virginia.     (59843.) 

(11 )  1,100  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.     Dark  greenish;  specific  gravity  47° 
Baume.     Oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  1,100  feet.     Gracy  lease,  Burning  Springs  dis- 
trict, Wirt  County,  West  Virginia.     (59840.) 

(12)  1,350  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.      Amber;    specific  gravity  39° 
Baume.     Oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  1,350  feet;  drilled  1880;  torpedoed;  yielded  18 
barrels  of  oil  on  the  first  day  of  flow.     Well  No.  14,  farm  of  George  Rice,  Aurelius, 
Washington  County,  Ohio.     (59851.) 

(13)  1,500  feet  below  the  Crinoidal  limestone.     Dark  greenish;   specific  gravity 
50°  Baume.     Oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  1,000  feet.     Gale  tract,  White  Oak  district, 
Ritchie  County,  West  Virginia.     (59849.) 

The  following  eleven  specimens  illustrate  the  occurrence  at  differ- 
ent depths  in  the  Pennsylvania  field: 

(1)  180  feet  below  the  Pittsburg  coal  bed.     Light  greenish  red;  specific  gravity  34° 
Baume.     Bailey  farm,  Dunkard  Creek,  Greene  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59536. ) 

(2)  460  feet  below  the  Pittsburg  coal  bed.     Greenish  red;  specific  gravity  35° 
Baume.     Maple  well,  Dunkard,  Greene  County,  Pennsylvania.      (59577.) 

(3)  650  feet  below  the  Pittsburg  coal  bed.     Drilled  in  1885,  and  only  a  few  gallons 
of  oil  were  obtained;  light  greenish  red.      Clark's  farm,  Washington  County,  Penn- 
sylvania.    (59523.) 

(4)  "Mountain  Sand"  of  the  Petroleum  Measures  (Lower  Carboniferous).     Dark 
greenish  red.     Manifield  well  No.  1,  Washington  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59519. ) 

(5)  1,400  feet  below  the  Pittsburg  coal  bed.     Light  greenish  red.     Huskill  well, 
Mount  Morris,  Greene  County,  Pennsylvania.     (59534). 

(6)  From  the  first  sandstone  of  the  Petroleum  Measures  (Venango) .     Sand  here 
16  feet  in  thickness;  oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  337  feet;  drilled,  1870;  torpedoed; 
yielded  225  barrels  of  oil  on  first  day  of  pumping.    Black;  specific  gravity  32°  Baume. 
Well  No.  1,  farm  of  J.  Blakely,  Sugar  Creek,  Venango  County,  Pennsylvania.    (59781.) 

(7)  From  the  second  sandstone  of  the  Petroleum  Measures  ( Venango) .     Sand  here 
38  feet  in  thickness;  oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  583  feet;  drilled  1872;  torpedoed; 
yielded  2  barrels  of  oil  on  first  day  of  pumping.    Black;  specific  gravity  43°  Baum6. 


THE   NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  441 

Well  No.  3,  farm  of  Jennings  &  Ralston,  Jackson,  Venango  County,  Pennsylvania. 
(59774.) 

(8)  From  just  above  the  third  sandstone  of  the  Petroleum  Measures  (Venango). 
Sand  here  22  feet  in  thickness;  oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  1,076  feet,  drilled  1885; 
torpedoed;  yielded  18  barrels  of  oil  on  first  day  of  pumping.     Dark  greenish;  specific 
gravity  49°  Baume*.     Well  No.  5,  Diamond  farm,  Cranberry,  Venango  County,  Penn- 
sylvania.    (59795.) 

(9)  From  the  third  sandstone  of  the  Petroleum  Measures  (Venango).     Sand  18 
feet  in  thickness;  oil  in  sand;  depth  of  well  957  feet;  drilled  1885;  not  torpedoed; 
yielded  35  barrels  of  oil  on  first  day  of  pumping.    Black ;  specific  gravity  48?°  Baume. 
Well  No.  1,  Heckerthorne  farm,  Cranberry,  Venango  County,  Pennsylvania.   (59815. ) 

(10)  From  the  fourth  sandstone  of  the  Petroleum  Measures.     Dark  greenish  red; 
specific  gravity  44£°  Baume.     Kangaroo  well  No.  1,  East  Brady,  Clarion  County, 
Pennsylvania.     (59489.) 

(11)  From  the  third  Bradford  sand.     Black.     Nile  Oil  Company,  Wert,  Allegany 
County,  New  York.     (59477.) 

The  following  five  specimens  from  various  localities  continue  the 
section  to  the  lowest  point  at  which  petroleum  has  been  found: 

(1)  From  the  Middle  Devonian  formation.    Black.     Near  Glasgow,  Barren  County, 
Kentucky.     (59544.) 

(2)  From   the  Corniferous    limestone.     Black;   specific    gravity  35.5°    Baume. 
Crown  well,  Enniskillen,  Province  of  Ontario,  Canada.     (59569.) 

(3)  From  the  Upper  Hudson  River  shales    (Lower  Silurian).     Dark  greenish; 
specific  gravity  43.5°  Baum6.     Well  No.  2,  near  Glasgow,  Barren  County,  Kentucky. 
(59599.) 

(4)  From  the  Hudson  River  group  (Lower   Silurian).     Black;   specific  gravity 
32°  Baume\     Pioneer  well,  Francisville,  Pulaski  County,  Indiana.     (59575.) 

(5)  From  the  Trenton  limestone.     Black.     Farm  of  Whitacre,   Liberty,  Wood 
County,  Ohio.     (59601.) 

ASPHALTUM;  MINERAL  PITCH. — These  are  names  given  to  what  are 
rather  indefinite  admixtures  of  various  hydrocarbons,  in  part  oxygen- 
ated and  which  for  the  most  part  solid  or  at  least  highly  viscous  at  ordi- 
nary temperatures,  pass  by  insensible  gradations  into  pittasphalts  or 
mineral  tar  and  these  in  turn  into  the  petroleums.  They  are  charac- 
terized by  a  black  or  brownish-black  color,  pitchy  luster,  and  bitumi- 
nous odor.  The  solid  forms  melt  ordinarily  at  a  temperature  of  from 
90  to  100  F.,  and  burn  readily  with  a  bright  flame,  giving  off  dense 
fumes  of  a  tarry  odor.  The  fluidal  varieties  become  solid  on  exposure 
to  the  atmosphere,  owing  to  evaporation  of  the  more  volatile  portions. 

The  nature  of  the  material,  its  mode  of  occurrence,  and  indeed  the 
uses  to  which  it  can  be  put  vary  to  such  an  extent  with  each  individual 
occurrence  that  a  few  only  of  what  are  the  most  noted  or  best  known 
can  here  be  mentioned. 

On  the  island  of  Trinidad  is  an  immense  superficial  deposit  having 
an  area  of  about  114  acres  and  a  depth  varying  from  18  to  78  feet. 
The  surface  is  nearly  level  and  of  a  brownish-black  color.  (See  Speci- 
mens Nos.  68063,  68065,  68066,  U.S.N.M.) 

The  deposit  has  in  numerous  publications  been  compared  to  a  lake 


442  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,    1899. 

and  stated  to  be  fluidal  and  at  a  high  temperature  in  the  center.1  This 
is  quite  erroneous  and  misleading. 

The  crude  material  has  the  following  composition  and  physical 
characteristics : 2 

Specific  gravity,  1.28;  hardness  at  70°  F.,  2.5  to  3  of  Dana's  scale; 
color,  chocolate  brown;  composition: 

Bitumen 39.  83 

Earthy  matter 33. 99 

Vegetable  matter. 9.  31 

Water 16.87 

100.  00 

In  western  Kentucky  asphalt  exudes  from  the  ground  in  the  form 
of  "tar  springs,"  and  occurs  also  disseminated  through  sandstones  and 
limestones  of  sub-Carboniferous  age.  (Specimen  No.  63345,  U.S.N.M.) 
Frequently,  as  in  the  dolomite  underlying  Chicago,  Illinois,  the  bitu- 
minous matter  is  so  diffused  throughout  the  rock  as  to  give  it  on  expo- 
sure a  brownish-black  appearance,  and  cause  it  to  exhale  an  odor 
of  petroleum  appreciable  for  some  distance.  (Specimen  No.  62T89, 
U.S.N.M.)  In  the  Dead  Sea  bituminous  masses  of  considerable  size 
have  in  times  past  risen  like  islands  to  the  surface  of  the  water  and 
furnished  thus  the  material  used  by  the  ancients  in  pitching  the  walls 
of  buildings  and  rendering  vessels  water-tight.  The  ancient  name  of 
this  body  of  water  was  Lake  Asphaltites,  and  from  it  our  word  asphalt 
is  derived.  These  illustrations  are  sufficient  to  indicate  the  numerous 
conditions  under  which  the  substance  occurs.  The  material  is  world- 
wide in  its  geographic  distribution  and  equally  cosmopolitan  in  its 
geological  range,  being  found  in  gneissic  rocks  of  presumably  Archaean 
age  in  Sweden,  and  in  rocks  of  all  intermediate  horizons  down  to  late 
Tertiary. 

Some  10  miles  east  of  the  city  of  Habana,  Cuba,  is  a  deposit  of 
asphalt  described  3  as  occupying  an  irregular  branching  fissure  in  a 
soft  clay  rock,  with  eruptive  rocks,  diorites,  and  euphotides  in  the  near 
vicinity.  The  asphalt,  described  as  "Coal"  in  the  paper  referred  to, 
lies  in  parallel  horizontal  layers  of  from  1  to  4  inches  in  thickness 
across  the  vein,  the  laminas  being  somewhat  deflected  near  the  walls, 
as  if  pressed  by  the  sides  or  walls.  The  deposit  is  regarded  as  having 
originated  as  an  open  fissure  terminating  upward  in  a  wedge-like 
form  and  into  which  was  subsequently  injected  from  below  the  carbo- 
naceous matter.  The  asphalt  itself  was  described  as  of  a  jet-black 

JSee  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1883-84,  p.  937;  also  Dana's  System 
of  Mineralogy,  1892,  p.  1018;  and  especially  S.  F.  Peckham's  paper  on  the  Pitch 
Lake  of  Trinidad,  American  Journal  of  Science,  July,  1895,  p.  33.  x 

2  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVII,  1889,  p.  363. 

3  London  and  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Magazine  and  Journal  of  Science,  X,  1837, 
p. 161. 


Report  o*  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899.— Merrill. 


PLATE  26. 


VICIN  ITY. 


PLAN  OF  PITCH  LAKE,  TRINIDAD. 
After  S.  F.  Peckham. 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  443 

color,  resplendent  luster,  eonchoidal  fracture,  and  specific  gravity 
varying  from  1.42  to  1.97.  An  analysis  showed  63  per  cent  volatile 
matter,  34.97  per  cent  carbon,  and  2.03  per  cent  ash. 

According  to  R.  T.  Hill,1  asphaltum  of  unusual  richness  occurs 
beneath  the  waters  of  the  Cardenas  Bay  of  Cuba  and  in  several  other 
parts  of  the  island  in  beds  of  late  Cretaceous  and  early  Eocene  age. 
The  Cardenas  deposits,  four  in  number,  are  of  interest  in  that  all  are 
submerged  beneath  the  waters  of  the  bay.  The  material  has  been 
mined  for  the  past  twenty -five  years  by  mooring  a  lighter  over  the 
shaft,  which  is  from  80  to  125  feet  in  depth  below  the  water  surface. 
The  material  is  loosened  b}T  dropping  a  long,  pointed  iron  bar  from 
the  vessel,  the  detached  blocks  being  loaded  into  a  net  by  a  naked 
diver  and  then  brought  to  the  surface.  The  asphalt  thus  obtained 
is  stated  to  resemble  cannel  coal  in  appearance,  though  with  a  more 
brilliant  luster.  Only  from  one  to  one  and  a  half  tons  are  mined  in 
this  manner  daily,  the  material  being  shipped  to  New  York  and 
being  used  in  the  manufacture  of  varnishes.  The  price  former!}" 
obtained  varied  from  $80  to  $125  a  ton. 

A  large  deposit  of  an  inferior  grade,  and  used  mainly  for  roofing, 
is  situated  near  Diana  Key,  15  miles  from  the  city  of  Cardenas,  and  a 
massive  bed,  some  12  feet  in  thickness,  near  Villa  Clara.  Material 
from  this  last  source  has,  during  years  past,  been  used  for  making  the 
illuminating  gas  used  in  the  city. 

Baron  H.  Eggers  has  described2  the  two  groups  of  asphalt  deposits 
near  the  Gulf  of  Maracaibo,  South  America  (Specimen  No.  51720. 
U.S.N.M.),  which  are  perhaps  sufficiently  distinctive  to  merit  atten- 
tion. One,  the  El  Menito  deposit,  is  in  the  form  of  a  rounded  hill  com- 
posed of  reddish  stony  soil  covered  with  scanty  grass.  Over  its  summit 
are  scattered  a  number  of  small  truncated  cones  about  2  feet  high, 
with  round,  crater-like  openings,  from  which  the  asphalt,  or  pitch, 
flows  in  a  black,  viscous  stream  down  to  the  foot  of  the  hill,  where  it 
collects  and  forms  pools  or  small  lakes.  The  outflowing  asphalt  is 
quite  cold,  and  hardens  in  the  course  of  a  few  days.  The  Mene  Grande 
deposit  is  quite  similar,  but  much  larger,  and  has  been  calculated  to 
yield  some  2  tons  a  day.  Other  deposits  occur  in  the  region. 

Sandstones  and  limestones  are  sometimes  so  impregnated  with  bitu- 
minous matter  that  they  may  be  used  as  sources  of  the  material  by 
refining  processes  or  for  the  direct  manufacture  of  pavements  by 
simply  crushing.  Such  are  the  so-called  bituminous  or  asphaltic  sand 
rocks  and  limestones  of  Kentucky  (Specimen  No.  63345,  U.S.N.M.), 
Texas  (Specimen  No.  63342,  U.S.N.M.),  Utah,  Colorado,  California, 
Wyoming  (Specimen  No.  53181,  U.S.N.M.),  and  other  States,  and  of 

JCuba  and  Porto  Rico,  1898,  p.  83. 

2  Scottish  Geographical  Magazine,  XIII,  1897,  p.  209.  An  abstract  of  original 
paper  in  the  Deutsche  Geographische  Blatter,  XIX,  Pt.  4. 


444  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

Canada  (Specimen  No.  59927,  U.S.N.M.)  and  Spain  (Specimen  No. 
40011,  U.S.N.M.). 

According  to  G.  H.  Stone,1  the  asphaltic  sandrock  of  western  Colo- 
rado and  eastern  Utah  consists  of  grains  of  sand  which  are  in  contact 
with  one  another,  the  spaces  between  the  grains  being  filled  with 
asphalt,  the  proportioned  amount  of  which  varies  up  to  15  per  cent  by 
weight,  or  27  per  cent  by  volume.  The  thickest  stratum  of  fully 
charged  rock  in  the  region  described  was  nearly  40  feet  in  thickness, 
though  usually  the  strata  of  high-grade  material  are  not  more  than  4 
to  10  feet  thick  and  alternate  with  others  which  are  quite  poor  or 
barren,  so  that  the  amount  of  "pay  rock"  is  often  grossly  exaggerated. 

Shales  and  marls  may  often  be  so  highly  charged  with  bituminous 
matter  as  to  be  nearly  or  quite  black,  and  even  approach  cannel  coal  in 
composition,  though  much  richer  in  ash.  Those  of  Colorado  and  Utah, 
according  to  Stone,  contain  but  from  10  to  20  per  cent  of  carbona- 
ceous matter,  though  burning  readily  with  a  bright  flame.  They  are 
of  Tertiary  age.  Asphaltic  sands  and  sandrocks  are  of  common  occur- 
rence in  Kern,  San  Luis  Obispo,  Santa  Barbara,  Santa  Cruz,  Ventura, 
and  other  counties  in  California,  and  in  some  cases  are  quite  exten- 
sively utilized.2 

In  Ventura  County  the  material  is  reported  as  occurring  in  the  form 
of  a  fissure  vein  in  siliceous  clay,  of  Miocene  age,  the  vein  being  from 
7  to  15  inches  thick  on  the  surface,  but  widening  rapidly  in  descent  to 
a  thickness  of  5  feet  at  a  depth  of  65  feet  (Specimens  Nos.  67675,  67676, 
U.S.N.M.).  This  material  is  as  taken  from  the  vein  far  from  pure 
asphalt,  but  rather  an  asphaltic  sand.  The  Las  Conchas  Mine  in  Santa 
Barbara  County  consists  of  a  body  of  sand  soaked  with  maltha,  embrac- 
ing an  area  of  75  acres  and  estimated  to  be  25  feet  or  more  in  thickness. 
At  the  Pacific  Asphalt  Company's  mine  the  asphalt  occurs  in  irregular 
masses  and  veinlike  bunches  in  soft,  sandy  clay,  and  is  said  to  be  50  to 
60  per  cent  pure. 

On  the  Sisquoc  Grant,  8  miles  north  of  Los  Alamos  are  two  very 
large  deposits,  one  some  10,560  feet  long,  500  feet  wide,  and  averag- 
ing 300  feet  in  thickness,  and  the  other  5,000  feet  long,  800  feet  wide, 
and  100  feet  thick.  In  Santa  Cruz  County  there  are  enormous  deposits 
of  bituminous  rock  lying  in  nearty  horizontal  strata  in  the  foothills 
facing  the  coast  west  and  north  of  the  city  of  Santa  Cruz.  The  beds 
have  been  extensively  eroded  so  that  the  outcrops  occur  in  irregular, 
detached  hillocks.  At  one  of  the  open  cut  mines  the  materials  lie  as 
follows: 

Feet. 

Light-colored  shales 60 

Massive  bituminous  rock 30 

Very  soft  sandstone 8 

Massive  bituminous  rock. . .  12 


1  American  Journal  of  Science,  XLII,  1891,  p.  148. 

2  See  Thirteenth  Annual  Report  State  Mineralogist  of  California,  1894. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  445 

These  underlaid  by  soft  sands  and  shales.  The  analyses  given  below 
are  of  interest  as  showing  percentage  of  bituminous  matter  in  samples 
from  various  localities. 

San  Luis  Obispo  Bituminous  Rock  Company' 's  mine. 

Sand 6.  83 

Clay 3. 36 

Lime 2. 81 

Asphaltum  87.00 

Waldorf  Mine,  Santa  Barbara  County. 

Bitumen 76. 2 

Moisture 1.8. 

Mineral  residue 22.  0 


100.0 
Punta  Gorda  Mine,  Ventura  County. 

Bitumen 28. 53 

Silica 51.  64 

Clay 4.  76 

Sulphate  of  lime 2. 45 

Carbonate  of  lime 11.  96 

Carbonate  of  magnesia 55 


99.89 

Uses. — The  uses  of  the  common  type  of  material  such  as  is  known 
simply  as  asphalt  are  quite  varied.  The  walls  of  Babylon  are  stated 
to  have  been  cemented  with  it,  and  doubtless  it  was  so  used  in  other 
ancient  cities.  It  was  also,  as  at  present,  used  for  making  vessels 
water-tight.  At  the  present  day  the  refined  asphalts  are  used,  accord- 
ing to  F.  V.  Greene,1  as  a  varnish  or  paint,  as  an  insulating  material, 
for  waterproofing,  as  a  cement  in  ordinary  construction,  and  as  a 
cement  in  roofing  and  paving  compounds.  For  these  purposes  it  is 
first  tempered  with  some  form  of  oil,  the  kind  and  amount  used 
depending  on  the  purposes  to  which  it  is  to  be  applied.  A  mixture  of 
asphalt  and  sand  forms  the  ordinary  concrete  for  sidewalks  and  base- 
ment floors.  The  most  extensive  use  of  asphaltic  compounds  is  at 
present  for  street  pavements,  the  material  for  this  purpose  being  mixed 
with  fine  sand  and  sometimes  powdered  limestone.  The  asphaltic 
sands,  sandstones,  and  limestones  are  sometimes  so  evenly  impregnated 
with  bituminous  matter  that  they  may  be  crushed  and  applied  directly 
to  the  roadbed.  The  uses  to  which  are  put  the  higher  grades  of 
asphaltic  compounds,  such  as  are  designated  by  special  names,  are 
given  further  on. 

MANJAK. — The  local  name  of  manjak  is  applied  to  a  variety  of  bitu- 
men somewhat  resembling  uintaite,  occurring  on  the  island  of  Barbados, 

1  Asphalt  and  its  Uses,  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers, 
XVII,  1889,  p.  335. 


446  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

in  the  West  Indies.  The  material  is  described1  as  a  very  pure  hydro- 
carbon of  a  black  color,  high  luster,  and  with  a  bright  conchoidal  fracture. 
It  is  brittle,  and  so  friable  that  it  can  be  ground  to  powder  between 
the  thumb  and  fingers.  (Specimen  No.  53539,  U.S.N.M.)  It  occurs  in 
seams  or  veins,  varying  from  one-fourth  of  an  inch  to  30  feet  in  thick- 
ness, cutting  the  country  rock,  which  is  an  argillite  or  shale,  at  all 
angles  with  the  horizon  and  with  a  general  NNE  strike.  In  places 
the  bituminous  matter  has  saturated  the  entire  rock  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  veins,  producing  a  shale  from  which  as  much  as  37  gallons 
a  ton  of  petroleum  has  been  obtained  by  destructive  distillation.  Thus 
far  the  greatest  development  is  along  a  vein  200  feet  in  length,  100 
feet  in  depth,  and  from  8  to  9  feet  in  width.  One  vein,  which  has 
been  explored  to  a  depth  of  200  feet,  is  stated  to  have  dwindled  down 
to  a  width  of  6  feet,  though  30  feet  wide  at  the  surface. 

Uses. — Like  gilsonite,  the  material  is  used  for  making  varnishes, 
insulating  electric  wires,  etc.,  bringing  the  price  of  this  mineral,  from 
$5  to  $10  a  ton,  according  to  quality  and  freedom  from  impurities. 

ELATERITE;  MINERAL  CAOUTCHOUC.— This  is  the  name  given  to  a 
soft  and  elastic  variety  of  bitumen  much  resembling  pure  india  rubber. 
It  is  easily  compressible  in  the  fingers,  to  which  it  adheres  slightly, 
of  a  brownish  color,  and  of  a  specific  gravity  varying  from  0.905  to 
1.00.  It  has  been  described  from  mines  in  Derbyshire  and  elsewhere 
in  England  (Specimens  Nos.  63848,  68001,  U.S.N.M.),  but  so  far  as 
the  writer  is  aware  is  of  no  commercial  value.  Its  composition,  so  far 
as  determined,  is  carbon  85.47  per  cent,  hydrogen  13.28  per  cent. 

WURTZILLITE. — The  name  wurtzillite  has  been  given  by  Prof.  W.  P. 
Blake  to  a  hydrocarbon  very  similar  in  appearance  to  the  uintaite 
(described  on  page  450),  but  differing  in  physical  and  chemical  properties. 
It  is  described  as  a  fine  black  solid,  amorphous  in  structure,  brittle  when 
cold,  breaking  with  a  conchoidal  fracture,  but  when  warm  tough  and 
elastic,  its  elasticity  being  best  compared  with  that  of  mica.  If  bent 
too  quickly  it  snaps  like  glass.  It  cuts  like  horn,  has  a  hardness  be- 
tween 2  and  3,  a  specific  gravity  of  1.03,  gives  a  brown  streak,  and  in 
very  thin  flakes,  shows  a  garnet-red  color.  It  does  not  fuse  or  melt 
in  boiling  water,  but  becomes  softer  and  more  elastic;  in  the  name  of 
a  candle  it  melts  and  takes  fire,  burning  with  a  bright  luminous  flame, 
giving  off  gas  and  a  strong  bituminous  odor.  It  is  not  soluble  in  alco- 
hol, and  but  sparingly  so  in  ether,  in  both  of  which  respects  it  differs 
from  elaterite.  In  the  United  States  it  occurs  near  Scofield,  Carbon 
County,  and  in  the  Uinta  Mountains  of  Wasatch  County,  Utah  (Speci- 
mens Nos.  53356,  67265,  67860,  U.S.N.M.). 

ALBERTITE. — This  is  a  brilliant  jet  black  bitumen  compound  break- 
ing with  a  lustrous,  conchoidal  fracture,  having  a  hardness  of  between 

1W.  Merivale,  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXV1,  1898,  .p.  790;  also  the 
Mineral  Industry,  VI,  1897,  p.  54. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


447 


1  and  -2  of  Dana's  scale,  a  specific  gravity  of  1.097,  black  streak,  and 
showing  a  brown  color  or  very  thin  edge.  In  the  flame  of  a  lamp  it 
shows  signs  of  incipient  fusion,  intumesces  somewhat  and  emits  jets 
of  gas,  giving  off  a  bituminous  odor;  when  rubbed  it  becomes  electric. 
According  to  Dana  it  softens  slightly  in  boiling  water,  is  only  a  trace 
soluble  in  alcohol,  4  per  cent  in  ether,  and  some  3  per  cent  soluble  in 
turpentine.  The  following  is  the  composition  as  given  by  Wetherill: 
Carbon,  86.04  per  cent;  hydrogen,  8.96  per  cent;  oxygen,  1.977  per 
cent;  nitrogen,  2.93  per  cent;  ash,  0.10  per  cent. 

Dr.  Antisell  made  the  following  comparative  tests  to  show  the  rela- 
tive richness  of  the  material  in  volatile  matter: 


Constituents. 

Cannel 
coal. 

South 
American 
asphalt. 

Lake 
asphalt. 

Albertite. 

Volatile  matter  
Coke  
Ash 

50.52 
47.69 
1  79 

70.15 
29.85 

71.67 
28.04 
0  29 

59.88 
39.59 
0  53 

Total 

100  00 

100  00 

100  00 

100  00 

The  mineral  is  described  by  C.  H.  Hitchcock1  as  occuring  in  "true 
cutting  veins"  in  shale  of  Lower  Carboniferous  age  in  Hillsborough 
County,  New  Brunswick.  The  shales  themselves  contain  a  large 
amount  of  carbonaceous  matter  and  by  distillation  have  been  made  to 
yield  30  gallons  to  the  ton  of  refined  illuminating  oil.  They  contain 
immense  numbers  of  fossil  fish  and  are  mostly  inflammable.  The  veins 
vary  from  a  fraction  of  an  inch  to  12  feet  in  width  with  a  general  N. 
65°  east  course,  sometimes  vertical  and  sometimes  inclined  north- 
westward from  75°  to  80°.  They  enlarge  and  contract  very  irregu- 
larly, but  in  general  increase  in  thickness  as  followed  downward. 
Hitchcock  regards  the  veins  as  having  been  filled  by  the  injection  of 
the  material  in  a  liquid  state  and  being  subsequently  indurated. 

Uses. — This  vein  seems  to  have  been  discovered  about  1840  by  Dr. 
Abraham  Gesner  who,  in  1850  took  out  a  patent  in  the  United  States 
for  the  manufacture  of  illuminating  gas  from  this  and  other  asphalts.2 
A  company  was  organized  and  for  some  years  active  mining  opera- 
tions were  carried  on,  but  have  been  discontinued  since  the  discovery 
of  petroleum.  (Specimens  Nos.  59935,  66701,  U.S.N.M.) 

GRAHAMITE.  — Grahamite  is  a  hydrocarbon  compound  closely  related 
to  albertite,  but  differing  physically  in  having  a  duller  luster  and  more 
cokelike  aspect.  It  has  been  described  by  Dr.  Henry  Wurtz  as  occur- 

1  American  Journal  of  Science,  XXXIX,  1865,  p.  267;  see  also  Dawson's  Acadian 
Geology,  3d  ed.,  pp.  231-241. 

2  Review  of  reports  on  the  Geological  Relations,  etc. ,  of  the  coal  of  the  Albert  Coal 
Mining  Company,  situated  in  Hillsborough,  Albert  County,  New  Brunswick,  as  written 
and  compiled  by  Charles  T.  Jackson,  M.  D.,  a  Fellow  of  the  Geological  Society  of 
London,  etc.,  New  York,  1852. 


448  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

ring  in  shrinkage  fissures  whose  course  is  N.  76°  to  80°  E.  in  Carbon- 
iferous shales  and  sandstones,  on  a  branch  of  Hughes  River,  Ritchie 
County,  West  Virginia.  It  is  completely  soluble  in  chloroform  and 
carbon  disulphide,  nearly  so  in  turpentine,  and  partially  so  in  naphtha 
and  benzine,  but  not  at  all  in  alcohol.  Melts  somewhat  imperfectly, 
beginning  to  smoke  and  soften  like  coking  coal  at  a  temperature  of 
about  400°  F.  (Specimen  No.  59924,  U.S.N.M.) 

As  occurring  in  the  vein  the  material  shows  four  distinct,  though 
somewhat  irregular,  divisional  planes,  having  a  general  parallelism 
with  the  walls.  Next  to  the  walls  the  structure  of  the  mineral  is 
coarsely  granular,  with  an  irregularly  cuboidal  jointed  cleavage,  very 
lustrous  on  the  cleavage  surfaces,  that  in  immediate  contact  with  the 
walls  usually  adhering  thereto  very  tenaciously,  as  if  fused  fast  to  the 
granular  sandstone.  (Specimen  No.  59941,  U.S.N.M.  A  "horse"  or 
fragment  of  sandstone  from  the  vein,  showing  adhering  grahamite.) 

Next  to  these  two  outside  layers,  which  are  very  irregular  and  from  2  to  3  inches  or 
more  in  thickness,  is  found,  on  each  side  of  the  vein,  a  layer  averaging  from  15  to  16 
inches  in  thickness,  which  is  composed  of  a  variety  highly  columnar  in  structure  and 
very  lustrous  in  fracture,  the  columns  oeing  long  and  at  this  place  at  right  angles  to 
the  walls.  Finally,  in  the  center  of  the  vein,  varying  in  thickness,  but  averaging 
about  18  inches,  is  a  mass  differing  greatly  in  aspect  from  the  rest,  being  more  com- 
pact and  massive,  much  less  lustrous  in  fracture,  and  with  the  columnar  structure 
much  less  developed,  in  places  not  at  all.  The  fracture  and  luster  of  this  portion  of 
the  vein  are  clearly  resinoid  in  character. 

The  general  aspect  of  the  mass,  as  well  as  all  the  results  of  a  minute  examination 
of  the  accompanying  phenomena,  lead  irresistibly  to  the  conclusion  that  we  have 
here  a  fissure  which  has  been  filled  by  an  exudation,  in  a  pasty  condition,  of  a  resinoid 
substance  derived  from  or  formed  by  some  metamorphosis  of  unknown  fossil  matter 
contained  in  deep-seated  strata  intersected  by  the  fissure  or  dike. 

The  density  of  a  mass  of  the  mineral  was  found  to  be  1.145.  The  horizontal  extent 
of  visible  outcrop  actually  measured  by  me  was  530  fathoms,  thinned  out  at  east  end 
to  30  inches  and  at  west  end  to  8  inches;  but  as  these  points  were  at  least  70  to  80 
fathoms  vertically  higher  than  the  bottom  of  the  ravine,  the  width  (averaging  about 
50  inches)  at  the  latter  depth  points  to  a  rapid  widening  of  the  fissure  in  descent.'- 

J.  P.  Kimball  has  described2  a  deposit  of  similar  material  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Capadero  River  in  the  Huasteca,  VeraCruz,  Mexico. 
The  country  rock  is  a  fossiliferous  Tertiary  shale  overlaid  by  con- 
glomerate. 

The  grahamite  occurs  in  a  fissure  some  34  inches  in  thickness 
terminating  in  an  "overflow"  some  6£  feet  in  maximum  thickness, 
thinning  away  at  the  edges,  but  the  full  extent  of  which  wu.s  not 
determined.  The  evidence  showed  that  the  fissure  had  been  tilled 
by  material  oozing  up  from  below  and  spreading  out  upon  the 
surface  prior  to  the  deposition  of  the  overlying  gravel.  The  strike 

1  Proceedings  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  XVIII, 
1869,  pp.  125-128. 

2  American  Journal  of  Science,  XII,  1876,  p.  277. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEEALS. 


449 


of  the  fissure  was  nearly  north  and  south,  and  at  the  time  of  making 
the  report  noted  (1876)  it  had  been  developed  to  a  distance  of  some 
300  feet.  The  material  is  described  as  more  uniformly  lustrous  than 
that  from  Ritchie  Count}r,  and  of  a  greater  coherence,  though  none  the 
less  distinctly  cleaved  and  jointed.  An  analysis  of  a  sample  from  the 
Cristo  mine,  as  given,  yielded  results  as  follows: 

Specific  gravity 1. 156 

Volatile  matter: 

Illuminating  gas 63. 32 

Sulphur 0. 46 

Water...  0.36 


64.14 

Coke: 

Fixed  carbon 31.63 

Sulphur 0.37 

Ash  . .  5.  86 


37.86 
100.  00 

CARBONITE  OR  NATURAL  COKE  is  the  name  given  to  a  peculiar  hydro- 
carbon compound  occurring  in  the  form  of  beds  like  bituminous  coal, 
in  Chesterfield  County,  Virginia,  and  having  a  dull  black  and,  for  the 
most  part,  lusterless  aspect,  somewhat  resembling  coke.  (Specimens 
Nos.  63499,  63500,  U.S.N.M.) 

An  analysis  by  Wurtz1  yielded  the  following: 

Per  cent. 

Coke....:.... 84.57 

Volatile  combustible  matter 15. 43 

Other  analyses  by  Dr.  T.  M.  Drown 2  on  two  portions,  the  one  dull 
and  lusterless  and  the  other  lustrous,  yielded: 


Constituents. 

Dull 
portion. 

Lustrous 
portion. 

Specific  gravity  

1.375 

1.350 

Loss  at  100°  C 

2  00 

0  69 

Volatile  matter  

Ash 

15.47 
3  20 

11.10 
6  68 

79.33 

81  53 

100.00 
4  08 

100.00 
1  60 

Occurrence. — The  material  occurs  interbedded  with  shales  much  like 
ordinary  bituminous  coal,  there  being,  according  to  Raymond,  three 
distinct  beds  varying  from  1  foot  9  inches  to  9  feet  in  thickness,  inter  - 

1  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  III,  1875,  p.  456. 

2  Idem,  XI,  1883,  p.  448. 

NAT  MUS   99 29 


450  REPOET    OF    NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

stratified  with  the  shales,  the  lowermost  bed  of  9  feet  thickness  being 
underlaid  by  fire  clay.  The  origin  of  the  material  is  in  doubt,  the 
earlier  writers  regarding  it  as  a  bituminous  coal  coked  by  the  heat  of 
intrusive  rocks.  Later  writers  throw  doubt  upon  this  by.  stating  that 
there  are  in  the  vicinity  no  intrusives  of  such  size  as  to  warrant  any 
such  assumption. 

Uses. — The  material  is  said  to  burn  without  smoke  or  soot,  like 
anthracite,  and  to  have  been  used  for  domestic  purposes. 

UINTAITE  ;  GILSONITE.  This  is  a  black,  brilliant,  and  lustrous  vari- 
ety of  bitumen,  giving  a  dark-brown  streak,  breaking  Avith  a  beautiful 
conchoidal  fracture,  and  having  a  hardness  of  2  to  2.5  and  a  specific 
gravity  of  1.065  to  1.07.  It  fuses  readily  in  the  flame  of  a  candle,  is 
plastic,  but  not  sticky  while  warm,  and  unless  highly  heated  will  not 
adhere  to  cold  paper.  Its  deportment  is  stated  to  be  much  like  that 
of  sealing  wax  or  shellac.  Like  albertite  and  grahamite  it  dissolves 
in  turpentine  and  is  not  soluble  in  alcohol.  It  is  a  good  nonconductor 
of  electricity,  but  like  albertite  becomes  electric  by  friction.  Its  com- 
position as  given  is:  Carbon,  80.88  per  cent;  hydrogen,  9.76  per  cent; 
nitrogen,  3.30  per  cent;  oxygen,  6.05  per  cent,  and  ash,  0.01  per  cent. 
Specimens  Nos.  62379,  53355,  U.S.N.M.,are  characteristic. 

Occurrence. — According  to  George  H.  Eldridge1  the  gilsonite  de- 
posits of  Utah  occur  filling  a  series  of  essentially  vertical  fissures  in 
Tertiary  sandstones  lying  within  the  Uncompahgre  Indian  Reserva- 
tion, or  in  its  immediate  vicinity.  The  fissures  have  smooth,  regular 
walls  and  vary  in  width  the  sixteenth  of  an  inch  to  18  feet,  and  in 
length  from  a  few  hundred  yards  to  8  or  10  miles. 

The  larger  veins  are  somewhat  scattered,  one  lying  about  3£  miles 
east  of  Fort  Duchesne,  a  second  in  the  region  of  the  Upper  Evacua- 
tion Creek,  and  the  three  others  of  most  importance  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  White  River  and  the  Colorado-Utah  line.  Besides  these  there 
is  a  14-inch  vein  crossing  the  western  boundary  of  the  reservation 
near  the  fortieth  parallel;  another  about  equal  size  about  6  miles  south- 
east of  the  junction  of  the  Green  and  White  rivers;  a  third  in  the 
gulch  4  or  5  miles  north  of  Ouray  Agency,  west  of  the  Duchesne  River, 
and  a  number  from  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  to  a  foot  in  thickness  in 
an  area  about  10  miles  wide,  extending  from  W7illow  Creek  eastward  for 
25  miles  along  both  sides  of  the  Green  and  White  rivers.  The  veins 
are  sometimes  slightly  faulted,  and  often  pinch  out  to  mere  feather 
edges.  The  filling  material  is  quite  structureless  excepting  where,  as 
near  the  surface,  it  has  been  exposed  to  the  atmospheric  influences, 
where  it  shows  a  fine  pencillate  or  columnar  structure  at  right  angles 
to  the  walls.  The  walls  of  the  veins  themselves  are  impregnated  with 
the  gilsonite  for  a  distance  of  several  inches,  but  all  indications  point 

1  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1895-96,  Pt.  I,  p.  915. 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  451 

to  their  having  been  filled,  not  by  lateral  impregnation,  but  by  injec- 
tion from  below. 

The  mining  of  gilsonite  is  conducted  in  the  ordinary  manner  by 
means  of  shafts  and  tunnels.  The  work  is,  however,  attended  with 
considerable  difficulty  and  some  danger,  owing  to  the  fine  dust  arising 
from  it.  This  penetrates  the  skin  and  lungs  and  is  a  source  of  great 
annoyance,  and  moreover  becomes  highly  explosive  when  mixed  with 
atmospheric  air. 

Uses. — The  principal  use  of  gilsonite  thus  far  has  been  in  the  manu- 
facture of  varnishes  for  ironwork  and  baking  japans.  It  is  not  well 
adapted  for  coach  varnishes.  It  has  been  also  used  for  mixing  with 
asphaltic  limestone  for  paving  material.  Other  possible  uses  suggested 
by  Mr.  E.  W.  Parker,  in  the  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States 
for  1893,  are  as  below:  For  preventing  electrolytic  action  on  iron 
plates  of  ship  bottoms;  for  coating  barbed-wire  fencing,  etc.;  for 
coating  sea  walls  of  brick  or  masonry;  for  covering  paving  brick; 
for  acid-proof  lining  for  chemical  tanks;  for  roofing  pitch;  for  insu- 
lating electric  wires;  for  smokestack  paint;  for  lubricants  for  heavy 
machinery;  for  preserving  iron  pipes  from  corrosion  and  acids;  for 
coating  poles,  posts,  and  ties;  for  toredo-proof  pile  coating;  for  cov- 
ering wood-block  paving;  as  a  substitute  for  rubber  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  cotton  garden  hose;  as  a  binder  pitch  for  culm  in  making 
brickette  and  eggette  coal. 

3.  OZOKERITE;  MINERAL  WAX;  NATIVE  PARAFFIN. 

This  is  a  wax-like  hydrocarbon,  usually  with  a  foliated  structure, 
soft  and  easily  indented  with  the  thumb  nail;  of  a  yellow  brown  or 
sometimes  greenish  color,  translucent  when  pure,  with  a  greasy  feel- 
ing, and  fusing  at  56°  to  63°;  specific  gravity,  0.955.  It  is  essentially 
a  natural  paraffin.  The  name  is  derived  from  two  Greek  words,  sig- 
nifying to  smell,  and  wax.  Below  is  given  the  composition  of  (I)  sam- 
ples from  Utah  and  (II)  from  Boryslaw,  in  Galicia. 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

Carbon     

85  47 

85  78 

14  57 

14  29 

Total 

100  04 

100  07 

The  substance  is  completely  soluble  in  boiling  ether,  carbon  disul- 
phides,  or  benzine,  and  partially  so  in  alcohol. 

The  following,  from  a  paper  by  Boverton  Redwood,1  will  serve  to 
show  the  varying  characters  of  the  material  from  the  various  reported 
sources. 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  XI,  1892,  p.  114. 


452 


REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


Colorado. — Dull  black,  hard,  and  pulverizable;  melting  point,  76°  C. 
Yields  on  distillation: 

Percentage 
(by  difference). 

Paraffin  and  oil 90. 00 

Loss  in  gas 2. 12 

Loss  in  water 2.  60 

Eesidue  . .  .     5.  28 


100. 00 

It  commences  to  distill  at  360°  C.,  when  nearly  3  per  cent  of  oil 
setting  at  30°  C.  comes  over.  At  a  much  higher  temperature  it  dis- 
tills steadily  and  furnishes  a  product  suitable  for  use  as  a  source  of 
paraffin. 

Baku.— Specific  gravity.  0.903;  melting  point,  76°  C. : 

Paraffin  mass 81.  80 

Gas 13.  80 

Coke 4.  40 

100.  00 
Persia. — Dark  green,  rather  hard;  specific  gravity,  0.925: 

Light  oil,  0.740  to  0.780 2.  35 

Light  oil,  0.800  to  0.820 3.  50 

Oil,  0.880 16.  63 

Paraffin 53.  55 

Coke 16.  73 

Loss 7.  24 

100.00 

England  (Urpeth,  near  Newcastle). — Soft  and  sticky,  brownish. 
Specific  gravity,  0.890;  melting  point,  60°  to  70°  C.: 

Light  oil,  boiling  point  80°  to  120°  C 3. 00 

Light  oil,  boiling  point  150°  to  200°  C 7.  50 

Lubricating  oil,  boiling  point  200°  to  250°  C.  7.  80 

Paraffin 64.  95 

Coke 11.15 

Gas,loss 5.60 

100.  00 

Boryslaw. — Specific  gravity,  0.930 — I,  dark  yellow;  II,  dark 
brownish  black: 

Constituents.  I.  II. 

Benzine,  0.710  to  0.750 4. 32  3. 50 

Kerosene,  0.780  to  0.820 j  25.05  27.83 

Lubricating  oil,  0.895 7. 64  6. 95 

Paraffin,  etc 56.54  52.27 

Coke  2.85  4.63 

Loss 3. 00  4. 82 

100.00       100.00 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  453 

Olive-green,  rather  hard;   specific  gravity,  0.9236;  melting  point, 
60.5°  C.: 

Light  oil,  boiling  point  up  to  150°  C 6.  25 

Heavy  oil,  with  paraffin,  150°  to  300°  C  . . .  35. 10 

Paraffin,  etc.,  over  300°  C 49.  73 

Residue  in  retort,  and  loss 8.  92 


100. 00 

Occurrences. — Ozokerite  occurs  in  the  United  States  in  Emery  and 
Uinta  counties,  Utah,  where,  in  the  form  of  small  veins  in  Tertiary 
rocks,  it  extends  over  a  wide  area  (Specimens  Nos.  59984,  62805,  and 
63203,  U.S.N.M.).  It  is  also  found  in  Galicia,  Austria,  in  Miocene 
deposits  (Specimens  Nos.  66077,  66079,  66080,  66083,  66084,  66086,  and 
66860,  U.S.N.M.);  in  Roumania,  Hungary,  Russia,  and  other  Asiatic 
and  European  localities.  As  a  rule,  the  deposits  are  in  beds  of  Ter- 
tiary or  Cretaceous  age.  The  Galician  deposits  are  the  most  noted 
of  the  above.  According  to  Redwood  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether 
ozokerite  is  peculiar  to  any  particular  geological  formation.  Regard- 
ing it  as  a  derivative  of  petroleum  with  a  high  melting  point,  Rateau 
points  out  that  it  would  not  be  reasonable  to  expect  that  it  would  be 
confined  to  any  one  formation,  and  in  fact  it  is  found  in  many,  though 
chiefly  in  the  Tertiary  and  Cretaceous.  The  Boryslaw,  Dwiniacz, 
and  Starunia  deposits  are  in  Miocene,  but  ozokerite  has  been  met  with 
in  the  shales  of  Teschen,  as  well  as  in  Neocomian  and  other  formations 
elsewhere.  The  Kouban  deposits  are  on  the  borders  of  the  Lower 
Tertiary  and  Upper  Cretaceous.  In  Teheleken  it  is  found  accompany- 
ing petroleum  in  pockets  in  beds  of  sand  above  the  clay  shales  and 
muschelkalk  of  the  Aralo-Carpathian  formation.  In  southern  Utah 
and  Arizona  it  occurs  in  Tertiary  rock,  probably  Miocene. 

The  soil  of  the  valley  in  which  Boryslaw  lies  is  a  bed  of  diluvial 
deposit  some  meters  in  thickness.  In  sinking  a  shaft,  first  yellow  clay, 
then  rounded  flints  and  gravel,  and  then  plastic  clay  are  met  with. 
Below  this  sandstone  and  blue  shale,  much  disturbed,  alternate,  and  it 
is  in  these  beds,  which  have  a  thickness  of  some  200  meters,  that  the 
ozokerite  is  found.  The  ozokerite-bearing  formation  lies  on  a  basis 
of  petroliferous  menilite  shale,  the  strata  of  which,  as  they  approach 
the  surface,  are  disposed  almost  vertically,  but  inclined  toward  the 
south.  The  strata  are  composed  of  layers  of  coarse-grained  sandstone, 
green  marl,  fine-grained  sandstone  with  veins  of  calcite,  dark  shale 
alternating  with  gray  sandy  shale,  imperceptibly  merging  into  the 
main  beds  of  the  nonpetroliferous  sandstone  and  shale.  Below  these 
are  the  Carpathian  sandstones  of  the  lower  Eocene  (nummulitic  sand- 
stone) and  upper  Cretaceous  formations. 

The  geological  conditions  prevailing  at  Dwiniacz  and  Starunia  are 
similar  to  those  at  Boryslaw,  but  the  ozokerite  is  more  largely  mixed 
with  petroleum.  The  soil  is  gray  and  red  diluvial  clay,  below  which 


454  EEPOKT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

is  a  bed  of  gravel,  lying  on  the  Miocene  formation,  in  which  the 
ozokerite  and  petroleum  occur  in  association  with  native  sulphur,  iron 
pyrites,  and  zinc  blende.  Still  lower  a  highly  porous  calcareous  rock 
is  met  with,  containing  cavities  filled  with  petroleum  and  sulphurated 
water,  and  below  this  again  is  a  marl  with  gypsum  and  the  salt-clay 
formation  destitute  of  petroleum. 

The  ozokerite  occurs  in  the  form  of  veins  of  a  thickness  ranging 
from  a  few  millimeters  to  some  feet,  and  is  accompanied  with  more  or 
less  petroleum  and  gaseous  hydrocarbons.  It  fills  the  many  fissures 
with  which  the  disturbed  shales  and  Miocene  sandstone  abound,  and 
frequently  forms  thus  a  kind  of  network.  The  Boryslaw  deposit 
extends  over  a  pear-shaped  area,  the  axis  of  which  lies  E.  30°  S.  The 
upper  layers  of  the  richest  portion  of  the  deposit  occupy7  an  area  of 
about  21  hectares,  with  a  length  of  1,000  meters  and  a  maximum 
breadth  of  350  meters,  but  outside  this  there  is  an  outer  zone  of  less 
productive  territory  which  increases  the  total  superficies  to  about 
60  hectares,  with  dimensions  of  1,500  meters  by  560  meters.  The 
deposit  narrows  considerably  as  the  depth  increases,  and  at  a  distance 
of  100  meters  from  the  surface  of  the  ground  has  a  breadth  of  only 
200  meters. 

Uses. — The  ozokerite,  after  being  freed  so  far  as  possible  from  im- 
purities, is  melted  and  cast  into  loaves  or  blocks  of  the  form  of  a  trun- 
cated cone,  and  weighing  about  50  to  60  kilos.  There  are  two  or  three 
recognized  commercial  qualities  of  the  melted  and  cast  ozokerite.  The 
first  quality  is  transparent  in  thin  sheets  and  its  color  ranges  from 
yellow  to  greenish  brown.  Adulteration  by  means  of  crude  petroleum, 
heavy  oils,  the  residues  from  refineries,  asphaltum,  and  even  earthy 
matter,  are  not  unknown,  and  occasionally  by  a  process  of  double  casting 
the  exterior  of  the  block  is  made  to  differ  in  quality  from  the  interior. 

The  refined  material  is  known  as  ceresin  (Specimen  No.  63204, 
U.S.N.M.).  It  is  used  for  candles,  an  adulterant  or  a  complete  sub- 
stitute for  beeswax,  in  the  manufacture  of  ointments  and  pomades. 
A  residual  product  from  the  purifying  process,  of  a  hard  waxy  nature, 
is  combined  with  india  rubber  and  used  as  an  insulating  material  for 
electrical  cables.  In  this  form  it  is  known  as  okanite.  A  ball  black- 
ing, used  on  the  heels  of  shoes,  is  also  manufactured  from  it.  (See 
Specimens  Nos.  63204,  62235,  62236,  66076,  U.S.N.M.) 

The  names  scheererite,  hatchettite,  fichtelite,  and  konlite  are  applied 
to  simple  hydrocarbons  closely  allied  to  ozokerite  found  in  beds  of 
peat  and  coal,  but,  so  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  never  in  such  abun- 
dance as  to  be  of  commercial  value. 

The  name  torbanite  or  kerosene  shale  has  been  given  to  a  dense  coal- 
black  substance  appearing  and  breaking  much  like  cannel  coal,  and 
which  occurs  in  irregular,  isolated,  circumscribed,  and  lenticular  depos- 
its near  the  base  of  the  carboniferous  beds  of  New  South  Wales,  Aus- 


THE    NONMETALLIG    MINERALS.  455 

tralia,  and  near  Bathgate  in  Linlithgowshire,  Scotland.  The  better 
varieties  contain  from  70  to  80  per  cent  of  volatile  hydrocarbon,  6  to 
8  per  cent  of  fixed  carbon,  7  to  20  per  cent  of  ash,  with  a  little  sul- 
phur and  water.  The  material  is  used  mainly  for  gas  and  oil  making 
by  distillation,  the  best  qualities  yielding  from  150  to  160  gallons  of 
crude  oil  to  the  ton  and  about  20,000  feet  of  gas  of  48-candle  intensity.1 
(Specimen  No.  12786,  U.S. KM.) 

4.  RESINS. 

SUCCINITE;  AMBER.  The  mineral  commonly  known  as  amber  is  a 
fossil  resin  consisting  of  some  78.94  parts  of  carbon,  10.53  parts  of 
oxygen,  and  10.53  parts  of  hydrogen,  together  with  usually  from  two 
to  four  tenths  of  a  per  cent  of  sulphur.  It  is  not  a  simple  resin,  but 
a  compound  of  four  or  more  hydrocarbons.  According  to  Berzelius, 
as  quoted  by  Dana,  it  "consists  mainly  (85  to  90  per  cent)  of  a  resin 
which  resists  all  solvents,  along  with  two  other  resins  soluble  in  alcohol 
and  ether,  an  oil,  and  2£  to  6  per  cent  of  succinic  acid. 

The  mineral  as  found  is  of  a  yellow,  brownish,  or  reddish  color, 
frequently  clouded,  translucent  or  even  transparent,  tasteless,  becomes 
negatively  electrified  by  friction,  has  a  hardness  of  2  to  2.5,  a  specific 
gravity  when  free  from  inclosures  of  1.096,  a  conchoidal  fracture, 
and  melts  at  250°  to  500°  F.  without  previous  swelling,  but  boils 
quietly,  giving  off  dense  white  fumes  with  an  aromatic  odor  and  very 
irritating  effect  on  the  respiratory  organs. 

As  above  noted,  amber  is  a  fossil  resin  or  pitch,  an  exudation  prod- 
uct principally  of  the  Plnus  succinifer,  a  now  extinct  variety  of  pine 
which  lived  during  the  Tertiary  period. 

Occurrence. — Amber  or  closely  related  compounds  has  been  found 
in  varying  amounts  at  numerous  widely  separated  localities,  but 
always  under  conditions  closely  resembling  one  another.  The  better 
known  localities  are  the  Prussian  coast  of  the  Baltic;  on  the  coast  of 
Norfolk,  Essex,  and  Suffolk,  England;  the  coasts  of  Sweden,  Den- 
mark, and  the  Russian  Baltic  provinces;  in  Galicia,  Westphalia,  Poland, 
Moravia,  Norway,  Switzerland,  France,  Upper  Burma,  Sicily  (Speci- 
men No.  61140,  U.S.N.M.),  Mexico,  the  United  States  at  Martha's 
Vineyard  and  near  Trenton  and  Camden,  New  Jersey. 

The  substance  occurs  in  irregular  masses,  usually  of  small  size.  One 
of  the  largest  masses  on  record  weighed  18  pounds.  This  is  now  in 
the  Berlin  Museum.  A  mass  found  in  the  marl  pits  near  Harrison- 
burg,  New  Jersey,  weighed  64  ounces.  This  last  is  presumably  not 
true  amber,  since  it  contained  no  succinic  acid,  which  is  now  regarded 
as  the  essential  constituent. 

The  amber  of  commerce  comes  now,  as  for  the  past  two  thousand 

1  Minerals  of  New  South  Wales,  by  A.  Liversidge,  p.  145. 


456  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

years,  mainly  from  the  Baltic,  where  it  occurs  in  a  strata  of  lignite- 
bearing  sands  of  Lower  Oligocene  age.  According  to  Berendt1  these 
are  two  amber-bearing  strata,  the  one  carrying  the  amber  in  nests  and 
both  underlaid  and  overlaid  by  clayey  seams,  and  the  second  and  lower 
a  glauconitic  sand  commonly  known  as  the  blue  earth.  The  material 
is  mined  by  open  cuts  where  the  strata  come  to  the  surface;  by  means 
of  shafts  and  tunnels,  as  in  coal  mining;  and  by  dredging  or  diving,  in 
the  latter  case  the  material  having  been  derived  originally  from  the 
amber- bearing  strata  and  redeposited  on  the  present  sea  bottom.2 

The  pieces  obtained  vary  from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  that  of  the  hand. 
The  annual  product  at  present  amounts  to  some  300,000  pounds,  valued 
at  about  $1,000,000.  The  price  of  the  material  varies  greatly  with  the 
size  and  purity  of  the  pieces.  Pieces  of  one-fourth  pound  weight  bring 
about  $15  a  pound,  while  the  small  granules  will  not  bring  one- 
twentieth  that  amount.  The  value  of  the  material  is  often  lessened  by 
the  presence  of  flaws  and  impurities,  or  inclosures,  such  as  insects  and 
twigs  of  plants.  (Specimens  Nos.  53056, 61140, 66812, 67748,  U.S.N.M.) 
£7&?s.— Amber  is  used  mainly  in  jewelry,  in  small  ornamentations, 
and  smokers'  goods,  the  smaller  pieces  being  used  in  making  varnish. 
The  clear  pieces  and  chippings  have  of  late  been  compressed  by  a 
newly  discovered  process  into  tablets  some  6  by  3  by  1  inches  in  size, 
which  can  be  utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  articles  for  smokers'  use. 

RETINITE. — The  name  retinite  is  used  by  Dana  to  include  a  consid- 
erable series  of  fossil  resins  allied  to  amber,  differing  mainly  in  con- 
taining no  succinic  acid.  They  occur  in  beds  of  brown  coal  of 
Tertiary  and  Cretaceous  age,  much  as  does  the  amber  proper.  The 
principal  varieties  that  have  thus  far  proven  of  any  economic  impor- 
tance are  noted  below: 

CHEMAWINITE. — This  is  the  name  given  by  Professor  Harrington3 
to  an  amber-like  resin  found  associated  with  woody  debris  on  the  south 
east  shore  of  Cedar  Lake  in  Canada  (Specimen  No.  62602,  U.S.N.M.). 
The  material  occurs  in  granular  form  and  in  small  sizes  only,  such  as 
are  quite  unsuited  for  manufacturing  purposes.  The  true  gum-bearing 
stratum,  if  such  exists,  has  not  yet  been  discovered,  the  material  thus 
far  found  being  washed  up  by  waves  on  the  beach.  According  to 
O.  J.  Klotz*  the  beach  matter  resembles  the  refuse  of  a  sawmill,  no 
atones  and  very  little  sand  being  associated  with  the  debris,  which  is 
everywhere  underlaid  by  clay.  The  principal  beach  was  estimated  to 
contain  some  700  tons  of  granular  material. 

A  somewhat  similar  resin  is  found  in  the  lignite  and  soft  greenish 

^chriften  der  Physikalisch-okonomischen  Gesellschaft,  VII,  1866. 
2 According  to  the  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal  of  May  20,  1893,  the  dredging 
process  on  the  Baltic  coast  has  been  discontinued  as  no  longer  profitable. 
3American  Journal  of  Science,  XLII,  1891,  p.  332. 
American  Jeweler,  No.  2,  XII,  1892. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899.— Meirill. 


PLATE  27. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINEKALS.  457 

sandstone  near  Kuji,  Japan.1  It  is  reported  as  being  of  inferior  quality, 
opaque,  cloudy,  and  much  fissured.  It  is,  however,  mined  and  shipped 
to  Tokio,  where  it  is  presumably  worked  up  into  small  ornaments. 

The  so-called  Burmese  amber,  or  Burmite  from  the  Hukong  Valley, 
is  reported  as  occurring  in  a  soft  blue  clay,  probably  of  Lower  Miocene 
age,  and  in  lumps  not  exceeding  the  size  of  a  man's  hand. 

GUM  COPAL. — The  name  copal  or  gum  copal  is  made  to  cover,  com- 
mercially, a  somewhat  variable  series  of  resins  more  or  less  fossilized 
and  found  for  the  most  part  buried  in  the  sands  in  tropical  and  sub- 
tropical regions.  They  are  in  general  amber-like  or  resin-like  in 
appearance,  of  a  hardness  inferior  to  that  of  true  amber,  of  a  light  yellow 
to  brown  color,  brilliant  glass-like  luster,  transparent  to  translucent, 
and  have  a  conchoidal  fracture.  When  cold  they  are  brittle  and  can 
be  readily  crushed  to  powder,  but  possess  a  slight  amount  of  elasticity. 
When  rubbed  on  cloth  they  become  electric  and  emit  a  peculiar  resin- 
ous odor.  The  specific  gravity  varies  from  1  to  1.10.  When  heated 
the  material  softens,  swells  up,  and  bubbles,  finall}7  melting,  remain- 
ing liquid  until  carbonized.  It  burns  with  a  yellow  smok}7  flame;  is 
partially  soluble  in  alcohol,  wholly  so  in  ether,  and  also  in  turpentine 
on  prolonged  digestion.  The  so-called  Kauri  gum  is  a  light  amber- 
colored  variety  from  the  Dammara  Australia,  a  living  coniferous  tree 
of  New  Zealand  (Specimens  Nos.  62468,  62469,  U.S.N.M.).  The  prin- 
cipal source  is  the  northern  portion  of  the  Auckland  provincial  district 
which  has  exported  since  1863  (and  up  to  1897)  some  134,630  tons  of 
gum  valued  at  £5,394,687,  the  product  for  1890  being  7,438  tons 
valued  at  £378,563. 

The  gum-digging  industry  is  one  that  gives  employment  to  both 
Europeans  and  natives.8  The  gum  is  found  but  a  short  distance  below 
the  surface  and  is  dug  with  the  aid  of  a  few  implements,  the  entire 
outfit  often  consisting  of  a  steel  prod,  a  spade,  and  knife  and  haver- 
sack. With  the  copal  is  often  found  the  more  amber-like  resin  ambrite, 
which  has  a  slightly  greater  hardness  (2),  a  specific  gravity  of  1.034,  a 
yellowish  gray  to  reddish  color  and  which  yields  on  analysis  carbon, 
76.88;  hydrogen,  10.54  per  cent,  and  oxygen,  12.77  per  cent.  It 
becomes  strongly  electric  by  friction  and  is  insoluble  in  alcohol,  ether, 
chloroform,  benzine,  or  turpentine  and  burns  with  yellow,  smoking 
flame.  Quite  similar  to  the  kauri  gum  is  the  copal  of  the  African 
coasts.  According  to  Dr.  F.  Welwitsch3  gum  of  the  west  coast  and 
probably  all  the  gum  resin  exported  under  this  name  from  tropical 
Africa  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  "fossil  resin  produced  by  trees  which, 

transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  V,  1876,  p.  265. 

2  Report  of  the  Mining  Industry  of  New  Zealand  for  1888.     In  the  report  for  1887 
it  is  stated  that  "according  to  the  last  census"  the  number  of  persons  employed  in 
the  occupation  of  gum  digging  was  1,283. 

3  Journal  of  the  Linnaean  Society  of  London,  Botany,  IX,  1866,  p.  287. 


458  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

in  periods  long  since  past,  adorned  the  forests  of  that  continent,  but 
which  are  at  present  either  totally  extinct  or  exist  only  in  a  dwarfed 
posterity."  The  gum,  which  is  called  by  the  Bunda  negroes  Ocate 
Cocoto,  or  Mucocoto,  is  found  in  the  hilly  or  mountainous  districts  all 
along  the  coast  of  Angola,  including  the  districts  of  Congo  and  Ben- 
guella, and  is  brought  by  the  natives  to  the  different  market  places  on 
the  coast  of  Angola,  including  the  districts  of  Congo  and  Benguella. 
The  larger  quantities  of  the  resin  are  mostly  found  in  the  sandy  soil 
and  it  is  apparently  limited  in  its  geographical  distribution  with  that  of 
the  tree  Adamonia  digitata,  the  lands  in  the  Government  of  Benguella 
extending  along  the  mountain  terrace  of  Ainboin,  Selles,  and  Muco- 
bale,  south  of  the  Cuanza  River  being  most  productive,  having  yielded 
between  1850  and  1860  some  1,600,000  pounds  of  gum  a  year. 

It  is  a  general  and  widely  spread  opinion  [writes  Welwitsch]  that  the  gum  copal 
in  Angola  is  gathered  from  trees;  but  this,  according  to  my  own  observation,  is  obvi- 
ously erroneous;  for  the  gum  copal  is  either  dug  out  of  the  loose  strata  of  sand, 
marl,  or  clay,  or  else  it  is  found  in  isolated  pieces  washed  out  and  brought  to  the 
surface  of  the  soil  by  heavy  rainfalls,  earth-falls,  or  gales;  and  such  pieces,  where 
found,  induce  the  negroes  to  dig  for  larger  quantities  in  the  adjacent  spots.  This 
digging  after  larger  quantities  is,  as  may  be  supposed,  often  very  successful;  but 
sometimes  it  is  less  satisfactory,  or  totally  without  result,  just  in  the  same  manner  as 
with  people  digging  for  gold.  At  times  numerous  larger  and  smaller  pieces  of  copal 
are  found  close  to  the  surface  of  the  sand,  or  within  the  depth  of  a  few  feet;  while 
in  other  places,  after  digging  to  the  depth  of  5  to  8  or  even  10  or  more  feet,  only 
single  pieces,  or  sometimes  none  at  all,  are  brought  to  light.  As  soon  as  a  negro  has 
discovered  in  any  spot  one  or  more  pieces  of  copal,  he  hastens  to  his  relations  and 
to  his  commercial  friends,  telling  them  of  his  fortunate  treasure-trove,  showing  what 
he  has  found,  and  concludes  with  them  a  kind  of  treaty  of  partnership  whereby  he 
becomes  entitled  to  the  larger  share  in  the  probable  gains.  The  members  of  this 
partnership  then  provide  themselves  with  digging  implements,  including  large  sacks, 
mostly  made  of  the  bark  of  the  Adansonia  or  Raphia  leaves,  and  they  then  proceed 
to  the  indicated  spot  to  commence  researches.  As  is  natural,  such  a  spot  and  its 
neighborhood  are  not  left  until  the  diggers  have  convinced  themselves  that  they  have 
completely  exhausted  the  district,  or  that  no  more  gum  copal  is  to  be  found  beyond 
the  first  indicating  pieces.  In  the  latter  case  it  is  supposed  that  the  first  pieces  met 
with  were  washed  down  from  afar,  and  further  researches  are  then  made  accord- 
ingly. 

If,  after  prolonged  researches  in  the  same  district,  no  more  gum  copal  is  found,  the 
diggers  leave  that  place;  the  secured  resin  is  cleaned  by  washing  and  packed  in 
sacks,  to  be  ready  for  sale  in  the  markets  on  the  coast.  Different  varieties  of  unequal 
value  being  often  obtained  on  the  same  spot,  the  resin,  when  brought  to  market,  has 
to  be  sorted  before  being  sold.  It  is  classified  mostly  according  to  its  color;  and  the 
price  is  determined  by  weight.  The  deep-colored  quality  is  generally  worth  double 
the  price  of  the  lighter  sort.  The  shape  in  which  the  gum  is  found  is  quite  variable; 
it  often  has  the  form  of  an  egg,  a  ball,  or  a  drop,  at  other  times  it  looks  like  a  flat, 
pressed  cake,  and  it  is  also  met  with  in  sharp-canted  pieces.  The  pieces  vary  as 
much  in  size  as  in  shape;  they  are  rarely  larger  than  a  hen's  egg,  and  there  are 
many  much  smaller,  others  (which,  however,  seldom  occur)  are  as  big  as  a  man's 
fist,  or  even  a  child's  head,  weighing  3  to  4  pounds  and  more.  All  the  pieces  of 
different  shape  and  size  have  one  common  characteristic,  namely,  that  on  their  sur- 


THE   NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  459 

face  they  are  covered  with  a  thinner  or  thicker  close-sticking  whitish,  nearly  chalky 
crust,  which  exhibits  on  many  pieces  veins  or  network,  while  in  most  instances  it 
covers  the  surface  like  an  earthy  powdery  coat.  The  surface  of  fresh-broken  pieces 
appears  conchoidal,  with  finely  radiating  lines  in  each  conchoidal  impression.  The 
luster  is  glossy,  the  mass  is  hard  and  transparent  to  a  certain  depth,  and  where 
scratched  with  a  knife  or  needle  it  leaves  a  white  powdered  stroke.  It  can  easily 
be  scraped  with  a  knife  into  powder  which,  if  sprinkled  over  red-hot  coals,  changes 
instantaneously  into  thick  vapors,  at  first  with  a  slight  yellow  color,  with  a  strong 
aromatic  smell,  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  incense.  Large  pieces  brought  into  con- 
tact with  a  light  soon  burn  up,  developing  at  the  same  time  the  above-mentioned 
vapors.  When  chewed  it  crackles  between  the  teeth  without  leaving  a  noticeable 
taste. 

The  fact  that  there  is  often  seen,  even  on  the  canted  broken  sides  of  many  pieces, 
the  same  hard,  whitish,  earthy  crust  which  covers  the  other  unbroken  surface  of  the 
same  piece,  tends  to  prove  that  after  their  falling  off  the  mother  tree  they  were 
forcibly  transported  from  their  original  spot  by  floods  or  earth  falls,  by  which  they 
were  broken  before  they  came  into  the  marl  or  sandy  plains  in  which  they  are  now 
found.  At  times  the  crust  just  alluded  to  is  very  hard,  of  considerable  thickness, 
and  with  a  glossy  polish,  which  leads  to  the  supposition  that  pieces  in  which  it  is 
found  have  been  embedded  for  a  long  time  in  the  ground,  or  perhaps  in  water  basins. 
While  an  earthy  crust  of  greater  or  less  thickness  is  noticed  on  all  pieces  of  gum 
copal  before  it  is  washed  or  rubbed  off,  the  color  in  different  pieces  varies  very  much ; 
some  samples  are  yellowish  white,  some  of  honey  or  gold  color,  and  others  are  dis- 
tinguished by  an  intense  reddish  orange  color.  The  general  appearance  of  the  pure 
pieces  of  this  resin,  especially  in  the  gold-colored  kind,  has  delusive  resemblance  to 
amber,  with  which,  though  much  softer,  it  has  the  common  properties  of  igniting 
and  of  becoming  electrical  by  friction.  The  interior  of  the  Angola  copal  pieces, 
when  not  mixed  with  earthy  substances,  or  with  remains  of  bark,  is  even  glossy  and 
transparent;  but  I  have  never  observed  insects  in  any  of  the  numerous  samples 
which,  partly  in  Angola  and  partly  at  Lisbon,  came  under  my  notice,  while  in  the 
copal  sent  to  Lisbon  from  the  province  of  Mozambique,  on  the  east  coast  of  Tropical 
Africa,  various  hymenopterous  insects  are  to  be  met  with.  The  different  colors  of 
the  copal  of  Angola  just  described  are  connected  more  or  less  with  its  availability 
for  varnishes,  etc.  Thus  the  copal  dealers  distinguish  three  sorts,  namely,  (1)  red 
copal  gum  (gomma  copal  vermellia) ;  (2)  yellow  (G.  c.  amarella);  (3)  whitish 
(G.  c.  bianca) .  The  red  and  whitish  sorts  furnish  the  best  and  finest  varnish,  and 
therefore  are  most  in  request  and  the  dearest,  while  the  whitish  quality  is  sold  at 
the  lowest  price.1 

According  to  Burton 2  the  present  limit  of  distribution  of  the  gam- 
yielding  trees  on  the  east  coast  is  less  extensive  than  that  of  the  extinct 
forests  which  have  yielded  the  true  or  "ripe"  copal,  or  "sandarusi," 
as  it  is  locally  called.  Every  part  of  the  coast  from  Has  Gomani,  in 
south  latitude  3,  to  Ras  Delgado,  in  10°  41',  with  a  mean  depth  of  30 
miles  inland,  may  be  called  the  copal  coast.  The  material  is  found  in 
red,  sandy  soil,  but  is  not  evenly  distributed,  occurring  rather  in 
patches,  as  though  produced  by  isolated  trees.  Dr.  Kirk  considers 

1  Journal  of  the  Linnean  Society  of  London,  Botany,  IX,  1866,  pp.  291-293. 

2  Lake  Region  of  Central  Africa,  II,  p.  403.     See  also  report  by  Dr.  M.  C.  Cooke 
on  the  gums,  resins,  etc.,  in  the  India  Museum,  or  produced  in  India.     London, 
India  Museum,  1874. 


460  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

this  gum  as  a  product  of  trees  of  the  same  species  as  those  at  present 
producing  the  raw  gum  called  by  the  natives  and  Arabs  sandarusiza 
miti  or  chakazi ;  that  is,  the  Trachylobium  mozambicense  Peters.  The 
gum  when  dug  from  the  soil  has  superficially  a  peculiar  pebbled  ap- 
pearance, best  described  as  "goose  skin "  (Specimens  Nos.  62472, 62473, 
U.S.N.M.),  and  which  Burton  considered  as  due  to  the  impress  of  the 
sandy  grains  in  which  it  had  been  buried,  but  which  Dr.  Kirk  regards 
as  due  to  the  structure  of  the  cellular  tissues  of  the  tree.  The  copal 
when  dug  up  has,  according  to  this  authority,  exteriorly  no  trace  of 
the  loose  skin  structure. 

As  is  the  case  with  the  New  Zealand  and  West  African  gums,  the 
methods  of  digging  are  very  crude,  careless,  and  desultory.  The 
diggings  are  mostly  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  Zanzibar,  but  as  this  is 
the  principal  port,  most  of  the  material  is  known  commercially  as 
Zanzibar  copal. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

M.  C.  COOK.  Report  on  Gums,  Resins,  Oleo-Resins,  and  Resinous  Products  in  the 
India  Museum,  or  produced  in  India. 

London,  India  Museum,  1874,  pp.  98-103. 

S.  F.  PECKHAM.  Report  on  the  Production,  Technology,  and  Uses  of  Petroleum  and 
its  Products. 

Report  of  the  Tenth  Census  of  the  United  States,  X,  1880. 
This  important  report  contains  a  very  complete  bibliography  on  the  subject  up 
to  date  of  publication. 
G.  W.  GRIFFIN  The  Kauri  Gum  of  New  Zealand. 

U.  S.  Consular  Reports,  II,  1881,  p.  241. 
R.  W.  RAYMOND.  The  Natural  Coke  of  Chesterfield  County,  Virginia. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XI,  1882,  p.  446. 
EDWARD  ORTON.  A  Source  of  the  Bituminous  Matter  in  the  Devonian  and  Sub-Car- 
boniferous Black  Shales  of  Ohio. 

American  Journal  of  Science,  XXIV,  1882,  p.  171. 

ORAZIO  SILVESTI.  On  the  Occurrence  of  Crystallized  Paraffin  in  the  Hollow  Spaces 
of  a  Basaltic  Lava  from  Paterno,  near  Mount  Etna. 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  I,  1882,  p.  180. 
WILLIAM  MORRISON.  The  Mineral  Albertite  and  the  Strathpeffer  Shales. 

Transactions  of  the  Edinburgh  Geological  Society,  V,  1883-1888,  p.  34. 
-.  A  New  Mineral  Tar  in  Old  Red  Sandstone:  Ross-shire. 
Transactions  of  the  Edinburgh  Geological  Society,  V,  1883-1888,  p.  500. 
S.  F.  PECKHAM.  The  Origin  of  Bitumens. 

American  Journal  of  Science,  XXVIII,  1884,  p.  105. 

EDWARD  ORTON.    The  Trenton  Limestone  as  a    Source  of   Petroleum  and  Natural 
Gas  in  Ohio  and  Indiana. 

Eighth  Annual  Report  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  Pt.  2,  1886-87,  pp.  483-662. 
J.  L.  KLEINSCHMIDT  Asphalt  Deposits  in  the  Formation  of  Coal. 
Berg-  und  Huttenmannische  Zeitung,  XLVI,  1887,  p.  78. 

JOSEPH  M.  LOCKE.  Gilsonite  or  Uintahite.     A   New  Variety  of    Asphaltum  from 
the  Uintah  Mountains,  Utah. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVI,  1887,  p.  162. 
A.  RATEAU.  Note  sur  1' Ozokerite,  ses  Gisements,  son  Exploitation  a  Boryslaw  et  son 
Traitement  Industriel. 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  461 

A.  RATEAU.  Annales  des  Mines,  XI,  Pt.  I,  1887,  p.  147.     See  also  Engineering  and 
Mining  Journal,  XLV,  1888,  p.  415. 
— .  Verarbeitung  des  galizischen  Erdwachses. 

Berg-  und  Hiittenmannische  Zeitung,  XLVII,  1888,  p.  435. 
A.  LIVERSIDGE  Torbanite. — Cannel  Coal  or  Kerosene  Shale. 

Minerals  of  New  South  Wales,  1888,  p.  145. 
MAX  VON  ISSER.  Die  Bitumenschatze  von  Seefeld. 

Berg-  und  Huttenmannisches  Jahrbuch,  XXXVI,  1888,  Pt.  1,  p.  1. 
L.  BABU.  Note  Sur  L' Ozokerite  de  Boryslaw  et  les  petroles  de  sloboda  (Galicie). 

Annales  des  Mines,  XIV,  1888,  p.  162.     See  also  Transactions  of  the  North 
of  England  Institute  of  Mining  and  Mechanical  Engineers,  XXXVIII,  1889, 
p.  15. 
RALPH  ROBINSON.  Kauri  Gum  Industry. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  XLVI,  1888,  p.  462. 
R.  W.  RAYMOND.  Note  on  a  specimen  of  Gilsonite  from  Uintah  County,  Utah. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVII,  1888, p.  113. 
F.  V.  GREENE.  Asphalt  and  its  uses. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVII,  1888,  p.  355. 
WILLIAM  MORRISON.  Elaterite:  A  Mineral  Tar  in  Old  Red  Sandstone,  Ross-shire. 

Mineralogical  Magazine,  VIII,  May,  1888,  October,  1889,  p.  133. 
HENRY  WURTZ.  The  Utah  Mineral  Waxes. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  XLVIII,  July  13,  1889,  p.  25. 

.  Uintahite  a  variety  of  Grahamite. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  XLVIII,  August  10,  1889,  p.  114. 
WILLIAM  P.  BLAKE.  Wurtzilite  from  the  Uintah  Mountains,  Utah. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XVIII,   1890, 
p.  497. 

— .  Uintaite,  Albertite,  Grahamite,  and  Asphaltum  described  and  compared,  with 
Observations  on  Bitumen  and  its  Compounds. 

Transaction  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,   XVIII,   1890, 
p.  563. 
HENRY  WURTZ.  Wurtzilite,  Prof.  Blake's  New  Mineral. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  XLIX,  1890,  p.  59. 
— .  Bituminous  Rock,  California. 

Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the  California  State  Mineralogist,  1890. 
E.  W.  HILGARD.  Report  on  the  Asphaltum  Mine  of  the  Ventura  Asphalt  Company. 

Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the  California  State  Mineralogist,  1890,  p.  763. 
— .  Asphalt  and  Petroleum  in  Mexico. 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  IX,  1890,  p.  426. 

GEORGE  VALENTINE.   On  a  Carbonaceous  Mineral  or  Oil  Shale  from  Brazil:     Its 
Formation  and  Composition.     As  a  Key  to  the  Origin  of  Petroleum. 

Proceedings  of  the  South  Wales  Institute  of  Engineers,  XVII,  August  8, 1890, 
p.  20. 
S.  DEUTSCH.  Ozokerite  in  Galicia. 

Journal  of  the  Iron  and  Steel  Institute,  1891,  p.  311. 
A.  N.  SEARL.  Utah  Ozokerite. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LI,  1891,  p.  441. 
HENRY  WURTZ.  A  Review  of  the  Chemical  Literature  of  the  Mineral  Waxes. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LI,  March  28, 1891,  p.  326. 
CLARENCE  LOWN;  H.  BOOTH.  Fossil  Resins. 

New  York,  1891,  pp.  119. 

EDWARD  ORTON.  Report  on  the  Occurrence  of  Petroleum,  Natural  Gas,  and  Asphalt 
Rock  in  Western  Kentucky. 

Geological  Survey  of  Kentucky,  J.  R.  Procter,  Director,  1891. 


462  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

BOVERTON  REDWOOD.  The  Galician  Petroleum  and  Ozokerite  Industries. 
The  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  XI,  1892,  p.  93. 

E.  T.  BUMBLE.  Note  on  the  Occurrence  of  Graham  ite  in  Texas. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  XXI,  1892,  p.  601. 
HENRY  M.  CADELL.    Petroleum  and   Natural   Gas;  their  Geological   History  and 
Production. 

Transactions  of  the  Edinburgh  Geological  Society,  VII,  Pt.  1,  p.  51,  1893-94. 
.  Asphaltum  and  Bituminous  Rock. 

Twelfth  Report  of  the  California  State  Mineralogist,  1894,  p.  26. 
S.  F.  PECKHAM.  Petroleum  in  Southern  California. 

Science,  February  9,  1894,  p.  741. 
EDGAR  B.  GOSLING.  A  Treatise  on  Ozokerite. 

The  School  of  Mines  Quarterly,  XVI,  1894,  p.  41. 

J.  G.  GOODCHILD.  Some  of  the  Modes  of  Origin  of  Oil  Shales,  with  Remarks  upon 
the  Geological  History  of  some  other  Hydrocarbon  Compounds. 

Transactions  of  the  Edinburgh  Geological  Society,  VII,  1895-96,  p.  121. 
C.  EG.  BERTRAND;  B.  RENAULT.  The  Kerosene  Shale  of  New  South  Wales. 

Transactions  of  the  North  of  England  Institute  of  Mining  and  Mechanical 
Engineers,  XLIV,  1895,  p.  76. 
.  Asphalt  and  Bitumen. 

Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  September,  1895. 
S.  F.  PECKHAM.  On  the  Pitch  Lake  of  Trinidad. 

American  Journal  of  Science,  L,  1895,  p.  33.     See  also  the  Geological  Magazine, 
II,  1895,  p.  416. 
BOVERTON  REDWOOD;  GEORGE  L.  HOLLO  WAY.  Petroleum  and  Its  Products. 

2  Vols.,  London,  1896. 
.  Asphaltum  and  Bituminous  Rock. 

Thirteenth  Report  of  the  California  State  Mineralogist,  1896,  p.  35. 
OTTO  LANG.  Trinidad  Asphalt. 

Transactions  of  the  North  of  England  Institute  of  Mining  and  Mechanical 
Engineers,  XLV,  Pt.  3,  March,  1896,  p.  1. 
.  Maracaibo  Asphalt. 

Scottish  Geographical  Magazine,  April,  1897,  p.  209.      Abstract  from  Deutsche 
Geographische  Blatter,  XIX,  Pt.  4. 
M.  H.  ENDEMANN.  Sur  la  composition  et  1'analyse  des  asphaltes. 

Moniteur  Scientifique,  L,  1897,  4th  Ser.,  XI,  p.  755. 
.  The  Uinta  and  the  Uncompahgre  Asphaltites  of  Utah. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXIV,  1897,  p.  10. 
WALTER  MERIVALE.  Barbadoes  Manjak. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXVI,  1898,  p.  790. 
JOHN  RUTHERFORD.  Notes  on  the  Albertite  of  New  Brunswick. 

Journal  of  the  Federated  Canadian  Mining  Institute,  III,  1898,  p.  40. 

F.  NOETLING.  Petroleum  in  Burma. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXV,  May  7,  1898,  p.  555. 
A.  S.  COOPER.  A  Bituminous  Rock  Deposit  in  Santa  Barbara  County,  California. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal,  LXVI,  1898,  p.  278. 
I.  C.  WHITE.  Origin  of  Grahamite. 

Bulletin  of  the  Geological  Society  of  America,  X,  1899,  pp.  277-284. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  463 

XIV.  MISCELLANEOUS. 
1.  GRINDSTONES;  WHETSTONES;  AND  HONES. 

The  custom  of  sharpening  edge  tools  on  pieces  of  stone  has  been 
practiced  by  barbarous  and  civilized  nations  ever  since  the  adoption  of 
cutting  implements  of  any  kind,  however  crude  and  of  whatever 
materials. 

With  the  first  crude  implements,  it  is  safe  to  say  almost  any  stone 
possessing  the  requisite  grit  would  serve  to  produce  the  rough  edge 
desired.  With  the  improvement  in  the  cutting  implement  there  has, 
however,  been  necessitated  a  corresponding  improvement  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  sharpening  implement  as  well.  Formerly,  it  may  be  safely 
assumed,  every  man  used  that  which  was  most  accessible  and  could  be 
made  to  best  answer  its  purpose.  Now  the  grindstone  and  whetstone 
industry  is  as  well  organized  as  any  other  branch  of  manufacture,  and 
forms  no  inconsiderable  feature  of  the  nation's  trade.  Localities  are 
ransacked  and  material  is  brought  from  far  and  near,  carried  long  dis- 
tances, overland  or  across  the  ocean,  to  the  workshops  of  the  manu- 
facturer to  be  cut  into  the  desired  shapes  and  sizes,  classified  and 
assorted  according  to  quality,  and  sent  abroad  once  more  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  ever-increasing  trade.  The  use  of  the  grindstone,  it 
should  be  noted,  is  not  confined  merely  to  sharpening  edge  tools,  but, 
as  will  be  noted  later,  they  are  made  from  a  variety  of  materials  and 
of  an  equal  variety  of  sizes,  from  the  2-inch  wheel  of  novaculite,  used 
by  jewelers,  to  a  coarse  grit  monster  of  over  2  tons  weight  for  the 
grinding  of  rough  castings  in  machine  shops. 

A  stone  to  be  suitable  for  grinding  purposes  must  possess  a  fine  and 
even  grain,  free  from  all  hard  spots  and  inequalities  of  any  kind.  It 
is  essential,  too,  that  the  various  particles  of  which  it  is  composed  be 
cemented  together  with  just  sufficient  tenacity  to  impart  the  neces- 
sary strength  to  the  stone,  and  yet  allow  them  to  crumble  away  when 
exposed  to  friction,  thus  continually  presenting  fresh  sharp  grains  and 
surfaces  to  act  upon  the  material  being  ground.  Simple  as  these 
essential  qualities  may  seem  they  are  in  reality  but  rarely  met  with 
in  perfection,  and  the  majority  of  grindstones  now  on  the  market  are 
quarried  from  a  comparatively  limited  number  of  sources.  If  the 
stone  be  too  friable  it  wears  away  too  rapidly,  and  the  grinding  done 
is  coarse  and  uneven;  a  sharp  edge  or  polish  is  unobtainable.  If  too 
hard  it  glazes  and  loses  its  cutting  qualities,  or  cuts  so  slowly  as  to  be 
no  longer  desirable.  If,  moreover,  the  particles  composing  the  stone 
adhere  with  too  little  tenacity,  the  stone,  particularly  if  it  be  a  large 
one,  such  as  is  used  for  grinding  castings,  is  liable  to  burst,  perhaps 
to  the  serious  injury  of  workmen  and  machinery. 

The  requisite  qualities  as  above  enumerated  are  found  mainly  in 


464  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    HUSEUM,    1899. 

those  stones  that  have  originated  as  sandy  deposits  on  sea  bottoms  and 
have  undergone  little  if  any  metamorphism — in  other  words,  in  sand- 
stones. For  some  particular  reason,  or  rather  owing  to  certain 
peculiar  conditions,  although  sandstones  were  formed  throughout  a 
great  number  of  periods  in  the  earth's  history,  those  formed  during 
the  Carboniferous  age  seem  best  adapted  for  the  purpose,  and  from 
stone  found  somewhere  in  this  formation  are  manufactured  a  large 
share  of  the  grindstones  now  in  use. 

A  majority  of  the  grindstones  now  found  in  the  markets  of  the 
United  States  are  made  from  sandstones  quarried  from  the  Upper,  Mid- 
dle, and  Lower  Carboniferous  formations  of  Ohio,  Michigan,  Nova 
Scotia,  or  New  Brunswick,  or  England  and  Scotland.  A  few  are,  or 
have  been,  made  from  stone  from  Missouri  and  Kentucky.  The  Ohio 
stones  are  obtained  nearly  altogether  from  quarries  in  the  sub-Car- 
boniferous sandstones  at  or  near  Berea,  Amherst,  Bedford,  Constitu- 
tion, Massillon,  Marietta,  Independence,  and  Euclid.  Few  if  any  of  the 
quarries  are  worked  wholly  for  grindstones,  but  in  the  majority  of 
cases  the  stone  is  sought  for  building  purposes  as  well,  and  the  grind- 
stone output  may  be  merely  incidental,  certain  layers  only  being 
adapted  for  the  latter  purpose.  This  is  well  illustrated  by  the  following 
section,  as  shown  at  one  of  the  Amherst  quarries  and  as  described1  by 
Professor  Orton,  the  State  geologist.  The  reader  will  understand  that 
by  section  is  meant  the  various  layers  exposed  in  the  quarry  wall,  or 
that  would  be  passed  through  in  digging  or  boring  from  the  surface 
downward. 

At  Amherst,  then,  the  stone  lies  as  follows,  beginning  at  the  surface: 

Feet. 

Drift  material  (soil,  sand,  etc.) 1  to    3 

Worthless  shell  rock 6  to  10 

Soft  rock  used  only  for  grindstones 12 

Building  stone 3 

Bridge  stone 2 

Grindstone 2 

Building  and  grindstone 10 

Building  stone 4to    7 

Building  stone  or  grindstone 12 

Commenting  on  the  condition  of  affairs  as  here  displayed,  Professor 
Orton  says: 

As  will  be  noticed  in  this  section,  the  different  strata  are  not  applicable  alike  to 
the  same  purpose,  and  the  uses  for  which  the  different  grades  of  material  can  be 
employed  depend  principally  upon  the  texture  and  the  hardness  of  the  stone.  The 
softest  and  most  uniform  in  texture  is  especially  applicable  for  certain  kinds  of  grind- 
ing, and  is  used  for  grindstones  only,  and  the  production  of  these  forms  an  important 
part  of  the  quarry  industry.  In  its  different  varieties  the  material  is  applicable  to  all 
kinds  of  grinding,  and  stones  made  from  it  are  not  only  sold  throughout  this  coun- 

1  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio,  V,  p.  586. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  465 

try,  but  are  exported  to  nearly  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world.  Some  of  the  finest- 
grained  material  is  also  used  in  the  manufacture  of  whetstones.  There  are  various 
points  in  the  system  of  the  Berea  grit  where  the  stone  is  adapted  to  this  use,  but  such 
a  manufacture  is  best  carried  on  when  joined  with  a  large  interest  in  quarrying,  so 
that  the  small  amount  of  suitable  material  can  be  selected;  and  thus  it  happens  that 
only  at  Amherst  and  at  Berea  are  whetstones  manufactured  in  large  quantities. 

Below  are  given  in  brief  outline  the  sources  and  main  characteristics 
of  the  principal  grindstones  now  in  the  market,  beginning  with  those 
of  the  United  States.  In  speaking  of  the  texture  of  any  stone,  that  of 
Berea  has  been  taken  as  the  standard.  This  is  the  stone  most  used  for 
grinding  cutting  tools,  such  as  axes  and  scythes.  It  must  be  remarked 
here  that  the  term  Berea  grit  is  applied  not  merely  to  the  stone  from 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  town  of  Berea,  but  is  rather  a  general 
name  applied  to  this  particular  subdivision  of  the  Subcarboniferous 
formation  of  Ohio  and  extending  over  a  wide  field. 

Berea. — Medium  fine;  blue  gray,  light  yellowish,  or  nearly  white. 
For  edge  tools  in  general;  the  finer  varieties  also  used  for  whetstones. 
Four  quarries  a  few  miles  west  of  Berea  produced  alone  upward  of 
$10,000  worth  of  grindstones  during  the  last  census  year.  (Specimen 
No.  25059,  U.S.N.M.) 

Amherst. — Medium  fine,  like  the  Berea,  being  a  part  of  the  same 
formation.  Light  gray,  with  small  rust-colored  spots  due  to  iron 
oxides.  For  grindstones  and  whetstones  for  edge  tools  in  general; 
the  softer  varieties  for  saws.  (Specimens  Nos.  25079,  25421,  U.S.N.M.) 

Independence. — Similar  to  the  Amherst,  and  especially  adapted  for 
the  manufacture  of  large  grindstones  for  dry  grinding;  stones  said  not 
to  glaze  when  used  for  this  purpose.  (Specimen  No.  25080,  U.  S.  N.  M. ) 

Bedford. — Rather  coarser,  though  of  even  texture  and  filled  with 
brown  spots  of  iron  oxide.  Especially  adapted  for  grinding  springs. 

Euclid. — Fine,  light  bluish-gray;  for  wet  grinding  edge  tools. 

Massillon. — Medium  to  rather  coarse;  the  microscope  shows  it  to  be 
an  aggregate  of  rounded,  colorless  grains  of  quartz,  with  little,  if  any, 
cementing  material.  Not  so  finely  compacted  as  the  last,  and  small 
fragments  can  be  readily  broken  from  the  sharp  edges  by  means  of  the 
thumb  and  fingers.  Color,  light  yellowish  or  pinkish;  for  edge  tools, 
springs,  files,  and  nail  cutters'  face  stones,  but  mainly  for  the  dry 
grinding  of  castings.  (Specimens  Nos.  25054,  25055,  U.S.N.M.) 

Constitution.- — Medium;  light  gray  and  rather  more  friable  than 
the  last.  A  variety  of  textures,  however,  and  all  kinds  of  grits  for 
wet  grinding  are  furnished.  (Specimens  Nos.  25056, 25057,  U.S.N.M.) 

Huron,  Michigan. — j^ine;  uniform  blue-gray  color,  with  numerous 
flecks  of  silvery  mica.  Smells  strongly  of  clay  when  breathed  upon. 
For  wet  grinding  of  edge  tools;  produces  a  fine  edge.  (Specimen  No. 
25076,  U.S.N.M.) 

TheJoggins,  Nova  Scotia. — Fine  gray;  of  uniform  texture;  used  for 
wet  grinding  all  kinds  of  edge  tools;  the  larger  stones  for  grinding 
NAT  MUS  99 30 


466  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

springs,  sad  irons,  and  hinges;  extensively  exported  to  the  United 
States. 

Bay  of  Ckal&ur,  New  Brunswick. — Fine  dark  bluish-gray;  of  firm 
texture;  smells  strongly  of  clay  when  breathed  upon.  Resembles  the 
stone  of  Huron,  Michigan,  but  contains  less  mica.  Used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  table  cutlery;  also  machinists'  tools  and  edge  tools  in 
general. 

Newcastle,  England. — Light  gray  and  yellowish;  with  a  sharp  grit; 
rather  friable,  and  texture  somewhat  coarser  than  that  of  the  Berea 
stone,  which  it  otherwise  somewhat  resembles.  The  finer  grades  used 
for  grinding  saws  and  the  coarser  and  harder  ones  for  sad  irons, 
springs,  pulleys,  shafting,  for  bead  and  face  stones  in  nail  work,  and 
for  dry  grinding  of  castings;  also  used  by  glass  cutters. 

Wickersly,  England. — A  dull  brownish  or  yellowish,  somewhat 
micaceous  stone  of  medium  texture  and  rather  soft.  For  grinding 
saws,  squares,  bevels,  and  cutlers'  work  in  general. 

Liverpool,  or  Melling,  England. — Dull  reddish;  a  somewhat  loosely 
compacted  aggregate  of  siliceous  sand,  so  friable  that  the  sharp  angles 
are  easily  crumbled  away  by  the  thumb  and  fingers.  A  very  sharp 
grit,  used  for  saws  and  edge  tools,  particularly  axes  in  shipyards. 

Craigleith,  Scotland. — Fine-grained  and  nearly  white.  A  very 
pure  siliceous  sandstone  with  a  sharp  grit.  Said  to  be  the  best  stone 
known  for  glass  cutting,  though  the  Newcastle,  Warrington,  and  York- 
shire grits  are  also  used  for  a  similar  purpose. 

Grindstones  from  France  and  Saxony  find  their  way  into  our  mar- 
kets but  rarely. 

For  whetstones  the  same  qualities  are  essential  as  for  grindstones, 
though  as  a  rule  the  whetstones  are  designed  for  a  finer  class  of  work, 
and  hence  a  finer  grade  of  material  is  utilized.  For  sharpening  scythes 
and  other  coarse  cutting  tools,  however,  the  same  stone  is  used  as  for 
grindstones,  the  same  quarry  producing  stone  for  building,  grind- 
stones, and  whetstones,  as  above  noted.  The  so-called  Hindostan,  or 
Orange  stone,  from  Orange  County,  Indiana,  is  a  very  fine-grained 
siliceous  sandstone  of  remarkably  sharp  and  uniform  grit,  and  which 
for  carvers  and  kitchen  implements  is  unexcelled.  (Specimens  Nos. 
38901-38905,  38910-38912,  38918-38924,  72896,  72899,  etc.,  U.S.N.M.) 
The  so-called  Labrador  stone  is  also  a  sandstone  of  a  dark  blue-gray 
color  and  of  less  sharp  grit  than  that  just  mentioned.  (Specimens 
Nos.  38957,  38959, 38963,  38964,  38968,  38974,  38980-38982,  and  38985- 
38987,  etc. ,  U.  S.  N.  M. )  Many  scy  thestones  like  ' '  Indian  Pond  "  (Speci- 
men Nos.  38950,  38873,  38874,  U.S.N.M.),  "Chocolate,"  "Farmers' 
Choice,"  "Black  Diamond,"  "Vermont  Quinebaug,"  and  the"La- 
moille"  (Specimens  Nos.  38926  and  38878,  U.S.N.M.),  are  fine-grained 
mica  schists  from  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  quarries  (Speci- 
mens Nos,  38947  to  38951,  etc.,  U.S.N.M.).  These  as  a  rule  are  very 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1  899.— M 


PLATE  28. 


Fig.  2. 

MlCROSECTION  OF  MlCA  SCHIST  USED  IN   MAKING  WHETSTONE. 
Fig.  1,  cut  across  foliation;  Fig.  2,  cut  parallel  to  foliation. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


467 


fine-grained  schistose  dark-gray  rocks,  sometimes  of  a  light  chocolate 
color  on  a  freshly  fractured  surface.  The  microscope  shows  them  to 
consist  of  a  compact  and  slightly  schistose  aggregate  of  quartz  and 
mica  in  which  are  frequently  included  very  abundant  small  octahedral 
crystals  of  magnetic  iron  and  sometimes  garnets.  (See  Plate  28.)  So 
abundant  are  these  magnetite  granules  in  some  of  these  rocks,  espe- 
cially those  of  Graf  ton,  New  Hampshire,  as  to  constitute  an  important 
feature,  and  it  is  doubtless  very  largely  to  them  that  the  stone  owes  its 
excellent  abrasive  qualities.  Magnetite,  it  will  be  remembered,  has  a 
hardness  of  about  6.5  of  the  scale,  and  constitutes  a  very  considerable 
proportion  of  the  ordinary  emery  of  commerce.  We  have  here,  then, 
what  is  almost  a  natural  equivalent  of  the  artificial  emery  stone,  the 
compact  groundmass  of  quartz  and  mica  serving  as  a  binding  material 
for  the  magnetite  grains  while  they  perform  their  work  in  wearing 
away  the  implement  being  ground.  A  part  of  the  abrading  quality  of 
these  stones  is,  however,  due  to  the  abundant  quartz  and  mica  scales 
and  their  peculiar  arrangement  in  relation  to  one  another. 

The  well-known  Water  of  Ayr,  Scotch  hone,  or  snake  stone,  as  it  is 
variously  called,  is  also  a  very  compact  schist.  It  is  said  to  come  from 
Dalmour,  in  Ayrshire,  Scotland.  (Specimens  Nos.  38931, 38937, 38946, 
54146,  U.S.N.M.) 

The  name  novaculite  is  applied  to  a  very  fine-grained  and  compact 
rock  consisting  almost  wholly  of  chalcedonic  silica,  and  which,  owing 
to  the  fineness  of  its  grit,  is  used  only  in  the  finer  kinds  of  work,  as  in 
sharpening  razors,  knives,  and  the  tools  of  engravers,  carpenters,  and 
other  artisans.  The  true  novaculites  are,  so  far  as  the  writer  is  aware, 
at  present  quarried  in  America  only  in  Montgomery,  Saline,  Hot 
Springs,  and  Garland  counties,  in  Arkansas,  and  are  known  commer- 
cially as  the  Washita  (or  Ouachita,  as  the  name  is  properly  spelled) 
(Specimens  Nos.  38955,  38966,  38969,  38977,  72900,  etc.,  U.S.N.M.), 
and  Arkansas  stones  (Specimens  Nos.  38954,  38971,  U.S.N.M.).  Both 
varieties  are  nearly  pure  silica,  the  Ouachita  being  often  of  a  yellowish 
or  rusty  red  tint  (Specimen  No.  72900,  U.S.N.M.),  and  the  Arkansas 
of  a  pure  snow  whiteness,  the  latter  variety  being  also  the  hardest, 
most  compact,  and  highest  priced.  The  analyses  given  below  show 
the  average  composition  of  the  two  varieties: 


Constituents. 

Arkansas. 

Ouachita. 

SiOo 

99.  50 

99.49 

0.20 

0.13 

FeoO'i 

0.10 

0.06 

0.10 

0.04 

MgO                                                                         

0.05 

0.08 

K  O                                                     

0.10 

0.16 

Na»O                         

0.15 

0.10 

jj2O                                          

0.10 

0.14 

468  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

According  to  Griswold  stone  suitable  for  the  manufacture  of  whet- 
stones occurs  in  quantity  in  two  distinct  horizons  in  the  Arkansas  novac- 
ulite  series  of  rocks,  both  of  which  are  now  being  worked.  The 
principal  quarries  are  in  the  massive  white  beds  of  the  Hot  Springs 
region,  the  material  being  mainly  of  the  fine,  compact  white  "Arkan- 
sas" type.  Within  a  limited  region,  northeast  of  Hot  Springs,  the 
stone  becomes  more  porous,  owing  in  part  to  the  existence  of  a  larger 
number  of  the  rhomboidal  cavities,  and  passes  over  to  the  Ouachita 
type. 

The  microscopic  structure  of  the  Arkansas  novaculite  is  shown  in 
Plate  30,  fig.l,  the  large  white  areas  being  angular  granules  of  quartz. 

Owen  regarded  the  Arkansas  novaculites  as  belonging  to  the  age  of 
the  millstone  grit  formation;  that  is,  to  the  lower  part  of  the  Carbo- 
niferous, and  considered  them  as  a  sandstone  metamorphosed  and  freed 
from  impurities  by  the  action  of  hot  alkaline  waters.  State  Geologist 
Branner,  however,  regards  the  finer  grade  of  novaculite  as  a  meta- 
morphosed chert,  a  conclusion  more  in  accordance  with  the  microscopic 
structure  of  the  rock,  which  is  more  that  of  chalcedony  than  of  an 
altered  sandstone.  Griswold,  on  the.  other  hand,  regards  the  novacu- 
lite as  a  product  of  sedimentation  of  a  fine  siliceous  silt,  and  of  Lower 
Silurian  age,1  while  Rutley2  considers  it  as  a  product  of  chemical 
replacement  by  silica  of  the  calcareous  material  of  dolomite  or  dolo- 
mitic  limestone  beds. 

The  view  of  Suttons  quarry  No.  7  in  Plate  29  shows  the  novaculite 
beds  dipping  60°  to  the  southeast,  the  bed  of  good  stone  being  some  12 
or  15  feet  in  thickness.  The  rock  is  everywhere  badly  jointed,  in  one 
case  mentioned  by  Griswold  as  many  as  six  different  systems  being 
developed  in  a  single  quarry.  The  natural  result  is  that  pieces  of  only 
very  moderate  dimensions  are  obtainable  even  under  the  most  favorable 
of  circumstances.  Fine  veins  of  quartz  intersecting  the  rock  in  various 
directions  increase  the  difficulty  of  getting  homogeneous  material  and 
thereby  increase  the  cost  of  the  output. 

The  Arkansas  stone  is  now  used  for  many  purposes.  The  whet- 
stones are  used  by  engravers,  surgeons,  carvers,  dentists,  jewelers, 
cutlers,  and  other  manufacturers  of  fine-edge  tools,  and  by  machinists 
and  woodworkers  of  the  more  skilled  class.  Small  whetstones  for 
penknives  are  made  in  considerable  quantity  and  some  stones  are  sold 
for  razor  hones. 

The  stone  is  also  used  by  wood  carvers,  jewelers,  manufacturers  of 
fine  machinery  and  metal  work,  and  by  dentists  in  various  forms  of 

1  See  Whetstones  and  Novaculites,  by  L.  S.  Griswold,  Annual  Report  of  the  Geo- 
logical Survey  of  Arkansas,  III,  1892.     This  report  contains  a  very  full  discussion  of 
the  Arkansas  novaculite  in  all  its  bearings. 

2  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society  of  London,  L,  1894,  p.  377. 


Report  of  U    S-  National  Museum,  1899.— Mernl 


PLATE  29. 


-  ^*f' '-'<-*3> 

".'  >    ~****$J^-*^    ^  ^f^3 


THE    NONMETALLIO    MINERALS.  469 

files  and  points.  Dentists  use  particularly  the  "knife  blade,"  a  very 
thin,  broad  slip  of  stone,  triangular  in  section,  with  one  short  side,  the 
other  two  forming  a  thin  edge  as  they  come  together  (Specimens  Nos. 
38998,  53721,  U.S.N.M.).  They  are  used  for  filing  between  the  teeth. 
Carvers  use  wedge-shaped,  flat,  square,  triangular,  diamond-shaped, 
rounded,  and  bevel-edged  files  for  finishing  their  work.  (Specimen  No. 
38996,  U.S.N.M.).  Jewelers,  especially  manufacturing  jewelers  and 
watchmakers,  use  all  these  forms  of  files  and  also  points.  These  last 
are  sometimes  made  the  size  of  a  lead  pencil,  having  a  cone-shaped  end, 
and  are  about  3  inches  long  and  i  inch  square,  tapering  to  a  point. 
They  are  used  chiefly  in  manufacturing  watches  to  enlarge  jewel  holes 
(Specimens  Nos.  38995,  53726-53727,  U.S.N.M.). 

Wheels  of  various  thicknesses  and  diameter  are  also  made  from 
Arkansas  stone.  They  are  used  chiefly  by  jewelers  and  dentists,  but 
could  be  made  of  service  in  all  workshops  where  an  Arkansas  whet- 
stone is  used  (Specimens  Nos.  38992,  38962,  53710,  U.S.N.M.).  The 
difficulty  of  obtaining  pieces  of  clear  stone  large  enough  for  wheels 
several  inches  in  diameter  makes  the  price  very  high,  and  the  difficulty 
of  cutting  out  a  circular  form  increases  the  cost.  Wheels  are  quoted 
at  from  $1.10  to  $2.20  an  inch  of  diameter. 

Arkansas  stone  is  used  for  finishing  and  polishing  metal  rolls,  jour- 
nals, cross-head  slides,  piston  rods,  crank  pins,  and  all  kinds  of  lathe 
work. 

Fragments  of  the  Arkansas  stone  are  saved  at  the  factories,  and  now 
and  then  sent  away  to  be  ground  for  polishing  powder.  In  the  manu- 
facture of  this  powder  millstones  are  worn  out  so  rapidly  that  the 
process  is  rather  expensive,  but  as  waste  stone  is  utilized,  the  powder 
can  be  sold  by  the  barrel  at  10  cents  a  pound.  It  makes  a  very  fine, 
pure  white  powder  of  sharp  grit,  suitable  for  all  kinds  of  polishing 
work;  it  is  known  as  "Arkansas  powder."  A  large  amount  of  energy 
is  wasted,  however,  in  the  manufacture  of  this  powder,  for  the  silica 
of  the  Ouachita  stone  is  in  every  way  identical  with  that  of  the  Arkan- 
sas stone,  and  it  would  be  much  more  easily  reduced  to  powder  than 
the  Arkansas. 

The  so-called  Turkish  oilstone  from  Smyrna,  in  Asia  Minor,  is  both 
in  structure  and  abrasive  qualities  quite  similar  to  the  Arkansas  novac- 
ulites.  (Specimens  Nos.  38956,  38967,  38997,  U.S.N.M.)  It,  however, 
is  of  a  drab  color  and  carries  an  appreciable  amount  of  free  calcium 
carbonate  and  other  impurities,  as  shown  by  the  analysis  given  below, 
as  quoted  by  Griswold: 

TURKEY  STONE. 

Silica  (SiO2) 72.00 

Alumina  (A1,OS) 3. 33 

Lime  (CaO)  13.33 

Carbonic  acid  (CO,) 10.33 


470  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

According  to  Renard,1  the  celebrated  Belgian  razor  hone  quarried 
at  Lierreux,  Sart,  Salm-Chateau,  Bihau,  and  Recht  is  a  damourite 
slate  containing  innumerable  garnets,  more  than  100,000  in  a  cubic 
millimeter.  Like  the  Ratisbon  hone,  this  occurs  in  the  form  of  thin, 
yellowish  bands,  some  6  centimeters  wide  (2f  inches)  in  a  blue-gray 
slate  (phyllade).  The  bands  are  essentially  parallel  with  one  another 
and  with  the  grain  of  the  slate,  into  which  they  at  times  gradually 
merge.  The  chemical  composition  of  a  sample  from  Recht  is  given 
as  below.  The  microscopic  structure  of  the  stone  as  described  and 
figured  by  Renard  is  essentially  the  same  as  that  of  the  Ratisbon  stone 
in  the  collection  of  the  IT.  S.  National  Museum  (see  Plate  30,  fig.  2), 
and  the  stones  are  practically  identical  in  color  and  texture  as  well. 

Silica  (SiO2) 46.5 

Titanic  oxide  (TiO2)  1.17 

Alumina  (A12O3) 23.  54 

Ferric  iron  (Fe2Os) 1 . 05 

Ferrous  iron  (FeO)   0.  71 

Manganese  oxide  (MnO)  17.54 

Magnesia  (MgO) 1.13 

Lime  (CaO) 0.  80 

Soda  (Na/)) 0.30 

Potash  (K2O) :....  2.69 

Water  (H2O)  3.28 

Carbon  dioxide  (CO2) 0. 04 

Phosphoric  acid  (P205) 0. 16 

Sulphur  (S) 0. 18 

Organic  matter 0. 02 


Total 99. 11 

The  cutting  property  of  the  stone  would  appear  to  be  due  to  the 
presence  of  the  small  garnets  above  noted.  (Specimens  Nos.  38938- 
38940,  U.S.N.M.) 

The  so-called  holystone  is  but  a  fine,  close-grained  sandstone  of  the 
same  nature  as  that  used  in  grind  and  whet  stones.  The  greater  part 
of  those  made  in  this  country  are  from  the  Berea  sandstone  of  Ohio, 
though  some  are  said  to  be  imported  from  Germany.  The  stones  are 
used  mainly  on  shipboard,  and  the  trade  is  small. 

2.  PUMICE. 

The  material  to  which  the  name  pumice  is  commonly  given  is  a  form 
of  glassy  volcanic  rock,  which,  by  the  expansion  of  its  included  moist- 
ure while  in  a  molten  condition,  has  become,  like  a  well-raised  loaf, 
filled  with  air  cavities  or  vesicles.  The  cutting  or  abrasive  quality 

1  Memoires  Couronnes  et  Memo!  res  des  Savants  Etrangers  de  L' Academic  Royal  des 
Sciences,  etc.,  Belgique  1878,  pp.  1-44. 


Report  of  U.  S.  National  Museum,  1899.— M 


PLATE  30. 


Fig.  2. 

MlCROSECTIONS  SHOWING  THE  APPEARANCE  OF  (1)  ARKANSAS  NOVACULITE 
AND  (2)  RATISBON  RAZOR  HONE.    THE  DARK  BODIES  IN  (2)  ARE  GARNETS. 


THE    NONMEf  ALLIC    MINERALS. 


471 


of  the  material  is  due  to  the  thin  partitions  of  glass  composing  the 
walls  between  these  vesicles.  Any  variety  of  volcanic  rock,  flowing 
out  upon  the  surface  of  the  ground,  is  likely  to  assume  the  vesicular 
condition  known  as  pumiceous,  but  only  certain  acid  varieties  known 
as  liparites  seem  to  possess  just  the  right  degree  of  viscosity  to  produce 
a  desirable  pumice,  and  in  this  rock  only  in  exceptional  circumstances. 
Almost  the  entire  commercial  supply  of  pumice  is  now  brought  from  the 
Lipari  Islands,  a  group  of  volcanoes  north  of  Sicily,  in  the  Mediterra- 
nean Sea.  (Specimen  No.  6078T,  U.S.N.M.)  The  material  is  usually 
brought  over  in  bulk  and  sold  in  small  pieces  in  the  drug  and  paint 
shops,  or  ground  and  bolted  to  various  degrees  of  fineness  and  sold  like 
emery  and  other  abrasive  materials.  (Specimen  No.  54155,  U.S.N.M.) 
At  times  an  inferior  grade  of  pumice  has  been  produced  from  volcanic 
flows  near  Lake  Merced,  in  California.  In  Harlan  County,  Nebraska, 
and  adjacent  portions  of  Kansas,  as  well  as  in  many  other  of  the  States 
and  Territories  farther  west,  have  been  found  extensive  beds  of  a  fine. 
white  powder,  which  was  first  shown  by  the  present  writer1  to  be 
pumiceous  dust,  drifted  an  unknown  distance  by  wind  currents  and 
finally  deposited  in  the  still  waters  of  a  lake.  Through  a  mistaken 
notion  regarding  its  origin  this  material  was  first  described  in  Nebraska 
as  yeyserite.  So  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  these  natural  pumice 
powders  have  thus  far  been  used  only  locally  for  polishing  purposes 
and  as  a  cleansing  or  scouring  agent  in  soap.  As  the  material  exists 
in  almost  inexhaustible  quantities,  it  would  seem  that  a  wider  scope  of 
usefulness  might  yet  be  discovered.  (Specimens  Nos.  53074,  00920. 
37023,  U.S.N.M.,  from  Montana,  Washington,  and  Nebraska.) 

The  analyses  given  below  show  (I)  the  composition  of  the  pumice 
dust  of  Harlan,  Orleans  County,  Nebraska,2  and  (II)  a  pumice  from 
Capo  di  Costagna,  Lipari  Islands: 


Constituents. 

I. 

II. 

Silica                               

69.12 

73.70 

12.27 

1    17.64 

2.31 

0.86 

0.65 

0.24 

0.29 

6.64 

4.73 

1.69 

4.25 

4.05 

1.22 

Total                                                                

100.24 

99.42 

1  See  On  Deposits  of  Volcanic  Dust  in  Southwestern  Nebraska  (Proceedings  U.  S. 
National  Museum,  VIII,  1885,  p.  99),  and  Notes  on  the  Composition  of  Certain  Plio- 
cene Sandstones  from  Montana  and  Idaho  (American  Journal  of  Science,  XXXII, 
1886,  p.  199). 

2  Rocks,  Rock-weathering,  and  Soils,  p.  350. 


472  REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

According  to  Dr.  L.  Sambon,  as  quoted  by  Dr.  H.  J.  Johnston -Lavis: 

All  the  best  pumice  of  commerce  is  obtained  from  the  northeast  region  of  the  island 
of  Lipari,  extending  as  far  as  the  summit  of  Mte.  S.  Angelo  on  its  northern  slope. 
*  *  *  It  is  excavated  at  the  Fossa  Castagna  near  M.  Pelato,  at  M.  Chirica,  and 
on  the  shore  of  the  Mosche. 

I  visited  a  quarry  of  M.  Pelato  on  the  outer  southern  side.  The  height  was  about 
1.50  m.  and  1  m.  large.  The  entrance  was  sustained  by  poles,  faggots  of  brushwood, 
and  stones;  at  first  one  descended  for  160  steps,  then  one  ascended  for  about  50  m. 
where  two  naked  men  were  digging  in  the  dull  light  of  an  oil  lamp.  In  decending 
I  met  some  young  men  who  were  carrying  up  baskets  full  of  pumice.  They  wore 
short  coarse  linen  drawers,  and  on  their  naked  breast  hung  the  blessed  scapulary. 
On  my  arrival  at  the  workes  they  made  me  sit  down  on  an  empty  basket  while 
I  watched  the  men  dig  out  the  pieces  of  pumice,  often  the  size  of  a  human  head, 
from  the  embedding  matrix,  which  is  composed  of  different  sized  fragments  and 
dust  of  the  same  material,  pressed  together,  and  forming  an  incoherent  tuff. 
They  told  me  of  their  poor  wages,  and  the  dangers  of  their  work  in  consequence  of 
the  frequent  collapse  of  the  workings,  killing  men  and  youths.  It  was  horrible  to 
hear  those  accounts  of  misery  and  misfortune  at  the  bottom  of  these  caves. 

The  low  roof  and  narrow  passage  from  which  every  moment  fragments  detached 
themselves  seemed  to  threaten  the  collapse  of  the  whole;  and  it  was  with  great  relief 
that  I  again  reached  the  daylight.  Only  a  few  weeks  previously  a  quarry  of  M. 
Pelato  had  collapsed  and  buried  some  workmen,  and  more  than  two  days  work  were 
required  to  reach  them.  These  unfortunate  men,  saved  by  a  miracle,  returned  again 
to  their  work,  for  what  else  could  they  have  done  to  obtain  bread? 

Prolonged  and  curious  was  at  all  times  the  discussion  concerning  the  origin  of 
pumice.  It  was  believed  to  be  amianthus  decomposed  by  fire,  by  Pott,  Bergman 
and  Demeste;  calcined  lignite  or  schist,  by  Vallerio;  scorified  marl  by  Sage  and 
granite  that  had  become  blown  up  and  fibrous  by  the  effect  of  fire  and  water  by 
Dolomieu.  The  latter  asserted  having  found  inclosed  in  some  pieces  of  pumice  frag- 
ments of  granite.  He  also  declares  that  he  had  seen  masses  of  granite  which  took  on 
gradually  the  fibrous  structure  and  other  characters  of  pumice;  so  that  he  concluded 
that  granite  or  granitoid  schist  was  the  primitive  material  which  by  the  effect  of  the 
volcanic  fire  passed  to  the  state  of  the  piimice.  Finally  he  declares  he  sent  speci- 
mens to  all  the  most  learned  geologists  of  the  time.  Spallanzani,  who  visited  that 
same  locality  and  hunted  in  every  part  of  Campo  Bianco  in  a  most  diligent  manner 
but  without  being  successful  in  finding  the  granite  of  Dolomieu,  says  wittily  that 
probably  the  French  geologist  had  carried  them  all  away.  Spallanzani  himself,  on 
the  contrary,  considers  that  pumice  and  obsidian  are  the  result  of  fusion  of  great 
masses  of  intermediate  lavas  which  one  encounters  on  all  parts  of  the  mountain. 
Prof.  J.  F.  Blake  recently,  probably  ignoring  the  observations  of  Spallanzani,  is  sat- 
isfied in  finding  in  that  locality  "Mother-pumice"  as  he  has  baptized  it,  from  which 
also  is  derived  the  obsidian.  But  pumice,  obsidian  and  all  intermediate  rock  varie- 
ties more  or  less  scoriaceous  are  but  different  forms  of  the  same  eruptive  product. 
The  whole  history  and  modifications  of  pumice  have  been  worked  out  by  Dr.  John- 
ston-Lavis,  who  has  shown  that  by  studying  these  eruptive  products  the  whole 
mechanism  of  volcanic  action  in  general  is  explained  and  the  sequence  of  eruptive 
phenomena  of  any  volcanic  focus  can  be  made  out.  *  *  * 

When  we  descend  to  the  shore  of  the  Beja  delle  pomice  by  the  gorge  to  the  South 
East  of  the  great  obsidian  flow,  the  slopes  facing  the  lava  are  composed  of  immense 
deposits  of  pumice  in  which  hundreds  of  holes  are  observable,  marking  the  excava- 
tions made  in  search  of  the  larger  masses  of  this  valuable  rock,  much  of  which  could 
be  seen  in  the  numerous  baskets  standing  at  hand.  The  sight  of  the  enormous 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  473 

agglomeration  of  pumice  and  dust  of  a  glaring  white  colour,  cut  by  the  action  of  rain 
and  wind  into  fantastic  shapes,  stands  out  against  the  blue  sky  like  the  irregular 
crags,  spurs  and  ridges  of  a  great  glacier. 

Along  the  marina  are  quantities  of  pebbles  of  pumice,  either  rounded  by  the 
torrents  that  descend  from  above  or  by  the  waves  that  lap  the  shore.  When  the 
wind  blows  from  N.  E.  a  veritable  fleet  of  floating  masses  reaches  the  port  of  Lipari. 
The  pumice  that  has  been  excavated  is  carried  to  the  beach,  and  stored  and  sorted 
in  sheds  or  caves  cut  out  of  the  same  pumice  tuff,  protected  in  front  by  a  breakwater 
of  big  stones  to  prevent  heavy  seas  reaching  and  washing  away  the  produce. 

Pumice  in  commerce  is  classified  as  follows— grosse( large  size),  correnti  (medium), 
andpezzani  (small) ;  the  large  and  middle  size  are  subdivided  into  lisconi  (flat)  and 
rotondi  (round) .  The  lisconi  are  filamentous  and  break  less  easily  than  the  rotondi. 
They  are  also  trimmed  by  the  sorters.  The  lisconi.  and  rotondi  are  again  subdivided 
into  white,  black,  and  uncertain,  according  to  their  colour. 

The  price  varies  according  to  the  quality  from  50  to  2000  lire  the  ton.  The 
common  price  for  the  assorted  is  350  to  500  lire  the  ton.  As  much  as  5000  tons  a 
year  are  exported.  The  best  pumice  is  that  of  Campo  Bianco.  It  is  also  obtained  at 
Perera,  but  it  is  in  small  quantity  and  was  produced  at  the  eruption  of  the  Forgia 
Vecchia.  It  is  a  first  class  grey  pumice  and  fetches  from  600  to  750  lire  the  ton,  and 
does  not  so  easily  break  as  the  Campo  Bianco.  Also  at  Vulcano  a  grey  pumice 
is  found  but  the  presence  of  included  crystals  render  it  useless  for  commercial  pur- 
poses. At  Castagna  a  commoner  pumice  is  obtained  called  Alessandrina,  of  which 
brick  shaped  pieces  are  made  and  used  for  smoothing  oil-cloth.1 

According  to  the  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal 2  a  merchantable 
pumice  has  recently  been  found  in  Miller  County,  Idaho,  but  the 
demands  for  material  of  this  nature  is  likely  to  be  lessened  by  the 
putting  upon  the  market  of  a  German  artificial  product.  In  1897  some 
1,700  tons  of  pumice  were  mined  near  Black  Rock,  Millard  County, 
Utah. 

Ground  and  bolted  pumice  is  quoted  as  worth  from  $25  to  $35  a  ton 
according  to  quality. 

3.    ROTTENSTONE. 

The  name  rottenstone  has  been  given  to  the  residual  product  from  the 
decay  of  silico-aluminous  limestones.  Percolating  carbonated  waters 
remove  the  lime  carbonate  from  these  stones,  leaving  the  insoluble 
residue  behind  in  the  form  of  a  soft,  friable,  earthy  mass  of  a  light 
gray  or  brownish  color,  which  forms  a  cheap  and  fairly  satisfactory 
polisher  for  many  metals.  Specimens  Nos.  54150,  54153,  67390,  67791, 
U.S.N.M.,  show  the  material  in  its  natural  state  and  ground  and  bolted. 

The  chemical  composition  of  rottenstone,  as  may  well  be  imagined 
from  what  has  been  said  regarding  its  method  of  origin,  is  quite 
variable,  though  alumina  is  always  the  predominating  constituent. 
Analyses  show:  Alumina,  80  to  85  per  cent;  silica,  4  to  15  per  cent; 

1  The  South  Italian  Volcanoes,  by  H.  J.  Johnston-Lavis,  Naples,  F.  Furchheiin,  1891, 
pp.  67-71. 

2  Volume  LXIV,  July  24,  1897,  p.  91. 


474  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

5  to  10  per  cent  of  carbon,  and  equal  amounts  of  iron  oxides  and 
varying  small  quantities  of  lime.  The  material  has  little  commercial 
value. 

4.  MADSTONES. 

These  need  but  brief  notice  here.  The  fallacy  of  the  madstone  dates 
well  back  into  the  dark  ages  and  perhaps  beyond,  and  strange  as  it  may 
seem  continues  down  to  the  present  day.  Not  longer  ago  than  Decem- 
ber, 1898,  the  Washington  newspapers  chronicled  the  sale  for  $450 
of  a  madstone  in  Loudoun  County,  Virginia,  and  from  year  to  year 
very  many  letters  are  received  by  the  Smithsonian  authorities  making 
inquiries  regarding  such,  or  possibly  offering  one  for  sale  at  fabulous 
prices. 

So  far  as  the  writer  is  able  to  learn,  either  from  literature  or  from 
personal  examination,  stones  of  this  class  are  almost  invariably  of  an 
aluminous  or  clayey  nature,  and  their  supposed  virtue  is  due  wholly 
to  their  avidity  for  moisture — their  capacity  for  absorption,  which 
causes  them  to  adhere  to  any  wet  surface,  as  the  tongue  or  to  a  wound, 
until  saturated,  when  they  will  drop  away.  It  should  not  be  neces- 
sary to  state,  at  this  late  day,  that  their  curative  powers  are  purely 
imaginary.  The  ancient  bezoar  stone,  used  in  extracting  or  expelling 
poisons,  consisted  of  a  calculus  or  concretion  found  in  the  intestines 
of  the  wild  goat  of  northern  India.1 

5.  MOLDING  SAND. 

For  the  purpose  of  making  molds  for  metallic  casts,  a  fine,  homo- 
geneous argillaceous  sand  is  commonly  employed. 

The  physical  qualities  which  go  to  make  up  a  molding  sand  consist, 
according  to  Nason,2  of  elasticity,  strength,  and  a  certain  degree  of 
fineness.  It  must  be  plastic  in  order  to  be  molded  around  the  pattern; 
it  must  have  sufficient  strength  to  stand  when  unsupported  by  the 
pattern,  and  to  resist  the  impact  of  the  molten  metal  when  poured  into 
the  mold.  Too  much  clay  and  iron  present  in  the  sand  will  cause  the 
mold  to  shrink  and  crack  under  the  intense  heat;  too  little  will  cause 
it  to  dry  and  crumple,  if  not  to  entirely  collapse. 

The  peculiar  virtues  of  molding  sand,  as  outlined  above,  are  ascribed 
to  the  fact  that  each  of  the  sand  grains  is  coated  with  a  thin  film  of 
clay. 

The  accompanying  table  will  serve  to  show  the  varying  chemical 
character  of  sands  thus  employed,  though,  according  to  authorities 

1 W.  J.  Hoffman,  Folk  Medicine  of  the  Pennsylvania  Germans,  Proceedings  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society,  XXVI,  1889,  p.  337. 
2  Forty -seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Regents  State  Museum  of  New  York,  1893,  p. 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS. 


475 


quoted  by  Crookes  and  Rohrig,1  the  "quality  of  the  sand  for  molding 
depends  less  on  its  chemical  composition  than  on  its  physical  proper- 
ties, namely,  whether  the  grains  are  round,  angular,  scaly,  etc.,  and 
whether  they  are  of  uniform  size.  The  adhesiveness  is  dependent 
not  alone  on  the  quantity  of  clay,  but  upon  the  angularity  of  the 
grains,  and  by  a  mixture  of  smaller  and  larger  grains.  Reinhardt  states 
that  to  the  naked  eye,  a  good  sand  should  consist  of  particles  seem- 
ingly uniform  in  size,  with  a  sharp  feel  to  the  touch.  When  strewn 
upon  dark  paper  it  should  show  no  dust,  and  when  moistened  with 
from  10  to  20  per  cent  of  water  it  must  be  capable  of  being  formed 
into  balls  without  becoming  pulpy  or  being  too  easily  crushed. 


Constituents.                          I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

SiOo                                                             92  083 

91.907 
5.683 
2.177 
0.415 

92.913 

5.850 
1.249 
Traces 

90.625 

6.067 
2.708 
Traces 

79.02 
13.72 
2.40 

0  71 

86.68 
9.23 
3.42 
0,  90 

87.6 
7.7 
3.6 
0.% 

90.25 
4.10 
5.51 
0.23 

Al»0:!  5.415 
Fe2O  .  and  FcO  2.  498 

CaO                                                         Traces 

MgO  

K2O 

4.  58 

100.  29 

100.09 

99.9% 

100.  182 

100.012   100.000 

100.  43 

99.  .SO 

Of  the  above  No.  I  is  from  Charlottenburg,  Germany;  No.  II,  a  sand 
employed  for  bronze  castings  in  Paris  foundries;  No.  Ill,  sand  from 
Manchester,  England;  No.  IV,  from  near  Strom  berg;  No.  V,  from  Ilsen- 
burg,  in  the  Hartz  Mountains;  No.  VI,  from  Sheffield,  England;  No. 
VII,  from  Birmingham,  England,  and  No.  VIII.  from  Liineburg. 

The  sand  from  Ilsenburg,  the  composition  of  which  is  given  in  column 
5,  is  stated2  to  be  prepared  by  mixing  "common  argillaceous  sand, 
sand  found  in  alluvial  deposits,  and  sand  from  solid  sandstone."  In 
preparation  the  first  two  are  carefully  heated  to  dehydrate  the  clay 
and  then  mixed,  equal  proportions  of  each  with  the  same  amount  of 
sandstone.  The  mixture  is  then  ground  and  bolted,  the  product  being 
as  fine  as  flour  and  capable  of  receiving  the  most  delicate  impressions. 

According  to  D.  H.  Truesdale,3  the  four  essential  qualities  in  mold- 
ing sand  are,  in  the  order  of  their  importance,  (1)  refractoriness,  (2) 
porosity,  (3)  fineness,  and  (4)  bond.  These  qualities  are  dependent 
mainly  upon  the  varying  properties  of  siliceous  sand  and  clay,  the 
refractory  nature  being  governed  by  the  absence  of  such  fluxing  con- 
stituents as  calcium  carbonate,  the  alkalies,  or  of  iron  oxides.  Since 
in  nature  it  is  not  always  possible  to  obtain  the  admixture  of  just  the 
right  proportion,  artificial  mixtures  are  often  resorted  to,  as  mentioned 

1 A  Practical  Treatise  on  Metallurgy,  II,  p.  626. 

2  Percy's  Metallurgy,  1861,  p.  239. 

3  The  Iron  Trade  Review,  October,  1897,  p.  24. 


476 


REPORT    OF   NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 


above.     W.  Ferguson  gives1  the  following  analyses  of  molding  sand 
in  actual  use  in  his  foundries: 


Constituents 

No.  1,  fine  sand 
for  snap  work. 

No.  2,  medium 
grade  for 
medium  class 
of  work. 

No.  3,  coarse 
sand  for 
heavy  ma- 
chine castings. 

No.  4,  for  heavy 
machinery 
in  dry-sand 
molds. 

Silica 

81.50 

84.86 

82.92 

79.81 

Alumina  

9.88 
3.14 

7.03 
2.18 

8.21 
2.90 

10.00 
4.44 

Combined  water  

3.00 
1.85 

2.20 
1.10 

2.85 
1.10 

2.89 
1.25 

Magnesia 

0.65 

0.98 

None. 

0.88 

Potassium     

No  estimate. 

No  estimate. 

No  estimate. 

No  estimate. 

Trace. 

Trace. 

Trace. 

Trace. 

Organic  matter  

Trace. 

Trace. 

Trace. 

Trace. 

Total 

100  02 

98.35 

97.98 

99  27 

Sands  containing  lime  or  alkalies,  that  is  those  containing  free  calcite 
or  feldspathic  granules,  are  sometimes  liable  to  fusion  in  the  case  of 
heavy  castings.  It  is  customary  in  such  cases  to  coat  the  surface  of 
the  mold  with  graphite. 

Sands  suitable  for  ordinary  castings  are  widespread,  though  the 
finer  grades  are  often  brought  considerable  distances,  some  of  those 
used  in  bronze  casting  in  America  being  imported  from  Europe.  In 
the  United  States  the  beds  are  alluvial  deposits  of  slight  thickness. 
Large  areas  occur  in  New  York  State,  in  counties  extending  from  the 
Adirondacks  to  New  Jersey.  At  date  of  writing  a  very  considerable 
proportion  of  the  material  used  in  the  eastern  United  States  is  dug  in 
Selkirk,  Albany  County,  New  York.  (Specimen  No.  61044,  U.S.N.M.) 

Nason  states  that  these  sands  occur  in  beds  varying  from  6  inches  to 
3  feet  or  even  5  feet  in  thickness.  They  immediately  underlie  the 
surface  soil  and  overlie  coarser,  well  stratified  sand  beds  more  nearly 
allied  to  quicksands. 

In  gathering  the  sands  for  market,  a  section  of  land  1  or  2  rods  in 
width  is  stripped  of  its  overlying  soil  down  to  the  sand,  which  is  then 
dug  up  and  carried  away.  When  the  area  thus  exposed  is  exhausted, 
a  like  area,  immediately  adjoining  is  stripped,  the  soil  from  the  second 
being  dumped  into  the  first  excavation.  By  this  method  the  field, 
when  finally  stripped  of  its  molding  sand,  is  ready  again  for  cultivation. 

It  is  estimated  that  a  bed  of  sand  6  inches  in  thickness  will  yield 
1,000  tons  an  acre.  The  royalty  paid  the  farmers  from  whose  land  it  is 
taken  varies  from  5  to  25  cents  a  ton.  Some  60,000  to  80,000  tons  are 
shipped  annually  from  Albany  County  alone. 

The  Selkirk  molding  sand  is  of  a  yellow-brown  color,  showing  under 
the  microscope  angular  and  irregular  rounded  particles  rarely  more 

1  Iron  Age,  LX,  December,  1897,  p.  16. 


THE    NONMETALLIC   MINERALS.  477 

than  0.25mm.  in  diameter,  interspersed  with  finely  pulverulent  matter 
which  can  only  be  designated  as  clay.  The  yellow-brown  color  of  the 
sand  is  due  to  the  thin  film  of  iron  oxide  which  coats  the  larger  gran- 
ules. When  this  film  is  removed  by  treatment  with  dilute  hydrochloric 
acid,  the  constituent  minerals  are  readily  recognized  as  consisting  mainly 
of  quartz  and  feldspar  fragments  (both  orthoclase  and  a  plagioclase 
variety),  occasional  granules  of  magnetic  iron  oxide,  and  irregularly 
outlined  scales  of  kaolin,  together  with  dust-like  material  too  finely 
comminuted  for  accurate  determination.  .  Many  of  the  larger  granules 
are  white  and  opaque,  being  presumably  feldspar  in  transition  stages 
toward  kaolin.  An  occasional  flake  of  hornblende  is  present.  The 
term  greensand1  is  applied  to  the  argillaceous  molding  sands,  in  an 
undried  state,  and  which  is  employed  in  its  native  state,  new  and  damp. 
The  term  dry  mnd  is  used  in  contradistinction,  to  indicate  a  sand  that 
must  be  dried  by  heat  before  being  fit  for  use.  The  dry  sand  is  stated 
to  be  firmer  and  better  adapted  than  the  green  for  molding  pipes,  col- 
umns, shafts,  and  other  long  bodies  of  cylindrical  form. 

In  England  good  molding  sands  are  obtained  from  the  Lower  Mot- 
tled Sands  of  the  Bunter  (Trias)  beds  and  from  those  of  the  Thanet 
(Lower  Eocene). 

6.  MINERAL  WATERS. 

From  a  strictly  scientific  standpoint  any  water  is  :i  mineral  water, 
since  water  is  itself  a  mineral — an  oxide  of  hydrogen.  Common  usage 
has,  however,  tended  toward  the  restriction  of  the  name  to  .such 
waters  as  carry  in  solution  an  appreciable  quantity  of  other  mineral 
matter,  although  the  actual  amounts  may  be  extremely  variable. 

Of  the  various  salts  held  in  solution,  those  of  sodium,  calcium,  and 
iron  are  the  more  common,  and  more  rarely,  or  at  least  in  smaller 
amounts,  occur  those  of  potassium,  lithium,  magnesium,  strontium, 
silicon,  etc.  The  most  common  of  the  acids  is  carbonic,  and  the  next 
probably  sulphuric. 

Classification. — The  classification  of  mineral  water  is  a  matter  at- 
tended with  great  difficulty  from  whatever  standpoint  it  is  approached. 
Such  classification  may  be  either  geographic,  geologic,  therapeutic,  or 
chemical,  though  the  first  two  are  naturally  of  little  value,  and  the 
therapeutic,  with  our  present  knowledge,  is  a  practical  impossibility. 
The  chemical  classification  is,  on  the  whole,  preferable,  although  even 
this,  owing  to  the  great  variation  of  methods  of  stating  results  used 
by  analytical  chemists,  is  at  present  attended  with  some  difficulty. 
Dr.  A.  C.  Peale,  the  well-known  authority  on  American  mineral 
waters,  has  suggested  the  scheme  given  below,2  and  from  his  writings 
has  been  gleaned  a  majority  of  the  facts  here  given. 

1  This  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Greensand  marl,  or  Glauconitic  sand  used 
for  fertilizing  purposes,  and  mentioned  on  page  369. 

2  Annual  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  1892-93,  p.  64. 


478  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

According  to  their  temperatures  as  they  flow  from  the  springs  the 
waters  are  divided  primarily  into  (A)  thermal  and  (B)  nonthermal,  a 
thermal  water  being  one  the  mean  annual  temperature  of  which  is 
70°  F.  or  above.  Each  of  these  groups  is  again  subdivided  according 
to  the  character  of  the  acids  and  their  salts  held  in  solution  as  below: 
Class  I.  Alkaline. 
II. 


fSulphated. 
/">i       T\T    A   -A  Muriated. 

•• 


Any  spring  of  water  may  be  characterized  by  the  presence  or 
absence  of  gas  when  it  is  designated'  by  one  of  the  following  terms: 
(1)  Nongaseous  (free  from  gas).  (2)  Carbonated  (containing  carbonic- 
acid  gas).  (3)  Sulphureted  (containing  hydrogen  sulphide).  (4)  Azo- 
tized  (containing  nitrogen  gas).  (5)  Carbureted  (having  carbureted 
hydrogen). 

In  cases  where  there  is  a  combination  of  gases  such  is  indicated  by  a 
combination  of  terms,  as  sulphocarbonated,  etc.  The  classes  may  be 
further  subdivided  according  to  the  predominating  salt  in  solution,  as 
(1)  sodic,  (2)  lithic,  (3)  potassic,  (4)  calcic,  (5)  magnesic,  (6)  chalybeate, 
(7)  aluminous. 

The  alkaline  waters,  Class  I  above,  include  those  which  are  charac- 
terized by  the  presence  of  alkaline  carbonates.  Generally  such  are 
characterized  also  by  the  presence  of  free  carbonic  acid.  Nearly  one- 
half  the  alkaline  springs  of  the  United  States  are  calcic-alkaline,  that 
is,  carry  calcium  carbonate  as  the  principal  constituent.  The  saline 
waters  include  those  in  which  sulphates  or  chlorides  predominate. 
They  are  mo  re  numerous  than  are  the  alkaline  waters.  The  alkali-saline 
class  includes  all  waters  in  which  there  is  a  combination  of  alkaline 
carbonates  with  sulphates  and  chlorides;  the  acid  class  includes  all 
those  containing  free  acid,  which  is  mainly  carbonic,  though  it  may  be 
silicic,  muriatic,  or  sulphuric. 

The  character  of  the  salts  held  in  solution  is  the  same  for  both  ther- 
mal and  nonthermal  springs,  though  as  a  general  rule  the  amount  of 
salt  is  greatest  in  those  which  are  classed  as  thermal.  Thus  at  the  Hot 
Springs  of  Virginia  one  of  the  springs,  with  a  temperature  of  78°  F., 
has  18.09  grains  to  the  gallon  of  solid  contents,  while  another,  with  a 
temperature  of  110°  F.,  has  33.36  grains  to  the  gallon. 

Source  of  mineral  waters.  —  Pure  water  is  a  universal  solvent  and  its 
natural  solvent  power  is  increased  through  the  carbonic  acid  which  it 
takes  up  in  its  passage  through  the  atmosphere,  and  by  this  same  acid 
and  other  organic  andinorganic  acids  and  the  alkalies  which  it  acquires 
in  passing  through  the  soil  and  rocks.  The  water  of  all  springs  is 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS. 


479 


meteoric,  that  is,  it  is  water  which  has  fallen  upon  the  earth  from 
clouds,  and  gradually  percolating  downward  issues  again  in  the  form 
of  springs  at  lower  levels.  In  this  passage  through  the  superficial 
portion  of  the  earth's  crust  it  dissolves  the  various  salts,  the  kind  and 
quantity  being  dependent  upon  the  kind  of  rocks,  the  temperatures 
and  pressure  of  the  water,  as  well  as  the  amount  of  absorbed  gases  it 
contains. 

Both  the  mineral  contents  and  the  temperature  of  spring  waters  are 
dependent  upon  the  geological  features  of  the  country  they  occupy. 

As  a  rule  springs  in  regions  of  sedimentary  rocks  carry  a  larger 
proportion  of  salts  than  those  in  regions  of  eruptive  and  metamorphic 
rocks.  Thermal  springs  are  as  a  rule  limited  to  regions  of  compara- 
tive recent  volcanic  activity,  or  where  the  rocks  have  been  disturbed, 
crushed,  folded,  and  faulted,  as  in  mountainous  regions.  Occasional 
thermal  springs  are  met  with  in  undisturbed  areas,  but  such  are 
regarded  as  of  deep-seated  origin,  and  to  owe  their  temperatures  to 
the  great  depths  from  which  they  are  derived. 

Distribution. — Mineral  springs  of  some  sort  are  to  be  found  in  each 
and  all  of  the  States  of  the  American  Union,  though  naturally  the 
resources  of  the  more  sparsely  settled  States  have  not  as  yet  been  fully 
developed.  For  this  reason  the  table  given  herewith  is  to  a  certain 
extent  misleading: 

Production  of  mineral  waters  in  1899  by  States  and  Territories. 


State  or  Territory. 


Alabama 4 

Arkansas 5 

California 38 

Colorado 11 

Connecticut 

District  of  Columbia 

Florida 

Georgia 6 

Illinois 

Indiana 12 

Iowa 3 

Kansas 

Kentucky 4 

Maine 

Maryland 11 

Massachusetts 39 

Michigan 21 

Minnesota 4 

Mississippi 6 

Missouri '          12 

New  Hampshire 

New  Jersey "7 

New  Mexico , ,   5 


Springs 

report- 

ing. 


Gallons. 

38,900 

48, 602 
1,464,075 
642, 850 
338,017 
168,500 

17,000 
128,040 
858,950 
162,475 

40,200 

63,500 

1,850,132 

100,380 

4,439,041 

3,045,400 

2, 078, 700 

271,500 

551,876 

469,800 

332,000 

46,800 


§19,917 

17,442 

698,493 

172, 970 

50, 685 

10, 275 

7,2.50 

24, 770 

101,090 

25, 255 

3, 320 

2,718 

7,032 

179, 450 

13,045 

230,704 

368,235 

54,704 

48,292 

262,705 

190,990 

171,380 

7,770 


480  REPORT    OF    NATIONAL    MUSEUM,   1899. 

Production  of  mineral  waters  in  1899  by  States  and  Territories — Continued. 


State  or  Territory. 

Springs 
report- 
ing. 

Product. 

Value. 

New  York                                                       ....                        

46 

Gallons. 
4,  454,  057 

8809  056 

7 

103  150 

•>0  715 

Ohio  

15 
2 

2,494,473 
45  500 

171,135 
9  700 

Pennsylvania  
Rhode  Island  

25 
4 

1,542,800 
195,000 

340,254 

15  000 

5 

322  564 

33  450 

South  Dakota  

2 

138,645 

44  073 

6 

346  700 

55  658 

Texas  

15 

4,  729,  950 

155  047 

Utah 

3 

7  850 

1  955 

Vermont  

6 

53  917 

15  869 

Virginia 

39 

954  689 

341  769 

3 

54  000 

7  002 

West  Virginia 

7 

32  220 

18  305 

Wisconsin  
Other  Statesa  

30 
4 

4,089,329 
263,  782 

701,367 

75,  847 

Total 

479 

37  021  539 

5  484  694 

Estimated  production  of  springs  not  reporting  sales  

62 

2,  540,  597 

1  463  336 

Grand  total  

541 

39,  562,  136 

6,  948,  030 

a  The  States  in  which  only  one  spring  for  each  has  made  a  report  are  included  here.    These  States 
are  Idaho,  Louisiana,  Montana,  and  Nebraska. 

Uses. — The  mineral  waters  are  utilized  mainly  for  drinking  and 
bathing  purposes,  the  thermal  springs  being  naturally  best  suited  for 
bathing,  and  the  nonthermal  for  drinking  purposes. 

For  exhibition  purposes  the  following  waters  have  been  selected, 
kind  and  geographic  distribution  being  the  controlling  factors  in  mak- 
ing up  the  collection.  In  all  cases  the  samples  are  exhibited  in  the 
original  bottles  as  put  upon  the  market. 

ALKALINE    WATERS. 

Poland  Natural  Spring  Water,  Poland  Springs,  Maine. 

Ballardvale  Lithia  Spring  Water,  Ballardvale,  Massachusetts. 

Londonderry  Lithia  Spring  Water,  Londonderry,  New  Hampshire. 

Otterburn  Lithia  Water,  Amelia,  Virginia. 

Capon  Springs  Mineral  Water,  Capon  Springs,  West  Virginia. 

Jackson  Lithia  Spring  Water,  Jackson  County,  Missouri. 

Algonquin  Spring  Water,  Prince  George  County,  Maryland. 

Manitou  Natural  Mineral  Water,  Manitou,  Colorado. 

Bock  Mineral  Water,  Jeffress,  Virginia. 

Massanetta  Spring  Water,  Harrisonburg,  Virginia. 

Bethesda  Natural  Mineral  Water,  Waukesha,  Wisconsin. 

Clysmic  Natural  Mineral  Water,  Waukesha,  Wisconsin. 

White  Rock  Lithia  Water,  Waukesha,  Wisconsin. 

Idanha  Natural  Mineral  Water,  Soda  Springs,  Idaho. 

Mis&isciuoi  Mineral  Water,  Sheldon,  Vermont. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  481 


ALKALINE   SALINE   WATERS. 

1.  'Sulphated. 

Takoma  Springs  Water,  Takoma  Park,  Maryland. 

Fonticello  Lithia  Water,  Chesterfield  County,  Virginia. 

Tredyffrin  Lithia  Water,  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania. 

Chairman  Natural  Mineral  Water,  Franklin  County,  Pennsylvania. 

Harris  Antidyspeptic  and  Tonic  Water,  Burkeville,  Virginia. 

Crockett's  Arsenic  Lithia  Water,  Shawsville,  Virginia. 

Thompson's  Bromine  and  Arsenic  Springs  Water,  Ashe  County,  North  Carolina. 

Harris  Lithia  Water,  Laurens  County,  South  Carolina. 

Stafford  Mineral  Water,  Jasper  County,  Mississippi. 

Bladensburg  Spa  Mineral  Water,  Bladensburg,  Maryland. 

Healing  Springs  Lithia  Water,  Bath  County,  Virginia. 

Fairchild's  Potash  Sulphur  Water,  Garland  County,  Arkansas. 

Buffalo  Lithia  (Spring  No.  2)  Mineral  Water,  Buffalo  Lithia  Springs,  Virginia. 

Geneva  Red  Cross  Lithia-  Spring  Water,  Geneva,  New  York. 

W right's  Epsom  Lithia  Water,  Mooresburg,  Tennessee. 

Veronica  Natural  Mineral  AVater,  Santa  Barbara,  California. 

2.  Murialed. 

Como  Lithia  Water,  Henrico  County,  Virginia. 

Powhatan  Natural  Mineral  Water,  Alexandria  County,  Virginia. 

Blackistone  Island  Mineral  Water,  St.  Marys  County,  Maryland.  , 

Columbia  Natural  Lithia  Water,  Washington  City. 

Saratoga  Natural  Vichy  Water,  Saratoga  Springs,  New  York. 

Lincoln  Spring  Water,  Saratoga  Springs,  New  York. 

The  Hathorn  Mineral  Water,  Saratoga  Springs,  New  York. 

High  Rock  Springs  Water,  Saratoga  Springs,  New  York. 

Congress  Water,  Saratoga  Springs,  New  York. 

Houston  Lithia  Water,  Houston,  Virginia. 

SALINE    WATERS. 

1.  Sulphated. 

Indian  Spring  Water,  Sligo,  Maryland. 

Rockhill  Spring  Water,  Rockville,  Maryland. 

Pluto  Spring  Water,  French  Lick  Springs,  Indiana. 

Excelsior  Mineral  Water,  Excelsior  Springs,  Michigan. 

Greenbrier  White  Sulphur  Water,  Greenbrier  County,  West  Virginia. 

Geneva  Lithia  Water,  Geneva,  New  York. 

Blue  Ridge  Springs  Water,  Botetourt  County,  Virginia. 

2.  Muriated. 

Anipa  Spring  Water,  Rome,  Georgia. 

Deep  Rock  Spring  Mineral  Water,  Oswego.  New  York. 

Blue  Lick  A\Tater,  Blue  Lick  Springs,  Kentucky. 

ACID    WATERS. 

1.  Sulphated. 

Shenandoah  Alum  Springs  Water,  Shenandoah  County,  Virginia. 
Rockbridge  Alum  Springs  Water,  Alum  Springs,  Virginia. 

Wallawhatoola  Sulphated-aluminous  Chalybeate  Water,  Millboro  Springs,  Virginia. 
NAT  MUS   99 31 


482  EEPOET    OF    NATIONAL   MUSEUM,   1899. 

7.  ROAD-MAKING  MATERIALS. 

Roadways  subject  to  any  considerable  amount  of  traffic  demand 
almost  invariably  some  sort  of  stone  bedding  to  prevent  their  becom- 
ing soft  or  badly  cut  up  and  rutted  by  wheels  and  hoofs  of  horses. 
Until  within  a  comparatively  few  years  it  has  been  the  general  custom 
to  pave  the  streets  of  cities  and  towns  with  rectangular  blocks  of 
granite,  trap,  or  other  hard  rock,  forming  thus  the  well-known  Belgian 
block  and  Telford  pavements.  Such  are  set  in  regular  rows  and  the 
interspaces  filled  with  sand  and  sometimes  with  tar  or  asphalt.  For 
suburban  and  country  roads  a  pavement  of  broken  stone,  the  invention 
of  a  Mr.  L.  Macadam  about  1820,  and  known  by  his  name,  is  at  pres- 
ent the  most  extensivel}T  used.  The  invention  is  based  upon  the  prop- 
erty possessed  by  freshly  broken  stone  of  becoming  compacted  and  to 
a  certain  degree  even  cemented  when  subject  to  heavy  rolling  and  the 
impact  of  wheels.  The  finer  particles,  broken  away  by  the  action  of 
the  wheels,  fill  the  interstices  of  the  larger,  and  gradually  bring  about 
an  induration  forming  a  roadbed  hard,  smooth,  and  durable. 

Not  all  materials  are  equa%  good  for  macadamizing  purposes.  If 
the  rock  is  too  hard  ordinary  travel  is  not  sufficient  to  produce  the 
desired  amount  of  fine  material,  and  satisfactory  cementation  does 
not  ensue.  If  too  soft  it  grinds  away  too  rapidly.  If  the  material  is . 
decomposed,  it  is  stated,  it  does  not  become  sufficiently  indurated — 
refuses  to  set,  as  it  were. 

Obviously  the  bulk  matter  of  any  roadbed  must  be  built  up  of 
materials  from  near-by  sources,  owing  to  cost  of  transportation.  For 
surfacing,  however,  materials  are  often  carried  long  distances.  For 
this  purpose  a  hard,  dense  rock,  such  as  the  finer  grades  of  trappean 
rocks,  are  now  most  generally  used. 

Macadam  is  laid  with  or  without  a  foundation  of  larger  stones. 
When  such  is  used  a  thickness  of  from  6  to  12  inches  is  recommended 
and  over  this  is  laid  from  4  to  6  inches  of  the  broken  stone  or  "metal." 

Taking  all  points  into  consideration,  it  is  probable  that  the  best  size  for  macadam, 
for  hard  and  tough  stones,  such  as  basalt,  close-grained  granite,  syenite,  gneiss,  and 
the  hardest  of  primary  crystallized  rocks,  is  from  1£  to  1J  inches  cube,  according  to 
their  respective  toughness  and  hardness,  while  stones  of  medium  quality  ought  to 
be  broken  to  gauge  of  from  1£  to  2\-  inches,  and  the  softer  kinds  of  stone  might  vary 
between  the  limits  of  2  and  1\  or  2J  inches,  but  the  latter  is  a  size  which  should 
seldom  be  specified. 

On  roads  for  light  driving  it  is  customary  to  place  a  final  surfacing 
of  smaller  stone,  such  as  will  pass  a  1-inch  mesh. 

Considerable  importance  is  attached  to  the  manner  in  which  the  macadam  is  pre- 
pared for  use.  Machine-broken  stone  is  not  considered  of  the  same  value  as  that 
broken  by  hand.  The  stones  are  not  so  regular  a  size  and  shape,  and  there  is  a 
greater  proportion  of  inferior  stuff.  A  mechanical  crusher  is  apt  to  stun  the  mate- 
rial, and  does  not  leave  the  edges  so  sharp  for  binding  as  they  are  when  the  stone  is 
broken  with  a  small  hammer.1 

1  Circular  No.  12,  TJ.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Office  of  Road  Inquiry,  1896. 


THE    NONMETALLIC    MINERALS.  483 

The  cost  of  macadamized  roads  from  necessity  varies  ajinost  indefi- 
nitely. The  primary  factors  are  (1)  cost  of  labor,  (2)  accessibility  of 
materials,  and  (3)  character  of  country.  From  $2,000  to  $2,500  a 
mile  is  perhaps  an  average  figure  for  localities  where  materials  are 
available  close  at  hand. 

The  collections  are  intended  to  show  only  the  average  sizes  employed 
and  the  varying  nature  of  materials. 


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