Art. V. Localities of Minerals.

To the Editor of the American Journal of Science, &c.

New-York, Dec. 21, 1818.

Dear Sir,
It is desirable that some mode should be adopted by which the public may become acquainted with all the New American Localities of Minerals, as they are discovered from time to time. With deference I would suggest, that in each number of your Scientific Journal, new localities might be recorded in alphabetical order, for present information and future reference.

The following localities, which have come under my observation, and which are probably not noticed in any work, are at your service.

Very respectfully,

F. C. SCHAEFFER.

The following notices were prepared before the receipt of the above letter.

Other Localities of Minerals and of ANIMAL REMAINS, and acknowledgments of Specimens received.

Guadeloupe.—Native sulphur, obsidian, pitchstone, native alum, basaltic hornblende, alum covered with sulphur.

Porto Rico.—Hexagonal crystals of mica.

Specimens of the above minerals are in the cabinet of Mr. John P. Brace, at Litchfield, Connecticut.

Molybdena is found in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, near Northampton, east of Connecticut River, on the land of William Eaton. It is the common sulphuret, but remarkably beautiful and well characterized. Its colour is nearly that of bright lead, very brilliant, smooth, and almost unctuous; soft, flexible, distinctly foliated, and the folia are very thin, and easily separable, almost like mica. It gives the usual greenish trace on white pottery, while a line drawn parallel on the same basis, by a piece of plumbago or black-lead, is black; this being (as pointed out by Brongniart) the easiest criterion, by which to distinguish between molybdena and plumbago, or black-lead. We have many times applied it with entire success.

This molybdena, from Shutesbury, is chiefly crystallized, and the crystals are, in some instances, very distinct; their form is that of a flat six-sided prism, or what is commonly called a table. The rock, from which they were obtained, is a granitic aggregate, (judging from the specimen sent, it may be a true granite) and the forms of the crystals are very distinctly impressed in the stone, so that when removed they leave an exact copy or crystal mould. In a letter from the proprietor of the land, it is said that the molybdena is found in a ledge of rocks, six or seven feet above the surface of the earth, and about ten or twelve feet above the level of the water; the direction of the rocks is from S. to N. E. by N.; the metal is in a vein, running E., and was discovered in small pieces in the top of the ledge. After putting in two blasts, some large pieces were obtained.

From this account, and from the specimens, (some of the crystals being an inch or more in length) this must be one of the most interesting localities of molybdena hitherto observed in this country; and it is hoped Mr. Eaton will take some pains to procure and furnish specimens.

Rose Quartz.—From Southbury, Connecticut, not far from Woodbury, and from the Housatonick River, two young men, of the name of Stiles, have brought us specimens of rose quartz, of delicate and beautiful colour. It is said to be abundant in a ledge of the same substance.

Plumbago.—In Cornwall, Litchfield county, Connecticut, plumbago is found, of a good quality, and in considerable masses, in a vein contained in a rock of gneiss, or mica-slate. It has been known a good while, and is said to have been exported anterior to the American revolutionary war.

Coal, &c. in Zanesville, Ohio. Through the kindness of the Rev. Dr. Bronson, Principal of the Cheshire Academy, we have received the following information.—In cutting a canal in the above town, in the spring of 1817, through freestone, trees, and fish, and other substances, both animal and vegetable, were taken out, alike petrified to a freestone, excepting the bark of a beach tree, which was very perfect and beautiful coal—(as we have had an opportunity of ascertaining, from an examination of the specimens.)

Coal, in the county of Muskingum, Ohio. Common stone-coal, highly bituminous, (the slaty or black coal of Werner,) is found abundantly.

South of Lake Erie, about 25 miles, in the bed of Rocky River, are found shells, and other animal remains, imbedded in argillaceous iron; the specimens were collected in 1817, by the Rev. R. Searle.

Mammoth's Tooth, from the River St. Francis, west of Mississippi. Return J. Meigs, Esq. has transmitted, through the Rev. E. Cornelius, a mammoth's tooth, apparently not mineralized. It appears to have belonged to a very old animal, as the processes, (which, it is well known, are commonly very prominent) are worn down smooth, and some of them almost obliterated.

Blue Ridge, Tennessee, and Mississippi Territory.—Through the kindness of the Rev. E. Cornelius, and of Mr. John H. Kain, we have received a considerable collection of specimens, illustrative of the mineralogy and geology, and Indian antiquities of these regions; they may be, on a future occasion, the subject of more particular remarks.

Coal, in Suffield, Connecticut, on the river of the same name. From Mr. Nathan Stedman, we have received specimens of coal, found in thin veins, in rocks of slate, and argillaceous sandstone, on the banks of the river. The veins are thin, but considerably numerous; the coal is very glossy and black; breaks with a smooth and almost conchoidal fracture, and very much resembles jet. It is very much intersected by thin veins—(not thicker than a knife-blade)—of white crystallized calcareous spar. This coal is bituminous, and burns pretty freely. It has not been explored, except superficially.

Coal, in Southington, Connecticut. Beds of slate are found more or less bituminous; and, at the bottom of some of the wells, the slate begins to exhibit thin veins of coal, distributed in great numbers through the substance of the slate, which is the shale of the miners. The coal is from the thickness of a knife-blade to that of a finger; it is highly bituminous, and burns with great freedom. Even the entire masses of the stone burn brilliantly, when ignited on a common fire; and, after exhaustion of the coally matter, leave the slate of a grayish colour.

The locality from which the specimens were taken, is on the land of Roswell Moore, Esq. about midway between Hartford and New Haven. The spot was lately examined by Col. Gibbs, Eli Whitney, Esq. Professor Olmstead, and others; and arrangements are making to bore the strata, to the depth of several hundred feet, if necessary. These localities are in what may, with propriety, be called the coal formation of Connecticut. Coal has been found in several other places in that state; and the peculiar geological features of the region in which it is contained, are very interesting, and may hereafter be described in form.

Sulphat of Barytes, with Coal, &c.—Sulphat of barytes exists abundantly in Southington, on what is called the Clark Farm. With quartz, carbonate of lime, &c. it forms the gangue of a metallic vein, containing galena, or sulphuret of lead, copper pyrites, &c. The sulphat of barytes is more or less crystallized, and principally in the form that is called the coxcomb spar. The same vein, although it is in the side of a mountain, several hundred feet above the flat country adjacent, and two or three miles from the coal strata above mentioned, contains numerous spots and patches of coal, very much resembling that at Suffield. It is of a most brilliant black, and contrasted with the white, stony matrix, (principally quartz and sulphat of barytes) in which it is enveloped, it forms elegant specimens.

Scintillating Limestone.—In Vermont, a singular scintillating limestone is found, of which an account is given in the following extract of a letter from Mr. George Chase, dated Randolph, February 19, 1818.

"The object of the present letter is to acquaint you with a circumstance relating to the limestone that abounds in this primitive country, which to me is inexplicable. This carbonate of lime is of a pale sky-blue colour; effervesces strongly with nitric acid; and, by burning, produces lime, so that there is no question as to the identity of the mineral. But it likewise gives forth sparks with steel:—this I concluded, at first, to be an accidental circumstance; but every specimen that I have tried, from various quarters of the country, uniformly gives fire with steel. The limestone is found in layers, in blocks, and masses, disseminated among the clay-slate that covers the greatest part of the townships in this vicinity. When first taken from the earth, and exposed to the air, it is covered with an incrustation of a dark reddish-brown colour, that crumbles easily between the fingers, and is generally from one inch to a foot in thickness. This incrustation, however, hardens on a long exposure to the air. This led me to think that the incrustation was owing to the decomposition of the limestone, which was produced by the sulphuret of iron, intimately disseminated through the rock, which would also explain the singular circumstance of its striking fire. But on dissolving a small quantity of the mineral in nitric acid, and adding a drop or two of the decoction of gallnut, no discolouring of the liquor was produced."

Limpid Quartz.—West Canada Creek, a northern branch of the Mohawk, affords, in its sands, small crystals of quartz, limpid, and terminated at both ends by pyramids of six sides; we are indebted for specimens to Professor Fisher.

Fetid Primitive Limestone, &c.—From the vicinity of Williamstown College, through the kindness of Professor Dewey, we have received specimens illustrative of the geology of that region. Among them is limestone from Stockbridge, crystallized in large plates and rhomboids, almost white, and still fetid on being rubbed, which is very different from most fetid limestones, which are dark coloured, and even black, and do not belong to primitive formation.

Molybdena.—In Pettipaug, Saybrook, Connecticut, molybdena occurs. It is mentioned in the Review of Cleaveland's Mineralogy, and is here cited again for the purpose of pointing out its locality more exactly. It is found about half a mile to the E. of the Turnpike leading from Saybrook to Middletown, on the first road on the right hand above the turnpike gate, near the house of the widow Pratt. It is not far from Pettipaug meeting-house, in a northern direction.

Beryl.—In Haddam, Connecticut, are found many beryls, and some of uncommon size; an account of one of the most remarkable localities is contained in the following memorandum from the Rev. Mr. Mather, to whom we are indebted for specimens.

"The place in which the beryls are found is in the town of Chatham, about one mile and a half north from Middle-Haddam landing; about half of a mile S. W. of a large hill, on which is the cobalt mine. The rock in which the beryls are contained is granite; the parts of which are very large, especially the felspar and the mica. Large masses of shorl are also found in these rocks. Beryls have also been found in other parts of Middle-Haddam, amongst rocks of the same description. The greatest diameter of the largest beryl is four inches; the least three inches. The beryls are numerous, and of different sizes; though few are less than an inch, or two inches in diameter. The length of the longest beryl is five inches."

Clay.—Near Delhi, New-York, a few rods from the Delaware river, are found beds of clay, of which specimens have been transmitted by Mr. John P. Foote, of New-York. We are of opinion that they are not porcelain clay.

Gypsum.—Cayuga Lake. We are informed by Dr. L. Foot, that the workmen who have excavated about 20 feet on the border of the lake, in gypsum, which is generally of a dark brown, or black colour, when they come to a transparent crystallized piece, call it isinglass, and reject it as worthless: the hint should be remembered by mineralogists, that the specimens may be saved for their cabinets.

ASBESTOS IN ANTHRACITE.

Extract of a letter from Dr. I. W. Webster.

Boston, 27th Nov. 1818.

Dear Sir,

In examining some masses of the anthracite from Rhode Island, one piece attracted my attention, from the waved structure of the lamellÆ into which it separated. The fragments of this were wedge-shaped, and I found the space between some of the laminÆ filled up by a fibrous, silky substance, which induced me to break up other masses, in one of which I discovered an abundance of amianthus; the filaments are of a light-green colour in some parts of the mass—in others presenting different shades of brown. With a microscope, I found the fibres intermixed with the anthracite; or forming thin layers, and these sometimes parallel to, at others crossing, in different directions, the course of the laminÆ. How far the presence of this mineral may influence the ignition or combustion of the coal, is a question, perhaps, worth determining. Should my engagements permit, I shall make further examination, and inform you. In the mean time, the notice of this fact may call the attention of some of your readers to the subject. At any rate, this substance has, I believe, never before been noticed in connexion with anthracite, and is highly interesting in a geological point of view.

REMARKS.

We have been familiar with the Rhode Island anthracite, and with the formation of rocks in which it is found; and, long since, observed the fact mentioned by Dr. Webster. The asbestos often is in the form of the most delicate amianthus, frequently blended also with the slate rocks, which form the roof and pavement of this coal. A specimen now lies before us, in which a complete vein of this amianthus, with fibres nearly two inches in length, connects and pervades a mass of slate, supposed to be of the transition class.

Similar facts are mentioned also by Dr. Meade, in his account of the Rhode Island coal.

RED PYROXENE AUGITE.

Extract of a letter to the Editor, from Dr. H. H. Hayden of Baltimore.

I have very lately discovered a couple of small specimens of the transparent red pyroxene, resembling fine crystals of titanium, which I, at first, mistook it for. One of them is contained in the middle of a large crystal, like the rubellite in the green tourmalins of Massachusetts, but it is not the same substance. The pyroxene, which I have reference to, is the olive-coloured epidote of some, pistazite of others, but resembles, in this instance, the sahlite; the crystals being divisible longitudinally. Some of them are five inches long, and half an inch diameter, hexaedral and double; that is, two joined together, as described by Brochant in particular.

Some other localities, of which we have received notices, may be mentioned in a future number.

BOTANY.