132 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



across their bedding in strata of carboniferous age. There is 

 little room for doubt that the fissures which contain the as- 

 phalt have afforded convenient reservoirs into which petro- 

 leum has flowed, and from which all the lighter parts have 

 been removed by evaporation. Similar deposits, of less mag- 

 nitude, are known in Colorado, Arkansas, Ohio, and Kentucky. 

 In Southern California, Western Canada, and elsewhere, as- 

 phalt may still be seen passing through the process of forma- 

 tion from petroleum, and especially in Santa Barbara and San 

 Luis Obispo, where the accumulations of asphalt are well 

 known to geologists. It also occurs on the shores of the Gulf 

 of Mexico; but it is in Trinidad, according to Dr. Newberry, 

 that we must look for the greater part of the supply that is 

 likely to be required for various purposes, especially those 

 connected with road-making. The quantity appears to be in- 

 exhaustible, and the quality is the very best ; and its acces- 

 sibility to the sea-ports of the United States renders its trans- 

 portation so cheap that it may be furnished, to the Atlantic 

 cities especially, at much less cost than any of the asphalts 

 from the interior. American Chemist, May, 1872, 428. 



PRECIOUS STONES IN ARIZONA. 



Much interest has been excited of late in the minds of the 

 public by the alleged discovery of vast numbers of diamonds 

 and precious stones in Arizona, and numerous parties have 

 started for the locality with the intention of availing them- 

 selves of the riches thus offered. Professor J. Lawrence Smith, 

 one of our highest authorities on such subjects, informs us 

 that the diamond, in all probability, if found at all, will be of 

 but little commercial importance, but that he is quite prepared 

 to hear of rubies, sapphires, and amethysts of more or less 

 value. He, however, considers the corundum deposits of North 

 Carolina to be quite as likely to furnish these gems, and pos- 

 sibly of superior quality. San Francisco Bulletin, August 

 30,1872. 



TRIMORPHOUS CONDITION OF SILICA. 



Professor Maskelyne, of the British Museum, announces the 

 discovery of a new form of crystallized silica, detected by him 

 in a meteorite found in 1861 at Breitenbach,in Bohemia. The 

 best-known species of silica is common quartz, which crys- 



