292 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



another 85 59'. He also found that the optic axes were not equally 

 inclined to the " normal," showing the crystals to be clinometric. 



Mr. Blake gives the results of a blowpipe examination, which show 

 the presence of water, silicic acid, oxides of chromium and iron. He 

 has given it the name Clinochlore, in allusion to the great obliquity of 

 the optic and crystallographic axes, a'nd its green color. Am. Jour. 

 Sci., vol. xii. 



RED SAPPHIRE. 



MR. W. P. BLAKE, in a communication to Silliman's Journal, Jan. 

 1852, states that he has recently discovered a new locality of red sap- 

 phire in the township of Vernon, Sussex Co., N. J., where it occurs in 

 the well known white crystalline limestone of that region, and with the 

 associated minerals appears to constitute a true vein of segregation. 

 As the minerals have been but recently removed, there has not been 

 time to bestow on many of them the examination they require, and 

 therefore a brief notice only can be given at this time. The sap- 

 phire is remarkable for its irregular "ragged" form, which is best 

 seen in those crystals which were obtained from the soil where atmos- 

 pheric agencies had removed the calcareous investment, and left the 

 sapphire with its thin and ragged excrescences entire. The color of 

 the finest specimens is " ruby red ;" others have various shades of pur- 

 ple : they are translucent, no transparent specimens having been 

 obtained. 



The associated minerals are remarkable for their beauty and peculi- 

 arity. The following list embraces those which occur in greatest 

 abundance : red spinel, rose spinel, chondrodite, hornblende, iron 

 pyrites, phlogopite, graphite, hydrous-sesquioxide of iron, hydrous 

 silicates of alumina. The following minerals occur sparingly : rutile, 

 sphene, ilmenite, zircon, blue fluor, and emerylite. 



GRANITE FIRE-CLAY. 



A DISCOVERY, of great service to the consumers of fire-clay and fire- 

 bricks, has been made at the village of Steep Brook, Fall River, Mass. 

 It had been long known that a decomposed granite there was suitable 

 for fire-resists, and as such possessed the highest qualities ; but the 

 supposed small extent of the bed prevented the sale of more than a few 

 hundred tons. Those who had used the material and become acquainted 

 with its properties, requiring further supplies, an extended survey and 

 the necessary openings have been made, and the result is, the develop- 

 ment of a large deposit of this valuable mineral. A chemical exami- 

 nation of this clay, by Dr. A. A. Hayes, of Boston, shows that " it is a 

 mass left by the decomposition of a granite, probably of the normal kind, 

 in which no mica exists, or if of ordinary granite, every trace of mica 

 has disappeared. The chemical change has been such as to break up 

 the granite, first into quartz, granules and sand, distributed as if in 

 granite rock, nearly uniformly, throughout a paste of porcelain clay, 

 resulting from the feldspar of the granite. Quartz and porcelain clay 

 are, excepting a minute portion of iron sand, therefore, its constituents, 



