ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVE11Y. 



the tree is a windfall or a 'breakdown, or, in other words, whether it was blown 

 up by the roots or broken off. If judged to be worth working, the stump, 

 roots, and turf, are removed from over the log, and the earth dug out. The 

 trench which is thus made is, of course, fuh 1 of water. There being no grit in 

 the earth, tools can be used in it without injury, and the logs are rapidly 

 sawn off by a one-handled cross-cut saw, which can be worked directly in the 

 soft earth. As soon as the log is cut off and loosened by means of layers, it 

 rises and floats in the water. It is then divided into shingle cuts, quartered, 

 and thrown out to be split into shingles, and shaved, when it is ready for 

 market. 



It is said that for five years past the average number of these shingles sent 

 from Dennisville is not far from 600,000 a year. They are worth from $13 

 to $15 a thousand. About 200,000 white cedar rails have been sent from 

 the same place this year. They are worth from $8 to $10 a hundred. 



DESCRIPTIVE LABELS FOR MINERAL COLLECTIONS. 



At the British Association. Mr. Tennant, the well known mineralogist, pre- 

 sented a new plan for constructing labels for mineral collections, with a view 

 of making them more available to the student, by bringing before him, at the 

 same tune with the objects themselves, their chief characteristics and uses. 

 Thus each label gives the name of the mineral, its synonymes, chemical consti- 

 tution, crystalline system, hardness, specific gravity, optical properties, fusi- 

 bility or infusibility before the blowpipe, &c., together with a concise descrip- 

 tion of the principal localities where it has been found, and its application to the 

 arts and manufactures when it can be usefully applied. By its introduction it is 

 hoped many local institutions may be rendered not only more instructive to the 

 student but also attractive to the intending emigrant, who thus may be induced 

 by its facility to acquire a knowledge beneficial not only to himself, but which 

 may serve to discover mines of wealth hitherto unknown. The following is a 

 specimen : 



Pyrite. Iron Pyrites, SulpJiuret of Iron, Hexdhedral Iron Pyrites. Fe. 82- 

 cubic. H 6-0 6'5G-4'9 5*1. Case 6. Prac. conchoidal, uneven. Opaque. 

 Lus. metallic. Col. brass-yellow, gold-yellow, brown. Brittle. B. fusible. 

 Partly soluble in nitric acid. Some varieties contain a small quantity of gold. 



A very common mineral, universally diffused in beds and veins of the most 

 different formations. Elba, Piedmont, Saxony, Bohemia, Hungary, Norway, 

 Sweden, Dauphine, Derbyshire, Cornwall, &c. Used in the manufacture of 

 sulphur, sulphate of iron, and sulphuric acid. Distinguished from copper 

 pyrites by being too hard to cut with a knife ; from the ores of silver by its 

 pale bronze color, and hardness and difficulty of fusion. Gold is sectile, 

 malleable, and does not give off a sulphur odor before the blowpipe. 



