GEOLOGY. 265 



rolled to the thinnest plates. It has been suggested that this zinc 

 would be better for pipes for conducting water than the leaden ones 

 now in use, as a poisonous corrosive substance is never formed on 

 their interior, as in lead. 



MINERAL WEALTH OF JAPAN. 



THE empire of Japan contains inexhaustible mines of the precious 

 metals ; the quantity of gold, silver, and copper exported from Japan, 

 between 1611 and 1706, according to an official report of a Japanese 

 minister of state, amounted to $413,036,800. Gold is so plentiful in 

 the great island of Niphon, that it is thought advisable to regulate the 

 working of the mines by law, lest too great a quantity should be 

 brought into circulation. The currency of the country is composed 

 of gold, silver, and copper. National Intelligencer. 



RESOURCES OF RUSSIA. 



THE metallic produce of the Russian Empire in 1848 was, accord- 

 ing to the official returns, as follows, viz.: 1,826 poods of gold, 

 pood of platinum, 1,192 poods of silver, 254,569 poods of copper, 

 and 8,513,673 poods of wrought-iron. The pood is equivalent to a 

 little more than 361bs. avoirdupois. The gold from Russia, therefore, 

 represents a value of 3,944,832 (or about $19,720,000), making 

 due allowances for the English alloy. 



EMERY FORMATION IN ASIA MINOR. 



IN a communication to SiUimari's Journal, for March, Dr. J. Lau- 

 rence Smith, mineralogist in the .service of the Porte, announces the 

 discovery of Emery formations in three distinct places in Asia Minor ; 

 one near Ephesus, another near Kula, and a third to the north of 

 Smyrna. The mineral somewhat resembles the protoxides, the sili- 

 cates, and the anhydrous oxides of iron, generally with an irregular 

 fracture. A monopoly of the emery has been disposed of by the 

 Turkish government for the sum of fifty-five thousand dollars per 

 annum, and eight hundred tons have already been shipped to England. 

 Dr. Smith has also discovered, associated with the emery, oxide of 

 zirconium, and a new micaceous mineral, which he has denominated 

 emerylile, having for its composition, silex 30, alumina 50, zirconia 4, 

 lime 13, oxide of iron, manganese, and potash 3. 



CHROME AND MEERSCHAUM OF ASIA MINOR. 



CHROME and meerschaum have been recently discovered in Asia 

 Minor by Dr. J. Laurence Smith, about fifty miles south of Broosa. 

 In relation to this discovery, Dr. Smith remarks : " It is a circum- 

 stance worthy of notice, that chromate of iron (the first that has 

 been discovered in Asia Minor) is here found in serpentine, as else- 

 where. This important fact can explain, to a certain extent, the for- 



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