HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



207 



intervals. The test for hardness in the chiastolite 

 forms cannot be relied on owing to weathering ; but 

 the density of certain apparently compact masses 

 approached closely enough to the usual degree, i.e. 

 29*3. In some aggregated forms on the surface of 

 a piece of mica schist which I took some' time since 

 from a spot on the southern slope of Killiney Hill, 

 there would seem an indication of the mineral 

 staurolite which is also known to occur in schistose 

 formations ; the rhombic prism appearing distinctly 

 accompanied by what looks like the macrodome. 

 This specimen is, however, weathered, and somewhat 

 decomposed, so that its hardness and specific gravity 

 could hardly be ascertained with accuracy. The 

 same objection would also interfere with a chemical 

 analysis, to say nothing of spoiling the crystalline form 

 by breaking up ; however, the chief points of differ- 

 ence between the staurolite and the andalusite, or its 

 variety chiastolite, would be a smaller amount of 

 silicate of alumina, but with a proportion of protoxide 

 of iron varying from 13 to 18 per cent, with magnesia, 

 and probablysome other oxides, but in other respects 

 the minerals mentioned may be considered to be 

 more or less allied. 



Beryl has also been found in the granite of Killiney, 

 and specimens are shown in the Dublin Museums, 

 though I have never succeeded in finding one myself 

 in the district. The variety would seem to be of a 

 pale greenish-white, possessing the usual degree of 

 hardness, but no approach to translucency. None of 

 the specimens I have seen have exceeded a couple of 

 inches in length by half an inch or so in diameter ; 

 but they are interesting by comparison with beryls 

 obtained from other districts in Ireland. In the 

 Mourne mountains, already alluded to, beryl is found 

 with crystalline granite in beautiful sharply-defined 

 prisms. Of much the same colour as the Killiney 

 beryl, but occasionally in the form known as the 

 white beryl, transparent as glass, and showing, in 

 addition to the prism, various modifications of pyra- 

 mids, &c. 



In a future paper I propose to enter more fully 

 into the character of the beryls found in the Dublin 

 district, as they present many features of interest to 

 the mineralogist. 



Another mineral associated with this locality is 

 that known as Killinite, which is believed to be a 

 variety of spodumene. It does not exist in any abun- 

 dance, and is only met with occasionally. It differs, 

 however, from spodumene in not showing any traces 

 of lithia, which exists in the latter mineral often to 

 the extent of five or six per cent. 



Hornblende is found in the Dublin granite, fre- 

 quently in well-defined crystals in the felspathic 

 paste, but I do not think has ever been noticed in 

 isolated crystals, as it is known to occur in Cornwall. 

 A microscopic section of a typical piece of local 

 granite possesses a high degree of interest, and the 

 hornblendic element is often sufficiently definite to 



be studied with full deliberation when the various 

 characters as described in Zirkel's " Mikroskopische 

 Geschaffenheit der Mineralien und Gesteine" can be 

 well observed. The transverse lines in the micro- 

 cline are also well brought out in this manner, together 

 with the structural form of essonites, &c. In the 

 felspathic paste under the microscope, there may be 

 observed abundance of microliths of the outline 

 associated with the Carlsbad twin form, and others 

 apparently of hexagonal shape radiating in all direc- 

 tions, which, if the statements of the authority just 

 mentioned be adopted, we might assume to be aci- 

 culon forms of apatite, but as to this it is not easy to 

 speak definitely. The subject, however, is deserving 

 of attention, and it might be found that a systematic 

 microscopic examination of these granites by a com- 

 petent observer would afford evidence of the presence 

 of a larger number of accidental minerals than has 

 hitherto been supposed from merely superficial, or 

 even chemical examination. 



W. M. C. O'Neill. 



Dublin. 



BOTANICAL NOTES FROM THE LINCOLN- 

 SHIRE COAST. 



By H. Wallis Kew, F.E.S. 



ONLY a very short description of the district in 

 which these notes were made will be necessary. 

 The country over which I collected consisted of 

 about ten miles of coast, with the little Lincolnshire 

 sea-side village of Mablethorpe as a centre. The 

 sand-hills which bound the coast vary considerably ; 

 in some places they are narrow and high, with 

 steep slopes of loose sand, while in other places they . 

 are very broad, and much covered with vegetation. 

 When on these hills under the latter conditions, the 

 observer might well imagine himself on a large inland 

 common, for he may often walk long distances with- 

 out seeing either the fields or the sea. At Mable- 

 thorpe the beach is sandy, and the tide comes nearly 

 up to the sand-hills ; at Saltfleet, however, a village 

 a little [farther northward, the low tides leave the 

 sand-hills for a distance of five or six miles; here 

 there are extensive mud-flats and salt-marshes. 



Turning from the sea and looking inland, the 

 Lincolnshire Wolds can just be seen in the far 

 distance, and between these and the coast lie the 

 marshes, formerly the home of many fast-disappearing 

 forms, but now under a high state of cultivation. 

 For a considerable distance from the sea there are no 

 hedges, the fields being divided by slow-flowing 

 drains. 



Among the poppies the long-headed poppy {Papa- 

 ver argemone) is plentiful in a sandy field just behind 

 the sand-hills at Mablethorpe, and the opium poppy 

 {Papaver somniferum) is not unfrequently found. 



