294 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



VI. 



ON THE WIDE DIFFUSION OF VANADIUM AND ITS ASSO- 

 CIATION WITH PHOSPHORUS IN MANY ROCKS. 



By A. A. Hates, M. D. 

 Presented, Jan. 12, 1875. 



Christian Keferstein, as early as 1834, had boldly stated the prop- 

 osition that " all crystalline non-stratified rocks, from granite to lava, 

 are products of the transformation of sedimentary strata," and later 

 researches aid in confirming the trutlifulness of this view. 



Simply considered, all rocks consist of a basis material, generally 

 simple minerals, such as compound silicates, aluminates, or even quartz, 

 in various states of division, united by a compound which acts the jjart 

 of a cement, which through its composition is more easily acted on by 

 ordinary agents than the particles of the mineral it unites. 



Tliis part of every rock engages attention, also, from its acting as a 

 positive compound does in a simple mineral. It is complex in composi- 

 tion, usually it consists of silicates of protoxide bases. At one moment 

 of time it binds the particles with great force ; at another, under altered 

 conditions, it relaxes its bonds, itself losing cohesion, crumbling and 

 becoming an earth containing the elements necessary to vegetation, 

 while the bonded materials drop to their condition before union. 



AccejJting Keferstein's expression in its fullest sense, I have applied 

 the resources of analysis to a large number of rock aggregates, and 

 the results of my experiments have shown the interest and extent of 

 this field of inquiry. To do this, I have departed from tlie ordinary 

 course of analysis, and applied a principle which, many years since, 

 enabled me accurately to separate alkalies from mineral compounds. 

 This principle is the adaptation of a definite mixture of agents, so 

 that while one part of the mixture is searching for and dissolving 

 the substance to be studied, the other part is holding in a semi-fluid 

 etate the larger part of the substance and allowing any reactions or 



