1892.] NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 57 



mation about these names or the books mentioned will be gladly 

 welcomed. 



One other word I wish to speak of, and that is dragonite, an 

 early synonym for rock crystal. No suggestion is to be found 

 as to its author or derivation, and yet it is mentioned in many 

 books. The earliest mention I have found of it is in Zappe's Min- 

 eralogisches Hand-Lexicon published in 1817, where it has the form 

 dragomit, probably a typographical error, as everywhere else it is 

 spelled with an ??. Zappe says the name refers to rounded or rolled 

 quartz crystals, where only traces of the columnar form can be de- 

 tected. It is easy to conjecture that this word is from draconis, of 

 a dragon, and that such specimens were thought to have some rela- 

 tion to the fabulous monster, but without more light on the subject 

 nothing positive can be affirmed. But having carried 3'ou back to 

 the age of fables, I had better close, lest you think me wandering 

 from my subject. 



Note. — Siuce the above paper was presented, the name dragonite has been 

 completely traced back to Pliny's Draconites, the so-called stone of the Flying 

 Dragon. 



The paper being concluded. Dr. Bolton stated that the Library 

 Check-list in Bolton's Catalogue, to which the speaker had referred, 

 was compiled by a clerk in the Smithsonian Institution, and his work 

 was unfortunately rather carelessly done. He, Dr. Bolton, would 

 not like to be held responsible for it. Dr. Bolton said he had read 

 in Alchemy for Murray's Dictionary and contributed about four 

 hundred words. Murray's monumental work is not free from 

 errors in chemistry, benzine and benzene being confounded, for 

 example. 



Dr. Bolton directed the attention of Prof. Chester to several 

 early dictionaries of chemistry that might be useful to him in his 

 research, viz. : William Johnson's London, 1652 ; Martin Ruland, 

 Frankfurt, 1612; and Sommerhofif's Lexicon, Nuremberg, 1701. 



He also exhibited a copy of Bruce's American Mineralogical 

 Journal, New York, 1814, a work of great rarity. Prof. G. 

 Brown Goode had stated in print that only two copies of this 

 journal are known to exist, one in N. Y. State Librar}^, and one in 

 Harvard Library (Proceedings, Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. iv, 



1886-88). 



Dr. Bolton also exhibited a copy of the Memoirs of the Columbian 

 Chemical Society, Philadelphia, 1813, a book of peculiar interest 

 and but little known. 



In reply Prof. Chester said the Library of Hamilton College 

 Vol. XL— 5 



