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of being spun, and has also several objectionable features besides which 

 interfere somewhat seriously with its universal application. 



Steatite or soapstone is an excellent t'esistant of heat, and as 

 an ingredient in fire-proof paint is probably quite as valuable as 

 asbestus, while as linings for stoves, furnaces, etc., it has long enjoyed 

 a well deserved reputation. It also enters into competition with 

 asbestus as a loader or filler of paper stock, and for several other 

 purposes to which the lowest grades of the asbestus waste were 

 formerly applied, but its special use at the present day would appear to 

 be the manufacture of a non-corrosive and fire-proof paint. 



As non-conductors of heat and sound several other preparations 

 have been invented, anoong which may be mentioned wood-pulp and 

 terra-cotta lumber, the latter being principally a mixture of clay and 

 sawdust, made into bricks like ordinary clay. This mixture possesses 

 great lightness, especially fitting it for interior work, such as dividing 

 walls in buildings, being both fire and sound proof, but can scarcely be 

 said to be a rival or competitor of asbestus in many respects. 



Having thus briefly reviewed the several asbestiform and other 

 non-conducting substances, we can now proceed to the consideration of 

 the asbestus or chrysotile deposits as they occur in Canada, and more 

 particularly in the province of Quebec, since it is in this province that 

 the most important developments in this mineral have taken place. 



The workable asbestus of Quebec is, in so far as at present known, 

 •confined to the serpentine areas of the mountainous belt which extends 

 through the Eastern Town.ships Irom the boundary of Vermont to the 

 extremity of Gaspe peninsula, with the exception of certain peculiar 

 deposits which are found in connection with the serpentinous limestones 

 of Templeton and the Gatineau valley in the Laurentian rocks north of 

 the Ottawa. Concerning these latter deposits sufficient development 

 work has not yet been done to determine definitely their economic 

 value, but the quality ot fibre obtained from some of the asbestus veins 

 of this district is remarkable for its purity or freedom from foreign 

 substances. The serpentines of the Townships form a series of discon- 

 nected masses, generally of small extent, surrounded by igneous rock, 

 principally dioritic, but occasionally rising through great outcrops of 

 slates or schists. At times these serpentinous masses assume such pro- 





