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ture of handkerchiefs and a few garments which were used in scientific 

 lectures and representations of all sorts to illustrate, in a pleasant way> 

 the non-conductibility of this silicate, which serves to-day for the manu" 

 facture of paints, cements, putties, wall-papers, millboards, parchments 

 and cloths. Mixed with tripoli it is used for packing and insulating 

 steam and other pipes, as well as for lining safes. It is also used in the 

 manufacture of drop-curtains and the sceneries in theatres, of suits for 

 firemen, of safety ladders, of belts used in chemical works, and the last 

 but not the least in the making of pipes. 



Soapstone, which is more or less compact talc, is found in many 

 places in the Townships, and is very often associated with serpentine. 

 When pure and compact this mineral is much used as a refractory 

 material for lining furnaces, especially those destined for anthracite. 

 From its softness it is readily cut with knives and saws into the 

 required shape, and it is infusible in any ordinary furnace heat. It is 

 also used in the construction of small portable furnaces, and of open 

 stoves, which are made of plates of it held together by iron bands and 

 rods. Culinary vessels are made of it, and it has also been bored for 

 water-pipes, and for the lining of cisterns for acid and alkaline liquids. 

 When very strongly heated, soapstone looses the small quantity of com- 

 bined water which it contains, and becomes much harder and suscep- 

 tible of a polish. It may then be colored by various solutions , and it 

 has been used in this manner for the manufacture of buttons and of 

 some other small articles. Jets for gas-burners are also made of this 

 hardened soapstone, and have the advantage of not being liable to rust 

 or corrode. When reduced to powder its softness and unctuosity have 

 caused it to be used, like plumbago, as a lubricator, and when mixed 

 with a small proportion of white lead it forms a hard cement like pig- 

 ment, which is claimed to equal in resistance many of the more expen- 

 sive fire-proof paints. It is also well adapted for a filer in the manu- 

 facture of paper. Slate pencils and tailors' chalk are also made of it. 



Among the rocks of the Quebec group, in Eastern Caiiada, argil- 

 lites fit for roofing slates occur in many places and have been success- 

 fully worked. 



In the Township of Melbourne these slates, which are in contact 

 with dark-green serpentine, afford excellent roofing slates, and are 



