62 JOURNAL OF THE 



and are not accidentally bronglit together into snch strange shapes 

 as a cursory examination mig-ht seem to indicate. 



Tourmaline. — Some fine black crystals have been found in 

 Alexander county, at the gem mine, and as their forms have 

 been closely inspected, and their composition ascertained, they 

 are worthy of notice here. 



The largest crystals of this "find" were uot quite three 

 inches long, but unlike the commonly occurring tourmalines 

 thev were never imbedded in a matrix. Thin sections and 

 splinters show a deep brown color. The faces were highly 

 polished, especially the terminal planes, and twelve different 

 forms were identified. One new plane was found, /. e., f R. 

 The angle of J R over J R (1012 over 1 102) was ascertained to 

 be 132° 58i'.* (Des Cloizeaux obtained 133° 08' on foreign 

 crystals). The basal plane was frequently observed. 



A careful analysis by R. B. Riggs,t U. S. Geological Survey, 

 gave the following results: 



Sp. Gravity = 3.13. 



Silica, ...... 35.56 



Alumina, ...... 33.38 



Ferrous oxide, ' . . . . 8.49 



Titanic acid, ..... 0.55 



Mangauous oxide, .... 0.04 



Lime, . . . . ... 0.53 



Mao;nesia, ...... 5.44 



Soda, . . . . . .2.16 



Potash, ...... 0.24 



Water, ...... 3.63 



Boracic acid, ..... 10.40 



100.43 



A few green tourmalines associated with lepidolite (or a piid< 

 mica) have been found near Burnsville, Yancey county, which 

 possibly indicates that the gem variety may be found there ulti- 

 mately. 



Malacon. — In the Brindletown gold sands T have found 

 several good crystals of this rare variety of zircon. The color 



*Measured by H. S. Washington. 

 fAmer. Jour. Sci., Jan., 1888, p. 45, Riggs. 



