84 NOTES ON FULGUKITES. 



The tubes received from Mr. Stearns were two in number, each some 

 50 ™'" in length and 10 '""' in greatest diameter, tapering gradually 

 toward one end. One of these was still in the form of a cylindrical 

 tube, while the second was completely collapsed, so that its internal 

 walls were in contact. • Both were of very light gray color, with 

 numerous slight corrugations on their outer surfaces, but, with all, 

 smooth and glassy throughout, with no unfused particles sticking to 

 their outer surfaces, as is commonly the case. The tube walls are about 

 a half millimeter in thickness, and are pierced by numerous minute holes, 

 the edges of which are rounded from .fusion. Interiorly the tubes are 

 brightly glazed, while exteriorly they are dull and somewhat rough. 

 Under the microscope, as noted by Diller,* they appear, for the most 

 part, of a i)erfectly clear and amorphous glass, with only here and 

 there a faint brownish stain from the presence of an iron oxide in the 

 sand. There are also a few remnants of unfused quartz grains em- 

 bedded in the glass, but they are not abundant. Concerning the occur- 

 rence of these Mr. Stearns writes me as follows: 



" I had been noticing fragments of this peculiar substance (the ful- 

 gurites) among the sand dunes of Santa Eosa Island in this vicinity for 

 a long time, when in the fall of 1882 I discovered the solution of 

 the problem. Near the center of the island, at a ijoint about 35 

 miles from Pensacola, and on the side of a sandhill, stood a small 

 pine tree that had not long before been shattered by lightning, and 

 about 40 feet away, on a low, level, and moist area, was a crooked 

 interrupted line of fulgurite. One viewing the fragments from a little 

 distance could readily make out the path of the electric fluid as it came 

 from the tree. Upon leaving the low basin for the dryer sandy slope 

 beyond there were no traces of fulgurites to be found. 



" The hill upon which the tree stood is a sand dune, formed, as usual, 

 of the very finest white (siliceous) sand. It had been long built, and 

 being somewhat protected from the winds by inner and outer rows of 

 dunes, had gathered a considerable vegetation in the form of stunted 

 trees, bushes, and coarse grass. The low part, or basin, was so situated 

 between the hills that a strong draft of wind always drew over it, 

 keeping the sand from filling it up. During the rainy season such 

 I)laces are covered by or 12 inches of water, and even in the dry 

 summer months they are rather damp, being very near the level of the 

 sea. * * * As to the space occupied by this particular phenomenon, 

 I would say that the pine was 35 feet in height, the distance from the 

 tree to the first fragment of fulgurite was 40 feet, interrupted in one 

 place by a knoll. A considerable quantity of the material was secured 

 when discovered, but it seems all but the pieces forwarded have dis- 

 appeared." 



A series of over fifty fragments of tubes were received from Messrs. 

 E. L. and A. IST. Abbott, some of which present very interesting features. 



* Loo. cit., p. 253. 



