MINERALOGY. 553 



in the same region, the game writer mentions the occurrence {Am. J. 8ci., 

 XXVIII, 341) of crystalhzed masses of a mineral which appeared to be col- 

 umbite. One mass weighed by calculation about a ton. This mineral is 

 probably in fact tantalite, for an analysis of a similar mineral from the 

 same locality by C. A. Schaeffer proved it to contain 79 per cent, tanta- 

 lum pentoxide; moreover, the specific gravity was 7.7li; that of typical 

 tantalite ranging from 7 to 8, and of ordinary columbite from 5.4 to 

 G.5. Fine crystals of vanadinite are described by F. H. Blake {lb., 

 XXVIII, 145), from the Black Prince mine, Pioneer mining district, Pinal 

 County, Arizona. They vary in color from yellow to deep red, the latter 

 being the most common; wulfenite also occurs at the same mine, but not 

 in very perfect crystals. S. B. Newberry {lb., xxviii, 122) mentions the 

 discovery of nickel ore in large quantities in Cottonwood Campus, 

 Churchill County, Nevada. The specimens obtained from a depth of 80 

 feet were pure massive niccolite; these from depths of 60 feet and 45 feet 

 showed more or less oxidation and hydration ; and sijecimens from near 

 the surface consisted of annabergite, the hydrated arsenate of nickel. 



An interesting occurrence in New Jersey is mentioned by Prof. Geo. 

 H. Cook in his annual report of the Geological Survey, that of grains 

 of metallic iron in the triassic red shales near New Brunswick. They 

 were brought up by a drill used to bore a deep well, and were found also 

 in the surface soil — the correctness of the observations is regarded as 

 being above doubt. Prof. H. Carvill Lewis has given a preliminary ac- 

 count of an interesting mineral occurring in tetragonal crystals in calcite 

 at Wakefield, Canada. It has the form of sarcolite, but a microscopic 

 examination has proved it to be an altered mineral i)seudomorph, after 

 some original mineral, which has not yet been found at the locality. In 

 occurrence and relations it is suggestive of the gehlenite from the Tyrol. 

 The name cacoclasite was suggested for it, in allusion to the absence of 

 cleavage, before its pseudomorphous character was established. The 

 same author describes a yariety of dark-bluish spinel, also from Wake- 

 field; it is remarkable for having an approximately cubic form, the 

 planes, however, being much rounded. Barite crystals from DeKalb, 

 Saint Lawrence County, New York, have been described by Dr. Geo. 

 H. Williams. From Topsham, Me., Prof. F. C. Robinson has obtained 

 crystals of allanite {Amer. Jour. Sci., xxvii, 412), which he has subjected 

 to chemical analysis. Additional points of interest are the occurrence 

 of kaolinite in microscopic crystals, showing pyramidal planes, at the 

 National Belle mine at Red Mountain, Ouray County, Colorado, as noted 

 by R. C. Hills {lb., xxvii, 472); also the occurrence of leucite in lava in 

 the vicinity of the volcano, Cerro de las Virgines, in Lower California. 



NEW MINERALS. 



Aimajibrite, Aimatolite. — See Heraafibrite, Hematolite, below. 

 Allaktite. — This is one of a group of manganese arsenates recently 

 discovered in Nordmark, Sweden. This group includes allaktite, dia- 



