464 RECORD OF SCIENCE FOR 1887 AND 1888. 



tons of zircons were obtained from the Green liiver mines, Henderson 

 Conntv, North Carolina; the mining was carried on under contract 

 with W. E. Hidden. The same mineralogist has described' the rare 

 yttrium phosphate, xeuotime, from a number of new localities in North 

 Carolina, and also from New York (Manhattan Island). 



Some of the most important mineral discoveries of the past two years 

 are contained in the followJng descriptions of new species. 



NEW MINERALS. 



Amarantite. — See Hoh m aun i te. 



Arseniopleite. — A new manganese arseniate, belonging to a group of 

 minerals to which a considerable number of new species have been added 

 recently. It occurs in cleavable masses or nodules, often forming small 

 veins, with rhodonite and hausmannite, in a crystalline limestone at the 

 Sjo mine, Gryhyttan, Sweden. Its color is reddish brown. It has been 

 investigated optically by Bertrand and found to be uniaxial with nega- 

 tive double refraction, and probably is to be referred to the rhombo- 

 hedral system. An analysis yielded the following : 



AsjOs SbaOs MnO FeaOs PbO CaO MgO H.O CI. 



44.98 trace -28.20 3.68 4.48 8.11 3.10 4.54 trace = 97.14. 



Deducting impurities and correcting it according to the state of oxi- 

 dation of the manganese it becomes Mn^ Oj 7.80, MnO 21.25. (Described 

 by L. J. Igelstrom in Bull Soc. Min., 1888, vol. xi, 39.) 



AuerUte. — A new thorium mineral of peculiar interest because it seems 

 to occupy an intermediate position between the silicates and phos- 

 phates. It was discovered by W. E. Hidden, in Henderson County, 

 North Carolina, occurring in disintegrated granitic rocks associated with 

 zircon and implanted upon it in parallel i)Ositiou. It is found in pris- 

 matic tetragonal crystals like zircon in form and angle. It has a pale 

 yellow to orange or deep red color. The hardness is 2.5 to 3, and the 

 specific gravity 4.42 to 4.77, the orange-red crystals having the higher 

 density. The luster is wax like and it is brittle and easily criunbled. 

 An analysis by J. B. Mackintosh gave the following results: 



The water and carbon dioxide are present in al)Out the ratio of 10: 1. 

 Assuming the homogeneity of the material, which its appeal auce seemed 

 tojastif5% the mineral is a hydrous silicate and phosi)hate of thoiium. 

 It will be ren.embered that the cerium phosphate, mouazite, uniformly 

 contains more or less thorium silicate about which there has been some 

 <lifference of opinion as to whether it is an impurity or not; this new 

 mineral throws light upon the question. It is named after Dr. Carl 

 Auer von Welsbach. (Described by Hidden and Mackintosh in Amer. 

 Journ. Sci., 1888, xxxvi, 4G1.) 



' Amer. Jouru. Sci., 1888, vol. xxxvi, 380x 



