REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 83 



DEPARTMENT OF MINERALS. 



Special attention lias been given to the work of securing material 

 illustrating the associations, occurrence, and typical development of 

 minerals of specific localities. This has indirectly been the cause of a 

 great increase in the scientific value of the collections during the year. 

 The report of the honorary curator, Prof F. W. Clarke, states that all 

 the collections show a steady and highly gratifying growth. Three of 

 the accessions comprised jnaterial deposited by the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution for addition to the Lea collection. These included a collection 

 of gems, semi-precious stones, and minerals from the southern states; 

 a nugget of native silver, weighing 448 ounces, from Pinal County, 

 Ariz., and a specimen of green tourmaline — a cut stone weighing 57^ 

 carats and valued at $1,500. This material was presented by Dr. L. T. 

 Chamberlain to the Smithsonian Institution, and by the latter deposited 

 in the National Museum. It is another evidence of Dr. Chamberlain's 

 unstinted generosity by which the Museum has benefited so largely in 

 the past. 



Of the other accessions by gift the following are deemed worthy of 

 special mention: A collection of minerals from the Copper Queen Mine, 

 Bisbee, Ariz., presented by the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining 

 Company, New York City; specimens of lawsonite from F. L. Eansome, 

 through H. W. Turner, United States Geological Survey; a specimen 

 of lorandite, a new siDecies of mineral, from George L. English & Co., 

 New York City; specimens of Georgia bauxite and associated minerals 

 from the Georgia Bauxite and Mining Company, Lin wood, Ga. ; a 

 specimen of caswellite, a new species of mineral, from Franklin, N. J., 

 presented by Col. G. Cjesar ; a collection of minerals from Marion County, 

 Ark., exhibited at the Cotton States and International Exposition 

 at Atlanta; a collection of distorted selenite crystals and other minerals 

 from Hants County, Nova Scotia, presented by Dr. M. C. Smith, Lynn, 

 Mass., and specimens of quartz crystals, distorted and highly modified, 

 from Arkansas, presented by Charles F. Brown, Hot Springs, Ark. A 

 large slab of agatized wood from Chalcedony Park, Arizona, was depos- 

 ited by the Drake Company, St. Paul, Minn., and a si)ecimen of thau- 

 masite from a new American locality was purchased from George L. 

 English & Co. 



The time of the honorary curator is occupied to so great an extent 

 in connection with his position as chief chemist of the LTnited States 

 Geological Survey that the care of the collections has devolved very 

 largely upon the assistant curator, Mr. Wirt Tassin. The many minor 

 details of installation, consisting of reblocking, mounting, developing 

 crystals, etc., have been carried on continuously, with the result that a 

 marked improvement in the appearance of the collections Is noticeable. 



An investigation of the minerals of Italian Peak, Colorado, is now 

 in progress, while earlier in the year a large amount of time was spent 

 in the study of comparative mineralogy. 



