THE N()Nmp:tallic minerals. 



447 



1 1111(1 '2 of Diiiia's scale, a specific gravity of 1.097, black streak, and 

 showinu- a l)r()wii color or very thin edo-o. In the tlanie of a lamp it 

 shows signs of incipient fusion, intumesces somewhat and emits jets 

 of gas, giving off a bitmninous odor; when rubbed it becomes electric. 

 According to Dana it softens slightly in boiling water, is only a trace 

 solul)le in alcohol, 4 per cent in ether, and some 3 per cent soluble in 

 turpentine. The following is the composition as given by Wetherill: 

 Carbon, S6.<»4 per cent; hydrogen, 8.96 per cent; oxygen, 1.977 per 

 cent; nitrogen, 2.98 per cent; ash, 0.10 per cent. 



Dr. Antisell made the following comparative tests to show the rela- 

 tive richness of the material in volatile matter: 



Constituents. 



Volatile matter 



Coke 



Ash 



Total .... 



.^Ji ■ American 

 '=«'''• I asphalt. 



50.52 



47.69 



1.79 



70.15 

 29.85 



100.00 



Lake 

 asphalt. 



71.67 



28.04 



0.29 



100. 00 



Albertite. 



59. 88 



;i9. 59 



0.53 



100. 00 



The mineraHs described by C. H. Hitchcock^ as occuring in ''true 

 cutting veins" in shale of Lower Carboniferous age in Hillsborough 

 County. New Brunswick. The shales themselves contain a large 

 amount of carbonaceous matter and })y distillation have been made to 

 3'ield 30 gallons to the ton of refined illuminating oil. They contain 

 immense numbers of fossil hsh and are mostly inflammable. The veins 

 vary from a fraction of an inch to 12 feet in width with a general N. 

 65° east course, sometimes vertical and sometimes inclined north- 

 westward from 75^ to 80°. They enlarge and contract very irregu- 

 larly, but in general increase in thickness as followed downward. 

 Hitchcock regards the veins as having been tilled b}" the injection of 

 the material in a liquid state and being subsequently indurated. 



r^SY^.v. — This vein seems to have been discovered about 1840 by Dr. 

 Abraham Gesner who, in 1850 took out a patent in the United States 

 for the manufacture of illuminating gas from this and other asphalts.^ 

 A company was organized and for some years active mining opera- 

 tions were carried on, but have been discontinued since the discovery 

 of petroleum. (Specimens Nos. 59935, 66701, U.S.N.M.) 



Grahamite. — Grahainite is a hydrocarbon compound closely related 

 to albertite, but differing physically in having a duller luster and more 

 cokelike aspect. It has been described by Dr. Henry Wurtz as occur- 



' American Journal of Science, XXXIX, 1865, p. 267; see also Dawson's Acadian 

 Geology, 3(1 ed., pp. 2;> 1-241. 



-Review of reports on the Geological Relations, etc., of the coal of the Albert Coal 

 MiningGonipany, situated in Hillsl)orough, Ai))ert County, New Brunswick, as written 

 and compiled by Charles T. Jackson, M. D., a Fellow of the Geological Society of 

 London, etc., New Y(jrk, 1852. 



