Schlagiutweit.] 138 [October 21, 



removiil. The resignation was accepted, and the presenta- 

 tion of the name of a new Curator referred to the Committee 

 of Nomination. 



October 21, 1868. 

 The President in the chair. Twenty members present. 



Professor Robert von Schlagintweit, who was i^resent as 

 a visitor, exhibited and discussed some minerals, called Ne- 

 phrite, fi'om Turkistan. 



While travelling with his brothers in Central Asia, over a route 

 never before trodden by Europeans or Americans, he discovered 

 large quarries of this mineral, which were but little worked and 

 could be leisurely examined. They lay in a place called Gulbaga- 

 shen, in the Karakash Valley, at a height of more than twelve thou- 

 sand feet above the sea; though inferior in character, this mineral is 

 held at high prices, on account of its rarity in commerce. It is a sili- 

 cate of magnesia, containing about fifty-nine parts of silica, and twenty- 

 two parts of magnesia, and is almost destitute of water; it is wrongly 

 stated to be found in Europe, and occurs only in Asia, New Zealand 

 (whei-e the stone is of inferior quality), and possibly in South America. 

 By the inhabitants of Turkistan it is named Yashem, and by the Chi- 

 nese, Tschoo. When quarried, it is so soft that it may be scratched by 

 the finger nail, but afterwards grows to be excessively hard. Jt is 

 manufactured, while soft, into amulets, mouth pieces of pipes, etc. 

 The interesting feature in the discoveiy of the origin of nephrite, is 

 the fact that tools of this material have been found in the lacustrine 

 habitations of Switzerland, proving either that these ancient races of 

 the stone age migrated from Central Asia, or else, which is less prob- 

 able, that traffic in those times must have been very extensive. 



The President announced that the winter series of lec- 

 tures would begin witli a course by Dr. B. Joy JeiFries, on 

 the Eye and Optical Phenomena, to be given on successive 

 Wednesdays, commencing October 28th. 



