(graham] 



SAPONITE 



199 



by S. L. Penfield and J. H . Pratt' in 1896, and E. T.Wherry^ states 

 that it occurs in considerable amount also at another quarry (Fran- 

 cisco Bros.) at Great Notch, 3 miles southwest of Paterson. More 

 recently, W. T. Schaller^ has described thaumasite from a second 

 locality in the United States, Beaver County, Utah. 



Saponite from the Canadian Northern Railway Tunnel, 



Montreal 



When first collected, this substance is somewhat translucent, 

 soft, and quite plastic, with very much the consistency and appearance 

 of candle grease. If kept immersed in water, the material retains its 

 original character for some time, but gradually it becomes more opaque 

 and rather harder. After long exposure to the air, also, it turns white 

 and opaque, and ultimately crumbles to powder, apparently through 

 loss of moisture. This dry material is soft, has a somewhat soapy 

 feel when rubbed between the fingers, and does not adhere to the 

 tongue. Moistened with water, it forms a clay-like paste. 



Some of this material, which had been exposed to the atmosphere 

 for about a year, was analysed, with the following result: — 



The water is, in part at least, very loosely held. After heating 

 to 40" C, there was a loss in weight of 8-5 per cent, and thereafter 

 there was a gradually increasing loss at higher temperatures, until at 

 100° it amounted to 14-48%. Above this temperature, the mineral 

 still continued to lose weight at a fairly regular rate, as follows: — 



Temperature 120" 140° 160° 180° 205° 



Total loss % 15-03 15-46 16-07 16-53 16-89 



^Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 1, 1896, p. 229. 



^Quoted by Schaller, op. cil. 



^Mineralogical Notes, Series 2, U.S. Geol. Survey, Bulletin 509, 1912, p. 110. 



