JEW V(A:l 



PROCEEDINGS ^ 



Delaware County Institute of Science 



\'()L. I \\ No. I OCTOBKK, [Cj08 



A HALF HOURS TALK OX MTXERALOOV.- 



BV JOSF.l'II WILLCOX. 



The iiu'italion of your club lo give a lecture <jn the subject 

 of miuerals was accejited with some hesitation, as I now find 

 myself in the new role cjf a professor for the purpose of 

 making an attenijU to extract from dr\- stones and massive 

 n)cks instructive entertainment for an ex])ectant assemblage 

 of cultured listeners. 



At the same time I ha\-e been confronted with the embar- 

 rassing fact that, in the hurried preparation of this paper, no 

 books of reference could be consulted, and only a treacherous 

 memory t-ould be relied upon for the accuracy of many of the 

 statements included in it. In the following paper the use of 

 technical words has l)een avoided as much as practicable. 



Mineralogy is the science wliich treats of the substances of 

 which the rocks and soils of the earth are composed. It may 

 be proper to state here that all the soil of the earth is merely 

 disintegrated rock broken down by the ravages of the air and 

 water, in addition to the action of frost, (hiring a vast peritxl 

 of time. 



AlthoULdi the study of mineralogy is one of the most 

 attracti\e of all tlie scientific pursuits, the discussion of the 

 subject cannot be made a matter of great interest without the 



•■ I'a])er rt-ad before tlu- Twilijilil I'.irk Nature Clul>. Twili.i^lit l-'ark, 

 'Cal~kill Miiimlaiii^. JulNi'^rtl, i^oS. 



