430 Chronicles of Science. [July, 
borax in the condition of nearly absolute purity. The value of this 
discovery is great indeed. We have seen natural crystals of borax 
from two to three inches in length brought from this remarkable 
region. We understand that an English chemist is now engaged im 
investigating the matter, and there is no doubt but im a short 
time, by either English industry or American energy, this new source 
of borax will be brought into active rivalry with the lagoons of 
Tuscany. Indeed, a “ California Borax Company” is already formed. 
A new source of the metal Indiwm has been found by Dr. 
Kachler in the zinc blende of Schoenfeld, near Schloggenwald, in 
which mineral it is associated with tin and other metals in such 
proportion that some grains of it can be separated. The blende is 
roasted, dissolved in sulphuric acid, and the solution treated with 
metallic zine, the Indium is then precipitated with the other metals, 
from which it can be ultimately separated. 
M. Henry Soliel has presented to the Académie des Sciences of 
Paris a memoir “ Upon the Direction of the Optical Axis in Rock 
Crystals.” This is a very elaborate examination of this optical 
question, to which M. Henry Soliel appears to have found a very 
perfect solution. This memoir will appear in the ‘ Comptes Rendus’ 
of the Academy. 
Leuchtenbergite is the name of a mineral, to which the Duke 
Nicholas of Leuchtenberg has recently drawn the attention of 
the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, with a view to remove 
the uncertainty which surrounded it. Breithaupt considered it 
as an altered Chlorite; Komonen found but 8°62 per cent. of 
water; Cloizeaux regarded this mineral as a variety of Pennine ; 
while Nauman regarded it as a variety of Clinochlore. 
The Leuchtenbergite is found near Slatoust and in the moun- 
tains of Chichime in the Ural. It is a talc-like mineral, with a 
hardness of 2°5 and a density of 2°61. The analysis of the mineral 
gives :— 
Silica A : ; ; . 30°60 
Oxide of Iron . : 5 c ; « 1202 
Lime 1 
Magnesia } dig’ 
Alumina . 2 : ; 4 2 BO ES: 
Water ; s : 5 > > Ha 2i6 
99°42 
This is nearly the composition of Clinochlore ; but its physical 
characteristics induce the Duke of Leuchtenberg to regard it as a 
distinct variety, appertaining to the group of Chlorites. 
Dr. Heddle communicates to the ‘ Philosophical Magazine™* the 
following notice of a British variety of Wulfenite :— 
* * Philosophical Magazine, April, 1866. 
