1875.] Mineralogy. II5 
Geological Survey of Canada, who has recently described it in the “ Canadian 
Naturalist.”” Dawsonite is a white, transparent, or translucent mineral, with 
a bladed structure, believed to crystallise in the monoclinic system. Two 
analyses revealed aremarkable composition, seeming to show that the mineral 
might be regarded as “ta hydrous carbonate of alumina, lime, and soda; or 
perhaps a compound consisting of a hydrate of alumina combined with car- 
bonates of lime and soda.” If the existence of a native carbonate of alumina 
be admitted, the mineralogist will have no difficulty in understanding the com- 
position of Hovite—a mineral described by Messrs. J. H. and G. Gladstone, 
in the ‘ Philosophical Magazine” for 1862. It was suggested that Hovite 
might be a double carbonate of alumina and lime; but there has been some 
hesitation in accepting this suggestion, as chemists are not acquainted with a 
definite carbonate of alumina, or at least the existence of such a compound, 
as a laboratory produé&, seems doubtful. 
A mineral, reputed to occur in rather large quantity near the town of 
Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, has been examined by Prof. Liver- 
sidge, of Sydney, whose results have been published in the “ Journal of the 
Chemical Society.” The mineral is a soft, amorphous substance, of a fine 
apple-green colour, occurring with chrome iron-ore and steatite, in veins tra- 
versing serpentine rock. It appears, from Prof. Liversidge’s analyses, to be a 
hydrous silicate of magnesium and nickel. We understand that the species 
is to be called Noumeite. 
Some mineralogical notes have been communicated to Leonhard and 
Geinitz’s ‘‘ Neues Jahrbuch,” by Dr. August Frenzel, who describes, among 
other minerals, a new species from Schneeberg, in Saxony, to be called 
Miriquidite—a name referring to the old Miriquidi forest, which formerly 
stretched over the whole Saxon Erzgebirge. The new mineral crystallises in 
the rhombohedral system, and contains oxide of lead, peroxide of iron, water, 
and arsenic and phosphoric acids; but a quantitative analysis has not yet 
been made, 
Among some Russian minerals Frenzel has observed a specimen of native 
platinum in grains which were strongly magnetic. On analysis they were 
found to contain 76‘97 per cent of platinum, and 10°97 of iron. 
The extremely rare mineral to which Levy, many years ago, gave the name 
of Roselite, in honour of the late Gustav Rose, has been recently monographed 
by Prof. Schrauf, of Vienna. Ona previous occasion we called attention, in 
these pages, to the recent discovery of this rare species at Schneeberg, in 
Saxony. The Daniel mine there has yielded some very fine examples, which 
have been thoroughly examined physically, crystallographically, and chemi- 
cally, by Prof. Schrauf, whilst they have also been analysed by Dr. C. Winkler, 
of Freiberg. F 
Prof. Tschermak, of Vienna, has recently studied some of the remarkable 
meteoric masses found at Ovifak, in Greenland, and has published the results 
of his studies in the last part of his ‘‘ Mineralogische Mittheilungen.” This 
paper is preceded by a translation of Nauckhofi’s Swedish memoir, descriptive 
of Nordenskjéld’s discovery of the occurrence of native iron in a dyke of 
basalt. Tschermak’s studies support the view that this iron is of meteoric 
origin. 
In the last part of the ‘‘ Mittheilungen”’ Mr. E. S. Dana, of New Haven, 
U.S., publishes the results of his morphological studies of the specimens of 
atacamite, or oxychloride of copper, from the Wallaroo mines, South Australia, 
now in the Imperial Cabinet at Vienna. 
Microscopic mineralogy has come to be pursued almost as actively in this 
country asin Germany. Mr. Allport, of Birmingham, has. recently recorded, 
in the ‘“‘ Geological Magazine,” the occurrence of Nosean in the phonolite of 
the Wolff Rock—a rock which rises from the sea between the western ex- 
tremity of Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. This is the first time that the 
mineral species nosean has been discovered in this country. Prof. Hull, of 
Dublin, has published a paper on the structure of the beautiful dark green 
