Scientific Intelligence — Mineralogy . 377 



necessary indications to Mr Lawrence Smith, American mineral- 

 ogist in tlie service of the Porte, who proposes to develop my dis- 

 covery;' — I say, when this was written to you, already nearly a year 

 had expired since I had made the discovery ; it was publicly known 

 by the announcement in the Journal of Constantinople, the 16th 

 May 1847, and the " brilliant prospect'' was already appreciated by 

 the Turkish Government, and 800 tons from the summit of Gumuch- 

 dagh were in England. Wherefore I claim the priority of the 

 discovery of emery in Asia Minor in situ, and to have been the first 

 to have made known publicly this discovery to the scientific world. 



The reason why I did not make this discovery known to the scientific 

 world was because I intended to make a complete memoir on this sub- 

 ject after an examination of certain points which is not yet finished ; I 

 will mention only one or two to which my investigations have led 

 me ; they are the discovery of the existence of the oxide of zirconium 

 in emery, and of a new mineral that I have found associated with 

 emery coming from all the localities of Asia Minor and of Naxos. 

 It is a micaceous mineral having for composition silex 30, alumina 

 50, zirconia 4, lime 13, oxide of iron, manganese, and potash 3. I 

 have decided to call it Emerylite, and to give at some future time a 

 full description of it. 



"One word upon the aspect of emery, which M. Tchihatcheff has 

 compared to the hydrated oxide of iron. In all my observations I 

 have not yet seen a specimen that can be compared to this oxide, even 

 at first sight it resembles more nearly the protoxide, the silicates, 

 and anhydrous oxides of iron. The fracture is irregular, except in 

 a species of inferior quality from Gumuchdagh, which has a con- 

 choidal fracture, and the aspect of black limestone. I have made 

 other observations more or less interesting, but I reserve them for 

 another time." — (^American Journal of Science and Arts, 2d Series, 

 vol. vii., No. 20, p. 283.)* 



11. Chrome and Meerschaum of Asia Minor ; By J. Lawrence 

 Smith. (Communicated with the preceding.) — In my journey to 

 the south of Broosa (Anatoly, Asia Minor), I crossed a forma- 

 tion of serpentine and other magnesian rocks of considerable ex- 

 tent. Fifty miles from this I discovered chromate of iron dis- 

 seminated in these rocks; and ten or fifteen miles further south 

 (near the city of Harmanjick), there is an abundant deposit of 

 this mineral. A circumstance worthy of remark, is, that this 

 chromate of iron (the first that has been discovered in Asia Minor) 

 is found in serpentine as elsewhere. This important fact can ex- 

 plain, to a certain extent, the formation of this chromate. It is 

 well known that serpentine contains all the elements of chromate 

 of iron, which, during the consolidation of this rock, might separate 

 themselves by the force of segregation, so well known to operate in 



* It is to be regretted that Mr Smith does not give an intelligible descrip- 

 tion of his piiiprv. — Editor Ed. Phil. Jour. 



