33^ Anahfis of tht Honey-fiant, or Mellite. 



pretended (tone to be compofed of a peculiar vegetable acid 

 'united witb alumine. 



Profeflbr Abildgaard, to whom I am indebted for many 

 curious minerals from Norway, fent me a few weeks ago, by 

 the hands of M. Mantev, a fmali quantity of mellite, a part 

 of which he dcftincd for the purpofe of analvfis, and I took 

 the earlieil opportunity of complying with his withes in 

 that refpcci, 



Defcripthn of the Mellite. 



Thisfubftancc has a light yellow colour, on which account 

 it has been called mellite, or honey-ftone : it generally cryf- 

 tallifcs in octaedra, the angles of which are fometimes re- 

 placed by facets arifing from laws of decrement, which 

 have not attained to their limits. Its fpecific gravity is not 

 confiderable ; according to Mr. Abich it is about i -666. It 

 is found in Thuringia in ftrata of foffil and bituminous 

 wood. 



Chemical CharaBers of Mellite. 



I. When expofed to the action of heat in contact with 

 "the air this fubftance becomes white, and burns without be- 

 coming fenfibly charred : it leaves as refidnum a white mat- 

 ter, which produces a flight effervefcence with acids. It has 

 no fenfible favour, yet, if kept for fome time on the tongue, 

 it occafions a faint impreifion of acidity. 



Aiiahfis. 



II. I took two grammes of mellite, reduced to powder, and 

 mixed them with four grammes of fa tu rated carbonat of 

 potafh diffolved in a fufficient quantity of water. As foon as 

 the mixture was made it produced a pretty flrong effer- 

 vefcence without the afliftance of foreign heat; but to acce- 

 lerate the decompofition of this fubftance, and render it 

 more complete, I expofed it to a gentle heat on a fand bath. 



The liquor, when filtrated after cooling, had a brownifh 

 'colour, and left on the paper a brown matter, which when 

 dried in the fun weighed nearly o*8 of a gramme. 



III. Thefe o- 8 of brown matter, when calcined in a cru- 

 cible, became white, and weighed no more than 0*33 of a 



gramme. 



