394 Tellurium, — Rui?is of Velleia. 



TELLURIUM. 



The following description of a new ore of tellurium, by Pro- 

 fessor Esmark of Christiania, appears in the third volume of th» 

 Transactions of the Geological Society of London : — 



It occurs coarsely disseminated, and crystallized in perfect 

 hexagonal plates striped on the edges. 



It has the whitish hue of tin. 



Its fracture displays a perfect foliation, but only in onedirection. 



It has a strong metallic lustre; a moderate flexibility; con- 

 siderable softness, and feels heavy. 



Before the blowpipe it burns with the colour and smell of tel- 

 lurium, and has the same action with acids. The precipitate by 

 water burns upon charcoal like tellurium ; but after its sublima- 

 tion a small metallic button remained of the colour of silver, 

 malleable, but too minute for further examination ; for on ac- 

 count of the rarity of the substance I could only devote a single 

 grain to this examination. 



It is found in the Orndal copper mine, accompanied by cop- 

 per pyrites, and a small intermixture of sulphuret of molybdenum. 

 The mine is called Mosnap, and has been full of water for several 

 years. The vein lies in mica slate. I met with the same ore in 

 Hungary, in the collection of my friend M. Gerhard, who gave 

 nie a specimen of it ; but as he did not know from what part of 

 Hungary it came, he did not value it. For this reason I omitted 

 taking notice of it in the journal of my travels through Hungary 

 and the Bannat of Temeswar. 



It is easily distinguished from molybdenum, by its colour and 

 its habitude before the blowpipe. 



HUINS OF VELLEIA. 



Parma, OctoLer 13. 

 Two Englishmen have been here some time, and have investi- 

 gated with great attention our monuments of the arts, our 

 museums, and our libraries ; they visited the ruins of Velleia, and 

 in assisting at the works discovered an elegant bas-relief wiiich 

 was placed over a fountain. It represents the two brothers 

 Castor and Pollux. This bas-relief, which the celebrated anti- 

 quary M. De Lama, who is appointed to superintend the extri- 

 cation of the ruins, believes to be Grecian, is in the best taste. 

 It consists of foui figures, and the attitude of Castor is admirable, 

 having all the grace of the antique. These scientific Englishmen 

 have had several conversations with Abbe Derossi, one of the 

 most learned men in the Oriental languages, and who possesses 

 an uui(iue collection of bibles. The Emperor Alexander evinced 

 his willingness to possess this valualjle library ; but it appears 

 that Austria wishes this literary monument to remain in Italy. 

 M. Derossi has refused the offers of those Englishmen, who 

 wished to treat with him for his biblical library. 



