196 ANTIMONY 



yields a white slag. When pure, it is perfectly soluble in muriatic acid. Its specific 

 gravity is 4'5. 



Tho most celebrated localities of this ore are Felsobanya, Schomnitz, and Kremnitz, 

 in Hungary, whore it occurs in diverging prisms several inches long. It is also 

 found in the Hartz, at Andreasborg; in Cornwall, at Padstow and Tintagel; at 

 New Cumnick, in Ayrshire; in Victoria and South Australia; and abundantly in 

 Borneo. 



This ore was called by the ancients ir\aTv6<p8a\fj.ov irXarvs broad <f>0aA/bi eye 

 from the use to which it was applied in increasing the apparent sizj of the eye, as 

 is still practised among Oriental nations, by staining the upper and under edges of the 

 eyelids. It was also used as a hair-dye and to colour the eyebrows. 



It was the Lupus Metattoruin of the alchemists. ' Crude antimony ' is obtained 

 from it by simple fusion, and from this product the puro metal is extracted. 



The other principal ores of antimony are the following : 



Native Antimony is a mineral of a tin-white colour and streak, and of a metallic 

 lustre ; it sometimes contains silver, iron, and arsenic, with which last it is com- 

 monly associated. It is brittle, and possesses a specific gravity of 6'62 to 672. It is 

 generally lamellar, sometimes botryoidal, or reniform. Before the blowpipe it soon 

 melts, and continues to burn after the heat is removed ; but if the heat be continued, 

 it evaporates in white fumes, and is redeposited around the globule. 



Native antimony occurs at Sahlberg in Sweden, Andreasberg in the Hartz, Allomont 

 in Dauphiny, in Mexico, in Borneo, &c. 



AUemontite, or Arsenical Antimony. See ARSENIC. 



Dyscrasite, or Antimonial Silver, is a silver-white metallic mineral of somewhat 

 variable composition, containing from 15 to 27 per cent, of antimony, and from 73 to 

 85 per cent, of silver. It is a rare mineral, occurring at Andreasberg in the Hartz. 

 at Allemont in Dauphiny, in Bolivia, &c. 



Breithauptite or Antimonial Nickel is a mineral containing 67'5 of antimony, and 

 32'5 of nickel, found at Andreasberg in the Hartz. 



Oxides of Antimony. Three mineral species consist wholly of native oxides of 

 antimony the result of the alteration of grey antimony, native antimony, and other 

 ores of that metal. Valentinitc, teroxide of antimony, or antimonious oxide, SbO* 

 (Sb 2 O*), occurs in rectangular plates and acicular prisms belonging to the orthorhombic 

 system. It possesses a shining pearly lustre and a snow-white colour, but is some- 

 times pinkish, or ash-grey, or brownish. It affords a white streak. It is composed 

 of antimony 8 4 - 3 2, oxygen 15'68. Specific gravity = 5'56. It is found in tabular 

 crystals in veins traversing the primary rocks at Przibram in Bohemia, near Freiberg 

 in Saxony, Allemont in Dauphiny, &c. Senarmontite. This also consists solely of 

 teroxide of antimony SbO 3 (Sb'-'O 3 ) ; but, unlike Valentinite, crystallises in regular 

 octahedrons : hence the native oxide is dimorphous. The crystals are colourless or 

 greyish, with a resinous or subadamantine lustre. The per-centage composition is, 

 of course, the same as that of Valontinitc. Senarmontite occurs in the province of 

 Constantino in Algeria ; at Pernick in Hungary ; at Endellion in Cornwall ; and at 

 South Ham in Canada. Cervantite, or Antimony Ochre. This is an oxide containing 

 Sb O 4 (Sb 2 O 4 ), probably a combination of antimonious and antimonic oxides (SbO s + 

 SbO s ). It occurs as a crust or powder, or in acicular crystals, with a greasy or earthy 

 lustre, and of a pale yellow or nearly white colour. Specific gravity =4'08. It is 

 found at Cervantes, in Spain ; in Hungary, and the Auvergne. 



Bed Antimony (Kermcsite) is a compound of oxide of antimony 30*2, and sulphide 

 of antimony 69'8 ; or antimony 74'45, oxygen 5'29, and sulphur 20'49. It occurs 

 generally in capillary six-sided prismatic crystals of a cherry-red colour, affording a 

 brownish-red streak. It has a specific gravity of from 4'5 to 4'6. It is feebly trans- 

 lucent, and possesses an adamantine lustre. It occurs at Malaczka in Hungary, 

 Braunsdorf in Saxony, and at Allemont in Dauphiny. 



Antimony also occurs in a large number of other minerals, which are for the most 

 part double sulphides, such as Jamesonite, Zinckenite, Bournonite, Plumosite, Bou- 

 langerite, Wolfsbergite, Panabase, Berthierite, Miargyrite, Pyrargyrite, &c. 



ASSAYING OF ANTIMONY ORES. The chief mineral or ore which has to be submitted 

 to assay is the sulphide of antimony (SbS s ), sometimes the oxides of antimony (SbO*, 

 SbO 4 , and SbO 5 ), and occasionally native antimony. 

 L Sulphide of Antimony. 



(a.) Estimation of the Sulphide of Antimony when it occurs intermixed with more or 

 less of vein-stuff". About 2,000 to 7.000 grains of the ore are broken into fragments 

 from about * to 1 inch in diameter, so as to produce as little dust as possible. Two 

 crucibles are selected, so that the bottom of the upper one can bo inserted into the 

 mouth of the lower one to the extent of about 1 inch ; a hole is made in the bottom 

 of the upper crucible. This hole is partially closed by placing over it a small lump 



