474 



LIME LIMERICK. 



varieties which have been called Jlos/erri; also 

 ina-MM- aiul crystallized. The first, though they 

 ixx-ur in cavities and fissures, are not products of a 

 sutlactilic fonnation. The most beautiful crystals, 

 well defined and transparent, occur near Bilin, in 

 Bohemia, in a vein traversing basalt, and filk-il with 

 a massive variety of the same species, consisting of 

 lanze columnar particles of composition. The 

 varieties imbedded in gypsum have been found in 

 the kingdom of Arragon, in Spain, from whence the 

 name Arragonitc has ueen derived. Its chief locali- 

 ties are the iron mines of Stiria, Carinthia and Hun- 

 gary, and the metallic veins of the Pyrenees and Great 

 Britain. 



Sulphate of lime, or gypsum, is a mineral little 

 it^s extensively diffused than limestone, forming im- 

 mense beds and veins, in numerous countries. It 

 invents us with a very considerable diversity of 

 crystals, which have, for their primary form, a 

 right-oblique-angled prism, of which the bases are 

 oblique-angled parallelograms of 113 8' and 65 

 52'. The crystals are either prismatic or lens- 

 shaped, in their general aspect. Lustre vitreous, 

 inclining to pearly ; colour white, sometimes inclin- 

 ing and passing into smalt-blue, flesh-red, ochre-yel- 

 low, honey-yellow, and several shades of gray. 

 Impure varieties assume dark-gray, brick-red, and 

 brownish-red tinges. Transparent or translucent ; 

 sectile ; specific gravity, 2'3l. It occurs massive, 

 in globular masses, in which the individuals are dis- 

 cernible ; also granular, passing into impalpable. 

 Those varieties of sulphate of lime which are pure, 

 transparent, and perfectly formed, were formerly 

 called selenite, while the more massive and impure 

 varieties were denominated gypsum. The latter 

 was again divided into several sub-species, com- 

 prehending, almost exclusively, compound varieties, 

 which were easily distinguishable from each other, 

 as their division depended upon the size of the grain, 

 or composition in general. Thus foliated gypsum con- 

 sists of discernible granular particles ; compact gyp- 

 sum, of impalpable particles of composition ; scaly 

 foliated gypsum consists of minute scaly particles ; 

 earthy gypsum, of a mealy powder ; very thin colum- 

 nar composition produces fibrous gypsum. Before 

 the blowpipe, gypsum exfoliates and melts, though 

 with difficulty, into a white enamel, which, after a 

 short time, falls to powder. In a lower degree of heat, 

 it loses its water, and becomes friable, so as to be easily 

 reduced to an impalpable powder. If mixed with 

 water, this powder becomes warm, and soon hardens 

 into a solid mass. It is composed of lime, 33-0, sul- 

 phuric acid, 44-8, and water, 21-0. The massive 

 varieties of this species occur in beds, of a considera- 

 ble thickness, in secondary districts, in connexion 

 with compact limestone, different kinds of sandstone 

 and clay, in alternating layers, in the latter of which 

 the gypsum sometimes exists in imbedded masses, or 

 crystalline groups. It is not rare to find deposits of 

 rock-salt in its vicinity ; and brine springs very often 

 issue from the contiguous rocks. Of the organic 

 remains found in gypsum, those of extinct species of 

 terrestrial quadrupeds, in the Montmartre, near Paris, 

 are the most remarkable. It occurs in a great many 

 countries, particularly in Germany, Switzerland, 

 Austria, Poland, Britain, France and Spain ; in 

 North America, in the United States, at Niagara 

 falls, Lockport, and particularly in the vicinity of 

 Cayuga lake ; and in New Brunswick and Nova 

 Scotia. Gypsum is variously employed in manufac- 

 turing artificial marble, stucco-work, mortar, &c.; 

 also for making casts of statues, medals, &c. It is 

 added to the mass of certain kinds of porcelain and 

 glass. In sculpture, it is used under the name of 

 alabaster. But next to its use in the formation of 



cements, is the use which is made of it in agriculture. 

 It appears to have been first used as a manure in 

 Germany, and afterwards in France. It was former- 

 ly calcined, but is now ground in mills, after the 

 manner of grain. It is particularly adapted to sandy 

 soils and grass lands. Another species of the same 

 composition with the gypsum, except the water, is 

 called anhydrite (q. v.). It is of comparatively rare 

 occurrence. 



Phosphate of lime, or apatite, is found crystallized 

 in six-sided prisms, terminated by one or more planes, 

 or the prism is terminated by a six-sided pyramid, 

 and the lateral edges are sometimes replaced by 

 numerous planes. It yields with difficulty to cleav- 

 age, parallel to the side of a regular six-sided 

 prism, which is therefore considered as its primitive 

 form. Lustre vitreous, inclining to resinous ; colour 

 white, passing into blue, green, yellow, red, and 

 brown ; transparent or translucent ; brittle ; hardness 

 above that of fluor; specific gravity, 3-22. It also 

 occurs massive. W hen in fine powder, it is slowly 

 dissolved in nitric acid, and without effervescence. 

 Some varieties are phosphorescent upon ignited char- 

 coal, and before the blowpipe ; others even when 

 rubbed with hard bodies. It does not melt alone, 

 before the blowpipe. It is composed of lime, 55'0, 

 and phosphoric acid, 45 '0. It usually occurs in beds 

 and veins of iron and tin ores. Its principal locali- 

 ties are Saxony, Bohemia, Salzburg and Cabo de 

 Gata, in Spain ; from which latter place very beauti- 

 fully crystallized specimens are obtained, and which 

 have received, from their colour, the name of aspara- 

 gus stone. It is also found at St Gothard, and in 

 Devonshire and Cornwall. 



Fluate of lime. See Fluor. 



Tungstate of lime, or tungsten, occurs massive, and 

 crystallized in the form of an octahedron with a square 

 base. Lustre vitreous, inclining to adamantine; 

 colour generally white, inclining to yellowish-gray; 

 translucent or transparent ; brittle ; hardness that of 

 fluor ; specific gravity, 6 ; infusible before the blow- 

 pipe. It consists of lime, 19'40, oxide of tungsten, 

 80-42. It is found in Bohemia, Saxony and Cornwall. 



Borate of lime. See Boracic Acid. 



Arseniate of lime, or pharmacolite , is a very rare 

 species in mineralogy, found in small quantity at 

 Andreasburg, in the Hartz, and at one or two other 

 places in Europe. It occurs in minute fibres, or 

 acicular crystals, which are commonly aggregated 

 into botryoidal or globular masses. Its colour is 

 white, or grayish- white, though often tinged of a 

 violet-red, by arseniate of cobalt, which accompanies 

 it. Specific gravity, 2' 6. It consists of lime, 25, 

 arsenic acid, 50 54, and water, 24-46. 



LIMERICK; one of the six counties included with- 

 in the province of Munster, Ireland. It is bounded 

 on the north by the river Shannon ; on the south by 

 the county of Cork ; on the east by Tipperary, and 

 on the west by Kerry. It is 51 miles from north to 

 south, and 32 from east "to west. The county raises 

 to a considerable extent wheat, barley, oats, rape, 

 and hemp. Population, in 1841, 281,638. 



LIMERICK, the capital of the above county, is 

 situated on the Shannon, 119 miles S.W. of Dublin 

 and 63 N.W. of Cork. The principal public build- 

 ings are the custom-house, the cathedral, and the 

 bishop's palace. The cathedral is of great antiquity. 

 There are several charitable establishments ; also a 

 good public library, and a theatre. It contains four 

 Protestant churches, and eight chapels for the Roman 

 Catholics. There is also an extensive barrack for 

 twenty-two companies of foot and four troops of horse. 

 Limerick carries on manufactures of linen, woollen 

 and paper. It was taken by the English in 1174. 

 In 1651, it was taken by Ireton. In 1690, it was 



