-276 Mineral Resembling Meerschaum 



the unique label which appears in the Smith College collec- 

 tion.* 



The hampshirite items appearing in Professor Emerson's 

 lexicont lead to the presumption that but few specimens of 

 this mineral are extant, scarcely more in number than the dis- 

 tinct opinions as to its nature. In reviewing the literature, it 

 seerns that Professor Dewey declared the specimen true crys- 

 tals of steatite, not a pseudomorph ; President Hitchcock be- 

 lieved them to be steatite after quartz; Herman called them a 

 distinct species ; Professor Emerson speaks of them as serpen- 

 tine crystals after olivine. $ To the foregoing opinions that of 

 M^r. Parsons may be added declaring these crystals to be pseu- 

 domorphs after humite, an opinion which he supports by care- 

 ful crystal measurements. 



■There is abundant opportunity in the great serpentine 

 formations of Hampshire and Hampden counties to unearth 

 more of the rare and interesting hampshirite. Since I have 

 now pointed out the exact locality wdiich was covered, not for 

 the purpose of concealment, but because the excavation ex- 

 tended into the middle of a traveled highway, it is to be hoped 

 that enthusiastic mineralogists will bring more of these rare 

 crystals to light and Smith College may not be alone in the 

 possession of this unique and interesting mineral. 



January 3, i< 



* Hampshirite ; steatitic pseudomorphs after quartz ; Chester, Mass., on 

 the road to Middlefield. Locality exhausted and flHed up with rocks to pre- 

 vent anything more being taken from it. Bailey thinks that this specimen 

 • could not be duplicated. From Row's collection; he procured it at the local- 

 ity for $10.00. 



tibid, pp. 91, 92, 152. 



jBul. G. S. A., vol. vi. p. 473. 



