200 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 4. 



Chlorite Slate has nearly the same color, with a 

 slaty or foliated structure, composed of minute 

 scales, less unctuous than talc slate, and more unc- 

 tuous than mica slate. Harper's Ferry; Charles- 

 ton, near Boston; near the Falls of the Schuylkill, 

 in hornblende rock, with quartz at Willow Grove, 

 and laminated near the soap-stone quarry, east 

 side of the Schuylkill. 



Talc. — Colors, various shades of green or green- 

 ish white, and silvery while, massive in thin plates 

 or scales, easily separated; also indurated, and in 

 hexagonal plates; flexible, but not elastic; lustre 

 shining, pearly; soft, easily cut; very unctuous, 

 gives a pearly white streak when rubbed on paper. 

 Before the blowpipe, talc generally turns white, 

 but does not fuse, the laminae separate; with borax 

 it melts with effervescence into a greenish trans- 

 parent glass. Mica is flexible and elastic; talc is 

 flexible, but not elastic. Specific gravity, 2.8. 

 On the Schuylkill about ten miles from Philadel- 

 phia, in the soap-stone quarries, with rhombic 

 spar, also near Baltimore. 



Steatite, sometimes confounded with soap-stone, 

 but improperly. Colors, various dull shades of 

 green pale gray, yellow and red; gray is the most 

 common, translucent on the ed^es, massive form- 

 ing large beds; fracture ragged or uneven, with 

 marks of confused crystallization, translucent on 

 the edges; unctuous, can be cut with a knife, very 

 soft when first taken from the quarry, yields to the 

 nail. Before the blowpipe, hardens and turns 

 black, but it is not fusible. Specific gravity, 2.7 to 

 2.5. 



Soap-stone much resembles steatite; is much 

 softer, being some times kneaded like dough when 

 first quarried; it also fuses into a white and some- 

 what translucent enamel. On the Schuylkill, ten 

 miles above Philiadelphin, connected with talc — 

 extensively quarried under the name of soap- 

 stone; also abundant in Connecticut, at Somers. 



Garnet, occurs in granular masses, and in round- 

 ish crystals, with 12, 24 or 36 sides; color reddish 

 or blackish brown, opaque or semi-transparent; lus- 

 tre glistening; brittle; fracture uneven; before the 

 blowpipe, fuses with some difficulty into a blackish 

 or greenish globule; with borax forms a glass co- 

 lored green by the iron present; lroths strongly 

 when fused. Specific gravity, 3.69 to 3.76. At 

 Haddam, Con. on the east side of Wissa- 

 hickon creek, also 1^ miles above the falls of 

 Schuylkill, in mica slate. 



Actynnlite. — Colors, green, sometimes deep and 

 beautiful; also dark green and brownish. Occurs 

 in wedge-shaped concretions and four-sided flat- 

 tened prisms, often deeply striated, brittle, fracture 

 fibrous; singularly harsh to the touch; lustre high- 

 ly shining, silky; translucent; scratches glass. On 

 the first application of heat it turns deep brown, af- 

 terwards melts into a greenish gray glass. Its color 

 will distinguish it from hornblende, which it much 

 resembles in form. Epidote is of a lighter or more 

 yellowish green. Near Baltimore, in all its vari- 

 eties; at Concord in Pennsylvania, in large 

 masses; on the Wissahickon, ten miles from Phil- 

 adelphia, in green needle-shaped crystals, in stea- 

 tite. 



Carbonate of Lime. — The forms and external 

 appearance of this mineral, are extremely various. 

 Its prevailing color, however, is white, or grayish 

 white; it occurs compact, massive, granular, crystal- 

 line; its fragments are generally rhomboidal; cleaves 



readily by the knife in the direction of the natural 

 joints, lbrming rhombs, with smooth polished faces, 

 transparent or translucent; cross fracture uneven, 

 but difficultto be obtained, from the ease with which 

 it divides at the natural joints, scratched by the 

 knife. Heated alone in the flask or matrass, yields 

 no moisture. Before the blowpipe, on charcoal, 

 infuses, if ture; does not tinge the flame, but glows 

 with peculiar brightness when the carbonic acid 

 has been driven off. Loses by complete calcina- 

 tion about 43 per cent. — becomes caustic, heats 

 with water, and acts as an alkali. Effervesces 

 when dropped in acids. Specific gravity 2.7. Its 

 localities are extremely numerous. Some beauti- 

 ful varieties are found at Lockport, New York. 



Carbonate of Magnesia. — The crystallized va- 

 riety is white, in delicate needle-shaped crystals, 

 diverging and having the lustre of salin. The 

 compact variety is gray or yellowish; either irreg- 

 ular or sponge-shaped; a splintery or a flat con- 

 choidal fracture nearly opaque; yields to the nail; 

 adheres to the tongue; dissolves slowly in sulphu- 

 ric acid with effervescence. Before the blowpipe, 

 infusible, but hardens so as to scratch glass — it 

 then acts on moistened turmeric paper, like an al- 

 kali. Specific gravity 2.7. Occurs frequently 

 combined with carbonate of lime. Bare Hills, 

 near Baltimore. 



Sulphate of Lime. — Gypsum, occurs massive, 

 crystallized, granular, fibrous and compact; pre- 

 vailing color white; sometimes gray, yellowish 

 and reddish. Crystals flat, or six or eight-sided 

 prisms, but oblique terminations; cleave easily into 

 lamina?, which are flexible but not elastic; lustre 

 shininsr, pearly; very soft; yields to the nail; fre- 

 quently colorless and highly transparent. In the 

 matrass, alone, gives off water, and becomes 

 milky white, if pure. Melts into an enamel. On 

 charcoal decomposes in the inner flame, after which 

 it acts like an alkali. With borax, effervesces, 

 and melts into a clear glass of a brownish yellow 

 color when cold. Specific gravity 2.3. Nova 

 Scotia, Niagara and west of New York; found 

 also in the Jersey marl. 



Muriate of Soda. — Common table salt is too 

 well known to require description. As native rock 

 salt, it occurs in great quantities beyond the Rocky 

 Mountains, and exists in a state of solution in in- 

 exhaustible quantities in the formations of the 

 western states. 



Green Sand. — Color, various shades of green, 

 from pretty bright grass green to deep olive green, 

 and almost to greenish black: it has sometimes a 

 dull greenish blue shade. Occurs in loose grains, 

 aboiit the coarseness of gunpowder, which the 

 darker kinds much resemble. When very moist, 

 can be kneaded between the fingers. Between 

 the teeth has the sensation and taste of clay. 

 Found sometimes alone in extensive beds, at 

 others mingled in the loose slate with ordinary 

 sand and mica; is disseminated through the sub- 

 stance of various limestone and sandstone rocks. 

 It. constitutes the green marl of New Jersey, and 

 is found extending from that state, south through a, 

 great range of country, and far west upon the Mis- 

 souri. 



Oxide of Iron. — The various iron ores are gen- 

 erally too well known to require description here. 



Sulphuret of Iron.— Color, brass yellow, pass- 

 ing into steel gray. Occurs in many regular crys- 

 talline forme, but more usually in that of the cube 



