1890.1 MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 69 



Desert sands, even, vary. Arabian desert is almost pure quartz. 

 Egyptian desert is largely quartz, although I have one slide mounted 

 as '' rolling sand," by M. S. Wiard, which is a most beautiful medley ; 

 still it is largely quartz. The Sahara desert is alone quite a beautiful 

 mixture. 



Fine Barren sands also vary. The pine barrens of Michigan, 

 where our State Agricultural College has had a station for years, with 

 no encouraging reports, is a round grain, a small gravel stone. The 

 poor lands of Wisconsin., formerly pine lands, now so worthless that it 

 would require the ingenuity of " Bill Nye " to illustrate it, are also of 

 the same form of grains, while the pine barrens of Lockwood, N. J., 

 appear rich enough to raise 40 bushels of wheat to the acre. 



The Charleston earthquake rather astonished people in regard to 

 sand. There were over 50 varieties found, of which, through the kind- 

 ness of Miss M. A. Booth, I have 25. They are largely micaceous 

 sands, and my theory is that the shock was so severe as to separate 

 the several varieties of sands according to size of grains and weights. 

 There are many in which the only perceptible differences are in color. 



Marble Dust is another interesting study. Marble, as all mineral- 

 ogists know, is simply an aggregation of sand roundish in form. Mr. 

 E. H. Griffith gave me 2 specimens for mounting. One I found to be 

 marble dust. The other is probably pulverized calcite, for certainly 

 under the microscope they do not resemble each other, and yet both 

 are sold as marble dust. 



Bermuda sand, where " sweet onion" grows, is almost entirely com- 

 posed of shells of foraminifera. Vesuvius lava is practically a sand, and 

 of exceeding^ interest. Other lavas are more or less so. 



Oil-well sands, from 100 to 1,100 feet, are a mixture of great variety, 

 while gas- wells vary largely, finally reaching into and through pure 

 rock. 



The Maine sand dunes follow one system throughout the State and 

 are of great interest. 



Florida produces a great variety, from the large oolitic sand to the 

 finest pure white sand. I undertook at one time to make a " sand pic- 

 ture " on a slate, and this white Florida sand was so fine that enouofh 

 would not adhere to show the color. 



From Washington a large ungainly sand is received, seemingly covered 

 with a dirty yellowish cement (concrete). 



From Lookout Mountain, Tenn., comes a very rich sand ; but Kan- 

 sas sand is the richest of all in feldspar. 



Lincoln Park, Chicago, has a most beautiful sand. Milwaukee sand 

 is the same, only the slide is spoiled by about 10% of opaque grains. 



Canoga, New York, has the only nitrogen spring mentioned in Dana. 

 The sand is a lovely variety. 



Death Valley, Arizona, is a place where very few escape alive. Its 

 sand has the appearance of having been cooked or baked. 



Isthmus of Suez has a mixture of quartz and opaque sands. 



Sands from old monastery wells in Burmah, India, show" an interest- 

 injj varietv. 



Chataquay Lake, N. Y., has a beautiful sand, and one grain is a 

 perfect picture of a crown. 



Diamond sand shows most perfect concentric rings, sharp layers of 



