168 GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF NEWBURY. 



pertinic limestone, this massive garnet enriches it for or- 

 namental purposes. It is also an excellent flux, and 

 possibly may sometimes serve that purpose here. 



Small masses of crystallized calcite appear, which I 

 believe to be the same as the chalybite or carbonite of 

 iron that occurs in connection with the galena at the 

 silver mines and elsewhere in Newbury. 9 



Asbestus occurs at the " Den," but not in large quanti- 

 ties. Much of the mineral there found and called as- 

 bestus is an asbestiform serpentine, or chrysotile, which 

 appears in thin seams interlaminated with noble serpen- 

 tine. This is one of the most beautiful combinations 

 known to me. The dark green serpentine prevails at the 

 " Den," the light green at the "Basin," which is a larger 

 excavation, but not so well known. 



It would seem that information on these points would 

 be better known here than elsewhere. Possibly this is 

 the case with the silver mines, the popular interest in 

 which was almost as great as was the speculative. The 

 discovery and rapid development of the argentiferous 

 galena was one of the great epochs in your local history. 

 A sadly brief one it was, as these deserted mounds and 

 works testify. 



That this clean, brilliant metal, mined in masses that 

 made the town talk of those days, and yielding flattering 

 assays, was not to be a perpetual bonanza, was regarded 

 as rank heresy. 



At least, that was my experience. No account, appar- 

 ently, was taken of the local geology nor of the character 

 of the gangue rock with reference to its docility in smelting. 

 I ventured to express an opinion to the superintendent 

 of the Chipman mine that these galena deposits were 

 pockets in the diorite, each of them comparatively small 

 in size, though possibly many in number. Operations 



