THE NONMETALLIC MINERALS. 443 



color, resplendent luster, eonchoidal fracture, and specific gravity 

 varying from 1.42 to 1.97. An analysis showed 63 per cent volatile 

 matter, 34.97 per cent carbon, and 2.03 per cent ash. 



According to R. T. Hill, 1 asphaltum of unusual richness occurs 

 beneath the waters of the Cardenas Bay of Cuba and in several other 

 parts of the island in beds of late Cretaceous and early Eocene age. 

 The Cardenas deposits, four in number, are of interest in that all are 

 submerged beneath the waters of the bay. The material has been 

 mined for the past twenty -five years by mooring a lighter over the 

 shaft, which is from 80 to 125 feet in depth below the water surface. 

 The material is loosened b} T dropping a long, pointed iron bar from 

 the vessel, the detached blocks being loaded into a net by a naked 

 diver and then brought to the surface. The asphalt thus obtained 

 is stated to resemble cannel coal in appearance, though with a more 

 brilliant luster. Only from one to one and a half tons are mined in 

 this manner daily, the material being shipped to New York and 

 being used in the manufacture of varnishes. The price former!}" 

 obtained varied from $80 to $125 a ton. 



A large deposit of an inferior grade, and used mainly for roofing, 

 is situated near Diana Key, 15 miles from the city of Cardenas, and a 

 massive bed, some 12 feet in thickness, near Villa Clara. Material 

 from this last source has, during years past, been used for making the 

 illuminating gas used in the city. 



Baron H. Eggers has described 2 the two groups of asphalt deposits 

 near the Gulf of Maracaibo, South America (Specimen No. 51720. 

 U.S.N.M.), which are perhaps sufficiently distinctive to merit atten- 

 tion. One, the El Menito deposit, is in the form of a rounded hill com- 

 posed of reddish stony soil covered with scanty grass. Over its summit 

 are scattered a number of small truncated cones about 2 feet high, 

 with round, crater-like openings, from which the asphalt, or pitch, 

 flows in a black, viscous stream down to the foot of the hill, where it 

 collects and forms pools or small lakes. The outflowing asphalt is 

 quite cold, and hardens in the course of a few days. The Mene Grande 

 deposit is quite similar, but much larger, and has been calculated to 

 yield some 2 tons a day. Other deposits occur in the region. 



Sandstones and limestones are sometimes so impregnated with bitu- 

 minous matter that they may be used as sources of the material by 

 refining processes or for the direct manufacture of pavements by 

 simply crushing. Such are the so-called bituminous or asphaltic sand 

 rocks and limestones of Kentucky (Specimen No. 63345, U.S.N.M.), 

 Texas (Specimen No. 63342, U.S.N.M.), Utah, Colorado, California, 

 Wyoming (Specimen No. 53181, U.S.N.M.), and other States, and of 



J Cuba and Porto Rico, 1898, p. 83. 



2 Scottish Geographical Magazine, XIII, 1897, p. 209. An abstract of original 

 paper in the Deutsche Geographische Blatter, XIX, Pt. 4. 



