THE NONMETALLIC MINERALS. 451 



to their having been filled, not by lateral impregnation, but by injec- 

 tion from below. 



The mining of gilsonite is conducted in the ordinary manner by 

 means of shafts and tunnels. The work is, however, attended with 

 considerable difficulty and some danger, owing to the fine dust arising 

 from it. This penetrates the skin and lungs and is a source of great 

 annoyance, and moreover becomes highly explosive when mixed with 

 atmospheric air. 



Uses. The principal use of gilsonite thus far has been in the manu- 

 facture of varnishes for ironwork and baking japans. It is not well 

 adapted for coach varnishes. It has been also used for mixing with 

 asphaltic limestone for paving material. Other possible uses suggested 

 by Mr. E. W. Parker, in the Mineral Resources of the United States 

 for 1893, are as below: For preventing electrolytic action on iron 

 plates of ship bottoms; for coating barbed-wire fencing, etc.; for 

 coating sea walls of brick or masonry; for covering paving brick; 

 for acid-proof lining for chemical tanks; for roofing pitch; for insu- 

 lating electric wires; for smokestack paint; for lubricants for heavy 

 machinery; for preserving iron pipes from corrosion and acids; for 

 coating poles, posts, and ties; for toredo-proof pile coating; for cov- 

 ering wood-block paving; as a substitute for rubber in the manufac- 

 ture of cotton garden hose; as a binder pitch for culm in making 

 brickette and eggette coal. 



3. OZOKERITE; MINERAL WAX; NATIVE PARAFFIN. 



This is a wax-like hydrocarbon, usually with a foliated structure, 

 soft and easily indented with the thumb nail; of a yellow brown or 

 sometimes greenish color, translucent when pure, with a greasy feel- 

 ing, and fusing at 56 to 63; specific gravity, 0.955. It is essentially 

 a natural paraffin. The name is derived from two Greek words, sig- 

 nifying to smell, and wax. Below is given the composition of (I) sam- 

 ples from Utah and (II) from Boryslaw, in Galicia. 



The substance is completely soluble in boiling ether, carbon disul- 

 phides, or benzine, and partially so in alcohol. 



The following, from a paper by Boverton Redwood, 1 will serve to 

 show the varying characters of the material from the various reported 

 sources. 



Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, XI, 1892, p. 114. 



