FEENCH LOCALITIES. 33 



sometimes stained bright red with finely-disseminated cinnabar, particuUirly 

 in the neighborliood of cahxmine. The gangue was calcite and the inclosing 

 rock was doloniitic hmestone of the Lias. The veins were very irreo-uhir 

 and before long disappeared altogether. The proportion of cinnabar was 

 always very small and no metal was produced. At Chalanches, in the 

 same department, it is found with sulphides of lead and zinc in veins, in- 

 closed by crystalline schists which contain traces of platinum. At Alle- 

 mond, also in Isfcre, cinnabar, native quicksilver, and silver amalgam occur 

 in a vein. In central France, at Peyrat, in the department of Haute- 

 Vienne, native quicksilver is found in a decomposed granite. In and near 

 the Cevennes Mountains, also in soutliern France, native quicksilver occurs 

 (e. g., near Montpellier) in Tertiary or Quarternary beds. This locality 

 was discovered in 1760. 



The regions in which quicksilver has been found in France also con- 

 tain other metals, as is not unusual in otlier countries. In Manche, blende, 

 calamine, and galena are found; in Ilaute-Vienne, lead, antimony, and tin; 

 in Isere, lead, silver, and gold; in Herault and Aveyron, tetrahedrite and 

 galena.' 



On the island of Corsica cinnabar is said to occur in a state of great 

 purity in the Balagna, in the territory of the commune Occhia and can- 

 ton of Belgodfere.^ The Balagna is a district lying east of Calvi, on the 

 north coast of Corsica, and its port is lie Rousse. Interesting deposits of 

 cinnabar are found on Cape Corso, the northern promontory of the island. 

 It is found with stibnite in granite (pegmatite), serpentine, euphotide, schists, 

 and serpentiniferous limestone. With stibnite it forms crusts of a few cen- 

 timeters in thickness occupying fissures in the rocks. Tlie gangue, when 

 there is any, is quartzose. Pyrite, a little blende, and native sulphur are 

 found in some veins, and arsenic has l)een detected. Mr. Ilollande states 

 that the fissures have been filled through the action of hot springs.^ 



Italy. — Cinnabar is widely distributed in Italy and Sicily, though most 

 of the occurrences are of very small importance. The northern part of 

 the Venetian state is contiguous to Carniola, in which lies the. Idria mine. 



'Burat: (i^ol. appl., vol. 2. 

 "Kijggerath, !oc. cit. 



'D. Hollaiule: Bull. Soc gdologiqiie France, 1675-1876, vol. 4, Paris, 1876, p. 31. 

 MON XIII 3 



