THE SIBERIAN MIXB. 45 



of Nertschinsk, in eastern Siberia, near the borders of Mancluiria. The 

 ore, which has only been found in small quantities, forms little veins and 

 bunches in vellowish-gray limestone, the gangue being calcite and quartz. 

 It is said that this deposit was discovered as inr 1)ack as 1759, but was 

 worked only to a depth of thirteen meters. In 1797 the mine was reopened 

 and eleven pounds of quicksilver were obtained. In 1834, exploration in 

 the neighborhood disclosing nothing more, it was decided to abandon the 

 mine. In 1837 a four-inch vein was found in the hanging, but, although 

 it was decided to work the mine, nothing was done. In 1853 prospecting 

 was resumed, but onl}- traces of ore were found. It has not been worked 

 since.^ A specimen of the ore from this mine was exhibited in Philadelphia 

 by the School of Mines of St. Petersburg. 



Some travelers in later years have regarded the existence of a quick- 

 silver mine in Nertschinsk as altogether mythical." It certainly existed, 

 but the above data show how small an affair it was. No other mine so 

 insignificant has probably ever been so famous. Endless fables have been 

 circulated as to the inhuman confinement of prisoners in the poisonous 

 atmosphere of this mine. It is highly inq^robable that more than half a 

 dozen miners Avere ever at work in it at one time, while mercurial poison- 

 ing in quicksilver mines occurs only where native quicksilver is abundant, 

 a very rare case excepting at Almaden. They are ordinarily as healthful 

 as any other subterranean excavations. Native quicksilver is not mentioned 

 as having been observed at Ildekansk. The Nertschinsk district also pro- 

 duced gold, tin, silver, and lead. The country seems chiefly composed of 

 granite and crystalline schists. 



Cinnabar has also been said to occur in Kamtschatka.-' I do not know 

 the exact locality, nor have I been able to discover on whose authority the 

 statement was made. Mr. George Kennan informs me that while he was 

 at Anadyrsk, on the Anadyr River, in 18(J7, the natives (Chukchis) assured 

 him that native quicksilver occurs in the neighborhood. As a proof of 

 their statements they brought him something like 100 grammes of the 



' Von Kokscliarow (loc cit.) and A. Oserskij : Abriss der Geologie, tier Mineralreicbtbumer uud dcs 

 Borgbaues von Transbaikalien, St. Petersburg, 1867. 



- Dr. Henry Lausdell (Tbrough Siberia, 1882) could learn of no quicksilver mine at Nertschinsk 

 and cited other authorities to the same effect. 



■' Noggerath, loc. cit. 



