282 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



In the Carboniferous Limestone silver-lead and silver occur in 

 various places ; but, except in the Killarney district, the lodes or 

 strings in general have not been very large. The Killarney lodes 

 have been long known, having been worked in the eleventh 

 century. Nemius, writing at the time, states : copper, lead, tin, 

 and iron were found there. Smith, in his history, also says he 

 found some tin-ore ; but in subsequent time it has been unknown, 

 and never was worked. 



When working the copper mine at Muckross, in 1794, M. 

 Raspe discovered cobalt, bloom and grey cobalt. After the dis- 

 covery little remained to be utilized, as all the accumulation, 

 except about twenty tons, had been run into the lake as rubbish. 

 The small portion saved had been surreptitiously carried away by 

 a miner who recognized it as Erythrite {Kane). 



Near Castleisland there is a slate, called Lapis Hibernicus, 

 which was formerly worked and carted to Tralee, to be used in 

 the manufacture of copperas. This industry had, however, to be 

 abandoned, on account of the difficulty and expense of the car- 

 riage of the copperas to the nearest market. 



In the seventeenth century, on account of the extensive forests, 

 various iron furnaces were erected in places along the coast, to 

 which iron-ore was imported. The Earl of Cork, however, seems 

 to have smelted native ore near the south of the country, while 

 there are also the ruins of furnaces and works at Killarney. 



Lewis records copper pyrites as having been found prior to- 

 1837 in Glancrought. 



A vein of amethyst of a very beautiful colour, near Kerry 

 Head, was formerly used for jewellery. 



Kildare. 



This county is situated near the eastern margin of the great 

 central area of Carboniferous Limestones, which, to the eastward, 

 except south of Celbridge, seem to lie direct on the Ordovicians.. 

 South of Celbridge to the east of Ballitore, and in connexion with 

 1 he Chair of Kildare range of hills are small tracts of Loioer Car- 

 boniferous Sandstone, with an exposure of Ordovicians in the last. 

 At the eastern margin of the county, intruding into the Ordo- 

 vicians, there is Granyie. 



