Scientific Intelligence. 197 



that it seemed as if they had been previously formed and imbedded 

 in the ore, while it was soft or in a state of fusion. 



The crystals of zircon were of a deep brownish red color, some of 

 them translucent and of a metallic or bronze lustre : those on the sur- 

 face, exposed to tlie atmosphere, were extremely friable or brittle, but 

 the interior showed perfect well defined crystals of all sizes, from those 

 that were excessively small to odiers of the dimensions of one inch in 

 length and one fourth of an inch at each side of the plane of the crys- 

 tals, which were uniformly a four sided prism, terminated at each ex- 

 tremity by pyramids, with additional faces on their edges or angles ; 

 precisely similar to those found near Trenton and at Schooley's Moun- 

 tain, described in Cleaveland's Mineralogy, page 298 and illustrated 

 in plate iii. fig. 38 and 39. I am in possession of one crystal of this 

 form, the length of which is more than one inch, and the sides of the 

 prism one third of an inch in diameter. It is not unfrequent also to 

 find zircon, in the same specimen, massive and in round grains. 



It appears from the above description, that there is nothing pecu- 

 liar in the character of the zircon found in this locality, or in the 

 form of its crystallization : it only adds another geological situation 

 to those described by former mineralogists. The occurrence of zir- 

 con in the United States is not uncommon : in almost every other 

 instance I have seen it imbedded in primitive rocks, such as granite 

 or sienite, and particularly in that species of sienite with a green 

 colored felspar, but I have never heard before of its having been 

 noticed in primitive iron ore. The only deviation from its usual geo- 

 logical situation which I have observed, except in this instance, is at 

 Easton in Pennsylvania, v/here zircon has been found, by Dr. Swift, 

 in large and beautiful crystals, imbedded in steatite or talc, of so soft 

 a nature that the crystals can be completely developed, by separating 

 the steatite with the point of a pen knife. 



6. Geology. — In the gulf of Bengal, an island has lately been 

 formed, by the accumulation of the alluvial matter, brought down by 

 the waters which empty into this bay. This island was discovered 

 in the year 1806, together with the channel, by a boat which was 

 bound to St. Gur. It increases rapidly : it is about two miles long 

 and one and a half v/ide. The southern beach consists of a solid 

 sand, making an insensible declivity ; the eastern part appears at a 

 distance to be a green plain ; this island is the retreat of crabs, tur- 

 tles, and of an infinity of birds. — Diario de Fisica. 



