Mineralogy of Orange County, JV. Y. 333 



bars to the depth of four or five feet, but were unable to perceive 

 any thing but fine soil. The side walls consisted of solid Limestone, 

 free from minerals, and gradually sloping on both sides towards the 

 middle of the trough. They obtained on this occasion a very fine 

 supply, not only of the Sapphire but of the other minerals found in 

 connexion with it. Dr. Young mentions a single crystal of Sapphire 

 in his possession, that weighs five ounces avoirdupois. He also al- 

 ludes to crystals of the supposed Idocrase in six-sided prisms with 

 trihedral terminations at both extremities, — a form which would seem 

 to indicate that this substance is rather Garnet than Idocrase, as has 

 been believed. It is possible, indeed, that both substances occur 

 there ; though all the specimens I have seen from the spot have uni- 

 formly consisted of large foliated masses, having three polished planes 

 inclining to one another under angles of 120°, which goes to strength- 

 en the opinion 1 have here ventured to suggest. 



Concerning the minerals of Franklin and Stirling, scarcely anything 

 remains to be said after their full description in the various papers 

 alluded to, at the commencement of this article. The mineral for- 

 merly called manganesian Feldspar, crystallized siliceous oxide of 

 Manganese, and Ferro-silicate of Manganese, has very happily been 

 endowed with the trivial name of Fowlerite ; a change which will 

 undoubtedly be readily acquiesced in by mineralogists, no less on 

 account of the greater convenience of a short name, than the propri- 

 ety of calling so interesting a substance after Dr. Fowler, of Frank- 

 lin, to whose zeal in mineralogy the cultivators of this science are so 

 much indebted. The crystallization, hardness and specific gravity 

 of the Fowlerite bring it under Mobs' natural order Bnryte, and pro- 

 bably within the genus Parachrose-Baryte. 



The Stirling mineral, formerly known as a silicate of Zinc, and 

 since ascertained by Dr. Thomson, to be a Ferruginous silicate of 

 Manganese, has been found of late in distinct crystals. These are 

 of a form which justifies the opinion originally entertained by Dr. 

 Troost concerning their primary form, which he suggested to be that 

 of a cube. Mr. Ingliss, of Hamburg, has an isolated crystal of this 

 substance, upwards of an inch in length ; its form is that of a rhombic 

 dodecahedron with its acute solid angles replaced by tangent planes. 

 Its hardness is a litde below that of feldspar, and its specific gravi- 

 ty and form approximate it to the Genus Garnet, among whose spe- 

 cies it will probably receive a place in the Natui-al History system. 

 When freshly broken, it presents an asparagus green color : on a 



