Miscellanies. 383 



judge from the specimens sent us,) remarkably free from foreign 

 minerals. It gives a surface of uniform level and finish, and is cut 

 with great ease. When varnished, fine colors are brought out, not 

 unlike those of the Yerd antique marble of Milford, near New Ha- 

 ven, but less vivid. It is, however, sufficiently handsome to be used 

 for the facings of fire places. 



We should be glad to receive information of all remarkable mas- 

 ses of soapstone in this country, that we may contribute to make 

 them still further known. The utility of soapstone is immense, 

 and is only beginning to be realized among us. It is an admirable 

 building material — cut with almost as much ease as timber, and read- 

 ily shaped to any form for utility or ornament ; it is as handsome as 

 granite and marble, and houses constructed of it would not be injured 

 by fire, as it resists that powerful agent, even in furnaces,* for which 

 it forms an excellent lining. 



Anthracite furnaces, when lined with it, instead of fire bricks, do 

 not accumulate the slag and scoriae, and the walls remain perfectly 

 clean ; this arises from the infusibility of the soapstone, which pre- 

 vents the slag from adhering to it ; the slag consists of the earthy 

 and metallic impurities of the coal, which melt in the intense heat of 

 the anthracite furnaces, and then adhesion takes place in conse- 

 quence of the softening of the fire bricks at their surfaces, where 

 they are in contact with the slag. Soapstone, on account of its 

 infusibility, is also an excellent ingredient in pottery tmd porcelain ; 

 and magnesia, which is its characteristic ingredient, may be extracted 

 from it by very easy chemical processes. 



6. Prof. Hitchcock's Geology of Massachusetts. — Extract of a 

 letter to the Editor, dated Brighton, England, June 18, 1834, from 

 Gideon IMantell, Esq. — The volume and atlas on the Geology of 

 Massachusetts reflect great credit on the author and on the enlight- 

 ened government which patronised the undertaking. 



Mr. Robert Bakewell, near London, under date of July 16, 1834, 

 writes — that Prof. Hitchcock's Geology of Massachusetts does high 

 credit to the writer and to the government which promoted the un- 

 dertaking. 



Mr. De La Beche in his new work, entitled Researches on The- 

 oretical Geology, has s})oken highly of Prof Hitchcock's Geology 

 of Massachusetts, anil has mentioned with particular approbation, his 

 aqcount of the bowlder stones and other transported masses. 



* It is said however not to stand in the furnace for smelting iion. 



