Washingtonite, a new Mineral 365 



shining, P the least brilliant. The crystals, fig. 1, from Westerly, 

 R. I., often yield to cleavage parallel to P with much perfection, 

 affording faces more brilliant than any of the natural planes of 

 the crystals. Crystals from Litchfield sometimes manifest a ten- 

 dency to cleave parallel with a. No cleavage in the direction of 

 unless through the intervention of quartz. Fracture rather un- 

 even. Lustre imperfectly metallic. Color iron-black : the frac- 

 ture iron-gray. Streak the same, but lighter. Hardness = 5.75. 

 Gravity = 4.963 from Westerly, 5.016 from Litchfield. 



Before the blowpipe, infusible ; but changes to a grayish black 

 color. Unmagnetic before and after ignition. With borax, it 

 fuses with effervescence into a clear, green glass, with a shade of 

 yellow. With salt of phosphorus, it dissolves, forming an opake, 

 orange-yellow glass, which on cooling, passes to an opake pearl- 

 white. Its powder is decomposed (without evolution of chlo- 

 rine) by long boiling in hydrochloric acid ; an abundance of ti- 

 tanic acid separates from the solution, and the clear fluid after 

 neutralization by ammonia and precipitation by succinate of am- 

 monia, yields with carbonate of potassa a slight precipitate of 

 carbonate of manganese. It may therefore be regarded as some 

 titaniate of protoxide of iron, with a small proportion of oxide of 

 manganese. 



It is readily conceded that the mineral here described is not 

 crystallographically shown to be distinct, in any essential manner, 

 from the Axotomous iron-ore of Mohs, or from the Crichtonite 

 (including Ilmenite): indeed it appears most probable that all 

 these minerals are not only identical in their angles, but are iso- 

 morphous with Specular iron. If they are specifically distinct, 

 indications of such differences may be looked for in the modifi- 

 cations of their primary forms, in cleavages, and in lustre : while 

 essential differences will doubtless be found in specific gravity 

 and hardness. The disagreements in secondary forms and clea- 

 vage are obvious from the description above given ; those in lus- 

 tre, color and streak cannot fail of striking any one, who compares 

 the different substances with each other. The specific gravities 

 may be judged of, from the following comparative table : 



Axotomous Iron-ore of Mohs. 



From Gastein, Salzburg, G =4.661, Mohs. 



4.723 4.730, Breithaupt. 



