152 Mineralogy and Geology of apart of Nova Scotia, 



banks precipitous to the stream. The direction of the strata is 

 nearly east and west, and the dip is about ten degrees to the 

 north. The lignites are black, and some resemble common 

 charcoal so much as to be readily mistaken for that sub- 

 stance. Some are fibrous, and exhibit evident traces of the 

 organized structure of plants ; others have lost every trace of 

 organization, are compact without any fibrous structure, 

 break with a conchoidal fracture, and have a glossy black 

 color. They take a good polish, and resemble the jet with 

 which this substance is evidently identical. It occurs form- 

 ing a thin layer over masses of the copper ore which some- 

 times forms casts of culmiferous plants resembling the stalks 

 of Indian corn (zea mays.) 



The lignite sometimes contains minute flattened crystals 

 of red oxide of copper, which are translucent, and possess a 

 crimson red color. 



Green carbonate of copper occurs investing some of the 

 lignites ; and, filling interstices in the sandstone, it assumes 

 a botryoidal appearance. It also occurs in delicate fibres 

 investing the masses of vitreous copper ore now to be de- 

 scribed. 



This valuable ore occurs in beds from two to four inches 

 thick, which, covered with lignites, alternate with each oth- 

 er, the lowest bed being the thickest and most compact. It 

 is of an iron black color, with a slight tinge of lead grey. It 

 possesses a metallic lustre, and breaks with a conchoidal 

 fracture. Some specimens are of a crystalline or granular 

 structure, breaking so as to exhibit brilliant metalloidal sur- 

 faces ; others are very compact, and break with a smooth 

 surface. The specific gravity of the most compact variety 

 is 5.7 — but the granular varieties, more open in their texture, 

 seldom exceed 4.8 or 5. It is sectile, and readily impressed 

 by a smooth blunt steel instrument ; it therefore possesses a 

 low degree of malleability, being extended under pressure 

 without breaking. It receives a fine polish, and is highly 

 splendent, resembling in lustre and color the most highly pol- 

 ished steel. It retains this lustre unaltered by the action of 

 the atmosphere. It is mixed occasionally with yellowish and 

 a lighter grey pyrites, which is much harder, and not sectile. 

 It contains a smaller proportion of copper and more iron ; 

 but no specimen of this ore gives any traces of arsenic or 

 antimony when examined before the blowpipe, or when dis- 

 solved in nitro-muriatic acid, and largely diluted with water. 



