Miscellanea. ey 
Gold.—This mineral occurs here in probably its most beautiful 
form. It possesses the true golden yellow colour and metallic lustre 
which characterize the metal, and, owing to the attrition to which 
it has been subjected, generally presents a beautifully brilliant 
surface. It occurs in grains of all sizes, from the smallest spangle 
up to a mass weighing 22 ounces, the largest hitherto found. The 
specific gravity of some small grains Mr. Mallet found to be 16342. 
The analysis of these grains gave— 
Golder reese scot hen costes side aevocnnec? sccesetanito aioe 
SUINeI toe encnessueuenanes MOR iene nats cance eee tid OSEGE 
99:27 
ais is equivalent (neglecting the iron) to 8} atoms of gold and | of 
silver, 
Platina.—Mixed with the gold are some very small flattened 
grains of a white colour and metallic lustre, which, as far as their 
minute size permitted an examination, appear to present all the 
characters of platina. They are infusible before the blowpipe, and 
insoluble in nitric acid, but dissolve in aqua regia. ‘Their occur- 
rence, intermixed with the gold when all other minerals have been 
washed off, is a proof of their high specific gravity.* 
Tinstone.—The occurrence of this mineral in the sand is mentioned 
by Weaver in his reports on the gold-stream works, but he does not 
seem to have been at all aware of the large quantities in which it 
exists. From the comparatively small portion+ of sand which the 
author had an opportunity of examining, he obtained about 35 
pounds of stream tin; a portion of which being reduced, yielded an 
ingot, which, when refined by a second fusion, is hardly inferior to 
the finest grain tin.t Should this mineral be found in the mass 
of the sand in a quantity at all approaching that in which it existed 
in the specimen from which this was obtained, it would probably 
richly repay the labour and expense of its collection and smelting. 
From the small quantity in which other minerals of high specific 
gravity exist in the sand, and the constant supply of water, very 
little difficulty would be experienced in separating it from the rest 
of the sand: and the almost total absence of arsenic and lead would 
render it extremely easy to obtain from it metallic tin of the very 
first quality. The mineral itself occurs in grains varying in size 
from fine sand up to pebbles of half an inch in diameter, and in the 
most part of a dark brown colour, with some fragments of various 
tints of yellow and red; some presenting the peculiar appearance 
to which the name “ wood tin” has been given. All these varieties 
are slightly translucent, some of them highly so. Many of them 
* It is to be wished that the existence of platina had been more fully ascer- 
tained.— Ed. Phil. Mag. 
+ The exact weight of the specimen examined the author does not know, 
but thinks it certainly did not exceed 150 lbs. 
+ The specimen smelted in this experiment yielded about 61 per cent. of 
tin ; but more would be obtained on the great scale, as in this case no pains 
were taken to extract the tin remaining in the scoria. 
12 
