194 Alger on New Locality of Red Sapphire. 
the variety from Newton, New Jersey, the only American local- 
ity which has hitherto afforded good specimens. ‘The mass pre- 
sented to me, is a portion of a crystal, and presents one of the 
natural faces of the primary rhombohedron. The fractured 
laminz exhibit the usual stric observed on broken fragments 
of this gem from other localities, and they have precisely the 
lustre and transparency of the mineral from Salem, East Indies. 
They also indicate a rhombohedral cleavage. Before the blow- 
pipe flame it is slowly dissolved with borax into a transparent 
colorless glass. With salt of phosphorus the smallest portion 
shows no sign of fusion, and no effect is produced with soda. 
Dr. Feuchtwanger noticed the reactions of titanic acid in the 
specimen he examined, which, however, I failed to observe. 
Titaniferous ores are frequently found accompanying sapphire, 
and titaniate of oxide of iron may very naturally form one of 
its chemical constituents, by replacing so much of the alumina, 
according to the law of isomorphism — crystallized sapphire 
consisting entirely of alumina and the small coloring admix- 
ture of iron. The presence, therefore, of titanic acid has no 
necessary connection with the determination of the mineral. 
There are a few minute blue laminz on one edge of the 
specimen, which have not the hardness of the red mineral, 
though they are much harder than kyanite, the only mineral 
they resemble, with the exception of sapphirine, a rare sub- . 
stance from Greenland, to which I am disposed to refer them, 
from the imperfect examination permitted by the smallness of 
the quantity to operate upon. 
Our thanks are due to Dr. Feuchtwanger for bringing to our 
notice a new locality of this rare and beautiful mineral; and 
we are led to hope, from the character of the minerals rid 
accompany it, that it may be found in quantities sufficient to 
answer the demands of mineralogists. Dr. Feuchtwanger pro- 
poses to visit the spot very soon, and make known its geological 
relations and its capabilities of supplying massive emery as an 
article of commerce hitherto undeveloped in our — 
