82 On the Ornamental Stones of the Colony. 



grains of the wood is easily detected by the differences in 

 colour, occur at the Bass River, Western Port, in the 

 Grampians, and in the leads at Daylesford and Ballarat. 

 With reference to colour, there is one, green, which is 

 very poorly represented in Victoria, both in gern and 

 ornamental stones. We have neither the emerald or chry- 

 solite (olivine, a variety of the latter occurs abundantly in 

 the basalt, but is of no value for the lapidary), and the 

 malachite found at the Thomson's River Gopper Mine is 

 not large enough for cutting. 



At present green stones seem very fashionable, and small 

 ornaments of nephrite from New Zealand (many by no 

 means of a pretty colour) are much iu demand. It m&y be 

 of some use to call attention to a green colonial stone, that 

 has been named Selwynite, after Mr. Selwyn, of which a 

 short description may be found in the essay published by the 

 Geological Department for the late colonial exhibition. It 

 occurs in the upper Silurian rocks on the flank of the 

 Mount Ida range, about four and a-half miles north-west of 

 Heathcote, whether as a dyke or an irregular mass the 

 explorations do not permit at present to be determined, 

 though it is very probably connected with one of the many 

 greenstone dykes traversing that district. As far as can be 

 made out, the stone which was first observed, some years 

 ago, was mistaken for copper ore, and a shaft of seventy feet 

 was sunk in the mineral. From the heaps of stuff round the 

 shaft Mr. Taylor, of the Geological Survey, who surveyed the 

 country, obtained the specimens exhibited. The colour, as 

 will be seen, varies from that of a siskin to dark emerald green ; 

 its hardness is about that of malachite, and it takes a very 

 fair polish. It has, unfortunately, a tendency to crack, and 

 is very brittle. This tendency may be, to a great extent, 

 caused by exposure to atmospheric influences, and the freshly 

 dug stone may be found without this tendency, and the great 

 difficulty of cutting be obviated. As to the brittleness of 

 this stone, Mr. Schaefer, the jeweller who made the pin 

 exhibited, states that by boiling it in oil, and other treat- 

 ment known to jewellers, it- may, perhaps, be overcome even 

 in the specimens which have been exposed. The analysis 

 shows the per centage composition of the mineral to be silica, 

 47.15 ; chromium, 7.61 ; aluminia, 33.23 ; magnesia, 4.56 ; 

 water, 6.23. It cannot be identified with any mineral 

 described in the mineralogies, and is, therefore, quite new, 

 and from its mode of occurrence, and its composition, it may 



