14 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 



as the crystals occur, they are not always to be found of extraordi- 

 nary size. The mineral often occurs in exceedingly compact, tough 

 masses, cleavage well developed, but with no trace of a crystal form, 

 save when a mass of calcite is enclosed, when the surface in contact 

 will have either prism faces or terminal faces well developed. Occa- 

 sionally tough fragments of this nature will be found, thrown out by 

 blasts, which show a passage from the tough, compact crystalline mass, 

 with little or no calcite to a side of the block where will be a gangue 

 of calcite literally packed with small, doubly terminated crystals of 

 pyroxene. If a little care be exercised in breaking off a piece, a 

 fragment can be obtained which, when treated with acid, will leave a 

 perfect network of interlaced crystals of varying sizes. 



Quartz is another mineral which occurs in this locality, and 

 though neither beautiful nor rare in form, yet possesses much of 

 interest to one who chooses to study it. It invariably occurs in 

 forms which Emmons and others have denominated "fused." Ex- 

 actly what is meant by this term does not clearly appear ; but 

 certainly, taken in its literal meaning, it is untenable, whether aque- 

 ous or purely igneous fusion is meant. Nor can I bring myself to 

 believe the peculiar forms to be the result of partial solution. In 

 general the crystals have the appearance of being water-worn, or of 

 perfect crystals having been rolled until the angles are all more or 

 less rounded. In some cases no crystal form can be distinguished, 

 only globular or lenticular shaped masses are the result. These 

 globules vary in size in the same mass of calcite. Again, it is of 

 frequent occurrence that a rounded, " worn" crystal will be found an 

 inch or more in length by one-half inch in diameter beside a slender 

 crystal an inch or more in length but with a diameter of less than 

 one-fourth. The angles of the smaller crystals will also be as per- 

 fect as those of the larger. In short, crystals will lie side by side, 

 one nearly perfect, the other with no trace of angularity. It is also 

 common to find large clusters of crystals, all having this " fused " or 

 "worn" appearance and completely imbedded in the calcite. Lest 

 I have not emphasized this latter idea, I will repeat that all of the 

 quartzes thus far spoken of are completely imbedded in the calcite. 

 The walls of many of the veins are lined by large patches, several 

 feet square, of these crystals, having individual terminations, rounded 

 as before, and with an unindividualized base. Deep indentations 

 often occur in these crystals, amounting to more than one-half of 

 their diameter. Crystals are often found with a saucer-shaped de- 



