GEOLOG Y AND MINERALOGY OF NEWBURY. 167 



jiicige that thc whole amount was not large. Why the 

 quarry was abandoned I have not been able to learn. 



It is in the " Devil's Den" that the most interestmg 

 mhierals in Newbuiy aie founcl. I have visited it and the 

 othei* localities here for the last twelve years. First in in- 

 terest is the Serpentine, varying from arich bottlegreen to 

 a leek green ; the first compact, pure and translucent, the 

 second impure and opaque ; the most harmful impurity 

 being iron pyrite disseminated through the mass. 



Great expectations were once entertained as to the 

 commercial value of this rock, and a Company operated 

 the quarry for marble, but nothing has been done in a 

 commercial way for many years. A shaft was sunkin the 

 field, not far off, during the silver excitement, but was 

 soon abandoned. Quantities of a beautifiil porphyritic 

 rock were thrown out, that in masses, might prove to be 

 profitable. 



At present, hardly euough attractive rock is in sight to 

 Warrant great expectations, and the large masses of wol- 

 lastonite, garnet, calcite and dolomite mixed with the ser- 

 pentinic limestone would seem to confirm this view ; but 

 when we consider that the excavations have not even re- 

 duced the knolls to the level of the surrounding country, 

 and the " Den" itself is a very modest pit, the resources 

 of the place can hardly be said to be exhausted. 



I am firmly of the belief that some generous blasting 

 would reveal an abundance of tine, rieh stone, superiorto 

 any verde antique marble in our market. Associated 

 with the Serpentine are masses of wollastonite, once 

 called tremolite. It is a beautiful white mineral, in long, 

 bladed, radiated crystals. It is too brittle to serve any 

 other than the mineralogist's purpose. 



Masses of compact garnet are also found at the "Den.*> 

 When associated with or disseminated through the ser- 



