1871.] SCOTT AK&YLLSHIEE MINEKA18. 373 



The foregoing statements however, are, of much less interest than 

 the information which can be gained about the minerals for which 

 the locality has been so long known. These are Strontianite, Har- 

 motome, Brewsterite, and Calcite. They are all found in a lode 

 which runs along the edge of the granite, in many places one wall 

 being granite and the other gneiss. The latter rock presents in the 

 neighbourhoodof the lode a remarkable porphyritic appearance, caused 

 by the abundance of large crystals of Orthoclase which it contains *. 



The mines were first worked more than 150 years ago, by the Duke 

 of Norfolk and Co. Then the York Building Company in 1722 took 

 a lease of them from Sir Alexander Murray, of Stanhope, the pro- 

 prietor. This gentleman had done a great deal to develop the re- 

 sources »f that district of Argyllshire. He obtained the services of 

 a Mr. Bruce to survey the property ; and an elaborate map of the 

 district was published by him in 1733. Sir Alexander announced 

 the Strontian mines as the most wonderful discovery of the age. 

 The miners built a town at the place which they called New York. 

 The only other point of interest about the history of the mines is 

 that strontia was first recognized as a distinct alkaline earth by 

 Crawford in 1790. Klaproth and Hope independently of him, and 

 of each other, investigated its proptjrties in 1793. 



The original mines are four in number, and are at a level of from 

 600 to 800 feet above the sea, They are all in Glen Strontian ; their 

 names are Fee Donald, Bell's Grove, Middle Shop, and Whitesmith. 

 Of these the three latter have been allowed almost entirely to fall in. 

 The only workings which have been carried on of late years have 

 been at Pee Donald and, to a slight extent, at Bell's Grove. The 

 ore is Galena containing very little silver. At Fee Donald there is 

 a tradition of an antimony lode not now worked ; and there is a 

 record of a steel-ore very rich in silver; but no specimens of either of 

 these are procurable. 



The only minerals worth notice at Fee Donald are Calcite, espe- 

 cially Paper-spar, and Morvenite, the latter being rare. 



At the other three mines minerals are very abundant ; but unfor- 

 tunately it is impossible at present to ascertain from what levels they 

 are derived. The different species are almost entirely confined each 

 to its own mine, or rather to its own rubbish heap ; for it is only in 

 these heaps that they occur. 



At Bell's Grove, Harmotome and Morvenite are extremely abun- 

 dant, the opaque variety of the mineral being the commoner. At 

 Middle Shop, Harmotome is not found, but Brewsterite appears either 

 on decomposing granite or on calcite. At Whitesmith the rubbish 

 heaps yield small fragments of Strontianite, associated with Brews- 

 terite, though I have never found the two minerals on the same spe- 

 cimen. The larger curved crystals of Brewsterite are usually on 

 Heavy Spar. 



Whitesmith is by far the deepest of the mines, but it is also the 

 highest up the side of the mountain. 



There is nothing particularly new to be noticed about these mine- 



* During a recent visit to Norway I found this type of gneiss to be very abun- 

 dant in that country, where it is known as "eye-gneiss." — Oct. 1871. 



