[ 392 ] 

 LI II. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



ON THE MINERALS OF THE AURIFEROUS DISTRICTS OF WICK- 

 LOW. BY WILLIAM MALLET, ESQ. 



r iPHE circumstances attending the original discovery of native gold 

 -®- in the beds of some of the streams of the County of Wicklow, 

 have been already often detailed, and will therefore need but a brief 

 repetition. The source of the auriferous streams is the mountain 

 Croghan Kinshela, whose summit forms a portion of the boundary 

 between the counties of Wicklow and Wexford. The stream from 

 which most of the gold has been obtained rises on the north-east 

 side of this mountain, and flowing down one of the glens with which 

 that part 'of the country is intersected in almost every direction, joins 

 the Aughrim river, a little above the confluence of the latter stream 

 with the Avonmore, It receives several smaller streams at different 

 parts of its course, in all of which some gold appears to have been 

 found, though in general in such small quantity as not to repay the 

 cost of its extraction. 



Although this part of the country, since it has been known to be 

 auriferous, has been an object of some attraction to mineralogists, 

 but l'ttle attention seems to have been directed to the other minerals 

 which are to be found accompanying the gold in the alluvial deposits. 

 These, however, are interesting, not only from their number and 

 variety, but also from the occurrence amongst them of some of the 

 rarer species, which do not appear to have been noticed in any other 

 locality in Ireland. The following minerals were obtained from a 

 considerable mass of sand and gravel taken from various parts of the 

 bed of the principal stream : — 



Gold. 



Platina. 



Tinstone. 



Magnetic oxide of iron. 



Micaceous iron. 



Red iron ochre. 



Hydrous peroxide of iron. 



Common clay ironstone. 



Iron pyrites. 



Titan ifero us iron. 



Wolfram . 



Oxide of manganese. 



Copper pyrites. 



The author has since observed, in addition to those here men- 

 tioned, arsenical iron, in small fragments, and also spinelle. The 

 latter occurs in very small grains along with the second variety of 

 garnet, from which it is readily distinguished by its peculiar purplish - 

 red colour. 



Gold. — This mineral occurs here in probably its most beautiful 

 form. It possesses the true golden yellow colour and metallic lustre 



Galena. 



Sulphuret of molybdenum. 



Sapphire. 



Topaz. 



Zircon. 



Garnet (two varieties). 



Quartz. 



Prase. 



Augite. 



Chlorite. 



Felspar. 



Mica. 



