100 



Mr. A. H. Church on the Composition, 



In consequence of their hardness, and the necessity of fusing 

 them with carbonate of soda, Beekites, previous to analysis, 

 should be disintegrated by igniting them and throwing them 

 into cold water. The fragments are to be ground carefully, 

 boiled with concentrated nitric acid (this solution being added 

 to the original liquid for further examination), and the residue 

 fused with carbonate of soda and treated in the usual way. It 

 would be tedious to describe the various analytical processes 

 found necessary in all their details; the following Table contains 

 the main results. The spectroscope was used with success for 

 the detection of minute traces of several elements present in too 

 small a proportion to be recognizable by reagents. 



Specimens. 



Silica 



Lime 



Alumina & phos- 

 phate of alumina 

 Sesquioxide of iron 



Soda 



Potassa 



Lithia 



Water 



Carbonic acid and 

 organic matter... 



Chlorine (probably 

 combined with 

 the sodium) ... 



Loss 



I. 



II. 



III. 



IV. 



V. 



VI. 



VII. 



90-707 



93-037 



93-115 



92-7 



92-707 



91-96 



92-119 



■44 



2-26 



2-70 



3-031 



2-7 



1-35 



303 



•075 



trace 



•002 



•06 



•012 



trace 



trace 



5-09 



* 1-01 



•097 



•07 



•78 



2-94 



2-16 



•002 



•014 



•007 



trace 



trace 



trace 



•021 



•03 



•075 



•019 



•017 



trace 



trace 



trace 



trace 



trace 



trace 



trace 



traco 



trace 



traco 

 trace 



•7 



1-072 



1-56 



•96 



1-76 



21 



•17 



2-27 



1-53 



2-44 



2-51 



1-97 



1-64 



2-29 



•04 



•091 



trace 



trace 



trace 



trace 



trace 



•656 



•911 





•652 



•071 



•01 



•21 



100 



100 



100 



100 



100 



100 



100 



Specimen II. of the above synopsis contained also a minute 

 trace of iodine, while lithia was detected in another specimen 

 not further analysed. The compact specimen of Beekite figured 

 in PI. III. fig. 10, and to which I have already alluded, had lost 

 after removal of the carbonate of lime by an acid, about |-th of 

 its weight. The carbonate of lime was situated almost altogether 

 in the central portion of the specimen ; the exterior did not 

 show any signs of its presence when touched with an acid. 



In the preceding Table I have not attempted to combine the 

 various bases and acids together. The greater part of the lime 

 existed, I believe, as silicate, and the iron and traces of other 

 bases were probably in a similar state. In a few instances a 

 portion of carbonate of lime w T as present, and occasionally a 

 combination of lime w r ith some organic substance. The loss 

 partly represents the sulphuric acid and other undetermined 

 constituents of the Beekites. 



I have not included in the Table of Analyses the examination 



