Minerals from Terlingua, Texas. 267 



chlorine results for the lighter colored crystals was observed 

 than for the orange-colored ones, which latter afforded excel- 

 lently agreeing results. But the results for the lighter crystals 

 were in no case so markedly different from the others as to con- 

 firm Professor Sachs' conclusion that there was an appreciable 

 chemical difference between the crystals of different shades, 

 and they were in part affected by obvious errors. 



(4) Water. None of the water afforded by the mineral is 

 hygroscopic. About one-half comes off at 135°-150° and the 

 total that is obtained by careful heating of the mineral by itself 

 to complete decomposition, using a plug of gold leaf in the exit 

 of the tube, is not clearly in excess of that obtained after the 

 manner of organic combustion with copper oxide preceded by 

 lead chromate and a roll of copper. Some of it comes from the 

 clayey gangue, but most is beyond question given off by the 

 mercury mineral. How much belongs to one and how much 

 to the other it has been impossible to ascertain. The water 

 determinations constitute the least satisfactory portion of the 

 analytical results. 



In the different specimens analyzed the gangue ran from 

 0*75 to 3 per cent in the dehydrated state, as obtained by igni- 

 tion. In the full report the many analyses are given both as 

 made and after recalculation to a gangue-free basis for both 

 orange and light-colored crystals. We reproduce here only the 

 averaged results for the deeper colored crystals since they were 

 in best agreement, repeating that although the light-colored 

 crystals afforded greater variations in chlorine and sulphur than 

 the orange ones, this was in part due to obvious errors, and 

 that the means for ihese constituents were slightly higher than 

 for the orange crystals, rather than far lower as found by Sa'chs. 

 To include them would hardly affect the general average. 



Average composition of orange crystals of kleinite. 



Hg 85-86 -^ 200 = 0-4293 : 2'34 



CI 7-30 -=- 35-45 = 0-2059 



S0 4 . 3-10 -f- ^96-06 = 0-0646'" 



N ' 2-57 -=- " 14-01 = 0-1834 " : 1 



HO 1-03 -=- 18-02 = 0-0571 = 0-311 



99-86 



In discussing the above ratios it must be borne in mind that 

 the number for water is of doubtful value, so that it can receive 

 little attention. The water can not exist in large part even as 

 hydroxyl, for that would require an amount of basic oxygen 

 entirely opposed to all the evidence, in which that of the sum- 

 mation is not of least import. The ratio shows at once that 

 there is far too little nitrogen for a general formula of the type 



