30 Kraus — Occurrence of Celestite near Syracuse, JF. Y. 



Art. VI. — The Occurrence of Celestite near Syracuse,' N.Y., 

 and its Relation to the Vermicular Limestones of the Salina 

 Epoch;* by Edward Ii. Kraus. 



Last summer, while conducting a field excursion with a 

 class in geology from the Summer School of Syracuse Univer- 

 sity along the new Jamesville branch of the Syracuse and 

 Suburban K. R., the mineral celestite was noticed. Although 

 Danaf and WhitlockJ mention Syracuse as a locality for celes- 

 tite, I have been unable to find the original source § for such 

 a reference. Neither Cleveland || nor Beck*|f refer to Syra- 

 cuse in this respect. This, therefore, is the first time that a 

 detailed description of this occurrence of celestite is given. l 



This mineral was first found about three-quarters of a mile 

 north of the village of Jamesville, near where the electric rail- 

 road crosses the turnpike to De Witt. At this point quite a 

 heavy grade is encountered by the railroad and a considerable 

 amount of rock — the drab limestone of the Salina epoch — had 

 to be removed in order to allow the railroad to run parallel to 

 the turnpike for about three-quarters of a mile. The cut 

 varies from about two to six or eight feet in some places. In 

 the rock which was removed, and also along the sides of the 

 cut, the fresh mineral was found in a surprisingly large 

 quantity. 



The mineral does not occur in veins or cavities, as might be 

 supposed and as is usually the case, but it is found disseminated 

 throughout the rock. The character of the dissemination 

 varies greatly with the locality and horizon in which the 

 celestite is found. Three distinct types of dissemination were 

 noticed. 1. In some cases the mineral has had ample time to 

 assume well-defined crystal forms, which may in many instances 

 be from one-half to one inch in length. This type of dis- 

 semination is shown by figs. 1 and 2. 2. In other places the 

 crystallization was more rapid, and many crystals of a smaller 

 but practically uniform size, one-eighth to three-eighths of 

 an inch, resulted. Fig. 3 shows this type of dissemination ; 



* Read in abstract before the Onondaga Academy of Science, February 19, 

 1904. 



f Dana, System of Mineralogy, 6th edition, 1892, 1063. 



X Whitlock, New York Mineral Localities, New York State Museum Bul- 

 letin No. 70, 1903, 54. 



§ Whitlock in a letter to me, concerning the mentioning of Syracuse as a 

 locality for celestite by Dana, who is his authority, says: " It is possible 

 that the notice of this locality was communicated by some local observer." 

 This would, of course, account for the fact that nothing published can be 

 found. 



|| Cleveland, Mineralogy, 1822. 



If Beck, Mineralogy of New York, 1842. 



