THE SULPHUR OF ITALY. 107 



acid, and, for several years past, a new use has been found for it in the 

 sulphuration of vines. 



The price of sulphur is constantly increasing. The following are the 

 present prices, delivered either on hoard ship at the ports of Rimini and 

 Cesenatico, or at the railway stations of Rimini and Cesena : — 



£ s. d. 

 Refined sulphur in lumps... 8 10 6 per ton 

 ,, sticks... 10 3 6 ,, 



Sulphur is found here and there at different places in the Neapolitan 

 provinces, but not in any considerable amount. 



In the volcanic country of the Solfatara it is mixed with clay and 

 other substances, from which it is separated by sublimation. The pro- 

 duce is very unimportant in amount. 



Small scattered deposits are also found in Majella, the largest is that 

 of Santa Liberata, near Lettomanopello, which belongs to Messrs. Leo- 

 nelli, and yields a small annual profit. 



The discovery of a sulphur-bearing deposit at Civitanova, in the pro- 

 vince of Molise, has been recently announced to the Royal Institute 

 for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts, but nothing more is known 

 of it beyond the tact of the occurrence at the spot named of a limestone 

 impregnated with sulphur, whose extent and value is as yet undeter- 

 mined. Sulphur has also been found at a place called San Regina, about 

 two miles to the eastward of Ariano, but whether it is in workable 

 quantity or not is at present unknown. 



From the above evidence we are forced to conclude that no com- 

 mercially valuable deposits of sulphur have as yet been discovered in the 

 southern continental provinces. 



The gypsum and sulphur bearing formation of Sicily covers a large 

 portion of the island, extending from Mount Etna to the neighbourhood 

 of Trapani. The most important mines are principally situated in the 

 provinces of Caltanisetta and Girgenti. The provinces of Catania and 

 Palermo are next in importance, while the mines in the province of Tra- 

 pani are the least productive. 



The geological horizon of the gypsum beds is not yet satisfactorily 

 determined ; these have hitherto been supposed to be of mesozoic age, 

 but more recent observers are inclined to assign them to a more recent 

 period. In Sicily, as well as in the Romagna, the gypsum formation 

 includes limestones, clays which are more or less marly, and beds of 

 gypsum ; in the latter rock, as well as in the limestones, the sulphur is 

 found as an uniform or irregular mixture, sometimes concentrated in 

 small parallel seams, and occasionally crystallized. In the latter case it 

 is often associated with sulphate of strontia, or celestine. 



In the clays and slates the sulphur occurs in a different manner, 

 being found concentrated in globular masses ; this method of occurrence 

 is also observable in all the sulphur mines of the continent, which are 

 contained in argillaceous strata. 



