300 



ON THE BORACIC ACID OF CENTRAL ITALY. 



Tuscan boracic acid lagoons, compared principally with those from Vul- 

 cano, in the Lipari Islands, &c, which will show their intimate connec- 

 tion with volcanic action : — 



1. Sulphuretted hydrogen is found 

 in large quantities, as at Vulcauo. 

 Pilla remarks that Vesuvius emits 

 hydrochloric acid in great abundance, 

 as do Etna and all other active vol- 

 canoes, while quiescent ones pour 

 forth chiefly sulphuretted rrydrogen, 

 which is disengaged at lower tempe- 

 ratures than is necessary to liberate 

 the former. {Trattato di Gcologia, 

 torn, i., p. 244.) 



2. Sassoline, Boracic acid, BO 3 , 

 3 HO ; also in Vulcano : — 



Boracic acid . . . 56 - 4 

 Water 43 "6 



100-0 



3. Hayesiue, Borate of lime, CaO, 



2 BO 3 + 3 HO; also at Iquique, 

 Peru : — 



Lime 20 "85 



Boracic acid . . . 51 '13 



Water 26 "25 



Silica, Alumina, and 



Magnesia ... 175 



99-98 



4. Lagonite, Borate of iron, Fe 2 O 3 , 



3 BO 3 + 3 HO ; as incrustations : — 



Sesquioxide of iron . 36 '26 



Water 14 "02 



Boracic acid . . . 47 '95 



Maguesia and loss . 1*77 



100-00 



5. Lardarellite, Borate of ammonia, 

 NH-'O, 4 BO 3 + 4 HO :— 



Ammonia . . . 1273 



Water 18 "32 



Boracic acid . . . 68 '56 



99-61 



6. Borax? NaO, 2B0 3 + 6 HO :— 



Soda 19-25 



Water 37-19 



Boracic acid . . . 43 '56 



100-00 

 (Ordinary borax contains 10 atoms 

 of water.) 



7. Mascagnine, NH 4 0, SO 3 + 

 2 HO ; also in the Lipari Islands :— 



Ammonia .... 34 - 67 

 Sulphuric acid . . 52 '33 

 Water 12-00 



99-00 



8. Gypsum, CaO, SO 3 + 2 HO 

 (Impure). 



9. Selenite, CaO, SO 3 + 2 HO. 

 10. Anhydrite, CaO, SO 3 :— 



Lime 41 '2 



Sulphuric acid . . 58 '8 



lOO'O 



11. Alum (probably ammonia and 

 iron alums). 



12. Sulphate of Magnesia (rare), 

 MgO, SO 3 . 



13. Sulphate of ammonia. 



14. Iron pyrites, Fe S 2 . 



15. Sulphur incrustations, S ; also 

 in the Lipari Islands. 



16. Resinous quartz, SiO 2 . 



17. Common salt :— Na CI. 



The connection between the soffioni -and volcanic craters has been 

 corroborated in a remarkable manner by the discovery of boracic acid 

 crystals in the minor crevasses produced near the Torre del Greco 

 during the eruption of Vesuvius in the winter of 1861, and I have a firm 

 conviction that a very considerable quantity of boron, combined in some 

 way or another, exists in Vesuvius, but that its occasional ejection is 

 purely a matter of affinities and temperature, so that even here it may 

 be one day possible to establish boracic acid establishments, profiting by 

 certain barometrical and thermometrical conditions of the atmosphere. 



The boracic acid crystals from the lagoons are far from pure, con- 



