288 METALS. 



but often contains impurities.* The liver ore y or hepatic cin. 

 nabar, contains some carbon and clay, and has a brownish 

 streak and color, f The pure variety volatilizes entirely before 

 the blowpipe. 



Dif. Distinguished from red oxyd of iron and chromatcr 

 of lead by evaporating before the blowpipe ; from realgar bf 

 giving off on charcoal no allicaceous fumes. 



Obs. . Cinnabar is the ore from which the principal pan 

 of the mercury of commerce is obtained. It occurs mostly 

 in connection with talcose and argillaceous shale, or other 

 stratified deposits, both the most ancient and those of more 

 recent date. The mineral is too volatile to be expected in 

 any abundance in proper igneous or crystalline rocks, yet 

 has been found sparingly in granite. .The principal mines 

 are at Idria in Austria, Almaden in Spain, in the Palatinate 

 on the Rhine, and at Huanca Velica in Peru. Mercury oc- 

 curs also at Arqueros in Chili, at various places in Mexico, 

 in Hungary, Sweden, at several points in France,- ancLaJL_ 

 Ripa, in Tuscany ; also in China and Japan* ' A large mine 

 has been discovered in Upper California. The ore there 

 occurs in a ridge of the Sierra Azul, twelve miles south of 

 San Jose, a few miles from the coast, and about half way from 

 €an Francisco to Monterey. The mouth of the principal 

 mine (the mine of New Almaden) is a few yards down from 

 the summit of the highest hill containing the ore, an d is 

 about 1200 feet above the neighboring plain, /^he prevail- \ 

 ing rock is a greenish talcose rock. The ore is interspersed 

 through the slate, in a yellow" ochreous matrix, which forms 

 a bed 42 feet in thickness. The richest ore is from the upper 

 part of the bed. The supply is abundant, and of excellent 

 quality, and one to two millions of pounds _ of mercury are 

 now extracted annually. The rock is a metamorphic rock, 

 much tilted and contorted ; but its exact age has not been 

 ascertained. 



Uses. This ore is the principal source of the mercury of \ 

 j commerce. It is also used as a pigment, and as a coloring j 

 I ingredient for red sealing wax, and it is called in^ the shops j 

 . vermillion. The Vermillion of commerce is often aHuTteTaTgtM 

 with red lead, dragon's blood and realgar. Its entire volatil- 

 ity, without odorous fumes, will distinguish the pure material. 

 Horn Quicksilver, (chlorid of mercury.) A tough, sectile ore, of a 



Of what does cinnabar consist] Where are the principal mines 1 

 For what is it used 1 



