25 

 TAB. CXIV. 



FERRUM oxygenizatum ; Var. stalactiticum. 

 Stalactitical Oxide of Iron. 



Class 3. Metals, Order I. Homogeneous. 



Gen. 8. Iron. Spec. 3. Oxide of. 



I his is another remarkable stalactitical production from 

 Mam-Tor in Derbyshire. It was given me by my friend 

 N. J. Winch, Esq., F. L. S. of Newcastle, and has been 

 taken for Mineral Pitch, as its appearance would warrant us 

 to suppose. It is however found to be an Oxide of Iron. 

 Its situation is nearly as remarkable, when carefully 

 examined, as that of the last ; for its being so distinctly 

 formed above the calcareous stalactite, gives an idea of its 

 being a lighter substance. This might appear impossible : 

 Nature, however, is seldom at variance with herself, 

 and by a steady observance we may reconcile these apparent 

 difficulties. It might happen that water very readily took 

 up the Oxide of Iron which it found in its passage through 

 the matrix, and, by dropping into some hollow, formed 

 a stalactite, often coated by that which follows, and which 

 was not so soon dissolved, or so soon fitted for precipitation. 

 Some of its coats are in such a state that they resemble 

 Martial Ethiops. 



It comes near to the appearance of Haematites ; it however 

 has not the striated character, but rather the conchoidal 

 fracture of Pitch. A little heat renders it magnetic, but 

 does not take much of the blackness off: perhaps it con- 

 tains a little Manganese, as the ochraceous part becomes 

 somewhat crimson with heat. 



VOL. II. D 



