TAB. CCXXVH1. 
SILEX | fragilis. 
Actynolite. 
Class 2. Earths. Order 1. Homogeneous. 
Gen. 4. Silex. Spec. _ Fragilis. 
Div. 2. Imitative fibrous. 
Syn. Strahlstein. /mmer/l. 1. 418. 
Actynolite. Kirwan, 1. 167, 178. 
Actynote. Hatiy, 3. 73. 
Mr. Kirwan seems to have givenan excellent description of 
this substance, perhaps the best extant. I shall, therefore, 
make use of the following applicable part of it: ‘* Frag- 
ments long, splintery, and exceedingly sharp, so as to be 
dificultly handled without injury. Hardness difficult to 
estimate, on account of its brittleness.”” He also says, 
«We may vindicate to this species the stone called by 
Saussure Schorle en fillets brillants et fragiles ; so sharp as 
scarcely to be handled with impunity.” In these characters 
it is certainly peculiarly different from any other species of 
_ Mineral, and its particles are so fine and sharp as to put 
me in mind of the setaceous spiculz or hairs on the pod of 
the Dolichos pruriens. We might even suppose it as good 
an anthelmintic or vermifuge, by its mechanical action ; 
but its hardness would undoubtedly make it too violent.— 
It very readily penetrates the skin, and the consequent 
irritation is more violent than the most troublesome itching, 
