So General Notes. [January, 



-A variety of amphibole. Lucchetti 1 describes 

 under this name a variety of hornblende from Italy, which con- 

 tains almost no magnesia. It occurs in green acicular crystals 

 with the following composition : Si0 2 36.8 FeO 22.0 Fe 2 3 14.5 

 AIA 15. 1 CaO 5.1 MgO 0.9 Na 2 4. K 2 0.4. 



New Bismuth Minerals.— Domeyko 2 has described a large num- 

 ber of interesting Bismuth minerals from South America. Among 

 them are Bolwite, an oxysulphide of bismuth (Bi 2 S 2 + Bi 2 3 ) and 

 Taznite, a chloro-arseniatc and chloro-antimoniate of Bismuth. 

 Bolivite occurs crystallized. Taznite is amorphous and some- 

 times imperfectly fibrous. 



The optical Properties of Pyromorphite and Mimetite. — 

 Jannetez and Michel 3 in a paper comparing the optical and chemi- 

 cal properties of pyromorphite and the mimetite find that these 

 minerals can be divided into four types ; (1) pure pyromorphite, 

 uniaxial, (2) pure mimetite, biaxial, (3) mixtures showing pyro- 

 morphite in the centre, surrounded by mimetite, part uniaxial, part 

 biaxial, (4) groups of crystals having their axes inclined to' one 

 another, biaxial appearance. 



Chalcocite on an Old Coin.— Upon some bronze Roman 

 coins found at the bottom of a French lake, Daubree 4 has observed 

 an incrustation, 2 mm in thickness, of chalcocite. The chalcocite 

 forms hexagonal plates like the cupreine of Breithaupt. Some 

 chalcopynte and malachite were also formed. While similar in- 



the present case is interesting in that the water was cold and pure! 

 Nova Scotia Minerals.— Among other minerals found in the 

 trap of Nova Scotia, Gilpin 5 mentions Chlorophceite, Delessite, 

 Acadiahte, Mordenite, Louisite, Ledererite, Gyrolite, Centralla- 

 site, Cyanolite, Steelite, etc. He regards Louisite as a variety of 

 Okenite, and Steelite as a variety of Mordenite. 



GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVELS. 6 

 M. de Brazza's Journey from the Ogowe to the Congo.— 

 Some further details of M. de Brazza's journey are given in the 

 Royal Geographical Society's Proceedings for November 188 1. 

 "After leaving his station at Francheville in July, 1880 the trav- 

 eler saw the sources of the Passa affluent of the Upper Ogowe, 

 and crossed the River Leketi (an affluent of the Alima, the Kunia 



