34-0 General Notes. [April, 



thickness forms a hill, at the base of which is a deposit of miocene 

 marl containing occasional beds of argentiferous galena. The 

 galena has long been worked for silver, and it is said that the 

 Phoenicians and Romans once mined in that locality. Recently- 

 native silver has been found in the hematite itself, and in a bed of 

 flint which overlies it. Veins of barite which traverse the hem- 

 atite bed are also rich in native silver. The silver is said to 



Another interesting occurrence of silver has been described by 

 Kcenig and Stockder. They found it at a Colorado locality as 

 clusters of crystals surrounded by or implanted in coal. The 

 association of native silver with coal is a good demonstration of 

 the accepted theory that organic substances play an important 

 role in the reduction of metals from their salts. 



According to a note in a recent number of the Engineering and 

 Mining Journal, native silver has been discovered in small specks 

 and scales at the copper mines near Somerville, N. J. 



Some Virginia Minerals. — The students in the laboratory of 

 the University of Virginia, have contributed to the Chemical 

 News several valuable notes upon Virginia minerals. 



S. Porcher describes a native alloy of gold and silver occurring 

 in rounded grains in Montgomery county. The grains have the 

 color of gold on the exterior, but are almost white within. The 

 specific gravity is 15.46, less than that of gold. Allowing for the 

 partial removal of silver from the surface, the composition is 

 shown to be represented by single atoms of gold and silver, 

 AgAu. 



T. P. Lippit has analyzed an epidote of clear pistachio green 

 color, and finds that the iron is all in the ferric condition and that 

 the mineral is about two-thirds aluminium epidote and one-third 



B. E. Sloan has examined the beautiful bluish- white felspar 

 which accompanies the microlite, columbite and beryl of Amelia 

 county. This felspar resembles oligoclase, but is now shown to 

 be a true orthoclase. 



B. H. Heyward describes a zinc-bearing clay from Pulaski 

 county ; and A. L. Baker found that iodine was present in the salt 

 brines of West Virginia. 



New Minerals. — Nocerine is a double fluoride of magnesium 

 and calcium, which occurs in white acicular crystals in the vol- 

 canic rocks of Nocera. 



Neocyanite is an anhydrous silicate of copper, which occurs 

 in small deep blue crystals upon the lava of Vesuvius. 



Tritochoritexs a vanadate of lead and zinc, of a dark brown color 

 and yellow streak, occurring in columnar cleavable masses. 



Melanotekite is another massive, cleavable mineral of dark color. 

 It is a silicate of lead and iron, occurring at Longban, Sweden. It 

 has a metallic lustre, and is nearly as hard as quartz. 



