CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE OF SOME GOLD NUGGETS. 261 



oxide and quartz, the gold itself presenting no large areas free 

 from extraneous matter — the crystalline structure of the gold is 

 on a small scale, and not well denned. The photograph shows 

 the surface of the section covered with pits and irregular cavities, 

 these have been left after dissolving out the iron oxide, quartz, 

 etc., by means of hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids. The gold 

 itself is of a deep colour, and thus resembles the Gippsland gold, 

 in fact there is a considerable amount of resemblance between the 

 foregoing Victorian and the Molyneux River nuggets ; these 

 nuggets were obtained from the Bank of New Zealand through 

 the kindness of Mr. Michie, the manager at Dunedin, who allowed 

 me to select such as suited my purpose, from large parcels of gold 

 which had just been received and which were opened in my 

 presence, hence the locality of the nuggets cannot be questioned. 

 Sp. gr. at 24° C. is 17-15. Assay 92-128 per cent. 



Klondyke Nuggets. — Several specimens from Klondyke were 

 examined, some were kindly obtained for me with certificates as 

 to their authenticity by Capt. M. W. Campbell Hepworth, then 

 of the R.M.S. Aorangi, 1899, from the Bank of Vancouver, 

 Victoria, and others by Mr. H. E. Ward of Rochester, New York. 

 Plate 1 2, fig. 5, shows the external appearance of one of them, it is 

 well rolled, as if it had travelled far, and is free externally from 

 gangue and pits, although it has the usual depressions and hollows 

 seen in most nuggets. The sections, (Plate 12, fig. 6 and Plate 13 

 fig. 7) however, show that it is much fissured and that there are 

 irregular cavities containing ferruginous matter and quartz : the 

 fissures give it a granular appearance as if made up of agglutinated 

 or welded particles of gold. The crystalline structure is small, 

 and it is visible in the illustrations (figs. 6 and 7); it is however 

 not well defined. The Klondyke nuggets are all, as far as I have 

 seen, very pale in colour, due to the very large amount of silver 

 present. Their structure and appearance are quite distinct from 

 that of gold from any other locality. The assays of two gave only 

 64-550 and 64-622 per cent, of gold, with a specific gravity 24*5° 

 C. of only 16-23. 



