262 J. MILNE CURRAN. 
polishing properties. Very handsome slabs of serpentine can be 
procured in abundance at Bingera and Drake, the latter veined 
with chrysotile. 
A variety of Nephoite or jade occurs at Lucknow in the Pro 
prietary mine. It is associated with a hornblendic felsite. Under 
the microscope it shows a beautiful felted structure that explains 
the wonderful toughness of this stone. 
I have one specimen of Jolite found with topaz and tinstone at 
Emmaville.. It is hardly fine enough to be ranked as a pee 
stone, but its presence is worth recording. 
At Mount Hope an ore of copper is sometimes found consisting 
of a siliceous red oxide, green carbonate, and “ grey ore.” Pen- 
dants and trinkets of this were at one time in demand. This 
stone takes a good polish, and the colours are very clear. It. 
might be called a precious stone but has an unmistakably vulgar 
appearance when placed alongside true gem-stones. 
Mil y er | ro 
Some really good lin nodules up to two inches 
in diameter in the upper levels of the Great Cobar Mine. The 
colour of these when cut was remarkably fine—darker and richer 
than the well-known Walleroo malachite. A fibrous variety, fault- 
less in colour but too soft to polish, was also very plentiful at Cobar. 
Notres oN THE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 
Topaz.—Perfectly transparent stones were selected, and freed 
from any surface traces of iron, ete., by boiling in HOl. They 
were ground to the finest possible powder in an agate mortar, 
which was weighed before and after crushing. The SiO, taken 
up from the mortar was afterwards deducted. The mineral was 
fused with sodium and potassium carbonates, and the sodium 
fluoride formed was dissolved out of the melt with water. The 
solution was warmed with Am,CO, to separate any small quantity 
of SiO, and Al,O,, and filtered. 
The residue was dissolved in HCl, and the SiO,, Al,Os, and 
CaO, separated by usual method. 
