NOTES AND QUERTES. 



1 L5 



' On the Stained Glass of the Ancients' (Berlin, 1830), of Roman origin, 

 and arc found in old Etruscan graves ; also in Egypt, where they may 

 have been manufactured at Alexandria before the Christian era, perhaps 

 as far back as the olden times of the Phoenicians, who were celebrated for 

 their glass-ware as well as for their commerce and their extensive navigation. 

 The discovery of America by the Phoenicians has been strongly suspected 

 by many, and it would account, in M. Morlot's opinion, in a very natural 

 manner for the tradition of the Atlantis. The fact is in itself, he thinks, 

 far from improbable, when we reflect that long before the Christian era 

 the Alexandrian astronomers knew the earth to be round, and that one of 

 them, Eratosthenes (third century before Christ), calculated the circum- 

 ference of the earth with a surprising degree of accuracy. The find at 

 Povcrley, then, goes to show, M. Morlot conceives, that a given moment 

 of the American "Copper Age" coincided with a given moment of that 

 European civilization to which the enamelled beads belonged and whieh 

 could hardly reach lower down than the Christian era, while it appears to 

 go as far back as five or even ten centuries earlier. Of course, it is not to 

 be understood that the American " Copper Age " was wholly parallel 

 with the Phoenician period. It may have begun sooner, and may have 

 lasted later ; but, if this view be correct, there is thus, by indirect means, 

 a chronological determination for the North American " Copper Age," 

 far from precise, but which further discoveries will correct. 



Argyllite. — A new mineral under this name was described in a late 

 number of Newton's ' London Journal of Arts,' by Mr. Lewis Thompson. 

 Eor some years past, a nickel mine has been worked on the estate of the 

 Duke of Argyle, at Invcrar}^ and from time to time borings have been 

 made to discover the extent of the vein, and, from amongst the different 

 kinds of minerals thus obtained, one sample was found by the Duke to 

 possess the power of reflecting light. The mineral was found in very 

 small quantities, but curiosity being excited to know what it was, a por- 

 tion was sent to Mr. Thompson for analysis. He asserts it to be a com- 

 pound of lead, vanadium, and sulphur — a combination that he says has 

 never before been noticed. The crystals are very smalt and by micro- 

 scopic examination were found to be 12-sided, or dodecahedrons. This 

 d'scovery recalled to Mr. Thompson's recollection a peculiar kind of 

 copper-ore he had obtained many years ago from near Fowey, in Cornwall. 

 This ore had always to be melted by itself in Swansea, and the copper ob- 

 tained from it could not be rolled in sheets. The cause of this was not 

 examined into at that time ; but as the ore contained well-formed crystals, 

 resembling galena mixed with copper, Mr. Thompson suspected it might 

 be the same kind of ore as that obtained at Inverary. Specimens of this 

 Fowey ore have now been subjected to careful analysis, and found to con- 

 tain lead, (50\S; vanadium, 20 5; sulphur, 18*7=:100. The specific gra- 

 vity is 6'04; the colour a dark lead-grey, with considerable lustre. The 

 form of the crystal is a rhombic dodecahedron. Before the blowpipe it de- 

 crepitates slightly ; with borax it } iehls a beautiful bluish-green head in 

 the reducing flame. It is acted upon by boiling nitric acid, and a Herds a 

 bright blue solution. Very small quantities have as yet been obtained, 

 but mineralogists may now be led to search for Larger deposits, which, it' 

 obtained, \\ ill prove valuable to the o^ aers of the mines. Vanadium forms 

 a beautiful dark-blue colour on silk with tauno-gallic acid, which is stated 

 to be very permanent ; but no sutlicient supply of this metal has yet been 

 obtained for its commercial use. 



