PKOCEEDENGS OF GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 



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mineral. It does not at all follow that his process should be exactly that 

 which nature herself has adopted, but still it is remarkably illustrative of 

 what may occur, and on that account is worthy of notice in detail. We take 

 a porcelain tube, and place it vertically in a furnace. It is open at both 

 ends, and we introduce through the upper part of the tube the gas, fluo- 

 ride of silicon. At the top we have a layer of alumina; then there is a 

 layer of silica ; and so on in alternation— alumina, silica, alumina, silica — ■ 

 beginning with alumina, and finishing with silica. We will heat that tube 

 to red-whiteness, and then note the result. The gas, fluoride of silicon, 

 is a compound of fluorine and silicon. When it comes in contact with 

 the alumina, a curious reaction takes place. A portion of the silica is 

 deposited here, and we get the mineral silicate of alumina, a corre- 

 sponding proportion of the aluminium displaced and volatilized in the 

 form of fluoride of aluminium. It is important clearly to understand this 

 part of the operation. You perceive that we bring fluoride of silicon in 

 contact with alumina, that is, with a compound of aluminium and oxy- 

 gen. A reaction takes place between those two substances at this tem- 

 perature, whereby silicate of alumina is produced. The mineral, stauro- 

 lite, happens to be this particular silicate of alumina, and fluoride of 

 aluminium is evolved. That descending, and coming in contact with the 

 stratum of silica beneath, undergoes a change similar to that which the 

 fluoride of silicon underwent in the first instance, and we get the same 

 mineral formed in the second layer from silica as was formed in the first 

 layer from alumina — in one instance by the action of fluoride of silicon, 

 and in the other by the action of fluoride of aluminium. At the second de- 

 composition there is fluoride of silicon evolved, which acts upon the alumi- 

 nium below exactly as in the first instance ; and so it goes on in succession, 

 and at length you obtain the tube full of the mineral staurolite — this sili- 

 cate of alumina, and yet you have only employed a small amount of fluoride 

 of silicon in the first instance to effect this transformation. Thus, by a 

 small amount of this body, you can convert an indefinite quantity of alu- 

 mina and silica into this mineral. As much fluoride of silicon finally 

 escapes from the tube as entered it in the first instance. It is one of the 

 most beautiful and striking experiments in the whole of this department 

 of science. The staurolite produced in this way is crystallized. 



We pass on to a few remarks on another curious and important mineral, 

 ■ — namely, topaz. This is a compound, the precise rational composition of 

 which does not appear to be very clearly understood even at the present 

 time. It is essentially a silicate of alumina containing fluorine, but some 

 doubt is entertained as to the exact mode in which that fluorine exists in 

 the compound. 



Now, one might have reasonably anticipated that topaz might have been 

 produced in some such way as that just explained with regard to the pro- 

 duction of staurolite ; but, according to Deville, who tried the experiment, 

 topaz cannot be so formed. There is, however, some little discrepancy in 

 the statements which have been made on this point; for Daubree states 

 that it is formed by heating alumina to redness in a current of fluoride of 

 silicon. We must wait for further information, seeing that these two 

 chemists disagree on the subject. But if topaz cannot be so formed, a pe- 

 culiar mineral termed "zircon," which is a silicate of zirconia (zirconia cor- - 

 responding in formula with alumina), may be produced in beautiful crystals 

 when the fluoride of silicon is passed over zirconia. Take a tube contain- 

 ing zirconia, and heat it to a good red-heat, or more than that, and then 

 pass over the gas fluoride of silicon, and you obtain the mineral crystallized 



