1837.] 



Trade in Chronicle of Iron, 



421 



necessary to construct, by means of fagots, &c. a new road on this 

 elastic soih For many a'ays the communications between the high and 

 low Valais were effected by means of a bridge which was far from be- 

 ing stable, thrown across the torrent at the commencement of the 

 gorge. It is impossible to conceive any thing more frightful than this 

 ravine of from sixty to a hundred feet deep, with a breadth of from 

 two to three hundred feet, and which augments in size as far as 

 the Rhone, choked up with this really frozen mire, with its sur- 

 face studded with great blocks of stone, and the trunks of trees. A 

 small portion only of the peak fell to the northern side of the Dent 

 du Midi, which, descending by a slope, covered a part of a glacier which 

 is on that side. After reading this notice from M. Lardy, M. Elie de 

 Beaumont gave some additional details regarding the phenomena, a 

 part of which he had witnessed. He particularly insisted on what ap- 

 peared especially curious as to the mode in which the muddy currents, 

 produced by the fall, spread themselves over the great cone of debris 

 of the torrent of St. Barthelemy, and which is at an inclination of from 

 five to seven degrees. These torrents of mud did not contain perhaps 

 a tenth part of water, and yet they displaced blocks of limestone several 

 yards long, and even floated them on their surface for considerable dis- 

 tances, almost as easily as a river floats ice. Notwithstanding its com- 

 paratively small dimensions, this phenomenon appeared to M. Elie de 

 Beaumont to possess a peculiar interest, as leading to conclusions re- 

 specting the mode by which the transport of diluvian blocks or boulders 

 is effected. M. Huot, who was also an eye-witness of a part of this 

 phenomenon, added some facts to the communication. The nature of 

 the soil, which was composed of calcarious schist and of a black mar], 

 must have necessarily facilitated the eboulement. A cloud of dust rose 

 to a great height for many days after the event, which, from a distance, 

 had all the appearance of a volcanic eruption. It was remarked, that 

 a person might walk upon the fluid mass almost at the same instant as 

 it was extending itself in all dimensions. At the extremity of the valley, 

 a deep valley of erosion was hollowed out in the Taswey. — Edinburgh 

 New Philosophical Journal for July — October 1836. 



Trade in Chr ornate of Iron.— Many years ago chromate of iron was 

 discovered by Professor Jameson in the serpentine rocks of the Shet- 

 lands, and afterwards on the mainland of Scotland. This observation 

 was in 1820 mentioned in one of the editions of his System of Mineralo- 

 gy. Afterwards, his pupil, the now well known and distinguished ge- 

 ologist, Dr. Hibbert, found chrome-ore in such quantities in the Shet- 

 land groups, that the quarries of it opened after hjs visit have realized 

 a very considerable return to the proprietors. It is exported from the 

 Shetlands as a raw material. Since the year 1826 this ore of iron has 



