6 



The Scottish Naturalist. 



HEMATITE IRON ORE POUND IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF 

 KIRKCALDY. 



By John Forrester, President of the Kirkcaldy Naturalists' 



Society. 



(Read before the E.S. U.N.S. at Largo, on 2d Aug., 1888.) 



BEFORE describing the subject of this paper, it may be well 

 to take a survey of the family to which this interesting 

 specimen of Haematite belongs. 



Historically, Iron has long been known ; and very early notice 

 is taken of it. We read in the book of Genesis that "Tubal 

 Cain was an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron." A 

 Phoenician writer (Sanchoniathon) ascribes the discovery of iron, 

 and the forging of it, to two brothers belonging to the same 

 generation as Tubal Cain of the Mosaic record. 



In Deuteronomy, Palestine is described as " a land whose stones 

 are iron " (chap. 8, ver. 9), while in the book of Job, we read (ch. 

 28, ver. 2) "Iron is taken out of the earth and brass is molten out 

 of the stone." The question whether copper or iron was first em- 

 ployed in the service of man has been the subject of much 

 discussion. Copper or Bronze (the Brass mentioned in the 

 Scriptures) has generally been conceded the first place. Arguments 

 much insisted on for this, are that copper did not require to 

 undergo the various processes needful for iron, to render it fit for 

 use. And, further, that methods of hardening copper, by alloy* 

 had been early arrived at, to make this very soft metal an im- 

 portant implement and weapon in the hands of man. 



Lucretius, writing in the century preceding the Christian era, 

 places copper before iron, and says : 



" Man's earliest arms were fingers, teeth, and nails, 

 And stones, and fragments from the branching woods, 

 Then copper next ; and last, as later traced, 

 The tyrant Iron." 



Max Miiller has a very ingenious argument for the early and 

 general use of copper, as opposed to iron. Founding his claim on 

 the ground that the Latin aes, aeris, Gothic ais, old high German 

 It (from which our English word iron has descended), applied 

 exclusively to copper, he contends that Greek was spoken before 

 iron was discovered, and claims that iron was not known before 



