152 
[Assembly 
Strontianite. Muscolunge lake. Occurs as a part of the matrix 
to the fluor spar. Color white, pale green. In radiated masses. 
Quartz, In rounded and smooth masses, from the size of a pea . 
to a pigeon's egg, having the lustre and character of hyalite. These 
masses seem to have been crystals which have been partially fused, 
some perfectly, others softened only. These are often pene- 
trated by crystals of feldspar, of the forms noticed above. Rossie, 
near Grass lake. Found adhering to gneiss. 
Pyramidal Atelene Picrosmine^ N. S. ? Hardness = 2. 00; specific 
gravity, 2.53. Cleavage parallel to the side of a square prism, and 
in the direction of it, diagonal. Lustre, faint pearly. Colors, yel- 
lowish white or pale yellowish green. 
This substance I discovered in Antwerp, St. Lawrence county, 
associated with calc spar and foliated plumbago. It occurs in a 
vein traversing granular carbonate of lime, about an inch in width. 
Before the blowpipe in the external flame, it is instantly changed 
into a white enamel; in the interior, it fuses readily with ebulli- 
tion into a porous glass. With nitrate of cobalt, this enamel be- 
comes a lively blue. As this substance possesses characters dif- 
ferent from any known to me or described in books, I consider it 
a new substance. If so, it comes within the order Picrosmine of 
Shepard, and genus Atelene picrostnine^ and as it belongs to the 
pyramidal system, it may with propriety be called Pyramidal Ate- 
lene Picrosmine. For a trivial name, I propose that of Terenile, 
derived from a Greek word signifying tender^ which is a characte- 
ristic property. 
Hemi- Prismatic Tabular Spar, N. S.? H. = 3.5, 4.0; specific 
gravity, 2.874. Form oblique rhombic prism. M on M==94° 
and 86° c. g. P on M = 106° 30'. Cleavage parallel to P. Co- 
lor white, yellowish white. Some varieties are dark slate color, 
by intermixture with foreign matter. Fracture uneven. Corres- 
ponding varieties somewhat granular. Individuals strongly cohe- 
rent. Before the blowpipe, it fuses with difficulty into a white 
enamel; moistened with nitrate of cobalt, it assumes a pale flesh 
red. It is found in irregular masses in primitive limestone. 
This substance has been always considered as soapstone or ste- 
atite. As it does not present many difficulties in cutting and po- 
lishing it, and has very much the unctuous feel of soapstone, and 
has been much used in the manufacture of inkstands. But it is 
very evident that it is not the soapstone, steatite talc, or serpen- 
tine of Middlefield, Blandford and New-Fane. Its crystalline 
form is different from either talc or serpentine, and it is too hard, 
also, to be considered as belonging to either of those species. It 
comes nearer to pyroxene than to either the talc or serpentine. 
In fact, its crystalline form is almost identical with pyroxene — yet 
it is too soft, and has a less specific gravity; and as I cannot find 
that it agrees with any other described mineral, I propose to con- 
sider it a new species, allied, on the one side to pyroxene, and 
on the other, to serpentine. Its hardness and specific gravity 
place it in the genus Tabular Spar, and as its form belongs to the 
hemi-prismatic system, I propose to call it Hemi- Prismatic Tabu- 
