NOTES A^s'D QUERIES. 
115 
* On the Stained Glass of the Ancients ' (Berlin, 1836), of Eoman origin, 
and are 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 
Beverley, 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 -which 
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 determiuation for the ]S'orth American " Copper Age," 
far from precise, but which further discoveries will correct. 
Abgyllite. — A new mineral under this name was described in a late 
number of Newton's ' London Journal of Arts,' by Mr. Lewis Thompson. 
For some years past, a nickel mine has been worked on the estate of the 
Duke of Argyle, at Inverary, and from time to time borings have been 
made to discover the extent of the vein, and, from amongst the diff'erent 
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 small, and by micro- 
scopic examination were found to be 12-sided, or dodecahedrons. This 
discovery 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 anah'sis, and found to con- 
tain — lead, 60"8 ; vanadium, 2U"5 ; sulphur, 18"7=10(). The specific gra- 
vity is 6 04; the colour a dark lead-grey, \A ith considerable lustre. The 
form of the crys':al is a rhombic dodecahedron. Before the blowpipe it de- 
crepitates slightlj^ ; with borax it yields a beautiful bluish-green bead in 
the reducing flame. It is acted upon by boiling nitric acid, and aflbrds a 
bright blue solution. Very small quantities have as yet been obtained, 
but mineralogists may now be led to search for larger deposits, which, if 
obtained, will prove valuable to the owners of the mines. A'anadium forms 
a beautiful dark-blue colour on silk with tanno-gallic acid, which is stated 
to be very permanent ; but no sufficient supply of tliis metal has yet been 
obtained for its commercial use. 
