[ 49 ] 
itrery particular enquiry into the nature of this black 
fand, and, in the courfc of thefe experiments, feveral 
very interefting phenomena difcovered themfelves, 
which, as they might be of great fervice to the world 
in general, and more efpecially to fuch as are concern- 
ed in fmelting of the iron from the ore, I had thoughts 
of communicating to the publick ; but, as my bufi- 
nefs will not permit me to go through the whole at 
prefent, I fhall confine myfelf to what relates to the 
black fand. 
I procured, from Mr. Adams the Virginia merchant, 
a fufficient quantity of the fand, and, in order to efti- 
mate its comparative weight with that of iron ore, 
I procured fome of the richefl ore I could get, which 
having reduced to powder, I filled an ordinary tea- 
cup with it. I afterwards filled the fame cup with 
fome of the fand, and upon comparing the weights 
with each other, I found that the weight of the land 
was to that of the ore as 3 to 2 ; and having taken 
notice how readily the fand was attracted by the 
magnet, I was convinced that the fand mult certainly 
contain a very confiderable quantity of Iron, and 
therefore determined to make trial of it. I was how- 
ever, for fome time, interrupted in my defign, by in- 
formation I received from a friend, that fuch an en- 
quiry had been made many years before, by a mem- 
ber of the Royal Society, and a .gentleman of efteem 
as a chemift, but without fuccefs; and that the 
experiments were publifhed in the 2d vol. of 
Lowthorp’s Abridgment of the Philofophical Tranf- 
adtions. As this account is very fhort as well as cu- 
rious, I fhall take the liberty to give it you entire, 
with fome few remarks upon it. 
Vol. Llllf H 
A black 
