256 
SCIENCE. 
4 
f MARBLES. 
No. 
KIND. 
LOCALITY. 
Specific 
Gravity. 
Weight 
of 
One 
Cubic 
Foot. 
Ratio 
of 
Absorp- 
tion. 
First 
Appear- 
ance 
of 
Injury. 
Crumbles 
or 
Cracks 
Slightly. 
Cracks 
Badly 
or 
Becomes 
Friable. 
Injured 
so as to be 
Worth- 
less for a 
Building. 
Melted 
or 
Ruined. 
I 
T uckahoe 
Westchester Co., N. Y 
2.794 
194.6 
1 4- 298 
1 >eg. Fall. 
900 
Deg. Fall. 
1000 
Deg. Fah. 
1200 
Deg. Fah. 
1200 
Deg. Fah. 
12 0 
2 
Ashley Falls 
Ashlev Falls, N. Y 
2.742 
*7*-3 
I 4- 280 
900 
1000 
1 100 
1200 
1200 
3 
Snow Flake 
Westchester Co., N . Y... 
2.848 
178.0 
1 4- 380 
950 
9 .So 
1000 
1200 
1200 
4 
Tennessee 
Dougherty’s Q’y, E. 1'enn 
2.71 1 
169.4 
1 + 320 
95° 
950 
1000 
I 2‘ O 
1200 
5 
Duke Marble 
Near Harper s Ferry, Va. 
2.812 
1 75 ■ 7 
1+340 
1000 
1000 
X IOO 
1200 
1200 
6 
Black Marble 
Isle La Motte, Vt 
2.682 
176.6 
I 4- 320 
1000 
1000 
1100 
1200 
1200 
7 
Sutherland Falls 
Rutland, Vt 
2 66 6 
166.6 
1 + 342 
1000 
1000 
1100 
1 200 
1200 
SLATES. 
1 ! Sabin's Quarry ..j 
Montpelier, Vt | 
2.869 j 
179.3 I 
1 4 no j 
800 
850 
90O 
IO DO 
j 1200 
SOAPSTONES. 
i Soapstone 
W’eathersfield, Vt 
2.668 
j 166.7 
l 
1+38 l 
1200 
.... 
.... 
1 
| -- 
ARTIFICIAL STONE. 
Artificial Stone 
j McMurtire & Cham- 1 
) berlain’s patent f ,2 ^ 5 
139-7 
i 4 280 
750 
800 
1100 
1200 
MINERAL WAX, A RESUME. 
By M. Benjamin, Ph. B. 
Geographical Distribution. Mineral wax or ozocerite 
(from o£eev, 10 smell, and ar/poc, wax') is found in a sand- 
stone in Moldavia, in the vincinity of coal and reck salt. 
It also occurs in large quantities at Borislav, near 
Drohobycz, and at Dzwiniacz, near Stamstawow in Galicia, 
a province ot Austria. The mines are situated at the 
northern foot of the Carpathian Mountains. It has also 
been found at several other places in the same province. 
Small quantities have been discovered in England, at 
Binney Quarry, Linlithgowshire ; at the Urpeth Colliery, 
Newcastle-on-Tyne, and in Wales. In ihis country it 
has been found in Texas, in Utah and in California, about 
fifty miles northeast of Los Angelos, among the Sierra 
Madre Mountains In Utah the mineral occurs in shale 
beds, out of which the ozocerite appears as exudations. 
These shale beds are quite extensive — some forty to 
sixty miles lor.g by twenty wide, and from seventy to orty 
feet in thickness. It is thought that by digging and 
boring the supply of the wax may be increased. 
Geologically it is presumed that these beds were 
formed in a tertiary lake or peat bog. Prof. J. S. New- 
berry suspects that it will be found to be an evolved pro- 
duct, the distdlation of beds of cretaceous lignite and 
the residue of a petroleum unusually rich in paraffine. 
The foreign deposits are considered to be about of the 
same age. 
Mode of Occurrence. It is generally found (referring 
to Galacia) in thin layers and small pieces which must 
separated from the matrix in which they are found. 
The smallest pieces are only obtained by a process of 
washing. It is sometimes found in lumps or layers trom 
one to three leet in thickness, a lump sometimes weigh- 
ing several hundred we ght. 
Physical Properties. It is Ike a resinous wax in 
consistency and translucency, sometimes with a folia' ed 
structuie. Its color is brown or brownish yellow by 
transmitted light and leek green by reflec ed light. The 
poorer qualities, which are colored black and are either 
too solt trom abundance of petroleum or too hard 
(asphalt like in character), are mainly used for the pro- 
duction of paraffin. It possesses a ph asantly aromatic 
odor. The American variety is described as black in 
the mass, sections of which are translucent. 
Its Chemical A ature. The specific gravity of ozocerite 
is 0.94 to 0.97. According to Dana it ranges from 0.85 
to 0.90. 
Its melting point is vari usly given as follows : 
The Moldavian, 84° Malaguti. 
Urpeth mineral, 6o° .Johnson. 
Galacian, 6o° Hofstadter. 
Utah. 6 i °5 Newberry. 
Moldavian, 62° Schrotter. 
From Slamk, 62° Glocker. 
Galacian, 63° Wagner. 
The bciling point is likewise differently given by the 
authorities : 
Urpeth mineral, 121 0 - Johnson. 
Moldavian, 210° Schrotter. 
Moldavian, 300° Malaguti. 
Utah, between 300° and 380° — — Newberry. 
Concerning this last determination, Dr. S. B. Newberry 
says ; 1.5 grammes of the substance were treated with 
about 300 c. c. ol cold ether, and allowed to stand lor 
twenty-four houts. The substance was decanted 
through a filter, evaporated, and the resulting mineral 
tested to obtain the melting point. This trealment gave 
me a fraction equal to 25.4 per cent, of the original sub- 
stance, and having a melting point of 49. 0 C. The 
residue was again - treated with 200 c. c. of cold ether 
for about the same time, and gave a further product 
equal to 9.1 per cent, of the original mass, fusing at 6i°. 
On boiling the undissolved portion in about 500 c. c. of 
ether the whole mass went into solution, and upon evapor- 
ation was found to have a fusing point of 67’. It distills 
without decomposition's not altered by strong acids, and 
very little by hot alcohol. The Moldavian variety di' solves 
but slightly in ether, whereas that found at Urpe h dis- 
solves in this medium 10 the amount cf fou: -filths, and 
separates on evaporation in brown flecks, which melt at 
38. °9 to a yellowish brown 1 quid. The solubil ty of the 
variety found in Utah has been sufficiently referred to in 
the remarks on its fusing point. The composition of 
ozocerite has been found to be : 
