78 
MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 27. 
clay, with a smooth flat-conchoidal porcelain-like fracture, giving a 
surface with a dull lustre. The hardness is about 2§, and the material 
is impressible by the finger nail, which leaves a mark with an oily lustre. 
The substances adhere to the tongue. When thrown on water, they 
float, only sinking after being left to stand for half an hour or so. In 
many respects, therefore, these two occurrences closely resemble sepiolite 
(meerschaum), but in chemical composition they are found to approach 
more nearly to serpentine than to sepiolite, and they are comparable 
with such hydrous magnesian silicates as aphrodite, which is described as 
being a soft, earthy, snow-white substance. The analyses are somewhat 
approximate, having been carried through rapidly, mainly for the purpose 
of identifying the material. The Al 2 Os was not determined, but, judging 
from its colour, the precipitate with ammonium hydrate was mainly 
FegOj. 
Analyses of Magnesian Silicates near Aphrodite. 
Megantic mine 
Hall chrome pit 
SiOs 
50-29 
48-88 
Al s O, \ 
6-23 
3-56 
Fe*Ot / 
FeO 
1-00 
1-36 
CaO. . . 
None 
None 
MgO. 
29-99 
31-41 
H, 0-110°.. 
3-10 
3-05 
HjO+llO®’. 
10-20 
12-62 
100-81 
100-88 
Williamsite. 
A massive, translucent serpentine, possessing a rich apple-green 
colour, and having the same general physical characters as the williamsite 
from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, occurs filling narrow fissures in 
the dark green serpentinized pyroxenite at the Montreal chrome pit. 
Chrysolite- A sbestos . 
There is a greater known development of this variety of serpentine 
in the Black Lake and neighbouring areas of the Eastern Townships 
of Quebec than in any other part of the world. The chrysotile is In the 
form of perfectly flexible, and easily separable silky fibres which, in bulk, 
have a sea-green or even darker colour, but individually are practically 
pure white. The silky or oily lustre and somewhat greasy feel serve to 
distinguish this variety of serpentine from the very similar hornblende 
asbestos, to which it is also inferior in hardness (3 to 3f) and specific 
gravity (2*57). The prevailing mode of occurrence at Black lake is 
