1876. J 
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PROGRESS I N SCIENCE. 
Mineralogy. — Deposits of crude borate of soda have been found by Mr. 
Robottom, of Birmingham, at the bed of a dry lake in the Slate Range Moun- 
tains. We learn, from the “ California Alta,” that the appearance of the 
surrounding country clearly indicates that water once stood 60 feet deep here 
over a large area, the ancient beach being distinctly traceable. The most re- 
markable fadt about this saline product is, that in its middle there is a trad 
5 miles long and 2 wide of common salt, while on the outside there is a deposit 
of borate of soda 3 feet thick, and under this a lower stratum composed of 
sulphate of soda and tincal mixed together from 1 to 3 feet thick. The borate 
of soda is easily crystallised, and on exposure of the crystals to the sun after 
they are taken out of the vac a white powder is obtained, which is preferred by 
some of the potters to the refined borax of the English market. For cleansing 
purposes this borate of soda is far more economical, and possesses great ad- 
vantages over common soda and washing-powders. 
At a meeting held at the Scientific Club, on the 3rd of February, it was re- 
solved to establish a Society to advance the study of Mineralogy and Petrology. 
The name of the new Society is the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain 
and Ireland. The following officers have been eleded : — President — H. C. 
Sorby, F.R.S., &c. Vice-Presidents — The Rev. Prof. Haughton, F.R.S., &c. ; 
Prof. M. Forster Heddle, M.D., &c. Council — D. T. Ansted, F.R.S., &c. ; 
The Rev. T. G. Bonney, M.A., &c. ; Prof. Church, M.A., &c. ; W. Crookes, 
F.R.S., &c. ; Fred. Drew, F.G.S., &c. ; Major Duncan, M.A., D.C.L., &c. ; 
Archibald Geikie, F.R.S., &c. ; Capt. Marshall Hall, F.G.S., &c. ; Prof. T. 
Rupert Jones, F.R.S., &c. ; Prof. Jas. Nicol, F.R.S.E., &c. ; Prof. F. W. 
Rudler, F.G.S., &c. ; R. H. Scott, M.A., F.R.S., &c. Trustees — The Right 
Hon. Lord De Blaquiere, F.R.G.S. ; Patrick Dudgeon, F.R.S.E. Treasurer — 
R. P. Greg, F.G.S., &c. General Secretary — J. H. Collins, F.G.S. Foreign 
Secretary — C. Le Neve Foster, B.A., D.Sc., &c. Auditors for 1876 — M. 
Hawkins Johnson, F.G.S. ; B. Kitto, F.G.S. 
It is proposed by Prof. E. T. Cox to distinguish, under the name of Indianite, 
a pure white clay which forms an extensive deposit in Lawrence Co., Indiana. 
The clay greatly resembles kaolin, and is worked for use in the porcelain 
factories of Cincinnati. 
Under the term Achrematite Prof. Mallet, of Virginia, has described a new 
molybdo-arsenate of lead, occurring at Guanacere, in Mexico. 
Siegburgite is the name which Dr. A. von Lasaulx has applied to a new 
fossil resin found in the sands overlying the lignites of Siegburg, on the Rhine. 
It appears that the resin is found in various stages of oxidation, and its com- 
position is therefore not constant. 
In compliment to the great Italian geologist, Prof. Gastaldi, the name of 
Gastaldite has been bestowed upon a new mineral, by Prof. Striiver, of Turin. 
It is a silicate of alumina, soda, and protoxide of iron, crystallising in the 
monoclinic system, and occurring in the deposits of copper ore at Champ de 
Praz and S. Marcello, in the Val d’ Aosta. 
The Cornish mineral described a few years ago by Prof. Maskelyne, under 
the name of Andrew site , has been analysed by Dr. Flight, and from this 
analysis the follwoing formula may be deduced : — 
2(2Fe 2 P 2 Os-f Fe 2 H 2 0 4 ) + GuH 2 0 2<1 
Dr. C. Le Neve Foster has read before the Geological Society of Cornwall 
some notes “ On the Place and Mode of Occurrence of the Mineral 
Andrewsite.” It appears from this paper that the mineral in question occurs 
in a tin lode coursing through granite, at West Phcenix Mine, near Liskeard. 
