330 Dr Turner’s Analysis of Radiated C destine. 
disintegration ; and Professor Stromeyer, in whose laboratory 1 
operated, kindly furnished me with some very pure specimens of 
the mineral for that purpose. 
The fresh celestine is translucent, of a white colour, with a 
shade of blue in some parts, and a vitreous lustre. Its texture 
is distinctly radiated, and crystalline ; it has not the least appear- 
ance of being a mixed mineral, but is homogeneous throughout. 
Its hardness is inconsiderable, being very nearly that of the 
common celestine, and it is easily reduced to pow r der, Its spe- 
cific gravity, at 73° Fahr. and 30 inches bar., I found to be 
3.7619. 
A. 100 parts of the fresh celestine, in small fragments, w r ere 
kept in a red heat for half an hour. They decrepitated strongly, 
and formed a coarse powder, which was tinged red by numerous 
minute points of the peroxide of iron. The w T hole loss amount- 
ed to 0.3. 
B. Small pieces were put into a dry glass-tube closed at one 
end, and heated over the flame of a spirit-lamp. They again de- 
crepitated even before the glass w r as heated to full redness, and 
the powder became red at the very instant of decrepitation ; at the 
same time, a small quantity of water condensed on the cold parts 
of the glass, which had acid properties, for moistened litmus- 
paper, put into the tube, received a permanent red stain. The 
acid was carefully removed by pure water, and proved to be the 
sulphuric, by the test of baryta. A faint rather empyreumatie 
odour was likewise perceived, the exact character of which could 
not from its faintness be determined. It probably indicates the 
presence of a minute portion of bituminous matter, which is also 
present in some other species of celestine. 
C. 100 parts of finely powdered celestine, well dried at a tem- 
perature of 212° Fahrenheit, were calcined during 20 minutes. 
They had lost only 0.05, and were coloured from iron. 
D. 100 parts of the fresh uncalcined celestine, in pow^der, were 
digested in pure water during four days, when they had lost 
0.6, and the water contained sulphuric acid, strontian, and iron. 
Fragments of fresh celestine were put into w r ater, and in the 
course of 24 hours they had lost their whiteness, becoming 
