BARYTA. 
205 
Composition. Sulphuric acid 34.00, baryta 66.00. But it often contains foreign sub¬ 
stances. Formula Ba0.S0 3 . 
Uses. Heavy spar may be employed for obtaining the other salts of baryta. It is also of 
considerable value as a paint. When it is of a white colour, it may be used as a substitute 
for white lead, for ordinary purposes. The white lead of commerce is often adulterated with 
it, and it is extremely difficult to detect the adulteration (see page 61). It is, moreover, 
sometimes employed as a flux. 
Geological Situation. It usually occurs in veins, either alone, or associated with various 
metalliferous formations of silver, copper, lead, etc. In this State, it is most commonly 
associated with calcareous spar, forming small veins or geodes. 
LOCALITIES. 
Columbia County. At the Ancram lead mine, it has been found in veins of considerable 
thickness in the slate and limestone. It is of a white colour, and massive. I am not aware 
that it h asbeen obtained here in the form of crystals. 
Greene County. It is said to have been found in Catskill, two miles east of the mountains, 
associated with carbonate of copper and quartz ;* but I have no knowledge of the locality. 
Herkimer County. Near the villages of Little-Falls and Fairfield, lamellar masses of 
heavy spar are found, having a yellowish white colour. When rubbed to powder in a mortar, 
it gives out a strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen. It has been noticed as a distinct variety, 
under the name of Fetid Heavy Spar. 
In the calciferous sandrock on the south side of the Mohawk, opposite Little-Falls, there 
occur veins and geodes of this mineral in a crystallized form. The colours are white and 
bluish-white; and it is sometimes translucent, or nearly transparent. The specimens are 
fetid when rubbed or struck briskly with a hammer. The accompanying figures represent 
the crystalline forms which have here been observed. 
Fig. 30. 
Fig. 31. 
Fig. 32. 
Fig. 30. A minute flattened table of the primary form. 
Fig. 31. The primary, with two acute solid angles replaced by planes. P on o 137° 5' 13"; 
o on o 105° 49' 34" ( Haiiy ). 
Fig. 32, epointee of Haiiy. P on d 140° 59' 21" ; d on d 78° V 58". 
American Journal of Science, IV. 250, 
