FOSSILIFEROUS HEMATITE NODULES IN LEICESTERSHIRE. 95 
deposits of haematite in the British Isles have been shown 
by geologists in all probability to belong to that age:—for 
instance, the Cumberland and North Lancashire ores, 
deposits at Llantrissant, &c., in Glamorganshire, &c. With 
regard to the determination of the locality whence the 
haematite was derived, I believe it is generally supposed that 
the boulders, &c., in the Permian rocks of the district in 
question came from the west. 
It is right to mention that specimens of hard, compact 
haematite are now and then to be met with along with the 
nodules from the breccia, which have all the appearance of 
veinstone, such as might very well be derived from the 
Carboniferous or Mountain Limestone—the commonest home 
of haematite. But specimens of this or of any other lime¬ 
stone in the breccia are conspicuous by their absence, and 
I myself am not inclined to think that veinstone ore really 
exists in this formation. I look upon such specimens as merely 
angular fragments of compact sedimentary nodules, whose 
smooth rounded outline does not appear in the fragments, as 
they are broken out of the interior of them. 
Having endeavoured to show why I consider the pseudo- 
morpliic theory to be the correct reading of these stones,* 
I pass on to notice very briefly 
5.—The uses in the arts and manufactures to which the 
haematite is put; its value ; and how obtained. 
As burnishers (bloodstone burnishers) these particular 
stones are principally if not solely employed. Those 
that are of any real value are the fragments and 
nodules the most compact, the toughest, and those of 
a bluish tint. The very best burnishers are made 
from the “red-barked” specimens (see Figs. 2 and 6, 
plate I.), or those coated with a thin layer of bright 
red powdery ore (anhydrous sesqui-oxide of iron). To 
prepare them for use they are cut and roughly polished up 
into a variety of shapes according to the purpose for which 
they are wanted, and fitted into short handles. Quantities 
of them are used by porcelain manufacturers to burnish the 
gold after the ware comes from the kiln. Bookbinders, 
gilders, metal-plate-workers and the like employ them for 
* Since writing this article I have thought that it is possible , I do 
not say probable , that the formation of the haematite may be 
accounted for in a third way, namely:—That the clav-ironstone 
nodules and their associated rock-fragments were subjected to a heated 
chemical solution within an open fissure or fissures, into which they had 
been drifted or thrown, which was sufficiently prolonged to render the 
alteration of the mineral matters more or less complete.—W. S. G. 
