38 
and brought into contact with nitric acid, it is converted 
into sulphuric acid (S.) 
The occurrence of native sulphur is limited to certain 
localities. The principal places are, Girgenti and Catalto 
in Sicily, Tolfa in the Papal States, and the Solfatara at 
Naples. In smaller quanties it is found at Bex in Maadt, 
at Hering in the Tyrol, at Cracow, etc. Small crystals have 
also been found in Derbyshire and in other parts of the north 
of England. The vapours of most volcanoes also contain sub¬ 
limed sulphur, as for instance at Vesuvius, Etna, and Lipari. 
The sulphur of commerce is generally prepared by melting 
the native sulphur, and pouring it into round or quadrangu¬ 
lar moulds. That of Great Britain is all derived from iron 
pyrites. It is used for making sulphuric acid, gunpowder, 
as material for lighting matches, and in medicine ; also for 
different chemical and technical purposes, for moulding, 
modelling, etc. The compounds of sulphur with the heavy 
metals, are called glances and pyrites, when they have a 
metallic lustre, as for instance lead, iron, and copper pyrites, 
and silver glance ; but if they are transparent and of ada¬ 
mantine lustre, they are known as blendes , such as cinnabar, 
zinc-blende, the silver-blendes, etc. 
The sulphureous and sulphuric acids, and the sulphuric 
salts, form a more abundant series. The first are found in 
the vapours and waters of most volcanoes, and the others, 
namely, gypsum, anhydrate, the sulphates of baryta, and 
strontian, partly in layers, and partly in veins of rocks gene¬ 
rally. Sulphuretted hydrogen is contained in the vapours of 
many volcanoes and in all sulphureous waters, and may be 
recognised by the smell, which resembles that of rotten eggs. 
Fig. 4.—Honey-stone, Mellite. 
The primary form is a quadratic octahedron of 61° 46', 
of the polar edges (Fig. 4). Besides the primary form we 
find also quadrilateral prisms combined with the octahe¬ 
dron, and truncation of the edges; also twins and drusy 
aggregations. Wine yellow, passing into reddish and brown, 
translucent, hardness 2—2*5, and specific gravity— 1*58— 
1*66. The constituents are, 3 eq. mellitic acid (C 4 0 3 ) 
with 1 eq. alumina, and 15 eq. water. Before the blow¬ 
pipe honey-stone becomes at first black, and then burns, 
leaving a deposit of white alumina, while the mellitic acid 
is changed into carbonic acid, and the water given off. In 
nitric acid it is perfectly soluble with solution of carbonic 
acid. It is found as a recent product in the brown coal 
at Artern at Thuringia,' and at Bilin in Bohemia. 
The humboldtite , or oxalite, which consists of oxalate of 
iron (2 Fe & + 3 H), also occurs in the brown coal of 
Bilin, and the struvite , a phosphate of magnesia and am¬ 
monia, discovered in digging the foundation of St. Nicholas’ 
church at Hamburg in 1845, in various crystals of the right- 
rhombic system, where it had apparently been formed from 
animal refuse, are both organic salts of a similar nature. 
Figs. 6 and 7.—Amber, Succinite, Bernstein. 
Amber is a natural resin, which is found in the upper 
Tertiary and in the lower Diluvial formations of many 
districts, and is considered a product of the coniferse, of 
which pieces of wood and bark are still found in it. It 
occurs in irregular masses, from the size of a pea to that 
of a man’s hand, and larger, sometimes also in stalactites, 
or in long plates. Externally it is rough and unseemly, often 
encrusted with earthy and carbonaceous matters. It pre¬ 
sents, however, a lustrous conchoidal fracture, with a re¬ 
markable waxy or resinous lustre, and is not unfrequently 
perfectly transparent (Fig. 6), or translucent (Fig. 7), and 
sometimes cloudy and milky. The friability is so slight 
that it may be turned, filed, and polished; hardness — 2*0 
—2*5, the specific gravity = 1*0—IT. When rubbed it 
acquires negative electricity, and indeed from its Greek 
name, electron , the word electricity is derived. 
When brought near the flame, it melts and burns with 
a peculiar balsamic smell, and gives off acid vapours of 
succinic acid; it burns with a yellow flame, and leaves a 
carbonaceous residue, which contains lime, clay, and silica. 
In a heated retort, it also yields succinic acid and the 
strongly smelling volatile oil of amber. The residue con¬ 
sists of a brown bituminous mass. By these products am¬ 
ber is easily distinguished from the similar resins of the 
vegetable kingdom, such as dammara, copal, and colophony. 
Only a small part of the amber is soluble in alcohol and 
ether. The proximate constituents of it are resin, volatile 
oil, succinic acid, and the above-mentioned earthy matters ; 
the ultimate elements are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, 
along with traces of nitrogen. 
Amber was valued by the ancients on account of its 
electrical properties and for medicinal fumigation ; they 
were also aware of its organic origin, It frequently con¬ 
tains insects, ants, etc. (Fig. 6), and such pieces are 
highly valued if they are, at the same time, transparent. 
Several hundreds of such specimens are known; they are, 
for the most part, wood-insects of the tropical and tempe¬ 
rate zones, of the European and West Indian type. The 
bits of wood and bark occurring in amber belong to different 
species of pines, one of which has been called pinus succinifer. 
Amber is principally found on the shores of the Baltic, 
between Konigsberg and the coast of Pomerania, and is 
partly dug up and partly fished from the sea. More 
rarely it occurs in the tertiary clays and sands of inland 
countries, as in northern Germany, France, and still more 
rarely, in tertiary sandstone, as at Lemberg in Galicia 
(Fig. 7). It is occasionally found on the east coast of 
England, in sand in the neighbourhood of London, and 
in the Isle of Wight. 
Perfectly pure pieces, which are fitted for cutting and 
polishing, are the most highly esteemed. They have been 
found of as much as ten pounds weight and more. The 
small, impure pieces are principally used for the manufac¬ 
ture of amber varnish and mellitic acid. Small transparent 
pieces are made into necklaces, bracelets, and other such 
ornaments; larger bits are used for mouth-pieces for 
tobacco-pipes, and are valued at £8 and £10 per pound,— 
the milk-white specimens are particularly highly priced. 
The cutting is effected by leaden discs with tripoli earth; 
chalk is used for polishing. 
Asphaltes, mineral pitch or bitumen, cetinite, and ela- 
terite, are all similar resins, having their origin in the vege¬ 
table kingdom. 
By asphaltum is meant a blackish-brown, solid mineral 
pitch, of conchoidal fracture and small specific gravity, 
=1T—1*2. The hardness varies from 1*5—2*0. It is 
soluble in oils, takes fire at a flame, melts and burns with a 
smoky flame, and diffusion of a peculiar tarry odour. The 
hard asphalte, reducible to powder, is found in large masses 
at the Dead Sea, and is from thence brought into commerce. 
