38 
SULPHUR FROM DELAWARE CREEK. 
smelted. This mineral is found in beautiful crystallizations at the Wheatley mines in Chester 
county, Pennsylvania. It also accompanies the ores of lead in Cornwall and Alston Moor, 
England, and in Scotland at Leadhills and Wanlockhead. 
V. SULPHUR. 
Analysis of a powder from Delaware creek. 
No. II. A greenish earthy powder , from the bed of Delaware creek , at the springs .—This 
specimen contains 18.28 per cent, of free sulphur; the residue consisting of sand and clay, with 
other earthy ingredients in small proportions. The determination was made hy igniting a 
weighed portion, previously dried at 212°, in a porcelain crucible. 1 
An aqueous extract contains: 
Alumina and oxide of iron, lime, magnesia, and sulphuric acid. 
This quantity of sulphur is sufficient to render the earth very valuable; hut its distance from 
water-transportation and a market is so great, that it probably will not he available even if 
found in large quantities. From the chemical examination of the waters of the spring hy Dr. 
Booth, it appears that chloride of sodium (salt) is the principal solid ingredient, hut considera¬ 
ble quantities of sulphide of sodium are present, and in one the amount was considered equal to 
the quantity of salt. The water also contains carbonate of soda and sulphates of lime and mag¬ 
nesia. 2 It is probable that the waters, as they issue from the springs, become changed, and 
their ingredients undergo recomposition on exposure to the air or hy mingling together. The 
waters from the springs examined hy Dr. Booth were alkaline, hut it is possible that some of 
the springs are acid; and in this case the precipitation of sulphur would ensue on the mixture of 
•the acid waters with those charged with the alkaline sulphurets, and the origin of the deposit 
of sulphur in powder would thus he explained. 
1 This examination was made for me by Dr. J. D. Easter, of Baltimore. 
2 See Table III, “Mineral Waters,” p. 97 of Captain Pope’s Report. 
