80 CORUNDUM^ ITS OCCURRENCE AND DISTRIBUTION. 
examined were collected by Mr. U. S. Hayes, who was prospecting 
in the vicinity of the mine, and w^ere loaned to the author by Mr. 
J. V. Lewis,^ who has described this occurrence. There Avas no min- 
ing being done when this locality was visited by the writer, but 
miners living in the vicinity, who have worked in the mine, report 
the finding of many fragments of corundum in the peridotite similar 
to the one here figured. 
Although this is the only locality Avliere the corundum has been 
found directly in peridotite, it has been observed in serpentine, which 
is the commonest alteration product of the dunite variety of perido- 
tite. At the Cullakeenee mine. Buck Creek, Clay County, N. C, 
corundum was found that was bordered with serpentine. Some of 
the specimens observed show the small particles of corundum either 
entirely or partially surrounded by serpentine and the Avhole mass of 
corundum and serpentine surrounded by clinochlore. In another 
specimen a streak of corundum about an inch wide lies between two 
zones of serpentine from a quarter to three-quarters of an inch Avide, 
and these in turn are bordered by a talcose and enstatite rock. 
Crystallized corundum has been observed Avhere the crystals, one 
end of which merges into the massive corundum, project out beyond 
the mass, and these projecting portions are often partly or entirely 
surrounded by chlorite; in other cases separate corundum crystals are 
embedded in the chlorite. The best crystals of corundum haA^e been 
found at Corundum Hill, Macon County, N. C., where they occur in 
the conditions just mentioned. 
Many of the crystals, especially those free from alteration and de- 
composition, or those only slightly altered, are usually Avell developed, 
with smooth, even faces and sharp edges. 
In a number of the mines corundum is found in contact AA'ith and 
surrounded by spinel. At the Carter mine, near Democrat. Bun- 
combe County, N. C., the corundum is found in masses of white and 
pink color, intergroAvn with a greenish-bh\ck massive spinel. In thin 
splinters the spinel is of a very handsome emerald-green color. The 
masses of the corundum and spinel are partially surrounded by a 
deep-green chlorite, Avhich latter has also in places been dcA^eloped in 
small greenish scales betAveen the corundum and spinel, though the 
contact of the spinel and the corundum is usually sharp and distinct, 
fehoAving no sign of alteration. The presence of minute scales of 
greenish chlorite is still more rare in the corundum and spinel 
near the junction of these minerals Avith the external mass of the 
chlorite. All the massive corundum shows the characteristic part- 
ing lines, and the spinel shows distinctly the conchoidal fracture. 
« (Seol. Survey N. C, Bull. No. 11, 1896, p. 60. 
