NATIVE  CRYSTALLIZED  TERPIN. 
223 
gendered  by  the  various  processes  of  putrefaction  and  decay," — 
engendered,  we  may  add,  as  much  by  decaying  vegetable  as  by 
animal  matter. — A.  G. — Amer.  Jour,  of  Science  and  Arts, 
March,  1867. 
ON  NATIVE  CRYSTALLIZED  TERPIN. 
By  S.  W.  Johnson. 
In  October,  1866,  the  writer  received  from  Wm.  M.  Gabb, 
Esq.,  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  California,  a  small  quantity 
of  crystals  found  in  "cavities  near  the  core  of  a  semi-decomposed 
pine  stump  that  was  buried  three  or  four  feet  below  the  surface 
in  Shasta  Co.,  California."  The  crystals  were  discovered  by 
Mr.  Voy  of  San  Francisco. 
At  the  request  of  Mr.  Gabb  I  have  examined  these  crystals, 
which,  in  the  sample  received,  were  still  partly  adhering  to  a 
fragment  of  pine,  where  they  were  associated  with  another  crys- 
talline substance  of  a  yellowish  color  and  resinous  aspect. 
The  crystals  were  colorless  and  transparent,  the  largest  indi- 
vidual was  three-eighths  of  an  inch  long,  one  eighth  of  an  inch 
wide  and  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  thick.  They  were  of  brilliant 
lustre  and  well  terminated  at  the  free  ends.  From  their  occur- 
ring in  buried  pine  wood  and  from  their  general  appearance,  it 
was  at  once  suspected  they  might  be  identified  with  crystallized 
terpin.  Their  faint  resinous  taste  and  odor,  not  to  be  distin- 
guished from  that  of  the  artificial  substance,  confirmed  this 
view. 
To  obtain  full  information  regarding  the  crystallometrical 
characters  of  the  substance,  I  applied  to  my  friend,  Mr.  John 
M.  Blake,  of  New  Haven,  to  make  a  comparison  between  the 
native  crystals  and  those  of  artificial  preparation  from  the  chemi- 
cal cabinet  of  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School.  Some  of  the  highly 
interesting  results  of  these  investigations  are  communicated  by 
Mr.  Blake  in  the  paper  that  follows,  and  leave  no  doubt  of  the 
identity  of  the  two  substances,  although  their  crystals  are  not 
developed  in  the  same  manner,  and  exhibit  other  physical  differ- 
