THE  SULPHUR  PRODUCE  OF  ITALY. 
69 
next  in  importance,  whilst  the  least  yielding  are  in  the  province 
of  Trapani.  In  Sicily,  as  well  as  in  the  Romagna,  the  gypsum 
formation  includes  limestones,  clays  which  are  more  or  less 
marley,  and  beds  of  gypsum.  In  the  latter  rock,  as  well  as  in 
the  limestones,  the  sulphur  \s  found  as  an  uniform  or  irregular 
mixture,  sometimes  concentrated  in  small  parallel  seams,  and 
occasionally  crystallized.  In  the  latter  case  it  is  often  associated 
with  sulphate  of  strontia  or  celestine.  The  sulphur  occurs  in  a  dif- 
ferent manner  in  the  clays  and  slates,  being  found  concentrated  in 
globular  masses.  This  method  of  occurrence  is  also  common  to  all 
the  sulphur  mines  of  the  Continent  which  are  contained  in  argilla- 
ceous strata.  Only  a  portion  of  the  sulphur  obtained  is  refined 
on  the  island,  the  greater  part  being  exported  in  the  crude  state. 
For  commercial  purposes  it  is  classified  into  three  general 
qualities,  which  are  further  divided  into  seven  sub-classes.  There 
are  about  fifty  mines  at  present  at  work  in  Sicily,  and  the  num- 
ber of  hands  employed  is  over  twenty  thousand. 
The  Romagna  Sulphur  Mining  Company  possesses  eight 
mines,  five  of  which  are  in  the  province  of  Forli,  Romagna, 
whilst  three  are  at  Monte  Feltre,  in  the  province  of  Urbino  and 
Pessaro,  in  the  Marches.  The  refined  produce  is  exported 
chiefly  from  Rimini,  where  the  refining  works  are  situated,  to  the 
principle  centres  of  consumption  among  the  large  towns  of 
Italy.  Refined  sulphur  is  used  in  various  manufactories  for 
making  sulphuric  acid,  and  for  several  years  past  a  new  use  has 
been  found  for  it  in  the  sulphuration  of  vines.  In  the  course  of 
scientific  progress  the  general  process,  to  which  we  have  already 
alluded,  has  been  improved  in  many  minor  details.  But  beyond 
this,  an  entirely  new  process  is  just  reported  to  have  been  intro- 
duced by  M.  Brunfaut,  a  Belgian.  The  average  composition  of 
the  sulphur  stone  of  Romagna  is,  for  every  100  parts,  30-60  of 
sulphur,  26*80  of  lime,  41*20  of  alumina  and  silica,  and  1*40  of 
water.  By  the  ordinary  method  of  extraction,  only  10  of  the 
30  parts  of  sulphur  are  obtained  ;  there  is,  therefore,  a  loss  of 
upwards  of  20  per  cent.,  which,  of  course,  must  influence  not  only 
the  profits,  but  also  the  price  of  the  article.  These  defects  in 
the  system  appear  to  have  been  completely  obviated  by  M.  Brun- 
