THE 
AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
MAY,  1  86  8. 
CRYOLITE. 
By  Samuel  F.  Simes. 
(An  Inaugural  Esaay,  presented  to  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.*) 
Cryolite,  or  Kryolite,  as  it  is  differently  spelt,  is  a  fluoride  of 
sodium  and  aluminum,  of  a  pale  grayish-white,  snow-white,  or 
yellowish-brown  color.  It  derives  its  name  from  two  Greek 
words  :  Kpuoz,  cold,  and  Xcdo^^  stone,  or  ice-stone  ;  its  appear- 
ance when  wet  resembling  ice,  while  its  insolubility  in  water 
makes  it  allied  to  stone. 
This  mineral,  which,  though  so  little  known  at  present,  is 
now  taking  such  an  active  part  in  the  manufactures  and  arts,  is 
limited,  or  found  only  in  certain  localities.  Small  and  scattered 
fragments  have  been  found  at  Miask,  in  the  Ural  Mountains,  but 
so  rarely  as  to  make  it  form  a  rare  specimen.  Its  occurrence  in 
Greenland,  the  country  from  which  it  is  obtained  in  immense 
quantities,  is  also  limited  as  to  situation,  being  only  thus  largely 
obtained  from  the  mines  of  Ivigtout,  West  Shore,  South  Green- 
land, on  Arsuk  Fiord,  between  Julian's  Hope  and  Fredericks, 
lat.  61°  N.,  long.  48°  W.  The  main  deposit  of  it  here  forms  a 
mass  about  600  feet  in  length,  and  200  feet  in  breadth,  it  being 
of  plutonic  origin  of  unknown  depth.  In  giving  a  more  minute 
description  of  its  formation  I  may  say,  however,  that  it  lies  in  a 
bay  or  cavity,  at  the  base  of  the  marine  plateau  of  the  granite 
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