MINERALOGICAL CHEMISTRY. Miner a 1 ogi c a1 C h emi stry 35 [Cubanite as a Furnace Product.] WILLIAM P. HEADDEN (Proc. Colorndo Xci. Xoc. 1905 8 39-44).-An incrnst.ation formed on an iron rabble plate of a McDougall furnace used for roasting pyritous copper ore a t Anaconda Montana showed three more or less distinct layers. The two inner layers consisted mainly of ferrous sulphide; the material of the outer layer has a bronze-yellow colour and conchoidal fracture and in composition approximates to cubanite C uFe,S,. L. J. 8. Abstraction of Oxygen from the Atmosphere by Iron. CHARLEB HENRY SMYTH jun. (J. Geol. 1905 13 319-323).-The disintegration and weathering of crystalline rocks is accompanied by the oxidation of ferrous iron to ferric iron. An attempt is made t o calculate the amount of oxygen abstracted from the atmosphere by this process during geological time.The average compositions of crystalline rocks (F. W. Clarke Abstr. 1904 ii 669) and of shales and sandstones give the following data Original crust FeO Fe,O = 1 0.75. Sediments ?? = 1 1.75. Taking Joly’s estimate of the mass of siliceous sediments as 64 x 1016 tons there must have been a total of 835x 1 O I 2 tons of oxygen absorbed by iron or 68.8 per cent. of that now present in the atmos- phere. L. J. S. Pseudomorphs of Osteolite after Calcite Grystallised Staffelite. ARTHUR SCHWANTKE (Centr. Min. 1905 641-646).- With other alteration products in a weathered basalt a t Prausnitz in 3-236 ABSTRACTS OF CHEMICAL PAPERS. Silesia are white compact masses of osteolite embedded in which are acute scalenohedral crystals with the composition -P,O 35-90 ; CO 5-85 ; CaO 53.30 = 95.05 ; the latter are pseudomorphs of osteolite after calcite.The published analyses of osteolite and staffelite are quoted and compared. Both these minerals differ from apatite in containing calcium carbonate in addition to phosphate; some fluorine is present in staffelite but none in osteolite. On a specimen of staffelite from the original locality Staff el in Hesse-Nassau were noticed some small pale green transparent crystals with the form of apatite which were found to contain carbon dioxide. Neither in the crystals nor in the botryoidal masses of typical staffelite are there any enclosures of calcite ; the carbon dioxide must therefore enter into the composition of the mineral.Staffelite and osteolite are probably identical the latter being an impure and altered variety of the former. L. J. S. Formation of Oceanic Salt Deposits. The Occurrence of Calcium Compounds up to 25'. JACOBUS H. VAN'T HOFF (Zeit. anorg. Chem. 1905 47 244-280).-A summary of work already published (see Abstr. 1904 ii 34 417 492 561 ; 1905 ii 319 464 641). G. S. Formation of Oceanic Salt Deposits. XLIV. Limit of Existence of Tachhydrite at 83'. JACOBUS H. VAN'T HOFF and J. D'ANS (Sitxwngsber. K . Akacl. Wiss. Berlin 1905 913-916. Compare van't Hoff and Lichtenstein Abstr. 1905 ii 262 641).- The diagram representing the conditions of separation of the various calcium compounds which play a part in the formation of oceanic deposiis assumes a simpler character as the temperature rises.Solubility data are recorded for the temperature of 83' above which tachhydrite CaC12,2MgCI,11ZH,0 is incapable of existence. These are contained in the following table the numbers expressing mols. of salt per 1000 mols. of water Saturation with respect t o sodium chloride and CnCI,. MgCI,. K,CI,. Calcium chloride (CaC1,,2H20! ........................ 239 0 0 Calcium chloride potassium chloride ................. 249 0 11 Calcium chloride tachhydrite .......................... 239 - 0 Calcium chloride tachhydrite carnallite ............ 239 - Tachhydrite magnesium chloride ..................... 141 45.5 0 Tachhydrite magnesium chloride carnallite ......... 141 45.5 - Calcium chloride potassium chloride carnallite ...216 27 10'5 - Na,C12. 0 3 0 *5 0.5 0.5 0 -5 0 5 0 5 H. M. D. Geological Thermometer. JACOBUS H. VAN'T HOFF (Zeit. EZektrochem. 1905 11 709-710).-The temperature at which deposits of salts such as those of Stassfurt have been formed may be inferred from the properties of the salts themselves. In general salts containing less water are formed at higher temperatures and they are able at the ordinary temperature to take up water. Glauberite CaNa,(SO,) for example combines with water and the compound melts at 29". The melting point is depressed by other salts. TheMINERALOGICAL CHEMISTRY. 37 following are the lowest temperatures at which the salts named can exist in presence of the other salts occurring with them blodite 5"; glauberite 10" ; hexahydrated magnesium sulphate 13' ; thenardite 1 4 O ; kieserite 18' ; kaliblodite 18" ; octahedral borax 34" ; langbeinite 3 7 O ; loweite 43'; van't-Hofite 46".A more accurate estimate of the temperatures at which the salts were deposited is obtained by examining the salts which can be deposited simultaneously a t a given temperature. I n this way it is shown that the following salts must have been deposited at temperatures above those given glauberite loo; langbeinite 37' ; loweite 43" ; van't-Hoffite 46'; loweite and glaserite 57' ; loweite and van't-Hoffite 60" ; kieserite and potassium chloride 7 2 O . The last appears to have been the highest temperature reached during the formation of the Stassfurt deposits. T. E. Composition of Xenotime. WALDEMAR C. BROGGER (Nyt Xag.Naturuid. Christiania 1904 42 1-'7).-Kraus and Reitinger (Abstr. 1901 ii 395) have considered xenotime (YPO,) to be an altered form of hussakite (3R20,,3P,O,,SO,). The perfectly fresh crystals of brown transparent xenotime from Aro in Norway analysed by Blom- strand in 1890 have been examined for sulphur trioxide by 0. Heidenreich but not a trace was detected. By the replacement of part of the phosphoric oxide by small and variable amounts of sulphur trioxide it appears that there may be a passage from true xenotime (YPO,) to the hussakite variety (compare Abstr. 1903 ii 553). L. J. S. [Columbite Fibroferrite Enargite Alunogen Doughtyite &c.] WILLIAM P. HEADDEN (f'roc. Colorccdo Sci. ~oc. 1906 8 55 -7O).-CoZumbite.-Analysis I is of columbite occurring as large masses with tourmaline in pegmatite a t Canon City Colorado.Analysis I1 is of similar material from Black Hills South Dakota Cb,O,. Tn,O,. WO,. SnO,. FeO. MnO. Ignition Total. Sp. gr. I 56.48 22'12 0.45 0'11 8-07 12-45 0.15 99.83 5.66 IT. 54.64 25'62 - 0.15 6'80 12'61 - 99'82 5.91 Fibroferrite.-Aggregates of greenish-white acicular crystals from Green River Utah gave the results under 111 agreeing with the formula Fe,O,,ZSO 1 OH,O so,. Fe,O,. Ca0,MgO. Na,O. H,O. Insol. Total. 111. 31-57 30'22 traces 0.59 37'06 0.10 99-54 Enwgite.-The ore at the Powers Mine Willis Gulch Gilpin Co. Colorado consists mainly of crystalline enargite (analysis IV) associated with some pyrites and chalcopyrite. Crystals are encrusted with quartz. Although lead is shown in the analysis no lead mineral was detected on the specimens S.As. Sb. Cu. Pb. Fe. Zn. Total. Sp. gr. IT. 29-35 16-17 3.77 48'40 1.83 0.30 0.19 100*01 4-4338 ABSTRACTS OF CHEMICAL PAPERS. AZzcnogen.-This occurs as large incrusting masses sometimes several hundred pounds in weight on sandstones and shales a t Doughty Springs and Alum Gulch in Delta Co. Colorado. Analysis V is of massive material (21.30 per cent. of material insoluble in water deducted); VI and VII of scaly material; VIII and IX of fibrous material. I n their content of magnesia some of these analyses show an approach to pickeringerite Insol. in SO,. AI,O,. Fe20,. CsO. MgO. Na,O. K,O. Li,O. H,O. H,O. Total. V.* 37-15 15-68 trace 0.40 0.74 trace - - 45.81 - 100'00 VI. 37'12 13.53 trace trace 2-90 1-25 0.17 trace 44.84 0.14 99-95 VII.39'18 14.17 trace 0.09 1.94 not determined 43-07 0.71 99'16 VIII. 38'90 12-51 trace trace 3.35 not determined 41-98 2-76 99'48 IX. 37'26 15-08 1-19 trace nil I:ot determined 44-84 1-37 99.74 X.? 15.00 39.51 0'45 - trace - - - 41'80 1-56 loo%? v * Also SiO (soluble in water) 0'22. .1. Also SiO 1.91 ; ZnO 0'44. Doughtyite.-This name is given tentatively to a hydrated basic aluminium sulphate which is formed abundantly as a white precipitate by the interaction of the waters (an alkaline water and one containing aluminium sulphate in solution) of the Doughty Springs Delta Co. Colorado. An air-dried sample gave results (analysis X) correspond- ing with the formula Al2(SOq),,5A1,(OH),,21H2O. Bismuthite.-Analysis ,is given of an ore sample from the Paulina Mine Nocozari Mexico consisting of an intimate mixture of bismuth- ite (Bi,S,) and micaceous hsmatite.Palladium-Description is given of a soft black material con- taining palladium 11.86 ; copper 60.21 per cent It is an artificial product of unknown origin but may possibly have been obtained from Wyoming platinum ore. L. J. S. Minerals [Stilbite Chabaeite &c.] from Gellivare Sweden. A. BYGD~N (BUZZ. Geol. Inst. Univ. Upsda 1905,6 (1902-3) 92-1 00). -In the Selets Mine at Gellivare the iron-ore is separated from the surrounding granulitic gneiss by a brecciated zone consisting of blocks of gneiss and ore embedded in a coarsely crystalline mixture of horn- blende magnetite red felspar and sometimes quartz. Cavities in this binding material contain zeolites.Analysis I is of stilbite and corresponds with the formula 2R0,ZA1203,1 3Si02,14H,0. Chabazite gave the results under I1 and 111 corresponding with the formulae R0,A1203,4Si0,,6H,0 and 2RO72A1,0,,9Si0,,1 3H20 respectively. These zeolites are often attached to a red mineral occurring as com- pact masses and as square columns which has the composition given under IV (also trace of chlorine); it is a pseudomorph of felspar (orthoclase and plagioclase) after scapolite. A crevice in the brecciated granulite of the Oskar Mine is filled with a soft soapy material which is either pale green to red (anal. V) or dark grey to violet-brown (anal. VI) in colour the two kinds being sharply separated. When dried in the air the material hardens and cracks and the air-dried material crumbles when placed in water.PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY.39 The substance approximates t o celadonite in composition but is probably not homogeneous SiO,. A1,0,. Fe,O,.FeO. MgO. CaO. SrO. Na20.K,0. H,O. Total. Sp. gr. I. 58-22 14'68 0'22 - 0.11 7.66 - 0.51 0'44 18'22 100'06 2'14 11. 47-39 18'66 0.20 - 0.29 8'34 0.96 0'44 2.27 21.85 100'30 - 111. 49-57 17-21 0.49 - 0-46 7-74 0.61 0'30 2.27 21*15 100*10 2-09 V. 50'58 19'02 - 1.71 4.54 1'40 - 0.25 0.08 22.72 100.33 2'11 IV. 64-18 20.11 0.75 - 0.11 1.07 - 8.97 4'04 0.78 100.01 2'63-2.67 VI. 38'25 14.18 18.10 2.53 7.23 1'69 - 0.35 0.15 17.61 100.09 2.31 L. J. S. Diffusion of Barium and Strontium in Sedimentary Rocks. L. COLLOT (Compt. rend. 1905 141 832-834).-The occurrences of barytes and celestite in the sedimentary rocks of France are enumer- ated ; they are mostly in Jurassic and Cretaceous strata but celestite is found in the '' plastic clay " and green marl of Tertiary age in the Paris basin. The minerals occur as crystals lining the cavities of fossil shells and also as nodular concretions; in the latter case the barytes is sometimes partly replaced by calcite giving rise to forms which have been erroneously described as organic remains. L. J. S.