REVIEW OF AMERICAN CHEMICAL RESEARCH. VOL.IX.
W. H. Blome, M. T. Bogert, E. M. Chamot, B. S. Cushman, Benton Dales, L. M. Dennis,$ A. H. Gill,
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WILLIAMA. N o u s , Editor. REVIEWERS: H . M. Goodwin, W. F. Hillebrand, L. P. Kinnicutt, H . W . Lawson, G. N. Lewis, H . N. McCoy,
A. A . Noyes, J. W. Richards, S. P. Sadtler, J. 0. Schlotterbeck, W. H. Seaman, F. P. Underhill.
MINERALOGICAL AND GEOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. Platinum in t h e Rambler nine, Wyoming. BY J. F. KEMP. Advance extra from .WineraZ Resources of fhe United Sfates, Calendar Year 1902, pp. 11-16; figure, plate.-This paper, following the statistics of platinum for 1902, by J. Struthers, is the result of recent study a t this now famous mine. Owing to scattered and imperfect outcrops, the geological relations are not known in detail, but the main features are as follows : I ‘ An ancient series of much crushed, granitic gneisses is associated with assured quartzites, and both are penetrated by intrusions of granite, diorite, and peridotite. T h e ore which has thus far been discovered is in the area of a typical diorite, and does not appear outside of i t , ” T h e ore body, so far as exposed by the workings, “ presents some interesting and exceptional features. The usual vein minerals of the gangue, such as quartz, calcite, etc., are lacking. Instead we have . . . the decomposition products of an eruptive dike in place.” Although it cannot be denied that uprising waters may have served to decompose the rock and impregnate it with ore, it would seem more likely that a great dike of diorite originally charged with sulphides of copper and iron and with minerals involving the platinum group of metals has suffered from atmospheric weathering. T h e presence of the sulphides has facilitated its extensive alteration, and the secondary minerals thus formed have descended and become precipitated so as to enrich the residual kaolins.” Covellite has replaced the dark rninerals of much of the diorite, and the feldspar has been changed to what appears to be kaolin. Chalcopyrite and chalcocite also occur, and opaline silica was observed in the midst of the kaolin in one place. From the sulphides have arisen blue and green carbonates of copper, cuprite, and much limonite. W. F. HILLEBRAND.
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Some of the Pyrites Deposits at Port-Au-Port, Newfoundland. BY C. A. MEISSNER. /. Mining SOC. ofNova Scotia, K“, 5 5-60 ; figure.-The writer describes the probable mode of formation of these deposits, which show in places a gossan through which runs a skeleton-work of yet undeconiposed pyrite, while at lower levels masses and impregnations of the sulphide are found. There is also a sulphur-yellow mineral-probably a ferric sulphate. An analysis of the gossan and of the pyrite are given, but they W. F. HILLERRATD. show no striking peculiarities. Marl (Bog Lime) and Its Application to the ilanufacture of Portland Cement. BY DAVID J . HALEA N D OTHERS. Geol. Survey Michigan, Vol. 8, Part ZIZ,339 pp.; numerous plates, figures, and a map.-Besides the papers covered by the next following abstract, this report has chapters on ’ ‘ The Vie of Marl for Cement Manufacture,” pp. j-40 ; Record of Field Work,” pp. 103-147; The Manufacture of Portland Cement from Marl,’’ pp. I 58-190 ; “ T h e Development of Marl and Clay Properties for b57 B. B. the Manufacture of Portland Cement,” pp. 191-1g8, Lathbury ; List of Localities and Mills,” pp. 234-2 j 3 , by A. C. Lane ; and Methods of and Comments on Testing Cement,” pp. 354-386, by Richard I,. Humphrey, Analyses are scattered W. F. HILLEBKXND. through some of these papers. ‘ I
Theories of Origin of Bog-Lime or flarl. BY D. J. HALE; A Contribution to the Natural History of Ilarl. BY C. A. DAVIS; Notes on the Origin of flichigan Bog-Limes. BY A. C. LANE.-These papers form Chapters IV, V, and VI11 of Vol. 8, Part 111, Michigan Geol. Survey, noted just above. T h e first and second papers present the evidence favoring the formation of the fresh-water marls by the action of certain forms of plant life upon the calcium carbonate in the waters of the lakes of Michigan. T h e main difference in the views of the writers, according to A. C. Lane, is that the former is more inclined to look to microscopic plants and to the abstraction of CO, by plant life generally as inducing a chemical precipitation favored by light and heat, ’ ’ than to the action of Chara alone. The theory of deposition through the influence of organic life is greatly strengthened by analyses which have shown that the lake waters are never so saturated that a purely chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate can occur. No evidence is offered as a basis for the statements in Mr. Davis’s paper that it is the oxygen liberated by plant life which is directly instrumental in breaking up the calcium bicarbonate in the water, the free oxygen possibly acting still farther to precipitate calcium mono-carbonate. ” On the above subjects see also this Journal 24, R 7 and 8. Analyses of waters, mark, etc., accompany these papers, and there is in that by A. C. Lane an extended abstract with figures from the origiiial of Treadwell
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and Reuter’s paper on the solubility of the bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium. W. F. HILLEBRAND. BY W. P. HEADDEN.Proc. COCO.Sa*. Tellurium. Analyses are given of several samples of native tellurium from the Valley Forge mine, Boulder County, Colorado, and the Goodhope mine, Gunnison County, Colorado. One of the specimens from Boulder County was nearly pure tellurium, as analysis showed : T e , 99.45 ; Fe, 0.11 ; Se, 0.40, the last value being perhaps high. Another specimen yielding a little gold was associated with quartz and pyrite. I n another, the 5.22 per cent. of nickel is supposed to exist as melonite and the gold as calaverite. I n still another, besides these minerals, the presence of coloradoite is assumed to account for 4.22 per cent. of mercury, And again, the chief component of a specimen is arsenopyrite, with smaller amounts of rickardite and tetradymite. Tellurite. I n the tellurium specimens from Gunnison County, tellurite occurs, both amorphous and crystallized. Apparently the crystals are quadratic, with the forms I I I and roo. T h e color in mass is brownish yellow to light brown; individual crystals vary from colorless to brownish yellow. They were seen attached to quartz and other gangue matter. Analysis gave: Insoluble in HCl, 1.04; Bi,O,, trace; Fe,O,, 0 . 7 0 ; Te, 78.68 ; 0 (by difference), 19.58. The ratio T e : 0 is almost exactly I : 2. Cuprodescloizite. A specimen from near Nogales, Arizona, of specific gravity, 6.176, had the following composition : V,O,, 1g.014 ; As,O,, 3.824 ; PbO, 52.954 ; CuO, 8.506; ZnO, 12.450; Fez03,0.200; MnO, trace; H,O, 2.650; insoluble, 0.350 ; total, 99.996 ; No C1 or P,O,. W. F. HILLEBRAND.
Mineralogical Notes.
SOL.,7, 141-15o.-Native
The Ilineral Resources of the Ilount Wrangell District, Alaska. BY WALTER C. MENDENHALLA N D FRANK C. SCHRADER. U.S. Geol. Surzley, Professional Paper No. r5, 71 pp.; maps, plates, and figures.-In this report is assembled all the information now availabIe concerning the mineral resources of this region. T h e only analyses are by E. T.Allen of two coals, from the Chistochina and the upper Chitistone Rivers respectively. The former is a typical lignite, but the latter “ h a s some of the physical and chemical characteristics of cannel. ’ ’ Its composition i s : Water, 1.65 ; vol. comb., 51.60; fixed carbon, 40.75: ash, 6. I O ; fuel ratio, o.;g+. T h e reports of great discoveries of platinum in the gravels of the Nadina River are believed on theoretical grounds to be unwarranted, a belief which careful search by the authors and tests in the laboratory of the survey confirm. W. F. HILLEBRAND. [Rock Phosphates of the Columbia Quadrangle, Tennessee.] I n Geologic Atlas of the U.S., CoZumbia Folio. BY C. W. HAYES
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E. 0 . ULRIcH.-This quadrangle embraces the area lying between latitudes 35' 30' and 36' and longitudes 87' and €57' 30'. T h e phosphate-bearing formations are five in number, four being Ordovician and the uppermost of Devonian age. T h e former owe their 6rigin to the leaching of limestoues which were formed in a shallow sea thickly inhabited by phosphorus-secreting forms of animal life. T h e less-soluble phosphatic material has thus been concentrated. T h e phosphate of the Devonian deposits is in part derived directly from animal life occupying the sea at the time of their formation, and in part from the waste of a preexisting Ordovician phosphatic rock, and has not undergone the leaching which is characteristic of the Ordovician deposits. \A'. F. HILLEBKAXD.
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Significance of the Occurrence of irinute Quantities of Metalliferous Minerals in Rocks. BY CHARLESR. KEYES. Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. .for 1902, VoL. X , pp. g9-103.--X paper criticizing certain methods of inquiry which are commonly followed in attempting to determine the amounts of ore materials that rock masses are supposed to contain," but giving the barest references to the grounds for the author's objections. W. F. HILLEBKAXD. Genesis of Certain Cherts. BY CHARLESR. KEYES. Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. f o r 1902, Vol. X , pp. 103-1oj.-Thhe author gives reasons for his belief that some, at least, of the cherts of the Lower Carboniferous of the hlississippi Valley are of secondary origin and were not formed couteniporaneously with the formations in which they occur, as has been generally assumed. They are of recent date, formed under the same conditions as the ores of the region, by replacement of the limestone. W.F. HILLEBKAND. A Possible Origin for the Lignites of North Dakota. BY FRANK A. WILDER. Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. f o r 1902, Vol. X , pp. 129-13j. W.F. HILLEBRAND. Synthesis of Chalcocite and Its Genesis a t Butte, ilontana. BY HORACE V. WIKCHELL.Bull. Geol. SOC.A m . , Val. r p , pp. 26g-276.-Ideutical with a paper in the ETzg. azd M i z . /. , 75, 782, abstracted in this Journal, 25, R 347. W. F. HILLEBRAND. Gems and Precious Stones of Mexico. BY G. F. KUNZ. Trans. Am. Imt. Min. Eizg., 32, 55-93. W. F. HILLEBRASD. Structure of Ore-Bearing Veins in Mexico. BY EDWARD HALSE. 7rans. Am. Inst. Min. Eizg., 32, 285-302 ; figures. LV. F. HILLEBRASD.
Mineralogical and Geological Chemzstry.
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Notes on the Potable Waters of Mexico. BY ELLENH. RICHARDS. 7i-ans. A m . Inst. Min. E n g . , 32, 335-343.-As a result of a hasty examination of 32 waters collected during the trip of the American Institute of Mining Engineers to Mexico, in 1901, preliminary tests of which were made on the spot, it is concluded ‘ ‘ that the Cordilleran Plateau of Mexico furnishes water containing approximately the same proportion of chlorine as other inland regions of North America, and that iso-chlors may be drawn after more determinations have been made.” Mexico City, Ajusco, Thalpan, tuernavaca, Pachuca, and Sari Luis Potosi furnish the only soft waters of the list. Magnesium and sulphates in quantity are of rare occurrence, comparatively. W. F. HILLERRAND. The Geographical and Geological Distribution of the flineral Deposits of Mexico. BY J O S ~G. AGUILERA. Trans. A m . Inst. Min. Eng., 32, 4g7-52o.-As published, the paper deals with only the geological distribution. W. F. HILLEBRAND. Geological Relations of the Manganese Ore-Deposits of Oeorgia. BY THOMAS L. WATSON. Trans. A m . Inst. Min. Ens. (Advance extra, Albany Meeting, February, 1903)~ 47 pp. ; figures.--The manganese deposits of Georgia are confined to the crystalline and the paleozoic areas, which together constitute the northern part of the state. But it is only the paleozoic area, in the northwestern corner of the state, which contains workable deposits of ore, and here the Cartersville and Cave Spring districts have produced nearly the whole arnouiit. T h e ore is found in residual clays, derived from decay of the Knox dolomite at Cave Spring and of the Weisner quartzite and Beaver limestone in the Cartersville district. T h e Cave Spring ores differ from those of Cartersville, further, in being intimately associated with cherty beds, and in being stratigraphically higher. T h e mode of occurrence is identical in both districts, being an irregular distribution in pockets or lenticular masses with veins and stringers cutting the clay, rarely in distinct beds, again as nodules or concqetionary masses, and disseminated in small grains. Iron ores are closely associated with the manganese, and there is every gradation from high-grade manganese ore to a similar one of iron ore, Beauxite and barite are also associated, but less closely. T h e manganese minerals constituting the ore are the oxides only, chiefly psilomelene and pyrolusite. T h e author adopts Penrose’s views ( A n n . R e f . Geol. Survey, Arkansas, z890, I , 5 3 9 ) as to the origin and mode of formation of the above manganese deposits. T h e source of the manganese was either the material which gave rise to the residual clays, or, preferably, the older crystalline rocks, such as border the paleozoic area on the east and south, and which are composed in part of manganese-bearing silicates. The manganese deposits of the crystalline area are likewise
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found in residual clays, but these are derived, not from limestones or quartzites, but from a great complex of crystalline-metamorphic rocks, in which manganese-bearing silicates are common constituents. Accompanying the discussion of the geology of the paleozoic area are analyses of the Weisner quartzite, by the author, and of shales and ores taken from other publications. I n composition the Cartersville ores do not differ essentially from similar highgrade ores occurring elsewhere. ' * W.F. HILLEBKAND. I i
Uses of Peat and Its Occurrence in New York State. BY HEINRICHRIES. Twenty-$rst Auu. Rep. New York Sfate Geologist, r.y,-rgo ; plates (From 55th Annual Report S e w York State Museum).-In spite of the fact that the analyses are nearly all taken from other works and represent material foreign to t h e state, the information offered is varied and of interest. W.F.HILLEBKAND. Molding S a n d : Its Uses, Properties and Occurrence. BY EDWIN C. ECKEL. Twenty-$nf A m . Re). , Nex York S f a f e Geologist, rg1-rg6 (From 5 j t h Annual Report New York Museum) .Twelve analyses of standard foreign molding sands appear, there being none available of American material. W . F. HILLEBRAND.
On t h e Atlin Mining District, British Columbia. BY J . C. GWILLIM. A m . Rep. Geol. Survey, Canndn, 12, r899, Reporf B , 48 pp. ; map, plates. On t h e Topography a n d Geology of Great Bear Lake a n d of a Chain of Lakes a n d S t r e a m s Thence t o Great S l a v e Lake. BY J. MACINTOSHBELL. Ibid., Reporf C. 36 pp. On t h e Geology a n d Natural Resources of t h e Area Included in t h e Map of t h e City of Ottawa a n d Vicinity. BY R. W. ELLS. (bid., Reporf G, 77 pp. ; map, plate, On t h e Iron Ore Deposits along t h e Kingston a n d Pembroke Ibid., Railway in Eastern Ontario. BY ELFRIC DREWINGALL. Repovf I,91 pp. ; maps. On t h e Geology of Argenteuil, Ottawa a n d a P a r t of Pontiac Counties, Province of Quebec, a n d Portions of Carleton, Russell a n d Prescott Counties, Province of Ontario. BY R. W . 143 pp.; map, plates. ELLS. (bid., Reporf I., On t h e Surface Geology Shown on t h e Fredericton a n d Andover Quarter-Sheet Map, New Brunswick. BY R. CHALMERS. Ibid.,Reporf M , 41 pp.; maps. Section of [lineral Statistics a n d Mining, Annual Report for 1901. BY ELFRIC DREW INGALL. (bid., Report S, 144pp.-
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T h e subject-matter of the above reports does not lend itself to the preparation of satisfactory abstracts. Some of the reports include analyses of various kinds, most of which, together with numerous others, are brought together in Report R , which has long since received notice in this Review 24 R 384. W. F. HILLEBRAND.
Notes on Certain Archaean Rocks of the Ottawa Valley. BY A. OSANN. A n n . Rep. Geol. Survey, Canada, 12, z899, Report 0, 84 pp.; plates and figures. After describing two gneisses (with analyses by Dr. M. Dittrich, of Heidelberg), of quite distinct types, from near Montebello and Lachute Station, respectively, the apatite occurrences are rather exhaustively considered. I t is impossible to repeat all the author’s conclusions, however, or to touch upon more than a few points of interest. T h e so-called “ pyroxenite’ ’ masses accompanying the veins are genetically very different, and are mainly “ altered gabbros and secondary fillings, which are connected with the formation of the apatite.’’ T h e deposits of apatite in Quebec known to the author ‘( are all of the same origin and younger than the associated gneisses. They are, accordingly, true veins which have been formed in the same way a s all other ore veins.” An extraordinary resemblance exists between the Canadian apatite veins and those of southern Norway.” . . . ‘ ( without even the existence of the difference due to supposed absence of extensive scapolitization. T h e vein minerals are, so far as observed by the author, essentially pyroxene, phlogopite, apatite, calcite, in paragenetic order. They, a s well as the less prominent minerals, are considered separately, some are discussed a t length with the aid of former analyses, and a few are figured. T h e cause of the marked asterism observed in the Burgess phlogopite and also in that from the North Star, and other mines visited by theauthor receives attention. I t is undoubtedly the same in both cases-delicate needles which are to be regarded as of primary aud not secondary formation. Sandberger and Lacroix, by chemical tests seemed to show that the needles consisted of titanium oxide, but Professor Jannasch, working on 0.0466 grain, decided that they contained but little titanium and were essentially a mineral (not silicate) of the rare earths, zirconia being apparently one of these. Boron and fluorine could not be detected. Of eruptive rocks accompanying the apatite veins several are described, and of these two have been analyzed (Dittrich): Enstatite gabbro from the Emerald mine and shonkinite from the Crown Hill mine. There are also described : Altered plutonic rocks and pyroxenites,” consisting essentially of augite and scapolite ; several crystalline schists, some of them very peculiar ; eruptive rocks occurring near the apatite veins but unconnected with their formation ; a mica-hypersthene-gabbro (analysis by Dittrich), the main rock of the hill at C6te St. Pierre from ‘ I
‘ I
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which some of the earliest specimens of Eozoon were obtained. Finally, two Canadian occurrences of graphite have been studied, their vein contents and associated eruptives being described. These are at Graphite City, and near Grenville Station. T h e w i n graphite is younger than the containing rocks. T h e apatite and graphite veins exhibit so much i n conimon mineralogically and geologically that they must have had a similar or analogous origin. IT,F. HILLEBRASD.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY. Soundness Tests of Portland Cement. Digest of an abstract in the E?zgineeri?zg Record. BY W. P. TAYLOR.Eag. Record, 48, 184-1 88.-The most important cause of unsoundness in cemerits is free lime, which may be present from incorrect proportioning, underburning, lack of seasoning, or coarseness of grinding, which prevents perfect hydration. Tests of soundness are ordinarily limited to normal and accelerated tests. T h e normal test in air and water is unquestionably the only perfectly fair method of determining the permanency of a cement, but in practice, the element of time is so important that an accelerated test, which is supposed to hasten expansive action and cause any possible failure of the material in a few hours, is itnper a t’1r.e. I n making accelerated tests the form of the test piece has little or 110 influence on the result. The cement should be given time to develop a hard set and then it should be put into cold water which is gradually heated to the boiling-point and maintained at that temperature for three or four hours. Tests made in steam alone or in steam, followed by immersion in boiling water, niay give rise to erroneous conclusions, especially if the specimens are tested soon after making. Data compiled from over a thousand tests on many varieties of cements showed that 86 per cent. of the samples that failed in the boiling test gave evidence of possessing some injurious quality in less than one year. Of those cements that passed the boiling test but one-half of I per cent. showed signs of failure in the normal pat test and but 13 per cent. lost strength in a year’s time. h slow-setting cement that is high in lime may pass the boiling test, and yet check and disintegrate in the normal pat test, especially if the test is made soon after the specimen is molded. T h e disintegrating action of a cement is always far greater when mixed neat than when mixed with an aggregate, and the greater the amount of the aggregate the less the tendency to unsoundness. Accelerated tests of cements should not be made at the beginning of the testing operation, but should be deferred until the B. S. CUSHXAX;. twenty-eight day briquettes are broketi,
