The fact now to be mentioned, seems to justify the hope that at some future period, copper mines may be successfully worked in this vicinity.

The following account is taken from Mrs. Doolittle, of this town, the daughter of the person who discovered it. She relates, that her father, Mr. Josiah Todd, of NorthHaven, when gathering fruit on the Hamden hills, discovered a mass of native copper, weighing about 90 pounds, which he obtained and preserved. It was lying on the surface of a flat rock, in some places adhering to it, and even running into its crevices. He, with several other persons, sought for more; but as they, by their own confession, had superstitious fears respecting it, they probably did not make minute investigation, and no more was found.

a very

This mass passed through several hands, and was finally obtained by the son-in-law of the discoverer, a coppersmith, who considered it as very free from alloy, and used it in the course of his business. It existed, and was used, within the remembrance of Mrs. Doolittle and her son, of this town, and a part of it even ten or fifteen years since. Unfortunately, no part of this interesting natural production can now be obtained, nor is the precise place of its discovery known.

XXVI. A Description of several Combinations of Lead, lately discovered at Northampton, addressed to the Editor. By WILLIAM MEADE, M. D.

W

SIR,

HEN I had the pleasure of exhibiting to you part of my collection of American minerals, I observed, that you were struck with a variety of interesting specimens which I had obtained from the neighbourhood of Northampton ; particularly those rare combinations of lead which are connected with the ore lately discovered at that place, the geolo

gical description of which is so accurately given by professor Silliman, in your last number.

If a short description of those varieties which are scarce, is considered in any degree interesting, I take an early opportunity of communicating it for your information. I shall soon have the pleasure of presenting you with specimens of the sulphate, muriate, and molybdate of lead, such as I shall here describe; at the same time I regret that I have not yet obtained these in such abundance as to afford sufficient quantity for a complete chemical analysis, without destroying the beauty of the specimen. I have only been able to sacrifice about thirty grains of the sulphate of lead, so as to satisfy myself that I was not mistaken as to its character. Indeed, the external characters are so well defined in them all, as to leave little doubt on the subject, even with the very limited knowledge of mineralogy which I profess to have.

SULPHATE OF LEAD.

Colour-perfectly white.

Lustre-vitreous, approaching to the diamond. Transparency-in some parts translucid, in others, perfectly transparent.

Fracture-splintery.

Hardness-is easily scraped with a knife.

Specific gravity-6. 200.

Nitric acid has no action upon it.

It decrepitates before the blow-pipe, but when this ceases, and the flame is urged, the mass fuses, and it is very easily reduced into small globules of metallic lead.

It occurs crystallized in plates or tables, which are set on cubes of galena, and not unfrequently in cavities of quartz, which is the matrix of this ore.

It is easily distinguished from carbonate of lead, by its brilliant lustre, as well as its crystallization, and most particularly by its insolubility in acids.

MOLYBDATE OF LEAD.

Colour-dark wax yellow.

Lustre-none.

Transparency-none.

Hardness-brittle, and easily yields to the knife.

Soluble in nitric acid, without effervescence, and only when heated: decrepitates before the blow-pipe, and melts into a grey mass, which by urging the heat considerably, shews small globules of metallic lead, but is reduced with much more difficulty than either the sulphate or the carbonate; from which circumstance, as well as its peculiar wax yellow colour, it may be distinguished from them. There is no difficulty of distinguishing it from the phosphate, as the native phosphate of lead is not reducible by the blowpipe.

It occurs here in small tabular crystals, set on their edges in cavities of crystallized quartz, and frequently intersecting each other.

MURIATE, OR CARBONO. MURIATE OF LEAD.

Colour-very light green.

Lustre and Transparency-vitreous, and nearly transparent; the edges of the crystal having nearly the lustre of a precious stone.

Fracture-glassy.

Hardness-brittle; yields to the knife easily.

It is found crystallized on compact galena, in groups of a cubic form, terminated by tetrahedral pyramids.

When heated on charcoal, it melts into an orange coloured mass, through which, on urging the flame, small globules of metallic lead appear.

It is slightly acted upon by nitric acid when pulverized, but a small portion only of it is dissolved.

XXVII. A description of the Cheechunk Spring, in the town of Goshen, Orange County, (N. Y.) by Dr. DAVID R. ARNELL.

THIS

HIS spring, which has for a number of years past obtained and held some celebrity for its medicinal properties, is situated about three miles west from the village of Goshen, in a hollow, surrounded with hills on all sides except the north, where a small stream constantly issues from it, and runs into a swamp or bog meadow, of about eight or ten acres ; the leaves, soil and stones along the stream for about eight rods, are covered with a ferruginous crust: several other springs are seen issuing from under the hills into the bog meadow, none of which have any mineral impregnations or appearances. There are no calcareous rocks or stones in the neighbourhood of the spring which can be discovered, and the soil around it is a light gravel.

Several experiments were made upon the water, the most material of which show the following results, viz.

Expt. 1st. With a tincture of galls, the water turned Black immediately, and upon evaporation, left a black ferruginous sediment.

2nd. With equal parts of lime water it soon became turbid, and after standing some time, deposited a sediment which appeared to be carbonate of iron, and carbonate of lime.

In this experiment, the water, after standing about two hours, gave out all its sediment, which was considerable, and in a few days a crust was raised on the surface of the water, which was simple carbonate of lime, without any of the iron; this was in some measure produced by that portion of the external air which was received into the vessel through the cork, after standing a considerable time.

3d. With tincture of turmeric it changed to a reddish brown.

Expts. 4, 5 and 6. No change was produced by the addition of potash water, nor sulphuric or nitric acid.

7th. The temperature of the water in the spring is at 48°, of Fahrenheit's thermometer.

From these experiments it appears, that the water contains carbonate of iron and carbonic acid gas, in which it only differs from common water.

XXVIII. On the deoxidation of Potash: by
Mr. GEORGE CHILTON.

THE deoxidation of potash by iron, has excited considerable attention among the professors and practical chemists of this country: some of whom having failed in their attempts to obtain potassium, were inclined to regard the experiment as doubtful and capricious: and it is even said that Professor Davy, at the Royal Institution, very seldom succeeds. These circumstances did not fail to renew the desire I had long intended to gratify, of attempting the reduction of potash in this way, but which had been neglected partly, at least, from the expense of the apparatus. Economy led me to think of substituting something more simple, and cheaper than the bent tubes in common use. It occurred to me that as potash is volatilized at a white heat, it would pervade the capacity of a straight tube as completely as it would that of a bent one, and would, therefore, be as much exposed to the action of the iron turnings destined to abstract its oxygen. Following this obvious idea, I took three pieces of straight tube, one of which was the thick end of a musket-barrel. Into this piece I ground the other two, air tight, one at each end. The middle piece was filled with iron turnings, coated and placed in a temporary furnace, consisting of a few bricks, laid together on the hearth of a smith's forge.

A small inclination was given, in the grinding, to one of the pieces, to allow of the easy flow of the melted potash. The other, intended to receive the condensed potassium, was fur