The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1871-01-13
Lot.

This bituminous mineral, which is
now being manufactured so extensively
into useful and ornamental articles,
takes its name from the river Gauges,
from the banks of which it was prob
ably first obtained. 1t was first called
I" gagates," afterward ''gagat," and
finally, very properly, corrupted INTO
"Jet." Now, however, it Is found IN
many parts of the world. The finest
quality that N to us from Great
Britain is obtained at Whitby, in York
shire, where it is found mixed with
fragments of bituminized wood OF con-
ferrous trees, in the Alum Shale OF that
district.
Jet, like amber, is electrical when
rubbed; hence, when found, as it some
timesis, by the Prussian amber dlggers,
It is called black amber. In France
large quantities ere found in the de-
partment of Aude, where numerous art
isans are employed in working 1t into
crosses, rosary beads and other beauti-
full ornaments, which at first were used
chiefly for mourning wear. The French
Jet is very fine, is found in irregular
veins in the lower marls of the creta
ceous series corresponding with the
Sussex gault. Spain, also, furnishes a
fine quality of JET, which is found at
Villaviciosa, in the province of the
Asturias. Jets easily cut and carved /;
admits readily of beautiful polish; is
about as hard as our ordinary coal, and
is, in fact, only a peculiar form of pitch
coal, containing about thirty-seven per
cent. of volatile matter.
Jet has been the cause for consider
able confusion in the opinions of those
who havegiven attention to the subject.
DR.. Young, in his Geology of the
Yorkshire Coast, writes: "Jet, which
occurs here, may be properly classed
with fossil wood, as it appears to be
wo0d in a high state of6itum1inizGtion.h
Mr.. Simpson, the curatorof the Whitby
museum, a man of intelligence, and
who has given much attention to the
subject, says: "Jet is generally consid-
cred to have been wood, and in many
cases it undoubtedly has been so, for
the woody structure often remains, and
it is not unlikely that comminuted veg
etable matter may have been changed
into Jet. But it is evident that veget-
able matter is not an essential part of
Jet. for we frequently find that bone,
and the scales Of fishes also, have been
changed into Jet"
Robert Hunt, keeper of mining rec
ords in England, disagrees with the
former authorities. He says: "Jet
certainly incrusts a a which has
something the structure of bone, but,
without q chemical examination of its
..on4r -o eborld baof.ota 70 GOV
it was bone. Wood, without doubt,
has been found iRcrHsted with jet, as
fragments of animal matter may also
have been. But it is quite inconsistent
with our knowledge of physical and
chemical changes, to suppose that botE
animal and vegetable matter would un.
dergo this change. By process Of sub
stitUtion we know that silica viii take
the place occupied by carbon or woody
matter; as, for example, III the fossil
palms of Trinidad and the siliciieC
forests of Egypt; but we have no ex
ample within the entire range of the
coal formations of the world, of carbon
taking the place of any of the earths.
Jet is supposed to have been worked
by the Romans long before the time O
the Danes in England an earring o
a lady, having the form of a heart witt
a hole in the upper end for suspension
from the ear, was found lying close t.
the jawbone in one of the Roman
tumuli. The manufacture was carried
on until the time of Elizabeth, when i
suddenly ceased, and vas not resumed
until about the year 1900. Within tn
: last few wears the demand for it from
the American market has been so grea
that the wonder is the inventive geniu
of the American mind has failed to fint
an article in this country, where btu
minous matter or petroleum, from
which it has its origin, so largel.
abounds.