The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-03-21
The New Mineral Corurldum-Its History and
Remarkable Properties,

a;tion to admit free of duty, machinery for the
manufacture in the West of plate glass, brought
into notice mineral almost unknown to the
general public, yet which from q very early Pc
Rod has occupied prominent place in the
mechanical arts, This substance -corundph
has been in use in Egypt, India. and China
from q remote age, under various names, as an
abrasive agent Of great hardness and cutting
power. There ID little doubt it was the material
tywhich was engraved imany OF the obeiisks
efeEgypt and the GRANTEES Of Asia Minor an and
Hindostan, as we'll AS ell the precious stones
cut by the lapidaries Of the Orient with the
exception of the diamond, it being the next
hardest substance. in nature to.that prince OF
gems. Our readers will not coufodnd the min
efsf under notice with the Naxos, Ephesian
and ether varieties Of emery, sometimes called
cofundum, in commercial parlanee- The dit
ference between the two is very marked, corun-
dam being pure Alumni, with cutting. powes
efiinneSy, While the bes8 emery Of commerce.
that of Naxos--is a mixture of oxide ;of iron
and alumni, with an. abrasive power Of fifty
sever. This difference has been shown by DR..
J.Iawrenee Smith, Of louisville, KY, proba-
bly best authority on the subject, in series
cf interesting papers published IN Sstliman,s
Journal in lS50-5l and 1866. The attention
of the Western world was calted first to the
subject of corundum, by Sir Charles Greenvilie,
in very elaborate. and exhaustive paper pub
lished ii the proceedings Of the Royal Historl-
ealSociety of London for the year l79S THIS
learned gentleman, being at the time resident
of India. visited. the locality there which from
ancient date had been the chief. source of sup
plY for the mineral, and very little can now be
added to the description he gave of the same
While India has been the chief source of sup
DIV for the article, its product being known In
the trade as the "Carnatio" crystals, yet the
mineral has been discovered in many localities
both. in the Old and New Worlds. The corun-
dtiin of commerce came to the market until q
late, date almost entirely in the form of crys-
tails, picked up in the mountain ravines of India
and China, and brought down by the natives in
small quantities ON their; backs, The supply
has always been very tncertaip, the market at
times be;sg bare and commanding large prices
from parties who mnst have it, such as lapids-
MES, manufacturers of corundum wheels, &c,
Until within the past few months; it is sup
posed, the mineral has never been mined in
the usual way, ,euniess II, the mountains OF 81
beria, from which specimens, in massive form,
Petersburg. New wants hayipg arisen for a
emitting agent, and idiamona powder being, too
expensive for the purpose, search was made IN
various sections of ear country for pure corun-
dunn, which was at last found and IS being
miiAsd in tfie most remote southwestern section
sf4yofths sSaroliaa: Specimens of the mineral
from this mine are before us. They are the
pure Orieutal IsepRBiHeS ruby and topaz, al;
most transparent in color, of a hardness and
cutting quality that will polish any substance
but the diamond, and even that when rapid
friction IS used; in fact they only lack trans
pareney to be pure gems of sapphire and raby;
VIZ die informed !: 1t, was FROM this mine; the
sbecimen #sais obtained: .that-was shown by
Judge Kelley during the-debate in Congress
referred to. The discovery has created cons!d=
erable Interest in the neighborhood OF the io-
ealjty.whese it is, being mined, as we'll as more
remote districts. The, fact that the gems
known as sapphire, ruby, &c; are simply pure
corundum, has raised the belief in the minds OF
many that these may be in the locality referred
to in f1st5 wVlearn thereeis now a1ptfost:be-
ing made Sn Wall street to inadce capitalists
TO buY .up tracts Of land N that. section on
which. it Is: stated, cosundam isIfound; with the
purpfsA al institntipg acsealch, fof gems; 1&c.-
We have made sinqairies, hsweyes, Of 9 gentle
man rell acquainted there; and from informa-
tionkeathered froEa. him, would say to our read
ers tisag can spend both their time and money
to better advantage than ira pursuit of wealth
in Msdirectioh. We aFe glad dSto2 be able to
saw LhoWster, that corladun in considerable
auahtities is eomipg int6 ting market from the
nliIetmentioned, Which may tbe welcomed as
andtf,er evidence Of .she.r resopYcesand valuable
PROJECTIONS y 4,, Of our, gseElng fgpuDlie'1Ss" q
F''s F'''ssA'f'sa-ss { IT,
- ttErS-rS@SsSS:s T..EANt II; =