The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-02-14
Experimental.
SOAPSTONE.
CHAPEL HILL, n. c.,

February 9th, 1873.
Prof. Dana. in his Manual of Mine
ra!ogy,' in speaking Of the various
localities where soapstone is to be
found. states that it occurs in Orange
county, N. G.. In his larger and more
comprehensive book, GA System Of
Mineralogy," he does not state this
fact. / have recently visited n OF
the quarries in this Orange county,,
whence soapstone is obtained, or rather
can be obtained. 1t is about four miles
west of Chapel Hill, or the premises
of Mr.. Henry Lloyd. The rock out
crops in several places, the strike being
southeast by northwest approximately,
and the dip between 800 and 900. 1t
is found ON a hill Of slight elevation.
with red clay soil. AT n place the
rock has been quarried to the depth of
two or three feet. No systematic at
tempt either to obtain or utilize the
rock has ever been made, that l know
of. I picked up several fragments Of
the rock, weighing from several ounces
to eight or ten pounds. No larger
pieces were to be had without quarry
ing for them, and this l had not time
to do. / should say ue, for my friend
S~outhgate still bears me company, and
l take pleasure in testifying to his
length of limb, and his unusual ability
in applying the same very vigorously,
as we'll as to his efficient aid in search
ing for the outcrops.
The rock is a veritable specimen of
soapstone (steatite), is OF a grayish
green color, and very greasy feel
massive, with a tendency to shady
structure harness 1. 1. 3. Two Of the
outcrops show a very manifest shady
structure. 1t does not seem to be very
abundant, though the quality is good.
No large fine grained slabs have been
obtained, though this, perhaps, is at
tributable to the lack of search for
them.
The country people say sometimes
they get pieces large enough to use as
hearth-stones, and for the back of fire
places.
SoapstOne occurs in other parts of
this county, as between here and Hills
boro, and it may be that Prof. Dana
spoke of some other locality in this
county than this near Chapel Hill. In
speaking of milestone, he certainly
meant the quarry west of Chapel Hill,
for he says seven miles west of Chapel
Hill = but whether he referred to this
soapstone OF not is uncertain.
1t may interest some of your readers
to learn some facts about soapstone,
what it is, where it is found. what its
uses are, &c. &c. Soapstone is the
applied to a sub-species of tale.
Tale itself is a hydrous bisilicate of
magnesia, containing also iron and
sometimes alumina. Of nine analyses
of tale quoted by Prof. Dana, only five
report alumina, ranging from .04 pei
cent. to LII per cent.
Under tale proper there are two
varieties. 1. Foliated tale. 9. Massive
soapstone, or steatite. Potstone is or
binary soapstone. Steatite soapstone
differs from tale in that it is massive.
while tale is crystalline the proper
ton of the several elements in each is
about the same. Soapstone is also a
little harder than tale, as. if tale is
IL. 5. it is 1-2. 5. Foliated tale occurs
at Webster, Jackson county, n. c.. and
is supposed by DIR. Genth to be there
altered from Chrysolite, which is a u
nisilicate Of Magnesia, containing also
Iron and Manganese, both as protox-
ides.
Thus we see that Soapstone is a (bD
siicate of magnesia, containing Iron
and Alumina, and that it is a variety
OF Tale. The per cent. of water in
Tale and Soapstone is very hard to de-
termine, owing to the high tempera-
ture required for e1pelling it.
"Soapstone," says an old Cyclope-
dia, occurs in primitive rocks" Dana
quotes Hunt as showing that tale
Tor ~steatite) is a rare mineral in Azoic
or praesilurian rocks" cit occurs in
~serpentine, dolomite, and talcose or
chloritic schists." Yet chrysolite &C.