The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1883-06-29

owe their value in a great measure to the
fine colors possessed by most of them. Their
use as pigments is well known, but they arc
also used quite rs extensively in the dyeing
and tanning industries and in coloring glass
and porcelain.
Comparing the beautiful colors of the chro-
MUM salts and the many uses to which they
are put, with the black hard ore from which
they are derived, one who is not familiar
with such transformations is struck with sur
| prise and admiration at the wonderful power
of that science, the true Philosophers Stone,
which rs far exceeds in the changes it pro-
duces the widest imaginings of those old
| dreamers, the alchemists, as does the velocity
of electricity the speed of the winged Pega-
| sus.
COPPER.
But to return to Hartford and her minerals
Our greatest hope in travelling over the
county was that we might find traces of cop
| per ore. 1t has been found in Baltimore
county, in region almost identical in char
acteristics with the Chrome Hill formation,
and this with the reports that indications OF
| its existence had been found in some of the
cuts on the Maryland Central, led us to make
a very thorough search for il in regions in
which il is most likely to occur, After fol-
| lowing very closely the direction of MI those
| persons who knew exactly where it was, we
! were successful in finding it in but two
places, and that in only very small quanti-
ties. 1t occurred as copper Pyr5tes at Illus.
bands quartz-quarry, on Deer creek, and
again on the bank of the same stream where
| the railroad crosses near the Rocks
In the Legends of the Rocks" mention is
made of Cooper Rock" as situated near the
pointed out to us by the courteous author of
that volume. There we did find a copper
ore in very small quantities, but the hard
ness of the surrounding rock prevented any
deep search without the aid Of blasting APP
paratus.
GRAPHITE OR PLUMBAGo.
While talking of the Indian legends with
the Rev Mr.. Wysong, mention was made of
deposits of lead in the vicinity of the Mine
Old Fields, and in support of this belief it
was asserted that the "old hunter of the
Rocks" had gotten the lead for his bullets
from lead ore which he alone knew where
to find.
We followed up the clue and by accident
found boy who could tell us exactly where
the lead was. 1t was in the bed of the road
direction of Pylesvile There, sure enough,
we found dark clayey mineral, but not Il
lead ore. The stuff was mixture of clay,
magnetic and about twenty-five per cent.
of graphite This graphite is popularity
known as "black lead" or plumbago, and is
the substance used to such great extent in
ordinary lead pencils. 1t is used too as
lubricator for heavy machinery and to coat
the wax casts before electrotyping.
AS no indications of n lead ore could be
found in the vicinity it is very probable that
the above "bhck ledd' was the origin of the
old hunters lead 1t is easy to see how the
confusion might arise as the story was hand
cd down from mouth to mouth, and it is
likely the btach lead became corrupted into
common lead
PRECIOUS SERPENTINE.
Across the northern portion of the county
stretches the formation known as the chLO,fte
suites, and south of these the serpentines APP
pear. The purest variety of this beautiful
rock is well shown mt the scrpentine quar-
ries, about three miles northward of Dublin.
Here we find it in its finest forms, through
all its grades of color, from the apple-green
through various shades to dark sea green and
black. II is a soft rock and takes very fine pol
ish From the oldest times it has been used
rs II building stone being valuable both on
account Gifts beauty and the ease with which
it is worked Even in the Neibelungen Lied,
II collection of ballads relating to the "barba-
rous people of the north" made prior to 1910
n. IL
this green marble" In the south was one
variety in use much earlier This variety is
now known under the name verd-antiquc, n
green serpentime containing white grains of
limestone. Within the last few years it has
grown rapidly in favor as n material for
building churches. The Mount Vernon
Methodist church on Mount Vernon Place,
the New Presbyterian church on Lafayette
Square, and many other of the churches
lately put up in Baltimore are constructed
principally ofserpentine. The polished stone
is used for table tops, etc, in the manufnc-
ture of fine furniture
At Chrome Hill is another outcrop of ser
pentine, but the rock here is by no means rs
sound as that at Dublin.
BALTIMoRITE AND CHRYSoLITE.
At both places are found varieties of the
rock, that differ so markedly from it as to he
distinguished by different names BaltimOr-
ite is a coarse, tibrous variety of dark green
color, that often takes in the form Of roots,
branches, etc, and goes under the name of
"petritied wood" ChryS0lhe is another varie-
ty, white, tibrous mineral, of satin-like
lustre, which often traverses the dark scrpen-
tine in fine silvery threads 1t is formed by
decomposition of the serpcniine, which is a
silicatc of magnesia, containing about thir-
teen per cent of water.
ASBESTOS.
ASbestOS, silicate of magnesia, without
| the water, is found in large quantities around
Pylesville. Its value is due entirely to its pc
| cular structure 1t consists of long, fine
elactic tibres snow-white in color when
pure, very flexible and nfusible in any ordi
nary flame That mineral whose soft fibres
| are like the finest threads of silk should be
| nfusible was considered so remarkable that
centuries ago it was given the name dSJeStUS,
| the Greek for understandable. The fibres
| are SO elastic that they are woven into cloth,
| gloves handkerchiefs, etc, and it is said of
| Charlemagne that he had tabecloth woven
| of asbestos, which he used to have thrown
on the fire. after dinner, to the great astonsh-
ment of his guests. The ancients used the
cloth to wrap up the bodies Of their dead,
whose ashes they wished to save, before
placing them on the funeral pile. The latest
use to which it has been put is in the manu-
faclure of fre-proof paint.
SoAPSTONE.
| Another mineral, very similar in chemical
| composition to serpentine, and occurring in
perhaps larger quantities, is s0alSt0He or stea.
| tic 1t has been worked TO n considerable
| extent heretofore, and was used in the manu-
| facture of tOmbstOnes and friedrich. BE.
| sides this common soapstonc u pure white
steatite occurs at Chrome Hill This variety,
| like the graphite above mentioned is used MS
q lubricator.
PHos8mATE OF LIME
| Finally, there is one mineral which we
found in Hartford that, | think, will excite
the interest of our farmers. To us il was most
interesting at first sight, because it was high
ly crystalized in the form ofsiX- sided prisms
and afterwards, when we had determined its
composition, our interest was not at all di'
minishcd at finding that it was phosphate
of lime, containing the most important con
sttuents of bone dust This mineral is ape
tite, and this is tue first time that it has been
reported as occurring in Maryland. BY lis