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

DEAR SIR 1.-THE following notes on the
minerals of Hartford were collected during a
two weeks trip through the county, in June
of last year. 1t must be confessed that the
results of or trip werea little disappointing.
For though we did not expect to find as
rich stores of mineral wealth rs exist in Chcs-
ter county, Pa, we did expect MS good n
showing as can be made by Baltimore coun.
ty. And yet though by no means the most
highly-tavored region in this respect, Iar-
ford has not been sighted in other respects,
and we can solace ourselves with the thought
that Nature seldom bestows great fertility
upon the soil beneath which she buries her
mineral treasures. Besides the minerals
mentioned, there exist in the county in
quantities too small to be of any value, min,
erals like dIJtte, ieldspar containing sodium
mtcd, in crystals in the old magnesia mine at
Mrs Fraser's, near Chrome Hill, and GAZETTE
or limestone, in crystalline condition. And
then of course there are the states, achite.f flint,
dotomtte and the colored cLays, and the doubt
full occurrence of kdOttn and emery
MAGNETIC IRON ORE.
The most valuable perhaps, but at any rate
the most widely distributed of the iron ores,
is the heavy black mineral known to mineral
ogisls rs mdgncttte or magnetic iron. More or
less oft his can bcfound in all parts of the coun-
ty. Often one can see in the cutters along the
roads, especially after heavy rain, numerous
small black shiny particles, sometimes even
forming the body of the sand. These black
particles are almost invariably magnetic,
as can easily heproven by bringing magnet
near them, when they will Immediately leave
the mass and stick to ii. When occurring
massive, rs it does in the northern part of
county, it forms very valuable ore. When
occurring in this form, as II consequence of
certain conditions under which the ore exist
ed in the carlh magnetic often takes upon
itself the properties of II magnet and in its
turn attracts iron and other small pieces of
magnetic. From this property the mineral
takes lis name. Several very fine bde stones
were presented to the collection of the Field
Club of the Johns Hopkins University by
Mr.. William GLADDEN., who found them on his
farm near Cooptown. Other pieces were
found by us in the neighborhood the Rocks
of Deer Creek.
BLACK DIAMONDS
Another form of the mineral found here i'm
II very high degree of excellence, on the farm
of Mrs. Renshaw, near CooptOwn, and on
Mr.. J. Scarhorough's place, near Union Cross
Roads, occurs in n soft green rock with a
greasy feeling very much like that of soap
stone. In this form it occurs us very perfect
octahedrons, or eight-sided figures, of which
each side is n triangle. The faces of the crys.
stall have II fine lnsre and not infreQucntly
are brilliantly rridescent. This briiancy,
| coupled with the fact that the sharp corners
| of the crystal easily scratch glass, often Sc
| cures for them the name "back diamonds
FOOLS GOLD.
Another iron mineral found in abundance
in all parts ofthc county is Pyr1teS or sulphide
| 81 IA to 80. oil II
its lustre is so brilliant us to he called in the
prosy language of minelalogy splendid
metallic" These qualities have often LED
| persons unacquainted with mineral to mis-
take it for gold, hence its popular name fools
| gold" A mistake of this kind proved O
cause Of great chagrin to some of the first
colonists of Virginia, who shipped tons o
| this almost worthless ore to England under
the sad deuson that it was gold Pyrile.
cryslalzes in many of its forms like magnet
lite, the cube frequently being found in com
binations with the octahedron. lis nam,
| is derived from the Greek word pur, fire, be
cause il is SO hard as to strike fire with steel
to which fact Pliny referred when he sale
"there was much fire in it," AS an ore o
iron the mineral is utterly worthless, on &C
count of the large amount of sulphur con
| tanned in il, the per centage of which in NJ
case falls below fifty three. 1t is, however
used to II large extent now as the sulphur
supplying material in the manufacture of sui
| phurlc acid.
| LIMoNITE.
| Ltn,0Httc is oftcn formed in the outside o
| pyriie crystals, which by exposure TO the al
and moisture have been gradually change,
from the sulphide to anhydrated oxide o
iron. This gradual change OF composition
can nearly always be seen in breaking opel
II large crystal of limonite, when the inside
| will be found to consist of the bright yellow
sulphide. Very fine crystals of this kind ar
plOwcd up in the ncighborhood of Cooptown
some ofthem found by Mr.. GLADDEN. mcasurin,
as much as an inch and n quarter on an edge
They occur in large quantities just under IT,
soil in all parts of the county.
RED oCHRE.
The remaining ore of iron, found in yer,
large quantities in the southern part of tn
county is too familiar to all to need detaile
mention 1t possesses many names, i
consequence of the great difference in az
pearance and condition under which it cS
lists. Few would imagine that the soft re
ocl,e and the hard metallic pecu'tr irO
were only different varieties of the sam
minerals Nevertheless, if The specula
iron he powdered it will appear ms Ie
red as the reddest chalk. 1t il to this re
color of the powder, characteristic of a
varieties that the name alludes-hematit,
from hame, blood. This ore has been exter
sively worked in past years, though now fo
some reason all work has ceased.
| CHR0MITE.
The next, and by far the most importar
mineral commercially, occurring in Hartford.
chrOmite or chrome iron Its found near CooI
town and at Chrome Hill, on land owned by Ill
Tyson Chrome Company ofBaltimore, whic
until within year or so had q monopoly
the products ofthis ore in America. Chromit