Useful Knowledge: Volume 1. Minerals Or, a familiar account of the various productions of nature

Part 1

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Useful Knowledge: 4th ed. Minerals. Vol 1 of 3

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USEFUL KNOWLEDGE:

A FAMILIAR ACCOUNT

OF THE

VARIOUS PRODUCTIONS

Nature,

MINERAL, VEGETABLE, AND ANIMAL,

WHICH ARE CHIEFLY EMPLOYED FOR THE USE OF MAN.

Illustrated with numerous Figures, and intended as a Work both of Instruction and Reference.

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BY THE

REV. WILLIAM BINGLEY, AM. FLS.

LATE OF PETERHOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, AND AUTHOR OF ANIMAL BIOGRAPHY.

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOL. I. MINERALS.

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FOURTH EDITION.

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LONDON: PRINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY; HARVEY AND DARTON; AND C. AND J. RIVINGTON.

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1825.

C. Baldwin, Printer, New Bridge─street, London.

PREFACE.

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THE mode in which instruction has hitherto been conveyed, on the peculiar subjects of the present work, has chiefly been by small books, in question and answer, denominated catechisms. But such, however respectable in themselves, or however advantageous for children, are wholly insufficient for persons who are in search of extended knowledge, and desirous of furnishing their minds with useful information.

On these subjects there has not hitherto been published any work in which they are collectively to be found; nor could a knowledge of them be obtained but by the consultation of many and expensive writings. That they are generally important to be known will not probably be denied.

It has consequently been the object of the author to compress all the interesting information that could be obtained respecting them, within as narrow a compass, and at the same time to render this information as entertaining, and as devoid of technical words and phrases, as possible.

The scheme of the work will, it is hoped, be found sufficiently simple. The passage in smaller characters at the head of each article, is in general so arranged as to reply to the questions, “What is?” “What are?” or “How do you know?” For instance: “What is flint?” (See Vol. I. p. 53.) The answer will be found thus: “Flint is a peculiarly hard and compact kind of stone, generally of smoke─grey colour, passing into greyish white, reddish, or brown. It is nearly thrice as heavy as water, and, when broken, will split in every direction, into pieces which have a smooth surface.” The author is aware that, in many instances, the definitions are defective: but this has, in general, arisen from a necessity of rendering them short, and at the same time of using such terms as would be likely to convey information to the minds of persons who have had no previous knowledge of the systems of natural history.

After the definition, a further illustration sometimes follows; and in the large characters will be found a brief detail of the history and uses of the object described. The articles are numbered, for the greater convenience both of reference and explanation, but particularly the latter. Thus, under the explanation of CARBON, it is stated that “in combination with oxygen (21) it forms carbonic acid (26), and that it is the chief component part of pit─coal (217), petroleum (213), and other bituminous substances.” By a reference to the numbers inserted, each of the words, against which they stand, will be explained: whilst at least three of them would otherwise have been incomprehensible by the generality of unscientific readers.

It must be remarked that the reader will not here find an account of every production of nature, which is employed for the use of man, nor even all the uses of such objects as are described. The most important of the productions, and the principal of the uses, are all that he trusts can reasonably be required in a work of the present extent. On this ground it is that a great number of animals, which are in request only for food, have been wholly omitted.

The figures that are inserted have been drawn upon as small and economical a scale as was compatible with a sufficiently accurate representation of the objects to which they relate. If the reader be desirous of reference to further illustration, he will derive much satisfaction from the invaluable figures of Mr. Sowerby in his British and Exotic Mineralogy, and English Botany, and Woodville’s Medical Botany; as well as from those in Dr. Shaw’s General Zoology, and Bewick’s Histories of Quadrupeds and British Birds. There are also many figures of useful animals in the author’s own work, entitled “Memoirs of British Quadrupeds.”

TO THE

THIRD EDITION.

Since this work was first printed, the author has made in it considerable improvements. The first volume, particularly, contains many additional articles, and more than half of it has been re─written. The plates also have been re─engraved. For the plate of the mountains a new drawing has been made, that the scale might be extended, and many particulars might be introduced which before were omitted. For the plates of vegetables every drawing has been corrected; and, in place of such figures as were most defective, new ones have been inserted.

Charlotte─street, Bloomsbury, London, 1st March, 1821.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES

OF THE

FIRST VOLUME.

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FRONTISPIECE.

This is explained in pages 236, 237.

PLATE I.

Fig. MINERAL DEPOSITS. 1. Horizontal beds or strata. a. Veins or dykes. 2. Bending strata. 3. Minerals in detached masses. 4. Disjoined strata. b. A fault.

PLATE II.

CRYSTALS, &c.

5. Octohedron.

6. Rough diamond.

7. Profile of a brilliant─cut stone.

8. Profile of a rose─cut stone.

9. Plane of a table─cut stone.

10. Plane and profile of the Pitt diamond.

11. Dodecahedron.

12. Rough garnet.

13. Six─sided pyramids, joined base to base.

14 Regular four─sided prism.

15. Six─sided prism.

16. Cube.

17. Four─sided pyramid having a rhomb for its base.

PLATE III.

SECTION OF ROCKS. I. Primitive Rocks.

Fig. 1. Granite. 2. Gneiss. 3. Mica─slate. 4. Clay─slate. a. Lime─stone. b. Quartz. 5. Primitive lime─stone.

II. Secondary Rocks. 1. Transition Rocks.

6. Grey─wacka. 7. Transition lime─stone.

2. Floetz Rocks.

8. Old red sand─stone.

9. Alternating strata of lime─stone and sand─stone.

III. Alluvial Deposits.

10. Alluvial strata of clay, gravel, &c., &c.

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The BINDER is desired to insert all the Plates, except the Frontispieces, immediately after the Explanations in the respective Volumes.

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.

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MINERALS.

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_INTRODUCTION._

1. MINERALS are natural bodies destitute of organization and life: and MINERALOGY is that branch of natural science which treats of the properties and relations of such bodies.

MINERAL DEPOSITS.

2. If we penetrate beneath the surface of the earth, we observe there a very remarkable arrangement. Instead of a generally uniform appearance, as we see on the surface, we pass through divers substances, as clay, gravel, sand, and numerous others, deposited in _beds_ or _strata_ of various thickness, from a few inches to a great many feet (Pl. I. Fig. 1). These lie, for the most part, nearly horizontal: but in some instances, particularly in mountainous countries, they take different degrees of inclination; and, in places where the country consists of gently sloping hills and vales, the beds have a waving or bending form (Pl. 1, Fig. 3). The strata of which the earth is composed, as deep as the curiosity or the necessities of mankind have induced them to explore, satisfactorily demonstrate the wisdom which has been displayed in the arrangement of materials requisite for the use of men and animals.

The first layer is frequently a rich, black mould, formed almost wholly of animal and vegetable remains. This yields sustenance to the vegetable productions; and thereby becomes the actual, though not the immediate, support of the whole animal creation.—Beneath this is often found a thick bed of clay, that furnishes to man a substance of which to make bricks, tiles, various kinds of pottery, and innumerable other articles for the comfort of social life.—Next are deposited vast beds of gravel, that are of use in numerous points of view.—Underneath this are the infinitely varying strata of sandstone, limestone, &c. which not only serve for the construction of buildings, and for other important purposes, but also frequently surround mines which contain the valuable metals.—Beneath a slaty stratum are usually discovered those immense beds of coal so requisite for the comfort, and, in some situations, even for the existence of man.

These strata, it is true, are not always found together, nor are they always discovered in the same order; but the statement will suffice to show the general nature of their arrangement.

3. Minerals are sometimes observed in detached _masses_ of various size, and situated at various depths in the earth (Pl. I, Fig. 1).

4. They are also found in a kind of natural clefts which cross the regular mineral beds or strata in different directions (Pl. I, Fig. 1, _a_, Pl. I, Fig. 4, _b_). When these contain metallic ores, they are styled _veins_; but when they contain only stony or earthy matters, the miners call them _dykes_. They vary much both in magnitude and length. Six thousand feet are considered an unusual length for veins, though, in some instances, veins have been traced upwards of four miles. Few veins extend more than 1200 feet below the surface of the mountains in which they are situated. They are usually much inclined; but they sometimes descend in a direction parallel with the beds of rock in which they occur.

5. At the places where dykes or veins pass through the earth, they occasionally disjoint the strata in a very singular manner (Pl. I, Fig. 4). Some of the coal strata, for instance, are thrown down or raised on one side of a dyke upwards of a hundred yards; and the miner, after penetrating through this dyke, instead of finding the same coal again, meets, on the opposite side, with beds of stone or clay. Hence he is frequently at a loss how to proceed in searching for the coal of which he is in pursuit; and hence it is that to such dykes the peculiar name of _faults_ has sometimes been given.

6. In England the _metallic ores_ are generally found in veins, that form a considerable angle with the regular strata. This in Cornwall is uniformly the case. And it is remarkable, concerning the veins of tin and copper of that county, that they run in a direction nearly east and west; whilst the dykes, or veins of other substances, run for the most part north and south.

7. The thickness of veins, and the quantity and quality of the ores they contain, differ in every mine. Some are only a few inches wide, whilst others extend to the width of several feet. The vein at Dalcooth mine, in Cornwall, varies from two or three to forty feet and upwards; and, in some parts, it contracts so as to be little more than six inches across.

8. In Cornwall the first traces of tin and copper are usually found at the surface of the ground, and thence to the depth of 80 or 100 feet beneath; and it is said that no miner has ever yet seen the bottom of a vein, although several have been wrought to the depth of more than 1000 feet. The veins of these metals have, in some instances, been worked to the length of three or four miles.

9. It is frequently observed that metallic veins are separated, from the substances they intersect, by a thin wall, or lining, of minerals different from these substances, and also by a layer of clay on each side of the vein. It is also remarked that the same substance which forms the outer coat of the vein is often intermixed with the ore, or forms layers alternately with it. This has usually the denomination of _matrix_ or _gangue_.

10. There are few mines of any considerable depth that would not be flooded with _water_ from internal springs were not means adopted for drawing off this fluid. The steam engines that are employed for this purpose in some of the Cornish mines are so powerful as to discharge incessantly, both by night and day, a quantity of water, equal to at least 1000 gallons, or near twenty hogsheads, every minute.

SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENT OF MINERALS.

11. To a superficial observer, perhaps nothing would appear more easy than to describe a mineral. This, however, is by no means the case. The same general appearance sometimes prevails in substances that are very different from each other; and the same stone, in its different states, is often extremely varied in its appearance. To these difficulties it must be added, that the combinations of mineral substances are multiplied to a great extent. A little application, however, particularly if the student be possessed of a collection of arranged and named specimens, which he will have no difficulty in procuring at a reasonable price, will enable him to overcome all the obstacles that otherwise might impede his progress in beginning to acquire a knowledge of this interesting science.[1]

12. The most simple and natural division of minerals is into four classes, of, 1. STONES; 2. SALTS; 3. COMBUSTIBLES; and, 4. METALS; and the following table, which has chiefly been arranged from the system of Werner, the well─known German mineralogist, will exhibit a tolerably correct outline of the classification of these substances. To reduce the whole within the compass of a single page, many of the families, however, have necessarily been omitted.

Footnote 1:

Such collections are supplied by Mr. Mawe, No. 149, Strand, London. His terms, for collections containing from 100 to 200 specimens, are 5 guineas; from 200 to 300 specimens, 10 guineas; and from 300 to 400 specimens, 15 guineas. For collections containing from 350 to 400 specimens, more select, and comprising a better suite of precious stones, he charges from 20 to 30 guineas; and for larger collections, from 50 to 100 guineas. At the particular request of the author, Mr. Mawe has arranged a few collections of minerals, and numbered them in such manner as to correspond with, and illustrate the present volume.

PRINCIPAL SPECIES. { Diamond. _Diamond_. { { Zircon. _Jargoon_. { { { _Oriental sapphire_. { Ruby. { _Oriental ruby_. { Scratch { { _Emery_. { glass. { { { Schorl. { _Topaz_. { { { _Emerald_. { { { Garnet. _Precious garnet_. { { { { _Crystal_. { { Quartz. { _Flint_. { I. EARTHY. { { { _Agate_. { { { _Opal_. { { { { { Clay. _Pure clay_. { { { Clay slate. _Roofing slate_. { { Will not { Mica. _Muscovy glass_. { { scratch { Soapstone. _Fuller’s earth_. { I. STONES { { glass. { { { { Talc. { _Talc_. { { { _Asbestos_. { { { { { _Limestone_. { { { Lime. { _Phosphat of lime_. { { { { _Fluor spar_. { { II. SALINE. { { _Alabaster_. { { { { Barytes. { { Strontian. { { { Alumine. _Alum_. { { { { Magnesia. _Epsom salt_. { { { II. SALTS. { Soda. { _Common salt_. { { { _Borax_. { { { { Potash. _Nitre_. { { { { Ammonia. _Sal─ammoniac_. { { { Sulphur. _Sulphur_. { { { { { _Naphtha_. { III. COMBUSTIBLES { Bitumen. { _Coal_. { { { _Jet_. { { { { Graphite. _Black─lead_. { { { { Resin. _Amber_. { { { Platina. _Platina_. { { Gold. _Gold_. { { Mercury. _Mercury_. { { Silver. _Silver_. { { I. MALLEABLE. { Copper. _Copper_. { { { Iron. _Iron_. { { { Tin. _Tin_. { { { Lead. _Lead_. { IV. METALS. { { Nickel. _Nickel_. { { Zinc. _Zinc_. { { { Arsenic. _Arsenic_. { { Bismuth. _Bismuth_. { II. BRITTLE. { Cobalt. _Cobalt_. { Manganese. _Manganese_. { &c. &c.

13.To complete a general view of the different productions of the mineral kingdom, it is requisite to subjoin a tabular arrangement of the various kinds of _rocks_.

SPECIES. { 1. Granite. { 2. Gneiss. { 3. Mica slate. { 4. Clay slate. { 5. Primitive limestone. { 6. Primitive trap. { 7. Serpentine. { I. PRIMITIVE. { 8. Porphyry. { { 9. Sienite. { {10. Topaz rock. { {11. Quartz rock. { {12. Primitive flinty slate. { {13. Primitive gypsum. { {14. White stone. { { { 1. Transition limestone. { { I. TRANSITION { 2. Transition trap. { { ROCKS. { 3. Grey wacke. { { { 4. Transition flinty slate. { { { 5. Transition gypsum. { { { II. SECONDARY. { { 1. Old red sandstone. { { { 2. Floetz limestone. { { { 3. Floetz gypsum. { { { 4. Second, or variegated sandstone. { { { 5. Second floetz gypsum. { { II. FLOETZ { 6. Shell limestone. { { ROCKS. { 7. Third sandstone. { { 8. Rock salt. { { 9. Chalk. { {10. Floetz trap. { {11. Coal. { {12. Newest floetz trap. { { { 1. Peat. { { 2. Sand and gravel. { III. ALLUVIAL. { 3. Loam. { { 4. Bog iron ore. { { 5. Calcareous tufa, &c. { { { 1. Burnt clay. { { I. PSEUDO VOLCANIC { 2. Porcelain jasper. { { ROCKS. { 3. Earth slag. { { { 4. Columnar clay ironstone. { IV. VOLCANIC. { { 5. Polishing slate. { { II. TRUE VOLCANIC { 1. Stones and ashes. { ROCKS. { 2. Lava. { 3. Matter of muddy eruptions.

14. For the purpose of ascertaining the names and characters of minerals, attention must be paid to their _form_, _surface_, _lustre_, _fracture_, or the appearance of their internal surface when broken; _structure_, _transparence_, _streak_, or the mark left when scratched by any hard body; _stain_, or trace left when rubbed upon paper; _cohesion_, whether solid, friable, or fluid: _hardness_, or the resistance which they oppose when scratched; _tenacity_, or the resistance which they oppose to the stroke of a hammer; _flexibility_, or their property of bending without breaking; _feel_, or the sensation communicated by their surfaces when handled; _smell_, _taste_, _adherence to the tongue_, _sound_, _specific gravity_, or weight in comparison with that of water; _colour_ and _electricity_.