Page:Transactions of the Geological Society, 1st series, vol. 3.djvu/421



XIV. Description of a New Ore of Tellurium.

By PROFESSOR ESMARK

[Read June 16, 1815.]

occurs coarsely disseminated, and crystallized in perfect hexagonal plates striped on the edges.

It has the whitish hue of tin.

Its fracture displays a perfect foliation, but only in one direction.

It has a strong metallic lustre; a moderate flexibility; considerable softness, and feels heavy.

Before the blowpipe it burns with the colour and smell of tellurium, and has the same action with acids. The precipitate by water burns upon charcoal like tellurium; but after its sublimation a small metallic button remained of the colour of silver, malleable, but too minute for further examination; for on account of the rarity of the substance, I could only devote a single grain to this examination.

It is found in the Orndal copper mine, accompanied by copper pyrites, and a small intermixture of sulphuret of molybdenum. The mine is called Mosnap, and has been full of water for several