It has long been possible to identify readily many minerals by means of density and refractive index determinations, and the chemical composition also can often be approximately deduced. Tilley has shown that it is practicable to determine any natural glass by this method and be succeeded in separating the natural glasses into groups characterized by certain limits of specific refractivity. As far as the author is aware, no such systematic method has been described for distinguishing the artificial glasses one from the other, and it is these glasses that we are concerned with in attempting to determine the approximate composition of an imitation gem-stone without the aid of chemical analysis.

Diaboleïte has been synthesized between 25 and 100° C at atmospheric pressure and approximate water vapour partial pressures of 14·7 lb/in2. Under similar conditions at 170° C cumengéite appears to be the stable phase produced from a diaboleïte composition. Synthetic diaboleïte is much simpler morphologically than the natural mineral but the hemimorphic symmetry is more clearly demonstrated morphologically in the artificial specimens. A comparison of X-ray powder data for natural and synthetic diaboleïte shows almost exact detailed correspondence in line position and intensity between 0 and 180° 2θ. The cell dimensions obtained from X-ray powder data are a 5·869 ± 0·002 Å and c 5·495 ± 0·003 Å.

This lies to the south of Unst ; it is interesting as forming the connecting link which unites the rock masses of Fetlar with those of Unst.

Its western extremity is composed of diallagic rocks, containing crystals of that mineral (Hb) very inferior to those of Balta : its middle portion consists of various rocks of the "chloritic series" ; towards the east there is seen a bed of graphitic slate (H) quite similar to, and doubtless the continuation of one which appears near Trista V oe in Fetlar.

A Tertiary dolerite plug at Carneal, Co. Antrim has been contaminated by Chalk with the production of calc-silicates and related minerals. In a larnite-spinel-rock the spinel is of the unusual ferrian variety. It has the composition The spinel, which is brown, has: n, 1·862; D, 3·97; a, 8·1905 Å. A chemical analysis and powder data are given, the implications of experimental data are briefly discussed, and the nomenclature is reviewed.

Evidence is presented for the existence of silicon-oxygen chains up to 1000 Å. in length in melts of CaMgSi2O6 and of LiAISi2O6 at temperatures a little above the melting point.

In the Torrington district of New South Wales the cassiterite occurs almost entirely in hydrothermal veins, with galena, blende, quartz, and chlorite; sometimes it replaces crinoid stems and gastropods. In the Madman vein, however, the cassiterite is associated with adularia, both minerals encrusting quartz. These observations suggest that the tin came in as alkali stannate solutions.

This paper gives the results of an investigation at the Imperial Institute of a carnotite-bearing specimen received from South Australia.

The material represented by the specimen is described by Mr. H. Y. L. Brown, Government Geologist of South Australia, as occurring about 2 miles SSW. of Teesdale's dam and about 20 miles ESE. of Olary railway station. He remarks : ‘The ore occurs as yellow and greenish-yellow incrustations and powder on the faces, joints, and cavities of a lode formation, which consists of magnetic titaniferous iron, magnetite, &c., and quartz in association with black mica (biotite) . . . . . . The outcrops traverse metamorphic gneissic micaceous granite and granite schist, into which dykes of granite and diorite have been intruded.’

In 1912 the writer proposed the name voelckerite (in honour of Dr. John Augustus Voelcker, the well-known English agricultural chemist, who made important contributions to our knowledge of the~ chemistry of apatlte) for the basic calcium phosphate, 3Ca2(PO4)2.CaO , related to apatite. The fact that apatite is often deficient in fluorine and chlorine was proved by Voelcker and by Hoskyns-Abrahall, both of whom gave as the general formula of apatite 3Cas(PO4)2.Ca(F2,C]2,O ) or its equivalent Ca10(PO4)6(F2,Cl2,O ). Carnot also noted the deficiency of chlorine and fluorine in apatite from Tyrol, but he offered no explanation.

Pargas in Finland and MansjSand and Tennberg in Sweden are the only three Fennoscandian contact metamorphic limestone occurrences of which systematic accounts have been published; in the first case by A. Laitakari (1) and in the two latter ones by the present author (2, 3). A more complete analytical programme would have been desirable, and unfortunately many of the analyses are incomplete, especially as regards the determination of the valency of the iron. Nevertheless, the available data, and a few I have been able to add later, may suffice to give us a general idea of the paragenetical and chemical differences between these Archaean mineral parageneses and those of much younger age which occur in connexion with the limestone masses associated with the alkaline occurrence of Alnö in Sweden.

Infra-red spectra of gedrites have been measured in the hydroxyl region (3800–3500 cm−1). The spectra can be related to those of clinoamphiboles and of anthophyllites, and show the normal amphibole pattern of peaks whose intensities reflect the proportions of different cations in the adjacent octahedral sites. The absorption is weak especially in spectra of gedrites high in Al. Hyperfine splitting of peaks has been observed in anthophyllite spectra (Law, 1981) but the extent of hyperfine splitting in gedrite spectra is limited. The underlying baseline absorption, upon which the hydroxyl peaks are superimposed, becomes steeper and more awkward to estimate in gedrites. Some higher frequency peaks, probably arising from unit cells with A sites occupied by Na, are observed.

Oxo-mangano-leakeite, a newly approved end-member of the amphibole supergroup (IMA-CNMNC 20150-35), has been found in a rock containing manganese silicate and oxide at the Hoskins Mine, a Mn deposit 3 km west of Grenfell, New South Wales. The end-member formula of oxo-mangani-leakeite is ANaBNa2C(Mn3+4Li)TSi8 O22WO2, which would require SiO2 53.15, Mn2O3 34.91, Li2O 1.66, Na2O 10.28, total 100.00 wt.%. The empirical formula derived for the sample of this work from electron and ion microprobe analysis using constraints resulting from single-crystal structure refinement is A(Na0.65K0.36)∑ = 1.01B(Na1.94Ca0.06)∑ = 2.00C(Mg1.60Zn0.01 Li0.58)∑ = 5.01T(Si7.98Al0.02)∑ = 8.00O22W(O1.34OH0.66)∑ = 2.00. Oxo-mangano-leakeite is biaxial (–), with α = 1.681, β = 1.712, γ = 1.738, all ± 0.002, and 2V (meas.) = 81.0(4)°, 2V (calc.) = 83.5°. The unit-cell dimensions are a = 9.875(5), b = 17.873(9), c = 5.295(2) Å, β = 104.74(3)°, V = 903.8 (7) Å3; the space group is C2/m, with Z = 2. The strongest ten reflections in the powder X-ray pattern [d values (in Å), I, (hkl)] are: 8.423, 100, (110); 3.377, 46, (131); 4.461, 40, (040); 4.451, 40, (021); 3.134, 37, (310); 2.694, 37, (151); 2.282, 27, (); 2.734, 25, (31); 2.575, 24, (061); 2.331, 24, [() ()]. The holotype material is deposited in the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, under the catalogue number CMNMC 86895.

Two types of zoning are found in garnets from Lewisian rocks. One is due to retrogression of an earlier homogeneous garnet while the other results from growth (or equilibration) during falling temperatures. Both zoning patterns result from metamorphism during or after the Dionard tectonic phase of the Laxfordian event.

Dellaite crystals of close to end-member composition, Ca6(Si2O7)(SiO4)(OH)2, and with ∼1.5 wt.% Cl. yielding Ca6(Si2O7)(SiO4)(OH)1.75Cl0.25 have been found in skarns within the gabbroid rocks of the Birkhin complex (Eastern Siberia, Russia). The greatest Cl content analysed in a dellaite domain in this skarn is 5.2 wt.% Cl corresponding to 0.8 Cl p.f.u. Dellaite occurs in altered merwmite-larnite-bredigite-gehlenite skarns and also in calcio-olivine skarns with residual larnite. The crystal structures of Cl-free and Cl-bearing (∼1.5 wt.% Cl) dellaite have been refined, including hydrogen positions, from single-crystal X-ray data to R1 = 3.7 and 3.8%, respectively. In addition, both dellaite varieties were studied by Raman spectroscopy indicating stronger hydrogen bonds for the Cl-bearing sample, which agrees with the structural data. Cl is strongly selective and enriches at one (O6) of the two OH positions allowing for the formation of a stronger hydrogen bond O8—H8…C16 compared to O8—H8…O6. Raman spectra of the domain with ∼0.8 Cl p.f.u. confirm the general enhancement of a low-frequency band in the OH range suggesting the dominance of the O—H…Cl hydrogen bond systems.

Dellaite and killalaite, Ca3.2(H0.6Si2O7)(OH), have related modular structures, differentiated only by the Si2O7 units in killalaite and alternating Si2O7 and SiO4 units in dellaite. The similarity in cell dimensions and chemical composition suggests that trabzonite, Ca4Si3Oi0-2H2O, with Si3Oi0 trimers also belongs to the same family of structures.

An oxide-silicate occurrence, containing >40 wt.% NiO whole rock and showing enrichment in the platinum-group elements and antimony, was investigated at high magnification. Many phases with grain sizes generally <100 μm were observed; electron microprobe analysis indicated that, although some of these are known minerals in Ni–Sb–As space (such as breithauptite and orcelite), most of them cluster around the following compositions: Ni3Sb, Ni3(Sb,As), Ni3As, Ni5(Sb,As)2, Ni7(Sb,As)3 and Ni11(Sb,As)8. Such phases have been observed in synthetic systems, but up to now not in nature. The data reported here therefore probably represent the compositions of new minerals.

The result of electron probe microanalyses, along with X-ray and optical data obtained for tin sulphides from two different localities in south-west England indicate that the mineral hitherto described from St Michael’s Mount as stannite is in fact kesterite, Cu2(Fe0.23Zn0.77)SnS4. The yellow ‘stannite’ reported from this locality proved to be stannoidite, Cu8(Fe2.39 Zn0.61)SnS2S12. Kesterite, Cu2(Fe0.09Zn0.90SnS4, and zincian stannite, Cu2(Fe0.63Zn0.38)SnS4, are also reported from Cligga Head. It is suggested that a more cautious approach should be taken in identifying these tin sulphides solely on their optical properties.

Manganhumite, orthorhombic, a 10·54(1), b 21·45(2), c 4·822(9) Å, space group Pnma, Z = 4, (Mn0·68Mg0·30Fe0·01Ca0·01)7(OH)2(SiO4)3, is the manganese analogue of humite whose type locality is the Brattfors mine, Nordmark, Province of Värmland, Sweden. It is a skarn assemblage mineral and occurs with katoptrite, manganostibite, magnussonite, galaxite, etc., which replace manganosite grains in magnetite-manganosite ore.

The mineral is biaxial (+), α = 1·707(3), β = 1·712(3), 7 = 1·732(3), 2V7(obs.) = 37(4)° r > v perceptible, cleavage {010} perfect, hardness = 4, specific gravity = 3·83(5). The five strongest powder lines are 1·777(10), 2·500(7), 3·371(6), 2·628(6), and 1·525(6).

The Kûngnât Complex (1275±1.8 Ma) in the Gardar Alkaline Province, South Greenland, cuts Archaean gneisses and comprises two intersecting syenitic stocks and a gabbroic ring-dyke. The magmas, with increasingly more primitive compositions, were emplaced successively by ring-faulting and roof stoping. The syenites are orthocumulates (cumulus alkali feldspar, olivine, pyroxene, titanomagnetite and apatite; intercumulus phases include alkali amphibole, biotite, quartz and calcite). In the well dissected earlier stock, a 2.2 km-thick layered sequence displays graded modal layering, feldspar lamination and cryptic layering. Modal layering in both stocks is directed mainly inwards at 35° – 50°. Heterogeneous nucleation of the cumulus assemblage, close to steep thermal boundary layers, is inferred. The modal layering is ascribed primarily to gravitational sorting aided by the large density differential between a) feldspar and b) Fe-rich silicates and oxides. Episodic collapse of cumulus + melt slurries contributed to inward-dipping crystal pediments on the chamber floors. The Ring-Dyke (up to 100 m wide) is nearly continuous through 360°. Kûngnât exhibits a compositional nearcontinuum from olivine gabbro through syenite intermediaries to alkali granite, ascribed to protracted assimilation/fractional crystallization processes. The most radiogenic Nd isotope data from Kûngnât (εNdi values between –3.3 and –1.0) point to a lithospheric mantle source, whereas the most unradiogenic values imply enrichment in LREE by crustal contamination of the magmas.