A CATALOGUE OF THE MINERALS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
In the arrangement of this catalogue, the order introduced in Professor Cleveland's mineralogical tables, has been chiefly observed. It is the commencement of an investigation into the physical history, character, and mineral resources of the West, which it will become the duty of future observers to continue and perfect. The field is an extensive one, and invites attention. The order and beauty that are observed in this branch of natural history, afford as striking proofs as any of the other departments of it, of that design which, in so remarkable a manner, pervades the organization of the various classes of bodies, animate and inanimate, on the surface of the globe. So far as respects mineralogy, its species and varieties have not all been seen, in crystallized forms, agreeably to our imperfect state of microscopical knowledge; but as far as the species have been brought within observation, in the classes of crystals and crystallized ores, they rival, in their colors and exact geometrical forms, other systems of bodies.
In revising the list, those specimens are dropped, respecting which further reflection or examination has shown, either that the early descriptions were imperfect, or that the quantity of the mineral was deficient.
| I. Alkaline and Earthy Salts. | |||
| 1. Nitrate of potash. | Nitre. | ||
| 2. Muriate of soda. | Salt. | ||
| 3. Sulphate of barytes. | Heavy spar | ||
| 4. Carbonate of lime. | Calc. spar. | ||
| a. Rhombic crystals. | |||
| b. Concrete forms. | |||
| 5. Fluate of lime. | Fluor spar. | ||
| 6. Sulphate of lime. | Gypsum. | ||
| 7. Sulphate of magnesia. | Magnesia. | ||
| 8. Sulphate of alumine and potash. | Alum | ||
First Class.
1. Nitre—Saltpetre. This salt, in its efflorescent state, exists extensively in the limestone caves of Missouri and Arkansas. It also impregnates the masses of earth found in these recesses. This earth is lixiviated with wood-ashes, which allows the nitre to take a crystalline form. I visited a large cavern, about eighty miles south-west of Potosi, where this salt was manufactured, and observed its efflorescences in other caves in the Ozark range.
2. Muriate of Soda. About one hundred and fifty thousand bushels of common salt are annually made from the United States' saline on Salt river, in Illinois. It appears, from the remains of antique broken vessels found in that locality, to have been manufactured there by the ancient inhabitants. There is a saline, which has been profitably worked, on Saline creek, in St. Genevieve county. Two salt springs are worked, in a small way, in Jefferson county, Mo. The springs in Arkansas are reported to be extensive, and rumors of rock-salt on its plains have been rife, since the purchase of Louisiana. The hunters whom I met in the Ozark range, invariably affirmed its existence, in crystalline solid masses, in that quarter; from which also, it is to be recollected, De Soto's scouts brought it, in 1542.
3. Sulphate of Barytes—Heavy Spar. This mineral is found, in considerable quantities, at the principal lead-mines of Missouri, west of the Mississippi. It presents its usual characters—it is heavy, white, shining, opaque, and easily fractured. It is sometimes found crested, columnar, prismatic, or in tabular crystallizations. Its surface is frequently covered by a yellowish, ochrey earth, or ferruginous oxide. It sometimes exists as the matrix of the sulphuret of lead—more frequently, as one of its accompanying minerals.
4. Carbonate of Lime.