Mineralogy Of Scotland Research Articles

Fifth supplementary list of British minerals (Scottish)

THE number of mineral species known to occur in the British Isles increases yearly and details of their localities and assemblages are scattered throughout the literature. For ready-reference purposes Spencer produced lists of British minerals (1898, 1931, and 1958) to complement the species detailed by Greg and Lettsom (1858) in their Manual of the Mineralogy of Great Britain and Ireland. The listing tradition was continued by Embrey (1977 and 1978) and at the latter dates the total number of known British species was approximately 600. Some entries in the earlier lists require revision in view of later work (Deer et al., 1962, 1963, and 1979; Fleischer 1980; and Hey, 1962 and 1963; and Hey and Embrey 1974). The present authors undertook the task of revising entries in Heddle's (1901) Mineralogy of Scotland endeavouring to produce an up-to-date glossary of Scottish mineral species. This work 'Glossary of Scottish Mineral Species 1981' (Macpherson and Livingstone, 1982), entailed examination of many specimens in the Scottish Mineral Collection of the Royal Scottish Museum as well as specimens in other museum collections. Contact was made with other mineralogists in order to obtain specimens or unpublished data. In works of this nature the value of museum collections is paramount for without their existence certain entries could not be made. The Scottish Glossary contains 443 entries detailing mineral name, ideal formula, crystal system, assemblage, locality (preRegionalization County names are retained) and reference details, following the style of the Spencer and Embrey lists. In the Scottish Glossary we consider that 399 valid species occur in Scotland. Many of these species are substantiated by X-ray diffraction identification or electron probe microanalysis data or both. When comparing the Greg and Lettsom, Spencer and Embrey lists with the Scottish Glossary it became apparent that some 16~o of Scottish minerals (sixty-four minerals) had not been previously listed or recorded for the British Isles; a

Native hydrocarbons associated with the oil shales of the Lothians

The occurrence of native hydrocarbons within the Oil Shale Series of Mid and West Lothian is noticed by Forsyth in his ‶Mines, Minerals, and Geology of West Lothian″ ( Trans. The Highland and Agricultural Society, 1847, pp. 229-273), where he refers to the occurrence of ‶mineral pitch of yellowish-brown colour″ in the Binny sandstone quarry, and by A. Geikie in ‶The Geology of the Neighbourhood of Edinburgh,″ 1861 ( Mem. Geol. Surv. Scotland ). He mentions (p. 39) that at Binny ‶petroleum is found in irregular flakes and lumps coating the surface of joints,″ and also refers to bituminous coatings on the whin of Binny Craig and elsewhere. References also occur in Heddle's ‶Mineralogy of Scotland.″ There are also many references in ‶The Geology of the Neighbourhood of Edinburgh,″ 1910 ( Mem. Geol. Surv. Scotland ), to the occurrence of wax, etc., in the igneous rocks, and further mention is made of those and the occurrences of albertite in the various editions of ‶The Oil Shales of the Lothians″ ( Mems. Geol. Surv. Scotland, 1906, 1912, 1927). All those references, however, are scanty, and no complete study seems to have been made with a view to identifying the minerals or arriving at an opinion as to origin. In the course of the last twenty years I have collected a series of these materials and examined their modes of occurrence. In this series only three constitute fairly definite substances which can be identified with specimens described from elsewhere, the remainder being apparently due to minor variations in

The Mineralogy of Scotland

The Mineralogy of Scotland

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Abstract EUROPE Racial Realities in Europe. By Lothrop Stoddard, London: Charles Scribner's Sons,1924. Price 12s. 6d. Europe. Vol. I. The Peninsula. Edited by B. C. Wallis, B.Sc. (Lond.). Compendium of Geography and Travel (New Issue). With Maps and Illustrations. London: Edward Stanford, Ltd., 1924. Price 15s. net. The Roman Occupation of Great Britain. Being Six Ford Lectures delivered by F. Haverfield. Now revised by George Macdonald. With numerous Plans and Illustrations. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924, Price 18s. net. A Pilgrim in Spain. By Aubrey F. G. Bell. London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1924. Price 12s. 6d. net. Die Pflanzenwelt der Hohen Tatra. By Dr. J. Györffy, Kesmai'k: “Turistik und Alpinism us, 1922.” Unlcnown Warwickshire. By Mary Dormer Harris. Illustrated by J. E. Duggins. London: John Lane, Ltd., 1924. Trice 15s. Kirlccaldy Burgh and Schyre: Landmarks of Local History. By Rev. John Campbell, D.D.; Rev. Andrew T. Richardson, F.S.A.; Gregor Macgregor, M.A., B.Sc.; George B. Deas, F.S.A.; and Lachlan Macbean. Kirkcaldy: The Fifeshire Advertiser, Ltd., 1924. The Mineralogy of Scotland. By the late M. Forster Heddle, M.D., F.R.S.E. Edited by J. G. Goodchild. Reprinted under authority of Alex. Thoms, by the Council of University College, Dundee. Assisted by D. E. I. Innes, M.A., M.C. Two volumes. St. Andrews: W. C. Henderson, 1924. Price 15s. Clydesdale. By A. MacCallum Scott. London: Thornton Butterworth, Ltd., 1924. Price 7s. 6d, net. Gone Abroad: A Story of Travel, chiefly in Italy and the Balearic Isles. By Douglas Goldring. London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1925. Price 12s. 6d. ASIA Die Feldfrüchte Indiens in ihrer Geographischen Verbreitung. Von Dr. Th. H. Engelbrecht. Erster Teil: Text. Hamburg: L. Friederichsen und Cie., 1914. Tibet: Past and Present. By Sir Charles Bell, K.C.I.E., C.M.G., Late British Political Representative in Tibet, Bhutan, and Sikkim. Author of Grammar of Colloquial Tibetan, and English‐Tibetan Colloquial Dictionary. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1924. Price 21s. net. AFRICA The Vast Sudan. By A. Radclyffe Dugmore. London: Arrowsmith, Ltd., 1924. Price 21s. Mysteries of the Libyan Desert. By W. J. Harding King, F.R.G.S. London: Seeley, Service and Co., Ltd., 1925. Price 21s. net. Egypt under the Egyptians. By Murray Harris. London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 19–25. Price 12s. 6d. AMERICA Mexico in Revolution. By Charlotte Cameron, O.B.E. London: Seele Service and Co., Ltd., 1924. Price 21s. ARCTIC My Eskimo Friends: "Nanook of the North.’’ By Robert J. Flaherty, F.R.G.S., in collaboration with Frances Hubbard Flaherty. Illustrated with Photogravures and Colour Plates from Photographs by the Author, Half‐tone Drawings by Eskimo artists, and Maps. London: William Heine‐mann, Ltd., 1924, Price 21s. GENERAL The Menace of Colour. By Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., D.Sc. London: Seeley, Service and Co., Ltd., 1925. Price 12s. 6d. net. Adventures in Turkey and Russia. By E. H. Keeling, M.O. London: John Murray, 1924. Price 10s. 6d. net. Ben Kendim: A Record of Eastern Travel. By Lieut.‐Col. Hon. Aubrey Herbert, edited by D. McCarthy. London: Hutchinson and Co., 1924. Price 21s. net. Selected Papers on Anthropology, Travel and Exploration. By Sir Richard Burton, edited by N. M. Penzer. London: Philpot, Ltd., 1924. Price 15s. EDUCATIONAL Certificate Geographies: The Mediterranean. By O. J. R. Howarth, O.B.E., M.A. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924. Price 2s. 6d. Bell's Natural Science Series: Readable Physical Geography. By J. A. O. Muirhead, B.A. London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1925. Price 2s. 4d. The “Explorer” Geographies: Asia. By J. Thomas; M.A. London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1924. Price 2s. 6d.

Augite from Bail Hill, Dumfriesshire

The crystals to which this paper refers are found at Bail Hill, about three miles north of Sanquhar, in Dumfriesshire. At this locality volcanic rocks of Arenlg age outcrop in the midst of the greywacke of the Southern Uplands. The rocks are mainly lavas, and include some coarse-grained tufts which are composed chiefly of augite- and hornblendeandesites. Ill the andesitic fragments, there arc numerous porphyritic crystals of a black augite, which call be easily separated from the rest of the rock. Isolated crystals of augite and hornblende occur also in the matrix of the tufts. No mention of this occurrence is made in Heddle's 'Mineralogy of Scotland', and apparently the only reference to it in previous literature is the short petrographic description in the Geological Survey Memoir.

XIII. Notes on the Occurrence of Chalcedony, Agate, and Crystalline Quartz in the Lavas of the Campsie Hills

At odd times in past years I have noticed the occurrence of chalcedony, agate, and crystalline quartz at different spots in the lavas of the Campsie Hills; and as the evidence accumulated I was interested, on linking it up, to find that so far as my observations went these occurrences were all confined to one horizon. It may be of sufficient importance now to record this more particularly; especially as past references to the occurrence of these minerals in the Campsie Hills appear to be more or less vague; and further, as in the recently published Memoir of the Geological Survey on “The Glasgow District,” to which I had been looking for fresh observations on the subject, the vesicular character here and there of the lavas is barely referred to, whilst no space at all has been found for any allusion to the mineral contents of their cavities. Dr. John Young in his “Geology of the Campsie District” states that “in the traps of the Campsie Hills proper crystallized minerals are not very common; such specimens as are met with consist of quartz and calcareous spar, with occasionally an agate filling up cavities in the rock.” Heddle in his “Mineralogy of Scotland” records amethyst as occurring “near the road from Campsie to Fintry”; also that agates occur “occasionally in the Campsie Hills, and in rifts in the hills near Corrie, Kilsyth.” In the “British Association Handbook (1904),” on the “Geology and Palaeontology of the Clyde Drainage Area,” the Campsie Hills This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract

Contributions to Scottish Mineralogy. (Part I.)

The following observations are based chiefly upon the results of an exhaustive survey of the specimens in the Scottish Mineral Collection in the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, which were made while I was studying the material for completing The Mineralogy of Scotland. The survey has been continued since the publication of that work, in connection with the revision of the arrangement of the specimens in question. A large number of facts of interest have come to light in the course of this work. Furthermore, the forms of several hundreds of crystals in the Collection have now been determined, and freehand drawings of most of these crystals have been made, and placed alongside of the specimens to which they refer. It is proposed from time to time to lay some of the more interesting of the results arising from this work before this Society, especially as little or none of them have hitherto been published, and as the crystals, which present considerable interest, do not appear to have been previously figured.

The Mineralogy of Scotland. By the late M. Forster Heddle, M.D., F.R.S.E., Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, St. Andrews. Edited by J. G. Goodchild, H.M. Geological Survey, F.G.S. Two vols. (pp. Iviii and 148, viii alld 247, 30 text-figs, and 120 plates). Edinburgh: David Douglas. 1901. (Price 86s. net.)

The Mineralogy of Scotland. By the late M. Forster Heddle, M.D., F.R.S.E., Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, St. Andrews. Edited by J. G. Goodchild, H.M. Geological Survey, F.G.S. Two vols. (pp. Iviii and 148, viii alld 247, 30 text-figs, and 120 plates). Edinburgh: David Douglas. 1901. (Price 86s. net.)

The Mineralogy of Scotland

NO book is of more use to the practical mineralogist and collector than one which describes in a detailed manner the mineral localities of a country. Among the best examples are the lexicon of Zepharovich and Becke for Austria; that of Frenzel for Saxony; and, on a much more elaborate scale, the treatise by Lacrox on the mineralogy of France and her colonies, which is still in progress. The Mineralogy of Scotland. M. Forster Heddle, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, St. Andrews. Edited by J. G. Goodchild, H.M. Geological Survey, F.G.S. Two vols. Pp. 148 and 212. (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1901.)

Notes on the Sutherland Goldfield

1. Introduction Although a good deal has been written concerning the gold of Sutherland, it may be useful, as there seems to be a renewal of interest in the subject, to recapitulate the information actually obtained up to the present time, including a few additional points which came to light during the progress of the Geological Survey in the auriferous area. Verbal information of any value was difficult to obtain in the district itself. To Dr Joass; of Golspie, I must express the greatest obligation. He has aided me in every way, including the loan of important specimens, and furnished the greater part of the subjoined Bibliography. 2. Bibliography The following papers have been published on the subject, in chronological order as nearly as possible:— 1. Notes on the Sutherland Goldfield. By J. M. Joass, M.D. (with introduction by Sir R. I. Murchison). Quart. Journ. Geol. Socy. 1869. 2. Researches in British Mineralogy, By David Forbes, F.R.S., &c. Phil Mag. 1869. (One of a series, 1867-9, on allied subjects.) 3. Something from the Gold Diggings in Sutherland. By the Author of “Frost and Fire.” Odds and Ends Series, No. 22. 1869. 4. The Sutherland Goldfields. By Wm. Cameron. Glasgow Geol. Socy. 1870. 5. On the Matrix of the Gold in the Scottish Goldfields. By James Bryce, M.D., F.G.S. Brit. Assn. Beport. 1870. 6. The Geognosy and Mineralogy of Scotland. Sutherland. Part VI., p. 504. By M. Forster Heddle, F.RS.E. 7. The Geology of Sutherland. By H. M. 2. Bibliography

The Geognosy and Mineralogy of Scotland

Having, since file date when the few observations chronicled in a previous number were made, ascertained some more definite facts with regard to these marbles, I now note these.The localities in which I had previously observed the marble were all (through faulting and intrusions) so obscure as regards its relationships, that any conclusion as to its horizon was not warranted.

The Geognosy and Mineralogy of Scotland

The granite of the Ord forms one, and that probably the smallest of a number of masses which constitute the border-land between Caithness and Sutherland. The features of this granite vary considerably at different points. It will, however, be afterwards shown that the rock is possibly continuous from north to south,--that is, from Sandsidc Bay, on the Pentland Firth, to Navidale, near Helmsdale.

The Geognosy and Mineralogy of Scotland

A Very few dykes of the "greenstone type " are to be seen in the lower gneiss.There are some localities at which the gueiss seems itself to have furnished the material of the dyke, if not to pass into it by insensible gradation.One is a dyke seen in the vicinity of Badnaternag, on the north shore of Loch Assynt. Here the dyke runs along the strike of the rock.

The Geognosy and Mineralogy of Scotland

While agreeing with those writers who affirm that many of the members of this series are of the nature of schists, —sometimes almost flaggy schists, still, even when examined throughout their multitudinous varieties, it has to be affirmed that they are all gneissic schists; and, however fissile some of. these members may be, this is far from a sumcient reason for attempting to dispense with a time-honoured appellation;—one moreover which is more fittingly applied to them, than to the somewhat more generally hornblendic rock to which alone it has been proposed to confine its use.

The County Geognosy and Mineralogy of Scotland. By M. Foster Heddle, M.D., F.R.S.E., etc., Professor of Chemistry in the University of St. Andrews.

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3. Chapters on the Mineralogy of Scotland. Chapter VII

In the present chapter Dr. Heddle considers the ores of manganese, iron, chromium, and titanium.He finds that almost all the manganese in Scotland occurs in the form of an ore of little value—psilomelane.Iron, he has observed in minute laminable specks, in the free or metallic condition, at two localities, but sheathed in both cases in magnetite. The quantity was too small for determining the presence or absence of nickėl, but he conjectures that these specks may have been minute meteorites, which had fallen into the ocean in which the rock was being formed.He has found two ores of iron new to Britain,—turgite and martite,—the one near Oban, the other in Bute.

XXI.–The Geognosy and Mineralogy of Scotland

The localities of geognostic interest in this large island have been referred to in the general description of the islands, and its mineralogy alone now remains to be considered.It has been remarked above, that the muddy silts which, impregnated with the putrescent pitch of fermenting organisms, form the great mass of the flags of the “Old Red,” are exceptionally barren in minerals of interest. The cauce of this is not far to seek :—the components of such silts are not themselves those which go to the formation of many mineral bodies ;—nor have they been subjected to the metamorphic stimulus which excites to a chemical union of ingredients and elements which lie merely in the contact of granular apposition.

2. Chapters on the Mineralogy of Scotland

In this Chapter, Dr Heddle discussed the substances usually thrown together, under the term of Chloritic Minerals. He showed, by an extensive series of analyses, that they were to be divided into three groups—those which occurred in metamorphic rocks, in recent strata, and in volcanic rocks.He proposed to confine the term Chloritic to the minerals which are found in metamorphic rocks, and to apply the term, the Saponites, to those which occur in volcanic rocks.

I.—Chapters on the Mineralogy of Scotland. Chapter Fifth.—The Micas; with description of Haughtonite, a new Mineral Species

Muscovite is so easily recognised by its optical properties that the only cases which seemed to me to call for analysis were those which, from being possessed of characteristic colour, were of special interest. Of these the most singular is a variety found rarely in the great vein of Ben Capval, Harris; it occurs in crystals of a peculiar green tint, the crystals are small and have somewhat of a pearly lustre.

1. Chapters on the Mineralogy of Scotland

AbstractIn this chapter Dr Heddle considered the micas occurring in Scotland. These he found to be Muscovite or Muscovy glass, and margarodite—of the white micas; Biotite, lepidomelane, and a new species which he proposes to call Haughtonite, after Professor Haughton of Dublin—of the dark micas. He also finds the species pihlite, hitherto unrecognised in Britain, occurring in quantity in the central districts of Banffshire, and in the west of Aberdeenshire.In connection with the first of these micas, the mode of formation of exfiltration veins, and the metamorphism of gneiss into the grey granite of Aberdeenshire, were considered.