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The mineral substance in which other minerals are imbedded. Paste eel (Zoöl.), the vinegar eel. See under Vinegar.

A whitish mineral occurring in radiated or fibrous crystalline masses. It is a hydrous silicate of lime and soda.

A grayish or dark green mineral, consisting essentially of magnesia (magnesium oxide), occurring in granular forms or in isometric crystals.

A rare mineral, occurring crystallized and in cleavable masses, usually white, or nearly so, in color. It is a silicate of aluminia and lithia.

Rock oil, mineral oil, or natural oil, a dark brown or greenish inflammable liquid, which, at certain points, exists in the upper strata of the earth, from whence it is pumped, or forced by pressure of the gas attending it. It consists of a complex mixture of various hydrocarbons, largely of the methane series, but may…

The department of science which is concerned with the mineralogical and chemical composition of rocks, and with their classification: lithology.

A glassy colorless mineral occurring in rhombohedral crystals, sometimes used as a gem. It is a silicate of glucina, and receives its name from its deceptive similarity to quartz.

A rare and doubtful metallic element said to have been discovered in the mineral samarskite.

A hydrous silicate of aluminia, lime, and soda, a zeolitic mineral commonly occurring in complex twin crystals, often cruciform in shape; -- called also christianite.

A rare mineral occurring in tetragonal crystals of a white, yellow, or grayish color and adamantine luster. It is a chlorocarbonate of lead.

int glow, -- whence its name. It always occurs compined, usually in phosphates, as in the mineral apatite, in bones, etc. It is used in the composition on the tips of friction matches, and for many other purposes. The molecule contains four atoms. Symbol P. Atomic weight 31.0.

A mineral related to ottrelite.

ognizable by the senses; external; as, the physical, opposed to chemical, characters of a mineral.

An apple-green mineral having a greasy feel. It is a hydrous silicate of nickel, magnesia, aluminia, and iron.

A compact granular cryptocrystalline mineral of a dull grayish or greenish white color. It is a hydrous alkaline silicate, and is derived from the alteration of other minerals, as iolite.

nts, and sometimes in the spring as a forcing bed. -- Pit coal, coal dug from the earth; mineral coal. -- Pit frame, the framework over the shaft of a coal mine. -- Pit head, the surface of the ground at the mouth of a pit or mine. -- Pit kiln, an oven for coking coal. -- Pit martin (Zoöl.), the bank swallow. [Pro…

dation of the hemlock tree (Abies Canadensis); hemlock gum. -- Jew's pitch, bitumen. -- Mineral pitch. See Bitumen and Asphalt. -- Pitch coal (Min.), bituminous coal. -- Pitch peat (Min.), a black homogeneous peat, with a waxy luster. -- Pitch pine (Bot.), any one of several species of pine, yielding pitch, esp. t…

A pitch-black mineral consisting chiefly of the oxide of uranium; uraninite. See Uraninite.

A deposit of earth, sand, or gravel, containing valuable mineral in particles, especially by the side of a river, or in the bed of a mountain torrent. [U.S.]

A cavity in a rock containing a nugget of gold, or other mineral; a small body of ore contained in such a cavity.