Analysis By Mr. Thomas Dawson Triphook.

Specimen from Pitoni Road, Wellington, examined by blowpipe.

Supposed to be micaceous iron,—resembles sulphuret of antimony, or graphite.

Infusible per se;—fuses with difficulty, and moderate ebulition to a clear glass before blowpipe with borax; no fumes of antimony, arsenic, or sulphur; streak, shiny black; streak powder, steel gray; hardness 1–2.

Hence the streak being black and streak powder grey, and not red, as in specular or micaceous iron,—the absence of fumes and its perfect infusibility per se, simply whitening before the flame, and having the property of distinctly soiling paper under very moderate pressure, together with its low degree of hardness and physical appearance,—lead me to pronounce the mineral to be an impure graphite, containing a fair per centage of iron, as appears from treatment with H.CI., acid and ammonia, which gives the usual brown precipitate of oxide of iron.

Examined carefully for antimony and crome iron, and found no trace of either.