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III.—Remarks on the “Principle of least paste, as regulating the Crystallization of Fused Rocks”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2018

Extract

I have been lately examining in conjunction with Prof. Hull a a large series of lavas from Vesuvius, which were collected by Prof. Ouiscardi, of the University of Naples, with a view of determining whether, in the space of 300 years, any difference had occurred in the composition of the lava flow. In the course of this investigation a much more important question arose, viz. :—What is the proportion of each mineral present in the lava, and why does that proportion exist ?

The rock is composed of unknown quantities of nine minerals, of known composition viz.: Leucite, Plagioclase, Magnetite, Olivine, Augite, Hornblende, Mica, Nephcline, and Sodalite, together with an unknown quantity of a paste of unknown composition; from which it is easy to shew that the unknown quantities exceed the number of equations; and consequently, the discussion of the composition of the rock belongs to a branch of the Indeterminate Analysis.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1876

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References

* The subject is fully treated in the ‘Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy.’ Vol. XXVI. March, 1876.