article
he shows how the igneous origin of these peridotites or dunites has
come to be gradually established, and the separation of the corundum
from them as an original ingredient. In a subsequent and more extended
paper on " The Occurrence and Distribution of the Corundum in the
United States," * Dr. Pratt describes all the known localities, and the
special features of each.
A
full and excellent account of the distribution, the geology, and the
history and literature of corundum, with special reference to Georgia,
has also been given by Prof. Francis P. King, assistant geologist of
that State, in his " Preliminary Eeport on Corundum Deposits in
Georgia."10
The
earliest discovery of corundum in the United States was reported in
1819, by Mr. John Dickson, in an article on the mineralogy and geology
of the two Carolinas, published in " Silliman's Journal." u
The crystals which he obtained came from Laurens District, S. C, a
locality which has since yielded a considerable amount of both corundum
and zircon.
Of
corundum in North Carolina, the first recorded account is the statement
by Prof. C. D. Smith, who was the assistant State Geologist under
Professor Emmons, that it was found in 1846, but he does not say where
or by whom. Dr. P. A. Genth reports that a large mass of corundum was
obtained in 1847, in Madison (then a part of Buncombe) County, on the
French Broad Eiver, 3 miles below Marshall.
This
was a dark blue piece, associated with chlorite and margarite. In 1849
or 1850, Prof. Charles U. Shepard received from Gen. Thomas L. Clingman
several pounds of a coarse blue sapphire broken from a large crystal "
picked up at the base of a mountain on the French Broad River in
Madison County, 1ST. C." This is probably the same discovery as that
previously noted*.
Whether
the Indians knew anything of corundum is uncertain. It is too hard for
them to have worked it in any way, and it has not been recognized among
any of the minerals occasionally found in graves or mounds. As
Professor King of Georgia says, it is not unlikely that some of the
pink or blue fragments of crystalline corundum found in the gravels of
the Southern States may have been noticed and prized as ornaments; but
the aborigines certainly made very little use of it otherwise. A
curious fact is noted by Professor King, however, in reference to the
corundum mine at Track Rock, in Union County, Georgia,— that near the
locality is a rock covered with curious carvings, many of them
resembling animals tracks, whence the place derives its name.
