AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1226, 28 August 1885, Page 3

AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.

Dr Cinders, medical officer in charge of the Rotorua Sanatorium, gives particulars in a letter to the “ Hot .Lakes Chronicle ” of what may prove ail interesting discovery

Aboutarailo from tho new township ot Rotonu there are two weird and desolate looking spots, one on either side of the Wairoa road, known as Sodom and (do morrab. WhicU is Sodom and which Gomorrah is a point not yet determined ; the visitor may take his choice, and have nothing to pay for tho privilege. Turning into the barren legion on the right, which we will, if you have no objection, call Sodom, a wide sulphur-covered plain is discovered, where tons of the mineral lie patiently waiting for the hand of man to convert it to use and profit. This must have been at one time a scene of the wildest Plutonic activity ; but now all is desolate and dead. Proceeding further we descend into a veritable valley of Hinnom, at the bottom of which is a lake, with its waters black as Erebus and silent as. the grave. No sound breaks its unruffled calm save ever and anon the bursting of a lazy babble on its surface. This pool is an ancient burial place of the Maoris, and generations of tho dusky race lie hidden beneath its dark waters. My object, however, is not so much to direct attention to the poetical as to the practical and profitable aspects of this neighbourhood. Nob only is ,thfl# sulphur enough to keep large acid works going for years, but wo harp discovered a valuable deposit of diatomaceous earth. It is a cream coloured, homogeneous-loosing solid, which when pressed in ths hand takes a clay or putty-like consistence at first; but if still furtnei manipulateaSwith a little agitation, bacom s fluid and iitreams away through tho ting rs. A npss weighing 19 >z when perfectly dry w.-iuheil only 7oz so that it is cap able of absorbing more than twice its own weight of water. 1 .3 specific gravity is Oijfi, white like chalk ; in fact, it may be regarded as a freshwater chalk, for just ns the marine infusoria have em ployed carbonate of lime for their covering, these fresh water diatoms have used silica. A few grains of the dry powder, iu a drop of water under the micruseppe, reveal many of the well-known ‘diatomaceous torms, the most abundant befjig those of' the letraojbths IVcustris, tahyllariu, and cymbella. Tlie commercial value of this s ibstanee consists in tho fact that it is ess-niiaLto the manufacture of dynamite, which consists of earthy mutter siturateii with ‘he explosive compound known as nitro-glyoerino. T e more of this substance the .art’n is capable of absorbing the more valuable it is for the purpose. As far as I know there is only one place iu Great Britain where an earth suitable for this purpose can be obtained, ami that is at Anlmssan, in Scotland. Ibis valuable also as a polishing powder for metals, indeed, for cleansing silver 1 know of nothing equal to it. itis-probable that the electroplaters of Birmingham and Sheffield would appreciate it highly. lam aware that deposits of similar infusorial earth exist elsewhere, notably at Tikitere ami in the Taupo district, but I have not yet met with any equal *o that from Sodom in its absorbent power and low specific gravity. Toe discovery of this material has excited a goo I iffiai of interest here, and specimen collectors have been numerous and busy. The Government, who iu the future may hope to derive considerable revenue from these deposits, are nor, likely to offe ■ any objection to visitors p issesdng themselves of such specimens ; but if 1 ant not mistaken. they will regard some suspicion any at ernpt to carry away qu mtiiies excee nng di - bums of a fair sample. Tier.-* bum sails sapieuti.