Antimony. Stibnite, Sb{2}S{3} 71.8 per cent. The production of antimony in this country is not very large. The output of 1899 was but 1,250 tons, valued at $241,250. The ore is worth from $40 to $50 a ton delivered at Staten Island, N.Y. Apatite suffered in demand when the cheap phosphates of South Carolina were discovered, and these in turn are being ousted from the markets of the world by Thomas slag, an artificial phosphate, and by the easily-mined natural phosphates of Algeria. The price varies with the quality of the rock, from $1.75 to $11 per ton, averaging in 1899, $3.86. Apatite is a phosphate of lime, containing 43 per cent. of phosphoric acid. It occurs in the old crystalline and primary rocks of Canada, but although still of some value it has yielded the position it once occupied to the Carolina phosphate deposits, which, although not so rich in acid, are softer, and less expensive to utilize. Apatite is doubtless derived from the remains of animals or fishes that lived in the distant past. The colors are often beautiful--green, pink, gray, etc.--but the sheen is always white. Hardness of 4.8. Specific gravity, 3.1. Asbestos. This fibrous silicate of magnesia and lime is to be looked for among primary rocks near serpentine dike. The fibers of this material may be woven into cloth that will be fire-proof. It is of considerable, though fluctuating, value. The demand for this material is likely to increase, though at present the supply is fully equal to demand. It is being used in Germany to make fire-proof paper, and in Quebec to make asbestos plaster for covering wood-work. It is generally quarried in open pits, the rock being crushed in a rock-breaker, and the fiber freed from adhering particles of rock and dust. It is then sorted, the longest fibers going into the first quality heap. The production in 1899 in the United States was 912 tons, value $13,860; in Canada, 23,266 tons, value $598,736. Borax. This mineral is borate of soda. Its composition is: 37 per cent. boric acid, 16 per cent. soda, and 47 per cent. water. Its gravity is 1.7. Hardness, 2.3. It is white, and has a sweetish taste. Borax is valuable, but occurring as it does as an incrustation upon the ground over large areas, a detailed description would be superfluous, as the explorer will surely recognize it should he find it.