In view of this extraordinarily wide distribution of the rare earths in the mineral world, it is but natural that they should be found also in the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Tschernik[10] found 10 per cent. of rare earths in the ash of a coal from Kutais, in the Caucasus, and smaller quantities have been found in the ashes of various plants; members of the group have also been identified in the human body. [10] See Abstr. in _Zeitsch. Kryst. Min._, 1899, ~31~, 513. Apart from the general occurrence in traces throughout the mineral kingdom, the minerals in which the rare earths occur are not very common; and though of fairly wide distribution, they are found usually only in small quantities. The earliest known locality, and the most fruitful in regard to number of species, has been the southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula;[11] the minerals occur in the numerous pegmatite veins traversing the granitic country-rock. The mining district round Miask, in the Ural mountains, has also long been known as a fruitful source. Other districts in Europe are the Harz and Erzgebirge, the Laacher See in Prussia, Joachimsthal in Bohemia, Dauphiné, Cornwall, etc. In the United States numerous localities are known; the chief are in the Carolinas and Georgia, Idaho, Oregon, California, Texas, Colorado, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Many of the southern provinces of Brazil also furnish important sources; the famous diamond fields of Minas Geraes, Matto-Grosso, Goyaz and the surrounding provinces yield numerous species, whilst the sands along the southern coasts of Bahia are rich in monazite, and form to-day the most important source of the mineral. Monazite, as well as other rare earth minerals, occurs also in South Africa. An interesting species, plumboniobite (_q.v._), has recently been found in German East Africa. From Australia numerous occurrences are reported, whilst in Canada only a few districts are known to yield members of the group. In Asia important localities are Ceylon--the famous gem-gravels being the most accessible source--and one or two districts in Japan; monazite has been reported recently in considerable quantities near Travancore, India.[12] A more extended search will doubtless show that they occur in many other places. [11] See Brögger, _Die Mineralien der Süd-Norwegische Granit-Pegmatitgänge_, Christiania, 1906. [12] _Bull. Imp. Inst._, 1911, vol. ~ix~; No. 2, p. 103.