chemist, as tin ore. Every calcareous bed of clay is valuable marl; and, probably, few educated country physicians of forty can be found, who have not, in the course of their lives, had frequent occasion to dampen golden hopes kindled in their possessors' breasts, by lumps of glittering, but worthless, ron pyrites. "Mining," says Mr. Vanuxem, "is, and always has been, a lottery; but a highly useful one for those who have ample means, and love the excitement which springs from unexpected turns of good fortune, or the chances of gain from mere possibilities and probabilities, and who must have vent of some kind." What it is for those who have not "ample means," but just as strong a love for, not only the excitement, but the fruits of good fortune, we need not waste a word to explain. It may be, that in abating this mania, by throwing a truer light over the subjects of mineralogy and mining, the citizens of New-York may find their account, even in the expense to which they have subjected themselves, in prosecuting this survey. No substance has been sought in the bowels of the earth with such insane greediness as coal. Those who have ruined themselves heretofore by such enterprises, are, perhaps, like the earl in the Antiquary, deserving of our pity; those who henceforth sink their money in pits sunken in hills of slate, must do it with their eyes fully open to the hopelessness of discovering this mineral. For, let it be distinctly understood, that, whatever else the geological survey may have done or left undone, it has settled the question beyond dispute or cavil, that New-York, rich in almost everything else, contains no coal. She contains inexhaustible beds of the finest iron ore, peat, gypsum, salt, a thousand valuable minerals, but no coal, except, as Mr. Mather says, it may possibly, not probably, be found in a limited portion of the summit of the Catskill Mountains. A great many practical men, aware that this decision has been pronounced by the geologists, are yet unacquainted with the method by which the conclusion has been arrived at, when in reality so little a portion of the whole state has been actually gone over, and so small a proportion of the whole number of its square miles personally visited. They are aware that the geologists of the United States have staked not only their own reputations, but that even of the science which they profess, upon the impossibility of ever discovering that mineral in any quantity in the state; and yet they are at a loss to comprehend the ratiocination by which they have arrived at their opinion. It is impossible, in a paper limited like this, to say much upon this subject; yet we think a remark or two upon it might be interesting. But let us first exhibit to our readers the vast amount of the invaluable minerals with which the United States is stocked. We copy from Mather's Report, page 297. "The great Ohio coal-field, of which the Pennsylvania and other fields form parts, extending between the Blue Ridge and Rocky Mountains, has its north-eastern extremity near the Delaware River, N. Y., and extends along the southern boundary of New-York; thence south and south-west into Alabama, a distance of 1600 miles, with an average breadth of from 50 to 100 miles. "Within this great coal formation, the largest in the known world, of which the boundaries have been explored, it is supposed that there are from 50,000 to 75,000 square miles of workable, and easily accessible coal, in beds three feet thick and over, giving an average thickness [in all] of workable coal, 20 feet thick. Taking the lowest of these estimates as the basis of calculation, it will yield 32,234 cubic yards per acre, or 20,630,000 yards per square mile, or 1,031,500,800 000 cubic yards for fifty thousand square miles; and rather more, it may be stated as so many as a cubic yard weighs about a ton, or tons. This quantity would give more than three tons annually to each individual of the present population of the United States, for 20,000 years; a quantity sufficient for domestic use, not only, but for all purposes of machinery, and working the metals, etc. "The above quantity, also, if put in mass, would form a square pyramidal mountain, with a base ten miles square, and 30,000 feet high; or a range of mountains two miles through the base, 2,500 feet high, and nearly 200 miles long." Now the geological formation which contains all this coal, and not only all this coal, but all the coal of the world, is wanting in New-York. Why it is wanting, perhaps, we do not exactly know; but that it is wanting is certain. Geologists find in the rocks of the world different eras; and one of these eras is called the carboniferous-the coal-bearing-era; and the world over they have evidence of its synchronism; and, moreover, evidence that there was but one such era, and that any country destitute of the rocks of this era, must be, of necessity, destitute of coal. The rocks of New-York are, all of them, of an age anterior to the carboniferous; and hence, either geology is worse than false, or else there is no coal in New-York. It is useless to attempt to find, if not another horn to the dilemma, at least a loop-hole of retreat, from the broadness of this assertion, by suggesting that the coal-bearing rocks, and the coal, may have been overlooked. Geological strata do not exist in patches and beds; this rock does not occur upon A's farm, and that upon B's, and the other upon C's; and it is by no means necessary to visit every rood of the surface of the strata, to decide upon its geological structure. But if New-York contain no available coal, she is yet by no means destitute of an abundance of most valuable minerals. And first, let us speak of the immense deposites of iron ore with which the state abounds. The iron ore of New-York is of three speciesthe magnetic, and specular iron ores, and the hydrous peroxide. The first mentioned abounds in Orange, Rockland, Putnam, and in all the extreme northern counties of the state. It occurs in the primitive rocks in beds, or deposites of variable widths and unknown depths, easily worked, and incalculable in extent. Dr. Emmons computes that in one bed, the Sandford mine, in Essex county, there are within ten feet of the surface nearly 7,000,000 of tons of ore, which may be raised without the use of gunpowder. And there are, in many of the counties mentioned, townships of just such beds as these. The specular iron ore is also abundantly disseminated, both in St. Lawrence, Jefferson, and in many of the western counties, where it is called clay iron ore, or lenticular iron ore. The hydrous peroxide, under the names of bog ore, limonite, &c., is found in considerable quantities in the southeastern counties. * Most of these ores contain from 60 to 70 per cent. of metallic iron, an amount which renders them, taken as a whole, equal to any in the world. The manufacture of iron commenced in this state at a very early period. "It was actively carried on in Orange county previous to the Revolution." But the following table will show its origin and increase in New-York: In 1776, manufacture had commenced in Orange county. In 1810, were manufactured $800,000 worth of iron. In 1830, were manufactured $3,700,000 worth of irou, in three hundred and thirtyfive iron works. In 1835, were manufactured $4,700.000 worth of iron in four hundred and thirtyfour iron works. In 1840.* were manufactured 29,088 tons cast, and 53,693 tons of bar iron, worth, the former, at $30, and the latter, at $80 per ton, with the value of hardware manufactured in the state, amounting to $1,566,974 added, a total of $6,735,054. In 1845, were manufactured $8,994,000 worth of iron in five hundred iron works. This table shows a flattering increase in this great enterprise; but Dr. Beck points out some defects in the method of manufacture generally pursued, well worthy the consideration, not only of those pecuniarily interested in it, but of all who are watching the progress of the arts among us. In the first place, let it be premised that there are some reasons why NewYork can manufacture iron as cheaply as any country of Europe, or any of her sister states. Her ores are as abundant as those of any country. They are as pure as those of any country, and twice as prolific, cent per cent, in iron, as the common English ores. In the cheapness of her fuel, but few countries can compete with her. Moreover, there are reasons why New-York can manufacture as good iron as any country in the world. The best iron that comes into the markets of the world is made at Dannemora, in Sweden. But this iron is made from the same magnetic oxide, so extensively abounding in this state, and so extensively made use of by our iron-masters. Besides, it is like New-York ores, reduced with charcoal-the best We copy from the census returns, printed by William Allen. fuel used—and which the English employed until they changed it for the charcoal of bituminous coal, coke, only from the superior cheapness of the latter. But in the teeth of these considerations, what are the facts with regard to American iron? That it is not so good as foreign iron, any price current shows. That it is not so cheap, the alleged necessity of a tariff of 60 to 100 per cent., or more, to protect the home manufacture, bears evident witness. Now, wherefore? Dr. Beck says: "It may, in part, be ascribed to want of skill, in conducting the mining operations, and in following out the details of the manufacture. In regard to the first of these points it may be remarked, that the raising of the ores has heretofore been conducted in the rudest and most careless manner. With a few exceptions, the whole object of the proprietors of our mines seems to have been to obtain a present supply of ore, at the cheapest and easiest rate. Hence, excavations have often been improperly made, and good beds of ore have not unfrequently been rendered valueless by the falling in of rocks, or by vast collections of rubbish which have accumulated. The consequence of these injudicious, and in some instances, ruinous operations, the result oftentimes of false notions of economy, has been to render this branch of mining a peculiarly expensive and precarious employment. This, of course, must have an effect upon the manufacture; and it is not too much to say, that until this business is conducted with that science and skill which are broug it to bear upon it in other countries, there will be wanting, in our case, one important element of success. "A review of the processes of manufacture, pursued in some parts of the state, will, I think, afford another clue to the causes which have served to depress this branch of industry."-Beck's Min. p. 38. Our limits forbid a copy of Professor Beck's review of the processes of manufacture. He includes them under four heads. 1st. The want of perfection in the furnaces in common use. 2nd. A want of science in the proper choice of fluxes, and in their proper adaptation to the different ores. 3d. That the ores are not generally roasted. 4th. That an inferior quality of charcoal is generally manufactured, and used by iron smelters. Prof. Beck has fortified himself in his objections to the processes made use of by the New-York iron-masters, by reference to a few facts, for the truth of which he is responsible; but which, emanating from any source less high, might seem almost incredible. For instance, he says, that 3 tons of the ore of the Arnold mine, N. Y., at 70 per cent. of pure iron, equals 4,704 lbs. metallic iron, while 3 tons of English ore, the clay iron-stone, the common ore of the English, at 35 per cent., equals 2,744 lbs. of metallic iron, or a balance in favor of three tons of Arnold ore, over three and one-half tons of English clay iron-stone, of 1,960 lbs of metallic iron. But our manufacturers require three tons of Arnold ore to make one ton of bar-iron, while the English consume but three and one-half tons of clay iron-stone in the manufacture of the same quantity of wrought iron. Or, while of Arnold ore, 3 tons contain 4,704 lbs., and produce one ton; of English ore, 3 tons contain 2,744 lbs., and produce one ton, showing a loss of 1,960 lbs. ! in the manufacture of each ton of bar-iron by the American iron-master. And this loss of almost one hundred per cent., in addition to the perhaps necessary loss of about 25 per cent., which the English manufacturer sustains. Dr. Beck tells us again, page 42, that Small globules, or buttons, of nearly pure iron, or of the metal slightly oxidised, are sometimes found in the hard and glassy compound, (the scoria.) and by treating this refuse with an additional portion is obtained. I was informed by the conof flux, a large proportion of metallic iron ductor of a furnace, in Dutchess county, that a heap of this score, which he had considered as without value, and which he intended to have removed from his found to be worth more than $3000, for the premises at some expense, had been iron which it contained." Though we cannot follow Dr. Beck through his criticisms, we cannot forbear a remark or two upon one or two points connected with this highly interesting subject. For herein, we believe, is contained the answer to the question last propounded. Our iron-masters need a tariff to enable them profitably to compete with European rivals. They need it, not because there is so much difference in the price of labor on the two continents, but because, in Europe, the highest science has been devoted, and is still devoted to the process of procuring iron from its ores, and to the processes of manufacturing it when procured. Careful analysis of the ores are made, and then of the scoria, which comes from the furnace, and then fluxes, procured and used, exactly adapted to the necessities of the case. But with us too much is empiricism. The operation of procuring the metal iron from its ores, is, from first to last, a chemical one, dependant wholly upon chemical principles for its existence. The smelter is the metallurgist, and he has before hin a chemical problem; he is required to analyze a certain ore of iron, and to procure from it all its valuable ingredient, rejecting the valueless portions. Suppose he guess at the constitution of the ore, then guess at the nature and amount of his flux, will it be strange if, after all, his scoriæ prove richer in iron than some ores? Will it be strange, that his guess-work should not quite successfully compete with the science of such men as Gahn and Berzelius? But, besides this, hundreds of years of experience, and properly directed science, have brought the shape of the furnace of the European iron-manufacturer almost to perfection. No heat is suffered to be wasted. The combustion of the same coal, at one and the same time, smelts the ore, puddles the cast iron into iron to be wrought-cements steel-reheats the bars of newly made iron, for welding and remanufacture; calcines lime for a flux; carbonises wood for the fuel of the furnace; and then often in addition, burns bricks. In place of science, skill, economy, we have a tariff! The results of the ex perience, inventions and skill of Europe are excluded by law, to give permanency to folly, waste and ignorance among us. In speaking of some of these very recent improvements, M. d'Andelarre, in one of the departments of France, in a letter states: "Our puddling furnaces, heated altogether by the gas lost from the mouth of our blast, (i. e., smelting furnace,) has been attended with the most complete success, which rarely happens in the first attempts at the application of any improvement, which most generally require long experience. We lighted up our furthe first charge at 11 o'clock on the mornace on the morning of the 5th, and put in ning of the 6th, and shingled, (i. e., exposed the puddled iron to the trip-hammer,) the same day, at three quarters past 12. The accomplishment of these results so quickly, passed our expectations, resulting in 1st. An economy of the total amount of fuel used in the refining of iron, (which, twenty-four hours, to 6000 lbs. of bitumin a furnace with two doors, amounted, in inous coal, costing twelve dollars.) 2d. Improvement in the quality of the iron. 3d. The loss was very small, being 5 instead of 20 per cent. (100 in New-York) by the old process. 4th. The operations of the furnaces are much improved."t It is a credit to American ingenuity that this enterprise has been attended with so much of success as it has been. But the time must come, and might already have come, but for " "protection," when it should be just as impossible to import ordinary iron into America as it is ordinary cottons, or as it is to "carry coals to Newcastle." The ordinary ore of lead, the subphuret, or galena, is found in no less than twelve counties of this state, but it is to be feared, in none so situated as to be mined cheaply enough to be brought into competition with the Mississippi lead. At least the experience of several mining companies in various parts of the state seems to warrant this conclusion. Zinc and copper also exist, but so far as yet discovered, in small quantities; manganese and arsenic in proportionately larger. New-York contains, too, endless quantities of materials for bricks, pottery, and even porcelain; hundreds of square miles of easily-procured building stone of the finest qualities-granite, marble, and the Potsdam sand-stone, which latter is a very perfect free-stone. Nor is there any scarcity of lime-stone proper for conversion into lime, nor of that species of lime-stone from which the * Furnaces in which cast iron is converted into the state of wrought iron. + Silliman's Journal, Vol. I., N. S., p. 97. J. L. Smith. According to the census of 1840, the value of marble, granite and other stone procured in the state, was $1,679,015, and the number of persons employed, 3715. hydraulic cements are procured. With regard to her marbles, it may be fearlessly asserted that no country in the world possesses finer-whether fineness, color or durability be made the test of excellence. We scarcely need mention the inexhaustible beds of that important manure, gypsum, in which so many portions of the Union are de ficient. There exist within the limits of this state the richest salt-springs which have yet been discovered in the world. They are scattered about a portion of Onondaga and Cayuga counties, and extend even farther west, always occupying the same geological positionthe Onondaga salt group. The strongest of these springs is at Syracuse. Its strength will be better understood by reference to the following tabular statement: (Beck, Min., p. 112.) Of the water of the ocean, from 300 to 350 galls. make 56 lbs. of salt. Of the salines of Boons lick, Mo., 450 galls. will make the same quantity of salt. Chloride of Sodium, (pure salt)....... 44 Magnesium.. Calcium.. Of the salines of Shawnetown Ill., it takes 123 galls. Of the salines of Zanesville, O., 95 galls. Of the salines of Kenhawa, Va., 75 galls. Of the salines of Grand Rapids, Mich., from 50 to 60 galls. Of the salines of Old Wells, at Syracuse, from 40 to 50 galls. And of the salines of New Wells, at Syracuse, from 30 to 35 galls. But these quantities of brine, besides yielding 56 lbs. of salt, also afford certain other saline matters, which deteriorate the salt. The separation of these impurities constitutes the most difficult portion of the salt manufacturer's art; and the contamination of these in greater or less proportions affects the value and price of the various salts of the world. The nature of these impurities and their universality will be better understood from the subjoined statement: Sulphate of Magnesia, (Epsom Salts).. Sulphate of do., (Gypsum).. These impurities may be divided into two classes, the first of which, as gypsum and carbonate of lime, do not of themselves injure the qualities of the salt at all, and are only injurious upon the old principle of “impenetrability," for where they are no salt can be. The other class, comprising the chlorides of magnesium and calcium, and the sulphate of magnesia, which constitute the "bitterns," injure the salt in two ways: 1st, in affecting its taste; and 2d, by their ready deliquescence, causing the salt in which they exist to imbibe water more easily and in greater amount than if it were pure. 1000.0 Our limits would forbid anything like a correct explanation of the means to which manufacturers resort to separate We can these substances from salt. only show our readers how well our own succeed, compared with the makers of other kinds of salt. The analysis of the foreign kinds were executed by the late distinguished chemist, Dr. Henry, of Manchester; those of the domestic by Dr. Beck. One thousand parts of the following most celebrated salts of the world contain Carbonates of Lime and Magnesia... Sulphate of Lime, (Gypsum).... ..6.96 Sulphate of Soda.... II. 3.42 17.50 13.16* 8.77 16.50t, 2.01 V. Chlorides of Calcium and Magnesium.. Chloride of Sodium, (pure salt).. |