iv Coal transported by Reading Railroad 193 Lake Superior Iron Manufacture under Ren- 808 ton's Process.. 664 430 Manufacture of Wrought Iron direct from 531 the Ore.. 821 196 652 Coke as Fuel for Locomotives. Colliery Operations. Lamps and Candles. Cumberland Region. Amount of Coal Ship- Cumberland Trade in 1851.. 536 Manufacture of Iron from Lake Superior Ores.. Manufacture of Iron for Nails. 86 315 Manufacture and Importation of Iron.. 665 198 Massachusetts Iron Works. 434 83 Mount Savage Iron Works. 665 66 66 196 New Jersey Zine Company. 203 308 Pennsylvania and Lehigh Zinc Co. 544 202 88 669 665 431 Sheet Iron, Manufacture of. 86 532 Swede Iron Company. 665 St. George Iron Mines, Savoy.. 548 lieries... 659 Iowa Coal.. 197 The Mining and Manufacture of Iron in Great 437 Lehigh Coal Trade. 82 Use of Burnt Lime as a Flux... 319 66 66 194 Veille Montaigne Zinc Co. 439 308 Wrought Iron, Statistics of Manufacture of.. 90 203 531 Zinc in Wisconsin.... 87 Large Lump of Coal. 653 Zinc Paint... ST Llangollen Company 532 Lonaconing Coal Works.. 310 New Creek Coal Company's Report. 431 QUARRIES, CLAYS &c. New Method of Coaling Steamships.. 662 Origin of Coal....... 539 Price of Anthracite. 430 Composition of the earthy mixtures of Eng- Pennsylvania Coal Co... 535 lish Stoneware. 550 Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Drummond Island Quarry. 670 536 Gardiner's Steam Drill. 205 Report of the Pennsylvania Coal Co. 308 Improvements in Artificial Stone. 440 Knight's Boring Machine.. 551 1852.. 83 Lake Superior Marble.. 551 Rates of toll for Coal on Reading Railroad.. 531 Marble in Wisconsin. 205 on Schuylkill Canal.... 531 Schuylkill Coal Trade.... 653 Scranton Coal Region 83 Marble on the Yonyhoigheny River. 205 91 92 Separating Foreign substances from Coal.... 538 National Oil Stone 440 81 Natural and artificial Marble.. 551 66 194 Porcelain, Its Manufactures and appearance 808 in the American Exhibition... 822 430 Southern Granite and Slate.. 92 531 Talbot's Boring Machine... 552 The Coal Business... The Dorn Coal Company. II. GEOLOGY OF THE SIERRA NEVADA; or, California Range. Report to the Legislature of California. By Prof. JOHN B. TRASK, of California. III. THE MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF AMERICA.. IV. REPORT ON THE PROPERTIES OF THE SHELBURNE LEAD MINING COMPANY, at Shelburne, N. H. By Prof. JAMES T. HODGE, of New-York 27 Estimation of the Mining Interest in England Deficient Supply of Coal-Reasons upon which apprehensions are based. THE MINING MAGAZINE: DEVOTED TO Mines, Mining Operations, Metallurgy, &c. &c. VOL. I.-JULY, 1853.-No. I. ART. I.-INTRODUCTION. WHEN the miner sinks his shaft into the bosom of the earth, penetrating the unstratified rocks, which like walls of adamant forbid his progress, unheeding the floods of water pouring upon him from above, or the springs which gush up at his feet, fearless of the darkness gathering faster and faster as he advances, or the deadly vapors which begin to float thickly around him, it is to obtain the iron, the coal, the copper, the silver and the gold which have given to the hand of man such an invincible dominion over the physical world. These wonderful treasures, imperishable as the eternal hills, congealed in the hardest rock, made pliable only by the all-devouring element of fire, have given him strength to subject all nature to his use and pleasure. Those heroic spirits who first gathered the metals and worked at forges in the childhood of our race, were esteemed as worthy to be second only to the gods, and the fruits of their labors were called "thunderbolts" of power. Their names have been enrolled in the sacred annals of men. The nation with a fertile soil and inexhaustible mineral treasures, possesses elements with which a hardy people may aspire to supreme command over mankind. Our country presents all which the most stupendous ambition could desire, its boundaries are enlarged to the utmost limit; its soil yields the productions of almost every zone, and all our national energies have been exerted in their cultivation and diffusion. Our commerce is sprinkled on every sea, and our flag floats in every breeze. Has not the time come for us seriously, and in full strength, to attempt the exploration of our mineral treasures? Apart from the allurements of gain, has it not become a duty, resting on us, now to enter extensively upon the development of these hidden stores, and pour them into the treasury of the world, thereby to promote the comfort, increase the happiness, and aid the improvement of the mass of mankind? The rapid progress of geological science has rendered essential service in the development of the riches within the earth. It is at once its object and boast to redeem the search after metallic ores from the hazard which in times past attended it; to teach the miner to discard the belief in sinister influences, and evil spirits, by showing that these substances have not been distributed by chance, but that each is referable to some peculiar geological deposit; to direct the inquiry for them upon fixed principles, and in conformity with the laws which regulate their Occurrence. If we suppose a shaft to be sunk, or a perpendicular excavation made into the earth, upon the border of an extensive plain, skirting a mountainous district, it will first pass, for nearly a hundred feet, through layers of loam, clay, and sand. This deposit from an existing river is denominated alluvium, being the earth resting upon the rocks. The second formation succeeds, which is called drift, or diluvium. This is composed of coarse sand and gravel, with fine sand, containing large rounded masses of rock called boulders. The third series of strata through which the shaft penetrates is composed of layers of clay, sand, gravel, and marl, with occasional beds of quartz and limestone. They contain many petrifactions and are usually horizontal; they are all called tertiary. After these come the secondary, composed chiefly of solid rock, mostly made up of sand, clay, and pebbles, cemented together; in this series of strata are found many remains of animals and plants, greywacke, limestone, sandstone, coal, lias, clay, marl, green sand, and chalk. Beneath these are the primary rocks, which are destitute of organic remains, and have a structure more highly crystalline, and are inclined at a greater angle to the horizon. Here are found granite, gneiss, mica slate, limestone, gypsum, talcose slate, hornblende slate, quartz rocks, and clay slate. It is in the primary and secondary rocks that metallic veins are most numerous. Copper is found in the greatest abundance in granite and in the schistose or slaty rocks above it, although it also presents itself, but in less abundance, as high in the secondary series as the new red sandstone. Lead is chiefly confined to the carboniferous limestone, it is often associated with the ores of silver, but more commonly with those of zinc, copper, and iron. Silver is mostly found in the primary and secondary rocks, and, like many others, occurring in veins which sometimes communicate with fissures beneath, and have probably been occasioned by deeplyseated subterranean agency. Gold offers an exception to the |
