the net proceeds, after paying for hauling, crushing, quarrying, sinking shafts and running tunnels, was over fifty thousand dollars.

August 11th, 1852, Messrs. Conway & Preston's mill, with two batteries, of nine stamps each, weighing each 950 lbs., and an engine of 25 horse power, with a large number of claims on Gold and Massachusetts Hills, were added to the property of the Helvetia & Lafayette G. M. Co. From the 11th August, 1852, to Dec. 1st, 1853, there was taken out in gold $84,200. This time includes the last winter, when the mining operations were suspended several months on account of bad weather and water in the mines. A large portion of the receipts were expended in permanent improvements in the mines, mill, &c. Had not that have been the case, there would have been good dividends paid to the stockholders.

The Lafayette Hill vein runs through the hill in a northeast and southeast direction, with a dip of about forty degrees to the east, and from two to three feet in thickness, and encased in greenstone rock, which increases the expense of taking out, as it has to be done by blasting. The vein is very uniform and regular, yielding very evenly. The upper part of the vein, to the depth of about twenty-five was very rich, and at thirty-five feet poorer than it now is at the depth of forty and fifty feet, and the evidences are that it will still grow better as it is worked down. The rock is very hard, and of a different character from that on Gold and Massachusetts Hills, containing large quantities of sulphuret of iron. The cost of quarrying it last year, after getting into the greenstone, was from $12 to $14 a ton. This year it has cost but from $7 to $8 per ton. Almost the same difference in expense has been made in running the mill by the decrease in the price of labor and materials. On Gold Hill and Massachusetts Hill, the cost of taking out the ore has been about $5 a ton this season.

The mill, when both batteries are running, is capable of crushing from forty to forty-five tons per day. But one battery has been running at a time, as it has been thought that it would be more profitable not to mine any more than one would crush at present, as the prospect was that the business could be carried on much cheaper each coming year, for some time to come.

The actual cost of crushing has been, including all expense, superintendency, wear and tear, &c., about $5 per ton. Nearly all the rock has been burned, which causes it to pulverize more easily. The original process of amalgamating at the mill of this company, was by shaking tables alone; then blankets were used in connection. Now the process is, the pulverized material passes over three long blankets first, then through Cram's cylinder amalgamator, thence over three ripples with quicksilver in them, thence over two of Berdan's crushers and amalgamators, thence through a long sluice. An additional amalgamator is about being put in, consisting of a tub and stirrer, with about 100 lbs. quicksilver in it. About fifteen per cent. of the gold is obtained in the Berdan mills that formerly was lost.

The improvements made in amalgamating and the reduction in expenses have much increased the profits of the business. There is a large quantity of gold in the iron, that cannot be saved, or is not by the present mode of operation, and I have no doubt that when it is, will nearly pay all expenses. It is customary here to run the mills day and night, which is considered to be more profitable than to run only during the day.

It is reduced to an absolute certainty that rock paying fifteen and twenty dollars a ton, where the vein is of a fair thickness can be worked to great profit. The rock of this company often produces $30, $40, $50, and even $80 per ton.

Empire Company.-In compliance with your request, I herewith submit to you a few of the statistics of the Empire Mining Company, trusting that the same may induce a greater degree of confidence in the operations of quartz mining, and may at least modify the distrust which has hitherto attached to that department of mining. The limited space allowed me in your paper, will not admit of my saying any thing in reference to the profits that might

accrue from that branch of mining, with a judicious use of capital, and when all the conditions now known to be necessary to the conduct of that business, are complied with. I will therefore submit to you a few items, and the community may draw its own inferences.

The Empire Mining Company was incorporated on the 4th day of May, 1854, for the purpose of carrying on the business of quartz crushing, in such manner as would best secure the separation of the precious metal from its matrix, and also the business of "sawing of lumber." Without reference to the lumber department, I need not say that in the department of quartz mining, the company have been eminently successful, and have demonstrated that the business, rightly conducted, can be made to yield an immense return upon a comparatively small outlay of capital. The Empire Company have crushed rock from all the principal hills in this vicinity, and have kept an accurate account of the yield of all the rock, thus enabling them to furnish a certain degree of reliable data, as it is made up of the yield of good, bad and indifferent rock.

In four months' time, the Empire Company, running twelve stamps twelve hours to the day, commencing the 22d of August, and ending the 22d of December, 1853, crushed 1,390 tons of rock, the gross yield of which was $57,310 47, or an average of a trifle over $41 per ton. It must be borne in

mind that this was taken from every different hill in this vicinity, and among it was some rock that did not yield over $1 per ton. Now, allowing 26 working days to the month, and 12 hours per day running time, the whole number of hours necessary to crush the 1,390 tons of rock, was 1,248, or there was crushed on an average, something over one ton per hour, which yielded over $40 per ton. The whole cost of raising, hauling, and crushing said rock was about $19 per ton, leaving a net profit of $27 per ton, or from the 1,390 tons, there was a net profit of $47,530. Then assuming that $50,000 would have purchased every ledge from which said rock was crushed, and would have built a mill suitable for reducing the same (the estimate is greater than the cost of the case), in four months' time there would have been a return of about 90 per cent. upon the investment, or above 20 per cent. per day, and I am well assured from over two years' experience in the business, that under even fair circumstances the same result might be constantly realized. I will here mention that the Empire Mining Company, having been engaged in the business for over two years, have recently felt themselves justified in going to the expense of erecting extension works upon their hill, Mount Ophir, for the purpose of draining the ledges in the same, feeling assured from their past experience that they will receive an ample reward for the great expense incurred in endeavoring to develope the hidden treasure in said hill.

Gold Hill Company.-This mill is under the joint management of Messrs. Atwood and Walsh. The actual invested capital, is $300,000. The mill is capable of reducing 100 tons of quartz in 24 hours. There has been probably over a half million of money earned at this mill since its erection. The machinery cannot any where be excelled, and possessed of rich leads, and under skilful managers, its future prosperity can easily be predicted.

Mount George Company.-The Mount George, steam, saw, quartz and planing mill, situated on the north branch of Wolf Creek, one mile east of Grass Valley, were erected in the winter of 1851 and 1852, by the "Pacific Gold Mining company." Through bad management and the inexperience of their agents, this company was not very successful, and in the fall of 1852 they sold the entire property to G. R. Morris & Co., who have since disposed of it to the Mt. George Mining and Lumber Company.

This company own several very extensive and valuable mines, among which might be mentioned Tippecanoe, Mt. George, Eureka, Hagan, &c.

The Railroad from the mill to the pinery, is 14 miles long, with a 6 foot track, on an inclined plane. The timber is unsurpassed by any other in the State, in proof of which, they are making successful shipments of dressed lumber to San Francisco, and the valley cities, at prices fully equalling the best article of Georgia and Eastern pine.

The capacity of the engine is about 60 horse power. Capable of driving two saws, planing mill, and quartz mill.

Grass Valley Gold Mining Company.-Organized July 27, 1851, with a capital ot $100,000,-$60,000 working capital paid in. Building commenced May 1, 1852, main quartz mill, 50 x 80 feet-engine of sixty horse power,saw-mill attached 24x64 feet, running a mulay and a circular saw of a capacity to make 12,000 feet per day. A planing mill and shingle machine attached, together with a powerful lathe for iron turning.

In July, 1852, capital increased to $250,000-of which about $25,000 additional stock was subsequently issued. Quartz machine calculated for 100 tons per day has been purchased, and is in the county, but which has not yet been put in operation. The expenditure thus far reaching about $120,000, and a further sum of $20,000 being required. The buildings and all the appurtenances of this company are of the most permanent and substantial character, the situation, central and if completed upon the plan thus far pursued, no doubt can exist that the company will be highly successful.

Water Companies.-There is matter of the most vital importance to California, upon which much has been said, but nothing as yet accomplished, which, if carried out, would prove of more immense advantage than perhaps any move or action which could be suggested. We refer to subjects so often broached, viz., to render governmental aid, in the bringing water for the supply of the numerous rich hills and placers, now by drought rendered of no use or availability.

We did hope that some action on the part of the late Legislature would have placed this matter upon a favorable footing at once. But wasting their time upon matters of trifling import, this matter of sure and certain use was neglected and forgotten. There is of course no one thing so highly essential to the success of our State as the developing and strengthening her resources. Wherever companies have united for the purposes of fluming and ditching, even though the original expense appeared almost insurmountable, still they have in nearly every case proved, in the end, eminently useful and remunerative. It is a matter which must in the end come up for serious debate and united action. The mining interests must be protected and sustained, and if in order to more completely bring out the resources of the country, it shall be deemed fitting that a direct tax should be levied; we say, let it be done. What would that trifling annoyance amount to, when compared to the benefit which must and would accrue? Let governmental action be in some way taken upon that matter, and we care not how, so that the object shall be accomplished, and water become extensively introduced all among the dry, gold concealing hills and placers. We will recur to this important matter more fully at another time.-Placer Times.

GEOLOGY OF GOLD.

We have before us a copy of the Democratic Transcript (Canton, Ohio), dated the 22d ult., containg an illustrated paper of Prof. J. Brainard, on the origin of the quartz pebbles of the sandstone conglomerate, in which he opposes the old theory, and adopts a peculiar one. The opinion of geologists respecting the origin of quartz pebbles, is, that they have been formed by the action of water, frosts, &c., upon rocks, separating them first into small fragments, then rounding them by a rubbing action upon one another. The theory of Professor Brainard is, that "the sand rocks of the Devonian system have been formed from a solution of silicious matter in the waters of the primitive ocean, and that the grains of sand have suffered little or no disturbance except upon shoals, the beach of the ocean, or in streams of running water." This theory is supported by a great deal of plausibility by engravings, showing layers of these pebbles in an apparently undisturbed position. The theory then amounts to this, that at one time by internal heat the silicious matter which formed these pebbles was reduced to a fluid state, and became

pebble crystals at the bottom of the ocean. It is difficult for us to conceive how fluid silex could be formed into pebbles at the bottom of the ocean; but we have merely presented the pebble theory as an introduction of some interest to two more important geological questions.

In this paper Prof. Brainard says, "there is no controversy among geologists in regard to the antiquity of the granite rock. It is the oldest formation found in the earth's crust, and underlies all others. It has furnished material in combination with oxygen, carbonic acid, and other gases, for all the stratified series." This opinion respecting the oldest primitive formation is very generally entertained, and has been set forth in elementary works on geology. We have evidence before us to show that it is not correct. Prof. Hall, of Albany, N. Y., has said "all the granites of New England were made up from the destruction of the earlier stratified rocks-including those of the fossiliferous period." At the meeting of the British Association, which was held in Belfast, Ireland, in 1851, Prof. Donovan asserted that "the granite was not the oldest formation, that it was underlaid by greenstone in various parts of Ireland." This was disputed at the time, but information from California corroborates his opinions.` In the Mining Magazine for last month-an able periodical-there is a paper on the Mineral District of Central California, by Prof. J. Trask, in which he says. "thus far the granite series has not been found to exceed a depth of but little more than one hundred feet. Immediately below the granite the greenstone is found underlaying this entire section of country." This for the present settles the disputed granite question, and brings us to another controverted geological question, viz., the position of gold veins, and their origin.

The opinion held heretofore respecting the origin of gold, was that it belonged to the more recent formations, and that gold quartz veins depreciated as they descended from the surface. Sir Roderick Murchison says, "the chief quantities of gold, including all the considerable lumps, have been broken up by denudation, and transported from the mountain-tops into the adjacent valleys." He also thinks that the rocks were impregnated with it at a comparatively recent period-"a short time before the epoch when the powerful denudations took place, which destroyed the large extinct mammalia." Humboldt is of the opinion that the formation of gold had some closer relation to the atmosphere than lead, copper, or iron, and Dr. Percy is disposed to believe that it was once held in solution in an aqueous medium, and thrown down by deposition. These opinions of eminent geologists respecting the comparatively recent formation of gold, have led their authors to assert that the gold of California and Australia would soon be gathered up, and that it would not be profitable to mine deeply for it, as the gold quartz veins would become barren in proportion as they descend. These opinions Prof. Trask asserts in his paper are not applicable to California-that the gold quartz veins become richer as they are penetrated downwards. He says, "in every instance where the granite has been perforated, the greenstone rock has been found beneath, and in every mine throughout the northern districts, in which the greenstone has been reached, the veins (gold quartz) have penetrated this rock, and in no one instance is it found that the vein is either pinched or faulted, but the reverse is true, that every set has increased in power the deeper they descend. Of six companies now in successful operation in Grass Valley, all of them are obtaining their ores from the greenstone in larger quantity and better quality than was found to be the average in the granite above." Here then is testimony against the theory of Sir Roderick Murchison, Humboldt and others, respecting gold veins coming from above, and which goes to prove that they come from below.

This we consider is one of the most important questions of the age, respecting the geology of the gold formations. If, according to Prof. Trask, it be true that the gold quartz veins become richer as they are penetrated, it is confirmatory evidence of a very old theory respecting the formation and arrangement of the different strata composing the crust of the earth. This VOL. III.-37

theory supposes that our globe was once in a fluid state, and that as it revolved on its axis, the different substances of which it is composed, arranged themselves according to their specific gravities, the heaviest towards the centre, and the rest like the coats of an onion-the lightest being at the top. Following out this idea, an acquaintance of ours has long held the opinion that if he could but dig deep enough into mother earth, he would certainly arrive at a bed of pure gold. We do not know what effect Prof. Trask's investigations may have upon him, they certainly afford evidence in favor of his notions. At any rate, we have presented this important geological question as it now stands, so that all may understand it. And we hope that all future investigations will lead to the certain gratifying result, that we stand on a foundation of gold, instead of dwelling upon a planet having only a few favored spots here and there of its surface bespangled with this precious metal. Scientific American.

RUSSIAN GOLD MINES.

A work of authority on the manufacturing powers of Russia was published some years ago by a Mr. PRELEZYNSKI, and he made the average annual produce of siver 43,200 lbs., and of lead 1,440,000 lbs. The aggregate produce of copper, both from the Government and from private mines, he returned at 7,596,000 lbs. All the gold raised at the Ural mountains is coined in the country, and he makes the quantity extracted from the Ural mines, and coined, in the ten years intervening between 1824 and 1834, 117,564 lbs., and the value, 7,143,4997. Platinum is also found in Russia, and is likewise coined into money, and we are told that of this rare metal there were extracted from the Ural mines, and coined, within the same years, 28,125 lbs., value 393,7371.

The Russian measure, the pood, is about 36 lbs. avoirdupois, and the gold produce of Russia in 1846 was-private mining, 1490 poods; public mining, 187-1677 poods. The total quantity obtained in 1847 was 1779 poods. The produce in the ten years, 1837-46, was 8387 poods of fine gold, amounting to 366,848 lbs., value 18,751,3107. The produce of platinum in 1843 was 213 poods=7668 lbs., and the quantity of silver obtained in 1847 was 1190 poods.

Sir RODERICK MURCHISON had, early in the summer of 1840, visited the gold regions of Siberia, and, in a paper read before the Geological Society of London in 1844, stated the entire gold produce of the Russian empire to be then nearly three millions sterling. The very elaborate work published by him and his colleagues, MM. DE VERNEIUL and Count KEYSERLING, appeared in 1845; and it may, perhaps, be fairly assumed, that since they geologically surveyed the Ural Mountain district, the produce has not been stationary, but has rather advanced.

GUSTAVUS ROSE, a German writer, published at Berlin, in 1837, an account of the gold workings of the Russians in the Uralian district, and states that the auriferous sand principally occurs on the eastern declivity of the range. The sand from which the gold is at present extracted contains from about 1-2280 to 1-1920 part, and the expenses of washing and extracting commonly amount to two fifths of the net produce. According to Mr. ROSE, sand is sometimes found in which 1-600 part, or even 1-300 part, proves to be gold, and it is his opinion that, under good management, sand containing only 1-7680 part of gold could be washed with a fair prospect of profit. It does not appear that any efforts have been made to procure gold by crushing, or by ny of the improved processes which the superior in telligence and activity of the Anglo-Saxon race have recently introduced. The platinum mines are situated on the western declivity of the Ural Mountains, and the proportion of that metal is stated to be very much larger than that of gold, amounting on an average to 142 part of the whole mass. Pieces of pure platinum have been sometimes found, weighing several ounces, and even, in some instances, over