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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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FOUNDED  1836
WASHINGTON, D. C
GPO  16—67244-1
 
 
 

              DELIVERED

         BY APPOINTMENT,

               beeore'

        THE  SOCIETY

               FOR THE


Promttfion of Useful  Arts,

           AT TlKg CAPITOL,

    IN THE CITY OF  ALBANY,

      ON THE 3d OF FEBRUARY, 1813.
    By THEODRIC ROMEYN BECK, M. D.

Fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (New-Yofk) and on«
 of the Counsellors of the Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts.
J^#M|KH£*'3^*^
          ALBANY-.

PRINTED BY WEBSTERS AND SKINNERS.
1813.' ^JF^£ 
ERRATA.
  Page 15, line I Ith, from the bottom, for parts, read/tar/.
  Page 17, note § for Josiah Waterman, read Jeremiah Wil-
kinson.
  Page 22, line 6th, from the bottom, for stills, read kettles.
  Page 24, line 2d, from the bottom, read, from analysis it
appears to be quite pure.
  Page 28, line 22d, Since delivering  the address, I have
ascertained that American  Black Lead, is frequently used
in the manufacture of Pencils.   It is made a trade in this
state and in Vermont.   The Pencils appear to be of a good
quality.
  Pa§£..S9, line 15, for natural, read national. 
PREFACE.
THE Address winch is now presented to the public, is pub-
lished as it was delivered, with a few  alterations and addi-
tions, that subsequent information has enabled me to make.
  In composing it, the aim proposed has been a specific
one.  It was  to exhibit at  one view the mineral riches of
the United States, with their various application to the Arts,
and to demonstrate the practicability of the increase of dif-
ferent manufactures, whose materials  are derived from this
source.  On  the  policy of extensive manufactories in this
country, I have not dared to touch.  It is more properly the
province of the politician.  I may however observe, that
those establishments which spring  up spontaneously, with-
out the aid of imposts and heavy duties on foreign materi-
als, ought to be encouraged, and indeed must unavoidably
flourish.  It  cannot however be the wish of any true patriot,
that the United States should become in the strict sense  of
the word, a manufacturing country.   The disease, vice, and
diversified forms of misery, that exist  in those parts of Eng-
land, from whence our hardware and cloths are obtained, are
sufficient to  make the most sanguine advocate for the en-
couragement of manufactures tremble.   After all that has
been written and said  on the subject, together with the no-
tice that our national legislature are giving to it, the Wants
of  the country are  the true data, which  must guide to a de-
cision on this subject.
   It can hardly be supposed  that in  noticing a subject  so
extensive, as the mineral kingdom, some  omissions should
not be made.  Information is with difficulty obtained, and
particularly so where the subject is new, and has not excited
general attention.   The errors that must necessarily be ob-
served, will, it is  hoped, be pardoned.  From those, who
are best acquainted with the extent and nature of the theme,
I have little  to fear.  They are fully capable of appreciating
 its difficulty.
    If these pages should call the attention of any of its read-
 ers to the science of mineralogy,  and  cause them to lend
their exertions to promote its usefulness, the highest wish
 of the Author will be  gratified. 
 
<b$
ANNUAL  ADDRESS.
IT is of vast importance to a country, that knowledge be
extensively diffused.  Its utility is not confined to individu-
als, whose minds may be enlightened, and whose feelings
may be improved ; but is spread over every part of commu-
nity.   Taken in its most comprehensive sense, it may just-
ly be asserted, that knowledge advances civilization, gives
new energy to the mental powers, and places man in that
proud and commanding station in the scale of animated be-
ing to which his destiny entitles him.  The maxim that
" knowledge is power,"  is  daily elucidated in the affairs of
life; and among the moral phoenomena that agitate the world,
its effects are clearly perceptible.  It resembles in this res-
pect, the electric fluid, which during the calm and tranquil
occurrences of nature, pervades and operates imperceptibly
over space, but when collected in the heavens, and kindled
into  action, its effects  are tremendous and overpowering.
Like all other things, it may be abused.  The advantage
that its owner possesses, may be employed towards the de-
moralizing of society, or the destruction of the species.  But
to those who are unwilling, or incapable of appreciating its
importance in so grand a point of view, it may be sufficient to 
10
refer to the improvements daily produced in domestic comj
forts,  and  in  the enjoyments of social life.   " We are,'
says an elegant writer, " much happier for the discovery of
" Barometers,  Thermometers, Steam Engines, and all the
" innumerable inventions in the arts and sciences.  We are
" every clay, and every hour reaping the benefit of such in-
" genuity."f
  Addressing myself to a society, whose aim is the promo-
tion of useful knowledge, whose first wish is its advancement
in our native country, I  cannot refrain from congratulating
its members on the great and important improvements, that
have been made in the Arts and Sciences, since its first or-
ganization.:}:  During the last twenty years, the march of in-
vestigation has  been unusually rapid, elucidating  something
in every branch of knowledge, and improving the  systems of
all.   Although  our country, from its peculiar  situation, and
the pursuits of  its inhabitants, has contributed but little to-
wards this happy result, yet its effects are not the less advan-
tageous to  our citizens.  The want of fortune, and leisure,
prevent in a  great measure the severe study necessary for
inventive pursuits, still  however the application of discove-
ries to useful and ceconomical  purposes, has not been want-
ing in many interesting, and even in some splendid instances.
  The progress of discovery, and invention has  peculiarly
adorned the age in which.we  live.  Amidst bloodshed and
tumult, Science rises proudly pre-eminent, and  claims ex-
emption from the common lot of mortality, as well by the
magnitude, as  the utility  of  her  designs.  In no depart-
ment  has  such rapid improvement  been made, as in that
styled mathematical and physical science.   Chemistry has to-
tally changed its form.   Instead of remaining a mass of bar-
barous names, and crude theories, it has become a science at
once stupendous and beautiful, wonderful alike for the ex-
tensive research  and  minute accuracy that  it  combines.

  f Edinburgh Review, vol. 35, p. 282.  Amer. edit.
  X "  The Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts and
Manufactures,"  was organized in 1791; at the expiration  of its
charter in 1804, it was re-incorporated under its  present name,
" The  Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts." 
11
Within a few years, a new agent has been introduced, whoss
powers imagination itself could hardly have calculated. k' It
" has developed the  composition of substances, which the
" profoundest research had regarded as simple," and cer-
tainly promises at no distant day to change the whole sys-
tem of chemical philosophy.  The progress of natural phi-
losophy has been unusually rapid.  The measurement of the
surface of the earth, as well as of heights, has been effected.
with an accuracy before unknown.  The recondite proper-
ties of light and heat have been examined, and the existence
of new planets  ascertained.  Werner and Klaproth in Ger-
many, Kirwan in Britain, and Haiiy in France, have inves-
tigated mineralogy and geology with uncommon success, and
their disciples in every quarter of Europe, are pursuing these
sciences with an ardour remarkable even  among men, whose
predominant passion is the love of knowledge.  Natural his-
tory has not been left without its votaries.  To enlarge  its
boundaries,  numerous voyages  and travels have been un-
dertaken, the earth has been circumnavigated, the  deserts
of Africa have  been explored by Park, and the Andes as-
cended by Humboldt.  Through these means, the science
of medicine has also been improved, and  remedies of impor-
tant value have been added from the vegetable, and mineral
kingdoms.
   Those Arts which are styled useful, are immediately de-
pendant on the above branches of information, and (as might
be expected) have advanced  with proportionate rapidity.
Among the improvements may be mentioned, the invention
of machinery,  the discovery and  application  of  chemical
agents, and the developement of various processes which
were formerly concealed from sordid or national views.
   With  such a flood of light  pouring on us  from  the old
world, it surely becomes the duty of every one who  desires
his country's prosperity, to direct it to the best advantage.
Our resources must be investigated, and our ability  to con-
duct useful undertakings ascertained.  If the establishment
of manufactories is intended, it becomes a subject  of pre-
liminary enquiry, whether the number of hands required can 
IS
be properly spared by the agricultural interest, whether the
materials to be used can be obtained in sufficient quantity,
and whether with all the advantage that our knowledge of
European inventions affords,  such manufactories will prove
more advantageous to the nation at large, than the importa-
tion of similar articles  from foreign countries.   At present
they are principally required for our domestic wants.  The
most important to us are those which are subservient to ag-
riculture, and without which it cannot be carried on.  There
are others which as an independent nation we ought to dis-
dain procuring from abroad. Indeed a large proportion of the
raw materials used in those manufactories of which we are
in most need, are derived from the mineral kingdom, and if
they are to be found in this country of sufficient excellence,
the  necessity of importation will be done away.   In this
point of view, the mineralogical resources of the United States
become a subject of great interest, and are highly deserving
the attention of every friend of science and the arts.   A
brief sketch of their value, together  with their application
and use in manufactures and the arts, cannot fail of receiving
the attention of this  society.
   It is only within a few years that mineralogy has received
the notice that it deserves.   It was not indeed until this sci-
ence became united with geology that it could boast of very
great names among its votaries.f  The magic of theoretic
investigation drew many to its standard, who before attended
to more pleasing branches of natural history.  Werner and
Hutton promulgated different systems  of the formation of
the earth, both probably too much influenced by the appear-
 ances  that nature presents in their respective  countries.
 The adherents of each have been numerous and active, and
 their exertions unwearied to establish the correctness of
 the different  theories.   In consequence of the dependence
 of geology on mineralogy, the latter has of course rapidly

   J The various systems of the formation  of the earth advanced
   . ore this period, such as Whiston's, Buffon's,  See. were wholly
 the result of hypotheses, and are totally independent of any sup-
 port from mineralogy. 
                           13

progressed.  New discoveries are daily made, the ardour
of scientific pursuit has extended to  various countries, and
at present it may safely be said, that  no branch of learning
has more numerous or ingenious disciples.  When it is aN
so recollected that chemistry forms a constituent part of the
investigation,  its dignity as a subject  of research  stands
completely established.
   Such is the  science which in Europe has received  the
patronage of monarchs, and the homage of genius.   In this
country it is also becoming a subject of enquiry.  The Uni-
ted States present a vast field for examination.   Extending
over twenty degrees of latitude, and embracing almost eve-
ry climate; while the face of the country presents the various
alternations of mountain and valley, and exhibits at once ev-
ery formation from the primitive to the  volcanic,f  it cannot
be doubted that at no distant  day, industry and enterprize
will enrich them with most of the minerals that  Europe pro-
duces.  It is only necessary to attend to the history of those
already discovered, to be further convinced of this result.
   Iron claims  the highest rank both from its value  and fre-
quent use.  Its application to domestic  purposes is so vari-
ous, and the forms in which it is used so diversified, that it
is hardly possible to conceive of communities in any degree
civilized, without their possessing some knowledge of its pro-
perties.  The  most savage nations with whose history we are
acquainted, appear totally ignorant of its importance.* The
existence of iron in the present United States appears to have

   f Several facts proving the existence of a volcanic tract in Lou-
isiana, are mentioned in Brackenridge's account of the minerals
of that country, *ide American Med. and Philos.  Register, vol.
2, p.  38.  Dr.  Mitchill also mentions  the fact  with  additional
proofs, in his lectures on natural history.
   * The arms  of the aborigines of North America were princi-
pally formed from siliceous stones ; those of the  Fegee Island-
ers appear  to  resemble  them, vide Warden's analysis of their
axe stones.  Med. Repos. vol. 13, p. 75.  " Man"  says Dr. Ro-
bertson, " was long acquainted with the other metals, before he
acquired the art of fabricating iron, or attained such ingenuity as
to perfect an invention, to  which he is  indebted for those instru-
ments wherewith he subdues the  earth, and commands all its
inhabitants."  History of America, book 4th. 
u
been known at a very early period to the colonists. In the year
1620, the company to whom  the province of Virginia  had
been granted, sent out 150 persons to erect three iron works.f
The success of this attempt is not stated.   In 1645, permis-
sion to make iron, was granted by the legislature of Massa-
chusetts, and in consequence works were erected in several
towns4  Nearly a century afterwards (in 1731) there were
in New-England 6 furnaces for hollow ware and 19 forges.*
In 1715, pig and bar iron were first made in Virginia,  and
the flourishing state  of the manufactories of this metal in the
colonies may be inferred from the fact, of the British Parlia-
ment in 1719, enacting several restrictive clauses unfavora-
ble to these works.1T   Since the  revolution, new mines have
been continually discovered, and in general worked to great
advantage.  At present there is scarcely a State, in which
iron is not found.  From actual enumeration it  appears that
in 1810, the furnaces, forges and bloomeries  in the United
States amounted to 530, of which this state  furnished  69.§
If they have increased with the same rapidity in other states
as they have in ours,  their number at this time cannot be
much short of six hundred.   The value of the iron and its
manufactories annually made in the United States, is estima-
ted by Mr. Gallatin at from 12 to 15 millions of dollars,f]
whilst the imported metal, in its  forms of bar-iron, steel, &c.
is supposed to average near four millions.  This statement
is highly encouraging even if it be compared  with the Eng-
lish iron trade.  Abounding in mines of excellent ore, and in
facilities for working  them, it is  still found that for seven
years (from 1797 to 1803) England annually imported about

  | Holmes' American Annals, vol. 1, p. 205.
  X Ibid.        -       -    vol. 1, p. S35.
  * Ibid.        -       -    vol. 2, p. 130.
  *\  Oddy's European Commerce, vol. 2, p. 286.
  § Mitchell's  view of the manufactures in the United States, in
the American Med. and Philos. Register, vol. 2, p.  413.
  || Gallatin's report on the state  of American manufactures in
1810. The  manufactures of iron  in the state of  Pennsylvania
amounted in that year to the value of 1^5,869,487.  (Mease's
Picture of Philadelphia, p. 80.) 
15
43,000 tons of iron.f  The value indeed of her mannfacteM
ries  consist principally in  labor.   The  exquisite state  of
workmanship to which the various forms of iron are brought,
and the extent of her commerce, places it among  the most
productive branches of national industry.   1 he metal which
is used in Great Britain in  the process of steel making, is
procured from the district of Roslager in Sweden.:}: It is ob-
tained from the ore, called magnetic iron stone, which is so
pure as to yield  from 80 to 90 per cent of iron. In due pro-
cess of time, the nation which furnishes this rich material, is
obliged to become a purchaser of the finished goods.  These
facts deserve the attention  of the enterprising in this coun-
try.  Sweden is much indebted for the high character, which
her staple commodity holds in foreign markets, to the care
that is bestowed in  its preparation.  The crown, as well as
the proprietors of iron works, interest  themselves in pre-
serving its reputation.*  A subject so intimately  connected
with domestic improvements, certainly deserves the foster-
ing care of government.
  The ores of iron which are found in this country, are for
the most parts, magnetic iron stone, brown hamatite, and bog
iron ore.%  The sparry iron stone has also been discovered
and used.   These different kinds are among the most valu-
able species of the  mineral.  They all  yield  an  abundant
per centage of ore, so as in most cases to bring a handsome
profit to the proprietors.   Several local circumstances con-
duce to this end.   The cheapness of charcoal, the almost
inexhaustible  supply that our forests promise, the beds of
coal that are continually discovering, are all  arguments in
favor of our nurturing this  domestic manufacture.  The on-
ly deficiency appears to originate from the want  of work-

  f Oddy's European Commerce, vol. 2, p. 290.
  X Jameson's  Mineralogy, vol. 2, p. 273. Chaptal calls it Rosal-
gia.
  * Jameson's Mineralogy,  vol. 2, p. 271.   The various regula-
tions adopted by the crown and the iron masters are noticed by
Oddy, and also in Portia's travels in  Sweden. Vide Pinkerton's
Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. 6th.
  § In noticing various minerals, 1 have adopted the names, and
in general the arrangement, used by  Jameson in his  system of
eryctognosie. 
16
men who are sufficiently intelligent, or acquainted with mod-
ern improvements.  The consequence  is, that the iron has
not been properly prepared, and holds in our markets a
comparatively small value, on account of its inferior quality.!,
A short period of time will doubtless  remedy  this defect.
Men of capital and information are taking these establish-
ments  into their  hands, and will press into their service
American ingenuity and talents, together with all the aid
that emigration affords.
  Although foreign iron, (particularly Russia and Swedes)
has in  general the superiority of character in our markets,
yet there are some instances in  which American  ranks
higher than either; this is particularly the  case with  that
manufactured  at  the Ancram  iron works in this state.  It
is said to be superior to any now in use for iron wire, chains,
&c. since it combines malleability and strength in  a re-
markable degree.  This kind of iron sells at a higher price
than either of the above.
  An enumeration of what has been effected in this branch
of manufactures,  will  evince  our  rapid  improvement, as
well as mark, what is  yet to be done.  Our domestic re-
sources at this time supply us with almost every article that
is needed in  agricultural labors.   Should it be found im-
practicable  at any  period to  procure iron  from foreign
countries, the present works would doubtles be fully com-
petent to meet the demand.   The various  implements
which are necessary in husbandry, and  the thousand uses to
which different forms of this metal are applied on  farms,
together with  those needed for domestic, and culinary pur-
poses, employ much of the active  industry of our citizens.
Various mechanical   occupations also consume  a large
quantity of iron.  Ship building is an art in  which  a  vast
amount is used.   The  contrast between our situation, half a
century ago,  and our  commercial  greatness  some  years
since, " when our  thousand sails whitened every sea, and vis-
ited every shore," is a proud proof of  our advancement in

  X This fact is noticed by Mr. Gallatin in his report.  Vide al-
so Col. Gibb's  notice of the Vergennes' iron works in Bruce's
Miaeralogical Journal, No. 2, p. 84. 
                             17

 naval  architecture.$  In some  instances  our progress is
 still more striking.   Gen. Hamilton in his masterly  report
 on manufactures states, that in the year  1790, there were
 imported into the United States 1,800,000 pounds* of nails.f
 In 1810, (though we still imported this article in considera-
 ble quantity.) there  were manufactured in this state  alone,
 nails to nec.rly the  same amount.  The making of cut nails
 is claimed as an American invention* ;  if this be the case
 the nation possesses the honor, as well as the advantage of so
 useful an improvement.  It appears to have  originated in
 the state of Massachusetts as early as the year 1787.§
   Steel is manufactured in several states|| from our own
 iron, where its  quality  will allow  it  to  be  done.  From
 causes already mentioned, foreign metal is principally used.
 We are still indebted to England, and probably  will be so
 a number  of years, for our cutlery, and the finer species of
 hardware.   The toy shop of Europe, as Mr. Burke styles it,
 must for a length of time furnish us with those articles that
 require many hands, and great labor in their construction.
   It has been suggested by several distinguished chemists,
 and among others,  by  the venerable Nicholson,! that it
 Would be highly advantageous, if the ore  of iron could  be
 immediately formed into steel, by  expelling some of its su-

   X Among the documents accompanying the report of the naval
 coir.mittee  made at the present session of congress, there is  an
 estimate of the expense of building a  74 gun ship, by Mr. Hum-
 phreys, a ship builder.  The whole amount of cost is estimated
 at g342,700.  Of this §39,100 is  put  down for  smiths' works,
 anchors, &c. more than 1-9 of the whole expense.
   f Page 83.  Williams and Whiting's edition.
   * By Gallatin, vide report.
   § In the town of Cummington, (Berkshire) they were first made
from hogshead hoop.  For these  and  several other important
facts I am indebted to Mr. S. Stafford, one of  the proprietors of
an extensive iron furnace in this vicinity.   [Since delivering
the address I have been informed by Mr.  Benjamin Peck,  of
Milton, (Saratoga county)  that the credit of the invention  is due
to Mr. Josiah Waterman, of the town  of Cumberland, in the state
of Rhode-Island.   It was commenced  as early as the year 1776,
and the first use to which they were appropriated was the mak-
ing of cards—Mr.  Peck is  now a partner in the iron  trade with
the inventor's son.]
   || New-York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Delaware.
  % Dictionary of  Chemistrv.  Art. Inn. 
18
per-abundant carbon.   The method at present in vogue it
tedious, and circuitous.  The  carbon is at first completely
removed in making bar iron, and afterwards, there is a cer-
tain  quantity re-incorporated  in the  preparation of steel.
The above project certainly appears  practicable, and  tie-
serves attention.   There are some ores which are peculi-
arly suited for this experiment.
   With  the provisions of war which are formed  from iron,
this country is  abundantly supplied.   At several establish-
ments, cannon, together  with balls and shells, are already
cast, and new ones  are  continually erecting.   Arms are
manufactured by enterprizing individuals, as also at the na-
tional repositories.  The founderies  for  heavy  macLineiy
such as  is used in mills,  steam boats, Sec.  deserve distin-
guished nptice.
   Among the various compounds of  iron,  there are  some
which deserve attention from their extensive employment
in the arts.  Iron pyrites, or sulphuret of iron, is one of
these.  From it the sulphate  of iron, or copper  as, an arti-
 cle much used in dying, is formed.   It is manufactured in
 large quantities in the states of New-Jersey, Tennessee and
 Vermont,.!  The process by which it is obtained is so sim-
 ple, that it requires but little ingenuity and care to prepare
 it pure.  The New-Jersey copperas is by many considered
 superior to the imported article.*
    The chromate of iron  has been discovered by  Mr.  Godon-
 in the vicinity of the city of Baltimore.   By  combining the
 chromic acid  with lead, a most beautiful pigment of a yel-
 low colour is  obtained.   In this form (chromate of lead) de-
  rived from the  above mineral, it has  several  times been
  used by coach painters in Philadelphia  and New-York, but
  the  small quantities which  are  found of the chromate  of

    f The quantity of copperas annually manufactured in  Tenn-
  essee is 56 000 lbs.—in Vermont 8000 lbs.  Mitchill's View of
  Amer. Manufactures, in Amer. M. 8c P. Register,  vol.2,  p. 411.
  By calcining copperas to a red heat, the crocus of commerce is,
  formed.                            ,          ,
   '  * Pyrites is found in otner states, besides those above enumer-
   ated, particularly in New-York and Massachusetts. 
19
 iron, and the great expense incident to its preparation, will
 probably prevent its extensive use.J
    Emery is said to have been lately discovered  in  Schoha-
 rie and Washington counties in this state.  It has also been
 found in South Carolina.  This substance is a compound of
 silica, alumina, and iron.  Its hardness is so great, that it is
 used for cutting and polishing metals and  precious  stones.
    There are several other  minerals which derive some  of
 their important  qualities, from minute  quantities  of iron.
 These will be noticed hereafter.*
    In the scale of importance Copper holds a station only in-

 ferior to iron.   Its history is however not  so  creditable  to
 American enterprize.  It is found  in the states of New-
 York,  New-Jersey,  Connecticut,  Massachusetts, Virginia
 and South  Carolina, and travellers also state that there are
 rich mines on the south side  of Lake Superior, within the
 American territory.   In many of these places,  the pre  is

   X I have understood from  Dr.  Mitchill,  that the prepared
 chromate of lead, sold at §2  per oz.  He also mentions in his
 lectures, that a ferrugineous oxide of chrome has been discover-
 ed near Philadelphia.
   * The length of the observations on iron has necessarily pre-
 cluded the author from noticing some important facts.  These
 may in some degree be condensed in a note.   Iron sand, a spe-
 cies of magnetic iron stone, is said to occur in Virginia and from
 its purity makes excellent bar iron. (Jameson's Mineralogy,  vol.
 2, p. 276.) Ochrey red iron stone, or red ochre ; this is probably
 the mineral mentioned by Dr. Williams  as  found in Vermont,
 and much used in the manufacture of nails.  (History of Ver-
 mont, 2d edit. vol. 2, p. 360.)  The compact brown iron stone  is
 said to occur in this state.   A mineral, supposed by Mr. Cutbush
 to be the blue iron earth of Werner, is found in New-Jersey.  It
 makes a beautiful  pigment.  (Bruce, No.  2,  p. 87.)   The man-
 ufacture  of Prussian blue  ought not  to  pass  unnoticed.  It is
 produced by a union of the Prussic acid with iron—The former
 subscance is the result chiefly of the decomposition of animal sub-
stances, at a high temperature. As a paint the prussiate of iron
 is highly  valuable,  and certainly can be made with advantage in
this country.  It may be proper to add, that the exertions lately
made in this and adjacent states, to manufacture iron wire,  ai*
highly praise-worthy.  Its value cannot be fully comprehended
witltout recurring to the extent of our domestic manufactures of
wool. After reviewing this article, I find that hollow ware is
not explicitly mentioned.  This is a very  important and exten-
sive branch  of workmanship.  The American founderies have
almost destroyed the demands for European casting.*. 
20
rich, yielding in some instances  75 per cent of pure metal,
together with some silver, yet at present there is not a cop-
per mine worked in the United States.   Congress in 1800,
authorized the  President to employ an agent for the pur-.
pose of exploring the  country near Lake Superior.  This
enterprize,  which promised us an acquaintance with our
mineral riches, was abandoned,  before the agent  had com-
menced  his journey.f   In 1719, a copper mine was discov^
ered in New-Jersey, by Mr. Schuyler, situated between the
Passaic and Hackensack, which still bears his name.   The
ore was found to be  rich, but was shipped to England in its
raw state, in consequence of the prohibitory  regulations  of
the British  government.  Before the  year 1731, the propri-?
etor had exported to Bristol, about 1386  tons.  The mine
continued to be worked with success, until the commence-
ment of our eventful revolution, since which period the at-
tempts made to work it have failed.^
   Copper in its various mineral forms  has  been found  in
different parts of the country,  and many elegant specimens
adorn the cabinets of American mineralogists.*  The copi
per used in the  arts is however altogether imported.   It is
procured from Cornwall in England, and from South Amer-
ica, principally in the form of sheets and bolts. In this state,
it is applied to many  important purposes.   It is used  in
very large quantities in ship building.  Coppering vessels
is found to preserve   them Jonger  from  the  effects  of
warm climates, as also from the attacks of the Teredo Na-
valis, which destroys  the wood.  It  facilitates sailing, by
presenting a smoother  surface.
   The various mordants, which have this metal for a basis,
such  as the sulphate, and acetate  of copper,  commonly
known by the names of blue vitriol, and verdigris, are alto-
gether obtained from foreign countries.  The latter is pro-
cured from France,

   f Med. Repository, vol. 6, p. 211.
   X Latrobe's  account  of the Schuyler copper mine in New-
Jersey.  Med. Repository, vol. 6, p. 319.
'  * Vide the additions  of the American  editor to the article
topper, in Rees's Cyclopedia, for an account of the various species
of copper found in the United  States. 
St
  Copper is also extensively used in combination with zinc,
tin, and other metallic  substances.  These alloys, together
with their application in manufactures,  will be mentioned,
after noticing the original metals.
  Zinc  has been discovered in the state of Pennsylvania,  in
the form of sulphuret, or blende  as it is styled  by mineralo-
gists.   It is found  on the banks  of Perkiomen  creek, near
Philadelphia.*   Dr.  Bruce  lately analyzed an ore of this
metal, brought from New-Jersey, and calls  it red oxide of
zinc.   It is observed at various iron  mines in that state.
From the examination of that accomplished mineralogist, it
appears that 76 parts out of the  hundred are  pure metal.
He adds  that it is  preferable to  other ores, since it forms
with copper, an alloy superior in malleability and colour.f
   Zinc is imported from Europe under the name of spelter,
which is a mixture of brass and  zinc, and from India under
the denomination of  tutenage, which from  analysis appears
to be almost pure metal4  From the  circumstance of its
malleability at a high temperature, a property lately discov-
ered, it is probable that zinc will become an important arti-
cle in manufactures.  Its  principle  use at present,  arises
from its combination with  copper, forming the alloy, called
brass.
   Tin is procured  from England, South America and India,
It is  imported  in  the form of sheets, which is iron tinned
over, or of block tin.  From the first are manufactured ves-
 sels for culinary and domestic uses.  This branch of indus-
try is almost solely monopolized by the states of Connecti-
 cut and Massachusetts.  It is estimated that in the former,
tin plates and iron wire to  the amount of 8250,000, are  an-
 nually used in this manufacture, and the annual value of the

   * Woodhouse's analysis of the Perkiomen zinc ore, in  Coxe's
 Medical Museum,  vol. 5, p. 133.  Concerning blende,  professor
 Jameson observes,  " it sometimes, though extremely rarely, is
 worked as an ore of zinc."   This  probably sums up the contro-
 versy between Drs. Woodhouse and Seybert, on this subject, in
 Coxe's Med. Museum, vols. 5 and 6.
   f Bruce's M. J. No. 2, p. 96.
   X Chaptal's Chemistry applied  to the arts and manufactures,
 vol. 2, p. 210,  Lond.  edit. Vide a  very curious correspondence
 on tutenage and spelter in the Med. Repos. vol. 15, p. 107. 
22
tin plate works of Massachusetts, according to the enumer,
ation of 1810, is §37,000,1   These wares are sold  through*
out the union, from Louisiana to Vermont.
  Tin  is  also used in coating articles made from iron, to
remedy the inconvenience arising from the facility with which
the latter metal rusts.  In  this form,  many things are pre-
pared, particularly  such as are required in horsemanship,
such as harness, stirrups, bridles, &c.  Several small estab-
lishments of this nature are springing up in various parts.
  The principal application of block tin, is  its  union with
lead and  antimony,  forming the compound called pewter,
from which  various articles are made.*
  Among the alloys of copper, a notice of those  most im-
portant, as well as most commonly used in the United States,
will be sufficient.
  Brass is  the most valuable.  It is generally formed, by
calcining  the  calamine (the ore of  zinc) with charcoal, and
afterwards fusing the compound with plates of copper.  Af-
ter  refining  it, the brass becomes an article of commerce,
and is imported into this  country, principally from Great
Britain, whose mines of calamine in Derbyshire, supply a
large proportion of the brass works in Europe.f  This al-
loy is found to be infinitely more ductile than the original
metals, and  is in consequence drawn into wire, from which
pins, seives, &c.  are manufactured.  In  this country it is
principally used in the making  of stills, and other vessels.
Buttons are also made in small quantities-!
  The union of copper and tin  forms bell  metal.  A foun-
dery for casting  bells was erected more than forty years
since in Massachusetts,!! and the business has been contin-
ued in that state ever since ; in  1810, the value of those cast

  ± Morse's Geography, article Massachusetts.
  * It is stated in Mr. Spafford's Gazetteer of the state of New-
York, (now in the press,) with which I have been favored by the
author) that  ores of tin have been found in the Highlands, and
in Essex and Clinton counties.
  f Chaptal's Chemistry, voL 3, p. 285.
  § The union of copper and zinc by various  processes, and in
different proportions, forms pinchbeck, tombal, tinsel, manheim-
gold, &c.
  H Holmes' Annals, vol. 2, p. 296, 
Was g8,5 55.  Similar establishments exist in Philadelphia;
and in the vicinity of this city.
  Brass guns, as they are styled, are formed from a similar
compound ; the zinc is generally considered a useless addi-
tion.   They are cast at several founderies.
   The tinning of copper vessels for domestic purposes,  is
a common occupation.   From the deleterious properties  of
copper, it has been proposed to substitute zinc ; and the pro-
ject certainly deserves  encouragement-!
   Tin is found to have  a great affinity for mercury, and has
in consequence been used in silvering lookijjg glasses. This
trade is conducted to  a considerable  extent  in  our large
 cities.
   Traces of several  other  metals have been  observed
 throughout the United States.
   Antimony has been found in the state of Connecticut, and
 indications of its existence are said to occur in the southern
 states and Louisiana.  When it is recollected that in con-
 junction with lead, it forms type metal, its value appears man-
 ifest.  Without it the art of printing, an art, which rescued
 the world from barbarism, cannot be conducted.!
   A mine of Cobalt, combined with arsenick,has been discov-
 ered in North Carolina, and another of the same kind (white
 cobalt)  exists at Chatham  (Connecticut.)  In  its  state of
 oxyd, this metal is used for giving various shades of blue to
 glass and enamel.   All the zaffre and smalt (the names by
 which it is known in commerce) used  in this business are at
 present made  in Germany.*  It is contemplated to  com-
 mence a manufactory  of smalt at the North Carolina mine.
    Manganese in the state of black oxide, has been discover-
  ed  at Ancram4 and  several other places in this state,  and
  molybdena exists in various situations.  Arsenical pyrites are
  found in the district of Maine.   To Mr. Hatchett we are in-

    § Various proportions of copper and tin, form bronze and spec-
  ulum metal.                            .
    f  Chaptal mentions that the best proportion for type metal is
  80 parts of lead, and 20 of antimony. The antimony renders the
  compound harder, but if too much be added, it becomes brittle.
    * Vide Rees' Cyclopedia, art. cobalt, for a detail ot their man-
  ufacture ; also Nicholson's Dictionary of Chemistry.
    X By  Dr. Bruce, vide Med. Repository, vol. 11, p- 442. 
                           24
debted for the analysis of columbite, containing a  meiiti
once  supposed peculiar  to this country, but  which  the
latter investigations of Wollaston have identified with tan-
talum.^ Menachanite, rutile, and negrine, all species of titan-
ium or menachine, have been observed.!
  In Silver and Gold we fortunately are not abundant.  To
our citizens indeed the discovery of a bed of gypsum, or of
salt, would be of infinitely greater use than the possession of
the Peruvian mines.  The  latter metal has  however been
found in Virginia  on the surface of the ground, and  in Ca-
barras county in North  Carolina—In 1805 a quantity  of vir-
gin gold was brought from the latter  place to the national
mint, and coined into money to the amount of SI 1,000.   It
still continues to be found in creeks, and the sand bordering
on them.  In coinage, copper is added to the  gold to give
it tenacity.
  The manufacture of plated ware, and jewelry, is very ex-
tensive, and valuable.   Mr. Gallatin states the annual value
of the first alone, in Philadelphia, at 8100,000.  This trade
flourishes in every city on the continent.
   It remains to notice a metal of great value in the arts,
viz. Lead.   It has been discovered in several of the northern
and middle states.*  At Perkiomen in Pennsylvania, amine
is worked, yielding an ore which produces  70 per  cent of
metal, together with some silver.   Lead mines also exist on
the Kanhawa  in  Virginia; but the  greatest arc in Lou-
isiana,  in which  country it is said that the  metal is found
over a tract 60 miles in length, and 20 in breadth.§   From
analys is, it appear to  bequite  pure.||  The establishments
for smelting the ore are not sufficiently matured, although

   X Bruce No. 1.   Appendix. Gov. Winthrop sent this mineral
to Sir Hans Sloane, whose collection forms a part of the British
Museum.
   f Maclure's Observations on the Geology of the United States
in the American Philosophical Tnp.;isections, vol. 6, p. 421.
   * At Northampton (Mass.)  vide  Sililman's  account of this
 mine (Bruce, No. 2, p. 63.) and in New-York and New-Jersey.
   § Vide Amer. M. and P. Register, vol. 2,  p. 33.  Also Stod-
 dert's sketches of Louisiana.
   j| Vide Meade's Analysis of an ore from Louisiana, (Bruce's
 Mineral. Journ* No. 1, p. 7.) 
25
 lead to the amount of 912 tons was prepared in 1807.  A
 few years will probably accommodate the supply to the de-
 mand.   At present, the metal, together  with its manufac-
 tures, and red and white lead, are imported to  the amount
 of 2,375 tons, although the two latter articles are manufac-
 tured in considerable quantities in this country.*
   Various species of lead ore have been discovered, such as
 the molybdate, (yellow lead ore) sulphate, (lead vitriol) and
 muriate of lead (Kidd) at Northampton,! and the phosphate
 of lead  (green  lead ore)  at Perkiomen,}: but the  common
 ore  found, and indeed the  only one  worked as an article of
 commerce and manufactures, is the sulphuret of lead or ga-
 lena.  After roasting it to expel the sulphur,  it is mixed
 with charcoal, and reduced in a furnace.  Silver which is
 an important result, is obtained by cupellation; and the
 oxyd which remains in the form of  a semivitrified mass, is
 stiled litharge,  a substance  used together with minium'
 masicot, and ceruse, (all oxides but of different colours)|| by
 painters, potters and glass workers.
   The principal manufactures of lead are those of shot, and
 6ipainter's colours.  The former are prepared by pouring
 the melted metal from a great height, and afterwards sorted
 by passing them through seives of various sized holes. The
 establishments for this purpose, at Philadelphia and in Lou-
 isiana, are said to yield  600 tons annually, sufficient for the
 late demand.  It has now,  since the declaration of war, in-
 creased, find thus offered a new argument for exploring and
 Working our lead mines.
   Painter's colours are prepared in several places.  Besides
 these, lead is formed in sheets for the covering of houses,
 and into door and window weights, and alloyed with copper,
 forms what is styled pot metal.
   Mineralogists have generally  divided their kingdom into
 four classes.  Metals ; Inflammable Fossils; Saline  Sub-

  * Gallatin's Report.  § By Dr. William Meade, Bruce 3, 149.
  X By Mr. Godon (Bruce 1, 30.)
  J] Mipium,  red;  massicot, yellow ; ceruse, white  ; litharge,
 reddWi yellow, or orange.  Minium is used in making flint glass,
and for the glazing of potterv.
                           C 
26
stances, and Earthy  Substances.   In conformity to that ar-
rangement, having noticed the metallick substances which
are found in our country, I proceed briefly to mention those
belonging to the other divisions, which are native.
  Coal is an article arranged under the class of Inflammai'Ics.
This substance, which is daily becoming more valuable  on
account of the increasing scarcity and  price  of wood,  he 5
been found in various situations.  It is now  generally  al-
lowed, that it has a vegetable origin, but theorists diifcr as
to its formation.   The Wernerian attributes it to an  aque-
ous process, while the Huttonian supposes heat acting  un-
der partial compression, to be the cause.f  The phoenome-
na attending the discovery of coal in this country may pro-
bably strengthen one or the other of these hypotheses. Coal
in a general way may be classed into two divisions.  BLumin-
ous coal, a kind which is highly inflammable, and burns with
a vivid flame.  This species is used for fuel, and answers the
required purpose ; but for various mechanical occupations,
such  as the smelting of iron ore, drying malt, burning  of
lime, and making earthen ware, coal  is required that  will
give  a  strong,  and  steady  heat,  without evolving  any
smoke or bituminous vapour. For this purpose, the English
coal, which  is generally of the bituminous kind, is exposed
to a great heat, and  its volatile parts expelled.  It is then
called Coke.   Some years since the Earl of Dundonald sug-
gested a plan of saving these volatile products, which  was
adopted  by  him with great success.:}:   The bitumen  was
condensed into tar, and it is said that  by  this method  the
English  marine, was for  several years, supplied  with  that
important item in ship building.! Another species of coal is
that which is found destitute of bitumen, and in consequence
is used in the arts without  any previous preparation.   Of
this nature  is the  Kilkenny coal, which  from analysis is

  f Vide Murray's System of Chemistry,  2nd edit. vol. 3, p. 636.
For some curious facts connected with this subject, vide  the no-
tice of, and extracts from the paper of Dr. Nugent, on the pitch
lake of Trinidad, in Edin. Rev. No. 37, art. 9.
  X 120 tons of coal yielded 3 1-2  tons of tar.  Nicholson's Dic-
tionary.
  !  Chaptal's Chemistry, vol. 3, p. 342. 
27
found to contain 97 parts  of pure carbon out  of the 100,*
and the anthracite or glance coal (blind coal.)   Both these
kinds are found in the United States.  The former exists in
Virginia, on both sides of the James' river, over a tract of 15
or 20 miles.   It has already become an important article in
domestic commerce.  The latter has been discovered in the
state of Rhode-Island, in a state almost as pure  as the Kil-
kenny coal ; t and in Pennsylvania, at Wilkesbarre,  and on
the Lehigh.i   Indications  of this mineral are found in the
states of New-York, New-Jersey and Maryland.
   la  searching for coal, it is of importance that the persons
engaged, should be well acquainted with the proper indica^
tions.   In this country, much expense has often been unne,
cessarily incurred, in consequence of the ignorance of min-
ers.  An enterprise of this nature ought to be committed to
a practical mineralogist, who has not only been conversant
with the coal countries in England, (the rich reservoirs of
this mineral,) but also  understands the substances  which
usually  form the  super-incumbent strata.  Much useful in-
formation may be gathered from books, particularly Wil-
liam's History of the Mineral Kingdom, from which  an ex-
tract has been re-published in this  country by  Dr. Bruce.§
   Should our present supply of Sulphur from  Italy be at
any period  stopped, it might doubtles  be obtained insuffi-
cient quantities from the decomposition of pyrites and other
metallick minerals.^  It is said to exist in large quantities in
 the volcanic tract in Louisiana.   Sulphur springs are found
in various states.  At the Clifton Springs in Ontario coun-

  * Kirwan's analysis of various species of English coal, in Mur-
 ray's Chemistry, vol. 3, p. 635.
   + Carbon 94, ashes 6.  " Vide » an enquiry into the  chemi-
 cal properties and character of that species ot coal lately discov-
 ered  in Rhode-Island, &c." Published in the 3d supp. to Barton 8
 Med. and Physical Journal, p. 221.
   ± Strata of coal are found at Pittsburgh, and probably extend
 into the  state of Ohio.  It is also found in Tennessee, and the In-
 diana and Illinois Territories.
   & Bruce's M. J. No. 3,  p. 166.
   I  Sulphur  is obtained from pyrites in Saxony and Bohemia
 f Nclvoison.) A cheap way of making sulphur from metallick mine-
 rait practised at Ramelsburgh in the Hartz (Germany) is men-
 tioned by Chaptal, vol. 2, p. 271. 
28
ty, it appears to be  a deposition from the sulphureous wa-
ter, and is  obtained  in large quantities on the ground.  In
some specimens, from that place, Mr. Godon  detected the
sulphuric acid, in a free or uncombined state.*
   Sulphur is applied to various important uses in the arts.
It is an ingredient in the making of gun powder, its vapor is
used in whitening wool  and silk, and from it the sulphuric
acid or oil of vitriol is often made.   In a single establish-
ment at Philadelphia, about 200,000 lbs. of it  and other
acids, are annually manufactured.f
   Amber has  been found in New-Jersey,^ and Petroleum,
under  the name of  Genesee or Seneka  Oil, is obtained in
the western district of this state.  This substance in its pur-
est forms (when it is called Naptha) is used in Persia, and
Japan, where it  abounds, for lighting streets, and several
other domestic purposes.§
   Mines of plumbago, or black lead (graphite, carburet of
iron) are said to occur at Brimfield (Mass.) and in Virgin-
ia.   It is also found in various parts of this state ; although
it is generally understood to be too hard and coarse for the
purposes  to which it is commonly  applied, which is the
making of pencils.  The purest plumbago, and the article
used in commerce,is obtained from Borrodale (Cumberland)
in England.   In  conjunction with clay, it is used in manu-
facturing crucibles for the smelting of metals.
   Under the denomination of Saline Substances is included
those combinations of acids with alkalies and metals, which
are found native.  The salts of  alumine, although an earth,
are generally  included.
   Muriate of Soda, or common salt, deserves the first notice.
This invaluable mineral is discovered in the state  of rock
salt, or is obtained from salt springs or sea water.||  Of the

  * Vide Medical Repositoiy, vol. 12, p. 200.
  + Gallatin's  Report on American Manufactures.
  X Bruce's Mineralogical Journal, No.  1, p. 31.
  § Jameson's Mineralogy, vol. 2, p. 47.
  || In some instances salt is annually  reproduced ; as in the
valley of salt from which the city of Aleppo is supplied.  Vide
Russel's Natural History of Aleppo, 2d  edit, quarto, vol. 1  p. 
                           29
first variety, the rock salt of Cheshire,* and the salt mines
of Weileicska in Poland are examples.! It sometimes forms
hills ;  such is the case at Cordova in Spain, and in Molda-
via4   In this country the mineral is found in a state of so-
lution in salt springs.   No traces of rock salt have yet been
discovered, although it appears to be the united opinion of
mineralogists that such springs communicate  with, or ori-
ginate from beds  or strata of that substance.§   The princi*
pal places in the  United States, where salt has been found
are the following.  In the state of New-York, in the.coun-
ties of Onondaga, Cayuga, Genesee,  Seneca, and Ontario.
In  1800, these produced 42,754 bushels, and 1810,  543,000.|J
In  Virginia and Tennessee—In Ohio, on the Scioto—In the
Indiana Territory, on  the  Wabash.IT   In Kentucky, where
5  springs supply 36  works, which manufactured in 1810,
324,870 bushels.**   Salt is also found in Louisiana.   This
mineral  is also made from sea water by spontaneous evapo-
ration.   Works for this purpose have  been  established at
various places on the  coast.   At Sagharbor, in Massachu-
setts,ft and in North-Carolina.^ With all these resources
we are still obliged annually to import three millions of bush-
els of salt.§§ of which more than one half was obtained from

  * Viae Holland's Survey of Cheshire.
  f These mines have  been worked since the year 1251.  They
are 900 feet t'eep,  and  extend more than a league from east to
west. ''Jameson's Mineralogy,  vol. 2, p. 15.)   X  lb*0".
  § is.;dri's Mineralogy, vol. 2,  p. 9.
   || The following is the amount made in each county, takea
from Giiodenow's Statistical Manual of this State, p. 9.
|n  Onondaga,     453,840)   I am informed by Dr. Kirkpatrick,
    Cayuga,        54,000 | superintendent of the Onondaga Salt
    Genessee,       1,400 | Works, that a million of bushels of
    Seneca,         25,000 ; Salt  might be made annually at
    Ontario, about   8,760 .the  works  in the western district.
                -------------I
                  543,000j
   1 130,000 bushels were made in 1810, on the Wabash.
   ** Morse's Geography, art. Kentucky.
   ■j-f In  Massachusetts there were 118,757 bushels made in 1810,
 and the works extended over 468,198 feet (Morse.)
   XX Works covering  275,000 feet were not long  since erected
 there, (Gallatin.)
   §§ Gallatin's letter on the importation of salt, Med.  Repos. voL
 12, p. 285. 
30
Great Britain,* and a large proportion of the remainder from
Spain and Portugal.  Among those various foreign kinds,
the bay salt of the latter countries is preferred, for preserv-
ing meat.  It is made by  spontaneous evaporation from sea
water.f  Should our foreign importation be cut off, the de-
mands for domestic consumption, must principally be  sup-
plied, from the sea coast.  The improvement of the estab-
lishments there, ought to  be  effected by all possible means,
and the best method of doing this, will be by a comparison
of the various modes adopted in foreign countries.   Those
pursued in England, France, on the Mediterranean, and in
the West-India Islands, may  all be found in different writers
on the subject.^
   Sulphate of soda, or Glauber's salts, is also a constituent in
sea water.  It is  procured  from  it in large  quantities, so
much so that the v^aters of the Mediterranean yield it nearly
in the proportion of 155 parts of their own weight.§  This
substance is obtained from the mother liquor or bittern, (as
it  is called,) remaining  after the common salt has been
made.   At  several  works on the sea coast, it is manufac-
tured in very large quantities, so as at present to exceed the
demand.||  Soda might however be extracted from it, were
not that alkali altogether supplanted by potash, in this coun-
try.
   Sulphate  of magnesia is obtained from  mineral springs,
and in this  country is  not ir.ifrequently made from sea wa-
ter.  It is stated  to have been found native, in  caves in
Munroe county (Virginia.)?

  * Vide " an analysis of several varieties of British and foreign
" salt,  with a view to explain  their fitness for different commer-
" cial purposes, by William Henry, M. D. F. R. S." in Mease's
Archives of Useful Knowledge, vol. 2, p. 117.
  X The mode of manufacturing bay salt is stated  in Mease's
Archives, vol. 2, p. 345.
  X For  an  account  of the modes  pursued in England,  and
France, vide Chaptal's Chemistry, voL 4, 160 et seq ; in Bavaria,
vide Nicholson; on the Mediterranean, and in the West-India
Islands, vide Mease, vol. 2, p.  345.
  § Chaptal's Chemistry, vol. 4, p. 10.
   || In 1810, 334,238 lbs. were  made  in Massachusetts.
  *[ Coxe's Medical Museum, vol.  1, p. 95. 
31
  The nitric acid in union with potash forms another impor-
tant mineral. Salt pctre, or Nitre, as it is called, is observed at
various places in Europe and Asia, in the form of an efflor-
escence, on  limestone  rocks  and caverns,* but the article
used in commerce is generally the result of artificial pro-
cesses.   It  is usually  made from the decomposition of ani-
mal and vegetable matter, formed into beds, and exposed to
the action of the air.  The oxygen of the atmosphere, and
the azote originating from the disorganization of the materi-
als used, unite and form nitric  acid, which is combined with
the potash of the beds.t   This compound undergoes puri-
fication, and is then used in manufactures.  Nitre was made
in 1810, in several of the southern  states together with
Massachusetts  to  the  amount of near  half, a  million of
pounds4 In the state of Kentucky, calcareous  caves are
found  in considerable number, containing this mineral in
combination with the earth.  From this, it is extracted by
lixiviation,  and  afterwards boiled to the crystalizing point.
This is the  mode commonly pursued both in this and in for-
eign countries.   In France, however, at the eventful crisis
of her revolution, it was found too tedious, and indeed insuf-
ficient to supply the armies with this important constituent
in the  making of gun powder.   Purification  by repeated ab-
lutions, which carries off  the  deliquescent salts, was  then
adopted with success, and from that period to the present
has been universally followed in that country.§  In one cav-
ern alone, in Kentucky, it is calculated by  Dr.  Brown,  that

   *  This is annually re-produced.   The theory of its  formation
is stated in Murray's Chemistry, vol. 3, p. 453.
   +  Vide an account of the modes pursued in Prussia, Sweden,
Malta, and Switzerland, for the making of nitre, in Chaptal, vol.
4, p. 128.
             X Virginia,                  59,175
              Kentucky,                201,937
              Massachusetts,             23,600
              East Tennessee,           17,531
              West Tennessee,         144,895
                                       447,138 lbs.
   Mitchill's View, &c.  A. R. vol. 2, p. 296.
   § Chaptal's Chemistry, vol. 4, p. 13S. 
32
 there is one million of pounds of nitre.*  Nitre is also rridri-
 uiactured in Virginia,  and Tennessee, where it is found in
 limestone caves.  A natural saltpetrous earth has been late-
 ly discovered in the former  state, along  the banks of the
 Potomac.f
   In the making of gun powder, it is of the first importance
 that all the materials be perfectly pure, as well as raided in
 proper proportions.  Above all, it is necessary that no for->
 eign  substances be contained in the salt petre.  If sulphate
 of soda be united  with it, the compound is found to efflor-
 esce, whereas a combination with the nitrate of lime causes
 deliquescence.  The  dampness of American gun powder
 has already been complained of,± and can alone be remedi-
 ed by a strict attention to the purity of the ingredients.   It
 is extensively manufactured in several states,  particularly
 Delaware and Maryland,§ and though it is still imported  in
 considerable quantities, may doubtless at any period be pro-
 duced in proportion to the demand.
   The sulphates of iron and copper, when they do  occur na-
 tive, are generally the result of the spontaneous decomposi-
 tion of iron and copper pyrites.  T he sulphate of zinc or
 white vitriol is made from blende.
   Alum or sulphate of alumine may be obtained from the
 decomposition of pyrites, and is not unfrequently manufac-
 tured  from aluminous shale  or schistus, a substance found
 at various  places in this  country.  Its important use is as a
 mordant in dying.
   The muriate of ammonia or sal ammoniac is made in Phi-
 ladelphia.

  * Description of a cave  on Crooked creek, with remarks &c
 ™ "ltnLand  S"n powder; by  Samuel Brown, M. D. (Amer*
 Philos. Trans, vol. 6, p. 235.)
  f Med. Repos. vol. 12, p. 296.
 i* Jidc ^l; MitchilI's ,e»er  on this subject to the Secretary of
 the Navy, Med. Repository, vol. 6, p. 426.                 *
  ^Gallatin's Report.  The mills at Brandywine makes 250 000
 SS1 niU?y' and tW? near Baltim°re 450,000.  According to
 Mitchill, the gun powder mills in 1810 amounted to 207  and the
quantity annually made  to 1,450,000 lbs.   Modes of preventing
the explosion  of mills are detailed in the Med. Repository  vol
 12, p. 389, and Mease's Archives, vol. 2, p. 403   P°SUor^' voL 
33
   I proceed to notice a few  of the minerals  belonging to
 Earthy Fossils, the fourth  and last class, and first of Lime.
 This substance exists in nature in various states of combina-
 tion, all of which are appropriated to important purposes in
 the arts.   No one however is  used more frequently than
 the carbonate.  It exists in large quantities over every part
 of the globe, and is often the basis of whole districts of coun-
 try.*  Its forms are  so various, that it has received many
 different  appellations.  Lime stone is used principally in ma-
 sonry, and is also applied in the manufacture of glass and
 smelting  of  iron  ore.  By calcination,  the carbonic acid is
 expelled.  Until this  substance  was  discovered in this
 country, the deficiency was severely felt.   In  1644, the fort
 on Castle Island, (Massachusetts) fell into premature decay,
 as it was  built from  lime burnt from oyster  shells,f a car-
 bonate also, but not sufficiently endowed with the property,
 of hardening  by exposure to air, which the native mineral
 possesses.  Lime is now found of a superior quality in the
 state of Rhode-Island, from which all the adjacent states are
 supplied.  It is often met  with in other parts.  In its com-
 pact, hardened forms, combined with clay, silex,  and often
 iron, it is used for building.!  To this class is to be referred
 the freestones so frequently found in large quantities.  Some
 species of it are apt to peel and crumble by exposure to air
and water, and particularly by  the operation of cold on a
 moist atmosphere, as is the case in  England.   For  the
building of temples to their gods, and palaces to their kings,
the Egyptians used granite and porphyry, substances dura-
ble as the earth, and which will still remain, the wreck of
past ages, after modern architecture shall have crumbled
into ruins.§   Marl and calcareous slate also belong to this
species.   The one being a  carbonate combined with a cer-

  *  Such  is the case in the south of England.
  f Holmes' American Annals, vol. 1, p. 331.
  X  Westminster Bridge is built of Portland stone, a species of
lime stone, (Kidd, vol. 1, p. 21.)
  § Vide  a paper  " on  the  application  of mineralogical and
chemical science to the selection of stone for the purposes of du-
rable architecture," by Robt. Bakewell.  Mease's Archives, vol, 
434
tain proportion of clay, so as to crumble on exposure to air,
and  the other, the same compound, in a more  hardened
form.  Marls are used in agriculture, principally on moist
land.   Pits of them exist in Orange county, and  traces  in
various other places.  The calcareous slate (lapis tegularis)
is used in large quantities for the covering of houses and
for flagging.  It abounds in several districts.  Dolomite  or
carbonate of lime and magnesia  is not uncommon.  But the
most elegant variety of carbonate of lime, is granular lime
stone or marble.  Its colour, when pure, is perfectly white,
but it is  often found tinctured with various shades.   Quar-
ries of this substance are very numerous in the United
States.   In  Vermont  they  extend over a large district  of
country, and they have been opened in most of the northern
and middle  states.  The  beauty of many of the kinds can
hardly be excelled.   Besides its uses in architecture, it de-
serves notice, as the basis of the sublime art of statuary.
The marbles of our country are as pure, and indeed have
almost every requisite in  as great perfection, as the far famed
ones of Italy.  The encouragement of this branch of the fine
arts ought not to be neglected.  Indeed, a genius for paint-
ing and  sculpture  appear to be the birth right of republi-
cans.  Grecian glory still lives in her Venus De Medicis,*
and  Apollo  Belvidere,  and at the present day, American
painters hold a high rank in the scale of excollenee.  Cen-
turies have  tried the experiment, and time has conclusively
decided, that if ever a Phidias or a Praxiteles are to be  ri-
valled, their competitors must arise in this quarter of  the
globe.  These arts ought to be  fostered, if in  no other way
than as  merely useful ones.   They animate  genius to  its
best exertions, reward the soldier's deeds, and transmit to
posterity an almost breathing  transcript of the heroism, the
virtues and the talents of  their forefathers.   The  want of
patronage  is a disgrace  to a free state.  It stamps that  re-
public with the seal of the  basest ingratitude, who has suf-

   * The Venus De  Medicis, and Venus  of the Capitol are of
Parian marble.  (Kidd.) 
S3
 fered  her greatest  and best son to lie low in  dust, " no
 marble tells us where."
   Sulphuric acid and lime united form gypsum.  From that
 obtained  at  Montmatre  in  the  vicinity  of the  capital  of
 France, the plaister of Paris used in commerce, is formed.
 Sulphate  of lime is  found in a state of great purity in  On-
 ondaga* and Madison counties, and on the borders of Ca-
 yuga lake.  The quantities procured there arc very great,
 and supply many parts of this and adjacent states.  During
 the last year, it is calculated that 6000 tons have been  sent
 into Pennsylvania from the vicinity of Cayuga lake.f  It is
 also discovered in New-Jersey.   Besides its very important
 use in agriculture, it is employed for the formation of stuc-
 co, and in modelling, if it be of uniform texture, and suffi-
 ciently delicate colour.  Several beautiful specimens of fi-
 brous gypsum have been found at Onondaga.
   Fluate  of lime or fluor spar has been noticed in New-Jer-
 sey, Connecticut, New-Hampshire,^ and Virginia §   Orna-
 mental vases of various colours are made from it in Derby-
 shire, (England) where a mine is found.   The acid is used
 in etching on glass.
   Mr. Godon  has observed the phosphate of lime in Penn-
 sylvania.||   In the province of Estramadura, in Spain, it
 forms hills, and is used in building.
   Many other varieties of calcareous fossils  have been no-
 ticed ; they are however unimportant in the arts.   I cannot
 however leave this subject, without noticing the elastic mar-
 ble found  in Massachusetts.1T  Beautiful specimens of this
 uncommon mineral are in the possession of the mincralogi-
 cal committee.**

  * Vide Warden's analysis of Onondaga sulphate of lime, in the
 Med. Repos. vol. 13, p. 76.
  | This information was communicated to Simeon De Witt, Esq,
 by J. Geddis, one of the corresponding secretaries of the Society,
  X Bruce, No. 1, p. 32. § Ibid, No. 2. p. 79.   || Ibid, No. 1, p. 30.
  H A notice of this substance by Dr. Meade is contained in
Bruce's M. J. No. 2, p. 93.
  ** I am informed by my friend Dr. Noyes, Prof, of Chemistry
and Mineralogy at Hamilton College, that a substance resemb-
ling chalk in all its properties, has recently been noticed in sev-
eral towns in Oneida county.  It has been used instead of  lime
in masonry. 
36
   Magnesian fossils are quite  common.  Among those no-
ticed, are the tremolite, actynolite, chlorite in its earthy and
slaty forms, together with  talc.  Serpentine  is  found  in
Rhode-Island,* also at Hoboken in New-Jersey. This place
is probably the richest in magnesian minerals, of any in the
northern  states.   Beautiful specimens of  amianthus  are
found, and some  years since, Dr. Bruce discovered at that
place, native magnesia, a substance altogether unknown on
the  eastern continent.  Asbestos and steatite are frequently
met with.  In general it may be observed, that fossils of
this  class, are objects of curiosity, rather than of importance.
Serpentine, steatite or soap-stone,  and some  others,  are
however used  in the  arts.   They are occasionally turned,
and  polished into vessels of various shapes.   At Zoblitz in
Upper Saxony, there is an extensive manufactory of the
latter article.t
   Zircon, which  was once  supposed  peculiar to Ceylon
and  Norway, has  been detected at Trenton (New-Jersey) by
Mr. Conrad.|  It is used as a gem.
   To the same purposes are appropriated the emerald and
beryl, minerals arranged under the denomination of Glucine
fossils, that earth forming a constituent part of their compo-
sition.  Emerald is found near Boston and  in  Virginia.—
Beryl or aqua-marine in the vicinity of Northampton (Mass.)
in Maryland, and in Pennsylvania.^
   Barytes has been discovered  in its  form of sulphate, in
Sussex county, (New-Jersey) and in Maryland.  The crys-
talized variety or  baroselenite has also been observed.||
   The varieties of Alumine which are found in this country,
   *  Med. Repos. vol. 8, p. 62.
  t In the returns of manufactures for Massachusetts for 1810,
there is  inserted  the  following,  " Soap  Stone  Manufactory
gl3,000."  From the best information I am able  to obtain,  the
above substance appears to be a species of potstone, or lapis\lla-
ris.  It is procured from New-Hampshire, and is often used in
the making of fire places, and stoves.
  X  Bruce, No.  3, p. 127.
  § Dr. Luce, a member of the mineralogical committee, has in
his collection, specimens of both minerals from Massachusetts.
  || Vide Seybert's catalogue of American minerals in CoxeV
Med. Museum, vol. 5, p. 265. 
37
are very numerous, and they form the basis of many impor-
tant manufactures,  Ochres  of various  colours, have  been
observed in several states.  In these minerals, the  clay is
united with minute portions of iron, which gives them their
various tinge of red, brown, and yellow.*   These  shaded
may be varied by the  application of heat.  They are em-
ployed for crayons, but  are principally used  as  paints, in
union with the dying oils, for the purpose of protecting ed-
ifices from the effects of air  and rain.   Common clay is used
in the manufacture of bricks,t and pipe clay, which is  found
in Vermont, receives its name from its use.   Potter's clay
is a common production. \ and fuller's earth,  a species so
highly  valued in Great Britain in the manufacture of wool-
len cloth, that its exportation is forbidden by an act of parlia*
ment, is said to have been discovered in South-Carolina.§
In addition to these, may be mentioned loam, a compound
bf great importance  in soils, and felspar, which  in its de-
composed state, is used in the making of porcelain.  P'rom
the analysis of Mr. Cloud,  an officer in  the United  States
mint, it appears that this mineral exists at Monk ton in the
State of Vermont.||  It is this  substance under the name of
kaolin,  or petunze, from which the  Chinese  porcelain is
made.
   The several clays that I have noticed, are used in the mak'

   * The Terra lemnia found in the Island of Lemnos, is a red
ochre.  Brown  ochre is often called umber, from a place in It-
aly, where it is found,  (Kidd.)  The difference between boles and
ochres, consist, in the latter containing most iron.
   | 25 million were made in one year in Msssachusetts (Morse.)
   X Clays are generally composed of silex, alumine,  and oxyd of
 iron—Common brick  clay contains considerable  iron.  Potter*
 clay has generally some lime  in its composition, which occasions
 it to vitrify on exposure to heat.  Pipe clay  on analysis,  resem-
 bles porcelain clay, but the siliceofts particles are not sufficiently
 fine for the latter use. The clay of Limoges, from which French
 porcelain is made, consists of  silex, alumine, and oxyd of iron.
   § Fuller's earth contains a certain proportion of alumine, (not
 more or less than a fourth or a fifth of the whole mass) so  as to
 render it diffusible through water.  It is also necessary in order
 to answer its use, that the siliceous particles be  very  fine, else
 they would wear out the texture of the  cloth to which they are
 applied,  (Kidd's Mineralogy, vol. 1, p. 176.)
    (| Med. Repos. vol. 14, p. 404. 
38
 ing of earthen ware  of various kinds, and also in the fabri-
 cation of articles for numerous domestic  purposes.  The
 coarser kinds of ware are made in almost every  district in
 this country, directly on the clay used in their composition.
 Several establishments for the finer ones, have lately been
 erected, and in Vermont, an incorporated company intend
 to manufacture porcelain.*
   Mica or  isinglass  is in general classed  with aluminous
 fossils.   Until within a few years, it was altogether used in
 the Russian navy as a substitute for glass.   From its great
 elasticity it is prevented from shattering at the  explosion
 of cannon.f  It possesses another useful property;  that of
 resisting heat, and for this reason is often employed in the
 construction of stoves and lanterns.
   To these may be added schistus, and hornblende, substan-
 ces  often  occurring.  Clay slate (argillite of Kirwan,) is
 the  variety used  for  writing.    Whet slate  or  honestone
 (Novaculite)   also belongs to this  class, and is  not un-
 common.   The honestone  of  commerce is brought prin-
 cipally  from  the Levant.   Cyanite  or sappare (Disthene
 of Haiiy) jasper, and granatite, (Staurotide) have all been
 observed.
  The last primitive earth forming a constituent  in the
 composition of minerals, which remains to be noticed, is
 Silex.  A few of the species deserve to  be mentioned, such
 as quartz, rock crystal, and amethyst.   Shorl and tourmaline
 are  often found, and  the indicolite or  tourmaline azure of
 Haiiy, a rare  mineral in  Europe, has not long since  been
 discovered at Goshen (Massachusetts.)}:  Calcedony, zeolite,
 melanite,§ semi-opal, garnet, hornstonc, woodstone, are all na-
 tive substances.|| Flint, s,o important in war, has been ob-

  * For an elaborate detail of the compositions used for enamels
 in the  manufacture  of Delft and  Wedgewood's ware,  vide
 Chaptal's Chemistry applied to the  arts and manufactures, vol.
 4, p. 242.
  f Jameson's  Mineralogy, vol. 1, p. 34.  I have to regret my
 inability to avail myself of the volume of this author on  Oecon-
 omical Mineralogy.
  ± Bruce, No. 2, p.  123. § Bruce, No. 1, p. 31.
  || Seybert's catalogue of American minerals, in Coxe's Med.
Museum, vol, 5, p. 155. 
39
served in New-Jersey and Pennsylvania.   Numerous quar-
ries of burr stones (arid quartz of Kirwan) have been open-
ed in several states.   They have  almost superseded the de-
mand for French burrs.
  A few observations on the manufacture of glass will close
this subject.
  This art, considered in a mineralogical point of view, is
an extremely complex one.   A union of silex and the al-
kalies form  the  essential  ingredients,  Other  substances
such as salt, lime and manganese, are also  used; clay of
a good quality is required as the  basis of  glass house  pots,
and  crucibles.   These various minerals are all indispensa-
ble in the establishment  of a glass house. In this country,
our works are becoming of  great value for the supply of
natural wants.   A few years since there was manufactured
sufficient to  meet one half of the demand,  (27,000 boxes)
and  the remainder  was imported.*  This deficiency  must
now be supplied at home.
   In. enumerating the various factories, those of our own
state deserve the first notice.  In 1810, the annual value of
their products exceeded $700,000.   They amount as  far as
my  information  extends to  nine; eight for  the making of
window glass,  and  one for the  manufacture of  bottles in
Oneida county.f  Of the former, two blow crown glass, and
 six, cylinder glass.|  The crown glass made in this state, is
 generally considered equal to any in this country, and bids
fair to rival, if not surpass the imported article.  That made
in Boston has a high character.  At that place,  retorts, and
 other articles used in chemical and  pharmaceutical  opera-
 tions are made.   Flint glass in its various forms is made at
 Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania.)
   The materials used in the works in this state, are obtained

   * Gallatin,  f This business will be commenced  during the
 ensuing summer at the Hamilton factory in our vicinity.
   X The crown glass factories are at Deerfield (Oneida county)
 and at Rensselaer (Rensselaer county.) The cylinder factories
 are the following: one at Geneva (Ontario county ;) one  at Pe-
 terborough (Madison county ;) one at Oneida (Oneida county ;)
 one at Hamilton (Albany county ;)  one at Rensselaer (Rensselaer
 county ;) and one at Woodstock (Ulster county.) 
40
from various places.   The clay is procured from the banks
of the Delaware, near Burlington.   The siliceous sand em-
ployed in the crown glass factories, is brought from Lanes-
borough (Mass.)   In Oneida county, it is  found in several
places of sufficient purity for the making of cylinder glass.
That  used  at the Hamilton  factory is obtained near  Port
Elizabeth, (New-Jersey,) on the bank of a  small river which
empties into Delaware Bay.   The mineral used is potash,
and the colouring matter, manganese, which is preferred on
account of its cheapness, to cobalt.*
  I have, I fear, exhausted your patience, without doing jus-
tice to my subject.   Its extensive nature will  plead my ex-
cuse, for the many mistakes  and omissions  that doubtless
have been observed.
  Such is the state of American mineralogy in its infancy.
Such the progress of science and the arts in that country
from which two centuries ago micaceous sand was exported
as gold dust.\   Its manhood may proudly  be anticipated, by
recurring to the persevering industry, the  unconquerable
enterprize  and the extraordinary ingenuity of our citizens.
  On a review of the subject, one deduction appears mani-
fest.  It is the intimate connexion that subsists between ag-
riculture, commerce and manufactures.   They  are mutual-
ly dependant on each other.   Conjointly, they form the pil-
lars of the temple of society,  and are in  fact, the foundation
of human enjoyment.  Through their united  effects,  fish-
ermen's  huts  have  been transformed into  emporiums  of
the world, nations have arisen from  obscurity, and the earth
has been made a fit dwelling place for  the destined sons  of
immortality. The man  who would overthrow  the one,  in

  * For the information respecting the Hamilton and Rensselaer
factories, I am indebted to Messrs. James Kane, and John Reid,
of this city ;  for that concerning the western establishments, to
George Huntington, Esq.  member of assembly from Oneida
county.
  f " In 1607, vessels were loaded by miners with a  glittering
earth dug from a bank of sand near Jamestown (Virginia) which
they vainly hoped contained gold." Holmes'  American Annals,
vol. l,p. 157.  I have called this substance micaceous sand, as I
am acquainted with no other mineral that answers more nearly
to the above description. 
41
order to exalt the other, is a foe to the human race.  In him
the heart as well as the head must be disordered.
  None such are here present.   We are united in one com-
mon  aim  of fostering and encouraging whatever  may  be
useful to our country.  The situation of that country is pe-
culiarly favorable to such exertions.  Our horizon though
cloudy, is not enveloped in the lurid darkness of the Eastern
hemisphere.  In one state in Europe, every new invention
which substitutes machinery for manual labor, inflames civil
discord, while we hail it as a valuable addition to our nation-
al riches.  In others, the Arts and Sciences are only culti-
vated that they may be  accessary to plans of military des-
potism, and that contending  nations may wield with fiercer
destruction the infernal machinery of war.  Who from this
survey, where the exertions of human  intellect appear cur-
sed with unprofitableness, will not turn to his  own country,
as the last defence and shelter of civilization and human
happiness? Who will  not lend his best aid in conducting
her to the summit of national greatness ?
E
 
 
                   APPENDIX.




 I CANNOT permit this production to leave the  press,
 without adding some observations on the views and objects
 of the Mineralogical Committee of the Society for the Pro-
 motion of Useful Arts.
   This body was constituted  in the winter of 1812, for the
 purpose  of collecting and preserving such  minerals as
 might be procured by them from  this, and adjacent states,
 as also to analyze such  as might  appear new and extraor-
 dinary.  The committee at present consists of the following
 members.
               JAMES  LOW, Chairman,
               VINAL  LUCE,
               JACOB  GREEN,
               T. ROMEYN BECK.
               BENJAMIN FORD, and
               JAMES  RODGERS.
  A meeting is held every fortnight during the recess of
the Society.  Their intentions will be fully illustrated by
republishing the following circular printed in 1810, by  or-
der of the Society.
  " The Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts of the State
of New-York, having observed that the Science of Mineral-
ogy, which is so intimately connected with, and so  eminent-
ly subservient to most of the  Arts, and which has been so
extensively and successfully cultivated in most other coun- 
44
tries, is almost entirely neglected in our own state ; have en-
deavored to do away that imputation, by passing a resolution
for collecting and preserving such specimens of Earths and
Metallic Ores, as our State may afford.
  In order to carry this desirable object into effect, the So-
ciety for the Promotion of Useful Arts, invite the Members
of the Society as well as the lovers of the Science in every
part of the State, to forward to the Recording  Secretary at
Albany, such specimens of Earths, Earthy Fossils, and Me-
tallic  Ores, as they may severally meet with, and  request
them to accompany all such specimens with as particular an
account of its natural (Geological) situation as possible, and
to forward with the  specimens a portion of their matrix, or
the stony or earthy substance in which they were imbedded.
  The Society intend to arrange and preserve these speci-
mens in a proper cabinet for the inspection and  use of  its
members, and those who may have contributed to it."
       By Order of the Society,
                    JAMES  LOW, Recording Scc'ry.
  March  \4th, 1810.
  Any Minerals transmitted to either of the Members of
the Committee, to any of the Members of  the Society resi-
dent in Albany, or to either of the Corresponding  Secreta-
ries, will receive due notice, and a particular Account  of its
mineralogical character (if required) will  be  given.  It is
however to be understood? tluu  at least two specimens of
the same  mineral must be forwarded, one for  the  Cabinet,
and the other for the experiments that may be deemed  ne-
cessary to be made on"it.  It is hoped that the Members of
the Society, resident in differt.-jit parts of the State will  exert
themselves to forward the wishes of the Committee. 
 
 
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