298 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



granite of the Sierra Nevada was entirely devoid^of any deposits of gold 

 ore. The chief and original matrix of the gold being unquestionably the 

 quartz rock, which is in juxtaposition to the granite, and which rises 

 higher on the sides of the chain than any of the slaty rocks with 

 which it is associated, there could, he said, be no doubt that the im- 

 mensely rich and vast accumulations of coarse drift, which were piled 

 up like gigantic mole-hills on the slopes below the quartz, had all been 

 derived by ancient convulsions and great former debacles from the 

 auriferous veins in that rock. Whilst he admitted that the wealth of 

 these vast heaps of ancient rubbish did, through the hacking down 

 and trituration of the mountain side, afford a very copious supply of 

 gold, which it would probably take manv years to exhaust, he still 

 retained his opinions, as expressed at various public meetings in the 

 last two years, that the idea, now becoming prevalent in America, that 

 the mining in the solid rock would be found more profitable than dig- 

 ging in the drift, would prove fallacious, and that, on this point, the 

 gold veins of California would prove to be similar to those of all other 

 countries, in being richer toward the surface than when followed down 

 to great depth. 



PRODUCTION OF THE RUSSIAN GOLD MINES. 



WE find in the Triester Zcilung a letter from St. Petersburg, which 

 gives exactly, and apparently from the best sources, the yield of the 

 gold mines in the Russian Empire. In the year 1823, the product was 

 105 puds, or $3,937,500, the pud being worth $37,500; in 1833, it 

 had risen to 379, and in 1843, to 1,242 puds. Since then it has been 

 as follows : 



1844, . . 1,277 Puds. 



1845, . . 1,304 



1846, . . 1,629 



1847, . . 1,741 



a 

 it 



1848, . . 1,727 Puds. 



1849, . . . 1,634 " 



1850, . . 1,510 " 



1851, . not yet known. 



With respect to the present year, (1851,) during the first six months, 

 the mines in the Ural yielded 170 puds, or the same as in 1850. Ac- 

 cording to this, the gold crop of the empire will not exceed $57,000,000 

 for the year ; a foiling off of seven and a half millions from 1848. This 

 is caused by a tax laid since then upon the yield of private mines. This 

 tax varies from five to thirty -five per cent, upon thejSroduee ; and, as 

 nine tenths of all the mines are carried on upon private account, the 

 result is a very considerable diminution in their working. This tax is 

 in addition to" that for the support of the police and military force kept 

 up in the gold region, which averages one quarter of the value of the 

 gold extracted. 



THE QUICKSILVER MINES OF CALIFORNIA. 



THE richest mine yet discovered is located in the Santa Clara Valley, 

 about twelve miles from San Jose, which is worked by an individual 

 company, who hold possession under the old Mexican title ^of ' de- 

 nouncement." At this mine a large number of furnaces are in opera- 



