324 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



was extremely rich, affording 60 oz. to the ton. No continuation of 

 this quartz vein could be found in the valley or surrounding hills, but 

 at some distance above a similar vein occurred in which the proportion 

 of gold was much smaller. In another locality a more than average 

 amount of gold had been obtained from a lode which appeared to 

 have been the upper part of a vein. The writer had never heard of 

 " nuggets " being found in mining operations. 



Mr. Strickland stated, that it was a popular opinion with the Sibe- 

 rian miners that auriferous veins were richest near the surface ; but 

 this was not the case with other metals, nor had any reason been 

 assigned for the belief. The materials in mineral veins had been de- 

 posited by chemical action from water flowing through them, and 

 probably rising up from great internal depths. He suggested, that 

 the diminution of temperature or of pressure near the surface might 

 have caused a greater deposition of gold in the upper part of the veins. 



Prof. Harkness remarked, that lead veins in Scotland were as rich 

 low down as in the upper part. 



GOLD DISCOVERIES. 



Gold has been found in considerable quantities in Arkansas, on the 

 banks of the Ouachita river. Gold in small quantities has been found 

 in the valleys, on the hill-tops, and indeed almost everywhere where 

 search has been made. Scarcely a rock can be found that does not 

 contain some sign of gold. 



Gold in Maine. During the past year, gold has been obtained 

 in the towns of Madrid and Salem, Maine, on a small stream, known 

 as the Sandy river. The amount which a man is able to obtain in a 

 day, averages from one to three dollars in value. The gold is found 

 in fine black sand, in pieces ranging from the size of a wheat kernel 

 to the smallest perceptible particles ; though pieces are said to have 

 been found as large as a kernel of corn. 



Gold in Vermont. Rev. Zadock Thompson gives the following 

 account of the gold deposits in the town of Bridgewater, Vermont. 

 He says : " The gold is found in the range of talcose slate and steatite, 

 which is known to extend through the entire length of the State, from 

 north to south. This range passes through Bridgewater near the 

 middle, and the gold locality is but a short distance from the center of 

 the township, towards the southwest. The gold is disseminated very 

 sparingly in veins or seams of quartz, and is associated with the sul- 

 phurets of lead, iron and copper. The strata of slate, between 

 which the quartz is interspersed, dip some 55 degrees towards the east, 

 and the seams of quartz vary much in thickness, and are somewhat 

 irregular. Gold has yet been found in only a few of these seams, and 

 most of which has been obtained was from a single seam, in which 

 several hands are now at work. This is from ten to twenty inches 

 wide, and some portions of it are filled very abundantly with galena, 

 or sulphuret of lead. At a blast -made in this seam while I was pre- 

 sent, more than one hundred pounds of pure galena were thrown out 



