GEOLOGY. 245 



China then we may expect that it will be found the chief source 

 of the considerable quantities of that metal used in manufacturing 

 the bronze implements that have been found in such numbers, 

 during late years, in the lakes of Switzerland. 



"In review, we see that China is well supplied with coal and 

 iron, — the two minerals especially necessary for her future devel- 

 opment, — that these minerals are widely distributed over almost 

 her whole area, and that she has thus the requisite materials for 

 manufacturing her own cotton, without being dependent on the 

 looms of England. Again, China possesses her share of the pre- 

 cious metals, and yet nearly all her ample •material resources re- 

 main to be developed, though she has been the most civilized 

 nation in all the East, and the most populous empire the world 

 has ever seen." 



MINING. 



Coal in the Colorado district is a matter of great importance. 

 According to the " Denver News," Gen. Pierce stated to the Board 

 of Trade that besides the bed of 31 inches, discovered near Fort 

 Dupton, on the Platte, there were also tv/o beds on the Cache-la- 

 PoLidre. One of these beds was 4 feet thick, and the other about 

 18 inches. The *' Salina Herald " savs that in digging a well on 

 the east side of the Smoky Hill River, less than two miles from 

 town, a bed of good bituminous coal, 18 inches thick and about 20 

 feet below the surface, was cut through. 



The copper mines of Africa have of late years been attracting 

 considerable attention. The copper lodes in the Insizwa Moun- 

 tain, about 12 miles from the southern boundary of Natal, are re- 

 markable. Some comparatively small workings have been carried 

 on about 80 miles from Fort St. John. The deposit here is de- 

 scribed as about 18 feet thick by 2i feet in depth. From this 

 description it is evidently not a vein, but a hed. This is clearly in 

 a state of decomposition, since it is said the ore is replaced by a 

 yellow ochreous deposit {gissan of miners) containing nodules of 

 very pure carbonate of copper or malachite, varying in size from 

 a pea to masses of 10 or 15 pounds' weight. Some miners from 

 D'Urban penetrated deeper into the mountains, and found a simi- 

 lar deposit. Portions of considerable masses have been found to 

 contain as much as 56 per cent, of metal, the average, however, 

 being from 30 to 40 per cent. Silver was found to the extent of 

 5.30 ounces to the ton of copper, and a tl'ace of gold was dis- 

 covered. 



Chromium is stated to have been discovered in large quantities 

 in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Chromate of iron, of fine quality, 

 has also becui found in Victoria. We understand samples of this 

 mineral and antimonial ores of good quality have been shipped to 

 this country with a view to determining their real commercial value. 

 In a cave in the mountain of Galenstock, which, it is well known, 

 separates the cantons of Berne and Urich, a valuable deposit of 

 topaz has been recently found. — Quarterly Journal of Science, 

 April, 1869. 



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