1892.] NEW YOEK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 47 



ing of more importance each year. There are about three hun- 

 dred and fifty yards which manufacture building brick alone, 

 giving an annual production of about 1,300,000,000 brick. The 

 income from this branch of the clay industry' alone amounts to 

 about $8,500,000 annually. 



In most cases the yards are situated so as to afford the great- 

 est ease and facilitj' of working. Along the Hudson River the 

 claj' is rarely hauled over 300 feet, and this on a down grade; 

 the barges for transporting the brick can be brought to within 

 a few feet of the kiln. All the Hudson Eiver yards mold their 

 brick by the soft-mud process; indeed, this is the one commonly 

 used in most jDarts of the State. 



The Hudson River yards send their product chiefly to New 

 York City. The yards in the north an;:! west portion of the 

 State are usually situated on some line of railroad, and their 

 product is chiefly locall}' used. In many of these we find the 

 artificial drying of the brick to be the favorite method. They 

 use in most cases stationary kilns. 



The re-pressed brick made at Newfield are found to stand one 

 of the highest pressures on record, viz., crushing at 240,000 

 pounds. The Syracuse paving brick will stand even more. 

 These were tested on edge. 



In the western portion of the State many drain-tile are made. 

 Sewer-pipe are manufactured at several localities, the native 

 clay being mixed with a certain proportion of Jersey fire-clay. 



Roofing-tile, terra cotta and paving-brick are among the clay 

 products of the State. 



Shale is another substance which has come into use within the 

 last few years for the making of brick. In this State the Ham- 

 ilton, Chemung and Salina are being employed. 



The shale is pulerized first in a dry-pan to a very fine powder 

 and then ground with water, and in this state is jilastic and can 

 be molded into brick, etc. It very often gives better results 

 than the clays. 



Future experiments will no doubt show the availability of 

 shales of other formations than those now used for the manufac- 

 ture of clay-products. 



Certain it is that we have in this State an abundant supply of 

 clay and a still more abundant store of shales. 



The Astronomical Section having organized with Prof, Rees 

 in the chair, Dr, M. I. Pupin read a paper entitled : 



