4 Geological and Miscellaneous notice of the 



by this view. I refer to excavations made for a shot tower, belong- 

 ing to Daniel Whitney, Esq. upon the Wisconsin, about sixty miles 

 below this, to the politeness of whose agent, I am indebted for assis- 

 tance and facilities during my examination. The 'drop 5 is one hun- 

 dred and eighty two feet. The building is situated upon a cliff, ter- 

 minated by the river, of which the lower projection extends some- 

 what beyond the upper portion, which is fifty five feet in perpendic- 

 ular height, and upon the verge of which the building stands. From 

 the bottom of this portion of the cliff, a vertical shaft is sunk one 

 hundred and twenty seven feet, through variegated sandstone, which, 

 for about four feet in one place, is so much indurated, as to become 

 as hard as flint. This shaft is about six feet in diameter at top, and 

 eight feet at bottom. There is a horizontal shaft or ! drift' at the 

 base, meeting the vertical one, of eighty seven and one half feet in 

 length ; in which the sandstone appears in horizontal laminae of dif- 

 ferent colors, textures and thickness, presenting an agreeable aspect 

 to the eye. The stone is so hard as to bear exposure to the atmos- 

 phere ; is of uneven fracture, and composed of siliceous particles, 

 united by a cement of the same substance, very much* attenuated. 

 As sandstone appears on most of the elevations, and is subject to dis- 

 integration, the surrounding soil is siliceous rather than calcareous, 

 although at a distance the reverse is often, if not generally observed. 

 It is believed, although observations sufficient to demonstrate the 

 fact have not been made, that the sandstone is underlaid by secon- 

 dary limestone. I entertain this opinion and ground it in part on 

 the following circumstances. The soil in this vicinity resembles 

 that of a great part of the mining country which lies south of this, 

 and there, shafts have been sunk more than a hundred feet, at which 

 depth secondary limestone was the prevailing rock. From this com- 

 parison, the enquiry suggests itself to the mind, whether mineral 

 beds may not be found within the space this view embraces. If the 

 following indications — the above-mentioned resemblance of soil,* the 

 small particles of galena which have been found, transported per- 

 haps by the natives, and prevalence of minerals often associated with 

 galena are conclusive, I can bear evidence to their existence ; yet 

 these indications convince me only of the probability of the existence 

 of mineral lead in this district. 



* The prevalence of what is called 'mineral weed/ which abounds where min- 

 eral lead (or lead ore) is found, although mineral lead is not always found where 

 it abounds. 



