362 Analysis of Scientific Books and Metnoirs. 



Tel, moreover, which is separated by washing, bears evident marks or' at- 

 trition, of a limited duration, sufficient to round its edges and angles, but 

 not sufficient to destroy them : the fragments are not ovoitlal like the peb- 

 bles of rivers, but are still flat, retaining their original form, except that 

 their edges are dull, and their angles blunted. In short, the whole ap- 

 pearance is such, as would naturally result from so soft a substance as vir- 

 gin-gold, being knocked about among such stern associates as quartz and 

 greenstone. 



The appearance of fusion, supposed to be exhibited by the gold, has 

 inspired the idea among the miners, that the small pieces which they ob- 

 tain have been melted out from some ore that lie6 disguised somewhere in 

 the vicinity. This idea has frequently made them the dupes of imposi- 

 tion. The Mineral Rod, charms, and other follies, have had their reign 

 here, and the first is still held in some estimation. The common rocks 

 and stones of the country have been tortured by a new race of alchymists, 

 who have imagined them to be the ore of gold, veiling, under some dis- 

 guise, the characters of the precious metal. A great degree of eagerness 

 also pervades the country on the subject of the metals in general. The 

 minerals, thrown out in excavating pits in search of gold, consist chiefly of 

 quartz, greenstone, and hornblende mixed with chlorite, and afford little 

 that is interesting to the collector of specimens. Almost the only sub- 

 stance which I met with, that was worth preserving merely as a specimen, 

 was Pyritous Copper. Of this I saw some elegant fragments. It occurs 

 in a gangue of quartz, and resembles that found at Lane's Mine at Hunt- 

 ington, Con. (A??ier. Journal of Science, vol. i. p. 316.) A vein of it 

 occurs in slaty clay, six miles east of Concord, in Cabarrus county. This 

 ore had been subjected to numerous experiments, on account of the belief 

 that it was the " ore of gold," above mentioned ; and, although the expe- 

 riments did not lead to the discovery of gold, yet a " German miner and 

 mineralogist" had, it was said, detected platina in it. On searching in- 

 to the evidence of so unexpected a result, I was informed that a white 

 metal was produced from this ore, which was not lead, nor tin, nor silver, 

 but answered perfectly to the description of platina, although, as they ac- 

 knowledged, it was easily fused, and burned with a blue flame. I sus- 

 pected it to be metallic antimony, but still could perceive no signs of that 

 metal in the ore. I requested a minute account of the process. — " The 

 materials, namely, the ore, charcoal, borax, &c. were put into a crucible 

 — Emetic tartar, in considerable quantity, was added to make the ore 

 " spew out" the metal. Ipecacuanha was afterwards tried with the same 

 view, but was not found to be strong enough " to make the ore vomit." 

 After the account of the process, it was not difficult to account for the 

 production of antimony, it being obviously derived from the Emetic 

 tartar. 



At Concord, near the western limit of the gold country, the metal is 

 found in small grains in the streets and gullies, after every rain ; and the 

 gullies frequently disclose the stratum of gravel and mud, well known as 

 the repository of the gold. Washings, on a more limited scale, are con- 



