ALLEGHANY. 



ALLIER. 



**r Pfttsburg are opened along the aide* of tho bill* at 

 of MO feat ACT* the level of UM Ohio, and the strata are 

 quit* horiaaoul. This oosJ-fonnation UbeUevod to be of great extent, 

 indication* of to having been ulnetred 100 mile* above PitUburg. 

 Natural springs, extremely rich in salt, are found all along the 

 lope of UK- Appalachian *ystem ; and from Onondago, in 



wvrtcrn alope 



I-ouiaia 



h 



the earth ha* been penetrated to 



any ooosidarabl* depth, salt water ha* been found : in some places, 

 when the boring was from 300 to 400 feet, the water rushed up with 

 so much force, a* to rise like a fountain several feet above the 

 surface of the ground. Salt work* are established at intervals along 

 the whole line of country from Onondago to within a short distance 

 uf Natchituches in Loumana, and the quantity of salt annually made 

 In the valley* of the Alleghanie* there are a considerable 



number and variety of mineral water*, which are much resorted to 

 during the summer months by invalids from all parts of the State*. 

 Thermal springs also occur, as in the county of Bath, in Virginia, th 

 western boundary of which county is the Allegheny range. 



; ortion of the earth of equal extent possesses so many natural 

 advantages as the country between the Alhghaniee and the Mississippi : 

 vast stores of coal, iron, limestone, and salt ; the land intersected m 

 every direction with navigable riven, affording the utmost facilities 

 for the construction of canals ; and a direct communication by water 

 with the sea. 



The secondary formations of Europe, between the coal-measures and 

 the chalk, seem to be of very rare occurrence all along the Atlantic 

 Slope. In New Jersey and Delaware there is a very extensive deposit 

 of an argillaceous man, containing however but a small quantity of 

 lime, which, from the included fossils, has been considered to be an 

 equivalent, in point of age, to the chalk of Europe. It reaches from 

 Ss" to 40* W N. lat, having the ocean on the east, and being 

 bounded on the west by primary strata, on the south by the tertiary 

 deposit* to be presently mentioned. It coven upwards of 4000 

 square miles, and is for the most part remarkably level It is found 

 in many places farther south, but covered by the- tertiary strata. 



.1 the foot of the most easterly range of the Appalachian 

 fountains, a tract of low country, of variable breadth, extends to 

 the shores of the Atlantic. By low we do not mean flat, for the 

 surface is diversified by bills of moderate elevation, interspersed 

 amid widely-extended plains. This tract u composed of a series of 

 tertiary deposit*, Three distinct formations hare been made out, 

 and called the Lower, Middle, and Upper Tertiary, being distinguished 

 from each other by including distinct species of fossil shells. The 

 Lower contains chiefly extinct species, the Middle a mixture of extinct 

 specie* with others still inhabiting the coasts of the United States ; 

 the Upper contains scarcely anything besides the remains of existing 

 specie*. These formations collectively form the Atlantic margin of 

 the United States, from Sandy Hook in New Jersey to the peninsula 

 of Florida, whence they skirt the Gulf of Mexico to the Mississippi. 

 The lower tertiary is met with at the western boundary of the Atlantic 

 Slope ; the upper tertiary extends to the shores of the ocean. This 

 last also occupies by far the greatest extent of surface, extending 

 from 100 to 150 miles west from the sea. Thus we arrive at the 

 reraerrshln conclusion, a* ha* been observed by Mr. Murchison in 

 spoking of Mr. Conrad's work on Tertiary Shells, that the vast 

 portion of the American continent, covered by the upper tertiary 

 deposit, must have been raised from the bottom of the ocean since the 

 tin* when the xisting.species of mollusca occupied the adjoining 

 a***. These tertiary formations do not in all places occupy the 

 surface ; they are covered in many situations by great accumulations 

 of gravel, sand, and other alluvium. In these have been found the 

 remain* of extinct quadrupeds, such as the mastodon in New Jersey 

 and North Carolina, the megatherium in Georgia, and extinct species 

 of the elephant in several place*. 



Among the unstretified rocks, granite*, sienites, and serpentines 

 occur abundantly in the Northern States; and in detached locali- 

 ties, but Us* frequently, as far as the southern extremity of the 

 system. Trap rocks of different kinds are found in many places, and 

 nmetiBvi* m the form of columnar basalt, but there is not a trace 

 of recent volcanic action throughout the whole of the system of the 



There are both iron and lead mine*. Gold has been found in tho 

 UU* of North Carolina and Tennessee. The gold country of North 

 Carolina Us* on the southern side of the state, and is spread over a 

 fa** of not less than 1000 square miles. The prevailing rock is a 

 which form* a sono more than 20 mile* wide; it has 

 ' bed* of silicious slate, sad both are traversed by 

 It is in these veins that the gold appear* to exist, but 

 all that i* found is in the form of grains and nuggets of 

 V*""'? * alluvium which covers the rocks. It ha* bean 

 in considerable quantities in the mountainous part* of the 

 tale of Georgia, not only in the alluvium, but also in vein* in the 

 usuallT in quarto T.^ ^ tal<late, and mica-slate, 

 arisdlnr ironpyriu*. There have been found in Georgia the 

 **>**were carried on by some people before the 

 iropeana, nnsksM ius. of a shaft and excavation* in a large 

 <|wruv*t. with part of a furnace. MM! . tools, 



In the natural state of the country, that is, when it was urst 



discovered by Europeans, a vast and almost unbroken forest spread 

 over and around this great mountain-system, reaching to the Atlantic 

 Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, far beyond the St-Lawrence River, and 

 westward beyond the Mississippi. The most valuable tree* are 

 several species of oak, pine, and hickory, and throe or four specie* of 

 maple, one of which, tho sugar-maple, U <>xtromely valuable. The 

 liriodendron, a kind of magnolia, flourishes in such luxuriance of 

 growth as to be called the pride of the western forest*. The great 

 Weymouth pine is one of the most beautiful of the North American 

 forest-trees, attaining it* greatest magnitude and perfection in the 

 more northern regions. It* trunk it often of the diameter of 5 or 

 6 feet, rising smooth and straight from 60 to 80 feet, and terminated 

 by a dense conical top. It forms a striking feature in the forest 

 scenery of Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, and some parts of 

 Canada; rising by nearly half its elevation above the summits of 

 the other trees, and resembling, like the palms of the tropics, a forest 

 planted upon another forest Descending from the Alleghanies into 

 the valley of the Ohio, we find near the summit of Laurel Kidge a 

 change in the aspect of the forest. The deep hue of the hemlock 

 spruce, the Weymouth pine, and other trees of the family of conifene, 

 is exchanged for the livelier verdure of the brood-leaved laurel, the 

 rhododendron, and magnolia. 



ALLEGHANY, a river of North America, the most important of 

 the two head-streams of the Ohio. The united waters of the Allegheny 

 and Monongahela, by their confluence at Pittsburg on the western 

 boundary of Pennsylvania, form the Ohio. The Allegheny rises 

 within five miles of Lake Erie, and, fed by numerous tributaries, 

 pursues a very winding course, in a general direction, S. by W. to 

 Pitteburg. Its sources are the extreme north-eastern tributaries of 

 the Mississippi basin, and flow from the highest part of the Ohio 

 valley. The Allegheny is navigable for boats up to Oleen, in the 

 state of New York. By the extension of the Genessee Valley Canal, 

 which crosses the Erie Canal to this place, there will be direct water- 

 communication between New York, Lake Ontario, end the Ohio. 



ALLEN, Bog of. [Kino's COUNTY.] 



ALLEN, or ALIN, or ALYN, a river which rises in Deijl.i^lisliir.-. 

 and flows by a most circuitous conrse through Flintshire in North 

 Wales; it ultimately falls into the Dee, a few miles below Holt 



ALLENDALE, Northumberland, e market-town in the parish of 

 Allendale end south division of Tindale-ward, U chiefly situate. I <>n 

 the slope of an eminence on the right bank of the Alli-n Kivi-r 

 (which flows into the South Tyne), in 54" 68' N. lat, 2 14' W. long., 

 distant 10 miles S.W. from Hexhom, and 286 miles N.N.W. from 

 London. The population of the town is about 900, that of the entire 

 pariah, which is 12 miles long by 10 miles broad, was 6383 in 1851. 

 The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Northumberland end 

 diocese of Durham. . 



The town is irregularly built, but contains some good houses. 

 Besides the perish church, which is situated in the town, there are in 

 the parish four chapels of the Establishment, chapels for Wesleyon 

 end Primitive Methodists, Independents, and Quakers ; a Free school, 

 founded in 1704 by Christopher Wilkinson, Esq., and other benefactors ; 

 a library, end a savings bank. In tho market-place, which ia spa 

 are the remains of en ancient cross. A market is held every Friday ; 

 and there ere two fairs for the sale of cattle on the lent Friday in 

 April end October, O.S., and one for cattle end sheep on the .'.'ml 

 of August The inhabitants ere employed in agriculture, end in the 

 extensive lead-mines and smelt ing-houses in the perish. 



(Communication from AUrndale.) 



ALLIER, e department of France formed out of the old province 

 of Bourbonnais, is bounded N. by the departments of Nievre and Cher, 

 E. by those of Sedne-et-Loire end Loire, S. by the department of Puy- 

 de-Ddmo, end W. by those of Creune end Cher. It lies between 45 68' 

 end 46 47' N. let, 2 16' end 3 57' E. long. Its greatest length from 

 E. to W. is 82 miles; from N. to a 66 miles. The eree is 2821-8 

 square miles, end the population in 1851 was 336,758 ; which gives 

 119-33 to the square mile, being 65'38 below the average per square 

 mile for the whole of France. 



Surface. Tho deportment belongs entirely to the bain <>f tlm 

 Loire. Its general inclination is from south to north. The surface 

 is for the most part level or gently undulating ; but two chain* of 

 high hills traverse the department from south to north, screening tho 

 basin of the Allier on the east and west The eastern and higher 

 chain is the most northern part of a long offshoot of the CeVennei 

 Mountains, which forms the watershed between the Loire and the 

 Allier nearly throughout the whole course of the latter. The Bebre 

 run* close along the base of this chain on the east Tho district 

 between it and the Loire which forms the north-eastern boundary is 

 almost flat, being a continuation of the plain of Roanne in the depart- 

 ment of Loire. The western range divides the feeders of the Allier 

 from those of the Cher, and is the northern port of a high range that 

 springs from the volcanic mountains of Lower Auvergne in the 

 department of Puy-de-Dome, between the sources of the Sioulr and 

 the Dordogne : it is broken through by the Queusne, a feeder of the 

 Allier, to the west of Moulin*, and terminates in the north-west of 

 the department in a group of rather high hills among which xrv.nl 

 mall feeders of the Cher take their rue. Both these ranges are chi. > 

 composed of granite. The valley of the Allier screened by these hill* 



