510 OCCURRENCE OF DEPOSITS 



adverting to one of the useful practical points to which 

 my own attention had been turned in different parts of 

 the States, and to which I had in Boston, at these meet 

 ings and elsewhere, drawn that of scientific men. 



In speaking of the rocks of Canada, north of the St 

 Lawrence, I have described a metamorphic limestone in 

 which the mineral phosphate of lime occurs in some places 

 in very considerable quantity, and I have suggested the 

 probability that, by a careful search, localities may be 

 found in which it may be met with in sufficient quantity 

 to admit of its being profitably dug up and exported to 

 England. 



I have also mentioned that this limestone rock, 

 descending the river Ottawa from Bytown, crosses the 

 St Lawrence at the Thousand Islands, and is found in 

 the state of a white marble, but still rich in the same 

 phosphate, among the so-called primitive rocks of 

 northern New York. During my stay in Albany, Dr 

 Emmons, who was qualified perfectly to understand the 

 importance of the inquiry, in its practical and economical, 

 as well as its theoretical bearings, assured me he knew 

 one or more localities in Essex County, where & single 

 man might excavate a ton a day of this mineral. Since 

 my return to England he has re-examined these localities, 

 and found his expectations realised. I have, therefore, 

 put in communication with him a large consumer of the 

 substance in London, and I hope to hear before long 

 that the first shipment of it has arrived in the Thames. 



Among the scientific mineralogists of New England, 

 Mr Alger, of Boston, author of a well-known work on 

 mineralogy, occupies a distinguished place. Engaged 

 in business, he adorns his leisure with the pursuits of 

 science ; and, in company with Dr Jackson, of whom I 

 have already spoken, has made many scientific excur 

 sions, of which the results have been communicated to 

 the world. 



