ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1874. 63 



Dr. John E. Davies, of the State University, and affords excellent op- 

 portunities for giving instruction in the several branches of knowledge 

 required for such work. 



Mr. Frank Ives, having spent much time in the valley of the Bois 

 Brule river, Douglas county, with his attention upon the geological 

 features, was requested to make a report of the results of his observa- 

 tions for the use of the geological survey. A copy of this report is 

 herewith submitted. It will be found to contain much local infor- 

 mation of considerable importance, which could not otherwise have 

 been obtained except at a very considerable expense, owing to the 

 wildness and unsettled condition of the country. 



The position of many of the rapids, falls, and lake-like expansions 

 of the river is here first ascertained ; the location of several, before 

 unknown, outcrops of the Lake Superior sandslone, and the discovery 

 of a range of possibly mineral-bearing trap rocks, in the south part of 

 township 43, range 10 west, are among the items of importance in 

 this report. Some remarkable drift ridges, extending across the val- 

 ley, seem to indicate several successive stages in the decay of the 

 ancient glaciers, each leaving traces of its work in the form of ridges, 

 resembling, in many respects, the " terminal moraines " of the mod- 

 ern glaciers of the Alps. Above this most ancient or boulder drift, 

 Mr. Ives recognizes two distinct epochs; one represented by the sand 

 and fine gravel of the so called barrens; the other by the red, marly 

 clay, so well known on the borders of Lake Superior. 



His observations upon the soil, climate and mineral productions, 

 seem to be judicious and well worthy of the consideration of all who 

 are interested in that portion of our state. 



Mr. Gustavus Bode of Milwaukee has furnished the survey with 

 the analysis of ten springs and wells, made during the past year, thus 

 affording additional knowledge of the character of the natural waters 

 of the state. Of these, eight have the bicarbonates of lime and 

 magnesia as their chief ingredients, supplied directly from the mag- 

 nesian limestones abounding, not only in the solid rock, but in the 

 gravel and boulders of the drift. The other two indicate the pres- 

 ence of sulphuric acid, arising probably from the decomposition of 

 iron sulphurets, by which these salts have been converted into sul- 

 phates of lime and magnesia. They also contain the sulphate of soda. 

 If these waters could be examined as they first issue from the ground, 

 they would, doubtless, show the presence of gaseous matter giving 

 them qualities not indicated by the analysis of the solid substances 

 obtained by evaporation. Several springs and wells are known to be 

 highly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, and, doubtless, we 



