ESSEX COUNTY. 263 



a nuisance ; and secondly, in the kind of wood ; and it is believed that soft wood, which 

 makes a poor kind of charcoal, will be equally as good as hard wood for this process. 



This method of making iron is adapted only to magnetic oxides, or those which will contain 

 but a small proportion of refuse matter as slag and cinders. It is unquestionably the true 

 process, theoretical as well as practical ; requiring less time and less fuel, and giving a much 

 greater certainty and unifomiity in the result. 



Much has been said of the possibility of employing convicts in the manufacture of iron, and 

 undoubtedly there is some speculation in the matter. If, however, the people ever decide 

 upon making trial of the practicability of thus employing convicts, Adirondack is the only 

 place where the friends of the measure can be satisfied with the trial. It is here only where 

 a sufEcient amount of material can be furnished, and where the facilities are equal to the 

 greatness of the measure and of the undertaking. A suitable road is first to be made ; and 

 this, without doubt, can be effected by the labor of the convicts. The raising of ore, attend- 

 ing to the pulverizing, washing, etc. preparatory to reduction, will not interfere essentially 

 with any trade ; and so great are the water privileges and numerous the mill-sites, that hun- 

 dreds of hands might be employed in the preparatory steps for reduction. Could the ore be 

 thus prepared upon the spot, numerous establishments might spring up on the upper waters 

 of the Hudson, at all those points which are favorable for the establishment of iron factories ; 

 and instead of interfering with those who pursue this business, it will rather aid them ; for 

 that part of the business which requires a certain amount of skill and knowledge, may still 

 be in the hands of the manufacturer, while those parts which are mostly mechanical would 

 be performed by convicts. 



Trap, Porphyrv, or Volcanic Rocks. 



The trap rocks of Essex county occupy but a limited territory. The whole county is, 

 however, traversed by dykes, varying in width from half an inch to eighty feet ; still, they 

 modify the surface only to an inconsiderable extent. The number is a matter which is worthy 

 of a moment's attention ; and when I speak of number, I do not mean to convey the impres- 

 sion that they arc by any means all numbered, or have been all seen. It is worthy of notice, 

 too, that at some localities they are quite numerous, while there are other districts in which 

 none have been observed. The veins of magnetic oxide are also traversed by them. 



The inquiry of the most interest respecting these rocks, is that relating to their period of 

 eruption ; but it is of all others the most obscure, and upon which the least light can be 

 imparted. They are mostly in hypersthene rock, and hence all periods of eruption are 

 entirely veiled in as much uncertainty as the rock itself The latest of these outbursts of 

 trap occurs in the Hudson river slates, in which I can observe no difference in direction or 

 lithological characters from those which are embraced in the primary rocks. Most of the 

 inquiries under this head are unsatisfactory in some of the most interesting points. 



