332 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



255. Sulphur. ~ Sulphur is produced at the sulphur bank, 

 on the eastern shore of Clear Lake, about eight miles from 

 the town of Lower Lake. The mineral is found in a propor- 

 tion varying from ten to forty per cent, with earth. The 

 crude material is shoveled up from the surface ; taken in a 

 wheel-barrow to a furnace, where it is heated, and the sulphur 

 passes off into an iron receiver ; thence it goes into an iron pot 

 where it is purified, and is allowed to run in a fluid form into 

 a wooden box, in which it solidifies. It is then ready for the 

 the market. 



256. Borax. Borax, and minerals from which borax 

 can be made, are abundant in certain lakes and dry lake beds 

 east of the Sierra Nevada, extending from Reno to near the 

 Colorado River. The extraction of borax from these deposits 

 is a new business, and has not yet been placed on a very econ- 

 omical basis. The chief difficulty at present is expensive 

 transportation ; but it is beset by many other drawbacks. 

 The crystals of borate of lime found mixed with sulphate of 

 soda, chloride of soda, other salts and dirt, in the dry-beds of 

 ponds east of the Sierra Nevada, are dissolved in hot water, 

 which, after it has stood several hours, is drawn off, leaving 

 the sand and clay behind it, and then soda is added to form a 

 biborate, which is crystallized after the lime has been precipi- 

 tated in an insoluble condition. In some places carbonates of 

 soda are found, and the production of sal-soda and caustic 

 soda will become important in time. Some soda was made in 

 1864 and 1865 at Borax Lake, near Clear Lake, but the busi- 

 ness was interrupted by the abundant rains in 1866 and '67, 

 and has not been resumed. 



257. Hydraulic Cement. The production of hydraulic 

 cement in California is confined to one mill at Benicia, but 

 might, perhaps, be extended. The peculiar limestone con- 

 verted into the cement by burning and grinding, is found* in 

 seams not more than five feet wide, in the metamorphic sand- 

 stone on both sides of the Strait of Carquinez, and the work- 



