132 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



AiSTEAD. Ill this town granite, gueiss and 

 mica slate abound. The strata of the two last 

 mentioned rocks run N. E., S. W. and dip to the 

 north-west. In numerous places may be seen 

 large masses of mica slate completely decompo- 

 sed, and in tlie state of a micaceous soil. A bed 

 of impure, blue limestone is exposed by the cut- 

 ting for a road, but it is not sufficiently strong for 

 commercial use. 



Eastward of the Paper Mill Village, there oc- 

 cur beds of Potter's clay, and it is manufactured 

 into bricks. 



The most important locality in this town, is 

 the mica quariy, situated upon the estate of Mr. 

 Goodhue, 3 1-2 miles S. E. from the New Al- 

 stead Post Office. 



The mica is one of the ingredients of a very 

 largely crystallized granite, composed cf white 

 soda felspar, grey quartz, and huge plates of 

 transparent and colorless, or reddish colored mi 

 ca. The mica is extensively quarried by Mr.^ 

 James Bowers of Acworth, who devotes himself 

 almost exclusively to the business, and sends 

 large quantities of mica to market. There are 

 two quarries opened in this town. They are sit- 

 uated near each other, and are both wrought liy 

 Mr. Bowers. The granite containing the mica, 

 is evidently a huge vein in mica slate rocks, 

 through wliich it has been erupted nearly in a 

 line with the direction of the strata. 



Acworth. The village of Acworth stands 

 upon very elevated land, which is 1397 feet above 

 the sea level. The rocks which compose the 

 mountains are principally mica slate and granite, 

 the latter rock constituting large veins in the for- 

 mer. Hornblende slate and quartz rock also oc- 

 cur on and around William's Hill, an eminence 

 situated S. by W. from Acworth M. H., on the 

 south side of Cold river. This locality has en- 

 joyed great celebrity on account of the immense 

 crystals of beryl which have been obtained from 

 it, and have been .sold for cabinet specimens in 

 various parts of the world. Some of the crystals 

 are more than a foot in diameter and eighteen 

 inches in length, hut they are like all gigantic 

 crystals, defaced by strise and cracks whicli 

 jure their beauty. Notwithstanding these imper- 

 fections, the huge dimensions of the costals have 

 produced great surprise among Mineralogists and 

 Geologists of Europe. One of these beryls, 

 eight inches in diameter, was shewn me in the 

 Imperial Cabinet of Vienna, as a wonderful ape 

 cimen, and was a very highly valued present to 

 that superb collection. The Acworth beryl.-^ 

 when perfect have a tine-light blue green color 

 and are of that variety known by the name of 

 aqua-marine. Fragments may be separated from 

 some of the large masses that would serve, when 

 cut and polished, for jewelry. The large crys- 

 tals generally are not sufficiently free from for- 

 eign matters for this purpose. The locality from 

 whence these beryls ivere obtained may still yield 

 a great number of valuable specimens, but much 

 labor is required in blastiug away the quartz rock 

 which overlies them, before they can be detach- 

 ed. They occur in a granite vein itumediately be- 

 neath a large vein of granular, white and rose color- 

 ed quartz. The quartz vein runs N. W. and S. E. 

 and forms the summit of the hill, and is no less 

 than forty yards wide, and is easily quarried. It is 

 of the purest and best kind, and is suitable for the 

 manufacture of glass and for sand paper. It 

 will doubtless soon be wrought by the N. H. 

 Glass Manufacturing Company at Keene, since 

 it is situated only 20 miles from their works. At 

 my request, Mr. Elliot, superintendent of the 

 N. H. Glass works, has made a trial of this quartz, 

 and has produced some fine tubes for chemical 

 nse, almost equal to the celebrated Bohemian 

 glass. It withstands heat admirably, blows and 

 draws perfectly well. 



Black tourmalines and largely crystalized white 

 soda felspar or Cleavelandite occur at this i)lace, 

 but the specimens are not so good as those wliich 

 are found at the mica quarries of Alstead. 



Mr. James Bowers of Acworth, has for several 

 years devoted a part of his time to the exploration 

 of the minerals of this town, and keeps a collec- 



ion on hand for supplying those who may desire 

 to purohase specimens. 



On the western side of Williams' hill occurs 

 a very remarkable bed of well characterized 

 hornblende slate which is cut through by a bro- 

 ken vein of compact felspar in a remarkable 

 manner, evincing many rupiiups in the vein sub- 



sequent to its injection. The strata ; 

 contorted near their junction with this 



f,/^/// 



V c impact I tKp 

 Inbiting scitrjl re 

 VVilhams H.ll Ac«orlh 



In the village the stiata of mica slate aie ob 

 seivedneai the tavein, vvheie the stiati dip to 

 the W. S. W. and run N. 10 deg. W., S. 10 deg. 

 E. Several small v^ins of granite and beds of 

 quartz also occur in the rock, and contain mas- 

 ses and crystals of iron pyrites. Fin'ther north 

 the dip of the strata is reversed, the inclination 

 being to the E. N. E. 50 deg. Proceeding to 

 Unity and Claremont, the road forms quite a reg- 

 ular inclined plane, descending rapidly to the 

 northward. 



U.MTv posse.«ses many interesting localities, 

 some of which liave been explored. 



The granular quartz, which is found upon the 

 estate of Mr. J. M'Cliire, lias for a longtime sup- 

 plictl the sand paper works at Vermont with the 

 ground and sifted mineral, employed for the 

 preparation of that useful article. The bed from 

 whence the quartz is olitained is included in 

 granite, and is conveniently situated near the 

 mill where it is ground and bolted. An abun- 

 dant .stipply of the rock may at any time be ob- 

 tained. It is more largely granular than the 

 quartz of Acworth, but is easily ground to pow- 

 der in a common grist mill, furnished with gran- 

 ite mill stones. About .30 or 40 tons of the bol- 

 ted quartz is annually prepared and is sold for 

 S90 dollars per ton, to the sand paper makers of 

 Rockingham, Vl The finest powder is used for 

 polishing metals, and is a good substitute for em- 

 ery. I shall have occasion to refer to this sub- 

 ject more fully in tlie economical department of 

 this Report, and therefore omit a more detailed 

 account of the value of this substance for the 

 present. 



Half a mile northwardly from Mr. M'Clure's 

 house, there is a strong Chalybeate ypring, which 

 has enjoyed some celebrity in the cure of cer- 

 tain derangements of the digestive organs. It is 

 strongly charged with salts of Iron, and posses- 

 ses tonic properties. 



The soil around the spring is so highly char- 

 ged with sulphate of iron, that no plants are able 

 to grow upon it except a litile moss in some jila 

 ces, which is soon blackened and destroyed when 

 the solution of copperas in the soil becomes con- 

 centrated by evaporation. 



Copperas has been maniifiictured from this soil, 

 simply by the process of leaching and evapora- 

 tion. In 1825, Mr. Abner Currier's family man- 

 utactured 100 lbs. of copperas from this soil, in 

 the manner above mentioned. It is however of 

 little economical value, since c<>f»^>eras 



more cheaply made on a large scale at Strafford, 

 Vt. _' I 



A few limited deposits of bog iron ore of local 1 

 foiniation occur in this town, but none appeared 

 of sufficient magnitude to warrant mining opera- 

 tions. 



On the estate of Mr. James Neal, we examined 

 a large vein of copper and iron pyrites, which has 

 betn explored to some extent. 



This vein is contained in gneiss, and runs 

 nearly parallel with the strata, in a direction N. 

 10 deg. E., S. 10 deg. W. and dips to the W. by 

 N 78 deg. It extends along the top of the hill 

 toi the distance of 1,.550 feet, and there is cov- 

 eted in the valley by tlie soil, but it again appears 

 on the uplands beyond. From our observations, 

 wc can say, that the whole extent of the vein is 

 not less than 2,200 feet in length, and its width at 

 the opening wliich has been made, is at 3 feet 

 fiom the surface 1 fi.ot and 8 inches, and at 8 

 feet it is 3 feet wide. In some parts of the veiu 

 the width is 2 feet 9 inches. From the above 

 oboervations, it will be perceived that the vein 

 widens as it descends, and there is reason to be- 

 lie\e that it may ultimately be wrought for cop- 

 pei, and for the manufacture of sulphate of iron. 

 (See analysis of this ore.) 



If the mine is ever wrought, it will be found 

 easy to effect drainage to the depth of 70 feet. 

 It IS situated 4 miles from Charlestowu landing 

 the Connecticut river. 



At this place we discovered a new mineral, to 

 uch I have given the name Chlorophyllite. 

 (See Report on the analyses of minerals.) Itoc- 

 i in the sienite rocks which are found imbed- 

 ded in the gneiss near the copper mine. Crys- 

 tils of magnetic iron ore in octahedral forms oc- 

 cui disseminated in the green mica, also radiated 

 actynolite and garnets. Green mica also occurs 

 associated with the Chlorophyllite. 



Near the northwestern corner of Unity, as I 

 have been informed, the agillaceoiis slate rocks 

 oi cur, overlapping the older primary strata. A 

 qinrry has been opened for ;he purpose of ob- 

 taining tomb stones, but it has not been much 

 wrought. 



Claremont is also intersected by the sectional 

 profile measured by Messrs. Whitney and Wil- 

 liams, who have described the outlines of the 

 geology of that town. It will, therefore, be un- 

 necessary lor me to do more than refer to their 

 description of the section from Portsmouth thro' 

 Concord to Claremont. 



Proceeding northwardly our section traverses 

 Cornish, Plainfield, Lebanon and Hanover. 



From Claremont to Meriden, the micaceous 

 slate rocks prevail and are occasionally colored 



by the presence of plumbago. The strata run 

 N. 20 deg. E., S. SO deg. W. and dip to the E. S. 

 E. 20 deg. Near Cornish Flat the mica slate be- 

 comes more silvery in its lustre and is not colored 

 by foreign matter. In several jdaces the rock 

 splits well into platforms, and may be quarried 

 for flagging stone. Jlr. Hack Hills informs me 

 that good tomb-stone slates are extensively quar- 

 ried \h miles S. E. from Cornish Flat. The stone 

 is said to be much better than that wrought at 

 Unity and Claremont. It is exported largely 

 for sale, and is e"en transjiortcd to Portland in 

 Maine. 



In Meriden, hornblende slate and chlorite slate 

 occur. The latter rock extends through Lebanon 

 4 miles towards Hanover, where it is interrupted 

 by the granite rock. The chlorite slate dips to 

 the north westward. 



Bog iron ore occurs in Lebanon, and has been 

 examined by Mr. Abel Stoirs, who not being at 

 home, the locality was not visited by our party, 

 since we ho[)ed at some other lime to have the 

 assistance of that gentleman in exploring the lo- 

 cality. We saw some very good specimens of 

 the ore in the cabinet at Dartmouth College, but 

 it was not known whether the locality would fur- 

 nish a sufficient supply for economical ))Uipo8es. 



Hanover has been pretty thoroughly explored 

 by the professors and students of Dartmouth 

 College, so that little remained for us to exam- 

 ine, save the measurement of our sectional line 

 through the town. The most interesting rocks 

 which occur, are the hornblende slates which 

 contain an infinite number of small but perfect 

 crystals oi Almandine or precious garnet crystal- 

 lized in their primary form, of the rhombic dode- 

 cahedron. The locality from whence the best 

 specimens are obtained, is directly in the renr of 



