THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



147 



ton, we allowed our horses to pick the dry, harsh, 

 but sweet grasses which grow in the crevices of 

 the rocks, and proceeded to make ready tor our 

 observiaions. By means of a mercurial horizon, 

 and one of Gamhey's sextants, I measured the 

 latitude of the mountain by a meridional altidude 

 of the sun, correctinjr by barometrical and ther- 

 mometrical observatio.i for the refraction, and 

 using the most minute precautions for accuracy. 



By the observation we have calculated the lat- 

 itude o( the summit of Mount Washinuton to be 

 N. 4-1 deg. 16 ni. 34 sec. 48. By means of a se- 

 ries of barometrical and thei mometrical obser- 

 vations, made for a period of twelve hours at a 

 time, when the weather was remarkably liivora- 

 ble, and the atmospherie pressure was stationary 

 throughout the State, as showu by other observa- 

 tions made at the same time, we liave ascertain- 

 ed the height of Mount Washington to be 6226 

 feet above the high water mark in Portsmouth 

 harbor. Calculated by a series of observations, 

 the height is 6228 feet, iriaking but 2 feet differ- 

 ence in the elevation, and on single obsei-vations 

 the difference is but 6 fee!. We may there- 

 fore feel satisfied with the correctness of our re 

 suit. 



The Geological featuies of Mount Washington 

 possess but little intt-rest, the rocks in i)lace con- 

 sisting of a coarse variety of niica slate, passing 

 into gneiss, which contains a few crystals of 

 black tourmaline and quartz. The cone of the 

 mountain and its summit are covered with myr- 

 iads of angular and flat blocks and slabs of mica 

 slate, piled in confusion one upon the other. 

 They are identical in nature with the rocks in 

 place, and bear no marks of transportation or 

 abrasion by the action of water. 



On the declivity of the cone occurs a vein of 

 milky and rose colored quartz, but it is not sufli- 

 cieutly colored to form elegant specimens. 



The Geologist will be fully rewarded for his 

 toil in ascending this mountain, by the magnif- 

 icent and comprehensive view which may be ob- 

 tained of the surrounding country. He will re- 

 mark that the mountains are not grouped at ran- 

 dom, but form regular ranges, miming in definite 

 diiections coinciding with the axis of elevation 

 of each range. 



To the south-easiward three ranges of moun- 

 tains are seen and .ippear to run N. N. E., while 

 to the south-west the mountains run in a nearly 

 North and South dire< tion. The valleys are ob- 

 served to be regularly continuous between the 

 mountains. The whole country, so far as the 

 eye can reach, is thickly clad with the primeval 

 forest trees. 



Having completed such observations as were 

 deemed es.sential to our purpose, Mr. Whitney 

 and myself desceniled with- one of the barome- 

 ters, taking observations at each spot where we 

 had observed in the morning, Messrs. Williams 

 and Baker remaining, meanwhile, on the summit 

 of the mountain, engaged in making hourly sim- 

 ilar observations on the instrument suspended at 

 that s()ot. They were directed to camp near the 

 •ummit of the iiiountaiu, and to commence their 

 observations during the ne.\t day while we were 

 engaged in making observations below at the 

 Notch House. 



By taking a mean of a given number of bar- 

 ometrical and thermometrical observations, and 

 calculating them as two sets, we are enabled to 

 make a more accurate measurement than had 

 before been effected ; and by calculating the 

 lieight of each separate station, and comparing 

 the result with those obtained by the above-men- 

 tioned method, we are enabled to prove the cor- 

 rectness of the work. 



The height of the Notch House above the sea- 

 level was obtained in a similar manner, by com- 

 paring the obser\'ations made at Portsmouth with 

 those made at T. J. Crawford's. 



From the lofty peaks of the White Mouritains 

 we proceeded to explore the ranges of a lower 

 level, which form their outskirts or spurs. In the 

 towns of Bartlett and Jackson occur several val- 

 uable ores, which 1 had partly explored on a for- 

 mer occasion. 



The most important of these minerals is the 

 iron ore which exists in inexhaustible quantities 

 on Baldface Mountain, between the rocky branch 

 of the Saco and Ellis rivers in Bartlett, near the 

 South line of the town of Jackson. 



Baldface Mountain is composed of granite, 

 bsving a few dykes of greenstone trap cutting 



through its midst. The elevation at which the 

 iron ore occurs is 1404 feet above the Rocky 

 branch of the Saco, and about one mile distant. 

 The slope of the mountain to the river is from 

 17 to 20 deg. 



Since my first visit, which was made four 

 years ago, some new openings have been made, 

 for the purpose of discovering the boundaries of 

 the veins of iron ore, and 1 had therefore a 

 better opportunity of estimating the value of the 

 ore. 



One of the veins at the upper opening meas- 

 (U'es 37 feet in width in an East and West, and 

 16 feet in a North and South direction. 



The second opening, 200 tt^et lower down the 

 slope of the hill, exposes the ore maintaining the 

 same width. Three hundred feet lower down, 

 the vein is observed to narrow, and is but 10 feet 

 wide, and 400 feet further down the width in- 

 creases to 55 feet. 



546 feet lower still there is a small opening or 

 cave 20 feet deep, where the ore narrows again. 



On searching to the westward of this great 

 vein, at the distance of 250 feet we soon discov- 

 ered a new one, which appears to be of large di- 

 mensions, but we were unable to uncover it suf- 

 ficiently to determine its width. 



49 feet farther westward the soil is full of 

 angular fragments of the ore, indicating another 

 vein. 



It is evident that this mountain is intersected 

 by a great number of veins of excellent iron ore, 

 and will furnish an inexhaustible supply for a 

 furnace. 



It is difficult, in the present condition of the 

 mines, to ascertain the precise direction of the 

 veins, since their walls are not exposed for a suf 

 ficient distance to furnish the requisite data ; but 

 the general course of the openings indicates the 

 direction to be nearly N. 37 deg. E., S. 37 deg. W. 



hi the chemical department of this report will 

 be stated Ihe exact chemical composition of this 

 ore. It may be proper, here to remark that it is 

 composed chiefly of the per-oxide of iron, com- 

 bined with a small proportion of the prot-oxide, 

 and it contains a little oxide of manganese. 



From the composition of the ore, we know 

 that it will make excellent iron, and the best kind 

 of steel. The presence of u small proportion of 

 manganese favors the formation of a steel of very 

 fine grain, suitable for cutlery. (See Berzelius 

 traite de Fer.) 



The mines are situate 30 miles from the town 

 of Bridgeton, in Maine, where the canal affords a 

 means of cheap transportaion of the iron to Port- 

 land. A good road, regulai-ly descending, leads 

 to Bridgeton, and it is said to be practicable to 

 shorten the distance about eight miles, by a slight 

 change in its course. The country around ihe 

 iron mines is thickly clad with hard wood, suit- 

 able for the manufacture of charcoal, which can 

 be furnished at a very reasonable cost There is 

 reason to believe that these mines will soon be 

 wrought, both for domestic use and for the sup- 

 ply of the Atlantic cities. It should be lemem- 

 beVed that, although iron made with charcoal 

 costs more than the English iron, which is made 

 with coke or bituminous coal, that it is vastly 

 better for machinery, where a soft and pure iron 

 is wanted. 



A small quantity of bog iron ore has also been 

 discovered in the town of Jackson, 5 miles 

 North from Chelsey's tavern, in the midst of the 

 forest. 



I examined the place, and found the quantity 

 of iron ore too small to warrant the expense of 

 digging it out of the bog. The peat which com- 

 poses the principal part of the swamp is vastly 

 more valuable for agricultural use. 



Near the house of Captain J. Trickey occur 

 several dykes of greenstone trap, which are so 

 highly charged witli carbonate of lime as to ef- 

 fervesce strongly with acids. On chemical ex- 

 amination, the rock was found too poor for burn- 

 ing into lime, but it will answer a useful purpo.se 

 as n flux for the iron ore. Crystals of quartz 

 forming handsome druses are found in the gran- 

 ite at the same place. Iron pyrites also occurs 

 in disseminated crystals. 



The trap dykes are very remarkable, and are 

 worthy of a visit. They cut through strata of 

 mica slate, gneiss, and a granite vein. 



One of the dykes measures 50 feet in width, 

 and exhibits at its junction those curioiig nief- 



amorphdses which are observed at their points 

 of contact with othei rocks. 



One of the dykes, as before mentioned, con- 

 tains carbonate of lime in combination with the 

 rock, and in the form of incrustations and in slen- 

 der veins. In some places the limestone appears 

 to have been converted into a compact chert, 

 particularly at the junction of the rock with the 

 mica slate walls. Where the pyritiferous mica 

 slate decomposes, the surface is covered with a 

 bright yellow powder, which is the per-oxide and 

 sub-sulphate of iron, mixed with the fine parti- 

 cles of decomposed rock. 



On a former occasion I had ascertained the ex- 

 istence of arsenical pyrites in the town of Jack- 

 son, and during the present visit it was thought 

 proper to examine the vein in order to ascertain 

 its extent and. value. H.-iving other localities to 

 visit, 1 engaged Mr. Eastman to have a quantity 

 of the ore blasted out, and when this was done I 

 visited the locality and examined it minutely. 

 While searching for crystals of arsenical cobalt, 

 I discovered a small vein of copper pyrites and 

 crystals of oxide of tin. The mass of" rock from 

 which the tin was obtained appeared to have 

 formed a part of the rock including the arsenical 

 pyrites, for it was traversed by the arsenical vein. 

 The mass of tin ore was sharp angular, and had 

 been freshly broken from the rock. Besides the 

 crystallized tin ore I also found the compact and 

 the granular varieties intermixed in the mass. 



The crystals of oxide of tin are thickly im- 

 planted, and mixed with the matrix, so that the 

 ore would prove workable if a sufficiency could 

 be obtained to supply a furnace. The oxide of 

 tin had a deep hair-brown color, and was reg- 

 ularly crystallized iri the secondary or prismatic 

 forms, with terminal planes like those from Corn- 

 wall. Some of the crystals have re-entering aiid 

 salient angles, or are hemitropic. A figure will 

 be given in this Report, representing the measur- 

 ed angles and form of the luineral. 



From the external characters 1 had no doubt 

 that the ore was one of tin, and in the evening 

 of the same day I proved it by reducing the tin 

 to its metallic state, and then converted it by 

 means of nitric acid into the insoluble white oXt 

 ide of tin, known to chemists under the name of 

 stannic ^cid. Since that time I have reduced a 

 quantity of the ore to its metallic state, and 

 have deposited a piece of it in the State Cabinet 

 at Concord. 



This discovery is regarded as one of no small 

 imporlanee, for although a f«;w minute grains of 

 oxide of tin are said to have been previously- 

 found in New England, this may be considered 

 as the first rich tin ore that has been discovered 

 in the United States. By washing the ore in a 

 manner similar to that used in large works, a por- 

 tion of the rock is removed, and the ore then 

 yields on the average 30 per cent, of pure tin, 

 and when more thoroughly cleansed it gave 50 

 percent. I hope that an effort will be made to 

 search out other veins, and in order to aid such a 

 discovery, I shall, in the chemical part of this 

 Report, give a detailed account of the characters 

 and properties of oxide of tin. It is highly prob- 

 able, since oxide of tin has not the slightest me- 

 tallic appearance, but appears like a brownish 

 colored stone, that it has been overlooked by peo- ■ 

 pie who are not familiar with mineral.^. 



If, indeed, large masses were found, the weighl t 

 of the ore might lead some persons to suspect . 

 that it contained a metal ; but this is very rarelj ■ 

 the case, since the ore is either found in scatter- 

 ed crystals or in small rounded pebbles, which 

 tatter are known in commerce under the names 

 of steam and wood tin. The crystals found on 

 Mr. Eastman's land are rarely more than 1-4 of 

 an inch in length, and one-sixth of an inch in 

 diameter, but the fine granular tin ore abounds in 

 the same mass. 



I should advise the people who are intere.<ited 

 in the mine to blast ont the arsenic ore, which 

 will sell for $40 per ton if well selected. This 

 will repay the expense of mining, and by open- 

 ing tlie arsenic vein it is probable that more tin ore 

 will be found, since it occurs beside that ore, 

 forming one of the walls of the vein. The ar- 

 senical pyrites is used for making araeniate of 

 potash, which is employed in the manufacture of 

 Scheeles green, and in calico printing. The ore 

 above noticed yields on distillation from 30 to 40 

 per cent, of pure metallic arsenic. It contains 

 about 60 per c-ent- \w< n oonion of th* nineD»<J 



