262 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



generally ; regards the prospects of finding paying gold as not 

 promising ; but speaks of having observed at several places be- 

 tween the Ocoee and Hiawassee Rivers hydroxide of iron similar 

 to the ore used in Middle Tennessee in the blast furnaces. " It is 

 superfluous," he adds, " to expatiate here on the importance of 

 iron works in a country which is not susceptible of cultivation, 

 where there is an inexhaustible supply of wood." He suggests in 

 this report a hypothesis that Lookout and Raccoon Mountains and 

 the Cumberland Mountains were once connected, and that the Ten- 

 nessee River cut .a passage between them ; and he gives reasons 

 for believing that the old bed of the river may be found where it 

 enters the Sequatchy Valley. A note is added to the report, giv- 

 ing a list of the fossils the geologist had collected during his 

 survey. He believed that his collection, particularly of fossils 

 characterizing the mountain limestone of Tennessee, was unri- 

 valed. It was his desire to have them figured and described, and 

 published as an appendix to the work of Dr. Goldfuss on organic 

 remains, of which he had announced a translation but "the 

 prospect of publishing it without pecuniary loss is not flattering." 

 The list contains nearly a hundred entries, some of which include 

 many species. 



In his fifth report, made for 1839, Dr. Troost said that he had 

 traversed the State in many directions, and analyzed a large num- 

 ber of minerals, mineral soils, and other materials, which, though 

 not belonging properly to the department of the geologist, were 

 deemed necessary to be known as constituting sources of our na- 

 tional wealth. The report gives a general view of the geology of 

 the whole State, in which all the terms are clearly and fully ex- 

 plained. It deals with iron ores, timber, and water powers, and 

 points out the suitableness of the region of the Smoky Mountains 

 for grass and stock and the cultivation of potatoes and cabbage 

 adding that " no country can be better calculated for the raising 

 of sheep." Prof. Troost insisted that iron must become one of 

 the principal sources of wealth of Middle and East Tennessee, 

 which were even more favored in the distribution of ores than 

 Missouri with its Iron Mountain, and " nowhere could a foundry 

 for a national arsenal be more judiciously situated than in our 

 State, the center of the Union, and therefore not liable to be 

 attacked by an enemy, and yet by means of its large rivers, and soon 

 perhaps of railroads, cannon or other arms may be transported in 

 a short time to any point in the Union." Descriptions of iron 

 ore and iron works are given with some detail. The list of or- 

 ganic remains is accompanied with descriptions and includes a 

 hundred and sixteen entries. 



The ninth report, for 1847, deals chiefly with zinc ores, their 

 reduction, and the manufacture of zinc and brass. 



