HYDROUS PEROXIDE OF IRON. 



31 



titles of this ore have been raised, and although intermixed with earthy matters, it yields an 

 excellent iron. The balls and masses of true hematite are mixed with a ferruginous powder, 

 which sometimes results from the decomposition of the associated strata of rocks. Washing 

 is, therefore, necessEiry to prepare this ore for the iron smelter. 



This bed of limonite lies in the limestone rock, which reposes on the millstone grit. The 

 limestone and hematite can be traced across this town into that of Monroe, where we meet 

 the magnetic oxides already described. They are observed a quarter of a mile north of the 

 Wilks or Clove Mine, and in many places between this and the Townsend Mine, a distance of 

 at least ten miles.* 



Hematite is also found along the whole western side of Bellvale mountain, and in many 

 places along the Warwick valley, to the New- Jersey hne. 



Of bog iron ore, specimens of various sizes may be obtained in the tovras of Blooming- 

 Grove and Monroe. 



Putnam County. A bed of limonite, containing some oxide of manganese, occurs very 

 near the line between Philipstown and Carmel, in Peekskill Hollow, about ten miles northeast 

 of Peekskill village. Its extent is not known, but great quantities of ore have been raised 

 from it. It seems, however, to be too largely mixed with earthy matters to jrield good results 

 in smelting. 



DrTCHESs County. Extensive and most valuable deposits of brown hematite occur ii> 

 various parts of this county. They have been long and profitably wrought, and the quantity 

 of ore seems to be inexhaustible. The first of these deposits that I shall notice, is the 



Fishkill Bed, situated in the town of Fishkill, about three miles northeast of the village of 

 Hopewell. It occurs in a hill, the surface of which is made up of a very coarse gravel, 

 imperfectly cemented with clay and loam. 



The ore, which is chiefly limonite, presents almost all the varieties from the compact brown 

 hematite to the yellowish clayey ochre, which in its moist state forms a cement for the more 

 compact masses. The brown ore is usually in the form of rounded nodules, which are some- 

 times hollow ; and when this is the case, the inner surface is highly polished, and has the 

 appearance of having undergone fusion. Not unfrequently beautiful stalactites of various 

 forms and sizes are found in these balls, and, occasionally, there is observed a very thin lining 

 of a black powder, which is believed to be oxide of manganese. These stalactites exhibit 

 fibres radiating from the centre in the most distinct and beautiful manner. 



According to the observations of Mr. Mather, this, as well as the other beds of limonite 

 found in this part of the county, is situated at the junction of mica or talcose slate with the 

 grey and white limestone.! 



Clove Ore Bed. This is an extensive deposit of brovra hematite, situated in the south- 

 western part of the town of Union- Vale. The general appearance of the hill or mound in 

 which it occurs, does not differ much from that of the preceding; the bed, however, seems 



 Horton. Neuj-York Geological Reports, 1839. 



t Neie-Yoric Oeohgical Reports, 1838. 



