HYDROUS PEROXIDE OF IRON. 35 



One of the largest collections of this kind is on the lands of Dr. Thatcher and Mr. Kent, 

 in the town of Hermon. The quantity at this bed is supposed to be inexhaustible ; but in 

 consequence of the admixture of iron pyrites, it becomes necessary to submit the ore to the 

 process of roasting, or long exposure to the atmosphere. 



In the town of Fowler there is a bed of the same variety of ore, which has long supplied 

 the FuUerville furnace. 



There are deposits of this ore in the towns of Fowler and Gouvemeur, in which are dis- 

 tinctly observable twigs, roots and leaves of the birch and beech, the vegetable matter of which 

 is entirely replaced by the ferruginous oxide ; the process being probably analogous to that 

 by which the substance of leaves, &c. is replaced by carbonate of lime, in what is commonly 

 called the process of petrifaction. 



Bog ore is not unfrequently met with in the tovra of Canton, but the quantity has heretofore 

 proved insufficient for use. This remark also applies to the town of De Kalb. 



The bed from which the Waddington furnace is supplied, is situated near the River La 

 Grasse, about two and a half miles from the village of Columbia, and about seven miles from 

 the village of Waddington. There are three varieties of ore, differing very little in their 

 composition. One consists of large lumps, and is known by the name of pan ore ; another, 

 in small masses more or less rounded, is called shot ore ; and lastly, the ochrey ore, called 

 also loam ore. All these varieties have a reddish yellow colour when reduced to powder, 

 and, by calcination, lose from 18 to 20.5 per cent of their weight. After this operation they 

 become black, and are freely taken up by the magnet ; although before they are subjected to 

 heat, they are not in the slightest degree influenced by it. A specimen of this ore gave, on 

 analysis, the following results, viz : 



Peroxide of iron, 71. 00 



Silica and alumina, 8.50 



Water, 20.50 



The extent of this bed has never been fully ascertained, but it is supposed to be sufficient 

 to supply the furnace fifteen or twenty years. 



Another valuable bed of the same ore has been foimd near the boimdary of the towrns of 

 Madrid and Louisville ; and still another, said to be of great extent, is situated on the Deer 

 river in the town of Brasher. The variety called pan ore predominates, and it is of an excel- 

 lent quality.' 



Jefferson CounTty. Near Carthage, in this county, there is a bed of bog iron ore, which 

 has been worked for several years, but it does not yield a very abundant supply. There is 

 also a deposit of this ore in the vicinity of the village of Oxbow, which resembles some of 

 those occurring in St. Lawrence, in containing stems, roots and leaves, which have undergone 

 the process of conversion into oxide of iron. 



 For this and the preceding notices, I am indebted to William Ogden, Esq. of Waddington. 



