26 ECONOMICAL MINERALOGY. 



Pierrepont, a specimen of which, according to my analysis, proved to be peroxide of iron, 

 with from three to four per cent of sihca. 



Jefferson County. Sterling Ore Bed. This is probably the most important deposit of 

 the specular oxide of iron in this county. It is situated in the town of Antwerp, five miles 

 southeast of the village of Oxbow. The ore is principally of the compact variety, but is 

 sometimes in crystalline plates with a high metallic lustre. It is often much mixed with sili- 

 ceous matter. Dodecahedral crystals of quartz abound in the ore, and in the sandstone which 

 accompanies it. The rare cacoxenite is also found in the crevices of the ore ; and carbonate 

 of iron, in well defined crystals, is occasionally met with. 



On the farm of Mr. P. Wicks, about two and a half miles southwest of Oxbow, there is a 

 somewhat abundant deposit of this ore ; but it is largely mixed with foreign matters, has a 

 slaty structure, and is not thought to be of much value. 



There is a bed of the specular o.xide of iron, known as the Theresa Bed, about four miles 

 east of the High falls in this county. The ore is similar to that from the Parish and Kearney 

 mines, and the deposit is also in sandstone.* 



These, together with one on or near Muscolunge lake, are the only localities of this ore 

 worthy of notice in this county. 



Lewis County. The specular oxide of iron has been discovered, within a few years, 

 about two miles from the Lewisburg furnace. The hard red ore, with what is called the red 

 froth, is associated with sandstone ; and below these are the crystalline ore and its calcareous 

 associates, the latter rejjosing upon the primary rock.t 



Near the Natural Bridge is a deposit of a mixture of red iron ore, chlorite, plumbago, &c. 

 which contains usually about fifty per cent of peroxide of iron. This was strangely enough 

 supposed to be silver ore. It is scarcely necessary for me to say that I could not detect the 

 slightest trace of that metal in any of the specimens which I examined. It may, however, 

 prove to be of some value as an ore of iron. 



Lenticular Clay Iron Ore. 



This mineral, which is also known by the name of Argillaceous Iron Ore, is now generally 

 considered to be a variety of the specular oxide of iron. It is very interesting to us, in conse- 

 quence of its great abundance in the western part of the State. There seem to be two distinct 

 beds or strata of this ore in the protean group of Mr. Vanuxem, arranged in lines parallel to 

 each other, extending from the county of Herkimer to the Genesee river. These beds, liable 

 however to some interruptions, are usually about twenty feet from each other, and vary from 

 one foot to two and a half feet in thickness. The width of the strata is exceedingly variable 



Tliis ore consists of lenticular or flattened grains of various sizes, which apparently have 

 been made to cohere by the pressure applied to the mass. It frequently contains joints or 

 disks of the encrinite, and fragments of other organic remains. Its usual colour is brovraish 



* Euimons. Nm-York Geological Reports. 1810. f Vanuxem. Nno-York Geological RtpoTts, 1840. 



