476 TRANSACTIONS OF TKE 



Mr. Hoagland. — None. Rain is the only water wliicli has access to it. 

 Some seasons one half inch is deposited in the pit, and other seasons a? 

 much as one and a half inches, 



Mr. Secley.— Do you know its chemical nature, or does it differ from 

 fine clay ? 



Mr. Hoagland. — -I do not know its chemical nature. The coloring mat- 

 ter is evidently oxyd of iron. One gallon of oil will make 15 pounds 

 of paint fit for use. We grind 23 pounds of paint in one gallon of oil, 

 makino- thereby 30i- pounds fit for market. Clays will not make paint, so 

 this is not a clay. We use this paint for printing on our cards. There are 

 about 50,000 tons of this paint in the pit, and it can be supplied dry and 

 pulverized for $30 a ton. It is of lighter color than the spale from which 

 it is derived, but grows darker by age when used as paint. 



Professor Hedrick.—It is manifestly a recent formation, probably not 

 over one hundred years old, for the mill dam cannot be over that age. 

 The iron is manifestly a sesqui-oxyd, which accounts for the paint getting 

 darker as the oxydation goes on. 



Dr. Stevens. — This is an interesting matter to examine scientifically. 

 A geologist and a chemist ought to examine the locality and analyse the 

 paint. It seems to be a formation of iron deposited by water, and acted 

 upon by decomposing vegetable matter, similar in every respect to bog-iron 



ore. 



Mr. Garvey called attention to Grey and Wood's plaining machine, 

 •which is remarkable for simplicity and the ease with which it is adjusted. 

 The mode of clamping the lumber, too, is excellent, and the machine was 

 considered by him admirably adapted for use in the carpenter's shop. 



The Chairman called for the observations of such gentlemen as had ex- 

 amined the steam plow of Mr. Fawke and seen it in operation. 



Mr. Fisher considered those remarks as necessary, for newspaper reporters 

 in general are not competent to form an opinion upon the excellences or 

 defects of such a machine. It requires scientific men to do so. 



Dr. Reuben said he had not made steam plowing a special study, but he 

 considered Mr. Fawke's plow as a complete success. In the trial at the 

 Fair it labored under great disadvantages. The ground was so small that 

 it had hardly room to turn. Then the ground was so full of stones that 

 the plows got broken. Nevertheless, it turned in an exceedingly small 

 circle, went backward and forward over plowed or unplowed ground with 

 perfect ease at the will of the operator, and when plowing it turned eight 

 furrows in a proper and finished manner, moving along at the rate of four 

 miles an hour. If the furrows were somewhat deeper the work would look 

 better, but a day may come when some more perfect form of cultivator will 

 supercede the plow, and disintegrate the ground more perfectly. This 

 machine is admirable. It is so simple and all its arrangements are so per- 

 fect. We should feef thankful to Mr, Fawke for accomplishing so much. 



Dr. Stevens considered the question of steam plowing as one of vast im- 

 portance to the West. There is more land now ready for cultivation by 



