1852.] 



AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING, <fec. 



netic oxide is worked in upwards of ten diflferent localities. The 

 mines of Marmora, the most important of all, are situated in the 

 west of Canada, and are worked in a mass of ore more than 

 100 feet thick. The magnetic ores obtained from them are 

 accompanied by pig iron from the works established on the spot, 

 and belonging to the Marmora Iron Company. The Juiy has 

 recognized the good quality of their products by making hon- 

 ourable mention of this Company ; and the same is awarded to 

 Dr. J. Wilson who has exhibited magnetic iron ores from 

 South Sherbrooke, and phosphate of lime from Burgess. Ordi- 

 nary mention has also been made of Mr. Lancaster of Vaudreuil, 

 Captain Morin of St. Vallier, Messi-s. L. Seer of Eustache, 

 E. Caron of St. Aiui, Montmorency, G. Duberger of Ifjurray 

 Bay, and R. W. Kelly of Gaspe, who have exhibited ores 

 of iron and iron ochres of difterent kinds. Massive hydrous 

 oxide of iron is an important mineral amongst the iron 

 ores of Canada, and is workable in large masses in several local- 

 ities. We may mention, particularly, that of St. Maurice, which 

 for more than half a century has supplied the iron works and 

 foiinderies of that name. The Honourable J. Fenier, the pro- 

 prietor of the mines, whose jjroducts are exhibited in No. 5, has 

 added to the ores, specimens of pig and other iron, besides slags 

 and ashes obtained during the working of the ores. The iron 

 from St. Maurice is of good quality, and the products exhibited 

 show that the establishment proceeds with regularity, in a metal- 

 lurgical point of view; these considerations have induced the 

 Jury to award a Prize Medal to the proprietor. The exhibition 

 of Canada includes the ores of zinc, lead and copper, from several 

 localities. The ores of copper from Lake Superior and Lake 

 Huron ai'e remarkable for their richness, and that called " Brace 

 Mine " on Lake Huron has been worked for some years. The 

 Mining Company of Montreal (the proprietors of this mine,) 

 have erected an establishment for working the ores on the spot, 

 according to the methods adopted at Swansea, and the objects 

 sent by this Company exhibit by the side of the ores the 

 various products of smelting, besides the specimens of black and 

 refined copper. Specimens of copper and native silver, from the 

 Island of St. Ignatius, on Lake Superior, are added to these, 

 and the Juiy has awarded to the Co)upany a Prize Medal for 

 these various objects. The existence of sprangles and pepites 

 of gold have been proved by actual in\estigatiou, in several 

 ri\'ers in the East of Canada, and honourable mention is made 

 of the Chaudiere Mining Company who exhibit pepites 

 of native gold collected in the washing of those streams. 

 Messrs. Bodm & Lebert are also rewarded with a mention 

 for the white quartzose sands which they exhibit, which are used 

 with advantage in the manufacture of flint and crown glass, 

 The last awartl that we have to mention in the case of Canada is 

 the honourable mention adjudged to Mr. Logan who has ex- 

 hibited iron ores, lithographic stones, minerals, and various 

 rocks. Our colleague has not thought it right to add to these 

 the geological map he has made of Canada, a matter which the 

 Jury greatly regret, not because they would then have been able 

 to adjudge a higher reward for this beautiful work, — for the 

 position of Mr. Logan, as member of the Jury, would I'cnder this 

 impossible, — but because of the great interest it would have 

 added to the Canada Exhibition. The lithographic stones 

 exlnbited by Mr, Logan belong to a palajozoic rock, occurring at 

 Marmora, where the magnetic iron ore has been mentioned as 

 forming a deposit of enormous thickness. These stones are 

 remarkably homogenous, and fine grained ; the degree of finish 

 of the drawing's tliat Mr. Logan has caused to bo made upon 

 tliem giving every promise of the quality being good. Tlio 

 geological position of the stones is inter&sting, and the reporter is 

 not aware of such material having been previously found in the 

 old rocks, since up to the present time those who practice 

 lithography seek for stones from rocks of the oolitic series. The 

 discovery of Mr. L<igan proving that the palaeozoic rocks may 



39 



also furnish good lithographic stones, increases the resources 

 available for this imporEant branch of engraving and drawing. 

 We must also notice, amongst the articles exhibited by Mr. 

 Logan, a cast of the footsteps of an animal discovered in one of 

 the argillaceous schists of the palaeozoic period. When the 

 schists were first laid bare to a certain extent, Mr. Logan observed 

 the impression of footsteps repeated several times, and he had the 

 upper bed removed to satisfy himself as to whether they were 

 confined. Their existence, under these circumstances, fully proves 

 that the markings were made at the time of deposit of the bed, 

 and thus carries back the existence of the quadrupedal animal to 

 the earliest silurian epoch. The length of the track discovered 

 was eight feet, and as many as twenty impressions of each foot 

 are traceable. Besides these is an impression between the 

 footmarks, which may be regarded as the trail either of the 

 abdomen or the tail of the animal. It would carry us be3'ond 

 the jiroper limits of this report if we were to give even a sketch 

 of the geology of Canada, and those who wish to become 

 acrjuainted with the subject, must be referred to the report 

 addressed by Mr. Logan to the Governor General of Canada, 

 and published by order of the Legislative Assembly of the colony. 

 We must, howe^'er, mention the presence of phosphate of lime 

 and gypsum ; tl>e former disseminated in large prismatic crystals 

 in the metamorphic limestones occurring in thick beds at Burgess, 

 while the gypsum is found in many localities forming large 

 irregular ma&ses, intercalated in the upper members of silurian 

 series, especially at Oneida Seneca, on the Grand river. This 

 gypsum has an even fracture, is fohaceous, and a fine white 

 colour, and being very pure, may be used for the manufacture of 

 plaster for casting. 



AGRICULTUKAL EWGIlVJiERIlVG, &c. 



Recqnng Machines. — At the dinner following the recent show 

 of the Royal Agricultural Society of England at Lewes (where 

 no fewer than 17 varieties of the reaping machine were exhibited,) 

 Mr. Thompson, the chairman of the York and North Midland 

 Railway, and a great agricultural improver in the north of Eng- 

 land, remarked, in the course of his speech: 'Nearly twenty 

 years ago I saw a reaping machine at work in Scotland, 

 which did its work feirly; and, so far back as 1816, a 

 machine was constructed in the north of England, not very 

 dissimilar in appearance to the present machines, the maker 

 of which, not being patronised here, emigrated to America.' Of 

 this ingenious Yorkshire mechanic, this is the fii-st time we have 

 heard ; but by common consent the chief merit is assigned to the 

 invention of the Rev. Patrick Bell, now minister of the parish of 

 Carmyllie in Forfarshire. It was produced in 1826, the cutting 

 operation being eftected by a series of scissor blades, so working, 

 that, when pushed along a corn field, it cut down the grain as if 

 done by hand, but more cheaply and expeditious!}'. The High- 

 land Society, upon the report of a committee, awarded the Rev, 

 Mr. Bell a premium of £50 for his invention. Mr. Bell of Inch- 

 michael, the brother of the inventor, adopted and improved the 

 machine, employing it to reap his crops at the expense of onl}' 

 3s. 6d. the imperial acre. Several othere have at different periods 

 been in operation in Forfarshire ; but no attempt seems to have 

 been made to introduce them generally over the county. In 

 accounting for this apparent neglect of an important auxiliary to 

 the farmer, Mr. Thompson (whom we have quoted above) alleges, 

 that as the machine did not save the crop with sufficient care, and 

 as at that time the abridgement of manual labour was of less value 

 than it is now, from emigration and other causes, it was not encour- 

 aged as in other circumstances it would have been. It is known 

 that several of the machines were sent from Dundee to America in 

 1831 and 1832, and probabl}' became the models of the American 

 reapers. Indeed, in the opinion of competent judges, there is the 

 closest possible resemblance between Hussey's and Bell's machines. 



