10 Olmsted on the Gold Mints of Xorth Carolinn. 



of atlntion. The rounded angles and vesicular structure 

 ]ef\d to the opinion, which is very general, that the metal, 

 has UP. dcvgoue fusion ; but any one who inspects the spe- 

 cimens narrowly, will be convinced that their worn and 

 rounded appearance is owing to attrition, and that the cav- 

 ities are produced by the indentation of sand and gravel, 

 the exact impress of which may be observed, and particles 

 of them may still frequently be seen imbedded. The 

 gravel, moreover, which is separated by washing, bears evi- 

 dent marks of attrition, of a limited duration, sufficient to 

 round its edges and angles, but not sufficient to destroy 

 them : the fragments are not ovoidal like the pebbles of 

 rivers, but are still fiat, retaining their original form, except 

 that their edges are dull and their angles blunted. In short, 

 the whole appearance is such, as would naturally result 

 from so soft a substance as virgin gold, being knocked 

 about among such stern associates as quartz and green- 

 stone. 



The appearance of fusion, supposed to be exhibited by 

 the gold has inspired the idea among the miners that the 

 small pieces which they obtain have been melted out from 

 some ore that lies disguised somewhere in the vicinity. 

 This idea has frequently made them the dupes of imposi- 

 tion. The Mineral Rod, charms, and other follies, have 

 had their reign here, and the first is still held in some esti- 

 mation. The common rocks and stones of the country, 

 have been tortured by a new race of alchymists, who have 

 imagined them to be the ore of gold, veiling, under some 

 disguise, the characters of the precious metal. A great 

 degree of eagerness also pervades the country on the sub- 

 ject of ihe metals in general. The minerals thrown out in 

 excavating pits in search of gold, consist chiefly of quartz, 

 greenstone, and hornblende mixed with chlorite, and afford 

 little that is interesting tc the collector of specimens. Al- 

 most the only substance which I met with, that was worth 

 preserving merely as a specimen, was Fyriious Copper. Of 

 liiis I saw some elegant fragments. It occurs in a gangue 

 of quartz, and resembles that found at Lane's Mine at 

 Huntington, Con. (Amer. Journal of Science, Vol. I. p. 

 316 ) A vein of it occurs in slaty clay, six miles east of 

 Concord, in Cabarrus county. This ore had been sub- 

 jected lo numerous experiments, on account of the belief 



