Mineralogy, Geology, &c. 47 
The cause of the transparency and purity of these waters 
is obvious. With the exception of small quantities of trans- 
ition lime stone, its shores, as far as we saw them, are com- 
posed of primitive rocks, made up principally of siliceous 
and other very firm and insoluble materials. The streams 
by which the lake is fed, flow over similar substances, and 
the waves find nothing to dissolve or to hold mechanically 
suspended. Clay, which abounds around the head waters 
of the contiguous lake (Champlain) and renders them tur- 
bid, scarcely exists here. It is remarkable however, that 
as we approach Lake Champlain, in the vicinity of 'Ticon- 
deroga, the waters of Lake George become, for a few miles, 
somewhat turbid, and near the efflux they are very much so 
Hematite.—This mineral appears to abound in the prim- 
itive mountains around Lake George. ‘They informed us 
at the village of Caldwell, that Emery had been discovered 
down the lake, and was used considerably for polishing, 
grinding, &c. We obtained some of this mineral from a 
promontory called Anthony’s Nose,* a few miles south of 
Ticonderoga, and nearly opposite to Rogers’ Rock. Itisa 
handsome and very well characterized hcematite ; it is com- 
pact, lamellar, fibrous, mamillary, botryoidal, &c. present- 
ing the usual appearances of this most valuable iron ore, 
which seems to be far less common in the United States 
than the brown and black varieties. ‘The colour and pow- 
der of this hcematite are bright red. The people were un- 
willing to admit that it was not emery, since it polishes and 
grinds, but this is well known to be a property of haematite 
as well as of other forms of the oxid of iron. The hema- 
tite of Lake George may very possibly answer for blood 
stones, so much used in polishing gilded buttons, &c. 
Flesh red Feldspar and compact Epidote—These mine- 
rals we observed on the western shore of Lake George, eight 
miles from Ticonderoga. The felspar was in very large 
plates in granite, and the epidote in loose stones : the epidote 
was of a very intense yellow, like that of chrome, but with 
* The boatmen called this mountain ’Tony’s Nose, and the mineralogical 
traveller must enquire for the Emery in ’Tony’s Nose, this being the style 
of the boatmen, who will of course be his guides. 
