58 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIX. No 469 



injunction, and there can be little doubt tbat the continuance 

 of the ' American ' examination system depends upon so con- 

 ducting examinations into the novelty of alleged inventions 

 as to make the seal of the patent ofiBce a powerful, if not con- 

 clusive, presumption that the patent is valid." 



The commissioner further reports that "during the past 

 year the patent office has earned a surplus, over every ex- 

 pense, of $241,074.92, and the total balance to the credit of 

 the patent fund now in the treasury of the United States is 

 $3,872,745.24, and that the inventors of the country cannot 

 understand why the government takes their money and then 

 fails to provide necessary facilities." 



Such a state of affairs is simply a disgrace to the country 

 and to the committees of Congress entrusted with the care of 

 this great instrument of national advancement. The work 

 of the association should be forwarded by every citizen and 

 promoted by ever.y journal in the land. The indifference of 

 the members of the committees of Congress having charge 

 of the business interests of the country can only be accounted 

 for by the fact that the people, and especially the business 

 men of the country, who should continually consult with 

 and direct these committees, pay no attention to this branch 

 of legislative work. Were these committees carefully made 

 up of men well-posted in the work entrusted to them, and 

 were they kept up to their duty by the pressure of public 

 opinion, the prosperity of the nation would be vastly better 

 assured than now. 



SOME RECENT MINERAL DISCOVERIES IN THE 

 STATE OF WASHINGTON. 



When I visited Washington Territory in the autumn of 

 1887, I found great activity among the prospectors in the 

 mountainous region lying near the Canada line, and between 

 the Cascade Range and the Bitter Root division of the Rocky 

 Mountains; also in the Cceur d'Alene region. Many fissure 

 veins carrying gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, etc., had been 

 discovered, and tested sufficiently to prove their richness. 

 In some cases the precious metals were associated with iron 

 carbonates, but more commonly with iron sulphides, galena, 

 and lead carbonates. Chlorine, antimony, and zinc were 

 also found in combination. Copper was found both native 

 and combined. The gangue was usually quartz, with which 

 is often associated what is called " porphyry." The country 

 rocks are granite, quartzite, argilite, and limestone. 



On my return to the country in 1891 (now the State of 

 Washington) I found that there had been no loss of reputa- 

 tion in respect to any of the mining localities; but that in 

 all except the Cceur d'Alene and Colville regions the devel- 

 opment of ores had been retarded by the lack of transporta- 

 tion. 



In 1887, the Cascade Range proper, though rich in the 

 purest magnetite along its crest, and in the Cretaceous lig- 

 nites along its flanks, was not regarded as a promising field 

 for the discovery of the precious and base metals. A few 

 small veins of low grade silver, gold, and copper ore had 

 been found among the iron bearing rocks about the head 

 springs of the Snoqualmic River, but nothing to compare 

 with the developments on the waters of the Methow, Okina- 

 gane, Kootenai, Cceur d'Alene and upper Columbia, on the 

 east of the Cascade Range. But during my visit to the State 

 last autumn I found an army of prospectors and miners at 

 work on a group of veins running along the western flank 

 of the Cascade Range. This group or belt so far as discov- 

 ered is about fifty miles long and Sfteen miles wide (perhaps 



twenty miles wide), and occupies the eastern edge of Sno- 

 homish and Skagit Counties. The region is drained by the 

 upper waters of the Skagit, Stillaguamish, and Skykomish 

 Rivers. The veins are well-defined fissures carrying gold, 

 silver, lead, copper, and sulphur with iron, antimony and 

 arsenic in quartz and porphyry; in other words, the same 

 sort of veins as those found in eastern Washington. Usual- 

 ly they follow the course of the country rocks, but with the 

 usual branching and flexing. 



The country rocks, which consist also of granite, quartzite, 

 and slate (I saw no limestone) usually stand nearly vertical, 

 though in some places inclining eastward with a dip as low 

 as thirty degrees. The general trend of both country rocks 

 and ore veins is a little more to the north-east than that of the 

 irregular crest-line of the main mountain. Hence they all 

 cross the mountain at a sharp angle immediately north of 

 the Cascade Pass, the name given to the notch at the head 

 of the Cascade River, which is one of the chief affluents of 

 the Skagit River. This locality has within two years be- 

 come famous as the " Cascade Mining District." Here have 

 been opened numerous veins of auriferous pyrites and ar- 

 gentiferous galena. The veins are broken across by a deep 

 gorge, whose steep sides are striped by the disclosed vertical 

 edges of the veins. Of course, in many places the outcrops 

 are concealed by soil and vegetation, but the mountains rise 

 three to four thousand feet above the gorge (six to seven 

 thousand feet above Puget Sound), and the upper third is 

 bare rock, and numerous denuded spaces extend much lower. 

 The physical conditions are favorable for prospecting, min- 

 ing, concentrating, and moving. The mountain on the 

 north side holds near its summit two small glaciers: the 

 lower one I named the Silver Queen, the upper one the Sky- 

 light. Snow slides and running gravel are uncomfortably 

 common on these heights. But safe camping ground can 

 always be found in the evergreen forests on the mountain 

 sides. So much for the north end of this mineral belt. 



The other leading mining district is at the south end of 

 the belt, and is known as the Silver Creek District on one 

 side of a dividing ridge, and the Monte Cristo District on 

 the other side. Silver Creek is a tributary of the Skykomish 

 River, and has its head in Silver Lake, a beautiful little 

 sheet of water nestling among the evergreens in a groove of 

 one of the lofty outliers of the main range. The creek, af- 

 ter running in its elevated trough for two or three miles 

 suddenly begins to pitch down a steep escarpment, and falls 

 a vertical distance of two thousand feet in three miles of 

 surface measurement, and falls fifteen hundred feet more 

 in the next five miles, at the end of which it joins the north 

 branch of the Skykomish River. Its course is southerly. 



The Monte Cristo District is made by a continuation east- 

 ward of the veins of the upper half of the Silver Creek District, 

 which pass through the water-shed into the valley of the Sauk 

 River, a tributary of the Skagit. Taking this part of the 

 mineral belt across its widest part it measures at least twelve 

 miles, probably more. The ores do not differ materially 

 from those of the Cascade River country, and the veins 

 stand on each side of the gulches, offering every facility to 

 the miner. Not less than thirty distinct veins (or ledges) 

 have been uncovered, and many tunnels of several hundred 

 feet in length have been driven horizontally. The best 

 " rich streaks " are of argentiferous galena, which in a few 

 cases are as much as four feet wide (generally much less), 

 and carry from thirty to three hundred ounces of silver to 

 the ton. 



This new mineral region is as yet but very partially ex- 



