MURPHREE'S VALLEY ; ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 53 



centric layers. The ore is generally of fine grain, and clear 

 red color. The only defect apparent in this ore is a small 

 lump of fine earthy, or aluminous matter, that generally 

 forms the core of each concretion. These, however, are not 

 considered of sufficient volume to interfere with the success- 

 ful reduction of the ore. This form of ore is sometimes 

 known by the name of ''pot ore'' among miners, and is gen- 

 erally regarded as a high grade ore, and easy of reduction. 



In S. 36, T. 12, R. 1 E., the ore changes rapidly, and be- 

 comes sandy and coarse, and is therefore of little value. 

 Near the centre of this section is the highest point of Red 

 Mountain. The top of the mountain is here by Aneroid 

 measurement 450 feet above the valley, and by the railroad 

 survey, the valley opposite to it is 850 feet above the Gulf. 

 The top of this point is therefore 1,300 feet above Sea level. 

 One hundred and fifty feet of its upper part are Lower 

 Siliceous Strata. A short space below the Black Shale 

 comes an immense thickness of the sand rock that caps the 

 upper iron ore bed. This rock is usually about ten feet 

 thick, here it is fifty. At only one other place, in S. 16,. 

 T. 13 of R. 1 E, does this rock show such abnormal thickness. 

 But the most abnormal thing noticed here, was the small- 

 ness of the iron ore beds. A good natural exposure of the 

 bare rocky face of the mountain on the S. E. side, gave the 

 outcrop of the ore beds, as follows : 



Bed No. 1 . S inches, ^ 



" 2 2 V The 3 upper beds aggregate 1 

 " 33 M j foot of ore. 



Bed No. 4 00 " ) , 17 , ,, 



u 5 _oo } Wholly wanting. 



These measurements were taken beneath the highest part 

 of the mountain. No seams of clay, or soft shale, exist be- 

 tween the little iron ore beds, or elsewhere on its naked 

 face nothing but hard rock. The iron ore beds were com- 

 paratively close together, and were only identified by their 

 succession. Farther down the mountain, ore bed No. 1 was 

 easily traced, it gradually thickened from the middle of the 

 mountain, towards the S. W. side, where it measured 30 



