OF THE ANCHAM IltOX WORKS. 293 



out of tlic furnace by the rapid current of air ; I con- 

 ceived that if there was any zinc with the ore, it 

 would be likely to be detected in this substance, ac- 

 cordingly I found by analysis, about 8 per cent, of 

 oxide of zinc, a quantity much greater than I expect- 

 ed. It would require a more accurate study of the 

 progress of the furnace than I could make in two 

 days, and a better knowledge of the methods for- 

 merly in use, to determine why cadmia are not 

 formed there at present, as they were formerly. 

 Dr. Torrey has, 1 believe, never visited Ancram, 

 and the information which he received on the sub- 

 ject may have led him into error. For instance, 

 he was misinformed (I think) when he stated, that 

 " it was found when taking down one of the old 

 walls of the furnace, erected in the year 1744." We 

 were told by Mr. Patterson, that it had never been 

 found but in taking down a wall connected with the 

 furnace, and which having been built after the fur- 

 nace, may have contained materials which had been 

 extracted from it at different times. This observation 

 is of more importance than it at first appears ; for if, 

 as Mr. Patterson told us, the Ancram furnace was 

 the first erected in the colonies of North America, or 

 at least, the first in the province of New York, and 

 if, accordiug to Dr. Torrey, the cadmia had been 

 found in the wall of the first furnace erected, the 

 substance must have pre-existed to any furnace 

 known to have been erected there, which we think 

 is not the case. 



But, in addition to all the above mentioned proofs. 



