ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1873. 9 



In Prof. Ohamberlin's report will be found much interesting and 

 valuable information, stated in plain language, relating to the topog- 

 raphy of the district examined by him; the drainage and water power; 

 the distribution of vegetation, of marshes, of lands covered with oak, 

 maple or pine forests, with a map showing the boundaries of these 

 several divisions; the outlines of the several rock formations; the 

 phenomena of the drift; the nature of artesian wells, and various 

 matters coming under the head of economical geology. Special at- 

 tention was, very properly, given to the subject of our peat deposits, 

 which will increase in importance from year to year, as the forests 

 disappear, and the cost of fuel becomes thereby increased. 



These, and the various other matters of much practical utility pre- 

 sented in this report, will be read with much interest by the people 

 of the state. 



If R. Strong's Party. — Special provision having been made for a 

 careful topographical survey of the lead region, for the purpose of 

 showing the denudation of the superior strata that so evidently has 

 occurred, and the exact position of the mining ground at each locality, 

 ■with reference to the particular I'ock-formation in which it is found, 

 it was deemed advisable to assign one of the three surveying parties 

 expressly to this work. Accordingly Mr. Strong, having made suita- 

 ble preparations, commenced that work on the fifth day of June. 



For the purpose of securing the most general and complete view of 

 the whole lead region during the first year of the survey, Mr. Strong- 

 was directed to give his attention to two lines, the one east and west, the 

 other north and south through the middle of the district. This would 

 lead him to construct a geological section from the Mississippi river 

 eastward to Dane and Green counties, and another northward from 

 the state line of Illinois, to the iron ores and quartzites of Richland 

 and Sauk counties. This party consisted of Mr. Moses Strong, Mr. 

 A. D. Conover, and Mr. J. "W. T. Crawford. Mr. Strong's previous 

 training and skill acquired in the best scientific schools in this country 

 and in Germany, and in the busii^ss of a mining engineer, enabled 

 him to perform, with full satisfaction, the duties thus assigned to him. 



Special attention was to be given to the collection of all facts bear- 

 ing upon the method by which the lead, zinc, and copper, were depos- 

 ited in the veins or crevices; whether by deposition from above, 

 injection from below, or by gradual infiltration from the inclosing 

 rocks ; these questions being deemed of the greatest theoretical and 

 practical importance as showing the probable extent of these ores be- 

 low the limits of present explorations. Also to ascertain whether 



