76 General Notes. [ January, 
During the month of May, 1877, while on a buggy trip from 
Statesville to Hickory, I discovered from my buggy a deposit of 
drift gravel along the roadside a few miles east of the town of 
Hickory, which promised something handsome in the line of quartz 
crystals. I started out on the 4th day of the following June 
(1877) to trace out the indications offered by that pile of gravel 
scattered promiscuously along the roadside. By actual measure- 
ment, the belt of drift deposit extending a long distance with a 
north-east and south-west trend, was three-quarters of a mile in 
breadth. My first diggings were on the lands of Mr. E. Bolch, 
and, under my personal supervision, soon reached a pocket of 
water-bearing smoky quartz crystals at a depth of two feet under 
ground. Here I found my first basal plane on quartz crystals 
(smoky and clay-tessellated). Devoting my entire time to field 
work in the drift belt of this neighborhood, I examined nearly 
fifty different localities found either by myself or by workmen 
trained under my personal teaching. The result by the Ist of 
January, 1878, was the discovery of thirty-five new localities for 
the following list of minerals, together with a determination by 
myself of the separate species: 
Water-bearing crystals of quartz; Carbon dioxide-bearing crystals of quartz; 
Smoky quartz crystals; Amethyst quartz crystals; Quartz crystals enclosing layers 
d clay; Quartz crystals enclosing coloring matter of various hues; Quartz 
crystals enclosing other crystals; Quartz crystals enclosing small prisms of mica ; 
Quartz crystals enclosing pyrites; Quartz crystals enclosing rutile, (The most magnif 
icent specimen of which (7xq in.) enclosing three beautiiul rosettes of rutile, I pre- 
sented to my friend Mr. Wilcox, of Philadelphia.) 
Having seen in the cabinets of my friend Stephenson, of States- 
ville, a number of so-called seventh planes on the prisms of quartz 
crystals which he obtained in Alexander county, I went diligently 
to work for such localities in Catawba county. My search, at 
first, was fruitless, but I observed a singular feature in some of 
the crystals dug from this first pocket I had discovered in this 
county. This feature consisted of a well marked plane parallel 
to the lateral axis, or a plane truncating the pyramid at a right 
angle to the prism. This I claim is the first American locality for 
quartz crystals with basal planes; the locality itself, as also the 
observation of the peculiar planes, being my own original discov- 
eries. I delayed the publication of my secret through fear of 
attracting attention to the locality. This was in June, 1877. 49 
July and September following I had discovered fifteen new locali-- 
ties in the vicinity for water-bearing quartz crystals, obtaining a5 
many as 550 specimens. During the same months I obtained 
nearly seventy crystals with the basal planes. My work contin- 
ued through the months of October and November, when the 
-winter caused a suspension of field labors. 
In the month of March, 1878, my field explorations were 
renewed, and with almost continuous work, extending through 
the months of April, May, June, July, August, September and 
