404 



UNITED STATES. 



'position of schist in New York, is, that priority must 

 be allowed schistus rocks, notwithstanding the veiy 

 great antiquity generally ascribed to granite.* 



Slate f schistus tegularis J proper for houses, is 

 found in the township of Rhinebeck, in Dutchess 

 county, state of New York ; and is now extensively 

 worked. In the county of Wayne, state of Pennsyl- 

 vania, a slate quarry has lately been discovered, and 

 promises to be of the greatest benefit to Philadelphia, 

 and the United States generally. It is on the banks 

 of the Delaware, within three hundred yards of the 

 river, and about seventy-five miles from Philadel- 

 phia. The rock appears on the surface of the 

 ground, and quarries so easily, that plates several 

 feet square have scaled off. This slate is much 

 thinner than that of New York, and equal to any 

 which has been imported. Extensive use is now 

 made of it in Philadelphia for covering houses, as the 

 expense is only a trifle more than that of a shingle 

 roof. A company is incorporated for working this 

 quarry. 



Slate of a good quality is also found, according to 

 Mr. Drayton, near the head waters of Lynch's 

 creek, in South Carolina. 



Earthy Chlorite is found in Delaware and Chester 

 counties, Pennsylvania ; and there is a stratum of 

 chlorite schistus, with dodecahedral iron stones im- 

 bedded in it, traversing Montgomery county, Penn- 

 sylvania, near the soapstone quarries. 



Steatites^ or Soafistone. This very uiseful stone 

 is found in inexhaustible quantities on the banks of 



* The schistic tract is minutely described by Dr. IVlitchell. 



