GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



147 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY THE GEOLOGI- 

 CAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA, TO INVESTIGATE THE 

 RAPPAHANNOCK GOLD MINES, IN VIRGINIA. 



To the President and Members of the Geological Society of Pa. 



Gentlemen — In compliance with your instructions 

 to ourselves, the undersigned, informing us that you had 

 done us the honor to nominate us a committee of your 

 Society, for the purpose of investigating and examining 

 an estate called Smith's gold mine, in the county of 

 Stafford, in the state of Virginia ; we beg to inform you 

 that we proceeded to the mine on the 22d inst., and 

 found it about ten miles to the south-west of the town of 

 Fredericksburg and adjoining the Rappahannock river. 



The whole country is undulating, consisting of hills 

 of no very great elevation, intersected with ravines, and 

 is composed generally of a bright red sand and gravel, 

 which from its general external character and appear- 

 ance, and its being covered with thriving pine trees, 

 might at first sight be taken for a red sandstone forma- 

 tion, but on closer inspection it appears to be a decom- 

 posed talcose schist, highly colored by oxide of iron. 



The metalliferous veins are rendered very conspicuous 

 by their consisting of hard quartoze rocks, between 

 walls, or bearers, as they are here called, of talcose 

 slate in a more or less decomposed state, the laminae of 

 which are often vertical, and parallel to the direction of 

 the veins. Indications of these metalliferous veins were 

 seen from the road- sides in severalplaces for nearly two 



