298 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



NOTICE OF A GEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE COUN-- 

 TRY BETWEEN FREDERICKSBURG AND WINCHESTER, IN 

 VIRGINIA, INCLUDING THE GOLD REGION. By Thomas G. 

 Clemson. 



My friend Mr Taylor and myself having been ap- 

 pointed to investigate certain portions of the gold region 

 of Virginia, opportunity was offered us for tracing some- 

 what extensively, the geology of that interesting country. 



Inasmuch as the history of any portion of this vast 

 continent is not without interest, and as many have in- 

 vested capital in mining operations in the region which 

 I shall attempt to describe, I presume that the following 

 descriptions and accompanying sections, constructed by 

 Mr Taylor, delineating the nature, position and extent 

 of these metalliferous and other formations will be accept- 

 able to the Society. 



Portions of North and South America, those lying 

 west and south of the Gulf of Mexico, have long been 

 objects of speculative interest to Europeans as well as to 

 the inhabitants of the United States. So extended has 

 been the scale upon which the mining operations of these 

 countries have been conducted, and so large the interests 

 invested, that the public have been made acquainted 

 with the mineral resources of those distant countries by 

 the first talents of the age. So very minutely have many 

 of these districts been examined, that we are much better 

 informed respecting them than we are with the environs 

 of Madrid. Not so in the United States. Here little 

 has been done to advance the mining and metallurgical 

 interests. 



There is no business attended with more expense, 



