19 



tude. A useful grammar of geology serveB 

 as an introduction to the work. 



In 1819 appeared a Vteiv of the Lead Mines 

 of Missouri^ with observations on the Minera- 

 logy^ Geology^ &rc, of Missouri and Arkansaw^ 

 by H. R. Schoolcraft. A country which, as 

 has been well observed, once raised the 

 highest expectations in France, and caused 

 the most memorable disappointment that 

 France or Europe ever knew, cannot be 

 viewed with indifference. The work of Mr. 

 Schoolcraft is well calculated to satisfy the 

 desire of beifjg better acquainted with the 

 mineral riches of this country. The region 

 of these lead mines is on the west bank of 

 the Mississippi, between the 37th and 38th 

 degree of north latitude, and comprises an 

 extent of about three thousand square miles. 

 Zinc and iron are likewise found here, and 

 have been worked to some extent, but the 

 most valuable mineral, from its abundance, 

 is the lead. This has been hitherto taken 

 from a red marl, in which it is loosely dis- 

 seminated in rolled masses, under the form 

 of a sulphuret. Even with the present 

 sparse population, and the rude and imper- 

 fect processes employed, these mines yield 



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