Nc. 101.3 
65 
ccd for many miles in length. Few of ihem are wrought, in con- 
sequence of the low price of the ore, and the supposed impractica- 
bility of making good iron from it; bui nearly all of them will af* 
ford a good iron with proper treatment. The workmen are ac- 
customed to manufacture iron only from particular localities, con- 
taining certain impurities. Ores containing another kind of impu- 
rity,, or differing in the quantity, or mixed with a different gangue, 
require different, or varied modes of treatment; and as the work- 
men do not often understand the scientific principles involved, they 
do not know how to obviate any difficulty that may occur; and if 
they fail on the first trial to make good iron, the ore is pronounced 
bad ; hence the necessity of men of scientific, as well as of practi- 
cal knowledge, to conduct such operations to the greatest advan- 
tage. Bog ore abounds in some localities. 
Coal is said to have been found in many places in the valley of 
the Hudson. Thin seams of anthracite, from t^tt ^ inch thick, 
have been found in numerous localities in the slate rocks; but I 
have seen no locality among the many I have visited, that gives 
indications of sufficient importance to justify any expenditure. 
There is a possibility that coal may be found in the valley of the 
Hudson, bul it is not frohahle that it will be discovered in sufficient 
quantities to render it available for extensive use. The anthracite 
coal formation of Pennsylvania is now considered of the same ge- 
ological age as the bituminous coals of Europe and the United 
States. Mr. Taylor, an experienced geologist, has made some ob- 
servations upon the geology of New-York contiguous to the an- 
thracite region of Pennsylvania, and if his statements be correct, 
it is not probable that^coal will be found in that part of the State, 
unless enormous dislocations occur in the strata. Vegetable re- 
mains are found in the graywacke — -shale in many places, and 
with the associated iron stone, would, to an inexperienced eye, be 
considered as strong indications of coal in the vicinity. 
Mineral Springs, 
The discussion of the composition and useful applications of the 
■waters of mineral springs belong to another department of the sur- 
vey. The springs containing gases and other mineral materials, 
and some of which are tepid, are far more numerous than has been 
supposed. They possess a high interest in a scientific point of 
view; their geological relations will be discussed in the final report, 
and their localities will be mentioned under the head of local econo- 
mical geology. 
[Asaem, No. 161] 9 
