No. 161.] 
145 
The value of iron sent into market by this company during the 
last year, will be about #194,000. The remaining manufacture 
in Clinton county, must have yielded during the past year upwards 
of $125,000, making in all $319,000. 
The value of iron manufactured in the second geological district 
for the last year, will be considerably more than $500,000. 
Importance and application of Science to Mining* 
It may not be out of place at this time to offer a few remarks 
on the importance and application of science to mining operations. 
The northern part of our State must eventually become a mining 
district; and at the present time many persons are waiting only to 
be convinced of the prospect of success, to engage extensively in 
this branch of national industry. Many persons hesitate to un- 
dertake any thing of this kind, from the fact that little or no de- 
pendence can be placed on the knowledge or skill of those who 
now conduct such operations; indeed, almost every one who has 
thought of the subject, regrets that so little science is connected 
with the practical knowledge of these subjects. Many others are 
convinced, by sad experience, that practical knowledge, without 
science, of the working of one variety of ore in a particular situ- 
ation, will not avail in another, where other impurities are com- 
bined with the ore. 
Not only is knowledge of this kind required for the iron mining 
and manufacturing operations, but also for lead, zinc and copper, 
which are now attracting the attention of enterprising individuals 
in this region; and by their efTorts, if properly conducted, we may 
expect the development of rich mines of some or all of these metals. 
The theory of the formation of metallic substances, and the 
rules which may lead to their discovery, are subjects of great im- 
portance, not only to the individuals immediately concerned, but 
also to the nation at large. The importance of the subject is 
sometimes felt and acknowledged by the capitalist, as he is about 
investing large sums in some mining operation, the result of which 
he can form no just or definite calculation, and which may be as 
likely to ruin, as to improve his fortune. The circumstances under 
which minerals and ores are generally found, the mode of obtaining 
them, their probable extent and value, are inquiries interesting to 
the man of science in a philosophical point of view, and to the 
[Assem. No. 161.] 19 
