No. 200.] 
217 
The sandstone of Potsdam bears a land transportation of from 15 to 
20 miles; and at these distances from the quarries it is considered as 
cheap a material for building as brick, and I venture to say there is no 
stone in the State, or any where else, equal to it for durability. As it 
regards beauty, individuals may differ, but there is no stone superior to 
it in this respect, unless it is marble. All the sandstones and freestones 
which are brought to the New-York and Albany markets, crumble more 
or less, and suffer eventually from the weather, but this will resist at- 
tacks of all the natural agents to which it may be exposed. 
Buildings constructed of this stone have a neatness, comfort and 
warmth, which is not felt or perceived in dwellings made of other ma- 
terials. This is my own impression. 
As ?i fire-stone^ the Potsdam sandstone is held in the highest repute. 
Composed as it is of siliceous grains, compacted together by compres- 
sion, it is calculated to resist the highest degree of heat; and as it is 
uncrystallized, it is not liable to crack by this exposure. All the fur- 
naces of St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties have their hearths of this 
sandstone. 
Another use to which I conceive this stone may be applied, is for 
grinding hard bodies, and perhaps it may answer for coarse grindstones, 
and for some particular offices where a certain degree of hardness is re- 
quired, it may be superior to the ordinary stones. 
I have now given a general view of the agricultural character, and of 
the mineral riches of a part of the county of St. Lawrence. Much 
more might have been said on all the subjects which have been before 
me, and could I have extended my researches into the remaining town- 
ships, a much larger quantity of matter would have been accumulated. 
Some of the finest farming towns have not as yet been visited, and a 
lars^e district of country along the Racket and De Grasse rivers, re- 
mains unexplored, I shall close my remarks on the geology of this 
county by reference to one or two subjects of general interest. 
Comparisofi of the Geology of some portions of Upper Canada and St. 
Lawrence county. 
The geological structure of the country on the east and west shores 
of the St. Lawrence river has a remarkable similarity. This similarity 
is not confined to the rocks, but extends also to the topographical fea- 
tures. As on the east, so on the west side also, the country is level 
and underlaid by sandstone, calciferous sand-rock and transition lime- 
[Assem. No. 200.] 24 
