No. 275.] 51 
warranted only by the most sanguine expectations concerning the quan* 
tity and quality of the ore. 
Whether these expectations are to be realized, will soon be determined* 
In the mean time, without expressing a decided opinion in regard to the 
final result of the enterprise, I deem it proper to state, that the large 
admixture of foreign minerals, renders the reduction of the lead ex- 
tremely difficult. The processes necessary to overcome this difficulty 
may be so expensive as to be ruinous, even although the ore should be 
found in sufficient abundance. 
On the other hand, it should be observed, that the situation of this 
mine is very eligible. Fuel, for the smelting process, can be obtained 
in the vicinity at a cheap rate, and the product can at once, and with 
great ease, be sent to market. 
There are some other deposits of lead ore in the vicinity of that just 
described, but they are entirely similar in their character and associations. 
They have not, however, been wrought to any extent, and their exam- 
ination at present, can throw no light upon the question, whether lead 
ore exists in this county in sufficient abundance and of sufficient purity 
to sustain extensive mining and smelting operations. 
81. The ore from the Sullivan mine is in many instances, perfectly 
pure. One specimen which I analyzed, was entirely free from foreign 
matters, containing about 86.50 pure lead in 100 of the ore; but most 
frequently there is a large admixture of quartz, zinc, iron and copper. 
On the suggestion of Prof. Mather, that this ore contained silver, I re- 
peated his process, and obtained a minute globule of that metal. The 
proportion which it bears to the ore I have not yet had an opportunity 
of determining. By cupellation, I have also detected silver in the ore 
from Rossie, in St. Lawrence county* The occurrence of silver in the 
lead ores, is not uncommon, nor is it ordinarily a matter of much im- 
portance, as the proportion of that metal is usually so small, that it is 
not worth the expense of separating it. Eut a process has recently 
been made public, by which, according to the inventor, those leads 
which are too poor in silver to admit of being advantageously subjected 
to cupellation, as it is ordinarily practised, may, by repeated fusions and 
crystallizations, be rendered so rich in silver, that cupellation can then be 
profitably employed.* The subject is of great importance to those who 
are interested in the lead mines of St. Lawrence county. 
* A detailed account of this process, with various statements, intended to show its importance 
to Great Britain, is contained in the abstract of the proceedings of the last meeting of the Bri- 
tish Association for the Advancement of Science, published in the London Atheneum. It has 
been republished in the Family Magazine, and perhaps in other American periodicals. 
