104 
[Assembly 
taining augite and some magnetic sulphuret of iron, and when carefully 
tested by cupellation, gave no traces of silver. 
Copper ore has been found in several places in Putnam and West- 
chester counties, but not in such quantities as to justify exploration. 
Pyritous copper and green carbonate of copper are found in small 
quantities in the gneiss rocks at Phillips' mills, one mile and a quarter 
east of West-Point; also at Phillips' iron mine eight miles northeast of 
Cold-Spring landing. Pyritous copper, black sulphuret of copper, and 
green and blue carbonates of copper are found at Sparta, near Sing- 
Sing, and the surface indications were considered so favorable, that a 
mining company was formed, and chartered with a capital of $100,000. 
It was sold by the company for $1,000 to some persons in New-York, 
who incurred some expense in sinking a shaft and making an adit level 
from high water mark on the shore of the river to intersect the shaft. 
This adit level was to drain the mine as low as was practicable without 
the aid of machinery. Little ore was obtained, not enough, it is said 
by one of the old miners, to pay the expense of the candles used in 
driving the adit level. The ere is stated to contain some silver. A 
beautiful specimen of the ore was presented me for the State collection, 
by Mr. Cartwright, who discovered the mine and had the superintend- 
ence of it. The specimen is in the public cases in the geological rooms 
of the First District, in the capitol. Copper ore is found also in the 
marble quarries at Sing-Sing in a small vein. It occurs there as pyri- 
tous copper, black sulphuret of copper, and as the blue carbonate of 
copper. It occurs also in small quantities in the cliffs near the 
shore, about 100 yards southeast of the brick kiln at Sparta. It 
has also been found in small quantities in several places in the 
township of Mount-Pleasant, farther from the river. As it occurs in 
so many places in this vicinity in small strings and nests, it is not im- 
probable that workable quantities of the ore may exist there, but I 
would advise persons to be cautious in investing capital for mining ex- 
plorations. The working of metalliferous veins, with the exception of 
iron, has thus far in this country, been like a lottery, w^hether for gold, 
silver, lead or copper. There are some that have proved to be good 
investments, and have yielded permanent profits, but on an average, at 
least nine-tenths of them have cost far more than they have produced. 
Titanium ore has been found in several places in Putnam county. At 
almost every locality where augite and scapolite are found associated, 
(and the localities are numerous) sphene or the silico-calcareous oxide 
of titanium is also found associated. Sphene, beautifully crystallized, 
