No. 50.] 
73 
made, have resulted in the discovery of many interesting minerals, but 
when it is recollected that in the Avestern part of the county there is a 
tract almost unexplored, and which probably contains ranges of primary 
rocks, there can be little doubt that the number of these vv^ill hereafter 
be greatly increased. 
There are in this county some beds of iron ore especially in the town 
of Watson. The argillaceous variety is believed to be the most abun- 
dant. Veins of magnetic iron ore are also found in the primitive rocks 
on Moose and Black rivers, but neither their extent nor value has yet 
been determined. I have found magnetic iron sand on the banks of 
Moose river, near Lyondale. An impure specular ore occurs near the 
Natural Bridge.* 
Black oxide of manganese, or wad, has been found in rounded masses 
near the summit of Tug hill, but the locality has not been sufficiently 
explored to determine its extent. 
In the vicinity of Martinsburgh and Lowville, veins of galena of vari- 
ous widths traverse the limestone, and mining operations have been car- 
ried to some extent. From one of these veins several tons of the ore 
were obtained, but the quantity was by no means sufficient to meet the 
outlay which had been incurred. Indeed it is quite doubtful, from what 
is known concerning the occurrence of this ore, whether it would be 
prudent to continue these operations. 
These veins, however, have furnished some interesting specimens of 
galena, both crystallized and massive. They are often accompanied 
by iron pyrites, and at one locality near Martinsburgh, it occurs in flat- 
tened wedge form octahedrons. In almost every vein of lead ore, 
moreover, we find six-sided and lenticular crystals of carbonate of lime, 
the former of which are also found at Leyden and elsewhere, indepen- 
dently of that association. To these may be added the beautiful cubic 
crystals of green fluor spar, which occur in one of the veins formerly 
worked for lead ore, near Lowville. 
* I refer here to a deposite which was strangely enough thought to be silver ore 
The specimens which I obtained are of a steel grey colour, sometimes of a greenish 
tint, resembling chlorite, which mineral they also resemble in structure. The 
purest of these was found to contain about 50 per cent peroxide of iron, the remain 
ing portion consisting of earthy matters, principally silica mixed with some graphite. 
It is scarcely necessary for me to add that I could not detect the slightest trace of 
silver in any of them. 
[Assembly, No. 50.] 10 
