HYDROUS PEROXIDE OF IRON. 
31 
tities of this ore have been raised, and although intermixed with earthy matters, it yields an 
excellent iron. The balls and masses of true hematite are mixed with a ferruginous powder, 
which sometimes results from the decomposition of the associated strata of rocks. Washing 
is, therefore, necessary to prepare this ore for the iron smelter. 
This bed of limonite lies in the limestone rock, which reposes on the millstone grit. The 
limestone and hematite can be traced across this town into that of Monroe, where we meet 
the magnetic oxides already described. They are observed a quarter of a mile north of the 
Wilks or Clove Mine, and in many places between this and the Townsend Mine, a distance of 
at least ten miles.* 
Hematite is also found along the whole western side of Bellvale mountain, and in many 
places along the Warwick valley, to the New-Jersey line. 
Of bog iron ore, specimens of various sizes may be obtained in the towns of Blooming- 
Grove and Monroe. 
Putnam County. A bed of limonite, containing some oxide of manganese, occurs very 
near the line between Philipstown and Carmel, in Peekskill Hollow, about ten miles northeast 
of Peekskill village. Its extent is not known, but great quantities of ore have been raised 
from it. It seems, however, to be too largely mixed with earthy matters to yield good results 
in smelting. 
Dutchess County. Extensive and most valuable deposits of brown hematite occur in 
various parts of this county. They have been long and profitably wrought, and the quantity 
of ore seems to be inexhaustible. The first of these deposits that I shall notice, is the 
Fishkill Bed , situated in the town of Fishkill, about three miles northeast of the village of 
Hopewell. It occurs in a hill, the surface of which is made up of a very coarse gravel, 
imperfectly cemented with clay and loam. 
The ore, which is chiefly limonite, presents almost all the varieties from the compact brown 
hematite to the yellowish clayey ochre, which in its moist state forms a cement for the more 
compact masses. The brown ore is usually in the form of rounded nodules, which are some¬ 
times hollow; and when this is the case, the inner surface is highly polished, and has the 
appearance of having undergone fusion. Not unfrequently beautiful stalactites of various 
forms and sizes are found in these balls, and, occasionally, there is observed a very thin lining 
of a black powder, which is believed to be oxide of lfianganese. These stalactites exhibit 
fibres radiating from the centre in the most distinct and beautiful manner. 
According to the observations of Mr. Mather, this, as well as the other beds of limonite 
found in this part of the county, is situated at the junction of mica or talcose slate with the 
grey and white limestone.f 
Clove Ore Bed. This is an extensive deposit of brown hematite, situated in the south¬ 
western part of the town of Union-Vale. The general appearance of the hill or mound in 
which it occurs, does not differ much from that of the preceding; the bed, however, seems 
Horton. New-York Geological Reports, 1839. 
f New-York Geological Reports, 1838. 
