32 
ECONOMICAL MINERALOGY. 
to be more extensive, at least it has been more extensively worked. This, like most of the 
other ore beds in this district, is worked to the day , as it is technically called; excavations 
being made in various places from the surface of the ground, and the ore thus exposed, and 
subsequently removed. 
In its mineralogical characters, this ore is quite similar to that found in the Fishkill bed; 
but perhaps there is a larger proportion of the oclirey or f ne ore, as it is here called, which 
is usually considered more valuable than the other varieties. Associated with this ore there 
is occasionally found' a bluish mass resembling specular oxide of iron, but which, upon exa¬ 
mination, is ascertained to consist of minute crystals of oxide of manganese with a high me¬ 
tallic lustre. This locality is further deserving the notice of the mineralogist, from the fact 
that the rare mineral gibbsite is associated with the hematite. Previously to my announcing 
its occurrence here in 1837, it had only been found at Richmond in Massachusetts. 
The following is the composition of a specimen of hematite from the Clove mine : 
Peroxide of iron, . 80.27 
Insoluble matters,. 7.43 
Water,. 11.66 
Foss Ore Bed. Proceeding from the Clove bed in a northwestern direction, after crossing 
Chesnut ridge, we come to a deposit of ore known by the above name. It is situated in the 
town of Dover, about a mile and a half west-southwest from the furnace of the Dover Iron 
Company. This bed is found in a valley between two spurs of the mountain which passes 
through this part of the county; and it is particularly interesting as showing the association 
of the hematite with the mica slate, which occurs here in strata of some thickness, and con¬ 
tains garnets of various sizes and forms. In extent, however, this bed appears to be inferior 
to either of those already noticed. The ore also is in much larger masses, does not exhibit 
those beautiful imitative forms, and is not only with more difficulty reduced to powder, but 
contains a larger proportion of foreign substances. 
Amenia Ore Bed. This is found near Ameniaville, in the northwestern part of the town of 
Amenia. This is an enormous deposit of hematitic iron ore, from which supplies are con¬ 
stantly obtained for several furnaces in the vicinity. The bed has been opened at various 
places for the distance of an hundred yards, and the ore presents all the varieties observed at 
the other localities, and at the celebrated Salisbury Mine in Connecticut. It often occurs iii the 
form of stalactites of various sizes, and possessing uncommon beauty. The same high polish, 
or blackish sooty matter, is observed on the inner surface of the nodules ; and they not un- 
frequently have a light brown colour, and a structure so distinctly fibrous as to give them a 
considerable resemblance to wood. There is also intermixed with the nodules of the brown 
ore, a fair proportion of the yellow pulverulent ochre which is usually so much esteemed by 
iron smelters. 
A fragment of a beautifully radiated stalactite from this locality had a specific gravity of 
3.828 ; and upon calcination, lost 13.5 per cent of its weight. It is probably a specimen of 
one of the purest varieties of this ore. Its composition was ascertained to be as follows : 
