158 • Tlie Aiiicricati Geologist. March, i898 
and, in the case of more thoroughly weathered material, more 
or less hydrated hematite likewise chromiferous. The thick- 
ness of the deposit in this particular relation varies from two 
to eighteen inches. Just beneath developments of this de- 
scription the basal pyroxene is, to the depth of a few inches, 
commonly decomposed into a soft chloritic clay. 
In places w^here local topography has been favorable to 
weathering action this ferriferous exfoliation graduates up- 
ward into an impure sub-specular product, a mixture of ferric 
and magnetic oxides characterized by a remarkable prismatic 
cleavage which seems wholly incidental to the partial or in- 
cipient alteration. Though possessing a low specific gravity 
and affording a green streak and powder, this product is of a 
dull sub-metallic lustre on all cleavage faces even to the min- 
utest mechanical sub-division. Natural surfaces of outliers of 
this base material, such as are developed by a sort of potential 
cleavage, are commonly veneered with ferric oxide of sub- 
metallic lustre. 
In extremely favored spots, as on "Magnetic Summit," so- 
called, the peak of Emerson, or East Mt., the same di- 
vision at shallow depths is more thoroughly altered into a 
dense sub-specular product of high specific gravity. Similar 
material likewise unequally developed on a small scale is 
sometimes noticed amongst the gleanings at the several ex- 
cavations in the valley. The quantity, however, is commer- 
cially insignificant, and the quality of the best indififerent. 
At several of the explorations no development of distinctly 
ferriferous products is observed, especially in well drained 
hillocks. At others specimens of rich iron ore, chiefly from 
the base of the series, can be gleaned. On the more northerly 
locations, known as the Duke and the Iron BlufT, in the valley 
bottom, no development of ore has taken place, the black 
lustrous surface of the outliers alone affording semblance to 
iron ore. The miscellaneous character of the products sub- 
mitted by the explorers for analysis is proof of the indiscrim- 
ination with which they had collectively been regarded. The 
bulk of the whole material had, indeed, been mistaken for 
iron ore, not only by local miners unfamiliar with iron ores, 
but also in one instance by a professional observer specially 
sent out from London. 
