ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY. 
■345 
ever, is often seen in the midst of the ore. I have already had occasion to remark, that ser¬ 
pentine is al’ways found sooner or later in the beds of specular oxide. It also occurs with the 
magnetic oxide, especially in the large veins of Adirondack. 
In the most of these beds of specular ore, we find large masses of the primary rocks, mostly 
of a siliceous kind. Besides these subordinate veins or masses of the carbonate of iron, fine 
geodes of quartz crystals are not uncommon. Sulphuret of iron, both in the state of proto- 
sulphuret and that of per-sulphuret, occurs in most localities : the former disseminated, decom¬ 
posing, and passing into sulphate of iron ; the latter in crystals, and more permanent in its 
form. 
Besides the powdery and massive forms of the ore, it is often in fine lenticular crystals, or 
in fine brilliant scales, the micaceous oxide as it is termed, resembling graphite, and which 
has in a few instances been employed for blacking stoves ; but, to the surprise of those who 
thus used it, the stoves soon became a bright cherry red. The ore sometimes is also in mam¬ 
millary and tuberose forms, as in the hematitic beds, and it probably assumes those imitative 
forms under the influence of the same powers and principles. 
The specular oxide, when unmixed with sulphuret of iron, has made uniformly a valuable 
kind of iron. The bar iron of Messrs. Fullers of Fullerville, is tough, and quite soft and 
malleable. When employed for castings, it has proved also as valuable as any ore ; and par¬ 
ticularly the castings from the Rossie furnace, owned by Mr. George Parish, bear the highest 
reputation in the Boston market. At one time, it was supposed that the crystallized masses 
of ore could not be worked ; that they contained something poisonous ; but this supposition 
has proved wholly erroneous and unfounded. 
Specular Ore of Edwards. 
A mass of ore which was explored in this place, deserves attention for the caution which it 
inculcates, rather than from its having been important in an economical view. This mass 
appeared in primary limestone, and seemed to be a vein extending along the rock nearly north 
and south. At the surface it was three or four feet wide, and bid fair, so far as indications 
externally appeared, to be a permanent vein. The mass was opened by Mr. Dodge of Gou- 
verneur, directly in the face of the same. It was pursued regularly, and the ore removed ; 
but its width soon began to diminish, until finally the whole of the ore was raised and removed ; 
the vein or mass having been followed in its prolongation in each direction as well as down¬ 
ward, as long as any ore could be found. In pursuing this vein, serpentine, and a yellowish lean 
carbonate of iron, were very early encountered. After the ore was exhausted, it was deter¬ 
mined to attempt to find or recover the lost vein by a lateral cut from east to west, so as to 
intersect it, provided it was lost by a shift in the position of the rocks. But after carrying 
out this plan as fully as necessary, the whole work was abandoned ; having never encountered 
even a thin vein in the form of a leader, as they are sometimes called. Masses of the ore, 
in the cavities of the rock, were in one or two instances found, but nothing which indicated 
even the existence of the ore in the vicinity. The serpentine was sometimes ferruginous, as 
Geol. 2d Dist. 44 
