I 
402 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
tions and forces of the mineral kingdom will prepare us to un¬ 
derstand them, and give us clearer conceptions of the phenom¬ 
ena of the lead district, as presented in my report. 
J , 
Phenomena of the Lead District. —The history of min¬ 
ing in all parts of the world and the experience of all who 
have had much to do with this branch of industry testify, 
without exception, to the fact that mineral veins or ore dis¬ 
tricts are always associated with lines of physical disturbance 
in the earth’s crust. They may be mountain ranges, or more 
gentle elevations. They may be dykes of igneous rocks, or 
lines of fracture in the earth’s crust; but always lines of 
physical disturbance of less or greater intensity. 
But of the lead district of Wisconsin it has been said that 
it is an exception to the general rule. The relation of its fis¬ 
sures and ore deposits to physical forces acting from below 
has been denied, and other conditions have been called in to 
explain their phenomena. 
Although one may not endorse the theory fully, yet when it 
comes from high authority it is difficult not to be influenced 
by it in our investigations, to a certain extent, at least. But 
in entering upon the investigation of the phenomena of the 
lead district I resolved to rid myself of all theories, and follow 
only the light of facts, so far as I understood them. 
I think it was Prof. Tyndall who said: “ There is no dis¬ 
covery so limited as not to illuminate something beyond 
itself.” Every investigator of nature knows how true this is; 
and furthermore, he knows that there is not a fact in nature 
but what possesses the power to bring within view another 
fact which lies beyond it; a fact we could not see but for the 
light reflected by the one in our possession. It is this that 
gives that charm and enchantment to original investigation, 
that comes not within the sphere of those who merely read 
science in books. 
Free from theoretical bonds, and with a few facts to begin 
with, I entered upon the investigation of the phenomena of the 
lead district; commencing with the simple fact (with which all 
