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PRACTICAL PAPERS—PRODUCTION OF IRON. 
oxide of iron, which, in mountains hundreds of feet above 
the surface, or in beds beneath the soil, culminates at 
lake Superior in deposits of ore which excite the wonder 
of all beholders; and returning thence to the Atlantic slope, 
in the- Adirondacks of New York, is a vast undeveloped 
region, watered by rivers whose beds are of iron and tra¬ 
versed by mountains whose foundations are of the same 
material ; while in and among the coal beds themselves, 
are found scattered deposits of hematite and fossiliferous ores, 
which, by their proximity to the coal, have inaugurated the 
iron industry of our day. Upon these vast treasuries the 
world may draw its supplies for centuries to come, and with 
these the inquirer may rest contented, without further ques¬ 
tion, for all the coal of the rest of the world might be depos¬ 
ited within this iron rim, and its square miles would not 
occupy one quarter of the coal area of the United States. 
