.  516     NOTES  ON  THE  NEW  ALMADEN  QUICKSILVER  MINES. 
nine  in  the  bark,  as  has  been  well  shown  by  Dr.  Carsten,  and 
exemplified  also  in  the  Calisaya  of  St.  Fd  in  particular.  No 
doubt  the  Indian  Cascarilleros  may  strip  roots  and  all,  and  mix 
these  with  the  bark,  and,  in  the  fragmentary  condition  in  which 
it  comes,  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  the  bark  of  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  plant ;  but  the  extraordinary  produce  I  must 
persist  in  believing  to  be  due  to  the  circumstances  above  named, 
and  not  to  that  of  its  being  root-bark,  which,  as  regards  the 
great  bulk  of  the  collection,  I  do  not  believe. 
Whilst  compelled  to  differ  on  this  point,  I  most  willingly  bear 
my  testimony  to  the  great  value  of  the  table  given  in  last 
month's  Pharmaceutical  by  Dr.  de  Yry.  The  exactness  and 
fidelity  with  which  these  able  researches  are  reproduced,  enable 
all  persons  to  form  their  own  conclusions,  and  to  me  the  results 
seem  to  indicate  a  general  inferiority  in  the  root-bark  as  com- 
pared with  the  trunk  of  the  Calisaya. — Lond.  Pharm.  Journal, 
August,  1864. 
NOTES  ON  THE  NEW  ALMADEN  QUICKSILVER  MINES, 
By  B.  Silliman,  Jr. 
The  New  Almaden  quicksilver  mines  are  situated  on  a  range 
of  hills  subordinate  to  the  main  coast-range,  the  highest  point 
of  which  at  the  place  is  1200  to  1500  feet  above  the  valley  of 
San  Jose\  Southwest  of  the  range  which  contains  the  quick- 
silver mines,  the  coast-range  attains  a  considerable  elevation, 
Mt.  Bache,  its  highest  point,  being  over  3800  feet  in  height. 
New  Almaden  is  approached  by  the  railroad  running  from 
San  Francisco  to  San  Jose',  a  distance  of  45  miles.  In  the 
course  of  it  there  is  a  rise  of  100  feet,  San  Jose  being  of  this 
elevation  above  the  ocean.  From  San  Jose  to  New  Almaden 
the  distance  is  13  miles,  with  a  gradual  rise  of  150  or  perhaps 
200  feet. 
The  rocks  forming  the  subordinate  range  in  which  the  quick- 
silver occurs,  are  chiefly  magnesian  schists,  sometimes  calcareous 
and  rarely  argillaceous.  As  a  group  they  may  be  distinguished 
as  steatitic,  often  passing  into  well  characterized  serpentine. 
Their  geological  age  is  not  very  definitely  ascertained,  but  they 
are  believed  by  the  officers  of  the  State  Geological  Survey  to 
