Volume 11 (1865) (424 pages)

338 She Aining and Srioutifie Lress, eee orm: Cammuicnttionrs. Is tus Deraurnent we invite the rrexz piscusston of all proper subjects—correspondents alone being responsible for the ideas and theories they advance. [Written for the MinIng and Sclentific Presv.) The Problem of Gold and Silver Extraction‘ A General Review-~--No. XIX. BY PROF. L. LANSZWEERT. te The Hungarian Process.—Among the vari. ous processes for reduciog silver ores applicable” to Washoe, we inay mention the old Jungarian process. ‘The ore is hoiled in iron pans, with salt, alnm, ond saltpetre, convertiog the eulphides into chlorides; the latter being reduced, hy the iron of the pan, to metallic silver. Quicksilver is thea added to amalgamate theréduced silver. —-Partode's Process.—The ores are roasted. with salt, and the chloride of silver is dissolved in ammonia, from which the silver is precipitated ‘by sheet-iron. The ammonia is distilled and used again, Gurls Process—The crushed ore is con. verted intoa chloride, in barrels,containiog seven per cent. of chloride of copper ‘and salt water. The chloride of silver thns formed is serarated from the eolution, and the silver precipitated by copper. he solution of salt and chloride of copper can he nsed eeveral times. Pvor ores can he extracted by this process where fuel iz expensive. The Barrel or Freiberg Process.—The ore is first converted into a chloride of silver hy roasting the same in furnaces ; the roasted ore is then placed in harrels, with the addition of irou scraps, to decompose the chloride of silver and qnicksilver, so as to amalgamate the same. In Germany, where labor, fuel, and interest of money are compuratively low, this process stands at the head for the reduction of silver oree. By one of its earliest udvocates here, Mr. Guido Kustel, Inte superintendent of the Ophir works, it was decided that the harrels could not be dispensed with, and that their only objection was the.expensive roasting. The roasting of ores is a difficult science, and, in all silver-miuing countriee, of great importance. There are two kinds o} mechanical furnaces for roasting purposes, offering very economical and perfect roaeting. In both cnses steam is applied, whieh, when snperheated, and in contact with volatile chlorides, produces a change of their elements, giving muriatic acid, and leaving the metals as oxides; thus preventing n considerahle loss of silver and gold by volatization. Tu the employment of the barrels very little improvement can be suggested, unless it be in the-enlargement of the size of the harrels. The amalgamation of roasted ores in irou pans, aided by heat, is n decided improvement on the harrel system ; as the action of the iron of the pan is equivalent to the addition of iron scraps to the roasted ores, nnd the filling and cleaning-up of the pans requires less time than the barrels, and the amalgamation itsell, heated hy the direct npplication of stenin, is genernily completed in ‘from four to six hours ; while in the barrels the amalgamation requires from tweuty to twenty-four hours. Notwithstanding the first cost of the pans is larger than that of the harrels, the advantages of the tormer over the latter are sulficient to induce every mill-owner to adopt the pans. ‘This snhstitution is heiog made ‘in numerous instances. The Augustin Process.—This process was invented ahout the year 1845, and is now in very geueral use in Saxonyand Hnngary. Tne ore is roasted with sult, nud the chloride of silver is dissolved by means of a hot concentrated solution of common salt; this solution is then pat in proper vessels lor precipitation by the ageucy of metallie copper. ‘The silver falling in the precipitation tuhs is collected, cleured of particles of copper by nydrochlorie acid, and the acid, after remaining on it some time, is washed off by pure water, when the silver is collected, placed in iron pans to dry, and finolly cast in bara. (See, for a full description of this process, Mixing anD Serentiric Press, April 9th, 1864.) Ziervogel’s Process.—This method was invented by Huttenineister Ziervogel, of Heltstedt, near Eisleben, in Prussia. he same lode in which the father of Muortin Luther wrought as a miner, fnruished the ore lor the earliest experiments in this process, and still lurnishes the Gottesbelohnung lurnace. The name of the inventor may not be unfamiliar to the ars of many of your readers, since he wns for S€yeral years the director of a coal company Ypon the. Lehigh, in Peonsylvania. This systein of extracting silver from its ores is hased upow the translormation of the sulphide of silver joto the coodition of a sulphate. This ie done by roasting the sulphide with great care in a reverberatory furnace, and exposing it to the action of a draught of air froin the snrronndiog atmosphere. hie roasted matte, after having cooled sufficiently. is snbjected to lixiviation, when water, heated to 130° Fahrenheit, is allowed to penetrate the “mass, and earries with it such soluhle salts as it may find present, among which the sulphate of silver is the most important. The silverholding finid, alter beiog strained throvgh a filter, lalls intoa vessel, where its earthy imparitice are allowed to settle to the bottom. From thetce the clear liquor is ron into a tnhe containing granulated eopper and blistered copper bars. Here,on account of the high electropositive character of the copper, the, silver és precipitated in the form of a fine crystalline powder, known as cement silver, which is collected, washed with water to carry off the sulphate of lime with which it is mixed, and with acid to clear it of particles of inetallic copper. It is then fused in a peculiar reverberatory Tnrnace, und produced at a fineness of 980 thousaudths. (Jor further description of this proeess, see Minin@ AND ScTENTIFIC Press, “April 23. 1864.) Von Puterva’s Process, or Silver Estraction hy Hyposulphite of Soda.—This process consists esxentially in the transformation of tbe silver of the ores into a’ chl ride. by roasting with common salt, aud a snbsequent dissolving out of the same with a solntion ol hyposulphite of soda, and precipitating the-silver from its solntion as a sulphide by means of five-fold salphide of sodium. he sulphide of silver ohtuined is put into a mufile, where it is exposed to a glowing temperature and a current of air, so that the sulpliur is almost entirely bornt ont, leaving a metallic sponge. Ths product is sinelted, with the adilition of a small qnantity of iron to carry away the solphur that mnay yet remain, and thus a silver of 980 to 985 thousundths o! fineness is produced. An important saving in the amount of fie! and lahor is secured by this process ; and for these reasune the plap is worthy of the consideration of those engaged in reducing silver ores on the Pacifie coust, where both fuel nud lahor are denr. [To be Continued.} : . In Mrmoniam.—Many of the counties in the Eastern States are erecting monunents in memory of their soldier heroes who fell in the lute war of rebellion. ‘There are sone who object to county memorials, holding that each town should do honor to its own gallant dead. Gratitude for the services of thuse who have died in this terrible struggle shonld be expressed without stint. A regard for the opinion of future generations demands thnt this should be done. What does California propose to do for her gallant dead ? Buockape or tHE Cuitean Ports.—By the arrival of the British ship Gentoo we have eonfirmation of the reported blockade of the port of Valparaiso, that vessel having eudeavored for two days to enter, and, ulter commuuicatiug with the shore, wus ordered to proceed to San Francisco. Laxe Superior Copper—Six hnndred tons ofrock were staniped at the Albuny and Boston Stamp Mill, Lake Superior, during the month of September last. ‘Taking the amouot of copper reported, the percentage yield of this oie would be 2.67, The yield, however, was native copper. Om ar Laxe Surexior—a<An experienced oil well borer is now employed, with the necessary apparatns, in boring lor oil in the sundrock of the Ontonagon mining district, Luke Superior. Itis said there are strong ijudications of petroleum in that region. e Sucar Mit.—A man named Phillips. of Rice Creek, Butte county, says the Chico Cow ant, is an enterprising farmer, and owns the only sugar mill in that part of the State, manufacturing each year a large quantity of sorghum syrup, from cane of his own raising. Ries Crain Lost.—Recently a company of Trishmen struck a rich claim in the bauk of a creek near Lower Calaveras, in Calaveras county, rom which they took quite an amount of gold. ‘They went on aepree for several days, when some Italians jumped their claim and are now working it. 1,402,460 oonces, equal to $30,000,000. This GOLD MINING IN AUSTRALIA, \ The Miners Employed: in 1865.—Dnring the year 1862 there were employed in the Australian gold fields an average nuinber of 97,942 winers, the prodnce of whose lahor was makee the average weekly earnings of each . miner within a fraction of $4. In 1863 the average nuinber of miners employed was 92,292, who prodoced 1,578,079 onnces, equal to $29, 405,422, During the year 1864 the average, number of nliners employed was 83,394, who obtaioed, a3 the result of their lahurs, 1,557,397 oances of gold. During the first half of THE OALIFORNIA AOADEMY OF NATUBAL SCIENOES. /\ We have received a copy of the proceedings of this society;from Fehruary to Septetiber of ‘the present year, Irom which we make the following extracts i/o» « * Z f NeW MINERAL OIL REOIONS IN THE! TULARE VAle LEY— BY WILLIAM P. BLAKE. * Recent examinations of prosoecting parties, have’ added largely to. the well-known, oil-bearing portions ‘of the Stute: A district some sixty miles in length, on the. inder™slopes of I the Goast honhtuins, towards the ~Tulaye. Va} ley, has heen found to abonnd iu oil springs, or indications of oil. Oil exndes from the surface in large qnantities, and culiects rapidly the present year the nuniber of men engaged was 85,022. They produced 756,435 ounces . of gold. These results, it will he seeu, are quite. uniform for the past three or fonr years. ‘the firat:-six months of the pre ent» year, more especially the latter-half of .that period, . was p trying time for the miners. The long . continued draoght exercised n most prejudicial influence. At niany of the newly opened Belds, especially, numhers of men were idle from want of water, the working of the machines were suspended, and the yield ot gold was very sensihly effected. Under these cirenmstaoces a very serioos deficiency was expected in the amount of gold produced doring the period referred to. ‘That this has not been the cuse speaks well for the wealth and permnnency of the anriferous resources of Anstralia. A Hundred weight of Gold—The window of the Oriental Bunk recently contained a cake of amalgamated gold, weighing 1,312 ounces, or within a trifle of a hundred weight. The cake was lrom the celebrated claim of Latham & Watson, on the Mnsller's Reef. As may he imagined, the monster cake was the ‘ cynosure of all eyes,” and the windows of the vther banks, although containing many a goodly-sized cake, were deserted for inspection of the monster cake. This is thought to be the largest cake ever produced, and was the result of no crushing of about 300 tons of quartz—nearly 414 ouuces to the ton. A Luky Speeulator.—A striking instance of the uncertahity of mining recently occurred ot Whroo, in the Rushworth district. A poor miner, who lind heen working in alluvial ground lor a long time, and was harely enrning a livelihood, accidentally came on u reef with goldbenriug indications, He wns so destitute of ineans that he wag unable to raise £1 for a miner’e right to secure his title to the claim, and he solicited several persons, to whom he relnted his discovery, for the money, at the same time offering a half share in the elaim for the advance. He was met with no refusal hy all except one, who gave the moncy as a hazardons specniation, but was amply repaid by the first crushing, which gave a dividend of nenrly £500 to each man. On ‘Tuesday, July 17th, a piece of quartz, taken from Williame & Co.’s claim, on the North Catherine Reef, was exhihited at the branch office of the Bank of Victoria, Esglehawk, which for richness has scareely ever been exceeded on Bendigo. ‘The hlock of quartz (which ia about 134 foot sqnare) shows large lumps of gold, varying jn size from a pen to a walout, on every portion of its face, the interior of the stone, probably, containing gold iu ns great proportions. ‘Tou Miners’ Strikes in the Pennsylvania coal regious have assisted materially in adding to the prolits of the owners of coal mines, besides creating an nective speculative demand for coal companies’ stocks, and lur the shares of railroads leading into the coal regions. The Reading Railroad Company have reaped the tichest harvest from this condition of affairs, having been enabled to realize an income of over a quarter of a million dollars per week from the coal tonnage alone. Of course the miners of Pennsylvanin “strike” with their picks. Such ‘‘strikes” are generally far more profitable to all parties thau a “strike” without picks. A Mr. Miresevt, an old prospector, is realizing $72 per ton, with an arasira, from stuff out of the Granite Mouotain Lode, near Diamond City, Montana. Flour fetches $25 per . hundred, at this mining camp or “ city.” in small pits snuk by prospectors. The soif ahout these pits is very black and saturated .with oil.The gases escaping from_this soil are inflammable, and many ef the prospectors have been startféd to see Hames spreading over the graund,. beyond.their. camp.tises. ln digging pits about these springs, large quantities of bones ‘of vations kinds have bees throw out, and all are wonderfnlly well preserved. ‘Vhese bones sppear chiefly those of the horse, deer. and elk, though there aremany others which I have not been able to recogiize. ‘the teeth of the horse, sent to ine, are of unusnah size, aud induce the question, whether they nre not of greater antiqnity than the present race of horses. I am assured that the variety of bones aud teeth of many kinds is very great.» The oil fonnd gives ao excellent article for lubricating pnrposes, and niust be very similar to the oil funod near Zanesville, Ohio, according to the deseriptious given of the latter. THE OCCURRENCE OF SPHEXE 1N THE GRANITE OF TUE SIRRRA NEVADA. Sphene, in small hair-hrown or amber-colorad crystals, appears to be abundantly distributed in the granite of the Sierra Nevada. It may be Ionnd vt the gunrces of the American river, in the exposares of granite about Slippery Ford, and other points, aud npon the Mukelunre river, lurther south. ‘The erystals ure seldom more than the tlirty-seconil part of an inch in diameter, and are not conspicuous, but may be fooud in almost any especnmen of tlie rocks, : Jt uppears that this mmeral is also of common occurreuce in the granite of the British Islands. In a report to the British Asociation (1863), npon the composition of the granite of Donegal, it is stated, that the rock cuutains, almost universally, small crystals of sphene, in some varieties sn ahundantly as to induce tle authors’ of -the Réport to term it “splene granite.” It is nlso ubserved that this mineral has long been known to exist iu the graute of parts of Scotland, aud in that of Galway. Sphene is described hy Danaasa mineral ~* conipused of silicic acid, titanic acid, and lime. Its colors are dull yellow, green, gray, brown and black. Jt is found both amorphous and in erystals. Its formnla is usually very nearly 35 $103; 33 ‘TiO. ; 33 CaO. At the session ol July 3d, some interesting remarks were made by Mr. Kennicott aud Ds. Bebr. npon the relation of the Esquiniaux to the North American Indians. Dr. Behr said ; The Esqnimanx can only be considered nea kind ot Iudian race, their langnage heiug of the same structure, and their different habits were due to physical influenees. He farther stated that the Esquimuux formerly lived sarther sdnth. Mr. Kenuicott remarked, that from his observations, and information derived from Madam Roshkin, and from Tsagashin’s report, he believed the natives, lor some jinndreds of niles up the Kyichpak or Yonken river, were Esquimnaux rather than Indians. . At the session of Septemher 4th, Professor Blake presented the following note— ON THE ABUNDANCE OF IRON ORE 1N NORTURRN ARIZONA., : Tn 1863 I observed an iron formation of considerable extent nod interest upon aud near the Williain’s Fork of the Colorndo, near its mouth. ‘The ore is chiefly the micaceons variety of Hematite, or “specular iron,” nad oceurs in thick beds and in thin sheets, ina ferruginous limestone or dolomite, evidently ‘metamorphic, and tilted np at a high angie. It forms a belt of pecnliar appearance, that may be traced by the eye for miles across tho country, ina direction a few degrees south of west. This rock and iron ore is-ioter-stratified with chloritic and talcose slates aud granite, and the series also bears enpper ores and gold. From the collections made by Lieut. Whipple’s party, in 1853, in the monutuine north, it would appear that similor rocks exist in the Cerhat and Aquarius Mountains, the extreme geological antiquity of which was commented on by me in the Pacifie R. R. Reports, Vol. TIL, p. 59. It is possible that thie fernferous formation is connected with the extensive iron furmatioo of the coast of Mexico, sonth of Acapulco, deseribed by Mr. Manross, (Am. Journ. Sci., XXXIX, 358,} and it mny he of preSilurian date. a

338 She Aining and Srioutifie Lress, eee orm: Cammuicnttionrs. Is tus Deraurnent we invite the rrexz piscusston of all proper subjects—correspondents alone being responsible for the ideas and theories they advance. [Written for the MinIng and Sclentific Presv.) The Problem of Gold and Silver Extraction‘ A General Review-~--No. XIX. BY PROF. L. LANSZWEERT. te The Hungarian Process.—Among the vari. ous processes for reduciog silver ores applicable” to Washoe, we inay mention the old Jungarian process. ‘The ore is hoiled in iron pans, with salt, alnm, ond saltpetre, convertiog the eulphides into chlorides; the latter being reduced, hy the iron of the pan, to metallic silver. Quicksilver is thea added to amalgamate theréduced silver. —-Partode's Process.—The ores are roasted. with salt, and the chloride of silver is dissolved in ammonia, from which the silver is precipitated ‘by sheet-iron. The ammonia is distilled and used again, Gurls Process—The crushed ore is con. verted intoa chloride, in barrels,containiog seven per cent. of chloride of copper ‘and salt water. The chloride of silver thns formed is serarated from the eolution, and the silver precipitated by copper. he solution of salt and chloride of copper can he nsed eeveral times. Pvor ores can he extracted by this process where fuel iz expensive. The Barrel or Freiberg Process.—The ore is first converted into a chloride of silver hy roasting the same in furnaces ; the roasted ore is then placed in harrels, with the addition of irou scraps, to decompose the chloride of silver and qnicksilver, so as to amalgamate the same. In Germany, where labor, fuel, and interest of money are compuratively low, this process stands at the head for the reduction of silver oree. By one of its earliest udvocates here, Mr. Guido Kustel, Inte superintendent of the Ophir works, it was decided that the harrels could not be dispensed with, and that their only objection was the.expensive roasting. The roasting of ores is a difficult science, and, in all silver-miuing countriee, of great importance. There are two kinds o} mechanical furnaces for roasting purposes, offering very economical and perfect roaeting. In both cnses steam is applied, whieh, when snperheated, and in contact with volatile chlorides, produces a change of their elements, giving muriatic acid, and leaving the metals as oxides; thus preventing n considerahle loss of silver and gold by volatization. Tu the employment of the barrels very little improvement can be suggested, unless it be in the-enlargement of the size of the harrels. The amalgamation of roasted ores in irou pans, aided by heat, is n decided improvement on the harrel system ; as the action of the iron of the pan is equivalent to the addition of iron scraps to the roasted ores, nnd the filling and cleaning-up of the pans requires less time than the barrels, and the amalgamation itsell, heated hy the direct npplication of stenin, is genernily completed in ‘from four to six hours ; while in the barrels the amalgamation requires from tweuty to twenty-four hours. Notwithstanding the first cost of the pans is larger than that of the harrels, the advantages of the tormer over the latter are sulficient to induce every mill-owner to adopt the pans. ‘This snhstitution is heiog made ‘in numerous instances. The Augustin Process.—This process was invented ahout the year 1845, and is now in very geueral use in Saxonyand Hnngary. Tne ore is roasted with sult, nud the chloride of silver is dissolved by means of a hot concentrated solution of common salt; this solution is then pat in proper vessels lor precipitation by the ageucy of metallie copper. ‘The silver falling in the precipitation tuhs is collected, cleured of particles of copper by nydrochlorie acid, and the acid, after remaining on it some time, is washed off by pure water, when the silver is collected, placed in iron pans to dry, and finolly cast in bara. (See, for a full description of this process, Mixing anD Serentiric Press, April 9th, 1864.) Ziervogel’s Process.—This method was invented by Huttenineister Ziervogel, of Heltstedt, near Eisleben, in Prussia. he same lode in which the father of Muortin Luther wrought as a miner, fnruished the ore lor the earliest experiments in this process, and still lurnishes the Gottesbelohnung lurnace. The name of the inventor may not be unfamiliar to the ars of many of your readers, since he wns for S€yeral years the director of a coal company Ypon the. Lehigh, in Peonsylvania. This systein of extracting silver from its ores is hased upow the translormation of the sulphide of silver joto the coodition of a sulphate. This ie done by roasting the sulphide with great care in a reverberatory furnace, and exposing it to the action of a draught of air froin the snrronndiog atmosphere. hie roasted matte, after having cooled sufficiently. is snbjected to lixiviation, when water, heated to 130° Fahrenheit, is allowed to penetrate the “mass, and earries with it such soluhle salts as it may find present, among which the sulphate of silver is the most important. The silverholding finid, alter beiog strained throvgh a filter, lalls intoa vessel, where its earthy imparitice are allowed to settle to the bottom. From thetce the clear liquor is ron into a tnhe containing granulated eopper and blistered copper bars. Here,on account of the high electropositive character of the copper, the, silver és precipitated in the form of a fine crystalline powder, known as cement silver, which is collected, washed with water to carry off the sulphate of lime with which it is mixed, and with acid to clear it of particles of inetallic copper. It is then fused in a peculiar reverberatory Tnrnace, und produced at a fineness of 980 thousaudths. (Jor further description of this proeess, see Minin@ AND ScTENTIFIC Press, “April 23. 1864.) Von Puterva’s Process, or Silver Estraction hy Hyposulphite of Soda.—This process consists esxentially in the transformation of tbe silver of the ores into a’ chl ride. by roasting with common salt, aud a snbsequent dissolving out of the same with a solntion ol hyposulphite of soda, and precipitating the-silver from its solntion as a sulphide by means of five-fold salphide of sodium. he sulphide of silver ohtuined is put into a mufile, where it is exposed to a glowing temperature and a current of air, so that the sulpliur is almost entirely bornt ont, leaving a metallic sponge. Ths product is sinelted, with the adilition of a small qnantity of iron to carry away the solphur that mnay yet remain, and thus a silver of 980 to 985 thousundths o! fineness is produced. An important saving in the amount of fie! and lahor is secured by this process ; and for these reasune the plap is worthy of the consideration of those engaged in reducing silver ores on the Pacifie coust, where both fuel nud lahor are denr. [To be Continued.} : . In Mrmoniam.—Many of the counties in the Eastern States are erecting monunents in memory of their soldier heroes who fell in the lute war of rebellion. ‘There are sone who object to county memorials, holding that each town should do honor to its own gallant dead. Gratitude for the services of thuse who have died in this terrible struggle shonld be expressed without stint. A regard for the opinion of future generations demands thnt this should be done. What does California propose to do for her gallant dead ? Buockape or tHE Cuitean Ports.—By the arrival of the British ship Gentoo we have eonfirmation of the reported blockade of the port of Valparaiso, that vessel having eudeavored for two days to enter, and, ulter commuuicatiug with the shore, wus ordered to proceed to San Francisco. Laxe Superior Copper—Six hnndred tons ofrock were staniped at the Albuny and Boston Stamp Mill, Lake Superior, during the month of September last. ‘Taking the amouot of copper reported, the percentage yield of this oie would be 2.67, The yield, however, was native copper. Om ar Laxe Surexior—a<An experienced oil well borer is now employed, with the necessary apparatns, in boring lor oil in the sundrock of the Ontonagon mining district, Luke Superior. Itis said there are strong ijudications of petroleum in that region. e Sucar Mit.—A man named Phillips. of Rice Creek, Butte county, says the Chico Cow ant, is an enterprising farmer, and owns the only sugar mill in that part of the State, manufacturing each year a large quantity of sorghum syrup, from cane of his own raising. Ries Crain Lost.—Recently a company of Trishmen struck a rich claim in the bauk of a creek near Lower Calaveras, in Calaveras county, rom which they took quite an amount of gold. ‘They went on aepree for several days, when some Italians jumped their claim and are now working it. 1,402,460 oonces, equal to $30,000,000. This GOLD MINING IN AUSTRALIA, \ The Miners Employed: in 1865.—Dnring the year 1862 there were employed in the Australian gold fields an average nuinber of 97,942 winers, the prodnce of whose lahor was

makee the average weekly earnings of each . miner within a fraction of $4. In 1863 the average nuinber of miners employed was 92,292, who prodoced 1,578,079 onnces, equal to $29, 405,422, During the year 1864 the average, number of nliners employed was 83,394, who obtaioed, a3 the result of their lahurs, 1,557,397 oances of gold. During the first half of THE OALIFORNIA AOADEMY OF NATUBAL SCIENOES. /\ We have received a copy of the proceedings of this society;from Fehruary to Septetiber of ‘the present year, Irom which we make the following extracts i/o» « * Z f NeW MINERAL OIL REOIONS IN THE! TULARE VAle LEY— BY WILLIAM P. BLAKE. * Recent examinations of prosoecting parties, have’ added largely to. the well-known, oil-bearing portions ‘of the Stute: A district some sixty miles in length, on the. inder™slopes of I the Goast honhtuins, towards the ~Tulaye. Va} ley, has heen found to abonnd iu oil springs, or indications of oil. Oil exndes from the surface in large qnantities, and culiects rapidly the present year the nuniber of men engaged was 85,022. They produced 756,435 ounces . of gold. These results, it will he seeu, are quite. uniform for the past three or fonr years. ‘the firat:-six months of the pre ent» year, more especially the latter-half of .that period, . was p trying time for the miners. The long . continued draoght exercised n most prejudicial influence. At niany of the newly opened Belds, especially, numhers of men were idle from want of water, the working of the machines were suspended, and the yield ot gold was very sensihly effected. Under these cirenmstaoces a very serioos deficiency was expected in the amount of gold produced doring the period referred to. ‘That this has not been the cuse speaks well for the wealth and permnnency of the anriferous resources of Anstralia. A Hundred weight of Gold—The window of the Oriental Bunk recently contained a cake of amalgamated gold, weighing 1,312 ounces, or within a trifle of a hundred weight. The cake was lrom the celebrated claim of Latham & Watson, on the Mnsller's Reef. As may he imagined, the monster cake was the ‘ cynosure of all eyes,” and the windows of the vther banks, although containing many a goodly-sized cake, were deserted for inspection of the monster cake. This is thought to be the largest cake ever produced, and was the result of no crushing of about 300 tons of quartz—nearly 414 ouuces to the ton. A Luky Speeulator.—A striking instance of the uncertahity of mining recently occurred ot Whroo, in the Rushworth district. A poor miner, who lind heen working in alluvial ground lor a long time, and was harely enrning a livelihood, accidentally came on u reef with goldbenriug indications, He wns so destitute of ineans that he wag unable to raise £1 for a miner’e right to secure his title to the claim, and he solicited several persons, to whom he relnted his discovery, for the money, at the same time offering a half share in the elaim for the advance. He was met with no refusal hy all except one, who gave the moncy as a hazardons specniation, but was amply repaid by the first crushing, which gave a dividend of nenrly £500 to each man. On ‘Tuesday, July 17th, a piece of quartz, taken from Williame & Co.’s claim, on the North Catherine Reef, was exhihited at the branch office of the Bank of Victoria, Esglehawk, which for richness has scareely ever been exceeded on Bendigo. ‘The hlock of quartz (which ia about 134 foot sqnare) shows large lumps of gold, varying jn size from a pen to a walout, on every portion of its face, the interior of the stone, probably, containing gold iu ns great proportions. ‘Tou Miners’ Strikes in the Pennsylvania coal regious have assisted materially in adding to the prolits of the owners of coal mines, besides creating an nective speculative demand for coal companies’ stocks, and lur the shares of railroads leading into the coal regions. The Reading Railroad Company have reaped the tichest harvest from this condition of affairs, having been enabled to realize an income of over a quarter of a million dollars per week from the coal tonnage alone. Of course the miners of Pennsylvanin “strike” with their picks. Such ‘‘strikes” are generally far more profitable to all parties thau a “strike” without picks. A Mr. Miresevt, an old prospector, is realizing $72 per ton, with an arasira, from stuff out of the Granite Mouotain Lode, near Diamond City, Montana. Flour fetches $25 per . hundred, at this mining camp or “ city.” in small pits snuk by prospectors. The soif ahout these pits is very black and saturated .with oil.The gases escaping from_this soil are inflammable, and many ef the prospectors have been startféd to see Hames spreading over the graund,. beyond.their. camp.tises. ln digging pits about these springs, large quantities of bones ‘of vations kinds have bees throw out, and all are wonderfnlly well preserved. ‘Vhese bones sppear chiefly those of the horse, deer. and elk, though there aremany others which I have not been able to recogiize. ‘the teeth of the horse, sent to ine, are of unusnah size, aud induce the question, whether they nre not of greater antiqnity than the present race of horses. I am assured that the variety of bones aud teeth of many kinds is very great.» The oil fonnd gives ao excellent article for lubricating pnrposes, and niust be very similar to the oil funod near Zanesville, Ohio, according to the deseriptious given of the latter. THE OCCURRENCE OF SPHEXE 1N THE GRANITE OF TUE SIRRRA NEVADA. Sphene, in small hair-hrown or amber-colorad crystals, appears to be abundantly distributed in the granite of the Sierra Nevada. It may be Ionnd vt the gunrces of the American river, in the exposares of granite about Slippery Ford, and other points, aud npon the Mukelunre river, lurther south. ‘The erystals ure seldom more than the tlirty-seconil part of an inch in diameter, and are not conspicuous, but may be fooud in almost any especnmen of tlie rocks, : Jt uppears that this mmeral is also of common occurreuce in the granite of the British Islands. In a report to the British Asociation (1863), npon the composition of the granite of Donegal, it is stated, that the rock cuutains, almost universally, small crystals of sphene, in some varieties sn ahundantly as to induce tle authors’ of -the Réport to term it “splene granite.” It is nlso ubserved that this mineral has long been known to exist iu the graute of parts of Scotland, aud in that of Galway. Sphene is described hy Danaasa mineral ~* conipused of silicic acid, titanic acid, and lime. Its colors are dull yellow, green, gray, brown and black. Jt is found both amorphous and in erystals. Its formnla is usually very nearly 35 $103; 33 ‘TiO. ; 33 CaO. At the session ol July 3d, some interesting remarks were made by Mr. Kennicott aud Ds. Bebr. npon the relation of the Esquiniaux to the North American Indians. Dr. Behr said ; The Esqnimanx can only be considered nea kind ot Iudian race, their langnage heiug of the same structure, and their different habits were due to physical influenees. He farther stated that the Esquimuux formerly lived sarther sdnth. Mr. Kenuicott remarked, that from his observations, and information derived from Madam Roshkin, and from Tsagashin’s report, he believed the natives, lor some jinndreds of niles up the Kyichpak or Yonken river, were Esquimnaux rather than Indians. . At the session of Septemher 4th, Professor Blake presented the following note— ON THE ABUNDANCE OF IRON ORE 1N NORTURRN ARIZONA., : Tn 1863 I observed an iron formation of considerable extent nod interest upon aud near the Williain’s Fork of the Colorndo, near its mouth. ‘The ore is chiefly the micaceons variety of Hematite, or “specular iron,” nad oceurs in thick beds and in thin sheets, ina ferruginous limestone or dolomite, evidently ‘metamorphic, and tilted np at a high angie. It forms a belt of pecnliar appearance, that may be traced by the eye for miles across tho country, ina direction a few degrees south of west. This rock and iron ore is-ioter-stratified with chloritic and talcose slates aud granite, and the series also bears enpper ores and gold. From the collections made by Lieut. Whipple’s party, in 1853, in the monutuine north, it would appear that similor rocks exist in the Cerhat and Aquarius Mountains, the extreme geological antiquity of which was commented on by me in the Pacifie R. R. Reports, Vol. TIL, p. 59. It is possible that thie fernferous formation is connected with the extensive iron furmatioo of the coast of Mexico, sonth of Acapulco, deseribed by Mr. Manross, (Am. Journ. Sci., XXXIX, 358,} and it mny he of preSilurian date. a