Volume 12 (1866) (428 pages)

+ ES. i, a Yournal o rm f Wseful Arts, -Srience, and Mining and Mechanical Prvgress. DEWEY & CO.,, PUBLISHERS And Patent Soliclturs. SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, MAY 26, L866. VOLUME XII Number 21, TABLE OF CONTENTS. arney’s Contentrator — Il-)The First California Dell. _tusiratent the Pacite Farga Company, Sew 'rocens of Rednelng SU Combingdon Yer and Vapper trom their Ores and Solntlons “Ure on the Paclie Const. sulforuia Academy of Natuful acicncos, + eologicul Qucrles, factory Gurve, Kic,—A Ne. Py lg Mer. Randall's Last aritely he Ranker Mino, Placer Co. iter trum our traveling Correspundent—El Dorada Comly. Her trons Mamiaoth Dis! Lory. irlet, Nevad [Stock Sales and Reports. he Brown's Valley Quartg san francisco Prices Curren! Mines — Letter Trum Yuba New Mining and Olher AdCounty. Yerlisements, e1c. AM Tnproved Bunk Lovk, New Mutlve Power for Sen pomg Vessels. Ore Sinelttng in Colorado. Fossils in Oregon. Remarks. Evening Schools, Mixing Summ cxy,Californla, evada, Arlzain, Tellin, Montandt, Oregon, Volo:ado, nnd Brite Columlda, Fdttorint and Selected. Mining Sharehulders' Direc. Geological Querics. Messrs Epitors :— Will you be good enough to submit the follawing to the readers of your valuable journal : From theoretieal considerations, I deem it possible that those ancient yravel beds, situated on the western Aank of the Sierra Nevnda, may be inteisected by qnartz veins, along fanticlinul lines. I wish to ask the readers of the Pnxss il nny one of them ever saw cr heard of a quartz vein intersecting the gravel composing such deposits? It so, where is the vein located, what is its width, and is the gravel in immediate contaet with tbe vein. metumorphosed ; nnd if so, to what extent? If any one can answer in the affirmative, he will confer n faver on the writer and at the eame time contribute li4 mite towards the advancement of the scienee of our duy. I fully agree with O. W. Easton, that we have antliracite coal buried deeply in the valleys of Culifornia, providing the troughs or baSins existing between the mountain ranges were not submerged during the carboniferous era. hoe Bl Forbestown, April 3d, 1866. Reaarxs.—We give our correspondent the benefit of the above query; but venture the nssertion that he will uever find “a quartz vein intersecting tho gravel composing” the ““anciont gravel beds” of Californin; neitber in the fresh wuter dejiosits which are now being worked lor their uuriferous treasures, and which, according to Professor W bitney, belong to the poat-plioeene epoch; nor yet in tbe Mmueh more ancieut deposits of marine origin, which-are formed,at intervals along the base of the Sierra, and which are referred to an age as fur back as the older tertiary, or perhaps even to the upper cretaceous system. Congiomerates, made up of small boulders and waterworu pebbles, imbedded in what was oneea pasty, but whicb is now an indurated moss, aad of a much more ancient origin than the ‘cretaceous rucks, frequently have small quarta veins intersecting them in direct lines, often cutting the boulders and pebbles in whatever line or seetioa the direction of the vein chances to strike them, as for instance ia the vicinity of Boston, Massachusetts; but we have never heard and ‘never expect to hear of a quartz vein intersecting a gravel range deposited duriny the post-tertiary age to which, if we uuderstand our correspondent, the deposits to which he refers belong. —_ . Macatwery O1n.—Dell, Cranna & Co., 513 Front street, advertise a very excellent quality of inachinery oil, eaid 10 be superior to any{bing of the kind in use oa this coast. chivists would do well.to give them n call ‘This firm importe coal oils and: lamp stock. Ma-! VARNEY'S CONCENTRATORS. There is probably no c'ass of mining machinery nt the present time, to which inventors can turn their uttention with so much profit to themselves und the public, as to that having for its objeet the separation of the small percentugo of sulphurets from tho large mass of quartz, or other silicious matter contained in the ore. Itis now universally admitted that the chief source of loss in working botb autiferous and argentiferous ores is the waste of tho sulphurets. Withiu the last few years considerable attention has been devoted 1o perfecting machinery for accomplishing thie desired objeet. Various machines have been devised for this pnrpose, several of which have been illnstrated in the coluinns of the Mixixe AND £@eENTIFIC Press; and in secordance With our determination 10 present onr readers with everything new and valuable in mining entire surface. Projecting from the left of the eircumlerence of the disk, will be noticed a short arm resting against aa upright steel spring. ‘lhe machine is set in motion by revolving a sniall wheel, with a projecting eam, which, etriking aguinst the arm attached to tho circumferenee of the eoneentrating disk, throws it forward an ineh or less, from whence it is foreed back by the spring agaist a percussion post or stop, permanently fixed in its position, ‘This, it will be observed, gives a vibratory motion to the disk, which can be inade as rapid as may be required. The foree of the water carries the sand outward in every direction from the center of the disk, and the vibratory motion with ite aceompanyuig percussion, lodves tho heavier particles against one side of each of the partitions which divide the disk into sections ; while the lighter portion epreads out, aecording to the specific VARNEY’S CONCENTRATOR. iaaehinery, we give to-day an illustration of aaother concentrator, recently devised and patented by Mr. ‘l'homas Varney, of this city a gentleman already widely nnd favorably known to the mining public by his previous inventions of niining machinery. The Varney Concentrator is quite different in its constrnetion and niode of operation from anything of the kind hitherto devised. In the illustration which we give, the urtist has broken away a portion of the machine, in order to give the reader a more clear comprehensiun of its general construetion. ‘Ihe machine consists of a horizontal, circular disk, slightly eoniecal , in form, from four to eight feet in diameter, divided into eight compartinents, inore or less, according to tbe size of tbu disk. ‘I'bese divisions are made by radial partitions slightly raised above the surface. The surface of each coinpartment is eovered by quicksilvered eopper plates, for the purpose of catehing aay free gold that may have escaped the previous eaving apparatns. Around the periphery ol the disk is a slightly raised flange or ledge forming the onter edge of a eeries of troughs, one of whicb is placed just below the outer edge of . each compartment. ‘The sand is fed into the . macbine, as showu, at the center, and ia euch: a aaaner as to be equally distributed over the gravity of the particles, toward the opposite sides of the compartments or sections, and the action of tho water, aided by gravity, discharges the entire mass upon the troughs before mentioaed, when the continued oscillating motion and percussion causes the beavier particles to discharge through an opening at one extremity-of the trough, from which it falls into a proper reeeptacle—-one of which may be seen in the engraving—while the lighter and worthless sauds pass off with the water througb an opening at the other extremity, by a euitable conveyance to the waste way. ‘I’be operation is most complete, and the machine extremely simple. All the care required is the removal of the vessels into which tbe sulphurets are discharged, as fast as they are filled. This muchine ean be seen in operation at the rooms of the inveator, at tbe Paeific Iro Works, oa First street. : Tue Correcr Dinrnsions.—The Western Unioa Company’s light-draught stern-wheel steamers Wade and Windsor, recently built in this city for the use of telegraph builders, are sixty-one fect long and eleven feet beam, instead of forty feet,loag uad nine feet beam, as stated by the Alte recently. The machinery (Neporled for Ihe Nluing and Sclenilfic Press] Qalifornia Academy of Natural Sciences. REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINO. Monpay Evenixe, May 21, 1866. The Academy met for the first time at their new rooms in Donahue’s Bank Building, southeast coruer of Montgomery and Sucramente streets. Twelve members prosent—Vice President Stearns in tho Chair. Minutes of previous meeting read-and approved. ‘he Committee on Roome reported that rooms had been obtained, fitted np bya private subseription outside of tbe usual funda of the Academy, and the library and collection moved and partially arranged. The Committee having concluded their labors, were relieved, at their own request. : : The Curator of Conchology annoanced that the Academy had received Irom the Smithsonian Institute, two boxes of shells, containing duplieate shells of the U. 8. Exploring Expeditiou, and the shells of this coast, named from tbe types in the Smithsonian Collection. The Librarian announeed tbe reception of a large number of very voluable scientific worke, receivod througb the Smithsonian Inetitute,from various scientific societies in Europe. It was proposed by several members that the Acudemy should subseribe to tbe various metallurgical and mining journals now published oa the continent of Europe, and not aeeessible to the mining engineere and metallurgists of this State. Messrs. J.D. Whitney, W. Ashburner and others, pledged themselves for the ainount necessary to meet the sabscription for tbe same, and the proposition will doubtless be carried out immediately. . A paper was presented by Mr. W. H. Dall, proposing a new sub-family for the receptioa of pompholiz effusa lea, a rare fresh water Californian mollnsk, under tbe name of pompholince; it was referred to the Publication Comunittee. Messrs. Frederick Gulzkow, I. T. Gardiner, Hugo Hoebolzer, C. W. Lightner, Charles Bonner, W. “A. Goodyear, Theodore Bluke, aud C. R. King, were proposed for resideut membership. . . The Publication Committee called attention . {o a new sheet of the Proeoedings containing }a very valuable paper by M. Aucuste Remond, on the “ Mince ond Geology of Northern Mexfico.” This paper coatains a more complete aecouat of the geology aad mines of that country than bas been given in any or all _previoue publications on the same subject. The paper ig the result of two years arduous and careful explorations made in persou by Mr. Remond, who is the first to collect fossils proving tho age of tbe metalliferous aud other deposits in those localities. Prof. Whitney spoke of-colleetions of fossils made in Nevada by Mr. J. H. Clayton, containing many new forms of fossils, aniong the most remarkable of which is a trilobito. ‘They nre extremely valuable, as throwing light on the geology of both California and Nevada. Sundry bills presented and ordered paid. Adjourned. T. H. Buooner, Secretary. We lave to beg the iadulgeace of our readers for tho absenee of the usual mechanical and scienwas furaished by Mr. Johu Locbhead. tifie miscellany from our columns, which must havo been observed for several weeks past. The amount of correspondeneo which ordinarily finds its way to our tahle, has been considerably inereased of late, by 2 somewhat lengthy discussion, which, wo presume, has now been brought to a close. Its place, and more, will hereafter be supplied with matter presenting greater variety and more general interest. We trust that our eorrespondents will, in all cases, endeavor to be as bricfand as much: to the poiut as possible in their communications.

+ ES. i, a Yournal o rm f Wseful Arts, -Srience, and Mining and Mechanical Prvgress. DEWEY & CO.,, PUBLISHERS And Patent Soliclturs. SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, MAY 26, L866. VOLUME XII Number 21, TABLE OF CONTENTS. arney’s Contentrator — Il-)The First California Dell. _tusiratent the Pacite Farga Company, Sew 'rocens of Rednelng SU Combingdon Yer and Vapper trom their Ores and Solntlons “Ure on the Paclie Const. sulforuia Academy of Natuful acicncos, + eologicul Qucrles, factory Gurve, Kic,—A Ne. Py lg Mer. Randall's Last aritely he Ranker Mino, Placer Co. iter trum our traveling Correspundent—El Dorada Comly. Her trons Mamiaoth Dis! Lory. irlet, Nevad [Stock Sales and Reports. he Brown's Valley Quartg san francisco Prices Curren! Mines — Letter Trum Yuba New Mining and Olher AdCounty. Yerlisements, e1c. AM Tnproved Bunk Lovk, New Mutlve Power for Sen pomg Vessels. Ore Sinelttng in Colorado. Fossils in Oregon. Remarks. Evening Schools, Mixing Summ cxy,Californla, evada, Arlzain, Tellin, Montandt, Oregon, Volo:ado, nnd Brite Columlda, Fdttorint and Selected. Mining Sharehulders' Direc. Geological Querics. Messrs Epitors :— Will you be good enough to submit the follawing to the readers of your valuable journal : From theoretieal considerations, I deem it possible that those ancient yravel beds, situated on the western Aank of the Sierra Nevnda, may be inteisected by qnartz veins, along fanticlinul lines. I wish to ask the readers of the Pnxss il nny one of them ever saw cr heard of a quartz vein intersecting the gravel composing such deposits? It so, where is the vein located, what is its width, and is the gravel in immediate contaet with tbe vein. metumorphosed ; nnd if so, to what extent? If any one can answer in the affirmative, he will confer n faver on the writer and at the eame time contribute li4 mite towards the advancement of the scienee of our duy. I fully agree with O. W. Easton, that we have antliracite coal buried deeply in the valleys of Culifornia, providing the troughs or baSins existing between the mountain ranges were not submerged during the carboniferous era. hoe Bl Forbestown, April 3d, 1866. Reaarxs.—We give our correspondent the benefit of the above query; but venture the nssertion that he will uever find “a quartz vein intersecting tho gravel composing” the ““anciont gravel beds” of Californin; neitber in the fresh wuter dejiosits which are now being worked lor their uuriferous treasures, and which, according to Professor W bitney, belong to the poat-plioeene epoch; nor yet in tbe Mmueh more ancieut deposits of marine origin, which-are formed,at intervals along the base of the Sierra, and which are referred to an age as fur back as the older tertiary, or perhaps even to the upper cretaceous system. Congiomerates, made up of small boulders and waterworu pebbles, imbedded in what was oneea pasty, but whicb is now an indurated moss, aad of a much more ancient origin than the ‘cretaceous rucks, frequently have small quarta veins intersecting them in direct lines, often cutting the boulders and pebbles in whatever line or seetioa the direction of the vein chances to strike them, as for instance ia the vicinity of Boston, Massachusetts; but we have never heard and ‘never expect to hear of a quartz vein intersecting a gravel range deposited duriny the post-tertiary age to which, if we uuderstand our correspondent, the deposits to which he refers belong. —_ . Macatwery O1n.—Dell, Cranna & Co., 513 Front street, advertise a very excellent quality of inachinery oil, eaid 10 be superior to any{bing of the kind in use oa this coast. chivists would do well.to give them n call ‘This firm importe coal oils and: lamp stock. Ma-! VARNEY'S CONCENTRATORS. There is probably no c'ass of mining machinery nt the present time, to which inventors can turn their uttention with so much profit to themselves und the public, as to that having for its objeet the separation of the small percentugo of sulphurets from tho large mass of quartz, or other silicious matter contained in the ore. Itis now universally admitted that the chief source of loss in working botb autiferous and argentiferous ores is the waste of tho sulphurets. Withiu the last few years considerable attention has been devoted 1o perfecting machinery for accomplishing thie desired objeet. Various machines have been devised for this pnrpose, several of which have been illnstrated in the coluinns of the Mixixe AND £@eENTIFIC Press; and in secordance With our determination 10 present onr readers with everything new and valuable in mining entire surface. Projecting from the left of the eircumlerence of the disk, will be noticed a short arm resting against aa upright steel spring. ‘lhe machine is set in motion by revolving a sniall wheel, with a projecting eam, which, etriking aguinst the arm attached to tho circumferenee of the eoneentrating disk, throws it forward an ineh or less, from whence it is foreed back by the spring agaist a percussion post or stop, permanently fixed in its position, ‘This, it will be observed, gives a vibratory motion to the disk, which can be inade as rapid as may be required.

The foree of the water carries the sand outward in every direction from the center of the disk, and the vibratory motion with ite aceompanyuig percussion, lodves tho heavier particles against one side of each of the partitions which divide the disk into sections ; while the lighter portion epreads out, aecording to the specific VARNEY’S CONCENTRATOR. iaaehinery, we give to-day an illustration of aaother concentrator, recently devised and patented by Mr. ‘l'homas Varney, of this city a gentleman already widely nnd favorably known to the mining public by his previous inventions of niining machinery. The Varney Concentrator is quite different in its constrnetion and niode of operation from anything of the kind hitherto devised. In the illustration which we give, the urtist has broken away a portion of the machine, in order to give the reader a more clear comprehensiun of its general construetion. ‘Ihe machine consists of a horizontal, circular disk, slightly eoniecal , in form, from four to eight feet in diameter, divided into eight compartinents, inore or less, according to tbe size of tbu disk. ‘I'bese divisions are made by radial partitions slightly raised above the surface. The surface of each coinpartment is eovered by quicksilvered eopper plates, for the purpose of catehing aay free gold that may have escaped the previous eaving apparatns. Around the periphery ol the disk is a slightly raised flange or ledge forming the onter edge of a eeries of troughs, one of whicb is placed just below the outer edge of . each compartment. ‘The sand is fed into the . macbine, as showu, at the center, and ia euch: a aaaner as to be equally distributed over the gravity of the particles, toward the opposite sides of the compartments or sections, and the action of tho water, aided by gravity, discharges the entire mass upon the troughs before mentioaed, when the continued oscillating motion and percussion causes the beavier particles to discharge through an opening at one extremity-of the trough, from which it falls into a proper reeeptacle—-one of which may be seen in the engraving—while the lighter and worthless sauds pass off with the water througb an opening at the other extremity, by a euitable conveyance to the waste way. ‘I’be operation is most complete, and the machine extremely simple. All the care required is the removal of the vessels into which tbe sulphurets are discharged, as fast as they are filled. This muchine ean be seen in operation at the rooms of the inveator, at tbe Paeific Iro Works, oa First street. : Tue Correcr Dinrnsions.—The Western Unioa Company’s light-draught stern-wheel steamers Wade and Windsor, recently built in this city for the use of telegraph builders, are sixty-one fect long and eleven feet beam, instead of forty feet,loag uad nine feet beam, as stated by the Alte recently. The machinery (Neporled for Ihe Nluing and Sclenilfic Press] Qalifornia Academy of Natural Sciences. REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINO. Monpay Evenixe, May 21, 1866. The Academy met for the first time at their new rooms in Donahue’s Bank Building, southeast coruer of Montgomery and Sucramente streets. Twelve members prosent—Vice President Stearns in tho Chair. Minutes of previous meeting read-and approved. ‘he Committee on Roome reported that rooms had been obtained, fitted np bya private subseription outside of tbe usual funda of the Academy, and the library and collection moved and partially arranged. The Committee having concluded their labors, were relieved, at their own request. : : The Curator of Conchology annoanced that the Academy had received Irom the Smithsonian Institute, two boxes of shells, containing duplieate shells of the U. 8. Exploring Expeditiou, and the shells of this coast, named from tbe types in the Smithsonian Collection. The Librarian announeed tbe reception of a large number of very voluable scientific worke, receivod througb the Smithsonian Inetitute,from various scientific societies in Europe. It was proposed by several members that the Acudemy should subseribe to tbe various metallurgical and mining journals now published oa the continent of Europe, and not aeeessible to the mining engineere and metallurgists of this State. Messrs. J.D. Whitney, W. Ashburner and others, pledged themselves for the ainount necessary to meet the sabscription for tbe same, and the proposition will doubtless be carried out immediately. . A paper was presented by Mr. W. H. Dall, proposing a new sub-family for the receptioa of pompholiz effusa lea, a rare fresh water Californian mollnsk, under tbe name of pompholince; it was referred to the Publication Comunittee. Messrs. Frederick Gulzkow, I. T. Gardiner, Hugo Hoebolzer, C. W. Lightner, Charles Bonner, W. “A. Goodyear, Theodore Bluke, aud C. R. King, were proposed for resideut membership. . . The Publication Committee called attention . {o a new sheet of the Proeoedings containing }a very valuable paper by M. Aucuste Remond, on the “ Mince ond Geology of Northern Mexfico.” This paper coatains a more complete aecouat of the geology aad mines of that country than bas been given in any or all _previoue publications on the same subject. The paper ig the result of two years arduous and careful explorations made in persou by Mr. Remond, who is the first to collect fossils proving tho age of tbe metalliferous aud other deposits in those localities. Prof. Whitney spoke of-colleetions of fossils made in Nevada by Mr. J. H. Clayton, containing many new forms of fossils, aniong the most remarkable of which is a trilobito. ‘They nre extremely valuable, as throwing light on the geology of both California and Nevada. Sundry bills presented and ordered paid. Adjourned. T. H. Buooner, Secretary. We lave to beg the iadulgeace of our readers for tho absenee of the usual mechanical and scienwas furaished by Mr. Johu Locbhead. tifie miscellany from our columns, which must havo been observed for several weeks past. The amount of correspondeneo which ordinarily finds its way to our tahle, has been considerably inereased of late, by 2 somewhat lengthy discussion, which, wo presume, has now been brought to a close. Its place, and more, will hereafter be supplied with matter presenting greater variety and more general interest. We trust that our eorrespondents will, in all cases, endeavor to be as bricfand as much: to the poiut as possible in their communications.