Volume 23 (1871) (426 pages)

24 SCIENTIFIC PRESS. {July 15, 1871. Scientitic Dress, * W. B. EWER. sce cceccccesseccesceces SxNI0B EDITOB. DEWEY & Co., Publishers. GEO. 4, ATRONG, THO. L. BOONE. A, t. DEWEY, Ww. 3B. REWER, Office, No. 414 Olay St., below Sansome. ADVERTISING RATES. 1 week. 1month, 3 months. 1 year. Per line,,. fed -25 a. 80 $2.00 $5.00 One-half in .$1.00 $3.00 6.00 20.00 One inch. . 2.00 6.00 10.00 38.00 Large advertisements at fevorahle rates. Special or reading notices, legal advert ta, notices app in extraordinary type or in particular parts of the paper, inserted at special rates. SUBSCRIPTIONS payahie in advance—For one year $4; six months, $2.50; three months, $1.25. Oluhe of ten names or mora $3 each per annom, NEW YORE OFFISE: Room 25, Park Row. W. E. Panrarpar, Editorial and Business Correspondent. San Francisco: Saturday Morning, July 15, 1871. —_S SS Gold and Legal Tender Rates. San Francisco, Wednesday, July 12, 1871. Legal Tenders buying, 8934; selling, 90. Gold in New York to-day 112%, a Table of Contents, Vedder’s Car Coupling, Ill.; Strongest Building Timber; Mining Suit; California Instruments for Canada Pacific Railroad.. 17 Mercranrcan Procress.—Steam on Canals: Putting up Fences by Machinery; Iron Bridges; American Telescopes; Cost of Pig and Bar Iron; Cement; Strength of Iron.1° Screnroro Proarxess. — Tyndall on Sound: Utilizing Cotton Seed; Gas Tree; Telegrapb Novelty; Herschel’s Character; Spheroida! Statcmeeret ecileclss cele s scsaiiee es 1g Ageing Wine; Water Pipes; Circular Instructions; Wetter to the Secretary of the Treasury; New England Earthquakes.. 19 Miniwe Summary; Mining Shareholders’ Directory; Mining Stocks; Market Rates. 20-23 List of Patents; Notices of Patents; Editoria) Notes Eastward, Ill.; Wonderful Cavern: Wild Peach of Nevada; Fossil Remains. .2? New Publications; Wheeler’s Expedition: Safety Cages; Platinum: Rocky Mountain Coal for Gas; Good Health....4. 22 Notices to Correspondents: Wilder’s Pony Engine: Ore Shipments; Yield of Placers; Imrovement in Smelting Furnaces; New malgamating Agent; Unique Mining Bay EIR CMAN. MINA eli ieiore wesnie alee v0.6 Flour Packing Machine, Ill.; Henry Carey Baird, Ill.; Krupp’s Cannon, Ill.; Colorade Ae ae pooopancunee 26 Art of Making Pudding; Good and Disease¢ Meat; Oiling Floors....sese-s0 26 Notices to Correspondents. W. L. M.—Oakland. Your idea is a good one and will be valuable if you can overcome one obstacle to its practical working, namely, its liability to get clogged np with dirt. As your drawing shows the device, the spring would soon be out of working order by the accumnlation of dirt. If you can obviate this trouble, the invention will be worth patenting. Wilder's Pony Engine. We saw at the Miners’ Foundry, last week, @ pony engine which has been built there, after Wilder’s Patent, for the San José and Santa Clara Railroad. The managers of this road, finding difficulty at times when excursion parties pass over their road in providing the necessary number of horses for drawing the cars, have determined to call steam to their aid, and this engine has been built for them. In this locomotive, the steam passes from the cylinder into an expansion chamber and thence through a coil of pipe over the fire place, where the steam is exposed to a great heat, and thence escapes without noise or appearance which would frighten animals along the road. This is one item which will interest people in the vicinity. The engine is strongly and compactly built, has 5-inch cylinder and 10-inch stroke, and is capable of drawing with ease three loaded cars. 168, one-inch tubes, with circulation pipes to prevent foaming. The blow-off also lends into the expansion chamber noted above. \ ‘nis engine has been introduced into New York city, where it is now used with great suecess; and we think that there is great opportunity for it in this city and elsewhere on the coast. Mr. W. G. Miller is the General Agent for the Pacific Coast, and we recommend his engine to the attention of our renders. The vertical boiler has . * Ore Shipments. The shipments of ore to this city during the lsst six months hsve been somewhat larger thsn they were during the first half of Isst year, but not eqns! to onehalf of what they were during last half of 1870. This is due in great measure to the erection of smelting furnaces in the interior, which reduce the ores to base bullion, and has also been infiuenced by the rise in the freight tariff on the transcontinental railroad. The amount of bullion received, however, is over six times that of the first half of 1870, and about twice as large as that of the Isst half. It is, moreover, more than twice the amount of ore-received. We have noticed, however, one fact of late in this connection, which is a little remarkable. The Eureka Consolidated have made a large shipment to the Hast, via San Francisco and Panama, It is said that the better prices paid at the East, and the cheaper cost of freight, renders this profitable to them. But it seems to us that such a state of affairs csnnot continue long. San Francisco certsinly ought to be able to induce the interior to ship to this point. We believe thst she can do so. We shsll soon have competition in smelting and refining here, and then we believe that we shall receive all the bullion and much of the ore from our Paoific Slope, as we now get a large shsre. We give below the amounts of ore and bullion received here during the three last half-years. The tables are most interesting for comparison and reference, ORE. BULLION. Interior. South. Interior, South. 1870, tons. ta. . . tons. tbs, . itona. tba. . . tons.! tha. January. . 169 [1,660 4] 400). .] . 46] 900 Fehruary. 109 . 250)). . .0+. . eoee. eae 47 }1,500 119 . 320)) 19 . ) 200) 46 }1,000} 26 {1,000 219 300, 22 . 700)) 577) 70 40 . 700 308 . 320; 40 1.400, 68) 400) 63 11.500 «. 268 (2890) 20 300) 119 . 200] 48 /1,000 . 1,194! 240! 106 !1,000! 980 . goo! a72 . s00 1,300 fons 1,240 ibs. 662 tons 600 Ibs. Average per month: Ore, 216 tons, 1,540 Tha: Builion, 92 tons, 100 tbs. o ORE. BULLION. Interior. South. Interior. South. 1870. . tons./ tbs. fitons, tbe. . /tons. ths, . . tons. tba. July .. 629 {1,96C! 4} 100}. 131 00) 113 . 400 6 August.] 671 . 190)) 64 1,400!) 289 {1,900}; 46 . 800 september] 318 . 110j)) 18) 700} 144 . 500} 36] 600 Jetoher. 797 . 700 3} 300} 86} 900} 137 /1,400 November. 760 . 900}; 48 }1,500}} 425 [1,300/). . .Decemher.} 382 . 600; 2} 600}, 323 }1,2001 118 . 600 3,843' 360 141 . s00!l1,401! 400! 251 . 1,700 3,484 tons 860 Ibe. 1,858 tons 100 ibs, Average per menth: Ore, 680 tons 1,476%; lhs.; Bullion, 308 tons 1,683% tbe. ORE. * BULLION. Interior. South. Interior. South. 1871. _[tona. ibe. j. tons. Ths. . . tons. tba. . [tong. tha. January .] 226 . 900) 1 {1,000 . 458 /1,800/] 198 . 1,400 166} 900]. . . :. ] 360 . 1,900. ] 140 . ‘900 . 256 . 1,000] 29 . 1,000,] 432 . “300l. 176 {1,600 .-{ 200 . “200i 272 . ?. . . 417 . 4nol! 230 . 1;200 -. 292 . 800}} 143 . 600') 360 . 800] 296 . 500 25 . 1,700]] 2 . 1,500'. 845 . 1,000. . 230 . 200 {1,16612,5001 489! 100'2,366) 900!/2,212!1,800 1,605 tons 1,600 ibs. 3,578 tons. Average per month: Ore, 267 tons, 1,286%% ibs.; BulNon, 69644 tons. The ahove inciudes 660 3-5 tons of copper ore. The amonnt of ores exported from San Francisco during the same time, according to the custom house returns pnblished in the city papers, is as follows: 1870, Jan.—June. Copper OTeB. ce. e+ cereseceercees 839 tons $45,826 Silver Ores. . -567 ** 90,397 Various .. « 97 18,367 Total..+sseeseeere0. 1,503 tons $149,680 1870. July—Decemher. Copper Ores. ..sseccseves 1,600 tons $69,391 Silver Ores. «+ 1,061 « 247,528 Gold Ores. aso 1" 1,500 Various .. . 1,219 ¢ 64,623 Total. «+. 3,781 tons $382,942 Of the exports of 1870, 1,282 tons were shippsd to New York and 4,002 tons to Great Britain. 1871. Jan.—June. Copper Ores 626 tons $31,694 Silver Ores . 328 128,466 BTIOUBs ec esecccccerersccccees 214 48,874 Total..0:.:eee.006. 1,168 tons $208,934 Of these. 176 tons wera shipped to New York and 992 tons to Great Britain. If the above figures are correct, the amount of ore smelted in this city is not very large. It should be remarked, however, that the ores called ‘‘various,” which include “chrome ores,” ete., are not ineluded in the tables of imports. We commend the above statistics to the consideration of onr readers. : Yield of Placers, It would appear that heretofore the yield of the placer dirt, at least in several localities in our State, has been generally overestimated. An example of this is with regard to the placers of Gold Run District. The Eng. and Min. Jour. lately had a communication with regard to an interesting esleulation of the average yield per cubic yard of the dirt washed in this district, made by W. H. Pettee of the California State Geological Survey. The superficial srea here, from the C. P. Railroad southerly to the place where the doposit has been broken off by the caon of the North Fork, is estimated at 860 acres, of which about one-half has been worked over—not worked out, as the bed-rock has been reached only at the southern extremity, in the gronnd of the Cement Mining Company. It is estimated that 43,000,000 cubic yards of dirt have been removed by hydraulic process, and the gross product of the district, calculated from statistics furnished principally by Messrs. Moore & Miner, is given as about $2,000,000. The average yield, therefore, has not been over 43% cents, and yet hydraulic mining has been carried on with large profit. This calculation, however, embraces only the product of the surface-dirt, as there are still from one hundred to two hundred feet of gravel and cement underlying the excavation. As the richest dirt is generally found near the bed-rock, future yields will probably bring up this average considerably higher. Several estimates have been made of the average yield of the claims between the Middle and South Yuba. Our readers will remember Laur’s estimates of about. 16 cents, and Silliman’s of about 80 cents per cubic yard (in Ross Browne’s Report, 1868) for this last region. We may say in addition that we believe Mr. Pettee’s calculations to have been as carefully made as any others, probably more earefully than any before. Improvement in Smelting Furnaces. There is no establishment in the world, probably, where there is a better and more efficient set of officers, and where greater improvements are made, than at the smelting works of Freiberg, Saxony. Within the past ten years great advances have been made there in metallurgy, and experiments are being continnally carried on. A Freiberg improvement is the Piltz smelting furnace, which we illustrated in the Sorentirio Press of January 14th, 1871. A private letter to the editor speaks of a further modification of this construction, which would appear to be a most excellent feature. There is now no ixside crucible to the furnace, but the bottom is bnilt of brick and inclines slightly to an iron spout leading into a crucible or hearth outside of the furnace. The melted mass rnns out continuously into this last crucible, which is lined with fire brick, and which is ta pped whenever it has become filled with the fused matter. By this construction the furnace runs more regularly, and the formation of * sows” is prevented. The idea strikes us as very good. Our informant writes us that ‘‘the slags are purer than formerly, and they pronounce the thing eminently a success in all ways.” As the slags previonsly were euch es would be prononnced eminently pnre in this conntry, the new device must have proved an effectual one. Artistio.—Mr. Charles Crocker, VicePresident of the Central “Pacific Railroad, has recently imported two valuable tables, one of beautiful malachite, the other of Byzantine mosaic. The latter has representations of the principal buildings of Rome. Prrsonau,—Prof. J. D. Whitney, State Geologist, arrived from New York last Monday. A New Amalgamating Agent. The Australians are reported to have discovered a new agent for extracting gold, either from the raw ore, tailings or the refuse from smelting furnaces. This is called the saccharate of mercury, and is to be used in amalgamation. The compound has been pstented by two gentlemen of Ballsrat, The preparation ‘consists of mercury triturated with sugar until an impalpable powder is formed, and the metal cannot be discerned in it except by using a powerful magnifying glass.” The dry powder is mixed with the ore, tailings, etc., and is claimed ‘‘to attract and attach to itself all the gold.” The usual system of amalgamation can be carried on with the use of the new preparation as an accelerator. For ores holding at least one ounce of gold to the ton, a rotary machine has been devised. ‘Half a pound of the ssccharate, costing fifty cents, is sufficient for the treatment of a ton of ore.” These imperfect statements give no idea of the efficiency of the agent nor of the claims made for it. We are told that several tests were msde of tailings which yielded certain amounts, and that ‘‘ the banks, for which the test wss made, have certified to the accuracy of the figures.” But whether the saccharate of mercury will extract 50, 100 or 150 per cent. of the gold, we have as yetnoststements. Undoubtedly we shall hear more of the matter, as we are promised a new era in the treatment of ores from the introduction of this new blue pill. Unique Minine Enterprise.—The Sacramento Reporter says that the Great Crevice M. Co. is preparing to work a valuable gravel deposits in a deepcrevice in the bedrock at Murderer's Bar, on the North Fork of the American river, after the plan carried out at Blossom Rock. An iron pipe, 5 feet in diameter, is to be sunk to the necessary depth, possibly 100 feet, and drifts run out thence into the gravel. ‘‘ By this means, the water can be kept out of the mine with comparative ease, and work carried on below the bed of the river with safety, cheapness, and doubtless great profit. * * * A steam pnmp will be used to keep the shaft clear of water, and when the freshets commence, a tight-fitting iron cap will be placed upon the tube, so as to effectually prevent the lower part of the mine from damage during the winter months. Altogether the contrivance is very ingenious, as well as economical, and we doubt not will succeed.” Thisitem has been copied into the city and other papers. It is properly called unique. If that steam pump does not have sufficient work to pump out the American river, we shall be mistaken, We should be nnvilling to take a contract for the work. Col. Von Schmidt snnk successfully in this manner into solid rock, but sinking into gravel is an entirely different matter. We have very serious doubts as to the ‘‘ comparative ease,” ‘“‘safety, cheapness and great profit” spoken of above. 6 Fossa Bonzs.—The Carson Register says that portions of a monster pachyderm have been unearthed atthe State Prison. The bones discovered consist of one-half of the lower jaw (containing the teeth), a horn, and petrified portions of thespinal column. The remains were fonnd embedded in sandstone, about 45 feet below the surface. The teeth are about one-fourth of an inch thick (along the jaw bone), four inches wide (across the jaw), and five inches long. The teeth are about one-fourth of an.inch apart. The surface of the teeth are agatized, and the petrified muscles of the jaw look ruby. One horn of the animal was found, and is in nearly a perfect state of preservation, being about eight inches in diameter at the base and fifteen inches long. How mnch of the jaw-bone was broken off by the blast which exposed it cannot be determined, bunt it is over two feet in length.

24 SCIENTIFIC PRESS. {July 15, 1871. Scientitic Dress, * W. B. EWER. sce cceccccesseccesceces SxNI0B EDITOB. DEWEY & Co., Publishers. GEO. 4, ATRONG, THO. L. BOONE. A, t. DEWEY, Ww. 3B. REWER, Office, No. 414 Olay St., below Sansome. ADVERTISING RATES. 1 week. 1month, 3 months. 1 year. Per line,,.. fed -25 a. 80 $2.00 $5.00 One-half in .$1.00 $3.00 6.00 20.00 One inch.. . 2.00 6.00 10.00 38.00 Large advertisements at fevorahle rates. Special or reading notices, legal advert ta, notices app in extraordinary type or in particular parts of the paper, inserted at special rates. SUBSCRIPTIONS payahie in advance—For one year $4; six months, $2.50; three months, $1.25. Oluhe of ten names or mora $3 each per annom, NEW YORE OFFISE: Room 25, Park Row. W. E. Panrarpar, Editorial and Business Correspondent. San Francisco: Saturday Morning, July 15, 1871. —_S SS Gold and Legal Tender Rates. San Francisco, Wednesday, July 12, 1871. Legal Tenders buying, 8934; selling, 90. Gold in New York to-day 112%, a Table of Contents, Vedder’s Car Coupling, Ill.; Strongest Building Timber; Mining Suit; California Instruments for Canada Pacific Railroad.... 17 Mercranrcan Procress.—Steam on Canals: Putting up Fences by Machinery; Iron Bridges; American Telescopes; Cost of Pig and Bar Iron; Cement; Strength of Iron.1° Screnroro Proarxess. — Tyndall on Sound: Utilizing Cotton Seed; Gas Tree; Telegrapb Novelty; Herschel’s Character; Spheroida! Statcmeeret ecileclss cele s scsaiiee es 1g Ageing Wine; Water Pipes; Circular Instructions; Wetter to the Secretary of the Treasury; New England Earthquakes... 19 Miniwe Summary; Mining Shareholders’ Directory; Mining Stocks; Market Rates. 20-23 List of Patents; Notices of Patents; Editoria) Notes Eastward, Ill.; Wonderful Cavern: Wild Peach of Nevada; Fossil Remains. .2? New Publications; Wheeler’s Expedition: Safety Cages; Platinum: Rocky Mountain Coal for Gas; Good Health.......4. 22 Notices to Correspondents: Wilder’s Pony Engine: Ore Shipments; Yield of Placers; Imrovement in Smelting Furnaces; New malgamating Agent; Unique Mining Bay EIR CMAN. MINA eli ieiore wesnie alee v0.6 Flour Packing Machine, Ill.; Henry Carey Baird, Ill.; Krupp’s Cannon, Ill.; Colorade Ae ae pooopancunee 26 Art of Making Pudding; Good and Disease¢ Meat; Oiling Floors.......sese-s0 26 Notices to Correspondents. W. L. M.—Oakland. Your idea is a good one and will be valuable if you can overcome one obstacle to its practical working, namely, its liability to get clogged np with dirt. As your drawing shows the device, the spring would soon be out of working order by the accumnlation of dirt. If you can obviate this trouble, the invention will be worth patenting. Wilder's Pony Engine. We saw at the Miners’ Foundry, last week, @ pony engine which has been built there, after Wilder’s Patent, for the San José and Santa Clara Railroad. The managers of this road, finding difficulty at times when excursion parties pass over their road in providing the necessary number of horses for drawing the cars, have determined to call steam to their aid, and this engine has been built for them. In this locomotive, the steam passes from the cylinder into an expansion chamber and thence through a coil of pipe over the fire place, where the steam is exposed to a great heat, and thence escapes without noise or appearance which would frighten animals along the road. This is one item which will interest people in the vicinity. The engine is strongly and compactly built, has 5-inch cylinder and 10-inch stroke, and is capable of drawing with ease three loaded cars. 168, one-inch tubes, with circulation pipes to prevent foaming. The blow-off also lends into the expansion chamber noted above. \ ‘nis engine has been introduced into New York city, where it is now used with great suecess; and we think that there is great opportunity for it in this city and elsewhere on the coast. Mr. W. G. Miller is the General Agent for the Pacific Coast, and we recommend his engine to the attention of our renders. The vertical boiler has . * Ore Shipments. The shipments of ore to this city during the lsst six months hsve been somewhat larger thsn they were during the first half of Isst year, but not eqns! to onehalf of what they were during last half of 1870. This is due in great measure to the erection of smelting furnaces in the interior, which reduce the ores to base bullion, and has also been infiuenced by the rise in the freight tariff on the transcontinental railroad. The amount of bullion received, however, is over six times that of the first half of 1870, and about twice as large as that of the Isst half. It is, moreover, more than twice the amount of ore-received. We have noticed, however, one fact of late in this connection, which is a little remarkable. The Eureka Consolidated have made a large shipment to the Hast, via San Francisco and Panama, It is said that the better prices paid at the East, and the cheaper cost of freight, renders this profitable to them. But it seems to us that such a state of affairs csnnot continue long. San Francisco certsinly ought to be able to induce the interior to ship to this point. We believe thst she can do so. We shsll soon have competition in smelting and refining here, and then we believe that we shall receive all the bullion and much of the ore from our Paoific Slope, as we now get a large shsre. We give below the amounts of ore and bullion received here during the three last half-years. The tables are most interesting for comparison and reference, ORE. BULLION. Interior. South. Interior, South. 1870, tons. ta. . . tons. tbs, . itona. tba. . . tons.! tha. January.. . 169 [1,660 4] 400). ..] .. 46] 900 Fehruary.. 109 . 250)).. . .0+. . eoee. eae 47 }1,500 119 . 320)) 19 . ) 200) 46 }1,000} 26 {1,000 219 300, 22 . 700)) 577) 70 40 . 700 308 . 320; 40 1.400, 68) 400) 63 11.500 «. 268 (2890) 20 300) 119 . 200] 48 /1,000 . 1,194! 240! 106 !1,000! 980 . goo! a72 . s00 1,300 fons 1,240 ibs. 662 tons 600 Ibs. Average per month: Ore, 216 tons, 1,540 Tha: Builion, 92 tons, 100 tbs. o ORE. BULLION. Interior. South. Interior. South. 1870. . tons./ tbs. fitons, tbe. . /tons. ths, . . tons. tba. July .... 629 {1,96C! 4} 100}. 131 00) 113 . 400 6 August..] 671 . 190)) 64 1,400!) 289 {1,900}; 46 . 800 september] 318 . 110j)) 18) 700} 144 . 500} 36] 600 Jetoher.. 797 . 700 3} 300} 86} 900} 137 /1,400 November. 760 . 900}; 48 }1,500}} 425 [1,300/).. . ..Decemher.} 382 . 600; 2} 600}, 323 }1,2001 118 . 600 3,843' 360 141 . s00!l1,401! 400! 251 . 1,700 3,484 tons 860 Ibe. 1,858 tons 100 ibs, Average per menth: Ore, 680 tons 1,476%; lhs.; Bullion, 308 tons 1,683% tbe. ORE. * BULLION. Interior. South. Interior. South. 1871. _[tona. ibe. j. tons. Ths. . . tons. tba. . [tong. tha. January ..] 226 . 900) 1 {1,000 . 458 /1,800/] 198 . 1,400 166} 900]. .. . :.. ] 360 . 1,900. ] 140 . ‘900 . 256 . 1,000] 29 . 1,000,] 432 . “300l. 176 {1,600 .-{ 200 . “200i 272 . ?. . . 417 . 4nol! 230 . 1;200 -. 292 . 800}} 143 . 600') 360 . 800] 296 . 500 25 . 1,700]] 2 . 1,500'. 845 . 1,000. . 230 . 200 {1,16612,5001 489! 100'2,366) 900!/2,212!1,800 1,605 tons 1,600 ibs. 3,578 tons. Average per month: Ore, 267 tons, 1,286%% ibs.; BulNon, 69644 tons. The ahove inciudes 660 3-5 tons of copper ore. The amonnt of ores exported from San Francisco during the same time, according to the custom house returns pnblished in the city papers, is as follows: 1870, Jan.—June. Copper OTeB. ce. e+ cereseceercees 839 tons $45,826 Silver Ores. . -567 ** 90,397 Various ... « 97 18,367 Total...+sseeseeere0. 1,503 tons $149,680 1870. July—Decemher.

Copper Ores. ....sseccseves 1,600 tons $69,391 Silver Ores. «+ 1,061 « 247,528 Gold Ores.. aso 1" 1,500 Various ... . 1,219 ¢ 64,623 Total. «+. 3,781 tons $382,942 Of the exports of 1870, 1,282 tons were shippsd to New York and 4,002 tons to Great Britain. 1871. Jan.—June. Copper Ores 626 tons $31,694 Silver Ores . 328 128,466 BTIOUBs ec esecccccerersccccees 214 48,874 Total...0:.:eee.006. 1,168 tons $208,934 Of these. 176 tons wera shipped to New York and 992 tons to Great Britain. If the above figures are correct, the amount of ore smelted in this city is not very large. It should be remarked, however, that the ores called ‘‘various,” which include “chrome ores,” ete., are not ineluded in the tables of imports. We commend the above statistics to the consideration of onr readers. : Yield of Placers, It would appear that heretofore the yield of the placer dirt, at least in several localities in our State, has been generally overestimated. An example of this is with regard to the placers of Gold Run District. The Eng. and Min. Jour. lately had a communication with regard to an interesting esleulation of the average yield per cubic yard of the dirt washed in this district, made by W. H. Pettee of the California State Geological Survey. The superficial srea here, from the C. P. Railroad southerly to the place where the doposit has been broken off by the caon of the North Fork, is estimated at 860 acres, of which about one-half has been worked over—not worked out, as the bed-rock has been reached only at the southern extremity, in the gronnd of the Cement Mining Company. It is estimated that 43,000,000 cubic yards of dirt have been removed by hydraulic process, and the gross product of the district, calculated from statistics furnished principally by Messrs. Moore & Miner, is given as about $2,000,000. The average yield, therefore, has not been over 43% cents, and yet hydraulic mining has been carried on with large profit. This calculation, however, embraces only the product of the surface-dirt, as there are still from one hundred to two hundred feet of gravel and cement underlying the excavation. As the richest dirt is generally found near the bed-rock, future yields will probably bring up this average considerably higher. Several estimates have been made of the average yield of the claims between the Middle and South Yuba. Our readers will remember Laur’s estimates of about. 16 cents, and Silliman’s of about 80 cents per cubic yard (in Ross Browne’s Report, 1868) for this last region. We may say in addition that we believe Mr. Pettee’s calculations to have been as carefully made as any others, probably more earefully than any before. Improvement in Smelting Furnaces. There is no establishment in the world, probably, where there is a better and more efficient set of officers, and where greater improvements are made, than at the smelting works of Freiberg, Saxony. Within the past ten years great advances have been made there in metallurgy, and experiments are being continnally carried on. A Freiberg improvement is the Piltz smelting furnace, which we illustrated in the Sorentirio Press of January 14th, 1871. A private letter to the editor speaks of a further modification of this construction, which would appear to be a most excellent feature. There is now no ixside crucible to the furnace, but the bottom is bnilt of brick and inclines slightly to an iron spout leading into a crucible or hearth outside of the furnace. The melted mass rnns out continuously into this last crucible, which is lined with fire brick, and which is ta pped whenever it has become filled with the fused matter. By this construction the furnace runs more regularly, and the formation of * sows” is prevented. The idea strikes us as very good. Our informant writes us that ‘‘the slags are purer than formerly, and they pronounce the thing eminently a success in all ways.” As the slags previonsly were euch es would be prononnced eminently pnre in this conntry, the new device must have proved an effectual one. Artistio.—Mr. Charles Crocker, VicePresident of the Central “Pacific Railroad, has recently imported two valuable tables, one of beautiful malachite, the other of Byzantine mosaic. The latter has representations of the principal buildings of Rome. Prrsonau,—Prof. J. D. Whitney, State Geologist, arrived from New York last Monday. A New Amalgamating Agent. The Australians are reported to have discovered a new agent for extracting gold, either from the raw ore, tailings or the refuse from smelting furnaces. This is called the saccharate of mercury, and is to be used in amalgamation. The compound has been pstented by two gentlemen of Ballsrat, The preparation ‘consists of mercury triturated with sugar until an impalpable powder is formed, and the metal cannot be discerned in it except by using a powerful magnifying glass.” The dry powder is mixed with the ore, tailings, etc., and is claimed ‘‘to attract and attach to itself all the gold.” The usual system of amalgamation can be carried on with the use of the new preparation as an accelerator. For ores holding at least one ounce of gold to the ton, a rotary machine has been devised. ‘Half a pound of the ssccharate, costing fifty cents, is sufficient for the treatment of a ton of ore.” These imperfect statements give no idea of the efficiency of the agent nor of the claims made for it. We are told that several tests were msde of tailings which yielded certain amounts, and that ‘‘ the banks, for which the test wss made, have certified to the accuracy of the figures.” But whether the saccharate of mercury will extract 50, 100 or 150 per cent. of the gold, we have as yetnoststements. Undoubtedly we shall hear more of the matter, as we are promised a new era in the treatment of ores from the introduction of this new blue pill. Unique Minine Enterprise.—The Sacramento Reporter says that the Great Crevice M. Co. is preparing to work a valuable gravel deposits in a deepcrevice in the bedrock at Murderer's Bar, on the North Fork of the American river, after the plan carried out at Blossom Rock. An iron pipe, 5 feet in diameter, is to be sunk to the necessary depth, possibly 100 feet, and drifts run out thence into the gravel. ‘‘ By this means, the water can be kept out of the mine with comparative ease, and work carried on below the bed of the river with safety, cheapness, and doubtless great profit. * * * A steam pnmp will be used to keep the shaft clear of water, and when the freshets commence, a tight-fitting iron cap will be placed upon the tube, so as to effectually prevent the lower part of the mine from damage during the winter months. Altogether the contrivance is very ingenious, as well as economical, and we doubt not will succeed.” Thisitem has been copied into the city and other papers. It is properly called unique. If that steam pump does not have sufficient work to pump out the American river, we shall be mistaken, We should be nnvilling to take a contract for the work. Col. Von Schmidt snnk successfully in this manner into solid rock, but sinking into gravel is an entirely different matter. We have very serious doubts as to the ‘‘ comparative ease,” ‘“‘safety, cheapness and great profit” spoken of above. 6 Fossa Bonzs.—The Carson Register says that portions of a monster pachyderm have been unearthed atthe State Prison. The bones discovered consist of one-half of the lower jaw (containing the teeth), a horn, and petrified portions of thespinal column. The remains were fonnd embedded in sandstone, about 45 feet below the surface. The teeth are about one-fourth of an inch thick (along the jaw bone), four inches wide (across the jaw), and five inches long. The teeth are about one-fourth of an.inch apart. The surface of the teeth are agatized, and the petrified muscles of the jaw look ruby. One horn of the animal was found, and is in nearly a perfect state of preservation, being about eight inches in diameter at the base and fifteen inches long. How mnch of the jaw-bone was broken off by the blast which exposed it cannot be determined, bunt it is over two feet in length.