THE NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW-YORK.* THE reports of the several individuals who were entrusted with the scientific survey of New-York having at length been completed, we proceed, in accordance with a promise made to the readers of this Review some months ago, to offer a few considerations relating to the less abstruse and technical, or more popular topics connected with it. We shall, however, confine our remarks to those portions of it connected with the geology and mineralogy of the state. But we have, first, somewhat to say of the report as a whole. It consists of 13 large quarto volumes, of from 500 to 1000 pages each, and a map of the state, of suitable dimensions, upon which are delineated the areas embraced by its different rocks. And to such good hands, we are happy to say it, was the conduct of these volumes entrusted, from the manuscript to their present form, that no one will be likely to look upon them either as unworthy of their subject matter, or as very particularly misrepresenting the state of the art typographical in America in 1842. Prefatory to the whole is a historical notice of New-York, by Gov. Seward, from which the following history of the survey is extracted: "In 1835 the Assembly of this state, upon motion of Charles P. Clinch of NewYork city, passed a resolution directing the Secretary of State to report to the Legislature, at its next session, the most expedient method for obtaining a complete geological survey of the state, which should furnish a perfect and scientific account of rocks and soils and their localities, and a list of all its mineralogical, botanical and zoological productions, and for procuring and preserving specimens of the same, with an estimate of the expense of the undertaking, John A. Dix, Secretary of State, in January, 1836, submitted a report in pursuance of this resolution. That luminous and satisfactory document led to the passage of the act of the 15th April, 1836, in the execution of which, and the act of May 8th, 1840, and of April 9th, 1842, the survey has been made. William L. Marcy, Governor, arranged the plan of the survey in the summer of 1836, and assigned its departments as follows: "The zoological department to James E. Dekay; the botanical to John Torrey; the mineralogical and chemical to Lewis C. Beck; the geological to William M. Mather, Timothy A. Conrad, Lardner Vanuxem and Ebenezer Emmons. Afterwards Mr. James Hall was appointed to the department occupied by Mr. Conrad, and Mr. Conrad to a new departmentthe palaeontological, the department of fossils." The geologists divided the state into four districts, each one assuming a single district. The whole survey was finished in 1842, when the final reports were published. By the mineralogical and geological surveyors eight separate suites of specimens were collected, one or two of which were deposited in Albany, and one in each of the colleges of the state. So, also, the botanical and mineralogical surveyors collected and deposited at the cabinet in Albany, as far as possible, complete suites of specimens of their respective departments. Each of these gentlemen, except Mr. Conrad, has made a report of his investigations. Mr. Dekay's consists of five volumes, the first containing descriptions of 45 genera and 79 species of mammals; the second of 124 genera and 314 species of birds; the third of reptiles, 17 genera and 33 species, and of amphibials, 9 genera and 30 species; the fourth, 57 genera and 299 species of fishes; and the fifth of 134 genera and 706 species of malluscan, and 80 genera and 139 species of crustacean animals found within the limits of the state. Mr. Torrey has published one volume containing the plants of NewYork. Dr. L. C. Beck one volume, with descriptions, including chemical New-York: D. Appleton & Co., and Albany: Thurlow Weed, Printer Natural History of New-York. By Authority. Wiley & Putnam. Boston: Gould, Kendall & Lincoln, to the State. 1842. 12 vols., quarto; with a Map. 2 VOL. XIX.-NO. CII. analyses, localities, and economical uses of over 150 genera of minerals found in the state. Mr. Mather reports upon the geology of the first geological district, comprising Long Island and the river counties; Dr. Emmons of the second, consisting of the seven northernmost counties; Mr. Vanuxem of the fourteen central counties; and Mr. Hall of the fourth district, embracing all west of Cayuga lake. Mr. Conrad's report upon the palæontology of New-York will, we have been informed, be ready for distribution in January next, when the work will be finally completed. Its cost, including the survey, printing, binding, engraving and coloring plates, when finished, has been estimated by a committee of the Senate at $365,590 64; an amount, we are told, far beyond its value. We cannot, of course, say how highly this amount of money is esteemed by those who thus estimate the value of the whole survey. We cannot tell exactly how many mills upon a thousand dollars of the taxable property of New-York this sum would be. But we do say, that the value of such a work as this is not to be lightly rated. It is not altogether to be estimated in dollars and cents. Can it be possible. that some thousands of volumes filled with a minute and particular description of the natural scenery, rocks, minerals, flora, and fauna of a great state like New-York, can be scattered among its cities and villages and hamlets without an influence upon its inhabitants? And what must this influence be? belittleing in its character? Teaching its growing sons to think less of an ancestry, and less of institutions to which such a work is due? An uneducated and an unenlightened people could never have undertaken it. Nor can its immediate effect upon the character of the next generation be unhappy. Salem witches have, it is true, disappeared; but if the public did but know it, divining-rods and fortune-tellers' stones and glasses, and "moon in the sign of the heart," and agricultural labor put off for the proper change of the moon, and almanac Fridays, are not yet entirely done away, even within those enlightened portions of the world -New-York and New-England. If fifty thousand highly-finished and complete treatises upon natural sci ence can be scattered over the state, without fetching out of an else-veiled obscurity some if not Davy, or Cuvier, or Linnæus--at least here and there a worthy disciple to the shrine where they worshipped, then do we greatly overestimate the native worth of this particular portion of Anglo-Saxondom. Mascula Proles, Sabellis docta ligonibus Copies of the report of this survey have been presented to every public library of note in Europe. We are happy in the belief, that there it can reflect no discredit on the young and distant republic that created it. 66 For the Empire State not to have undertaken such a work at all, in which she was but an imitator, would have been, not only parsimonious, but of that order of parsimony known as penny-wise and pound-foolish;" not to have done it well would have been niggardly. For, even in a pecuniary point of view, the value of the geological and mineralogical portions of the survey is of the highest importance to the people of New-York. We do not know, nor can we estimate from any data in our possession, the amount of money expended within the last hundred years, by our citizens in valueless mining operations. But we do know something of that rage, with which otherwise sensible men squander money in such speculations. One of the least wonderful incidentsthough often quoted as the reverse-of the early settlement of the United States, was the loading and transmission to England of a ship-load of shining sand-(sulphuret of iron)-in the hope that it was gold. We know two wells sunk, one more than a hundred, and the other about three times as many feet, through the Trenton and Black River limestones, in a worse than hopeless search for brine. The geologists mention repeated instances of a like character. We have known men subject themselves to considerable expense in attempting to extract silver from a dark-colored heavy stone, composed in a great part of carburet of iron. We have seen so common and unpeculiar a mineral as sahlite, taken, at some cost and trouble, to a distant 1846.] The Natural History of New-York. chemist, as tin ore. Every calcareous bed of clay is valuable marl; and, probably, few educated country physicians of forty can be found, who have not, in the course of their lives, had frequent occasion to dampen golden hopes kindled in their possessors' breasts, by lumps of glittering, but worthless, ron pyrites. Mining," says Mr. Vanuxem, "is, and always has been, a lottery; but a highly useful one for those who have ample means, and love the excitement which springs from unexpected turns of good fortune, or the chances of gain from mere possibilities and probabilities, and who must have vent of some kind." What it is for those who have not "ample means,' but just as strong a love for, not only the excitement, but the fruits of good fortune, we need not waste a word to explain. It may be, that in abating this mania, by throwing a truer light over the subjects of mineralogy and mining, the citizens of New-York may find their account, even in the expense to which they have subjected themselves, in prosecuting this survey. No substance has been sought in the bowels of the earth with such insane greediness as coal. Those who have ruined themselves heretofore by such enterprises, are, perhaps, like the earl in the Antiquary, deserving of our pity; those who henceforth sink their money in pits sunken in hills of slate, must do it with their eyes fully open to the hopelessness of discovering this mineral. For, let it be distinctly understood, that. whatever else the geological survey may have done or left undone, it has settled the question beyond dispute or cavil, that New-York, rich in almost everything else, contains She contains inexhaustible no coal. beds of the finest iron ore, peat, gypsum, salt, a thousand valuable minerals, but no coal, except, as Mr. Mather says, it may possibly, not probably, be found in a limited portion of the summit of the Catskill Mountains. A great many practical men, aware that this decision has been pronounced by the geologists, are yet unacquainted with the method by which the conclusion has been arrived at, when in reality so little a portion of the whole state has been actually gone over, and small a proportion of the whole number of its square miles personally It is impossible, in a paper limited "The great Ohio coal-field, of which "Within this great coal formation, the largest in the known world, of which the boundaries have been explored, it is supposed that there are from 50,000 to 75,000 square miles of workable, and easily ac cessible coal, in beds three feet thick and 66 The above quantity, also, if put in mass, would form a square pyramidal mountain, with a base ten miles square, and 30,000 feet high; or a range of mountains two miles through the base, 2,500 feet high, and nearly 200 miles long." Now the geological formation which contains all this coal, and not only all Why it is this coal, but all the coal of the world, is wanting in New-York. wanting, perhaps, we do not exactly know; but that it is wanting is certain. Geologists find in the rocks of the world different eras; and one of these eras is called the carboniferous-the coal-bearing-era; and the world over they have evidence of its synchronism; and, moreover, evidence that there was but one such era, and that any country destitute of the rocks of this era, must be, of necessity, destitute of coal. The rocks of New-York are, all of them, of an age anterior to the carboniferous; and hence, either geology is worse than false, or else there is no coal in New-York. It is useless to attempt to find, if not another horn to the dilemma, at least a loop-hole of retreat, from the broadness of this assertion, by suggesting that the coal-bearing rocks, and the coal, may have been overlooked. Geological strata do not exist in patches and beds; this rock does not occur upon A's farm, and that upon B's, and the other upon C's; and it is by no means necessary to visit every rood of the surface of the strata, to decide upon its geological structure. But if New-York contain no available coal, she is yet by no means destitute of an abundance of most valuable minerals. And first, let us speak of the immense deposites of iron ore with which the state abounds. The iron ore of New-York is of three speciesthe magnetic, and specular iron ores, and the hydrous peroxide. The first mentioned abounds in Orange, Rockland, Putnam, and in all the extreme northern counties of the state. It occurs in the primitive rocks in beds, or deposites of variable widths and unknown depths, easily worked, and incalculable in extent. Dr. Emmons computes that in one bed, the Sandford mine, in Essex county, there are within ten feet of the surface nearly 7,000,000 of tons of ore, which may be raised without the use of gunpowder. And there are, in many of the counties mentioned, townships of just such beds as these. The specular iron ore is also abundantly disseminated, both in St. Lawrence, Jefferson, and in many of the western counties, where it is called clay iron ore, or lenticular iron ore. The hydrous peroxide, under the names of bog ore, limonite, &c., is found in considerable quantities in the southeastern counties. Most of these ores contain from 60 to 70 per cent. of metallic iron, an amount which renders them, taken as a whole, equal to any in the world. The manufacture of iron commenced in this state at a very early perio. “It was actively carried on in Orange county previous to the Revolution." But the following table will show its origin and increase in New-York: In 1776, manufacture had commenced in Orange county. In 1810, were manufactured $800,000 worth of iron. In 1830, were manufactured $3,700.000 worth of irou, in three hundred and thirtyfive iron works. In 1835, were manufactured $4,700.000 worth of iron in four hundred and thirtyfour iron works. In 1840.* were manufactured 29,088 tons cast, and 53,693 tons of bar iron, worth, the former, at $30, and the latter, at $30 per ton, with the value of hardware minu factured in the state, amounting to $1,566,974 added, a total of $6,735,054. In 1845, were manufactured $8,994,000 worth of iron in five hundred iron works. This table shows a flattering increase in this great enterprise; but Dr. Beck points out some defects in the method of manufacture generally pursued, well worthy the consideration, not only of those pecuniarily interested in it, but of all who are watching the progress of the arts among us. In the first place, let it be premised that there are some reasons why NewYork can manufacture iron as cheaply as any country of Europe, or any of her sister states. Her ores are as abundant as those of any country. They are as pure as those of any country, and twice as prolific, cent per cent, in iron, as the common English ores. In the cheapness of her fuel, but few countries can compete with her. Moreover, there are reasons why New-York can manufacture as good iron as any country in the world. The best iron that comes into the markets of the world is made at Dannemora, in Sweden. But this iron is made from the same magnetic oxide, so extensively abounding in this state, and so extensively made use of by our iron-masters. Besides, it is like New-York ores, reduced with charcoal-the best We copy from the census returns, printed by William Allen. fuel used-and which the English employed until they changed it for the charcoal of bituminous coal, coke, only from the superior cheapness of the latter, But in the teeth of these considerations, what are the facts with regard to American iron? That it is not so good as foreign iron, any price current shows. That it is not so cheap, the alleged necessity of a tariff of 60 to 100 per cent., or more, to protect the home manufacture, bears evident witness. Now, wherefore? Dr. Beck says: "It may, in part, be ascribed to want of skill, in conducting the mining operations, and in following out the details of the manufacture. In regard to the first of these points it may be remarked, that the raising of the ores has heretofore been conducted in the rudest and most careless manner. With a few exceptions, the whole object of the proprietors of our mines seems to have been to obtain a present supply of ore, at the cheapest and easiest rate. Hence, excavations have often been improperly made, and good beds of ore have not unfrequently been rendered valueless by the falling in of rocks, or by vast collections of rubbish which have accumulated. The consequence of these injudicious, and in some instances, ruinous operations, the result oftentimes of false notions of economy, has been to render this branch of mining a peculiarly expensive and precarious employment. This, of course, must have an effect upon the manufacture; and it is not too much to say, that until this business is conducted with that science and skill which are brought to bear upon it in other countries, there will be wanting, in our case, one important element of success. "A review of the processes of manufacture, pursued in some parts of the state, will, I think, afford another clue to the causes which have served to depress this branch of industry."-Beck's Min. p. 38. Our limits forbid a copy of Professor Beck's review of the processes of manufacture. He includes them under four heads. 1st. The want of perfection in the furnaces in common use. 2nd. A want of science in the proper choice of fluxes, and in their proper adaptation to the different ores. 3d. That the ores are not generally roasted. 4th. That an inferior quality of charcoal is generally manufactured, and used by iron smelters. Prof. Beck has fortified himself in his objections to the processes made use of by the New-York iron-masters, Dr. Beck tells us again, page 42, that "Small globules, or buttons, of nearly pure iron, or of the metal slightly oxidised, are sometimes found in the hard and glassy compound, (the scoria.) and by treating this refuse with an additional portion is obtained. I was informed by the conof flux, a large proportion of metallic iron ductor of a furnace, in Dutchess county, considered as without value, and which that a heap of this scoriæ, which he had he intended to have removed from his found to be worth more than $3000, for the premises at some expense, had been iron which it contained." Though we cannot follow Dr. Beck through his criticisms, we cannot forbear a remark or two upon one or two points connected with this highly interesting subject. For herein, we believe, is contained the answer to the question last propounded. Our iron-masters need a tariff to enable them profitably to compete with European rivals. They need it, not because there is so much difference in the price of labor on the two continents, but because, in Europe, the highest |