New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1849-10-02
...,,.is Of California GsId-Par's Academy
of Sciences.

IT.. yo,don Iareators Magazine Of the 10Th
-, .o,..,,. Tia following account OF an analysis Of
,. golasp sosnslss or sands Of California BY ~ Duire
-. 80 tsfors the Paris Academy. ia publication
-, sgo,d ,.efrl hins 10 miners and others
~ nus,.nov reed interesting communication on
-. -.,Its be had obtained from careful comparative
inTestigsijo Of the golden sands Of California New
Grenade and the Jrti.
The French Consul Ct Monterey having forwarded 10
TIE Minister for Foreign Affairs collection OF specL
mems oi the gold Of California portion o. these spec
meme were sent 70 the Ecoe des Mines, and these
asd an opportunity Of examining They are composed
or Two specimens Of nuTiserous earth, coects- -
the surface Of the so on two points OF tie 'ey o.
The Sacramento.
q OF suriferous sand resulting from careful wsshiDgs
Ct the preceding earth, and 10 which spsngles o. god
5 Pebbles Of quartz and fragments Of rock collected
p the slovium Of which THE vaAey "a composed
Two fragments Of gold and
> spangles Of gold brought froIs three different
onts of the Sacramento, namely from TIE American
River near Us confluence with the Sacramento from
ths .sme riyer Ut about 81 miles from is moot9 sno
from the Pen River, distance Of about 40 10 20 NIL
es,.~sr1 Of the former. Jnese three points included
nearly ffth part Of the Valley Of the Sacrament
which tskes s rise In the Sierra Nevada Snowy Noun
tans and erptes itsef into tae ocean at the port 81
Gan francisco Jts course s nearly from east 70 west
about 2i0 70 go miles IN length.
The spar ges Of California gold are much larger thar
tbo.s which come from the wsshings oil the Cral
those Of Prsz They sso differ IN their reddish cslor
which causes them 70 be distinguishes At first sight
Their composinon according 10 the analysis made by
NJ. Riyot, 10
vnssssssssssssss'f' w.
silver. t...........s.sss o'' -,
Total.
The soils Of the Sacramento Valley light 70 tn
touch they appear soft enough but on rubbing leN
particles Of hard substance are elt Their color u
Right brown the microscope shows them % be simos
entirely scous the little fragments Of which they are
composed are singular and transparent; tney ear
Ira ~
trsnsparsLcy saline mass; by the naked eye notnips
bat disinc, grains arc dislingu.she5 The piece q
gold sent 10 the Ecole des Mines weighs 4.sfi
srsnues (nesTiy ~ OUNCE u 10 on sOmc"ba req
color ts com position is others wise very analogous T.
the, Of gold spsrges This piece Of gold adnere'
10 some white quartz the surface Of which worn IKE
pebble: II must for long time have been subject v
able friction nevertheless II has preserved 10
general FORM which s that Of thick yein fiat and ir
regular The form Of this piece, and the presence O
quartz reveals 10 the fact that In the primitive bed'
gold forms small veins with qusrtoze gsngue.
The scbstose fragments which exist IN the Valley O
the Sacramento give reason - think that the noun
sslns which contsin aursrous veins consist rather o.
rncacsous schist than Of granite, properly 90 called -
This conclusion agrees slsO with the examination o.
washed aurifeTous SANDS
NIrusr or rHr AuRuKxous SANDS OF CALEDONIA
The general tint OF these sands IL black. We per
csive AZ first sight that the oxydulous Iron predom
mates and that It IL that mineral which causes the col
or I therefore commenced by separating the ofydn
lous iron by Of the magnet; three grsmmes pro
duced l79 OF iroD or 59e2 per cent kotwthstanding
the separation Of this large proportion o: oxyduous
iron tic ssnds stil retained their dark color they
were very rich In gold and remarked more distinct
liz numerous spangies.
Examined by the microscope, the ssnds remaining
after the separation Of the iron contained some octahe
drous crystss-some with mhrOrlike fsciu and but
little altered the others rounded, but eth brilliant
These CRYSTALS by their form, and The color OF their
dust appear 70 belong 10 tsnierous oxydulOus Iron
they are mixed with 1.ttsned crystals which their
hexahcdrous protection and their red dust cause 70 be
considered ss olegist iron. Lastly, among the b'sek
sra!as we observed dull irregular, and sot fragments
which have all the character Of maDganesc.
The titaniferous oxyduous iron pred0minatcs con
sideraby In the second portion Ct the sand bile The
manganese on tho contrary, appears Dut rarely Ihis
second species Of oxydulo0s Iron may be clearly dis
tnsuished from the oxydulous iron separated by the
magnet this which is In duh fragments, 10 OF rusty
color In certain parts.
Mixed with the ttsniferous oxydulous Iron, we find
in the second portion of the sands OF California many
crvstals OF white zrcon terminal At their two estetnl
lea TIE shapes Of which al defined These ate
l. Square yrisms, surmounted by an octshedron VIII
square base, placed on toe angles
2 This same prism presenting 'aoits beyond the &C.
tsnodral pointing, resulting IRON The Intersection OF
the edges common TO the octahedron and the prism
3 Prisms with eight faces, formed by two square
yrisms.
These crystals are, Tor the most part abort Their
perfect transparency and total absence OF color cause
them Al fret to be taken for quartz but where TIE
number of their iacits y counted (Which may easily Dc
done with most OF them, no longer doubt thai
they belong 20 prism having square base. N0twiin
standng the smaness OF their dimensions the perfect
form of these crysals 10 such that measure The
Incidence Of many Of their isces