The hydraulic press. (North San Juan, Nev. Co., Cal.) 1858-18??, 1858-11-27
HOW DEEP WILL QUARTZ PAY?

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1t is theory of Sir Robert Murchi-
son that gold occurs in quantity only in
the upper part of veinstones, and that
the deeper down the latter are worked
the less auriferous they become; differ
ing in this respect from silver and all
other metaliferous veins.
He argues that the alluvium which
covers the earth, has resulted from the
grinding down of the tops of former
mountains, and has heretofore been found
more auriferous than quartz veins whose
rich surfaces have been worn off and
distributed.
He contends that large pieces of gold
have only been found in loose gravel or
sand, proving that they came exclusively
from the tops of veinstones. Asanother
illustration of the truth of his theory
he instances some mines in Mexico
where veins at first rich in gold gradu-
ally became poorer as they were more
deeply worked, whereas OH the other
hand the auriferous alluvium of Brazil
and Chile has long afforded good and
profitable results.
Sir Roderick Murchison is a philoso-
pher, and his scientific anticipation Of
DIR. Livingstone's discovery of the great
African plateau has made him famous !;
but his theory is hardly supported by
the experience of the California miner.
Here, large masses Of gold haze been
found in quartz veins, the surface rock
is not uniformly nor generally the rich
est, nor do the deposits of auriferous
gravel and sand outlast quartz leads.
True, as quartz is worked to greater
depth it may fail to afford sufficient gold
to compensate for the increased expense
Of getting it, though the actual yield
per ton remains the same as at first.
Deeper in the vein, too, the sulphur
cts and other alloys may not have under
gone the disintegrating process which
exposure to the elements involves, and
the difficulty and cost of separating the
pure metal would of course be much in
creased.
AS bearing upon this subject we copy
the following paragraph from the Ne
vada National:
"When we contemplate the fact that the deepest
prospect shaft around Grass Valley is only hundred
and fifty feet deep, and that in the Ural mountains Of
Russia veins of godbeariug quartz have been worked
with eminent success to the depth of three thousand
feet, must know that the mines in this locality. al
ready discovered not hardly prospeced to say moth
ing of the great number of leges, doubtless rich
those being worked that the strong and
prising spirit will in due time develope."
Sir Roderick appears to entertain the
common idea that gold is intrinsically
valuable, and considers it providential
that the labor of procuring the limited
supply manufactured for mans use has
been SO much lessened by having the
precious stuff spread out in convenient
heaps on the surface. Gold is worth no
more in the economy Of nature than any
other metal, if indeed it be worth as
much as some others which perform i'm
portant functions, whereas gold seems to
have no natural Office In this view of
the matter, and in our present ignorance
as to the origin of gold, there is no suf-
ficient reason to believe that it arbritra-
rily ceases at a certain depth in quartz,
or even that it will not yet be found in
greater quantities than ever before.
BELLIES LETTERS.-It is said that a
new monthly magazine is to be started
at San Francisco and that tits. to be devo-
ted to the Jelle-lettres of e. mia. Hope
it will meet better encoufS onent than