New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-06-14

new proces. for obtaining photographs L eosors,
recently communicated by NJ. Nepee de St. Victor
10 the Academy OF Sciences (Parsl prove success
ful In practice. we may soon eXpec' to be pro,d
with tie mest perfect Typographical and geological
maps at e1eeedingl, low cost. The m,ps IN the
work of Mr.. Lesley are chiefly designed to show
the position Of the iron furnaces, orges and rolling
mills in the several Ssates and are not properly
geological maps, % they mi ht lave been made oy
the distribution of appropriate colors. But those
of the Appalachian region present the topography
Of this mountain chain, especially through Virgins
and Nor,h- Caro,ins, much more perfectly than IL
hss ever before been delineated. Two other maps,
in other styles, also remarkable for their novelty
and neatnes,, complete the representations of the
distribution OF the iron works, and of the railroads
and canals, on which they depend for facilities Of
transportation Ia that OF the anthracite furnaces
Of Pennsylvania the outcrop of the valuable bed Of
fossil ore, well known rs the " Cstawlssa ore.
and extensively worked for the Montour Iron
Works, 10 traced in red line ziszsgging around
the limitations of the mountain ridges. and rang
ing in several repeti,ons the eastern portion
of the State In future maps il will be interesting
10 see the outcrop OF this small but remarkably
persistent and valuable bed of ore traced through
Central New-York, where it supplies the furnaces
of Oneida County and thence along its range south
of Lake Ontario. across Niagara River. and through
the penlusuls of Canada West; aud sgain, in the
other direction, through the upper part of Mary
land and Central Virginia into Tennessee. Ii is
described in the work, and in Pennsyysnis the
mines upon tsuppled fourteen anthracite furnaces
wholly, and eleven more IN part.
Part l. OF the Iron Manufacturers Guide" eS-
tends through 262 pages. and is made up OF short
descriptions Of the various iron works and OF their
present condition The anthracite blast furnaces are
grouped by themselves, the charcoal blast furnaces
the same, and of the FORCES, bloomeries, and roll
ing mills. The statistics compiled from these data
and other sources are presented together with
tables and rema ks upon the manufacture and trade,
by Charles T.. Smith Of Philadelphia, Treasurer OF
the Iron Association and occupy 30 pages near the
close of the work These were originally published
in the Bulletin of the Association in March, ISIS
Part H. is made up of several divisions, only two
of which are treated in this volume. The subjects
Of these are: Ist, Iron as Chemical Element"
and 2nd, &" Iron as an Ore in the United States
The treatment of the former division occupies 40
pages and of the latter 10 pages; and good sized
volume being thus made up, the headings only are
given Of the other divisions, treatment of which is
deferred to a futune publication. These are Ill,
." Iron as al American Manufacture; and w.,
Iron in American History The third division is
of that Importance TO the manufacturer, aud the
subject in the present text books Is either 50 far
behind the present state Of the manufacture, or Is
treated with 80 little ability. that we trust the iron
interest will not have long to wait for the new pub
licaton The success that has been attained in the
United States in perfecting blast furnaces and the
processes conducted in them, IA also in the other
operations connected with the working OF iron and
steel has never been fairly represented and it is due
TO the American talent displayed in this depart
ment. that full exposition should be made of what
has been done here. The eminently American
character of this book in all It's repre-
sentations (setting aside foreign theoretical
discussions brought to bear upon the probable pre-
yious condition Of some of its ores) is very prom
ising in this respect and leads to look for full
account Of American processes, with original illus
trations of forms Of furnaces, &c
Under Iron az Chemical Element" the pro.
pertes of the metal are presented, and the nature
Of It's combinations with oxygen. carbon, Phosphor-
us, sulphur, &c, and also of its various alloys with
other metals Karsten's standard work on ir0n
which has never been translated into English, is
tia chief source Of the data in this division Iron
as an Ore in the United States proves the most
prolific subject bringing to light vast fund of in
formation respecting the varieties and distribution
of the most important ores The accounts in
terwoyen with frequent theoretical speculations as
to the origin of the ores and of the rocks which
contain them; and it must occasionally strike one
that the views Of the author sometimes novel and
backed but BY few authorities, are presented in
rather bold and positive manner. Thus, speak
ing of the metsmorphic action, which has given
rise 10 the class of rocks recognized by the name
metamorphic he calls il "an unknown agency; it
has been fashionable 10 say fire; il is coming into
fashion 10 say water In the neghborhood OF trap
dykes and other so-called fire rocks the change IA
u.ualy seen in perfection. But chemical action is
now known TO be q sufficient cause for the grand
est metamorphic phenomena" What is the ac-
ton of FIRE but chemical action , 1t is no longer
proper to speak Of marble as plutonc or fire
rock; it is primary rock only in the sense OF
changed or crystalline. Serpentine Was once
called fire rock but now it is settled to be
chemical production under warm sea. Good ge-
oogists look upon mountains Of granite and sienite
no longer as upbursts of molten matter from the
interior of the planet, but as sedmentary rocks,
hardened and crystallized by gentle heat and
acid water. and even regard veins Of quartz