La Junta tribune., 1914-11-28
ORIGIN OF METALS
Varied Theories as to How the
Ores Are Formed.
NATURE HIDES THE SECRET.
Science Has For Centuries Tried to
Wrest Il From Her. but Gseloo,sts
and Mineralooists Are a. Yet Unable
to Agree Upon the Process.

Will WHO Wuiie cuaslng knine on
Bolivian mountain side seized bush
to prevent himself from falling, and.
, the bush being pulled loose from its
scanty hold Un the rocks. he saw Its
crooked roots grasping masses OF
cleaning white ore and thus became
the discOverer Of the famous silver
mines Of i'otosi. s.
You have also read. perhaps with
itching fingers. Of prospectors picking
W nuggets Of gold worth thousand
dollars each or opening veins Ct quartz
oil shot through with heavy threads
Of the yellow metal.
You know TINT ores Of gold and
silver or Of any other precious Or use
fuI metal are not TO be found In every
body's back yard. but must be sought
for In certain favored parts OF the
| earth.
But has your Intelligent curiosity ever
led YOU to Inquire how those ores came
10 be where they are and nowhere
else; Have you ever wondered what
makes a gold nugget?
| Possibly you think that gold ana
other metals grow somewhat as fruits
do-in soiis and climates that are spe-
cially suited TO them Well, there Il
considerable truth In that Idea. and
the word grow" Is. In one sense. sur
prisingly applicable 10 such deposits
| lint there u n great deal more In the
matter than you would imagine. and
l a IA. pn
battles royal than on this OF the origin
of metallic ores think that there are
som" gcuiogisis VINO would rather lind
out this secret 10 the very bottom than
discover the richest lode that the ribs
OF the earth contain. IL they could do
must mot forget that knowledge is
power
Until about 100 years ngo everybody
who thought nbout II nj all believed
that veins of precious ore were dis
iribnrcd under the influence of the
planets ~ that time astroiogy held
The place of Scirucc.
Finally George Agricoia. n German
mincraiogist. who lived about the time
When III. gold nnd silver ~ Mexico
mud Peru were making Spain the TEN.
p1rary mistress ~ the world, hit upon
. ths"ry which ,s,n,c IN substance very
Dcar the truth lie taught that water.
! penetrating into the earth anu becom
ing heated. t"ok up scattered minerals
In solution aud aftcrwnrd deposited
them NJ ores ~ cavities In the rocks
The mineral solutions he called the
sarth's juices.
A couple of hundred years later the
German g.ologist Werner set forth u
view that ~canic very famous under
the name ~ the "Neptunist theory. -
I from Neptune. the god of the sea
/ WcrDcrs Idea wns that ns the earth
cooled dawn from the prinicvai ncbuia
out of winch u WIS formed II was en
veIops-i Ia ~ universal hot ocean. hold
Ing IN solution all kinds OF minerals
and that when the rocky crust was
fVrtDcd the wafer leaking down Into
u deposited Its metallic contents by
cheinicai prs ipiiaiion In veins and
lodcs Wherever the circumstances we're
favorable
But u hundred years ago the Nep
tnnist theory. which Ind swept every.
Thing before u Ia the minds Of men
VI science. met Its Waterloo nj the
lands Of Hutton. the Scottish gcOlo.
stst. with his "riuionic' theory from
Pluto. the sod of the Internal rcgionsi
uutton's Idea was that the materials
which iiii the metallic veins were melt
I'd by heat nDd forcibly Injected Into
The cIrfts aud assures of the strata
from tciow
Tlse -Ncpiusists" and -ilutontses'
hs1 Z. hard asht. with the Inter sssd.
ing the upIwr hand. until their theory
had assumed Kind " compromise
form. with water again playing the
principal role. The American gc0io
gtst. Van iiisc. I. the author of one of
the latest theories. according 10 which
rsrtcOrlc wnicr ,copdcbscd atmospheric
saIpOr, Iscnctfntcs deep into the cnrtii's
crust. aud. with steadily Increasing
Temperature. takes up mineral matter
into solution Spreading. M II gets
Jsrter. tile wDi"r reaches lnrRer open
Mgs iH III" rocky crust. Ia which II
asecnsis. with decreasing temperature
nnd uressntc.
There II dci,Osii. the ores. whose ma
tsftnIs II bns collected in liz wander
Inss nnd carried along Ia solution.
lsm this II not the last word. md 10,
recent years there hns b,rD partial
reaction toward tile i'iuionist theory
lse~Idss. prni deal seems ~ DEPEND
upon the nature ~ the ORE whOse 0ri.
stn n in question. .-t;nrrctt r. kessts-
In New York journal.