The New York Herald

GOLD AND PAINT.—Prof. Hubbard, of Dartmouth College, has specimens of gold, found on the Quechee river, Vermont. The specimens are not washings, but from a vein. The rock in which the gold lies is quartz, containing also considerable sulphuret of iron, sulphuret of lead, and sulphuret of zinc, particles of gold being found in these, as well as in the quartz. What quantity of this ore exists there—that is, what quantity of auriferous quartz and sulphurets—the information does not state, but these specimens are worth working, and if the vein is extensive, gold might be expected from washing the sands of the Quechee. We do not expect much gold from Vermont, however; but the same professor has other specimens of more consequence, viz.: of ochre (paint) from Strafford, Vt., a new and interesting discovery. It is no other than taking the spent ore of the copperas works, and subjecting it to various degrees of heat; the result when pulverized is pure ochre, varying in color according to the degree of heat. The copperas ore is a sulphuret of iron. The sulphur being extracted, which makes the copperas the residuum being heated becomes an oxide of iron, otherwise ochre. From this, by a refining process, very simple and at small expense is obtained the pigment—bright red, pale red, brown, and various hues of yellow. And so there are inexhaustible mines of ochre in Vermont, for the formation extends from Strafford to Shrewsbury, at least.