Page:The Journal of geology (IA journalofgeology11893univ).pdf/430
This volume is a statistical supplement of the Engineering and Mining Journal, and is published by the Scientific Publishing Co., of New York, 1893. It takes the place of the former annual statistical number of the Engineering and Mining Journal, and it is the first volume of a series which is to be issued annually. The object of the present volume is to make known, as soon as possible after the expiration of the year 1892, the statistics and the various conditions of the mining industry in that year and in previous years. The future volumes will, each year, bring these statistics up to date, and thus the full particulars of the mining industry will be known within a few days of the expiration of every year. The volume is a compilation of articles written by different authors, and the names of these writers are guarantee that the different subjects have been treated by authorities in the departments with which they deal. The editor himself, it is but justice to him to state, has written some of the most important parts of the volume, notably the article on the statistics of gold and silver, and his well-known familiarity with the subjects he discusses renders the reader confident of their accuracy.
The present volume is not confined to the bare presentation of figures of production and consumption of various mineral products, but it treats each individual branch of the mining industry in its various departments; and in this way the volume really represents a series of treatises on the various mining products and the methods of treating them. The production of each material is given not only for the United States but also for foreign countries; the conditions of the American and foreign markets during 1892 and previous years are discussed, while the various uses of the different materials, the history of mining in different districts, the means of transportation, the metallurgical methods of treating different ores, the methods of sampling, and the possibilities of competition in various mining industries are also described. In addition to this, tables of assessments levied and dividends paid by various mining companies are given. The volume ends with a concise statement of the statistics and condition, as well as the extent, of the mining industries of foreign countries. Thus there is presented, in a volume of no excessive size, a complete and concise