weighed about twenty pounds. One of these is now safely deposited in the Cabinet of Yale College, at New Haven. Numerous smaller specimens are occasionally found at Milwaukee, Racine, and other places. On the Mississippi they have been found as far up as the Falls of St. Anthony, and a mass is said to exist a little west of Lac Vieux Deserte, far exceeding, in magnitude, the celebrated "copper rock" from the Ontonagon. These fragments of copper have evidently been transported from their native beds, probably at Lake Superior, with the boulders of primitive and trappean rocks, and by the same cause. They are, therefore, not to be regarded as indicating the existence of copper mines where they may happen to be found. The native copper of Lake Superior, mostly within the limits of Michigan, is found in veins traversing trap, and the overlying conglomerates and sandstone rocks-and as the trap dykes are known to extend south into Wisconsin, we may expect to find similar veins. During the past year (1845), some valuable discoveries, it is said, have been made near the sources of the Montreal river of Green Bay. SULPHURET OF COPPER, and CARBONATE OF COPPER.These varieties are associated to constitute the copper ore found in a vein or fissure in the vicinity of Mineral Point, which is a mile or more in length, and at other places in the mineral country. This ore is accompanied by lead and iron pyrites. After many years' trial the proprietors of these mines have discovered a simple method of reducing these ores, and a large amount of copper is now annually produced from them. Much of this finds its way to Milwau< kee, and is thence sent down the lakes to New York. Recently these ores have been discovered on the Kickapoo and Barraboo rivers north of the Wisconsin; but the extent and value of the veins have not yet been ascertained. SILVER is found in minute proportion combined with the lead ore, so minute that it cannot be worked with advantage. Native silver is found associated with the copper at Eagle river, and it is also said to have been discovered in the vicinity of La Pointe, on Lake Superior. For the scientific naturalist, the sportsman and the angler, Wisconsin affords a very interesting and highly attractive field. A large proportion of the quadrupeds of the United States have been found within her limits, and hence it would be easier to enumerate what are not found here, than to make a list of those that are. Of all the other classes of animals we have our due proportion. Several species of animals have already been compelled to leave Wisconsin by the approach of civilized men; and others are driven into the remote, unsettled portions, where they are probably destined to remain but a short time before they will, from the same cause, have to retire still further towards the "far west." The industrious beaver has left traces of its former existence on nearly every small brook; and horns of the elk are still occasionally found scattered over the prairies. The buffalo has but recently been driven beyond the Mississippi. As yet no bones or teeth of the extinct mammoth or mastodon have been discovered in Wisconsin. the remote parts of the country, about the source of the Mississippi, and west of Lake Superior, several species have been found that are not found in the southern parts of the Territory. Among those occasionally seen are, according to Mr. Schoolcraft, the great white or polar bear, the arctic fox, with fur as white as the snow in which it lives; and also the moose, rein-deer and the antelope. The great white or northern owl, and three species of grouse, are found there,* different from the two that are so abundant in the woods and about the prairies at the south.† A great many species of ducks and other aquatic birds swarm our *Tetrao Canadensis, Linn., spotted grouse. phasianellus, Linn., sharp-tailed grouse. In saliceti, Temm. (T. albus Gmel.), willow grouse, or white partridge. †The pheasant and prairie hen (T. umbellus and T. cupido). lakes and rivers. Pelicans occasionally ascend the Mississippi and its branches far into Wisconsin. Pigeons are abundant; quails, and a great variety of smaller birds, both useful and injurious to the interests of man, are found. We have our due proportion of reptiles-lizards, turtles, frogs, snakes, &c. The rattlesnake is the only poisonous species. Among the fish afforded by our lakes and rivers are whitefish, salmon, sturgeon, perch, bass, suckers, herring, pickerel or muskellonge, trout, catfish, sheep's head, lawyers, and many others, nearly all valuable as articles of food for man. They are caught in large quantities, and some are exported. The Indians at the north, where game is scarce and where agriculture has not yet been introduced, live almost exclusively upon fish, which are caught in vast quantities at the mouths of the rivers. The excellent qualities of these fish for the table are too well known to need description here. Wisconsin abounds in plants of an interesting and useful character, embracing all varieties, from the stately pine tree, towering its head above the other trees of the forest, to the humblest "wild wood flower." The broad prairies are covered with a profusion of flowers of every form and hue-which are changed with every change of season. The eastern portion of the Territory abounds in "hard wood" timber-the northern, in forests of pine, and the central and western portions are comparatively destitute of trees. Here, however, are generally found a few trees, constituting the "oak openings," and affording sufficient wood and timber for the purposes of the first settlers. The following is a list of plants which have not before been noticed as indigenous to Wisconsin. It exhibits the scientific name, its author, the common name (if there is any), and the locality at which the plant was found. Ranunculus acris, Linn., Butter cup (introduced). |