The want of capitalists in the mine country, and of practical skill in the boring, blasting, sinking shafts and galleries, oppose obstacles to the successful progress of mining. There is but one regular hearth-furnace for smelting in the whole district; and that is on the modern plan of English furnaces. There are not over four or five regular shafts in about forty mines; there is not an engine, either by horse, steam, or water power, for removing water from the mines, several of which have been abandoned on this account, with rich prospects of ore in view. In fine, there is little of that system which characterizes the best-conducted European mines, and which, by an application of the most recent discoveries in mechanics, chemistry, and philosophy, render them the admiration of every intelligent visiter. Should the subject attract the attention of mining capitalists, the circumstance would form a new era in the history of the mining operations of this country. Something also remains to be done by the government; the existing laws are inadequate to the purposes for which they were enacted. That feature restricting leases to three years, is injudicious; the period is so short, that it deters those who are most able from engaging in it at all. It is desirable that such a system should be established as would indicate the annual produce of the mines, number of hands employed, and such other facts as are necessary in forming a series of statistical tables on the subject. The want of such data has hitherto prevented us from properly estimating the importance of the mines in a national point of view. The acquisition of a scientific knowledge of minerals should also be facilitated in this quarter. There should be a mineralogical school located in the country, where students might be instructed in that useful science. In a country so rich in minerals, and whose wealth will always so much depend upon a proper development of these resources, the knowledge of mineralogy should be laid open to every one, and should be within the reach of such as do not wish, or cannot get, the other branches of a liberal education. To obtain this knowledge now, a person would be compelled to travel to remote parts of the Union, and to incur an unreasonable expense. No one who is conversant with the advantages which Germany has derived from such a seminary, will deny the utility of a similar one in the United States.