_An Historical Inquiry into the Production and Consumption of the Precious Metals._ By WILLIAM JACOB, Esq., F.R.S. London: 1851. Footnote 3: _California: its Past History, its Present Position, its Future Prospects_, p. 77. Footnote 4: We leave our readers to form their own opinion of the following passage from Mr Theodore Johnson’s “Sights in the Gold Region:”—Speaking of the _Padres_ of the old mission of San Francisco Dolores, he says, “That these priests were cognisant of the abundance of the precious metal at that period is now well known; but they were members of the extraordinary society of the Jesuits, which, jealous of its all-pervading influence, and dreading the effect of a large Protestant emigration to the western as well as to the eastern shores of America, applied its powerful injunctions of secresy to the members of the order; and their faithful obedience, during so long a period, is another proof both of the strength and the danger of their organisation.”—(Second Edition, p. 104.) Footnote 5: Reports of British Association for 1849—Appendix, p. 63. Footnote 6: JACOB, i. chap. x. _passim_. Footnote 7: Murchison—Reports of British Association, 1849, (Appendix, pp. 61, 62.) Footnote 8: “In the Temeswar Bannat the washings were performed exclusively by the gypsies, who display great skill in finding it. They dig chiefly on the _banks_ of the river Nera, where more gold is found than in the bottom of the stream.”—JACOB, i. p. 245. Footnote 9: _A Ride over the Rocky Mountains._ By the Hon. HENRY J. COKE, p. 359. Footnote 10: _Sights in the Gold Region, and Scenes by the Way._ By THEODORE J. JOHNSON. Second Edition. New York, 1850. Footnote 11: Quoted by JACOB, vol. i. pp. 56, 57. Footnote 12: _The Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints_, (a cotemporary history,) p. 227. London, 1851. Footnote 13: JACOB, i. p. 246, note. Footnote 14: JACOB, ii. pp. 263, 264, note. Footnote 15: A pood is 36 lb. Russian, of which 100 are about 90 English avoirdupois; and a solotnik, 1–96th of a Russian pound, or about 65½ troy grains. Footnote 16: ROSE, _Reise nach dem Ural_, &c., chaps. ii. iv. viii. Berlin, 1842. Footnote 17: Compare WYLD, p. 26, with JACOB, ii. pp. 62, 167. Footnote 18: