There will be many persons in the city of New York and its suburbs who will not have the time or facilities for leaving town during the summer, to spend a part of their time enjoying the country, but would have sufficient time to take occasional recreation for short periods. I have sought by this paper to show a pleasurable, and at the same time very instructive use for the time of this latter class, and that is in mineralogy. In the surrounding parts of New York are many mineralogical localities, known to no others than a few professional mineralogists, etc., and from which an excellent assortment of minerals may be obtained, which would well grace a cabinet and afford considerable instruction and entertainment to their owner and friends, besides acting as an incentive to a further study of this and the other sciences. These localities which I will discuss are all within an hour's ride from New York, and the expenses inside of a half dollar, and generally very much less. I could detail many other places further off, but will reserve that for another paper. The course which I will pursue in my explanations I have purposely made very simple, avoiding--or when using, explaining--all technical terms. The apparatus and tests noticed are of the most rudimentary style consistent with that which is necessary to attain the simple purpose of distinguishment, and altogether I have prepared this paper for those having at the present time little or no knowledge or practice in mineralogy, while those having it can be led perhaps by the details of the localities noticed. Another reason why I have written so in detail of this last subject is, because the experiences of most amateur mineralogists are generally so very discouraging in their endeavors to find the minerals, and there is everything in giving a good start to properly fix the interest on the subject. The reason of these discouragements is simple, and generally because they do not know the portion of the locality, say, for instance, a certain township, in which the minerals occur. And if they do succeed in finding this, it is seldom that the portion in which the mineral occurs, which is generally some small inconspicuous vein or fissure, is found; and even in this it is generally difficult to recognize and isolate the mineral from the extraneous matter holding it. As an instance of this I might cite thus: Dana, in his text book on mineralogy, will mention the locality for a certain species, as Bergen Hill--say for this instance, dogtooth calespar. When we consider that Bergen Hill, in the limited sense of the expression, is ten miles long and fully one mile wide, and as the rock outcrops nearly all over it, and it is also covered with quarries, cuttings, etc., it may be seen that this direction is rather indefinite. To the professional mineralogist it is but an index, however, and he may consult the authority it is quoted from--the _American Journal of