Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Blake, William Phipps

BLAKE, William Phipps, mineralogist, b. in New York city, 1 June, 1826. He studied at the Yale scientific school, and in 1852 was one of the seven who received the newly created degree of Ph. B. In 1853 he became geologist and mineralogist for a U. S. Pacific railroad expedition. He edited the “Mining Magazine” from 1859 till 1860, and from 1861 till 1863 was employed as a mining engineer, and in connection with explorations in Japan, China, and Alaska. In 1864 he became professor of mineralogy and geology in the college of California. He has been connected with many industrial exhibitions, publishing professional reports, and numerous papers on scientific subjects, and has invented improvements in metallurgical machinery. His report on the precious metals, forming one of the government volumes on the Paris exposition of 1867, is full of valuable information. He was the first to recognize the tellurides among the products of California, and was also the first to draw attention to the platinum metals associated with the gold-washings of that state.