NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 9 



some of the beds, being entirely wanting, or presenting quite different litbologi- 

 cal characters at other localities not far from here. Owing to the dip of the 

 strata, and partly to the fall of the river, the bed of limestone No. 7, which is 

 elevated eighteen feet above the river where this section was taken, rises as 

 much as twenty-five feet above the level of the river, at a distance of one mile 

 or less below ; and on following the outcrop of these rocks along the shore 

 above Leavenworth city, they were found to sink gradually beneath the water, 

 so that at Fort Leavenworth landing, two miles above, (in a north direction 

 from the exposure first examined) all of beds No. 8, 9 and 10, as well as two 

 or three feet of No. 7, were submerged. Should this dip continue at the same 

 rate, without local undulations, the whole of No. 7 must pass beneath the river 

 in less than two miles above the Fort. 



Immediately above No. 1 of this section, we saw no exposures of rock in 

 place, but on a small stream about two and a half miles below Leavenworth 

 city, and perhaps one and a half miles back from the river, there is an outcrop 

 of soft fine grained yellow sandstone, showing a thickness of twenty-four feet, 

 underlaid by a bed of blue clay of which a thickness of about four feet was ex- 

 posed. We had no opportunity to determine the elevation of these beds above 

 the river with sufficient accuracy to form a definite conclusion whether 

 or not they hold a position above the section seen near the Leavenworth land- 

 ing, though we incline to the opinion that they come in above it. 



In ascending the hills back of Leavenworth city we observed no outcrops of 

 rock along the slopes, until near the summit, where at an (estimated) elevation 

 of about two hundred feet above the highest bed of the section at the river, 

 there is an exposure of hard bluish-gray impure limestone, weathering to a 

 yellowish tinge, the beds of which are separated at places, by partings of clay. 

 Of this rock we saw a thickness of sixteen feet. It is much used for building 

 purposes and quarried rather extensively back of Fort Leavenworth .At one of 

 these quarries, amongst the loose material thrown out by the workmen we 

 found specimens of Spirifer cameratus, S. Kentuckensis, S. planoconvexa, S. hemipli- 

 cata, Spirigera subtilita, Productus semireticulatus, P. Noriooodi, Leplodomus 

 Topekaensis, Fusulina cylindrica, Tercbratula millepunctata, and fragments of 

 Crinoids, with Chtztetes and Fenestella of undetermined species. 



Above the quarry there is a slope of some forty or more feet to the summit 

 of the hills, apparently occupied by clays ; and the quarrymen informed us that 

 there is immediately under the bed of limestone an eight feet bed of clay, 

 beneath which they had made no excavations. 



West of this locality, the surface of the country soon descends gradually into 

 a depression connected on the north with the valley of a small stream flowing 

 into the Missouri above Fort Leavenworth. In this immediate neighborhood 

 the face of the country is slightly inclined to be hilly, but the soil is rich, and 

 the long gentle slopes are clothed in the spring and summer months with a 

 luxuriant growth of prairie grass. From several points near here, we had a 

 fine view of the broad rich valley, with its beautiful groves and scattering farm 

 houses along the little stream to the north of us. 



Beyond this, the road after passing over some undulations, ascends to the 

 summit of the country, which is rich elevated prairie land. At several places 

 near the upper part of the slopes some five or six miles from Leavenworth, we 

 met with outcrops of light grey limestone, apparently in ten to twelve inch 

 layers, containing Fusulina, Productus semireticulatus, Chcetetes, and small 

 Cyathophylloid corals. These beds probably belong to the same horizon as the 

 limestone near the top of the bluff's back of Leavenworth, or may even hold a 

 higher position. 



At Big Stranger creek, some fourteen or fifteen miles west of Leavenworth 

 city, the following section was abserved in descending order : 



Feet. 



1. Slope, without any exposure of rocks, 60 



2. Layers of limestone, weathering yellowish, containing Spirifer came- 

 ratus and Fusulina cylindrica 8 



1859.] 



