1 46 Geological Society. 



to the western continent. Pecten quinquecostatus , the only shell 

 which is quoted as being common to the sands of the United States 

 and this country, occurs also at Maestricht, and Baculites are cha- 

 racteristic of the upper part of the chalk. From the occurrence of 

 great quantities of lignite in this formation, from the remains dis- 

 covered in it of the Scolopax, a bird which inhabits the sea-shore, 

 and from the locality of the beds in reference to the ancient coast 

 line, Mr. Rogers infers that the deposit took place in shallow water, 

 along a coast, which like the present, presented a very extensive 

 range of soundings ; to this circumstance he attributes the differ- 

 ence of the American and European species of sea-shells at the 

 same period. 



With greater probability, as far as the evidence of fossils is con- 

 cerned, Mr. Rogers attributes to the Green-Sand Formation of En- 

 gland a deposit traced from below the Big Bend to the Rocky Moun- 

 tains both on the Missouri and the Yellow River, characterized by 

 Hamites, Gryphcea Columba, and Belemnites compressus. Above the 

 Big Bend horizontal beds of lignite, sandstone, shale and clay, occur 

 continuously for several days' journey. The author considers this 

 formation to be of more recent birth ; it contains, near the Cherry 

 River, beds of lignite from three to nine feet in thickness. 



The New Red Sandstone, with its usual accompaniments of sand 

 and gypsum, appears to be in North America developed very ex- 

 tensively. According to Mr. Rogers, it comprehends all the coun- 

 try from the falls of the Platte to the great salt lake, or rather sea, 

 on the western side of the Rocky Mountains, and from the Missouri 

 to the Arkansas and Rio Colorado. The same formation is sup- 

 posed to extend into Mexico, and to be the red sandstone described 

 by Humboldt as occurring so extensively in the southern provinces. 



On ascending the Missouri from its junction with the Mississippi 

 the cliffs are found to consist of Limestone, characterized by Pro- 

 ductae, Terebratulae and Encrini. The hills near Cheriton are com- 

 posed of this limestone, and good beds of bituminous coal occur in 

 the same district. 



The relative position of the vast deposits of Coal and Anthracite 

 which have been discovered in America is not yet satisfactorily 

 ascertained. The great coal-field of Pennsylvania is said to occur 

 in the higher beds of grauwacke, but what are so called may 

 possibly be shown hereafter to correspond to the limestone shale 

 and millstone grit of Derbyshire. When skilfully treated, this an- 

 thracite is considered better than the best bituminous coal of En- 

 gland and the United States. Vegetable impressions are rare, and 

 I do not find that any of the Species have been identified with the 

 English, but the Genera, I believe, are the same. The next great 

 deposit of anthracite, that of Rhode Island, lies rather lower in the 

 series, and the anthracite of Worcester is said to occur in an imper- 

 fect mica slate, associated with gneiss. Dr. Meade states, that at 

 Rhode Island the veins of coal are separated by various coloured 

 sandstones of the transition series, yet fine specimens of indurated 

 talc and green asbestus in capillary crystals are also interspersed 

 through the shale, and form the immediate cover of the coal. 



