248 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



pact floor, or huge bouldor, like masses on the bottom of the 

 creeks whicli intersect that neii^hboriiooil. Finally, on the Ashe- 

 poo Kiver, at one locality in this neighborhood, the stratum has 

 the appearance of an immense pavement, extending over hun- 

 dreds of acres, at a depth of 3 to G feet. It is with dilliculty that 

 the large masses (often several hundred weight eacli) can be pried 

 apart, so closely are they wedged together, having a smooth, 

 glazed upper surface, but irregular beneath. The masses, more- 

 over, are often penetrated to considerable dej)tli, sometimes per- 

 forated by round hoh^s, which extend generally in a perpendicular 

 direction. These cavities have a diameter of one-half to one inch. 

 The piiosphatic masses forming this floor are 9 to 12 inches in 

 thickness, and overlie a bed of nodular phosphates of smaller size, 

 wliich extends down to the depth of 12 to 15 inches below the 

 continuous stratum. The whole deposit is cml)edded in a tena- 

 cious clay, underneath which occurs a yellow-red marl. This 

 marl is rich in shells and the bones of marine and land animals. 

 It is composed, when air dry, of nearly 70 per cent, of sancl, 18 

 per cent. carbt)natc of lime, and 5 to 7 per cent, phosphate of lime, 

 alumina, and iron. 



The phosphatic nodules and masses generally give on friction 

 of their fresh surfaces a peculiar naphthous odor. This property 

 is, as a rule, the more decided the denser the nodules, and is in 

 direct proportion to the amount of organic matter contained in 

 them. The impressions of numerous fossil shells of the eocene 

 period occur throughout the various phosphatic masses. The 

 speiimens analyzed contained from 25 to 30 per cent. jDhosphoric 

 acid and 35 to 40 per cent. lime. 



Concerning the origin of this extensive formation. Prof. Shep- 

 ard, of Amherst College, Mass., says : — 



"Several explanations suggest themselves. Perhaps the best 

 supposition is, that the great Carolina eocene bed of shell marl 

 on which it rests, formerl}', and for a long period, protruded 

 many feet above the present sea level, giving rise to a luxuriant 

 soil (analogous to that now existing over portions of some of the 

 guano island^), and which was then depressed i)eneath the sea, 

 where it underwent the changes that have resulted in the present 

 formation. For the superabundance of phosphate of lime, we 

 would point to the dej)osition of bird guano, as it is now going on 

 upon the Mosquito ^oast of the Carribbean Sea.'''' — American 

 Journal of Science. 



THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN ALPINE REGION. 



Professor C. C. Perry, at the meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion at Salem, read a paper on the above subject. He said that 

 the Rocky Mountain Alpine Region was of special interest, on ac- 

 count of its extensiveness as compared with anything which they 

 had in the east. Hitherto it had been mostly inaccessible ; but 

 now that railways were making it accessible, further exploration 

 would reveal its flora, and thus it could be compared with the 



