14 BULLETIN OF THE 



ment of interbedded conglomerates, shaly slates, and sandstones, the 

 whole separated from the other detrital deposits of this region by 

 peculiarities of color. While the Coal Measure conglomerates have 

 generally a grayish or blackish hue, these more western deposits of 

 puddingstone are generally of a red color, wliile the intercalated shales 

 vary in hue from a brilliant red to an olive-green. Various conjec- 

 tures have been made as to the age of these deposits. They have 

 been thought by one observer to resemble the Trias, while others, 

 owing partly to their position, have assigned them to the Devonian age. 

 Until I began my studies upon this district, the strata had aflbrded no 

 fossils, and the determinations above noted were purely conjectural. 



As it appears to me that there is a lesson of some value affoi'ded by 

 the conditions of my inquiry, I venture to set forth the methods under 

 which it was pursued. After carefully traversing all the roads in this 

 district, with the hope of obtaining geological data on those lines, I 

 became convinced that results of value could not be yielded by track- 

 ing these paths, for the reason that here as elsewhere in an accidented 

 country the public ways avoid the outcrops. Inspecting a portion of 

 the field, I found that almost all the available exposures were covered 

 by brushwood, and thus hidden from a hasty glance. I therefore re- 

 solved to trace the country on foot in such a manner that I should 

 obtain sight of every exposure. A preliminary iiKjuiry showed that, 

 even where the rocks were covered by drift, a careful consideration of 

 the fragmentary matter in the glacial deposits would give very clear 

 evidence as to the nature of the deposits below the covering. Pursu- 

 ing this latter inquiry in a methodical way, I found that at any point 

 whatsoever the boulder clay as distinguished from tlie kame dejjosits 

 was to the extent of at least three fourths its mass composed of mate- 

 rial which had not been carried for a greater distance than lialf a mile. 

 Pursuing my further inquiries in this close manner, I found in a very 

 short time that these apparently barren deposits of shales and con- 

 glomerates afforded at certain points a good number of fossils. Within 

 an area of a single square mile, three important localities have already 

 been discovered from which, as will be seen in the sequel, we have ob- 

 tained over a score of recognizable fossils. It is likely that further 

 research on these beds will increase the list of organic remains to thirty 

 species or more. 



My studies on the Narragansett field were begun in 18G5. The first 

 of the fossil localities was not found until 1883. The pressure of other 

 work and the lack of good topographic maps made it impossible to work 



