252 PROCEEDINGS OP THE ACADEMY OP [1884. 



in a southeasterly direction to just below Red Lion, crossing the 

 railroad between Porter's and Kirkwood, and cutting the State 

 line two miles north of Chesapeake Cit3\ Although of so much 

 importance, it is, owing to the great thickness of the overlying 

 gravels, rarely exposed, and even when more favorable opportu- 

 nities are offered, but a few feet of the characteristic Red Clay 

 appear above the surface. The formation is divided into the 

 uppermost Red Clays, and the lowermost White Clays, of which 

 the former is the deposit commonly exposed. 



Red Clay. — This is a highly plastic clay, of a vermilion-red 

 color, remarkably free from grit, and cutting with great smooth- 

 ness. It is identical with the red terra-cotta clays of Perth 

 Amboy, N. J., and may prove to be their equal in quality. The 

 Red Clay forms uniform beds, with which are sometimes inter- 

 stratified thin seams of fire-clay, making a total thickness of at 

 least .50 feet. White Clays. — The series of white clays and sands 

 lying beneath the stratum of red, reach to a great depth below the 

 surface, and have not yet been wholly penetrated by the deepest 

 boring made. The outcrop is upon the lowest ground, of which 

 the only locality discovered lay a little to the south of New Castle, 

 on the river shore. Here the white clay outcrops for a depth of 

 from 10 to 15 feet, giving the following section : 



1. Sandy fire-clay, . . .3 feet. 



2. Mottled clay, .... 3 feet. 



3. A very pure fat fire-clay at water-level. 



The lowermost clay of this section is of an unusually fine 

 quality, and has in past years been worked below water-level, 

 and shipped to Trenton potteries. From this exposure we are 

 enabled to see that the White Clay series, outcropping as it does 

 at water-level, covered by a red stratum, and again by some 30 

 feet of gravel, is entirely out of the reach of study ; yet the pre- 

 sumption that it does lie deeply buried is beyond controvers3\ 

 Our only means of studying the White Clay series is by means of 

 borings, which are very rare, and in no cases have accurate 

 records of the deposits passed through been preserved. We only 

 know that the borings yielded alternate layers of white clays and 

 sands to a depth of 200 feet. We therefore judge that this series 

 presents strong analogies to the white clays of New Jersey. 



