1877.] 547 [Ashburner. 



From the base of this sandstone to the top of the red marls and sandstone 

 (No. IX) there is a thickness of 500 feet, more or less, made up of flaggy 

 sandstone with interstratitications of shales, all of which when fresh have 

 a dingy yellow or brownish-gray color, but weathering to a dull brown. 



Professor Fontaine seems to prefer calling the 60 feet at the base of the 

 coal-bearing sti'ata the base of No. X, but further states that the underly- 

 ing 500 feet might perhaps be thrown into the Vespertine or Pocono Epoch. 

 Judging from Fontaine's descriptions, to bring the section in harniouy with 

 the East Broad Top, I think it would be necessary to consider the lower 500 

 feet as included, making a total thickness for No. X of 910 feet, more or 

 less, which would then be represented by 2133 feet at Broad Top, reversing 

 the relationship in the two localities between No. XI and No. XII, both 

 of which are thicker in the Virginia section than at Broad Top. 



The general sections of Prof. Fontaine's, given in the text, I have com- 

 piled from his elaborately detailed descriptions in Sillimau's Journals, to 

 which the reader is referred. 



No. IX. 



CatsJcill {Ponent or Old Bed) Sandstone. 



Thickness (Nos. 116 to 108 inclusive), 2689 feet. 



Character: consists for the most part of thick alternating red argillaceous 

 shale and sandstone, and occasional beds of gray, yellow, white and green 

 sandstone and shale. On account of its uniform composition it does not 

 admit of sub-division either by its fossils or mineral composition. Unlike 

 the groups of Nos. X, XI and XII, which gradually assume new phases, 

 this series, undergoes no important modification other than that of thick- 

 ness throughout the State. 



The upper part of No. IX is composed of red shale and sandstone 

 alternating with gray and whitish sandstone, containing nucaceous specks. 

 The central part seems to be made up principally of red flaggy sandstone 

 and shale alternating with thin massive yellow, gray and whitt; slialy 

 sandstone ; toward the bottom the red shale becomes more sandy, contains 

 less alternations of gray shale and a number of imperfect remains of what 

 apparently was a terrestial vegetation, the accumulation in some localities 

 being sufficient to form small "drift beds " of coal. The lowei' part seems 

 to contain a predominant amount of ferruginous matter, and the surfaces 

 of the strata are sometimes slightly stained with a bituminous coating. 

 No fossils were found in this mass other than a few remains of fish bones 

 and scales, having a white and bluish tint in contrast with the red and 

 brownish-red shale. The strata throughout the whole formation are very 

 argillaceous, weathering very easily, which fact is beautifully illustrated in 

 the deep cuttings made recently in Smith's Valley, on the line of the 

 E. B. T. R. R. 



Prof. Hall gives the following description of it as studied by him in 

 Eastern New York : 



"The Old Red Sandstone, where fully developed, consists of various 



