ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 51 



ping quite a number of hills in Harnett, Moore, Richmond, Anson 

 and other counties. Indeed, between the tributaries of the Neuse and 

 Cape Fear rivers it may be stated with regard to these deposits, that 

 everything within these limits is eocene except a few small patches 

 of miocene and t wo of Quaternary — one of the latter 12 miles below 

 Wilmington, on the east side of the Cape Fear, and the other 10 to 

 15 miles below New Berne, on the Neuse river — and to a large ex- 

 tent doubtless the intervening coast formation is quarternary and 

 recent. The exact northern limit of the eocene exposures in the 

 State is not now definitely known, but somewhere between the 

 Neuse and Tar rivers the eocene becomes covered up by miocene 

 deposits, probably continuing northward under the latter. The 

 rock underlying the town of Washington, at a depth of 20 feet, and 

 forming the bed of Pamlico river as far as 10 miles below that town, 

 is eocene. Southward the writer believes the eocene formation to 

 be continuous or nearly so ac oss the States of South Carolina and 

 Georgia, into Florida; and that hence in the geological map of the 

 south Atlantic region an extensive area which heretofore has been 

 colored to represent quaternary surface deposits should be changed 

 to eocene. 



The character of eocene deposits over different portions of North 

 Carolina, where they occur, differs considerably. Capping many of 

 the hills along the western border where the more recent formations 

 meet and overly the older archsean or triassic rocks, as in Harnett, 

 Moore, Richmond and Anson counties, these deposits, varying from 

 a few feet to 15 or 20 feet in thickness, show at many places every 

 variety of irregular bedding — beach structure, &c., —and at other 

 places no bedding at all, fine and coarse material being generally 

 commingled. In some of these places the hills and hill sides for a 

 considerable distance are covered with a layer of quartz pebbles 

 varying from quite small to several inches in diameter — doubtless 

 the finer materials which once may have been mingled with these 

 having been since washed away. The best exposures of the beach 

 structure are to be found, as mentioned above, along the Raleigh & 

 Augusta Air-line Railroad in Moore county. The materials are here 

 mainly clays and sands of various colors, alternating, or at times 

 mixed. There are also some good exposures along the Carolina Cen- 

 tral Railway through Robeson and Richmond and Anson counties. 

 Here toward the east the deposits in some places consist almost en- 

 tirely of clay, of gray, purple and other colors, sufficiently pure to 

 be used for brick or potter's clay. At other places irregular layers 

 of clay and sand alternate, and again the deposit is entirely of 



