Aii.x.i Watson, Yclloii.' Oclur- Deposits of Georgia. 215 



and a harsh 'feci,' and containing enough ochcr to soil the fin- 

 gers. In the next phase the ocher preponderates, but is held 

 together by a more or less continuous skeleton of silica, although 

 it can be readily removed with a pick. The final stage in the 

 transition is the soft yellow-ocher, filling the veins, which crum- 

 bles on drying, and contains only a small proportion of silica in 

 the form of sand-grains. 



"The intermediate zone between the pure ocher and the 

 quartzite is usually a few inches in thickness, although it may 

 be several feet between the extremes, and, on the other hand, 

 sometimes only a fraction of an inch. " 



Microscopic study of a large number of thin sections of the 

 ocher-charged quartzite collected from all parts of the area dis- 

 closes, with but ^Q\< exceptions, either the former or the exist- 

 ing presence of pyrite. In many of the sections at least a part 

 ot the pyrite is entirely fresh and unaltered, but in a majority 

 of them the pyrite has been completely oxidized, leaving the 

 original space occupied by the mineral only partially filled, as 

 a rule, by its alteration product, iron oxide. Between these two 

 extremes, of scant iron oxide partially lining the cavity and 

 pseudomorphic limonite filling the entire cavity, all gradations 

 are traced. 



The full and accurate description quoted above from Hayes 

 of the ocher-occurrence in the fresh quartzite in the section ex- 

 posed at the wooden bridge over the Etowah river, similarly 

 applies to the remaining exposures over the area studied by 

 me, in which sections show the occurrence of ocher in the fresh 

 rock. 



Occitireiiee in the Residual Clavs. — The area is one of pro- 

 found atmospheric decay, and exposures of the fresh rock are 

 rarely seen, except on the steeper ridge slopes and crests. The 

 ocher cuts the enclosing clays in a very irregular manner, form- 

 ing a series of irregular branching deposits which correspond 

 to veins in the fresh rock. The ore-bodies narrow and widen, 

 thin and thicken, throughout their extent. Irregularity results 

 both as to the vertical and the lateral distribution of the de- 

 posits. The contact between the ocher-bodies and the sur 



