SKETCH OF FLINT RIDGE, LICKING COUNTY, OHIO. 857 



vej, SO named from a high hill opposite Zanesville where it is well 

 shown. The upper part of this limestone is shelly, sometimes closely 

 approaching a thin sandstone in its appearance, and of a yellow cast; 

 farther down it becomes more solid and takes on a blue color. 



The flint varies in its nature in different parts of the ridge. It is im- 

 possible to gain an accurate knowledge of its appearance in many places 

 without excavation; but, so far as can be judged from the outcrop and 

 the reports of the well-diggers, the following will be found not far out 

 of the way : 



At the extreme western end the stone is of a gray or whitish color, 

 cellular or porous in its structure, and of the sort commonly known as 

 "buhr-stone." 



By the oxidation of the included iron, it shows various shades of yellow 

 or brown along the lines of fracture. 



Half a mile east of this appears a translucent, bluish variety, frag- 

 ments of which are seen scattered in the fields or along the outcrop. 

 Still, the buhr-stone seems to predominate. 



Two miles east, in the neighborhood of the cross-roads, the flint 

 changes considerably. There is to be found every color and shade ever 

 seen in such stone. White, red, black, brown, yellow, green, and blue, 

 in various shades, occur plentifully in the pieces around the fields and 

 where the flint shows in the hill-sides. This coloring is all due to the 

 oxidation of the iron and organic impurities contained in the flint, as 

 may be shown by digging to the bottom of one of the bowlders which 

 shows different colors on its top ; on reaching a part that is un weathered 

 it is generally found to be of the same bluish tinge as the greater part 

 of the bedrock. 



Near the intersection of the ridge road with the one leading from 

 Brownsville to Clay Lick Station (on the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad), 

 which, for distinction, is called the cross-road, the well-diggers report 

 that the flint is light blue and translucent. A few hundred yards north 

 it is nearly white, while at the same distance south a layer of a very 

 dark shade is reported at the same level by parties who sunk a shaft 

 here many years ago "to see what was down there." To determine 

 what was meant by "dark flint" it was decided to clear out the trash 

 that had blown into the shaft and examine the flint in its place ; and 

 this is the result : 



Commencing at the edge of the shaft, the flint was found at 3 feet 

 under the original surface, but as this was near the outcrop it is not to 

 be taken as the full thickness of the overlying dirt, for there is a rise of 

 several feet from this point to the top of the hill. Under this soil was 

 a layer of flint of a grayish color, which must be very limited in extent, 

 as no pieces of it are found in the "work-shops." 



Next was the " dark flint," whjsh is further mentioned on a following 

 page. This flint contained a large amount of iron sulphide, which has 

 oxidized along the seams, the iron giving a rusty-looking coat to the 



