106 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIEXCE. 



fork and Shields'* river. This trip took them up the valley of the East fork to its 

 source, and occupied some three or four days. 



During their absence, the remainder of the party were employed in exploring the 

 vicinity of our camp. In company with Dr. Piatt, of Waterbury, Conn., I went up the 

 East fork some six or eight miles, and, as was our usual custom, climbed a rather high 

 mountain, south of the river a couple of miles, perhaps. Here we found the summit 

 covered with petrified trees, many of which were lying prostrate — some thirty or forty 

 feet long — upon the surface of the ground. Upon another portion of the summit were 

 many other petrified trees still standing upright where they grew; some were of large 

 size, and afterwards were found by actual measurement to be ten feet in diameter. 

 Many of these fossil trees had been covered with volcanic material, and were seen 

 standing out from perpendicular cliffs, where the volcanic material was weathering away. 

 We hitched our saddle horses to upright stumps of these trees and ate our dinner, and 

 returned to camp laden with the product of this weird mountain-top. 



The next day, August 1st, in company with Prof. Wakefield, of Hiram College, I re- 

 turned to this same peak, and continued my explorations. It was during this day's 

 search that I turned over a large section of a petrified tree which had been hollow, but 

 was now filled with beautiful crystals of amethyst. It was a beautiful sight, and one 

 long to be remembered ! We filled our saddlebags and pouches with these crystals, and 

 started off for camp. It was a Mr. Sloane — a graduate of Columbia College — who first 

 met us, and seizing a good-sized specimen, went shouting through camp, "Amethyst ! 

 Amethyst ! " The entire camp gathered around us in admiration of the crystals, and each 

 one secured a goodly number of crystals for himself. 



The next day, Dr. A. C. Peale, our mineralogist, and several others of the party, re- 

 turned with us to the peak, and found other parts of the same tree, and still other speci- 

 mens of amethyst from other trees; and from this time forth, Amethyst Mountain occupies 

 its place upon all our late maps. It may be interesting to add, that the crystals which 

 were exposed above the ground to the sunlight had entirely lost their violet color, and 

 were simply quartz crystals, while those below the surface, upon the same slab, had re- 

 tained their color perfectly. 



THE LAST SUBMERSION AND EMERGENCE OF SOUTHEASTERN KAN- 

 SAS FROM THE CARBONIFEROUS SEAS, OR THOSE AFFECT- 

 ING THE CARBONIFEROUS FORMATION IN KANSAS. 



BY E. P. WEST. 



The country along the line of the Southern Kansas Railway all through southeastern 

 Kansas and extending westward to Harper, the present terminus of the road, is unsur- 

 passed in beauty and the fertility of its broad fields and valleys. It is said, and truth- 

 fully, to be the paradise of the husbandman and the pasturist; and it is no less so of the 

 geologist, the poet, and the artist. Whoever has traveled over the line of this road could 

 not have failed to observe the picturesque and poetic beauty everywhere meeting the eye. 

 Symmetrica] mounds rise from the broad plains and valleys, as if by the work of magic, 

 and terraced cliffs, terrace rising above terrace in solemn grandeur, environ the road. 

 Sometimes the cliffs are circular, forming vast amphitheaters, extending back for miles. 

 Those mark the last emergence of southeastern Kansas from the carboniferous seas, and 

 bear unmistakable evidence of powerful and persistent forces which, though perhaps 

 comparatively brief, have left their impress boldly written on every feature of the coun- 

 try. Water-worn pebbles, commonly known as gravel beds, are found in the channels of 

 streams, in the valleys, under the soil, and over the highest mounds and ridges all over 



