36 IOWA ACADEMY O? SCIENCES. 



An examination of these different sections shows a remarkable persist- 

 ence of character. The thin clay parting remains constant between two 

 and three inches over the whole distance. The greatest variation is shown 

 in the underlying fire clay and overlying shales. 



In Iowa this coal has been found along both branches of the Chariton 

 river in the northeastern part of Wayne county, and mined near Grffiins- 

 ville and Milledgeville, in the northwestern part of Appanoose county. Its 

 presence on Little Walnut creek, near Walnut City, is known. It is well 

 exposed along Big Walnut, and is extensively mined at Brazil, Mystic and 

 Rathburn. It has been mined at Piano, Garfield, Dennis, and a few miles 

 southwest of Moravia. There is a coal exposure on Soap creek, at Foster, 

 in Monroe county, which may be the same. At Centerville, Numa, and 

 Jerome, the coal is mined at depths of about one hundred and twenty-five to 

 one hundred and sixty feet, while at Seymour in Wayne county, it is reached 

 at two hundred and forty-three feet; and at Howard, in the same county, is 

 reached at a slightly less depth. At Livingston and Cincinnati in the south- 

 ern part of Appanoose county, it lies neax'er the surface; near Hillstown, in 

 the southeastern part of the county, it outcrops along the Chariton. Coal 

 is mined at Coatsville, in Schuyler, Stahl, in Adair, and Mendota, Union- 

 ville, and other points in Putmau counties in Missouri, which has been con- 

 sidered* to belong to the same seam, and part of it at least, has been dix'ectly 

 correlatedf with the Mystic coal. Without doubt this is a continuation of 

 the vein mined in Iowa; since the mines at Cincinnati, Iowa, and Mendota, 

 Missouri, are only a short distance apart, and the same is true at Hillstown 

 and Coatsville. The character of the coal, and the attendant strata, as well 

 as the general geological relations in the region in question, all bear on this 

 assumption. 



The presence of a seam of coal with such exceptionally uniform charac- 

 ter and wide geographical limits within the boundaries of the lower coal 

 measures as now recognized, is an item of considerable economic, as well as 

 scientific interest. It has had a very important bearing upon the develop- 

 ment of the coal iudusti'y of that portion of Iowa, and has been one of the 

 leading factors in the remarkable growth which that industry has there 

 experienced. 



SIGOUFtNEY DEEP WELL. 



Br H. FOSTER BAIN. 



During the summer of 1888 a deep well was drilled at Sigourney, in 

 Keokuk county. Captain Parker, who was at that time mayor, carefully 

 preserved samples of the dift'ereut strata passed through. These samples 

 have recently been re-examined, and form the basis of the following notes. 



*Winslow: Geol. Sur. Mo., Prelim. Rep. on Coal, pp. 54-62, Jefferson City, 1891. 

 tNorwood: Rep. Mo. Geol. Sur., 1873-1874, p. 295, Jefferson City, 1874. 



