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PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



elsewhere in Europe, that he pointeii out the probability of its occurring also in 

 the Permian formation, and requested Dr. Roessler to obtain fuller details with 

 reference to its occurrence. A few days ago Dr. Roessler received an answer 

 to his inquiries from the General Ltand Office agent in Texas, with more speci- 

 mens, and the following report, which he sent to me : 



"After traversing tlie cretaceous and carboniferous series northward of 

 Weatherford, Archer Co., Texas, 1 was agreeably surprised by a grand pano- 

 rama of the Permian formation. This system is extensively developed in Russia 

 between the Oural Mountains and the River Volga, in the north of England, 

 and in Germany, where it is mined for its treasures of copper, silver, nickel and 

 cobalt ores. It has not heretofore been known to exist in this State, or it had 

 been mistaken for the Triassic system, which is overlying the former to the 

 south-east. Its hills, which have been traced throughout Archer and Wichita 

 Counties, resemble in shape the copper-bearing or gossan-crested upheavals in 

 Ducktown, Tenn., but they are of a different age and composition. They are 

 nearly barren, and, towering above the most beautiful mesquit prairies fringed 

 by the finely-timbered bottoms of the tributaries of Red River, are exceedingly 

 picturesque. The members of the Wichita System, as far as open to ocular 

 inspection by out-crops or cross-cuts, making allowance for climatic differ- 

 ences, correspond closely with the lower strata, discovered at Perm and Mans- 

 feld, but its mineral resources are evidently more promising. Such numerous 

 veins of copper ore have been traced over the summits and sides of the hills, 

 that hardly a hundred and sixty acre tract could be found without ore on the 

 surface. The ore crops out, as, for instance, on the Isbell Douglass Ball, in 

 such quantity and quality that the mere collection of it, without mining, would 

 prove remunerative. It is supposed that those veins are cotemporaneous with 

 injections at different ages of quartz, trap and porphyry. The vein lodes are 

 parallel with the strata, but there is sufficient evidence that they partake of the 

 nature of true veins. Cupriferous and ferruginous cross-courses, feeders and 

 lead's of manganese are often met with. A cross-cut was made to a depth of 

 about fifteen feet upon the Isbell lode, and ten hours work resulted in the 

 raising of 6000 pounds of copper ore. This ore is far superior to the ferro- 

 sulphuret of copper, or copper pyrites, which ore is most generally worked in 

 England, and it is, in fact, more profitable than the native copper as found at 

 Lake Superior. It is easily smelted, and the strata in which it is found can 

 also be more economically excavated than any other in which copper ores 

 occur." 



Dr. Le Conte, in continuation, spoke of the occurrence of calamite tinged 

 with copper in the Permian formation of Southern Mexico. 



Mr. Gabb mentioned the deposits of grey copper near the Colorado River, in 

 Arizona, scattered over the surface, the debris of metallic veins. 



Dr. Leidy remarked, that shad had been brought to our markets, for several 

 years past, during the late autumnal months, which were caught in salt water, 

 perhaps in Delaware Bay or off the Jersey coast. When the shad ascend the 

 river to spawn, their stomachs and intestines appear to contain so little that 

 the question is often asked as to the nature of their food. A shad which Dr. 

 L. had purchased a few days since, on examination, was found to have the 

 stomach full of small fishes. There were 30 of them, from 2 to 4 inches long, 

 and all one species, which appears to be the Sand-launce, Ammodytes Ameri- 

 canus. 



Oct. 21th. 



Mr. Vaux, Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Twenty-six members present. 



Philip S. Wales, M. D., was elected a member. 



[Oct. 



