REPORl" ON FIELD WORK IN GEOLOGY. I39 



"which may, with much reason, be identified with the Champlain 

 "epoch." 



In a later publication he writes:* "In regard to the chert gravel 

 " from the Neosho valley near Burlington, Kansas, it is per- 

 " fectly safe to say it comes from the chert beds overlying the heavy 

 "building limestone series, well up in the Upper Coal Measure series; 

 (,* * * ^ * It may not be strictly a 'glacial' gravel, although 

 " these particular deposits might well have in part been the result of 

 "glacial agencies; but they are to be regarded as of local origin, as 

 " we can distinctly trace them to their native ledges only a few miles 

 "to the west or northwest of their present position in the gravel 

 "deposits. * * * *_" From fossils contained in tlie gravel, St. 

 John decides they are identical in age with the Coal Measure rocks, 

 many of which contain large amounts of chert. 



Prof. Mudge, who was so familiar with Kansas geology, visited the 

 Burlington gravel beds in 1871 and expressed the opinion, according 

 to Parker, f that they were the result of "modified drift," whatever 

 that may mean. 



The gravel beds in the vicinity of Burlington years ago attracted 

 considerable attention, and an effort was made to introduce the 

 gravels for paving streets, walks, etc. In this connection Prof. J. 

 D. Parker published a number of articles giving descriptions of 

 the character and extent of the deposits. He also sent samples to 

 different scientists and civil engineers, thereby hoping to gain infor- 

 mation regarding their age, mode of formation, economic importance, 

 etc. Prof. C. F. Chandler, of the Columbia College School of Mines, 

 wrote that the character of the gravels was such that they would do 

 excellently for macadamizing. Different physicians recommended 

 their use from sanitary standpoints, their color being preferable to 

 that of limestone which reflects the sunlight to so great an extent that 

 it is objectionable for street paving purposes. City engineers advised 

 their use for street paving on account of their great durability, so that it 

 looked for a time as though an industry of considerable proportions 

 might spring into existence. Prof. C. A. Schaeffer, of Cornell Uni- 

 versity, now president of Iowa State University, to whom samples 

 were sent, reported the character of the pebbles, as already given, 

 and added that he had succeeded in identifying included fossils as 

 belonging to the two genera FencstcUa and Troiiatopora. From this 

 fact he decided that the gravel belonged to the Silurian period. But 

 as these genera extend from the Silurian to the Coal Measures their 



♦Private letter to Prof, J. D. Parker, published in Kamas Citij Review. Vol. 8, p. 386, 1884, 

 +Ib.,p. 386. 



