122 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
counties, which have been variously referred to the Permian and Trias. That 
this basal Permian fauna continued throughout all the time represented by 800 
or 1,000 feet of deposits does not seem probable to me, and I believe yet more 
strongly what I always have believed, that the red beds in Kansas are Triassic 
in age. If they be Triassic, and corresponding to the red outcrops in the foot- 
hills in Colorado, it would seem strange that the intervening deposits between 
them and the Dakota, in the regions separated by only a few hundred miles, and 
agreeing in many lithological characters, should be in one case Cretaceous and in 
the other Jurassic. 
GYPSUM IN KANSAS. 
By G. P. GrRIMSLEY, Topeka, Kan. Read (by title) before the Academy January 2, 1897. 
HisroricaLt INTRODUCTION. 
Gypsum (sulphate of lime), from two Greek words, ge (earth) and epso (to 
concoct ), is a mineral that has attracted attention from very early times. The 
transparent variety, known as selenite, was used by the ancients as a substitute 
for glass in windows. The best varieties were supposed to be in upper Egypt 
and in Syria. It was also in favor for ornamental boxes, and for urns, in which 
lighted lamps were placed, and so threw a soft light through the apartments. 
The walls of the temple Fortuna Seia were made of compact gypsum, and the 
interior, though without windows, is described as ‘‘sufficiently lighted by rays 
transmitted through the semi-pellucid walls.’’ The writings of Theophrastus 
show that the Greeks were familiar with the use of plaster of Paris, made from 
calcining the gypsine stone in making casts. The term ‘‘alabaster’’ is commonly 
noted in the ancient writings, and sometimes refers to compact gypsum and 
sometimes to the stalactite carbonate of lime, so that it is often difficult to tell 
from the meager descriptions which is intended. 
The earliest account of the use of gypsum as a fertilizer in the ground form 
known as land plaster is in 1768, when a German clergyman, by name of Mayer, 
used it with success. After this time there were numerous experiments made to 
test its efficiency, and the faith of the workers along this line gave the appear- 
ance of wonderful results. Thus, one writes that ‘the invariable results of sev- 
eral experiments incontestably prove that there is a most powerful and subtle 
principle in this tasteless stone, but by what peculiar agency or combination it is 
capable of forcing vegetation in such an instantaneous and astonishing manner is 
a mystery which time reserves for others to unfold.”’ 
VARIETIES. 
Gypsum in nature occurs in five forms, all of which are found in Kansas: 
1. The earthy form, yellow or gray in color, and composed of loose, dust-like par- 
ticles, rather light in weight, and formed from solution of gypsum in water. 
2. The compact variety, including alabaster and massive gypsum, which is very 
soft and of specific gravity 2.2 or near. 3. Fibrous gypsum or satin-spar, usually 
found in thin layers, in the form of fine needles or prisms. 4. Foliated gypsum, 
sometimes massive, but usually in small concretionary masses. 5. Spar gypsum 
or selenite, found in transparent crystals. 
WHERE Founp. 
Gypsum is found in Thuringia, Saxony, Norway, at Mont Martre, near Paris, 
in Austria, Bohemia, Italy, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and many other places in the 
old country. In the United States it is found along an east and west line in cen- 
