13 



along several tidal creeks emptying into the South Edisto, at Distant 

 Island, about four miles south of the town of Beaufort, at Lady's 

 Island, three miles east of Beaufort, and at Doctor's Swamp, on 

 John's Island, where was found a bed five miles in length. Under- 

 lying Charleston, he observes, at a depth of about fifteen feet, is a 

 bed of these shells, reached by the "fire wells," and exposed in 

 several places around the city, as at Haddrell's Point, and at several 

 of the bluffs on Ashley and Cooper rivers. Ruffin also states that 

 some of these beds are several miles back from the shore line, and 

 are often overlaid by still later deposits of marsh soil several feet 

 thick and sometimes by fine sandy earth. The list of post-Pliocene 

 fossils prepared by Prof. L. R. Gibbes, of Charleston College, is of 

 fossils from the bed underneath and near Charleston, and is as fol- 

 lows : Natica duplicata, Nassa obsoleta, Nassa vibex, Cerithium 

 dislocatuin, Pyrula carica, Oliva Sayana, Oliva mutica, Ovula aeicu- 

 laris Fissurella alternata, Ostrea Virginica, Pinna seminuda, Area 

 incongrua, Area pe.vata, Area ponderosa, Cardium maculatum, 

 Donas variabilis, Tcllina alternata, Lncina divaricata, Venus mer- 

 cenaria, Cytherea conccntrica, Mactra lateralis, Lutraria canaliculata, 

 Balanus ovularis (?), Scutellum quinqueforme (?). 



After one year's service Mr. Ruffin resigned, and was succeeded by 

 Mr. Tourney. In 1844 it was found advisable not to attempt an 

 agricultural survey distinct from matters geological. Tuomey was, 

 therefore, asked to make a report upon both the agriculture and the 

 geology of the State. As the work progressed it became more and 

 more largely geological, and the final report of 1848 is titled "Geo- 

 logical Survey of South Carolina." From the requirements of the 

 case, the report had to be partly commercial, but it is of much value 

 for its scientific weight. It is by far the best thing on South Caro- 

 lina Geology ; in fact, the only thing of any extent. All sections of 

 the country are treated. The coastal plain of the State is here, for 

 the first time, systematically described with an attempt at scien- 

 tifically classifying the beds. The extent of the Cretaceous, Eocene, 

 Pliocene, and Pleistocene formations is traced and lists of fossils 

 from each given. Tuomey was greatly assisted in this work by col- 

 lections of fossils made by college professors, lawyers, physicians, 

 preachers and others of Charleston and the localities around. It 

 seemed almost a fad among cultured people to collect fossils in those 

 days. Several of the number were intelligent collectors, and their 

 observations were also of value to Tuomey in preparing his treatise. 

 Such men as Dr. R. W. Gibbes, Dr. Edmund Ravenal, Prof. L. R. 



