2 2 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



and at about the same height as the Sauer quarry, a new, large quarry 

 has just been opened on the farm of Mr. J. G. Dutcher. 

 The section shown is as follows : 



FEET. 



1. Irregular layers of shaly limestone slightly fossiliferous. . 2 



2. Layers still more irregular 3 



3. Thickened strata including three beds of encrinal limestone. 7 



4. A slight bluish limestone in this place arranged in regular 



strata each of 6 or 8 inches, forming the floor of the quarry. 6 



In all other places this limestone is most irregularly bedded. It is 

 readily recognized, abounding in broken fragments of fossils which are 

 of a darker blue than the rock in which they were imbedded. 



One-quarter of a mile west of this quarry, and nearly half a mile from 

 the First Ravine, we find the Second. In many respects it differs from 

 the first. It cuts through the limestone at a lower horizon. It shows 

 not a continuous, regular exposure, but abounds in occasional bluffs 

 attaining a height of fifteen to thirty feet. These challenge attention 

 not only for number or height, but for irregularity in bedding. 

 Strata are laid down sometimes horizontally, but oftener diverging 

 from such rule, often disposed in long, flexuous curves, each bearing 

 only the slightest possible resemblance to its neighbor. To a student 

 interested in abnormally developed strata this locality commends itself. 



To add to the perplexity, the same strata change in thickness with 

 every new exposure. Leaving out this element of uncertainty, the 

 section is as follows: 



1. First and uppermost is a well-defined coral r,"^;/ showing a thick- 



ness of one or two feet. 



2. The upper series of limestones and shales especially noted for dis- 



turbances in bedding. 



3. Encrinal limestone in the mass or distributed in layers. 



4. A hard, often softer, calcareous shale filled with brachiopods, Or- 



this being the prevailmg lorm. 



5. Second series of limestones and shales firmer at the bottom of the 



dry channel. 



May it not be owing to the changing, almost abnormal, condition 

 of the strata characterized as No. 2, — that while every step is made 

 over broken fragments of fossils, scarce a perfect form is found? 



A quarter of a mile west, on the farm of Mr. William Sauer, is a 

 quarry in the I'hird Ravine. 



