34 Putnam Hill Strata. 



is a thin bed of shale of two Inches, above the coal, on which the 

 limestone reposes. It has been remarked, that coal lying immedi- 

 ately under or over lime, is of a better quality than that which is as- 

 sociated with sandstone* — 1 foot. 



12. Slate clay, common and bituminous shale. The upper part 

 of the deposit is of a Ught or ash color, four feet in thickness. The 

 lower part is dark colored and bituminous, being made up of thin 

 folia of shale and coal intermixed, frequently not thicker than pa- 

 per. This portion of the bed is six feet thick, and strongly resem- 

 bles a mass of tobacco leaves as they are pressed closely together 

 in a hogshead, and still retain the brownish yellow color when first 

 exposed to the air. This deposit is remarkable for the great varie- 

 ty and beauty of the vegetable impressions found between the lam- 

 ina of coal. The most abundant variety belonged to a broad leav- 

 ed, arundinaceous plant. Figures are given of ten species, from 



) 



( 



found if diligent search were made, and the shale had a little more 

 tenacity, but it is so fragile that only partial figures of the branches 

 can be obtained. Nos. 1, 7 and 9, are portions of the cuticle, or 

 bark covering the trunks or large branches of Fucoides. No. 9 ex- 

 hibits a very peculiar structure, such as I have not observed in any 

 other specimen. The surface is arranged in squares of about half 

 en inch in diameter, separated by raised lines of a sixteenth of an 

 inch, which break on each other, throwing the squares into alternate 

 rows. In the center of each is a circular depression of two eighths 

 of an Inch, bearing a lustrous or glazed surface, as if a smooth, 

 warty tubercle had been pressed forcibly into it. The intermediate 

 surface is maculated, similar to the skin of the dog-fish. The w^hole 

 impression is made in a thin layer of coal, glued to a brown ferru- 

 ginous slate, and must have lain on the outer surface of the bed. 

 The drawing is half the size of the original specimen. No. 1 is al- 

 so impressed on a thin lamina of coal lying between layers of shale. 

 The surface of No. 7 retains the vegetable coloring like that of the 

 yellow leaf tobacco when dried. A portion of the shale an Inch In 

 thickness is impressed, from side to side, with these figures — other 

 portions are marked by the smooth, broad leaves of arundinaceous 

 plants. No. 2, is from the upper portion of the bed and resembles 

 " Fucoides Wilsonianus.'' No. 4 is from the same bed and is also 

 t Fucoides, but of an undescribed species, as I suppose many q( 



