274 Note on the Coals of the Kanawha Valley. 



last, but at Coalburg it is absent, or is represented by two 

 small seams occupying about the same relative position. 

 Mr. Ritlgway identifies this with the Lower Freeport of 

 Pennsylvania. That is an exceedingly variable bed, and 

 cannot be traced satisfactorily in southwestern Pennsylvania 

 or northern West Virginia. The whole of the state lying 

 between the Baltimore Railroad and the Great Kanawha 

 river, is as yet unexplored. Under such circumstances it is 

 doubtful whether one is justified in making the determina- 

 tion solely upon the ground of relative position, this being, 

 at best, an ui^afe guide. 



At Canuelton the second seam below the "Stockton" is a 

 cannel of insignificant thickness. At Coalburg, however, 

 this place is occupied by the "Great Splint Coal," which in 

 some respects is the most important bed along the river, 

 although its importance is probably local. At the KanaAvha 

 Salines no such bed appears, but where it should be there 

 occur several thin beds considerably separated. On Paint 

 and Cabin creeks its thickness is not far from eleven feet 

 and on Campbell's creek, if Mr. Ridgway's identification be 

 accurate, it is six feet. At Coalburg it has been worked 

 extensively for several years by the Kanawha and Ohio 

 Company, under the superintendence of Mr. William H. 

 Edwards, so favorably known to the scientific world by 

 means of his beautiful work on the Butterflies of Worth 

 America. At the mines of this company the bed exhibits 

 the following section : 



1. Sandstone, 



2. Clay shale, 1 inch. 



3. Coal, 6 inches. 



4. Dark slate, 4-7 inches. 



5. Coal, 3 feet, 2 inches. 



6. Clay, 3-5 inches. 



7. Goal, 1 foot, 6 inches. 



The roof is very irregular. Not unfrequently a huge clay 

 ''hip" comes down two or three feet, crossing the entries in 



