THE IRON SERIES, CONTINUED. 97 



2.02.07. Red hematite, supposed to be of the Clinton stage, oc- 

 curs in Nova Scotia in very considerable amount, in Pictou and 

 Antigonisli counties. 1 



2.02.08. In general the Clinton ore is characterized by a high 

 percentage of phosphorus, and is seldom, if ever, available for Bes- 

 semer pig. It is chiefly employed for ordinary foundry irons. The 

 percentage in iron varies much. Experience at Clinton, K. Y., 

 shows that it averages about 44$ Fe in the furnace. These hema- 

 tites have undoubtedly originated in some cases by the weathering 

 of ferruginous limestones above the water level. I. C. Russell has 

 shown that the unaltered limestones at the bottom of a mine in 

 Atalla, Ala., 250 feet from the surface, contained but 7.75$ Fe, 

 while the outcrop afforded 57.52$. J. B. Porter has recorded the 

 gradual increase of lime also in another Alabama mine, from a 

 trace at the outcrop to 30.55$ at 135 feet. Other writers have ex- / 

 plained these beds as due to the bringing of iron in solution into( 

 the sea of the Clinton age and to its deposition as small nodules, 

 etc., or as ferruginous mud. (Roger, Lesley, Newberry.) In this 

 way an oolitic mass has originated, as in the modern Swedish 

 lakes (Xe wherry). (See Example 1.) N. S. Shaler has argued, on 

 the basis of the Kentucky beds, that the iron has been derived from 

 the overlying shales, and descending in solution has been precipi- 

 tated by the lower lying limestones. As the shales are themselves 

 calcareous, this seems improbable. A. F. Foerste has shown that 

 the ore is very often deposited either in the interstices of frag-, 

 ments of bryozoans or as replacing their substance. The rounded, 

 water-worn character of the original fragments is regarded as oc- 

 casioning the apparent concretionary character. Admirable work 

 upon the origin of the ore has also been done by C. II. Smyth, 

 Jr. He finds that the small oolites, or concretions, as they occur 

 at Clinton, N. Y., and many other localities, have a water-worn 

 grain of quartz as a nucleus. The character of the grain is such 

 that it has evidently been derived from granitoid or schistose 

 rocks. The hematite comes off at times in concentric layers, when 



Ala.," M. #., XVII. 151. "The Sloss Iron Ore Mines," Engineering and 

 Mining Journal, Oct. 1, 1892, p. 318. T. S. Hunt, ". Coal and Iron in Ala- 

 bama," M. E., XI. 236. J. B. Porter, " Iron Ores, Coal, etc., in Alabama, 

 Georgia, and Tennessee," M. E., XV. 170. E. A. Smith, Alabama Geol. 

 Survey, 1876 ; also A. A. A. S., XXVII. 246. 



1 Sir J. W. Dawson, Acadian Geology, p. 591. Fletcher, Can. Geol. 

 Survey, 1886. 



