94 RESOURCES OF SOUTHERN ALABAMA. 



grains together. It seems to be entirely absent from cal- 

 careous regions. The St. Stephens limestone is believed to 

 be good for cement making, but its principal use is for chim- 

 neys. It is easily sawn into blocks of any desired size, and 

 lasts indefinitely in our mild climate. The Buhrstone and 

 a few other kinds of Eocene rock are also used for chimneys 

 and pillars, wherever they occur at the surface in sufficient 

 quantity. In the lime-sink region the St. Stephens forma- 

 tion is mostly transformed into a chert-like rock, which 

 ought to be good road material. 



Some of the Tertiary formations, particularly in the 

 western half of the State, contain more or less lignite, pyrite, 

 iron sulphate, alum, greensand, marl, and other useful min- 

 erals, but not usually in sufficient quantity to make their 

 exploitation profitable. In the last two years or so, how- 

 ever, a company in Demopolis has built up a large business 

 in medicines made from a ferruginous deposit in the Hat- 

 chetigbee formation, at Hatchetigbee Bluff on the Tombig- 

 bee River. 



There are several mineral springs and salt wells and 

 springs in the neighborhood of the Hatchetigbee anticline, 

 as already stated, and small quantities of natural gas have 

 been obtained from deep wells there, and also farther south, 

 even near Mobile. The best known mineral springs are 

 Cullom, Bladen, and Healing Springs, all within a few miles 

 of each other in Choctaw and Washington Counties. Dur- 

 ing the Civil War considerable salt was made from brine 

 springs and wells in the southern part of Clarke County. 



The important artesian water-bearing strata are the 

 Pliocene, Claiborne, Hatchetigbee and Nanafalia ; and deep 

 wells near the inland edge of the area obtain Water from 

 the Cretaceous beds. Flowing wells can be obtained almost 

 anywhere near the coast and larger rivers, but not usually 

 on the uplands. The surface sands furnish many small 

 springs of pure water, one of which constitutes part of Mo- 

 bile's water supply. The best surface water is found in the 

 southern and eastern parts of the area, where the summer 

 rain is heaviest and the soils poorest. 



Soils. 



Our knowledge of the chemical composition of the soils 

 is rather meager, because making soil analyses is a tedious 

 process. The best analyses available are those made by 



