402 



GEOLOGY OF THE SECOND DISTRICT. 



According to this line of outcrop of the rock, the east part of Ellisburgh, all of Loraine, 

 a corner of Adams, one-half of Rodman, and the southeast corner of Rutland, are underlaid 

 by the loraine shales. In the south part of Loraine, however, the grey sandstone has become 

 a mass of some importance, but its real extent I have been unable to determine. 



The preceding facts and remarks will put the reader in possession of the geographical dis- 

 tribution of the rocks of this county, and furnish him with their lithological characters. It 

 will be observed, that proceeding from north to south, the rocks rise both geologically and 

 geographically ; that in the southern townships, we find the highest land and the highest rocks ; 

 that we go up step by step from the potsdam sandstone to the loraine shales, or rather the 

 grey sandstone. 



What remains to be stated of this rock, relates to the organic bodies which it embraces, 

 and the orders and forms of living beings which existed during its era of deposition. One 

 remark may with propriety find a place here, namely, that though some of the fossils, par- 

 ticularly the genus Strophomena, bear a strong resemblance to those of the trenton limestone, 

 still I am of the opinion that they will be found to belong to different species. Whether 

 this will prove true or not, the characters of the fossils in general are so distinct, that no diffi- 

 culty can arise in recognizing the rock from its organic remains. 



The first group of fossils which I shall introduce to the notice of the reader, are probably 



specific. 



III. 



1. Picrine.'i carin.ita. 2. Cyrtoliles ornatus. 3. Pentacrinites liamptoni. , 



No. 1. Plerinea carinata, is always abundant, and has the greatest range in the mass. At 

 Loraine, I found this fossil from the top to the bottom of the series, or within four feet of the 

 Triarthus beckii. It is, however, rare in the lower layers ; but its discovery proves that this 

 mass is single, or tiiat it is strictly one rock, and ought not to be subdivided ; besides, we 

 have the support of other fossils which extend deeply into the mass. In no instance, however, 

 did I succeed in obtaining the fossils of this rock in the utica slate. 



No. 2. The Cyrtolites ornatus, is confined mostly to that stratum which contains carbonate 

 of lime. It is usually weathered and brown. 



No. 3. The Pcnlacrinites hamptoni, is also quite extended. It abounds in the upper layers, 

 and appeared very early in the mass. In the middle portion, few other fossils are found, and 



