1847.] M Coal in the JVciv York Rocks. 127 



are found in organic beings, inclosed in the rocks themselves, and 

 not on the mineral character of the rock. We can place no re- 

 liance upon the presence of black sl^e, giay sandstone, or upon 

 the presence of iron or lime. Black slates are found abundantly 

 in the coal series, and so are gray sandstones, but throughout the 

 world wherever coal is found, there also are peculiar plants, as 

 lepidodra, calamites and other vegetable remains. 



No exception is known to the rule. Hence it is a safe infer- 

 ence, that where these plants are not found no coal will be found. 

 We except of course some varieties of carbonaceous matters, such 

 as those of the calciferous sandstone, the bituminous matters of 

 the slate of the Hudson river, &c. These matters may or may 

 not have been derived from vegetables, and though the fact of 

 their presence is interesting, still, it is no evidence of the exist- 

 ence of a coal formation; neither is the presence of a thin seam 

 of coaly matter sufficient evidence that a coal formation exists in 

 the rocks which contain it. 



The basis of our present knowledge in regard to the position of 

 coal have been laid in careful observation. Observations have 

 been made in almost every country, and the fact has been estab- 

 lished therefrom that the earliest appearance of coal in the rocky 

 strata was one period the world over; and as we havx already re- 

 marked, that period is characterised by the presence of certain 

 vegetable forms which are never absent. This is therefore no 

 theory, hypothesis or conjecture in the matter; it all rests on well 

 conducted examinations of the rocks, and hence it is, that geolo- 

 gists speak so confidently upon this question, and pronounce so 

 unhesitatingly upon the absence of coal in the state of New York. 

 Under these circumstances then, it seems to us that public opinion 

 ought to be settled; that full confidence ought to be placed upon 

 •what is now known in regard to the presence or absence of this 

 substance. But again, if observations were confined solely to 

 New York, the presence or absence of coal might be determined 

 by direct observation, inasmuch as the whole series of rocks are 

 cut through by rivers and streams from the top of the Catskill 

 mountains, to the primary itself. This we regard as a curious 

 and interesting fact, independent of the practical bearing which 

 it has. It lays open to inspection the entire seiies, and whatever 

 valuable productions may be contained in the rocks can be dis- 

 covered. 



We append to the preceding observations the earliest classifi- 

 cation of the New York rocks, and in a parallel column the pre- 

 sent arrangement, as has been determined by the State geologists. 



