02 GEOLOGY OF THE THmD DISTRICT. 



The rubblcstone which forms thick masses in tlie first district, is but in thin layers in the 

 third district, excepting probably in Montgomery county, where it is abundant upon tlie sur- 

 face as weathered masses, and may have originated there. It forms generally tlie enclosures 

 of the fields at the east end of the county, and witliin tlie range of the slate. Both slate and 

 rubblcstone lose their bluish color when long exposed, and assume a dull dark grey, green 

 or olive color, which is very characteristic of this rock, and by which it is readily distin- 

 ^ished from the Utica slate, which, as before mentioned, changes to a brown. 



From the eastern end of the Helderberg to Oneida county, I have seen but one fossil shell 

 in the whole mass. Graptolites, however, occur, and in a few places are numerous. In 

 Oneida, shells, etc. make their appearance in the upper part of the mass, and with propriety 

 are to be referred to the upper division, from the well known fact, that throughout the whole 

 eastern border of the range of the slate, with the exception of two localities, it is equally 

 barren of organic bodies other than graptohtes. 



The Frankfort slate, and its sandstone, are confined to the counties of Montgomery, Her- 

 kimer, Oneida and Lewis. In the first county, the rock is entirely to the south of the 

 Mohawk, and to the south also of every part of the Utica slate. In Herkimer it lies also on 

 the south side of the river, and to the south of the Utica slate, with the exception of one 

 locality to the north, capping Hasenclever hill, extending west from near West Canada creek 

 into Oneida, ranging with the Mohawk, and covering a surface from three to four miles wide. 

 In Oneida, it is on tlie south side of the Mohawk, its breadth increasing west, ranging along 

 the river from about Whitesborough, which finally it crosses, keeping on the east side of 

 Rome, passing north to the west of Lansing's kill into Lewis county, keeping the west side 

 of Constableville, and thence through the county in a north-northwest direction. In Oneida, 

 besides the great range, it appears at three other points. The first one is the extension of 

 Hasenclever hill, which continues towards Nine-mile creek ; the second, covers an area of a 

 few miles to the west of the village of Floyd ; and the third, a similar area in Steuben, where 

 it caps the liighest points of that town. 



Through Montgomery, Herkimer, and the east part of . Oneida, the slate constantly rises 

 from the river, presenting, in some parts of its range on the south side, deep excavations from 

 falls where it is covered with overlying rocks. Its points of greatest interest arc along this 

 line. The first place of note on the south side of its range near to the first district, is at 

 Saltspringville : it underlies the level, appearing at the mill race, and by the side of the road 

 which leads to Cooperstown. It is there of a blackish color, traversed by joints in several 

 directions, and crumbles or falls into fragments by exposure to air and moisture. It is from 

 this rock that the springs issue, which have given name to the village. For near half a mile, 

 indications of salt water are perceived at several points, by the absence of vegetation. At 

 one of them, a well of about twenty feet deep was sunk, and salt water obtained. A tradi- 

 tion exists that salt was made at these springs before the Revolution, and in sufficient quantity 

 to supply the inhabitants ; that from two kettles of five pails each, three pecks of salt were 

 made in a day. Saltspringville is on the road from Fort-Plain to Cooperstown, and near the 

 line of the two counties. 



