SURGEONS REPORTS NEW YORK NINETEENTH DISTRICT. 267 



are six liundred to eigbt bundred feet above the river-valleys. The principal rivers arc the Che- 

 nango, the Susquehanna, theTJnadilla, and the Otselie. The Chenango Kiver flows from the north 

 borders of the county in a southerly direction to near the center, and from thciu'c southwest to 

 the southwest corner of the county. The Otselic K'iver flows southwest through the northwest 

 corner of the county. Each of these rivers receive from the east and west smaller tributaries in 

 their couise. The valleys of the Susquehanna and Chenango are among the fluest in the State. 

 They consist, generally, of fertile and highly-cultivated intervales of an average width of about one 

 mile, usually bordered by steep and flnely-woodcd hill-sides. 



One peculiarity of this section is the numerous small ponds in basins among the hills far above 

 the valleys. The soils are almost entirely derived from the disintegration of the rocks. In some 

 localities is found a very limited amount of drift. Upon the hills, the soil is principally a shaly 

 loam, and, in the valleys, a fine quality of productive alluvium. The lowest rocks in this county, 

 appearing upon the north border, belong to the Hamilton group. Successively above these, toward 

 the south, appear the Tully limestone, Genesee slate, the Portage, Chenango, and Catskill groups. 

 The sandstone of the Portage group furnishes good material for building and flagging; several 

 quarries of which have been oiiened along the southern part of the Chenango Valley. lu the 

 southern and eastern- portion of the county, the Catskill group crops out, forming the most hilly 

 portion of the county; and, in the eastern portion, almost a mountainous chain. The Hamilton 

 beds consist of shales, separated into two parts by a thin layer of encriual limestone, and in many 

 places overlaid by a thin limestone stratum called the Tully limestone. The Marcelius shale is for 

 the most part a soft argillaceous rock. The lower part is black with carbonaceous matter, and con- 

 tains traces of coal or bitumen. The Hamilton beds include (1) blue shale; (2) encriual; {'■'>) u[)per 

 shale; and (4) the Tully limestone. The Portage group consists of shales and laminated or shaly 

 sandstone. Going westward, the shales increase in proportion ; and eastward, the sandstone greatly 

 predominates. The rocks have a thickness of from one thousand to fourteen hun<lred feet. In this 

 (the Portage group) there are great numbers of the fucoides, or forms regarded as fucoidal. The 

 most common kind appear like short, straight, simple stems, two or three inches long, scattered 

 thickly over the surface of the flagstones. These beds abound less in fossils than the Chenango, 

 yet contain various species of crinoids, conchifers, &c. 



The Chenango group esteuds widely over the southern tier of counties of New York, and con- 

 sists of sandstone and coarse shales in various alternations. The thickness has been estimated at 

 about tifteen hundred feet. Both the Chenango and Portage groups abound in ripple-marks, 

 obliquely laminated layers, mud marks, and cracks from sun-drying; evidences of the existence of 

 extensive exposed mud-flats, of sandy or muddy areas swept by the waves, and of tidal currents in 

 contrary movement through the shallow waters. This groui) aftbrds, besides the muda {lalli sea- 

 weeds, i-emuins of many laud-plants. It also affords, iu remains of animal life, great numbers of 

 avicularia; many brachiopods, (an order of molluscous animals,) including broad-winged spirifers 

 and some producta ; also a huge goniatite, (four or five inches in diameter ;) and, rarely, a trilobite. 



The Catskill group is composed of shales and sandstones of various colors, in which red pre- 

 dominates. The sandstones are far more extensive than the shales, and pass into conglomerates, 

 or coarse gut-rock, and also into a rough mass, looking as if made of cemented fragments of hard 

 slate. There are ripple-marks, oblique lamination, i&c. Some of the layers are particularly calca- 

 reous. This formation thins out toward the west, and thickens toward the Hudson on the east. 

 The land plants, relics of which ai-e occasionally met with, are of the same carboniferous character 

 of the Chenango period. Among animals, no corals, crinoids, or trilobites are yet known. There 

 are some conchifers, bivalve mollusca, with fragments of fishes, which make up all that has yet been 

 discovered of remains of animal fossils in this period. 



The inhabitants of Chenango County are almost exclusively devoted to agricultural pursuits: 

 there being in other avocations only such as the local necessities of moderate-sized villages would 

 naturally produce. Dairying is the leading pursuit. Stock and wool growing are carried on to 

 some extent. Hops are considerably cultivated along the river-valleys. Grain of different kinds 

 is ])roduced only in limited quantities. 



Delaware County lies upon the headwaters of the Delaware Eiver. It is centrally distant 

 seventy miles from Albany, and contains one thousand five hundred and eighty square miles. Its 



