36 ;:; 



vestiges, but sufficiently defined to shew their relation to the fos- 

 sils at Claiborne. The common grist mills of the vicinity are 

 supplied with stones from this rock, which I have not seen in situ, 

 nor do I know the extent to which it has been observed in Alaba- 

 ma. In the decomposed state of the fossils, it differs from other 

 varieties of the rock, nearly the same in mineral character, that, 

 for instance near Claiborne, where the shells are silicified. 



It has been remarked of the Eocene deposits of Europe, that 

 they fill depressions or basins in the chalk. The equivalent form- 

 ation in Alabama, fills valleys or depressions in a white argilla- 

 ceous very friable limestone, which Dr Morton has shewn to be 

 Cretaceous and analogous to the Maestricht beds. This lime- 

 stone, like the chalk of England, forms a rolling or undulating 

 country and appears to have been subjected to extensive denu : 

 dation, for the upper bed of the Eocene, in some places nearly 

 fifty feet thick, has evidently been formed of its detritus. 



The following terms are adopted for the American Tertiary formations. 



Newer Pliocene, Near Newborn, X. C. near the mouth of Potomac river, 



Md. Easton, Mil. Charleston, S. C. 

 Older Miocene. St. Marys river, Md. parts of Lancaster county, Vn. 



Yorktown, Va. James river near Smith field . Va. Suffolk, Y. 

 Miocene. Stow creek, Cumberland co. N. J. Charlotte Hall St. Marys co. 



Md. Choptank river near Easton, Md. Characterized by /'<?//* 



tiuifillata, Lam. 

 Ewtne. Upper Marlborough, Md. Piscataway and Fort Washington. Md. 



Vance's Ferry on Santee river, S. C. Orangi:burgh, S. C. Shell 



Hluff, Ga. Wilcox co. Al. Claiborne, Al. St Stephens, Al. parts 



of West Florida, Natchez, Mi. near Monroe on Washita river, L. 



It is necessary to observe, that all the species of Eocene fossils described in 

 the following pages, unless where credit is given or no reference made, were 

 published before Mr Lea's " Contributions to Geology." No. 1 was published 

 August 25, 1833, and No. 2, November 1, 1833. They have been reprinted in 

 order to group together the species of each genus. The "Contributions" were 

 published some time after the appearance of No. 3, of the present work. 



By reference to dates, it will bo seen that Mr Lea has been guilty of a plagi- 

 arism i|i giving himself credit for my own observations on the tertiary forma- 

 tions o{ the United States. A laborious investigation of these, on my part, from 

 New jjersey to the Gulf of Mexico, has resulted in identifying the Eocene, 

 Miocene, Older and Newer Pliocene and Recent formations of the Union. Mr 

 Lea, to my knowledge, knew nothing of our coast formations previous to my 

 observations on that subject, and never travelled out of his closet to make origi- 

 nal discoveries, for I have fortunately saved him the trouble. 



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