190 CATSKILL DIVISION. 



Devonian fossils had been found, it bccnnic imjioilant to accniniilate as man}' facts as 

 possil)lo whicli would bear upon the question ; and we were fortunate enough to discover 

 the remains of fish in the strata between Prattsville and Gilboa, and, what was still more 

 satisfaciorv was their association wiili ilie Cypricardia catskillensis discovered by Mr. Va- 

 nuxeni on the UnadiUa. These fossils will midoubtedly be found quite numerous in this 

 neis^hborhood, as we ol)served several specimens in the rock two miles above Prattsville, on 

 the liaiiks of tiie creek. It appears, therefore, that it has a wide range in this series, and 

 may be regarded as characteristic of the formation in which it is found. 



Series at Jefferson. Here tlie rocks exhibit the same character as at Gilboa and Pratts-. 

 ville. They are flags, some of which are quite thin, and they are interlaminated with black 

 slate. At this place, near the village, we discovered the same fossils as those of Gilboa, 

 namely, the Cypricardia, TenfacuUtes, Orl/iis, etc. Besides the strata of crushed vegetables 

 and the diagonal stratification already mentioned, Mr. Hall has discovered a scale of the fish 

 characteristic of the Old Red sandstone. In these discoveries we have the facts which have 

 settled the character and age of the rocks in the southern part of Schoharie, Albany, and 

 those of Greene and Delaware counties. They form one series of rocks, which may be 

 traced south, southwest and west, through the southern tier of counties ; and as a few 

 fossils of the Chemung narrows have been found in Gilboa, we are able to connect the 

 series with distant points west. The Chemung group, which had been supposed to be 

 confined to the southwestern counties, has been proved, by the discovery of fossils, to oc- 

 cupy a place also at the base of the CatskiU series. Of the Dipleura dekayi, Microdon 

 bellistriata, Cypricardia angulata, the latter is credited to Chemung narrows, while the 

 two former are well known Hamilton fossils : these, with several others, occur five hun- 

 dred feet above strata which have hitherto been regarded as belonging exclusively to the 

 CatskiU series. Facts of this kind may lead us to distrust the value of our lines of de- 

 markation between the groups of a system. 



^Agricultural characters of the CatskiU series. The soil is colored red, when derived from 

 the CatskiU rocks. The red marls form a soil very well compounded of sand and clay : 

 it derives an advantage from its color. Red soils are warmer and earlier, yet they do not 

 bear drought so well as the brown and yellow loams. The soil of these rocks may be re- 

 garded as light ; and being deficient in lime and alkalies, it is not so productive at first, 

 nor so durable, as those of Onondaga and Cayuga counties. 



Localities where the CatskiU series may be advantageously examined. These rocks may be 

 reached by two routes : 1st, that of the Mountain House or Pine Orchard ; and 2d, that of 

 Schoharie creek. The Mountain House route leads over part of the Champlain, the Hel- 

 derberg and the Erie divisions. The Hudson-river series, and the wdiole of the Helderberg 

 series, are finely exposed, but in an interesting state of disorder. The Erie division is tilted 

 up, but not materially crushed or dismembered ; the angle of dip continually dimi- 

 nishes from the Hamilton shales upward, each ascending terrace being disturbed less and 

 less as it is distant from the belt of disturbance, passing between the Hudson river and the 



