213 LiGNiTic Stage 21 



one of his duties " to spend such portions of his time, 

 not exceeding four months of each year, in exploring the 

 State, in conneAion with his proper department, as the Trus- 

 tees ma3' consider for the advantage of the State." 



These explorations commenced in 1847, ^"^ such extracts 

 from the reports made to the Trustees, as were thought to be 

 of general interest appeared in the newspapers of Tuscaloosa. 

 In 1848 Tuomey was appointed State Geologist and in 1850 

 his First Biennial Report appeared. Therein his description 

 of the lyignitic Eocene of Alabama reads as follows : 



"A few miles southwest of Prairie Bluff, a very marked 

 change may be observed in the face of the country. As the 

 Dumas settlement is approached, the surface becomes broken, 

 and the long-leaf pine is almost the sole occupant of the high 

 and sandy ridges. 



"Along the State road, the physical features of the country 

 are such as could not be mistaken by any one who had studied 

 the Tertiary of North or South CoroHna. The same magnifi- 

 cent growth of pines, and the same sandy surface, scarcely 

 concealed by the tufts of harsh wiry grass. 



"About two miles .north of Choctaw Corner, the surface beds 

 are removed by the streams that flow into Horse creek. These 

 little rivulets are shaded in their course by groves of magnolias 

 of striking beauty, of which superb genus three or four species 

 may be seen together : Magnolia grandiflora, two feet in diam- 

 eter, and emulating in height the tallest trees of the forest ; 

 M. tripe tela, with its long narrow leaves ; M. viacrophylla, and 

 M. auriculata, all in the same clump. 



"Some of the most remarkable beds of lignite in the State, 

 are found upon each side of the point where the public road 

 crosses the creek. On the west, the stream has encroached on 

 the bank, and laid the deposit bare. The lignite has lost all 

 traces of woody structure, is quite homogeneous and compact, 

 resembling the black mud of peat-bogs, when partially dried. 

 It is intersedled by joints that cross it in various directions, 

 and presents a sufficient disposition to split into laminae, to re- 

 mind one of cleavage. It is impossible, at this locality, not 

 to recognize some of the steps in the conversion of vegetable 

 matter into coal. This bed passes upwards into a black clay 

 colored by intermixture with lignite, and rests upon a bed of 



