Cherty Lime-rock, or Corniferous Lime-rock. 63 



which I adopted temporarily, until, hy a general community, 

 they establish a better, I shall adopt it in this article, so far as re- 

 lates to the general rock strata. These rocks I suppose dis- 

 tributed into four classes — primitive, tra7isition, lower secondary, 

 and upper secondary, and that each class is divided into three gen- 

 eral formations — carbonifei^ous, quartzose, and calcareous. The 

 Green Mountain range is primitive. The carboniferous formation 

 includes granite, hornblende rock, mica slate, and talcose slate, 

 alternating perpetually, and containing carburet of iron. The 

 quartzose is the range of granular quartz. The calcareous is the 

 vast range of granular lime-rock or marble. 



The argillite, under which the primitive passes near the west 

 bounds of Massachusetts, is the carbojiiferous of the transition. 

 It contains anasphaltic coal in small quantities every where ; also 

 a fucoid at the roof slate quarries of Hoosick. (This is Mr. Con- 

 rad's opinion ; but it resembles the spike of a Lycopodium. ) The 

 vast ridge of first gray wacke, called rubble or conglomerate, and 

 silicious graywacke, running through Rensselaer county, is the 

 quartzose formation. Shawangunk in Ulster county, is a contin- 

 uation of the same ridge. It is called millstone grit there, and is 

 the rock from which Esopus millstones are obtained. The lime- 

 rock range (compact, shelly, sparry, and silicious,) which extends 

 from Albany county to Sackett's Harbor, form the calcareous. Its 

 distinguishing petrifaction is the genus Fungia. 



The second graywacke, under which the transition lime-rocks 

 pass, which extends from near Bethlehem caverns in Albany 

 county, by way of Utica, to Big Salmon River on Lake Ontario, 

 is the carboniferous or lower secondary. It contains anasphaltic 

 coal in small quantities every where. The conglomerate or mill- 

 stone grit, very well characterized, is found in large patches, in 

 Oriskany, Westmoreland, &c., between Utica and Otsego. This 

 is the quai'tzose formation. The corniferous lime-rock, before 

 described, is the calcareous of the loioer secondary. Its distin- 

 guishinging petrifaction is Cyathophyllum. The third graywacke 

 slate, which rests upon the corniferous lime-rock, is the carbonifer- 

 ous of the UPPER SECONDARY. It coutaius all the great coal meas- 

 ures of Pennsylvania. The conglomerate overlying the gray- 

 wacke slate, and capping most of the high ridges of Catskill and 

 Alleghany mountains, is the quartzose. The coral rag on the 

 Heldeberg, and in patches on said mountain, form the calcareous 



of the UPPER SECONDARY. 



