Miscellanies. 193 



Indiana. — Report, by David Dale Owen, M. D., Geologist of 

 the State, 34 pages. 



Divisions of the subject. — An introductory Address to the Le- 

 gislature of Indiana — Leading principles of Geology — Plan of 

 conducting the Survey — Summer Survey south of the national 

 road — Fall Survey north of the national road — Remarks on the 

 mineral deposits, soil and growth, peculiar to the different strata, 

 south of the national road ; north of the national road — Practical 

 inferences — ^Appendix. 



The survey, hitherto made, has been general, the object being 

 to gain a clear and connected idea of the whole, before examin- 

 ing particular places, in detail. It was ascertained that the order 

 of superposition of the strata was the same as in many other and 

 distant parts of the western States, and that the characteristic fos- 

 sils of each series of strata agree in a remarkable manner with 

 those found in the corresponding strata throughout the western 

 States. 



Mr. Owen finds that the entire western portion of Indiana is 

 rich in coal, which, as the forests are fast disappearing, must be- 

 come of the greatest importance. This fact cannot fail to arrest 

 the attention of the legislature, and of the people ; and as a proof 

 of the importance of geological knowledge, he cites the instance 

 of an expensive, but fruitless, exploration for coal near Baltimore, 

 in a situation where a well instructed geologist would never have 

 looked for it, as the formation was too recent, and the substance 

 discovered and mistaken for coal, was lignite. As evidence of the 

 importance of correct geological knowledge, he justly cites other 

 instances of the natural associations of minerals ; for example, of 

 the oxide of tin, with primary rocks, and its absence from more 

 recent rocks. The dip of the strata in Indiana is such, being to 

 the east, as to place the coal on the top of the formations towards 

 the western part of the State, and down the Ohio ; except the 

 diluvium, it is the newest formation ; while up the Ohio, or eastj 

 we constantly arrive at older and older strata. 



Mr. Owen gives a clear statement of the sub-carboniferous 

 rocks, among which he names a limestone, having an oolitic 

 structure, "composed of egg-shaped grains, like the roe of fishes ;" 

 this is of course, geologically, a very different rock from the 

 oolite of Europe, whose position is far above the coal formation. 

 Next below, is a siliceo-calcareous rock, containing marine re- 



VoL. XXXIV.— No. 1. 25 



