Geological Survey of the State of New York. 75 



great lakes, and intimately connected with the Mississippi valley 

 on the one side, as it is with the mountainous districts of the 

 Eastern States on the other. Dr. De Kay observes, that with a 

 variety of soil, temperature and elevation, favorable to the devel- 

 opment of organic forms, he " finds the Fauna of the State em- 

 bracing the great bulk of the zoology of the United States," 

 " in which the geographic range of species is conceded to be of 

 greater extent than in Europe." 



The classification in the " Regne Animal of Cuvier," with 

 authorized modifications, as by C. L. Bonaparte and Audubon, 

 in ornithology, has been adopted for the final reports, followed 

 by a description of the species, with a notice of their habits, 

 geographic range, &c. If Dr. De Kay is permitted to complete 

 his illustrations in as good style as some specimens we once had 

 the pleasure of seeing in his hands, there is reason to expect a 

 beautiful addition to the works in this department. 



Dr. Beck mentions the occurrence of plumbago in the Fish- 

 kill mountains, and a second locality of Gibbsite in an iron mine 

 at Unionvale. 



He reports " specimens of oolite, at Saratoga, similar in char- 

 acter to the celebrated English Bath or Portland stone." In the 

 final report we expect to be assured that this rock, v/ith the min- 

 eral structure of oolite but without its organic remains, does not 

 belong to the oolite formation which forms so remarkable a fea- 

 ture in the geology of England, and that like all other specimens 

 of that structure found in this country, it indicates a form of rock 

 not rare out of that series, and affords no evidence of the exist- 

 ence of a geological equivalent to the oolite of Europe. 



The similarity in the geological associations of minerals of the 

 same kind, in the northern and southern portions, is, in many 

 cases, very great ; in other cases there is no resemblance. 



The " magnetic oxide of iron" is an example of the former 

 kind. It is found apparently in beds following the line of direc- 

 tion and of dip where the rocks are stratified, although in some 

 cases presenting a variation, and cutting ofi" a stratum at variable 

 distances. 



The specular oxide of iron, in the northern counties, is con- 

 nected with sandstone, — "the cavities are filled with beautiful 

 crystals of quartz," with very short prisms, and sometimes only 

 double hexahedral pyramids ; — the deposits " are flanked by 

 beds of limestone, and the hematitic iron ore of the south usu- 



