90 Notice of a Geological Model. 



kill coal basin, between the coal beds and the red shale, has thin- 

 ned out and at some points appears to be altogether absent. The 

 greatest amount of coal which has been proved at this branch, is 

 at Blackspring gap, where eight southern and seven northern 

 seams have been explored, the aggregate thickness of which is 

 ninety feet. 



Passing over to the northern branch of the main coal-field, a 

 fine series of beds occurs, some of them being of considerable 

 thickness. The anthracite here is of excellent quality. From 

 the Swatara region eastward for several miles, there has been but 

 little exploration of the numerous coal seams known to exist there ; 

 there being no convenient mode of communication, by canal or 

 railroad, completed in that quarter. Argillaceous carbonate of 

 iron, in beds and detached masses, prevails in this coal region ; to 

 what extent, however, we cannot say, as their investigation has 

 hitherto been but a secondary object. 



The foregoing notes are, it is conceived, sufficiently explanatory 

 of the prevailing characters of the district. Did it possess no other 

 peculiarity or attraction than that derived from the remarkable 

 arrangement,, or rather derangement, of the formations which it 

 comprises, it might still claim your attention, as an area of high 

 geological interest. Viewing it with reference to its growing im- 

 portance as a mineral country, favorably circumstanced, we have 

 little cause for apprehension that the labors of the artist have been 

 employed on a barren and profitless field. Already have nine or 

 ten chartered companies for coal and mining operations located 

 themselves here. Already several furnaces and forges have been 

 established in its vicinity. The Pennsylvanian, the Wiconisco 

 and the Union canals, traverse within its limits. Two or three 

 railroads are already in full communication with its collieries, and 

 charters for five or six others have been procured from the legis- 

 lature. As relates to the region we have been considering, we 

 are but on the threshold of improvement. The industry of man 

 has but recently been put in requisition within its borders. But 

 experience has already informed him that the once despised, cha- 

 otic, impassable wilderness, teems with treasures more precious 

 to him, perhaps, than gold. The labors of the geologist, be they 

 local or general ; be they for private or for public objects ; for indi- 

 viduals, for associations, or for the community at large, — cannot 

 fail to develop new and beneficial results wheresoever directed, in 

 such a field. To have had some share in the attaining and the 



