136 Ferruginous Strata-^Lias Limestone Rocks. 



13. Fine grained, slaty sandstone rock, in thin beds of a brown 

 color, and argillaceous character. — 50 feet. 



14. A thin bed of coal of a few inches, with shale' and slate. 

 The hills, at this spot, rest on this bed of coal, under which ap- 

 pears the great lias limestone* deposit, that underlies all this re- 

 gion, and has a dip to the S. E. of about 2^, or seventeen feet 

 in a mile. Four miles below the mouth of the Little Scioto, and 

 six hundred yards from the river, this rock appears at an eleva- 

 tion of nearly two hundred feet in the face of the hills. At this 

 spot, a shaft has been sunk to the depth of one hundred and fifty 

 feet, and ten feet in diameter, in search of coal. A bed of ten or 

 twelve feet in thickness having been passed through at the depth of 

 four hundred feet by a person in boring a well for salt water, all the 

 foregoing strata, being superior and conformable, were found to have 

 a dip to the S. E. At the depth of one hundred and fifty feet from 

 the surface, the proprietors became discouraged and abandoned the 

 shaft, but proceeded yeit two hundred feet further by boring, and 

 then gave up the search— could the shaft have been completed, 

 there is little doubt that a valuable bed of coal would have been 

 found, and many interesting geological facts brought to light. As 

 it was, many facts in relation to the lower strata, and rare and cu- 

 rious fossil shells, have been discovered, after having reposed in 

 darkness and obscurity for ages beyond the knowledge of man ; of 

 these, I was so fortunate as to secure a number of specimens, as 

 the work went forward. The following description of this rock, 

 the 15th of th& series, will better explain its contents and com- 

 position. 



15. Argillaceous sandstone rock, very fine grained, of a light 

 brown color — upper part tolerably hard, and affords good materials 

 for buildings. It is easily cut with a saw, and at Portsmouth, large 

 quantities are manufactured into slabs for grave stones, window sills, 

 &;c. at a steam mill erected for that purpose. The center portion 

 is a soft, argillaceous rock, or compact marl ; and the under portion 

 soft and shelly, reposing on a bed of black shale. The upper half 

 of this great deposit, contained the imbedded remains of numerous 

 orthoceratites and encrinites, some of the former, being replaced by 

 the sulphuret of zinc. At one hundred and twenty feet in the in- 



* Not having seen either the country here described, or specimens from it, we 

 cannot form an opinion whether the rock called lias by the author, corresponds 

 to the lias of the English geologists, or not ; the position of the latter is above the 

 great coal deposit. — Ed. 



