I860.] ' ^ [Winch ell. 



In 1867, at the meeting of tlie National Academy at Hartford, Professor 

 Hall reiterated the same views with considerable amplification. Professor 

 Agassiz, who was present, gave them his earnest endorsement, pronouncing 

 them the natural and philosophical conclusions of a geologist who had 

 devoted 30 years to the study of the data upon which the conclusions 

 rested. His remarks in reference to geologists who felt themselves con- 

 strained to entertain divergent opinions were at least emphatic, if they 

 were not complimentary. 



Finally in August, 1868, Dr. T. S. Hunt read a paper before the Chicago 

 meeting of the American Association^^ in which he makes note of the 

 occurrence, in the extreme western part of the province, of some gray and 

 more or less blackish shales overlying *he Genesee Shale proper, which he 

 ranges in the horizon of the Portage group. It will be noticed in the 

 sequel of this paper that I have made a similar disposition of similar strata 

 in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri. 



Such is a sketch of the history of opinion in reference to the rocks under 

 consideration. 9° 



III. Present State of otjr Stratigrafhical, Knowledge. 



In the State of New York the strata above the Genesee Shale have 



been arranged by Professor HalP' as follows : — 



Carboniferous Conglomerate : — Coarse silicious conglomerate and diag- 

 onally laminated sandstone. 



Catskill Group : — Conglomerate of the Catskill mountains. Along Gen- 

 esee river, a calcareous sandstone, sometimes highly ferruginous, ap- 

 proaching iron ore. 



Chemung Group : — Conglomeritic at top in Western New York. Green- 

 ish gray sandstones with occasional fossiliferous bands. 



Portage Group : — -A., In Eastern New York. 



1. Shales and shaly sandstones and flagstones 100 feet. 



2. Red shale and shaly sandstone 400 to 500 feet. 



3. Greenish and gray shales and shaly sandstones. 



4. Darker shales to Hamilton Group. 



s» Published in Amer. Jour. Sci. and Arts [2] XLVI. p. 355. In this paper Dr. Hunt takes occasion 

 to state tliat "Professor Winchell, for some reason, doubts tlie existence of the Portage formation 

 In Ontario." As Dr. Hunt makes no reference to any published doubts entertained by me on this 

 subject, I am at a loss to know the source of his mis-information. I have heretofore always iden- 

 tified with the Portage (or Portage and Chemung) the series of argillaceous strata extending from 

 the Genesee Shale to the Marshall sandstones, (See the various references already made in this 

 paper.) If these strata exist in Ontario I should pronounce them Portage. I have already described 

 them upon the Michigan borders of Ontario, and it is to be presumed that they extend across the 

 boundary. As Dr. Hunt states, these Portage shales are physically a continuation of the Genesee 

 shale proper, and by ranging them all in my Huron group, I did in 1861, what Dr. Hunt has done in 

 in 13fi6 and 1SR8. 



3" I have made no note of the elaborate and able researches of Dr. Dawson upon the fossil vege- 

 tation of rocks lying in and near Uie zone under consideration. Dr. Dawson's papers— together 

 witli some minor papers, also passed over — will be referred to in an Appendix. 



'' Final Rep. IV Dist. N. Y.; Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, vol. vii., p. 377; xvl. Report Re- 

 gents N. X., p. 107. Note. 



A. P. S. — VOL. XI — J 



