﻿HUDGE.] 
  CEETACEOUS 
  SYSTEM 
  — 
  NIOBRARA. 
  289 
  

  

  half 
  a 
  dozen 
  springs 
  so 
  impregnated 
  as 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  water 
  unpalatable. 
  

   The 
  analyses 
  of 
  chalk, 
  shales, 
  and 
  soils, 
  do 
  not 
  show 
  more 
  than 
  the 
  aver- 
  

   age 
  of 
  the 
  alkaline 
  bases. 
  

  

  The 
  soil 
  of 
  this 
  division 
  consists 
  of 
  the 
  fine, 
  black 
  loam, 
  so 
  common 
  

   to 
  the 
  West. 
  Were 
  rain 
  more 
  abundant, 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  a 
  rich 
  farming- 
  

   region. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  good 
  grazing-country. 
  The 
  following 
  analyses 
  of 
  soils, 
  

   collected 
  by 
  S. 
  W. 
  Williston 
  from 
  the 
  Smoky 
  Hill 
  Valley, 
  were 
  made 
  by 
  

   George 
  E. 
  Patrick, 
  professor 
  of 
  chemistry 
  in 
  the 
  University 
  of 
  Kansas. 
  

   No. 
  1 
  is 
  high-prairie 
  loam 
  ; 
  'No. 
  2 
  is 
  from 
  " 
  bottom 
  " 
  lands. 
  Neither 
  

   soil 
  had 
  ever 
  been 
  cultivated. 
  

  

  No. 
  2. 
  ]S^o. 
  1. 
  

  

  Water 
  1.895 
  3.449 
  

  

  Organic 
  matter 
  3.039 
  5.224 
  

  

  Soluble 
  in 
  cold 
  hydrochloric 
  acid 
  : 
  

  

  Osideofiron 
  1.503 
  1.778 
  

  

  Alumina 
  ' 
  557 
  .721 
  

  

  Lime 
  4.268 
  1.618 
  

  

  Magnesia 
  , 
  422 
  2.084 
  

  

  Potassa 
  214 
  ,202 
  

  

  Soda 
  038 
  ,002 
  

  

  Silicic 
  acid 
  1 
  050 
  .023 
  

  

  Sulphuric 
  acid 
  041 
  .078 
  

  

  Carbonic 
  acid 
  3. 
  510 
  . 
  567 
  

  

  Phosphoric 
  acid 
  173 
  .118 
  

  

  Sodium 
  chloride 
  003 
  .007 
  

  

  Insoluble 
  in 
  cold 
  hj'drocbloric 
  acid 
  84. 
  2<37 
  82.129 
  

  

  100.000 
  100.000 
  

  

  b. 
  — 
  Fort 
  Says 
  division. 
  

  

  The 
  massive 
  stratam 
  of 
  limestone 
  above 
  described, 
  together 
  with 
  all 
  

   the 
  deposits 
  above 
  the 
  sandstones 
  of 
  the 
  Dakota, 
  I 
  shall 
  call 
  the 
  Fort 
  

   Hays 
  division. 
  

  

  Professor 
  Hayden, 
  in 
  his 
  Final 
  Eeport 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Geological 
  

   Survey 
  of 
  Nebraska 
  and 
  Adjacent 
  Territories, 
  p. 
  67, 
  says 
  : 
  

  

  At 
  Wilson's 
  station 
  I 
  saw 
  the 
  chalky 
  limestone 
  of 
  the 
  Niobrara 
  group 
  filled 
  with 
  

   Inoceramns 
  prohlematiciis. 
  A 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  bed 
  is 
  in 
  slabs 
  or 
  thinnish 
  layers, 
  as 
  it 
  usually 
  

   appears 
  wherever 
  it 
  occurs 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  River 
  ; 
  but 
  a 
  part 
  also 
  is 
  more 
  are- 
  

   naceous 
  and 
  rust-colored. 
  Between 
  the 
  two 
  hundred 
  and 
  forty-fifth 
  and 
  two 
  hundred 
  

   and 
  fiftieth 
  mile-stoue 
  west, 
  the 
  road 
  cuts 
  through 
  No. 
  3 
  (Niobrara) 
  very 
  distinctly, 
  the 
  

   whole 
  country 
  appearing 
  to 
  be 
  underlaid 
  by 
  this 
  rock. 
  

  

  As 
  this 
  deposit 
  thus 
  seen 
  and 
  described 
  by 
  Professor 
  Hayden 
  rests 
  

   directly 
  on 
  the 
  Dakota, 
  and 
  all 
  those 
  which 
  he 
  supposed 
  might 
  possibly 
  

   be 
  Benton 
  are 
  clearly 
  above 
  the 
  strata 
  seen 
  at 
  Wilson's 
  station, 
  the 
  

   Benton 
  is 
  not 
  seen 
  in 
  Kansas. 
  The 
  lower 
  portion 
  of 
  our 
  Fort 
  Hays 
  may 
  

   be 
  an 
  equivalent 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  Benton, 
  though 
  there 
  does 
  

   not 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  any 
  line 
  of 
  demarkation, 
  either 
  by 
  fossils 
  or 
  physical 
  

   structure. 
  Y.et 
  if 
  Professor 
  Hayden 
  and 
  myself 
  could 
  spend 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  

   on 
  these 
  beds 
  it 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  we 
  should 
  conclude 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  Fort 
  

   Benton 
  group. 
  We 
  therefore 
  only 
  provisionally 
  call 
  it 
  Fort 
  Hays. 
  The 
  

   great 
  difference 
  between 
  the 
  Kansas 
  Niobrara 
  and 
  this 
  is 
  readily 
  un- 
  

   derstood 
  when 
  we 
  say 
  that 
  no 
  turtle, 
  pterodactyl, 
  or 
  bird 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  

   in 
  the 
  latter, 
  and 
  that 
  saurian 
  bones 
  are 
  comparatively 
  rare, 
  and 
  limited 
  

   in 
  species 
  and 
  genera. 
  

  

  At 
  Wilson's 
  station 
  and 
  at 
  other 
  places 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  geological 
  hori- 
  

   zon, 
  to 
  the 
  thickness 
  of 
  140 
  feet, 
  it 
  is 
  composed 
  of 
  shales 
  and 
  thin 
  layers 
  

   of 
  limestone. 
  The 
  latter 
  are 
  filled 
  quite 
  largely 
  with 
  Inoceraimis 
  and 
  a 
  

   few 
  other 
  marine 
  shells, 
  and 
  occasionally 
  with 
  fish-remains. 
  The 
  shales 
  

   are 
  variable 
  in 
  color, 
  hardness, 
  and 
  composition, 
  lime 
  and 
  clay 
  predom- 
  

   inating. 
  This 
  deposit 
  is 
  variable 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  horizon 
  at 
  different 
  points, 
  

   19 
  a 
  s 
  

  

  