1207, 2081 ON GROUP IN RANKIN— SCOT! — SMITH. 



D] ! PA. 



lla Lyelli .' : . i >hs. 



Heminstcr sp., Des. 



CORALS. 



achys alatum, i. ■ . 



Osteodes irr&ra 

 Ceriopora 5sp. 



207. Of the geology of N. Hinds, nori 



adjoin ng portion of Madison, I have thus fi onal knowledge ; 



bones have, however, been found in that r -in the ban 



River, 5 miles S. of Jackson. 



The formation of N. Rankin (N. of the Peelahatchie), as well as those of 

 Scott county, still remain to be examined ; prairies and bones, however, 



which are currently reported as existing in that region, are itly indicative 



of its character. Outcrops of shell marl are mentioned as occurring on Coffee- 

 bogue Greek, by Prof. Wailes, and near Hillsboro', b\ r L. Harper ; the characteris- 

 tic shells are not mentioned. — Since the geological map of the State went to 

 press, I have been informed by J. A. Crooker, Esq., Asst. Engineer on the 

 Southern R. R , that a marl-bed was passed through in a road-cut on S. 

 S. 31, T. G, R. 12 E., Newton county, showing that in that region, the 

 calcareous Tertiary extends further N. than it appears on the map. From the 

 description given, this marl seems to belong to the Jackson Group. Fine 

 specimens of marl, containing disintegrated shells of the Jackson Group, have 

 been found by Rev. E. B. Sims, on his plantation, near Morton, Scott county. 



On the prairies of S. Scott and N. Smith, the Zeuglodon bones, as well as 

 oysters, are very abundant, and are nowhere more easily freed from the matrix. 

 which is generally a very tenacious, greenish-yellow, or bluish, calcareous clay. 

 of irregular cleavage, containing traces only of shells, except when preserved in 

 flat ferruginous concretions occasionally occurring in the same. Such is the 

 case, for instance, in the outcrops near Mrs. Nichols', S. 15, T. 3, It. 9 E., 

 Smith county, where this clay forms the subsoil ; it contains here, not only the 

 carbonate, but also sulphate of lime, in crystals. Zeuglodon bones have been 

 plowed up, and washed out in gullies, repeatedly. The bones here are very 

 little changed by petrification, and very light as compared with those found in 

 Clarke county, so that complete skeletons could, when found, be extricated and 

 transported with less trouble than in any other locality I have seen. Very 

 nearly the same condition of things obtains further N., in the prairies near, and 

 southward of, Homewood, Scott county. 



208. Of the Jackson shell-bed I have thus far seen nothing in this region ; 

 both here and in N. Jasper, the clayey Zeuglodon beds alone seem to crop out, 

 forming very heavy soils, partly "black prairie", partly "hog-wallow prairie". 

 The latter soil is seen on all the dividing ridges in N. W. Jaspei-, while the black 

 prairie soil, with the calcareous strata themselves, appears only on the slopes 

 towards the streams, and in the bottoms of the latter. Thus, in passing from 

 Mrs. Nichols' place (see above) to Garlandsville, we find on the whole route no 

 signs of a calcareous formation, save in the bottom of the West Tallahala — a 

 black, calcareous prairie soil ; and within a short distance of Garlandsville, the 

 prairies on the Suanlovey. Mere again we see the yellow, more or less cal- 

 careous, cLvy subsoil, gradually passing into a massy, bluish clay with calcareous 

 concretions ; and underlying this, the grayish-white, more or less clayey matrix 

 of the Zeuglodon bone-;; he latter, accompanied as usual by a large oyster, 

 corals, etc., are abundant on the S. side of Suanlovey Creek, on the N. half of 

 S. 14, T. 4, R. 11 E. (Dr. Loughridge's land), where it forms bald or "shell 

 prairies", as they are termed here, in contra-distinction to the "Post Oak" or 

 "hog- wallow" prairies. At the foot of the low ridge which bears these prairies, 

 we find the blue, calcareous, non-fossiliferous clay, often mentioned, which 



