IRON ORES OF THE CLINTON FORMATION 7 



contributed many facts relating to ore localities and mines in 

 Oneida county, and of Mr H. M. Selleck and Mr Freeman Pintler 

 of Ontario, who furnished much information about the ores of 

 Wayne county. The line drawings accompanying the report have 

 been made by Mr H. P. Whitlock. 



PREVIOUS STUDIES 



The researches of Hall and Vanuxem in connection with the 

 first Geological Survey of New York State have been the source 

 of most of our knowledge concerning the Clinton formation. 

 The descriptions of its bounds and relations, as set forth in their 

 final reports of 1842-43, have undergone no essential amend- 

 ment to this day and are still standard for the recognition and 

 comparison of the different Clinton occurrences elsewhere. 



Previous to their investigations, Amos Eaton had given a 

 brief account of the ores and associated beds in his monograph, 

 A Geological and Agricultural Survey of the District adjoining the 

 Erie Canal. Eaton seems to have visited the outcrops along the 

 belt at intervals from Herkimer county to the Niagara river. 

 The hematites are placed in the class of " secondary ferriferous 

 rocks," which are stated to consist principally of slate and sand- 

 stone. It is not always possible to recognize the various mem- 

 bers referred to by Eaton, though there is little doubt that the 

 class includes parts of the Medina and Rochester formations, 

 as now understood, in addition to the Clinton beds. 



Vanuxem, whose field of work was in the central part of the 

 State, first described the Clinton and Niagara representatives 

 under a single group Avhich he called Protean. It was later 

 found that the upper and lower members were of unequal dis- 

 tribution, the latter having their strongest development in the 

 eastern section, while the former were predominant in the west. 

 The group accordingly was subdivided. The name Clinton was 

 given to the lower part, from the village of Clinton, Oneida 

 CO., and as a " tribute to one who spared no effort to extend a 

 knowledge of science and to add to its acquisitions." The out- 

 crop of the strata was traced by Vanuxem as far west as Cayuga 

 county. 



In the final report by James Hall, covering the western section 

 of the Clinton, the following subdivisions are recognized, in as- 

 cending order: i Lower green shale: 2 Oolitic or lenticular 

 iron ore; 3 Pentamcrus limestone; 4 Second green shale, with 



