6 XEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The relations of the important series of waterlime beds of west- 

 ern and central New York to the strata above and below them 

 were made the subject of special investigation by D. D. Luther, 

 who executed a series of sections across this formation from Erie 

 county through Genesee, Livingston, Ontario, Seneca, Cayuga and 

 Onondaga counties. The result of this work has afforded im- 

 portant and accurate information with regard to the distribution 

 of these beds and the character and variation of their fossil con- 

 tents, and the same sections have been made to embrace the over- 

 lying Oriskany sandstone and its variations. 



Work has been carried forward in the investigation of the fossil 

 faunas of the Portage rocks in Erie and Chautauqua counties by 

 the assistant paleontologist aided by Mr. Luther. This work 

 included observations made from a considerable number of out- 

 crops, with collections of material embracing species of fossils 

 not before represented in the collections of the state museum. 

 Later in the season material was gathered for the preparation of 

 a revised geologic map of Ontario county, and this was in con- 

 tinuation at the opening of the succeeding year. The results of 

 it will be plotted on the topographic sheets of that county as soon 

 as they are available for this purpose. 



Some work was also done in the central part of the state north 

 of the Mohawk valley in following the outcrops and contacts of 

 the Oswego and Medina sandstones, by C. J. Sarle. 



In the office the coloration of the state map was carried forward 

 with the acquisition of new results from the field. In paleonto- 

 logic investigations the final touches were given to the memoir on 

 the Dictyospongidae which was in press for most of the 

 year. Work on the generic characters of the fossil corals, pre- 

 paratory to a memoir on this subject, also progressed, and a con- 

 siderable number of drawings representing these fossils were made 

 by George B. Simpson. The time of the assistant paleontologist 

 has been largely absorbed by the duties of the office and the 

 attention required by the printing of the annual reports, but his 

 investigations of the Oriskany fauna of Becraft mountain and of 

 the composition and character of the Portage fauna of western 



