88 THE DEVONIAN AND CARBONIFEROUS. [bull. 80. 



measures are of great thickness, and the author gives a section showing the 

 number and thickness of the coal seams in this Lower Coal series. After 

 this series comes the Conglomerate series, introduced by a massive] white 

 sandstone, remarkable for its resistance to erosion. The strata under- 

 neath it, best exposed at Sewell Station, resemble strongly the rocks of 

 the Lower Coal series, are argillaceous, and contain considerable amount 

 of oxide of iron, but they differ from the latter by the almost entire 

 absence of shales in connection with the coal beds. The coal seams are 

 inclosed in flaggy sandstones ; all the evidence goes to show that they 

 were formed under sudden and violent changes. Measurements are 

 given of the different seams showing a great variation in thickness. 

 Some Devonian plants have been found in the roof of the deposits, of 

 which Alethopteris serlii is the most abundant. Underneath these con- 

 glomerate sandstones and coal seams is another massive white sand- 

 stone, evidently the base of the formation. The next lower deposits 

 are heavy bedded sandstones succeeded by the red shales of the Sub- 

 carboniferous formation. 



This lowest coal series on New Eiver has the same triple structure 

 shown by the Conglomerate in other portions of the country, a summit 

 and base of conglomeritic sandstones, and a central portion of more 

 argillaceous rocks containing beds of coal, and the thickening of the 

 whole formation is mostly due to the expansion of the middle portion 

 followed by an increase in the amount of coal. Brief descriptions of 

 the Conglomerate at other points are given to confirm these statements. 

 The Conglomerate is seen to expand in two directions, to the northeast 

 into Pennsylvania, and to the southwest in West Virginia, while it dimin* 

 ishes to the northwest. The expansion to the southwest is followed in 

 each case by the increased formation of coal. The similar expansion 

 of the underlying rocks, the Subcarboniferous and the Catskill, is treated 

 in detail. A thin seam of coal is found in the latter containing many 

 beautifully preserved Devonian plants, confirming the supposed Cats- 

 kill age of the strata. Several species of Lepidodendron, Cyclopteris, 

 Neuropteris, and others are found. 



The great expansion of the Conglomerate on New River is thus found 

 to be like others, the effect of a condition of things which began in much 

 older formations and continued until a later era. The author asks the 

 question, " Does not the successive formation of coal on an extended 

 scale, along the southwest border of the Appalachian coal field, com- 

 mencing in the Devonian period, point to the existence at this time of a 

 continental mass nearer than the Azoic of Canada ?" 



J. J. Stevenson, 1 in 1874, made the following report on the coals of the 

 Kanawha Valley: 



The Upper Coal group along the Great Kanawha River has two coal beds of work- 

 able thickness. The lower one is the Pittsburg, usually known as the " Raymond 



1 Stevenson, John J. : Notes on the coals of the Kanawha Valley, West Virginia. New York Ly- 

 ceum Nat. Hist., Annals, vol. 10, 1874, pp. 271-277. 



