﻿212 
  FORTT-SEVENTR 
  REPORT 
  ON 
  THE 
  S 
  TATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  ated. 
  It 
  has 
  long 
  been 
  known, 
  and 
  the 
  idea 
  was 
  advocated 
  

   more 
  than 
  fifty 
  years 
  ago, 
  that 
  the 
  brines 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  used 
  

   for 
  the 
  last 
  century 
  in 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  salt 
  at 
  Syracuse 
  had 
  

   their 
  origin 
  in 
  the 
  marls 
  lying 
  to 
  the 
  southward, 
  which, 
  in 
  the 
  

   geological 
  nomenclature 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  have 
  been 
  termed 
  the 
  

   Onondaga 
  salt 
  group 
  or 
  the 
  Salina 
  formation. 
  It 
  was 
  long 
  ago 
  

   shown 
  by 
  geologists 
  that 
  such 
  brines 
  could 
  only 
  come 
  from, 
  the 
  

   solution 
  and 
  leaching 
  of 
  rock 
  salt, 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  naturally 
  pre- 
  

   sumed 
  had 
  been 
  inclosed 
  in 
  the 
  marls 
  furnishing 
  these 
  brines 
  ; 
  

   that 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  ocean 
  having 
  become 
  land-locked, 
  

   evaporation 
  had 
  gone 
  on 
  more 
  rapidly 
  than 
  the 
  influx 
  of 
  sea 
  

   water 
  had 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  overcome, 
  and 
  that 
  following 
  the 
  depo- 
  

   sition 
  of 
  the 
  sedimentary 
  material 
  the 
  salt 
  had 
  been 
  precipitated 
  

   to 
  the 
  bottom 
  essentially 
  after 
  the 
  manner 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  goes 
  on 
  in 
  the 
  

   open 
  air 
  salt 
  vats 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time. 
  

  

  The 
  practical 
  community, 
  however, 
  were 
  comparatively 
  slow 
  

   in 
  taking 
  advantage 
  of 
  this 
  geological 
  knowledge. 
  The 
  first 
  

   experiments 
  in 
  boring 
  wells 
  were 
  not 
  successful, 
  because 
  they 
  

   were 
  made 
  too 
  near 
  the 
  outcrop 
  of 
  the 
  formation, 
  and 
  therefore 
  

   penetrated 
  only 
  that 
  portion 
  from 
  which 
  the 
  salt 
  had 
  already 
  

   been 
  removed 
  by 
  infiltration 
  of 
  water 
  from 
  above. 
  The 
  accom- 
  

   panying 
  diagram 
  (No. 
  5) 
  will 
  show 
  the 
  relation 
  of 
  the 
  salt 
  

   formation 
  to 
  the 
  overlying 
  and 
  underlying 
  rocks. 
  The 
  deep 
  

   accumulation 
  of 
  drift 
  material 
  on 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  outcrop 
  has 
  

   served 
  as 
  a 
  reservoir 
  for 
  the 
  brines 
  which 
  have 
  accumulated 
  

   from 
  the 
  leaching 
  of 
  the 
  marls 
  and 
  the 
  consequent 
  removal 
  of 
  

   the 
  solid 
  salt 
  from 
  the 
  exposed 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  rock 
  ; 
  and 
  not 
  

   only 
  the 
  actually 
  exposed 
  portions 
  in 
  the 
  outcrops, 
  but 
  beyond 
  

   this 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  water 
  percolating 
  through 
  the 
  fissures 
  of 
  the 
  

   limestones 
  above 
  could 
  reach 
  the 
  salt. 
  It 
  is 
  only 
  after 
  passing 
  

   the 
  outcrop 
  of 
  the 
  Hamilton 
  group, 
  which 
  offers 
  an 
  impervious 
  

   covering 
  to 
  the 
  formations 
  below, 
  that 
  any 
  rock 
  salt 
  could 
  be 
  

   expected 
  to 
  exist. 
  The 
  salt 
  wells 
  of 
  Syracuse 
  and 
  Salina 
  have 
  

   penetrated 
  this 
  gravelly 
  drift 
  to 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  four 
  

   hundred 
  feet 
  without 
  reaching 
  its 
  lower 
  limit. 
  Until 
  recently 
  

   the 
  wells 
  sunk 
  in 
  this 
  drift 
  have 
  supplied 
  the 
  brines 
  from 
  which 
  

   all 
  the 
  salt 
  of 
  Syracuse 
  and 
  Salina 
  was 
  manufactured. 
  

  

  Within 
  a 
  comparatively 
  few 
  years 
  there 
  have 
  been 
  more 
  than 
  

   forty 
  salt 
  wells 
  drilled, 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  in 
  operation, 
  within 
  

  

  