﻿214 
  Forty-seventh 
  Repori 
  on 
  the 
  State 
  Museum 
  

  

  we 
  obtained 
  the 
  fossils 
  in 
  a 
  better 
  state 
  of 
  preservation 
  than 
  

   heretofore, 
  but 
  many 
  new 
  species 
  have 
  been 
  discovered 
  in 
  the 
  

   material 
  freshly 
  excavated 
  from 
  the 
  shaft 
  at 
  its 
  different 
  depths. 
  

   In 
  addition 
  to 
  this, 
  we 
  have 
  not 
  only 
  better 
  specimens 
  and 
  many 
  

   new 
  forms, 
  but 
  we 
  are 
  able 
  to 
  determine 
  in 
  a 
  much 
  more 
  satisfactory 
  

   manner 
  the 
  facts 
  relating 
  to 
  the 
  recurrence 
  of 
  similar 
  faunas 
  at 
  

   different 
  depths 
  in 
  the 
  strata; 
  a 
  fact 
  fully 
  recognized 
  in 
  the 
  

   description 
  of 
  the 
  Hamilton 
  group 
  in 
  its 
  exposures 
  in 
  western 
  

   New 
  York. 
  But 
  in 
  the 
  natural 
  exposures 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  always 
  

   possible 
  to 
  determine 
  accurately 
  the 
  exact 
  limit 
  of 
  any 
  two 
  of 
  

   these 
  beds 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  decomposition 
  and 
  disintegration 
  of 
  the 
  

   exposed 
  surfaces 
  ; 
  while 
  excavation 
  was 
  laborious 
  and 
  expensive. 
  

   It 
  was 
  therefore 
  only 
  in 
  a 
  general 
  way 
  that 
  these 
  recurrences 
  

   were 
  noticed 
  and 
  recorded. 
  

  

  Prof. 
  Clarke, 
  assistant 
  palaeontologist, 
  has 
  made 
  careful 
  exam- 
  

   inations 
  of 
  the 
  extensive 
  collections 
  of 
  material 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  

   brought 
  into 
  the 
  Museum, 
  noting 
  the 
  succession 
  and 
  recurrence 
  

   of 
  the 
  faunas 
  from 
  the 
  commencement 
  of 
  our 
  work 
  upon 
  the 
  

   shaft 
  to 
  the 
  lowest 
  horizon 
  at 
  which 
  fossils 
  have 
  been 
  found. 
  

   The 
  record 
  is 
  of 
  great 
  interest 
  and 
  importance, 
  and 
  such 
  an 
  one 
  

   as 
  could 
  never 
  have 
  been 
  obtained 
  from 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  outcrops 
  

   of 
  the 
  successive 
  formations. 
  

  

  Prof. 
  I. 
  P. 
  Bishop, 
  in 
  the 
  fifth 
  annual 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  

   Geologist, 
  1886, 
  has 
  given 
  a 
  very 
  interesting 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  dis- 
  

   covery 
  of 
  rock 
  salt 
  in 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  with 
  a 
  complete 
  

   record 
  of 
  the 
  wells 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  salt 
  from 
  the 
  same, 
  

   up 
  to 
  that 
  date. 
  Keport 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Geologist 
  for 
  1885, 
  pp. 
  

   12-47. 
  

  

  