﻿242 
  Forty-seventh 
  Report 
  on 
  the 
  State 
  Museum. 
  

  

  are 
  all 
  designated 
  as 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  lower 
  Helderberg 
  group, 
  

   though 
  with 
  some 
  doubt 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  lower 
  limit. 
  

  

  The 
  fine 
  grained, 
  dark 
  reddish, 
  brown 
  oily 
  limestone 
  at 
  1,010 
  

   to 
  1,024 
  feet, 
  contains 
  several 
  characteristic 
  species 
  of 
  fossils 
  

   belonging 
  to 
  that 
  group. 
  

  

  At 
  about 
  1,045 
  feet, 
  the 
  rock 
  was 
  a 
  dark 
  chocolate- 
  brown, 
  

   sandy, 
  impure 
  limestone. 
  In 
  it 
  were 
  found 
  a 
  very 
  few 
  speci- 
  

   mens 
  of 
  coral, 
  a 
  Favosites 
  with 
  small 
  cells, 
  and 
  a 
  cyathophylloid, 
  

   in 
  which 
  the 
  structure 
  was 
  nearly 
  destroyed. 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  few 
  thin 
  layers 
  of 
  water 
  limestones 
  at 
  about 
  1,105 
  to 
  1,110 
  

   feet, 
  Leperditia 
  alta 
  was 
  quite 
  abundant. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  Retsof 
  shaft, 
  on 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  fragments 
  of 
  magnesian 
  

   limestones 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  dump, 
  were 
  many 
  specimens 
  of 
  L. 
  alta, 
  

   and 
  rarely 
  a 
  Stropheodonta 
  varistriata. 
  

  

  ]NTo 
  other 
  fossils 
  were 
  observed 
  in 
  rocks 
  from 
  below 
  the 
  

   Oriskany 
  at 
  the 
  Retsof 
  or 
  the 
  Greigsville 
  shafts. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  Lehigh 
  shaft, 
  the 
  next 
  rock 
  below 
  the 
  Oriskany 
  was 
  a 
  

   yellow 
  gray 
  limestone, 
  saturated 
  with 
  petroleum. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  upper 
  part 
  of 
  this 
  layer, 
  a 
  Favosites, 
  with 
  fine 
  cells, 
  

   was 
  quite 
  abundant, 
  sometimes 
  in 
  large 
  masses. 
  No 
  other 
  

   fossils 
  were 
  observed 
  from 
  this 
  horizon 
  or 
  below. 
  

  

  In 
  an 
  old 
  quarry, 
  two 
  miles 
  southeast 
  of 
  the 
  village 
  of 
  

   Phelps, 
  I 
  found 
  a 
  good 
  specimen 
  of 
  Eurypterus 
  lacustris 
  in 
  a 
  thin 
  

   layer 
  of 
  water 
  limestone 
  about 
  twenty 
  -five 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  

   Oriskany 
  sandstone. 
  

  

  The 
  alternating 
  layers 
  of 
  limestones 
  and 
  bluish-gray 
  gypsifer- 
  

   ous 
  shales 
  or 
  marly 
  tes. 
  which 
  lie 
  between 
  the 
  Lower 
  Helderberg 
  

   group 
  and 
  the 
  salt 
  beds, 
  are 
  quite 
  uniform 
  in 
  character 
  and 
  

   appearance 
  in 
  the 
  Livonia 
  shaft. 
  No 
  red 
  or 
  green 
  shales 
  were 
  

   found 
  there 
  above 
  the 
  salt, 
  though 
  at 
  the 
  Retsof 
  and 
  Greigsville 
  

   shafts 
  they 
  were 
  present, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  Lehigh 
  shaft 
  the 
  first 
  salt 
  

   was 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  bed 
  forty 
  feet 
  thick, 
  composed 
  of 
  red, 
  green 
  or 
  

   mottled 
  shale, 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  140 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  main 
  salt 
  

   beds. 
  From 
  the 
  depth 
  of 
  1,078 
  feet 
  to 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  shaft, 
  

   gypsum 
  was 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  abundant 
  in 
  nearly 
  every 
  stratum 
  of 
  

   rock. 
  The 
  color 
  ranged 
  from 
  pearly-white 
  or 
  transparent 
  to 
  

   dark 
  reddish-brown. 
  

  

  The 
  limestones 
  were 
  dark-gray, 
  slightly 
  shaded 
  with 
  red 
  or 
  

   yellow 
  in 
  thin 
  layers 
  usually 
  separated 
  by 
  thin 
  partings 
  of 
  black 
  

  

  