282 W. M. Fontaine — Conglomerate Series of West Virginia. 



base of this mass to make an important bed of coal, were it 

 collected in one mass. The condition of things here shown in- 

 dicates that there was no deficiency of vegetable matter, but 

 that the alterations of level were too rapid to permit a great 

 accumulation of coal in one mass. The same features to a 

 greater or less extent are shown in every coal bed of the series, 

 and it is safe to say that the instability alone of the surface, 

 prevented the accumulation, in this series, of coal beds as thick 

 as those found in the more productive series which lies above 

 it. Many good plant impressions occur here. 



No. 11, from its outcrop, seems to be a promising bed of coal. 

 Its thickness was not fully disclosed. Mr. Morris gives it as 

 two and one-half feet thick. It shows at its base Stigmaria root- 

 lets. 



No. 10, stands out in high cliflfs. Some of the other sand- 

 stones of the series also present firm perpendicular outcrops. 



No. 9, is well exposed on the road in a high cliff. It presents 

 the same features as number fourteen, even more strikingly. 

 Numerous thin seams of coal, intermixed with carbonaceous 

 shale, some of them three or four inches thick, form the lower 

 portion for a space of seven feet. Vegetable matter in the form 

 of films of coal, and impregnations of the sandstones and shales, 

 occur to the height of thirty feet Only a few Lepidodendron 

 leaves were found here. 



No. 8, is a massive and siliceous sandstone, forming high 

 clifi"s, and resembling to some extent No. 21. 



Nos. 6 and 5, are interesting for the recurrence here, in the 

 middle of this coal-bearing series, of the same conditionsvvhich 

 prevailed in the formation of the upper part of the Urabral 

 series. These two strata are most strikingly like the red and 

 variegated marlites and shales, found in that portion of the 

 Umbral, and might easily be mistaken for them. 



No. 4, is well exposed on the Ealeigh road. No plants were 

 found in it. 



No. 2, is not exposed anywhere so far as I have seen, ^^he 

 interval occupied by it, lies between the massive rock. No. 1, 

 and the crumbling strata of No. 3, which are especially prone 

 to slide down over the precipitous cliffs formed by No. L 

 Hence at all the places examined by me, this portion was buried 

 under a mass which had come down from above. Its character 

 is given on the authority of Mr. Morris. 



No. 1. This member of the series I consider to be the base 

 of the conglomerate series. It is one of the most prominent 

 features in the hills, standing out as it does, not far above their 

 bases, in immense precipitous ledges. It forms the first stratum, 

 which indicates a decided change from marine to terrestrial con- 

 ditions. It is much nearer a true conglomerate than No. 21, 

 for many of the layers contain pebbles, a half inch in diameter. 



