STATE GEOLOGIST. 15*1. 



XII. Lithographic Stokes. 



X13I. MATERIALS FOR ROADS AND WALKS. 



XIV. Soils. 

 XV. Materials fob improving the Soil. 



1. Gypsum. " ~ 4. Brine. 



2. Marl. 6. Sand. 



3. Peat. _ 6. Clay. 



XVI. Wells and Springs. 



1. Common Wells and Springs. 3. Mineral Waters. 



2. Artesian Wells. 



Most of the materials embraced in the above enumerations 

 are of the very best quality; and when the union of capital 

 and intelligence shall have brought our resources to such a- 

 degree of development as they admit, Michigan will be seen to 



stand among the leading States in point of mineral wealth. 



f 



COAL. , 



Many facts have already been stated which have a direct- 

 economical bearing upon the search for coal. A few sugges- 

 tions may here be added: 



1. The occurrence of fragments of coal in the soil, or in ex- 

 cavations for wells, does not prove the existence of a coal seam 

 within many miles, as the outcropping edges of all the rocks 

 have been broken up, and the fragments distributed toward the 

 south. 



2. In the examination of loose fragments, it may be remem- 

 bered that the nearer we approach the outcrep of the solid 

 seam, the more abundant the fragments become, especially the 

 finer ones, while at the same time they are less equally distribu- 

 ted through the soil. 



3. The occurrence of an extensive nest of fragments may 

 result from the destruction of a former small outlier of the coal 

 basin, and may be detached , many miles from the principal- 

 seam. 



_ 4. When an outcrop is actually found, it will frequently be 

 seen to dip away from the coal basin, as if bent down at. 

 the margin. The miner should not be misled by this peripheral, 

 dip. 



