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stale of Pavand. In a sample of the drill core brought up from this 
horizon in the deep boring at Xarqueadas, Rio Grande do Sul, a tooth 
much resembling that of Mesosaurus was observed. 
This shale passes below water level on the general south-west- 
ward dip, a few kilometers south-west from Cresciuma in Santa Catha-~ 
rina, (where it has also been mistaken for coal by the natives), and 
does not come up to daylight again until in Rio Grande do Sul, although 
il is possible that the reported coal along rio Ararangua, above the town 
of that name, is this same black shale. 
These beds crop in a great black band on Rio S&o Bento at an eleva- 
tion 100 meters above rio Mae Luzia, 9 kilometers west from Nova 
Veneza, along the road which ascends the Serra Geral. 
In the deep boring at Xarqueadas, the record of which is given on 
a previous page, the top of these beds was struck at about 116 meters 
and the thickness is 49 meters 
These black shales come to the surface 20 kilometers south-west 
from Cachoeira on the fazenda Graca de Deus where they evidently 
contain much bituminous matter possibly (Albertite?) since the grass 
fires which sweep over the campos frequently ignite the shales, and 
they burn for several days at a time, or until the rains extinguish 
the fire. This outcrop has also been regarded by the natives as a 
coal deposit. 
In the region of S. Sepé, these shales crop on the roads which 
follow the ridges, and frequently contain silicified wood. 
In the ravine 2 kilometers south-west from Bella Vista, and 10 
kilometers east from S. Gabriel, these Zraty black shales are finely 
exposed, as well asin thecuts of the railway. Here thei bituminous 
appearance has led toa search for coal, a shaft having heen sunk se- 
veral meters in depth without finding anything except black shale 
with a strong odor of petroleum. It was of specimen taken from this 
shaft by Sr. Peter Boardman, the superintendent of the work, that the 
analysis already given was made. 
The coal measures or top of the Rio Bonito beds would underlie 
the locality of the shaft by more than 100 meters. 
It appears to be an outcrop of these black shales on rio Passa Dois, 
just below the mouth of rio do Velho, Santa Catharina, that has been 
mistaken for coal. 
It has en elevation of 354 meters there and has been partially me- 
tamorphosed by a dike of diabase which cuts across its beds. 
