196 CATSKILL DIVISION. 



Devonian fossils had been found, il became important to accumulate as many facts as 

 possible which would bear upon the qui stion ; and we were fortunate enough to discover 

 the i rii i mis of fish in the strata between Pratts> ille and Gilboa, and, whal was still more 

 was their association with the Cypricardia catskillensis discovered by Mr. ^a 

 nuxem on the Unadilla. These fossils will undoubtedl) be found quite numerous in this 

 hborhood, a- we observed several specimens in the rock two miles above Pratts\ ille, on 

 the bonks of the creek, li appears, therefore, thai il has a wide range in this series, and 

 in ij be regarded as characteristic of the formation in which it is found, 



i. Here ihe rocks exhibit the same character as at Gilboa and Pratts- 



ville. They are flags, s e of which are quite thin, and they are interlarainated with black 



slate, A i this place, near the village, we discovered the same fos i! s of Gilboa, 



namely, the Cypricardia, Teniaculites, Orthis t etc. Besides the strata of crushed vegetables 

 and the diagonal stratification already mentioned, Mr. Hall has discovered a scale of the fish 

 characteristic ol the i lid Red sandstone. In these discoveries we have the facts which have 

 seiiled the character and age of the rocks in the southern pan of Schoharie, Albany, and 

 thosi ' ne and Delaware counties. They form one series of rocks, which maj be 

 traced si and west, through the southern tier of counties ; and as a few 



fossils of the Chemung narrows have been found in Gilboa, we are aide to connect the 

 s with distant points west. The Chemung group, which had been supposed to be 

 confined to the southwestern counties, lias been proved, by the discovery of fossils, u> oc- 

 cupy a place also at the base of the Catskill series. Of the Dipleura defcayi, Microdon 

 belli . the latter is credited to Chemung narrows, while ihe 



two former are well known Hamilton fossils : these, with several others, occur five hun- 

 l feet above strata which have hitherto been regarded as belonging exclusive!] to the 

 i skill Berii . I cts of this kind may lead ns to distrust the value of our lines of de- 

 . ition between the groups of a system. 



. Catskill series. The sell is colored red, when derived, from 

 the Catskill rocks. The red marls form a soil very well compounded of sand and . I . i \ : 

 ii derives an advantage from iis color. Red soils are warmer and earlier, _\ei the] do nol 

 s l so well as the brown and yellow loams. The soil of these rocks may be re- 

 garded as light ; and being deficient in lime and alkalies, ii is uol so productive at first, 

 nor so durable, a- tho iga and Cayuga count . 



( advantageomly examined. These rocks may be 



■ hed by two routes : I il the Mountain House or Pine Orchard ; and 2\\, that of 



toharie creek. The Mountain House route leads over pari of the Champlain, the Hel- 



dcrheru r and the Erie divisions. The Hudson-river series, and the whole of the I h Idei berg 



-. re finely exposi d, bul in an interesting state of disorder. The Erie division is tilted 



up, but not materially crushed or dismembered ; the angle of dip continually dimi. 



the Hamilton ipward, each ascending terrace being disturbed less and 



Listant from the belt of disturbance, passing between the Hudson rivet and the 



