W. B. D WIGHT. 75 



occasioned by information kindly furnished to me by 

 Rev. Alfred Roe, lately residing at Cornwall landing. 

 He informed me that at this spot he had seen f ossifer- 

 ous limestones, which he was quite sure were higher 

 than the lower Silurian rocks, which are the prevalent 

 ones in that- region, and that they were associated with 

 a fine grained red sandstone which so closely resembles 

 the New Jersey triassic sandstone that he thought it 

 most probably of the same age. 



From the directions given to me for finding the spot, 

 I was not able by any chart in my possession to locate 

 it, since I was to travel on a railroad constructed since 

 the publication of my charts. I could not therefore, 

 before making the journey, ascertain what investiga- 

 tions might already have been made there, nor what 

 opinions as to its age had been formed. This I consider 

 a fortunate circumstance, since it enabled me to reach 

 an entirely unprejudiced and independent conclusion, 

 founded only on my own observations. 



The locality, when reached, proved be the hematite 

 mine of Mr. H. Van Duser, (station-master at that place), 

 and about a quarter of a mile southwesterly from the 

 Cornwall station, on the Erie railroad branch from New- 

 burgh to Turners. 



After a careful survey of the positions of the strata, 

 and an examination of the fossils exhibited, I became 

 convinced that the limestones are of the lower Helder- 

 berg group, and that the adjoining red sandstone and 

 conglomerate are not of the Triassic, like the New Jersey 

 red sandstone, but are the Oneida conglomerate and the 

 fine grained sandstones of the Medina epoch. 



More definite statements as to the reasons for these 

 conclusions, and the fossils which I found, will be post- 

 poned until I have given a description of the localiry 

 and statements as to the views of previous observers as 

 I ascertained them after returning home. 



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