﻿58 A 7 ". S. Shale r — Geology of Cobscooh Bay District, Me. 



which is exhibited in this district is that which is found on the 

 western side of Moose or Eastport Island. As before noted I 

 propose to term this section the Moose Island series for the 

 reason that the beds are most abundantly developed on that 

 island, it being indeed doubtful if they occur elsewhere in this 

 district. These deposits consist mainly of black and dark gray 

 shales and slates. They are exhibited at several points along 

 the western shore of Moose Island from north of Shackford 

 Head to near Eastport. The total thickness of the section is 

 not known as neither its superior nor its inferior limits are dis- 

 closed. It is evident, however, that at least one thousand 

 or one thousand five hundred feet of beds are shown in the 

 several exposures, or indicated as in existence between the 

 outcrops. 



The dark color and the shaly nature of these beds will 

 remind any one familiar with the aspect of the Devonian 

 shales of Western New York and the Ohio Valley ; the 

 deposit which has been termed the Ohio shale in the Ke- 

 ports of the Kentucky Survey. Although fossils abound at 

 Shackford Head and Princess Cove, they belong to few species 

 and are not very well preserved, having been somewhat dis- 

 torted by the considerable pressure to which the beds have 

 been subjected. The following species are fairly recognizable* 



List of Species. 



Modiomorpha, allied to M. subulata. 



" sp. undetermined. 



Murchisonia desiderata. ? 

 Beyrichia, species not determined. 

 Lingula, a species not determined. 

 Discina, two species. 



The total number of species recognizable jn the large collec- 

 tions made at this point does not exceed ten, though the indi- 

 viduals amount to many thousand. Though these forms taken 

 alone afford slender ground for identification of the deposits, 

 still they are entirely consistent with the supposition that the 

 series is equivalent to the Ohio shale. 



It is much in favor of this view that the beds occupy a posi- 

 tion where we might fairly expect to find the Devonian series 

 of rocks. Thus though it is not safe to affirm that this series 

 belongs to the Ohio shale it is undoubtedly the most reason- 

 able supposition that can be applied to the facts. 



If it should in the end be found that these beds represent 

 the great Devonian shale it will add a new interest to that re- 

 markable deposit: so far this series of the Ohio shale has not 

 been clearly traced in the section east of the central Appa- 

 lachian axis. If these beds at Eastport belong to the Devonian 



