Bell— Remarkable Concretions of Ottawa County, Kan. 315 



Art. XXVL — The remarkable Concretions of Ottawa County, 

 Kansas; by W. T. Bell. 



Situated on the side of a low hill, near Pawnee Gap, 

 about three miles from Minneapolis, in Ottawa County, Kansas, 

 is a group of curious rocks, that have excited the wonder of 

 the ignorant and the speculations of many who call them- 

 selves geologists. 



Locally, this deposit, consisting of more than fifty detached 

 specimens, is known as " Rock City " ; and scattered masses of 

 the same formation may be seen at various places on the higher 

 land in the neighborhood, especially at the locality known as 

 The Cliff. 



As will be seen from the illustrations, these rocks are for 

 the most part nearly spherical in shape, and some of them are 

 more than twelve feet in diameter. 



They have been embedded in, and most of these specimens 

 still rest on, a coarse soft sandstone, of a light color, which 

 wearing away, has left these harder bodies exposed. In some 

 cases the supporting sandstone has been so nearly removed 

 as to allow the rocks to topple over ; while other pieces have 

 become fractured, and portions have fallen or slid from the 

 part that still retains its upright position. These fractures are 

 not on flat planes, but are conchoidal, and nearly all horizontal ; 

 the few that approach a vertical direction being zigzaged and 

 interrupted. 



In the sandstone under some of these masses is a band or 

 layer five or six inches in thickness, of a dark reddish color, 



