G, II. Williams — Celestits from West Virginia. L83 



rence of the earlier Cretaceous rocks which at no great distance 



inland run parallel to the basin occupied by the Xanaiino and 

 Puget groups.* It appears possible that an elevation of a part 

 of the Cretaceous sea-bed bounded to the westward nearly by 

 the present line of the Coast Ranges of British Columbia, may 



have occurred after the deposition of the earlier strata. Thi- 

 n-act of land thus produced, or added to that previouly in exist- 

 ence, may have served as the chief source of supply of the later 

 sediments and more particularly of the massive estuarine beds 

 of the Puget group, in accounting for which Dr. White finds 

 some difficulty. -r Such a supposition would also be in accord 

 with the absence, so far as known, of any rocks referable to the 

 Laramie throughout the entire region eastward to the Rocky 

 Mountains proper, within the limits of British Columbia. 

 Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa. Dec. 18, 1889. 



Abt. XXIV. — Oelestitefrom Mineral County, Weet Virginia; 

 by George H. Williams. 



An extensive cutting on the line of the West Virginia Cen- 

 tral railroad lias recently brought to light a large number of 

 celestite crystals, which, on account of their unusual habit, 

 large size and fine color, merit description. The cutting is 

 nearly a mile in length and had been made into a high bluff of 

 lower Helderberg limestone which forms the western flank of 

 Knobly mountain, between the fourth and fifth milestones 

 south of Cumberland, Md. The crystals thus far discovered 

 occur just outside the limits of the State of Maryland, since 

 the Potomac river here flows so near the base of the mountain 

 that sufficient space for the railroad had to be secured by arti- 

 ficial means between them. 



The writer is indebted to the kindness of Mr. F. M. Offutt of 

 Cumberland for first bringing the crystals to his notice; as 

 well as to the efforts of Mr. J. C. Brady (on whose farm the 

 crystals occur) and his sons for aid in securing most of the 

 material that has thus far come to light. 



The rock exposed in the cutting is a thickly bedded and 

 nearly horizontal, argillaceous limestone, similar to that used at 

 Cumberland and Hancock, Md., for the manufacture of cement. 

 The crystals occur in flattened lenticular cavities or pockets, 

 which vary from a foot to a yard in diameter and from three to 

 seven inches in height. These are confined to only two or three 

 of the many strata which compose the bluff and apparently 



* Cf. this Jour., vol. xxxviii, p. 121. 



f Bulletin of the U. S. Geol. Survey, No. 51, p. 57. 



Am. Jour. Sci— Third Series, Vol. XXXIX. No. 231.— March, 1890. 

 13 



