190 F 8 . REPORT OF PROGRESS. E. W. CLAYPOLE. 



hibitioo of the Oriskany sandstone as a bedded rock in the 

 township and perhaps in the county. Very soon after pass- 

 ing this cliff, for such it may be truly called, a third ridge 

 appears between the two already described running out 

 from the north ridge. The Marcellus ore bed immediately 

 appears between this new ridge and that to the north, so 

 that at this ])lace there are three distinct sandstone ridges 

 with two troughs between them each containing the hema- 

 tite bed with its accompanying white and black clay. 



The northern ridge is the highest, rising some 50 feet 

 above the next, which in turn rises about as much above 

 that on the south. For the geological structure of which 

 these ridges and ore beds are the superficial indications, 

 see Plate XVI, page 176, Fig. 3. 



These ridges continue eastward. See Miller township. 



Fossils. — Coarse and hard as is the Oriskany sandstone 

 yet it furnishes evidence that the ocean on whose shores or 

 shallows it was formed contained aoundance of animal life. 

 These coarse blocks are often honeycombed with the casts 

 of fossil shells. The shells themselves have been dissolved 

 and carried away by the percolation of acidulated water. 

 But they have left cavities in the stone which indicate their 

 former presence. It is not surprising if in the wear and 

 tear of a sea -beach the thin and fine forms have been ground 

 down and destroyed. This is the case in Perry county. 

 But some of the heavier shells, such as the well known 

 Spirifera arenosa, survived the rough usage to which they 

 were subjected and were buried in the sand. But the relics 

 of former life during the Oriskany age are very imperfect 

 and scarce in Centre township. Nowhere in Perry county 

 are they good. But in other parts of the State and in other 

 States this rock has yielded fossils in great quantity and 

 good preservation. 



The Marcellus lime-shale and limestone. 



These beds are only to be seen in a few places in the town- 

 ship. They are apparently well developed near New Bloom- 

 field on the farm of Mr. Barnett, and their development is 

 an argument against the pressure of the Marcellus ore in 



