c. Genesee Shale. — South of Georgetown are three or four shallow eats 

 through the Genesee shale or more properly a transition rock interme- 

 diate between tiic Hamilton proper and the Genesee; one of the cut.-> is 

 about 500 feet in length and from 5 to 10 feet deep, the others are about 

 100 feet each in length and somewhat deeper. True beds of the Genesee 

 shale are cut by the railroad about one and a half miles north of Earl- 

 ville. A small creek had already cut its channel some 40 feet deep 

 before the railroad was built; tlie railroad follows quite closely the 

 course of this stream though some 15 or 20 feet above it, and crosses it 

 twice at its short bends. The rock cut is about 2000 feet long and varies 

 from 15 to 25 feet in depth above the track. 



3. a. Outcrops of tlie Marcellus Shale are found at Marcellus. at 

 various points on the highway between Cazenovia and Gran, on the 

 Chittenango creek from one to two miles north of Cazenovia, and in va- 

 rious ravines in both counties. 6. Tlie Hamilton proper occurs at 

 places a little farther south ; on the shores of Skaneatles Lake, at Vesper, 

 various points in tlie town of La Fayette, at Pratt's Falls in Pompey, 

 Delphi, Xew Woodstock, near Morrisville, both north and south of the 

 village, and in and about Hamilton, c. The Tally Limestone, a member 

 of this formation not represented on the line of the railroad, occurs 

 near Tully, De Ruyter, and south of Xew Woodstock. It is also found 

 south of Delphi in the town of Fabius. d. The Genesee Shale is found 

 to a limited extent in the towns of Lebanon and Georgetown, where the 

 formation bends northward from its east and west course across the 

 state. Southward in Chenango and Cortland counties it occurs more 

 commonly. 



4. The rocks of the Hamilton period are shales with admixtures of 

 impure and imperfect limestones. Tlie lowest and uppermost strata 

 are more fragile than the intermediate rocks, and break up on exposure 

 to the elements into fine fragments. The Marcellus shales vary in color 

 from dark gray to intensely black, the color varying with the amount 

 of bituminous matter present. Much of the rock becomes a light drab 

 on exposure to the air. Concretions are common often forming around 

 fossils notably Orthoceras constrictum. This shale, as well as the Gen- 

 esee, often resembles bituminous coal so strongly as to be mistaken for it 

 and capital has been foolishly expended in mining it. In the construction 

 of the railroad between Canastota and Cazenovia this formation was 

 crossed and a highly bituminous layer was exposed to view. Coal was 

 immediately announced, but it was soon found to be valueless. Black 

 shales occur in all formations and are quite likely to deceive the unen- 

 lightened; they often contain sufficient bituminous matter to blaze 

 when ignited by a hot tire, which fact makes the shale still more decep- 

 tive. This bituminous matter is derived in a manner entirely analagous 

 to the formation of true coal, from the partial decomposition of animals 

 or plants, or likely both, that existed at the time the rocks were formed. 

 Although much money has heretofore been expended in the search for 

 coal in Xew York State, a knowledge of geology will show that such 

 expenditure is useless for true coal cannot be found earlier than the Car- 

 boniferous which is nowhere represented in our state. The rocks of 

 the Hamilton formation proper are harder, have less cleavage, and with- 

 stand more thoroughly the action of air and water. They contain traces 

 of iron pyrites . iv g ,i and incrustations may frequently be found at the 

 tunnel; fossils also occur with the same material accumulated around 

 them, and nodules are occasionally found. Frequently masses of lime- 

 stone are found in the Hamilton beds, though not to any such extent as 

 to regard the rocks of this locality as calcareous. Farther south, how- 

 ever, larger masses occur in both Onondaga and Madison counties; at 

 Tully village this Tully limestone is burned lor lime. The black shales 

 of the Genesee a- seen ;it Earlville contain much more bituminous mat- 

 ter than any other members of the group, and are quite fragile, yet do 

 not show such remarkable horizontal Cleavage as the Marcellus shale. 

 All the rocks of the Hamilton period, and very notably those of the 



