119 



open, contributing to render the deep-seated beds of coal as acces- 

 sible as the superficial marls of the lower section of the state, and 

 thereby to preserve a beautiful balance in the resources of the two 

 respective regions. 



The portion of the profile representing this vast and affluent divi- 

 sion of the state, along the particular line to which our observations 

 were chiefly directed, may be regarded as commencing with the 

 Meadow mountain, and extending as far as the Ohio ; but by start- 

 ing from the point here indicated, it is by no means intended to 

 imply that the great western series of secondary rocks here actually 

 commence. So far as an inspection of the ground along the route 

 observed may be regarded as furnishing information upon this in- 

 teresting point, the probable beginning of this series is to be looked 

 for farther to the east, and in all likelihood, is placed on the western 

 bank of Howard's creek, the only position in which an approach to 

 unconformable stratification was observed. As however we have 

 already described the limestones of the Lewisburg valley and the 

 other strata with which they are immediately associated, and as 

 moreover our chief object at present is the presenting some par- 

 ticulars relating to that portion of the great western series which is 

 first distinctly observed towards the summit of the Meadow moun- 

 tain, we shall waive all merely scientific inquiries with respect to the 

 precise boundary of the western rocks, and proceed briefly to de- 

 scribe the structure of this region westward from the point already 

 indicated. 



Ascending j,the Meadow mountain, we meet with blue and red 

 slate in a friable condition, until we arrive at a point more than half 

 way to the top, where gray sandstones make their appearance, 

 forming the cap of the mountain, and like the slates beneath, dipping 

 with a gentle inclination to the west ; descending on the western 

 side the slates again appear, and continue throughout the whole of 

 the extensive flat reaching to the base of the Little Sewell, on the 

 eastern side of which they are soon lost, and a gray sandstone, like 

 that already remarked, again comes into view. The upper portion 

 of the Little Sewell consists of a gray and white sandstone, identical 

 with that observed in progressing further west. Here one or more 

 seams of coal have been discovered. On the western flank of this 

 mountain, the red slate is again observed dipping gently west be- 

 neath the other rocks, and here finally disappearing under the beds. 



