1879.) Teras in its Geognostic and Agricultural Aspect. 375 
TEXAS IN ITS GEOGNOSTIC AND AGRICULTURAL 
: ASPEGT, ; 
BY J. BOLE, 
AVING resided for several years in Texas, during which 
time I have constantly been engaged in scientific researches, 
I shall, in this article, aim not so much at a geological and geog- 
nostic .description of the country, as attempt to present results 
already made known by others, and to give a slight view of 
my own observations in the same field. I shall not undertake a 
description of rocks and minerals heretofore found in Texas, nor 
enumerate animals already known as extinct or as still existing ; 
but rather from the nature of the soil and the constitution of the 
mineral kingdom, draw my conclusions as to the fertility and 
products of the different parts of the State. 
Of the various publications by other persons on the geologic 
and geognostic conditions of Texas, the following are known 
to me: 
1. Texas, with special reference to German emigration and the physical condition of 
_ the country, as described after personal inspection by Dr. Ferdinand Roemer, 
together with a scientific addendum. Bonn, 1849. 
2. The Chalk-formations of Texas, and their organic contents, by Dr. Ferdinand 
oemer, Bonn, 1852. 
3. Exploration of the Red river, in 1852, by Rand. B. Marcy, in which the north- 
western part was geologically described, by Geo. B. Shumard. 
4. The Annual Reports of State Geologist Buckley. 
5. The Map of Texas, by A. R. Réssler. 1874. 
The geographical character of Texas, as Roemer correctly 
remarks, divides it into three districts, more or less sharply 
defined. These are: 
1. The Lowlands, along the whole coast, from the Sabine to. 
the Rio Grande. They vary in width from thirty to a hundred 
miles, rising from three to a hundred feet above the sea, and are 
really only a continuation of the coast-lands of Lousiana, Missis- 
sippi and Alabama, and therefore belong to the same diluvial and 
alluvial formations, being almost wholly composed of clayey and 
Sandy deposits. However, it is not alone the rivers coming from 
the interior which collect and bring down this material, for the- 
Sea also contributes its part. As proof of this, we find in the 
soil, not only the remains of marine animals, but the animal and 
vegetable world still extant gives evidence thereof. Here, not 
