
1891.] Geology and Paleontology. 815 
General Notes. 
GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 
Geological Survey of New Jersey, 1890.'—This annual re- 
port covers the work done under the direction of Mr. I.S. Upson, 
assistant-in-charge under the late Dr. G. H. Cook, and the present 
state geologist, Mr. J. C. Smock. It includes the report of Frank 
L. Nason on the crystalline rocks of the Highlands, and of the mag- 
netic ores of that district; Mr. Coman’s notes on (1) the sediments 
overlying the upper marl beds in eastern Monmouth county, (2) evi- 
dences of former shore-lines above the present sea-level, (3) the gravel 
of the Trenton terrace; Mr. C. C. Vermeule’s report on the observa- 
tions of stream-flow and rainfall up to date; a. paper from Mr. Lewis 
Woolman describing the artesian wells in the southeastern coast-belts 
of the state; and, finally, an account by G. W. Howell of the 
drainage work inaugurated by the survey and carried on with so 
much success and such beneficial results. 
Mr. Nason’s careful examination of the outcrops has resulted in the 
discovery of organic remains in the crystalline limestones, which have 
been referred by Prof. C. E. Beecher to the Cambrian, and below 
the Potsdam sandstone formation, as has been done by Mr. Lewis 
Woolman in Pennsylvania. His ideas concerning the limestones of 
Sussex county are summed up in the following conclusions : : 
‘“ First, the white limestones of Sussex and Warren counties are of 
post-Archean age. Second, the white and blue limestones belong to a 
„synchronous horizon. Third, this horizon is the horizon of the 
Olenellus fauna.’’ 
The extent of these conclusions is more far-reaching than is at first 
sight apparent. First, it demands that a careful search be made for 
fossils in the whole belt, or rather belts, of limestones, sandstones, 
slates and shales hitherto called and regarded as Potsdam, Trenton, and 
Hudson River. The result may prove the existence of a great horizon 
‘of rocks in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania hitherto unsus- 
pected, and may also throw much light on the question as to the posi- 
tion of the Green Pond Mountain rocks. Second, in this belt are 
rocks—limestones, sandstones, slates, iron and zinc ores—in every 
1 Geolo*ical Survey of New Jersey : Annual Report of the State Geologist for the year 
1890. 



