SMITH COUNTY. • 217 



The conditions favorable for the production of coal seem therefore to have 

 been forest growth in swampy ground about the mouths of rivers and rapid 

 oscillation of level, the coal produced during subsidence being covered up 

 by sediment brought down by the river, forming beds of clay or sand, which 

 on re-elevation formed the soil for fresh growths, the alternations being oc- 

 casionally broken by the deposit of purely marine beds." 



The lignites of this county belong to the Tertiary formation and are of 

 more recent date than true coal. Those in Smith County were undoubtedly 

 formed in small estuaries or lagoons on or near the coast. The materials, 

 consisting of trees, leaves, and swampy plants, the same as the present growth, 

 sometimes grew in situ, but for the most part were transported to their present 

 resting place by rivers. This is shown by the cross-bedding of the inclusive 

 strata of clays and sand. 



In nearly every part of the county I found beds of lignite, varying in 

 thickness from a fraction of an inch to ten feet. These beds are very numer- 

 ous and lenticular in shape, having uniformly a dip to the south or southeast. 

 The physical aspect of the lignite varies considerably. It differs in color 

 from brown to black and from an amorphous mass to a hard glossy variety. 

 From the great differences in their physical aspects, thickness, and the len- 

 ticular shape of the basins themselves, I am inclined to believe that these 

 lignites were formed in estuaries and not in swamps and bogs. 



I have personally inspected ten localities where lignite seams were exposed 

 to view. In the northern part of the county it is developed in great abund- 

 ance along the Sabine River, and may be seen cropping out in many places 

 in its bed and bluffs. I also met with it in the southern portion of the 

 county. On the Wm. Luce league a section of the strata gives: 



Red sand 10 feet. 



Blue clay, containing the seams of lignite and yellow sand 6 feet. 



Sand, impregnated with lignite matter 5 feet. 



Blue clay 6 feet. 



Lignite exposed to view 3 feet. 



The coal was brown in color and crumbled readily on exposure to the at- 

 mosphere. On section twenty-four of Thomas Quevedo survey the following 

 section was seen: 



Soil 3 to 5 feet. 



Buff colored sandy clay 10 feet. 



Bed and white mottled clays, with streaks of sand ... 20 feet. 



Blue sandstone 6 inches. 



Lignite, brown in color 4 feet. 



This specimen was very similar to the above, except that it contained in- 

 clusions of resinous matter. 



