SHELBY COUNTY. 251 



SILICEOUS IRON PEBBLES AND IRON GRAVEL. 



In the soil of nearly every portion of the county, more or less of small 

 rounded iron pebbles associated with angular fragments of aluminous iron 

 gravel were seen. A considerable portion of these are magnetic and separ- 

 able by the permanent magnet. 



MANGANESE NODULES (WAD). 



About one mile south of Teneha, on the Houston East and West Texas 

 Railway, was seen an irregular belt of warty nodules in th« yellow sandy 

 clay on the west side of the railway cut. The exterior of these nodules is 

 of the same color as the sandy clay. On fracture they exhibit a dark bluish 

 black color, and the nucleus found to consist mainly of black oxide of man- 

 ganese associated with ferric oxide and alumina (bog manganese). 



BROWN SPRINGS. 



About eight miles north of Timpson, in the southwestern portion of Panola 

 and as near as could be ascertained on the Mc Williams headright, there is 

 a spring from which issues a brownish colored water. As it is more con- 

 veniently reached from Timpson, it is treated of here instead of being in- 

 cluded in the description of Panola County. 



The stream, issuing from two places a few yards apart, is not bold. The 

 water has a deep amber color, not unlike the color of whisky, is not styptic 

 in taste, makes no rusty deposit, and therefore has little if any iron in 

 solution, and there is no indication of any other metallic salt. When taken 

 into the stomach the heat of the body deprives it of a portion of its carbonic 

 acid gas, producing eructation, but no feeling of constriction, as with some 

 other waters. 



The place has been noted as a neighborhood resort for about thirty-five 

 years, and recently a few temporary cabins have been erected for the accom- 

 modation of visitors. 



The color of the water is no doubt due to its contact with some member of 

 the lignitic series. A slight faulting would have thrown the asphaltic clay, 

 with its soluble carbonaceous matter, into a position to be traversed by the 

 water before reaching the surface. 



This clay has already been described under "Asphaltum Brown" in the de- 

 scription of mineral paints of Panola County. 



