NACOGDOCHES COUNTY. 279 



family, by dogwood, Gornus Florida; and black gum, Nyssa muUiflora. The 

 ulmacece., or elm family, by white elm, Ulmus Americana. The salicacece, or 

 willow family, by swamp willow, Salix nigra; and gray willow, Salix tristis. 



IRON ORBS. 



On the W. J. Peterson tract, Castro headright, near Pitze Station, on the 

 Houston East and West Texas Railway, was seen on the top of the ridge a 

 remnant of the iron ore deposit, consisting of broken strata in situ and de- 

 tached fragments of iron sandstone which had been tumbled. In this locality 

 the only remains of the overlying bed of iron pebble conglomerate consist 

 of a limited number of scattered siliceous iron pebbles. The wavy laminated, 

 buff crumbly, and small nodular or geode iron ore have no visible repre- 

 sentatives. 



On the ridge west of the station a similar condition exists. 



About two hundred yards north of the station is a new modification of large 

 nodular or iron sandstone geode ore. Here this material exists in almost a 

 continuous local bed, consisting of very long geodes, some of them twenty 

 feet or more in length by three feet in width, and about eighteen inches in 

 thickness. The structure is represented by lenticular layers, more or less ar- 

 gillaceous, the outer layers frequently sandy and the nuclei yellow sand. 



About six miles southeast of the town of Nacogdoches the remnant of the 

 iron ore deposit is represented by fragments of iron sandstone two inches 

 thick, and fossiliferous orange loam, from which was taken a specimen con- 

 taining a cast of a large shell, Cardita .planicosta. It is probable from the 

 amount of iron present that the wavy laminated, or at least the buff crumbly, 

 iron ore existed locally, but is now disintegrated and forms the red soil of the 

 drift. 



In a gully on the roadside adjacent was seen a considerable number of 

 what appeared to have been very large nodules or geodes. They now form 

 a part of the bed of the gully, the upper portion of the geodes being worn 

 away by the water. 



At Simpson's Hill, four miles northwest of Melrose, the large deposit of 

 of deep red clay indicates the former presence of iron ore. One fragment 

 of iron pebble conglomerate was seen. A few miles north of this locality, on 

 same ridge apparently, was seen a portion of a bed of this material. 



About eight and one-fourth miles west of Nacogdoches, on the Douglass 

 road, the summit of the ridge has a stratum of iron pebble conglomerate 

 two and one-half feet thick. On the same ridge were observed detached iron 

 pebbles and iron gravel, some of which are magnetic, and a sample was col- 

 lected by means of a magnet. 



