in the salt vats where solar evaporation takes place. In 
such vats we first find a deposit of oxide of iron, impart- 
ing a reddish tint to everything with which it comes in con- 
tact. The next deposit is gypsum; and lastly, we have 
common salt, the magnesium and calcium chlorides re- 
maining in solution. In the Salina Period we have the 
same state of affairs. First, the Red Shales, colored with 
iron; second, the beds of gypsum; third, the argillaceous 
shales with their hopper-shaped pseudomorphs; while 
above the whole we find the vermicular limestones with 
their somewhat doubtful traces of the salts of magnesia. 
To this period more than to any other, the city of 
Syracuse is greatly indebted. In the early history of our 
city, it was the salt found here that gave to Syracuse its 
remarkable growth, and even at the present time it forms 
no small part of our wealth. One company, the Solvay 
Process, uses enormous quantities of salt water in the 
manufacture of soda and potash, and furnishes employ- 
ment to 1,500 men. Although the city no longer depends 
on its trade in salt for its wealth and position, neverthe- 
less the salt industry is still successfully carried on, and 
Syracuse will, no doubt, always be known as the ‘‘ City of 
Salt.” 
In some places a few fossils are found in the upper 
layers of this group. Only one, however, a lederdiiza, is 
known to occur in our county. 
LOWER HELDERBERG PERIOD. 
In our ramblings over the Upper Group of the Salina, 
Period we have gradually ascended a rising slope, and are 
now beginning to find ourselves among the low hills of 
our county, while a little farther to the south they rise 
still higher, and in the distance seem to uphold the very 
skies. 
18 
