REPORT OF THE STATE PALEONTOLOGIST 1899 G77 



Dr Ruedemann has prepared the following statement of his 

 work: 



A large amount of graptolite-bearing shales w T as at the begin- 

 ning of June collected at Mt Moreno near Hudson. The fauna 

 is nearly related to that made known by Prof. Hall from Norman- 

 skill. The latter locality is, however, concealed while the ma- 

 terial from Mt Moreno not only contains several new forms and 

 many forms not observed at Normanskill, but also the Norman- 

 skill graptolites in such a good state of preservation that the true 

 character of forms left in doubt by the Normanskill material, 

 such as Lasiograptus, can be elucidated and certain doubt- 

 ful features, as the appendages of Diplograptus whit- 

 f i e 1 d i, described as " gonangia," can be studied to greater ad- 

 vantage. 



The finding of this fauna suggested a new inquiry into the age 

 of these shales regarding which widely differing opinions are held 

 by paleontologists. With a view to gathering new information 

 on this problem, the writer has begun to visit all outcrops of 

 shales in the region along the Hudson river where this shale 

 occurs. The outcrops along the Normanskill and its branches 

 have been studied as far as French's mills and graptolites and 

 other fossils found in several localities. The graptolites in the 

 quarry in the Rural cemetery near Albany have been collected and 

 the outcrops around. Cohoes, Waterford, Lansingburg and Troy 

 have been visited. The study of the faunas of these different 

 localities will allow a conclusion, it is hoped, as to the age of the 

 shales in question. It will be further necessary to investigate the 

 stratigraphic relation of the Normanskill shales to the so-called 

 " Hudson river shales " of the Mohawk valley along the creeks 

 emptying into the Hudson river from the west, notably along the 

 Coeymanskill, the Vlaumanskill and the lower Mohawk river. 



Oriskany section at Kingston. Gilbert Van Tngen, of Columbia 

 university, accompanied by Dr Ruedemann, has made a careful and 

 very detailed record of the succession of the strata from the top 

 of the Helderbergian formation through the Oriskany in the 

 vicinity of Kingston and Rondout. This work has an important 

 bearing on investigations pertaining to the line of divison between 

 the Siluric and Devonic systems and has also resulted in the 

 acquisition of a large number of superior specimens of Oriskany 

 fossils, comparable to the celebrated fossils of this age at Cumber- 

 land (Md.) 



