44 



Economical Geology. 



stated in respect to anthracite, will justify the opinion, that even if 

 the rocks under consideration, are new red sandstone, bituminous 

 coal may exist in it, in sufficient quantities to be worth exploring ; 

 although in Europe it occurs in such rocks only in thin seams. Cer- 

 tainly the coal found at South Hadley was of a superior quality. 



If, as I suppose, the rock under consideration be the new red 

 sandstone, there is another fact that ought to be recollected, viz. that 

 this rock, in other parts of the world, is associated with rock salt, 

 salt springs, and gypsum. No trace of rock salt has been found in 

 the Connecticut valley ; and as yet only a small quantity of gypsum 

 has been discovered. Professor Silliman found a little of this mine- 

 ral in the greenstone, associated with the sandstone in Deerfield, and 

 Mr, Davis, Principal of the academy in Westfield, found the same in 

 thin scales, between the layers of the shale, connected with the sand- 

 stone, on the banks of Westfield river in West Springfield. I found 

 a little of it also in the shale at South Hadley canal. These facts 

 are sufficient encouragement for the research after gypsum. And 

 when we recollect that on account of the softness of this mineral, it is 

 liable to be deeply worn away at the surface, we should by no means 

 despair of its existence in the valley of the Connecticut. I have 

 compared a collection of specimens from the new red sandstone, that 

 contains the gypsum of Nova Scotia, with the rocks of the Connecti- 

 cut valley, and they can hardly be distinguished from each other. 



As to anthracite coal, it seems to occupy a wider range among the 

 rocks, than genuine bituminous coal. Generally, however, the for- 

 mer occurs lower down in the rocks — that is in older rocks — than 

 the latter. Sometimes it is found in what are called transition rocks : 

 and sometimes in the primitive. In this country it is found in both 

 these classes of rocks. We have in the United States, at least three 

 extensive deposits of anthracite : the largest is in Pennsylvania ; the 

 next largest in Rhode Island ; and the smallest in Worcester. I have 

 examined them all, and have come to the conclusion, that all the rocks 

 containing this coal, are at least, as low down in the series as the tran- 

 sition class : *iand I am rather of the opinion, that they all lie below 

 the Independent coal formation of Europe ; I mean on the scale of 

 rocks. I suspect that the Pennsylvania anthracite occurs in the 

 higher beds of the graywacke, perhaps even in the millstone grit, and 

 the Rhode Island anthracite, in the lower beds of graywacke.' There 

 is no geological connection between the Rhode Island and Worces- 

 ter coal, as Dr. Meade and others have supposed. By inspecting 



