GYPSUM. 



349 



and Nova Scotia, where more than twenty exten- 

 sive quarries are worked, and the material exported 

 to Boston, New-York, and other places. In the 

 State of New- York, gypsum is abundant, particu- 

 larly in Onondaga and Madison counties, and in the 

 vicinity of Cayuga Lake, whence several thousand 

 tons are annually exported to Pennsylvania. The 

 gypsum of New-York is often connected with com- 

 pact limestone and calcareous sandstone, and al 

 Manlius it alternates with an argillaceous slaty 

 rock ; at the Helderberg it is connected with cal- 

 careous sandstone. Indeed, gypsum-beds extend 

 on both sides of the Erie Canal, along the southern 

 part of Wayne county, but generally too low for 

 profitable exploration. At Clyde, it lies 25 feet be- 

 low the surface ; at Lyons, 40 feet ; at Palmyra, 

 the same. Near Newark, a reddish variety, con- 

 sisting of large, round, and irregular masses, is quar- 

 ried which sells for from $2 50 to $3 per ton. 

 That which is transparent is called isinglass plaster, 

 and, though often rejected as useiesss, is the most 

 valuable kind of all. A stratum of gypsum ex- 

 tends also across the southern part of Monroe 

 county, occupying all that portion south of Black 

 Creek, and between it and Allen's Creek. In the 

 town of Wheatland, about 5000 tons are annually 

 obtained, part of which is used on the land in the 

 county. 



The gypsum of New- York is contained in the 

 calciferous slate of Eaton, which, by consulting our 

 table of equivalent formations, will be found very 

 low down among our rocks, indeed, next to the 

 graywacke slate of Hudson River. In excavating 

 for the Syracuse railroad, about 40,000 tons of gyp- 

 sum were thrown out between Camillus and Au- 

 burn, estimated to be worth $35,000. Indeed, the 

 gypsum is exposed at various points in the excava- 

 tions for the distance of five or six miles. In the 



