230 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Stone in the vicinity of Nashville, which are charac- 

 terised by orthoceratites, conotubulares, Bellerophon 

 triulcus, cocinopora, calamopora, spirifer, producti, and 

 terebratula ; and we doubt whether they exist at all in 

 the limestone which alternates with grauwacke, which is 

 found towards the east of this state. 



It will appear from our geognostic description of the 

 state of Tennessee, that the strata in the vicinity of Nash- 

 ville are covered with a series of strata composed of alum 

 slate, sandstone and limestone, which are lost under the 

 Cumberland mountains, where they are covered by the 

 coal strata ; they are analogous to the mountain limestone 

 of the English ; it is in the upper strata of that series, 

 the limestone of which has often an oolitic structure, that 

 the pentremites are found associated with stylines, ca- 

 tenopora, syringepora, &c., but particularly with a reti- 

 culated fossil, resembling the Gorgona antiqua of Goldfuss 

 as to its reticulated expansions, but differing much from 

 all the genera that have been described, as well as from 

 those of which I expect soon to prepare a description. 



The limestone which forms the base of the Cumber- 

 land mountains is particularly characterised by it. In 

 Alabama, in Mount Sano, they are found in a stratum of 

 limestone which lies immediately below the coal ; but in 

 some of the lower strata, where the limestone in some 

 places is oolitic in small grains, they become more abun- 

 dant, and particularly a few miles from where the coal 

 stratum crops out, and where the limestone is covered 

 with a stratum of sandstone abounding in the usual litho- 

 phites. Wherever the limestone which forms the base 

 of the Cumberland mountains assumes an oolitic struc- 

 ture we may expect to find the pentremites, but often 

 so intimately incorporated with the rock that it is with 

 difficulty we obtain specimens. The most interesting 

 localities are Mount Fletcher and Mount Sano in Ala- 

 bama ; near Jasper and Crab Orchard in Cumberland 



