282 
[Assembly 
iron, and that a spring which formerly deposited iron, when its waters 
were in connection with those which flowed from the soil, now deposits 
none, its waters being separated from those derived from the soil. It is 
rare to find tufa, or lake marl, not covered with black vegetable matter, 
or muck, and there are many similar deposits of this kind of ore in the 
Third District, north of tlie gypseous hills. 
This ore is not in sufficient quantity to be an object of utility, espe- 
cially as all the red oxide of the district, the only abundant ore, is too 
calcareous for a like mixture; but were the argillaceous ores abundant, 
the tufaceous ore then would be of value, furnishing not only a flux but 
metal also. 
Another locality of the tufaceous ore is on Nine Mile creek, between 
Marcellus and the great embankment of the Syracuse and Auburn rail- 
road. 
Clays abound in the Third District, usually in low situations, being 
the deposit of tranquil waters, whilst sand, gravel and other products of 
alluvions are thrown into hills and ridges. 
The clays are either of a lead or of a yellow colour, well suited for 
bricks and the coarser kmds of pottery, though there are some, if not 
too calcareous, which may answer for finer kinds. Either there is but 
little iron in the clays of the Third District, or the quantity of carbo- 
naceous matter destroys the red colour of the iron, the bricks in general 
being of a light, and not of a full red colour. Clays are exceedingly 
abundant in the low grounds north of the Erie canal, and in the south- 
ern parts of Cayuga, Onondaga and Madison. 
Alluvions. 
Besides the clay deposits of the low grounds, &c. there are three 
other depositions of alluvion as to age and composition. They are but 
seen in the hills, and to more advantage in the village of Chittenango 
than elsewhere. The lowest mass is a light coloured sand, in parts in- 
durated, and in layers, with a slight inclination to the north, as though 
the sand had been thrown up from that direction. The upper surface 
has been furrowed before the deposition of the next mass^ which con- 
sists of rolled stones, black sand, &c. The stones are gray and red 
sandstone, limestone and pebbles of primary rock, none of them pre- 
sent the flat disk-like form common to the stcmes of the shores of Lake 
Erie and Ontario, and from that fact it would seem that the waters 
which caused their form, were different from those of a lake beach, or 
