No. 275. J 
28a 
that the duration of action was not so great. In one place the layers 
of this second deposit have been arranged under peculiar circumstances. 
The sand which forms its base has been worn so as to present an angu- 
lar elevation, upon which or against, the pebbles and sand of the second 
mass, to a certain height, are arranged in layers parallel to the two sides, 
but above that height, though the pebbles of the upper part continue to 
be parallel to one of the sides, it is an angle with the other side. A 
fact of some importance in practical geology, where rocks of the same 
composition are not parallel to each other. 
The upper surface of the second mass wgs likewise furrowed, or made 
uneven before the deposition of the upper or third alluvion. This con- 
tains the red earth from the destruction of the red shale, with rolled 
stones, great and small, and often to be observed from ten to twenty 
miles south of where we now find it in situ. 
Minerals. 
Besides those which have been mentioned in the body of this report, 
there are few others to be found, and those only in small quantities.-— 
Fluate of lime, in the gray sparry limestone, at the quarry of the New- 
York company at Auburn. 
The same mineral was likewise found in the w^ter lime series just 
below the above limestone, on the road from Cayuga bridge to Auburn. 
Sulphuret of lead from near Hamilton village. 
Sulphate of strontian, in the septaria of the black shaly slate above 
the Seneca limestone, and in a similar slate above the Tully limestone, 
from many localities. 
Petroleum. — This Mr. Hall and myself saw in the septaria above the 
Tully limestone, near Ogden's ferry on Cayuga lake. It was accom- 
panied, likewise, by a liquid substance of the colour of phosphate of 
iron, or Prussian blue, and by another substance like spermaceti before 
the oil is fully pressed out of it. It was composed of fine scales, had 
a yellowish white colour, was in small irregular masses, with the appear- 
ance of having been melted. Both of these two last substances are 
new. 
Serpentine of Syracuse, 
The green and trap like rocks observed near the top of the hill to the 
east of Syracuse, have been examined so far as time would admit. — 
They are all serpentines, more or less impure, and of various shades, of 
bottle green, black, gray, &c. They all produce sulphate of magnesia 
