No. 50.] 
465 
it an attraction which is not possessed by the Cuba spring. Between 
the lower outcropping of this sandstone and the spring there are about 
twenty-five feet of bluish aluminous shales, of the same character as 
those on the Cattaraugus creek, above Zoar. Excavations in several 
places about the spring have been made, in the hope of finding coal, 
which have revealed the rocks in the vicinity, and furnished some evi- 
dence concerning the origin of the petroleum. In one of the holes, 
about a dozen yards from the spring, after digging fourteen feet, a 
thin hard stratum was struck upon, too firm to yield to the pick-axe 
and spade, which had been the only instruments used in throwing out 
the softer shale. A bar was then obtained, and the hard layer perfo- 
rated. The instant the hole was forced through, the pure, glossy, 
black petroleum, mingled with water, gushed up with great violence. 
In a short time the whole excavation was filled, and such was the quan- 
tity of pure oil upon the surface, that several gallons were carried away 
daily for a considerable time.* After this event, the issuing of oil at 
the old spring was lessened, and in process of time the passage to the 
source of the oil in the excavated spring became obstructed ; so that 
now the whole quantity is less than it was in the early settlement of the 
country. 
Carhuretted hydrogen is emitted at this spring in small quantities. 
It is observed to escape from almost all waters, either stagnant or running, 
in the county. It is seen bubbling up through the waters of most large 
springs. The only place where the quantity is sufficient to maintain a 
constant flame, is at the mouth of a small stream coming in to the Cat- 
taraugus, against the missionary house, about five miles above La 
Grange. 
Sulphur springs are occasionally met with. One upon the land of 
Judge Leavenworth, near Randolph, is pretty strongly charged. 
Several have been noticed issuing from the Cashaqua shales, at the 
bases of the cliffs upon the Cattaraugus creek and the South branch. 
Rocks. 
There is an obvious thinning out to the west, of some of the groups 
which were last year established in the section along the dividing hne 
* We are indebted to Mr. Roselle, the proprietor of the lands, for personal atten- 
tions, and the above information, 
[Assembly, No. 50.] 59 
