[[underlined]] 1892 [[/underlined]] 
[[underlined]] December 2. - continued [[/underlined]] 
Along the face of the cut where the second group of views was taken 
there occur many clay pellets of small size which seem to belong to two 
entirely different classes, viz. 1st Potomac clay rolled by wave action 
into symmetrical balls, as is common at Hawkins Point and on the 
James, these then buried in sand and permanently preserved, and 2d 
decomposed or softened rock pebbles, rounded as such and 
subsequently disintegrated by proximity to the moist surfaces in the 
same manner that most of the crystalline rock is disintegrated when 
near the surface. One specimen (see collection) was green and 
resembled some of the supposed Miocene pockets seen at Richmond, 
White House Bluff &c., but I do not think it is such. Others are red and of 
other colors. Some large angular block are similarly disintegrated. 
[[end page]] 
[[start page]] 
In the 16th Street cut the deepest furrows recently plowed near the top 
of the hill on the east side have turned up some light clays full of 
vegetable matter in the form of sticks and stems, possibly cycadaceaus 
leaves, but none were found that could be determined. Several 
specimens were collected, one branching. As this is below the coarse 
sand which was at first thought to form the approach to the underlying 
Archean, this is disproved, and the thickness of the disturbed material 
(Potomac?) is unknown. 
[[underlined]] December 4: [[/underlined]] 
Prof. Diller went with me to the Lanier Heights and Kansas Avenue 
exposures and I showed him the soft pebbles. He considers nearly all of 
them as decomposed rocks of older formations. Some of the larger clay 
balls he admits to be of Potomac origin. One of 
Local field note-book of Lester Ward 
Transcribed and Reviewed by Digital Volunteers 
Extracted Oct-11-2015 07:35:03 
Smithsonian Institution Transcription Center, Smithsonian Institution Archives 
