EASTERN AND SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 
143 
which last it has very generaUy been considered. What relation beds » h ” and “ c ” 
of the Claiborne Bluff hold to the sub-Claibornian (“ Buhrstone ” in part) deposits of 
the Tombighee River has not yet been absolutely determined ; but there can be no 
legitimate doubt that they represent, in a modified form, the upper moiety of those 
deposits. Although the marked difference in the lithological character of the strata 
of the two localities as compared with each other (and, indeed, it must be confessed, 
this is much greater than coidd have been reasonably inferred from the general con- 
stancy of the deposits in this region) would seem to militate against such a view, there 
is, nevertheless, sufficient evidence, both stratigraphical and paleontological, to support 
this conclusion. In the first place, by determining the position of the buhrstone rock 
near St. Stephen’s as immediately underlying the highly fossiliferoiis greensand lay^, 
Tuomey has proved that the two series of deposits (the “Buhrstone” on the fombig- 
bee, and bed “c” on the Alabama) hold relatively the same position to the true 
Claibornian, lying immediately below it. In the second place, the argillaceous strata 
at the base of Claiborne Bluff (bed “4” of Hale’s series) have been identified by 
Hale, both on lithological and paleontological evidence (A. J. Science, new ser., vi, p. 
356), as occurring at Coffeeville Landing on the Tombigbee River, about fourteen 
miles north of St. Stephen’s, what might very readily have been expected from an 
inspection of the general lay of the different formations.* No data are given relative 
to the position of the “ Buhrstone ” at this last locahty, but hypotheticaUy considered 
(as deduced from its position at White Bluff, and its general dip), its summit must 
still occupy a position fully 100 feet above the level of the river; and this ffiickness 
(100 feet) coincides very closely with the thickness (80-90 feet) of the deposits below 
the true Claibornian (bed “ i”) as exposed in the bluff on the Alabama River. And 
finally, that at least a very considerable portion of the inferior beds at this last-named 
locality represent strata of a different lithological character in other portions of the 
State-and consequently, that they are local deposits-is proved by the concurrent 
statements of Hale {loc. cit, p. 356) and Winchell {loc. cii., p. 86), both of whom 
assert that the calcareous deposit below the arenaceous bed (not the “ White Lime- 
stone ”) is not known to occur at any other locality. 
From the data here presented, it will be seen that the Alabama Eocene formation 
comprises : 
4. “ White Limestone ” (Jacksonian), best exhibited at Claiborne (upper portion of 
bluff) and St. Stephen’s (lower moiety of bluff), not very abundant in fossils-- 
Pecten memhrartosus, P. Poulsmi, Ostrea panda, Spondylm dumosus, ScideUa^’ 
Lyelli, etc. — 50 — 1 feet. 
* A line uniting Claiborne and Coffeeville Landing would run almost precisely parallel with the line 
the junction of the Cretaceous and Tertiary deposits lying hence due north. The contour ^ 
would indicate a true dip west of the .southerly line, and that this is actirally the case ,s 
(80-90 feet) between the actual heights at which the equivalent betls at St. Stephen s and hnnf strata 
kis also agrees with Hilgard’s observations in Mississippi, where the dip of the Jackin and Vicksburg straU 
was found to be about 10 to 12 feet per mile S. by W. (A. J. Science, new ser., xUu, p. Sb). 
