232 
DESCRIPTIVE MINERALOGY. 
Jefferson County. Near Watertown, a white and pulverulent form of carbonate of lime 
is found covering the sides of a cave. It is sometimes from six to twelve inches in thickness. 
There are also stalactites and stalagmites of large size. And it is not uncommon, in this 
county, to find the Chara fleccilis petrified, or partially changed into carbonate of lime. 
Herkimer County. In a former part of this work (page 157), I have noliced the remarka- 
able occurrence of tufa near the head of Otsquaga creek in the town of Stark. It may here 
be added, that on Frankfort creek, above the upper furnace, there is a similar deposit, in hard 
or tough, though thin, layers. Mr. Vanuxem states that it yields the whitest lime which he 
has seen in the State.* The lime is sent to Utica. Other localities of the concreted carbo¬ 
nate of lime occur in various parts of the county. 
Livingston County. An interesting deposit of tufa, found near Caledonia, has already 
been described (see page 158). There are also valuable beds of marl. Similar localities are 
found in Madison County (see pages 85 and 158). To the remarks there made, it may be 
added, that the space to the south side of the village of Canastota, comprising the low grounds 
between the hills and the rise to the canal, seems to be entirely covered by lake marl and tufa. 
About a mile west of Chittenango, there is a deposit of calcareous tufa stained with oxide of 
iron. Attempts have been made to use it as an ore of iron, but without success.! 
Monroe County. Stalactites of carbonate of lime, usually, however, of small size, are 
common on the under surfaces of the layers of limestone which form the banks of the Genesee 
river, near Rochester. Large masses of calcareous tufa are also found here, which exhibit 
almost all the forms and appearances elsewhere observed. 
Montgomery County. Stalactites and stalagmites abound in Mitchell’s cave, in the town 
of Root. 
Niagara County. Tufa is found in many parts of this county, especially along the northern 
slope of the mountain ridge. At Niagara falls, calcareous incrustations are very common, 
and they assume every variety of imitative form, investing moss and other vegetables. 
Onondaga County. On the track of the Auburn and Syracuse railroad, near the village of 
Camillus, deposits of carbonate of lime of various kinds are found in abundance. Some of 
them are in the cavities of the rock, and have a crystalline form ; in other cases, they consist 
of incrustations resembling stalagmites (see Fibrous limestone, page 230). 
Large masses of calcareous tufa are found in the low grounds on the Split-rock railroad, 
about a mile from Syracuse. 
An immense deposit of tufa covers the side of the hill, and the road leading from Tully 
corners to Syracuse, on the west side of the Onondaga valley. It must be of great thickness ; 
for neither the road which is cut into it, nor the ravines which pass through the tufa, reach 
the bottom. Lower down in the same valley, at about fourteen miles south of Syracuse, 
there is another deposit, but it is of limited extent when compared with the preceding one.! 
The depression in which the Messina spring is situated, is underlaid by tufa. This spring 
New-York Geological Reports, 1838. 
t Ibid. 1839. 
t Ibid. 
