328 The Cincinnati Rocks. — Perry. 
it mil}' be said : 1st, that there are many reasons for believ- 
ing that the Cincinnati rocks grew upon the floor of a deep 
sea* far below the action of surface waves ; and 2nd, that the 
limestone layers alone^ being thus shaped, is sufficient to set 
aside the explanation. 
"If these inequalities of surface are due to wave action of 
any sort, it is impossible to see why the action should be 
limited entirely to the finest limestone beds* of the series while 
the soft shales which could so easily register* any movement 
of the waters neref^ exhibit the slightest indication of such 
agencies. 
•'While both of these modes of accounting for the facts are 
rejected as entirely untrustworthy, nothing in the way of 
explanation will be offered here, but the suggestion that the 
facts seem to point to a concretionary action as the force to 
which we must look." 
I have quoted Prof. Orton thus fully to show the opinion 
prevailing, as well as his own, at the time the report was pub- 
lished (1878) — opinions evidently formed under the impres- 
sion that limestones must be of deep-sea origin. 
Dr. Newberry, however, with that keen sagacity in the inter- 
pretation of geological phenomena for which he is so widely 
known, differed most radically from the generally accepted 
views.'-' "The earthy limestones of the Hudson period indicate 
a shallowing and retreating sea — an approach to land condi- 
tions, and the completion of one cycle of deposition." 
Interspersed among the strata are found, besides those com- 
posed of fine-grained compact limestones, others that are 
made up almost entirely of fossil remains — sometimes fairly 
cemented together, at others scarcely at all, so that on the 
slightest exposure to the weather they disintegrate and crum- 
ble apart. In such strata an unbroken or nearly perfect fos- 
sil is rarely found. In other places strata of considerable 
tl;ickness are found, largely composed of the valves of 
Strophomena, etc., lying up against each other at an angle to 
the plane of stratification and almost devoid of cementing 
material. There are still others, usually of an earthy charac- 
ter, that arc full of peculiar markings that have been variously 
* Italics are mine. — N. W. P. , 
■" Italics are mine and will be reforied to further on. 
- (ieolojiical survey of Ohio, vol. i, p. 01. 
