ORISKANY SANDSTONE. 
125 
With due diligence, some trace of this sandstone might have been discovered at Cherry- 
Valley, where the Helderberg series is so complete. 
The first place where this sandstone was seen at the east end of the district, was at Grout’s 
quarry in the town of Springfield, on the road to Cooperstown. In removing the alluvial 
from the top of the Onondaga limestone which forms the rock of the quarry, a few large 
masses of the sandstone were thrown out, of about a foot in thickness. This is one of the 
innumerable instances, along the line of that whole section, of fragments of lower rocks 
being found above their own level, and to which attention will be drawn in the subsequent 
part of the report. 
The fossils in this upraised mass, and which cannot be far from its natal place, consist of 
the Arenaceous delthyris, Elongated atrypa, and an atrypa yet unnamed. It has also some 
of the Smooth atrypa which belongs to the rock just under it, being the only part of the dis¬ 
trict where this fossil was seen in the sandstone ; the presence, probably, of a small admix¬ 
ture of limestone may have enabled it to resist a little longer the cause which put an end to 
the race further west. 
The first place going west where the sandstone was seen in situ , was at the north of Ho¬ 
race Eastman’s limestone quarry, on the road from Paris-hill to Waterville. It lies imme¬ 
diately under the Onondaga limestone. It is impure, yellowish and ferruginous, containing 
numerous accretions of globuliform black sandstone. These accretions commenced from a 
centre, for the color and cohesion diminish towards the circumference ; the cement appears 
to be a mixture of oxides of manganese and iron. It greatly resembles portions of this 
sandstone, as it exists in the Helderberg near the village of Salem. 
At Oriskany falls, to the north of the village, the sandstone is exposed for some distance, 
forming a ledge or mass about twenty feet thick, divided into two and three layers. It is of 
a light yellow color, friable in some places, and readily crumbling into sand which is free 
from impurities. No part of it is sufficiently solid for durable work. Its place there is, how¬ 
ever, well supplied by the thick body of limestone which lies below it, though none of its 
layers will compare in thickness with those of the sandstone. 
Fossils, or rather their cavities, the shelly parts being generally removed, are very nume¬ 
rous in the lower part of the mass, but none whatever in the middle or upper part. The 
most common are the Arenaceous delthyris, Elongated atrypa, Unguiform atrypa, etc. 
There is also an avicula, which probably is different from the gebhardi. 
This sandstone was used in the glass-houses at Vernon, when they were in operation. 
The sandstone rests upon the same limestone as at the Helderberg. The Smooth atrypa 
(A. laevis), which is one of the common fossils of the Catskill shaly limestone, is numerous 
in parts near the surface of the limestone, as was remarked when treating of that rock. 
The edge of the sandstone is exposed on the farm of Mr. Vannep, about three-quarters of a 
mile northeast of Perryville. It lies immediately below the Onondaga limestone, which forms 
a terrace extending to the village. The sandstone is of a dark grey color, blackish and red, 
some of it having the appearance of jasper, owing to red oxide of iron, of which an abun- 
