CORNIFEROUS LIMESTONE. 
169 
ment, in the form of numerous copious springs, which are among the most prominent, as they 
are often the most interesting and refreshing feature to the toil-worn geologist, as well as to 
the inhabitants of the place. The upper part of this outcropping edge often presents the most 
dry, barren, and uninviting appearance; while a few feet below, the surface is fresh and 
green, the soil moist, and little springs gushing out at every step. 
The process by which these springs are produced, will be understood by the following 
diagram : 
66 - 
The water passes down through the fissures a , a, to the impervious stratum c, where it ac¬ 
cumulates till of sufficient height to flow over its northern edge at e, forming springs which 
are constantly supplied from the inexhaustible fountain in the fissures and cavities of the 
limestone. The water often accumulates in these fissures to a considerable height above the 
spring, particularly where the face of the cliff A is deeply covered with drift. 
On the land of Mr. Stevens in the town of Clarence, Erie county, there is a broad fissure 
by which one can descend to a cavernous opening below. This in the spring, or during rainy 
seasons, is filled to within a few feet of the surface with water, which during the dry season 
of summer gradually subsides, as the discharge by the springs is greater than the supply from 
the surface. During the winter and spring, from the rains and dissolving snows, these fissures 
become quite filled, and frequently the water rises above the surface, forming little ponds in 
depressions half a mile south of the outcrop, in the position of a, a. At these seasons a greater 
quantity flows out by the springs and other openings on the north than usual, and the equili¬ 
brium is soon restored. 
Where the soil is thin above the limestone, the course of these joints is indicated during the 
dry season by the freshness of the grass and herbage growing along their direction. The 
evaporation of the water below moistens the soil covering the joints, and consequently it 
retains the same freshness as where moistened from above, while the surrounding portions 
become dry and parched. Where the rock is thin and more deeply covered with soil, these 
features are not discernable. 
In several instances streams flowing over this rock disappear in the fissures, and afterwards 
reappear at some more northerly point. Allen’s creek, at Le Roy, disappears in this manner 
a little north of the village, so that in summer and autumn the bed is entirely dry below. 
After thus disappearing, it evidently takes some other course, for it does not appear in the 
same channel below the falls for some distance. It is a favorite belief with many that this 
[Geol. 4th Dist.J 22 
