CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 
293 
From its relative position to the coal and the lower rocks, I had inferred that it was the 
equivalent of the Millstone grit of England. The presence of the great limestone formation 
beneath it at the west, still further sustains this opinion; but since we know perfectly well 
its relations to our own rocks, both above and below it, its identity to, or difference from, 
foreign rocks, is of less consequence. 
The section, Plate 13, illustrates the relative position of this rock and its associated strata, 
both as regards the eastern and western coal-fields. The series, throughout the Fourth Dis¬ 
trict, is so little disturbed that there is not the most remote possibility of a coal bed being 
found in any depression or fault of the strata, and vague surmises and useless explorations for 
this mineral will doubtless soon cease. 
Since it is well ascertained that coal of the true coal formation does not exist within the 
limits of the State of New-York, it may be well to state here, for the benefit of my readers, 
the position in which this mineral has been sought. The dark shales and shaly sandstones 
of the Hudson river group and the Utica slate, are the lowest positions which have been ex¬ 
plored for this mineral. Along the Hudson river, as already stated in the annual reports of the 
First District, there have been immense amounts expended in search of coal. In the Fourth 
District, the lowest rock in which it has been sought to any extent is the Marcellus shale, 
and above this the Genesee slate, and various parts of the Portage and Chemung groups, 
particularly where the slate is black and highly bituminous. Thin seams of coal do some¬ 
times occur in these situations, but they rarely extend beyond a few feet, and are usually less 
than an inch in thickness. 
These seams or strings of coal are not indications of its existence in larger beds ; and the 
lithological character of the strata, though ever so similar to that about coal mines, cannot 
alone be relied upon. In all situations where coal beds occur, the shales and shaly sand¬ 
stones contain the remains of land plants, like ferns, often in great abundance; and the 
absence of these in strata, with the occurrence of certain marine fossils, may be looked upon 
generally as conclusive evidence of the absence of coal. The organic remains of these 
strata thus become of the utmost importance in identifying their position; and those forms 
previously figured as marking rocks below the coal, will always be found in the neighborhood 
of any excavations made in the rocks of the Fourth District. This negative knowledge of 
the absence of coal in the State is of the utmost importance; for although it may not enrich 
the possessor as much as a coal mine, it will still enable him to avoid a useless and wasteful 
expenditure in search of that mineral. 
The reasoning, or rather assumption, with which my arguments and facts are often met, 
particularly in the southern counties, is, “ Why may we not as well have coal in our lulls, 
as they have in Pennsylvania V 7 “ I am sure there must be coal, or some mineral, in these 
hills, for they are good for nothing else.” The reasons why coal does not exist in these 
hills, is already shown to be because they hold a lower position than any rocks which contain 
coal in workable seams. That these hills are fit for nothing else, I beg to dissent; for by 
proper treatment in their cultivation, and the use of means within the reach of every farmer, 
