ALLEGANY COUNTY. 
487 
of this mass appear to have been subjected to much wearing action, and many specimens 
exhibited numerous fragments of bones, apparently belonging to fish, and similar to those found 
in the red sandstone on the Tioga. 
This rock, examined here and several miles south, is succeeded by a mass consisting of green¬ 
ish grey sandstone, often appearing as if deposited from opposing currents, and in all respects 
resembling that succeeding the red sandstone on the Tioga. In examinations further south, I 
have not been able to discover the red sandstone, neither along the Allegany and its tributa¬ 
ries ; and I am informed by Mr. Horsford, that he saw nothing of it in his journey down that 
river as far as Warren, Pa., which brings us to the northern limits of the coal. 
The strata above the red rock at Wellsville, those on the Shenunda creek and towards the 
Pennsylvania line, contain no fossils. The mass greatly resembles that above the red sand¬ 
stone elsewhere ; and the great elevation of the points examined, considered with the differ¬ 
ence in altitude between this and the Tioga, may lead us to expect these rocks in place as far 
north. This sandstone is elsewhere associated with the conglomerate, occasional fragments 
and boulders of which are found in the elevated lands of Steuben, and the eastern part of 
Allegany. 
About three or four miles south of Wellsville, the side hill and valley east of the Genesee are 
strewed with masses of the same, consisting of small and large pebbles of white quatrz with 
coarse sand. From the great numbers of fragments, we would infer the rock to be in place 
near by, and in a former section this position was given to the conglomerate ; and though from 
careful investigation I am not able to find it in this vicinity, the position is undoubtedly correct; 
for it appears on the hills west of the Genesee, in Scio, and several other points. Its thick¬ 
ness, however, is not so great as I had supposed from its extending over so great a surface. 
In Scio, it is found on the high grounds near the sources of some small streams flowing into 
the Allegany and Genesee. For the most part the rock appears in large detached masses, 
being divided by the joints into rhombic blocks ; one of these measured forty-four by sixty 
feet, and fifteen feet in thickness. Approaching the rock in place, the masses are larger and 
closer together, being but slightly moved out of place, and the spaces between them diminish¬ 
ing from a distance of five or six feet to fissures of a few inches. The sides of the blocks 
appear water-worn, or deeply weathered ; and the upper surfaces slope in the direction of the 
hill, probably from the removal of the rock beneath. The mass seems to have contracted on 
desication ; and the joints, since enlarged by the percolation of water from above, form, within 
the rock, passages of greater or less extent, communicating with each other. This mass is 
composed of pebbles of crystalline quartz, white or rose-colored, from one to two inches in 
diameter, and generally elongated or egg-shaped. In the early settlement of the country, this 
rock was used for mill stones ; but in much the greater part the pebbles are too large, and it 
is too friable for this purpose: its use is now superseded. 
Previous to visiting this place, I was informed that a bed of coal two feet thick had been 
found beneath this conglomerate, and it was represented as having been used in the blacksmith’s 
forges. On further inquiry, I could not learn that such a bed was known ; the only person who 
