ERIE COUNTY. 195. 
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 
The mineral staples of Erie county consist of— 
Ist. Building Stone.—No portion of the State is more abundantly sup- 
plied with excellent building materials than that immediately about 
Sandusky. The Amherst sandstone, which is known, and I can almost 
say used, all over the United States, reaches into Erie county, and, though 
not yet quarried there to any considerable extent, may perhaps become 
hereafter an important contributor to the wealth of the inhabitants. 
The Sandusky limestone is also highly prized as a building material, 
and its capability of supplying suitable stone for large and handsome 
structures is illustrated in the splendid high school building and vari- 
ous other edifices at Sandusky, as well as churches, stores, and residences 
at Toledo, Cleveland, etc. 
The quarries of the Corniferous at Marblehead and Kelly’s Island 
are in Ottawa county, but the strata worked there underlie all of Erie 
county, and may be reached at various points with little trouble. The 
same beds of the Corniferous furnish quick-lime not inferior in quality 
to any manufactured in the State, so that lime may be specified as one 
of the important mineral staples of the county. 
For certain purposes a carbonate of lime is required purer than that 
furnished by the Corniferous limestone. This may be supplied in abun- 
dance by the travertine from Castalia Springs, of which I give two 
analyses made by my assistant in the School of Mines, Mr. G. L. Baxter: 
il, De 
SST BIER nn 6000080608 GoSGCO UBS COBO OIE: AUT EOC O UE RCREE RACE RIEC Ener pra murer rad 0.075 110 
UlplNabenotmloamyAecatssersdcccsss sevesecs sdcess cock sc atescedeleeelvcnes DOORN nibs ceees 
PANCAICMITT ASAT CPIR@ IMR saan ere cea dtes seeeubeless Sewes si cowasiocsevasceejsewses .362 102 
Aroma teKo imines es sc seee cecesUhosiced case vieceewseseeeedseess bo DCAD 92.410 
zt INNER CST Aes tessa shvsnesssise) seeds vauis/eaasascssiesecaa'sns axe 1.48] 2.853 
AWiaiterrcnl bl OSRintsenccncciee ee cee sc cones ccreotiisdcse esaceses soceceesueceses: ., conseenies 4,525 
RG tell reerere re eence scsadtel coves ove tosses seeisoss'sad soidessbarseeyes 100.00 100.00 
2d. Oz Shales—The carbonaceous matter contained in the Huron 
shale is equivalent in heating power to that of a thick seam of coal, but 
up to the present time we have not discovered any mode of making that 
source of power available except by distilling oil or gas from it. Both 
these useful substances are constantly being evolved from this great car- 
bonaceous mass by spontaneous distillation, and it is possible that they 
may be hereafter, when the supply of petroleum from wells has failed, 
artificially generated from this source so cheaply as to pay a profit to the. 
manufacturer. It is also worth remembering that further east along the 
Lake shore, as at Erie, Pennsylvania, and Fredonia, New York, the spon-: 
