316 ANNUAL REPORT 
conspicuously so of plant remains, for it is of these that the Clinton gas 
seems to have been formed. 
The same difficulty is met in attempting to explain the origin of the 
oil and gas in the Lower Carboniferous and Coal Measures. Take as an 
illustration the Berea grit. Dr. Orton says: “It is poor in fossils, but not 
entirely destitute of them. Fish remains are the mst conspicuous, but 
by far the rarest of the forms it contains. Plant impressions are also un- 
usual through most of the formations, but in northern Ohio there is a cer- 
tain part of the stratum in which they are quite abundant. They some- 
times accumulate in quantity, enough to be known as coal blossoms, the 
carbonaceous streaks that separate the sandstone beds varying in thick- 
ness from a line to a half inch.”+ This formation nearly always gives at 
least a show of oil or gas, and in places contains reservoirs of great im- 
portance. Lying beneath the Berea grit are the Bedford shales, having 
a thickness ranging from 50 to 150 feet, and according to Orton sparsely 
fossiliferous. Beneath these in turn are the great Ohio shales having a 
thickness in the eastern part of the state exceeding 2,500 feet, and being 
rich in organic matter. It is these that Newberry, Orton and others have 
regarded as the source of the oil and gas in the Berea and perhaps in the 
higher sands such as the Big Injun. But again the old question arises— 
how could oil and gas pass through the shales as was necessary before 
these products could reach the Berea or higher sand? 
The present condition of the Ohio shales themselves bears testimony 
against this theory. Along the shore of Lake Erie they outcrop, and the 
same is true in the central portion of the state, extending from near San- 
dusky to the Ohio river. This condition has existed for a long time, even 
as reckoned by geologists. If oil and gas can rise through these rocks, 
they would have reached the surface and been lost ages ago. As is well 
known, however, such has not been the case. Along the lake shore num- 
erous wells have been drilled and small supplies of both oil and gas have 
been found. A well drilled in 1895 at North Kingsville, Ashtabula county, 
gave the following results : 
Feet 
Soils See eh: hs peel aoe AY SN eae let weg Miame tenants neha Lae 9 
Gas SLOUMIMNGEA GR sick es ees cecaceee ahah ten RaoreEn ether gateae eer pened: 32 
Well Casedicat 2a Qinrea idee acc srek het eee re enn eoe tee Lee aerate 35) 
Gas supply for the boiler at ............ HAULER SY Ua enw RR ANAS 60 
Increased flows of gas were obtained at 76, 143, 161, 187, 221, 223, 
252, 298, 312, 317 and 320 feet. Several months after completion the 
flow of gas was measured and found to be over 37,000 cubic feet 
per day. A few miles farther south another well was drilled and 
with similar results. Gas was found at several horizons, ranging in 
1Geol. Sur. of Ohio, Vol. ViT., p. 29. 
2Ibid, Vol. VI., p. 428. 
