ARY wrr Of DRNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Gl FT OF ...... JuJ!e Ctes ayyi v *v ' OF^HE I UNIVER31T <3f \OKTH Shift in U,f Stocks \\ ''filfi I'oot /'rinls | / //*Su*. (itothroc -ffeautys / s&t&& tf ! _ j**"* Secret Entrance of //# ^MomLrnen^. Mminiain /7,f Ft. hitjh. over which WaUa&'s Grand Vomt M Ft . fivni top o / ^MLafTi-j* anfi 24., PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT, NOW STATE GEOLOGIST. ALSO, REPORTS ON THE ANALYSIS OF THE SOILS, BY R. PETER, M D,, CHEMIST; SURVEY OF THE COAL FIELDS, BY LEO LESQUEREUX, FOSSIL BOTANIST, AND TOPOGRAPHICAL WORK, BY JOSEPH LESLEY, TOPOGRAPHICAL GEOLOGIST. OF THE UNIVERSITY OF .____ PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE INDIANA LEGISLATURE. ISTDIANAPLOIS: CO., BO 1862. UMtARf .*' TABLE OF CONTENTS, PAGE. Prefatory Letter vii Introduction Objects of the Survey ix REPORT OF RICHARD OWEN. CHAPTER I. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS 3 Laws governing geological investigations 4 Palaeontology our chief guide in determining the relation of strata 7 Comparative anatomy the basis of Palaeontology 8 On the question, whether superposed strata exhibit a succession of fossilized beings, apparently more highly organized in recent than in older deposits .... 9 Tabular view of the Aqueous Rocks 14 Conspectus of the Igneous Rocks 16 Geographical distribution of formations over the world 18 Geographical distribution of formations in Indiana 23 CHAPTER II. DETAILS OF COUNTIES 27 SEC. 1. Counties in the Lower Silurian Formation 30 Sub-Section 1. General description of the formation 30 Sub-Section 2. The resulting soil; its analysis, adaptation. &c 31 Sub-Section 3. Rock quarries 33 Sub-Section 4. Metallic ores, &c 35 Sub-Section 5. Growth of timber and other predominant vegetation ,. 36 Sub-Section 6. Mineral springs, Artesian wells, &c 37 Sub-Section 7. Miscellaneous facts, as the prevalence of milk- sickness, potato rot, &c 38 Sub-Section 8. Characteristic fossils 39 A. Radiates 39 B. Mollusks ; 39 C. Articulates 40 D. Vertebrates 40 Sub-Section 9. A more detailed description of each county in this formation 40 Wayne county 40 Union county 44 100137 IV GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE PAGE. Fayette county ,. 45 Franklin county 49 Dearborn county 50 Ripley county , 52 Ohio county 53 Switzerland county 55 SEC. 2. Counties in the Upper Silurian Formation 57 Sub-Section 1. General description 57 Sub-Section 2. Soil, &c , 58 Sub-Section 3. Rock quarries 59 Sub-Section 4. Metallic ores 60 Sub-Section 5. Timber and predominant vegetation 60 Sub-Section C.^Springs 61 Sub-Section 7. Miscellaneous facts 61 Sub-Section 8. Characteristic fossils 62 A. Radiates 62 B. Mollusks 62 C. Articulates , 63 D. Vertebrates 63 Sub-Section 9. A more detailed description of each county 63 Adams and Wells counties 63 Huntington county ... . 66 Wabash county 67 Miami county 72 Jay and Blackford counties 74 Grant and Howard counties 75 Delaware county 76 Madison county 77 Randolph county 80 Henry and Hancock counties 82 Rush county 85 Decatur county 86 Jennings county 88 Jefferson county 88 SEC. 3. Counties in the Devonian System 92 Sub-Section 1. General description 92 Sub-Section 2. Soil, &c 93 Sub-Section 3. Rock quarries 93 Sub-Section 4. Metallic ores 93 Sub-Section 5. Timber and predominant vegetation 93 Sub-Section 6. Springs 93 Sub-Section 7. Miscellaneous facts 94 Sub-Section 8. Characteristic fossils , 94 A. Radiates 94 B. Mollusks 95 C. Articulates 95 D. Vertebrates... 95 OP INDIANA. PAGE. Sub-Section 9. A more detailed description of each county 95 Cass county 95 Carroll county 97 Tipton and Hamilton counties 101 Shelby county 103 Bartholomew county 104 Jackson and Scott counties 104 Clarke county 106 S EC> 41. Counties in the Sub-Carboniferous Sandstone formation 108 Sub-Sections 1 to 9 108 Tippecanoe county Ill Clinton and Bootie 113 Marion county 114 Hendricks and Johnson counties 11G Morgan and Brown counties 117 Washington and Floyd counties 120 SEC. 4 a . Counties in the Sub-Carboniferous limestone 124 Sub-Sections 1 to 9 124 Montgomery county 132 Putnam county 134 Monroe county 135 La ence county 137 Orange and Harrison counties 140, 146 Crawford county 149 SCE. 4 s . Counties in the Coal Measures 100 Sub-Sections 1 to 9 160 Warren county 163 Fountain and Parke counties 165 Vermillion and Clay counties 167 Vigo and Owen counties 170 Greene and Sullivan counties 171 Martin and Daviess counties 173 Knox and Dubois counties 178 Pike and Gibson counties 180 Perry and Spencer counties 181 Warrick and Vanderburgh counties 189 Posey county 190 SEC. 5. Counties in the Drift or Quaternary formation 192 Sub-Sections 1 to 9 192 Steuben, LaGrange and Elkhart counties 198 St. Joseph and LaPorte counties 199 Porter and Lake counties 204 DeKulb and Noble... 207 Kosciusko, Marshall and Starke counties 208 Jasper and Newton, 211 Allen and Whitley counties 214 Fulton and Pulaski counties 217 White and Benton counties 218 VI GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE PAGE. CHAPTER III. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. SEC. 1. Water sheds and plateaus 223 SEC. 2. Valleys and hydrographic basins, including prairies, sand plains, lakes, &c 228 Remarks on miscellaneous subjects connected with the survey 240 DR. PETER'S REPORT. Remarks on Agricultural Chemistry 245 Chemical analysis of Indiana soils 249 SEC. 1. Soils from the Lower Silurian formation r. ... 249 SEC. 2. Soils from the Upper Silurian formation 252 SEC. 3. Soils from the Devonian formation 255 SEC. 4. Soils from the Sub-Carboniferous formation 258 SEC. 5. Soils from the Coal Measures group 259 g ECi 6. Soils from the Quaternary formation 263 Tabular views of soils analyzed 266 REPORT OF PROF. LESQUEREUX. Introductory remarks 273 Directions for searching for coal 275 Quality of the coal and its value 279 Geological horizon of the coal strata of Indiana 291 Connected section of Coal Measures 299 Conclusions , .... 341 Report of Mr. J. Lesley, Topographical Geologist 343 Appendix Tabular views, &c., useful for reference 347 PREFATORY LETTER. To the Members of the State Board of Agriculture, Indianapolis, Indiana : GENTLEMEN : The Legislature of Indiana having, on your recom- mendation, passed an act for a Geological Reconnoissance of, the State, approved March 5,1859, which should "prepare the way for a more full and systematic system herafter," and having appropriated $5,000 " for the present purpose of making the geological reconnoissance, collec- tions and analysis of specimens of minerals, ores, earths and stones," placed the whole under your control. Your Board, in accordance with the above act, secured the services of my lamented brother, late State Geologist of Kentucky and Arkansas, as well as of this State, to super- intend the work. He accepted with hesitation, as you will remember, because he was still engaged in thje field explorations of Arkansas, and had also his last report to make to Kentucky; but he finally consented with the understanding that, until those duties were completed, I would perform most of the field work and report on the same. In the con- densed report submitted to you, the promise was made by him to pre- pare those details of our field work by general observations from him- self on agricultural chemistry and milk sickness, particularly the con- nection of the latter with peculiar geological formations. But his untimely death arrested the labors continued with unflagging perseverance until within three days of his decease, and to which he had so entirely devoted his life, as not to permit himself the relaxation necessary for health; and the world was thus too soon deprived" of his valuable services. His own State, more especially, will feel and deplore his loss; even the two articles above alluded to, as expected from his pen, might have greatly promoted the health of our population, and increased the wealth derivable from our soil, through the useful practi- cal suggestions designed to be conveyed. VIII GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE. The report, thus necessarily deprived of a leading feature, must lose part of its interest; and even those portions, for which I am alone re- sponsible, are rendered less complete and more subject to inadvertancies than they would have been under circumstances less trying. When to these we add the fact that the administration of my late brother's affairs require a settlement with three States, and a general superintendence of the work so nearly completed by his exertions, perhaps those to whom you present this report may find some other excuse for apparent mea- greness or omissions, than the deficiency of our State in objects of min- eral and agricultural interest and wealth. The result of my labors, orginally addressed to my late brother, I have now the honor to present to you. The other accompanying reports from the distinguished gentlemen who consented to undertake the departments in which they are preem- inent, could receive no additional lustre from my commendations ; but, through you, I would tender to them my late brother's unfeigned ad- miration and warm feeling of obligation. Permit me, gentlemen of the State Board, in closing these prefatory remarks, to express my sense of indebtedness to you for prompt and efficient assistance, as well as for personal generous hospitality. Throughout the entire survey the courtesy with which we were also aided by those to whom we have been referred, sometimes even by en- tire strangers, was highly gratifying, as well as the disinterestedness with which collegiate and private collections were thrown open for in- spection. For all these obligations, I avail myself, with pleasure, of this opportunity to return, officially and individually, my warmest ac- knowledgments. I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, RICHARD OWEN, Principal Assistant* 5 "Since appointed by the State Board of Agriculture State Geologist of Indiana. INTRODUCTION. In accordance with the directions given, after your consultation with the late State Geologist, the corps under my charge proceeded to ex- amine, first in the fall of 1859, the counties not traversed by railroads, along the Ohio river; afterwards, in succession, each agricultural dis- trict,* chiefly by railroad travel, commencing in the north, making as prolonged a stay in each district as the time intervening before the probable setting in of winter would permit. That time being necessa- rily very limited, our chief endeavor was to ascertain where objects of importance and interest were to be found for the Spring Survey, rather than to make a critical and detailed examination of any one locality. It was arranged, as you will remember, to meet each member of the State Board in the District over which he presided, and thus obtain in- teresting general facts, as well as to collect for examination and analy- sis in the laboratory during the winter, a supply of minerals and soils. *"For the information of those not acquainted with the manner in which the various coun- ties of our State were grouped by you into Agricultural Districts, the following statement is subjoined : The Legislature provides that each county, having a regularly organized Agri- cultural Society, may send a delegate to the annual meetings held in Indianapolis. These Delegates elect a State Board of Agriculture consisting, according to the present organiza- tion, of sixteen members, (eight elective annually,) each one of whom presides over the in- terests of the particular district to which his election assigns him, besides enacting regula- tions for the general farming interests of the State, and development of agricultural knowl- edge and prosperty in Indiana. The Geological Survey of the State was recommended by you, who now constitute the above Board; and the Legislature, on the adoption of that recommendation, placed the direction of the Survey under your fostering care. The basis upon which the State is districted for agricultural purposes is expressed in the resolutions, adopted by your Board at the meeting in January, 1859: " 1. Resolved, That the State be districted into sixteen agricultural districts, upon the fol- lowing basis: A meridian line to be drawn from north to south, passing through the centre of Indianapolis, and seven parallel lines to be drawn from east to west, the location of these parallels to be decided by a committee immediately. "2. Resolved, That the eight members of the State Board now to be elected, be taken from GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE From your remarks I considered that this survey was designed to subserve various useful purposes and interests : 1st. That of the Farmer, by analyzing the soils collected from the different geological formations, and showing which were best adapted for any given crop. Also, by comparing fields in long cultivation, or worn out, with t^e nearest virgin-soil, ascertaining what materials were deficient, or had been exhausted, and informing the agriculturalist whether sub-soiling would return the necessary ingredients to his land, or whether lime, plaster, barn yard or green manures, poudrette, guano or other fertilizers would most improve that agricultural region. 2d. The Practical Miner was to be aided by theoretical calculations, after due examination of the coal shales and other distinctive charac- teristics, in his search after cheap fuel, by pointing out to him the proba- ble depth at which other seams might be reached, if he were dissatisfied with the one which showed itself at the surface level; giving also the comparative analytical results of different coals, some suitable for fur- naces or blacksmithing, for generating steam or heating apartments, and others for the manufacture of coal oil, paraffine candles, &c. 3d. The Miner was further to be assisted in his search after Iron and the production of the best quality of that valuable metal. The fur- nishing of cheap and good coal and iron was deemed of interest to the whole State, and therefore, although the mining of coal in Indiana may be chiefly confined perhaps to twenty or twenty-two of the south-west- alternate districts on the east and west side of the meridian line, and the other districts to be filled at the next annual meeting of the Board. "3. Resolved, That those counties divided by this meridian shall fall to that side upon which shall lie the greater portion of its territory." In accordance with the above, the sixteen districts are thus arranged : 1st. District Posey, Vanderburgh, Gibson, Warrick and Spencer counties. 2d. District Pike, Dubois, Martin, Daviess, Knox and Sullivan counties. 3d. District Perry, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd and Washington counties. 4th. District Orange, Lawrence, Jackson, Greene, Monroe, Brown and Scott counties. 6th. District Clark, Jefferson, Switzerland, Jennings, Ohio and Ripley counties. 6th. District Dearborn, Franklin, Decatur, Bartholomew and Rush counties. 7th. District Johnson, Shelby, Morgan and Marion counties. 8th. District Owen, Clay, Vigo, Parke and Vermillion counties. 9th. District Putnam, Hendricks, Montgomery and Boone counties. 10th. District Fayette, Wayne, Union and Henry counties. llth. District Randolph, Delaware, Madison, Hamilton, Hancock, Tipton and Jay counties. 12th. District Clinton, Tippecanoe, Warren, Fountain, Benton and White counties. 13th. District Blackford, Grant, Huntington, Wells, Adams, Wabash and Howard counties. 14th. District Carroll, Cass, Miami, Fulton, Pulaski, Jasper, Porter and Lake counties. 15th. District Marshall, LaPorte, Starke, St. Joseph and Elkhart counties. 16th. District Allen, LaGrange, Whitley, DeKalb, Noble, Steuben and Kosciusko counties. OF INDIANA. XI ern counties, and the production of iron to the region of the low coals, or the swamp lands, throughout some ten or twelve of our northern counties, yet the whole State is likely to be benefitted by any informa- tion which would diminish the cost of production, or improve the qual- ity of these two articles ; for these reasons attention was to be first di- rected to the examination of the above staples. 4th. As being closely connected with the solution of these and simi- lar practical questions, it was deemed important also to determine the exact limits of each Geological Formation, already approximately laid down in the reconnoissance made over twenty years since by the late State Geologist, but now more readily defined in detail in consequence of the opening of numerous coal banks, stone quarries, &c., the expo- sures in railroad cuts, as well as the minute description and limitation of characteristic fossil species. Bearing upon the above point would be the determination of areas over which certain fossil plants and animals extended, as well as the vertical range* they enjoyed in the pre-adami- tic seas; just as we might now trace the prolongation of our Kew Eng- land, Maryland and Carolina oyster beds to their extreme southern limit, follow the warmth-loving coral to its highest northern latitude, or dredge the ocean to know at what number of fathoms in depth any given species of its inhabitants ceased to be found. 5th. The instructions were held in view to ascertain any facts bearing on the mysterious disease variously termed milk-sickness, slows, tires and trembles, particularly such as might point to some connection with geological peculiarities affecting soil, water, vegetation and the like ; *To verify the topographical heights in this connection and for similar purposes, I carried constantly the Aneroid Barometer. I found it worked well and was to be relied upon when- ever the weather was somewhat settled, and the instrument was guarded from exposure to the sun. To enable me to work out, after my return home, the necessary corrections for changes in the weight of the atmosphere, irrespective of level, Dr. A. Clapp, kindly under- took to make, during the continuance of the fall reconnoissance, tri-daily observations refer- able to low water in the Ohio river, at New Albany, the height of which above high tide in the Gulf of Mexico is known. Latterly these corrections were made from observations con- ducted under the direction of the late State Geologist, at New Harmony, during our absence in the field. Some heights were verified by a comparison with tables obtained from a work of Charles Ellet, Esq., on the Physical Geography of the Mississippi Valley, published in the "Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge." Other hypsometrical facts were also courte- ously furnished from the railroad and canal surveys; still many points remain, the deter- mination of whose exact topography and altitude would throw much light on geological in- vestigations ; indeed, as often remarked by the late State Geologist, it is highly important in a survey, that stratigraphical investigations should be aided by topography, rather than de- pend wholly on palaeontology; and it was for the purpose of demonstrating this, that the valuable services of Mr. Lesley were secured and employed in a prominent coal region, Perry county. XII GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE but unfortunately the testimony given was often conflicting, sometimes vague and unsatisfactory; such items, however, as could be elicited will be found noted. 6th. It was considered important and useful to examine and report on the numerous quarries throughout the State from which building materials are, or could be, obtained. To render this investigation of the highest practical value, specimens should be submitted to repeated and severe trials for strength, durability, &c.; and then at least approximate decisions could be furnished from the laboratory, whereas, without them or similar tests, samples would otherwise demand years of natural ex- posure for the determination of their relative qualities. The same ap- plies to materials for the construction of roads and various engineering purposes. 7th. The examination for other metals than iron, such as lead, zinc, copper, silver and gold. Particularly regarding the latter, information was desired by many in order to know whether they would be justified in continuing their washings or even in risking capital for the appara- tus, implements, aqueducts, &c., sometimes necessary for the successful prosecution of this work. 8th. A report on the clays suitable for pottery, fire or other superior brick; on limestones having hydraulic properties, or even superior adaptation to the manufacture of lime; on marls suitable for making artificial rock, for fertilizing, &c. ; on gypsum, salt boring, and a variety of similar items. 9th. Information regarding Artesian wells, and where they may be attempted with fair prospect of success; the analysis of medicinal waters and report on their applicability to the cure of various diseases. In some regions, particularly near summit levels, there is often an anx- ious enquiry as to the obtaining of better water than they possess, by deeper digging or boring: on these points tho geologist, after due ex- aminations regarding dip, &c., is qualified to advise with considerable precision. 10th. The Natural History of the country might well justify some ex- amination and report regarding the quality of timber, and its relation to geological peculiarities of soil, the prevalence of certain plants, ani- mals, &c. llth. Some useful practical inferences might be drawn from an ex- hibit of the formation of our prairies and swamp lands, regarding the best mode of drainage, improvement and the like. 12th. Under the head of Miscellaneous Facts or Statistics many items OP INDIANA. XIII might be mentioned strictly within the field of geological investigation, or at all events as useful and interesting for observation, if time and means permitted. Suffice it to cite, as samples, the record of facts bearing upon the geographical distribution of hog-cholera, potato-rot, the Canada thistle and other injurious weeds, grain destroying birds, the Hessian fly, grain moth, army worm, fruit tree or timber borers and similar objects, so as at least to know whether any were peculiar to cer- tain geological districts, or were strictly bounded by lines of latitude and longitude. By the collection and diffusion of such information we might hope to aid the farmer in the selection of his crop for a given locality, or perhaps to induce him to modify to some extent the period of his thrashing grain or cutting timber, &c. Sometimes, too, I may here remark, it is not so much that facts re. garding for instance a coal bank, a deposit of iron ore, a rock quarry or the like, are new and unknown in their immediate neighborhood, as that such information has not been diffused ; whereas it ought to be disseminated through the State for the benefit of our citizens, as well as published out of the State to induce actual settlers to improve our va- cant lands, and attract capitalists to work up our raw materials; the facts and statements thus receiving, after critical investigation on the part of the geologist, disinterested verification and authentic publicity through the medium of an official report. I am well aware that the present appropriation of $5,000 would only suffice to make a beginning in examinations so extensive as the above, especially when we consider that the accurate analysis of a set of soils, upon the very satisfactory and reliable methods pursued by Dr. Peter, of Lexington, for the surveys of Kentucky and Arkansas, can not be made, even at the moderate per diem charged by that distinguished chemist, at a less cost than from fifteen to twenty dollars for each set of three, virgin, surface and sub-soil. The minute quantitative analysis of a single soil, submitted separately to almost any good chemist, would cost fully double that amount. When we further reflect that even at our census of 1850 we had nearly 100,000 farms cultivated and yet more than half of our lands unimproved, with an area of 33,809 square miles, comprising ninety-two counties, we can readily see how much practica- ble and profitable work there is to be done. But holding the rank in population and resources which our State is shown to possess according to the partial census returns of 1860 already reported, it does not seem unreasonable to hope that Indiana may one day emulate her sister States. ' ' XIV GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE Meantime, however, in order to obtain the greatest amount of useful practical information, with the means at our command, primary atten- tion was paid, as above stated, to the development of those pre-emi- nently useful minerals, coal and iron ; notes on the other subjects enu- merated being taken incidentally when passing from one point to an- other. This may serve as some explanation or apology to those five or six counties which were not reached, as well as to some others which received but a passing or partial investigation. If any examinations were neglected which could have been prosecuted, all the circumstances considered, the neglect was certainly not intentional and it is hoped will therefore be excused. The above being the construction put upon the duties to be perform- ed, and the hope being entertained that circumstances might favor more varied and extended research the efforts of our corps were directed, during the spring and fall field- work of 1860, chiefly to the examination of the coal openings, beds, banks, shafts or pits in the twenty-two* counties from which that valuable combustible had been mined or raised, and to the defining of the coal-field limit, particularly so as to ascertain its greatest eastern workable extension, its western boundary reaching into Illinois, Mr. Lesquereux having been engaged, in consequence of his intimate acquaintance with Fossil Botany, and long experience in the eastern coal fields, to decide on the identity or the distinctive differ- ence of the seams inspected while we were associated in our examina- tions, it will be unneccessary for me to report on the same, except, per- haps, regarding the analysis, economic value, and the like, of different coal beds. Our attention was also directed to such an examination of the chief iron localities, partly in the coal field, partly in swampy lands of some northern counties, as would enable a corps to trace them more readily in detail hereafter. Such samples as time permitted were sub- mitted to chemical analysis. The result of the above general exploration or rapid reconnoissance of 1859, and the facts ascertained in the detailed survey thus commenced in 1860, it has been the endeavor to embody in such language as it was hoped would be intelligible even to the general reader who can not usually be supposed to have devoted much previous attention to the science of geology. To carry out this view, it was thought appropriate to define such tech- *Two of these counties, affording chiefly sub-conglomerate coal, are not embraced in the description of the counties situated in the Coal Measures proper ; they will be found under the head of sub-carboniferous limestone counties. OF INDIANA. XV nicalities, as it was sometimes considered necessary to employ, when these seemed better calculated to express the ideas designed to be con- veyed than could be done by language more vague or less purely geo- logical. The full execution of this design seemed even to justify the devoting of a few pages, under the head of "Preliminary Observations," to a brief exposition of the more prominent principles upon which that useful and attractive science, geology, is based. If the appropriation for printing and illustrating the report had been considered as permitting the execution of all necessary maps, sections and illustrative sketches, together with the plates giving the most char- acteristics fossils of each period, such as, if means permit, should al- ways accompany a geological report, the attempted explanations and descriptions might have been rendered much more intelligible, espe- cially in connection with an appended glossary and tabular views, which could be consulted where unexplained terms occurred. This may to Borne seem a useless expense; but the miner, the agriculturalist, and the general reader can not be expected to provide themselves with expen- sive text-books* in science, or to be posted in technicalities other than those employed in their own department ; yet these readers constitute *For the benefit of those desiring to examine the principals and facts of Geology in a somewhat extensive course, it may be permitted to suggest the following works for perusal, beginning with the enumeration of the easiest first: General Geology. Some articles on Geo- ology, written for the "Indiana Farmer," may perhaps prepare the way for others, such as Prof. St. John's Elements or Prof. Emmon's small work, Prof. Hitchcock's Geology, or Page's or Chamber's. Then should follow Sir Charles Lyell's "Elements," also his "Principles," or Ansted or De La Beche; the whole study being much aided by the use of Prof. Hall's "Chart of the Geological Formations," and a reference to the various State Geological reports. Special Geology. Dr. Mantell's "Medals of Creation," for the study of palaeontology in all formations, or Prof. Pictet's Palaeontology for those who read French, as the work is not translated. Prof. Hall's volumes on the Palaeontology of New York are admirable for the study of United States poleozoic fossils; Sedgwick and McCoy, or Murchison, or Verneuil for European organic remains of the Silurian strata; Phillips and Hugh Miller for the Devonian ; DeKoninck's fossil animals of Belgium, also the Kentucky Reports are excellent for the Car- boniferous system ; Dr. Morton, Messrs. Conrad and Lea, for the American cretaceous fossils, Mantell for European cretaceous, Dr. Grateloup for the Miocene Tertiary of Europe, and the work of the late Prof. Tuomey and Prof. Holmes, of Alabama, on the Tertiary of the United States. To go yet more into detail, Barrande and Burmeister have fully examined the Trilo- bites, D'Orbigny, Austin, Raumer and Miller the Crinoids; Woodward's Manuel is admirable for recent and fossil shells, and Davidson for his Specialty, the Brachiopods; Brongniart, Lindley and Hutton, and Gainitz are standard authority on fossil plants ; Dana or Edwards and Haime on corals; Agassiz and Gould's Principles of Zoology should be read as introduc- tory to the study of palaeontology, or Ruschenberger's Natural History, then Prof. Owen's small work on the skeleton and teeth; or for a more extended course of comparative Physiolo- gy, Carpenter's work, or the General Structure of the Animal Kingdom, by Thos. R. Jones, besides other valuable works too extensive to be here enumerated. YVI GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE. a large class, who, it is hoped, may derive profit and pleasure from the survey and its report. It is perhaps better to repeat somewhat similar language twice, or to give popular terms in addition to scientific, rather than be misunderstood ; and the brief statement of principles can readily be passed over without perusal by those already posted in Geology. The design being, as already remarked, to make such a statement of well ascertained facts as might benefit the miner or mechanic in devel- oping the mineral wealth of our State, and also to throw light on the operations of the agriculturalist, by pointing out, after accurate analy- sis, the peculiarities of soil resulting from different geological forma- tions and their consequent adaptation to different crops; by disclosing, through the same source, the ingredients lost by cultivation and the means of renovating worn soils, or of rendering others still more pro- ductive, it seemed not unreasonable to conceive that the statements made would inspire more confidence in the minds of those unacquainted with the minutiae of Geology, if some account were previously given of the general principles and methods by which Geologists arrive at facts or data in their explorations, as well as conclusions in their reasoning de- duced from those data, carefully separating any mere theories, or opin- ions advanced, from facts or truths well established by repeated obser- vations, and acknowled as such by the great mass of geologists, perhaps by all. After a brief discussion of principles and enumeration of the geolog- ical formations constituting the earth's crust, a few words seemed in place regarding the geographical distribution of those rocks over the globe, with a somewhat more extended notice of their predominating prevalence in different parts of the United States. This prepares us for a more full understanding and appreciation of such formations as are found in Indiana generally; leading us gradu- ally and intelligibly to the details of county geology. Some general remarks suggested by a comparison of the collated facts obtained in the brief detailed examinations which time permitted, have been reserved for description after giving the data upon which they are based; such theoretical remarks, (designed, however, also as practical deductions,) admitting thus of more ready acceptance or re- jection. Pursuant to the instructions and plan exhibited above, I now proceed to offer the following Report : REPORT OF A GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE BY EICHARD OWEN, M. D. CHAPTER I. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. Let us suppose a Geologist to be transported to a mass of rocks, even in a distant and foreign country, where the ledges or layers ex- posed are so continuous as to show that they are in the position origi- nally occupied, perhaps ages gone-by, technically termed in situ. That Geologist, particularly if well versed in palaeontology, or a knowledge of ancient beings, will soon be enabled to say, by an inspection of these rocks, supposing them to contain, as most aqueous rocks do, some petrifactions or organic remains, whether these were deposited after or before the coal-bearing period, consequently whether or not, by digging there, there is a probability of finding valuable coal deposits. This and similar facts he can predict, not by divining rods, not by "exorci- sing spirits from the vasty deep," or any black arts, but by applying to practice some general geological principles or ascertained truths, such as these: That certain animals and plants occupied the earth's surface and afterwards became extinct, leaving their organic remains, or at least traces of their forms,* in the subsequently solidifying rocks ; and that to these animals and plants succeeded another set, having such marked differences as to be classed under species distinct from the former, per- haps to constitute eve& different genera. The sedimentary or aqueous rocks, in which these organic remains are found, derive their name * These organic remains are generally termed Jossils; and for the space left exhibiting only the form, when the organic substance wholly disappears, as is sometimes the case, particu- larly in Magnesian limestones, the word cast is used. The true geological meaning of petri- faction is the same as fossil, although in common language the term is sometimes applied to a mere incrustation or deposition, usually of carbonate of lime, around the animal or vegeta- ble. In a fossil the organic body, animal or vegetable, is replaced, to a greater or less extent, by inorganic or mineral matter, often silicious and calcareous in character, sometimes alum- inous, or even metallic, through chemical decomposition, recomposition and infiltration. An- imals and vegetables are called organic bodies or organisms, because they have special or- gans, such as those of nutrition, &c., to develop their growth or sustain life, whereas inorganie or mineral bodies only add to their growth by accretion or the deposition of additional similar particles around the original nucleus. 1 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE from the supposition that they were originally deposited as sediment from water, Latin aqua; their distinctive lithological or stony character they receive from the different particles, siliceous, aluminous, &c., thus carried down from off the high igneous mountains, (the formation of which is hereafter explained,) into the lower portion of the earth's crust, and there deposited until fitted for animal and vegetable life. At the close of certain periods, sometimes perhaps after thousands of years, the whole of these organisms, the flora and fauna, or plants and ani- mals, as already alluded to, gradually, and apparently often quietly, (but sometimes suddenly and with evidence of terrestial convulsion,) died out and were imbedded in the clays, sands, mud, &c., of that epoch, to be covered afterwards by accumulations of somewhat differing mate- rials. By the pressure of these incumbent masses, as well as by the cementing power of some of the infiltering materials, aided perhaps by heat and electricity, these lower strata were consolidated into stratified rocks, (those having regular layers or strata,) some furnishing no evi- dence of animal or vegetable existence, but the majority, at least of the somewhat later deposits, containing fossils or organic remains, and hence being termed fossiliferous rocks. The great law of the difference in the organic remains of successive layers of strata, amounting, as already stated, usually to a specific dif- ference, often to a generic and sometimes to a marked distinction of order, class and department, as hereafter also explained, is the science lately developed and now being studied under the name of Palseontol- ogy. A thorough knowledge of these minute distinctions is, however, the study of a lifetime, inasmuch as in the department of the Mollus- cous animals alone, (sometimes called shell-fish,) there are 15,000 fossil species and 12,000 recent. But its importance can scarcely be over-esti- mated, when we consider that the earth's crust has been found made up of very similar successions of aqueous strata, at parts the most remote from each other and characterized by a sequence of animal and vegeta- ble remains having many points of resemblance in common. Nor has this regular succession (except locally over a small area evidently dis- turbed,) ever been found in an inverted order, such as would place, for instance, the Mastodon in an early deposit, with a large number of tri- lobites in strata above, evidently of more recent deposition. As this has never been found to be the case, although occasionally some of the intervening members or even a whole system may be absent, (either because circumstances did not favor the formation or because after deposition, perhaps before thorough consolidation, subsequent washings OF INDIANA. 5 carried off some layers from considerable areas, leaving a valley of deundation,) we consider ourselves justified in expecting to find this law hold good universally. Here it seems necessary to digress long enough to offer some explanation of the principles upon which these specific, generic and other distinctions are based. The classification generally adopted, in modern times, depends upon the internal structure of the animal or plant, which is found to be much more important than the difference or resemblance in external appearance. The basis, therefore, of zoological or animal classification, first into great divisions or departments, and afterwards into minor sub-divisions, depends upon the most important organs, or sets of organs, termed a system. Thus the nervous system, or particular plan on which the nerves are arranged, giving energy and vitality to the whole being, forms the ground-work for Cuvier's great division into four departments. The sub-division of these departments into classes is dependent to a great extent, on difference in the circulatory or respiratory systems, in other words, on the manner in which the animal breathes and has its blood purified. Further sub-divisions into orders are often founded, especially among the more highly organized animals, on differences in the nutritive system or mode of receiving and converting food to nour- ish the animal economy. This usually involves a variation in the form of the teeth,* hence their paleeontological importance. More minute sub-divisions into genera, (the plural of genus, a latin word signifying origin, stock, family or kind,) are sometimes dependent on variations in the locomotive or in the prehensile organs, designed to enable the animal to move about and to obtain food, such as feet, fins, wings, feelers, tentacJes, and the like. At other times these generic groupings, particularly of lower animals, throw together species having a resem- *The great Cuvier, in his work on Fossil Remains, has the following observations bearing on this point: "Every organized being forms an entire system of its own, all the parts of which mutually correspond and concur to produce a certain definite purpose by reciprocal action or by combining to the same end. Hence none of these separate parts can change their forms without a corresponding change in other parts of the same animal ; and conse- quently each of these parts, taken separately, indicates all the other parts to which it has belonged. Thus, if the viscera of an animal are so organized as only to be fitted for the digestion of recent flesh, it is also requisite that the jaws should be so constructed as to fit them for devouring prey ; the claws must be constructed for seizing it and tearing it to pieces ; the teeth for cutting and dividing its flesh; the entire system of limbs or organs of motion for pursuing and overtaking it ; and the organs of sense for discovering it at a dis- tance. Nature must also have endowed the brain of the animal with instincts sufficient for concealing itself and for laying plans to catch its necessary victims." 6 GEOLOGICAL KECONNOlSSAffCTE blance in the form of shell or hinge teeth, of the crustaceous covering, of the horny or calcareous framework, &c., but these frequently indi- cate also similarity in anatomical .structure and should rarely, if ever, be employed for classification, unless thus characterized. Animals that naturally breed together or have minute characteristics alike, which are not liable to change, are usually considered of the same species, (Latin for appearance, quality.) When changes arise from accidental causes and are not likely to be so permanent, but that circumstances may again modify them, or when the intermediate gradations can be traced between the two organisms thus differing, then the term variety is used in the animal as well as in the vegetable world. As a diversity of opinion exists regarding the origin of the specific, generic and other difference above alluded to, and as a considerable amount of controversy has latterly been elicited on the subject, it may not be out of place to state briefly the antagonistic views, the bearing of neither, however, affecting materially the utility, or diminishing the certainty, of the observed palseontological records, as tests of the rela- tive ages of any given rocks, which present a sufficient amount of organic remains in a moderately well-preserved state. Darwin, a naturalist long and favorably known in the scientific world, has published a work designed to show that all organic beings have a tendency to reproduce themselves in a geometrical ratio; but that, from various conflicting causes, only a small number in this "struggle for life," of those endowed with a structural or functional difference, usually somewhat superior, reaches maturity. This differ- ence, imparted to the offspring, again influences the new variety, caus- ing further improvement; which general fact or law, operating from the beginning, he considers sufficient to produce not only varieties, but the distinctions we assign to species, genera, orders, &c., and conse- quently he thinks that all organisms, living and extinct, animal and vegetable, have proceeded from the simplest primordial or original form of life. The celebrated Agassiz, on the other hand, in extracts, given in the July number of Silliman's Journal for 1860, from the advance sheets of his "contributions to the Natural History of the United States," thus states his opposite views: "I have attempted to show that branches," (a division equivalent to departments formerly used by him, and to sub-kingdoms, used by Prof. R. Owen, of London,) "in the ani- mal kingdom are founded upon different plans of structure and for that very reason have embraced from the beginning representatives between OF which there could be no community of orgin ; that classes are founded upon different modes of execution of these plans, and therefore they also embrace representatives which could have no community of ori- gin ; that orders represent the different degrees of complication in the mode of execution of each class, and therefore embrace representatives which could not have a community of origin any more than the mem- bers of different classes and branches ; that families are founded upon different patterns of form, and embrace representatives equally inde- pendent in their origin ; that genera are founded upon peculiarities of structure, embracing representatives which, from the very nature of their peculiarities, could have no community of origin ; and that finally, species are based upon relations and proportions that exclude, as much as all the preceding distinctions, the idea of a common de- scent." Let us now return from this digression, regarding the best mode of classifying organic remains, to the re-enunciation of the great law. "Whatever may be the original cause of the differences observed, whether created thus distinctly by a periodical interposition of Divine fiat, or so modified by an eternal and immutable law of the same Om- nipotence, as to produce, through physical changes in the inorganic elements of the earth, corresponding modifications of structural adaptation to the new external circumstances, the important fact still remains an unquestioned truth, that a certain vertical range, or ascer- tained thickness of fossiliferous rock, is characterized by the organic remains of plants and animals, differing more or less from the plants and animals in the rocks above, as well as those in the rocks below the given layers or strata ; just as the hieroglyphics and coins of one nation, while having some characters in common, are found differing from those of another nation preceding or succeeding it. To the vertical range of beds having thus something in common, (even if persistent as regards a given thickness only over a moderately extended horizontal area, thickening or perhaps thinning out beyond that limit,) geologists give the name periods, systems, formations and the like, prefixing some adjective explanatory either of the geographi- cal prevalence somewhere in that sub-division, or of its lithological peculiarity. Thus the beds below the Coal Period, and deposited before it, are often called the " Devonian system," because developed in Devonshire, England, or sometimes "Old Ked Sandstone," because, where first studied, its lithological character was that of a sandstone highly colored with peroxide of iron. 8 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE But in the same manner that all the coins of one nation might have something in common and yet those of each dynasty or successive reign, differ in certain particulars, so too the separate geological strata of a period, while presenting a general resemblance in animal and veg- etable form of organic remains, may yet have minor distinctions, in the separate component deposits, justifying a sub-division into subordinate members, such as " upper, middle, lower," and the like. To carry the analogy still further, as there may be certain signs or words common to two of those nations, and even similar to those used at the present day, so there are certain fossils common to several systems or formations and even existing at the present day; the analogue being of the same genus, if not specifically identical with its ancient prototype; and as the study of these ancient relics requires en acquaintance with the key to the hieroglyphics, in like manner palaeontology, to be useful, demands a knowledge of minute distinctive characters. Having the above great fundamental law before us, we have next to examine whether there is any general law, (of progression or some other character,) which may aid us in distinguishing the organisms in all the older strata from those in the newer, before we proceed to study the more minute differences. Many geologists concede that evidence of such a law is observable throughout the entire series of aqueous depos- its; others do not admit that we have yet sufficient data for such a generalization. A brief examination of these points, bearing both on vegetable and animal life, may lead to a more thorough comprehension of the subject: it is therefore subjoined. Some animals are very simple in their structure, consisting only of a sack-shaped, gelatinous material, the opening to which is furnished with a few tentacles, or organs of feeling and motion, for the purpose of enabling them to procure food; sometimes this is connected with a strong framework or skeleton of calcareous matter. Such radiates, and some brachiopod mollusks, also comparatively simply-formed ani- mals, with the nutritive sack more elongated, and the addition of a liver, the whole usually protected by a shell or shells; as also trilobites, crustaceans not high in the scale of organization, but resembling some of the earlier embryonic stages of our modern King-crab, have thus far been found relatively most abundant in the early geological formations, and are therefore supposed by most geologists to have predominated, or to I ave been comparatively more numerous, soon after the earth became adapted for animal existence, than the highly organized ani- mals appear to have been. Thus, for instance, the corals, which consti- OF INDIANA. 9 tute the skeleton or framework of the simple, sack-like animals just mentioned, as well as some species of the bivalve mollusks and trilo- bites, next alluded to, above, form whole rock masses in the earlier layers of the earth's crust, presenting very much the same appearance which a coral reef or one of our Atlantic oyster beds would have, if compressed by great weight and the aid of a natural cement into a compact, solid mass. In the later deposits, overlying the former, we find comparatively more of the complicated structures or animals, such as elephants, mastodons and the like, having relatively more fully devel- oped the nutritive, circulatory, respiratory and nervous systems, upon a plan similar to that found in man. On this subject, Hugh Miller, in his "Testimony of the Rocks," re- marks in his usual powerful and appropriate language: "It is a mar- vellous fact, whose full meaning we can as yet but imperfectly compre- hend, that myriads of ages ere there existed a human mind, well nigh the same principles of classification now developed by man's intellect in our better treatises of geology and botany, were developed on this earth by the successive geologic periods; and that the by-past produc- tions of our planet, animals and vegetables, were chronologically arranged in its history according to the same laws of thought which impart regularity and order to the works of the later naturalists and phytologists." * * * " Commencing at the bottom of the scale, we find the thallogens or flowerless plants, which lack proper stems and leaves a class which includes all the algae. Next succeed the Aero- gens or flowerless plants that possess both stems and leaves such as the ferns and their allies. Next, omitting an inconspicuous class, repre- sented by but a few parasitical plants incapable of preservation as fos- sils, come the endogens monocotyledonous flowering plants that in- clude the palms, the liliaceae and several other families, all characterized by the parallel venation of their leaves. Next, omitting another incon- spicuous tribe, there follows a very important class the gymn.ogens polycotyledonous trees represented by the con-i ferae arid cycadaceae. And last of all came the dicotyledonous exogens, a class to which all our fruit, and what are known as our 'forest trees' belong, with a vastly preponderating majority of the herbs and flowers that impart fertility and beauty to our gardens and meadows. This last class, though but one, now occupies much greater space in the vegetable kingdom than all the others united." "Such is the arrangement of Lindley, or rather an arrangement the slow growth cf ages, to which this distinguished botanist has given the 10 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE last finishing touches. And let us now mark how nearly it resembles* the geologic arrangement, as developed in the successive stages of the earth's history." * Silurian. Old Red. Carboniferous. Permian. Triassic. Oolitic. Cretaceous. Tertiary. Geologic Lindley's "THAL. Ac. Gr. MON. [THAL. Ac. MON. GYM Thallogens. Acrogens. G} mnogens. Monocotyledonous Dicotyledonous. Dicotyledonous Die.} arrangement. Die.] arrangement. The Genealogy of Plants." * # * "And such seems to be the order of classification in the vegetable kingdom, as developed in creation and determined by the geologic periods." "The parallelism which exists between the course of creation, as exhibited in the animal kingdom, and the classification of the greatest zoologist of modern times, is perhaps still more remarkable. Cuvier *""Tne horizontal lines in this diagram indicate the divisions of the various geologic sys- tems-; the vertical lines the sweep of the various classes or sub-classes of plants across the geologic scale, with, so far as has been yet ascertained, the place of their first appearance in creation ; while the double line of type below shows in what degree the order of their occur- rence agrees with the arrangement of the botanist. The single point of difference indicated by the diagram between the order of occurrence and that of arrangement, viz., the transpo- sition of the gymnogenous and monocotyledonous classes, must be regarded as purely provis- ional. It is definitely ascertained that the Lower Old Red Sandstone has its coniferous wood, but not yet definitely ascertained that it has its true monocotyledonous plants, though indi- cations are not wanting that the latter were introduced upon the scene at least as early as the pines or araucarirns; and the chance discovery of some fossil in a sufficiently good state of keeping to determine the point, may, of course, at once re-transpose the transposition, and bring into complete correspondence the geologic and botanic arrangements." OF INDIANA. 11 divides all animals into vertebrate and invertebrate; the invertebrate consisting, according to his arrangement, of three great divisions mol- lusca, articulata and radiata; and the vertebrates of four great classes the mammals, the birds, the reptiles and the fishes. From the lowest zone at which organic remains occur, up to the higher beds of the Lower Silurian System, all the animal remains yet found belong to the invertebrate divisions. The numerous tables of stone, which compose the leaves of this first and earliest of the geological volumes, correspond in their contents with that concluding volume of Cuvier's great work, in which he deals with the mollusca articulata, and radiata; with, how- ever, this difference, that the three great divisions, instead of occurring in a continuous series, are ranged, like the terrestrial herbs and trees, in parallel columns. The chain of animal being on its first appearance is, if I may so express myself, a three-fold chain; a fact nicely corres- pondent with the further fact, that we cannot in the present creation range serially, as either higher or lower in the scale at least two of these divisions the mollusca and articulata." Silurian. Old Red. Carboniferous. Permian. Triassic. Oolitic. Cretaceous. Tertiary. Recent. f L '* ... I STATES. ARTICULATES. MOLLUSKS. FISHES. REPTILES. BIRDS. MAMMALS. MAN.] arrangement. DIATES. ARTICULATES. MOLLUSKS. FISHES. REPTILES. BIRDS. MAMMALS. MAN.] arrangement. The Genealogy of Animals" 12 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE After these extracts from Hugh Miller's works, perhaps a few quota- tions from the great comparative anatomist, Dr. Wm. B. Carpenter, may not be out of place, as restrictive of this generalization, which is objected to by some geologists as being not yet fully proved, although they admit the accuracy and importance of palaeontology. He re- marks, in his "Principles of Comparative Physiology:" "The 'idea' of progress from the more general to the more special, which we have thus found to prevail alike in the completed structure of the existing types of vegetable and animal organization and in the developmental process by which they attain it, may also be traced in that long series of organic forms which have successively appeared and disappeared on the face of this globe, and have finally given place to those of our own epoch. The entombment of the remains of many of these, in the strata in progress of formation at the time of their existence, has ena- bled the Paleontologist to reconstruct, to a certain extent, the Fauna and Flora ot each of those great epochs in the earth's history, which are distinctly marked out in geological time, both by extensive disturb- ances in the earth's crust, and by striking changes in the structure and distribution of the living beings which dwelt upon it. Each of these epochs was characterized by some peculiar forms or combinations of forms of animal and vegetable life, which existed in it alone ; and the further we go back from the existing period, the wider are the diversi- ties which we encounter, both in the general aspect of these kingdoms of nature, which depends upon the relative proportions of their differ- ent subordinate groups, and in the features and structure of the beings composing these groups. The attempt has been made to prove that these changes might be reduced to a law of progressive development." * * * "A more satisfactory account of the succession of organic life on the surface of the globe, may probably be found in the general plan which has been shown to prevail in the development of the exist- ing forms of organic structure; namely, the passage from the more gen- eral to the more special. This seems to be manifested in two modes. In the first place we find a certain class of cases in which extinct animals, especially the earliest forms of any class that may be newly making its appearance, present indications of a closer conformity to 'archetypal generality' than is shown in the existing animals to which they bear the closest approximation; and hence their conformity to the latter is closer in the embryo condition of these than in their fully developed and more specialized state." Having now examined the principles upon which the distinctions are OF INDIANA. 13 based that have given rise to separate and distinct names for successive geological layers of sedimentary deposits, it will probably be useful to exhibit, in a tabular form, for more ready comparison of relative thick- ness and other distinctive characters, the arrangement or classification of the entire aqueous or sedimentary period, into subordinate ages, sys- tems, formations, groups, members, or other subdivisions, to which unfortunately, as yet there are not data sufficient to affix very definite limits of time or vertical space.* #For the Indiana Farmer a suggestive, approximate table was furnished by me, attempting therein to attach definite ideas to those terms in general use. This tabular view will be found in the appendix. 14 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE CHRONOLOGICAL SUCCESSION OF SEDIMENTARY OR AQUEOUS ROCKS. (BEGINNING WITH THE MOST RECENT oa LAST DEPOSITED.) Period, Formation or System. Sub-divisions into groups or members. Synonyms, or terms used by some as equivalent. REMARKS. r Quaternary. Tertiary. j Newer. 1 Older. 1 Alluvium or modern or Historical pe- riods. Diluvium, Bowlder, or erratic group. Remains of man fossil. Mammals abundant. Great Northern drift, by some classed in the tertiary as pleisto- cene. j Newer. Pliocene.' -i Older. Miocene. Eocene. Containing about 95 per cent, of shells, identical with recent spe- cies. Containing from 35 to 50 per cent, of shells, identical with recent species. Containing about 17 per cent, of shells, identical with recent spe- cies. Containing about 3> per cent, of shells, identical with recent spe- cies. Palaeozotic< Mesozoic. Carboniferous. Oolite. Lias. Trias. f Chalk. Gault. \ Greensand. VWealden. Echinoderms abundant. Only this member found in the United States. Iguanodons numerous. < Upper. I Lower. Jurassic formation because preva- lent in the Jura Mountains. Upper. Middle. Lower. Huge reptiles abundant in this formation, also found in the pre- vious. (Upper. ^Middle. (Lower. fSaliferous. New red sandsone. < (Poikilitic. Gigantic bird tracks in Connec- ticut. 'Permian. Magnesian limestone. Carboniferous. Devonian. Silurian. T Coal measures. 1 Millstone grit. 1 Sub-carboniferous lime- l. stones and sandstones. Carboniferous or coal conglomer- ate. Cavernous or mountain limestone, Knob sandstone. Land plants abundant in coal pe- riod. Some thin coals found in this group. /Upper. 1 Lower. Old red sandstone of European writers: Catskill group of New York. Chemung, Portage, Genesee, Tul- ly, Hamilton and Marcellus. Corniferous and Onondago lime- stone ; Schoharie and Cauda galli grits ; Oriskany sandstone groups. Remarkable fossil fishes during this period. Of New York Geologists Lyell extends the Upper Silurian to the Hamilton group, inclusive . t Upper. - Lower. ( Upper pentamerus limestone. Delthyris shaly limestone. Pentamerus galeatus limestone. Onondaga salt gronp. Niagara group. Clinton group. Medina sandstone, f Hudson river group. I Trenton limestone. J Black River limestone, ] Bird's Eye limestone. Chazy limestone, t Calciferous limestone. ^ Lower Helderburg, Brachiopods ! common. fLudlow formation of English j writers. ) Wenlock or Dudley formation, Caradoc, of English writers. > Llandeilo, of English writers. The Potsdam sandstone, of New York Geologists. This last sub- group, is by some English wri- ters, considered as belonging to a separate system: The Cam- brian. Trilobites sad corals numerous. OP INDIANA. 15 After examining this tabular view of aqueous rocks, one sub-divis- ion of which alone may be 10,000 feet thick, it is very natural for those, who are aware that the deepest mining operations do not lead us much over 2,000 feet below the earth's surface, to inquire how we became acquainted with these lower strata. The reply is that we -p..,,- Usually augite, felspar, iron and olivine. i ir O Earthy porphyries. Regular crystals in a compact base, such as trachyte, clinkstone .2 L or claystone. S3 'Crystalline porphyries. Schorl rock. Regular crystals in a crystalline base, such as granite or syenite. An aggregate of schorl (black tourmaline) and quartz. .9 Protogine. A talcose granite : felspar, quartz and talc. "S Syenite. Quartz, felspar and hornblende. 2 o Plutonic. '< Pegmatite. Quartz and felspar. s Graphic granite. Quartz so disposed among felspar as somewhat to resemble He- brew writing. Granite. Quartz, felspar and mica. Allusion has already been made to the fact that these Igneous rocks have at various periods burst through the sedimentary rocks, in conse- quence of internal action, thereby disturbing considerable areas of these aqueous deposits, usually elevating, most, the portions nearest to the igneous upheaving source. Sometimes eruptive rocks, thus breaking through, may rise to form the highest mountains, and the higher they rise the greater the angle or inclination, or dip, they will give to the originally horizontal aqueous deposits through which they break. Sometimes the igneous rocks are elevated sufficiently to disturb these horizontal sedimentary strata, yet without breaking through the crust in such a manner as to be detected anywhere on the surface. We shall not now stop to inquire whether this internal force is due to a disturbance of electrical equilibrium, and this again dependent on inequality of temperature in different portions of our planet's interior, or whether it arises from chemical action, because these discussions, OF INDIANA. j 7 however interesting, would lead us too far ; suffice it that to the ex- tended lines of such upheaval, geologists give the name of " strike," from the German "Streichen," to extend or have a certain direction. The strike, then, of hills or mountains, would be their ridge, (range being usually applied to several parallel ridges,) * or line of greatest extension. This may be compared to the ridge or comb ot a roof on a building. The deviation from a true horizontal line, which the sedi- mentary rocks are made to assume by this upheaving source is techni- cally called the "dip." This may be compared to the sides of the long mountain or to the slope of a roof, and necessarily lies square across, or forms a right angle with the line of strike; then, if we suppose the ridge of a house to occupy a north and south line, the slope of the roof will be east and west, one prolongation of each slope running upwards, the other downwards, beneath the horizon or general level of the earth's surface. When this is the case with a bed of rocks, geologists term their first appearance on the surface, the prolonged line of which would run into the sky, the "out-crop" of those rocks; whereas, when rocks disappear under the general level, they are said to "dip under." A line, usually on a ridge, from which rocks dip each way, is said to have an anticlinal axis, whereas a union of two lines con- verging towards the earth is called a synclinal axis, and is commonly found in a valley. Occasionally layers, when in a plastic condition, appear to have experienced side or lateral pressure, in which case the strata are said to be "folded " or "curved." At other times, part of a bed seems to have been detached from the other portion, with or with- out disturbing their horizontality, and then either elevated or de- pressed; in such case, the vertical line extending from the dislocated bed to the place of original junction, is called by miners a "fault." The marks, nearly horizontal or gently undulating, that indicate differ- ent materials to have been deposited on each other from water, before consolidating into rock, are termed lines of deposition, and others, which do not correspond with them, and yet show a facility in certain rocks to split indefinitely in planes parallel to each other, are called lines of slaty cleavage. To the great cracks, often at right angles to the bed, of which quarrymen avail themselves in getting out rock, geologists apply the name of "joints." The rate of dip, or angle with the horizon, formed by a bed cf roc k *Thus the Appalachian Range is composed of the Blue Ridge, the Allegheny Mountains or Ridge, and the Cumberland Ridge. 2 18 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE may be measured by any straight edge with a pendulum attachment. Geologists generally employ a clinometer compass, the magnetic needle, when afterwards allowed to vibrate, giving the particular direction of the dip. The rate of say 2 westerly dip would, supposing rocks exposed along a lake or sheet of quiet water, so as to show their original true bedding, cause any seam or layer of those rocks, which was about a foot above the surface of the water at the east end of the lake, to disappear under its surface, when traced iu a westerly direction the distance of only twenty- eight feet. Consequently, a seam of coal disappearing at any given point with a dip of 2 could only be reached say at the distance of half a mile west of that place, supposing the same rate of dip continuous, by sinking a shaft nearly a hundred feet deep, and then working in, somewhat horizontally. Or, taking the inverse of the proposition, a seam of coal which, at a given point, just emerges from the surface of a lake or pond, might, by .tracing it in the direction of its out-crop, the contrary of the dip, be found half a mile east, in hills nearly a hun- dred feet above the level of said water. The explanation here of this geological phenomenon may, in con- nection with what had previously been stated, serve to render intelli- gible the apparent paradox that rocks first deposited, and consequently geologically the lowest, may, by upheaval at some point, not only come to the surface, (" crop out,") but even be elevated to such a hight as to be geographically or topographically much higher than the more recently deposited strata, beds or layers. After this definition of technicalities in connection with the short explanatory account of igneous rocks, as well as the previous descrip- tion and tabular view of sedimentary deposits, it may be interesting to know, as these do not show themselves everywhere on the earth's crust, at which portions of the globe any given rocks are most prevalent, in other words, their geographical distribution. Tracing these variations on a large scale may prepare us better to follow the geological differ- ences observable in Indiana. The peaks of the Himalaya mountains, the highest range in Asia and indeed on the globe, are composed of gneiss (stratified granite,) and other Igneous or Crystalline rocks, flanked by late aqueous deposits, as the Cretaceous and Tertiary; the- Alps, the highest European moun- tains, are of the same type, and Mount Atlas, in Africa, is also of Plu- tonic origin. The Grampian and other hills in the north of Scotland, some of the northern parts of Ireland, of the north and west of Eng- OF INDIANA. 19 land, portions of Norway and of Spain are likewise hypogene, chiefly of the plutonic sub-division. Passing to the western Hemisphere we find igneous rocks prevalent in the highest parts of the Andes, meta- mororphic schists, with beds of limestones resting on the slopes, forming the Rocky Mountains, while the Slates visible in the Appalachian range are by some assigned to the same type, by others considered only a metamorphic condition of silurian strata. The northern regions of our continent have also mountains of hypozoic, crystalline rocks, which probably furnished in part the bowlders* so common in northern Indiana. Part of the north shore of Lake Superior furnishes splendid samples of the ancient volcanie rock, basalt, &c., such as are found also at the well-known localities: Fingal's Cave in Scotland, and the Giant's Causeway, in the north of Ireland. Evidences of extinct vol- canoes of more recent origin can be found in Auvergne, about the centre of France; (where some of the old craters are in a high state of cultivation,) the same type prevailing in portions of the Pyrenees. Active volcanoes, furnishing lava and other rocks mentioned in the tabular view, are most abundant in equatorial or at least tropical re gions, such as Sumatra, Java, the Moluccas, Phillipine Islands, Cen- tral India, Sandwich Islands, the Azores, Canary and Cape Yerd Islands, Mexico, the West Indies, Central America, and part of the Andes. Active volcanoes are, however, abundant in some of the northern regions, as the Northern Rocky Mountains, Italy, Sicily, and Japan, also in the arctic and antarctic countries, as the Aleutian a-iid Kurile Islands, Iceland and the antarctic continent discovered by the United States exploring expedition. The slates furnished by the met* amorphic rocks are abundant in Norway, Sweden, Scotland, Switzer- land and especially Wales. The palaeozoic rocks of Silurian date are found in the north and west part of Russia in Europe, in eastern Siberia, in Sweden, Asia, Africa and eastern Australia, in parts of Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla and Terra del Fuego. The system receives its name from prevailing in the west of England and adjoining parts of Wales, in which an an- cient tribe of Britains lived, called the Si lures. On our continent, the lower part of this system exists in the south of Canada and north- west part of Russian America, extends from the upper Mississippi to * This word being derived from the verb to bowl, the orthography recommended by Webster is employed, as indicative of the derivation, instead of the more common mode of spelling the word with the letter "U." 20 GEOLOGICAL V RECONNOISSANCE the southern portions of Minnesota and Wisconsin ; sweeps from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence through part of Vermont, a considerable re- gion in New York State, somewhat in Pennsylvania, and is continued in a narrow strip along the eastern slope of the Appalachian range. This lower part of the Silurian system has also formed a plateau of considerable elevation and extent in Ohio, part of Kentucky and Indi- ana, as well as an upheaval of more limited dimensions in Tennessee; while the upper silurian formation is traceable in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Lower Canada, along the south of Lake Ontario, through Niagara, north of Lake Erie, the northern parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illi- nois and Iowa, -besides occupying less extensive tracts in Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee. The extensive and valuable lead deposits ot the United States are chiefly situated in the lower part of the silurian system. The Devonian system, as its name implies, prevails in Devonshire, England, as well as in Herefordshire, Shropshine, Worcestershire and South Wales; it furnished, in northern and middle Scotland, the re- markable fishes and other organisms so ably described in Hugh Miller's Old Red Sandstone; it is not much developed on the continent of Europe except in Russia. In our country it forms a great part of the Catskill Mountains, New York, besides showing itself usually in a more or less narrow belt around the numerous coal fields hereafter described. The sub-carboniferous sandstones and limestones rest on these Devo- nian rocks, and in their turn sustain the various sandstones, limestones, clay beds and coal seams which constitute our true coal measures, the whole being embraced under the names of the carboniferous system. The coal deposits are found usually in the form of a basin, at least when not much disturbed by igneous action. Of the fields, in North America, one comprises a considerable portion of New Brunswick and Nova iScotia ; another, of an elongated form, extends, under the name of the Appalachian coal field, from Pennsylvania through part of Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and a portion of Georgia, into Alabama. A third occupies a great part of Illinois, about a quarter of Indiana, and a portion of western Kentucky. A fourth great coal field is situated chiefly in Missouri and Iowa; a fifth and smaller one in Michigan; a sixth in Arkansas, besides other coal deposits, (some perhaps of Tertiary date,) the limits of which have not yet been fully defined, such- as those in Texas, Kansas, Van Couver's Island, &c. In the old continent more than fifteen million tuns of coal are an- OF INDIANA. 21 nually mined and consumed in Great Britain and Ireland ; one million six hundred thousand tuns in Belgium; one million one hundred and fifty thousand tuns in France ; one million tuns in Germany. Coal is also found in Bohemia, Hungary, along the Persian Gulf, in parts of India, China, Japan, Australia, Tasmania, Southern Chili, besides ex- isting in other localities either less known or unimportant. The Permian formation is well developed in the province of Perm, Russia, and in Thuringia, Germany; it also exists in parts of England and Scotland, and has latterly been discovered in Kansas, United States. The New Red Sandstone has been most successfully studied in Con- necticut and Massachusetts, but also extends into New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania and Virginia. It exists in Cheshire, England, furnishing large quantities of salt ; also in Saxony, Germany, &c. It is characterized by the tracks of gigantic birds, of which, in Connecticut, President Hitchcock has already distinguished more than thirty different species. In the succeeding system, the Oolitic, which embraces, according to some authors, the Lias, Oolite and Wealden, huge reptiles appear to have abounded. Their remains are found chiefly in Germany and Eng- land, yet some of the groups of this system exist in Switzerland, Rus- sia and India. Portions of Virginia which furnish coal are considered as Oolite. This formation we must carefully distinguish from an Oolitic limestone, which occurs in our own State and elsewhere among the sub-carboniferous limestones. According to some authors the Wealden forms part of the next division. The Cretaceous system, next in the ascending series, is well developed in England and France, where it supports the short herbage of the high and dry South Down pastures, so well adapted for sheep raising. Some subdivisions of this system exist in Germany, Russia, Italy, north- western Africa, India and South America; also in parts of the Carpa- thian mountains, and Pyrenees. One of the lower groups, the Green- sand, extends in the United Seates from Alabama through parts of Mis- sissippi, and Arkansas, besides being fpund in Nebraska, and locally in New Jersey, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. It is in an upper member of this system that the chalk of commerce is found, often enclosing nodules of flint, as well as silicified organisms, around which these flinty particles were deposited. The cretaceous system closes the Secondary or Mesozoic age, and brings us to the Ter- tiary age, the newer part of which contains fossil shells, of which a large percentage is identical in species with those now living. The 22 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSATCCE oldest formation of the Tertiary epoch, called the Eocene, is found form- ing the basins in which London and Paris are built, and in which Baron Cuvier and Prof. Richard Owen studied the gigantic mammalian remains so prevalent in those formations. Eocene Tertiary also exists at Mt. Bolca, iu Northern Italy, at Mt. Lebanon, in Syria; also in Greece, Morocco, Algiers, Egypt, Persia and India. On our continent it is traced in the Patagonian Andes, and at various points near our Atlantic seabord, from Virginia to Mississippi. The Miocene Tertiary prevails in the valley of the Adour, Southern France, constitutes the "molasse" of Switzerland, the basin of the Dan- ube around Vienna, and that of the Rhine near Mayence, extends into Poland and Hungary, and is found in India and Siam. In the United States it is most prevalent in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. The Older Pliocene constitutes heavy deposits on both sides of the Apennines, forms the hills of Rome, and extends also into Greece and Asia Minor. In England it exists as the Suffolk crag. The Newer Pliocene is found in Sicily and the Cyclopean Isles. The English and Australian cave breccias, as well as the Pampas plains of South America, are usually considered as of Newer Pliocene age. Besides these regular deposits, we have materials that, from their rounded appearance, have evidently been transported a greater or less distance; some of these fragments are hence called Drift, and by some writers are included as part of the Tertiary. Other writers commence a new era with these transported materials, calling it Quaternary; and denominate the older materials as Drift or Diluvium, which they sup- pose has been conveyed by the action of ice, or water, or both, from the original situation, in which it constituted a rock mass. Under this head would also be included the deposits of marl, supposed to have con- stituted ancient lake beds. To the latter materials of transportation these geologists apply the term Alluvium, from the Latin word to wash, because these are chiefly the result of late washings, being found in the beds of rivers, particularly at their mouths ; also in low, swampy pla- ces. Others designate these deposits as Recent, because belonging to the Historical period, and make them include, also, the limestone now forming in the West Indies, the calcareous tufas, depositing wherever water trickles slowly from a soil, or over rocks highly impregnated with lime, as well as the bog iron ores, forming where water impreg- nated with iron is arrested in its course. The older drifted materials are abundant in Scandinavia, Siberia, and OF INDIANA. 23 the northern part of our great Mississippi Valley. In Indiana, the larger bowlders extend as far as 39 south, and smaller materials are abundant where valleys have permitted their passage, as far, at least, as the Ohio river. I The whole subject, however, connected with the Drift phenomena, being very complicated, and at the same time interesting and useful, it has been thought best to devote part of another chapter in the report to an investigation of the facts collected, and of the inferences which it appears fair to deduce from the same. After this general summary of the geographical distribution of the various geological formations, it may be well to recapitulate again briefly those designated as occurring in Indiana. Our own State has no crystalline rocks coming to the surface, although it is doubtless entirely underlaid by them; and in some cases these hypozoic or igneous rocks may be at no very great distance from the surface. The points nearest to our own State at which, as yet, 1?hey have been observed to reach the surface, are in the Cumberland ridge of the Appalachian range of mountains, some two hundred miles from our south-eastern boundary; and the upheaval of these hypogene rocks is considered by geologists as having taken place since the period when the sedimentary rocks vis- ible in Indiana were deposited. This is deduced from the fact that, as a general rule, all our rocks in Indiana have an inclination or dip away from this upheaving source. As water finds its own level and deposits its materials usually horizontally, it seems reasonable to draw the above inference, inasmuch as the rocks, west of the Allegheny range, have a general slope or inclination below the horizon, in a westerly direction, (disregarding in this generalization the purtial dips effected by the Silu- rian upheavals and other yet more local disturbances,) until they come within the influence of the Rocky Mountain range, west of the Missis- sippi river. Thus, then, in Indiana, we have usually a gentle westerly dip, some- times a little north of west, sometimes south of west, and occasionally west of south. The dip, or variation of the rocks from a true horizon- tal line, estimated by their disappearing under the surface of the water in descending the Wabash, the fall of the river baing known, appears to be commonly only a few feet in a mile, although accasionally as high as 2; while some rare local or partial dips are as high, in Indiana, as 45. The aqueous or sedimentaiy rocks observable in Indiana comprise the following systems : 24 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 1st. The Lower Silurian, chiefly in the south-eastern counties. 2d. The Upper Silurian, extending from these south-eastern coun- ties over most of the north and north-west, although partly concealed by Drift. 3d. The Devonian or Old Red Sandstone,* having the same direc- tion, but occupying a less extensive area somewhat more southerly than the Upper Silurian. 4th. The sub-carboniferous sandstones arid limestones extend from Floyd and Harrison counties, in a belt thirty or forty miles wide, to Tippecanoe county, and thence under the drift probably to Lake Mich- igan. 5th. The Coal measures, embracing at least twenty south-western counties, besides portions of five others adjoining. 6th. The Drift, made up of rounded materials, which, from their form, as already stated, give evidence of having been detached from rocky masses, and transported a greater or less distance. On this point most geologists agree; but they are not yet of one opinion regarding the agency employed in this transportation. Suffice it here briefly to state that, while some attribute the agency to glaciers, many think ice- bergs carried the larger masses from the northern regions, (in which similar rocks are often found constituting high mountains,) into warmer seas, where they finally stranded on the shallow shores, or sometimes sank to the bottom at deeper places, not however as yet freed from ice. The icebergs or ice masses, acted on by winds and waves, still carried these hard rock-massss, causing them to drift along the rocky bottom, and thus to wear off their own edges and corners, while grooving the flat surfaces of the underlying, usually softer aqueous, rocks, into strise, or channeled furrows, which can yet be distinctly seen at various places, after the removal of drift from a quarry rock. These particulars will, however, be more fully detailed in a subsequent part of this Report. The northern portion of Indiana, especially, has had its rocks, and originally deposited materials, covered up in most places, sometimes to a considerable depth, by this drift, or Quaternary deposit, as it is termed by some writers, who think a new and marked era was thus in- * The name "Red Sandstone" is not appropriate in the United States, because the fossils characterizing that period, instead of being found, as in Europe, in a sandstone highly col- ored red by oxide of iron, are, in this country, usually found in limestone. OP INDIANA. 25 augurated, after the Tertiary ; hence the name,* as before remarked, designed to denote a fourth great epoch in the geological history of the earth. At the first mention of a section of country thus covered up by drifted and rounded fragments, almost destitute of fossils, we might ex- pect such a region to be comparatively devoid of interest for the Geol- ogist; but it proves far otherwise, when we trace out facts bearing on these drift phenomena, on the formation of prairies, and incidentally, perhaps, on the deposition of materials in basins, now termed coal fields or coal basins, as it will be attempted to show in a later part of this Report. These northern regions of Indiana are, however, besides, by no means devoid of mineral wealth, having tracts of swampy muck, rich in organic materials, often underlaid by deposits of bog iron ore, of marl and of clays suitable for the manufacture of earthen ware, and of the so-called Milwaukie brick; as well as being rich in agricultural wealth, in consequence of the excellent soils formed by the disintegra- tion of the varied quaternary materials. In places too, as will be shown hereafter, this Drift, especially towards the center of our State, contains considerable deposits of gold-dust, brought with particles of its quartz matrix from the original mountain site. It will appear evident, from the above facts, that, as we travel from the middle-eastern border of our State westward, we go with the dip. Starting from the highest levels in the State, whence our largest streams take their origin, and passing gradually from these geologically low formations (the Lower and then upper Silurian) to the Devonian regions, topographically lower, although geologically higher, and thence to the sub-carboniferous limestones and sandstones, which disappear under the true coal measures, we thus reach finally our valuable coal deposits. This coal-bearing formation is the uppermost and last true geological deposit in Indiana, (if we consider the Drift, as some authors do, too partial and erratic to be classed as such,) but topographically *To render this quite intelligible to the general reader, he is reminded that the early geol- ogists applied the term primary (from the Latin primus, first,) to the Igneous rocks, suppos- ing them to be first formed ; as, however, these may come to t^e surface at various periods of the earth's history, later geologists use the word primary for the earlier fossiliferous rocks from the Lower Silurian to the Permian inclusive, to denote the first existence or great era of animal and vegetable life; secondary (from the Latin secundus, second,) embraces the forma- tions from the New Red Sandstone to the Cretaceous, both inclusive ; the Tertiary (Latin ter- tius, third,) includes, as may be seen in the Table, Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene; while the Quaternary (from the Latin numeral quatuor, four, or the ordinal quartus } fourth,) includes, besides the Drift, all the deposits and modifications up to the present day, and such as may continue to be made until some other great change takes plaoe. 26 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE. the lowest, as indicated by the convergence of the Ohio and the Wabash, until the latter empties into the former in the extreme south- west corner of our State. Each geological formation has its marked differences of soil, forest growth, and adaptation for peculiar agricultural products, as well as its varying materials for the construction of works of art, buildings, bridges, roads, pottery, &c., and also its differing water as a beverage, and to some extent atmospheric variations, hygrometric, miasmatic, &c., producing consequent varieties in the diseases to which vegetable as well as animal life are exposed. The definite limits of these formations will be found more accurately described, and other details more exactly pointed out, in the subsequent portions of this report, where each county* is taken up in succession, or where several counties, varying but little in character, are embraced under one head, as a District. * Eighty-five out of our ninety-two counties were examined by me personally to some ex- tent; but I do not consider any one of the counties to have been yet nearly as thoroughly explored as it merited, or as the mineral and agricultural interests of the State demand. Time and means did not permit more to be done ; indeed, had it not been for the earnest de- sire if possible to visit at least each couuty seat, and explain the course adopted, so as to avoid any appearance of partiality, it would have been, perhaps, better to have taken fewer counties, and to have completed the work as we went. CHAPTER II. DETAILS OF COUNTIES. ID order to save time and space, as well as less to interrupt the con- tinuity of the subject, it has been thought best to include, under this head, not only the preparatory information obtained, regarding any county or counties, during the fall reconnoissance of 1859, but also the more detailed facts observed or communicated in the spring and au- tumn surveys of 1860, as well as the data kindly furnished by the dif- ferent members of the State Board of Agriculture in reply to a series of queries addressed to them regarding their respective districts. In presenting the details collected it is proposed to follow the natural geographical and geological sequence of grouping rather than the route pursued in visiting different localities, which route, or line of travel, was sometimes purposely made to cross the formations, as afford- ing, although more laborious for man and horse, better opportunies for inspection than when following the strike or continuous ridge level. Although a county may, by this arrangement, be described as be- longing chiefly to a certain formation, yet it must be borne in mind that at least two formations may exhibit themselves in a county and even be modified besides by drift. Therefore in assigning any one to a particular section it is only meant that the described county presents chiefly to view the formation under which it is ranked. Again, a county may afford fossils of a certain geological formation, as the Upper Silurian, particularly in the bed of water courses, and yet the soil may have mainly resulted from the decomposition of the orig- inally overlying Devonian shales, thereby imparting to the county agricultural and other features more nearly allied to Devonian than to Upper Silurian regions. Thus, although when the water is low on the Falls of the Ohio, we find unmistakable Upper Silurian fossils, it would be wrong to describe either Clark or Floyd county as in the Upper Si- lurian formations, the former deriving its character from Devonian 28 GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE limestone, the latter from sub-carboniferous rocks. For these reasons, although Upper Silurian rocks are found on the Wabash, at Delphi and Logansport, yet Carroll and Cass counties are embraced under the head of Devonian, because in the former the black shales constitute the great plateau and the upland of the latter Devonian limestone is abundantly indicated by its fossils. On the other hand, Devonian fossils being found at Pendleton, Madi- son county, would seem to justify its being described under that head; but, as the majority of the county has Upper Silurian rocks, it was deemed best in that and similar cases to classify the county by the prevalent formation. In a region chiefly covered with drift, there may be, as on the Little Menon, at West Bradford, sufficient rock exposure to identify that part of White county as Upper Silurian, overlaid by Devonian, and so with other drift counties; yet the disintegration of the quaternary materials furnishing the chief elements of the soil, that county is embraced among the counties of the drift formation. These examples may serve to explain many similar cases. In accordance with the skeleton index of reference given at the commencement it will be perceived that, be- fore describing the counties in detail which belong to any geological system, it was considered best to speak 1. In general terms of that geological formation and its prevalence in our State. 2. Of the soil usually resulting from its decomposition ; its adapta- tion for different agricultural products and stock ; also, of the materials, if any, wanting to render it highly productive. 3. The coal, if any exists, would next be enumerated ; otherwise the quarries would come in order, such as those affording building rock, materials for roads, grindstone and whetstone quarries, &c.; also, de- posits of marl, hydraulic limestone, gypsum, clays for pottery, fire- brick, and the like. 4. The metals would next demand attention, as iron, lead, zinc, gold, or any others found in that geological system. 5. The growth of timber and leading vegetation, whether suitable for exportation in the form of veneers, hoop-poles, tanning material, medical roots, &c. 6. Mineral springs, artesian wells, arid similar subjects. 7. Miscellaneous facts, such as the prevalence of milk-sickness, po- tato rot, hog cholera, &c. OF INDIANA. 29 8. Specific enumeration of the fossils found in Indiana imbedded in that geological formation, by an inspection of which it may be recog- nized. 9. A detailed description of each county in the formation. Commencing, then, acording to the above plan, with the oldest geo- logical deposits found in pur State, we have first to describe, in detail, those situated in the Silurian System. I 30 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE SEC. I. COUNTIES IN THE LOWER SILURIAN FORMATION. SUB- SECTION 1. GENERAL CHARCTER OF THE LOWER SILURIAN FORMA- TION AND ITS PREVALENCE IN INDIANA. Eight of our south-eastern coun- ties are situated in this lower sub- division of the Silurian system, viz.: "Wayne, Union, Fayette, Franklin, Dearborn, Ripley, Ohio and Swit- zerland. Several adjoining counties exhibit at deep natural or artificial cuts this Lower Silurian formation, especially Jefferson county, also the eastern parts of Decatur, Rush, and probably of Henry, besides the southern portion of Randolph, as nearly as could be determined under the heavy drift. The New York Geologists have distinguished the Lower Silurian formation into seven different groups, besides subordinate members of some of those groups. The portions which seem most prevalent in the West are the Trenton Limestone and Hudson River Group, extending from our State into Ohio and Kentucky, under the name, usually, of the Blue Limestone, and constituting the hills around Cincinnati and Frankfort, as well as appearing at Nashville, Tennessee, all of which localities afford good fossils. These middle and upper groups of the Lower Silurian formation are chiefly beds of limestone, with intervening spaces in which a deposi- tion of clay predominated and gave rise, by compression, to intercalated beds, sometimes called mudstones, more frequently, argillaceous shales. The limestone is often of a deep blue color, passing into gray, crystal- line, sometimes hard and compact, usually rich in fossil remains. The mudstones, although at first apparently solid, rapidly attract moisture, in consequence of their argillaceous composition, and soon disintegrate. The fossils most abundant in these groups will be found specifically enumerated at the close of this section ; but in general terms it may be remarked that the Trenton Limestone, estimated in New York to be about 400 feet thick, and the Hudson River Group occupying, accord- ing to the same authority, 700 feet, are both characterized not only in the United States, but also in Europe and elsewhere, by several genera of Trilobites, (singular crustaceans, not unlike some of our crabs,) which seem to have frequented the shores of the Silurian seas. Be- sides these, Brachiopods, remarkable bivalve shells of which a few gen- era, not however identical in species, are still to be found in the Medi- terranean Sea and elsewhere, were exceendigly abundant, indicating, according to Prof. Forbes, a depth in the ocean of at least four or five hundred feet. Of the living genus Terebratula, one fossil species of 'OF INDIANA. which is very common in the Indiana Blue Sandstone, Prof. Forbes dredged samples from the nullipore mind of the Mediterranean, at the depth of about 250 fathoms or 1,500 feet. The junction between the Lower and Upper Silurian is recognized in our Western States, by a coral assigned to the Hudson River Group. This, resembling a wasp's nest petrified, and called by Milne Edwards, Columnaria alveolata, (formerly Favistella stellata,) has been found in Indiana at various part of the confines between the Lower and Upper Silurian formation, as that at the Madison cut, not far from the top, also at Enochsburg, about the junction of Decatur and Franklin counties, at places in Wayne, Randolph, and even Delaware counties. The speci- men from Enochsburg, now deposited in the State collection at Indian- anapolis, weighs 153 pounds, and is evidently a single mass, originating from one parent stock, the apex around whose nucleus successive gen- erations grew, in constantly increasing ranges of concentric communi- ties. SUB-SECTION 2. CHARACTER OF THE SOIL RESULTING FROM THE DISINTE- GRATION OF LOWER SILURIAN ROCKS, AND ITS IMPROVEMENT. It was ascer- tained during the process of the Kentucky survey that the soils in this formation, judging as well by the analytical proof as by the evidence offered in the crops, were rich in the lime and phosphoric acid so nec- essary for the growth and filling out of small grain and grasses. So much so that it was considered such lands were more likely to remain permanently productive than some rich black soils, deficient in these inorganic ingredients. The rocks of this system usually abound in fos- sils, and in the third volume of the Kentucky report, the axiom is laid as an established fact in Agricultural Chemistry that " the more replete the rock has been with fossil organic relics, and the more earthy and easy of decomposition the calcareous rock, the more productive the soil derived there- Of course where these these limestones and marlites exist, there is not likely to be any deficiency in calcareous matter, and usually the inter- calations of agrillaceous materials furnish as much alumna or clay, say 10 to 30 per cent., as is desirable for mechanical* mixture with the ave- rage per centage of sand and insoluble silicates. This sand, even in aluminious soils, amounts to from 70 to 85 per cent, or more, while in *Alumina or clay lias very rarely, if ever, been found in the ashes of plants, although abundant in the soil from which that plant grew, and very necessary to prevent the water charged with nutrition, from filtering through to rapidly. 32 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE some formations, made up greatly of sandstones, the ailex or sand rises to considerably over 90 per cent. In addition to the lime and phospho- ric acid, the soils resulting from the blue limestone and mudstones, con- tain considerable quantities of sulphuric acid, potash, soda, magnesia, iron and manganese. If we examine carefully the best works on agricultural chemistry, we find that any soil, in order to be fertile, must have, besides a certain amount of organic matter, which may vary from 5 to 40 per cent., sev- eral inorganic substances, at least in small quantities, these are lime, potash, soda, magnesia, phosphoric and sulphuric acid, with, usually, some iron and manganese, the whole diffused through a mechanical mixture of clay and sand, which should never exceed 60 per cent, ot the former, nor over 92 or 93 per cent, of the latter. On the other hand the same works will show that barren soils are usually especially deficient in potash, soda, phosphoric acid, and perhaps also lime. By an inspection of the soils derived from the Lower Silurian forma- tion, analyzed by Dr. Peter for the Indiana survey, or the still more ex- tensive sets of the same for Kentucky, it will be seen that these blue limestone soils have almost invariably, at least in the virgin soils, a fair proportion of all the essentials of fertility. Therefore all that is neces- sary to preserve them in good heart is to restore to the soil a fair amount of the ingredients taken from it, or to retain on the farm, as far as practicable, by stock grazing, the materials raised. This, how- ever, is by no means the case with soils originally deficient in some es- sential inorganic element, which may require us to resort to an expen- sive dressing with lime, plaster or bone dust. When a soil in the Low- er Silurian formation has, through ignorance or neglect, been exhaust- ed by cropping, it would also be much more easy to return to it, than to an originally defective soil, the lost ingredients, by limited amounts of lime, plaster and the like, applied in the hills, or even by rolling the soaked seed grain, in such a manner in plaster and the like, as to cover each grain with a moderate coat. Perhaps the same result may be ob- tained even at a less cost by sub-soil plowing, bringing up for intermix- ture with the surface soil, a few inches at a time, if previous analysis has proved that the sub-soil contains the necessary ingredients, as was demonstrated to be the case in many of the Kentucky sub-soils of Blue Limestone origin. The fact was already alluded to that soils such as these, containing con- siderable amounts of lime and phosphoric acid, are well adapted for OP INDIANA. 33 the growth of cereals and grasses. Hence the cause why we find this blue limestone portion of Kentucky, comprising the middle counties of that State converted into great stock farms. For tl.e same reason the south-eastern counties of Indiana have gone largely into grazing, wheat and hay raising; the counties, such as Wayne, Fayette, &c., appa- rently preferring the two former, because the stock arid small grain can be more readily shipped by railroad, while Dearborn, Ohio and other counties on the Ohio river, find it profitable to bale and ship their hay to the great river cities; as well as to grow Indian corn extensively in the river bottoms, a crop that requires, and there finds, considerable amounts of potash, magnesia and phosphoric acid. Portions, however, of this formation are well adapted by local cir- cumstance for other besides gramineal crops; thus parts of the blue limestone of the Ohio have been most successfully cultivated in vine- yards, and that culture seems gradually and favorably extending itself into some of our river counties in this as well a other geological form- ations. Especially when the steepness of land, or its mechanical char- acter, renders it subject to wash on a hill-side, under plow cultivation, some such crop as the above, which may even be grown in terraces, is worthy of being considered when we are making our decision as to the adaptation of land to certain agricultural products. More than thirty years since the Swiss settlers, at Yevay, Switzerland county, produced a red, light wine, resembling claret, which sold readily in Cincinnati, not at so high a price as the Catawba, but of a quality better adapted to general use, where only a mild stimulant is desirable. As another recommendation of the blue limestone soil, we must not omit to mention that the clay resulting from the decomposition of the alu- minous shales, already described as intervening between the beds of harder limestone, is sufficient to give the tenacity necessary for the re- tention of manures or other fertilizers, when the agriculturist consid- ers it expedient to employ them. SUB- SECTION 3. QUARRIES OP MATERIALS SUITABLE POR BUILDINGS, ROADS, GRINDSTONES, WHETSTONES, AND FOR BURNING QUICK LIME OR HY- DRAULIC LIME; ALSO, DEPOSITS OF MARL, GYPSUM, CLAYS FOR POTTERY FIRE BRICK, &c. There being no prospect for finding coal in a formation geologically below the carboniferous, such as this, we next proceed to examine whether any of the minerals enumerated in the heading to this third sub-section show themselves, in Indiana, within the sub-di- vision of the Silurian system. As a general rule, the older the deposit, and the more it has been submitted to the compression produced by o 34 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE subsequently deposited materials, the more compact the limestone, sand- stone or shale is likely to prove. Thus the limestones of the palaeozoic period are usually harder and more compact, consequently more capa- ble generally of sustaining vertical pressure in the form of foundation stone, or of resisting cross-fracture, as in door and stair steps, door and window sills, &c., than the limestones of very recent date, such as the tertiary limestone of Mexico. These I saw the natives, at Monterey, dressing with broad axes, when first quarried, but after the evaporation of the quarry water the rock appeared to consolidate into pretty fair building materials for superstructures, not involving great strain. Such being the case, we would naturally expect to find the Blue Limestone of Indiana and elsewhere furnishing good building mate- rials. This is actually the ease if care and judgment are exercised ID the selection of the rock. I observed some years since, when in Ken- tucky, that a bridge near Georgetown, Scott county, had been built of blue limestone rocks, in which the aluminous materials formed so- prominent an ingredient that the bridge was rapidly crumbling. Yet many portions of Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana furnish from these groups (the Trenton Limestone and Hudson River Group,) some layers- of solid crystalline limestone, less replete with fossils than other adjoin- ing layers, which by this selection will be found well adapted for build- ing, especially for foundations, where great sustaining strength is re- quired. As will be seen by an examination of the sub-section giving in detail the counties in Indiana of this geological formation, there is no lack of rock affording strength and durability sufficient for ordinary building purposes; the presence occasionally of organic remains prevents some varieties from receiving a regular face in dressing; yet shells are some- what abundant in the beautiful and durable marble of Jefferson county, fully described in the former report of the late State Geologist. The recommendation of that marble as a good building material belongs- here, although the county is described among the Upper Silurian, be- cause the bed is of Lower Silurian age, being found on the Ohio river beneath the Upper Silurian formations, which mainly characterized the upland of that county. The same blue limestones, above alluded to, can be found abundantly through the counties of this section, for the construction of turnpikes, Mnd, by selection, the rock burns also into a good, strong quick lime, well adapted for mortar, although not so much sought after for hard- finishing or whitewashing as the lighter colored varieties furnished t)F INDIANA. 35 from the sub-carboniferous limestones. No extensive beds of hydraulic limestone have yet been found in the Lower Silurian, although a de- posit near Connersville partakes of that character. Neither is this the formation in which we are most apt to find beds of marl yet some of the decomposing, marlites have to some extent the properties of the less calcareous marls. In this connection we must remember that the term marl is rather indefinite, as Prof. Johnson, in his agricultural! chemistry, giving the analysis of one variety having only about 8 per- cent, of carbonate of lime, while another has over 85 per cent. Gypsum and potters' clay are not so usually found in this as in some- other geological formations, and our south-eas'ern counties form, apparently no exception to the rule, for no such deposits we-wj brought., under our notice in the Lower Silurian formation. C lay for fire brick, demanding a freedom from limey magnesia and? iron, would not be apt to occur in regions where the- ROC ks furnish, by, their disintegration, those ingredients detrimental to fire clay, but bene-. ficial, as already remarked, in soils otherwise suitable for the growth, of; corn, small grain and grasses. SUBSECTION 4. THE METALS IN THE LOWER: SILURIAN FORMATION OF- INDIANA. Iron, the most truly valuable >tf a-11 metals, is more generally;- found in the Carboniferous than in the* Silurian system, consequently:- we do not find any important deposits in these counties of Indiana*. Gold, hitherto washed in our State only from, the Quaternary depos- its, cannot be expected to be in an-y considerable quantity in. the Lower Silurian formation of Indiana, because tho Drift has been mainly ur- reatod somewhat north of them, as we shall see hereafter. Silver, in the United States, has been found native at a few localities, but is more usually associated, with native copper, as in Michigan, or with galena, to the amount sometkraes of three per cent, hi those lead ores ot the Western States. Therefore, it is not impossible that some might exist in the galena of these counties. Galena, or sulphuret of lead, is found most abundantly in the Silurian system of Iowa and Wisconsin, there- fore we might not unreasonably expect to find this ore in these comities of Indiana. We were shown several localities in Ohio county where at former periods galena had been taken out; but the indications did not promise a large yield, so far as we could judge from a harried inspec- tion in the midst of very heavy rain. Copper is generally found in the- United States either native, as about Lake Superior, or in the form of oxides, sulphurets or carbonates, as in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, and other States. In some of those luealities it 36 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE ( occurs in Trappean dikes or walls of upheaval. Such igneous rocks not coming to the surface in Indiana, veins of metallic copper are not very likely to be found. Some masses of copper picked up in Indiana were .evidently rounded by attrition, and had been transported by the Drift probably from the region of Lake Superior. No other metals have as yet been detected in considerable quantity in our Lower Silurian formation. SUB- SECTION 5. THE GROWTH OF TIMBER AND OTHER LEADING VEGETA- TION. As might be expected from the considerable amount of clay, derived from the marlites, Beech timber is very abundant in the Lower Silurian counties; perhaps it may be correctly represented as the prev- alent forest growth. By an analysis of the ashes of beech, that tree evidently requires for its growth considerably more lime (42.6 per cent.) and of phosphoric acid (5.7) than the coniferous trees, such as the Pitch Pine, stated by Prof. Johnston, in his Agricultural Chemistry, to afford 27.2 of lime, and 1.8 of phosphoric acid. These inorganic mat- ters, as already shown, are abundant in our blue-limestone. Besides Beech, however, Sugar Maple, Oaks, and Poplar or Tulip tree are not uncommon. In one part of Union county, grey and blue Ash, and some Black Walnut, were added to the above list; and on the cele- brated Walnut Plains, near Jacksonburg, Wayne county, White Wal- nut and some Wild Cherry combined with the majestic Poplar (Lirio- dendron tulipifera) and stately Beech to beautify the landscape. In the details of this county will be found mention of a species of Locust tree resembling the Black Locust, in addition to the abundant Sugar Maple, White Oak and Black Walnut. Everywhere along the lines of railroads traversing this section of country, piles of staves, hoop- poles, &c., evinced the fact that, notwith- standing our well-known lavish destruction of the primeval forest, a .dense growth of tine timber still blesses this as well as many other por- tions of our State. The apple and most other fruit trees prove, by analysis of their ashes, that they demand also considerable supplies of lime. As might be ex- pected, therefore, orchards thrive well here, as indeed in most parts of Indiana, (except that the peach trees in the northern parts were killed some years since by severe frost;) several fine nurseries were also no- ticed, and the osage hedges testified that only correct culture, close cut- ting the second and third years, with some trimming afterwards, is wanting to make these supply good enclosures when timber becomes scarce. OF INDIANA. 37 SUB-SECTION b. MINERAL AND OTHER SPRINGS, ARTESIAN WELLS, &c. Some of the counties in the Lower Silurian formation are probably to- pographically higher than any olher portions of Indiana, portions ot Wayne near Randolph and Henry, as well as of Fayette near Rush county, also the region near the line of junction between Decatur and Franklin, being, according to my barometrical estimates, made at vari- ous times, fully 1,000 feet above high tide in the Gulf of Mexico. That this region is the highest, is further indicated by the fact that our hirgest streams take their rise in this section of our fetate. The Wabash heads in Ohio near Randolph, and the west fork of White River has its source in that county. The east branch, or Driftwood fork, of White river, heads in Henry county near Randolph, and Whitewater takes its ori- gin chiefly in Wayne. But, to prove this matter incontestibly, I would refer the reader to the table of altitudes in Indiana, reported to the Legislature, Jan. 20th, 1836, by Messrs. H. Stansbury and J. L. Williams, Civil Engineers, a copy of which report was politely furnished me by the latter gentle- man. These tables give two hundred and eight different altitudes, from surveys made. 1. Along Whitewater valley; 2. From Indianapolis to Lawrenceburg ; 3. From Indianapolis to Madison ; 4. From Indianapo- lis to Evansville; 5. From Terre Haute to Evansville; 6. From New Albany to Vincennes; 7. From New Albany to Crawfordsville ; 8. From Indianapolis to LaFayette; 9. From Indianapolis to Wabash and Erie Canal; 10. From State Line to Terre Haute; 11. From Lake Michigan to the Wabash and Erie Canal ; 12. Levels in various sec- tions of the State. The level at three places in the Lower Silurian, near its junction with the Upper, exceeded 1,000 feet above high tide in Hudson River; the summit between Sand and Salt Creeks, near the eastern line of Rush county, and only a short distance from three other counties, Fayette, Franklin and Decatur, being the highest point in the Table oi Altitudes, 1057 feet above high tide. But one other level in the State, examined by these surveys, attained over 1,000 feet ; that point is the summit between the head waters of White Lick and Eel River, in Hen- dricks, near Boone and Montgomery counties, part of the Knob or Sub-carboniferous Sandstone formation. As might be anticipated, although some portions of the extreme summit levels are deficient in full supplies of good water, yet the major- ity of the blue limestone region is well watered. Portions of the 38 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE northern counties in this formation are partially covered with Drift, and, by digging through (this, or even only a portion of those quater- nary deposits, sometimes only twelve to twenty feet, good water is often reached, which has filtered through these more porous materials, and been arrested by an impervious substratum, either of quaternary clay or of Lower Silurian rocks. With regard to Artesian wolls in this region, the theoretical proba- bilities are rather against their success, because greater heights of land are not likely to be found in the vicinity dipping their beds beneath these localities, and sending water along an impervious, inclined stratum of rock under tire artesian boring, thus furnishing head enough to raise the water in the tubing to the same height from which it originally descended. In other words, success is more likely to occur in beds having a synclinal axis, or converging slopes, than in strata having an anticlinal axis, or parting slopes. Several Artesian wells are to be found in Rush county, west of these described heights, and usually chalybeate in their character; they will be more fully described in speaking of the Upper Silurian formation, and are only mentioned here to show that they occurred where theoret- ically we might expect them. As the expense of verifying this matter is not very great, probably one dollar per foot for a boring of moderate depth, when the object of thus finding artesian water is very great, the most advisable plan seems for those interested to unite and test it prac- tically. 'I he water generally is, as we might expect, hard from the limestone; and mineral springs, some sulphurous, some chalybeate and some saline, are not uncommon; one which I examined, in Union county, is strongly chalybeate, in other words, impregnated with iron. SUB- SECTION 7. MISCELLANEOUS FACTS REGARDING DISEASES, &c. In former years there was a considerable amount of milk-sickness in Franklin county ; but as usual under cultivation, it is disappearing. The member from the agricultural District in which several of these blue limestone counties are situated, reports the ratio of the diseases to which the inhabitants of those regions are subject, to be about the fol- lowing: Typhus and typhoid fevers, about 20 per cent. Bilious, remitting and intermitting, about,.. 40 per cent. Consumption, about 20 per cent. Rheumatism and other inflammatory diseases, about 20 per cent. OF INDIANA, 39 Little or no hog cholera has shown itself; potatoes, however, the same gentleman describes as frequently diseased, and insects injurious to agriculture quite abundant. SUB-SECTION 8. SPECIFIC ENUMERATION OF THE FOSSILS MOST COMMON IN THE LOWER SILURIAN COUNTIES OF INDIANA. The fossils found in these' -early formations throughout the Globe are chiefly Corals, Mollusks and Triiobites, occasionally a star-fish or a stone-lily (crinoid ;) also, some marine plants. The most common in our Indiana* Lower Silurian are the following : A. RADIATES. a'. Amorphozoa: Syphouia (Scyphia,) digitata, (Owen.) a. Corals. Chsetetes petropolitanus, (lycoperdon,) C. rugosus, d frondosus, [0. Pavonia,] C. mammulatus, Oh. trigiri, C. ramosus, Protarcea, (Porites, Hall,) vetusta, Streptelasma corniculum, Columnaria alveolata, (Favistella stellata, Hall,) [Constellaria antheloidea,] Fungia corrugata. b. Acalephs. c. JEchinoderms: subdivision, Crinoids. Glyptocrinus do. decadactylus, [Hemicyetites para- sitica, Hall.] B. MOLLUSKS. d. Molluscoid Bryozoa. Escharopora (Ptilodictya, Lonsd.,) recta. 0 fl O * 02 "43 G *^2 Feet. Feet. Feet. 100 1 570 . ._ (a) g Soil gravel and sand. 45 -s I two milesbelow, at its mouth ... authority of Messrs. Stansbury and Williams.. OF INDIANA. 67 These quarries afford abundant and fair materials for the construc- tion of buildings and roads, also for the manufacture of lime. Con- siderable quantities of zinc-blede (the black-jack of miners) are obtain- ed about two miles from the town of Huntington on the north side of the Wabash, near the feeder dam; the locality merits close examina- tion, which in our rapid visit in 1859 we were unable to give it, expect- ing to return to that county. No other metals were heard of as having been found in this county. The country is well timbered, Beech and Sugar -tree being prevalent in parts of the county passed through by us. Under the very efficient direction of Mr. Luzon Warner, politely recommended to me by the Eev. Mr. Skinner, of Wabash, as having a fine collection of fossils, we were conducted to the quarries near the Huntington fair grounds, and enabled to obtain the following fossils, chiefly belonging to the Niagara Group : Haly sites catenularia, Helio- lites pyriformis, (Hall) and H. macrostylus, (Hall) Favosites Niagaren- sis, Favosites Hisingeri, (Edwards and Haime) Stromatopora concentri- ca, Stromatopora constellata, (Hall) Syringopora multicaulis, (Hall) Strombodes pentagonus, Streptelasma calicula, (Hall) Zaphrentis turbin- atum; Caenites (Limaria) laminata (Hall); Stems 'of Eucalyptocrinus decorus ; Atrypa reticularis, Pentarnerus occidentalis ; Platyostoma Ni- agareusis ; Bucania ? (Hall,) Nautiloceras (of D'Orb. or Gyroce- ras of DeKoninck) species undetermined ; Calymene Blumenbachii, var senaria; Caly. Blum. var. Niagarensis, (Hall) Bumastis Barriensis. By drilling through 20 feet of rock in the lower part of town they obtain water ; in the hills, by sinking wells from 40 to GO feet deep, good water is reached. WABASH COUNTY. Under the polite guidance of Mr. Fisher, of your State Board, we had a fine opportunity of examining parts of this county. Not far from this gentleman's beautiful farm and quarry there is a railroad cut, rendered somewhat noted as being close to the scene of a whloesale mur- der committed a few years since by Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard. They kill- ed with a shoe hammer, as proved on trial, and buried under the floor of the cabin, the family with whom they boarded, consisting of a man, his wife, and, I think, five children, circulating the story that the fami- ly had sold out to them and moved away. The subsequent murder of an Irish canal laborer led to their detection and conviction. 68 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE The evidence of natural convulsions exhibited in the adjoining rail- road cut by disturbed and dislocated strata, were almost as inexplicable as these outbursts of a perverted human nature. Entering at the west end we find beds inclined to the west of an angle of about 45; ap- proaching the centre an anticlinal axis partakes rather of the character of curved or folded strata, with huge masses of the purest crystalline calcite, partially covered by a crust of tufa. This is doubtless derived by infiltration from the calcareous matter of the superincumbent Drift, as somewhat farther east we encounter gravel, sometimes consolidated by this cement into a hard conglomerate, resting now on beds that oc- cupy the railroad level, although at the centre of the cut these strata were nearly thirty feet over our heads. Beneath this bed we discern chert, sometimes pure and detached, sometimes apparently the result of silicious filtration into the cavities of the limestone. Emerging from this remarkable section at the eastern end, we find shales with an east- erly dip at the rate of about 25. Drs. Ford and Winton of the town of Wabash were kind enough to drive us out to Linn's Mill, on Treaty Creek. Here we again found evidence of the convulsions and uncomformable stratification noticed at the Fair Ground quarries of Huntiugton, and at the railroad cut de- scribed above. On the west side of the creek, opposite to the mill and close to the dam, a hill is formed by an anticlinal axis, the beds dipping northward and southward about 43. But the extreme summit of the hill has evidently been subsequently denuded and abraded by water, until a hollow affords a channel for a rippling rivulet, while in the bed of the main stream, beneath the axis, the undisturbed strata are visible. Of this interesting locality I made an outline sketch, from which the engraver executed the subjoined lignograph. OF INDIANA. 71 As the quarries at LaGro are stated to be very fine, we regretted not having an opportunity to visit them. From Mr. Fisher's quarry large quantities of excellent building rock are shipped by canal and on the Fort Wayne Railroad. The layers usually furnish very large and thick slabs, one bed has hydraulic properties and formerly was burnt in that neighborhood for cement. Near the town of Wabash. the bluffs ascending from the Wabash River, which is here 638 feet above high tide, furnished the subjoined section : FEET. Loose and thin limestones 15 to 20 Chert and flag stones 8 to 10 Aluminous shales 15 Silico-calcareous rock 15 to 20 Good building rock 20 to 25 Hydraulic limestone 5 to 8 Good building rock, thickness (beneath general surface of ground) unknown SEC. 3, NEAR WABASH, WABASH COUNTY. From some of the various localities in Wabash county above enu- merated we obtained Halysites catenularia, Astroceri-um parasiticum, Orthoceras imbricatum and fragments of other large Orthoceratites, an undetermined species of Nautilus and Calymene Niagarensis. Bog iron ore occurs in the northern part of the county; no other metals have as yet been seen or reported as found; nor gritstones suit- able for grindstones or whetstones. The soil is various, producing usually good crops of corn, wheat, timothy, clover, bluegrass and potatoes. The northern portion of the county is more sandy and the timber lighter, than in the south, where clay predominates,* with large Beech trees and Sugar-Maple abounding, besides some Black Walnut, Bur Oak, Ash and Hickory. *Nos. 8 and 9 of Dr. Peter's reports furnish the analysis of a soil from Mr. Wm. T. Ross' farm near the centre of this county. The remarkably red soil, of Mr. D. Ross' farm, highly impregnated with iron, has not yet been analyzed. The .locality is one-fourth of a mile southwest of Somerset, near the corner of three counties Wabash, Miami, and Grant. 72 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE MIAMI COUNTY. The weatherings of silico-calcareous rock (or Magnesian limestone as it may also be termed,) have mingled with the Drift which has reach- ed this latitude to form the soils of the county. They are also often charged with iron which has filtered, while held in solution by water, into many of the rock cavities, and been deposited there until again mingled with the soil, after decomposition of the stony matrix or min- eral nidus, if the term be admissible. This union has given rise to a soil of varied character, but usually of sufficient fertility to produce good crops of the staple agricultural grain, maize or Indian corn. Al- though most of the farms came into market only sixteen or eighteen years since, (the land forming this county having been reserved for the Miami tribe of Indians) yet they already exhibit proof of good culture and enterprise. Forty dollars per acre is by no means an uncommon price for the land, and when we camped near the farm of Mr. William Godfrey, (16th and 17th of June, I860,) we found corn selling at 35 cts. and wheat at $1.25 per bushel. Close to this farm, on the banks of the picturesque Mississinewa, about three miles from Peru, are the celebrated "pillars," resulting from the unequal disintegration produced by the waters of this river on the harder and softer portions of the silico-calcareous rock, chiefly forming its banks. In describing this locality among other scenery of Indiana, as some of the readers of the " Indiana Farmer " may remember, I used lan- guage, the coloring of which, I think, does not over paint the scene : " Again on the Mississinewa, a tributary of the Wabash, we find, close to the residence of Godfrey, a son of the Miami chief, whose tribe left these fine lands only eighteen years since, bluffs in which the rocks have been weather and water washed into fantastic pillars and natural cornices, which might serve to inspire the genius of a Michael Angelo with some new architectural design, to rival his St. Peter's at .Rome." These bluffs, or pillars, are here about 25 feet high, while nearer the ford they rise to 40 and 50 feet above low water. The bed of this interesting stream was, during our visit at this locality, full of confervse, (simple jointed water weeds) and had more crawfish dashing, with their peculiar, quick backward movement, from under the rocks into the sunshine, than I ever before saw in one stream. Various species of unio, cyclas, paludina (chiefly dead) and melania, OF INDIANA. 73 were also common ; the latter leaving a track in the sand resembling that of a worm. Besides these, numerous specimens of the larva of the Phryganea, or water moth, were seen dragging their wooden habi- tation of cemented sticks along the bottom of the shallow fresh water coves formed by the river*. In this camp we noted, besides the usual timber, abundance of the Ohio Buckeye or American Horse Chestnut, (Pavia Ohioensis,) the buds of which, eaten in early spring by the cattle, frequently produce in them symptoms resembling an attack of " trembles or tires," in man called milk-sickness. Mr. Godfrey showed me where he had partially opened a quarry of fine grained sandstone, very similar to that in the bluff below Logans- port; and, (as was the case there.) here also overlying the yellowish silico-calcareous rock of the Upper Silurian age. Further excavations are required to prove its extent; but there seems every prospect that from this bed and the underlying limestone abundance of material can be obtained for the various purposes of construction. A short distance above Peoria, where there is a dam across the Mis- sissenewa, affording good water power, they are likewise quarrying rock of fair quality and thickness. It seems usually not to extend more than eight or ten feet above low water level in the river, the su- perincumbent deposit, consisting of quaternary bowlders, gravel, and red clay, and amounting sometimes to seventy-five or one hundred feet in thickness. Near Somerset,-)- where this county adjoins Wabash and Grant, on descending some twenty-five or thirty feet, we found them quarrying the lower limestone beds, which were even more solid than the upper, and from which materials a fine woolen factory has been erected ; a kiln close by exhibited a good quality of lime, burnt from the same strata. About Peru the limestone seems to have been abraded and denuded to some extent by the Wabash, and replaced by later qua- ternary deposits. In digging their wells they generally pass through about twelve feet of gravel and then through a few feet of tough blue clay before finding water. *It was here also that we captured a bull-frog for camp provision and found, on dissection of its intestinal canal, that it contained a pebble weighing at least an ounce. tThis town in Wabash county must be distinguished from Somerset in Franklin county mentioned above ; indeed we have frequently, in order to avoid error, to be careful, inasmuch as there are unfortunately in Indiana two "Salt Creeks," two "Eel" rivers, two "St. Jo- seph" rivers, two " Bloomfields," more than one town of "Liberty," and numerous "Buena Vistas," &c., &c. 74 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE Half a mile east of town, in digging a ditch, considerable quantities of bog iron ore were thrown out, of which the following analysis exhi- bits the chief constituents : One-tenth of a gramme operated upon, became very red when heated to 300 F.. and lost by thus drying 0.006 It contained of insoluble inlicates 0.030 Sesqui, or peroxide of iron (Fe. 2 O. 3 ) 37.1 per cent, of iron 0.053 Alumina a trace Carbonate of lime 0.004 Magnesia, alkalies (undetermined) and loss 0.007 0.100 At Peru Mr. Wilson gave me a fine sample of very pure sulphuret of lead, said to be found in that neighborhood; he also promised to inves- tigate and report further on the facts, as the finder was unwilling then to indicate the locality, although claiming that the metal was very abundant, even to the amount of many tons. At a quarry about a mile west of town, where the rock again ap- pears, but too silicious in character to make good lime, we found a slight dip to the south-east, and obtained the following fossils : Colum- naria insequalis, Fenestella elegans, Clathropora frondosa, Orthis ele- gantula? (Hall,) and an indistinct fragment of a trilobite. Beech and Sugar tree appeared the prevailing timber in the southern part of the county, with some Elm and Oak. Good barns and school houses indicated a prosperous condition of the inhabitants. JAY AND BLACKFORD COUNTIES. Blackford, unfortunately, we were unable to visit, but it is stated to be a well-timbered, rather level and fertile county, with no rock show- ing itself near the surface, so far as we could learn ; Lick river and Sal- amanie produce, by their valleys, gentle undulations for drainage ; the former meandering past Hartford, the central county seat, to empty into the former, which, after flowing with the geological strike of the coun- try, parallel to the Mississinewa and the head waters of the Wabash, discharges into that river at LaGro, soon after its curving, with a sudden bend, to flow south-westerly -with the dip, until it reaches the coal field of our State. In Jay county, we observed also a considerable quantity of level clay OF INDIANA. 75 land, which could undoubtedly be readily improved by drainage. In places there is a decided prevalence of gravel, with some bowlders. Occasionally the corn, on these ridges, seemed not so heavy, but the potato crop looked remarkably well. Sorghum, also, seemed abun- dantly cultivated with success in parts of the county, and the flocks of good sheep near Bloomfield indicated an improving system of hus- bandry. The steam mills in and around the county seat, Portland, evinced enterprise, while two newspapers, in a population short of 400, might well arouse the astonishment of regions settled long before the axe of the white man had felled a single "monarch" in this forest. Our route through West Liberty, Bloomfield, Portland and Bluff Point, formerly called Iowa, exhibited Beech, Sugar Tree, Coffee Tree, (Gymnocladus Canadeusis) and Black Walnut timber, all indicating rich land. Further north, about the junction of this county with Wells, we oc- casionally passed, on corduroy causeways, small swamp-muck prairies, luxuriating in large asters, daisies, golden rods, the American aspen, (Populus tremuloides) willows, the indigo plant, (Indigofera carolinien- sis,) smart-weed and boneset, (Eapatorium perfoliatum ;) these lower lands are flanked, on the surrounding gravel ridge, by scrubby oaks, a few hickories, hazel bushes and abundant ferns, among which the deli- cate and graceful Maidenhair (A-diantum pedatum) appeared pre-emi- nent. Some of the springs in this county are stated to be strongly impreg- nated with Magnesia. GRANT AND HOWARD COUNTIES. The new and fertile county of How rd, formed from part of the Miami National Reservation, we were unable to visit; but, judging from its position and surroundings, I should suppose that, in this county, the junction of the Upper Silurian and Devonian would be found, if the rocks could be reached beneath the Drift, which undoubtedly covers the greater portion to a considerable depth. The soil is represented as being well adapted for corn, wheat and the grasses; timber is abundant, the farms being yet comparatively new. The soil of Grant county, modified sometimes by Upper Silurian limestones and shales disintegrating, but composed chiefly of heavy qua- ternary deposits, exhibits alternations of a light-colored soil on some of the higher undulating grounds, resting on a more productive reddish 76 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE clay, with bowlders, presented to view wherever the lighter soil has been washed away. Occasional prairies, of rich, black soil, are inter- spersed with the woodland, and orchards were noticed to be abundant and thrifty. Considerable flocks of sheep were seen, and the barns were observed to be very substantial ; many of them built on the Penn- sylvania plan of selecting a hillside for the foundation. The rock quarried in this county is chiefly on or near the Mississin- ewa, seldom showing itself, however, higher up the river than Marion, the county seat. Near this town, it is taken out in considerable quan- tities for buildings and similar purposes. We noticed some excellent doorsteps quarried and dressed, for the dwelling of Mr. Wallace, brother to the late Gov. Wallace. Some of the layers afford slabs, which ring very clearly when struck, and from which we obtained a few indistinct fossils, chiefly small orthoceratites. The Woolen factory of Marion is situated on this limestone bluff; but in many parts of the town gravel is thrown out in grading, or ex- cavated in digging cellars, even at a level somewhat lower than the limestone exposure ; the latter doubtless having been denuded in places, which then received the bowlders and gravel of the Drift, as well as later quaternary deposits in hollows and " pockets." On the road from Marion through Jonesboro, leading toward Madi- son county, especially near Fairmount, the clay mingled with the gravel thrown on the roads, is so highly impregnated with peroxycl of iron as to give to the whole a strong yellow-ochre color. The timber on the same route consists chiefly of Beech, Sugar Tree and Oak. A mill, near Jonesboro, is on Deer Creek, which empties into the Mississinewa. The clover and wheat in the red soil appeared heavy ; oats and corn were, however, occasionally somewhat thin on the lighter upland. DELAWARE COUNTY. Toward the western limit of this county, we observed some hills of gravel and sand, with oak timber; the farms and cultivation, however, were good, as may be inferred from the fact that a large amount of the wheat crop had been put in with the drill machine, and that hay stacks as well as flocks of sheep were numerous. Nearer Muncietown, the county seat, there is a greater admixture of clay, giving rise to a growth of Beech and Sugar tree. The quantity of hoop-poles at the depot OF INDIANA. 77 would also indicate an abundant growth of hickory. Mr. Kirby, near Muncie, keeps a dairy of about one hundred cows, and manufactures cheese. Land is worth about one hundred dollars per acre in this vicin- ity, although some milk-sickness still prevails in portions of the county, where formerly it was common. Some very fine and large specimens of bog iron ore were shown us at Muncie, obtained in that vicinity, where it is reported to be found in considerable quantities. Close to the town of Muncie are four large and three smaller hills of Drift, bearing north-west and south-east from each other; one of the larger, opened for gravel, exhibits coarse bowlders on the north side, gravel en the south side, with fine sand beneath it. One hill, south of this, is entirely composed of fine sand. Kock is obtained from at least two quarries near Muncie ; although not in very thick slabs, it is suitable for many purposes. The upper layers are somewhat cherty, the lower more solid and pure. The dip here seemed a little east of south, while, at the other quarry, on White river, about a mile from town, it appeared rather west of south. In both quarries chain coral (Haly sites cater ularia) and Favosites favosa were found, although characteristic fossils were somewhat rare. At Squire Gilbert's quarry, near Yorktown, where Buck Creek dis- charges into White Eiver, about ten feet of rock were exposed, contin- uing downwards to an undetermined depth. The upper layers are here also rather thin, with numerous imbedded orthoceratites, (chiefly ortho- ceras imbricatum, of Hall ;) the lower, bluish beds, although somewhat silicious and hard to work, as well as difficult to burn into lime, can be dressed into slabs of from a foot to fifteen inches in thickness. Here, too, the dip was found to be southerly. In digging wells at Yorktown, they encounter rock at fifteen feet below the surface; the water is hard, and some springs, near there, are chalybeate. MADISON COUNTY. The northern part of this county, forming the summit level between the tributaries of the Wabash and those of White river, is indicated by our barometrical observations to be nearly 1,000 feet above high tide. The highest portion passed over by the parly running the level for a projected canal from Indianapolis to the Wabash and Erie canal, is laid down as being 942 feet above the sea. 78 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE In this region we still found the ashen soil, spoken of in describing Grant county, forming the more elevated undulations, with the red, clayey soil in the bottom, resting on gravel arid bowlders, these being frequently rudely stratified into curved beds, thus : White or Ashen soil. Ferruginous clay. Gravel and Bowlders. SEC. 4 CURVED QUATERNARY BEDS IN MADISON COUNTY. In the lower part of the county, where the upper layers of rock are of Devonian age, the soil is somewhat modified. For the analysis of samples taken from the field of Mr. Irish, near Pendleton, where, in parts of his field, the plow often encounters solid rock, with scarcely enough of earth to cover it, see No. 18, 14 and 15 of Dr. Peters' Report. Chemical research evinces no lack in this soil of the elements neces- sary to the production of fair average crops, and experience corrobo- rates the correctness of the theoretical assumption, as wheat grows well and corn only exhibits short crops after injudicious cropping has ex- hausted some of the inorganic requisites. The fine growth of Beech, Sugar Tree and Black Walnut, with some Ash, in the adjoining forest, amply corroborates the original fertility of the virgin earth. Wheat, clover and timothy ; also, hogs and horses, are staple articles of farm profit ; we also observed a fine breed of cattle near Alexandria. Beneath the upper layers of rock here, some aluminous shales disin- tegrate, and exhibit to those digging cellars or wells a metal which attracted some attention. It proved, on examination, to be sulphuret of iron. At a quarry belonging to the same Mr. Irish, not far from his farm, where rock is excavated in considerable quantities, we obtained the fol- lowing section : OF INDIANA. 79 FEET. INCURS. 1. Slabs of limestone, susceptible of a fine polish, others with a silicious grit, containing Devonian fossils, as a Conocar- dium, Favosites Polyrnorpha, &c., 1 to 6 2. Good sandstones 3 3. Another similar bed, 4 inches to 6 4. Another similar bed, 4 inches to 6 5. Sandstone hardening by exposure 1 6 6. Yellowish, rather hard and somewhat aluminous, fine- grained, silico-calcareous rock, to bed of stream, 2 to 4 Total ............................................ .................... 15 6 SEC. 5, NEAR PENDLETON, MADISON COUNTY. . 2, 3, 4 and 5, distinguished by the quarrymen, do not present sufficiently distinctive characters to be separated. At the falls of Fall creek, the same section exists with the minimum figures given above. Four or five miles south-east of this, occasional cases of milk-sickness occur; but chill and fever, with some typhoid, are the prevailing types of disease. On the dividing ridge above alluded to, water is obtained, about 20 feet below the surface, by passing through bowlders and gravel to a quicksand. Near Alexandria, on Big Pipe creek, I found, at Mr. Galloway's mill, rather thin layers of silico-calcareous rock, in the upper beds, excavated for building chimneys and walling cellars ; beneath these, near the sur- face of the water, solid slabs, six feet long by four wide, or larger, if necessary, and ten inches thick, can be quarried, by drilling and blast- ing. The lower layers are a bluish crystalline limestone, and appeared, from the fragments of fossils obtained, to be of Upper Silurian age. The bowlders near here were chiefly granite, greenstone and hard sandstone. Approaching Andersontown we saw some small prairies; and a cut made for the turnpike exhibited the following: Decomposing granite and limestone bowlders, red clay, &c., ...... 2} feet. Pure, clear gravel, hen-egg size ............................................ 2 feet. Small, fine gravel and sand .......................................... 4 to 6 feet. Calling on Mr. Henry, Editor of the "Gazette" at Audersontown, we were directed to the quarries, about a mile and a half south, which 80 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE we found owned by Mr. Davis and Mr. Moss. At both places consider- able excavations had been made, usually to the depth of about 6 feet, affording slabs, which dress to eight inches in the upper layers, and to one foot thickness in the lower. Large orthoc'eratites prevail through- out, and, from between the superincumbent Drift and the rock, springs flow, descending into the adjoining bottom of White river. RANDOLPH COUNTY. The soil around Winchester, the county seat, is chiefly clayey, pro- ducing good clover and fine wheat crops, that average 20 bushels, and sometimes attain a maximum of 37 bushels, to the acre. On Mr. Ir- win's place, about 4 miles south-east, only a few miles from the source of White river, an efflorescence was observed to form on the earth thrown out to the depth of several feet, in digging a ditch, to drain a few acres of craw- fish, swamp- willow land. By some persons this salt is supposed, from the taste, to be alum ; but, as the effect in the mouth was said to be rather cooling than astringent, it maybe nitre; when we were there, no appreciable amount could be obtained, and a sample promised to bo sent has not yet reached the laboratory. In the northern part of the county, near Dearfield, although there is much quaternary, consisting chiefly of bowlders and gravel, yet the aluminous material desseminated through it, on land already level, causes it to be somewhat too retentive of moisture, giving growth to flags and ferns, and requiring corduroy or log causeways for winter use. From Messrs. Monks, Neff and Garrett useful information was ob- tained regarding the neighborhood of Winchester. Among hand speci- mens exhibited by them and represented as being found within a few miles around, the coral, Columnaria alveolata, (Favistella stellata of Hall,) often familiarly termed " petrified wasps nests," proved the junc- tion of the Upper and Lower Silurian to be at no great distance. Mr. David Heaston has bog iron ore on his farm near town, three- quarters of a mile up Sugar Creek, and his well, which we examined, proved a strong chalybeate ; Mr. Monks says bog iron ore is also found on Cabin Creek, eight miles south-west from Winchester, as well as at other localities in that direction. This gentleman showed me a rock somewhat rounded by attrition or weathering, which he had hauled to his garden, estimated by the team- sters to weigh one ton ; it is made up of a mass of very hard, conglomer- ated materials; some of the oval fragments being as large as the egg of OF INDIANA. 81 an ostrieh, many more the size of a goose egg. Another curiosity sub- mitted to our inspection by Mr. Monks, consisting of a very finely and regularly marked water-worn material, nearly two inches square by from one-eighth to a quarter of an inch thick, was politely lent for closer inspection. The markings being all on one side, exhibiting no tubes, floors, septa or side pores, and the specimen effervescing freely with acid and being soft enough to receive a decided impression from the knife, and the edge showing successive lines of deposition, it seems most probable that it is a fragment of a hard shell, ornamented with markings by the Indians; and the only wonder is that, without the aid of machinery, so much regularity should be obtained. But this seems a case similar to that of the carved footprints described by my late brother in Silliman's Journal, and which had been pronounced by some English writers, who saw them in the possession of Frederick Rapp, the founder of New Harmony, " almost too perfect to emanate from the chisel of a Chantry." When, however, as really happened, various specimens are found near the same locality, of similar character, but of various grades from very rude to fine sculpture, we are led to agree with the argument of my late brother, that in all probability they are the workmanship of the Aborigenes, in whom doubtless sometimes re- side the elements to form a Phidias, should circumstances arise to call forth the dormant power. Some quaternary ridges near Winchester are composed of coarse gravel on the westerly sides, of finer gravel with beautiful, sharp sand on the eastern slopes. At Macksville, about four miles west of Win- chester, a limestone characterized by abundance of Pentamerus oblongus, affords, from beds having a westerly dip, material for building pur- poses and for kiln-burning into lime. In the low swamp-muck grounds of middle Randolph, which, how- ever, are being rapidly drained, we saw, luxuriating in the fertile hu- mus, the Chestnut White Oak (Quercus prinus palustris of Mchx.) with several of the willows, (I think Salix Candida and S. eriocephala,) with flags and swamp dock? (Rumex verticellatus.) On somewhat higher portions are Beeoh, Sycamore, Elm and Hackberry, with silk or milk- weed, (Acelapias cornuti,) smart-weed, iron weeds, (Vernonia fascieulata arid sometimes V. Noveboracensis,) and a thistle-like weed, not the Canada thistle, replacing the hitherto abundant Boneset. At our camp near Winchester, on the west fork of White River, we observed four Sycamores growing from one root; and, apparently ema- nating from the same bases with these, although doubtless separate un- 82 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE der ground, a Ked Elm and a Hackberry completed the group. Buck- eyes also, at this locality, grew around us. Chalybeate springs are very abundant in this county; and among the swamp-muck, near Salt Creek, from which chalybeate water oozed abundantly, we observed in places numerous dead shells of the genera paludina, planorbis and physa. Large bones have also been dug from these swamps, but we had no opportunity to see any. We heard also of Indian bones being common in aboriginal mounds and forts around here, saw likewise some beaver dams, and learned that muskrats are very abundant. For the analysis of the very red and productive soil obtained from Mr. James Clayton's farm, three miles west of Winchester, see No. 7 of Dr. Peter's report. There is also, near here, some of the soil termed " mulatto." After passing over claj lands, eight miles south of Winchester, the soil, on approaching Huntsville, becomes gravelly and drier, the natu- ral undulations, which amount to twenty-five or thirty feet, serving well for drainage. Large bowlders are still numerous, and, judging from saw-mills, timber must yet be abundant in this region. HENRY AND HANCOCK COUNTIES. We regretted that our visit to the former was necessarily very brief and the examinations impeded by heavy and continuous rain. After passing, on the straight-line "Cincinnati and Chicago Rail- road," the Walnut Plains described when speaking of Wayne county, we crossed Flat Rock about four miles south of New Castle, and Blue River about half a mile from town. The soil generally is rather clayey, usually good for timothy and clover. Their staple products are wheat, corn and grass ; the general market for which is Cincinnati, although a considerable trade is also kept up with Richmond. On the 12th of November, 1859, when we were at Newcastle, the average price of wheat was $1.00, and of corn 30 cents per bushel; hay eight to ten dollars per ton. Oattle and hogs are raised abundantly in Henry, likewise some sheep ; the horses bred seem of good quality and the mule raising is, gradually, also becoming more common. The Blue River country, being finely watered, is especially well adapt- ed for grazing farms. Gold is washed abundantly from the quaternary gravel drift near the OF INDIANA. 83 mouth of a small stream and a mill-race, emptying about eight miles form Newcastle into Blue River; and these localities, on closer exam- ination, may prove worthy of being more extensively worked. Bog Iron ore was thrown out while ditching Blue River about twelve or thirteen miles north of Newcastle, on Mr. Raymond's farm, section 1, township 19 north, range 10 east, and appearances indicate that the deposit is somewhat extensive. Their building materials of rock they usually obtain from Williams' Creek in Fayette county ; but shelly limestone, suitable for road mak- ing and burning into lime, can be found in nearly all the branches. From these materials several good turnpikes have been completed in this county. Besides the above Cincinnati and Chicago railroad, an- other railroad, denominated the Southern Cincinnati and Chicago road, has been graded, passing through Newcastle to Cambridge City, Liber- ty, in Union county, c. Newcastle, the county seat, numbers about 1,300 inhabitants and sus- tains in and around it many excellent schools, some of high grade, kept up the entire year and giving courses in the languages and mathe- matics. Knightstown, the largest town in the county, is surrounded by much agricultural wealth ; and Raysville is quite a thriving place. About seven or eight miles west of Newcastle, a number of Indian skel- etons were disinterred in constructing a turnpike, and about the same distance south of town some remarkable human bones and skeletons of giant size were dug out, with other relics, during the making of a road. Sugar-Maple, Oak and Walnut were observed to be abundant after leaving the Walnut Plains and entering Henry ; the county is consid- ered a good fruit region, although here as elsewhere in middle and northern Indiana, the peach trees were killed some years since. They have had some hog cholera; and we were informed that the prevailing diseases, among the inhabitants of the county, are bilious- remittent in type, with some typhoid and occasional recent cases of milk-sickness in portions of the county. Sometimes the disease was apparently traceable to certain springs, inasmuch as the cases ceased to appear in that region after these springs were fenced in from access of cattle, through which the poison is most generally communicated. Dr. Reid informed us that post-mortem examinations usually disclose a thick tarry matter in the stomach and intestines, the evacuation of which generally would effect a cure. The constant nausea, abdominal tenderness, and want of action or engorgement of the liver, render it, 84 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE however, often difficult to produce sufficient quietus for the retention of the necessary cathartic. Blistering on the stomach sometimes alleviates the irritability, and the softened condition of the bowels indicates the propriety of diffusible stimulants, which are consequently often suc- cessfully employed. In some cases there is an apparent tendency to mortification. In this county there are several sulphur and chalybeate springs ; one of the latter made its appearance suddenly in the dead of winter, about two years before our visit. Well-water here is hard and reached usually at from twenty to forty feet, without encountering any rock, after passing through 1. blue clay; 2. gravel ; 8. sand. Of Hancock county also we did not see as much, while passing through, as was essential to the formation of correct inferences, on many important points. The eastern part of the county seems modified by the proximity of both Devonian and Upper Silurian rocks, and the western brings the Devonian shales into the region of the knob-sandstones that underlie parts of Marion and Johnson. The continuous predominance of Beech woods as we passed succes- sively through Charlottsville, Greenfield, Philadelphia, Cumberland, &c., indicated an aluminous soil, although the staves, oak poles and barrels at depots, pointed to more arenaceous ridges; the corn, standing in large and close shocks, the meadows, the numerous small grain and hay stacks, some orchards and a nursery near the eastern confines, all seemed to justify favorable conclusions regarding the general fertility of the soil and the improved state of agriculture in the county. The railroad cuts, usually low, evinced undulations favorable for drainage of the country, while the streams crossed showed no want of water for the stock; and an occasional flouring mill demonstrated the correct use of water power. The cuts being usually through gravel, exposing occasional bowlders, proved the quaternary drift to have spread over the subjacent rocks, and thus probably to have aided as is often seen, in adding fertility to their detritus. Further particulars must be reserved for minute explorations, where instead of general reasoning from a few striking facts, ascertained de- tails can be given in full. OF INDIANA. 85 RUSH COUNTY. The remarks already made regarding the western portion of Fayette apply in a great measure to the eastern part of Rush. The great Low- er Silurian plateau spoken of, with a growth of large Beech, Elm, Su- gar Tree, and Oak, and undergrowth of Papaw, continues somewhat into Rush ; the town of Vienna being in that county, close to the di- viding line. Thence we gradually descend on to the Upper Silurian formation. A superficial deposit of quaternary gravels and clays still modifies the soil, and the same character of fine farms, good barns and dwelling houses continues some of the latter in Rush county are evi- dently both costly and ornamental ; the osage hedges, clover fields and improved farm implements of this county indicate likewise high agri- cultural prosperity, notwithstanding the apparent scarcity, when the geological corps was there, (29th September, I860,) of corn and water for stock. The county generally is represented as possessing soil as fertile throughout as any other county in our State. In Rushville they obtain their materials for works of stone-masonry partly from Vernon, Jennings county, and partly from the Flat Rock quarries near the Decatur line and in that county. From Drs. Helm and Sexton we received valuable information bear- ing on our researches ; and, through the politeness of Mr. Shaddiuger, had an opportunity of seeing the collection of Mr. George C. Clark, at the Court House, as well as of examining the very interesting artesian wells in and adjoining the town. Some of these are simply dug in the usual manner and the water, rising rapidly to the surface, flows over, others are dug seven or eight feet, then bored and tubed, enabling the water to be drawn off from pipes some feet above the surface. In all probability it might be raised even to the second story of the buildings or higher, as the rise seems due to the fact of these springs deriving their head from water which has flowed along an impervious substratum, off the high plateau de- scribed above, and which by my barometer is in places nearly a hun- dred feet higher than the level of Flat Rock creek at the bridge, near Rushville. These wells are almost all strongly chalybeate ; and, when dug to the usually depth of twenty to twenty-five feet, pass through soil, gravel, ordinary clay, and lastly through tough blue clay. Some of 86 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE those bored here are now running about one pint per second ; others somewhat less. ' , j Near the head waters of Mark Creek, where a saw mill is establish- ed, a spring broke out, twenty years after the first settlement of the place. The artesian chalybeate at Slabtown, in Walker township, at the mill near the railroad crossing, flows freely, winter and summer, from a depth of twenty-six feet, dug through gravel and clay. A remarkable feature connected with these artesian wells is that all which have thus far been dug successfully are situated nearly on a di- rect line, passing through the county, by Rushville, bearing from ten to fifteen degrees north of east to the same amount south of west. The celebrated springs near Knightstown, Henry county, I was in- formed, are situated in Rush county, not far from the dividing line. A considerable amount of bog iron ore was taken out about five miles east of Rushville, on the "Tiner" farm, also on that of the "Al- exanders." About a mile above there, near the south bank of Little Flat Rock, a space, fifteen or twenty rods long by some eight rods wide, was so impregnated with oxide of iron that nothing would grow; and sulphate of iron was also found. Not far from this neighborhood salt was formerly made, by boiling and evaporating the spring water, ac- cording to the primitive usage of frontier settlements and times; where- as now it is found more profitable to reach by expensive shafts a stronger, subterranean brine. According to data kindly furnished by the County Surveyor a point in Fayette county, about two miles east of Vienna, is eleven feet higher than the highest point in Rush ; and this point is, if I understand him. correctly, according to the levels run for the Junction railroad, 386 feet above Indianapolis. By the table of altitudes given by Messrs. Stans- bury and "Williams, the bottom of the canal at Indianapolis is 337 feet above high water mark at Evansville, and the latter place, according to Mr. Ellett, is 320 feet above high tide, although according to Messrs. Stansbury and Williams it is 361. Assuming the former, then the highest point in Rush would be 1.043 above high tide, by the latter, 1,084 feet. DECATUR COUNTY. In the north-west part of this county, approaching the county seat, Greensburgh, from the Shelby county line, we passed alternations of level and undulating, rather clayey land, affording growth for fine OF INDIANA. 87 Beech woods and extensive meadows, besides the usual staples of corn and wheat. Cattle, hogs, mules and sheep were abundant; the latter browsing on the short sweet herbage of gently rolling, quaternary hills. Further south, Poplar and Oak timber are more abundant, and on "Narrow-bone ridge" we observed splendid trees of Black Walnut, Poplar, Sugar Tree, Beech and Ash. The county furnishes excellent building rock at the quarries of Flat Rock Creek and Jordan ; with these materials they have constructed a magnificent Court House. Some samples of the St. Paul or Flat Rock stone, dressed for Cincinnati, were twenty-two inches thick and weigh- ed one hundred and eighty-eight pounds to the cubic foot ; from these quarries fifty hands daily ship from twelve to fifteen car loads, besides burning large quantities of lime. The stone usually averages from six to twenty inches, and when placed in the foundation of heavy build- ings, as the Court House, evidently proves itself well adapted to sustain great pressure. From an examination of the tombstones in an old grave-yard, both the Flat Rock and Jordan quarry stones stand the weather well. Some of these had almost the appearance of marble, and had preserved their edges sharply. With the pleasure and advan- tage of being piloted by Mr. Bonner, member for this agricultural dis- trict, we visited the Jordan quarry, passing two miles south of town by the strong chalybeate spring of Dr. Wheeldon. At six miles we cross- ed a fork of Sand Creek, the whole bed of which is rock, and six and a half miles a little east of south from Greensburgh we came to the Jordan river and quarries, the lower beds of which are there a few feet above the level of the stream, capped by some layers almost marble. Following the meanders of Jordan down stream, we found these upper harder layers sometimes standing out in bold relief as table rocks, twenty-five feet above the stream, the Jordan having a rapid fall, while the dip is very slight. The softer magnesian limestone with its ortho- ceratites and lituites has often disintegrated under the united action of air and water, sometimes forming cavernous sinuosities large enough to tempt boyish adventure in exploration, with the hope of developing a new cave to rival Wyandot or the Mammoth of Kentucky. Some- times even the upper strong material, like the table rock of Niagara, can no longer sustain its own weight and is precipitated into the bed of the stream. One of these large masses was pointed out to us, which from its accidental resemblance, has been denominated "the coffin." GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE JENNINGS COUNTY. This county is justly celebrated, judging from the samples shown us, for the excellent quality of the building materials obtained at numer- ous quarries. Mill-stones are also taken out, which are well adapted for grinding corn. Near North Vernon they claim to have marble ; but we were unable to obtain a sample for examination. As the corps wa& accidentally prevented from including this county in the fall survey of 1860, although it was embraced in the original route laid down, it is exceedingly desirable that localities so full of geological and mineral interest should be fully examined and reported upon. Mr. Legg, of Vincennes, proprietor of coal mines in Daviess county, informed me that in digging a well two miles north of Yernon, the county seat of Jennings, they found, about twenty-eight or thirty feet below the surface, a considerable amount of two metallic ores, one sup- posed to be antimony and the other not known. Had these specimens been immediately forwarded to the laboratory, they would have been analyzed and the results embodied in this report. Part of Jennings is said to be rather too broken for arable purposes ; but would make excellent grazing land or vineyards, and afford valua- ble water power. Probably the western part of the county will be found chiefly characterized by Devonian limestones, as, judging theo- retically, the junction of these with the Upper Silurian rocks must crop out about that region. JEFFEPvSON COUNTY. Ascending the hill back of Madison through the deep railroad cut, we found in the lower and middle portions abundance of Lower Silu- rian fossils, whereas after passing North Madison and ascending to the general level of the country the Upper Silurian gives character to the soil. In the lower part of the cut, Strophomena (Leptsena) alternata, a few Trilobites, (chifly Calymene senaria,) Ambonychia carinata, and A. radiata, Modiolopsis modiolaris, Pleurotomaria percarinata, and Orthis (Spirifer) lynx are readily obtained; somewhat higher up are Strepta- lasma corniculum or Orthoceratites; with Avicula demissa, Atrypa in- crebescens, Leptsena sericea, Murchisonia gracilis, and Asaphus canalis, (Isotelus gigas,) Orthis testudinaria and O. occidentals extend a long distance, succeeded, at about 350 feet above low water, by a dark- v^^iL / ' OF THE I UNIVERSiT OF INDIANA. 91 colored coraliferous limestone, with a continuous baud or layer, over two feet thick, chiefly made up of Columnaria alveolata (Favistel- la stellata of Hall,) considered as often marking the upper limit of the Lower Silurian. With this were some large nodules of calcite and pearl spar. Above this a silico- calcareous rock, with some cherty layers, makes its appearance, in which we failed to detect fossils, but from which Mr. Thurston, of Madison, presented some fine Trilobites, (Calymene Blu- menbachii.) Undoubtedly these various cuts for the railroad, forming the inclined plane of ascent from Madison to the interior, have devel- oped for the palseontological collection a rich field, which should be thoroughly explored and described. Above the Columnaria bed the arenaceous limestone layers offer to view an anticlinal axis having a slight northerly and southerly dip ; these are surrounded by eight or ten feet of aluminous shales, again capped by six or eight feet of cherty, porous limestone. The mingled Upper Silurian, with some quaternary detritus of North Madison, suc- ceed these stratigraphical layers and develop on the adjacent farm of Mr. Elias Stapp a fine clay extensively used in the foundries near there. "We obtained a sample for analysis. The view from this section of country through the cut to Madison is truly magnificent, and we have endeavored to give a faint idea of it by a sketch ; it is equaled, we were told, by the river prospect in coming from South Hanover (the location of a thriving college, which we re- gretted not having time to visit,) up the river to Madison. In this county, two or three miles north of Bethlehem, on the Ohio river, close to the Clark county line, is situated the celebrated "Dean Marble Quarry " so fully described in the first report of the late State Geologist, alike suitable for good building materials and for ornamen- tal purposes, such as table, bureau, and wash-stand tops. In cutting and polishing these, as well as in the rough quarry rock, numerous fossils exhibit themselves, chiefly gasteropods of the genus Murchisonia, (species bellacincta and bicincta.) From low water in the Ohio here to the base of the marble quarry, is about two hundred feet by my barometer, above which a silico-calcareous rock, or perhaps more properly an aluminous and silicious limestone extends, for twenty or thirty feet, with cherty limestone surmounting the whole. Jefferson county also affords the beautiful, Lower Devonian coral, Pleurodictyum problematicum ; indeed the uplands, near the line of junction with Floyd county are chiefly Devonian. 92 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE SEC. III. COUNTIES IN THE DEVONIAN SYSTEM. The greater portion of the following counties were found so charac- terized as to rank them in the Devonian system, viz.: Cass, Carroll, Tipton, Hamilton, Shelby, Bartholomew, Jackson, Scott and Clark. SUB-SUCTION 1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. The geological assemblage of rocks often termed the Devonian system consists with us, in the lower Pleurodictyum problematium beds of Jefferson and Scott coun- ties ; and in the middle sub-divisions, of beautiful limestones, alterna- ting with others more cherty and aluminous, replete with splendid fos- sils, such as those found so abundantly about Charlestown and Utica, Clark county, and the Ohio Falls, chiefly large masses of coral, belong- ing especially to the families Favositidss and Cyathophyllidse, ranging from the delicate tabulated Syringopora to the gigantic Zaphrentis, also Brachiopodous and Conchiferous mollusks, from the curious slipper- shaped bivalve of the family Orthidse (Calceola sandalina) to the snout- ed Conocardium and delicate Lucinia proavia. This is probably the equivalent to the great Eifel limestone or calceola schists of Europe. The upper sub-divisions are more aluminous in character, being espe- cially represented in Indiana at various points from New Albany, on the Ohio, to Delphi, on the Wabash, and in the same north-west line to- wards the lakes, by a bituminous, argillaceous black shale, (often con- taing beautiful lingulas,) which has been frequently mistaken for a coal shale, but which is yet geologically far beneath the true carboniferous deposits. To these upper beds, the equivalent apparently of the Rhen- ish Goniatite schists, as well as of the Gennessee slate of the New York Geologists, we assign Jackson county with its Goniates and Orthoceratites. In Great Britain, where this system frequently receives the name of the "Old Bed Sandstone," Prof. Johnston describes it as being in its upper part made up of red sandstone and indurated sandy gravel, its middle of clayey marls and impure silicious limestones, and the lowest of mottled sandstones, sometimes wholly silicious, at other times par- tially calcareous in character. In Europe, too, fishes of remarkable type, sported in the Devonian seas, such as those described by H. Miller in his fascinating "Red Sandstone," the Cephalaspis, with its external buckler of bone to pro- tect its cartilaginous interior, the Holoptychius with tubercled scales, the winged and horned Pterichthys, and its equally remarkable conge- ner the Coccosteus, all of them fishes more resembling our sharks, rays, gars and sturgeons, than our perches or salmon. OF INDIANA. 93 SUB-SECTION 2. SOILS, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, &c. The soils re- sulting from the disintegration of the Indiana Devonian rocks, we found in many instances of excellent quality; although occasionally varying somewhat in character from the proximity of other formations, as may be more fully traced in the description of the separate counties of this formation. Some English writers have characterized the " Old Ked " as giving rise to some of the finest agricultural regions in Great Britain ; but others assert that this is the case only where there are intercalations of marl. The agricultural products in this geological area of Indiana are rather small-grain and grasses, than Indian corn ; some of the counties, however, cultivate the latter also successfully, and raise considerable droves of hogs. SUB-SECTION 3. BOCK QUARRIES, &c. Some of the limestones of De- vonian age furnish beautiful building materials; and as Cass county is assigned to this formation, although some ot the lower beds are Upper Silurian, we may here cite the numerous quarries in and around Lo- gansport. The building materials in the quarries of Hamilton and Shelby counties are also from near the junction of the Upper Silurian and Devonian; but the pure lime shipped so abundantly from Clark county is entirely burnt from Devonian limestones, while the western part of Bartholomew furnishes rock derived from the sub- carboniferous sandstones. SUB-SECTION 4. METALLIC ORES. With the exception of the gold washings to be spoken of in describing Carroll and Clinton counties, - and some carbonate of iron found locally in the ash-colored shales over the black Mate in some knobby regions, few metals of importance were brought to the notice of the corps in the counties of this formation ; yet, although metallic ores of good quality are not usually so abundant in this stratigraphical section, as in some others, it is quite possible that more extended research may develop some minerals worthy of the practical operative's attention. SUB-SECTION 5. TIMBER AND PREDOMINANT VEGETATION. Beech tim- ber seems the prevalent growth, particularly on the clay soils, resulting from the disintegration of the aluminous shales; but other valuable trees are also abundant in various parts of the formation, such as Sugar Tree, Black and White Walnut, Ash, with some Buckeye and Wild Cherry. SUB-SECTION 6. SPRINGS, &c. Mineral springs are probably not so 94 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE common in this as in some other formations ; but we have, back of Jeffersonville, a chalybeate which was formerly much frequented as a watering place and summer resort. The analysis of this water will be found in the description of Clark county. Several medicinal springs are spoken of when describing Carroll county. SUB-SECTION 7. MISCELLANEOUS FACTS REGARDING PREVALENT DISEASES, &c. Although bilious and remittent fevers are not so common perhaps as in the alluvial bottoms, nor milk-sickness so prevalent as in parts of the coal measures, yet on the cold clays of the black slate, the latter has been reported in places, and some chill and fever observed ; as well as the ever prevalent typhoid and not uncommon winter fever or pneu- monia. SUB-SECTION ,8. CHARACTERISTIC FOSSILS : A. RADIATES. a. Corals: Favosites Goldfussi, F. basaltica, (Gothlandica,) F. polymorpha, F. dubia, F. reticulata, F. mammillaris, F. maxima, F. fibrosa, Emmonsia hemispherica, E.? cyiindrica, Syringopora tabulata, S. tubiporoides, Zaphrentis corniculum, Z. Eafinesque, Z. gigantea, Amplexus Yandelli, Aulacophyllum sulcatum, Hadrophyllum Orbignyi, Cyathophyllum rugosum, Heliophyllum Halli, Acervularia Davidsoni, Eridophyllum strictum. b. Acalephs. c. Echinoderms: sub-division Crinoicls, Olivanites Yerneuili. OF INDIANA. 95 B. MOLLUSKS. d. Molluscoid Bryozoa. Fenestella antiqua, (Lonsdale,) F. tenuiceps, (Hall,) [This species, found on the Falls, is probably Upper Silurian.] e. Brachiopods. [Spirigerina reticularis, Caleeola sandalina,] A try pa aspera, Athyris concentrica, [Spirifer mucronatus,] &' nie of the Upper Silurian fossils, found also on the Kentucky side near Bear-Grass Creek. Above these we find the interesting coral reef, OF INDIANA. 121 that has been cut through by the water, exhibiting in ascending order the Coralline beds, the shell beds, the hydraulic limestone and the black slate, extending in the creek, near New Albany, .thirty-eight feet above high water. Crossing on the bridge and ascending the adjoining knobs, we find the Knob-sandstone rising some 460 feet above the black plate, overlaid by limestone and again by shaly sandstone. A few miles fur- ther west a better section is obtained on the Corydon road, ascending to Edwardsville. At the risk of being charged with a topographical solecism, or in- congruity of juxtaposition, I have ventured to bring these strictly con- secutive sections together, representing the one which is found a te\v miles from New Albany on a vertical scale half the size of the other and bringing the rapid portion of the Falls, to economize space, some- what further from Jeiiersonville than truth warrants. The facts and figures conveyed in the section otherwise are correct, and may facilitate comparative examinations. GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE t f" 3 OT ,2 >> g- 4J S | I'll !jj| | | J2 -S . S S S ?3 S S S " 8 1 1 i 1 OF INDIANA. 123 The thickness of the limestone as we travel west continues to in- crease at the expense of sub-carboniferous sandstone, until near Cory- don, in Harrison county, it is seen for the last time disappearing, or dipping under the sub-carboniferous limestones. The hills .of Floyd afford fine timber, Oak and Pine. Some portions on the Ohio river, as the admirably underdrairied and well-managed farm of Mr. Collins, member of the State Board of Agriculture, fur- nish as bountiful returns as can be obtained anywhere in our Missis- sippi Valley, and other parts of the county are well adapted for small grain and grasses. 124 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE SEC. V. COUNTIES IN THE SUB-CARBONIFEROUS, OR CAR- BONIFEROUS, OR MOUNTAIN, OR CAVERNOUS LIME- STONE. To prevent mistake, as these synonyms are used indiscriminately by different writers for the limestone, (with some intervening shales or sandstones,) occurring above the Knob-sandstone, or Waverly or Sub- carboniferous sandstone, (part of which seems considered by Prof. Hall, in his Iowa report, the equivalent of the New York Chemung Group,)* and below the Millstone Grit or Carboniferous Conglomerate, they are all given here, although usually the term sub -carboniferous limestone will be employed to distinguish it from the limestones usually only a few feet in thickness, which occur in the Coal Measures and are hence more properly carboniferous limestones. SUB-SUCTION 1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP THE FORMATION. Usually these limestones, formed prior to the true coal period, have obtained a considerable thickness in our State, spreading over the greater portions of Montgomery, Putnam, Monroe, Lawrence, Orange, Harrison and Crawford counties. Including the overlying shales, grits and sand- stones up to the Carboniferous Conglomerate or Millstone Grit, the lat- ter not inclusive, I have been unable to satisfy myself of a greater vertical thickness, in Indiana, than from 400 to 500. feet, which agrees approximately with the thickness of similar beds found by Prof. Hall in Iowa, viz : above the Knob-sandstone, about 100 feet of Burlington limestone, 140 of Keokuk limestone, 65 of Warsaw limestone, total 305 feet, besides the overlying sandstones included by him as below the con- glomerate. On the other hand a section given by Prof. Hall, from ob- servations by Mr. Worthen, State Geologist of Illinois, made near Huntsville, Alabama, exhibits a thickness for similar strata of about 900 feet, while in the Missouri Survey, by Prof. Swallow, over 1,100 feet have been assigned to these beds, under the names Encrinital, Ar- chimedes and St. Louis limestones, with the ferruginous sandstones above. "With us the lower beds, immediately over the Knob-sandstone, can *The Chemung Group is in the New York classification one of the higher sub-divisions of the Devonian. Prof. Hall admits that "the passage from the Chemung (Devonian) to the Burlington (Carboniferous) limestone is so gradual, both in the physical aspect and in the generic and specific characters of the fossils, that it forms no greater change than is observed between any of the subordinate groups." OP INDIANA. 125 be distinctly observed in Lawrence county, at Heltonsville and on Salt creek, in Monroe county on Bean Blossom, two miles north-east of Bloomington, and in Montgomery county, near Ladoga and near Craw- fordsville. The first layers are often remarkably white, encrinital, and sometimes, near the junction, so hard as to strike fire with steel, yet effervescing with acids, and exhibiting numerous entrochites. Asso- ciated with these are darker beds, with Terebratula lamellosa and other Brachiopods. These with the superincumbent blue and gray limestones (which have sometimes diffused fragments of calc-spar, giving rise to the name of Bird's-eye-limestone, or whose texture is so uniform as to form it gocd serviceable lithographic stone,) constitute what may be called the Lower or Monroe-Harrison sub-carboniferous limestone, attaining at times a thickness of from 100 to 150 feet ; but more usually less, diminishing as we go west, while the ferruginous sandstones and shales increase at their expense. The fossil fish, (Palssoniscus) found in the eastern part of Monroe county, Indiana, is probably in this bed. Above these strata of limestone, occasionally silicious shales, but more fre- quently red clays and chert, occupy a space of from 25 to over 100 feet, often full of geodes, that have fallen from the superincumbent calca- reous beds, to which the term Middle or Lawrence-Crawford sub-carbo- niferous limestone may be applied. This geodiferous limestone is from 20 to 100 feet thick, and in its upper layers is sometimes magnesian, sometimes flinty in bands like Lydian stone. The geodes, where the limestones disintegrates, fall out, exhibiting an oval, wrinkled exterior, and if broken open are seen to contain clear white crystals, pointing to a central cavity. The crystals are sometimes calc-spar or dog-tooth spar, (cabonate of lime,) sometimes quartz, (silica) : occasionally we find distinct crystals of both occupying different portions of the same spherical mass ; and, at other times, botryoidal chalcedony replaces the regular crystals. These seem to result from the infiltration into the limestone cavities of water holding carbonate of lime in solution, through the aid of an excess of carbonic acid, and holding silex dissolved either aided by heat or by alkalies, somewhat as Hint is form- ed in chalk or as the splendid quartz crystals form abundantly in rock cavities of middle Arkansas, where to this day analysis shows the water to be alkaline. The chert beds in Indiana are also usually characterized by a high red color derived from infiltration and deposition of the hydrous perox- ide of iron, which shows itself abundantly in a fine crumbling condi- 126 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE tion, where some of the geodes and most of the chert blocks are broken open. It is likewise in these strata that we find, especially in caves, Epsom salts, (sulphate of Magnesia,) resulting from the decomposition of the Magnesia, being often in the form of an effloresence on the surface of that rock; also gypsum, stalactites, stalagmites and the beautiful fibrous satin-spar, such as that from the Pillar of the Constitution in Wyandot cave. The Middle Limestone, occasionally replete in some strata with the coral Lithostration Canadense, also often oolitic in its upper strata, some- times with shells of the genus Euomphalus, passes gradually into arena- ceous and sometimes magnesian limestones, then to silicious shales, often with alternations as in the beds below, of Bryozoic chert and red clay, occupying in all from 50 to 100 feet. Next, in ascending order, occurs a limestone which as it sometimes constitutes one heavy bed, or member, but more frequently by the intercalations of from eight to thirty feet of silicious shales, areneceous limestones, dolomite or chert beds, is separated into two sub-members, may hence be termed the twin or up- per sub-carboniferous limestone. The two sub-members constitute the first and second Archimedes limestone of some authors, and may con- veniently be distinguished into "A," the sub-member above ; "B," the sub-member below. The occasional separation into two sub-members is true also of the strata forming the Middle limestone and even the Lower; but much less frequently in Indiana than is the case with the upper member. This Upper sub-carboniferous limestone, which might be also termed the Orange-Martin limestone, from its prevalence in those counties, is often characterized, in its sub-member "B," by abundant Bryozoa, of the genus Ketepora, Fenestella, Ceriopora, &c , and it is occasionally oolitic. The sub-member "A" is more frequently compact, with few fossils and a very clear ring when struck by the hammer, sometimes more coarsely crystalline and containing Archimeidpora Archimedes, or spines and fragments of Echinites; other layers, sometimes the entire twin member, may be found so replete with several species of productus as fairly to claim the title of productal limestones. None has yet been found by us of the brecciated variety mentioned in Prof. HalPs Iowa report. The intervening silicious shales furnish the grindstone grits. The upper limestone often forms the roof of caves, the underlying shales or argillo-calcareous sandstones and silicious dolomites washing OF INDIANA. 127 out more or less to form the narrow passages or vaulted domes of the caves, as will be shown in detail when describing Crawford county. Below each one of these sub-members a thin coal seam, or a fine clay, has been found in several counties of Indiana, seldom exceeding 7 O eighteen inches in thickness. Above this upper sub-carboniferous limestene we have a succession of ferruginous sandstones, with a varie- ty of grits, embracing the grindstone and whetstone quarries of Indi- ana, with their Lepidodendra, Stigmariee and other remarkable carbonif- erous vegetation, or an occasional thin coal seam, sometimes both, as in Orange county. These ferruginous sandstones, occupying a space of from fifty to a hundred feet, are assigned by some writers to the Millstone Grit series, which in its true conglomerate form is often- found superposed on the finer grits to the extent of forty or fifty feet, while others consider the ferruginous sandstone as belonging to the series which we denominate the sub-carboniferous limestone series. To render the foregoing more intelligible a consecutive section is subjoined, combining the whole, from actual sections, verified so repeat- edly at different points, as to establish with considerable accuracy the correct order of superposition, average thickness, and palseontology, in descending order, thus : System. Formation. MEMBERS. Feet. LOCALITIES. Ferruginous sandstone. 50-100 Whetstone quarries near French Lick and else- where, in Orange county ; also near Greencastle, Put- nam county, and near Dover Hill, Martin county. Upper limestone. Oil Creek, Perry county ; Mt. Prospect, Crawford o> "A." 3-20 county; Silverville, Lawrence county; Owens- Grindstone grit; intervening shales. 0-30 burg, Green county, and Independence, Warren coun- ty ; also part of Orange or Little Bluer River, Craw- jj "B." 5-30 ford county. i rS Aluminous and calcareous ) o & a I & ' shales. Chert and red clay. 50-100 Upper part of Wyandot cave and similar caverns. ' o Silicious and Maguesian lime- Lowest points in Wyaudot cave. Bed of Lost River, ,0 stones. Orange county. C3 Lithostroion beds. o I Middle limestone, with geodes. 25-50 Near Bedford, Lawrence county ; Gosport and west & part of Monroe. Chert and red clay. Argillo-calcareous sandstone. j 40-110 Locally lithographic. Lower limestone. 30-100 Harrison county. ( Sub-carb. ^sandstone. (Green and grey shales. /Yellowish sandstones. 450 Floyd county ; eastern Monroe ; Brown county, &c. SUB-SECTION 2. SOILS, &c., OF THE CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONE SERIES. The decomposition of these limestones, with their intercalated sand- stones and aluminous shales, gives rise, as might be anticipated, to a favorable admixture for most agricultural products. To these are added, in some of the northern counties embraced in this sub-division, many 128 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE feet of quaternary deposits, still contributing to the variety. The gen- eral outline of the country is that of undulating land, neither so broken nor so sandy as the knobs, nor yet so level as in those counties wholly quaternary. The soil generally seems admirably adapted for small grain and grasses, consequently we see, particularly in Harrison, Lawrence, Mon- roe, Putnam and Montgomery, fine cereals, luxuriant meadows and pic- turesque pastures. In the western part of Crawford and Orange, as well as the eastern portions of Martin and Green, where the Ferrugin- ous Sandstones constitute the higher general levels, the surface is more uneven and the soil often less calcareous and productive. These, how- ever, would probably prove fine high and dry pastures for sheep, a species of stock for which there will probably be a gradually increasing demand. The staple agricultural products are corn, wheat and stock, including, besides the flocks of sheep, hogs, cattle, horses and mules. SUB- SECTION 8. ROCK QUARRIES, &c. Perhaps no other formation in Indiana is so replete as this with quarries affording fine building mate- rials, millstones for some purposes, good grindstones, an excellent qual- ity of whetstones, and locally a fair quality of lithographic stone, as well as hydraulic limestone. This seems to have resulted partly from the quiet waters in which portions of the materials were deposited, partly from the succession of calcareous, silicious and aluminous materials, which, especially near their junction, are thus often modified. The various quarries for building rock will be found fully described in giving the details of counties in this formation, particularly Monroe, Putnam, Lawrence and Crawford ; good localities for grindstones and whetstones are enumerated in the description of Orange county ; the lithographic stone is discussed in detailing the resources of Harrison county. SUB-SECTION 4. METALLIC ORES AND OTHER MINERAL WEALTH. Al- though thin seams of coal show themselves in Indiana, in the sub-car- boniferous limestone series, amounting to perhaps eighteen inches or two feet in thickness, which sub-conglomerate coals have in a few other States thickened to workable beds, yet the probabilities are that these seams will not prove profitable in our State ; the true coal measures fur- nishing beds of so much greater thickness. As already mentioned the chert, occurring in this formation, is often highly charged with hydrous peroxide of iron, giving a deep red color to the adjoining aluminous materials. These being the strata in which OF INDIANA. 129 the heavy deposits of a similar character furnish abundant iron ore for furnaces, in the counties of Trigg, Lyou, Caldwell, Livingston and Crittenden, Kentucky, it is not improbable that a detailed survey may bring to light similar mineral wealth in this portion of Indiana, par- ticularly as considerable deposits exist in section 85, to.wnship 2 north, range 2 west, and have already been seen at several other localities. The same reasoning applies, although perhaps with less probability, to the discovery of lead ore, as the galena (sulphuret of lead) found in Derbyshire, England, associated with fluor spar, as well as the sulphu- ret of lead and sulphuret of zinc in Yorkshire, ramify their most pro- ductive veins through the rocks under the Millstone Grit series of those counties in Great Britain. Details on this subject can be found in Prof. Phillips' work on the Mountain Limestone, and in the first volume of the Kentucky report. Nitre has been manufactured somewhat extensively in the caves, and Epsom Salts could also be obtained in considerable quantities. SUB-SECTION 5. TIMBER AND PREDOMINANT VEGETATION. In portions of Kentucky parts of the sub-carboniferous limestone series gives rise to " barrens "' with White Oak, Red Oak, and Black Jack Oak ; but in Indiana, although a similar character prevails to a small extent, where the upper ferruginous sandstones furnish the main soil, and Cedar occa- sionally in Crawford county exhibits indigenous luxuriance in the rocky clefts, yet usually the sub-carboniferous limestone region is well tim- bered, and where the aluminous ingredients are abundant, we have Beech here, as in most parts of southern Indiana, constituting the pre- dominant forest growth, associated, however, with Tulip Tree, Sugar Tree, Black and White Walnut, and Ash. Some ferns were collected from several counties in this formation, but they do not exhibit the profusion and variety noticed in the sub- carboniferous sandstone detritus, and in soils resulting from the disinte- gration of aluminous shales of Devonian age. Mr. Larrabee, of Green- castle, informs us that peat has been dug in the south-west portion of Putnam county. The cereals and grasses luxuriate in Indiana on the soils resulting from sub- carboniferous limestones and their intervening argillo-silicious shales. In some of the moist, rich bottoms, north of White river, in Law- rence county, an extensive growth of our American genus of theMeze- reum family, the Leatherwood, Moose-wood or Wicopy, (Dirca palustris, L.,) the fibrous bark of which the Indians used for thongs, has given its name to a creek which empties south of Bedford into White river. 130 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE SUB-SECTION 6. MINERAL AND OTHER SPRINGS. The celebrated sul- phur springs of Orange county flow from the base of the grindstone grits over a bed of limestone, as described hereafter. Several chalybeate springs will be found noticed in the details of these sub-carboniferous limestone counties, and copious springs of sparkling water, often rather hard from filtering through the limestone cavities, are quite abundant. Frequently the water pours out from above the limestone strata, being arrested after filtration through the shaly sandstones. One remarkable geographical feature of this formation consists in the "sink holes" of some regions, where a limestone stratum, usually the sub-member " B," has caved in, leaving a depression through which the water filters, until perhaps clay washings close the cracks and fis- sures sufficiently for ponds to form, often convenient for stock. A yet more striking phenomenon consists in the entire disappearance of good-sized streams for miles, and their reappearance, or the outbursts of other subterranean water in the form of fathomless springs, capable of furnishing fine water power. Lawrence, Orange and Crawford fur- nish some of these remarkable localities, the details of which will be given under those heads. No artesian wells or borings, so far as we know, have yet been attempted in this formation, and the numerous cavities for the escape of water might interfere with success. SUB-SECTION 7. MISCELLANEOUS FACTS, AS TO THE PREVALENCE OF DIS- EASE, &c. The greater area of this region is very healthy, and it has fortunately been selected for the site of many of our collegiate institu- tions. Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, is close to its lowest mem- bers. The State University, at Bloomington, is chiefly on the lower limestone. The Asbury University, at Greencastle, is a few feet above the uppermost limestone ; and Hanover College, Jefferson county, is in a region probably equally salubrious, but of Silurian age. Some portions of the country are, it is true, liable to intermittents, as in the bottoms of White river ; in others typhoid fever and pneumonia may visit as elsewhere; or again, milk-sickness, in Spice and Brushy valleys, and a few other localities, admonishes to caution in permitting cattle to range ont of cultivated fields, yet on the whole it may be con- sidered as having established its claims to decided general healthfulness. The numerous caves of this cavernous limestone are chiefly in a con- tinuous, gently curved line, nearly equidistant from the margin of the coal field; and the Mammoth cave of Kentucky is nearly a continua- tion of the same curve, about 130 miles, in a direct line, from its twin sister, the Wyandot. OF INDIANA. 131 SUB-SECTION 8. CHARACTERISTIC FOSSILS OF THIS FORMATION. Corals: Lithostrotion Canadense, L. harmodites, L. Stokesi, Zaphrentis centrulis, Z. Cliffordana, [Z. spinulosa, Z. Dalii,] Cyathoxonia cynodon, [Amplexus coralloides,] Trochophyllum Verneuilanum. Crinoids : Actinocrinus proboscidialis, A. tuberosus, Agaricocrinus Wortheni, JSynbathocrinus Swallovi, Platycriuus Wortheni, Forbesiocrinus Wortheni ? Pentremites sp. ? (perhaps the oblongus of Phillips.) Echinites: Archseocidaris Wortheni. Bryozoa : Archimedipora Archimedes, Retepora laxa, (Phil.) R. irregularis, (Phil.) Polypora flustriformis, (McL.) Fenestella membranacea, D'Orb.) And two new species of Ceriopora, hereafter described. Conchifers: Edmondia sulcata, Ph., (Sanguinolites of McCoy, Allorisma of King.) Brachiopods: Spirifer striatas, S. attenuates, S. Forbesi, S. Sovverbyi, Orthis crinistria, 0. Keokuk, (Hall,) Terebratula hastata ; also, var. sacculus, T. lainellosa, Productus semirecticulatus, P. punctatus, P. tenuistriatus, P. elegans. Pteropods : Conularia Crawfordsvillensis. 1 32 GEOLOGICAL HECONNOISSANCE Gasteropods: Pileopsis (Capulus) pabulocrinus, Euornphalus catillus. SUB- SECTION 9. A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EACH COUNTY IN THE FOR- MATION. MONTGOMERY COUNTY. The eastern portion of this county is underlaid by the sub-carbon- iferous sandstone ; but, as we approach the center, going west, we ob- serve the junction, and have a fine opportunity to collect, near Craw- fordsville, the fossils of the limestone above, many of which, however, have become detached, and are found in the decomposing aluminous and silicious shales beneath. High portions of the county are said to present evidences of the Millstone Grit; but all the underlying rocks, of whatever character, are covered by a heavy deposit of Quaternary, amounting frequently to over a hundred feet, and it is therefore only at deep cuts, made by the water courses, that we have access to the rocky substratum. The county is generally somewhat level or undulating, being only broken near the water courses. The soil is rich, and agricultural pro- ducts abundant. Corn, wheat and stock are exported : pork being a staple article, and mules selling for $50 00 at weaning time. Some of the sandy loam portions have furnished excellent Red-top crops. Other portions, somewhat wet, and requiring drainage, have been successfully underdrained, at an average cost of one dollar per acre. The materials employed were AVhite Oak rails and staves, which, after twelve years, are still sound, and the drains unobstructed. Several flocks of fine-wooled sheep were observed, and, < r ,s water power is good, and some woolen factories are in profitable operation, this branch of agricultural and manufacturing wealth may be expected to extend. In the neighborhood of Darlington, we observed considerable fields of sorghum and broom corn, of promising growth. Although rock quarries are not abundant, yet, on Raccoon creek, cal- careo-silicious slabs for tombstones and other purposes, bave been taken out ; and layers of the limestone, by selection, are sufficiently free from arenaceous adulteration to burn into lime. Some of these are the white encrinital, immediately over the knob sandstone ; others are bluish lime- stone, solid and almost destitute of fossils, underlying a silicious lime- OF INDIANA. 133 stone or calcareous sandstone, such as is usually termed by quarrymen " bastard limestone." There are abundant indications of iron ore, chiefly in the Drift, and numerous chalybeate springs exude where these deposits rest on a stratum of quaternary clay. Several of those springs were observed on Cornstalk creek. While Mr. Stephen Field's farm, (Sec. 4, T. 18 K, II. 4 W.,) near Crawfordsville, was in timber, that region was frequently struck by lightning, which induced some to suppose that there might be large bodies of iron near the surface. But the fact that, since the timber has been removed, this seldom occurs, would rather indicate that the tall trees on an elevated point acted as conductors, especially when wet, rather than deposits of hydrous oxide of iron, the only ore seen near there ; one whose conducting power can not be great. The Quaternary bowlders, gravel, &c., seem to have been deposited so unconformably in the depressions of the underlying strata, that, although Prof. Hovey, of Wabash College, in having his well dug, encountered bowlders at seven feet from the surface, yet his immediate neighbor, on the adjoining town lot, passed through 80 to 90 feet of sand, gravel and blue hard-pan, and found at that depth fragments of wood, in dark mud and gravel. Silurian fossils are near here abundant in the Drift, derived probably from the Upper Mississippi region ; and abundant fragments were re- ported as resembling charcoal or peat. Lights were also stated as being visible at times, apparently emanating from the soil : not having an op- portunity to visit the locality, it is difficult to decide whether or not these derived their origin from bubbles of phosphuretted hydrogen, generated usually in swampy places. A bed of marl was observed at several places near the prairies of western Montgomery, underlying the black muck, and some bowlders were noticed of half a ton weight, the prevalent varieties being granite, gneiss, greenstone and quartz rock. About twenty years since, when Major Ellston dug a well near the bank of Sugar creek, at Stover's mill, some 60 feet below the surface it was supposed that a four foot bed of coal was struck, after boring through sandstone. Judging from all evidence, it seems reasonable to conclude that these were the black bituminous shales, of Devonian age, which theoretically would be expected to crop out a few miles east, from under the Knob sandstone, as they do on the Wabash, at Americus. Timber is sufficiently abundant, Beech, Sugar- Tree, Hickory, Ash some Chestnut, Haekberry and Honey Locust, (Grleditschia triacanthos) 9 134 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE undergrowth in places, Elder, Polk- weed, some ferns and stickseed, (Echinospermum lappula.) In the creeks were observed shells of the genera unio, cyclas, melania. physa and planorbis. No hog cholera has troubled this county latterly, and milk-sickness does not occur within 25 or 30 miles of Crawfordsville, consequently not in the county. The Court House at Crawfordsville is 744 feet above the sea ; at the College the collection of fossils and minerals is well worthy a visit. PUTNAM COUNTY. The prevailing character in this county results from the proximity of the upper limestone members, with occasional admixture of some over- lying ferruginous sandstone, and a considerable top dressing of quater- nary materials, giving a favorable variety of soil, well adapted for small grain and grasses. Near Greencastle, the capital, the limestone rock comes sometimes to the surface, but more frequently is a few feet below, sometimes overlaid by sandstones, and a thin seam of sub-conglomerate coal. The lime- stone furnishes a durable and handsome building material, seldom, how- ever, exceeding, at this locality, over 22 inches in thickness. Some interesting fossils were obtained here, under the polite guidance of Mr. Larrabee: numerous Bryozoa and remains of actinocrinites, probably A. longirostris ? spines of archseocidaris, (A. Wortheni,) Ketzia Yerneuilana, and Productus tenuicostus, besides fine samples of Stigmaria, in the overlying sandstone, showing beautifully the ramifi- cations of the rootlet or fibres, transversely from the sub-central core or axis, terminating externally so as to form the stigmata, from which it derives its name.* At Ilavilah Findley's, 2J- miles south-east of Putnamville, a coal, somewhat slaty, but otherwise good, is obtained for use. From four to six miles northerly from Greencastle, the ferruginous sandstone is stated to furnish whetstones. We saw a sample of good quality, but were unable to visit the locality. Peat is reported as occurring in the south-west part of the county. As the particulars regarding the sub-conglomerate coal of this county will be found in the report of Mr. Lesquereux, it is unnecessary hereto enlarge further on these details. * For this cut, sec Appendix. OF INDIANA. 135 Greencastle is pleasantly and healthily situated, and its flourishing in- stitution of learning, the Indiana Asbury University, is well patronized. The Court House is 830 feet above the level of the sea. MONROE COUNTY. As we find, near the eastern limits of this county, on Bean Blossom, the junction of the Knob-sandstone with the overlying Lower Caver- nous limestone, while at the extreme western limit we have the upper oolitic members of the sub-carboniferous limestone, and soon reach the conglomerate in the adjoining county west, Monroe county maybe said to embrace nearly the entire range of the sub-carboniferous limestone, with comparatively much less Drift than Montgomery or Putnam coun- ties. Bloomington, the capital, and the seat of our State University, is sur- rounded by a fine undulating region, luxuriating in Beech and other fine timber. The Court House is 771 feet above the sea, consequently is nearly 30 feet higher than Crawfordsville, and about 60 feet lower than Greencastle, which accords with their relative stratigraphical geol- ogy ; they being all in the line of strike, but Crawfordsville being chiefly near the base of the series, Monroe the middle, and Greencastle in the upper members. Judge Hughes, in digging his well, on an elevated portion of town, passed through 6 feet of clay and 54 feet of solid limestone, beneath which he obtained water. In the eastern part of the county, geodes are remarkably abundant in the natural low cuts, which reach the chert. In the north-west portion of the county, there is an interesting and important stone quarry, on the development of which Capt. Love, of Indianapolis, formerly of the U. S. Army, and others, have expended about |20,000. Columns can be obtained here sometimes 18 feet in height, without a crack. The upper portion, for about 6 feet, is usually a hard, close-grained, white limestone, often oolitic, then succeed, in descending order, 12 to 18 feet of a fair building stone, in which are some shales of Enomphalus, Murchisonia, and an occasional Retzia. The substrata are usually somewhat coarser and more friable, until the evaporation of the quarry water hardens them. For superstructures, especially, this " Monroe Marble Quarry" stone is deserving of exten- sive use, on account of its beauty, ease of working, durability, and fair average strength of material. 136 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE The subjoined official letter, written March 9, 1860, to Capt. Love, in reply to his queries, furnishes additional details on this subject : K HARMONY, March 9, 1860. DEAR SIR: In accordance with your wish that I should state officially the result of my examinations at Stineville, I am pleased to be able to say that, of the many good quarries in Indiana, yours is among the best lor a variety of purposes. The rock is geologically in the sub-carbon- iferous limestone, somewhat oolitic in structure, and having occasion- ally a few fossils imbedded, such as Retzia Yerneuilana, Enomphalus Spurgenensis, and Murchisonia turritella, already described by Prof. Hall as being found in the oolitic rock of another Indiana locality, and altogether resembling considerably the Portland stone of Great Britain, although that is from the more recent, true Oolitic Formation. An examination of the spec, gravity, and consequent weight per cubic foot, of your Stineville rock, confirms this view, as one sample gave sp. gr. 2.14, weight of a cubic ft. 133.3 Ibs.; the other 2.47, weight 153.88 Ibs. According to Mahan's Civil Engineering, used at the U. S. Military Academy, Portland stone gave, in one sample, sp. gr. 2.428, weight of a cubic foot, 148.08 ; while in another the sp. gr. was 2.145. Judging from analogy, as we have not yet obtained the hydraulic press, which we design using to test the strength of materials, this would give a re- sistance on each superficial inch at the moment of crushing, equal to from If to 2 tons, about half as much as that of granite; while the average weight producing fractures is on each square inch nearly one, or about one-third that of granite. The estimate of a transverse strain on prisms of 4 inches long, the cross section being a square of 2 inches on a side, distance between the points of support 3 inches, averages 2682 Ibs., being nearly 3 times the strain which well-burned brick will sustain, and nearly equal to Cornish granite, which averages 2808 Ibs. The resistance to abrasion is more than double that of good brick, and about four-fifths that of statuary marble. Undoubtedly, for sus- taining great vertical pressure, as in bridge abutments, foundations to large buildings, and the like, more compact rock might be obtained ; but for beauty of structure and color, durability, ease of working, and thickness without a crack, say 18 feet, which yours possess, it seems all that need be desired for superstructures. The following analysis proves that there are no materials, in any OF INDIANA. 137 quantity, calculated to impair its durability by disintegration, a small amount of iron, equally diftused, acting rather as a cement to the cal- careous particles. One hundred parts of the building rock gave : Of moisture, expelled at 250 F 0.05 Of insoluble residuum (silica) 0.90 Of iron and alumina 3.00 Of bicarbonate of lime 95.00 Of bicarbonate of magnesia 0.22 Of loss and alkalies 0.8 100.00 The rock at your quarry is very much of the same character as some obtained in Harrison, Lawrence, Putnam and other counties, while sev- eral localities in Wabash, Decatur, Jennings, Jefferson, &c., furnish compact rock for foundations, proving to the citizens of Indiana that it is quite unnecessary to import building materials from other States. Very respectfully, RICHARD OWEN, Assistant State Geologist. About two miles north-west of Bloomington, on the farm and near the sulphur spring of Mr. Orchard, a very shaly limestone dips slightly to the south-west. At this locality a fine palseoniscus was once found, which can now be seen in the cabinet of the University, under charge of Prof. "Wylie. During the short time we could spend at this place, we were unsuccessful in seeing any further remains of fossil fishes. LAWRENCE COUNTY. In the north-eastern portion of this county, near Heltonsville, on the head waters of Leatherwood creek, the junction of the sub-carbonifer- ous or knob sandstone with the overlying limestones, can be very satis- factorily studied. One of the tunnels of the Ohio and Mississippi rail- road, in this county, also cuts through a portion of both. The Bedford rock has long been celebrated for its excellent qualities as a building stone, and is extensively shipped ; additional localities are being opened, and only require the liberality of railroad directors to furnish switches and other facilities for still more extended sales. 138 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE From Mr. Glover's quarry, near town, we obtained specimens of a grit suitable for millstones to grind corn, although not so well adapted for wheat. It occurs chiefly in one limited space, a layer among the building-rock strata, silicified probably by infiltration. At a quarry one mile south of Bedford, the upper layer, for about 18 inches, is oolitic, beneath which six or eight feet occur of a limestone, that, on account of its cracking on exposure, is rejected by the quarry- men. Next below succeed nine feet of excellent building stone, which can be obtained in slabs of almost any desired size. The same lime- stone continues for many feet beneath, rendered visible as we go south on the railroad, by a descending grade of 80 feet to the mile ; but be- comes somewhat bituminous, and has hard lumps which prevent it from being worked. Some of these facts were communicated by Mr. Need- ham, formerly of the "Dean Marble Quarry," during our examinations of the various Bedford quarries, under the guidance of Judge Duncan, of the State Board, Mr. Stilson, and other gentlemen, who politely ac- companied us from town. In a cut a mile and a half south of town we observed a vertical space, about six feet in width, filled with beautiful calc-spar, in botry- oidal pendent masses, between the darker limestones. Beneath this stratum the now argillo-silicious limestone rock is broken into thou- sands of small fragments, the layers being contorted and folded, as if the deposit had been made in unquiet waters and submitted while plas- tic to lateral pressure. Still beneath these strata are seen, near the abrupt termination of the rock, White river having here channeled her bed through the limestone, strata richly productal and bryozoic, with a layer of hydraulic limestone imbedding gypsum and selenite in cavities. This being nearly two hundred feet below Bedford must bring us very near the Knob-sandstone, which shows itself not far distant in the tunnel of the Ohio and Mississippi railroad. Judge Duncan's farm, nearly on the same geological horizon, has abundant fine geodes and afforded a magnificent slab, now in the State collection, about two feet long by twelve to fifteen inches wide, on which can be counted about 140 Spirifers, (of the species striatus,) nearly every one of which is hinge up, arid chiefly with the valve open, very much in the position assumed by our fresh-water unios, when exercising their power of loco- motion in wet sand or mud. This would appear to confirm the suppo- sition of Woodward and others, that this genus of Brachiopods was OF INDIANA. 139 free in the adult state. Several specimens on this slab measure two inches along the hinge line. On the same farm are Productus tenuis- triatus and Orthis crinistria. About five miles from Bedford fine stalactites are found in the Pitman cave. Some of these we saw in Dr. Blackwell's cabinet at Bedford. Mr. llerscher of that place has a fine collection of birds, chiefly from our own State. In addition to the above items, Judge Duncan, member of the State Board for this agricultural district, remarks: "The Bedford rock is shipped on the railroads and sold in Louisville, New Albany, LaFa- yette, Indianapolis, &c., and is unsurpassed as a building stone." * * " Stoneware is manufactured in various parts of the District." * * * " The staple agricultural products are corn, wheat, oats, hay and tobac- co. Our corn and hay are fed to hogs, cattle, horses, sheep and mules. Our wheat and tobacco are partly manufactured before sending to mar- ket." * * "Nearly all the varieties of soil and timber in the State can be seen in this District." * * " Hog cholera has prevailed in some localities. Potato rot, I believe, has been universal. The ravages of insects were formerly restricted to stone fruit; but latterly have ex- tended to the apple. Our corn crop is sometimes affected by the grub-< worm," (Melolonthians or perhaps Agrotidse.) "In 1858 a great many meadows were injured by the same pest. I have heard complaints lat- terly of the Chinch-bug" (Lygseus leucopteris) "and also of a small wire- worm," (Elateridse). * * "Fevers of the various type are the most prevalent diseases." "We walked in the evening to Hamer's well-known mills, two-and-a- half miles south-east from Mitchell's Crossing, and found a large stream of water gushing from under heavy beds of rock, with force sufficient not only for Mr. Hamer's extensive mills, but also for many other works. By partially damming this stream boats have been rowed some distance into the cave, disclosing the usual subterranean wonders. Un- fortunately it was too late and dark to make a thorough examination, and the opportunity we confidently expected to have again to visit this locality never presented itself. The section on Salt creek, at the bridge four miles northerly from Bedford, has been spoken of as finely illustrating the junction of the Knob-sandstone with the Cavernous limestone. It is subjoined in de- scending order: 140 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE Above> the g Soil and sub-soil, (yellowish.) 25-30 Sea. 3 Limestone, (close-grained.) 2^ I Red clay and chert. 30-35 Ringing compact limestone. 5-6 "03 Red clay and chert. 15-25 Gray penremital limestone. 40-45 j Oolite, with Euomphalus. 20-25 Level of Bedford Court House. 630 ft. 1 Bryozoic and pentremital limestone. Shaly rock and red clay. Gray pentremital limestone, with Terebratula la- 50-55 10ft. f mellosa and Orthis crinistria. 25-30 1 White eucrinital limestone. 4-6 ' &X Gray shales and solid sandstone, with a few fossits. 20ft. 1]1 Bed of Salt Creek. Some cases of milk-sickness are said to have occurred in "Spice Val- ley," about ten miles south-west from Bedford. ORANGE COUNTY. This county comprises the upper limestones of the sub-carboniferous series and the superincumbent ferruginous sandstones assigned by some to the same sub-division, and by other writers considered a portion of the Millstone Grit. The principal localities of geological interest in this county are the places at which Lost River disappears and flows several miles under ground; the reappearance of a large stream, supposed to be the same, near Orangeville ; the quarries from which grindstone and large quantities of the Hindostan whetstones are obtained, also the noted sulphur springs, besides several points at which the sub-conglomerate coal seams are exposed. Leaving Orleans, after examining some specimens collected by Mr. Elrod, Mr. Braun and others, we reached the farm of Mr. Owen Lind- ley, (some four miles south-west from town,) who politely furnished us some particulars. This disappearance of Lost River is in section 11, township 2 north, range 1 west; and the bed of the river, here 40 to 50 feet wide, was dry at our visit, although sometimes it is over its banks eight or ten feet, as shown on Jhe trees. A sketch and section of this locality is subjoined. OF INDIANA. 143 SEC. 10, AT LOST RIVER GULF, ORANGE COUNTY. 60 (a) Chert bed in loose masses on river bank. (d) Soft Magnesian limestone. (c) Lithostrotion limestone. Disappearance of 'ver. Subterranean level near gulf. 50 40 30 20 10 430 Mr. Lindley informs us there is a still deeper " Gulf," with some water constantly running and disappearing in a cavity, the depth of which has never been ascertained; this is in section 9 of the same town- ship and range as above. On close examination of the bed of the stream, near Mr. Lindley's, it seems to be formed on the middle limestone and has washed at the entrance eight to ten feet deep, leaving overhead the lithostrotion bed, surmounted by Magnesian limestones, shales, &c., to the amount of from 30 to 40 feet, which materials have consequently been washed away or have caved in to form the bed of the river for some miles back; but which here seemed firm enough to sustain the roof of the natural tunnel. The chert scattered abundantly on the bank is highly bryozoic, and contains a fair share of mollusks. Some of the lower portions of the limestone are almost lithographic. We were informed that sightless fishes had been found in the subterranean waters of these localities. The adjoining timber was chiefly Oak, Beech, Sugar-Tree, Black and White Walnut, Tulip Tree and Horse Chestnut. 144 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE At Orangeville Mr. Stackliouse kindly conducted us to the spot where Lost River is supposed to reappear. A stream forty or fifty feet wide rises quietly from great depths, apparently from under a Bird's- eye, almost lithographic limestone, which we found surmounted, as we ascended through town, by three other limestone beds, with their inter- mediate layers of sandstone. A short distance below its emergence from underground, a dam is constructed and a very valuable water power secured. Although by the barometer, the stream here seems considerably lower, as might be expected, than at Lost River " Gulf," and there are three limestones above, as there is a dip here of about fifteen feet to the mile, this is probably the same middle limestone, two of the upper form- ing a twin layer. The whetstone localities in this county are numerous and important. The oldest quarries are in section 5, township 1 north, range 2 west, owned by Mr. Pinnick, and in section 32, township 2 north, range 2 west, the property of Mr. Charles. Mr. Win. IT. Cowherd manufac- tures whetstones extensively near the West Baden Springs; Mr. E. D. Moore (who has also a grindstone quarry, worked by Mr. Pitman, three miles east of Huron,) manufactures whetstones from the follow- ing quarries near him : Mr. John F. Carter's whetstone quarry, on section 23, township 3 north, range 2 west; Mr. Thomas Powell's quar- ry, worked also by Mr. A. Freeman, of Orleans, in the same section, township and range, nearly three-fourths of a mile further north. Mr. Voorhees also quarries whetstones a few miles from Mr. Moore's. All of these whetstone quarries are in the ferruginous sandstones, at from 40 to 100 feet above the uppermost limestone, (a layer here usu- ally only a foot or two thick,) with Millstone Grit, full of stigmarcise, capping the ferruginous sandstones, about 110 to 150 feet above this thin limestone bed. At Mr. Pinnick's there are three whetstone layers, each about two feet thick, separated by aluminous shales, the uppermost layer being the finest grit. At Mr. Carter's a good many fossil ferns can be collected, and we ob- tained for the State collection about three feet of a fossil tree, exposed for some ten or twelve feet, and extending, nearly horizontally, appa- rently much further under the superincumbent mass, which was too refractory even for our large crow-bar. The tree is a Lepidodendron (modulatum?) two feet across its longer diameter, and nine inches through the short diameter, with the subcentral axis (or pith-like cy- OF INDIANA. 145 clindrical bundle of elongated cellular and vascular tissue assigned by Brongniart to the stems of Lycopodiaceae or clubmosses, which he con- siders the Lepidodendron closely to have resembled,) near the convex exte- rior, and occupying the under side, as the tree lay in its bed, somewhat as represented in the following cross section of this and a smaller one, 17J by 7 inches. On the large tree the scars are two inches long from one acute angle of the rhombus to the other, three-fourths full from one obtuse angle to the other.* The tree reposes in a south-east and north-west direction, with a slight dip of the larger or supposed root end in a north-east direction. The following gives the section at the quarry, with Millstone-Grit hills, 50 to 80 feet higher, at no great distance : Soil and subsoil .................................................................. 6-8 Shaly sandstone ................................................................. 2-4 Upper solid whetstone grit ......................................... . ....... 2 Shaly sandstone .................................................................. 3 Middle whetstone grit ....................................................... 1J Shaly sandstone .................................................................. 1 Lower whetstone grit ........................................................... 2J Fire-clay ........................................................................... J Lepidodendron layer ........................................................... J At Mr. T. Powell's quarry the same three layers of whetstone are found, somewhat closer together, with two feet or more of coalf in the position of the above Lepidodendron layer, and 1J feet shales over the coal. The upper and middle (?) members of pentremital limestone are found respectively about 100 and 160 feet below the whetstone quarry. The Hindostan whetstones sell, wholesale, at $6.00 per 100 pounds. There is said to be a nitre cave near here, about 50 feet lower than these quarries; also a locality rich in iron, in section 35, township 2 *For this wood cut see appendix, and for the original see the State collection. tThe analysis of one gramme coal from Mr. Powell's quarry gave Volatile matter ..................................................................... 42.6 { ^ 35 ? - 6 Coke. / carbon 50.4 \ash 7 100.0 Coke swelled somewhat; ashes whitish gray. 146 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE north, range 2 west, which is called the " Iron Mountain." Beech tim- ber is very abundant on the hills around the quarries. The grindstone quarry of Dr. Bowles is in the sandstone below the upper pentrinital layer of limestone which is here a few feet thick. The best layer for limestones is about 30 feet above the middle lime- stone, with another calcareous stratum still 30 or 40 feet lower. From the region of the grindstone grit and above this middle limestone flows the long-celebrated sulphur spring known by the name of " French Lick." Dr. Bowles has fitted up a Watering Place and devotes much t attention to the causes and cure of milk-sickness. As he thinks of publishing his view on the subject, only a few of his remarks will be given in the chapter touching on this fearful malady. Near the spring there is another of the same sulphurated hydrogen character, with suitable buildings, &c., kept by Dr. Davis, under the name of West Baden Springs. It is stated that there are in all twelve sources from which sulphur water flows around this immediate neigh- borhood. A section near the grindstone quarry gave the following : KEET. Ferruginous sandstone, with whetstone grit 110 Upper limestone 2-4 Space of shaly sandstone and grindstone grit, about 90 Middle limestone 20-30 Space of red clay, &c 40 Lower limestone at least 50, and probably more, say 60 Paoli, the capital, is situated on the lower and middle limestones ; the Court House is 599 feet above the level of the sea, according to Col. Stansbury and Mr. Williams. HARRISON COUNTY. The eastern part of this county is sub-carboniferous sandstone, the junction with the limestone being about five or six miles east of Cory- don, the capital of the county. On the western border the higher hills are ferruginous sandstones, consequently Harrison embraces nearly all the sub-carboniferous formation. Portions of the lower members we find so modified on Indian Creek, four or five miles south-west of Corydon, as to form a good lith- ographic stone. Mr. Brinkman has opened a quarry, and, by rejecting OF INDIANA. 147 the outer and more shaly rock, has succeeded in sending for inspection good sized slabs entirely free from any inequalities, and of a smooth, even texture. The stone was tested at Louisville, and a good sample with the design of the Louisville canal and locks still upon it can be seen in the State collection, along with unpolished slabs from the same quarry. It certainly promises so well as to be worthy of a full devel- opment and competitive trial in the markets. At Corydon we found stone steps apparently solid and durable, which when first quarried at Salisbury were so soft that the rock could be readily cut with a broad-axe. This county affords numerous localities of sub-conglomerate, or as it might here be called, sub-pentrimital coal ; here, as almost invariably throughout nature's work, the evidence being given that changes were gradual and that in advance of the period developing so enormously the heavy beds of vegetable matter converted afterwards into fossil fuel, we have thin deposits anticipating and preparing the way for the true coal period. At Mr. Martin Smith's, on section 22, township 2 south, range 3 east, there is another seam of coal under the second limestone in descending order, as exhibited in the following section : FEET. Sandstone 50 Limestone 2-3 Sandstone 110 Limestone 2-4 Thin seam of coal and fire-clay J Sandstone 40 Sandstone and red clay, at least 60 An analysis of this sub-conglomerate coal furnished the following re- sult : One gramme gave of Volatile matter 41.5 {^ , ' I water 10.0 ( carbon 54.5 Coke 58 - 5 1ash 4.0 100.0 The coke did not swell at all ; ashes a light, yellowish grey. On Mr. Asa Rosen berger's farm, in Spencer township, on section 25, township 2 south, range 2 east, we found, as at Mr. M. Smith's, about 148 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE 2J inches of coal under the second limestone. It approaches in quality to cannel, and the analysis of one gramme gave: f#as 46.85 Volatile matter 48 ' 85 {water 2 . 00 ( carbon 41.15 Coke 5L15 \ash 10.00 100.00 The coke swelled considerably; ashes grey with a tinge of red. This coal is underlaid by a few inches of fire-clay, with about two feet of dark roof shales, and some sulphuret of iron ; then five to six feet of encrinital limestone, surmounted by shaly sandstone and the upper bed of limestone. This locality is in Brushy Valley, noted for some severe cases of milk- sickness. Buckeye, which, if eaten by the cattle, produces somewhat similar symptoms, is very abundant here. Mr. Eosenberger's experince with this disease will be given hereafter. A thin seam of coal occurs under similar circumstances on Mr. Eli Stewart's land, section 31, township 1 south, range 2 east, in Orange county, or near the line ; as well as two miles south of that locality on section 18, township 2 south, range 2 east, in Harrison county. This county has numerous fine springs and water privileges ; from one of which a boy who was fishing had just drawn a Menopoma (wa- ter puppy) twenty-two inches long. Near a mill, owned by Mr. Hiram Babcock, we obtained a specimen of hydraulic limestone, which we have not yet had time to analyze. Over the layer from which we ob- tained the sample is blue clay, and above that, chert with Lithostrotion Canadense. Several localities in this county furnish iron ore in considerable quan- tity. A sample from the farm of widow Hoagland, section 30, town- ship 2 south, range 3 east, not far from the Martin Smith coal seam, afforded the subjoined result on analysis : One-tenth of a gramme lost by drying at 350 F., (and then be- came red,) 0.009 Gave of insoluble silicates 0.052 Gave of sesqui-oxide of iron, (equal to 26.6 per cent, of pure iron,) 0.038 Gave of loss, alkalies and magnesia 0.001 0.100 OF INDIANA. 149 CRAWFORD COUNTY. This county embraces chiefly the middle and upper members of the sub-carboniferous limestone series, giving rise to a country somewhat mountainous and rocky in places, adapting it more for sheep-pastures or vine-hills, than arable fields, although some of the valleys and pla- teaus afford good farms. The chief object of attraction in this county is the WYANDOT CAYE, Owned by Mr. H. P. Rothrock. He had a survey made, by Dr. D. L. Talbot, from Jefferson ville, of all the ramifications known in 1853 ; and the later discoveries were laid down by Mr. George I. Langsdale, From the map thus jointly constructed, Mr. Rothrock politely permitted a copy to be taken, which is subjoined on a reduced scale, exhibiting on the west the entrance and main passage, with its various names, of the Old Cave ; on the east, the New Cave, with its intercommunicating pas- sages, some of which are dotted to show that they pass underneath the main cave. Thus, the branch connecting the " Wild Cat Avenue " with "The Little Giant Avenue," passes under "Calypso's Island," part of the grand trunk in the New Cave.* Some years since I had the pleasure of exploring the Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, and, without desiring for a moment to detract from that justly celebrated and admired subterranean wonder, I can truly state that the Wyandot Cave is almost, if not quite, equally worthy of a visit from the admirers of fine natural scenery, although not explored yet to the same extent as the Mammoth. To do justice in description to the splendid masses of long, pendent stalactites, uniting sometimes fantastically with the stalagmites below, which burst upon the view perhaps after worming our bodies through an aperture too small for overgrown travelers, or after safely passing the "Dead Fall," whose disturbance and displacement might forever cut off all return to light and life, furnishing a sepulchral catacomb in- finitely greater, in. the extent of its ramifications, than the wonderful and massive structures of art, the vaunted mausolean pyramids of Egyp- tian despots ; to' describe fully the brilliance reflected, even by torch light, from fluted columns of satin-spar, (carbonate of lime) 35 feet high and 72 in circumference, forming the " Pillar of the Constitution," and simi- *See Appendix. 150 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE lar scenes, would require a power of language, which at best would feebly shadow forth the reality. To place on canvas the full grandeur of "Monument Mountain," enshrining on its summit a semblance of "Lot's wife," the whole vaulted, by the crumbling of the Magnesian limestone, into an arch 245 feet from the proper floor of the cave, and studded on its oolitic summit with calcareous icicles, which seemed to form the gothic architectural pendants of this "Wallace's Grand Dome," to paint all this might furnish subject for a Eembrandt ; but a few rapid outline sketches were all we could hope to carry away as remembrancers. The numerous Indian relics, in the shape of charred remnants of fires, part of the wood yet unconsumed, portions of bark, which had evi- dently served as torches, sticks broken and never cut, skeletons of sev- eral wild animals, and the like, would furnish materials, if the facts were carefully collected, valuable to our archaeologists, or to the histo- rian, who desires to preserve all evidence bearing on the manners and customs of the Aborigenes. To the entomologist, or investigator of specific modifications pro- duced by external causes, the sightless crickets here, in connection with the blind fish and crawfish of the Mammoth Cave, might furnish spec- ulation and argument. Leaving, however, the scenic and historical description to others, our aim was directed to obtaining the barometrical measurements, at the important points, noting the lithological character of roof, floor and side walls, and to the securing of occasionanal palreontologieal or min- eralogical specimens for the State collection. The results of the observations made inside the old cave, then in the new cave, and afterwards on the hill which surmounts both outside, are briefly subjoined, referring the heights to low water in Big Blue river. Mr. Rothrock's house is 30 feet above low water in Big Blue river, and at about 120 feet above the river we entered the old cave, by the only external opening yet discovered to these subterranean wonders. Descending in the old cave to Pigmy Dome, the floor of which is ten feet lower than the cave entrance, we found an abundant efflorescence of Epsom Salts, sometimes quarter of an inch thick, and calcareous tufa in botryoidal form. The filtration of water, and the washing out of the more soluble ingredients from the rock, had here riddled the dolomite roof until it resembled honey comb, and hollowed out side-ap- ertures, which might have passed for a dove-cote. At "Odd Fellows' Hall," after passing "Lucifer's Gorge," the "Nat- ^v OF THE A UNIVERSITY 1 SAUK 10 OF INDIANA. 153 ural Bridge," and Rothro.ck's straits, which lead to the New Cave, the roof, 20 feet higher than the Old Cave entrance, is silico-magnesian limestone, with fibrous gypsum, underlaid by more crystalline limestone. "Jolter's Hole" afforded fine specimens of alabaster and selenite, be- sides some calc-spar. Ascending to " Spade's Cliffs," we found bastard limestone overhead, and abundant remnants of encrinital stems, as well as corals of the family Cyathophyllidee. Descending to "Talbott's Pit," 30 feet below the cave entrance, magnificent stalactites and stalagmites greeted the view, which, on as- cending 50 feet, to the further end of " Spade's Cliffs," was gloomed by the myriads of bats, clustering on each other like bees, and hanging head downwards from the ceiling. On reaching the " Dead Fall," we secured samples of oolitic lime- stone; and, after passing through the narrow aperture denominate "The Screw Hole," were rewarded by emerging into the very capacious amphitheatre to which very appropriately the name of the "Senate Chamber" has been given, while a somewhat central stalacto-stalag- mitic union forms a natural " Chair of State." Facing the " Senate Chamber," or in fact forming pillars which a slight stretch of the im- agination might consider the columns of galleries, common in public buildings for deliberative purposes, we find a structure which, from a fresh fracture, reflects light with the splendor of satin, and which effer- vesces freely with acids. Although breaking usually into prismatic specimens, the longitudinal section thus obtained exhibits numerous and delicate horizontal layers of successive deposition, sometimes slightly tinged with grey, but more generally of a dazzling pearly whiteness. Although generally the cave is dry, here sufficient water trickles into a natural excavation of the pillar, to refresh the weary traveler. Of this locality we endeavored to give some idea by the foregoing sketch. It is within about ten feet of being on a level with the entrance to the cave, and terminates the "Old Cave" avenue, in "Pluto's Ravine," three miles from, the mouth. Retracing our steps as far as "Banditti Hall," only 50 feet above the river, and consequently at least 100 feet lower than the Old Cave en- trance, the secret door was unlocked, and we glided on our backs, feet foremost, down an inclined plane, over earth and rubbish, at the immi- nent risk of breaking the Aneroid Barometer; and, passing "Bats' Lodge," stood again erect in the Counterfeiter's Trench, which had been artificially excavated to prevent the necessity of constant stooping 154 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE in this passage to the main avenue of the ~New Cave. Here, when it was first explored, were found the remains of Indian fires, supposed to have been kindled when the cave was the resort of the Wyandot tribe, hence the name given to it. Perhaps, when at war with other tribes, they may have resorted to these subterranean hiding places for safety or strategy. The charred remains exhibited White Oak, Hickory, Sassa- fras and Papaw, with numerous detachad pieces of hickory bark, charred at one end, as if used for torches. Scores of dead bats were strewed around; and the skeleton of an Opossum and of a "Wild Cat," to each of which portions of hair and skin adhered, were among the rel- ics. Near the " Rotunda/*' we found large quantities of Epsom salts, often as an efflorescence from the Magnesian limestone, and in " Coon's Coun- cil Chamber," fine samples of black flinty rock, usually in bands 4 to 5 inches thick, but sometimes in concentric layers of filtration and depo- sition, that gave the appearance of knots in pine wood. This rock seems to partake of the character of Lydian stone, or flinty Jasper, while the intermediate layers are silico-calcareous, overlying the yellow Magnesian limestone that furnishes the sulphate of Magnesia. The "Dining Room," upon measurement, proved nearly a hundred feet long by 45 wide, and afforded good samples of Selenite. In the " Sandy Plains," formed by the disintegration of the silico-magnesian limestone, acicular crystals of Epsom salts are abundantly diffused. Here also a Papaw pole was found broken off; no evidences of cutting visible on any of the wood found; but the bark on some was gnawed by animals, apparently rodents. From this point, which appeared to be only sixty feet above Big Blue, we passed over the " Hill of Diffi- culty," formed chiefly of decomposing dolomitic rock, to "Mammoth Hall," which has a roof stratum of Oolite. This great natural excava- tion contains the "Monument Mountain," of which we subjoin a sketch designed to show " Lot's Wife," a pyramidal mass of gradually aspir- ing stalagmite, not, however, so darkly tinged as the noted " Gibraltar Rock," of similar origin, from Spain. Descending to the " augur hole," we found clear sulphur water, showing the yellowish white deposit beneath in a small natural rock-basin. Although, much beyond this place, objects of undoubted interest tempted exploration, and some avenues have never yet been traced out, more immediate geological interests having already been subserved, and time passing rapidly, we returned from this point, in order to examine the hill outside. V,,' OF INDIANA. 157 The upper hundred feet were found composed of ferruginous sand- stone, namely, from about 280 to 380 feet above " Big Blue." Then descending, we found a few feet of Bastard limestone, then 50 feet of crystalline, 40 feet of flinty, and finally a few feet of compact limestone; talus covering nearly all below this from view, a space of about 180 feet above the river. Beds of Cherty Limestone were exceedingly abundant, with numerous Bryozoa, near our camp, which stood on a plateau about 40 feet above the river, and fragments of chert showed themselves often between this point and the mouth of the Old Cave. In the bed of Big Blue, and up to nearly the level of Mr. Rothrock's house, magnificent specimens of Lithostrotion Canadense are scattered about, some weighing over fifty pounds. The Sibert Cave, a short distance from the Wyandot, although not extensive comparatively, is yet more replete with splendid stalactites and stalagmites, often uniting to form pillars, along galleries, extending for several hundred yards, and not yet fully explored. It is not so dry as the Wyandot, but some of the more slippery chasms have already been bridged. It is well worthy a visit from the traveler fond of adven- ture and remarkable scenery. . For convenience of reference and comparison with the map, the most important distances, and heights, widths, &c., in the Wyandot Cave, are here recapitulated in tabular form : DISTANCES. MILKS. Length of "Old Cave," 3 To Monument Mountain li From Augur Hole to Junction 1J Thence to Crawfish Spring IJ To end of "Wabash avenue 1J From Sandy Plain to the Throne li Thence to the end of Southern Avenue 1J From Amphitheatre, south I From Mound to Junction room I All other avenues, about 6 Total as far as explored in 1853 19 From the south-western to the extreme north-eastern limits, about 9 miles. The exact distances in the New Cave were not furnished, but can readily be approximately obtained from the map. 158 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE WIDTH AND HEIGHT. FKET. Greatest width at any point in " Old Cave," about ..................... 180 Greatest height, (varying from 2J to 100) about .......................... 100 Average height, about ........................................................... 20 In "New Cave," greatest breadth ............................................ 300 Height in "New Cave," from 3 to ........................ , .................. 245 Which is the height of Wallace's Grand Dome above the proper floor of the Cave* TEMPERATURE. The thermometer indicates usually, at different points, a variation of from 54 F. to 57; but at the mouth of the New Cave it was noticed by us as low as 52 F. on May 28, 1860. A strong, cool current of air rushes out of the Cave in summer, as at the Mam- moth Cave, Ky.; and the same capability of continuous exercise with- out fatigue, so frequently observed by visitors in the latter, is here also remarked. The Wyandot Cave is in Sec. 17, T. 3 S., R. 2 E., and can be reached by a few miles travel from the Ohio, or by way of Cory don, Harrison county. The growth of timber around the Cave is Buckeye, Sugar Tree, Beech, Cedar, Oak, Tulip Tree, Hickory and Sassafras. This county is also noted for the beautiful oolitic limestone, furnished at the capital, Levenworth, and other localities, both for building pur- poses, and for the purest quality of white lime; an intermediate layer of sandstone at the Fredonia bluff is used extensively in Loussville, at the gas works. Sub-conglomerate coal shows itself at several places, particularly at Mr. Houghton's, OD Sec. 32, T. 3 S., E. 2 E., and near the Levenworth graveyard, where 5 inches, with fire clay and sandstone shales, show themselves below the 2d Archimedes limestone, or member "B " of the upper sub- carboniferous limestone, which here exhibited abundance of Productus shells and Pentremites. The analysis of a gramme of Mr. Houghton's sub-conglomerate coal gave: rgas 30.3 Volatile matter ............................................ 39 - 3 {water 9.0 f carbon 48.7 60 ' 7 tash 12.0 100.0 Coke scarcely altered in appearance; ashes red. OF INDIANA. 159 The same quantity of coal from near the Levenworth graveyard, afforded, on analysis, the following results : f gas 29.0 Volatile matter 4a \ water 11.0 f carbon 40.0 60 -|ash 20.0 100.0 Coke did not alter its appearance by burning; ashes reddish grey. Between the Levenworth and Houghton localities for sub-conglom- erate coal, we obtained, at "Dry Run," a section extending through nearly two hundred feet of sub-carboniferous limestone, thus : FEET. Red soil, subsoil and shaly limestone 40 Limestone 2 Yellow, grey and blue shales 15 Sandstone 20 Solid limestone., 30 Shaly limestone 10 Buff limestone 25 Impure sandstone and shales 10 Limestone 10 Calcareo-aluminous sandstone 6 Shaly limestone 2 Solid limestone 10 Aluminous sandstone 5 Limestone o Sandstone 4 Level of Dry Run Several remarkable springs issue from under the cavernous limestone in this county, one of which is said to be yet unfathomed, and samples from some limestone layers near there were furnished us for analysis, as hydraulic. Iron ore is found at Mr. Lambdin's, near Mt. Prospect, in consider- able quantities, and one sample of lead ore was given us from this county. Milk- sickness is prevalent in portions hereafter alluded to. 160 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE SEC. VI. COUNTIES IN THE COAL MEASURES. The valuable and interesting report of Prof. Leo Lesquereux, giving the details of most of our coal counties and identifying the stratigraphy of th-e beds, renders it unnecessary for me to do more, under this head, than to give the analysis of the coals, as far as examined, and some de- tails regarding subjects in the same counties not strictly connected with coal examinations, as also a few observations in counties of the Coal Measures, which time did not permit the Professor to reach. SUB-SECTION 1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. Although, as noticed in the preceding section, sub-conglomerate coals, which in some instances elsewhere have proved valuable workable seams, are found in Harrison, Crawford, Orange and Putnam, yet in the Coal Measures proper, we include only the deposits found above the Millstone Grit, in the coun- ties of Warren, Fountain, Parke, Vermillion, Clay, Vigo, Owen, Green, Sullivan, Martin. Daviess, Knox, Dubois, Pike, Gibson, Perry, Spencer, Warrick, Vanderburgh and Posey. In the eastern parts of a few of these, the sub-carboniferous limestone is found ; but in all of them coal is worked more or less, and in some quite extensively. SUB-SECTION 2. THE RESULTING SOIL, &c. The disintegration of sand- stones in the Coal Measures is not calculated to produce the best soils ; but as the deposition of limestones, of various thicknesses,, during this period was frequent, and as many parts of the formation are in the river bottoms or on prairies, there is thus often a modification, which fur- nishes very fair or even highly superior farming lands, as will be ob- served in the several details. Indeed part of these counties furnish the vast quantities of Indian corn, which emanate in flat-boats by fleets from the Wabash, arid for which a somewhat large proportion of arenaceous materials is by no means objectionable. The Wabash and White river bottoms, as well as some of the adjoining prairies, are of the above sandy -loam character, with occasionally large amounts of organic mat- ter as proved by reference to the analysis of soils from the farms of Uon. G. D. Wagner and of Hon. J. D. Williams. SUB SECTION 3. QUARRIES, &c. Many of the sandstones of the Coal Measures furnish an excellent freestone for building materials, and the intercalations of limestone are sufficient to furnish, in most of the counties of this formation, materials suitable to burn into lime. In the ciicire 3,234 feet of Coal Measures belonging to the Eastern or Apala- chian field, as given in the excellent Manual of Coal, by Dr. J. P. Les- OF INDIANA. 161 ley, there are nine limestones, varying from eight to seventy feet in thickness, and in the connected section from the Kentucky report, somewhat modified by Mr. Lesquereux, for Indiana, and subjoined with this report, an equal number of limestones present themselves, besides two or three thinner beds of calcareous deposition. They are more prevalent with the higher than the lower coals. Quarries of one or the other materials are opened extensively in sev- eral counties, which will be noticed in giving their details. Excellent potter's and fire-clays will also be found enumerated in describing the resources of the separate counties. SUB-SECTION 4. METALLIC ORES, &c. A few localities in the Indiana Coal Measures afford indications of zinc ore which may on further ex- amination prove sufficiently abundant to be workable. At least one county has, associated with the zinc ore, an important admixture of co- balt ore, well worthy of detailed examination, and accurate qualitative analysis. The edge of the coal field is our great dependence for workable iron ore, and as might be expected we find it in several counties as mention- ed in the detailed descriptions. SUB-SECTION 5. PREVALENT TIMBER AND OTHER VEGETATION. The growth of timber in this formation is very various; but perhaps there is in the uplands rather greater predominance of Oak and proportion- ately less Beech than in the other systems. Our Indiana prairies are chiefly in the Coal Measures, especially those of Warren, Fountain, Yigo, Sullivan and Knox. SUB- SECTION 6. SPRINGS AND ARTESIAN WELLS. Much of the water is hard from the presence of the limestones above noticed ; sulphur springs not unfrequently occur from filtration through coal charged with sulphurous combinations, and chalybeates also are found. Some wells and springs, analyzed, afforded a most unusual amount of alumi- na, particularly in regions of milk-sickness. The favorable positions for successful salt-boring, are alluded to in Mr. Lesquereux's report, and the well-known Artesian boring at La- Fayette, not far from the edge of the field, added to the fact of the strata all inclining to the central coal field, render the theoretical proba- bilities encouraging for similar attempts. SUB- SECTION 7. MISCELLANEOUS FACTS, &c. In regions of the Coal Measures, where aluminous shales are abundant, milk-sickness is apt to be found, as well as when those prevail in other geological forma- tions ; an important fact, frequently alluded to by my late brother, and I 62 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE which he intended to fully elucidate in this report. In a subsequent chapter the subject will be again brought up. SUB-SECTION 8. CHARACTERISTIC FOSSILS. Among the numerous coal plants, so characteristic of this period, as to furnish by specific difference, data for the determination of successive beds of the coal deposit, only some of the most common will be here enumerated, reserving a more extended list for subsequent remarks ; this remark applies also to the other fossils, chiefly mollusks and fishes. Fossils of Coal Measures: Ferns : Neuropteris, Pecopteris arborescens, Lepidodendron modulatum, L. vetustum ? Psaronius, Sigillaria reniformis, Stigmaria, Syringodendron pachy derma, Calamites, Asterophyllites, Sphenophyllum Schlotheimii, Besides the trunks ot trees formerly described by Lyell and others, as Palm trees. Foramenifera : Fusuliuia cylindrica. Corals : Chsetetes milleporaceus, (Edwards and Haime,) Kewburg. Crinoids : Mollusks : Spirifer attenuatus, Patella, Mytilus, Ambonychia Grayvillensis, Productus Providensis, Nautilus ferratus, Sp. cameratus ? Several species of the genera, Pleurotomaria, Bellerophon, Dentalium, Macrocheilus, Pecten, Pinna. OF INDIANA. 163 Also a Palseoniscus, Sharks teeth very abundant, and Ichthyodorulites. SUB-SECTION 9. SOME DETAILS OF EACH COUNTY IN THIS FORMATION : WAKREN COUNTY. Mr. Lesquereux, as stated in his report, having only the opportunity to examine, on his way to Illinois, to a small extent, the formation around Wiiliamsport, a few observations made by our corps in Warren county, under the valuable guidance of Mr. Wagner, then President of the State Board, are here subjoined. At Independence the sub-carboniferous limestone, with Bryozoa and Productus punctatus, is represented, by its upper member of three feet in thickness, near high-water mark in the Wabash, thickening to five feet, and becoming cherty a short distance below town, with over- lying sandstone. The same calcareous bed still shows itself at Williams- port, overlaid by a sandstone which rises gradually twenty-five feet to form the plateau on which the hotel and central portion of the town are built. Main street passes, by a moderate grade, over seventy to seventy-five feet of ferruginous sandstone and cuts, ten feet through ' the hill, exposing about six feet of sub-conglomerate coal shales. A few rods west, in sinking a well, these coal shales furnished several inches of coal. The adjoining hills are, by quaternary deposits on the above strata, elevated upon an average 150 feet. The Millstone Grit is finely developed at various places in the county, forming fine bluffs of from 30 to 75 feet on Kickapoo, on " Little Pine," and forming the picturesque falls of Fall creek, near the railroad, back of Wiiliamsport. Coal shows itself at many places on "Big Pine" and elsewhere in the county. Politely conducted by Mr. Knaur, we saw, at two locali- ties, a two foot seam on "Mud-Pine Creek," a branch of Big Pine, with fire-clay underneath, several feet of aluminous shales over, and 30 to 60 feet of quaternary superstratification. These are on sections 19 and 20, township 23 north, range 8 west. A mile and a half further south is a *Fromthis stratum of limestone were obtained the casts of a Productus and Spirifer, ap- parently Productus punctatus, and perhaps Spirifer incressatus of Eichwald, although from the prolonged hinge-line more like the Spirifer increbescens of Hall, from the Kaskaskia limestone, yet apparently differing in having the folds obliterated or lacking on the mesial lobe, which is very strongly marked with lines of increase. 164 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE coal bed three feet thick, overlaid by shales of sandstone, with a coarse sandstone thirty feet thick, showing itself somewhat further down the creek, which appeared to be Millstone Grit. The edge of the coal basin exhibits in its coarse sandstone a dip S. and S. S. W., sometimes amounting to 45, with twenty feet of sandstone unconformably over it, having scarcely any preceptible inclination to the horizon. Near Burr's Mill, on Big Pine, some coal shows itself, overlaid by hard shales and a thin limestone, which coal seam a mile from there augments to three feet in thickness, and is worked by stripping, through the enterprise of Mr. Butts and others. One gramme of this coal afforded, on coking, &c., the following re- sult : f gas 40.0 Volatile matter 45.0^ r A t water o.U ( carbon 40.0 Uoke 55 ' lashes 15.0 100.0 Swelled but little in coking; ashes dark grey. Half a mile south of this, Mr. Kiester is drifting into the bluff and propping the ten to fifteen feet of aluminous shales and shaly sand- stones, so as to take out in wheelbarrows, or trunks, the product of the three-foot coal deposit. No limestone showed itself here. The analysis gave : ( gas 40.0 Volatile matter 42 ' { water 2.0 f carbon 51.5 Coke 58 - ashes 6.5 1000 Coke swelled a little; ashes light colored. These proprietors sell their coal chiefly to blacksmiths for eight cents per bushel at the bank. We heard of other coal openings six miles north of the above, also one eight miles south -west of Williamsport, said to be better than those we saw. The rock quarried abundantly in this county and Fountain, exten- sively used and proved to be durable in bridge piers, foundations of warehouses, exposed to alternate wet and dry conditions, can be had at Mr. Hayne's quarry ; also half-way between Williamsport and Attica OF INDIANA. 165 are several fine bluffs near the Wabash, to which the distance is so short and the descent so gradual, as to promise a good result from the laying of a track to facilitate delivery in increased quantities. This close-grained sandstone has sufficient admixture of calcareous ingre- dients to effervesce slightly with acids. These quarries seem to occupy the place of the grindstone and whetstone grits in Orange county. The agricultural prospects of the country can be judged of, by exam- ining the analysis furnished in Dr. Peter's report of soils taken from Hon. G. D. Wagner's farm, adjoining a grove of Hickory, Bur Oak, "Walnut, Grey Ash, Buckeye, Red Elm, Cherry, Sassafras and some Black Jack Oak, with an undergrowth of Hazel, Elder-bushes and lied Bud ; and also from seeing the splendid cattle that graze throughout the country. From the adjoining farm of Mr. Wagner, Sen., we obtained a sample of Bog Iron ore for analysis. Other iron ores are reported at several points, especially near Pine Village ; chalybeate springs are very com- mon. A remarkable belt of bowlders and other quaternary Drift, passing from Parrish's Grove, in a south-easterly direction through the county, will be noticed hereafter. At a digging made by Mr. Robert Pierson for lead, we found a con- siderable amount of sulphuret of zinc, which may have cobalt asso- ciated with it, as in Fountain county. Some milk-sickness is reported as existing in timbered portions of the county. FOUNTAIN AND PARKE COUNTIES. Dr. Bigelow kindly piloted me to a coal opening two and a half miles south of Attica, not now worked. Among the materials thrown out were pieces of silicious limestone containing sulphuret of zinc, asso- ciated with which Mr. E. T. Cox, of the Arkansas Survey, to whom its qualitative analysis had been assigned, detected notable quantities of cobalt, which probably, upon further examination and development, may prove of considerable commercial importance. The building rock, described in speaking of the quarries of Warren county, is worked extensively at the prosperous town of Attica, and shipped usually under the name of the Attica stone. The beautiful bluffs or cliffs near town we regretted not having time to visit. Mr. Lesquereux has so fully discussed the Coal Measures of Fountain county, that I have only to add a few localities seen at another time. 166 GEOLOGICAL BECONNOISSANCE Near Mr. Scott's old diggings, (which, as nearly as could be ascertained in the absence of the proprietors, is either on section 6, township 18 north, range 8 west, or on section 1, township 18 north, range 9 west,) Mr. Kipple and Mr. Mesner are working a four and a half to five feet seam tolerably extensively, on land belonging to Mr. Woods. The roof of this coal bank is a bluish " soapstone,"* the floor alight colored fire- clay. East of Mr. Thomas', on Coal creek, are other openings not yet vis- ited. The coal of Mr. Thomas, near Lodiville, furnished on analysis of one gramme : ( gas 37.0 Volatile matter 45 -|water 8.0 f carbon 51.5 55 '{ashes 4.5 100.0 Sandstone is quarried abundantly near Covington, the capital of Fountain ; and the town displays a handsome Court House and Odd- Fellows' Hall. Fine barns, good orchards, fields of sorghum, buckwheat, &c., be- sides other agricultural indications, denoted prosperity and enterprise. In Parke county, the coal near Clinton Lock, so fully described by Mr. Lesquereux, is leased and worked on the land of Messrs. T. Jones & Co. by Mr. Griffith ; another opening is owned by Mr. Walter G. Crabb, a third by Mr. Joseph Blake, and a fourth by Mr. G. M. Griffith. Besides Mr. John W. Campbell, the Abdallah Company, Mr. Beattie Harrison and Mr. Fagan Boyd, own openings at or near section 34, township 15 north, range 7 west, in the region of Little Raccoon Creek, to which Dr. Dare, of Rockville, also a proprietor of coal land, was good enough to pilot us. Mr. Lesquereux has also described the excellent coal of Hon. W. G. Coffin, whose absence East, prevented our having the pleasure of his company, which as a member of the State Board he would otherwise have given in the explorations of his county; but under his son's di- rections and those of Dr. Hubbs, who courteously conducted us, we had a good opportunity to examine the Sugar Creek Coal. *So denominated by the miners, but not so in strict mineralolgical language. OF INDIANA. 167 Mr. Coffin's coal gave, on analysis of one gramme : ( gas 42.0 Volatile matter 48 -{water 6.0 ( carbon 49.0 Coke Clashes 3.0 100.0 Coke swelled somewhat ; ashes light grey. A gramme of Mr. Campbell's coal afforded : gas 42.0 Volatile matter 49.C , water Coke Clashes ( carbon 49.0 2.0 100.0 Coke swelled slightly ; ashes reddish brown. A considerable amount of milk-sickness was reported in this county, and some examinations were made with reference to the subject, which will be reported under that general head. VERMILLION AND CLAY COUNTIES. As our corps had an opportunity of visiting some coal openings, during an exploration subsequent to the one made in company with Mr. Lesquereux, a few additional localities are here subjoined : One occurs a mile and a half south-east from Newport, and several others are found on the creek close to that town. The coal of one bank owned by Messrs. Bell and Groves gave the following components : ( gas 33.0 Volatile matter 47 -{water 10.0 r carbon 54.0 Coke Clashes 30 100.0 Coke swelled very little ; ashes reddish grey. Mr. John "W. Thomas owns a bank one mile from Newburg, on Lit- tle Vermillion; Mr. W. A. Henderson another two miles west of town, and Mr. Bennett a third, six miles north-west from Newburg, worked by stripping. The two former are No. 9, with No. 11 above not worked. Mr. John Wright on section 13, township 14 north, range 9 west, also Mr. Samuel Davidson and Mr. Van Ness own coal banks about 11 168 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCB one mile west of Clinton, reported- as having a seam over fourteen feet thick. Around Eugene coal is extensively worked on Big Yermillion, where three beds frequently show themselves, sometimes only separated by a clay parting of two to three feet; the upper coal from two to three feet thick, being selected as the best. The roof of this consists here of about five feet of black shales and several feet of sandstone, usually overlaid by twenty-five to thirty feet of gravel. Underneath is fire- clay ; large Septaria are sometimes found immediately over the coal and under the black shales. At Mr. Collet's bank there is a rich deposit of iron ore. The openings chiefly worked, are Mr. John Heapburn's, nearest town, Mr. Miller Jones' bank, leased to Mr. Dunlavy, and Mr. Joseph Collett's, 2 J miles from town, on the north side of Big Yermillion. Mr. John Groendyke's, and Mr. Samuel Groendyke's banks are on the south side, near town. Mr. Harrison Elsby's is belcw "Hanging Kock," 4 miles from Eugene, and Mr. Wm. Hughes' bank, mentioned by the late State Geologist, in his Keport of 1857, is 4J miles from town ;. thick- ness of coal, 2J feet. On Little Yermillion, there are numerous coal openings, the seam being represented as thicker than those above described. Mr. Martin Patrick's name was the only one ascertained. Sandstone quarries are also found on the same stream. On Big Yermillion, one stratum in the subjoined section, where the bank is from 75 to 100 feet high, affords solid building material : | FEKT. Quaternary 25-35 Sandstone and shales 8-10 Solid bed of sandstone 6-8 Sandstone, somewhat shalj 10-15 Shales 2 Thin shales 5 Black slaty shales 5 Coal, dipping slightly under water 2-2J Level of water in Big Yermillion Coal sells in Eugene at 7 cents, delivered, in Perrysville at 10 cents, At the latter town, in descending to the ferry, a bed of 3 to 4 feet of solid dark limestone shows itself over more shaly beds, with the black slates underneath. OF INDIANA. 169 The well-known " Indiana Furnace " is in this county, on Sec. 23, T. 14 !N"., R. 10 W., and has been in operation 23 years. It is owned by Messrs. E. B. Sparks & Co., who employ 75 hands, using the hot blast, and obtaining heat from the gases given off by the combustion of metal and the charcoal. They pay $1.50 per ton for ore delivered. It is found abundantly, of several varieties, in all the hills around, as well as close by their furnace, over a five foot vein of coal. By mixing several ores, previovsly roasted to expel the sulphur, they often avoid the necessity of fluxing with limestone, although when necessary it can be obtained near there. They can run ten tons of metal per day, using twenty-five tons of ore and drawing twice in twenty-four hours ; they ship the iron on the Terre Haute Eailroad, at Sandford, seven miles distant. Fre- quently they manufacture also their own fire-brick. Clay county is equally favored as regards coal. A sample from the Brazil shaft of the Splint or Boghead coal afforded: (eras 48.0 Volatile matter 53.0S . A I water 5.0 ( carbon 44.0 Coke ' 47 '{ash 3.0 100.0 Swelled in cooking ; ashes light grey. The coal is used and much liked by the proprietors of the Rolling- Mill at Indianapolis. Mr. Campbell, who, with four other Scotchmen, works it, conducted me, (28th November, 1859,) after a descent in the shaft of nearly 100 feet deep, along the three foot three inch drift for one hundred and eleven yards, nearly north-east , since however greatly extended. About thirty feet from the shaft is a "horseback" of no great detriment; but at the extremity of one chamber the coal entirely disappears through a similar cause. They furnished the following shafting : FEET. INCHES. Soil and subsoil 10 Limestone 4 Aluminous shales 28 Coal 10 Sandstone 28 Shales 2 Coal 3 3 Fire-clay 6 Blue shales, indefinitely down 170 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE The Highland coal of the Staunton Company gave on analysis : ( gas 39.0 Volatile matter 44 -{ water 5.0 f carbon 55.0 Coke 56 -{ash 1.0 100.0 Swelled in cooking; ashes grey. The other coals of Clay county will be found enumerated in the list of coals tabulated in the appendix. Mr. Talbott has a thriving pottery in this county, and there may be others which we did not see. YIGO AND OWEN COUNTY. Besides the coal mentioned by the late State Geologist as found on Honey creek, and the banks, fully described by Mr. Lesquereux, which Mr. McQuilken works by stripping in his bottom fields and by a shaft near the railroad, on sections 7 and 8, township 12 north, range 9 west, there are several coal proprietors near him along Sugar creek, of Vigo county, who take coal to Terre Haute, a few miles distant; also, Mr. Jonas Seely, eight miles east of town, at Woods' Mill. Mr. Frederick Miller, on Coal creek, of Vigo county, has a four foot and a half seam on section 30, township 13 north, range 9 west ; and Mr. Ferrin and Mr. Ross, have banks near Middletown, with a thinner bed of coal; the former is on section 16, township 10 north, range 10 west. Mr. C. R. Clarke, who lives on the edge of a prairie near Prairie- town, to which the Wabash sometimes extends itself, although five miles distant, accompanied us to these localities chiefly with a view to the examination of a region in that neighborhood troubled with milk- sickness, in places which have been fenced in for thirty years, cattle drying if permitted to browse before the dew is off. No metallic poi- sons were detected in the springs by the sulphureted hydrogen gas test, although they reported that lead had been found near there. It may have been left in spots by the Indians, as they had six mounds near here, used as burial places, either of natural quaternary deposit, or raised artificially from those materials. Doubtless there are also other coal proprietors and banks in this county, whose names did not reach us. Above Fairbanks, near Middletown, there is a flourishing stone-ware OF INDIANA. 171 pottery, and Mr. S. W. Gapen has one also one mile south of the latter town. The ware is sold chiefly in Carlisle or taken into Illinois. The potter's clay is a quaternary deposit obtained just under the soil two miles south-west of his place ; the limestone employed is quarried two miles east, the sandstone two miles west of Middletown. Mr. McQuilken has quarried both limestone and sandstone, a few miles N. IS". E. of his farm, which find a ready market and are easily boated on the Wabash. Mr. Peter Hulse furnishes Terre Haute with fire-clay from his place, nine miles east of town, near the edge of Clay county. The details will be found fully given in Mr. Lesquereux's report regarding the coals of Owen county, and the probability of ob- taining profitable results in the oily products from distillation of a can- nel coal from a bed discovered by him on the land of Mr. Henry Jackson. The particulars regarding the Mammalian bones found near Gosport, have been so well detailed by Rev. Theophilus Wylie, of the State University, as to render it only necessary here to call attention to that fact. GREENE AND SULLIVAN COUNTIES. The coals of the former will be found fully described in the report of Prof. Lesquereux. The subjoined is the only analysis which time permitted of the Greene county coal. It is from the sub-conglomerate, two feet and a half seam, of Mr. Thornton Hays, on section 16, township 6 north, range 4 west. One gramme gave : fgas 36.00 Volatile matter 44 ' 5 \water 8 . 50 r carbon 53.50 Coke 55 ' 5 \ashes 2.00 100.00 Coke swelled somewhat; ashes steel grey. The Richland furnace, which has been carried on for a number of years, was unfortunately temporarily suspended in its operations while we were there, so that we had not a favorable opportunity for inspect- ing or ascertaining its facilities. The ore is said to average from the furnace forty per cent, of pure iron. In Sullivan county, the coal described by Mr. Lesquereux as belong- ing to Messrs. Elliott and Sharpe, was formerly owned by Mr. Isaacs, 172 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE and is now raised from a depth of fifty feet by Messrs. James Elliott, Ralph Elliott and David Sharpe. They convey it on a switch about half a mile to the Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad, at Farmers- burg, having undertaken to supply the Terre Haute gas works. Ac- cording to their calculation they could furnish annually for the market 60,000 bushels. These gentlemen presented for the State collection some coal plants obtained from their mine, -and decided by Mr. Lesquereux to be Sigil- laria reniformis, Sphenophyllum Schlotheimii, Pecopteris arborescens, a ^europteris and Syringodendron pachy derma. Good limonite was ob- served by Mr. Lesquereux. On a previous exploration, I was informed by the landlord at Sulli- van's Station; that Mr. Thomas Grant, of Evansville, had made a boring for a company near the Station, which is nine miles from the Wabash river, reaching a three foot vein of coal at 150 feet below the surface, a seven foot vein at 500 feet in depth, and no other seam in the remain- ing 80 feet which terminated the work. A three-foot bed of bastard limestone, which crops out about three-quarters of a mile east of the town of Sullivan, he thinks was reached at a depth of about 200 feet. At Princeton, Gibson county, there is an agency for the coals of Sul- livan; which a reference to the appendix will show is mined at many points, near Currysville and Busseron creek. From the Merom heights a most magnificent view is obtained over the Wabash into Illinois, and the following interesting section can be studied, at an escarpment 160 feet in perpendicular descent, formed by the deundation of the river through a long succession of ages : Quaternary 30 Shaly sandstone 15 Solid sandstone 25 Limestone, partly covered by ferruginous tufa 2-5 Coal 1-2 Black shales 5 Productal and encrinital limestone. Brashy coal Fire-clay 8-10 Shales Talus, probably shales 40-50 Level of Wabash river 00 OF INDIANA. 173 The upper limestone has almost the character of a conglomerate rock and has seams of coal one to two inches thick, deposited and enclosed in its substance. Of this we secured specimens. The coal is not adapted for blacksmithing, but will burn in grates. Prairies are numerous in this county, and Birch trees are not un- common along the streams. The soil is generally sandy, especially near the river, and even for several miles thence, where the recent quater- nary constitutes the superficial deposit. MARTIN AND DAVIE8S COUNTIES. In addition to the coal of Martin county described in the report of Prof. Lesquereux, attention deserves to be called to the excellent mar- ble and oolitic limestone quarries of Mr. Ralph Delamater, on section 13, township 4 north, range 3 west. We found extensive beds of each, about three feet in thickness, susceptible of receiving a fine polish, and easily shipped, as it is close to White river. The marble is a mottled grey. Good iron ore can be found at various places. A sample furnished by Dr. W. F. Delamater, of Dover Hill, from McCameron township, gave evidence, on analysis, of containing about 44 per cent, of iron. An iron ore from the farm of Mr. Moses C. Edwards, also obtained through the politeness of Dr. Delamater, afforded on quantitative analy- sis of a tenth of a gramme : Loss by drying 0.004 Protoxide of iron a trace Insoluble silicates 0.027 Peroxide of iron 0.058 Alumina, Magnesia, alkalies and loss, not separately estimated... 0.011 0.100 Consequently this ore contains over 40 per cent, of iron, according to the rule employed for estimating. Noar the edge of Lawrence county, in the region of Willow Valley Station, the Messrs. Elliott own a large deposit of iron ore, which con- tains a good per centage of iron, but, from the quantity of associated silica, would be refractory to work. There is also iron ore on the land of Mr. O'Brian and of Mr. Hanna, living in Petersburg, Pike county. 174 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE Three miles south-east of the White River Shoals, Mr. Sullivan, of New Albany, and others, own a coal bank, into which we were inform- ed they had already, in Nov., 1859, drifted about 400 yards, working a four foot seam. At Owensburg, the blacksmiths obtain a jet-black, sub-conglomerate coal, almost destitute of sulphur, from an opening four miles south-west of that town. The bank of natural points, mentioned in Mr. Lesquereux's report as being over the sub-conglomerate coal near Dover Hill, consists of fine aluminous materials mingled with the various iron ores, so as to form several different tints, such as yellow ochre, red ochre and umber. This locality has been purchased from Dr. Delamater by a Cincinnati company, who have extensive arrangements for washing off all impu- rities, drying, barreling, shipping, &c. Mr. Munson, one of the firm residing in Cincinnati, politely furnished a wood- cut exhibiting a sec- tion and back-ground of the locality, which illustration is herewith subjoined. We found similar red paint on the farm of Mr. Henry Inman, section 28, township 5 north, range 2 west. Between Indian creek and White river, on section 2^, township 4 north, range 3 west, a lithographic stone is obtained, which, although it contains occasionally Productus tenuistriatus, &c., could probably be quarried in blocks of moderate size, sufficiently uniform in texture for the use of the artist. On the same section a deposit of fibrous gypsum and selenite, and a strong chalybeate spring are owned by Dr. Delamater. Fragments of zinc-blende were also shown us from Mr. Phillip Baker's land, three miles from Indian springs. Some of the fire-clays of Martin county are manufactured into stone- ware by Mr. Stookey. The timber adjoining Dover Hill is Chestnut Oak, Tulip-tree, Hicko- ry, White and Black Walnut, Sycamore, with an undergrowth of Per- simmon, Papaw and Eedbud. There are also some >ugar and Beech trees, the latter exhibiting on their bark frequent cicatrices of the scratched furrows made in the ascent by bears, which used to be very numerous in this county. The well-known and valuable watering places distinguished as the " Indian Springs," owned by Mr. Donahue, and the u Trinity Springs," by Dr. Dunn, are situated in Martin county. At the former locality there is a white-sulphur and a stronger black- IRON, CO\L AND PAINT BANKS, NEAR DOVER HILL. MARTIN COUNTY. OF INDIANA. 177 sulphur spring; with heavy deposits of sulphur and some of the char- acteristic odor of sulphureted hydrogen gas. However there does not seem to be enough of this to blacken the paint of white lead, on the wood-work around, as always occurs at Blue-Lick Springs and Dren- non Springs, Py. When transported, in closely corked bottles, to the Laboratory, the water of the white sulphur appeared, on treatment with solution of arsenic, to give : Of sulphureted hydrogen, only 0.00031 There was also a small amount of carbonic acid. The specific gravity, water being 1,000, is 1.00014 200 grammes dried at 300 F., gave of sold matter 0.65 And, after ignition, gave of solid matter 0.60 A quantitative analysis, which was made, showed some alumina and magnesia, and notable quantities of lime, potash and soda, particularly the latter, some of them as chlorides and sulphates ; but, before record- ing the exact figures, it is thought best to repeat the analysis of this and to compare with the black sulphur, as also with the water of Trin- ity Springs, when time permits. The latter, as indicated by the name, issue in three fine streams just below the town. This mineral water seems to be the congenial element for peculiar confervse, which in their turn furnish a suitable habitat for numerous infusorial animals, whose specific forms it would be highly interesting to examine microscopically. Near Indian Springs a remarkable white Magnesian mineral, which cuts readily with a knife, and resembles the meerschaum used for pipes, deserves an accurate quantitative analysis. Altogether this county, although somewhat rugged and broken for easy farming, is replete with mineral wealth of various kinds, well worthy of being developed. Daviess county ships large quantities of coal and has even sent it to the St. Louis market. Besides the enterprising firm of Messrs. J. B. Legg & Co., Messrs. Church, Raymond and Tranter are working their respective banks somewhat extensively; and, with increased demand? can readily produce greater supplies. 178 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOLSSANCE A sample of coal from Mr. Church's bank gave : gas 39.0 Volatile matter . 44.o( gD i water 5.0 f carbon 53.0 Coke 56.0 ( carbon 50.0 53 '{ashes 3.0 100.0 Coke swelled somewhat ; ashes light grey. From a box full, sent through the attention of Hon. Hamilton Smith, ten pounds of this coal, tested for oily products, furnished these results: POUNDS. Ammoniacal liquor 0.600 Crude oil 2.400 Coke.. 6.138 Or, estimated by per centage : Ammoniacal liquor.. 6.00 Crude oil.. 24.00 Coke 71.38 Volatile matter and loss.. ,. 8.62 100.00 This is equal to sixty gallons of crude oil in a ton of 2,000 pounds. The JBreckenridge coal averages about seventy-five gallons to the ton. Other coals of less importance, because further from market, are found in Perry county, on the land of widow Alvis, that of Mr. Mauk, of Mr. Van Winkle, &c. Probably as heavy a deposit of iron ore as any in Indiana is to be found near Leopold, in Perry county, as it occupies a bed from four to eight feet or more in thickness, (judging from partial excavations,) ex- tending through the greater portion of two hills near the town, and forty to sixty feet above it, besides being found in beds of about the same level in other hills north-west and south-east, from the first, at OF INDIANA. 183 from one to two miles distance, as well as on section 11, township 4 south, range 2 west ; also at Mr. Jackson Williams' place, one mile west of Troy, on Mr. Abraham Lusher's farm, and other localities in the county. The one is, at Leopold, associated with the higher ferruginous sand- stones, about 290 feet above the upper member of the sub-carboniferous limestone found at no great distance on Oil creek,* the bed of which, at that crossing is about 330 feet below Leopold. As this stream during the winter is navigable, if it were found profitable to work the ore, the metal could be readily transported on the creek six miles to the Ohio river. The ore, on analysis of one-tenth of a gramme, Lost by drying ...................................................... .......... 0.0080 Gave of protoxide of iron (Fe. 0.) only ................................ a trace Of insoluble silicates ......................................................... 0.0160 Of lesquioxide or peroxide of iron, (Fe. 2 0. 3 ) .......................... 0.0695 Alumina ........................................................................ 0.0030 Lime ........................................ . ..................................... a trace Magnesia, alkalies and loss, not separately determined ............. 0.0035 0.1000 This ore therefore contains 48.6 per cent, of iron. Near Canuelton, as well as in other parts of the coal field, sandstone is quarried for building -purposes. Hon. Hamilton Smith, wishing to introduce it for extended sale, asked an official opinion, which I fur- nished, as fully as a general examination, without applying special tests, would permit, in these words : HARMONY, IND., March 10, 1861. Hon. Hamilton Smith, Cannelton, Perry County: DEAR SIR : In reply to your favor of the 4th inst., I offer the follow- ing remarks on the strength and durability of sandstones generally as a *This stream derives its name from the oily scum frequently found floating on its surface, in a manner similar to that which first attracted attention in Ohio and elsewhere, and led to boring for oil, now so profitably practised. As these borings are usually successful, near the margin of the coal basin reaching the reservoirs of oil commonly in the carboniferous con- glomerate, it is highly probably that borings might be remunerative in portions of Perry county. 184 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE building material, also some observations on the particular variety you propose introducing into market. Durability. According to Prof. Mahan, in his excellent work on En- gineering, used at the United States Military Academy, those stones which are fine-grained, absorb least water, are of greatest specific grav- ity, and most free from potash, clay, iron, and similar chemical combi- nations; "are also most durable under ordinary exposure." The absorption of water by some fine-grained sandstones is almost unappreciable after one day's immersion, and the annual wear by some experiments, is about one-tenth of an inch. The weight of a cubic foot of sandstone varies from 144 to 158 pounds, Cornish granite 172 pounds; the specific gravity of sandstones is from about 2.23 to 2.53, while granite is 2.6. Some of the oldest buildings and bridges of Europe are constructed of sandstone, especially in Scotland. Strength of Materials. Although stone generally will sustain much less tensile and transverse force than good timber, yet it will bear from three to six times as much as brick, where the object is to resist a great crushing force, as in the walls of buildings or the piers of bridges, dur- ing a long period; it is certainly a most valuable material, if well selected. Each superficial inch of granite will sustain a crushing weight of from 2.8 to 4.7 tons ; sandstone from 1.40 to 3.94; the latter being a sand- stone of the Coal Measures. Varieties of Sandstone. It is evident from the above that there is considerable difference in the quality of sandstones. The freestone of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has stood for centuries unimpaired in build- ings and bridges, is Irom the Coal Measures. And I may add a large granary, erected at New Harmony forty-five years since by the Germans, is from the higher series of the Coal Measures. It seems as substantial as the first day, except at one place where some salted meat by being piled against it, caused some scaling and crumbling. A sandstone from near Fredonia, employed in the Louisville gas works, is from just beneath, the Coal Measures; and the carboniferous sandstone forming the foundation of a warehouse, which I observed at Williamsport, Warren county, In- diana, exposed alternately to high and low w r ater of the Wabash, as well as to freezing and thawing, exhibited scarcely any perceptible scaling or abrasion, after about thirty years. It may be proper to re- mark that sandstones are not so suitable for roads, pavements, or steps much used, because their resistance to abrasion from friction is one- fifth that of marble and about one-sixteenth that of granite ; but the OF INDIANA. 186 comparative ease with which freestones are dressed will recommend them even for some of these purposes, if the liability to friction is not very great. Although I have not examined the sandstones of Cannelton with special reference to these points, the theoretical indications are decidedly in its favor, as it is from near the base of the Coal Measures. Yours respectfully, [Signed,] RICHARD OWEN. The late State Geologist engaged the valuable services of Mr. J. Les- ley to make a lithographical survey of part of Indiana, in order to ex- hibit the advantages of such surveys for those parts of an entire State, which from the presence of coal beds, or other valuable minerals, de- mand a more detailed acquaintance with their relative levels. Perry county being of this character was selected, and the beautiful map exe- cuted by that accomplished Topographical Geologist is now framed and suspended in the Geological Room of our State Capitol. On a some- what reduced scale, these could be photolithographed, when several thousand impressions are desired for about twenty dollars per thousand. Mr. Lesley's report, and accompanying estimate, shows the nature and approximate average cost of such work, when applied to any desired region. Perry county has been noted during many years for the Troy Pottery, mentioned by the late State Geologist as having been established by Mr. McClure and others, from Staffordshire, England. It is now own- ed by Messrs. Sanders' Bros., who manufacture an earthenware, usually known as the Rockingham and Yellow Ware, into such articles of kitchen use, as fruit jars, pitchers of tasteful patterns, besides spittoons, &c. The ware is stated by them not to be affected by acids, the glazing being composed chiefly of white lead, borax, sand and common clay ; still it is always best not to leave canned fruit, or any other acid article of food, in tinware or earthenware, except with the salt glaze or fel- spathic enamel, exposed for a considerable time to the action of the at- mosphere. At first they made a white ware ; but found it would not justify them under the circumstances. They also manufacture good fire-brick at five dollars per thousand, grinding up a portion of the old saggers with the fire-clay, and sometimes portions of sandstone. If the demand for roofing and draining tiles, or for paviag brick, justified them, they could at this locality, from the same potters' mate- J2 V 186 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE rials, with a vitrifying glaze, make a hard tile brick quite impervious to water; at a cost for the roofing tile of twelve dollars a thousand. The coal seams show themselves here, one exhibiting only its roof shales at low stage of water in the Ohio river, the second, from the fire- clay of which they manufacture their saggers, is below high water mark, and the third or highest having only a few inches of coal, but whose fire-clay here often occupies ten feet, furnishes the potters' main material for earthenware. In this thriving county, a city, with several thousand inhabitants, and important manufactures, but which we seek in vain even on lata maps, has been raised in a few years from the forest wilderness, through the industry and enterprise of a Swiss population, who have named it "Tell-City.", In some portions of this county milk-sickness still occasionally visits the inhabitants, unless they keep up their cattle on tame pastures. The Spencer county coals have been minutely described by Mr.Lesque- reux. The analysis of a gramme from Mr. Robert Woods' coal bank, one mile west of Elizabeth, on section 19, township 4 south, range 5 west, gave : fgas 45.00 Volatile matter 48.5 we can scarcely rely upon finding deposits except accidentally, not remunerative as a steady object of search, as in the case of iron ore. SUB-SECTION 5. TIMBER AND PREDOMINANT VEGETATION. A consid- siderable portion of these northern counties is treeless, and, especially south of Lake Michigan, nearly through our State, but at least to the upper Wabash, we find extensive prairies, connecting with those of Illi- nois, generally low and sometimes wet; while higher and drier tracts, commonly destitute of timber, with, however, occasional groves, occu- py a position to the east and west of the low prairies. In this boundless expanse, this ocean-like land, level sometimes as a floor, with perhaps no path to guide the traveler and scarcely any two objects which by comparison can enable him to estimate distances, na- ture has provided for the brave denizen of these American "Steppes" a diurnal polar star, a directive sign, like the moss on the north side of trees to the backwoodsman, or almost like the compass to the wanderer on the trackless sea. A plant of the composite family grows abun- dantly in the prairies, with its thick, dry, resinuous leaves, all flattened to one plane, as if fresh from the pressure of a herbarium, surmounted by a gay, yellow, asteriod flower; and this plant, Silphium lacineatum, 196 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE or rosin weed, even at its earliest exit from the soil, and ever afterwards, in its developments, ranges this broad fallacious plane due north and south, thus presenting one face of the leaf east, the other west. In- stead of an upper side covered with nature's varnish for protection, an under side presenting the breathing stomata of most leaf-bearing veg- etation, these leaves are nearly the same on both sides, rough and re- sinous. To this peculiarity of ranging its leaf-plane north and south it owes the name of compass-plant, and to its highly resinous compo- sition the name of rosin-weed. Another plant common on these prai- ries of the same genus, S. terebinthinaceum or Prairie-dock, which has also an inclination to range its leaves north and south, but not so uni- formly to be depended upon, contributes with the compass-plant, arte- misia and others, to give to the prairie fires the remarkably dense vol- umes of black smoke, which are matters of astonishment until we trace them to these vast reservoirs of inflammable resins, furnishing the carbon more rapidly than it can combine with the oxygen of the atmosphere. Other peculiar vegetation of the prairies will be alluded to in the de- tails of counties, such as the Cattail-flag, various grasses, usually rather coarse; wild indigo and ferns often skirting the edges, with sometimes an undergrowth attempt at timber in the form of willows, aspens, and the like. In some northern counties there is abundance of fine timber, espe- cially White Oak, with some Beech and Sugar-Tree ; and, towards the lakes, Cedars, Pines and Tameracks, (Larch or Hackmatack.) and Al- ders, the interspaces dotted beneath by such quantities of a genus from the Heath family, as to require a special train at the gathering season, under the names of Huckleberry (or Whortleberry) train ; while an- other genus of the same family, the Cranberry, furnishes, from other- wise useless swamps, the palatable relish to heighten the savory flesh of the native buffalo, deer or pinnated grouse, (prairie-hen,) which form- erly enlivened these vast plains or still rush and whir through the prairie. SUB-SECTION 6. SPRINGS, &c. At numerous localities chalybeate springs were seen, and at more than one place encrusting springs. One of these, so highly charged with carbonate of lime, held fur a time in solution probably by an excess of carbonic acid, and under certain cir- cumstances parting with the gas, and depositing the calcareous incrus- tation in such quantity as even to encase human bodies buried within OF INDIANA. 197 its influences, will be found described among the details of Porter county. At most places on the Indiana prairies water can be obtained by dig- ging a moderate distance, as, although sometimes clay with little inter- mission extends from on^, to two hundred feet deep, usually beds of sand are found, after penetrating which, a supply of water is often obtained, it being arrested by an impervious substratum. SUB- SECTION 7. MISCELLANEOUS FACTS. Among other interesting facts, it was gratifying to learn that this northern region, whether prai- rie or timber, so far as we could hear, is not visited by milk-sickness. The formation and drainage of prairies, the phenomenon of acres of dead shells being sometimes found on the surface of these natural mead- ows, the examination how far the craw- fish and the ants may contribute to elevate some prairies, the improvement of the swamp-muck "swales" and the dry-sand ridges, with various similar descriptions will be found alluded to under the physical geography of those regions. SUB-SECTION 8. CHARACTERISTIC FOSSILS OF THE QUATERNARY. In the Drift proper, or old quaternary accumulation, resulting from the erratic bowlders, gravel, clay, &c., brought from the north by whatever agen- cy may have been employed, we seldom find fossils which, have been evidently derived from the older strata in our State, but chiefly petri- factions of the secondary period ; though from the more local middle and later Quaternary we obtain in this country abundant specimens of the Mammoth and Mastodon, species of which are found in the European Tertiary strata, also in beds probably contemporaneous with the loess deposits along the Rhine, we find at least one megatheroid animal re- sembling the giant half armadillo, half sloth of the South American Pampas-plains. These fossil remains of the Ohio river loess have thus far shown themselves on the Kentucky side, particularly near Hender- son ; but as an exactly similar deposit, characterized by the same shells, is found on the opposite shore in Vanderburgh and Posey counties, it is quite probable further search may reveal them in Indiana; where, as already remarked, mammalian remains of the proboscidean family, comprising the Mammoth (Elephas primigenius,) and Mastodon have been found. These and the shells, &c., will be enumerated in the tabulated list of Indiana fossils. 198 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE SUB-SECTION 9. COUNTIES IN THE QUATERNARY FORMATION : STEUBEN, LA GRANGE AND ELKHART COUNTIES. Steuben is one of the counties which we failed to reach, and which remains to be examined ; it is represented as resembling in many re- spects LaGrange and Elkhart; well watered by streams and lakes, and having good timber ; in other parts there is prairie with occasionally higher and more sandy ridges. Most of the north part of LaGrange county comprises Oak openings, having some Bur Oak timber, with no underbrush, and a yellow hard- pan at from two to six inches under the surface, beneath which they reach water in the so-called "water-gravel." The surface soil is a whitish sand and gravel, with a mixture of reddish loam. The south- ern portion of the county, especially about Hawpatch, is a black sandy soil and had originally an extensive growth of wild plums and haws, extending into the north part of Noble. Of LaGrange county we did not see as much as we desired, but would indicate the south-west part as having probably considerable deposits of bog iron ore, as well as the country about Lima. In Elkhart county there are to be found on the river and at the town of the same name, flourishing flouring mills, also a paper mill. At Goshen, the capital, the water privilege is also fine and good mills abundant. One in the process of erection had its substantial cellar walls carried up of bowlders broken so as to give one flat face. These are seen at various places piled up for sale, as we serve wood, and selling for eight dollars a eord. We were informed that some years since they obtained a coarse and somewhat soft sandstone grit, twelve miles west of Goshen, from which they manufactured grindstones. Five or six miles north-east of town, bog iron ore is obtained from the Cornell-Marsh ; also from Mr. Storm's place, about two miles north of Goshen. The drift here and elsewhere affords good gravel and sand for ballast, mortar, &e. They burn some of their marl into lime. The bridge across the Elkhart, at Goshen, is 600 feet long, on account of high water. Along the valley of the head waters of the Elkhart we noticed some Beech, Sugar- Tree, Black and White Walnut, Cherry, Oak, (white, black and red,) of vigorous growth and ample dimensions. OP INDIANA. 199 Poplar (Tulip-tree) lumber, where we were in Goshen, was one dollar a hundred for inch stuff; firewood one dollar and fifty cents per cord. In order to compare produce in Northern Indiana with those in the Southern part of the State, we may here add that in October, 1859, the time of our visit, wheat was selling at a dollar, corn at twenty-five cents, potatoes the same, prairie grass five to six dollars per ton ; labor seventy-five cents to one dollar a day ; brick four dollars per thousand. At Millersburg, near the line of Elkhart and Noble, we observed piles of staves and lumber ready for the freight train. ST. JOSEPH AND LA PORTE COUNTIES. Mr. Miller, of South Bend, a member of the State Board of Agri- culture, after furnishing hospitable entertainment, conducted us to ex- amine the resources of St. Joseph county. They distinguished, besides the low or swamp-muck lands, three soils ; the first and best is the bur-oak and prairie land, producing as high as thirty bushels of wheat to the acre, also fine crops of potatoes. Secondly, the soil of the thick woods, not quite so rich; and thirdly, the black or scrub-oak and sandy woods' land, of rather inferior qual- ity. The low lands of the Kankakee, around South Bend, sell, for agricul- tural purposes, at from $30 to $50. The muck or marsh is from three to twelve feet deep in organic mat- ter, which in many places continues to increase by water, heat, rank vegetation. &c., with an occasional admixture of sand from below by the labors of craw-fish, frogs and ants. In these swamps, frequently when ditching and draining, the great deposits of bog-iron ore are encountered, and their position often indi- cated by the appearance of the water around, also by bends in streams. The lumps, sometimes eighteen inches through, are chiefly at one or two feet below the surface. At Mishawaka, Mr. Hunt many years since established iron-works, which are now carried on by a highly expe- rienced iron master, Mr. Niles. He considers this variety of ore among the best and easiest to work, next to the Vermont, superior even to that of the "Hanging Rock," Ohio, and the hematite of Tennessee. When prices justified they manufactured about 800 tons per annum, by using the marl for flux, instead of limestone, and charcoal for fuel. The average yield of the ore was about 33J per cent., although some gives as high as 50 to <*0 per cent. Th^y nnally binlod their ore five or six 200 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE miles, and as railroad companies increased the rate of freights, and at one time iron fell to $17.00 a ton, whereas now it commands, accord- ing to quality, $27.00 to 50.00, they discontinued the use of the bog ore. Beneath the swamp-muck beds, in which these valuable deposits are found, a shell marl, three to ten feet thick, is obtained, in which are large and abundant specimens, some well preserved, of shells belonging to the genera physa, planorbis, cyclas and unio. At many places this is dug and moulded into brick-shaped masses of considerable size, so as to be readily piled in a kiln, burnt and used for all purposes to which lime is usually applied, being of an excellent quality and white color. An extensive manufacture of this kind is carried on near the fine Catholic College of Notre Dame, beautifully situated a mile or two north of South Bend. In the bed of the St. Joseph and in the banks is found the valuable blue clay, from which the celebrated buff brick are manufactured. The same clay is moulded into articles of pottery ware, including crocks for stove-pipes, &c. In places this is a hundred feet deep, according to Mr. Dahoff of this town, and, as will be seen, nearly two hundred in other localities. The same authority informed me that water is found usually at from thirty to fifty feet deep, after passing a few feet of dark, sandy loam, about four of yellowish or red sand, then grey sand and some gravel, in which frequently they penetrate from one to five thin beds (seven to eight inches thick) of "lime cakes" or u hard-pan," probably an indurated marl. Chalybeate springs issue abundantly about high-water mark from the St. Joseph river, in the vicinity of South Bend. In LaPorte county, especially around the Kankakee region, we saw abundance of bog iron ore, one average specimen of which afforded us on analysis of one-tenth of a gramme, in the laboratory, 63 per cent, of pure iron. Regarding the Agricultural District embracing these two counties, as also Marshall and Elkhart, under the presiding care of Mr. Wm. Mil- ler, that gentleman writes: "There is bog ore in great abundance in all the above counties; it has been worked at Mishawaka, in St. Joseph county, also in LaPorte county, and near Plymouth, in Marshall county. Bar-iron has been made in considerable quantities in St. Joseph and Marshall counties, and in Laporte castings have been made from the bog-ore." * "There is abundance of marl in all the northern coun- ties of the State, which makes a superior quality of lime. The beds OF INDIANA. 201 are frequently ten feet deep, composed of shells of various kinds." * " A grindstone quarry was worked in Elkhart county ; but abandoned because the grit was found to be of inferior quality." * "Products wheat, corn, oats, potatoes arid beef." * "Soil, sandy loam." * * "Timber Oak, Ash, Hickory, Maple, Poplar, Pine and all timber com- mon to Indiana." * " No milk-sickness nor hog cholera. The pota- to rot and Hessian fly prevail to some extent. Fruit is much injured by the curculio and other insects." * "Iron, sulphur and other springs are abundant. Diseases mostly bilious." While in this county, we visited, by desire of His Excellency, the late Gov. Willard, the site of the Northern State Prison, and examined pretty thoroughly the region around Michigan City. We traveled, near Gosport Mills and Calumet, in the southern part of Porter, over alternations of low prairies with a black subsoil, and sand ridges; the former covered sometimes for acres with nothing but a waving level of yellow helianthoid flowers, again diversified by wil- lows, aspens, flags, indigo, rag weed, Eupatorium, golden rod and hazel bushes, interspersing the predominant yellow with purple and pink, blue, white, and even black, (the indigo pod,) on a ground of green, enlived probably by a lake or pond bearing the large leaves of aquatic growth all over its surface ; the sand ridges, sometimes a whitish loam, sometimes a drifting sand, bearing abundant ferns along the marginal junction with the prairie, dotted in its interior with Whortleberries, Alder-bushes, Sumach, Sassafras and Hickories, also large White Oak, Spanish Oak, and small Black Jack and Black Oak; most of which gradually gave way to a growth of tall Pines and Tameracks, as we neared the Lake, with still an abundant undergrowth of ferns, espe- cially a variety with neuropteroid venation ; having a nervures closely resembling that of its great carboniferous prototypes in the genus Neu- ropteris. Passing, at the southern outskirts of the city, the Penitentiary, a large saw mill, and stave and shingle mill, we entered Michigan City and proceeded to Trail creek, which cuts through the great sand ridge; we found a small river, with fifteen to twenty feet of water near its mouth and wide enough for a moderate sized vessel to turn in, cutting through a sand drift which has blown up to form a ridge from 100 to 175 feet high. The surveyor's level made it 176 at one point, and we found it in some places only twenty feet wide on the top. It extends west, we were informed, to Indiana City, and some asserted to Chicago, so closely washed by the waves that the sand lately rolled down in an 202 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE arenaceous avalanche, denominated "the Hoosier slide." Yet in the early settlement of the country between the lake-waters and this sand ridge the mail stage and other carriages were driven undisturbed by the lake waters, along the beach, from Michigan City to Chicago. The light house occupies part of the elevation and exhibits sixty feet above its summit a steady warning to vessels on the Lake A beautiful "lookout" has also been erected by the liberality of Mr. Blair, a citi- zen of wealth and enterprise, who has also successfully drained several thousand acres of swamps, on plans hereafter described. This drifting sand ridge, formerly covered with pines, is row chiefly overgrown with stunted Oaks, Alders, and the like. In company with Col. Seely, the Warden, and Major Dunn, one of the Commissioners, we examined the site, plan, and surroundings of the Northern State Prison. The State owns one hundred acres of land, seventy of which is a bottom of rich, alluvial sandy loam, cultivated in corn, potatoes and the like ; the thirty acres on more elevated ground being reserved for buildings, &c. The Prison walls were already, on Sept. 10, 1860, when we were thero, laid up to grade, and enclosed about eight acres. The foundation for a cell-house to contain 300 pris- oners was already laid, as also for a workshop 200 feet long. In a brick kiln, adjoining, half a million of brick were nearly ready for use, and, for three weeks previous to our visit, twenty car loads of substan- tial building rock had been arriving daily from Joliet, Illinois. For the advantages to them of trade, the Michigan Central Railroad Company donated to our State, with the right of way for all time to come, a track costing a thousand dollars and connecting with their own. From this facility the blue clay for buff brick, as well as super- posed clay for red brick, are brought on the track twelve miles from near Gosserts Mills, at a less cost, it is estimated, than would suffice to cart them from points much nearer at which they are also found. The Warden's buildings are to be on the east of the Prison, and a handsome pine grove skirts it on the west. One hundred and eighty prisoners were at that time employed in performing the principal labor, with the above large amount of constructive materials. A steam engine and fixtures were already on the ground. With these gentlemen and others who were so obliging as to accom- pany us, we examined a saline sulphuroted hydrogen spring, about three miles from town, belonging to Mr. James Walker; it readily blackens silver and deposits a thick sediment of sulphur. The large hollow gum sunk 'by the early sottVrs \* much c-nawprl all aronnd by the deer OF INDIANA. 203 and other wild animals resorting to the attractive saline "Lick." A chalybeate spring flows out at a short distance from the sulphur water. Some Beech timber was noticed around this spring. On returning towards town we passed a fine cool spring filtering through sand and flowing out over the blue clay. The water is so highly prized as to sell in town for one cent per bucket. About a quar- ter of a mile before reaching the Lake we pass a drifting sand bank, about 600 feet long, 200 feet wide, and averaging from 50 to 6,0 feet above the Lake level, already giving growth to dwarf oaks, asclepias and other vegetation. About 100 bushels of Huckleberries are shipped daily from here during the fruit season, requiring an extra freight train. The city contains about 4,000 inhabitants, and if, without too much expense, the harbor could be kept free from sand bars, and the exten- sive piers or projecting wharf, for loading vessels of somewhat heavy draught and tonnage, were maintained at all times in thorough repair, the facilities here for cheap transportation would be of great value to the northern counties. As a matter of home interest it seems highly desirable that Indiana should maintain here or at some other point, if there be a better, along her Lake-coast, a harbor worthy of the State ; otherwise her commerce is necessarily diverted to outlets in the adjoining States, the cost of transportation thereby increased to our citizens, and the profits of the carrying trade also lost to them. We were informed that wheat and similar articles could be shipped on the Lake for five cents, when by railroad the cost would be twenty; also, that pine lumber, iron, copper, &c., would be imported at lower rates to furnish raw ma- terials and quicken domestic manufactures into greater energy. When the winds prevail from the north they bring by their force, and the action of the agitated waters, quantities of sand out of this southern beach of the Lake, which material again sometimes washes out to form bars ; but 1,000 feet from shore all the Lake bottom is said to be a hard clay; at points on the shore this clay shows itself nearly as hard as rock; at other places black sand was abundant, and a few rounded fragments of rock, chiefly granitic or arenaceous. Going south towards the capital, LaPorte, we passed, at Gen. Orr'e, on the north edge of Door Prairie, the height of land 306.5 feet by the railroad survey, above Lake Michigan, and 224 feet higher than La- Porte, others consider "Bald Point," near there, as even higher. Judge Lawson informed us that some of the lakes around that county seat are about 200 feet above the surface of Lake Michigan. Our baromet- rical observations, allowing for the daily meridian rise, made Stony 13 204 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE Lake somewhat over 200 feet above Lake Michigan. The periodical fluetations, diurnal, secular, &c., which all these northern lakes undergo, have been made the subject of a paper by Col. Whittlesey, pulished un- der the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution. Some of the smaller lakes have no visible irftet, nor outlet. The prairies, with Boneset, Indigo, Golden-rod, ferns, &c., inter- spersed with oak groves and " barrens," continued to Kankakee bridge, where our barometer made the river at least fifty feet higher than Lake Michigan. PORTER AND LAKE COUNTIES. In Porter county we had an excellent opportunity, enjoying the hos- pitality and guidance of Mr. Freeman, member of the State Board and Swamp Land Commissioner, to examine thoroughly the bog-iron de- posits of the Kankakee country, and other portions of his District. We took specimens for analysis from section 5, township 33 north, range 6 west. We also took samples of the different soils, prairie, oak openings, &c., on Mr. Cornell's farm, S. E. quarter of section 8, township 33 north, range 6 west, and from that of Mr. Stoddard, N. W. quarter of section 32, township 34 north, range 5 west, also from Mr. Milan Cornell's, on N". E. quater of section 31, township 35 north, range 5 west, which soils, however, were not reached in analysis by the limited number to which Dr. Peter was necessarily at present restricted for want of additional funds. ... rj i 4 .. From these low prairies they cut from two to four tons of a grass which they denominate "Blue Joint," (Calamagrostis Canadensis). The yield of wheat, corn, (40 to 60 bushels,) clover, sorghum, pota- toes, pumpkins, &c., is also good. We observed likewise some good apple orchards. Among the natural growth were noticed boneset, ferns, wild indigo, vast quantities of dwarf willows, which, according to the old settlers, would soon overspread these prairies, unless the grass was burned, cocklebur, (Xanthium strumerium, var. echinatum,) May weed, (Maruta cotula,) often called in the west Dogfennel,* some mul- lein, blackberries and strawberries. Cranberries grow in the north part of Porter county. The quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) and sassafras are also fast taking possession of the prairie. The groves, *Some, I think, call the wild Chamomile (Matricaria foetida) Dogfennel; but there is usu- ally great confusion about popular terms. OF INDIANA. 205 singularly enough called "Oak Openings/' are chiefly here of Bur- Oak, with some Hickory, (usually Carya amera). About a mile west of Valparaiso, on an elevation, red brick are burnt from the clay, although other portions of the county furnish the mate- rial for the buff brick. Thirty or forty feet below the clay of Valpa- raiso about twenty-five feet of rich, black muck, then marl, sometimes with helix, paludina and other shells, occasionally destitute of any, and below this a hardened calcareous tufa, strongly impregnated with iron. This they occasionally burn into lime, but it does not furnish so good an article as the shell marl, on account of the iron. Beneath this there is another swamp muck bed exposed in this hill-side. J^ear here was an old grave yard, from which bodies were removed when they de- sired to form a new Cemetery. When taken up the corpses were found encrusted with the above calcareous tufa, and in tolerable preservation, except parts of the extremities, the broken sections of some exhibiting an internal hollow. On Mr. Howell's elevated land, about three-quarters of a mile east of Valparaiso, on section 30, township 35 north, range 5 west, we were shown good grey crystalline limestone which had been quarried and burned into lime; but as the layer is only two or three feet thick, and apparently local in extent, it was soon abandoned. Unfortunately no fossils were found, the lithographic or lithological character, however, indicates a rock of Upper Silurian age. The parallelism of the sand ridges in this and other counties, south of Lake Michigan, to the curve of the lake shore, as well as other points connected with this great expanse of water, will be discussed in treating of the physical geography. Although portions of the Kankakee marsh are often rather wet in spring for plowing, yet we observed some fine prairie land here drained by Hog creek, which was well fenced, and bearing good crops of wheat, corn, and of the "Blue Joint grass," said to equal our domestic "Tim- othy" or Herd's grass. The low prairie is in places, white with dead shells, chiefly of the genus paludina, supposed to have been killed by the drying of the marsh. In Lake county, near the Illinois line, we ascended gradually from the Kankakee region to the Lake. Some of the low prairies, as we were informed by an intelligent farmer, who for many years boated on Kankakee river, have latterly been drained, and where formerly (not over three or four years since,) a man would have mired, he now hauls tons of hay with wagon and team. Bog-ore is abundant here ; and 206 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE land sells at from five to eight dollars per acre. Near here, on an arm of the Grand prairie, an Artesian boring has been made which passed through fifteen feet of clay, then fifty-four of sand, then six feet of blue clay or hard-pan, total seventy-six feet. Some water was obtained at thirty- two feet, and finally a good supply. On other adjacent parts of these prairies, they reach water in quicksand, after passing through about twenty-two feet of clay. In the barrens or groves they com- monly obtain water after penetrating thirty to thirty-five feet of sand. From these low lands of rich, black soil, and some bowlders and gravel, with the wild indigo, ferns, wild red-top, &c., and island-like barrens of Black Jack, Black Oak, Sumach, Hazel-bushes, wild Plums and Haws, we rose gradually to rolling prairies of Flutter-dock and Rosin weed ;^ then to groves and ridges, with Cedar Lake in the dis- tance, and the head waters of West Creek on the west, to a " divortia aquarium," or water shed, a few miles south of Crown Point. This ridge is something more than 100 feet above Kankakee river, and com- posed chiefly of altered or late Quaternary deposits, not having any bowlders or much rounded gravel; but vast quantities of sandstone de- tritus, angular and shaly, with a growth of scrubby Oaks and Hicko- ries. Descending, gradually, nearly to our former Kankakee level, we reached Crown Point on a rich prairie, with some bowlders and groves, passing by fields which had evidently borne heavy crops of oats. At Crown Point, the capital, Capt. Smith, formerly of the 16th U. S. In- fantry, and now Swamp Land Commissioner, indicated the low grounds between the ridges as being rich in bog-iron ore, but especially the re- gions between the two Calumets and from Great Calumet to the Lake. Crossing Deep river and progressing amid rich black muck prairies of abundant ferns, such as Aspidium marginale, of the wild Sunflow- ers, (II. rigidus occidentalis and mollis) the ubiquitous Iron-weed, (Vernouia fasciculata) Boneset, and a creeper with a cucumber-like seed vessel, (probably Echinocystus lobata,) with more rarely Flutter-dock and Rosin weed, quaking aspen and willows, or farms with Orange hedges, Sorghum crops, Buck-wheat, corn and orchards, we reached Robert's Station to camp, and resume the route already described in detailing Porter county and its resources. To, the Zoologist it may not be uninteresting to learn that we saw several specimens of the Batrachian reptile, Menobranchus, taken by fishermen from the Lake, while we were at Chicago, Illinois, twelve miles from the State line. In Lake county we disturbed frequent flocks of cranes (probably OP INDIANA. 207 Grus Americana) and sometimes three or four white Herons, which ap- peared in the distance to be the Ardea leuce. DEKALB AND NOBLE COUNTIES. Of DeKalb county we saw but little, except in its south-west corner, on our way from Legineer to Fort Wayne. Judging from what we saw and heard, w r e should say that the soil is generally productive, the woodless tracts being a sandy loam, the forests more clayey, the land sometimes heavily timbered with little or no underbrush, sometimes comprising low prairie. Being meandered by the St. Joseph of the Maumee and its tributaries, the county is sufficiently undulating for drainage, and well watered for agricultural purposes. Bog-ore is found in many parts of the marshy prairies, especially near its junction with Noble county. At Legineer, in Noble county, we observed piles of bowlders corded for sale, also staves and lumber, indicating abundance of timber. At Eochester, about three-quarters of a mile east of Legineer, bog-ore was worked, which they dug a few miles south of that place ; this furnace was not visited for want of time. The ore brought from Avilla is used for chimney backs, because it does not burn out. There is also abun dance of marl, similar to that in St. Joseph, although it does not cal- cine quite so freely. At Rome there is a chalybeate spring. Between Legineer and [Kendallville, Beech timber is not uncommon^ and where ditches were cut for drainage we observed a very black soil, often underlaid by gravel. Several gravel quarries were open for the transportation of ballast to the railroad; in some we examined, the gravel was in a bed from six to twelve feet thick. Near Kendallville, at Lisbon, is a height of land or summit level, whence waters run south to the Gulf of Mexico, and north-east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Somewhat north of Kendallville to the Michigan line are found oak openings, with no undergrowth, and with yellow hard-pan at from two to six inches below the surface. For wheat this is first-rate, for corn second-rate land. South of these are the so-called "bastard openings," with Black Walnut, Poplar and Blue Ash, undergrowth Hazel and Sassafras. This is considered here first quality of soil fcr all farming purposes, affording 40 to 45 bushels of corn per acre. It is a blackish sandy loam, with gravelly subsoil. Adjoining the lakes and streams they have also wet prairies, with muck or humus at top and, immediately below, a quicksand and gravel, 208 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE then marl and blue clay. They sometimes dig wells through the hard- pan that require no curbing. KOSCIUSKO, MARSHALL AND STABKE COUNTIES. The northern portion of Kosciusko is chiefly prairie, the southern heavily timbered. Near the junction of Marshall and Kosciusko, a farmer showed us a variety of maize called "Butcher Corn," deep red, heavy grained and long-eared, represented as productive. In the northern part of Kosciusko down to Leesburgh, which is about 100 feet above the level of "Yellow river," at Plymouth, we observed a heavy drift of sand and bowlders, exhibiting at some sections about 30 feet, over clay; the soil, black, with occasional Beech timber and nu- merous ferns. Continuing south we found good farms with substan- tial barns and excellent roads; crops of buckwheat and clover luxu- riant. As we entered the timber we enumerated Beech, Sugar-Tree, Elm, Oak, Gum, Hickory, Poplar, White and Black Walnut, then crossed low ground on corduroy, with ferns, flags, smart weed, Willow, Swamp- Maple, Blue Ash, &c.; succeeded by the silkweed or milkweed (Ascle- pias cornuti) and Boneset for some miles. We crossed the railroad track at Bourbon, a good-sized thriving place, on a level a few feet higher than the fern thicket or brake. Near here some of the tributaries of Tippecanoe take their origin, and we shortly reach the deep-green shades of the Tamerack. Many of these were noticed to be dead, per- haps from the draining of those lands rendering the soil too dry for its favorable growth. An industrious and enterprising population has set- tled around here, evinced by the wheat, which the Hon. Mr. Thralls, of Warsaw, was taking in at the rate of 1,200 bushels per day, and which averages considerably over sixty pounds to the busheL This gentleman informed me that abundance of bog-irorl ore had been dug near town. It was first discovered in 1838, and an account of it was published in the "Eaton Register," Ohio. As yet they have no furnace nearer than Rochester. Ore is also dug near Milford and sent to the Rochester and Mishawaka furnaces. Near town, in digging wells, water is reached at sixteen or twenty feet in sand, after passing through gravel and two to four feet of hard-pan, made up of pebbles cemented in clay. On the north siee of Turkey- creek prairie the same materials, which extend but from nine to fourteen feet in depth, occupy in the same prairie, two OF INDIANA. 209 miles south, a bed forty to forty-five feet deep. Yet the surface of the prairie, tested by the barometer, varied scarcely a foot in level. It is dry enough for an abundant growth of Rosin weed and Flutter dock. Ferns also constitute here a very prevalent vegetation; in this county most of those collected are of the Bracken genus " Pteris," with the spores in a continuous marginal line of fructification. We made Eagle Lake from twenty to twenty-five feet lower than Warsaw, and then ascended sixty feet or more, over sand, gravel and abundant bowlders, with Quaternary hills still twenty to twenty-five feet ab3ve us, covered chiefly with Oak timber. Although some Su- mach grew at this elevation, the corn looked very well, while orchards and substantial barns gave evidence of a good and productive agricul- ture. Near Fairview we passed a saw mill and brick-kiln ; the clay * / indieated by the latter soon giving growth to a predominance of Beech timber, as we neared the line of Whitley county. In Marshall county, which we entered prior to the examination of Kosciusko, at its north-west corner, after crossing the Kankakee bridge in Laporte county, we found near "West York sandy barrens with White Oak and Hickory, about thirty feet higher than the river, also some small prairies and bowlders, about twenty feet above the Kankakee level at the bridge; and finally a small lake about a mile long by half a mile wide ? which they seemed to be draining. The bowlders were of good size, mostly granitic. The prairie growth was indigo plant, ascelepias, Helianthoid, yellow flowers, golden-rod and ferns ; in low spots Eupatorium, Willow and Aspen, on the higher sand ridges, trend- ing here chiefly east and west, small pines, oaks and hazel bushes. The prairie subsoil appeared from creek sections to be a blue clay. As we approached Plymouth, the county seat, the timber- became larger, being Hickory, Swamp Maple, Sassafras and White Oak; occa- sionally we passed, on "corduroy," swales with abundant ferns, iron weed, smart weed and some bowlders. Nine different species of ferns were identified here, chiefly of the Tribe Aspidiese, represented near Plymouth by the three genera Aspidium, Onocleaand Cystopteris; also the gracefully waving Maiden-hair, Adiantum pedatum, sole represen- tative here of the Pteridean tribe so common in Kosciusko county. Of the True Fern Family only one species, the Beech Polypody, was ob- tained ; of the Adder's-Tongue Family, a Botrychium, and of the Flow- ering Fern Family an Osmunda, (probably O. cinnamomea,) with its high and separate central fertile fronds, a fern found by us so abun- dantly in the counties rich in disintegrating aluminous shales. 210 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE Plymouth, the thriving county seat, containing about 1,500 inhabi- tants, and surrounded by an industrious population, some of them Ger- mans, is in its lower part about twenty feet above Yellow river, a tribu- tary of the Kankakee, and by our barometrical observations about the same level here as the Kankakee at the LaPorte county bridge, and which, judging from the Canal Engineer's Surveys, (as by their estimate Yellow river, ten miles from its mouth, is 690 feet above the sea,) can not vary much, at Plymouth, from 700 feet above the level of the ocean. Bog-ore is abundant near town and works have been carried on, a few miles south of town, which we would have examined had we not been informed that the furnace was not then in operation. In digging wells around here they pass through from two to three feet of gravel and reach yellow clay. As we traveled south-east towards Kosciusko county, sand, gravel and bowlders continued, with some rich, black soil, occasionally, and Beech timber, varied by a White Walnut and Tulip-tree ridge of more arenaceous character. Ferns were sometimes still so abundant as to constitute a " fern-brake," if this be not tautology, or perhaps more properly a "Bracken-thicket." Of Starke county we saw less than we should have done could we have crossed the Kankakee lower down; but as the Upper Silurian rocks make their appearance a few feet below the general surface in the north- west part of Pulaski, it seems probable that the disintegration of the superincumbent black aluminous shales, of Devonian age, may have contributed, to some extent, towards giving this Kankakee region its peculiar character, modified, no doubt, somewhat by the subsequent drift. In boring near the edge of Marshall county they penetrated about 100 feet of sharp sand. Although portions of the railroad track are laid on piles, in order to avoid the water during the wet season, yet some of the prairie farms in this county seemed to be productive, having large and promising corn fields. The cat-tail flag (Typha latifolia and angustifolia) is very abundant, and being used extensively by coopers for tightening the stave-joints might perhaps pay for exportation to places where it does not grow. The railroad conductor informed us that the bog-ore of this county sometimes extends to a depth of twenty feet. At Sail Pierre there is an extensive sand ridge bearing E. N. E. and OF INDIANA. 211 W. S. W., forming oak openings ten or fifteen feet higher than the prairies around. From some of the former a pure clear sand is carried out for ballast. A few bowlders show themselves occasionally. JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES. The great Quaternary ridge of the Grand Prairie culminating in Mounts Gilbo and ISTebo, gives origin to several head waters flowing north and south. About three miles north of the Benton county line in Jasper, following Carpenter's creek, one of the above-mentioned sources which flows north into the Troquois river, we found the bluff banks of the creek composed of eighteen to twenty feet of black, bitu- minous, aluminous shales of Devonian age, which show themselves on the Wabash at Delphi and Americus, and which has been thinned out so that, at some points on the creek, while tracing the slate a mile and a half, we found the silico-magnesian limestone of Upper Silurian date, the same found abundantly further east in White and Pulaski counties. Mr. Jordan now owns the land formerly the property of an early set- tler and hunter, Carpenter, whose name the Grove and Creek now bear from his having died and been buried there. Close to Mr. Jordan's house, which is built on the edge of the grove, they quarry sandstone from an upper bed overlying these aluminous shales, being thirty feet higher by the barometer. The strike of this Knob-sandstone extends, according to Mr. Jordan, as much as ten miles in a northerly direction, passing east of Rensselaer, the Devonian disappearing here as the dip is quite perceptible in a westerly direction. This we afterwards veri- fied by a visit to the Phillips' quarry hereafter described, when visiting that town. When Mr. Jordan first settled here, he could see a hog anywhere in his grove, when they happened to be in there; now he looks in vain as the undergrowth forms a thicket of Hazel, Sassafras and Hickory bushes. At Rensseluer we crossed the Iroquois river and found several feet in thickness, exposed, of a yellowish, silico-calcareous rock, breaking in ir- regular masses, having calc-spar and indistinct casts of fossils, strati- graphical ly fifty feet lower than the base of the sandstone at Carpen- ter's Grove. We finally recognized Stromatopora concentrica, confirm- ing the previous opinion of its Upper Silurian age. Here it is too cherty to burn into lime ; but a mile below town they have lime-kilns, and Mr. Alters has a good quarry six miles north-west from Carpenter's 212 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE Grove. Taking an easterly direction, somewhat south, towards Brad- ford, we passed numerous bowlders and saw some fine Merino sheep, clover and sorghum fields; at about three miles from town we reached the sandstone quarry, which we were seeking. It is chiefly on the property of Mr. Simon Phillips and can be struck anywhere, on about an eight acre tract, at from two to five feet below the level of the prai- rie, and twenty-five to thirty above the level of the Iroquois river at Kensselaer. It is never struck in digging wells on the north side of the river. The stratum is quarried in slabs from one to two feet thick, sometimes of a coarse grit, at others resembling the freestone overlying the Upper Silurian in the Wabash bank a few miles below Logansport, thus forming a valuable building material. The dip here appeared rather southerly of west, whereas at Rensselaer it appeared to be north of west, and at one point appeared to have an anticlinal axis. Returning to Rensselaer, we took the Chicago road towards Morocco, passing Osage hedges and bowlders scattered over the prairie, in which flourished the rosin weed, flutter dock, coarse grapes, white clover, golden rod, smart weed, iron weed, rag weed (Ambrosia bidentata) and wild indigo; the oak groves occupying ridges of sand, gravel and bowlders, with sometimes marshy sloughs or swales between the ridges, if the interval happened* to be of narrow dimensions. We were informed that in the western part of the county a thin lime- stone is occasionally found, which from its position and the character given in describing it, would appear to be sub-carboniferous limestone. As we traversed Beaver prairie and the southern portion of Newton county, generally, the prairie and bowlders continued ; but as we neared Morocco, the soil became whiter looking, being comparatively high and dry. This town, the county seat of the newly organized county, New- ton, taken from Jasper, is by our barometer about 100 feet above the bed of the Iroquois, at Rensselaer; but as a thunder storm overtook us as we entered town this level may require some correction. However, the barometer still indicating the same reading next morning, there is probably not much error. This place proved very interesting from the Artesian boring undertaken at the steam mill by Mr. G. W. Clark, who had then penetrated 128 feet, and intends continuing the work. At 72 feet below the surface they encountered a few feet of sand ; but with that exception the 128 feet proved a pure clay, becoming bluer, as they bored further. Samples were taken for analysis at different depths. It seems almost destitute of silicious ingredients, and would make a val- uable clay for many purposes. With an Oberhaeuser, magnifying 300 OF INDIANA. 213 diameters, no microscopic-organisms could be detected in this clay, even after moistening. Another boring was made at Brook, on the Iroquois, over 100 feet deep, through a considerable amount of gravel before reaching the clay, which then continued uninterruptedly. Few, if any, bowlders were observed after leaving Morocco, on the route towards Eeaver Lake; the country here is father sparsely settled, yet some fine low prairies exhibit an extensive growth of a grass, which we could scarcely distinguish from tame red-top. Ferns and mimosa bushes were common as we approached the sand ridges, with scrubby timber. We disturbed several flocks of cranes and a few fine white specimens of the genus Ardea. probably the A. leuce. We have been gradually descending as we pass near Beaver Lake, being now at least a hundred feet below the level of Morocco, until finally at the Kankakee crossing in Illinois,* (there being no suitable bridge or ferry short of Momence on the west, or St. Joseph county on the east,) the barometer made the bed of the river 180 feet below the steam-mill at Morocco. A calcareous tufa is dug in this county just below the humus or swamp muck, which becomes very solid on exposure tathe atmosphere. Beaver Lake has been purchased and partially drained by Major Dunn and Mr. M. Bright, being forty feet above high water in the Kan- kakee river, at its nearest point, which is five miles distant. Already between 8,000 and 9,000 acres of marsh have been drained and a por- tion cultivated. One of the renters, in digging his well, went through twenty feet of pure black swamp muck, chiefly decaying or decayed vegetable matter, woody fibre, leaves, ferns, mosses, &c. Bogus Island, in the centre of the lake, so called from its formerly hav- ing been the resort of counterfeiters, is covered with wild Black Cherry Trees : (The Cerasus Virginiana, of Michaux, and the Padus serotina, of Ehrhart.) As the remains of beaver dams are numerous in the lake, it is supposed to have been the resort of the fast-disappearing castor fiber, hence the name of the lake. *In this connection, it may be interesting for some to learn that a company has been re- cently organized for the straightening of the Kankakee river, which in its windings is three times as long as the direct line; by means of which, and the removal of obstructions, they hope to deepen the channel and form a drain that will run off its high waters and that of its tributaries more rapidly than now, and into which cross ditches can be cut, thereby render- ing many thousand acres so much drier than at present, as to] bring land up from three and four dollars per acre to thirty and forty. 214 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE ALLEN AND WHITLEY COUNTIES. Allen county is included among those characterized chiefly by the Quaternary, because the drift exists to a very considerable depth over most of the county, forming small prairies, with occasional timber. Deep wells have been sunk, particularly one at Fort Wayne, by Mr. Barry, General Superintendent for the Railroad Company, which has passed chiefly through blue clay, with a stratum of sand at eighteen feet and another at thirty feet. There are also numerous quarries, pockets as they here term them, having gravel and sand in a bank from ten to fifteen feet deep, out of which they cart large quantities of ballast for the railroad. Near the junction of the St. Mary and St. Joseph to which I was kindly con- ducted by Mr. McCulloch, stood the old Fort and General Tipton's house, and not far off a hill of pure sand. The heavy Quaternary deposits seem at some period to have caused a remarkable change in the water courses of this region. St. Joseph of Maumee flows from its source to Fort Wayne in a south-west direction; St. Mary's river has a general steady north-west course to this city; but here meeting apparently a natural barrier, instead of continuing as the upper Wabash does, flowing west with the dip, these two rivers unite, and, under the name of the Maumee, return nearly on their for- mer course, almost due east. This subject will be more fully discussed in the chapter on the physi- cal geography of Indiana. Mr. Jesse L. Williams, formerly Chief Engineer of the Wabash and Erie Canal, now residing at Fort Wayne, furnished valuable informa- tion regarding the levels run through the State, and Hon. Allen Ham- ilton, whose generous hospitality we experienced, directed our attention to a deposit of shell marl under the prairie swamp-muck in parts of the county, also to some sulphur springs six miles from Fort Wayne, and gave other details regarding this important county. During the period intervening between our first and second visit, Mr. James Humphreys, of Fort Wayne, had politely sent a copy of his ar- ticle, contributed to one of their newspapers, giving some details re- garding a rock quarry recently opened about nine miles south-east of city. We accordingly took the Pickway road in order to examine this quarry formerly owned by Mr. Heer. We found it on the east half of the north-east quarter of section 35, township 20, range 13 east, now OF INDIANA. 215 the property of Mr. James A. Key, a foot or two below the suface of a field, which we made thirty to thirty-five feet higher than the level of St. Mary's river, near the Adams county line, and nearly a hundred feet ahove the Maumee at Fort Wayne. The excavations were filled to some extent with water and it was difficult to be certain of the dip, as well as to obtain any decidedly characteristic fossils; but, as nearly as could be ascertained, there is an easterly dip of several degrees, perhaps ten or twelve. Lithologically the different beds afford varied characters : some being in layers three to six inches thick, blue and bituminous, with ver- tical strise similar to those found in the Upper Silurian, eighteen to twenty miles south, on the Wabash river, in Wells county; other beds grey, crystalline and more fossiliferous. The fossils are not quite satis- factory and conclusive, still the abundance of Atrypa aspera, a consid- erable portion of a fish, which strongly resembles the tubercular trian- gular body, either of the Pterichthis or Coccosteus, probably the under side, near the caudal elongation, of Coccosteus cuspidatus, the frequency of a gibbous orthis, found also in Devonian limestone, at Lower Sandus- ky, as well as of Cyathophyllum helianthoides and a Calymene/ound at Jefiersonville, would seem to indicate Devonian, which is confirmed by finding, mingled with the Drift, quantities of detritus, that seems de- rived from the disintegration of black aluminous shales, such as those of New Albany, Delphi and elsewhere. On the other hand Terebratula reticularis and Bryozoa assignable to either, the uncertainty of some casts, the close resemblance of other fossils to Upper Silurian types, as T. Wilsoni, and the proximity of the Upper Silurian all along the upper Wabash to Huntington and even lower, would throw some theoretical probability on these being the higher beds of Upper Silurian age. As, however, at Huntington there is an axis of dislocation, and the dip at this Allen county quarry seems east, while at Wabash, Peru and Logansport it is west, and as the Devonian rocks rising from under the Michigan coal fields are supposed to reach the northern counties of Indi- ana, leaving perhaps only one tier of counties between them and Allen, this may be, as at New Albany, the junction of the Devonian with the underlying Silurian rocks, and the Devonian may originally have extend- ed from Lake Erie to Lake Michigan, as will be more fully discussed hereafter. The question regarding the probability of obtaining water by Arte- sian borings will also be brought up under that general head. In traveling from Fort Wayne to the quarry we passed heavier tim- ber than in the north part of the county, where swamp-muck and clay 216 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOLSSANCE prairies, with willow growth, &c., alternated with higher oak openings, composed of bowlders, gravel and sand ridges. The timber is mostly Beech, Sugar-Tree, Poplar and Black Walnut. In passing we again saw the fine nursery and farm of Mr. Nelson, formerly visited, part of whose orchard w r as so remarkably improved by plaster. The analysis of the soil and remarks on this subject in Dr. Peter's report will be found highly interesting and useful. They have here some fine fruit, although occasionally troubled with the bark louse (Coccidse) and the Weevil, (probably Curculio or Khychoenus, Nenuphar). These bottoms raise also good crops of corn, and the county cultivates wheat success- fully, as well as potatoes. The flying weevil (Anacampsis cerealella) and potato rot have sometimes shortened the crops. As we went south, Dogwood (Cornus Florida) became added for the first time, in the northern counties, to the above enumerated timber, also large Oaks and Hickories. In the north portion of Whitley, which we entered near Fairview, and traversed thence towards the Pierson railroad station, as well as near Cherebusco, we have a height of land or water-shed, some springs flowing through Eel river and Tippecarioe, finally to the Gulf of Mex- ico, other streamlets converging to form the Elkhart and discharging through the Big St. Joseph into Lake Michigan, ultimately to reach the Atlantic through the river and Gulf of St. Lawrence. This part of the county has numerous small lakes and prairies, hav- ing abundant bowlders, cat-tail flags and willows, with intervening qua- ternary ridges or oak openings, chiefly of gravel and sand. On nearing Columbia we passed some fine farms and an extensive Tamerack swamp, probably 100 feet lower than the "divide;" also a large fern thicket and thick undergrowth of Hazel bushes. The corn crops (Sept. 13) were very promising, and the clover fields seemed to have afforded a heavy cut. Columbia, the county seat, is a thriving place with nearly a thousand inhabitants, situated on Blue creek, one of the tributaries of Eel. Bog- ore is dug west of town. The wells in Columbia average from fourteen to twenty feet in depth, chiefly through clay. Half a mile north of town a farmer living on more elevated ground has soft water, the oaly well around known to have this peculiarity, although his digging was also through clay. Probably this elevated quaternary has no calcareous debris near to affect the filtering water. In the Drift near town there were large quantities of dark alumin- ous shales, angular as if not transported far, but very friable when ban- OF INDIANA. 217 died; some black sand, similar to that of Lakes Superior and Michi- gan, showed itself in the ravines, yet a preponderance of clay in the soil was evinced by its cracking when dry. As we progress south the prairies are smaller and the timber more abundant, as well as larger, Oak, Hickory, Elm and Sassafras, with Hazel undergrowth ; ferns less abundant, but bowlders yet large sized and numerous. The land is sufficiently undulating, generally, not to be too wet for cul- tivation, and besides the above crops, we observed good sorghum and buckwheat; the corn is usually cut and shocked, which is generally considered the most thrfty mode of harvesting it. Hoop-poles, staves and lumber seemed abundant, and a shingling machine was observed in operation near the line of Whitley and Allen, about Huntsville. FULTON AND PULASKI COUNTIES. Of Fulton county we did not see as much as we desired, having been informed, correctly or incorrectly, that the Iron Works at Chippewa, near Rochester, were not in operation when we were in the neighbor- hood. No doubt the general remarks made in connection with the fur- nace at Mishawaka would apply here, both as to the quality of the bog- ore and the facility with which it is worked; only requiring transpor- tation facilities, cheap fuel, marl or limestone in some quantity, and a fair average price for pig iron to make the work profitable. Both Fulton andPulaski have extensive prairies, with oak openings, and portions were heavily timbered ; they are well watered, as well as drained to some extent, by the Tippecanoe river winding through their interior. Gravel and bowlders are not so common here as in counties further east, clay and swamp-muck constituting the prairies and swales, sand the oak openings. These are fenced with small oak timber, with- out splitting, simply " spotting " the round rails in places to prevent their rolling. On approaching Fran cisville, the prairie widens with some island-like patches of timber, chiefly oak. Limestone can be struck here any where, and even as far north as Medaryville, at from two and a half to eleven feet below the surface, reaching indefinitely downwards. A well which we examined was made by blasting through seven to eight feet of rock, the layers being from four to six inches thick. The rock, from the few samples we saw with fragments of fossils appeared to be of the same character as that found, a short distance 218 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE south-west, in the bed of the Little Menon, hereafter described, in White county, and, if so, of Upper Silurian age. This may seem somewhat singular, considering the fall from the head-waters of the Big Metamonong to the region of ths Wabash at Americus or at Delphi, where the Devonian black slate overlies the Upper' Silurian pentamerus limestone, did we not reflect that these Upper Silurian rocks extend up the Wabash, (which river crosses the strike, with a bearing not very dissimilar, from the direction of the Tippecanoe river,) as far as Logansport and even ITuntington; the dip corresponding in direction with the descent of the river, although greater in degree. Many good farms were seem in these counties; corn, wheat and po- tatoes being staple products. WHITE AND BENTON COUNTIES. Conducted by Mr. Watson, we examined the rock near the railroad station at New Bedford, in the bed of the Little Menon, from which it is extensively quarried for lime, although in places rather silicious. They also burn lime at West Bradford, and even four or five miles higher up the Big Metamonong. There seems at New Bradford a dip (probably only locally so much inclined,) of from 4 to 10 in a westerly direction, sometimes a little north, sometimes south of west. The rock is a yellowish silico-calea- reous stone, and from the fossils found, few of which w r ere quite perfect or satifactory, it seems an upper bed of Upper Silurian age, much like the coralline limestone of Schoharie, New York, w T hich Prof. Hall con- siders part of the Niagaria Group. Stromatapora concentrica was the most satisfactory, while immense quantities of crinoidal stems, frag- ments of Bucania or Bellerophon, of a coral closely allied to Favosites Niagarensis and of Orthoceratites seem to confirm the testimony. A few miles west of this place sandstone is quarried which probably corresponds to the silicious bed seen below Logansport, on the Missis- sinews, above Peru, and at Mr. Irish's quarry, Pendleton, about the junction of the Devonian with the overlying sub- carboniferous sand- stone. This stratigraphical level, at New Bedford, is probably seventy- five or eighty feet above the waters of Tippecanoe river, near Mon- ticello, where a fine railroad bridge crosses that stream sixty feet above its bed. Large portions of the county are a fine, farming, prairie region, with a considerable amount of Aspen. Near Norway, bowlders are abundant, OF INDIANA. 219 not so much rounded by attrition as in other localities, soil sandy; and the growth, in the extensive prairies, of ferns, chiefly polypods, boneset, wild indigo, mimosa bushes, ascelepias, smart- weed, (Polygon um hydro- piper,) May-weed, willows, &c. Sand ridges somewhat higher, give growth to Oak, Sumach, Sassafras and Hazel bushes. Continuing west, through the Grand Prairie, which we had entered in White county, we gradually rose, keeping Mt. Gilbo in view, until we ascended the great Quaternary ridge or gravel bank, which in this, its eastern culmination, is from eighty to a hundred feet above the general level of the country. The ridge extends westward, sometimes as a sand bar, sometimes as a gravel bar, or apparent ancient bank of a lake, at a somewhat lower elevation, until, at eight or nine miles dis- tant, it comes up by its western and more arenaceous culmination, Mt. Nebo, nearly to the same level as at its eastern summit, Mt. Gilbo. From this ridge of coarse gravel, finely exposed by an excavation, Carpenter's creek flows north, as before indicated, cutting through the sub-carboniferous sandstone and underlying the Devonian black shales; and the head- waters of Big Pine flow south, cutting through the sub- carboniferous limestone, and the Millstone Grit or Carboniferous Con- glomerate. Mt. Gilbo ridge is about a quarter of a mile wide and extends at its high level about half a mile; the land, including the Mount, is own- ed by Mr. Simon Brown, of Fountain county. Mt. Nebo is the prop- erty of Mr. John W. Swan, in section 20, township 26 north, range 7 west. Two miles and three- quarters south-east of Mt. Nebo, a lime- stone quarry is owned by Mr. J. W. Nutt, from which slabs are obtain- ed eighteen to twenty inches thick, in beds with a considerable dip north of west. Another is on the property of Mr. Evan Stevenson, on Big Pine, eight miles north-east of Oxford; and a third, somewhat fur- ther south, on the farm of Messrs. Sample and Seabury. The quarried specimens of stone, which \$e saw, indicated the same yellowish, silico- calcareous rock of Upper Silurian age seen on the Little Menon ; and these beds are probably reached where the Devonian black shales have been swept off by denudation. Mr. Posey, of Warren county, a relative of General Posey, whose name was selected for our extreme south-west Ohio-Wabash county, called our attention to a belt of bowlders, about two miles wide, ex- tending from Illinois, south of the Nebo-Gilbo ridge, past Parish's Grove, a mile and a half north of Wagner's Grove, in a south-east direction, to- wards central Indiana, in the region of Indianapolis, perhaps a mile 14 ^ 220 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE north of that city. This is not very different from the slightly curved strike-line of the Black Slate. From an average of the observations made in ascending from the Wabash, at LaFayette, to the Grand Prairie and returning by way of the Battle Ground, again to the Wabash, our barometer makes the swales and low places in the prairie, where we sometimes saw black shales, about 285 feet higher than the level of low water in the Wabash, underneath the LaFayette bridge ; which places are often characterized by small ponds with water lilies and other aquatic plants, and along side of these a growth of smart-weed, (Polygonum hydropiper,) flags, boneset, galingale, (Cyperus strigosus,) as well as willows and aspens, when not kept down by fire. On somewhat higher portions we saw extensive plains with ferns, wild indigo, mimosa, and a vast represen- tation of helianthoid composite, and other flowers with every variety of hue. The more rolling and drier prairie, twenty to forty feet above the swales, is usually characterized by the compass-plant, flutter dock, and a plant denominated by the residents Quinine-weed. Mounts Gilbo and Nebo being about eighty feet higher than these rolling prairies, must be at least about 390 or 400 feet above the Wabash, at LaFayette, or about 880 feet above the level of the ocean, viz. : the LaFayette Court House being, according to Messrs. Stansbury and Williams, 538 feet above the sea, we must deduct from this 48 or 50 feet, which the Court House stands above the Wabash, leaving 490 feet,* and to this elevation add the 390 feet, or thereby which the culminating point of the Gilbo-Nebo ridge attains over the Wabash, and we have the total as above, 880 feet above the sea. The swales and ridges in this county generally run in an easterly and westerly curve, the latter sometimes having a growth of scrubby Oaks, Hickories, Sassafras, and an undergrowth of Hazel. A well, dug on this prairie, at least 150 feet below Mt. Gilbo, is thirty- one feet deep, and water usually stands in it to the height of eleven feet. The owner said he dug through two or three feet of dark soil, about four of yellow subsoil, then hard pan, gravel and bluish clay through the rest of the distance, to a thin bed of quicksand. We saw some tine flocks of sheep and good osage hedges ; but very generally here the fine large corn fields are entirely without fences, as *This agrees very nearly with the altitude given by Lieut. Ellett for low water in the Wabash, at LaFayette, which he states to be 492 feet above high tide. OF INDIANA. 221 hogs are not permitted to run at large and the numerous herds of cattle, constituting the staple profit, are kept from straying and from tres- passing by the skill of a single herdsman. Flights of cranes were seen and we frequently shot, for camp use, the pinnated grous, (Tetrao cupido,) or, in the groves, the wild pigeon, (Ectopistes migratoria,) besides startling the meadow lark (Sturnella ludoviciaua) and a few smaller birds, from their prairie nests. For the Geologist and Physical Geographer, the Botanist and Zoolo- gist, as well as the lover of scenery such as the boundless vision of the day and the gorgeous sunset of the evening often afford, this ocean- like prairie region, and these island-like groves are replete with interest and instruction. CHAPTER III. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF INDIANA. SECTION 1. OROGRAPHY, STATISTICS OF ALTITUDES, EXAMINATION OF WATER-SHEDS, &c. A synoptical table of hypsometrical statistics in our State is subjoined in the appendix, as it was thought that it might be interesting to some to have these various heights in Indiana in a con- densed form; as well those alluded to in the report, usually obtained by barometrical observation, as also others chiefly derived from the sur- veys of Col. Stansbury, (U. S. Topographical Engineer,) and Mr. Jesse L. Williams, (Chief State Engineer of the Wabash and Erie Canal,) and from the writings of Mr. Charles Ellet on the Mississippi basin, published by the Smithsonian Institution ; likewise that of Mr. Blod- get, author of a valuable work on Climatologv. and a few similar sources. For convenience of reference they are arran^d alphabetically, accord- ing to counties, giving also the exact place. The addition of the altitudes, found by Messrs. Stansbury and Wil- liams, while surveying in Indiana, as obtained by them at two hundred and eight stations, and reported to our Legislature in 1836, gives a total, which divided by the number of stations, averages a fraction over 678 feet for the mean elevation of the land in Indiana over high tide in the ocean. A nearly similar result is obtained by taking the average between the maximum and minimum heights observed in Indiana. Thus on adding the greatest elevation run in onr State by the levels of Messrs. Stansbury and Williams, the summit between Sand and Salt creeks, 1,057 feet above the ocean, to the lowest portion of Indiana, 207 feet high, viz: the mouth of the Wabash, as estimated by Mr. Ellet above high tide, and dividing the result by two, we have an average of 677 feet, only one foot less than the average obtained by the other cal- culation. According to Mr. Chas. Ellet, in his valuable remarks on the Missis- 224 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE sippi Valley and the improvement of navigation in the Ohio river, the altitude of Lake Michigan is 610 feet. By the observations made at Chicago, as a military post, Mr. Blodget gives that city at 591 feet, and Milwaukee, on the MSS. authority of Messrs. Marsh and Lapham, at 600 feet above the ocean. We cannot therefore be far wrong in assum- ing 600 feet as about the average of the observations, remembering however, as shown in the interesting contributions of Col. Whittlesey to the {Smithsonian Institution, that the level of the water fluctuates many times every day a few inches, corresponding apparently with a diurnal rise and fall in the barometer ; and that, periodically, usually in several years, perhaps dependent upon a succession of dry summers, there is an ebb, and after several wet years a flow, amounting to several feet. Thus then, the average of the land being 678 and of the lake 600 . .feet, if the general level of our State were depressed about 80 or 100 feet, a portion of the waters of Lake Michigan might readily flow al- most directly south into the Gulf of Mexico, through the valley of the Mississippi ; or a similar result could be obtained by excavating a canal through Lake county, perhaps twenty miles in length, and not even at the deepest cut 100 feet below the general level of the county, by which the waters of the lake could be made to flow into the Kankakee, (which however, at the mouth of West Creek, is probably but a few feet lower than the lake,) and then^ through the Illinois river into the Missis- sippi. It seems probable, as we shall see hereafter in treating of the physi- cal geography of this basin, that at some former period the waters of the lakes may have so discharged themselves; but as the present ob- servations are designed first to bear upon the dividing ridges or heights of land in Indiana, we now proceed to discuss those points. As there exist in Indiana many dividing ridges, or water-sheds, or divortia aquarum, a term used by Humboldt and others, we must be careful to avoid the error into which I found a citizen of one of our northern counties had fallen, who contended he occupied the highest portion of Indiana, indeed, he added, he might say of North America, because, from his farm, water flowed south ultimately into the Gulf of Mexico, as well as north-east into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We must bear in mind that the great valley of the Mississippi is a central basin rising towards Lake Itasca, the source of the mighty river which drains this valley, acccording to some authors, from an ele- vation of about 1,300 feet above its lower termination at the Gulf of OF INDIANA. 225 Mexico. On this height of land, after great rains, canoes can be pad- dled, from south-flowing streams, into waters that discharge into Hud- son's Bay; and, not very far from the source of the Mississippi, head waters reach rivers emptying into the Arctic Ocean, wherever the drainage to the Gulf of St. Lawrence is, from near the same region, an eastern side slope from the head or higher plateau of this great valley; the diverging waters being separated often only by insignificant ridges or even swamps, in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. From the west or right bank of the Mississippi we have a gradual rise, estimated at about six feet to the mile, until within two to four hundred miles of the Rocky Mountains, so that the emigrant, when he leaves the great carboniferous basin and reaches, among the adjacent Permian, Cretaceous and Tertiary strata, the higher lands extending from Council Bluffs nearly due south, is at Fort Riley, Kansas, or at Fort Arbuckle, Indian Territory, already from 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the ocean; reaching Fort Kearney, Nebraska, or, by a more southern route, Fort Belknap, Texas, he is at an altitude of from 1600 to 2,300 feet; and at Fort Laramie over 4,500 feet. If he pursues his journey by the banks of Sweet water and crosses the South Pass, three hundred and twenty miles west of Fort Laramie, he is about 7,000 feet above the sea, and is in sight of culminating points over 13,000 feet high, which further north, in the Cascade Range that connects the Sierra Nevada with the Rocky Mountains, attain an elevation of 16,000 feet or more. From this Pass, reached by a gradual ascent, an almost equally impercep- tible descent brings him off these heights to a table land, with saline lakes, &c., still on a general level of more than 4,000 feet high, whence some waters flow west to the Pacific.* A similar gradual rise may be traced from the east or left bank of the Mississippi, towards the Allegheny range, although not to an ele- vation equaling the western culmination. If we examine the hypso- metrical details of that region determined by the talent and energy of a Guyot, or consult some of the transvere sections given in the admi- rable work of the great climatologist, Blodget, we find in those corres- ponding somewhat to the latitude of Indiana, the following ascent : *Fort Hall is 4,500 feet above the sea j Great Salt Lake, Capt. Stansbury places at 4,351 feet. 226 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE FEET ABOVE SEA. Mississippi river, at St. Louis, (low water) 381 Lake Erie 565 Pittsburg 700 Plain near Pittsburg 1,100 Blue Ridge of Pennsylvania, general average 1,100 Alleghenies at latitude 37J 2,650 Mt. Marcy, highest point in the State of New York 5,344 High Pinnacle of Blue Ridge , 5,701 White Mountains, average of the eight highest peaks 5,836 Mt. Washington, (culminating point of northern section) 6,288 Black Dome of the Black Mountain, main chain 6,707 From a region, which is almost the geographic center of this conti- nent, (equidistant from the Pacific near Vancouver's Island, the Atlan- tic at the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Gulf of Mexico near the mouth of the Mississippi, and the Arctic Ocean, at Dolphin and Union Straits, or at Simpson's Straits,) the summit of a marshy plateau, as Sir J. Richardson, in his Arctic Expedition, styles the dividing ridge of Arc- tic and Atlantic waters, in about latitude 48 north, and latitude 17 to 18 west of Washington, all the drainage received from the great east- ern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, or the western slopes of the Appa- lachian range, is carried from an elevation scarcely exceeding 800 feet,* northward to the Arctic Ocean, through a dreary and scarcely habitable expanse of lakes and marshes; southward and eastward, through val- leys as fertile as any in the world, .embracing, with the St. Lawrence Basin and Texas Slope included, an area of considerably over a million and a half of square miles. Collecting in its onward course at least one Giant Tributary that had meandered several thousand miles before its confluence with the mighty Father of Waters, (this Michi-Sibi or Great River of theOgibawa or Chip- pawa Indians,) besides many other affluents that in their thousand miles might themselves drain a moderate-sized continent, this deep and quiet stream bears on its bosom the countless steamers and flat-boats, which are the medium of ultimately diffusing to all parts of the globe the agricul- tural wealth of our rich valleys; the former bringing in their return trips the comforts and luxuries sent by the mechanical skill of regions less extensively adapted to an agriculture, which from the extent of Ter- *See Blodget's Chimalogy of the United States, page 102. OF INDIANA. 227 ritory and consequent variety of cliraate can excel equally in the hardy tubers, graminse and fruits of northern growth, in the valuable cereals and fruits, flocks and herds of a temperate latitude, and the luxurious products of an almost tropical vegetation, such as sugar, rice, figs, oranges, bananas, &c., as well as the commercial staple, cotton. Of the Mississippi Valley, Indiana forms no unimportant part, being situated centrally as regards latitude,* and occupying the productive region which, in conjunction with Illinois, forms the last terrace of the Atlantic Slope in its western convergence to the east bank of the Missis- sippi. As we have already seen, no high mountains exist in our State ; the greatest hyper-oceanic elevation in Indiana, of between 1,000 and 1,100 feet, is attained about midway on the eastern border of Indi- ana among the rocks geologically the lowest. The height gradu- ally diminishes going south-west to the coal basin on our western bor- ders; the uplands of which average from 400 to 600 feet above the sea, and north of the Wabash the country is much more level, at a medium average of about 700 feet above high tide in the ocean. The great backbone or Kocky Mountain Range runs through our continent somewhat east of south and west of north, preserving nearly the same trend in the Andes of South America, while the Allegheny Eange constitutes, like the mountains of Brazil, a subordinate elevation forming in its linear extension an angle of about 60 with the back- bone; so that a distance, equal to 45, estimated on the equator, set off from the northern head of the Rocky Mountains near the mouth of McKenzie river, to the coast of New Foundland, and thence again along the Alleghany strike to the southern base cf the Rocky Mountains among the table lands of Chihuahua, and once more back to the place of beginning, froms an equilateral triangle. A rather abrupt descent, sloping west from the Rocky Mountains, forms the Pacific coast, some- what parallel to the backbone, and a rapid south-east slant, carries the Allegheny Atlantic slopes to that ocean, in a coast line nearly parallel to the elevation. The descent to the interior central depression is much more gradual, but these exhibit also some parallelism to the ranges of elevation. Thus a line, connecting Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, Ithabasca and Winnepeg lakes with the general direction of the Mis- sissippi, would run nearly in the strike of the Rocky Mountains. Lakes Erie and Ontario, the river and Gulf of St. Lawrence, all have a trend somewhat parallel to the Apalachian chain, while Lakes Supe- *Froru the Ohio in about 37 north latitude, to Lake Michigan at nearly 42. 228 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE rior and Michigan form a more central north and south drainage for part of the Mississippi Valley. SEC. 2. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF INDIANA AS PART OP THE HYDRO- GRAPHIC BASIN OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, INCLUDING HER PRAIRIES, SAND PLAINS, LAKES, &c. From the preceding section it seems proba- ble that the physical character of the Mississippi Valley is due partly to the transported and deposited materials in the gradually subsiding waters which existed in by-gone ages between the Rocky Mountains and Allegheny Range, sometimes as a salt-water ocean receding and again ebbing and overflowing, afterwards probably as a great fresh- water expanse or lacustrine basin, and finally as a main stream, with tributaries of running water gradually narrowing and deepening its channel, leaving first great sand-plains, the shores and sand-bars of the ocean, on the present elevated plateaus; then prairies rolling and gravelly, or arenaceous; then lower swamp-muck prairies, savannas and the like ; finally successive river terraces forming often second and third river-bottoms, with marl and fluviatile shells, the latter of species almost invariably identical with recent. If we cast our eyes on a good map exhibiting the physical geography of the globe we are struck by the fact that nearly all great valleys con- stitute in their lowest portions prairies, heaths, steppes, selvas, llanos, savannas, pampas, everglades, &c., with their peculiar flora and fauna, modified chiefly by latitude, while more elevated parts of the same val- leys constitute sandy plains, or rise, most generally in the south, to plateaus often arid, sometimes with saline lakes in their interior; and not unfrequently the surmounting of a subordinate ridge leads us by this table land to the main range. These seas or salt lakes are found usually diminishing in their hydrographical extent.* Thus the great marshy and mossy tundra of Siberia becomes gradu- *Lake Titicaca is rather more than half the size of Lake Erie, comprising an area of 4,000 square miles. Lieut. Gibbon reports that it is gradually filling up, " that the water is getting shallower every year." " Finally," he says, " there will be a single stream flowing through what in future ages may be called Titicaca valley." This region includes the plain of Cuzco, which is in itself three times the extent of Switzerland. " Warren's Phy. Geo., p. 17. Regarding the Great Salt Lake, Capt. Stansbury remarks in his account of the expedi- tion to Utah, p. 105 : " Upon the slope of a ridge connected with this plain thirteen distinct successive benches or water-marks were counted, which had evidently at one time been washed by the lake, and must have been the result of its action continued for some time at each level. The highest of these is now about two hundred feet above the valley. OF INDIANA. 229 ally higher and drier in the Kirghis Steppes* of Central Asia, and is bounded on the south by arid table lands, as those of Gobi and Iran, which lead to the subordinate ridges and ultimately to the highest mountain range, with the not far-distant sea of Aral every year gradu- ally diminishing in extent. Central Europe has its northern marshes, its extensive heaths, and its more elevated southern lands and adjoining Asiatic Caspian Sea, of salt water and depressed basin, eighty-three feet below the ocean. Africa and Australia, as far as known, do not deviate materially from this type. In South America we have the Llanos of Carraccas, extending to the Orinoco, and occupying over 16,000 square miles. Interrupted only by the forests of the Amazon, this valley extends through the grassy plains of the Apure, and pampas of the LaPlata rivers, to the Straits of Magellan. South-west of the Llanos, the table lauds and Despoblado desert, one- third the size of the African Sahara, and Lake Titicaca rapidly filling up, all conform to the general rule, while south of the pampas the Desert of Patagonia exhibits the same principle in physi- cal geography. In North America, the Mississippi Valley has centrally low prairies of coarse grasses, cat-flags, &c., and rises to higher rolling prairies, (lux- uriating in a composite vegetation, chiefly of the helianthus genus,) similar to the grassy Steppes of Europe and Asia; finally on the south- west forming an Artemesia table-land, part of which is an arid desert, with the Great Salt Lake, and others, leading to a culminating ridge. An examination and comparison of these and many similar facts would seem to point to the conclusion that the vast bodies of waters whu-h originally filled these valleys had gradually altered their level, at long intervals, either through a gentle elevation of the land, probably from volcanic action, or sometimes through the denuding effect of the run- ning water cutting deeper channels.f To account for the various phenomena geognostic and geographic which have given to Indiana its peculiar orographic and potamographic *These are characterized by the immortal Humboldt ns grassy plains, having a growth of Rosacea, Fritillarias, Cipripedias and of high herbaceous plants, such as Astragalus, Saus- surias and Papilionacese. The salt and soda deserts are those of Kerman, Seistan, Beloochis- tan, Mekran and Moulton. tThese effects I have noticed at several places in our county and elsewhere as amounting, in twenty -five years, to nearly that number of feet, or an average excavating power of rivulets, in our sandy loam, of one foot per annum ; after reaching a stiff argillaceous soil, the rate was diminished at least a half. 230 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE configuration, or in other words its elevations, depressions and river drainage, we are almost forced to conclude that during the coal period proper, excluding the sub-carboniferous, as that is chiefly marine, the western part of our State, and nearly the whole of Illinois, were long slightly submerged, or at least so depressed as to constitute fresh- water marshes, a fact indicated by much of the coal flora; but that occasionally, for periods of considerable duration, long enough to form limestone beds two to twelve feet thick, containing marine organisms, the waters of the ocean must have covered parts of this valley. By an increased depression, at a subsequent period, over portions of the great valley which now form plains from one to five thousand feet above the ocean, and which were possibly near the shore, the sea must have remained for ages to permit the life, death and subsequent fossilization of a Per- mian Flora and Fauna, as seen in Kansas, a Triassic found in Connec- ticut and other eastern States; patches of Oolite,* both in our Atlantic and Pacific ridges; a cretaceous deposit found occupying a belt from Nebraska, through Arkansas to Tennessee, and portions of the Atlan- tic States, as well as the superincumbent Tertiary with lignite beds, and locally abundant marine shells, Echinoderms, corals, &c. After the lapse of these long periods a vast accumulation of mate- rials rounded by attrition has evidently been brought by some agency, now usually supposed glacial, from the north, depositing in the higher latitude enormous rounded bowlders, weighing hundreds of tons. In the latitudes south of 50 north, in the United States, these bowlders usually diminish to the weight of at most a few tons, then a few hun- dred pounds, and finally, south of the Ohio river, we have rarely evi- dence of erratics and find mostly a transported gravel, sand or quater- nary clay, reposing on the rocky substratum. On the eastern shores of our pre-adamite ocean, Prof. Hitchcock saw White-Mountain bowlders at over 5,000 feet of elevation; and on the western Rocky Mountain border of the same supposed ancient sea, Col. Fremont detected erratics at about the same hyperoceanic level. In the central portion of the valley, except about Yicksburg and other parts of the State of Mississippi, either the waters were too deep for the formation of Permian Oolitic, Cretaceous and Tertiary deposits, or they have been swept away, leav- ing no traces, down to the Coal Measures. During the Drift or Erratic or Older Quaternary period, whether or *See Col. Fremont's expedition to the Rocky Mountains, pages 131 and 277 ; also, Hitch- cock's Geology of the Globe, p. 99. OF INDIANA. 231 not an estuary in our valley aided the glaciers and icebergs of the north to disperse these erratics in a southerly direction,* and groove the rocks over which the angular fragments were transported, it seems at least evident that a great depression finally remained, possibly in part the crater of a subterranean volcano,f in part an estuary, converted as it dried up into a later Quaternary valley of deundation, ultimately re- taining in places bodies of fresh water, then constituting a great chain of lakes and river courses, imbedding particularly in the valley of the Ohio, with recent shells,! the skeleton of the Megalonyx, Mastodon, and similar mammals, in Alabama the Zeuglodon, &c. Humboldt, Mrs. Somerville and other eminent writers, on physical geography con- sider all great plains, steppes, llanos, pampas and prairies as the ancient bed of a water basin, ocean, estuary, salt or fresh water lake; and the evidence offered throughout the entire prairie region, visited during the Indiana survey, goes to prove that, although prairies are of very varied elevation, the lower ones now rapidly draining, are usually the most level, with a swamp -muck surface and marl or a clayey sub soil, and are almost invariably surrounded, wholly or partially, and sometimes also traversed, by sandy or gravelly ridges. More elevated prairies are usually more sandy or gravelly, or undulating from deundation, as they become higher and drier. The clay sometimes extends to hundreds of feet in depth, with only an occasional thin bed of sand intervening, and is so fine, like the impalpable mud deposited in the beds of some rivers and lakes, and we 1 ! exhibited on their drying up, as to offer no chance for the necessary air and moisture to penetrate far enough for the growth of forest-tree seeds, whose roots require a subsoil-permeating-space al- most equal to their aerial ramification. That this necessary aeration *As Prof. Hitchcock remarks, the Drift may not always have the north to south direction observed in the erratics of North America and Scandinavia. tThe evidences towards this conclusion are very strong in the miles of basaltic columns *ad dikes, amagdaloid and other volcanic rocks on the north shore of Lake Superior. deposits imbedding the shells and bones are often associated with a rich marl bed, extending occasionally some miles each way from the great rivers, and evidently older than the modified later Quaternary of the second bottoms, or last terrace but one. Sir Chas. Lyell considered these marl beds the equivalent of the loess of the Rhine. Forty-two feet below the surface of the modified Drift in the W abash valley we found coarse-grained dicolyledo- nous wood resembling willow or cottonwood, about four inches in |diameter, and extending ix or eight feet across the excavation, how much further was not ascertained. 2 As already stated, places were shown me near the Kankakee where three years before a man would have mired down; now they ar wagoning their hay from adjoining prairies ssafely across these formerly quaking bogs. 232 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE and watering of the sub-soil for the germination of trees is often effect- ed near river courses by long continued moisture, being probably taken up through capillary attraction, is rendered probable from observing the rise and fall of water in wells near rivers,* and from our finding generally a belt of large timber on the water courses of treeless plains, as well as scrubby timber on the porous sand-ridges of prairies. The same is made further evident from the fact that artificial stirring of the soil soon enables the settler to have his orchards and walnut groves, &c., and the analytical chemist also shows that no essential ingredient is lacking in the prairie soil. In short the difficulty arises evidently from a mechanical not a chemical defect, consisting in the compact, imper- vious nature of these hydrographic-basin soils; plants deriving most of their nourishment through gases and the solvent power of water hold- ing saline and other ingredients in solution. In the prairie soil, air and moisture penetrate this refractory stratum far enough to nourish grasses and some herbaceous plants, but not to a sufficient depth for the spon- gioles of a ramifying tree-root. In some wet prairies, where the mois- ture extends far enough, the growth is only favorable to certain aquatic or marshy plants, on account of the warm and stagnant water decom- posing the seeds of many plants before they have time to germinate. Those who have drained thousands of acres of lakef or swamp land, give their testimony that, after a few years, they have exactly the ap- pearance and character of low prairies. Other vast regions are a drifting sand, which in certain latitudes and with sufficient atmospheric moisture will give rise to specific vegeta- tion, but in climatological circumstances less favorable to evaporation and deposition, (such as a vast continent, absence of trees, the arrest of clouds by high mountains skirting the rainless district, or too much heat for the reduction of the surcharged cloud to the dew-point tem- perature, necessary for rain,) may often remain arid and uninhabitable deserts, only furnishing a few oases, at spots where water reaches the surface from some favoring cause. The vast regions of sand seem sometimes to have been the shore or sea beach of the great ante-historic water-expanse, that formerly cov- *A high freshet ill the Wabash not only rises the water high in the New Harmony wells, but even filters into some of the cellars in the lower part of town 500 yards from the left bank of the river. tSee the remarks on the draining of Beaver Lake by Major Dunn, given among the details of Jasper and Newton counties. OF INDIANA. 233 ered the large valleys, and may be more usually an accumation, rather South, of the extensive plains than North, from causes dependent either on prevalent winds raising sand banks, on southern elevations of land, or on a northern depression, or possibly may be influenced remotely by the earth's rotation and the oblate spheroidal form. In our own State it is scarcely possible for any one, after closely ex- amining the regions south of Lake Michigan, to deny that the lake is having its waters gradually dammed up on the southern shore, and that for ages past sand ridges parallel to the lake shore have been redeem- ing land from the lake partly as prairie swales, partly as more elevated arenaceous banks. Possibly, indeed probably, the chief outlet for these waters was formerly through the Mississippi valley south, and succes- sive elevation through these ridges alone, from the prevalence of north- ern winds and waves piling up the sand on the south shore, or the above combined with a gradual rise of land, may have compelled the lakes to empty themselves by their eastern basin margin, overcoming the pre- vious subordinate side slope elevations, and even damming up such streams as St. Mary's river and St. Joseph in north-east Indiana, forc- ing the waters through the Maumee river almost directly back upon their original course of descent. This may have occurred as early aa the Drift-period, when vast accumulations of gravel and sand were de- posited in the north and south lines of depression, subordinate valleys intervening in Indiana, between the strike of different geological form- ations, deepened by subsequent deundation. The great deposits of sand south, usually somewhat west, of the plains or valleys and adjoining a height of land or mountain range, be- sides being partly caused by changes of level, may be also partly due in some parts of the globe to detritus from the mountain slopes, but generally appear more like the accumulations, which can be seen wash- ed and drifted, as bowlders, gravel and sand, on the shore of Lake Su- perior, such as have been described in this Report,* as occurring on the south shore of Lake Michigan to the elvation of one hundred and seventy-six feet, and in ridges parallel to the lake shore in concentric curves, sometimes a few miles apart, with intervening prairie, &c., con- sequently in all probability the effect of wind, and water and ice com- bined. Whether this drifted sand has been the result chiefly of former south- *See the details of St. Joseph and LaPorte counties. 234 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE erly currents, or whether it is due to a still prevailing wind, or partly perhaps to laws connected with the earth's motion from west to east, and the equatorial configuration of our globe, or to all combined, re- mains for future examination and determination.* The effect of such accumulations of sand barriers on the drainage of a country is well illustrated by reference to Mr. Ellet's valuable re- marks on the Mississippi valley and its rivers, in which he shows that among the steep banks on the Allegheny river, a dam or barrier fifty- eight feet high would create a pond twenty-five miles long; of course the area in a more level district would be much greater. If the head waters of the St. Croix, flowing into the Mississippi, were connected across the present short and low portage with the sources of the Bois brule or other Lake Superior tributary, the waters of that lake could b3 made to flow into the Gulf of Mexico; and if a canal some 1,300 miles long were constructed, there is fall enough, al- lowing an inch to the mile, to drain Lake Superior into the Gulf until less than 300 feet of water remained; inasmuch as the surface of the water is 618 feet above high tide in the ocean, and the greatest depth of the lake is 791 feet. Attention is called to this fact not with the slightest intention of recommending such work as practical or useful, but simply as the most ready mode of giving a general idea of the relative levels, the former and present draining of our portion of the Mississippi valley, the grad- ual diminution of the waters on the south shore of Lake Michigan, and the probable increase of drainage through the river and Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is thought there is strong proof offered in the details of the Re- port on the Indiana counties situated in the Drift or Early Quaternary Formation to show that if our valley were again depressed for a suffi- cient period we should have all the requisites to present at a subsequent elevation a genuine coal-field. But before proceeding to collate and compare some of those details, it is deemed advisable to recapitulate briefly the evidence that our prairies and plains are the result of a gradually dried estuary bed : 1. Drained lakes have very much the appearance and character of prairies, as proved by the experience of Major Dunn and others on Bea- ver Lake. *If similar phenomena were observable in the southern hemisphere, with, however, the points of the compass reversed, the latter supposition would assume considerable probability. OF INDIANA. 235 2. The great North American valley, like those of Europe and Asia, exhibits the lowest ground centrally, and gradually rises on both sides of this central drainage to higher ground by successive terraces, which are evidently ancient water marks. 3. The lower prairies are often composed of gravel, sand and clay, with some bowlders, such as might be found at the bed of a lake or estuary. The higher prairies are more gravelly and have also bowlders like those of the lacustrine shores. The accumulation or piling up of materials on the lake-shores can be most satisfactorily studied around Lake Superior, between the headlands. 4. The great prairies have smaller arms of prairies running into the timber, exactly as we see the bays and coves of estuaries and lakes cut- ting into the low shores. 5. The timber groves are almost invariably more elevated and sand/ than some near adjoining prairie, just as the islands and sandbars left, when a lake or river is drained, would be higher and more arenaceous than the dried, muddy ooze, compacted by dessiccation into a soil too impervious for the germination of forest trees. 6. The growth approaching to good sized timber, which we first see on drained prairies, is usually a willow, or one of the true poplar family, as cotton-wood or aspen, (Populus monilifera and P. tremuloides) ; this is also often the first growth on a river sandbar or dried up bottom. 7. Extensive borings exhibit on the prairies vast deposits of clay, with occasional beds of sand, the whole sometimes covered by a humus many feet thick. This is very much the character of the materials exhibited on boring in some drained lakes and water courses. 8. In nearly all the numerous observations made during this survey the prairies were found to some extent surrounded by sand rides with scrubby trees, and if another prairie succeeded at a greater elevation, it was also partially surrounded by sand-banks, and a third or even a fourth occurred similar in character, except being a little more elevated; just as the chain of lakes would appear if drained, which extends from Lake of the Woods, through Eainy Lake, &c., to the mouth of Pigeon river in Lake Superior; or from Lake Athabasca, through Great Slave Lake, into Great Bear Lake and McKenzie river of the Arctic ocean, or any similar terrace chain of fresh-water expanses. 9. Nearly all the low, flat, or gently undulating prairies of North America are in a belt extending south of our great American lakes, to the Gulf of Mexico, through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas, while east and west of those we have higher and more rolling 15 236 GEOLOGICAL KECONNOISSANCE arenaceous prairies in Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, and cypress swamps in part of Louisiana, rising to Buffalo and Artemesia plains in Nebraska, Kansas and Indian Territory, and finally to the great table lands of Utah, with Pinus monophyllus and some Yucca growth, or the Mexican plateau of cactus, palmetto and date trees. Let us now examine how far these vast natural meadows would re- semble our coal fields, if the former were partially submerged for a long period, and subsequently elevated : 1. They would have the same basin-like form observed in all our ex- tensive coal fields, with an increased rate of dip near the margins. 2. These herbaceous prairies and adjoining cypress swamps of Indi- ana and elsewhere, with occasional drifted timber swamps, would afford about the same character and amount of material, &c., viz : decompo- sing vegetable matter, which chiefly by the loss of its oxygen has evi- dently furnished the hydro-carbon coal beds, usually three or four feet to eight, ten and even occasionally thirty or forty feet in thickness, during the true Carboniferous era, as well as the concomitant fossil re- sins, bitumens, &c. 3. Underneath this ligneous fibre, humus, &c., would be commonly found a clay or aluminous deposit, just as we usually find a bed of fire- clay beneath the coal-seam. .4. At a higher elevation than the swamp-muck exists often a sand ridge such as those immediately south of Lake Michigan, which dur- ing submergence would probably be somewhat leveled and more equally distributed over the ligneous detrital beds of the future coal, alternating with the mud deposited by the overflowing water, thus furnishing future roof shales, locally of sandstone, more generally of aluminous schists. 5. If prairie after prairie, with its groves, were submerged, and stra- tum after stratum received its dying vegetation, peat-mosses, ferns, grasses, shrubs, trees, as well as its overwhelmed inhabitants, mollusks, crustaceans, fishes, reptiles, birds and mammals, we would have a suc- cession of beds and of paleeontological variety not very dissimilar in their general character from those of the carboniferous flora and fauna, only that the vegetables and animals would usually be more highly or- ganized. 6. Some of the beds (which then would resemble our brasher and more western coal,) might result chiefly from prairie humus with decay- ing ferns, cat-flags, rushes, rosin w r eeds, wild indigo and other shrubs, willows, aspens, &c., or further west, the woody fibre from countless gen- OP INDIANA. 237 eration of sage bushes, (Artemesia) and the like, the detrital accumu- lation of ages might furnish the predominant material. The animal remains would be mostly the land and fresh water shells, (such as those covering the prairie near the Kankakee river, described in the report on Lake and Porter counties,) crawfishes and, in places, a swamped elk or reindeer,* as in the Irish peat-bogs the Megaceros is found, possibly even a representative of the human family, misled by an ignis fatuus and irretrievably mired. In the great plains might occur the fossil bones of a buffalo, prairie dog, or occasionally, the glutton wolverene, (Gulo luscus.) More bituminous and anthracitic bedsf would be likely to re- sult from the chemical changes which the cellulose of the transported trees buried hundreds of feet in the delta of the Mississippi river, would furnish, or from the vast natural rafts of drift-wood in Red river, simi- lar accumulations of less extent in the "bottoms" or lowest terraces of other tributaries; as well as in the northern cedar and tamarack or southern cypress swamps. Associated with the former are abundant Balsam Firs, (Abies balsamea,) the exudations of whose blistered bark, would readily furnish a transparent viscous resin to enclose a struggling mosquito, in lieu of any prse- historic insect, and render up, on examin- ation, a fossil resin as pure as any amber that ever stranded on the shores of the Baltic. The cypress "knees," the piny needle-leaves, leaving in some species a double bark-scar, and the abundant fire-cones, would have some points of resemblance, at least externally, with the trigonocarpon, supposed to belong to a conifer, and the lycopodeaceons lepidodendron, carrying its pendant lepidostrobus, also with the some- what allied sigillarise and not yet fully assigned stigmarian roots. It seems unnecessary to enumerate the animals which under the sup- posed circumstances might be found fossil, such as the alligator and chameleon, &c,, in the south, perhaps the porcupine or tynx of Canada, an oppossum or raccoon, the pinnated grouse of the prairie, or the com- mon meadow-lark. 7. Associated with some of these beds would be quantities of the bog iron-ore (hydrated peroxide) representing the iron ores usually found with the low coals, sometimes with the sub-conglomerate series. 8. The prairie deposits, such as those of the Grand Prairie near *The horns of elk are found abundantly about Lake Superior, and traces of reindeer are by no means uncommon in the same region. tSee the numerous comparative analyses of coals in Bischof a Chemical and Physical Geol- ogy, vol. 1, page 258 et seg. 238 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE ^ __ Mounts Gilbo and Nebo, described in the details of Jasper county, might often be found resting on the coarse gravel of older Quaternary age, just as the low coals rest on the true Carboniferous Conglomerate or Millstone Grit. 9. That such a deposit of fossil fuel should be formed at some future age from the submergence of our prairies, plains and swamps, or from the vast heaths and bogs, steppes and savannas of other regions, seems not improbable, when we consider that nearly every geological period has been ushered in or separated from the preceding by a deposit of drifted, rounded and sometimes re-cemented materials, to which we give the designation of conglomerate. Further, we have in each geo- logical epoch successions of sandstone, limestone and shales, affording, after the earliest palaeozoic periods, when some dry land made its ap- pearance, evidences of basins of organic matter converted into coal, even, it is said, as early as the Devonian period. Somewhat thicker layers are found, as circumstances became more favorable, during the deposition of the sub-carboniferous sandstone and limestone series, cul- minating to its maximum during the epoch of the true Coal Measures. These sub-carboniferous coal deposits can be interestingly seen and ex- tensively examined in Indiana. The Oolitic period also furnished its vegetable matter for conversion into coal, and some of that material mined in Eastern Virginia is assigned to the Oolite, as well as some coal and shales containing fossil ferns, found, on the western side of the Kocky Mountains, by Col. Fremont and described by Prof. Hall as probably of that age. One locality is near Fort Hall, the other near Utah lakes.; both at an elevation of between four and five thousand feet above the sea. In the Upper Oolite of Europe, the Lower Pur- beck exhibits, according to Sir. Chas. Lyell, "beneath a thin marine band, purely fresh-water marls." * * "Below the marls are thirty feet of blackish water beds." * * "The. great dirt bed or vegetable soil, * * rests upon the lowest fresh- water limestone," which in its turn rests on the Portland stone of purely marine origin. The black di.rt, according to the same author, "was evidently an ancient vegeta- ble soil. It is from twelve to eighteen inches thick, is of a dark brown or black color, and contains a large portion of earthy lignites. Through it are dispersed rounded fragments of stone from three to nine inches in diameter, in such numbers that it almost deserves the name of gravel. Many silicified trunks of coniferous trees and the remains of plants allied to Zamla or Cyeas are buried in the dirt beds." The above de- scription fills in* many respects the outline of the appearance which OF INDIANA. 239 some of our prairies and adjoining groves might be supposed to pre- sent after long submergence and partial fossilization, and subsequent elevation or at least dessiccation. In the Tertiary Period there are abundant beds of good lignite or Brown coal, usually lighter, but sometimes scarcely distinguishable from cannel coal seams of the true Coal Measures. If then we have beds of sub-carboniferous coal, coal fields of the true carboniferous fossil fuel, Oolitic coal and Tertiary coal, does it seem im- probable when we observe similar agencies at work, that there should hereafter result a Quaternary coal. The marine accompaniments would be especially liable to occur in regions similar to that of the Great Dis- mal Swamp, supposing a slight subsidence of the land, or an unusual breaking down of sea barriers between the Chesapeake Bay and Albe- marle Sound, or in the everglades of Florida, and the inundated prairies and marshes of Louisiana and Texas; but they might also exist through the great valley of the Mississippi, supposing a depression of a few hundred feet which would suffice to connect the waters of Hudson's Bay with those of the Gulf cf Mexico. A similar result might occur from a rise of our Appalachian chain and Atlantic sea-board, to about an elevation equivalent to the above supposed inter-montanic depres- sion, in which case we might expect to see extensive strata made up of consolidated oyster beds, and long reefs of coraliferous limestone with a due imbedding of New Jersey King-crabs, Georgia saw-fish, sting- rays, echini and star-fishes, Florida green-tortoises, &c. The greatest depth of the Atlantic between New Foundland and Ireland is 12,740 feet, but a continuous internal force acting moderately for a lengthened period, or a sudden convulsion, such as has occurred more than once in the Historic Period, to elevate a Graham's Island or a Monte Nuovo, and such as all geognostic observations tell us must have happened frequently in the earth's history, might readily lay dry portions of the "telegraphic plateau," parts of which are at present one to two thousand feet below the surface, or upheave an island teaming with the fucus-vegetation of the Sargasso Sea, which obstructed the ships of Columbus, and which, although it does not grow at a greater depth than 200 feet, may for ages have been depositing its detritus at the bed of the ocean. It may be proper to observe that some eminent writers (see remarks of Mr. Lesquereux in vol. 3, Kentucky Report, page 523,) deny any true marine formation of coaZ, adding that "there does not exist a bed of true marine peat, viz: peat formed entirely of fucoides and marine 240 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOLSSANCE. plants;" and that he has "never seen a piece of coal with evident marks of marine origin." But the same writer, at page 552, qualifies the above and admits marine accompaniments, by stating that "where a quiet water is high and the marine element predominating, a lime- stone may be formed, when at the same time, in more shallow marshes, the plants will grow and their remains make a deposit of coal or shales." Bischof, vol. 1, page 205, of his work already quoted, after contending that "all the hypotheses referring to the formation of coal from par- tial vegetable remains, agree in ascribing the origin of coal to mate- rials, comparatively less abundant than is consistent with the immense , quantities of this substance," adds on the next page: "Fuel, exposed to the influence of a high temperature and water, are decomposed after a few days; therefore it cannot be doubted that after their decomposi- tion they would have sunk into the sea, and furnished material for the formation of coal; moreover, varieties of fuci actually occur in a fossil state in coal." As proof of this Bischof refers to Brown, Handbuch einer Geschichte der Natur, T. Ill, p. 61. Without for a moment designing to decide between such high au- thority, I quote these observations mainly to show that, under either supposition, without any violent straining of probabilities, all the cir- cumstances might readily exist, for the conversion of the vegetable de- tritus in our great prairies and vast plains into fuel for future epochs. But in the same deposits we have meanwhile rich agricultural re- sources requiring only a judicious system of drainage to make these humus beds sources of immense wealth. "We are therefore naturally led next to an examination of this eminently practical question. NOTE. It was the intention to subjoin a chapter on Drainage, recommending, where prices of agricultural products justified it, a system of underdraining; also, to give a chapter on Palaeontology, systematically arranging the fossils of Indiana obtained from the different Formations ; then to follow with an exhibit of the main facts collected regarding the locali- ties, causes and other concomitants connected with rnilk-sickness, and finally to close with a miscellaneous chapter containing suggestions with regard to the best mode of prosecuting the Survey, the most usefully manner of arranging the State collection for reference, litho- logically, palseontologically and zoologically, as well as recommendations regarding the for- mation of minor illustrative collections for public schools; but a call to serve my country in maintaining the Union and the Constitution precludes the possibility of completing that de- sign, and compels me to close the report. CAMP TIPPECANOE, 20th June, 1861. A. REPORT OF THE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THIRTY-THREE SOILS OF INDIANA, MADE FOR THE STATE GEOLOGICAL AND AGKIOULTUKAL SUEVEY, BY EGBERT PETER, M. D., PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, LEXINGTON, KY. INTRODUCTORY LETTER. CHEMICAL LABORATORY, LEXINGTON, KY., April 30, 1860. DEAR DOCTOR : I have the pleasure to transmit to you my report of the chemical analyses of thirty-three of the soils of Indiana, of those collected by your brother, Prof. Eichard Owen, in his reconnoissance of a part of the State in 1859. They have been carefully analyzed accord- ing to the method described by me in my chemical report in the third volume of Reports of the Geological Survey vf Kentucky, (Frankfort, 1857,) and, it is hoped, may throw some light on the chemical nature of the soils of Indiana, in the regions where they were cpllected, and aid enlightened agriculturalists in the culture of their lands. The whole number of soils collected by your brother has not been examined, (only about half having been analyzed,) because of the lim- ited means which could be devoted to this investigation ; but I have selected some from each of the geological formations represented. The number now reported is, however, too small to enable us to make, at this time, a satisfactory comparison in this relation; if indeed the wide prevalence of the Quaternary deposits may not interfere with it. Every person of reflection is no doubt convinced that agriculture lies at the very foundation of our national prosperty. Should our lands fail to support the population, no perfection in the scheme of our gov- ernment, no honesty or skill in its administration, would preserve us from decay as a people. It is therefore our duty, as well as that of the government, to foster this indispensable branch of industry, and to aid, as much as possible in the establishment of a correct and philosophical system of agriculture. Experience of the diminution of agricultural products, not only in the old and long worn lands of Europe and of the older States, but also in our new States, has shown that in the ordinary modes of culti- vation of the soil, the land undergoes a gradual and sometimes a fatal 244 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE. . deterioration; so that, even on this continent, lands which were abun- dently fertile to the early settlers, and capable of supporting and en- riching a dense population, are now wastes which no longer reward the labor of cultivation, or only yield useful crops as a result of the appli- cation of foreign manures, in the forms of guano, ashes, bone dust, &c., from abroad or from the neighboring cities. The cause of this impov- erishment is now clearly made known by the aid of chemical analysis ; which is the only mode by which it could be certainly ascertained. Chemical study of the soil and of plants and animals has demonstrated that pertain elements, essential to vegetable and animal development, are gradually consumed from the soil in the crops that the soil is not a unit in composition that while the great bulk of it acts only mechani- cally, or physically, in the support of vegetables, the mineral elements which are essential for the nourishment and growth of organic beings, vegetable or animal, are found in it only in relatively small proportion, and must be carefully husbanded and restored to it in order to main- tain constant fertility. Such a process as this, by which the land would be constantly kept up to the height of fertility and would annually yield abundant crops without any diminution of its richness, would be the per- fection of agriculture. Such a system is perfectly practicable in an agri- cultural community, where the chemical nature of soils, of manures, and of vegetable and animal products have been studied and under- stood. The path of improvement in modern agriculture, therefore, lies in this direction ; and it is the duty of our enterprising farmers to prepare themselves to pursue it, by the scientific study of their profes- sion ; and that of States and communities liberally to aid progress in this pathway. The fundamental study in this relation is that of the chemical nature of soil ; a study which is yet in its infancy, but which may be matured by judicious public patronage into a branch of science of extensive utility. Yours respectfully, ROBERT PETER. D. D. OWEN, M. D. EXPLANATORY REMARKS. The principal elements found in soils which are essential to vege- table nourishment, as well as to animal growth and development, are the following : Carbon, "\ First, those which are sometimes called the organic ele- Hydrogen, I ments, because from the greatest weight of animal and Oxygen, [vegetable bodies. These in the soil, are contained in the Nitrogen. J organic and volatile matters, so called. Second, What are called the mineral or inorgonic elements ; as fol- lows : Potassium., "I which form the alkalies Potash and Soda when they are Sodium, J united with oxygen. Calcium, | which, combined with oxygen, form Lime and Magne- Magnesium, j sia. Iron, | Manoanese ) ex ^ s ^ D & as Oxides in the soil and in the plants, &c. Silicon, existing in the soil and as Silex and Silicic acid or Silica, which is also an oxide, or a compound of silicon and oxygen. Phosphorus, "\ which, combined with oxygen, form Phosphoric and and Sulphur. ) Sulphuric Acids. Chlorine, Especially combined with Sodium as common salt. The Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen, are sometimes called the Atmospheric elements, because they exist abundantly in the air. The great bulk of the atmosphere being Oxygen and Nitrogen gases, whilst water, the vapor of which is always present in the air is composed only of Oxygen and Hydrogen; Carbonic acid also, always present there, consists of Oxygen and Carbon ; Ammonia, which is never absent from the atmosphere, consists of Hydrogen and Nitrogen, and the traces of Nitric acid of the air and of the soil are composed of Oxygen and Ni- trogen. These Atmospheric elements, forming the principal weight of animal and vegetable bodies, exist also abundantly in the dark-colored 246 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE material called sometimes Humus, which blackens the garden mould, and is derived from animal and vegetable decomposition. Abundantly present wherever air and water exist, which is every where on the globe, we need never fear their exhaustion in any locality. The sole care of the agriculturalist, in regard to these, being to favor their ap- plication to his growing crops in an available condition; on which it is not our present design to dilate. The other elements called the Mineral elements by distinction, never enter the atmosphere, except in dust, but are confined to the soil, where they all exist as oxides. They were orginal constituent elements of the rocks of which the globe was made, and from which the soil was de- rived by gradual disintegration. They may be called ihe fixed elements of organized beings, because when these decay, or are burned up, whilst the atmospheric elements make their escape into the air, as gases and vapors these remain, as dust or ashes. The greatest bulk of all soils is what is stated as Sand and Insoluble Silicates, in the following analysis : Sand, more or less fine, the greater part being so very fine as to have been very generally mistaken by wri- ters on the soil for clay, (Alumina). This sand is mainly mechanical in its action on vegetables; not only serving as a matrix through which the nutritive materials are diffused, through which watery solutions gases and vapors penetrate by capillary action, but also a loose bed through which roots and rootlets of plants may ramify ; giving them a fixed support. The alumina which is mixed with this sand, and which forms the basins of clay, exists in the soil in variable quantities, making it stiff, heavy and cold, of the nature of clay, when in superabundance, from the tenacity with which it turns water, but when in proper pro- portion, as in the rich loam, causing the soil to retain not only the moisture but fertilizing gases and the humus which is produced from vegetable and animal decomposition ; for which, as well as for ammo- nia, it has a strong attraction ; retaining these valuable materials on the surface, within the reach of growing vegetables, and preventing their too rapid waste by solution in the water which penetrates the soil. Alumina, derived no doubt, originally, from the felspar of the original granitic rock, in which it has always combined with much alkali, al- ways holds in store a considerable proportion of potash. It is not known that this earth Alumina enters into the composition of either vegetables or animals, but its valuable properties make it an almost in- dispensable ingredient of the fertile soil. The oxides of iron and man- ganese which are almost always associated with sand and alumina in OF INDIANA. 247 soils, act both mechanically and as actual nutritive ingredients. Some remarks on the chemical action of oxide of iron in the soil may be found below, under the head of analysis of soil No. 7. The other constituents of soil, (except sometimes the carbonate of lime,) are in much smaller proportion and are all essential to vegetable nourishment; and those which are the most readily removed by crop- ping are the organic matters, the phosphates, the alkalies, (potash and soda,) and the lime and magnesia. There are several modes in which these may be gradually alienated from the soil, leaving it incapable of supporting crops. They may be rapidly carried off in heavy green crops, as garden pro- ducts, tobacco, heavy crops of clover or grasses, or straw from large crops of grain, taken off from the soil; these products generally carry away a large proportion of the alkalies, and of lime and magnesia ; whilst large grain crops, or animals fed on the ground, cause the alien- ation of more of the phosphates than of the alkalies. The soluble ingredients of the soil may be actually washed out, to a considerable extent, by abundant rains washing through a soil which is kept bare of vegetation by stirring the surface, which also facilitates the removal of the finer earthy particles, which are the richest portion. Hence hoed crops, in the cultivation of which a larger space of surface is kept clear of any kind of vegetable growth, whilst it is freely exposed to the summer's sun and the washing of grains, cause a greater deteriora- tion of the soil than can be accounted for by the growing crop alone. The heat and moisture, aided by the capillary attraction of the porous soil, not only cause a rapid decomposition of the organic matters of the soil, by favoring oxidation, but the water which penetrates through it, charged as it always is with carbonic acid, and aided by the organic acids present, always dissolves more or less of the soluble essential ele- ments. Not only has it been ascertained by experiment that a field kept constantly stirred during the growing season, and on which noth- ing is permitted to grow, will be nearly as much reduced in fertility as a similar one which has supported a crop ; but, notwithstanding the positive assertion of Liebig to the contrary, in his late Letters on Mod- ern Agriculture, the writer has ascertained by numerous experiments, that water containing carbonic acid can not come in contact with fer- tile soil, without dissolving a small quantity, out, more or less, of its essential ingredients. In the ordinary course of nature this loss is in a great measure pre- vented. The surface being covered with growing vegetable which 248 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE. gradually absorb the solution in the soil, exhaling the water rapidly from their green surfaces and retaining the nutritive mineral elements, and when they die, their decay leaves them upon the surface to nourish another generation of plants. So that the constant result of this natu- ral fallow is to make the surface more and more fertile, to bring the nutritive elements of the soil more and more to the surface. The space allotted to this article precludes any detailed remarks on the best modes of renovating exhausted soils, &c. For full instruction in the chemistry of agriculture the enquiring student can be at no loss for able modern works. We commend him to those of Johnston, of Liebig, and to the modern elementary works on scientific agriculture generally. CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF INDIANA SOILS. ARRANGED ACCORDING TO GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. I. SOILS OF THE LOWER SILURIAN FORMATION. No. 1. Virgin soil from Mr. "William H. Bennett's farm, north- west fourth of section 17, township 12 north, range 1 west, Union coun- ty, Indiana. Lower Silurian formation. Growth Grey and Blue Ash, Poplar, and a few Black Walnuts. The dried soil is of a light umber color. No. 2. Surface soil, forty to fifty years in cultivation, Wm. H. Ben- nett's farm, (same locality as above.) Yields forty bushels of corn, and fifteen bushels of wheat to the acre. Dried soil of a dusty grey-buff color. No. 3. Sub-soil of the same old field, Wm. H. Bennett's farm, &c. Dried soil of a dirty-buff color. No. 4. Virgin soil, from Mr. J. Hurty's farm, close to Liberty, Union county, Indiana. Lower Silurian formation. Growth Beech, Poplar, Oak, and some Maple. The dried soil is of a grey-umber color. No. 5. Surface soil, over thirty years in cultivation, Mr. J. Hurty's farm, &c. His land produces from thirty-five to forty bushels of corn, and from ten to twelve bushels of wheat to the acre ; bears good grass, A chalybeate spring not far off. Dried soil of a dirty grey-buff color. No. 6. Sub-soil of the same old field, Mr. J. Hurty's farm, &c. Dried soil of a dirty-buff color. To ascertain the relative quantity of soluble matter, immediately avail- able for vegetable nourishment, contained in these soils, one thousand grains of each was digested for a month, at the ordinary temperature, in a closely stopped bottle, in distilled water which had been charged with carbonic acid under pressure. After filtering off the clear solu- tion it was carefully evaporated to dryness, weighed and analyzed. As 250 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE the water which irrigated the soil always contains dissolved carbonic acid, which solution is a principal solvent of the nutritive ingredients which the earth yields to growing vegetables, it is believed that this process shows, to some extent at least, the comparative immediate fertil- ity of the soils submitted to it. The results of the process, as applied to the six soils above described, were as follows : Extracted from 1,000 grains by the water charged with Carbonic Acid. JNo. 1. Virgin Soil. No. 2. Old field Soil. No. 3. Sub-Soil. No. 4. Virgin Soil. No. 5. Old field Soil. No. 6. Su'j-soil. Organic and Volatile matters 0850 0366 266 900 333 1 fif i Alumina and oxides of Iron, and Manganese, and Phosphates .086 .063 063 163 060 130 .797 .630 .053 1 143 510 483 .228 .200 111 228 159 089 .029 029 027 052 028 029 Potash 037 035 032 077 035 019 Soda 022 007 026 033 029 020 Silica .180 .286 .163 .247 347 146 Soluble extract dried at 212 F.,grains 2.229 1.616 0.741 2.843 1.501 1.082 Although, other things being equal, the greater the quantity of this soluble extract, within reasonable limits, the higher should we estimate the immediate fertility of the soil ; yet the composition of this extract must always be considered in this important estimate. Thus an excess of carbonate of lime and magnesia, or of Alumina and oxides of Iron and Manganese or Silica, or even of organic matters, might prove not only inert but injurious in their action on growing plants; while there might be a deficiency in those indispensable ingredients the alkalies, even where this excess caused the whole weight of the extract to be large. These six soils, after having been carefully air-dried, were dried at 400 F., and the loss of weight noted as moisture. They were then submitted for analysis, with the following results : OF INDIANA. 251 Composition dried at 400 F. No. 1. Virgin Soil. No. 2. Old field Soil. No. 3. Sub-Soil. No. 4. Virgin Soil. No. 5. Old field Soil. No. 6. Sub-soil. Organic and Volatile matters 4.885 4.730 3.350 4.158 3.417 6.030 6.792 3.437 3.156 2.965 3.190 5.165 | 5.495 7.060 8.140 .715 .540 .690 .345 295 470 .661 .536 .741 .470 .491 393 .220 .145 .270 .095 130 170 .282 .189 ,226 .173 .260 178 .067 .058 .041 .067 055 075 .270 1.237 .318 .147 .212 246 Soda .004 .027 .095 .049 .020 .061 Sand and Insoluble Silicates 85.190 86.815 82679 86.790 88.165 87 715 .011 .755 .328 Total 100.000 100.000 100.000 100.423 100.125 100 604 Moisture expelled at 400 F 4675 4200 7 100 4300 2975 3 375 Persons unaccustomed to the study of the results of soil analysis may be disappointed on seeing the relative small proportions of several of the essential ingredients in these soils, which may be considered quite fertile. It may be seen that in the 100. parts of the soil No. 1, dried at the temperature of 400 F., there exists only 0.27 per cent, (i. e. a little more than the fourth of one per cent.) of Potash, and 0.282 per cent, (which is but little more) of Phosphoric Acid; ingredients which are amongst those so essentially necessary to vegetable growth that in their absence no plant, however simple and small, could be de- veloped. These quantities appear fearfully minute when we reflect that all the crops we remove from the land carry oft' more or less of these valuable substances; and that, ^s they cannot come back again by means of the atmosphere, in the form of gases and vapors, and must be restored, if restored at all, to the soil in the fowii of solid manures, the probability of their final exhaustion from the laud, by our common thoughtless methods of farming, becomes unpleasantly apparent. But when we resort to figures we find the danger, although a real one, not so imminent as at first sight it seemed to be ; and these quanti- ties, small as they are compared with the 100. parts of the soil, swell to some magnitude when calculated in the large amount of earth which is found on an acre of ground, taken only to the depth of one foot. Some expriments made on Lower Silurian soils of Kentucky, which will apply sufficiently well to the present instance to serve the purpose of illustration, gave as the weight of the dry earth on an acre of land, 16 252 GEOLOGICAL KECONNOLSSANCE to the depth of one foot, more than three million pounds avoirdupois, (3,116,413 80-100 pounds). Taking three million pounds then as the basis of our calculations, we find that the 0.27 per cent, of Potash is equal to eight thousand one hundred (8,100 fbs) pounds per acre, in each foot in depth of the soil; and the Phosphoric acid equal to eight thousand four hundred and sixty pounds (8,460 R>s) ; quantities which, although not inexhaustible by thriftless husbandry, may at least give us some little time to study the philosophy of agriculture, and to consider the ways and means of preventing their loss from their soil, or of their restoration if too much reduced by exhaustive farming. The evidences of the deterioration of the soil by cultivation may be seen in these analyses; first in the dimished quantity of soluble matters extracted by the carbonated water from the soil of the old field as com- pared with that extracted from the Virgin soil ; this quantity being 2.229 grains from soil No. 1, and 2.843 grains from soil No. 4, whilst it is only 1.616 grains from soil No. 2 and 1.501 from soil No. 5. It is shown, secondly, in the general analyses of these soils, especially in comparing those of soils Nos. 1 and 2 ; in the diminished quantities of Organic and Volatile matters, Carbonate of Lime, Magnesia, Oxide of Manganese, Phosphoric and Sulphuric Acids, and Potash, and in the in- creased proportion of Sand and Insoluble Silicates in the soil of the old field as compared with the Virgin soil. The latter will also be seen to have a greater power of absorbing and holding moisture, and being oi darker color will absorb the heat of the sun with greater rapidity than the soil of the old field ; a difference owing in part to the greater pro- portion of organic matters (Humus, remains of decayed vegetable matters,) which it contains, which also enable it to absorb vapors and gases with greater facility. The differences are not so well exhibited in the analyses of soils Nos. 4 and &. The set of soils Nos. 1, 2 and 3, although containing a little less Organic and Volatile matters than Nos. 4, 5 and 6, yet are slightly more rich than these, in the essential mineral element of vegetable food. II. SOILS OF THE UPPER SILURIAN FORMATION. No. 7. Surface soil, from an old field, on James Clayton's farm, three miles west of Winchester, Randolph county, Indiana. Upper Silurian formation. Noted for its productions and for its red color. Chalybeate OP INDIANA. 253 springs and Bog Iron-ore abundant around. The dried soil is of a light reddish-brown color. P No. 8. Surface soil, from an old field, on "William T. K. Ross' farm, S. "W. half of section 14, township 27 north, range 7 east, Wabash county, Indiana. Upper Silurian formation. The dried soil is of a yellowish-grey color. No. 9. Sub-Soil of the next preceding, &c. The dried sub-soil is of a yellowish-grey color; lighter than No. 8. One thousand grains of each of these soils thoroughly air- dried, gave, on digestion for a month, in water charged with carbonic acid, dissolved materials as represented in the following table : No. 7. Old field Soil. No. 8. Old field Soil. No. 9. Sub-Soil 0.283 .090 .377 .055 .028 .023 .033 .147 Organic and Volatile matters 0.883 .080 1.430 .233 .073 .048 .030 .216 0.566 .098 1.677 .122 .044 .054 .008 .180 Alumina and oxides of Iron and Manganese, and Phosphates Carbonate of Lime Magnesia Sulphuric acid . Potash . Soda . . Silica ... Extract, dried at 200 F., (grains) 2.993 2.749 1.036 In the following table is represented the Chemical Composition of these three soils, dried at the temperature of 400 F.: No. 7. Old field Soil. No. 8. Old field Soil. No. 9. Sub-Soil. 2.430 4.085 3.790 .220 .644 .270 .177 .084 .212 .074 88.765 6.331 1.660 7.210 .495 .537 .415 .225 .059 .300 3.740 3.335 2.740 .495 .490 .395 .161 .059 .111 .003 89.690 Soda Sand and Insoluble Silicates..... 82.890 Total 100.122 101.219 100.751 2.250 Moisture expelled at 400 F 3.450 2.425 The cause of the red color of soil No. 7 is found in the considerable quantity of Peroxide of Iron which it contains, (7.21 per cent.) ; and its productiveness might have been inferred from its proportions of Carlo- 254 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE nate of Lime, Magnesia, Phosphoric and Sulphuric Acids, and Potash. The large amount of organic matters aid to make it a fertile soil. Soil No. 8, containing less of these, as well as of Potash and Phosphoric Acid, will not probable yield as abundantly as this does. Although but a very small proportion of oxide of Iron enters into the composition of vegetable and animal bodies its presence in the soil, in notable proportions, seems to be highly conducive to its fertility. The oxidation of metallic iron, in the presence of air and moisture, even its slow rusting in a moist atmosphere, causes the formation of a small quantity of ammonia, by the union of the Nitrogen of the air with the Hydrogen of the decomposed moisture; and the oxide of iron seems to have an affinity for ammonia, so that, as has been long known to chemists, almost all samples of iron rust, or oxide of iron are found to contain more or less of that compound. The oxide of iron of the red soils may not only thus absorb this nutritive substance from the atmosphere, in which traces of it are almost always to be found and in this manner may more strongly aid vegetable growth, by furnishing a greater supply of available Nitrogen than a light-colored soil, but it is found that it also powerfully aids in the decomposition of dead ani- mal and vegetable matters; resolving them speedily, under favorable circumstances, into materials suitable for vegetable nourishment. A decomposing animal or vegetable substance mixed, in moist state, with the peroxide of iron, (or the red soil which contains it abundantly,) and kept at a favorable temperature for decomposition, has this process greatly accelerated by the oxygen, which is furnished to it by the per- oxide; and when the decomposition is over, the protoxide of iron, re- sulting from this partial deoxidation, soon recovers its oxygen again by free exposure to the atmosphere. In this manner, not only may the substances be restored into those compounds which gave the dark color to vegetable mould, (Humus,) but a more complete oxidation may re- sult, and the process of nitrification, and the production of carbonic acid and water be favored by the peroxide of iron in the soil. The union of organic matters with the red oxide of iron changes it to a reddish-brown, or chocolate-brown color, of greater or less depth of tint. When a soil is of a pure red or brownish-red, brick or iron- color, it is evident that it is deficient in organic matter, and vegetable and animal manures may be advantageously applied to it. Yellow and buff colored soils also frequently contain much peroxide of iron, in a condition resembling yellow ochre, but it is usually asso- ciated with more alumina than in the old red soils, and hence they may OF INDIANA. 255 be stiffer and of a more clayey nature. In soils Nos. 8 and 9 this may be to a certain extent observed. ITI._SOILS FROM THE DEVONIAN FORMATION. No. 10. Virgin upland soil, from Jacob Ruddell's farm, on Clarke's Grant, near Utica, Clarke county, Indiana. (Devonian formation.) Growth Beech, Sugar-Tree, Black and White Walnut, Elm, Ash, Cherry and Buckeye. The dried soil is of a light brown color. No. 11. Surface soil of an old field, thirty years at least in cultiva- tion, Jacob Ruddell's farm, &c. Raises excellent wheat, (25 bushels) ; good corn, (50 to 55 bushels,) good clover and potatoes. Dried soil of a light reddish-brown color. No. 12. Sub-soil of the next preceding. Jacob Ruddell's farm, &c. Dried sub-soil lighter colored and more reddish than the preceding. No. 13. Virgin soil, from S. D. Irish's farm, near Pendleton, Madi- son county, Indiana. (Devonian formation.) Growth Beech, Sugar- Tree, Ash and Black Walnut. The dried soil is of a light umber color. No. 14. Surface soil from an old field, twenty-eight years in cultiva- tion! S. D. Irish's farm, &c.* Dried soil somewhat lighter colored and more yellowish than the preceding. No. 15. Sub-soil of the old field, S. D. Irish's farm, &c. The dried sub-soil resembles the next preceding in color. One thousand grains of each of these soils, digested for a month in water charged with carbonic acid, gave up to that solvent the materials stated in the following table : No. 10. Virgin Soil. No. 11. Old field Soil. No. 12. Sub-Soil. No. 13. Virgin Soil. No. 14. Old field Soil. No. 15. Sub-Soil. 1.090 0.383 0.783 1.660 0.733 0850 Alumina and Oxide of Iron and Man- ganese and Phosphates 127 060 046 176 173 046 1.517 .160 .596 1.843 1.810 2.896 Magnesia. 107 055 183 207 277 120 .033 .029 .061 .050 .050 .120 081 054 037 048 048 .035 Soda 025 .073 .021 .021 .068 Silica 257 .280 .163 .160 .180 .220 096 .066 .114 .078 Total Watery Extract, dried at 200 3,333 1.150 1.983 4.165 3.292 4.433. *The Devonian limestone comes to the surface, and bowlders are common in this field.. 256 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE Almost always it is found that the sub-soil, when digested in the carbonated water, gives up much less soluble extract than the surface soil, although the former may be really richer in most of the essential mineral elements. But when the sub-soil contains more Carbonate of Lime, or as much or more organic matters, it may, as in the instance above of sub-soil No. 15, give up even more soluble matter than the surface soil. Because carbonate of lime is quite soluble in water containing carbonic acid, and because the organic matters act as solvents, and aid in the so- lution of other substances present in the soil. The chemical analysis of these soils, dried at 400 F., gave the follow- ing results, viz : No. 10. Virgin Soil. No. 11. Old field Soil. No. 12. Sub-Soil. No. 13. Virgin Soil. No. 14. Old field Soil. No. 15. Sub-Soil. Organic and Volatile matters 6.677 4.095 2.883 6.827 5.849 5.357 3.035 3.785 3.920 2.235 3.435 5.310 3015 3.065 3.815 2850 3.150 3.700 .470 .220 .320 .745 .745 1.120 .451 .205 .356 .605 .594 .500 Brown oxide of Manganese .390 .365 .365 .240 .240 .240 313 260 .276 197 .235 .215 Sulphuric acid .178 .075 .072 .109 .067 .092 Potash .308 .161 .142 .156 .169 .331 Soda . .073 .003 .092 .043 .017 .067 Sand and Insoluble Silicates 85.140 88.380 88.140 85.990 85.365 82.715 .003 .134 .353 Total 100.050 100.614 100 381 100.000 100.000 100.000 Moisture expelled at 400 F 4.150 2.950 2.900 4.070 3.875 4.800 The marked diminution in the quantity of the Carbonate of Lime, Magnesia, Phosphoric and Sulphuric Acid, Potash and Soda, as well of the Organic matters ; and the increased proportion of the Sand and In- soluble Silicates, in the soil of the old field No. 11, as compared with the virgin soil No. 10, show clearly the deriorating influence of the thirty years cultivation. The much smaller quantity of soluble matters ex- tracted by digestion in the carbonated waters from the former soil, as compared with the latter, exhibits the same fact. Calculating on the basis given a few pages back, the Potash in the vigin soil (0.308 per cent.) amount to nine thousand two hundred and forty pounds (9,240 fibs) to the acre, in the depth of one foot; that in theoldfild (0.161 per cent.) is only equal to four thousand eight hun- dred and thirty pounds in the same space; consequently, if these two fields were originally similar in composition, and no errors are made in computation, as much as four thousand four hundred and ten pounds OF INDIANA. 257 (4,410 fbs) of Potash, have been removed from the superficial foot of soil, per acre, by the thirty years cropping. By carrying out the calcu- tion to the Phosphoric Acid it will be seen also that a difference of fif- teen hundred and ninety pounds (1,590 Ibs) of this substance appears in the favor of the virgin soil. It is not pretended that these figures are exactly correct; as the known difficulties which attend minute soil analyses, the slight differ- ences in composition of the soil which might exist even in different parts of the same field, as well the fact that any small error which might occur in the analyses would be very greatly multiplied in our computations, are considerations which should prevent any dogmatism ; yet these figures sufficiently well represent the fact, which has been verified in numerous instances by the author, in comparative analyses side by side, of old soils and virgin soils, especially for the Geological Survey of Kentucky; (See introductory remarks to the Chemical Re- port in the forthcoming fourth volume of Reports of Kentucky Geo- logical Survey,) that by the cultivation of the soil, according to the or- dinary system, however skillfully it may have been conducted, the essential elements of the soil are gradually diminished, if the crops or products are removed from it. Most of this valuable matter which is thus removed from the soil is carried off in the vegetable and animal products, in which they are essential constituents. It is well known that the ashes of plants and grains contain these essential elements, and that the bodies and bones of animals could not be developed without them. In short we get all our Potash by the lixiviation of burnt vegetables, and all our Phosphorus from the bones of animals, and in which it exists as Phosphoric acid, combined with Lime and Magnesia ; and all these fixed principals, as well as the Sulphur, the Silica, the Oxide of Iron, the Soda, even the Oxide of Manganese, which is said to aid in giving the dark color to our hair, were originally derived from the soil; having been constitu- ents of the primeval rocks from which soil has been slowly formed by disintegration. It is fortunate for us that these valuable mineral sub- stances are almost universally diffused otherwise plants would refuse to grow and animals could not exist, except on imported food, on many parts of the globe; even common sand and white sand-rock, iron-ore, as well as numerous varieties of limestone, &c., analyzed by the author, have been always found to yield, at least traces of, Potash, of Soda, of Phosphorus, and of Sulphur ; yet experience, as well as chemical analy- sis, have fully proved that even a fertile soil may be so far reduced, by 258 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE thriftless cropping, as no longer to yield profitable crops to the hus- bandman. The space allotted to this article will not allow the full quotation of authorities on this important subject, but we refer the reader to numer- ous writings and statistical reports* showing the diminution in the pro- ducts of arable land, even in our new {States; we refer also to the ex- hausted land of Virginia and northern Atlantic border of our conti- nent, and the sterile wastes in Europe and Africa, which in former ages yielded rich harvests of grain and provender. No question of greater importance to humanity can engage the atten- tion and study of scientific agriculturalists, than how to cultivate the soil and enjoy its products without robbing it of its essential elements. Returning to our table of analysis, we observe that the soil of the old field, No. 14, does not appear any poorer than the virgin soil of the same locality, No. 13; but noting the composition of the subsoil, which may have been turned up somewhat by the plow, it will appear proba- ble that the original richness of this may have helped to sustain the surface soil during its twenty-eight years of cultivation, and to compen- sate somewhat for its losses in that period. Sub-soil plowing in this locality would be beneficial. IV._SOILS FROM THE SUB-CARBONIFEROUS FORMATION. No. 16. Virgin soil, from six miles east of Corydon, Harrison coun- ty, Indiana. (Sub-Carboniferous formation.) Timber, chiefly Beech and Sugar-Maple. The dried soil is of a yellowish light-umber color. No. 17. Surface soil of an old field, twenty-five to thirty years in cultivation ; same locality as the preceding, &c. The dried soil is of a dirty brownish buff-color. No. 18. Sub-soil of the old field, next preceding, &c. Dried sub-soil slightly lighter colored than the preceding. Treated by digestion for a month with water charged with carbonic acid, one thousand grains of each of these soils, thoroughly air-dried, gave up of soluble matters as described in the following table. k *See Liebig's recent work, "Letter&on Modern Agriculture," Klippart on the Wheat Plant^. and Patent Office Reports, c. OF INDIANA. 259 Extracted from 1,000 grains by water charged with Carb&nie Acid. No. 16. Virgin Soil. No. 17. Old field Soil. No. 18. Sub-Soil. Organie and Volatile matters 833 733 335 Alumina and oxides of Iron and Manganese, and Phosphates .157 766 .073 727 .090 627 077 094 144 039 033 027 Potash .. .069 064 031 Soda .013 016 021 Silica .163 .163 296. Extract dried at 212 F grains .. .... 2 117 1 903 1 569 The Chemical Composition of these three soils, dried at 400 F., is rep- resented in the following table : No. 15. Virgin Soil. No. 17. Old field Soil. No. 18. Sub-SoiL 4.757 4.731 3.352 Alumina 2.210 3 185 3 760> Oxide of Iron 2565 3 065 3315 Carbonate of Lime .. .370 385 38f> 31a .461 452 451 Brown oxide of Manganese .... .165 290 290 .212 261 211 .084 084 067 Potash .168 145 174 Soda ; .054 .038 003. Sand and Insoluble Silicates ^. 87.240 86265 87 615 1.714 1.099 377 Total 100.000 100 000 100 00ft Moisture expelled at 400 F 3 35 3 300 3 050* V. SOILS FROM THE COAL MEASURES GROUP. No. 19. Virgin soil, in a grove adjoining a prairie ; Wagner's- Grove, "Warren county, Indiana. (Coal Measures.) Growth Bur Oak, Hickory, Grey Ash, Walnut, Buckeye, Red Elm, Cherry, Sassa- fras, Red Bud, Hazel and Elder bushes. Dried soil of a very dark mouse color, or yellowish-black. No. 20. Prairie surface soil from rising ground, about twenty-five years in cultivation, near Wagner's Grove, Warren county, Indiana. (Coal Measures.) Dried soil mouse-colored, a little lighter than the preceding. 260 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE. No. 21. Prairie surface soil, from a bottom near Wagners's Grove, &c. Dried soil darker-colored than the two preceding; almost black. No. 22. Prairie sub-soil, at one foot depth, near Wagner's Grove, &c. Dried soil of a dark ash-grey color. No. 23. Prairie sub-soil, at two feet depth, near Wagner's Grove, &c. Dried soil of an ashey-grey color, lighter and more yellowish than the preceding. "No. 24. Prairie sub-soil, at three feet below the surface, near Wag- ner's Grove, &c. Dried soil of a dark ash-grey color; a little darker than the two preceding. The soluble matters, extracted from a thousand grains each of these soils, thoroughly air-dried, by digestion for a month in water charged with carbonic acid, are stated in the following table, viz : No. 19. Virgin soil in grove. No. 20. Prairie soil in old field. No. 21. Bottom Prairie soil. No. 22. Sub-Soil, at 1 foot. No. 23. Sub-Soil, at 2 feet. No. 24. Sub-Soil, at 3 feet. Organic and Volatile matters 1 266 0983 1 127 0800 500 550 Alumina and oxides of Iron and Man- ganese, and Phosphates 603 323 090 247 073 130 Carbonate of Lime 1 793 1 477 1 610 641 410 1 127 Magnesia., 380 383 321 144 100 2 9 7 Sulphuric acid 079 113 107 104 129 068 Potash 064 147 109 145 177 060 Soda 122 132 209 187 037 161 Silica 380 420 337 330 247 347 Loss 307 227 Extract, dried at 212 F., grains 4.687 3.978 4.217 2.598 1.900 2.670 The Chemical Composition of these soils, dried at 440 F., is repre- sented as follows : No. 19. Virgin soil, grove near Prairie. No. 20. Prairie soil, rising gr'd, old field. No. 21. Prairie soil, bot- tom. No. 22. Prairie Sub-Soil, at 1 foot. No. 23. Prairie Sub-Soil, at 2 feet. No. 24. Prairie Sub-Soil, at 3 feet. Organic and Volatile matters... Alumina 8.286 2010 5.473 2610 8.851 4335 2,805 1 810 2.654 2460 2.931 2 985 Oxide of Iron 3365 2 740 3 315 2 150 3 765 4 540 Carbonate of Lime . .. 945 645 1 545 270 395 895 .753 .795 .878 .519 .599 .901 Brown oxide of Manganese Phosphoric acid .215 .255 .115 .198 .190 .237 .090 .194 .215 .161 .190 .214 Sulphuric acid .153 .100 127 .062 .084 .050 Potash 256 125 309 235 272 360 Soda .038 086 .041 .036 .056 Sand and Insoluble Silicates.... 82.615 1.109 86.565 .634 80.515 91.490 334 88.065 1.294 86.066 .812 Total 100.000 100.000 100 388 100 000 100.000 100.000 Moisture expelled at 400 F 7.375 5.000 7.075 2.850 2.975 4.475 OF INDIANA. 261 The rich prairie soils, NOB. 19 and 22, have a remarkably large pro- portion of organic and volatile matters in their composition, to which they perhaps owe their high hygroscopic power; more than 7 per cent* of moisture being retained by these soils after being thoroughly dried in a room daily heated with a stove. The bottom land contains more Alumina, Carbonate of Lime, Magnesia and Potash than the soil from the grove, and both are superior in richness to that from the rising ground; which contains more Sand and Insoluble Silicates, less ^Organic Matters, and less Lime, Magnesia, Oxide of Manganese, Phosphoric and Sulphuric Acid, Potash and Soda than these. These essential mineral elements of vegetable nourishment being abundant in this, with plenty of organic matters to aid in their solution; these soils ought to be quite productive. The sub-soil seems to be poorer at the depth of one foot than at a greater depth ; the valuable mineral ingredients increasing in propor- tion as we descended from that depth to three feet below the surface. Whether this increase continued still further as we descend is of course not ascertained. No. 25. Virgin soil, from Mr. Delamater's farm, close to Dover, Martin county, Indiana. (Coal Measures.) Upland ; near the locality of natural paints, a coal seam, fire-clay and iron ore. Timber Chest- nut, Oak, Poplar, Hickory, some Beech and Sugar-Tree, White and Black Walnut, Sycamore, Red Bud, Pawpaw and Persimmon. The dried soil is of an umber-grey color. No. 26. Surface soil, thirteen years in cultivation ; Mr. Delamater's farm, &c. Dried soil of a dirty grey-buff color. No. 27. Sub-soil of the next preceding. Dried soil of a buff color. No. 28. Virgin soil, from Mr. J. D. Williams' land, south-east quar- ter of section 14, township 2 north, range 8 west. White River bot- tom, Knox county, Indiana. (Sandstone near.) Timber Black Wal- nut, Burr Oak, Spanish Oak, Elm and Sassafras. (Coal Measures.) The dried soil is of an umber color. No. 29. Surface soil, twenty years or more in cultivation, Mr. J. D. Williams' farm, &c. Produces from sixty to one hundred bushels of corn, and twelve to thirty-nine bushels of wheat to the acre ; was three years in clover and produces it well. Dried soil umber-colored; a shade lighter than the preceding. No. 30. Sub-soil of the next preceding, &c. Dried soil lighter col- ored and more yellowish than the preceding. The soluble matters entrusted by digestion in water charged with 262 GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE carbonic acid, one thousand grains of each of these soils, after thorough drying in the air of a room warmed with a stove, are stated in the fol- lowing table : No. 25. Virgin Soil. No. 26. Old field. No. 27. Sub-Soil. No. 28. Virgin Soil. No. 29. Old field. No. 30. Sub-Soil. Organic and Volatile matters 0516 776 0233 1 163 0483 376 Alumina and oxide of Iron and Man- ganese, and Phosphates 263 263 057 230 096 033 Carbonate of Lime 1 643 1 593 110 3 177 1 177 827 Magnesia.. . 223 233 220 311 155 167 039 033 027 033 027 033 Potash 106 .087 103 056 102 9 023 Soda A 028 049 037 048 016 025 Silica 263 320 180 313 230 230 036 012 194 Extract dried at 212 F. r grains 3.117 3,366 0.967 5.331 2.400 1.714 The Chemical Composition of these six soils, dried at 400 F., is as fol- lows : No. 25. Virgin Soil. No. 26. Old field. No. 27. Sub-Soil. No. 28. Virgin Soil. No. 29. Old field. No. 30. Sub-Soil. 5 814 3.851 3032 13443 7917 5 348 2515 3.765 5 865 6565 5265 6 665 2 515 2965 5240 5405 5 190 5 590 520 .370 120 1 670 1 145 820 596 567 668 1 021 936 852 Brown oxide of Manganese 230 295 145 345 370 295 Phosphoric acid 162 194 212 461 327 320 Sulphuric acid 076 056 056 145 093 067 Potash 110 135 236 381 285 328 Soda *016 038 058 065 065 056 Sand and Insoluble Silicates 87590 87 315 84490 71 690 78 840 79 790 Loss . . . 449 Total 100 144 100 000 100 122 101 191 100 433 100 131 Moisture expelled at 400 F 3.250 3.015 4.525 9.250 6.225 6.050 In the soil of the field which has been in cultivation for thirteen years, (No. 26) we notice the influence of the sub -soil in sustaining the surface soil under cultivation; for whilst the proportions of Carbonate of Lime, Magnesia, Sulphuric Acid and Organic matters are less in this than in the Virgin soil, the Potash and Phosphoric acid seem to have been increased by the admixture of it with the sub-soil by the opera- tions of the plow. The three soils from White River bottom, Nos. 28, 29 and 30, are of extraordinary richness ; riot o-aly is the proportion of Organic and Vol- OF INDIANA. 263 atile matters enormous, especially in the virgin soil, (13.443 per cent.,) but they contain more than the usual quantities of Carbonate of Lime, Magnesia, Phosphoric and Sulphuric Acids, and Potash, and exhibit a very high hygroscopic power. If these lands are well drained they must certainly be very productive. It is instructive to observe, even in this rich land, the influence of ordinary cultivation in producing the gradual deterioration of the soil. On comparing the two neighboring columns of figures it will be seen that all these essential ingredients of the soil, above stated, are in di- minished proportion in the soils of the old field, whilst the Sand and Insoluble Silicates are in larger amounts. The sub-soil, although quite rich, is not more so than the virgin sur- face soil. VL SOILS FROM THE QUATERNARY FORMATION. No. 31. Virgin soil, from Mr. J. D. G. Nelson's farm, near Fort Wayne, Allen county, Indiana. Second Maumee bottom. Timber Beech, Sugar-Maple, some Poplar and Black "Walnut. (Drift Period.) The dried soil is of an umber color; containing much sand. No. 32. Surface soil, thirty years in cultivation. J. D. G. Nelson's farm, &c. He found Plaster of Paris wonderfully to improve his clover crop. Raises fair wheat and corn crops. Dried soil of a brownish-grey color, containing more sand than the preceding. No. 33. Sub-soil of the preceding, &c. Dried soil brownish-buff color, principally impure sand. The digestion, in water charged with carbonic acid, of these soils, after being thoroughly air- dried, gave the following results to one thousand grains of each, viz : .No. 31. Virgin Soil. Wo. 32. Old field Soil. No. 82. Sub-Soil. Organic and Volatile matters . 0650 0666 0410 Alumina and oxides of Iron and Manganese, and Phosphates Carbonate of Lime .196 860 .113 .793 .097 693 Alasnesia 230 177 076 025 .022 022 Potash 042 .032 027 Soda .011 .009 .021 Silica .143 .130 .130 .126 Extract dried at 212 F grains . 2283 1 882 1 476 264 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE These porous, calcareous, sandy soils are more productive than their chemical composition would seem to indicate, (see following table of their composition,) not only because the essential ingredients are re- turned with but small force by the sand, and hence are easily dissolved and appropriated by growing vegetables; but also because of the free- dom with which atmospheric air penetrates them, bringing carbonic acid, gas, vapor of water and ammonia to the vegetable roots, and favor- ing oxidation and nitrification. In some recent remarks of M. Boussaugault, made to the French Academy, in commendation of an elaborate work, by M. Barral, in four volumes, on the subject of Drainage , Irrigation and Liquid Manures, he gives to that author the credit of having been the first to discover that the water which flows out of the drains, of land, contain a quantity of nitric acid, greater in proportion as the drainage is more perfect, the soil more aerated, and the manure more abundant; from which it is necessary to conclude, says that distinguished chemist, "that the prin- cipal effect of drainage is to determine oxidation, the transformation into nitrate, of the nitrogenous principles of the air and of the ma- nures." The free penetration of air in the moist, sandy soil may pro- duce a similar result. It has been ascertained by the application of the flame of a candle to the mouth of drains in the summer time that a continual current of air sets in through them to rise through the heated soil. Doubtless in winter the heavier cold air above penetrates downwards through the soil and flows outwards from the mouths of the drains. The crops on these soils may also be benefitted by the ease with which water penetrates through them, carrying, perhaps, undor favorable cir- cumstances, dissolved nutritive materials, by capillary attraction, from other neighboring localities or from a richer sub- soil. But yet they cannot be classed as very rich or durable soils, per se ; and would re- quire the careful husbanding of manures. OF INDIANA. 265 Their Chemical Composition, dried at 400 F., is as follows : No. 31. Virgin Soil. No. 32. Old field Soil. No. 33. Sub-Soil. Organic End Volatile matters 3 829 1 667 0856 1 410 1 535 1 187 1 160 1 360 1 360 Carbonate of Lime 515 490 415 Magnesia 312 269 312 140 165 165 217 166 158 .066 032 032 Potash .067 058 '042 g 0( j a 006 032 005 Sand and Insoluble Silicates 92.365 94960 96 140 Total 100087 100 734 100 672 Moisture expelled at 400 F 2 725 1 050 725 The Organic matters, Carbonate of Lime, Magnesia, Phosphoric and Sulphuric Acids, and Potash are all in smaller quantities in the soil of the old field than in the virgin soil ; but the sub-soil contains still less of these essential ingredients. The hygroscopic properties of these soils are but low. 266 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE TABLE I. SOILS FROM THE LOWER SILURIAN FORMATION. REMARKS. 73 ^3 'o 'w a c . T3 . - pJ 'S 2 =5 "S .2 5 73 _ oo rH, _ O *w 'S S3 ' "o -< cp . & .J5 2 * . 2 ^ > o 02 f> o 02 TABLE II. SOILS FROM THE UPPER SILURIAN FORMATION. Old field soil. Old field soil. Sub-soil of old field. 1 ajBO -U!S s^ntos -ai put? pug O US O5 O vO iO C5 r-t t- C5 CD rH r-t CO O t>; rH f; o co c- 00 CO CO CO SO 00 i QO CD t^ CM' cs co OO 00 00 upog "jfl t~- to Oi O i < . SSrH O O 8S8UT:3UBJ\[ jo apixo uMoag; O >O O iO O O CM -^ !> O5 CO t>- CM i-H C^; O rH ii WS iO O T-H as i>- TH CO CM O CO Oi ^ O ^ CD O O tnS9u3TJ]\[ t i cD i O i i CO CD lO t "^ "^ CO erai r [ jo a^uoqjuo U3 O O O iO O i-i * Cl "* OS t^ I O CD CO O "*i 23 CM t-; t^ t-' CM CO "Buirantv CO "*. w . ". co o co o b- co t^ T-l O -* Tji CD' uo CD CO 00 CD CO O rH CO ^ saawtjra atp^lQA PUB OTU^SJO to o i~- CM i>- CD OO >O i i O5 CO O 00 CO -^PU>t3t> jaoda.1 ui 'Ojj rH CM CO -^ O CO t- CO OS OP INDIANA. 267 REMARKS. 1 ^ 2 'i 2 2 a f <3 'o c * "S | f_ r^ X5 ^ i-Q ^5 Virgin soil. Old field soil. Sub-soil of old field. saitjotjig o|qn 00 CD 2 O tO O ^ CO r-H CN (M CO -losuj pu putsg O CO CC O O iM GO GO GO GO 00 CO ^ t~ CD t^ 00 00 CO : r - CO CO CN CO t^ t- t^ O Ci * T-H CD O O O O O O f-\ o ni oo co O S o g tTStnO,T OO T-I CN CO O5 T-H O CO -^ tO CD CO CO -! T-H T-H T-H CO i 2 oo o ** CO Tp l^ hH EH O o <1 ^ 'PTOT? ounqdincj 00 C>j C5 I- CNJ PH 00 CO CD 000 f^ & o 02 p o O PH piot? ouoqdsoqc pq 111 o M jo ajtraoquio d * ' * ',_ p OQ o r^ w H tO tO to O O O T-H CO I-H IO O O O O CO CO T-I t- CO CO CO CN CO CO* S ftj to to iO O O CO c-4 co' co' i tO to O to O O CO CO CN CO CO T-H O t>- O5 CN Tf CO (-H S O O C5 r-400 CO CN rH t- 1 CO CO CO CN CO to OQ uJ CHCO CO i i U aa^tjui aip^A t~ to co t^ c^ t>- t>- Ci CC (M rt< tO CD O CC GO OO CO n o l^ r-i CN 10 co to t t CO % W put? oiutjSaQ CO "* CN CO tO tO 02 rt^^CO h3 CD PIOTJ omoqjBo CO O CO iO t^ CO C5 r-H CD r-H 05 10 5 EH caoaj pa^otja'jx^ CO T-H T-H -^i CO rji M M CNrn'rH' J : , - aan^stO]\[ O O O O to O tO to t^ t-- T-H cs os O CO 00 t CN -OOr- COrHlOTfr-(^^-ifMCOt^ QOt OOlOCOr ItOCOrtli ( (M^GOCCOO500GOO^O5 co d od er cent, of volatile combustible matter and 12.30 per cent, of ashes. On examining different portions of a large piece of this coal, about five inches thick, which had been sent for analysis, there was found a considerable difference in the pro- portion of the compounds. For example, the proportion of total vola- tile matter was found to vary from 55.70 per cent, to 71.70; of coke from 28.30 to 44.30, and of ashes from 7 to 13.30 per cent. This can not in any way discredit the value of chemical analysis of the coal, but only show how careful one must be in selecting specimens for the laboratory. It is evident that the success of an enteprise for the working of coal depends as much on the quality of the matter as on the thickness of the bank. There is certainly no country where chem- ists are so often called in to give an opinion about the value of a coal bed, where chemical examinations have been pursued with more con- scientious care, and none also where so many fallacious and deceptive valuations on the quality of coal banks have been published. Many pro- prietors and companies have sustained great losses, and some failed, only from this cause. Their coal was, in the average, (as it is when delivered to the market,) far inferior to what chemical analyses had led them to expect. Of course, proprietors and miners are all interested in giving a good name to their coal, and are all apt to boast of having the best coal in the country. When they send specimens of coal for examina- OP INDIANA. 283 tion to a laboratory they pick up, always, the best pieces. If in the vein there is occasionally a thin layer of pure coal, free of sulphuret, of shales, and of charcoal, of course it is this part which is usually se- lected as showing the probable average quality of the newly opened coal bank. It is a voluntary cheat, which helps nothing and deceives badly the proprietors themselves. For, if the true value of a coal was fairly ascertained, it would be easy to know for what purpose it might be used to the best advantage. It would thus be possible to find a mar- ket even for an inferior quality, and measures would be taken accord- ingly. But as it is now, every coal being proclaimed from chemical evidence, of the very best quality for every purpose, proprietors and companies send their combustible indiscriminately to every market, make bargains with gas works, iron furnaces, steamboat landings, coal merchants, &c., investing large outlays for their workings. "When after awhile the coal is pronounced unfit for a single one of the purposes for which it is used, it loses at once its name and is declared good for nothing whatever. Thus the works are stopped, the money lost and a coal valuable perhaps for a purpose different from the one to which it has been applied, is abandoned as worthless. How then can the average value of a coal bank be fairly estimated? By all the ordinary methods, chemical analyses, trial in the forge, in a furnace, in the grate, &c.; every kind of examination may be satisfac- tory if only samples for examination are fairly selected, and according to the following very simple rules : 1. Specimens should not be taken from the outcrop of a coal bank or from its proximity. When the roof of a coal bank is not of solid stone, an entry of at least twenty feet is necessary to find the matter in its normal state and its average quality. 2. Samples of coal, for any kind of experiment, ought to be se- lected at various places in a tunnel, and taken from different parts of the whole thickness of the bank. If even there should be, in the bank, streaks of sulphuret or of shales, which are too thin to be easily sepa- rated by the miner, pieces of these matters ought to go with the speci- mens for examination. 3. Generally the miners know the coal from its looks; but their opinion is influenced by personal interest, and is somewhat unreliable. If an experienced person is called to examine a coal, he can make his conclusions in a far better manner by carefully looking at a few car loads, or at a heap of coal taken from the different parts of the mine, than by going himself into it and examining the entries. 18 284 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSATCCE When the value of a coal bed has been ascertained, it is to the ad- vantage of the proprietors to direct the mining in the fairest possible way, and thus to order the careful cleaning of the coal from every im- pure matter, shales, and especially sulphuret of iron, when mixed in bands with it. Thin bands of charcoal, and repeated bands of opaque shaly matter, streaks of sulphuret, too thin to be separated from the coal in cleaning out, ordinarily indicate a coal of poor quality. The compactness of the coal is of great advantage, but it can not be exactly ascertained before the coal has been exposed for sometime to atmospheric influence. When a coal, though compact, contains a cer- tain proportion of sulphuric acid and salts, the efflorescence of these causes a rapid disintegration, transforming the hardest blocks into pow- der. Such coal \vhen stored is exposed to spontaneous combustion. Although the quality of the coal is very variable, each bed of coal, ac- cording to its geological position shows an average amount of similar compounds or peculiar general properties which it may be advantageous briefly to examine, in order to direct the researches, to some lower bed, when the exposed one can not be worked with as much advantage as desirable. SEC. 1. SUB-CONGLOMERATE COAL. This bed of coal underlying the Millstone Grit formation is rarely thicker than two feet. In some places in Indiana, however, it attains three and even four feet, including a clay parting. The coal is gener- ally very hard and compact, dry, burning with a bright yellow flame, without caking, being thus one of the best coals for the forge. It is generally free from sulphuret of iron, but a little shaly, and covered on the top with bands of brashy or slaty coal. It is sometimes impreg- nated by percolation with oxide of iron. This coal with the two next in ascending order, is generally accompanied with iron, in one form or other, the shales being sometimes entirely oxidated, sometimes in- termingled with pebbles of carbonate of iron, generally overlaid with a bed of conglomerate iron ore, which immediately covers the coal in some places where the shales are absent. The compactness of this coal is due to the weight of the great conglomerate formation overlying it. When this bed is found exposed near the surface of plains, as in Arkan- sas, and is only covered with shales, it becomes brittle by atmospheric influence and oxidated bv infiltration. OF INDIANA. 285 SEC. 2. COAL 1 A. The first coal above the conglomerate is rarely worked on account of its vicinity to No. 1 B., which is much thicker. Owing to the mate- rials forming its roof, its coal has different appearances. When it is overlaid by soft, black, bituminous shales, it is brittle, easily decom- posed by atmospheric influence, and marked with bands of sulphuret. When it is overlaid by a bank of compact, coarse, hard sandstone, it appears on the contrary hard and compact, resembling the sub-conglom- rate coal ; in this case it is a dry coal, in the other case it looks like a fat coal. Although I have seen this bed worked at some of its outcrops in Kentucky, I never had an opportunity to see the coal burning, or to make a fair trial of its quality. SEC. 3. COAL 1 B. From its average thickness and quality, this coal is one of the best of the measures. It has a great tendency to pass to Splint coal and to Cannel coal. Sometimes, as at Breckenridge and Greenup counties, Kentucky, its whole thickness is Cannel coal ; at other places, one half only of the bank, generally the upper part is bituminous. In many of the localities, where it outcrops or is worked, it has only a few inches of Cannel coal on the top of a bank of four to five feet of dry Bituminous coal. Its Cannel coal is rich in oil. Most of the oil facto- ries of Kentucky, at Breckenridge, Maysville, Greenupsburg, Ashland, &c., of Ohio, at Newark, &c., use for distillation the Cannel coal fivm this bed. Contrary to the assartions of some Geologists, it is certain that from this coal bed is mostly derived the mineral oil which is now pumped out in large quantities from different places on the borders of the coal fields. An active and peculiar decomposition of the woody matter, or of other substances of the plants, caused by atmospheric action, has separated the bitumen, which, after percolating through the coarse un- derlying sandstone, has been arrested and gathered in subterranean reservoirs, at the surface of lakes and pools of water. This process can be followed at different stages around the Breckenridge coal mines. The sandstone underlying coal No. 1 B. is still so much impregnated with coal oil that oil drops out of the pieces exposed to the sun. All the springs percolating through this sandstone, and gushing out at the 286 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE base of the hill around, are called oil springs, or bring with the water drops of oil, which may be gathered at the surface. No doubt borings in that country would cause the discovery of oil wells as rich as those of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. No doubt also that these deposits of oil, like worked beds of coal, must be exhausted in a given time. Though this is not directly related to our examination of the coal, the practical part of the question in regard to the origin of these oil springs, may be treated in a few w^ords, to satisfy the inquiries often made by proprietors of coal lands. In my explorations through the whole extent of the Coal Measures of the United States, I have seen only two geological strata producing oil. The one is coal No. 1 B., the other the Marcellus or black shales of the Devonian. The sulphur springs of Bath county, Kentucky, emerge from the bottom of a small funnel-like valley at the base of hills one hundred and fifty-five feet high, all composed of these Devonian bituminous shales. Here, as at Breckenridge, the process of percolation of the oil can be followed from the base of the shales, through a bed of hard porous sandstone under- lying them. Springs come out of this sandstone and bring drops of oil with the water. Such a locality promises also profitable results to explorations and the borings for oil. Of course nobody can assert that subterranean reservoirs ought to exist at a given place; and if there is none, the oil percolating for centuries through the sandstone may have been carried away by the water of the springs and of the rivers. But from geological evidence the indications for large subterranean deposits of oil are as favorable for this place and for Breckenridge as for any other locality where oil is now obtained from wells. I am satisfied that this oil coming from the Devonian shales, like that pecolating from the coal, is of a vegetable origin. Only the plants living in connection with the formation of the Marcellus shales were marine plants, and could not form any coal by their remains, because they have no woody fibre. Marine plants especially, decomposed under certain peculiar in- fluences, have then produced the mineral oil. The deposits of coal oil are mostly found along the true borders of the Coal Measures. The cause of this peculiar disposition can not be discussed here. The absence of oil springs is remarked all along t*nd Kin both sides of the Silurian and Devonian axis, which separates the co In all T feet 8 inches. Shales, J Sandstone. Shale and thin sandstone. Sandstone. Indurated argillaceous shale, with clay iron stone basis. Avicula shale. Main Mulford coal, No. 9. Fire-clay. Shale. Sandstone. Shales, with coal and argillaceous iron ore. White and pink sandstone. "Well coal, No. 8. 5 6 40 4 3 2 1 4 6 2 I 1 10 1 5 5 36 4 3 ffl&SHBH 5 2 4 | 25 I i 8 10 -~ :*- 2 6 OF INDIANA. 303 Connected Section of Coal Measures. Continued. Spac be- tween coal. 1 i i Kind of Eocks. 4 1 i 1 Space. Space. Space. 43 84 65 16 Sandstone. Sandstone and shales. Coal No. 7, and ferruginous limestone ? Impure limestone ferruginous shale. Shale. Thin bedded sandstone, with shale partiDgs. Three foot or Little Coal, No. 6. Fire clay. Soft sandstone. Micaceous sandstone. Shale, with carbonate of iron. Coal No. 5. Fire-clay. Shales. ..n.l" 1 2T 2 42 24 18 3 3 30 1 25 1 T assasan 4 3 20 304 GEOLOGICAL KECONNOISSANCE Connected Section of Coal Measures. Continued. Space be- tween coal. "S i Kind of Rocks. 1 | I Space. / Space. Space. Space. 116 34 102 62 42 Shale with segregations of iron stone. Massive sandstone. Mahoning sandstone.* Gray shales with plants. Coal No. 4, four to five feet thick, with parting. Shales. Curlew limestone. Black bituminous or gray soft shale. Coal No. 2, underlaid with fire-clay. Shale. Sandstone. Shale or sandstone. Coal No. 2, with clay parting. Fire-clay. Sandstone. 50 \ 4 SS!SS 4 15 L L L 4 15 HBOHB 4 62 10 30 3 .^__ 2 40 \ *This part of the section is modified by Mr. Lesquereux according to the measures of Indiana, from the Mahoning sandstone down to the upper Archimedes limestone. OP INDIANA. 305 Connected Section of Coal Measures. Continued. Kind of Eocks. Space. Space. 53 32 Space. L L L 20 I 1 I I I I 50 30 Black bituminous shale, with flint and limestone, or soft stone, Burstone. Coal No. 1 C. White fire-clay. Micaceous grey shale or grey metal with sandstone and black shale. Coal No. 1 B. Fire-clay. Hard gritty sandstone and Shales. Coal No. 1 A. 50 Conglomeratic or gritty sandstone, Millstone Grit. 10 Black, soft or grey shales, with clay iron ore. Coal, (sub-conglomerate.) Archimedes limestone. I consider it evident, that the great bank of sandstone, 50 feet 8 inches thick, marked on his section between coal Nos. 14 and 15, is the equiv- alent of the sandstone of the Cut-off on the Wabash, near New Harmony. Beginning thus from this sandstone and descending to coal No. 9 the section of Dr. D. Dale Owen is : 306 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE FEET. INCHES. J. \Vhitesandstone 50 2. Brown shales 38 3. Hard black shales 1 1 4. Coal No. 14 1 5. Fire-clay 1 6. Hard limestone 5 7. Hard stone 1 1 8. Brown shale 23 6 9. Dark brown shales 4 10. Black shales 5 11. Soft gray limestone 1 6 12. Hard limestone 3 13. Blue and light shales 4 6 14. White limestone 31 9 15. Bluish shale 16 2 16. Thin coal, No. 13 4 17. Fire-clay and red oxide of iron 7 18. Shaly sandstone 10 19. Hard gray sandstone 18 6 20. Soft gray sandstone 14 7 21. Bluish shales 19 5 22. Micaceous shales 7 23. Hard gray sandstone, (Anvil Kock) 12 24. Coarse sandstone 8 8 25. Hard sandstone 3 26. Thin coal, 3 inches, No. 12 3 27. Shales and sandstone 12 8 "2S. Hard limestone, bituminous shales, &c 8 1 29. Coal with parting, No. 11 5 30. Fire-clay and pyritiferous sandstone 5 6 31. Thin bedded sandstone, with hard bands 40 4 32. Coal 2 to 3 feet, No. 10 3 33. Fire-clay and shales 7 8 34. Sandstone 10 35. Shales and thin sandstone 5 36. Sandstone 5 37. Indurated argillaceous shales, with clay, &c 36 4 38. Avicula shale 3 To coal No. 9, 5 feet thick 408 11 OF INDIANA. 307 In this section, hard sandstone, five feet thick, (No. 6 of the section,) represents the limestone under the coal at Big creek, a limestome some- times replacing the coal, and thicker. At Grayville it is underlaid by 30 feet shales with fossil plants, and at other places by a sandstone con- taining a thin coal, which in this section is replaced by five feet of black shales. The two great banks of limestone separated by argillaceous shales, agree perfectly in both sections, and at the base of this lime- stone, begins the Bodiam shaft. If we consider that both these sec- tions have been made at far different places and on different principles, their coincidence can not but appear striking. At Lasalle, Illinois, a place which, from my observations, occupies just the same geological horizon as Evansville, the two strata of lime- stone are overlaid by thirty feet of shales. Above these shales there is a coal one foot thick, overlaid by a very fossiliferous limestone three feet thick, containing the shells of the same species as some of those of Big creek, Rush creek and Grayville, especially the Gervillia. The measures at the border of the basin are, at Lasalle, somewhat reduced ; nevertheless the proportion in thickness of the strata is well enough preserved. The two banks of limestone, the upper one twelve feet thick, the lower one fourteen feet, are separated by five feet of black, argillaceous, bituminous shales, with traces of coal. The space from the base of the lower limestone to the middle coal of the shaft of Lasalle, which, from the abundance of Avicula in its shale is coal No. 9, is 228 feet. At the Bodiam shaft it is 230 feet. The difference results from the reduction of the measures between coal No. 11 and No. 9, which has nothing extraordinary whatever, and is sometimes much greater. At the Bodiam shaft, coal No. 11 is 172 feet from the base of the lime- stone, and at Lasalle it is 175 feet. According to the data which have been examined and discussed above, it follows : that borings for coal, in the central and western part of Posey county, would not offer any chances of a remunerative invest- ment of money. Along the Wabash river, from Grayville to its mouth, coal No. 11 would be reached at 300 feet, and coal No. 9, a far more re- liable coal and of a better quality than No. 11,) at 400 feet deep. On the south-eastern side of the county, at the base of the bluff of West Franklin, the same coal No. 9 would be found at about the same depth as at the Bodiam shaft, or at from 280 to 300 feet. In the western part of Vanderburg county this space would be reduced to from 100 to 150 feet. 308 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE WARRICK COUNTS. The coal bank worked at Newburgh, with the section of the shaft, has been already reported in the first Geological Report of Indiana, (pages 10 and 11). The main coal of Newburg is No. 9, the equivalent of the main coal of the Bodiam shaft. It has, in its underlying shales, the Avicula in great number. The same bed was formerly worked near the mouth of Pigeon run, at high water level of the Ohio river. The bank is covered and its character could only be examined from a few shales, left outside of the tunnel. The distance from the base of the Anvil Rock sandstone to the coal is only seventy feet. At Newburg this space is one hundred feet, which is about the maximum. It is sometimes reduced to fifty feet. From indications received at Newburg from Mr. G. I. Hutchinson, the director of the mines, there are exposed in the hills, near Taylors- ville, two workable beds of coal. We had no time to examine this part of the county. From the direction of the general dip to the west, a little south, it is probable that both these veins are the equivalents of coal No. 4 and No. 3, or the same horizon as the coal banks of the hills around Rockport. SPENCER COUNTY. Just on the limits of the county, on Pigeon creek, section 6, town- ship 16 south, range 7 west, the top of a bank of hard, somewhat con- glomeratic and ferruginous sandstone, is exposed at high water level of the creek. It is referable to the Mahoning sandstone, and both coal beds, No. 4 and No. 3, should be met with at and near its base. Four miles north-east of Rockport, on Mr. B. Shrode's property, section 3, township 7 south, range 6 west, a bed of coal five feet thick is worked under a bank of hard sandstone and shales, thirty-five feet thick. The coal is very compact, finely crystalized, free from sul- phuret and shales, a dry splint coal, one of the best I have seen in In- diana. Thirty-five feet lower there is another coal bed two feet thick, overlaid by very black bituminous shales, containing fossil remains of fishes, of shells, and of plants. Between the upper coal and the sand- stone a thin layer of gray soft shales, (brash) covers the coal. It con- tains in abundance species of plants characteristic of coal No. 4. From the nature and lithological composition of the black shales overlying * * OF INDIANA. 309 the lower coal, which resemble those of coal No. 9, 1 was inclined to refer these coal strata to a higher level, and to consider the sandstone as the Anvil Rock. But neither the stratigraphy and the direction of the dip of the measures, nor the palaeontology of the shales, could sup- port such a conclusion. Even the black shales of the lower coal con- tain, at Mr. Shrode's bank, fruits and some broken species of fossil plants belonging to coal No. 3. As subsequent explorations in the coal fields of Illinois have proved with entire evidence that coal No. 3 is occasionally overlaid by black bituminous shale, of the same appear- ance and nature as those of coal 'No. 9, there is no doubt whatever that, following palseontological evidence, the coal strata, at Mr. Shrode's knob, are the equivalents of No. 4 and No. 3, and that the hard sand- stone quarried above the coal (and very good indeed for building pur- poses) is the Mahoning sandstone. The fine quality of the upper coal, which is especially good for coke, and its short distance from No. 3, would not agree with the quality and the place of coal No. 11. At the place where we examined it, coal No. 3 is only two feet thick, but it may be found all around in the hills of a greater thickness, and overlaid, as it is generally, with a limestone or a calcareous iron ore. Seventy -five feet lower than coal No. 3 there is, on the same prop- erty, a bed of fire-clay containing crystals of gypsum. This fire-clay apparently marks the place of coal No. 2, which has not been found here. It is a fine white clay, used at some places for pottery, and val- uable as a fertilizer of poor lands. Though the top of the bluff at Eockport is, from barometrical meas- ures, about 120 feet lower than the top of the knob above Mr. Shrode's coal, I can not but consider the sandstone exposed at both places as equivalent, or as of the same geological horizon. From the direction of the dip these strata should occupy about the same level, but along the Ohio river there have been many local disturbances, which can not be accounted for by general laws. The sandstone, at Rockport, is softer than that of the knob, but it is cut in horizontal strata, of two to three feet thick, by a thin bed of soft shales with plants, in the same manner as the former. The section at both places is also somewhat different; the distance between the two coal beds, under the sandstone, being greater at Rockport. According to data, which were kindly furnished to me by Dr. Richard Owen, the section at Rockport, from the top of the bluff to the botton of a shaft dug at its base, is : 310 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE Shales and sandstone 37 Slate and coal 2 Fire-clay 10 8 Fine sand rock 6 6 Blue rock 30 Dark shales 22 10 Coal 2 6 Dark shales 1 6 White rock 2 There is probably some mistake in the figures of the above section. At Rockport the sandstone, from its base to its top, measures at least thirty-seven feet. As I have not seen any of the materials taken from the shaft, I am, of course, unable to discuss the question concerning the place of these coal strata with any reliable data. Coal No. 4 and No. 3 are, (as remarked before,) generally separated by a limestone, the Curlew limestone, varying from one to eight feet in thickness. Could the blue rock, marked thirty feet in the section, be a limestone ? Proba- bly not; for no limestone of such a thickness has ever been seen at this geological horizon. Where the Curlew limestone is absent, as at Mr. Shrode's knob, its place is taken by argillaceous, ferruginous shales, or clay iron ore, and the distance between both coal strata, which averages thirty-five to forty feet, is still reduced. The sandstone of the bluff of Kockport might be, by its position, the equivalent of the sandstone generally overlying coal No. 2, and the lower coal marked in the sec- tion under twenty-two feet ten inches of dark shales, could belong to No. 1 C. This question can be decided only by the examination of the shales overlying the coal strata, and of their fossils, if they contain any, or by a deeper boring. If the Eockport sandstone is the Mahoning, the Cannelton main coal can be reached at 300 feet from its base; and at about 150 feet, if it belongs to coal No. 2. In any case Rockport is placed in a very favorable position for reaching coal by shafts, all around the place. About four and a half miles south-west of Rockport, on 'Squire James Stuteville's property, section 9, township 8 south, range 6 west, a coal 28 to 30 inches in thickness is exposed at different places, and overlaid by shales, presenting various lithological appearances. At one place, the black shales which cover it are of the same nature and have the same fossil remains as those of the lower coal at Mr. Shrode's. At OF INDIANA. 311 another place, where the coal has been reached by a shaft, the shales are grayish, soft, a kind of soap stone, with remains of plants. That both these shales belong to coal No. 3, is proved from what is seen at some localities in Illinois, where this bed of coal is overlaid by two strata of shales, the upper one of black, laminated bituminous shales, like those of the Knob; the lower one of soft soapstone shales, full of plants like those of the shaft at 'Squire Stuteville's. The distance of the coal here from the base of the Mahoning sandstone, exposed at the top of the hills, is about 50 feet. From the direction of the dip, the sandstone occupies here its exact place, while at Rockport, if it is the same, it is about one hundred feet too low. PEREY COUNTY. > . A detailed private examination of this county being purposed, for a future time, by the State Geologist, Dr. D. Bale Owen, my explorations were not directed to it. Nevertheless, and from an examination of the coal strata of Cannelton, during my connection with the Geological State Survey of Kentucky, I am able to report the position of the coal strata of the county in a general way. The borders of the coal measures follow the western borders of Perry county, and, accordingly, the sub-conglomerate coal banks of about two feet thickness ought to be found along the line of Deer Creek, and east- ward of it, on Poison creek, &c. At Cannelton, and eastward, coal 1 A. 1 B. and 1 C. are found at different levels above and below the general line of surface of the country. The main coal of Cannelton has all the characters, and the quality also, of coal No. 113. It is in part Cannel coal, and even at some places entirely Cannel. It is mentioned in the first report of Dr. D, D. Owen, page 49. Westward of Cannelton, coal 1 C. and coal 2 may be exposed at some localities; but where a bed of coal is desirable, in that part of the country, it will be more profitable to search for coal No. 1 B. by a boring. It is much to be regretted that the proposed survey of Perry county could not be performed by the Director of the State Geological Survey of Indiana, who was so well acquainted with the geological formations of the county. By its position, by the quality and the abundance of its combustible mineral, this county is one of the most interesting in the State. According. to its geological horizon, some rich deposits of iron ore may be found in its eastern borders. If now we consider the dip of thf c*oal measure* alonar the Ohio rivor, 312 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE according to the data obtained by our examination up to Perry county, we come to find a remarkable agreement with the conclusions taken from stratigraphical and palseontological evidence. The distance from Cannelton, where coal 1 B. is worked, to the base of the Mahoning sandstone, at Kockport, is about 16 miles.* The aver- age vertical space from coal No. 1 B. to the base of the Mahoning sand- stone is 320 feet, thus showing a dip of 20 feet per mile. From Rock- port to above Newburg, where coal No. 9 crops out at the level of the river, the distance is nineteen miles. As there is an average space of 370 feet from the base of the Mahoning to coal No. 9, we have thus a dip of nineteen feet and a half per mile. The place of coal IS r o. 9 is in the Bodiam shaft, at 280 feet from the surface, while at the Henderson boring it is only at 160 feet. I do not know the cause of this difference. At Henderson the space between coal No. 4 and No. 9 is somewhat too short; at the Bodiam shaft, the bank of shales overlying the anvil-rock sandstone is too thick. There may be some errors in the measures, or some local disturbances. For, counting the average depth of coal No. 9, between both places, we found it to be 420 feet for a distance of eleven miles, indicating a dip of twenty-two feet per mile. As I consider Mt. Yernon and New Harmony as placed just along the line of the great synclinal axis to which the dip converges on both sides of the basin, if we admit the same ratio of 20 feet per mile for the dip from Evansville to New Harmony, a distance of about 20 miles, we find that, at this last place, the depth at which coal No. 9 could be reached would be 400 feet -just the same conclusion to which we arrived by considering the succession of the strata and the local sections. The line of the principal axis apparently passing, as previously re- marked, from Mt. Vernon to Gray ville . and Lasalle, (Illinois,) is in a direction parallel to the border of the eastern coal fields of Indiana, and to the great anticlinal axis of the Silurian ridge, which divides the coal basin of the East from that of the West. As Dr. D. Dale Owen has re- marked in his report, the dip appears continuous and remarkably uni- form, and unbroken in Indiana, varied only by slight undulations. My explorations for the Illinois and Kentucky coal fields, farced me to admit the same conclusion for the whole area of the western coal basin. This is of importance for directing the researches for workable coal strata. As the eastern borders of the coal measures of Indiana are well * These measures are approximative. The declivity and current of the Ohio river is not taken into account. An exact appreciation of the dip at divers places can not be taken but by a topographical survey. OF INDIANA. 313 marked, the distance of a certain place westward of their line may ap- proximately indicate its geological horizon. DUBOIS COUNTY. On our way from Rockport to Jasper, we passed, in the northern part of Spencer county, a band of broken hills, formed by the hard sand- stone of the Mahoning. Coal No. 4 may be found at the base of these hills, of a good workable thickness. On section 19, township 4 south, range 5 west, a bed of coal about three feet thick is worked under a stratum of one foot of sandstone, which makes its roof. The coal has, at its top, a few inches of brashy coal, with undeterminable remains of plants, and at its base a band of sulphuret, with large pieces of fossilized wood, especially Sigillaria Menardi. This species, the only one which could be determined, is especially abundant with coal No. 3. From the assertion of the miners, the roof of sandstone is often replaced by cal- careous concretions, clay, iron ore or bitumen. This fact confirms the palseontological evidence. Near Huntingburgh, I examined at a forge, specimens of an excellent coal, worked in the vicinity of Ferdinand P. 0. This coal bears on its horizontal surface a quantity of leaves of Lepidodendron and blades of Lepidostrobus, preserved in charcoal. These are characteristic species of coal No. 1 B. This coal is a compact, very hard, dry splint coal, free from sulphuret. It is much valued in the country for the forge. At Hun- tingburgh I saw, at another blacksmith's, specimens of another coal opened six miles west of that place. This coal has much sulphur, and is shaly. It looks like a poor quality of coal No. 4, or perhaps No. 3. From Huntingburgh to Jasper, the country is broken by hills of a hard sandstone, containing petrified trunks of fern trees, (Psaroniusj) which, until now, have been found only in connection with the Maho- ning. As this sandstone continues to Jasper, the coal opened or exposed at the base of the hills, at and around this place, should be referable to No. 4. This conclusion does not agree with the position of Jasper in regard to its distance from the border of the coal basin. It would lead us to expect here rather a lower coal. The two banks opened near Jas- per, only 18 inches thick, did not show any characters in the accom- panying strata by which their geological horizon could be ascertained. They were covered with water at the time when we passed them. The sandstone overlying the coal is blackened by broken fragments of plants, transformed into charcoal, as is sometimes the sandstone overlying coal 314 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE. No. 2. At about one mile distance from the coal, and nearly at the same level, I was shown a thin bed of fossiliferous hard limestone. As the coal at Jasper is thin, and interposed between two banks of sand- stone, its working can not be remunerative. A better coal might be found by boring at a lower level; but, from the impossibility of ascer- taining the exact horizon of Jasper, I can not tell with reliability at what depth the coal No. 1 B. would be found. From Jasper to Portersville, the sandstone disappears, and the coun- try is more even or less broken. The dip between these two places ap- pears to be a little more directed to the south. Hence the coal, at Jas- per, ought to be at a higher geological horizon than at Portersville. The coal, at this last place, is exposed in the creeks, a little above high water level of White river. Just near the town, in the bottom of the creek, the coal two feet thick is overlaid by five feet of black, mica- ceous, coarse shales, generally very bituminous, sometimes passing to blackened shaly sandstone. From the few pieces which could be loos- ened and examined, they do not appear to contain any fossils. These shales are overlaid by a thick bank of limestone, very variable in its composition and appearance but always fossiliferous. It is either black, compact, of a smooth even fracture, or mixed with large pieces of flint, or even entirely transformed to flint. At other places it is gray, coarse, and somewhat crystalline. It generally passes to, or is even entirely replaced by a soft, argillaceous, buff colored, compact clay or shales, containing the same fossils as the limestone. These numerous trans- formations, with some others, still characterize the limestone and bur- stone of Ohio and Kentucky, which overlies coal No. 1 C., to which the coal around Portersville is referred, without doubt, from palseon- tological and lithological evidence. This coal, near the creek, is at some places overlaid with a bed 40 feet thick of buff-colored clay shales, mixed with fossils and pieces of silex. On section 27, township 1 north, range 5 west, one and one half miles east of Portersville, the same coal bank is three and a half to four feet thick, and immediately covered by a few feet of flaggy, gray, coarse, fossiliferous limestone, good for lime, and apparently also for constructions. The coal is hard, black, and of fine appearance, but it is mixed with sulphuret, bands of mineral char- coal and sulphur. By exposure it is covered with a white efflorescence and decomposes. Above the limestone there is a bed of shaly sandstone, (partly covered,) thirty to forty feet high. From the assertion of the miners, there is still a thin coal higher than the sandstone. But it was covered, and could not be examined. It is referable to coal No. 2, per- OF INDIANA. 315 haps the same as the coal of Jasper. At another exposure, near the ferry, the coal two feet eight inches thick is worked for a saw mill. The coal is still poorer than the former, full of sulphuret and of char- coal, oxidated by infiltrations of iron and shales. Its roof is formed by four to five feet of black, coarse shales, of the same nature and appear- ance as those of the first exposure in the creek, and the black shales are overlaid by forty feet cf sandstone, separated in numerous layers by their bands of clay, and without any trace of limestone. The distance from this outcrop to the former, in the creek, is no more than one fourth of a mile. We have thus, for a bed of coal evidently on the same geological horizon, such differences in the overlying strata, that, judging from their appearance, it would be impossible to consider the different coal banks as equivalent. At one place, black shales, limestone, chert, and buff colored clay, with fossils and no sandstone. At another, coarse, gray limestone, without black slabs, and with a high bank of sandstone; at a third exposure, black slabs and sandstone, without a trace of lime- stone. Coal No. I C. is, from its accompanying strata, a true Proteus, and, as the shales do not contain any fossil plants, it is one of the most difficult to identify from lithological appearances. Its only constant character is the inferior quality of its coal. It was formed at a time of repeated local disturbances, mostly in deep marshes, often inundated by marine water. Nevertheless, it is very extensively formed, and some- times preserves a workable thickness of four to five feet, over vast areas, and without any change, except in the strata overlying it. From what we have seen of the measures of Dubois county, it ap- pears that, in its south-western part, coal No. 4 can be found at the base of the hills of sandstone, but that only the sub-conglomerate coal, with coal No. 1 A, 1 B and 1 C, crop out in the north, according to differ- ent meridians. Of course the sub-conglomerate coal is seen above the sub-carboniferous limestone, along the eastern limits; coal No. i A, 1 B and 1 C, occupying the middle part, and the north-western borders of the county. It is even possible that the distribution of the coal measures might be the same in the southern parts of Dubois county. PIKE COUNTY. The coal banks exposed or opened in the northern part of this county, near Kinderhook, are referable to the same horizon as those of Porters- ville, or to coal No. 1 C. The first bank examined is two miles eotith- 20 316 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSAXCE west of Kinderhook, on the property of Mr. James R. Thomas. The coal, three to four feet thick, has a roof of black, bituminous, fossilifer- ous shales. It is not of an inferior quality, has a great deal of char- coal and sulphur, and is easily disintegrated when it is exposed to at- mospheric influence. One and a half miles south-west of Kinderhook, the same coal is ex- posed on the property of Dr. Posey. At this place, and along the creek, the coal is apparently six to seven feet thick; but it is mixed with bands of shales or shale-partings, of various thicknesses, and also with bands of sulphuret. It is of the same quality as the former. It is first over- laid by a few inches of soft, crumbling shales, entirely formed of small shells and sulphuret of iron ; and above this by three or four feet of very black, bituminous, coarse grained and micaceous laminated shales. These insensibly pass, above, to an argillaceous, buff- colored clay, just like that of the bank at the creek of Portersville. The clay has also the same shells, and passes to a blue, coarse grained limestone, or is in- termixed with bowlders of Septaria, mostly resting upon the black shales. The same coal is still opened at Mr. G. Fecklin's, on section 18, town- ship 1 north, range 7 west, one mile from Ivinderhook, and near by, on the canal, and where it is worked on Mr. Rhode's property. At this last place, the coal has a better appearance and is of a better quality. Its sulphuret, mixed with shales, forms layers thick enough to enable the miners to separate it, and thus to clean the coal. But it is also covered with a white efflorescence of sulphur, when it is exposed to at- mospheric influence for a long time. The bank is five feet thick, and overlaid by soft, grayish shales, a compound of small shells, and by a few feet of black shales, of the same nature as those of Dr. Posey's coal. Near the town of Petersburg, two beds of coal crop out at the base of the hills. They were covered by water at the time of our visit, and they could not be examined. From the nature of the overlying shales/ I refer them to the same geological horizon as that of the former banks. The limestone connected with coal No. 1 is found in the hills around, with its various appearances, sometimes black, hard and compact, sometimes blue and coarse, sometimes flinty. Between Petersburg and Highland, two beds of coal are said to be exposed, on the banks of White River, the one a foot and a half, the other four feet thick. High water prevented an examination of them. From the direction of the dip of the measures, coal No. 2, No. 3, and OF INDIANA. 317 perhaps No. 4, can be found in the southern and western parts of Pike county. The eastern half of the county is mostly occupied by coal 1 0. It is better here than anywhere else in Indiana, especially at Mr. Rhode's bank. A far better coal, No. 1 B, can be found by borings, at a lower level, from 25 to 55 feet deep below No. 1 C. It is probable the coal on the Patoka, on section 4, township 2 south, range 8 west, mentioned by Dr. D. Dale Owen, (in his first report, page 40,) as being ten feet thick, is the equivalent of coal 1 0. This coal, especially where it becomes united to coal 1 B, or is parted by shales or clay, becomes very thick: but it is only a good workable coal for a part of its thickness. I have seen it in Kentucky about 80 feet thick, com- posed of alternate layers of very black bituminous shales and coal, where the thickest workable band of coal was only two feet; and thus a nearly useless mass of matter. I regretted much that the coal on the Patoka could not be examined. But, at the time of our explorations, White Biver was out of its banks, and some of the most interesting coal banks of the country, especially along White River, were covered by water and unapproachable. DAVIESS COUNTY. Four miles south-east of Washington, on Mr. Nelson Jackson's prop- erty, a bed of coal, eighteen inches thick, has been somewhat worked by stripping. When we visited the place, the trenches were under water, and I could not even see any piece of the shales. As no rocks are exposed in the vicinity of this coal, its position is of course undeter- mined. It is probably coal No. 1 A ; at least as much as can be seen from the direction of the dip, and from the topographical place of this coal. At Washington, coal No. 1 B is worked by shafts about twenty feet deep, at some places; or at the base of the hills, by tunnels entering the exposed bank. It is overlaid by a bank, (22 feet thick,) of soft, gray, laminated shales, a kind of soapstone, containing remains of fossil plants. The species found are few, only blades of Lepidostrobus and leaves of JLcpidodendron, which mostly characterize the coal of this geological horizon. The too soft nature of these shales probably prevented the preservation of the fossil plants which at some other places are very abundant. The coal is four feet thick, a fine, hard, compact, dry, nearly splint coal, free of sulphuret, and in great demand, especially for the grate and the furnaces. It is only to be regretted that the shales over- 318 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE lying the coal are here so soft. For, at the places where the roof is not thick, the percolation of water has caused the disintegration and the oxidation of the coal, which then loses a little of its value. This bank is pretty extensively worked on Mr. S. B. Legg's property, and also on Messrs. Church & Co.'s. It is underlaid by a thick bed of hard, black tire clay, good for pottery. It is said that limestone is found in the hills around Washington. In that case, coal No. 1 C can be found in con- nection with it. A boring made a short distance from Mr. Legg's coal, passed through ten feet of yellow soft clay, eight feet of sandstone, and 132 feet of soapstone, to an eighteen inch coal. Perhaps this low coal might be referable to No. 1 A. But the distance to 1 B, which, at Mr. Legg's, is twenty- two feet below the surface, would be about 130 feet, or far too great, according to the average distance, which is no more than thirty feet. As no written and exact records have been taken of this boring, and as there may be some mistake in the figures, it is useless to specu- late about the position of this thin coal. From information received at Washington, it appears that eight miles north-east of this place, on the road to Dover Hill, there is a coal eighteen inches to two feet thick, considered excellent for the smith. From the direction of the dip and the meridian of this coal, it is refer- able to the sub-conglomerate bed ; but it was not examined. Another bank, referable to the same geological horizon, is exposed on the Ohio and Mississippi railroad, eight miles east of Washington. Fourteen miles north of this same place a coal bank, said to be six feet thick, is exposed and overlaid by eight feet of limestone. It is referable from its limestone and its position to coal No. 1 C. From these data, and from our examination in Daviess county, it ap- pears that the sub-conglomerate coal bed is found along the eastern margins of the county; that the central line, from north to south, ' marks the general out-crops of coal 1 A and 1 B, and that coal No. 1 C, with No. 2 and No. 3, are found exposed along the western boundary line. MARTIN COUNTY. Mount Pleasant is built at the top of a thick, hard, gritty sandstone, about 140 feet high, which, at first sight, I was disposed to refer to the Mahoning sandstone, on account of the total absence of conglomerate or of pebbles in the sandstone. But in comparing the position and the OF INDIANA. 319 lithological appearance of the various coal strata, examined before and after, and in closely examining the gritty compound of the coarse hard sandstone at the base of the hills of Mount Pleasant, it became evident that either the whole thickness of this formation, or at least its lower part forming a bank or escarpment of seventy-five feet high belongs to the Millstone Grit formation. Just at the base of this bank of sandstone, on Mr. T. B. Bryant's property, a bed of coal, eighteen inches to two feet thick, has been opened for examination. It has the character of the sub-conglomerate coal, being shaly; but very compact, bituminous, and excellent for the forge. Another bed of coal is said to have been opened at the top of this sandstone ; but the place is now covered and plowed up. If a coal is found there it is probably No. 1 A, thin coal. On another side of the hills, near White river, on section 6, town- ship 2 north, range 4 west, and on Mr. Reilley's property, two coal beds are exposed at the base of the hills. The upper one is a streak only a few inches thick, with some black shales; the low T er one is one foot thick, and separated from the former by four feet of sandstone. These are evidently two members of the same coal locally divided. At some places, where this coal has been marked by stripping, it has been found two feet thick in its greatest development. The coal is exactly the same in appearance as the sub-conglomerate coal, very compact, some- what shaly, free from sulphuret and especially valuable for the forge. It is generally overlaid by soft black ferruginous shales, passing occa- sionally to a yellowish soapstone, containing pebbles of carbonate of lime, and marked generally with the fossil remains of leaves of Lepi- dodendron. The sub-carboniferous limestone is exposed four miles east of this place. From Mount Pleasant to Dover Hill the sandstone becomes more and more conglomeratic, or mixed with pebbles of quartz. On section 16, township 3 north, range 4 west, we find the base of the Millstone Grit, a coarse conglomerate, and under it a coal bed one foot thick, separated from the conglomerate by four feet of yellow soapstone, or soft shales, with the fossil plants of this horizon. The base of the Millstone Grit is here formed of a bed of carbonate of iron, in irregular agglutinated pieces, which is about four feet thick, and appears a valuable ore. Near the out-crop of the coal, on the same section, and on Mr. O'Brian's property, a fine chalybeate spring comes out from under a band of fifty feet of conglomerate sandstone. Dover Hill is like Mount Pleasant, at the top of hills of the Millstone 320 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE Grit formation, about 130 above the sub-conglomerate coal, opened at their base. Here the coal is three feet thick; but its top is brashy, and its whole mass still more shaly than it is generally at the other places. It is nevertheless very good for the forge. The section from Dover Hill to the coal is as follows : FKET. 1. Covered space 10 2. Millstone Grit, conglomerate 70 3. Sandstone and ferruginous shales 20 4. Carbonate of iron, (conglomeratic iron ore,) 3 5. Chocolate colored soft shales, with plants 7 6. Coal somewhat shaly, (some layers very fine,) 3 7. Ferruginous fire-clay 10 8. Sub-carboniferous, oolitic limestone, to creek 5 On both sides of the place where this coal is worked there is a bank of very soft, ochrous clay, a true powder, as fine as flour, without any trace of coal, though occupying exactly the same horizon. It is over- laid by a clay iron ore, which looks as if it had been roasted. I consider this local formation as the result of the burning of the bank of coal at places where it was exposed along the creek. The destruc- tion by fire of banks of coal, sometimes on a large area, has left more frequent traces than it is generally supposed. I have seen, in Indi- ana, Illinois and Kentucky, many localities where the peculiar nature of the strata, a kind of metamorphism, local displacement, land slips, hollows, &c., could be explained only by the agency of the fire, in de- stroying the coal banks. Such conflagrations are easily accounted for in a country where coal banks are often exposed on the slopes of the hills, or covered only by a thin bed of shales, where the surface is re- peatedly set on fire. The soft ferruginous shales, overlying the coal at Dover Hill, are marked with numerous remains of some species of fossil plants charac- teristic of this low coal, especially the bank and the leaves of Lepido- dendrmi. In ascending the creek the bed of conglomeratic iron ore, which overlies these shales, takes its normal appearance and becomes two to three feet thick. As it is mixed with sandstone, the ore (a hem- atite) is probably of no great value. But it may be found better at other places in the neighborhood. About 130 feet above the sub-conglomerate coal, at the level of the village of Dover Hill, another bed of coal, about two feet thick, is ex- OF INDIANA. 321 posed under a bank of hard gritty sandstone, (quarried for buildings). It overlies a bed of hard fire-clay, which looks like a bastard limestone, and appears to be separated from the sandstone by one or two feet of soft shales, having the color and the appearance of those of the lower coal. As I could obtain only for examination a few bits of shales, I was unable to ascertain whether the coal is the equivalent of No. I A, the first coal above the conglomerate, or is a coal locally formed in the Millstone Grit formation. I rather think that the first supposition is right, because no coal like this has been observed in the western coal fields, in the strata of the true Millstone Grit formation. Coal No. I A is often overlaid by a hard gritty sandstone, and generally it has in its shales, remains of plants, leaves and cones of Lepidodendron, some of which are of the same species as those of the sub-conglomerate coal. I was very anxious to ascertain the formation of a bed of coal under the sub-carboniferous limestone. By the kindness and in the company of Dr. Delamater and his brother, we had an opportunity of visiting, on White river, high banks of sub-carboniferous limestone, formed in part of a beautiful marble. Just under the upper banks of this Archi- medes limestone there is a thin bed of coal, said to be about one foot thick, which, unfortunately, was covered, and of which we could see only a few pieces. That coal has been formed at this geological hori- zon is out of doubt. In Illinois numerous and beautiful specimens of fossil plants of the Coal Measures have been found in the sub -carbo- niferous sandstone, just under the upper Archimedes limestone. And in Kentucky, traces of coal have been seen in pockets at the same geo- logical horizon. But those rare remains of the primitive vegetation of the Coal Measures can not, in any age, contradict the assertion of Dr. D. Dale Owen, that no workable bed of coal can be found below or within the sub-carboniferous limestone. On the contrary, the recent and careful explorations of most of the coal fields of the different States have confirmed an assertion which he regarded as a geological axiom. . From this it is evident that though the sub-conglomerate coal is well developed at some places in Martin county, and can be found from two to three feet thick over its whole western range, (range 4 west,) there is no chance whatever to reach any lower coal by borings From the higher coal strata, ISTo. 1 A, and perhaps No. I B, may be found near the top of the hills, along the western borders of the county. The limit of the Coal Measures follows mostly along the western line of range 8 west. 322 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE GREENE COUNTY. In entering this county the same limit of the Coal Measures makes a bend to the west, reaching, near Bloomfield, the western line of range 4 west, and bends again to the eastward, entering Owen county at the same parallel as it occupies in Martin county. Six to seven miles south-west of Bloomfield the sub-conglomerate coal is opened at many places, near the top, and in some crevices of high hills of the sub-carboniferous and Millstone Grit formation. On the property of Mr. "W". M. Combs, where I first examined the coal, it is eighteen inches thick, overlying a bed of sub-carboniferous limestone, from which it is separated only by a stratum of fire-clay. It is covered by a -bank of sandstone, two to three feet thick, mixed with bowlders of sandy iron ore. It has broken remains of fossil plants. The coal is not worked, and its appearance is the same as at other places. Its distance from the top of the hill is 130 feet. Three and a half miles north-west of Scotland, on section 16, town- ship 6 north, range 4 west, the same coal is worked by a tunnel. It is here in two banks, separated by a clay parting. The section is : FKET. IXCHKS. Hard, gritty sandstone, with remains of plants.. 20 Coal 2 3 Shaly tire-clay 1 3 Clay .- 1 3 Fire-clay to the bed of the creek. The coal is very fine, but has all the characters of the sub-conglome- rate coal, being somewhat shaly. The sandstone overlies the coal im- mediately, and, though hard, contains streaks of sandy iron ore, with broken remains of large plants. About one mile south, on section 21, township 6 north, range 4 west, the coal on Mr. Phelps' property is opened at four different places, at a very short distance from each other. The coal is generally three to four feet thick in a single bank; but its top, five to six inches of thick- ness, is only brash coal, and it is intermixed with some streaks of sul- phuret. At the first opening the coal is overlaid with soft shales, marked with fossil plants and a band of clay iron ore, just as at Dover Hill. At another opening the c"oal is covered by a ferruginous con- glomerate, or rather a pudding stone, mixed with remains of broken OF INDIANA. 323 Btems of Catamites and other plants. All the coal banks examined on these hills are exactly, by barometrical measures, at the same level, and there is no doubt that all belong to the same geological horizon, though every one of them is overlaid by a different kind of rock, by shales, or by sandstone, or by conglomeratic iron ore. All the modifications of the roof of the sub-conglomerate coal may be recalled to two distinct forms. Either the shales are present, between the sandstone base of the Millstone Grit and the coal, or these shales are not found or only very thin, a kind of brash coal, and the sandstone immediately overlies the coal. In the first case the shales are soft, more or less marked with remains of fossil plants, more or less bituminous and laminated, and accordingly of various color and hardness. Iron ore is always found in connection with these shales, either overlying them in a separate bed, or mixed with them in pebbles of carbonate of iron. Sometimes the bed of iron ore covers the coal, in the absence of the shales in the form of a conglomeratic and sandy iron ore. In the second case, when the sandstone immediately overlies the coal, it is ferruginous at its base, contains broken remains of plants, and when it becomes shaly forms a whitish agglomeration of carbonized plants, sand and iron. Of course these appearances are locally modified in many ways. The thickness and the good quality of the sub-conglomerate coal, in this county, is the best proof that the base of the Coal Measures ought to be marked in the west by the sub-carboniferous limestone and not by the Millstone Grit formation. Coal strata above the conglomerate are generally thicker, but scarcely more reliable and more extensively formed than this sub-conglomerate coal. In descending the hills, on the road to Bloomfield, the entire section of 800 feet, shows only alternate strata of shales and sub-carboniferous sandstone, without a trace of limestone, while at some other places, as in Martin county, the sub- carboniferous limestone is forty to fifty feet thick. The sub-carboniferous measures are still far more variable in their extent, their thickness, and the compound of their material than the true Coal Measures. Near Bloomfield, one-fourth of a mile north-east of Richland furnace, a coal bed has been opened two to three feet thick. It has a roof of soft chocolate shales, with remains of fossil plants. At some places the coal is overlaid by abed of iron ore, which, in the hills around, becomes four to five feet thick, and is worked for the furnace. The coal is, in places, overlaid by a kind of bastard limestone, or hardened fire-clay, which much resembles that of the upper coal at Dover Hill. As it was 324 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE covered at the time of our visit, I was unable to ascertain its true geo- logical horizon. It is still probably the sub-conglomerate coal. Peb- bles of quartz, evidently derived from the Millstone Grit, are found in the creeks which run at the level of this coal bed. The result of our researches for coal in Greene county may be sum- med up as follows : The sub-conglomerate coal crops out on a band on the outside of a line passing from Scotland to Bloomfield, and north to Freedom. Coals Nos. 1 A, 1 B and 1 C have their line of outcrop a little westward of the canal from Chesterfield to Worthington, and northward along the road to Bowling Green, On the western part of the county, within the limits of range 7 west, coal No. 2, No. 3, and perhaps No. 4 may be found in the hills, and, of course, borings there may be made to coal No. 1 B, at favorable places. OWEN COUNTY. Near the southern limits of the county, on the road from Bloomfield to Freedom, about three miles south of this last place, the sub-conglom- erate coal, two feet thick, is exposed on the property of Mr. Bird Light. It is overlaid by six to seven feet of white sandstone shales, full of broken stems, just as those of the Phillips' coal. The sub-carbonifer- ous limestone is in place just below this coal, and crops out all around in the hills. On the south- w r est quarter of section 33, township 9 north, range 4 west, on the south side of White river, and on Mr. Henry Jackson's property, I discovered the same coal at its normal geological horizon, and found it here a true, hard, somewhat coarse cannel, apparently very bituminous and rich in oil. At the outcrop this coal is about eighteen inches; but the proprietor asserts that it had been worked or discovered by a miner, and found to be four feet thick; but that since that time it had been lost. The difficulty of finding this coal again by following the direction of the top of the sub-carboniferous limestone was not great indeed. But the search for the coal had been made by boring and shafting at the base of the hills, where occasionally some pieces of coal, brought down the steep declivity of the hill, had been picked up. The horizon of the coal is about fifty feet higher than the high water level of the river. This Cannel coal is separated from the sub-carbon- iferous limestone by four to five feet of hard sandstone, rt is overlaid by one or two strata of hydrate of iron, or iron ore of the same ap- pearance, and perhaps of as good a quality, as that used for the Pach- OF INDIANA. 325 land furnace. If the mineral should prove, by chemical analysis, to be rich, the position for a furnace at this place, just on the border of White river, with an abundance of fine limestone and coal, would be far more advantageous than that of Richland. On the property of Mr. James Haton, south-west quarter of section 2, township 9 north, range 4 west, the same coal has been found also. But it is covered and its thickness unknown. It is accompanied, like the former, with iron ore above it and sub-carboniferous limestone below. After passing Freedom I examined, at a forge, samples of a very fine and excellent coal obtained from Arney's bank, six miles west of the place. This coal is in large, compact, hard blocks, finely crystallized, free from sulphuret and charcoal, with its faces obscured only by thin lamellae of selenite. As it is one of the best coals that we have seen till now in Indiana, I much regretted that time did not permit us to ex- amine the locality, and to ascertain its geological horizon. From its appearance the coal is the same as the Ferdinand coal, and referable to No. 1 B. It is said to be only two feet thick, with a soft shale for its roof. Tne road from Spencer to Greencastle is nearly always on the sub- earboniferous limestone, which generally crops out at the base of the hills; while their top is composed of the Millstone Grit or of the Drift which there becomes pretty thick. Near Cataract Mill, where the sub-carboniferous sandstone in all its beautiful varieties, oolite, marble, lithographic limestone, &c., attains a thickness of about seventy feet, the sub-conglomerate coal is formed just at the top of the limestone. It is two feet thick, overlaid by saales and iron ore. It has been opened on sections 35 and 36, township 12 north, range 4 west. From information received, a bed of coal two feet thick is exposed or worked near Yandalia, and another, four feet thick, near Lancaster. The first is probably still the sub-conglomerate coal, the other coal No. 1 B. At least, judging from the direction of the boundary line of the Coal Measures in Owen county, which indicates the same distribution of the coal strata as in Green county. The borders of the measures pass a little outside of the western line of range 3 west, and thus the sub-conglomerafe coal occupies range 4 west, and coal Nos. 1 A and 1 B range 5 west. 326 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE PUTNAM COUNTY. Cloverdale is just on the outside limits of the Coal Measures ; Green- castle, on the contrary, a little inside. At this last place the sub-con- glomerate coal is found near the top of the hills, one and a half miles south-east of the town, where it crops out in a ravine. The section there is : FEET. IKC11ES. 1. Top of the hill, gritty sandstone 25 2. Coarse shaly sandstone 6 3. Coal 1 4. Coarse white shaly sandstone and broken plants 3 5. Black, bituminous, micaceous shales 8 6. Yellow, soft, micaceous shales 10 7. Shaly sandstone ? covered space 9 8. Soft grayish shales, with pebbles of carbonate of iron, and some plan ts 10 9. Limestone (sub-carboniferous) to level of creek 10 'Ihis section is very interesting. From the base of the Millstone Grit to the top of the sub-carboniferous limestone, we have here forty- six feet of measures, which show at different geological horizons some of the lithological characters which have been observed at different lo- calities over the bed of the sub-conglomerate coal. Though this bed has always been referred to the same horizon, it may be that two or more coal strata can be formed below the conglomerate at a different level, according to the place occupied by the accompanying strata. This is not very probable, at least we have seen, close to each other, some openings of the sub -conglomerate coal, evidently made at the same topographical level or in the same bank, and with the overlying strata entirely different. Thus, at an opening of Mr. Phillips' bank, in Greene county, the coal is covered by a shaly sandstone, resembling the stratum No. 2 of the above section, while at another opening it is over- laid by shales resembling No. 5 and No. 6 of the section. It is certain that where the measures, especially the shales intervening between the base of the Millstone Grit and the top of the sub-carboniferous lime- stone, thicken much, two or even three beds of coal may be found in the space. But the palseontological remains of each of these coal strata have not been studied, their relation to the coal is mostly un- OF INDIANA. 327 known, and where a single bed of this sub-conglomerate coal is found it is not possible to fix its geological horizon, according to strata which are not present. This question is merely a scientific one, and has not any importance for practical researches in Indiana. We did not see any other coal in Putnam county but that of Green- castle. Coal No. 1 B is the only higher coal that may be found in the county, just along the boundary line of Parke and Clay counties. It may be found of a good workable thickness on Walnut and St. Croix creek, at the base of the hills. CLAY COUNTY. At Brazil depot coal is worked by a shaft sixty feet deep, with fol- lowing section : FEKT. IXCHKS. 1. Soil and clay 20 2. Limestone 4 3. Blue shale and soapstone 28 4. Hard sandstone 28 5. Coal 3 6 6. White fire-clay 6 This section already shows that the coal worked at Brazil belongs to one of the members of No. 1, probably No. 1 A. No materials taken out of the shaft can give any indication. But nearly the whole thick- ness of these strata can be studied in some ravines one and a half miles north of the depot. At this place the limestone (No. 2 of the section) is underlaid by two to three feet of black bituminous shales, overlying coal No. 1 C about two feet thick, and perfectly well characterized by fossils, and by the poor quality of its coal. It is here only a compound of broken carbonized stems, cemented with oxide of iron, and a few inches of very bituminous cannel shales, which burn easily but do not consume. From this bed to coal No. 1 B, of which the top only is seen, at the level of the creek, there a bank of soft shales or soapstone, containing a few fossils, just of the same nature and appearance as those overlying the coal at Washington, and the same also as the twenty- eight feet of blue shale and soapstone of the section of the shaft at Brazil. But it is evident that the coal at Brazil is still lower than this No. 1 B, and thus is referable to No. 1 A. The white fire-clay under- lying coal 1 C is much used in the country for excellent pottery. This 328 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE coal still crops out at a creek near the depot at Brazil, somewhat lower than the level of the railroad. From Brazil, to Williamstown and Highland, the grade of the rail- road is upward, contrary to the dip, which appears thus somewhat stronger than it is generally. Though the distance between both places is only six miles, coal No. 3 is exposed at Williamstown and coal No. 4 at Highland, where it is scarcely thirty feet above No. 3. At Williams- town coal No. 3 is overlaid by a bank of its characteristic black shales; it is three to four feet thick, but as it was not marked, I could not ex- amine its quality. At Mr. Wallace's bank, on section 9, township 12 north, range 7 west, coal No. 4 is six to seven feet thick, immediately overlaid by a high bank of sandstone. At Highland mines the coal is about of the same thickness, and also overlaid by sandstone. The top of the roof shales of coal No. 3 crops out in the creek just below the main coal, and in the same section. Mr. Nathan Williams has passed both coal beds, No. 3 and No. 4, in a shaft only forty-two feet deep. The coal No. 4, especially at Highland, is not of as good a quality as it is generally found. It has more of sulphuret and of acid, and decom- poses under atmospheric influence. This is probably due to the soft- ness of the Mahoning sandstone, which here is thin, having been re- duced by erosions, and has not all its ordinary consistence. Where coal No. 4 is too poor, as it is at Highland, it would be profitable to try the thickness and value of coal No. 3 by a shaft. At the shaft of Mr. Carter, named the Staunton bank, the coal is much better and has nearly the true character of coal No. 4; but it is reached at twenty-three feet from the surface, and the sandstone which covers the coal is ten feet thick. Between Staunton and Cloverport, near the railroad, a boring was made through forty feet of hard sandstone, and then abandoned. From the direction of the dip this sandstone is evidently the Mahoning, which being lower and covered there, has preserved its normal thickness of fifty to sixty feet. The boring has been stopped apparently at a short distance above the place of coal No. 4, which probably would have been found there of a good thickness and of an excellent quality. At Cloverland, a coal much intermixed with shales and horizontal layers (partings) of laminated clay, is exposed under a bank of fifteen to twenty feet of soft, black, ^bituminous shales, containing some re- mains of fishes. I could find no trace of plants in the shales, and no indication whatever which could fix the geological horizon of this coal. From the dip of the strata or from stratigraphical evidence, and from OF INDIANA. 329 the great thickness of the shales, it is referable to coal No. 5, or to the jive foot coal of the Kentucky survey. This coal does not appear to have been formed over great areas; and, except near Greenville, Ken- tucky, I have never seen it worked with advantage. The shaly nature of the coal, and the numerous partings which divide the bank, have rendered the mining of the bank unprofitable at Cloverport. The dip of the measures at Highland is said to average fifteen feet per mile to the west. By ascertaining the grade of the railroad, from Highland to Cloverport and to Terre Haute, the dip can be measured easily. As far as I could judge it is continuous and without variation. From this it is evident that the geological position of Clay county is extremely favorable for obtaining coal from the best and most reliable coal strata of the measures. From the eastern to the western limits, coal No. 1 A to coal No. 5, or at least six beds of coal, can be found cropping out at the surface at different meridians. The line passing from Middleburg to Brazil is nearly the middle line along which coal No. 1 C, and in the deepest hollows No. 1 B, crop out. Coal Nos. 3, 4 and 5 are exposed near the western boundary line. VIGO COUNTY. The shales overlying the coal of Cloverland follow about the same dip as the grade of descent of the railroad to Terre Haute. At least the upper part of the black shales still crops out in a ravine on the turnpike, about three miles east of Terre Haute. From approximative barometric measures, this place is twenty feet higher than the prairie at Terre Haute. If then we admit the dip to be fifteen to twenty feet per mile westward, as it is marked at Highland, the coal underlying the black shales, which have an average thickness of twelve to fifteen feet, should have its geological horizon thirty-five to forty feet below the Terre Haute prairie. As the drift here is more than fifty-three feet thick the place of the coal is marked within this formation, and conse- quently has been washed away and replaced by materials of recent formations. Hence, to get coal at Terre Haute, it would be necessary first to sink a shaft through the whole thickness of the drift, fifty feet at least, to the top of the Mahoning, and then to cut through at least fifty feet of this generally hard sandstone to reach coal No. 4, which underlies it. If it were even certain that coal No. 4 is of a good work- able thickness, and formed its supposed geological horizon at Terre Haute, it would be scarcely remunerative to have the coal worked at a 330 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE depth of more than one hundred feet, when the canal and the railroad bring to Terre Haute an abundance of coal worked under the most favorable circumstances. In any case it would be worth ascertaining, by a boring, at what depth and of what thickness the coal No. 4 is un- der the strata of Terre Haute. On the western side of the Wabash river two banks of coal are ex- posed in the hills along the river. Their geological horizon could not be satisfactorily ascertained. The upper one is at the top of a quarry of sandstone and limestone below Harrison, near the Wabash. The section is : FEKT. INCHES. Covered space, drift, top of the hills 10 Coal 3-4 Fire-clay 6 Shaly soft blue sandstone 8 Hard gray limestone 2 Sbaly blue sandstone 4 Hard limestone, in bank 2 6 Sandstone shales or hard gray metal 8 6 Limestone 2 Shaly blue sandstone 10 Covered space to the river bottom, where a lower coal crops out. This alternation of banks of sandstone and of limestone is truly re- markable, and I have seen no where in the Coal Measures such a form- ation as the one indicated by this section. The limestone has no fossil, or at least I could not find any. The shales of the upper coal are re- placed by the Drift, and the lower coal, worked by stripping at Mc- Quilkin's, in the Wabash bottom, is also deprived of its upper shales. Hence it was impossible to get any directions either from palaeontology or from lithological evidence. In supposing that the dip of the meas- ures follows the same direction and grade as indicated at Highland, it would bring here, at the high-water level of the river, the same coal No. 5 as at Cloverport. But the course of the Wabash has perhaps caused some change, or followed a depression formed by some disturbance, and thus the supposition must be confirmed by detailed explorations. The coal of McQuilkin is five to six feet thick, with some brash material at its top, and is overlaid by black shales or a gray bluish sandstone, passing to limestone and forming the base of the former section. The coal has some sulphuret and shales, and is not very compact, owing, OF INDIANA. 331 perhaps, to its proximity to the surface; but it is nevertheless of a good quality. As remarked in the first report of D. D. Owen, pages 38 and 39, coal is found in abundance on Honey creek, township 14 north, range 8 west. From the position of the coal, and the strata accompanying it, it is re- ferable to coal No. 5, or perhaps No. 4. PARKE COUNTY. Near Clinton Lock, on the canal, (south-western corner of the county,) a coal bed is opened at the base of the hills and extensively worked by divers proprietors. It is four to five feet thick, of inferior quality, mixed, like the coal of Cloverland, with streaks of sulphuret, shales and mineral charcoal. It decomposes easily under atmospheric influ- ence. It looks like a fat and caking coal, and is mostly used at Lafay- ette for the furnaces of steam engines. The coal is overlaid by a bank of five to ten feet thick of black, bituminous, laminated, hard shales, containing fossil shells and some remains of fishes. Except Stigmaria, I have not found any plants in the shales. They have the same appear- ance and peculiar thickness as those of coal No. 5, and also of coal No. 9. I refer the coal with some doubt, from the absence of any re- liable character, to the same horizon as the Cloverland coal, or to No. 5. The section of the strata accompanying this coal bed is as follows : FEET. Drift, top of the hills......... 50 Sandstone and shales 40 Shales and fire-clay 20 Black shales, with septaria 10 Coal 5-6 Fire-clay 5 Gray metal to creek 20 The septaria or bowlders of carbonate of lime and iron abound in the shales of Cloverland. But as they are found in connection with all the black shales of blackish or marine origin, they do not afford a reliable character. In examining the outcrop of this coal behind the hills, on the prop- erty of Mr. G. M. Griffith, I found at one place the coal bank burnt to some extent, and the strata, above and below, charged by a kind of Metamorphism, as if they had been exposed to volcanic action. 21 332 GEOLOGICAL EECONNOISSANCE One mile east of Ilockport, the county seat, a high bank of hard sandstone is quarried. It is apparently the Mahoning sandstone. Five miles south-east of the same town, on little Raccoon creek, the coal is exposed at different places. At Mr. John W. Campbell's bank, on section 34, township 15 north, range 7 west, the coal is worked just under a hard fossiliferous limestone, four to six feet thick, divided into two strata. The coal, three feet ten inches thick, is of a beautiful ap- pearance, very black, compact, free from sulphuret and shales, a dry excellent mineral combustible. From the quality and composition of the coal, and from the fossils of its overlying limestone, it is evidently coal No. 3. It is seen at some other exposures in the vicinity. About one mile north of Mr. Campbell's bank the coal is exposed along the creek on a high bank, where the section is : FEET. Coarse, micaceous, soft sandstone 35 Shales? (covered space) 8 Coal No. 4 4 Soft ferruginous shales, with plant of coal No. 3 G Coal 1 Gray micaceous shales and fire-clay 8 At this exposition coal No. 3 and No. 4 come in close proximity, separated by shales only, and without a limestone. The distribution, though abnormal, is seen sometimes, and it even happens that both these coal strata become united, and separated only by a parting of a few inches of shales and shaly clay. On the same creek, somewhat further up, coal No. 4 is immediately overlaid by sandstone, and divided in two or three thin veins, which run and ascend in the sandstone where they become lost. Still further on, the sandstone descends to the level of the creek, and coal No. 4 is worked by trenches or by stripping. On Sugar creek, north and north-west of Annapolis, the country is broken by hills of the Mahoning sandstone, which forms high banks along the creek and its affluents. At its base coal No. 4, and sometimes coal No. 3, are exposed at many places with their general characters, aud mostly covered with shales containing fossil plants. Thus the coal six miles below the narrows, mentioned by Dr. D. Dale Owen (first re- port, page 34,) as yielding the best coke seen in the State is coal No. 4. This coal bank, on the property of Hon. Wm. G. Coffin, is of the same quality. It is only two feet thick, or a little more, and gives also an OF INDIANA. 333 excellent coke much used in the country for burning pottery. It is overlaid by shales and sandstone. At the Lock on Sugar creek a high bank, about 150 feet, mostly composed of soft shales, exposed a fine section of the first part of the measures. Coal No. 4 is near the top of the bank and of the hill, and is separated from coal No. 3 by alternate layers of clay and soft shales, containing plants. Both coal strata are here thin and of no value for working. It is generally the case where the shales take a great devel- opment and alternate with layers of fire-clay. At this section there is also no sandstone and no limestone. The sandstone is higher, and large pieces of limestone are found in the creek which runs at the base of the bluff. Along Sugar creek to the eastward the disposition of the measures is the same for a few miles. The Mahoning sandstone is generally cut in high perpendicular banks, and overlaid by shales of coal No. 4. At the mouth of Roaring creek this sandstone is thirty -five feet high, and the coal at its base is three feet thick, separated in two members by a part- ing of a few inches of shales, containing species of fossil plants char- acteristic of this horizon. At another place, near by, the coal is sepa- rated from the sandstone by its soft, gray, micaceous and fossiliferous shales. On the property of Dr. Dare, on Roaring creek, coal No. 4 is four feet thick, and covered by six feet of the same shales as the former. Sometimes this coal, as near Rockville, is broken in two or three thin strata, which ascend and are lost in the hard sandstone. Sometimes, also, the Mahoning sandstone entirely disappears, and is replaced by a bank of shales, and sometimes, also, even when it is hard and well developed, the shales are found under it without any trace of coal. Sections like those which have been cut at and below the horizon of the Mahoning sandstone, and its accompanying coal strata, are of the greatest interest to the Geologist. Thus, along Roaring creek and Sugar creek, every turn of the creeks, which are running in numerous circuits, exposes a new appearance, a new change in the measures. Coal No. 4, for ex- ample, is seen passing from a homogenous bank of coal three feet thick to four thin beds of coal, separated by partings of shales varying from a few inches to three and four feet thick. Coal No. 3 has generally its horizon lower than the water level o the creeks. It is nevertheless exposed sometimes, as it is remarked above. Near the mouth of Roaring creek it is separated from coal No. 4 by forty feet of shales, containing a bed of rich carbonate of iron ore. This ore is abundant enough to supply a furnace; but it is very 334 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE. hard and compact, and would probably be too refractory in the fire. The shales separating both coal strata have the fossil plants of coal No. 3, and the coal itself is seen just at the level of the creek, where its upper part, the only portion exposed, is a fine Cannel coal. I could not ascertain its thickness. Some more details about the coal of Parke county are found in the first report of Dr. D. Dale Owen, pages 33 and 34. It results from the observations reported above, that Parke county has a great abundance of coal, its geological horizon being mostly be- tween No. 1 A and No. 5 coal, and attaining perhaps as high as No. 9. On the eastern side of the county, on Raccoon creek, &c., coal No. 1 B and 1 C are found, at least most probably exposed, at some places. Coal No. 4 and No. 3 occupy the middle part of the county, and are found there finely developed and of the best quality. Near the Wabash river and along its alluvial deposits coal No. 5 crops out, or is found near the surface. Coal No. 9 occupies probably the hills along the western boundary line of the county. The Mahoning sandstone is still exposed along Sugar creek, on the road to Covington or to Lodi. It is here thirty-feet thick and coal No. 4 is seen cropping out at its base. FOUNTAIN COUNTY. One of the most interesting sections of the Coal Measures of Indi- ana, and also one of the most difficult to explain, is exposed on a bank cut by the Wabash river near the mouth of Coal creek. This section has already been reported by Dr. D. Dale Owen, (first report, page 32,) and somewhat differs from my own. But we have seen already for the section at Grayville, what numerous and repeated variations are found along banks of the Coal Measures, exposed on a certain extent, and how difficult it is to compare two sections, even when they have been made at the same place. My own section, made with a pocket level at a place where the bank is accessible, is : FRET. INCHES. 1. Drift overlying sandstone, (covered) 10 2. Shaly coal 2 3. Fire-clay and yellow soft shales 8 4. Shaly coal 2 5. Black shales and fire-clay 3 6. Soft shales, with plants and sandstone 8 OF INDIANA. 335 FEKT. INCHES. 7. Coal, shaly, No. 3? 2 6 8. Hard fire-clay, with stigmaria 6 9. Black shales and some coal 6 10. Limestone overlying fire-clay 4 11. Limestone 2 12. Coal, (main) 4 13. Fire-clay 3 14. Yellow shaly sandstone to level of the river 8 68 6 Dr. Owen's section measures eighty-four feet. But its lowest stratum, the yellow sandstone, descends to low water and is fifteen feet thick. The difference is accordingly reduced to eight and a half feet. A small difference indeed for a bank like this, which truly varies in composition and thickness at every foot of its horizontal, exposed surface. I was first disposed to admit the extraordinary multiplication of coal strata in this section as one of those divisions to which coal No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11 are sometimes subjected, when the intermediate meas- ures are wanting, and they become thus blended in one thick, irregular bed, separated in members of various thickness by partings of shales and of limestone. But on comparing the upper part of the bluff with some of the divisions of coal No. 4, at Sugar creek, and especially by finding under sandstone No. 6 (of the section) some fossil plants of species generally connected with coal No. 4, 1 now believe that we have at this place a union and sub-division of coal No. 4 and No. 3, and even perhaps of No. 5 above. At ClOverland coal No. 5 is divided in two, or, in some places, three strata, and supposing that the Mahoning sand- stone has been here greatly reduced, the section would be easily ex- plained. That there is no great anomaly in the reduction of the Ma- honing is proved by what is seen along Sugar creek, where this sand- stone is sometimes replaced by shales, or is entirely absent. In a boring for salt, opened from under the main coal, or from the top of the sand- stone exposed above the mean water level of the Wabash river, Mr. Thomas, the proprietor of the coal bank, reached the conglomerate salt at 209 feet. (See section in the first report of Dr. D. Dale Owen, page 45.) This would give us about 300 feet of measures from the top of the Millstone Grit to the top of my section of Coal creek. In admitting the ordinary reduction of the Coal Measures towards their borders, we would have the average distance from the top of the Millstone Grit to 336 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE the Mahoning sandstone. For these reasons I consider the strata Noa. 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the above section as belonging to coal No. 5 ; the No. 6 of the section as representing the Mahoning sandstone and the shales of coal No. 4 ; the strata No. 7, 8 and 9 as belonging to coal No. 4, and Nos. 10 and 11 of the section as the shales and the limestone of coal No. 3, which underlies them. In the boring reported by Dr. Owen a sandstone, seventy feet thick, is marked as overlying a bed of coal nine to ten feet in thickness. The last is probably formed by an alternation of the very black, bituminous, somewhat cannel shales of No. 1 C, united with coal No. 1 B, and the 130 feet shales and sandstone to the first salt, represent the base of the Coal Measures above the Millstone Grit. These conclusions appear to me satisfactory enough ; neverthe- less they can not be considered as perfectly reliable. For it may be, as it has been stated before, that the strata of the bluff of Coal creek show the geological horizon of the part of the measures containing coal No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11. But, if it was so, we should be called to explain the difference of 400 feet at least, which would be wanting in the measures between the top of the Millstone Grit and the base of the Anvil Rock sandstone. And to do it, it would be necessary to sup- pose : that according to what has happened at many places, especially along the margins of the Coal Measures, whole strata are entirely wanting, either from deundation or from non-formation. In Illinois, for example, near Colchester, coal No. 3 immediately overlies the con- glomerate formation, and at Lasalle the highest strata of the Coal Meas- ures almost immediately overlie a formation of the middle Silurian. But at Coal creek the distance to the border of the Coal Measures is still too great to permit the supposition of such disposition of the entire strata. Moreover, the section of the borings through the lower part of the Coal Measures and of the sub-carboniferous formations, show all the principal members in their normal position. The first salt by boring, or the soft brine, as it is generally called, is found within the Millstone Grit, at various depths from its upper sur- face. In Kentucky, on the Little Sandy river, near Grayson, it is found at nine feet deep. This salt water, as it is generally called, is too soft to give a remunerative result by evaporation. The average distance from the top of the Millstone Grit to the salt of the sub-carboniferous sandstone is 500 feet. I have measured it in many places in Virginia, along the great Kanawha river, in Pennsylvania, in Ohio, in Kentucky, even in Arkansas. By mentioning the result of these observations to Mr. Thomas, who is a practical miner especially well acquainted with OF INDIANA. 337 the researches for salt, he confirmed these views by his own experience. Thus a great deal of useless expense and disappointment in the searches for salt would he spared by a preliminary and geological examination of the country, and the exact determination of the geological horizon. From this determination one could know within about fifty feet the depth at which the soft and the hard brine could be reached. Except the borings of Mr. Thomas, I do not know of any other that have been made along the Wabash river, though it is evident that strong brine could be found all along the Wabash river, at a depth correspond- ing with the geological horizoji of each county. A few other exposures of coal in Fountain county are mentioned in Dr. D. Dale Owen's report, pages 31, 32 and 33. The whole section of the boring at Mr. Thomas' is mentioned in the same volume, pages 45 to 49. WARREN COUNTY. I have examined the Coal Measures of this county only at Williams- port and around that place. Just opposite the railroad depot of Wil- liamsport, the Millstone Grit is exposed on a perpendicular bank at the falls of the creek. The bank is quarried and gives an excellent build- ing stone. It is seventy to eighty feet thick, and underlaid by micaceous shales. These shales, at least where I have seen them exposed, do not contain any coal. The town of Williamsport is built just at the base of a high bank of soft black shales, intermixed with carbonate of iron. They are marked with remains of fossil plants, and have some traces of coal. Above this bank of shales (twenty feet thick) there is a somewhat conglomer- atic and ferruginous sandstone, that is referable to the Millstone Grit, at least to an upper member of this formation. At Williamsport I could get only scant information about the coal strata of the county, and found nobody to direct me to some of its outcrops. From the direction of the limiting line of the coal basin of Indiana, which passed from Independence northward to Pine Village, it is pretty certain that two beds of coal, which are said to be exposed on Big Pine creek, the one five miles, the other twelve miles north-west of Williamsport, belong to the sub-conglomerate coal. These beds are two feet thick. Of course no other coal can be found by boring below this one, and the place of coal Fos. 1 A and I B can be looked for only in the hills or above the general level, along the western boundary line of the county. 338 GEOLOGICAL EECONNOISSANCE YERMILLION COUNTY. This county has the same coal as that of Fountain county, at the mouth of Coal creek, but at a lower level. Thus, on Yermillion river, the Hughs' bank (reported by Dr. D. Dale Owen, vol. 1, page 35,) is exactly the upper part of the high bank exposed at Mr. Thomas' on Coal creek. It is the part referable to coal No. 5, and it is here near the level of the creek. A remark of D. D. Owen about the general geological features of Vermillion county confirms my opinion about the place of this coal. He says, page 37, that he has not seen sandstone in this county suitable for the furnace hearth-stones; but that probably some can be found, if not in Yermillion, at least in Parke and Foun- tain counties. The Mahoning sandstone is often hard and compact enough to give good building and hearth stones. From the direction of the dip this sandstone passes under the Wabash river in entering Yermillion county, and the upper part of the measures, in their whole thickness of 400 feet, has no sandstone hard enough to be used for building purpose. In the neighborhood of Newport, on . a branch of Bennett's creek, a coal bank is exposed and somewhat worked. It is overlaid by about five feet of black, bituminous, fossiliferous shales, which have the char- acters of those of coal No. 9. As this bed is pretty high up in the hills it is probably the equivalent to coal No. 9. It is separated by a bank of twenty feet of black, and sometimes yellow, ferruginous shales from another coal bed, one foot thick. The shales have all the litho- logical characters of coal No. 8, but do not have any fossils. Thus, in Yermillion county, near its western boundary line, and where the hills are somewhat high, coal No. 9, No. 8, and even No. 11 can be found. The first one is generally of good workable thickness and of good qual- ity. Along the Wabash river and near the base of the hills, coal No. 5 has its geological horizon, and may be found at many places. SULLIYAN COUNTY. Near Farmersburg a coal bank is owned by Messrs. Elliot and Sharp, and worked by a shaft of about fifty feet, that has the following section : OF INDIANA. 339 Drift and soil 10 Soft micaceous shales 8 Sandstone (hard and compact) 23 Soft stone 3 Shales, soft and soapstone, with plants 3 Coal 3 6 The soft shales overlying the coal have the fossil plants characteris- tic of coal No. 4. I thus ascertain the geological horizon of this coal, and of the overlying sandstone, the Mahoning. The coal has the aver- age quality of coal No. 4. It is compact, has much carbon, is free of sulphuret, and would make an excellent coke. In shafting twenty to thirty feet lower, coal No. 3 could be reached and both banks worked together. Three miles east of Currysville, on Busseron creek, a bank of coal four to five feet thick is exposed on the property of Mr. Ladson. It is overlaid by two inches of black, soft, brittle shales, a true brash coal, and then by four to five feet of soft gray shales or soapstone, where I could not find any fossil plants. Over this there is a bed of coarse, shaly sandstone, passing upward to a hard sandstone. Its thickness could not be ascertained. This coal is the equivalent to the former and the section is nearly the same. I did not examine any other coal in Sullivan county; but from in- formation received, it appears that three miles east of Farmersburg, at Mr. Dufley's, a coal bank, five feet thick, is exposed and worked. On the farm of Busseron creek, on the farm of Mr. Thos. Creager, section 13, township 7 north, range 9 west, a coal of unknown thickness was reached at fifteen feet below the surface, by digging a well. Judging from the general direction of the dip of the strata, and from the lime- stone that is exposed in the creek above this coal, it is referable to No. 3. Some other coal strata of this State are mentioned in the first report of D. D. Owen, page 39. The position of Sullivan county indicates coal No. 4 all along the line of the railroad, and on both sides of it. Coal No. 3 and No. 2 on its eastern parts, where coal No. 1 B may be reached by borings at 100 feet, and coal No. 5 and No. 6 on the Wabash valley. 340 IDEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE KNOX COUNTY. The middle and western part of this county is occupied by the Ma- honing sandstone, forming high banks along the Wabash valley, north of Yincennes and near the Ohio and Mississippi railroad, especially near Wheatland. Coal is seen at different places underlying this sand- stone. About three miles east of Wheatland it is worked somewhat high in the hills, four to five feet thick, and gives a fine coal of excel- lent quality, free from sulphuret and with the general characters of this coal. It is there overlaid by a great bank of hard sandstone, from which it is separated by only four to six inches of soft brittle shales, full of fossil plants. The sandstone is quarried for constructions. It is compact, fine grained, hard and resisting to atmospheric influence. After passing the meridian of Yincennes to the eastward, and on the other side of the Wabash river, coal No. 4 is only attainable by shafts. On the west fork of White river coal No. 2 and No. 3 may be found exposed along the eastern boundary line of this county, and coal No. 1 can be reached by shafts at about 130 feet from the low water level. GIBSON COUNTY. The coal exposed in Gibson county, mostly along White river, could not be examined on account of high water. It is the only county of the State where I have not examined an out-crop of coal. From what I have seen of the distribution of the strata in Pike county, the geologi- cal horizon of Gibson county is mostly between coal No. 4 and No. 9, an unfavorable place to see coal out-croping at the surface, while the whole thickness between these coal beds is mostly a series of strata bar- ren of coal. Coal No. 4 may be still seen out-cropping near the eastern boundary line of the county, as the Mahoning sandstone, according to Dr. D. Dale Owen's statement, is exposed on Patoka river, three miles above Columbia, where it has been quarried for building bridges along the railroad track. The same coal, and also No. 3, may be reached on both sides of the railroad by borings from twenty to one hundred feet deep. OF INDIANA. 341 CONCLUSIONS. I sincerely regret that want of time prevented the examination of a greater number of exposed coal banks, and that I am unable to give to each proprietor of coal satisfactory information about the geological position and the value of his coal lands. My general remarks, never- theless, will suffice to direct the researches for coal, to appreciate the riches of the combustible mineral of the coal measures of Indiana, and to clearly demonstrate the value of a detailed survey and the advan- tages that would result to every proprietor of coal lands of an exact acquaintance with the useful minerals which they may contain at various geological horizons. Until such a survey can be made in Indiana, or rather in prosecuting it, the determination of the strata along the Wabash river, along White river and its principal branches, and along the lines of the railroad, would be for the State of the greatest importance. It would certainly excite an enterprising spirit, bring money to such places where specula- tion promises to be profitably rewarded, and in any case greatly increase the price of the land. REPORT OF PROF. LESLEY PHILADELPHIA, December, 1860. Eichard Owen, M. D.: DEAR SIR : As per instructions received from your brother, Dr. David Dale Owen, I made, in the month of October last, a topographical and geographical survey of that portion of the Indiana coal field lying around the town of Cannelton, in fractional township 7 south, range 3 west, Perry county. The plan pursued was the same as that in the Fourche Cove, Arkan- sas, examination, and the survey so made presents the following results: 1st. That the cost of extending such a series of examinations over the whole State of Indiana I estimate at $150 per township field and office work included. 2d. That 477 feet of Coal Measures and Millstone Grit formation are exposed in the district examined, and occur in the following order and thickness, from the top of the highest ground in the township down to the top of the sub-carboniferous limestone, which last shows itself in the bed of Deer creek, on the east edge of the township : FEET. INCITES. 477 Thin bedded sandstone, shaly towards the upper part 77 Band of highly ferruginous sandstone 4 The so-called " Top Rock," being a thick-bedded, homo- genous, fine grained, cream-colored sandstone, exten- sively quarried for building purposes. It is easily worked, but hardens by exposure 70 325 Top coal vein i^sfc Gray shales containing thin bands of nodular iron ore... 48 273 Main Cannelton coal vein 4 Fire-clay & 344 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE FEET. INCHES. Shales and schistose sandstone, containing a heavy band of Kidney iron ore 35 feet below the main coal vein... 53 214 Lower Cannelton coal vein 1 1 Fire-clay 4 Shales : 10 The so-called " Bottom Rock." Thick bedded sandstone sometimes quarried for buildings and tombstones 40 Thin bedded sandstone 35 125 Coal streak 00 Massive sandstone and conglomerate 70 Covered space, probably sandstone 55 Top of the sub-carboniferous limestone, at the mouth of Deer creek 00 3d. That the iron ores in this district are so thinly dissiminated through the shales as not to warrant the erection of a blast furnace, with the exception perhaps of a band of kidney ore thirty-five feet be- low the main coal, which might be mined by stripping, and the ore then mixed with Missouri ore and thus form a good iron. 4th. That four beds of coal are seen the first or lowest is but a streak, and lies immediately upon the conglomerate, or 125 feet above the sub-carboniferous limestone. The second, or "Lower Cannelton vein," lies 90 feet above the first, or 214 feet above the limestone, and has an average thickness of thir- teen inches. It is bright and fractures in very small and irregularly shaped pieces. A bed of fine fire-clay, four feet in thickness, underlies it. The third, or "Main Cannelton coal," lies 60 feet above the last named, or 237 feet above the sub-carboniferous limestone, and is that which has been so extensively worked for a number of years past for steamboats and manufactories. This coal shows a laminated structure and breaks in cubes. A bench of sulphurous coal divides the vein into two bands the upper averaging twelve inches in thickness, and the lower thirty-six inches. Locally this coal vein thins to a mere streak, as will be hereafter shown. It lies upon a five foot bed of fire-clay, and has for the most part a compact, gray, sandy shale roof, though in some localities this shale has disappeared and the roof is composed of the sandstone of the " Top Rock." The fourth, or "Upper Cannelton vein," lies 52 feet above the main vein, or 325 feet above the limestone, and averages eighteen inches in OF INDIANA. 345 thickness. It has the same general characteristics as the second or lower vein. 5th. That the general dip of the strata is, as shown upon the accom- panying map, E". 76J "W., its average fall being 33 feet to the mile. 6th. That this dip is not regular, but in long, low waves, and that these last are crossed at right angles by similar waves. These waves cause the leading peculiarity of this portion of the coal fields, and also have been the cause of much perplexity and pecuniary loss to those who have undertaken to develop the resources of this district, for the main coal vein has always been found to become thin and sometimes even to disappear upon the crests of these waves, thus reducing very much the area of workable coal, and throwing it, so to speak, into pockets which are difficult to strike, without a previous careful geologi- cal and topographical survey, the eye of the practical miner, even train- ed as it may be, not being so certain to detect these disturbances as a careful examination by compass and level. In the tunnel north of Cannelton this thinning out of the coal vein can be plainly followed. A shaving off of the coal vein would express this better as will be seen by the accompanying section the whole four feet of coal, with its sulphur band, not being compressed into a streak only, but just the upper bench of coal disappears, then the sul- phur band, and finally the lower bench of coal, thus: ^Tunnel. Upper band. 2r band. 7th. That the strata decrease in thickness westward, even to entire absence, as in the case of the shales overlying the main coal in the tun- nel, where these measure forty-six feet in thickness, whilst at the old Fulton banks, two miles to the westward, they have entirely disappear- ed the roof of the coal being formed of the so-called "Top Kock" mentioned in the section above ; and 8th. That besides these waves there is a fault running along the south side of the valley of Caney Fork, of Deer creek, and in a direction parallel to that of the general dip of the strata. At right angles to this fault and running into it is another, not so long, and showing itself on the east side of the valley of " Hayden Meadow." These faults are occasioned by an upthrow of the strata o the sub-carboniferous lime- stones, which, along Caney Fork of Deer creek, form the blufts along that stream, and dip into the hills at an angle of 60 in a S. S. W. direc- tion. APPENDIX, TABLE OF ALTITUDES IN INDIANA. COUNTY. PLACE. !s" +3 15 -a QJ .?i * %~z 03 cS .5 Allen . ... Fort Wayne, surface of Maumee Feet. 720 80 441 562 482 913 49? 919 428 926 823 598 353 426 467 481 i 784 750 548 450 639 655 399 6aO 500 6!^ 5M 771 744 822 593 599 830 400 350 297 701 878 740 538 492 483 433 361 650 638 733 678 Benton Jasper find White .. Grand Prairie, average Olarke Cass Logansport Lawrenceburgh (high water in the Ohio) . Decatur . Greensburgh t Muncietown (White river surface). .. Patoka above mill dam, at Jasper Fayette . .. Milton Fayette Franklin .. White Water, at Brookville Floyd Low water in Ohio, at New Albany Flovd New Albany, Court House White river, at Bloomfield Princeton, (sill of Court House doorj Grant . Mississinewa at Marion . .. .. Hamilton Noblesville ... Jackson . . . . Rockford (below mill-dam) . Jefferson .... Madison (high water in the Ohio) Jennings Johnson. Knox Vincennes, (high water in Wabash) Lawrence Bedford Court House Lake, Porter and Laporte Marion . Indianapolis . . . Martin .. Mt Pleasant Monroe . Bloomington Court House . Montgomery Crawfordsville Court House .... .. .. White river at Andersontown Gosport on the hill Putnam .. Greencastle Court House Posey ... . Posey ... .... Low water in Wabash fit Nt'vv Harmony. Posey , Mouth of Wabash St Joseph Devil Lake St. Joseph Shelby Tippecanoe LaFavette Court HOUSP . . . Tippecanoe. Wabash at LaFayette Vieo . Terre Haute southern part of town Vigo... . Wabash at Terre Haute Wabash W abash \V & s ii in cr t o D Rnlpm Hnnrt. Hnnsft Average height of land in the Stateof Indiana 22 348 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE EXTRA-LIMITAL ALTITUDES, FOR COMPARISON. UNITED STATES. Above Sea. Feet. Alabama, Huntsville... , 600 Arkansas, Hot Springs 718 Arkansas, Fort Smith 460 California, Sierra Nevada 10.000 to 12,000 California, Passes to Sierra Nevada 4,700 Florida, Pensacola 20 Georgia, Savannah 30 Georgia, Augusta 300 Illinois and Wisconsin, Prairie of Illinois and Wisconson 950 Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri, mouth of Ohio ... 275 Kansas, Fort Scott 1,000 Kansas, Fort Leavenworth 896 Kansas, Fort Riley 1,300? Kentucky, Louisville 441 Kentucky, Central Kentucky 800 Louisiana, New Orleans 20 Louisiana, Baton Rouge 41 Massachusetts, Cambridge Observatory... 71 Maryland, Baltimore 90 Maryland and Virginia, Blue Ridge, (average) 1,800 Missouri, St. Louis 480 Missouri, Jefferson Barracks 472 Mississippi, Vicksburg 350 Minnessota, Fort Snelling 820 New York, West Point, (U. S. M. A.) 167 New York, NiagaraFort., 250 New York, Mt. Marcy 6,344 Nebraska, Fort Kearney 2,360 Nebraska, Fort Laramie 4,519 North Carolina, Blue Ridge 2,200 New Mexico, El Paso 3,830 New Mexico, Fort Webster 6,350 New Mexico, Taos 8,000 Ohio, Laka Erie 565 Ohio, Cincinnati, lower part 432 feet, upper part 550 Ohio, Portsmouth 540 Oregon, Rocky Mountains, at 115 longitude, (W.) 8,000 Gregon, Fremont's Peak 13,570 Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, (Penn. Hospital) , 30 South Carolina, Charleston 30 Texas and New Mexico, Staked Plains, from 3,000 to 4,000 Tennessee, Nashville* 460 Tennessee, Knoxville 960 Tennessee. Cumberland river, at Nashville 388 Tennessee, Memphis '. 400 Utah, Humboldt River Valley 6,506 Virginia, Fort Monroe 8 Wisconsin, Milwaukee '593 BRITISH POSSESSIONS. Lake Winipeg 853 RUSSIAN AMERICA. Mt. St. Elias, highest point in North America 17,900 ^According to some authorities 533 feet above the ocean; probably this is on the summit of U'livvsitv l r T. OF INDIANA. 349 WEST INDIES. Above Sea. Feet. Island of Cuba, Havanna 50 SOUTH AMERICA. Chile, Tupangata, (highest point in South America) 22,480 EUROPE. England, London 50 Scotland, BenNevis 4,368 Germany, Berlin 115 France, Paris 222 Switzerland, Geneva 1,280 Switzerland, Mt. Blanc, (highest point in Europe) 15,750 Italy, Rome 170 Russia, St. Petersburgh 20 ASIA. China, Canton .. 40 Himalaya Mountains, Kunchinjinga, highest known point in Asia and in the world.. 28,178 APKICA. Algiers 310 350 GEOLOGICAL EECONNOISSANCE ill yls, 1*1 *3 5 c sf s 111 3g * Ego fes >> g I a t-i 1 d d cj -r 3 . H .- ! 1 *-, is 4 c S 3 1 o * ^2 ^^ i"."' d i |l 1 :::.:: ! a e 1 ""^ 1 I--tJ S 3 8 3-3 ! flu I i ! i I ! |! cSQ-So^cS ^O rt^ ^fl ^ | O I I 11 S-asl^-a-s.&'a 5 II S5|| 2 3 2 gj I -i f e fe g 55 5 5 6 66 5, H 1 v^-v^' L| ii flj a> |2| 53 3 fS^^ .- 3 5 5 1 isil Plants. J. S . <^^o g" .J .2 co . a .-^ -si .5 Jrlifci i 5 W < 5*^ o J^; o Q O 3 ^ !^ c&W -<<3oA^o^^o6 "p,^ 2 'g 2 5 *- , ~ , - / ^--_ - <'^ *-^ Y '^ ^-^y-- / 0) tf) Pf,""" J-( t>> H 10 ^ i -e-s -I ^ s .S s "2 s-SiSl! ^ H 1 ' _ 7 ^g-B! 8 I 1 5 '3 03 * M ^ 8 | Q H is 1 $ > 73 i ft -a ai I j II 1 i s 5 q ^ *l 1 1 II i 1 I 1 pj s I j* 1 5 - '5 I S fl o | g 1 s s 11 o g,2 i^~ o ,2 u S H 1 I 1 ll 1 ^ jW S le 1 1 11 g ^ 3 s LI ^ I !H?i Illli jifT % j S2^^^ |> '-^ bO^a} ^ 3 a & B^8g| &Is^ l^|l 3! s l! Ijlft s a 111.^ gS 6 Jtf siJjf crSl-s^ If 111 Pi*l sil|| Ifi 1 1 S * 12:11 {}Ki Illil S^-SO ^H-S^^P, Iliff 1 1 1 S isi^ niig 111^-1 !s^ T|s,&i Ci*Bi r^ w g^N g-j^ ' (S * '" I 1 |g jj fe T3 cf b-a 6| c ^"^ ""-^ p| if} Lias and Ooli Wealden. -ol i||l to wE-i Slijjfi jii ijj * 3 >H O> Q *r o o ^"3 | a ^ ^ 1 -g 1 IS -2 53 C s e 1 1 ^ eS^ | a" p S g~ | f 1 I ej 1 ^ t ^ S f 1? S |j 1 s -sS IS 1". ?! 1 a oT ** " '5 |l Is iit *^S JM< |s~Ji;a II 8| s^ i |i S^a 3 ft a . 3 ^M f 1 | N d \-v-w v, &~ & ,J^,Jz~ ' * f M lias X S I | s|i^ & 1 1 ! fill S i-3 ^ 7> J2 1 So r | ^ 1 c, CO ^3 s ^l|-^ 1 Is 6^ si f J y E O 1 8s i ijlllii il 3 i il & 1 ^ '|5i ^ O 'Sb'2 ) '? '? '*s 2 rf o o ci 3 ! 1 *- v ^ V JV J 3 S .8 . ||| 5 1S| 1^1 -^5 X *H t- > ja 1 ^s 5 o if 2 w S ^ a ^^' fl 53 S 13 o - 1 2 .Si S 4. Gymnospermous Phan mnospermous Dicotyledons. 3 destitute of capsules, but idation. Pithwood and bark . AngiospermouSjMonocotyl ogamia. j of the leaves parallel. Typ i of whole, 3. Growth of stei out (Endogens). No pith gs. . Angiospermous, Dicotyled ;amia. tion of leaves crossing lil rical composition of whole, 5 th or new deposit outside, n hwood. Medullary rays and ] is.) Closed ovary. "3 1 1 > * d&fl 1111*3 w o S K f ja S d 2 gn sS fee ft w ft > ft k 352 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCB BKOHGFIAKTS CLASSIFICATION OF FEKKS. As some persons may prefer to have the exact classification of Ferns adopted by Brongniart, it is here subjoined, premising that it is founded upon the distribution of the mid-rib or main tube, transmitting nour- ishment from the petiole to the apex of the leaf. In French this is termed nervure> while the smaller tubes or finer ramifications of the leaf are called, in French, nervules, by English botanists, veins : I. Nerves pinnated, veins not reticulated. * | A. Mid-rib or nerve simple, bifurcated or pinnated. 1. Frond simple, veins simple or bifurcated Teniopteris. 2. Pinnules simple or semi-pi nnatifid, with equal lobes, veins slight- ly oblique to the mid-rib or median nerve Pecopteris. 3. Pinnules deeply lobed, lobes crossing and diverging; nerve bi- furcating or bipinnate; oblique ..Sphenopteris. B. Veins diehotomous, very oblique on the median nerve. 4. Frond simple Glossopteris. 5. Pinnules adhering to the base of the rachis ; veins growing from this rachis; no median nerve Odontopteris. 6. Pinnules not adhering to the rachis: (a) Pinnules entire, symmetrical Neuropteris. (b) Pinnnules entire or lobed, very inequilateral, principal nerve almost marginal Loxopteris. (c) Pinnules flabelliform (fanshaped) lobed 'Leptopteris. (d) Pinnules palmated, with pinnated nerves on each lobe Cheiropteris. II. Veins flabelliform, no principal nerve. A. Veins pedunculated Cyclopteris. B. Fasciculated veins, radiating dichotomously Symenopteris. C. Frond deeply lobed; lobes one-nerved Schizopteris. III. Nerves anastomosing. A. Secondary nerves all equal and reticulated; no free nerve Lonchopteri*. B. Principal nerves forming a square grating; veins reticulated, none free Clathropteri*. C. Nerves unequal, areolar, a portion terminating freely, in these are- ole or inter-spaces Phlebopteri*. OF INDIANA. 353 liHiiflli! i ' 5 jr| I ^_jLL_>.2 "^ s ? I ifs5 jt8 ii* 354 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE r S3 ft I II ^ If ^ il ,S| 52 s ! :s ^ i i- o < -<=.2CS > *H3S tE-S SI ^ II, 13 II 11 |, 11 2nS n 25 K^ ^2 - ll^la Uffl "a^ ^1 fiS-sl ^'fel s=g . l' ! T3^ W C bO w 1| ^; G *| g>S -c >> ^|S ^-g S fill I i S R BTS -ofP! l^tl ft- Tsa .'S 2 M i 5 -2 * 1 -a ]2n*iii! c3ni.2* sS'S 2 73,0* o^l^ g g;a.Hil%|ji, ^^.S^^^loO' gS)5i: a5 2^ ;G lill^fpi"! iFg-slUll S3^S;5ueSc> I^f.&f ill ag 65 ti ^4 >> ^g O^i QJ It! ^^ rQ 3 ^3T3 O H^'o n > ^ IP - SMl i >>* 1111 ^ ill s. .So _3 & be 2 ^'3 ^-S^ -<* ES|ta3^I? o p 3 3 rf l * S " o e.2 ^^ ^ Qc2 * Irllllf* * ^Is iz'l^l,^ I |a (Inflj 1 1? to 2 1 j i ! i |i * OP INDIANA. 355 SYNOPSIS OF THE CLASS POLYPI.* Radiated animals without locomotive organs, with one or more circles of contractile tentacles around the mouth, having a central visceral cavity, presenting but one opening for the reception of food, and discharge of excretions ; containing also the reproductive organs when they exist. Reproduction fissiparous, also by gemmae (buds) and ovules (eggs.) I. SUB-CLASS COEALLARIA, (Actinoidea of Dana.) The Polypary. where it exists, is usually calcareous ; may be tubular, cyathoid, discoid, or basilar, but never has tubular, horny stems ; gastric cavity surrounded by membra- nous vertical lamella). I. ORDER ZOAKTHAEIA. Polyps furnished with conical, tubu- lar, simple or arborescent tentacles, not bipinnated, and with numerous membranous lamellae. SEC. 1. Zoantharia Malacodermata. Darma tissue fleshy, not a true cal- careous polypary . 1. Fam. Actinidaj. 2. Fam. Cerianthidaa. 3. Fam. Minyadae. SEC. 2. Zoantharia Aporosa. Dermal, sclerotic, calcareous polypa- ry; septal system well developed imperforate, derived from six primi- tive rays. No diaphragms, (floors.^ The most star-shaped of all corals t Genera. 1. Fam. Turbinolidas. ?Turbinolia. (Flabellum, &c. 2. Fam. Oculinidae. rCaryophyllia. J Meandrina. ] Stylina. (.Astrea, &c. rFungi 3. Fam. Astreidas. B. Gymnosomata. i. Terebratulidas. Terebratula, Terebratella, 3 Argiope, Thecidium, Strin- 3 n. Spiriferldae. gocephalus. Spirifera, Athyris, Retzia, r^ Uncites. CLASS IV. in. Rhynchonellidae. Bhynchonella, Camaropho- ria, Pentamerus, Atrypa. Erachiopoda. < rv. Orthidee. Orthis, Strophomena, Lep- taana, JKoninckia, Davidso- nia, Calceola. v. Iroductidae. Producta, Aulosteges, Stro- phalosia, Chonetes. vi. Craniadae. Crania. vii. Discinidae. Discina, Siphonotreta. L vui. Lingulidae. Lingula, Obolus. '-. I 1 i. Ostreidje. n. Aviculidaa. ni. Mytilidaa. rv. Arcada3. CLASS V. v. Tringoniadaa. vi. TJnionidaB. Conchifera . . - vn. Chamidaa. Sec. A. vm. Hippuridaa. rx. Tridacnidae. ''ic/" Siphonida x. Cardiadaa, xi. Lucinidae. Integropallialia . xn. Cycladidae. xin. Cyprinidaa. xrv. Veneridae. Sec. B. xv. Mactridse. xvi. Tellinidae. Siphonida xvn. Solenidae. xviii. Myacidaa. Sinupallialia.... xix. Anatinidae. xx. Gastrochoenidae. xxi. Pholadidaa. i. Ascidiadas. CLASS VI. n. Clavellinidaa. in. Botryllidae. Tunicata rv. Pyromidaa. v. Salpidae. OF INDIANA. 357 CQ 1 S g OQ g^ O ^ M ^ r^i L^J p H H^ <1 O fr o w > !! T3 1 1 d . j c3 rt Ti *rt *rt 5|11 I a " a e? prtiil if ul 1 *! * j .1? 53 as . * > S3 1 - * 8 Wflffi g^S-^SSSaa* ^ - - >^ -_- ^^ ^S^^N^^^^S^^ S^%^^^ V ^ S^^V^^ (laaj OOO'I o? OOS raooj) ^IOI91Bnf) JO 'OIOZOINOHYJ (?aaj OOO'S 8 I!i ano jnoqs JO o* 000 - t raojj) ^aaj OOO'A inoqy) jo 'OIOZONIVO jo ' pagpBJ^safi 10 snoauSj jo ssan J S88 O jaa eq^ joj ('sJapuiBip JBIOJ paw tBiJo-jBnbg aq} ua^Mjaq aouB^si ) 'sanra xjs-AuaAinnoqB jo a^B8aaS3B UB 8Aq BM 'amBs aqj ^ q; uiiiaas'sB 'Suiaq saSw snoaajinissoj jo oioz i^o^ aq'j puB ' siq; uiiaassB uiaq saSw snoaajinissoj jo oioz naa^iiq; ;noqr? ?B SI[DOJ snoaajinssoj-uou jo oiozy aq^ jo ssaanoiq^ aq; Suiumssy aq^ Suisudraoo ' ao saoaa&y 358 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE *z* S ^ -g 'C & 1 o t 1 1 111 .111? 11 9 M it JB ' b * ^^2* h o S ** b I'S s, | s.|s.s^s|s s.s ries. ed. te d. yr Co ss Hi (pitqi TJ put? aura auo?noq ao ';39j OOO'Z ;noqy) OOO'SS OOO'SS ?tioqs xuoij) JO 'OIOZOI3JI JO 'OIOZOMTTJ S3IOOH paunBj;sufi JO snoauSj jo ssatnpiqj ja^aiS qonra Xiqt?qojd jo \vribz UB no 9ui}S3i *SJ[ooH pagijBa^g oqj jo sseujjoiq; ajpua eq^ joj ('sja^auiBip JBJOJ put? iBUBirmbg aq; uaaAvpq aouaaajjip aqj ^(J^au jo) 'saitui xis-^uaMj ^noqw jo a^BSajSSB UB aABq QJA. 'auiBS aq^ ^juau 'ajqB^ siq} ui uaas SB 'Suiaq ssSv snoaajmssoj ao oioz i?o; aqj pus 'saitra uaajaiq; ^noqB ?B s^ooi snojajnissoj-uou jo oiozy aqj jo ssauj{oiq^ aq; Suiuinssy 9JHQ9 9q^ Sotsuduioo ao saosuoy OF INDIANA. 359 II __ *>*> -* 3,8 . sf.sli-'iij&'s ilflulifa - -S.. i gM < 5 2 :J"^.S g r* rJ> g ^fe^^i G _!_*. "!H i sSsSgS^c g^2 ^S^fesSS l^as&ll 1 !?!' Illlllllll s^es^aoo^&SC W OOCMOffi t3QO O &d' ^->. S i-T ^- 3 S ? s ^ B .. |w.li| S " c* g " W$l T c ^c - ;l !il! ^Pllllill I Mifli !H i e-s c - ^ c^"S *- ^^Illlll II gs &?" IS lf s ! 6 saitin i inoqti joj Ss JO ao 'oiozy 360 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCB. ANALYSIS OF THE LOUISVILLE AND JEFFERSONVILLE HYDRAULIO LIMESTONE .* BY DR. PETEE, SEE PAGE 220, SECOND VOLUME, KENTUCKY REPORT. Hydraulic Limestone, (uriburnt,) "from the Falls of the Ohio River, at Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky. 11 A greenish-gray, dull, fine granular limestone, adheres slightly to the tongue; powder light gray. Composition dried at 212 F. Carbonate of Lime, 60.43=28.29 Lime. Carbonate of Magnesia 18.67= 8.89 Magnesia. Alumina y^d oxides of Iron and Manganese 2.93 Phosphor* acid * .06 Sulphuric acid 1.58 Potash 32 rSilica 22.58 Soda : .13 I Alumina, colored with oxide of iron 2.88 Silica and insoluble silicates 25.78 { Lime, Magnesia and Loss 32 Loss 10 I I 25.78 100.00 The air-dried rock lost .70 per cent, of moisture at 212 F. ANALYSIS OF A HYDRAULIC LIMESTONE FROM PENDLETON, MADISON CO., IND. BY R. OWEN. Moisture expelled from one gramme at 300 F 0.0085 Insoluble silicates 0.3400 Peroxide of iron, and alumina 0.0020 Carbonate of lime 0.1340 Carbonate of Magnesia 0.2409 Alkalies, loss, &c., undetermined 0.2746 1.0000 ANALYSIS OF A HYDRAULIC LIMESTONE FROM LOGANSPORT, CASS CO., INDIANA. BY R. OWEN. Moisture expelled from one gramme at 300 F ., 0.0030 Insoluble silicates 0.0215 Peroxide of iron, and alumina 0.0360 Carbonate of lime 0.1840 Carbonate of Magnesia 0.2750 Alkalies, loss, &c., undetermined 0.4805 1.0000 *This limestone is exactly of the same character on the two sides of the river; seepage 107 of this report. DESCRIPTION OF FOSSILS. No. 1. Syphonia digitata. Formerly named and described by Dr. D. D. Owen, in the Ken- tucky Geological Report, but never figured. The cut represents only a part of the body of this amorphozoon, and is one third the natural size. Usually the body is spheroidal with seven or nine points of attachment, three of which, broken, are represented in the cut. The central elevation appears to have been tubular, and the substance made up of cellular tissue, containing probably calcareous spicules, constituting altogether a type of the simplest form of animal life, similar to other spongy Sarcodans, such as our present sponge of commerce. This fossil occurs abundantly in the Lower Silurian, near Frankfort, Ky., and will probably be found in portions of Indiana with a similar geological horizon. Although extra limital, this interesting specimen of the first dawn of animal existence was thought worthy of being lignographed. No. 2. Halt/sites sexto-catenatus. This is perhaps only a variety of the H. catenularia or FI. escharoides ; but seems to diifer from the other chain corals in having each individual poly- pary more uniformly enclosed by six-sided vertical sutures than in any other species; this suggested the specific name. This may, however, not be a sufficiently constant or distinctive form of the mural system, to constitute a new species, as we know that a mass of spherical semi-solid bodies exposed to considerable lateral pressure is finally disposed to assume the hexagonal form. The diaphragms or floors are 1-16 of an inch apart. This fossil is from the Upper Silurian of Huntington county, Indiana, No. 3. Bucania euomphaloides. This closely resembles some species of the genus Bucania employed by Prof. Hall to describe centain gasteropod mollusks similar to the Bellerophon. The specimen is not quite perfect enough to determine all its characters, but its deep umbili- cation suggested a specific name showing its resemblance to the Euomphalus. No. 4. Gyroceras rhomb olinearis, Unfortunately the exact position of the siphuncles can not be determined from this specimen, but the external markings of ridges produced by the eeptal apparatus, and crossed by an occasional increase or thickening of the shell into ridges have produced diamond shaped figures so mathematically regular as sometimes to constitute a perfect rhombus, at others a rhomboid, hence the name. No. 5 Represents Columnar ia inequalis, (Hall,) a fine specimen, the columns radiating with a regular and rapid divergence. The specimen was found at Peru, Miami county, Indiana. * It was designed to furnish many more wood cuts and to give a full description of fossils, as well as a methodical list of all the fossils hitherto found in the State; but the want of time now prevents this. As some apology for the meagreness of the descriptions actually furnished perhaps it may be admissible to remark that when finally called upon to finish this part of my duty, I was at a distance from specimens, figures, and works essential for com- parison, and was occupied with important military duties, which claimed priority over a task that would otherwise have been a labor of love. R. OWEN. CAMP MORTON, March 3, 1862. GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSANCE. 363 SILURIAN FOSSILS. No. J, No. 2. No. 4. No. 3. No. 5. 23 364 aEoi^OGicAi, REGONNOISSANCE No. 6. Ceriopora lyra } formerly described by Owen and Norwood -from specimens found in Kentucky, was given to the engraver for comparison. It was designed that he should figure a fine species found four miles, west of Fredonia, and which, from the constant, trian- gular form of the ramifications which support the net work is named Ceriopora tricarinata, (R.JOwen.) The lacunose apertures are small and sub-round, the spaces between the apertures nre usually double the diameter of the pits. No. 7. Lithostrotion Canadense is from the neighborhood of Lost River, Orange county, In- diana, and is figured to show that in the same aggregate polypary or coral-community the individual polyparies (polyparites) are sometimes round, sometimes hexagonal, depending probably upon external circumstances of lateral pressure, &c., while yet plastic. No. 8. The engraver here misunderstood the instructions and gave prominence tp the crinoid already beautifully figured in Prof. Hall's Iowa Report, showing only in a subordi- nate manner the gasteropod, which seems to have formed its chief food, and which it was the intention to describe. So invariably is it found partly swalled by the criuoid that I selected for it the name Pileopsis pabulocrinus, (R. Owen) to indicate that this Pileopsis furnished food for Crinoids. Some of the detached specimens are quite large, measuring over two inches across the base, and nearly three inches from the apex, following the convexity of thecurve to the base. Those partly swallowed are, however, not over half that size. In the neighborhood of Craw- fordsville, Montgomery county, where tfyis Capulus or Pileopsis is found, a very large per centage of the Crinoids from the same lopality present the appearance of a protuberant Pi- leopsis, more or less drawn into the mouth of the Croinoid. The locality of these fossils is not far from the junction of the sub-carboniferous limestone and sandstone. No. 9. Conularia Crawfordsvillensis, (R.Owen). Associated with the above fossils described in No. 8 are found somewhat abundantly, pteropods of the genus Conularia. The specimen fur- nished the engraver is somewhat crushed, but the markings are more curved than in the ligno- graph and are half as numerous again as represented. The sub-carboniferous limestone of Crawfordsville is remarkable rich is fossils, and may develop other species of Conularia besides the one which we have specifically denominated from its locality. Nos. 10 and 11 represent a fucoid found in the sandstones between the upper and middle pentremital limestones, about 150 feet below the whetstone quarry of Mr. T. Powel, in Orange county. From its star-like regularity the name of fucoides asteroides is proposed. OF INDIANA. 365 CARBONIFEROUS FOSSILS. No. 7. No. 8. No. 9. No. 10. 11. ERRATA. Chi page 14, in the- Mesozoid part/of the table, for "carboniferous" read "cretaceous;" for* "palseozotic" read "palaeozoic." Onjpage 20, on 16th lime from the the top, for "Shropshine" read "Shropshire." Oh pflgS 21, on 9th line from bottom, for "United Seates" read "United States." On page 27, on 13th|line from top, for "opportunies" read "opportunities." On page 39, on 18th line from top, for "Protarcea" read "Protaraea." On page 40, on 16th line from top, for "vertebrate*' read "vertebrale." On page 40, on 25th line from top, for "Cy-therina" read "Cytherina." On page 44, on 2d line from bottom, for "populu" read "populus.' On page 45, on last line, a foot note, for "Poe" read "Poa." On page 47, at two places in section, for "Domolite" read "Dolomite." On page 47, in section, for "silicoius" read "silicious." On page 48, on 7th line from top, for "inconvenienceon" read "inconvenience, on;" oti 4th line, "impevious" read "impervious." On page 60, on 10th line from top, for ."limestones" read "limestone;" 7th line from bot- tom, for "exists" read "exist." On page 62, after " Halysites sexto-catenatus," read (R. Owen.) On page 62, on 12th line from bottom, for "insequalis" read " inequalis." On page 63,^on 20th line from top, for "Bumastus " read "Bumastis." On Jpagp^dS, on 3d line from top, for " Peteramdrus " read "Pentamerus." On page 64, last line, for "their growth by" read "by their growth." On page 66, near bottom, for "cheet" read "chert." On page 67, on 3d line, for " zinc blede " read " zinc blende." On page 68, on 7th line from bottom, for " atiticlinal " road "anticlinal." On page 74, on 6th line from top, for "inlicates" read "silicates." On page 81, on 6th line from bottom, for " Acelapias " read "Asclepias." On page 92, on 7th line from top, for "problematium," read "problematicum." On page 105, on 10th line from top, for "rotalorius" read " rotatorius." On page 106, last line, for "Amplexus yandelli," read "A. Yandelli." On page 125, on 16th line from bottom, for "limestones" read "limestone.", On page 126, on 10th line from top, for " Lithostration " read " Lithostrotion." On page 126, on 8th line from bottom, for " Archimeidpora " road "Archimedipora." On page 127, in section, for "Bluer" read "Blue," for "Lithostroion " read "Lithostro- tion," and after "locally lithographic" omit the period. On page 131, last line, after " Conularia Crawfordsvillensis " add (R. Owen.) On page 132, first line, after "Pileopsis pabulocrinus,' add (R. Owen.) On page 140, in section, for "penremital" read "pentremital," for "eucrinital" read " encrinital." 368 GEOLOGICAL RECONNOISSATCCE; On page 144, on 13th line from bottom^ for " stigmarciae " read "stigmariee." On page 146, on 4th line from top, for "pentrinital" read "pentremital." On page 148, on 14th line from top, for " experince" read "experience."' On page 150, on 21st line from top, for "description" read "description." On page 153, on 14th line from top, for "denominate" read "denominated:' On page 158, on 16th line from bottom, for " Lousiville ' read " Louisville." On page 162, on 16th line from bottom, for "Fusulima" read "Fusulina." On page 164, on 18th line" from bottom, for " trunk" read "trucks." On page 169, on 19th line from bottom, for "cooking" read "coking/' On page 170, on 6th line from top, for "cooking" read "coking." On page 170, on 9th line from bottom, for "drying " read "dying." On page 174, on 8th line from top, for "points" read "paints." On page 177, on llth line from top, for "sold" read "solid." On page 179, on 14th line from top, for "draing" read "draining.' On page 181, in three places, for "Potoka" read " Patoka." On page 183, on 5th line from top, for "one" read "ore," on 15th line, for "lesqui" reakl " sescfui." On page 185, on 10th line from top, for " lithographioal " read " topographical." On page 185, on 19th line from top, for "shows" read " show." On page 190, on 10th line from bottom, after "land" insert "and." On page 191, in section, for "Owen" read "Owen's." On page 191, on 13th line from bottom, for "deundatio'n" read "denudation." OH page 193, on llth line from top, after "well" omit the word "as." On page 194, on 10th line from top, for "gloo&ed" read "glossed." On page 199, on 14th line from top, for "distinguished" read "distinguish, On page 201, on 13th line from top, foj* " Gosport" read "Gossert." On page 201, on 13th line from bottom, for "nervures " read " nervure." On page 205, on 6th line from top, after "Valparaiso" insert "we find." On page 206, on 9th line from bottom, for " Orange" read "Osage." On page 212, on 17th line from top, for "grapes" read "gasses." On page 216, on 9th line from top, after "Rychsenus" omit the comma. On page 219, on 2d line from top, for "of" read "is." On page 219, on 13th line from top, for "distant" read "distance." On page 229, on 20th line from top, for " cat-flag" read "cat-tail flag." On page 232, in foot note, for "rises" read "raise," and after "filters" insert "it." On page 239, on 18th line from top, for "board" read "bord." On page 240, in foot note, for "usefully" read "useful." On page 247, last line, for "vegetable which" read "vegetable, they." On page 252, last line, for "productions" read "productiveness." On page 256, on 6th line from bottom, for "amount" read "amounts." On page 261, last line, for " entrusted " read "extracted," and for "digestion" rdad "di- gesting." On page 264, on 4th line from top, for "returning" read "retained." On page 282, on 10th line from bottom, for "called in" read "called on." On page 286, on 14th line from bottom, for "pecolating" read "percolating." On page 287, 1st line, for "returing" read "returning." On page 296, near top of section, for "coal No. B" read "coal No. 18." On page 311, on 14 Mine from bottom, for "coal No. 113" read "coal No. 1 B." On page 323, 6th line from toft for "recalled" read "referred." >AY USE RETURN TO D^k FROM WHICH BORROWED EARTH SCIENCES LIBRARY This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 49i4- General Library Univengy^gliforni. U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES 139 CD3MST3M01 Storage "