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 ‘GREAT SEAM COAL REGION, OHIO. 
 
 ~~ 
 
 GOMEPARISON OF STERAEiaz 
 
 BY COLONEL 
 
 : The profile I published a short time 
 
 isibce extending from the valley of Little 
 Monday creek, near Maxville, through 
 Straitsville to the valley of Snow Fork, 
 was on the line of dip south seventy de- 
 grees east, and therefore across the strati- 
 fication. It was ten (10) miles in length, 
 exhibiting a breadth of outcrop of the 
 beds ten miles wide, and a thickness of 
 the strata of about 350 feet, rising from 
 the Maxville to the Cambridge limestone. 
 In this space there is known to be seven 
 (7) beds of iron ore, four of coal, and in 
 places six (6) of limestone. 
 
 The two profiles of Mr. James Nichols, 
 M. E., which, through the courtesy of 
 Colonel Riley, I was enabled to exam- 
 ine, are made, one through Moxa- 
 hala due south into the valley 
 of Sunday creek, passing Buckingham 
 and thence along the divide between the 
 waters of Snow Fork and Sunday creek, 
 in Trimble township, Athens county, to 
 Salina, on the Hocking river, a distance 
 of 20 miles. His other profile is at right 
 angles to this, or east and west, extend- 
 ing from the valley of Sunday creek, 
 across Snow Fork and Monday creek, to 
 the dividing ridge between this creek and 
 the Hocking river. It follows the line 
 between the eecond and third tier of sec- 
 tions, from the south line of Trimble, 
 Ward and Green townships. Both of 
 these profiles are oblique to the dipand to 
 the bearing of the strata. Having been 
 made with much care, by the use of an 
 engineer’s level, they give us, for the first 
 time in this region, an exact physical 
 profile, 
 
 No survey of a mineral district can be 
 considered complete until such profiles 
 are made at intervals of a few miles 
 
 CHARLES WHITTLESEY. 
 
 apart, the direction of which should be on 
 the line of dip, and on the line of 
 bearing. We thus get a continuous series 
 of local profiles from valley to valley and 
 from hill to hill, in which at least the ele- 
 vations, and therefore the inclination of 
 the beds, are forever fixed. Without a 
 party of men to uncover the beds, it is 
 not possible for a mining engineer to find 
 all the outcrops, and to assert that the 
 strata are fully developed; but he has in 
 this way laid the foundation for subse- 
 quent explorers to work upon, which is 
 perpetual. 
 
 In this paper I have grouped a series of 
 four local sections on the line of bearing or 
 strike, which is about north 20 degrees 
 east, but curves to the eastin going north, 
 beginning on the south near Carbon 
 Hill, passing near Straitsville, but a 
 little east, near Shawnee and a mile west 
 of Moxahala, a distance of fifteen (15) 
 miles. 
 
 The remarkable regularity of the Great 
 seam appears from the uniform ele- 
 vation of its outcrop at the four 
 places referred to. On the west side 
 of the valley of Monday creek, by 
 Mr. Nichols’s profile, its elevation 
 above Lake Erie is 270 feet, on the heads 
 of Middle Fork, 265, 259 and 275; at 
 Shawnee 275 to 287; between Moxahala 
 and the Koons tunnel, 260 to 275; seven 
 miles further in the same general direc- 
 tion along the strike, near McLuney’s 
 station, 260 to 275. These figures refer to 
 the bottom of the beds,in all cases, and 
 are as near correct as can be. expected 
 without a series of levels made for the 
 purpose. The engineers of the railways 
 pointing to this region, have given me 
 every facility in procuring levels, especial- 
 
 Oo 5056 
 
2 GREAT SEAM COAL REGION, OHIO. 
 
 SECTION NO. 1.—NEAR MOXAHALA. SECTION NO. 2,—NEAR SHAWNEE. 
 
 Iron Ore. 
 
 Shale. 
 Ore. 
 
 Coal 430 ft. above L. Erie. 
 
 Shale. 
 Ore. 
 Shale. 
 Teer ree o.. Yellow Shale. 
 oo OO @@a Limestone. 
 ie nae Shawnee ore 885 ft. above 
 Lake Erie. 
 Shale. 
 nee eee Coal. 
 ae 
 SPO Pe EG Limestone, 370 ft. 
 =— Sandstone. 
 
 Shale. 
 
 Bayley’s Run coal. 
 Place of Bailey’s Run 
 Coal, not seen, 
 
 Sandstone, XXX XXX X XX Poe 
 Shale. shal 
 Worris coal, 339 fl. above 
 Ore. Lake Erie. 
 Shale. 
 Norris coal, 310 feet. Sandstone. 
 Ore. 
 Shale, 
 Shale. 
 Sandstone. 
 
 Great seam, full thickn’ss 
 275 feet A. 
 
 Great Seam 6 ft. thick 
 eoal 270 ft. A. 
 
 Ore. 
 
 Ore. 
 A Sandstone. 
 
 Lower Coal, 
 
 Ore. 
 Lower Coal. 
 
 8. Stone. 
 Sandstone, 
 Flinty L. Stone. 
 
 Shale. 
 
 200 ft. above Lake Brie. 
 
 200 ft. above Lake Erie, 
 
 Vertical scale 40 ft. to the inch, 
 
COMPARISON OF STRATA. a 
 
 SECTION NO. 3,—NEAR STRAITSVILLE. SECTION NO, 4.—NEAR CARBON HILL. 
 
 Ore, 
 Coal. 
 8S, Stone. 
 Ore. 
 L. Stone, 
 Yellow Shale. 
 Ore. : 
 Limestone. Shale. 
 Shale. 
 Ore. : eee Ore. 
 nae  U. Stone. 
 Sandstone. —— Shale: 
 XXX XXX xX Limestone. Ore: 
 
 see eee0ee Ore. 
 
 : va Limestone. 
 KAAXX XX Bayley’s run coal, 340 ft. 
 A. 
 
 Bayley’s run coal, 360 ft. 
 A. 
 
 ; S. Stone. 
 Ore, 
 Ore. 
 Ore. 
 Sandstone. 
 
 Norris coal, 325 ft, A. 
 
 Ore. 
 Norris coal, Ore. 
 L. Stone. Shale, 
 rate, Ore, 
 Buff L. Stone, 
 
 Great Seam, 7 ft. thick, 
 
 Great Seam coal, full 270 {t. above Lake Erie 
 
 thickness, 265 ft. A. 
 
 Ore Ore. 
 
 Sandstone, 
 
 Lower Coal. 
 er Coa Lower coal, 
 
 Ore, Ore. 
 
 Shale. 
 Shale. 
 
 200 ft. above Lake Erie. 200 ft. above Lake Erie, 
 
 —<$<$—<$<_— $$ — 
 
\ 
 
 4 GREAT SEAM COAL REGION, OHIO. 
 
 ly J. W. Riley, Wm. H. Jennings, Carey 
 Wilson, George 8. Lester and M. A. 
 Mansfield. There are certain doubts and 
 discrepancies about some of the zeros 
 when referred to Lake Erie; but these are 
 reduced to small limits. I will give more 
 of the elevations further on. 
 
 This group of profiles represents the 
 full breadth of the Great seam area, from 
 its southerly edge, where the coal is seven 
 feet, to its northerly, where it is six feet, 
 passing through the maximum of ten and 
 eleven feet. For details of thickness see 
 Professor Andrews in Geological Report 
 of 1869-70, pages 97 to 103. 
 
 As I have said before, this bed of coal 
 is the only stratum that is found every- 
 where in its place. All othere, whether of 
 coal, ore or limestone, are in places want- 
 ing. It foilows, therefore, that we can 
 not count absolutely upon a continuance 
 of these beds, though beneath every di- 
 vide, from valley to valley. The two 
 outside sections, Nos. 1 and 4, near Car- 
 bon Hill and Moxahala, are substantially 
 those of Mr. Nichols, and are at the ex- 
 tremities of his two profiles. In some 
 cases the actual observed points are some- 
 what one side of the direct line, because 
 the strata are frequently concealed, where 
 the explorer is most desirous to see them. 
 
 LEVELS SHOWING THY DESCENT OF THE GREAT 
 SEAM ON LINES CROSSING THE STRIKE NEAR- 
 LY AT RIGHT ANGLES THROUGH THE SEVFRAL 
 PROFILES. 
 
 1. New Lexington to Moxahala. 
 
 (Course southeasterly—distance five miles.) 
 Onehalf mile south of N. Lexington.360 A. L. E. 
 Sec. 15. Pike township, near Koons 
 
 GUNC! vistas ocinwnicsine cis oe ee ont ising Sa DOME 
 Sec. 23, Pike township.,..... Bacsensago  *° 
 Sec. 25, Pike township...;....-ess022.205 ©“ 
 Sec. 30, Pleasant tp., near Moxahala..255 *¢ 
 
 2. Bristol te Buckingham. 
 
 (Course southeast - distance eight miles.) 
 Bristol tunnel o00 secercescnstmmeince G90) A. Ly Be 
 McCunesville eccoceseuces,040 8 
 Northwest quarter section 16, near 
 
 Shawnee... 
 
 a cecccccsccesseocssdll 
 
 SHAWNCCseccccccccvesccccece --275 to 287 * 
 Sec. 23, Salt Lick township..-... weeztB £5 
 BUCKINGHAM cscs ove ncocces'sgumnne Ay eS 
 Sec. 26. Monroe township..........142 * 
 
 3. Monday Creck to Snow Fork. 
 (Course southeasterly—distance nine miles.) 
 
 Sec. 24, Monday Creek township....335 A. L. E. 
 Sec 19, Salt Lick township..........3820 
 Straitsville Mining Co.......eeceee+.287 # 
 Sec. 33, Middle Pork .......ccecsecss2i0 
 Sec. 12, Snow Fork, Ward tp.,about.200 ** 
 
 4. Haydensville to Snow Fork. 
 (Course nearly east—distance eight miles.) 
 
 Sec. 1, Green township...........-2¢200317 A. L. E. 
 Sec. 32, Monday Creek, near Carbon : 
 EiTiiv cease peanmine ee ie caccccccanmerecain, 86 
 
 Sec. 14, Ward tp., Poplar run.......205 « 
 Sec. 2, Ward ty., Snow Fork.... ...129 « 
 
 Sec. 24, Lost rua, Ward t 
 
 GENERAL ELEVATIONS OF THE GREAT SEAM, 
 
 McLuney’s Station......0sccseres0ee260 Ay Li. Ee 
 Tunnel four miles southwest, 24 feet 
 below grade....-. cerewsrcceccceseeaas 86 §F 
 
 Near New Lexington,......2..ee0e- 300 839 
 MOXSNAIA cc vic cnoseeocige cumbesecsinmae ZOD de 
 Koons tunnel, three miles south- 
 
 east of New Lexington.............330, ‘€ 
 Bristol tunnel, north end.. 
 McCune’s salt works...... 
 Newark Coal Co., Shawnee 
 BUCKINGHAM evcassiesseaseme then seel GD igh 
 Sunday Creek,on Athenscountyline. 76 ** 
 Wright’s bank, one mile west of 
 
 Strats yillO wowace osceeinces eee ener econ Gu 
 County line, sec. 32, Salt Lick......284 sé 
 Hayden’s mine, sec 1, Green tp....317 
 P-cocc Meacann st 
 Head of Michael’s run, Ward tp....250 ‘¢ 
 Heads of Poplar run, Ward tp......206 ‘ 
 Sec. 19, Brooks’s mine, Ward tp....213 * 
 Heads of Lick run, York township, 
 
 Athens COUNTY... ..csccsccscaueneasaee | lee 
 One mile below Nelsonyllle, Athens 
 
 COUNLY )sccecsesom oneneencines opments tani mee 
 Snow Fork at county line.........4,.)26 ‘ 
 Sunday Creek at Ewing, Athens Co. 75 = ** 
 Salina, mouth of Sunday creek, Ath- — 
 
 ens county.....- cecccccrccccevccess 165. LE. 
 
 For the principal part of these levels I 
 am indebted to Mr. Jennings, Chief En- 
 gineer of the Hocking Valley railroad, 
 and to his maps of this region. 
 
 These sections represent geological col- 
 umns several miles asunder, on or near 
 the line of bearing along which the strata 
 theoretically are level. Looking south- 
 easterly in the direction of the dip, the 
 left band column, or No. 1, gives a rea- 
 sonable good exhibit of the beds near 
 Moxahala, within a mile to the north- 
 west. The Great seam is here the Upper 
 New Lexington, the one next below the 
 Lower New Lexington,and they are about 
 the same thickness, Thev extend beneath 
 the Koons tunnel three miles to the north- 
 west, beneath the Bristol tunnel, six (6) 
 miles to the west, through the country 
 east of New Lexington, and beneath the 
 tunnel three miles northeast of that place, 
 into the valley of J »nathan’s creek, where 
 both of them are worked. 
 
 From Moxahala they extend down the 
 valley on both sides, to its mouth near 
 McLuney’s station, and thence to Zanes- 
 ville. For the two coal seams next above 
 these, I use the names given them by 
 Professor Andrews. The first above the 
 Great seam is called by him the middle or 
 “Norris” coal, and the second the “Bay- 
 ley’s Run” coal. There are places where 
 one of them appears to be wanting, but 
 probably more thorough examinations 
 will show that they are generally present. 
 In section No, 1, taken principally from 
 Mr. Nichols, the Bayley’s run is not seen. 
 They have been traced from the lower 
 part of Sunday creek valley in Trimble, 
 
COMPARISON 
 
 STRATA. 5 
 
 OF 
 
 up that stream and its branches, through 
 the ridge into the valley of Moxahala; 
 also, to the west into the valley of Snow 
 fork, and to all the eastern branches of 
 Monday creek. Their thickness varies 
 from two to five feet, and the quality of 
 the coal is not uniform, but is of the fat 
 cementing or coking variety. Thus far 
 the coke has not proven to be very solid, 
 but under improved methods this dif- 
 ficulty can be overcome. 
 
 ELEVATIONS OF THE FIRST AND SECOND COAL 
 SEAMS ABOVE THE GREAT SEAM. 
 
 First Seam. Second Seam. 
 Vaoemeteen’ 
 
 ———+- —- — 
 
 ““Ssouyoly 
 “gseUHOIUY, 
 *TONBAD TT 
 
 ru0l4Baa[q 
 
 ed 
 
 Locality, ft.in feet. 
 Salt Lick, Perry county, 
 See 33. -cccce-cccccccrccs 23 42 2% to4% 70 
 Salt Lick, Perry county, ‘ 
 Sec. 33, near center..... 22 50 4 7 80 
 Salt Lick, Perry county, 
 WOCeUerewesssecameceseice 40 34 
 Salt Lick, Perry county, 
 See. 21....... ee 
 Salt Lick, Perry county, 
 MOG. codeserad aiecb ea cues 40 40 
 Salt Lick, Perry county, 
 near Straitsville........2 50 oe 
 Salt Lick, Perry county, 
 near Shawnee...........2 0 40 4 0 78 
 Monroe tp., Perry county, 
 DEC HU 9Hs: caw tacisoccccs 46 52 ae 90 
 Pleasant tp., Perry coun- 
 ty, Sec 10 
 Pleasant tp., Perry coun- 
 ty, Sec. 30..cesccescoee 40 39 ee oe 
 Bristol, Perry county....thin 50 6 0 70 
 Ward tp., Hocking coun- 
 UY, OCC. Goccacccccscecce «. 35 <a 75 
 + Ward tp., Hocking coun- 
 GN pCCNDL wes muque cece ced) @ 60 ate 85 
 
 3 SECTION NO, 2—SHAWNEE, 
 
 The usual four beds of coal are found 
 around Shawnee in their proper places, 
 also a fifth higher up, not yet explored, 
 lying a little below the Iron Point ore. 
 Two furnaces are running on the Great 
 Seam coal, and the upper or Shawnee ore. 
 The two upper coal seams are bituminous 
 and coking, but are not very uniform in 
 thickness, Coke has been made from the 
 Norris bed, and though not satisfactory, 
 there are no doubt modes of making it 
 which will secure better results. The 
 flinty limestone below the lower coal is 
 probably local, being rather too high for 
 the “Putnam Hill” limestone. 
 
 Passing over a low summit on the east 
 to the waters of Sunday creek, the blue 
 limestone and three beds of coals may be 
 traced down the valley of Hadley’s Fork 
 to Buckingham. Iron ore has been struck 
 in several placesin this valley. In con- 
 
 structing this section I have had the as- 
 sistance of Captain Abbott, a civil and 
 mining engineer residing at Shawnee. It 
 does not reach up to the general level of 
 the country. Beds of limestone and of 
 ore exist higher in the hills, which are 
 not yet developed. 
 
 SECTION NO. 3. 
 
 This and the last are a little less than 
 three miles apart. It is partly a compos- 
 ite intended to represent all the reliable 
 beds now uncovered, of which there are 
 seven (7) of ore, five (5) of limestone and 
 the entire group of coal seams. The same 
 seams were shown in the profile heretofore 
 published passing through Straitsville on 
 the line of dip. Both the Bayley’s run 
 and the Norris coal have been opened on 
 sections 33 and 34, but nowhere ex- 
 tensively mined. In the five mines 
 around Straitsville the average thick- 
 ness of the Great seam is ten (10) 
 feet. Here it is near the bottom of 
 the valleys, but rises rapidly to the west, 
 so that on Monday creek it is well up to 
 the tops of the hills, 
 
 As the beds rise in this direction the 
 group of iron ores beneath the Great seam 
 become more and more accessible. Ore 
 No. 2 from the top of the section, is in 
 the place of the great Shawnee or Iron 
 Point seam, overlaid by the same yellow 
 and dun colored shales. The limestone 
 which caps the hills is probably the 
 “Cambridge” lime rock of Professor An- 
 drews, which generally has ore on the top 
 of it. Between the Norris and the Bay- 
 ley’s run coal there is a bed of ore that 
 has been found every where in its place, 
 though it varies in thickness. In the 
 country it has the name of the Sour Ap- 
 ple seam. The beds of lime rock between 
 the Norris and the Great seams are not 
 persistent, but appear to be local patches. 
 
 SECTION NO, 4. 
 
 This is made up by slight changes of 
 out-crops from the profile of Mr. Nichols, 
 Itshows eleven (11) bede of ore, none of 
 which are as yet fully wrought. Ex- 
 plorations are going on, on the eastern 
 branches of Monday creek, Lost run, 
 Sand run, and Poplar run, which indi- 
 cate that there are several workable beds. 
 All the seams of coal are present in their 
 proper places. The main object in com- 
 posing these four sections, taken ut inter- 
 vals along a line of 15 miles in length, is 
 to show the regularity of the series. In No. 
 1, at Moxahala on the extreme north, 
 the Bayley’s run coal is not shown, but it 
 will probably be found in further research. 
 
6 GREAT SEAM COAL REGION, OHIO. 
 
 T have marked its place on that section. 
 
 On this section the upper lime- 
 stone is regarded as the Cam- 
 bridge. No beds of lime rock are 
 
 yet discovered below the Bayley’s run 
 coal. None of these sections go down to 
 the Putnam Hill limestone, which is 
 about (80) eighty feet below Great 
 seam, but in none of them is the lime- 
 stone wanting. If the Shawnee ore is 
 here, its place should be about one hund- 
 red feet above the Great seam, coming in 
 above the Bayley coal. 
 
 In all of these sections, and all other 
 sections and profiles I have seen in this 
 region, all the materials exist for making 
 iron on the spot, and therefore at the low- 
 est possible cost. 
 
 FORMATION OR ORIGIN OF COAL, 
 
 This isa purely theoretical question, 
 very interesting, but of no practical bear- 
 ing. Of late years geologists are so near- 
 ly unanimous in their belief that coal is 
 of vegetable origin, that an opposite 
 theory is certainly against authority, and 
 therefore regarded as a scientific heresy. 
 
 But nothing can be regarded as sci- 
 ence, until it reaches the form of a demun- 
 stration. Discussion, hypotheses, opin- 
 ions or beliefs do not constitute science. 
 
 My views on this subject are of long 
 standing, and published as early as 1839; 
 but during the past twenty years I have 
 published nothing and said very little on 
 the subject, not because my convictions 
 are changed, but because it is wholly a 
 speculative question. 
 
 It would require a horse and cart to 
 carry all the disquisitions that have been 
 published in tnat period to sustain 
 the vegetable theory, and there is little 
 prospect of a diminution. I refer to it 
 here for the following reasons: 
 
 No sooner had the bill authorizing a 
 geological survey of 1869 become a law, 
 than the present director of the survey 
 appeared in person at Columbus to solicit 
 for his place. He held a life long pro. 
 fessorship in New York, but coveted the 
 survey and its emoluments in addition. 
 (he Secretary of the State Board of Agri- 
 culture likewise held a good place, but 
 likewise wanted more. A cabal or ring 
 was organized to accomplish these ob- 
 jects. How much influence they exerted 
 upon the Executive, I cannot say; but 
 the result was that if his prerogatives had 
 been placed in their hands, they could not 
 have had matters more their own way. 
 It tallies with all precedents that places 
 obtained by such combinations, result, as 
 
 in this case, in defiance of law and neglect 
 of duty. I have it, on credible author- 
 ity, that this virtuous ring consid- 
 ered it honorable and proper to use 
 my opinions on the origin of coal, 
 to my disadvantage, in their elec- 
 tioneering efforts around the State 
 House, although I have _ publish- 
 ed nothing on the _ subject for 
 twenty years. I did not feel inclined to 
 continue a discussion of no practical im- 
 portance, neither am I disposed to change 
 my convictions, merely for prudential 
 reasons, and therefore now restate the ob- 
 jections I hold to the vegetable theory. 
 They are in short that three physical im- 
 possibilities must be overcome before it 
 can be received. First—It is impossible 
 to account for the requisite accumulation 
 of vegetable matter, upon the hypothesis 
 
 of peat bogs, for peat is never 
 produced in tropical climates, and 
 the vegetation of the coal strata 
 
 is entirely tropical. Peat belongs wholly 
 to high temperate or to low Arctic zones. 
 It knows no geological horizon, but is a 
 surface deposit in restricted local patches 
 on rocks of all ages, and not itself older 
 than the drift era. The peat and muck 
 beds of that era, covered by the drift, 
 have nowhere been transformed into coal. 
 This mode of supplying vegetation has 
 recently been given up, and in its place 
 we have that of tropical air growing 
 ferns, palms and mosses, rooted in Vast 
 marshes of shallow salt water. 
 Secondly—No marshes of an extent 
 equal to even the small coal fields exist 
 upon this planet. It is neither philo- — 
 sophical or scientific to assume, without 
 proof, that they have existed. because a 
 theory requires it. The largest of known 
 marshes are at the deltas of great rivers, 
 such as the Ganges, the Amazon and the 
 Mississippi. None of these produce the 
 vegetation of the carboniferous era. 
 In none of them has coal been 
 formed. In none has the plant growth 
 arranged itself in layers or strata separate 
 from the mud by which itis covered. 
 The vegetation itself has only a limited 
 portion of the chemical elements found 
 in coal. Neither lime rock, iron ore, or 
 sandstone which form the principal part 
 of all coal fields, are formed in the delta 
 deposits. Vegetation exposed to the air 
 in hot climates perishes rapidly. It does 
 not assume the form of preserved carbon. 
 To accumulate and preserve vegetable 
 carbon from such a growth requires con- 
 ditions and chemical changes of which 
 we have no examples in nature. It is not 
 
COMPARISON 
 
 impossible that solid deciduous or resin- 
 ous trees may be more or less carbonized 
 by deep burial in the earth, but the soft 
 cellular watery tissue of tropical plants is 
 quite a different thing. 
 
 * Thirdly—If such extensive and shallow 
 swamps existed,filled with a dense tropical 
 vegetation, accumulated in such immense 
 quantities, several hundred feet thick, 
 without decay, and being entombed, were 
 capable of furnishing the elements of coal, 
 it is still necessary that for every stratum 
 thus formed the land should sink regu- 
 larly to such a depth that earthy sedi- 
 ments must form over it, and remain so 
 for a period of great geological length. 
 The land must then rise parallel to its 
 first position, and having reached within 
 a few feet the surface of the ocean, must 
 cease to rise, and remain fixed there dur- 
 ing another geological period. It must 
 thus rise and descend as many times as 
 there are layers of coal, each time with 
 the same horizontal precision. 
 
 Before adopting an explanation sur- 
 rounded by so many complications and 
 incongruities, we should consider whether 
 there are not modes of formation more in 
 accordance with the simple and direct op- 
 erations of nature, known to have been in 
 operation in other rocks. interstratified 
 
 ~ 
 
 STRATA. ‘ 
 
 OF 
 
 with coal. These are sandstone, shale, 
 iron ore and limestone, which no one de- 
 nies are sedimentary and chemical de- 
 posits from the ancient saline waters of 
 the ocean. 
 
 It is not philosophical to take the coal 
 beds interstratified with these rocks, out 
 of the same category, until we are abso- 
 lutely compelled to do so. The waters 
 and the atmosphere of the carboniferous 
 era embraced all the ingredients to form all 
 these strata, and the only question to be 
 solved is the mode of separation or segre- 
 gation, These ingredients were carbon, 
 sulphur, oxygen, phosphorous, hydrogen, 
 silica, magnesia, alumina, iron and lime. 
 
 There is solid carbon in the form of 
 graphite, and the carbonates of iron, 
 magnesia and lime in the old rocks where 
 there is no proof of vegetation, and like 
 the coal beds immeasurably beyond the 
 supply of all the vegetation, recent or re- 
 mote, of which there is any proof. There 
 are oxy-carbons and hydro-carbons, in 
 formations more ancient than the coal or 
 any known vegetation. 
 
 They had only to obey their chemical 
 affinities to form, under known laws, all 
 the beds of our coal series. 
 
 Cleveland, Ohio, June 1, 1877. 
 
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