42D CONGRESS, } HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Ex. Doc. 1st Session. X \ No. 19. FINAL EPORT i 1'Oj 0F THEl UNITED USTJES/GEOLOGICAL SURVEY f / OF f k/ / -'N IEBRA S K A ~~~/ 2~/ ~AND PORTIONS OF THE ADJACENT TERRItORIES, MIADE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. BY F. V. HAYDEN, UNITED STATES GEOLOGIST. MARCH 23, 1871.-Orclered to be printed. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMIENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1872. LETTER TO THE COMMISSIONER." WASHINGTON, D. C., March 1, 1868. SIR: I have the honor to transmit my final report of the United States Geological Survey of Nebraska and adjacent Territories.* The observations here recorded were made with some care at the time, and, inasmuch as they will not probably be repeated for years to come, may prove of value to the state. The history of the origin and purposes of the survey have been so clearly set forth in your annual report of the General Land Office for 1867, that I beg permission to introduce it in this connection: In the second section of the act of Congress, approved March 2, 1867, making appropriations and to supply deficiencies, it is declared "that the unexpended balances of the appropriations heretofore made for defraying the expenses of the legislative assembly to the Territory of Nebraska, shall be diverted and set aside for the purpose of procuring a geological survey of Nebraska, to be prosecuted under the direction of the Commissioner of the General Land.Office." It has been estimated that the unexpended balance applicable to the geological survey is $5,000. Under that authority Dr. F. V. Hayden was appointed on the 29th April, 1867, to make a geological examination and. survey, with compensation of $2,000 per annum. With the limited means provided, he was allowed an assistant geologist and paleontologist, at the rate of $1,000; three collectors and laborers at not exceeding $700, the sum of $300 having been set apart for chemistry and natural history; while the sum of $1,000, or the residue of the means, was designed for general expenses of outfit and incidentals in the service, which was restricted to one year from the dato of the appointment. The geologist was directed to proceed as soon as necessary arrangements could be made to the sphere of his operations. He was instructed to ascertain the order of succession, arrangement, relative position, dip, and comparative thickness of the several strata and geological formations in the State, to search for and examine all the beds, veins, and other deposits of ores, coals, clays, marls, peat, and other like mineral substances, as well as the fossil remains of the various formations; to obtain chemical analyses of such of those substances, and of the different varieties of soil, whereof it may be deemed desirable to ascertain the elementary constituents. He was required also to determine by careful barometrical observations the relative elevations and depressions of the different parts of the State of Nebraska, and to gather in the field of his explorations collections in geology, mineralogy, and paleontology, to illustrate the notes taken in the field. In order to enable the Commissioner to present to Congress the results of the geological survey, it was stipulated that a preliminary report should be made of the progress of the work, accompanied by such maps, sections, and drawings as might be considered requisite to illustrate the report, it having been ordered that the final report under the appropriation should embody the results of the entire survey, and be accompanied by a geological map, with carefully-prepared sections and diagrams, showing by different colors and other marks and characters the principal * It is but just to me to bepermitted to state that this report was completed in its present condition three years ago, and the manuscript delivered to tho Commissioner. It is now printed without any opportunity for revision. Several chAtex,,which have sppeared in other publications are omitted. 4 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF localities and geographical range of the various geological formations of the district explored, and by drawings and descriptions of the characteristic fossil remains of the different groups of strata-advance data having been called for at short intervals, in order that the Department might know the-progress of the work. It was required in our instructions that the region of Nebraska south of the Platte River should be first examined, it being occupied by the limestones of the true coal measures, and that a careful search should be instituted for the localities, depths, and extent of deposits of that most valuable mineral., It was deemed important to extend the explorations and examinations along the Missouri to Sioux City, as it had been reported that there was a bed of coal outcropping from rocks of the chalk formation near the Omaha reserve, then under survey for the accommodation of the Omaha and Winnebago Indians. It was desired that the geologist, who was furnished with a map of public surveys, should locate geological formations by townships and ranges of the sixth or governing principal meridian in Nebraska. As the unsurveyed region also includes settled portions of the State, it was required that the explorations should also be there directed to determine the location and extent of natural resources in coal, metallic ores, hydraulic and common limestone, fire-clays, freestone, flagstone, and marbles, properly belonging to the various formations there existing, and which would be of immediate use to the people. As the predominating interest in the State is farming, his attention was directed to the examination of its soils and subsoils, to their adaptability to particular crops, as well as to the best method of preserving and increasing their fertility. Information was also called for in regard to the introduction of suitable forest trees, in order to promote the growth of timber. * X * * * * Attention should likewise be given to the materials for the construction of roads, houses, bridges, such as building stones, limestones for the manufacture of quick-lime, sand, clays for making bricks and tiles, as well as for potters' use. Particular attention should be given to the various soils and subsoils, and their adaptability to the growth of different kinds of crops, fruit and ornamental as well as forest trees. If the district is hilly or mountainous, barometrical observations should be made to determine the heights of the elevations above the sea and the principal streams, and attention should likewise be given to the climatology of the country. Full sets of collections of all the different kinds of rocks, soils, ores, minerals, and mineral waters of every description, as well as of the various organic remains characterizing the different formations, should be carefully collected and preserved for study and analysis. These collections to be arranged and permanently preserved in the Department. It is proposed that specimens of every kind be transported to the Department for careful investigation, in order that final and more detailed reports may be made out, illustrated by maps, sections, diagrams, and drawings of the various fossil remains, characteristic of the different rocks. Authority should be given for the publication of the final reports in a suitable form, and in such manner as to be creditable to the country. A few such reports, properly prepared by competent and reliable authorities, with full statistics of our resources, would, if distributed abroad, have a tendency to stimulate immigration, and cause the rapid settlement of our vast unoccupied public domain, thus increasing the national wealth and power, and relieving the burdens of general taxation. In accordance with your instructions, the survey was prosecuted with all the energy in my power, and I was enabled during the season to examine the entire eastern portion of the State, and some portions farther west. Mr. F. B. Meek, the very able paleontologist of the survey, passed through the State of Iowa, from' the Mississippi at Iowa City to the Missouri at Nebraska City, incompany with Mr. C. A. White, the State geologist of Iowa, in order that he might connect the geological formations of that State with those of Nebraska, and also trace out the coal NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 5 beds in their western extension. His report, herewith transmitted, will show the success and thoroughness with which he performed his labors. The entire area of the State of Nebraska belongs to what is called the plain or prairie country of the West. The strata are entirely horizontal, and are seldom exposed to the scrutiny of the geologist, except along'the banks of streams. The greater portion of the State is covered with a great thickness of yellow marl, which oftentimes conceals the underlying formations, but it gives to the soil the wonderful and inexhaustible fertility which the entire eastern portion possesses. As an agricultural and grazing State Nebraska must eventually take a very high rank. Nebraska, the youngest State in the American Union, extends from the Missouri westward to the Rocky Mountains, with an extreme length of 412 miles, decreasing to 310 miles on the southern border, its extreme width being 208 miles, diminishing to 138 miles on the west. Its area is 75,905 square miles, or 48,636,800 acres.-(Report Commissioner General Land Office, 1867.) But three of the principal geological formations are represented in the State, Carboniferous, Cretaceous, and Tertiary. Of the Carboniferous strata only the upper members occur, and these seem to thin out in their western extension, until they almost disappear in the region of the lRccky Mountains. Much attention was given to the study of the coal-beds in the southeastern portion of the State, and the conclusion was reached that no coal-beds would be found more than from 12 to 30 inches in thickness. In a country which is so destitute of timber these beds may be wrought with advantage. The subject of tree-planting in Nebraska cannot be too strongly impressed upon the settlers in that State. No labor or expense should be spared and no delay permitted in this direction. Not many years will elapse before fine forests of young timber will cover much of this fertile region. The influence of these forests upon the climate and the soil has been discussed in the report. A careful examination of the geological formations, and the physical geography of the State, will show at once that its mineral resources must be very limited. No ranges of mountains come within its borders. Some iron ores occur, but there is not sufficient fuel to utilize them. Gold and silver in paying quantities will not probably be found. The supply of building material has been shown to be inexhaustible and the skill and industry of the inhabitants is now fast turning it to practical use. The Union Pacific Railroad, passing directly across the State from east to west, has given a wonderful impulse to its material prosperity, and must continue to do so for all time to come. The demand for branch roads in every direction has already been made by successful agriculture, and the ease with which they can be built, especially along the bottoms of streams, is quite remarkable. With the exception of the Missouri River, there are no navigable streams in Nebraska. The Platte, although very broad, is always too 6 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, ETC. shallow, is full of sand-bars, and quicksands, and at certain seasons of the year it is nearly dry. The supply of water for milling and manufacturing purposes, however, seems to be abundant. In conclusion I would say that my examination of the resources of the State has greatly increased my already favorable impression in regard to them. With its broad, fertile bottoms bordering a navigable river like the Missouri for over three hundred miles; with the rich soil of the uplands, and their almost unlimited supply of all the agricultural productions adapted to that climate; with its railroads, water privileges, and the marked energy and industry of its inhabitants, Nebraska is certainly destined to take a, high position among the States of our Union. It remains now for me to acknowledge my indebtedness to manyv friends, for aid and sympathy during the progress of the survey. The appropriation was so small that it would have been impossible for me to have brought the survey to a successful termination without the generous assistance of the United States military authorities. Armed with a letter from General Grant to the military commanders in the West, requesting them to afford me all the aid in their power not inconsistent with the public service, I was everywhere received by them with tile utmost courtesy. General William Myers, chief quartermaster Department of the Platte, supplied me with a complete outfit for traveling, horses, equipments, &c.; General Barriger, the chief commissary, supplied me with commissary stores at officers' prices. From Colonel E. B. Carling, at Fort D. A. Russell, I obtained an outfit, which enabled me to make an examination of the coal fields along the base of the Rocky Mountains, near the close of the season. To the citizens of Nebraska, and the press generally, I am indebted for the most cordial sympathy'and aid, and the mere list of their names would occupy pages of this report. The officers of the Union Pacific Railroad supplied me with every facility in their power, as well as free transportation for party and freight along the road. To the Hon. P. W. Hitchcock, representative of the Territory in Congress, the people of Nebraska are indebted for the appropriation which enabled the Geologist to make the survey. I wish to express my obligations for many favors of great value to Dr. G. L. Miller, Captain William Wilcox, and Hon. A. S. Paddock of Omaha. The reports of F. B. Meek, paleontologist, and Mr. S. HI. Scudder, on certain insects, injurious to vegetation, are of the highest value. The report of Mr. Scudder was prepared without any expense to the Government. I take pleasure in extending my cordial thanks to my assistants in the field, Mr. Janies Stevenson and Edward Chase, who labored with zeal to advance the interests of the survey. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, F. V. HAYDEN, United States Geologist. To the Commissioner (-eneral Land Office, Washington, D. C. REPORT. CHAPTER I. DETAILED REPORT OF DOUGLAS AND SARPY COUNTIES. Detailed reports of counties must necessarily be attended with more or less repetition. Yet in presenting a report on the geology of a State it would appear to be important to the inhabitants of each county that the local geology be dwelt upon with as much minuteness as possible. It is for this reason that I have called this portion of the report the local geology, much of which will no doubt be more interesting to the inhabitants of the State than the general geology. I will, therefore, commence with Douglas and Sarpy Counties. The basis rocks of these two counties are for the most part of the age of the Upper Coal-Measures. If the Permo-Carboniferous and the Permian were ever deposited over this area, they were swept away by erosion prior to the deposition of the Cretaceous rocks. If we follow the valley of the Platte westward on the northern side, we shall see the junction of the two great periods, Carboniferous and Cretaceous, and we shall find that the beds of the Dakota Group, or what we suppose to be the Lower Cretaceous beds of the West rest directly down on the limestones of the Upper Coal-Measures. As an illustration of this statement, we find near the Old Otoe Village, eight miles above the mouth of the Platte, a good exposure of the sandstone resting conformably on the Carboniferous limestone. In Douglas County there are very few exposures of the underlying rocks. Indeed, the only quarries of any importance in the county are near Omaha, on the Missouri River. But along the Platte the limestones jut out in massive beds, which supply all that region with excellent building stone, and most of that used in Omaha is transported from these quarries. The exposure of limestones near Omaha is not great, only about eight or ten feet above the water's edge, and over these limestones there are from 150 to 200 feet of drift and yellow marl, which must be stripped off before the rocky layers below can be made available. These difficulties will always render this quarry an expensive one. These limestones have also been seen in one or two localities farther up the river. At Rockport, about ten miles above Omaha, they form the bed of the river, and on this account this locality was formerly known as Rock Bottom, and attracted the attention of railroad engineers as a suitable crossing for a line of road. I was also informed that at low water, limestones are seen at Fort Calhoun and DeSoto, and it is probable that at the latter locality, the Carboniferous beds disappear beneath the river, not to be seen again in the valley of the Missouri, until disclosed by the uplifting of the Rocky Mountain ranges. Passing westward from Omaha thereis no important exposure of rocky beds to be observed. The scenery is very monotonous-a rolling prairie, with scarcely a tree to be seen. Near Bellevue, Sarpy County, there is an exposure of the Upper CoalMeasure rocks at low water, a very careful section of which has been given in Mr. Meek's report. This quarry has been wrought more or less 8 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF for years, and the limestones used for building purposes, and burned into lime. But the most important quarry in this country north of the Platte is that belonging to Mr. Watson, and located on the Pappillion, three miles west of Bellevue. This quarry has been worked for many years, and contains several layers of valuable rocks for building purposes. It is a source of considerable revenue to the owners, and the materials are taken to Bellevue and Omaha in igreat quantities, where a ready market is found. The following is a section of the beds in descending order: 6. Vegetable soil, two to four feet thick, with a few stray water-worn rocks. 5. A bed, like No. 3, with fragments of fossils, capped with loose layers of limestone 18 inches to 2 feet thibk. 4. Three inches of light-yellow clay, a hard layer. 3. Yellow indurated calcareous clay, full of shells, Chonetes granulifera, Spirifer plano-convexus, &c., 10 inches. 2 Several layers of hard limestone, very compact, with crinoids, corals, Chonetes granulifera, Athyris subtilita, Spirifer cameratus, Productus semi-reticulatus, &c., 6 feet. 1. Greenish yellow clay, underneath the most valuable and massive bed of limestone, 20 inches thick. Below the clay, but only exposed by removing the earth, is a layer of yellow limestone 18 inches thick. Bed 2 in the above section produces the best rock for building purposes, and the organic remains indicate its geological position to be in the Upper Coal-Measures. I then visited the quarries along the north bank of the Platte with Messrs. Clark and Watson, of Bellevue. The first point examined was Duclos's quarry, about four miles above the mouth of the Platte. Here are some most excellent limestones for building purposes, and blocks of large size are taken out for the Omaha market. Upon the principal layer rests a bed of yellow clay, filled with water-worn pebbles of small size, usually 2 or 3 inches in diameter, 3 to 4 feet thick. Above this is yellow marl of indefinite thickness. The surface of the rock seems to have been planed smooth, probably by glacial action, as if by the hand of art, so that as far as exposed by the stripping off of the superincumbent clay and marl beds, no portion of the surface seems to be higher than another. The main scratches or grooves are 270 east of north; but there are some exceptions, 19, 23, 270 east of north. There is one groove crossing the main scratches nearly north and south. The observations were taken with great care with a large surveyor's compass, belonging to Mr. Watson. Mr. W. regarded the variation at this point as 11l~. The entire process seems to have been rather a smoothing one, with a few small pebbles in the bottom of the glaciers. A section at this quarry, in descending order, reveals the following beds: 6. Yellow marl. Loess. 5. Yellow clay, full of white lumps of magnesia, with small pebbles. 4. A layer of limestone varying from 10 to 15 inches in thickness, which makes most excellent lime and building blocks. Athyris subtilita, Fusulina cylindrica, and Spirifer cameratus. 3. Slope, doubtless intercalations of clay and thin beds of rock, 30 feet. 2. Massive layers of limestone, yellowish-white, full of organic remains. Spirifer cameratus, Athyris subtilita. Productus semi-reticulatus, Fusulina cylindrica. The fusulina very abundant in the middle layers, 10 to 15 feet. 1. Slope, same as bed 3, 25 feet above the Platte. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 9 About two miles above Duclos's quarry, the little streams cut deep valleys along the region of the Platte, exposing some beds which doubtless hold a lower position than those last mentioned. Some very fine springs issue from these rocks, which are regarded with.great favor. In the vicinity of these springs there is usually a large accumulation of tufaceous deposits, sometimes forming large masses like thick layers of porous or spongy limestone. All along the Platte the beds are concealed except near the foot of the bluffs, and the following section is disclosed by artificial cuttings: 5. Greenish-yellow and brown clays with irregular hard layers of limestone, 2 to 6 inches thick, 10 to 15 feet. 4. Reddish clay, 2 feet. 3, Heavy, bedded, bluish limestone, very hard, 6 to 8 feet. 2. Yellowish laminated clay, 2 feet. 1. Bluish, hard, argillaceous limestone, 12 to 18 inches. The Carlisle quarries are about ten miles above the mouth of the Platte. The rock here is a blue limestone in layers 2 to 12 inches thick, with intercalations of clay 1 or 2 inches thick. It breaks into fine blocks for caps and sills, and is much sought after. Near Fair View, just below the mouth of Buffalo Creek, a section was taken: 8. Yellowish calcareous clay, full of Fusalina cylindrica, 2 to 4 feet. 7. Yellowish indurated clay, 18 inches. 6. Rather porous, impure limestone, 12 inches. 5. Yellow and ash-colored clay, 2 feet. 4. Massive yellow limestone, very good, full of organic remains, Allon'sma, Athyris, Productus, &c., 3 to 4 feet. 3. Slope. 2. Limestone. 1. Slope. Farther up the Platte bed 4 appears again; and always, wherever it occurs, forms most valuable quarries for the inhabitants. All these layers of limestone continue nearly to the mouth of the Elkhorn, gradually passing by a gentle dip beneath the Cretaceous sandstone. Near the mouth of the Elkhorn and along that stream are several bluffs of the yellow sandstone, soft, and yielding readily to atmospheric influences: but the mural faces are often covered with hieroglyphics, so that they seem to have been of some service to the Indian on which to record his history. In summing up the geology of these two counties we can at a glance see the simplicity of its character. A few beds of the Upper Coal-Measures and the rusty sandstones of the lowest division of the Cretaceous series, the Dakota Group, are all that occur. We find at one or two localities the Cretaceous and Carboniferous beds in apposition; and though the eye can observe no apparent want of conformity in these beds, yet we can readily imagine the tremendous effects of the erosion prior to the deposition of the'sandstone, from the fact that hundreds of feet of clays and limestones must have been swept away. The first interesting feature in the geology of this district is the vast deposit of yellow marl or Loess, which covers the whole of Eastern Nebraska. Although I shall allude to this deposit quite often in another portion of this report, yet it will be as well to define it as clearly as possible in this connection. Above the basis rocks thereis generally a considerable thickness of a deposit which goes under the general name of Drift. Near Omaha it is 40 or 50 feet in thickness composed of loose sand, waterworn pebbles, &c., the layers of deposition inclining at all angles. Indeed, 10 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF there is every evidence of turbulent waters during its deposition. Mingled with the water-worn pebbles are fragments of iron ore, and often thin layers of rusty sand, which shows that a large portion of the materials of this drift is derived from the washing away of the Cretaceous rocks. The coarse gravel gradually passes up into fine sand, then clay, and not unfrequently the clay graduates up into the yellow marl. In most instances the bluffs of yellow marl present a massive front, without any signs of stratification. Sometimes there are indistinct traces of stratification, but, as a general rule, the yellow marl indicates a deposition in very quiet waters, probably in a lake. This yellow marl is sometimes called the bluff formation, from the fact that it forms the greater portion of the high hills bordering the Missouri River on either side. Indeed, it is this formation that gives the contour to the hills and character to the entire surface of the country forming Eastern Nebraska. Bftt its most powerful influence upon this region lies in the wonderful fertility which it has imparted to all soils, lowland or upland. It varies from 5 to 150 feet in thickness in different places; yet, throughout its entire thickness, it is filled with nutritious matter for the growth of vegetation. It is owing to the universal distribution of this marl that the underlying basis rocks are so rarely revealed to the eye of the geologist. Passing westward from Omaha, as far as the eye can reach, nothing can be seen but one series after another of rounded hills or long sloping ridges. The yielding nature of this marl is such that it wears away into gentle slopes, so that traveling is not difficult; yet there is no more variation in the form of the surface than in that of the sea when agitated by the winds. This, too, is a great advantage to the.country, for on this account the drainage is perfect. Sometimes the farmers complain that their farms are rough and not as desirable, but this feature will be regarded at some future period as most important in the cultivation of certain crops. This marl was called, many years ago, Loess by Mr. Lyell, who examined it along the banks of the Mississippi. It forms the characteristic features of the hills along the Missouri and the Mississippi from the Great Bend to the Gulf of Mexico. But through the State of Missouri, so far as I have observed it, it contains more clay. The hills upon which the village of St. Joseph is located are fine examples of the yellow marl. Here very deep artificial excavations have been made. Scattered through it everywhere is an abundance of land and fresh-water shells which all belong, so far as we know, to recent species; a great variety of the genus Helix, also Lirmnea, Physa, Planorbis Pupa, Succinnea, valves of Cyclas, and some others. These shells, of course, illustrate its purely fresh-water character. This marl is also often filled with whitish calcareous concretions or nodules, which are sometimes hollow. These nodules are especially abundant at the foot of the lofty marl bluffs which form the precipitous range of hills along the Missouri River below the mouth of the Big Sioux. Not unfrequently the bones of extinct animals, mingled with those existing at the present time, are found in this marl. The bones and skull of the buffalo often occur. A most'excellent skull of the buffalo was recently found in the marl bluffs near Dakota City, 30 feet below the surface. Near Plattsmouth Rev. J. G. Miller obtained the bones and skull of a rodent, enveloped in one of these calcareous concretions, which on examination proved to belong to the Geomys bursarius, pouched or pocket gopher. This animal is still very abundant all over the rock bottoms of the Missouri from mouth to source, and yet we determine from this specimen that it extended back in time to the period of the Loess and was a cotemporary with the mastodon and elephant. In a large number of localities the bones and NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. II teeth of mastodons and of the beaver have been found. The teeth of the Mastodon giganteus and Elephas primigenius are not uncommon. This carries us far back into the past, when the great valley of the MAissouri, or a large portion of it, was one vast fresh-water lake, with its myriads of streams pouring in from every side, on the shores of which tramped the huge mastodon and elephant, along with the smaller quadrupeds that now inhabit this region. The beaver also built his daums along the streams, and cut the timber that grew along the banks, while the gopher burrowed, as now, under the rich soil of the bottoms. As I have before remarked, this yellow-marl formation has sometimes been called the Loess from a similar deposit which exists in the valley of the Rhine, and which has given this valley a celebrity in song and story all over the world. The vine-clad hills of the Rhine, and the delicious wine, have long been associated with this district; and if grape-vines that will withstand the severity of the climate can be found, these hills along the Missouri River will rival those along the Rhine in the abundance of the grapes and the income of their vineyards. There is another feature in the scenery along the Missouri which should not be overlooked here, from the fact that it is quite conspicuous, and contains within itself a most important truth, throwing much light on the history of the great West. The terraces along the Missouri and many of its tributaries are not confined to the district where the yellow marl is deposited, for I have seen these terraces even more numerous and conspicuous about the sources of the Missouri and Yellowstone, and they are described as occurring in the valley of the Columbia and other rivers, flowing into the Pacific. They are doubtless instructive as showing the pauses that occurred in the upward rising of the country during the elevation of the Rocky Mountain range. There is generally the uncertain sandy bottom next to the river, then an abrupt terrace, 4 to 15 feet high, which forms the proper river bottom; then comes the second terrace, which also varies much in height above the river bed of from a few feet to 100 or 150 feet. The city of Omaha is located on one of these high terraces, which is almost entirely composed of yellow marl. This terrace slopes gently up to the foot of the marl hills, when the ascent becomes more abrupt. It is not often that the terrace is worn away into the rounded hills, as shown near Council Bluffs. Sometimes there are three or four of these terraces, but usually not more than two conspicuous ones. When the terraces are well shown on one side of a river they seem to be wanting on the opposite side. Bellevue is also located on a high terrace overlooking a vast extent of country, and so fine is the location and so beau. tiful the prospect that it has called forth the involuntary admiration of travelers from Lewis and Clark to those of the present time. In a purely economic view this deposit is of very great value to the settlers. The ero sion of the limestones and clays of the Upper Coal-Measures alone could never have given such wonderfuffertility to the soil of Nebraska; indeed, it is almost or entirely independent of it. Indeed, it is composed of a mixture of the eroded materials of all the formations in the MIissouri Valley, and particularly of the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations and the soft, yielding, chalky limestone of No. 3 Cretaceous enters largely into its composition. I made collections of the soils and the yellow marls from various localities. They are now in the possession of Professor S. W. Johnson, of Yale College, for analysis, and no report has yet been made. In the excellent report of Professor Swallow on the geology of Missouri, 1855, several analyses of yellow marl from different points are given as conducted by Professor Litton. Professor L. 12 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF also gives a table of analyses of the Loess of the Rhine, and I will quote it here to show how closely related these two deposits seem to be in their chemical composition. It is not to be supposed that they are necessarily synchronous in their deposition, as some of the older formations are supposed to be, but merely this, that similar causes have produced similar results. The Loess of the Rhine may have been deposited in a quiet lake, and the materials may have been composed of the eroded debris of the rocks of a similar chemical composition. It will be seen also that those chemical constituents predominate in the yellow marl that are useful for the growth of the different cereals. In one hundred parts of this marl, dried, from near Hannibal, Missouri, analyzed by Dr. Litton, there were, from two analyses1. 2. Silica.. —.-...........- -............... —---- -- ------ 76.98 77.02 Alumina and peroxide of iron............. -—....... —-- 11.54 12.10 Lime —....................-............ —................ 3.87 3.25 Magnesia.............-..-. ---..-. — 1.68 1.63 Carbonic acid............................ Not determined. 2. 83 Water -.............-.... —- —. -.............. —. —... 2.01 2.43 96.17 99.26 Brick made from this formation, from the same locality, gave the following result: Silica.. —.... —.................... —------..................... —-.. 79. 52 Alumina and peroxide of iron. ——..........-......-...-....... —--—. 12.80 Lime.- ----- ------------------------------------------------------ 3.45 Magnesia. ——.......... —..-......-.. —------—.. —..,....... —-. 1.95 Carbonic acid and water.............................. 1.11 98.83 Bischoff's analyses of the Loess of the Rhine. Number of analysis. 1st. 2d. 3d. 4th. 5th. Silicic acid.........................v... 58.97 79.53 78.61 62.43 81.04 Alumina...... —----------. 9.97 13.45 15.26 7.51 9.75 Peroxide of iron........................ 4.25 4.81. 5. 14 6.67 Lime. —......-...........- 0.02 0.02........... Magnesia. -.. —-.. —--------- ---------. 0.04 0.06 0.91 0.21 0.27 Potash.. —------ —.-........... 0.11 1. 050 3. 1 1.1 7 2. Soda......-...-................. 0.84 1.14. Carbonate of lime........ —----. 2016............. 11.63... Carbonate of magnesia..-.....-......... 4. 21. 3.02 Loss by ignition... —.-...... 37.......1.89 2.31....... The table of five analyses is taken from Bischoff's Chemical Geology, and it will be seen at once that the two deposits are not essentially dif ferent from each other chemically. This deposit is found everywhere along the Missouri River to the Great Bend, and for a considerable distance up all the tributaries of that river. It gradually thins out as we proceed westward until it disappears beyond the mouth of Loup Fork. This shows clearly that the deposit was made after all the great watercourses in the West were marked out, and was one of the latest of the important geological events in this region. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 13 CHAPTER II. CASS, OTOE, AND NEMAHA COUNTIES. Cass County.-This county lies immediately south of the Platte River, and borders on the Missouri. It is one of the most fertile and productive counties in the State. The Weeping Water, a considerable stream, passes nearly diagonally through it and flows into the Missouri near the little town of Wyoming. The Platte forms the north limit and the Missouri the east, so that it seems to be most favorably located so far as water is concerned. But while this proximity to streams renders a large portion of the surface very rolling, or rough, as the farmers term it, there is undoubtedly morel wood-land on that account. Along the Missouri there is a good supply of timber, and a young growth of trees is continually aggressing upon the prairie portion. If not removed by the ax or destroyed by fire, these hills and valleys will, in a few years, be clothed with a thick growth of valuable timber. Among the ravines of the Platte are a great number of patches of oak, sufficient for fuel, on every farm. Then again, along the valley of the Weeping Water there is a good deal of excellent wood-land, and an abundance of limestone for all kinds of building purposes, and some excellent mill-sites. Nearly all the farms are occupied by actual settlers, and the crops of wheat, during the autumn of 1867, were unsurpassed by any other portion of the United States. I should judge also that this county is settled by a thrifty and intelligent class of farmers, for we find not only well-cultivated farms, with neat farm-houses, but also neat churches and schoolhouses. The entire county is covered with an immense thickness of the yellow marl which conceals all the basis rocks except along the streams. As in the counties already described, only the Upper Coal-Measures and the Cretaceous rocks are found. Along the Platte, about twelve miles west of Plattsmouth, and from thence to the mouth of Salt Creek, there are numerous quarries of the rusty sandstones of the Dakota Group. In these sandstones are numerous impressions of dicotyledonous leaves similar to those found at Blackbird Hills, Decatur, and other localities to the northward. Near Plattsmouth is a series of beds of clays, sandstones, and limestones of the Carboniferous period, and corresponding with those already noticed on the north side of the Platte. Near the summit of the hill is a layer of limestone four to six feet in thickness, which has been much wrought for building materials. As the superincumbent clays and marls are stripped off; a smooth surface is revealed, with indistinct scratches, the same as seen on the opposite side of the Platte. How extensive this planing operation was carried on in this region it is impossible to tell, yet, according to the investigations of Dr. White in Iowa, this glacial action. must have extended over a large area, and perhaps over all the Northwest. In a very interesting article by Dr. White, published in the American Journal of Science for May, 1867, entitled " Observations upon the Drift Phenomena in Southern IOwa," he states that as far back as 1858 he discovered distinct glacial scratches on an exposed layer of the upper Burlingtoil limestone. During the past season he discovered other traces of this action on limestones of the Upper Coal-Measures in Mills County. In Nebraska these scratches have been observed at Omaha, on the Platte, and along the Missouri below the mouth of the Platte, and the inference is a just one that, if the great thickness of drift and yellow marl could be removed from the surface of the limestones, we should find that this glacial action was universal. This is undoubtedly the beginning of a 14 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF series of events which continued up into the present period. I hope to be able to discuss this matter more fully in another part of this report. Through the great kindness of the Rev. J. G. Miller, of Plattsmouth, I was able to examine much more of this county than I could otherwise have done, and by his aid I secured all the essential points. On our way to Weeping Water from Plattsmouth we pass over a rolling prairie country underlaid with yellow marl, but having a surface soil of almost unexampled fertility. Near Eight-Mile Grove, at Mr. Austin's, we could ascertain, approximately, the thickness of the yellow marl at that distance from the river. A well dug 30 feet revealed no rocky layer on high ground and away from the main water-courses. The water is excellent. Near Mr. A.'s house there is a peat-bed that will undoubtedly be of some value when wrought. The peat appears to be two or three feet thick. There are several of these peat marshes in this neighborhood. In the valley of Weeping Water there is a bed of lightyellow limestone-a few layers compact and good for building purposes. It is mostly brittle, breaking into irregular fragments, with no true regular cleavage. A fine large mill and several houses are constructed of this limestone in the valley. The fossils are quite rare. The grassy slopes are so numerous everywhere that I found it difficult to secure a full section of the rocks. 7. Limestone, hard, whitish, and yellowish-white; cropping out at the summits of the hills, and lying on the slopes in large masses 8 to 10 feet thick. 6. Slope, 20 to 30 feet. 5. Layers of bluish limestone, brittle and cherty; full of flint, 6 to 8 inches thick, and breaking into square blocks 6 to 8 feet thick. 4. Slope, 20 to 30 feet. 3. Shelving limestone, yellow, not very useful for buildings; underneath this is a small bed of clay which forms a slope. 2. Yellowish-white, brittle limestone, with much sulphuret of iron in cavities. 1. Shale or black slate. These limestones are often filled with the comminuted fragments of fossils, as corals, bryozoa, and stems of crinoids, and not unfrequently thick layers are made up of an aggregate of the Fusulina, so that when the rock disintegrates the surface looks sometimes as if it was covered to a considerable thickness with grains of wheat. The crinoids are extremely abundant in their fragmentary condition, but it is very seldom that a specimen can be found sufficiently perfect to be characterized. Near the mouth of Stone Creek, section 12, range 10, township 10, indications of coal have been observed. Mr. E. L. Reed, residing at the little village of Weeping Water, sunk a shaft through the following beds: 9. Sandstones, which form the bed of the creek, 10 feet. 8. Slate and clay, 3 feet. 7. Coal, 9 inches. 6. Whitish, fire clay, 3 feet. 5. Crystalline quartz, 3 inches. 4. Bluish clay, 4 feet. 3. Whitish, fire clay, 6 feet. 2. Red clay, 3 feet. 1. Soft white limestone, The coal above, although so thin a seam as to render it unprofitable for working, is of good quality, aad is useful to the blacksmiths in the NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 15 vicinity. These alternate beds of limestones, sands, and clays give to the surface of the country bordering on the Weeping Water an unusually rugged character. The bottoms of the little streams are narrow, the soil is good, water excellent, and the valley is well settled and is prosperous. Near the residence of Dr. Childs, about fourteen miles west of Plattsmouth, is a bed of red earth under the Cretaceous sandstones which looks like red ocher. There is along the Platte, in this county, connected with the Cretaceous sandstones, quite a series of the variegated sands and clays of the Dakota Group, which must, at some future time, be made very useful for economical purposes. Still at this time there is so much excellent limestone in this county that the wants of the settlers are fully supplied. There are many beautiful houses built of limestone. This rock seems to work easily into any desirable shape. I have estimated that the quarries of this county would supply the whole State with building material for many years to come; and where I examined the clays and sands they are quite inexhaustible. The demand for fuel will never be as good in this county as in some of the others farther west, on account of the supply of wood-land; but I would ask the attention of the farmers to the importance of peat as an article of fuel at some future time, or as an article of trade with the counties west. /I am confident that a moderate supply at least can be found in this county, and that it will soon become an earnest object of pursuit and a source of great profit. But, like all the eastern portion of Nebraska, the great wealth of this county lies in its inexhaustible soil, which yields the most abundant crops. The wheat crops will average 30 to 35 bushels per acre; oats, 40 to 50; and corn, 60 to 75, while for grazing and stock-raising the whole country is unsurpassed by any portion of the globe. With all these facts before us, it is very easy to predict for eastern Nebraska a remarkable destiny in the future. Otoe and Nemaha Counties.-The geology of all the counties bordering on the Missouri south of the Platte has been so ably and minutely discussed by Mr. Meek, in his report, that I shall allude to it only in a general way, although the geological structure of this district seems very simple. Yet, to trace out the details of the beds, so as to be satisfied with the perfect accuracy of the work, is very difficult. The Carboniferous rocks of Nebraska are made up of a series of layers of limestones, sandstones, sands, and clays of all colors and composition, and, unlike the rocky-beds of nearly all the older Paleozoic periods, there seems to be no persistency in the lithology over even small areas. No two sections of strata not eighteen miles apart are alike, and the same bed changes apparently in short distances. If a very careful section of the beds, as revealed in some natural exposure along the Missouri River, is taken, it will fail to correspond with the results of a boring farther into the interior. Sections of the natural exposures'at Plattsmouth, Nebraska City, Brownsville, Rulo, or White Cloud, on the Missouri, will fail to correspond, except in some few particulars, and the vast thickness of yellow marl, which conceals the underlying rocks over such a great extent, leaves considerable intervals continually, over which it is impossible to trace out the beds. These Upper Coal-Measure rocks seem to be as changeable in their lithological characters as those of the Tertiary period. What adds to the difficulty, also, is the fact that the same species of fossils, with few exceptions, run through all the beds. Many of the same species run through all the beds that are exposed by the Missouri, from Leavenworth City to Omaha. As has been shown by Mr. Meek, both these counties are underlaid by rocks of the Upper Coal 16 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF Measures, or Permo-Carboniferous. The Cretaceous sandstones have not been observed on the western borders, and it is probable that the Cretaceous belt extends westward beyond the limits. If the western portions of these two counties could be stripped of this thick covering of marl, it is very probable that true Permo-Carboniferous beds, and, quite possibly, true Permian would be disclosed at some points. The efforts in search of coal in Nebraska have so far been unsuccessful, but so important does it seem to be to the inhabitants that a source of mineral fuel should be found somewhere within the limits of the State, that its existence or non-existence becomes the most important problem for solution connected with the survey. In succeeding portions of this report, I shall allude frequently to outcroppings and seams of coal in various portions of the State; but, inasmuch as so great interest has been taken in this question by gentlemen at Nebraska City, it will not be out of place to discuss the matter briefly now. Mr. Meek, in his report, has discussed the probabilities of the existence of a bed of coal within accessible distance of the surface within the limits of the State with his usual care, and he has given the details of the sections shown by the borings at different localities. His opinion seems to be unfavorable to success anywhere within the limits of the State. As far back as 1862, I published a paragraph in a memoir read before the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, referring to some indications of coal along the banks of the Platte, which had attracted the attention of settlers: A seam of carbonaceous shale, 12 to 18 inches in thickness, crops out occasionally near the water's edge, and is regarded by the inhabitants as a sure indication of coal. The great scarcity of timber throughout this region would render such a discovery of the highest importance, but I am inclined to the opinion that it is a geological impossibility for a workable seam of coal to be found within the limits of the Territory of Nebraska. The limestones of southeastern Nebraska belong to the Upper Coal-Measures, and form the extreme northwestern rim of the great coal-basin, and, inasmuch as the strata dip toward the northwest, in ascending the river, at least one foot to the mile, there must be from 600 to 1,000 feet of clays, shales, and limestones over the first seam of coal two feet in thickness, in any part of the country near the mouth of the Platte. A bed of coal, to be really valuable for economical purposes, should be at least three feet in thickness, and even then it would not prove profitable if a large amount of'labor were required in opening the mine. It had always been my opinion that the Coal-Measure rocks of Nebraska were located on the western rim of the great coal basin of the West, and that a profitable bed of coal would never be found within a workable distance of the surface. During the survey many facts bearing on that point were secured which we had never known previously. The fact that the Union Pacific Railroad Company had bored 400 feet at Omaha: that Mr. Croxton had bored down nearly the same distance at Nebraska City, without passing through any important seam of coal, seemed discouraging. Now, if we go still lower down the river, where the rocks hold a position several hundred feet lower in the geological scale than at Nebraska City, at Atchison, St. Joseph, Leavenworth, and some other localities, we shall find that borings have been made 400 or 500 feet with no better success. Again, if we examine a small but valuable memoir on the geology of Northern Missouri, by Mr. Broadhead, we shall find that in this paper he gives a continuous section of the beds as they are seen in their natural exposures, of 2,000 feet or more in thickness, including the Upper Coal-Measures and a part or all the Middle CoalMeasures, and yet he does not find a seam of coal over 2 or 2~ feet in thickness. Another fact seems to me to possess considerable weight. In the valley of the Des Moines, in the Lower Coal-Measures, are found several beds of coal varying in thickness from 1 to 7 feet. The fact NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 17 that 4tese seams of coal were not more than one hundred or one hundred and thirty miles east of Nebraska City gave encouragement that the same seams would be penetrated at the latter place at a reasonable depth. But it is probable that in the western extension there is a thinning out of the beds of coal and shale and a thickening of the limestones, clays, and sands. It is now well known that the Carboniferous limestones disclosed by the elevation of the Rocky Mountains are of the same age as those along the Missouri in Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas. We believe that these beds pass beneath the more recent deposits in Nebraska only to reappear again along the margins of the mountains, and we have no reason to suppose that the continuity of Carboniferous rocks from the Missouri River to the mountains is interrupted underneath the Tertiary, Cretaceous, or other deposits. Now all along the margins of the mountains, from the north line to the Arkansas, there are no black shales or indications of coal in the Carboniferous rocks that would deceive the most hopeful. The beds are for the most part massive limestones, or fine, compact sandstones, and the entire absence of irregular beds of sands, clays, seams of shale or coal, would seem to indicate that the Carboniferous rocks passed through these changes gradually in their extension westward. These facts point to the conclusion, as I have before mentioned, that Nebraska lies on the western border of the coal-basin, and however deep borings may be carried anywhere along the Missouri River no seams of coal over 2 or 2~ feet will ever be penetrated. As a matter of course it is not possible to decide this point positively except by actual boring, and it certainly would be a good plan to extend a boring down a distance of 1,000 or 1,200 feet to settle the question for all time to come. This disposition of the question in Nebraska settles it for a vast area along the Missouri River of the finest land in the west. A large portion of Kansas, Northern Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Dakota Territory will be found destitute of mineral fuel. Mr. J. Sterling Morton sunk a shaft on his farm near Nebraska City, and bored down about 100 feet more, but with no indications of coal. There is a seam of coal near the river at this place, which has been wrought by drifting in a distance of 300 yards, and the seam was about 8 inches in thickness, and several thousands of bushels of coal have been taken from it. At Otoe City, eight miles below Nebraska City, there is a bed of slate and coal about 8 inches thick, which has been worked to some extent, and the coal used in blacksmith shops. Again, at Brownsville there is a seam of coal accompanied by some of the plants peculiar to the Coal-Measures. There is from 4 to 6 inches of coal, and the whole bed, coal and slate, is about 12 inches in thickness. There is also a fine quarry of limestone at this point, which is of a very superior quality for building purposes, but it contains too much sand and clay to make a good article of lime. There is also a bed of fine-grained, micaceous sandstone, which cleaves naturally into excellent flagstones. Indeed, the rock quarries in this county are of great value to the inhabitants. The materials for making brick abound everywhere in this region; clays, sands, and marls are abundant and of excellent quality. At Aspinwall, in Nemaha County, we discovered the most favorable exhibition of coal yet observed in the State. The general dip of the beds seems to be up the Missouri, or nearly north or northwest. It is difficult to determine this point with precision. The rocks at Aspinwall are all geologically at a little lower horizon than the Nebraska City beds, and mostly beneath the Brownsville beds. Two seams of coal are met with at H. Ex. 19 2 18 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF Aspinwall; one crops out near the river, about 15 feet above the water, 24 inches in thickness-very good quality. A few feet above this seam is a second seam-six inches of good coal. Some English miners are sinking a shaft here, with full confidence that the thickest bed can be made profitable, and I am inclined to think that, with the present scarcity of fuel, they will succeed well. Coal commands a ready sale at from 40 cents to 80 cents per bushel; and even at 80 cents a bushel coal is cheaper than wood. The miners have already sunk the shaft about 40 feet, have passed through the 6-inch seam, and are confident of soon reaching the 24-inch bed, when the work of drifting in various directions will commence and the coal be taken out for market. The beds hold such a position here that, if these miners are successful, this effort determines the existence of a workable bed of coal for Nemaha, Richardson, Pawnee, and Johnson Counties, which will be a most important matter for the whole State. We have very abundant notes in detail, and many specimens to illustrate the geology of the river counties. I am informed that excellent hydraulic lime for cement exists in Nemaha County, section 9, township 6, range 14, but I have not been able yet to make a personal examination of the locality. In both counties there are many indications of extensive peat-beds, which must attract the attention due them before many years. Mr. McPherson, of Brownsville, informed me that just twelve miles west of that town he had observed an extensive area, which appeared to be a peat-bog, into which he thrust a pole to the depth of 10 or 12 feet. It is not to be supposed that in this dry climate any very extensive peat-bogs, like those in New England or other portions of the Atlantic coast, but a bog with peat 2 feet in depth even, would be of great value. The counties of Otoe, Nenlaha, and Richardson contain more timber than any others in the State. CHAPTER III..ICHARDSON AND PAWNEE COUNTIES. The two counties above named are in some respects the finest in the State. Forming as they do the southeastern boundary of the State they are located geographically in that portion in which the extreme cold does not have so powerful an influence. All the fruits and cereals peculiar to northern temperate zones can be raised here in perfection. Peaches, pears, apples and grapes do well; while north of the Platte it is doubtful even yet whether the cultivation of fruits is an entire success. In the northern parts of the State several kinds of fruits must fail on account of the severity of the climate during the winter months. There is more woodland in Richardson County than in any other portion of the State, and on this account very little attention has been paid to the planting of trees. While there are many excellent farmers here and there, and the county is quite thickly settled, there is not that thrift that is found in Nemaha and Pawnee Counties. The greater part of the land, however, has been taken up by actual settlers, who are now devoting themselves to the improvement of their farms, and to the raising of large crops. There is a ready market for all kinds of produce at the highest price. Although nearly all the ~ettlers came into the county poor, many without any money at all, nearly all are becoming moderately rich, and every man with industry and prudence may become independent in a few years. This country may certainly be called the NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 19 poor man's paradise. There is scarcely a foot of land in the whole county that is not susceptible of cultivation. I have never known a region where there is so little waste land. The underlying rocks of the whole county belong to the age of the Upper Coal-measures, and are composed of alternate beds of limestones, sandstones, and clays of almost all colors, textures and compositions. There are several localities along the Missouri River and the larger streams where there are good natural exposures of the rocks, but as a rule the beds are concealed by the superficial covering of yellow marl or Loess, which gives the beautiful, undulating outline to the surface, the gentle slopes, with only now and then an exposure of the basis rocks. This aids in rendering the investigation of the geological structure of the county more complicated and difficult. The river counties present better exposures of the rocks than any other counties in the State, and it is partly on this account that I have given them my first attention. Even these exposures are by no means good. In my last communication I spoke of the coal-seam at Aspinwall, Nemaha County; that about 16 feet above the water level of the Missouri a bed of coal 22 to 24 inches in thickness was observed cropping out from the bluff; and a few feet above this, in the same range of hills, was a second seam, 6 inches in thickness. These beds do not appear again for considerable distance down the river, until we come to Rulo, except at one or two localities near St. Stephens. At Arago I saw no outcroppings of coal at all, and could not hear that any had been observed; but there are some good quarries of limestone, beds of clay, sands, &c. The next marked exhibition of coal is at Rulo and its neighborhood, about two miles above Rulo, on land belonging to Mr. S. F. Nuckolls, of Nebraska City. At this locality Mr. N. has drifted into the bank 100 feet or more, and taken thence over 200 bushels of coal, which has been used by blacksmiths with success. The outcrop was about 5 inches in thickness, but increased. as the drift was extended in the bank, to 11 inches, and again suddenly diminished to 1 inch of good coal, the remainder being composed of impurities, or niddy coal, as the miner called it. The coal which has been thus far taken from this mine sells readily for 35 to 40 cents per bushel. The abrupt termination of the coal-seam, or " fault," is undoubtedly due to the sliding down toward the river of the superincumbent beds —a phenomenon which is very common everywhere along the Missouri. Still the irregularity in the thickness of this coalseam is everywhere apparent, vibrating between 4 and 20 inches, thus alternately exalting and depressing the hopes and prospects of the miner. On the farm belonging to Mr. St. Louis, about one and one-fourth miles below Rulo, the same bed of coal has been worked with some success by drifting, and a considerable quantity of coal taken out. Mr. St. Louis unwisely sunk a shaft at a higher point on the hill, thinking to cut the coal-seam at a more favorable spot, the expense attending it, exhausting his means at 45 feet. He sunk a drill, however, into the bed of coal and found it 12 feet below the position at the outcrop, showing an extensive inclination of the beds from the river, or toward the west. This dip may be readily accounted for by the extensive erosion of the rock prior to the deposition of the yellow marl and drift deposits, which erosion has given rise to many perplexing local inclinations of strata. These local dips will not interfere with the miner so much, farther in the interior of the county. The thickness of the coal-bed at this locality is 10 to 12 inches, increasing in one instance to 17 inches. On the Iowa reserve, along the Great Nemaha River, the same bed again crops out in the ravines or banks of little streams, and has been wrought with 20 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF some success, several hundred bushels of the coal having been taken out from time to time for several years past. The country along the Nemaha is quite rugged, or "rough," as it is termed by the settlers, owing to the several beds of sandstone, and the overlying or cap rock of the coal-bed, which prevents the water from forming gentle slopes, as in the case of the more yielding clays or marl-beds. This bed of coal is probably the equivalent of the 2-foot bed seen at Aspinwall, while the upper 6-inch bed is not exposed at all. The rocks in contact with the coal are as follows: Underlying the coal, a bed of light-gray fire-clay, full of fragments of plants, as fern-leaves, Neuropterisc Loschei, and N. hirsuta, stems of rushes, calamites, &c., the same as occur in the underlying clays in Ohio and Illinois coal-fields. Above the coal there is about four feet of very hard laminated or shaly clay, varying from black to dark-ash color, all of which must be removed with great labor before the bed of limestone, or cap rock, as it is called, can afford suitable protection to the miner as he drifts into the bank. Thus the small amount of coal is obtained with great labor, and it is only the great scarcity of fuel that will warrant any labor being expended upon it at all. We passed over the almost treeless prairie, from Rulo to Falls City, the county seat, about nine miles distant. Some beds of limestone crop out from the hills occasionally, but usually all the basis rocks are concealed from view, and the surface is gently and beautifully undulating. The fertility of the soil is everywhere shown by the luxuriance of the crops. Falls City is located upon high ground overlooking the valley of the Nemaha. There is not a native shrub or tree of any size growing within a mile of the town. Although the same coal-bearing beds formed the underlying basis rocks about Falls City, yet not an outcropping of coal could be found in the vicinity. Some good quarries, however, were examined. Having heard that a boring had been made at Hiawatha, the county seat of Brown County, Kansas, ten miles south of Falls City, I visited that place to ascertain the result. I was informed that a company had bored near that place 240 feet without success, and that the project had been abandoned; and as the strata in all this region are very nearly horizontal, the same result would follow any attempt at boring at Falls City, to that depth at least. About nine miles southeast of Hiawatha a bed of coal is worked with considerable success, and many hundred bushels of coal are taken out of the mines and sold annually. Mr. Laycock, a lawyer at Hiawatha, informed me that during the past winter he used about 130 bushels of coal, for which he paid 50 cents per bushel; and he found it cheaper than wood, even at that price. He spoke highly of its qualities as fuel. I am disposed to believe that it is the same bed seen along the Missouri, in Nemaha and Richardson Counties, although I did not examine it in person. Continuing our course westward to Salem, we observed no marked change in the country; indeed, there is a remarkable uniformity in the character of the country over a large area. The changes that take place are usually the result of some change in the underlying geological formations, and are, therefore, quite gradual. No outcroppings of coal could be found at Salem or vicinity, and it is quite possible that none will be found exposed to the surface in that portion of the county, except along the Missouri River. I am convinced, however, that boring at a moderate depth at almost any point would penetrate the thin bed seen at Rulo. The quarries of limestone for building purposes, &c., are much finer at Salem than at any other point observed in the county. The town is located upon an elevation on the point of the wedge of NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 21 land between the two forks of the Nemaha. Forming a part of the town site is a high hill, with two beds of limestone, both of which form large quarries, which yield an abundance of stone for all economical purposes. All along the Nemaha and its numerous branches are quite well-wooded tracts of land, which are held at a high price, though no portion'of the country would be called well timbered in any of the States east of the Mississippi. Although there is less wood-land in Pawnee County, it is equally fertile with Richardson, and the latter possesses only the geographical advantage of bordering on the great navigable river Missouri. Its surface is more rolling or undulating, the slopes are more gentle, and to the eye it seems even more desirable for farming purposes. Both counties are remarkably well drained by nature; so there is scarcely a foot of land in either that is not'susceptible of cultivation. I cannot ascertain that one county produces better crops than the other. Pawnee County is remarkably well watered. The numerous branches of the North and South Nemaha, circulating all over it, render the land very attractive to the settler and speculator, who have already absorbed every acre of it. Both counties are underlaid by rocks of the Upper Coal-measures, which give a very great uniformity of character to their surface. The rocks are composed of alternate beds of clays, sandstones, and limestones, with some thin beds of coal. At Salem the succession of the beds is about as follows: 10. Yellowish-gray soft limestone, 3 feet. 9. Slope. 8. Very compact white limestone, brittle, about 12 inches thick, caps the hills. 7. Slope, 50 feet. 6. A very porous, yellow limestone, 2 feet. 5. A layer of laminated, impure, rather rotten limestone, dirty yellow, with Spirifer planoconvexus, S. Kentuckensis, Pleurophorus occidentalis, emnipronetes crassus, Productus semireticulatus. 4. Dark, laminated, arenaceous clay, mostly fine sand, 5 feet. 3. A very irregular bed of laminated fine sandstone; sometimes the bed is 2 feet, gradually increasing to 4 feet. 2. Dark, ash-colored, indurated clay, unusually hard, 5 feet. 1. Bluish, very hard clay, becoming yellow on exposure, 2 feet above water. Up one of the little branches of the Nemaha, in Salem, I found about 4 feet thickness of black shale, or slate, which was not exposed at the mill. The cap rock, above the shale, is full of fossils. In the shale the Lingula, probably L. Scotica and Orbiculoidea, occur in considerable quantities. On Contrary Creek there is a small exposure of the basis rocks of this region: 4. Yellowish laminated shale, with a thin layer of deep-yellow, fine clay, 4 feet. 3. Blue indurated clay, 3 feet. 2. Rather hard layer of limestone, 6 inches; Chonetes granulifera, Productus Prattenanus, P. Nebrascensis, Spirifer planoconvexus. 1. Yellow indurated clay. On Isaac Trigg's farm, seven miles west of Salem, I obtained some fossils from. a well. The surface was about 20 feet above the Nemaha, and dry. Twenty-five feet before reaching water, near the bottom of the well, is a bed of shale, in which were species of Myalina and Aviculopecten. At Miles's ranche, about 20 feet above the bed of the Nemaha, is a 22 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF dark-bluish layer of fine, argillaceous limestone, which cleaves easily but makes good stone for buildings, about 10 inches thick. Above is a layer of yellow shale; then limestone, very brittle, with Productus, Myalina subquadrata, &c. The succession of the beds is thus shown: 8. Bluish, close-grained, argillaceous limestone. 7. Slope. 6. Gray arenaceous limestone, fine-grained fragments of organic remains or shells, and fish teeth, 4 feet. 5. Dark, ash-colored, laminated, indurated clay, somewhat variable in character, 30 feet. 4. Impure fibrous gypsum, and fine, light-gray, indurated, slaty clay, 4 inches. 3. Bluish indurated clay shale, 11 inches. 2. Light, ash-colored clay slate, 12 inches. 1. Bluish-black indurated clay, 6 feet above water. Bed 6 of the above section would yield most excellent buildingstone, and may be quarried out in immense blocks. All these beds seem to change their character over short areas. This bed has much the appearance of one seen at Plattsmouth, though the evidence is not positive. The hills, for 200 feet in height in this region, have little layers of limestone cropping out. The whole country along the Nemaha is much broken-more than usual-yet the fertility of the soil is very great. On Mr. Wheeler's farm, section 31, township 2, range 14, the basis rocks crop out again: 1st, shale; 2d, yellow clay, 2 feet; 3d, impure limestone, intercalated with clay, 3 feet; 4th, blue clay, 6 feet. In the third layer occur shales with Aviculopecten, Productus, TSpirifer planoconvexus, &c. The valley. of the Nemaha seems nowhere in this region to be destitute of good building-stone. As we proceed westward, even as far as Salem, the yellow marl, which is so conspicuous a feature along the Missouri, begins to grow thinner, so that in digging wells the basis rock is soon reached. This marl is somewhat unequally distributed over the country, but where it is found it renders the soil very productive. The bottom lands of the Nemaha are quite broad here, covered with a luxuriant growth of grass yielding two or three tons of hay to the acre. Water is reached in wells, at a depth of o1 to 25 feet, without passing through.the alluvial soil. On Four-mile Creek, ten miles southwest of Salem, a bed of rock crops out, which is the same as the upper bed at Salem, and might be called fusulinalimestone. It caps the hills on section 12, township 1, range 13. Other fossils occur, as Aviculopecten, Spirifer planoconvexus, Pleurophorus occidentalis, &c. On Turner's Branch, a small stream flowing into the Nemaha, there is a seam of coal that has been worked with much labor. The principal drifts are on school section, township 1, range 12, one and a-half mile northeast of Freize's mills: 4. Massive yellow limestone; upper part cleaving. 3. Dark, ash-colored laminated clay, with two or three black bands, 2 to 4 inches thick. The whole mass is filled with shells-Productus Nebrascensis, P. longispinus, Chonetes granulifera, Spirifer planoconvexus, Retia punctulifera, Spriferina Kentuckcensis, Hemipronites crassus. Bryozoa, &c. 2. Coal, 4 to 16 inches thick, very variable in thickness and quality. 1. Yellow plastic clay, passing up into a hard blue clay, upon which the coal lies as if pressed down, 20 feet thick. No rocks below bed 1 are seen in this immediate vicinity. The coal seemed to be packed closely down on to the clay beneath, like masses of NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 23 flat rock, as if it had been originally deposited there like a layer of clay or sand. The clay below is quite hard and filled with fragments of fern leaves, stems of the rush-like calamites, like the clay underneath the coal seams in Ohio or Pennsylvania. The under surface of the coal seems to be composed of stems, like gra'sses, as if the vegetable debris began upon a densely grass-covered surface. The vegetable impressions do not go down into the clay more than an inch or two, and above the seam, where the coal ceases, all traces of vegetable matter disappear, and the clay is charged with a variety of miolluscous remains. The clay above the coal is very hard, and yields with difficulty to the pick, and the coal is extracted with great labor. Several hundred bushels have been taken out and sold, and the bank of the creek reveals fifteen or twenty openings like that shown by the illustration. This shows the coal seam at the base, the bed of indurated clay above, wlich is generally 3 to 4 feet thick, all of which has to be removed, and the heavybedded limestone forms an excellent cap-rock above. At Frieze's Mill, still further on, this same bed of coal is again wrought with some success. On Mr. Boston's farm, township 1, range 12, section 34, several openings have been made; and here the coal seam increases in thickness to 16 inches. Mr. B. has taken out 900 bushels of coal here. He finds a ready market for it at the mine at 30 cents per bushel. This coal seam averages a bushel of coal to a square foot of surface. I have collected abundant specimens of this coal at'dififrent localities, and they will be properly investigated at some future time. This seam is also worked on Lee's Branch and on Miner's Creek, so that it is now wrought, more or less, over an area of ten miles square, at least. The coal seems to have been worked with more system, industry, and success than in any other portion of the State. Near Pawnee City there is another small seam of coal holding a higher geological position, which has attracted some attention. I made a careful examination-of all the localities, and found it not more than 4 inches in thickness generally. On Mr. Jordan's farm, at the water-level of Turkey Creek, a branch of South Nenaha, this seam increased to 8 inches, but is so impure and full of sulphuret of iron as to be quite unfit for use. Near Pawnee City, on a little branch of Turkey Creek, about 300 yards south of the city line, the beds succeed each other as follows: 5. Yellow, fine-grained sandstone, 20 feet. 4. A close-grained, bluish, ash-colored argillaceous limestone. 3. Two to four inches of coal, with large masses of sulphuret of iron. 2. Plastic fire-play, nearly white, passing down into yellow clay and sand, 12 inches. 1. Yellow, arenaceous laminated clay, mostly sand, and quite firm in some parts. At numerous localities in this county sections like those that are given above might be written, but as they teach nothing more than.this, that the rocks all belong to the Upper Coal-measures, and that they are very variable in their character. it is not worth while to report them. We learn, also, that the seams of coal, so far as they have been opened, are very thin, and, although we suppose that the seam on Turner's Branch and at Frieze's Mill is the same as the one exposed at Pawnee City, the long intervals over which the rocks are concealed by superficial marl renders it impossible to trace all these beds out in their continuity, but as the inclination of the strata seems to be west or northwest, higher and higher beds must be constantly making their appearance. Throughout this county the uniformity in the specific character 24 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF of the fossils running through all the beds is another obstacle. If certain species were restricted to certain beds we could then trace them with more certainty; but our hasty examination always reveals from any one bed, or series of beds, certain fossils identical in species; and if at any one locality any species seem to be wanting that occur at another, a closer examination generally reveals thein all. It is somewhat doubtful whether in the whole of Pawnee County a single species of shell was found that is not also found along the bluffs of the Missouri. In this county, however, several beds of limestone make their appearance on the high lands which have not been seen east, showing the direction of the dip. On a piece of land belonging to Governor Butler there is the best quarry of limestone I have seen in the county. The bed crops out near the edge of a hill bordering a small stream about eight miles west of Pawnee City. It is soft, cream-colored rock, full of small cavities, by the decaying out of a small shell. Fusulina cylindrical Spirifetr cametus also occurs. It is a true fusulina limestone, and is a great aivorite with masons for building purposes. It is easily wrought into any desirable shape, is very tenacious in texture, and durable. It seems to hold a position about 100 feet above the water level of Turkey Creek, alnd belongs to the age of the " Permo Carboniferous," or intermediate between the Upper Coal-measures and the Permian series, the general inclination of the beds being toward the west and northwest. New and more recent beds are continually making their appearance as we proceed toward the west, and this choice bed of limestoloe has made its appearance here for the first time. It will doubtless be found to extend over considerable area in a southeasterly direction. There is still another bed of bluish limestone cropping out of the hills, which, though useful, is not regarded with the favor bestowed on that just mentioned. It does not dress as nicely, is not as handsome for caps or sills. It is equally durable with the other. There are several beds in the county which are employed, to a greater or less extent, for various economical purposes. About three miles north of Pawnee City, about 50 feet above a little branch of the North Nemaha, is a ledge of yellowish-gray limestone croppiug out of the hills, filled with a very large variety of the Fusulina. It is much used for building purposes. At another locality in the same region, at about the same level, is another quarry in which the rocky layers seem to be made up of an aggregate of small masses, apparently organic and like _usulina. The bed is 4 to 6 feet in thickness, and although the rock has a loose, porous texture, it is very tenacious, and is very useful to the settlers. This bed, though holding nearly the same geological position as that mentioned above as occurring on Governor Butler's farm, is, I think, underneath, and both belong to the series designated in this report as Permo-Carboniferous. As we proceed farther west of this point we shall find the beds more and more recent and approaching gradually the character and texture of the true Permian rocks, as shown near Junction City, in Kansas. Peat-beds occur in various portions of the county,'sufficient, I think, to attract attention at some future time.. Near Pawnee City there is a small peat-bog, on which one may stand and jar the ground for considerable distance around. I estimated the peat here at 10 or 12 feet in thickness. These low wet places are covered with water a large portion of the year, and give rise to a luxuriant growth of the large rushes and reed grasses of the country. This vegetable dies down every year; from its decay grows a still more luxuriant growth, which furnishes an abode for the muskrat, which builds its conical houses. Water is abundant all over the county. Scarcely a section of land can be found in the two eastern tiers of counties without a running NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 25 stream or a flowing spring. Water is obtained everywhere, by digging, at moderate depths. Near the little streams it is only necessary to go down a little below the river bed and the best of water flows in abundantly, and on the high land-vater is usually found at a moderate depth. Nearly all the wells have a continual supply from 6 to 10 feet. In the limestone region the water is usually hard on account of the carbonate of lime, but it is cool and clear as crystal and very pleasant to the taste. I cannot well conceive of a healthier region either for man or beast. As a grazing country Nebraska presents unusual facilities, and the time must come when it will be unsurpassed by any State in the Union. Having described most of he ne nerla the counties underlaid by the Upper Carboniferous rocks, I might say a few words here in regard to the possible outline of the surface of them prior to the deposition of the yellow marl. AWe see, all along the Missouri River, that this comparatively recent deposit attained there a great thickness, varying at different localities from 50 to 150 feet. As we go westward from the river th r is deposit gradually grows thinner until it finally disappears. The question now arises as to the influence it had on the character of the scenery of this region. Even if this yellow marl did not exist here, there must have been some superficial deposit of drift or alluvial to conceal, in part at least, the underlying or basis rocks, and the character of the surface would depend somewhat on the thickness and compactness of this superficial material. We could safely infer, from the evidence we have obtained, that prior to the deposition of the yellow marl the outline of the surface underlaid with the Upper Coal-measure rocks was exceedingly rugged. Sometimes the foundation of a house dug on a high hill will rest upon the true limestones; again, a well dug will pass through the clays, sands, or limestones of the basis formations. Then, in other localities, wells are dug from 30 to 100 feet through the yellow marl without ever reaching the bottom of the alluvial or drift material; but it is especially along the bottoms of streams that the superficial deposits appear to be so deep. If we can imagine the superficial materials entirely removed from the county, the surface, as it seems to me, would be rugged in the extreme. The valleys of the streams would be much deeper and wider, and the massive piles of limestones would stand around here and, there, scattered over the surface like gigantic ruins. Evidences of glacial action also would be visible, as well as striking examples of erosive action —numerous valleys with almost perpendicular rocky sides, high conical hills capped with ledges of limestones; indeed, so rugged would be the surface that it would be quite uninhabitable. The distribution over it of the thick deposit of soft-yielding marl has softened down all the slopes, so that not only is nearly every foot of land susceptible of cultivation, but the drainage is complete. To these causes are due the almost unparalleled agricultural resources. The source of all this material may be somewhat difficult to determine, but in another portion of this report I will bring together all the information that I can secure in relation to it. CHAPTER IV. GAGE AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES. Gage County.-After having examined Pawnee County with considerable care, with the kind aid of many excellent friends, we took a course nearly southeast across the open, high prairie, passing over the divide 26 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF between the valley of the Nemaha and that of the Big Blue. Very few exposures of rock were to be seen, the surface is rolling, covered with a luxuriant growth of grass that would yield two or three tons to the acre. Here I saw the first long stretch of treeless, waterless prairie, reminding one somewhat of the prairies farther west. There was no living water, and not a house along the road for several miles. The soil, however, is extremely rich, a thick deposit of yellow marl covering the whole surface. The compass plant, Silphium laciniatum, is still seen in great abundance on highland and lowland, attesting by its presence the fertility of the soil. About seven miles northeast of the Otoe reservation we see the first outcrop of limestone from the hills, forming a sort of terrace about 50 feet above the beds of the streams. The gentle slopes and the entire absence of outcrops of rock over so long a distance from Pawnee City, are doubtless due to beds of soft yielding clay and sand prevailing, which readily yield to atmospheric agencies; while the beds of limestone, yielding less readily, form a sort of cap or floor protecting the softer beds below. This border rock always gives to the surface a more abruptly rugged character, the little branches have steeper banks, and there is greater variety to the scenery. At the Otoe agency this same bed of limestone is again exposed. It is quite cherty, breaking into small fragments. There are one or two layers, 6 to 12 inches in thickness, that would furnish good materials for building purposes. The following section was obtained at several localities within two miles of the agency buildings, and gives a fair view of the succession of the beds on the Indian reservation: 7. Superficial deposits of soil and yellow marl. 6. Yellowish-white limestone, rather soft, yielding readily to atmospheric influences, 2 feet. 5. Slope same as No. 3, below. 4. Yellow, fine-grained, arenaceous limestone, 18 inches. 3. Slope supposed to be laminated clay, but covered with grass, 20 feet. 2. Yellow and gray limestone filled with seams and nodules of schist or flint. A large species of Orbiculoidea occurs here. 1. Bluish-gray, laminated, calcareous clay, with numerous fragments of fossils, crinoids, corals-Productus semi-reticulatus, ileekellastriato-'costata, &c., 30 feet above water's edge. The Otoe reserve is located on the Big Blue River, mostly in the southern portion of Gage County, but extending into Jefferson County. It occupies a surface 10 by 24 square miles = 153,600 acres of the finest land in Southern Nebraska. The Big Blue, one of the most beautiful of the inland streams, with several of its most important branches, passes through it. Like all other portions of the State, there is comparatively little timber, yet as much as on other streams. Some of the branches have the most desirable farms bordering on them. The Otoe Indians ocqppy a small village bordering on the Blue and are not distributed over the reserve. The land is not divided out to them, but they are all aggregated together in a village of mud huts. They seem to have no idea of individual independence, but have all things in common, as it were. The bed of cherty limestone extends beyond Blue Spring and forms the same bluff-like bench along all the streams; it then passes beneath the water level of the Blue. Near Blue Spring this bed presents much the appearance of mason-work, the cherty material forming the cement between the blocks of limestone. These bluffs are about 10 or 15 feet high, and as they are cut through by the myriads of little streams pouring down from the hills, they present a rather rugged NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 27 appearance. A few fossils were obtained here, as Athyris subtilita, Hemipronetes crassus, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, with bryozoa and crinoidal remains. Near the ford at Blue Spring there is an excellent mill site, and the settlers here have quarried the rock down to the water's edge, for the purpose of building a dam and laying the foundations of a mill. The succession of the beds here is as follows. All of them are below the cherty bed spoken of: 3. About 10 inches soil, 8 feet yellow marl, 2 feet worn pebbles and sand. Roots of trees pass all through this bed into the joints of the limestone. 2. Layers of cherty nodules, variable in thickness, with intercalations of fine gray sand, 2 to 21 feet, Productus semireticulatus, Hemnipronetes crassus. 1. Bluish, ash-colored argillaceous limestone, easily decomposing in water, but hardening on exposure. This bed is made up of layers varying from a few inches to two feet in thickness, separated by thin layers of clay. It makes quite good building-stone-Productus, Pinnaperacuta, Orbiculoidea, Myalina subquadrata. Underneath the argillaceous limestone there is a bed, about a foot above water's edge, of ash-colored clay, breaking into small angular fragments, containing in it irregular seams of agillaceous limestone. Beds similar to these are seen on the Nemaha, but it is impossible to say that they are identical. It is probable that they are not, but simply a portion of the series coming to view continually as we proceed eastward. On the west side.of the Blue River the slopes are all very gentle, the ascent being very gradual as far back as the eye can reach. There is no sign of the cherty bed which causes the bluffs and terrace on the east side. The bottoms are everywhere very rich and black, but the hills are covered with a heavy deposit of yellow marl, so deep yellow that I suspect it to be composed mostly of the eroded materials of the Cretaceous and White River Tertiary formations. On the bottom of the Blue Mr. Tylor dug a well 25 feet deep, reaching water near the level of the bottom of the river. At the Blue Spring Village a well was dug on high ground 55 feet deep, through clays and quicksands, without reaching the basis rocks. At a depth of 54 feet a large bone was found, which probably belonged to the mastodon. The water came in in great quantities, and is of the finest quality. On John ilagen's farm a well was dug 44~ feet through alluvial marl and gravel. The water rushed in with great power, and is now 8 feet deep. The wells show the depth of the superficial deposits, and we are enabled to ascertain to some extent their influence on the county. We know that in the valley of the Big Blue the soil is inexhaustible, and that the water is of the best quality, and abundant everywhere. About five miles west of Blue Spring, on the road to Beatrice, there are layers of yellow limestone, that are used for building purposes. Two miles farther there is a bed of yellow magnesia limestone, with Aviculopecten, Syntrilasma hemipiicata. The rock is 15 to 20 feet thick, arranged in layers 6 inches to 2 feet in thickness, and is full of geode-like cavities, with the same white crystalline lining "calc-spar" inside as seen at Blue Spring. Beatrice, the county seat of Gage County, is very pleasantly located on the Big Blue, with many natural advantages for becoming a prosperous town. The inhabitants are energetic and thriving; the land is fertile, and an abundance of excellent building material exists everywhere; the water is pure and abundant, and the climate is very healthy. On a little 28 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF branch of the Big Blue there is an exposure of the rocks favorable for a section. 6. Dark-brown ferruginous sandstones of variable color and texture; used for buildings; contains many deciduous leaves; 50 to 60 feet. 5. Yellowish-gray sandstone; soft, easily crumbling, and wearing away exposed; on Blakely's Run, two miles west of Beatrice; 30 to 50 feet. 4. Slope in most places, but composed of variegated clays of doubtful age; potter's clay; 40 to 50 feet. 3. Loose layers of yellow limestone, full of geode cavities; porous, spongy. Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Pinna peracuta. 2. Yellow, rather compact limestone; good for building purposes; 2 to 2~ feet. 1. Dark'gray argillaceous limestone, becoming light gray on exposure, filled with geodes, with cavities full of crystals of carbonate of lime. This bed is at times massive, heavy-bedded limestone, of a beautiful cream-color; 10 feet. Beds 1, 2, and 3 of the above section are undoubtedly of Permian or Permo-Carboniferous age, though they contain fossils common to both Permian and Carboniferous rocks. Bed 4 is of doubtful age. Beds 5 and 6 are exceedingly interesting in a geological point of view, from the fact that they represent a new geological formation not before seen east of this point. Bed 4 seems to form a sort of transition bed between the Permian* and Carboniferous formations. The Permian rocks pass beneath the water level at Beatrice, westward, and over a belt ten to fifteen miles wide, in a northeast and southwest direction, the brown sandstones prevail to the exclusion of all other rocks. I should think that the Cretaceous sandstone in this region was 30 to 50 feet thick, though from the sliding down. of the rocks it was impossible to tell with accuracy. The sandstone is very variable; sometimes coarse, friable, dark-rust color; sometimes in flat masses, with the appearance of pot metal; then a laminated sandstone. Underneath the rusty sandstone is a friable bed which will afford an abundance of good coarse sand. When unmixed with the drift gravel this sand is pure and beautiful. In the sandstone are many impressions of dicotyledonous leaves. I did not see the sandstone at all on the east side of the Platte, but on the west side it crops out of the high, thin-soiled hills. In the deep ravines the abrupt cliffs of limestone are seen. Between the rusty sandstone and the limestone there is a considerable thickness of fine sands and clays, which everywhere wear down in gentle grassy slopes, concealing the junction of the two formations. Therefore I was not able to find them in apposition. The west side of the Big Blue is a little hilly, but the east side, between Indian Creek and the Blue, is very level and gently rolling, as if the underlying rock was of a soft material, and had been worn down over a large surface nearly alike. Gage County, so far as I have seen it, begins to reveal some of the indications that show we are on the borders of the dry western belt. The long intervals without living water, the peculiar flowering plants, and some of the prairie grasses, and the absenceof trees, even the small shrubs, show that we are verging on the dry prairie. The Schrankea uncinata, sensitive plant, is seen here for the first time. The soil of Gage County does not equal that of Pawnee County, or * It is not certain that the true Permian beds, as recognized in Kansas, extend northward into Nebraska, though thin beds may occur in some of the southern counties. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 29 the counties along the Missouri, as a whole. The bottom-lands are excellent, but the upland soil is thin. The grass is less luxuriant and the timber along the streams less abundant. For wheat, however, this soil, composed as it is largely of the eroded materials of the Cretaceous sandstones, contains a large amount of silica, and seems to be most favorable. A bushel weighs more than that of the river counties, but the corn and other kinds of grain are not quite so good. Yet too much cannot be said in favor of Gage County as an agricultural and grazing region. No coal will ever be found there, and the sooner the farmers commence planting trees the more prosperous they will be. Comparatively little peat will be found in the county, so that the question of fuel must be determined by the intelligence and industry of the people. If they plant trees now, they cannot suffer for fuel, for before that which they now have is gone, the planted forests will be ready for use. In regard to fruits, garden vegetables, &c., the same may be said of Gage County as of the other counties before described. Success will attend all well-directed efforts that way. The excellence of the water in springs and wells in this county is a most important feature, in a sanitary point of view. There are no minerals that can be worked to advantage in this portion of the State. In the Cretaceous rocks there are large masses of limonite, (hydrated sesquioxide of iron,) but they are so full of siliceous matter that they can never be of much value. Even if there was an abundance of iron in this county there is no fuel to prepare it for use.'Jefferson County.-From Beatrice to Rock Creek, a distance of twentytwo miles, we passed over an open prairie without wood or water. Indeed, as we go westward there are whole townships of land without a tree or a particle of running water. The grass is good, and though the soil is thin on the high hills, the lower slopes and bottoms are as fertile as ever. Wheat, oats, corn, and all the cereals grow well. Water can be obtained at moderate depths, for the drainage is not good. There are miles of level surface without a ravine or channel to receive the water, and therefore it must quietly sink through the superficial beds to some reservoir of clay. It is plain that a little above Beatrice, on the Big Blue, No. 1 Cretaceous comes down to the water level by a rapid dip, and that the Permian and Carboniferous beds cease to appear in their westward extension. On Rock Creek, a small branch of the Little Blue River, we find the rusty sandstones of the Dakota Group largely developed, and the readiness with which they yield to the erosive action of water has given to all the ravines of the Little Blue a very rugged appearance. The rocks also are so porous that the water readily permeates them, so thatthere is comparatively little in the ravines a large portion of the year. Still, in the valley of the Little Blue there are some as fine springs as are to be found in the State, but they are somewhat rare. A section in descending order along the Little Blue, below the Big Sandy, would be as follows: 5. Yellow and dark-brown rust-colored sandstones of the Cretaceous or Dakota Group, so well known in many other portions of the West. A few dicotyledonous leaves were found. This bed is of irregular thickness; from 50 to 100 feet. 4. Moderately-coarse, yellowish-white sand, with irregular laminae of deposition; 50 feet. 3. Dark-colored, arenaceous, laminated clays, with particles and seams of carbonaceous matter. All through are beds of carbonaceous clay, 30 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF 18 inches to 3 feet thick; much sulphuret of'iron and silicified wood; 30 to 50 feet. 2. Variegated arenaceous clays; the slopes exlosed are so great that I cannot give the exact thickness; probably 50 to 70 feet; some seams of excellent potter's clay. 1. Dark bluish shaly clay, upon which the foundation of Mr. Jenkins's mill rests. It is undoubtedly Permian or Permo-Carboniferous, but is not exposed to view by natural excavations until we reach a point south of the Nebraska line near Marysville, Kansas. Beds I and 2 of the above section are seen at Mr. Jenkins's mill. Bed 2 is also shown, two miles above, along the bottom hills of the Little Blue. The variegated clays come under the white, incoherent sandstone. The dark band in bed No. 3 has been regarded by the settlers with a good deal of interest, as indicating the proximity of a workable bed of coal. I gave all the exposures a careful examination and found them of no possible value. At Jenkins's Mill there is a very fine spring of pure water flowing out just under the sandstone. The water, as it percolates readily through the porous sandstone, reveals the hard clay bed and remains upon this almost impermeable surface. I am convinced that the black hard shales upon which the mill rests belong to the Permian. and that the variegated sands and clays are intermediate between the sandstone and the true Permian. The excavations are going on now below the bed of the river, and Mr. Jenkins informs me that the shale becomes harder as he proceeds downward. The Kansas line is only about one and one-half miles below this mill, and about two miles below on the Blue, the yellow limestones appear. Not more than fifty or sixty miles south of this point, at Junction City, Kansas, the Permian rocks are well shown, and we would reasonably expect they would extend northward into Nebraska in the valley of the Little Blue. On Rock Creek there is not water enough in wells a portion of the year for culinary purposes, and wells have been dug in that neighborhood sixty feet in depth without reaching any water. In the intermediate variegated sand and clay beds, which I regard as belonging to the Dakota Group, just below the mill, is a locality where there is a band of laminated clay and sand, with seams of coaly matter, petrified wood, sulphuret of iron, selenite, &c. The whole bed looks much like an ash-heap. There are many fragments of wood, much of it as light as dry wood; others seem to be simply charred. This bed is also full of bits of arenaceous rock, thin layers of rust-colored, fine-grained argillaceous concretions, full of oxide of iron, all of which give to the bed a singularly sterile or barren appearance. On the west side of the Little Blue, on the high hills, there is an extensive quarry of the gray sandstone in the form of broad, flat masses, which will work into good building-stone. In the absence of better stone, this becomes very useful to the settlers. On Rose Creek, just above its entrance into the Little Blue, the variegated bed, wood and pyrites bed, and the incoherent sand bed, all come together. Ontoal Creek, a little branch of Rose Creek, there is a perpendicular bluff showing the following succession of beds: 4. Fine loose sand, varying in color from white to a dark rusty red. In this bed are some thin layers of harder rock, 30 feet. 3. Black carbonaceous clay filled with bits of charcoal, clay, &c., 18 inches, and passing up into 2 to 4 inches of yellow clay mixed with bits of coal. 2. White fine clay, 2 feet. 1. Variegated clay, 20 feet. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS QF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 31 Bed 4 is very irregular in its composition; sometimes there are 3 or 4 feet in thickness of very fine, whitish, slightly-arenaceous clay, with waved laminae and sesquioxide of iron; then again the sand-bed is almost pure white sand. Just above bed 3, in the section, there is a thin layer, one-fourth to one inch thick, which has the appearance of having been baked from below, caused by the ignition of the lignite beneath. On the way up to the Big Sandy, for twelve miles or more, these clays and sands are seen occasionally with the red rocks. On the summits of the hills, but above the mouth of Rock Creek, the hills are not rugged, and thesandstone does not form any bold cliffs. About two miles below the mouth of the Big Sandy, No. 3 is seen on the summits of the hills, not in ledges, but in outcrops of loose slabs of limestone. These slabs or large flat masses are really only an aggregate of the shells of Inoceramus problematicus. South of this point there is no limestone to be found in the State along the valley of the Little Blue, and, therefore, it becomes a matter of some importance; it is much used for lime by the settlers. As we proceed up the valley of the Little Blue, the bottoms become more sandy and gravelly, and the vegetation of both lowland and highland exhibits a marked change. The basis of the alluvial material is the eroded materials of No. 1. In the hills are some naked patches of flesh-colored marl, and over the surface are scattered very thickly, water-worn pebbles and some quite large quartzite granitic boulders. The entire features of the country exhibit a distinct approach to the arid belt. That we are verging upon it there is not a doubt. Yet a finer country for stock cannot be found in the world. Horses, cattle, and sheep would thrive onl the short nutritious grasses. The numerous broken masses of rock and the drift pebbles among the hills would be favorable for the' sheep. For good farms a suitable quantity of good level land can be found, but the successful farmer must combine stock-raising with agriculture. Wheat grows here in great perfection, while oats, corn, and all kinds of garden vegetables do well. At the entrance of the Big Sandy there is a very wide bottom, at least three miles long and one mile wide, with soil from 6 to 10 inches deep. The Big Sandy is almost twelve yards wide where it enters the Little Blue, and is a stream of fine clear water. As we go westward from this point the limestones of No. 3 take possession of the country. On the high hills the limestones of No. 3 crop out in great abundance, and they everywhere seem to be mostly made up of Inoceramus. Lower is a bed of laminated shale which seems to pass gradually d(own into Cretaceous No. 2, though the line of demarcation between No. 3 and No. 2 cannot be seen. It is only the upper portion that so strongly resembles No. 3, as seen on the Upper Missouri. Below it is a gray shale, with some sand between the thin sheets of clay or limestone, but the lnoceramuts problenaticus, which everywhere testifies to the presence of No. 3, is seen either entire or in fragments on the bluffs around. At one locality about three miles above the mouth of Big Sandy, on the Little Blue, section 20, township 3, range 1, west, there is an exposure of the shale 40 to 50 feet high, showing the slaty character perfectly, with slabs containing the Inoceramus. There are also seams of gypsum, colored with the oxide of iron, and crystals of the carbonate of lime. The saw-mill near this point rests upon a conglomerate which precisely resembles portions of No. 2, as shown along the Missouri, and in these conglomerate masses here, there are traces of Inoceramus and fragments of wood in great abundance. One important feature in the valley of the Little Blue, are the terraces, which are quite marked north of the Nebraska line. There is really but 32 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF one, though sometimes there is a low one just above the immediate bed of the river, but the principal terrace is 25 to 50 feet above the water level. From that terrace the ascent is gradual to the summit of the high lands. Leaving the valley of the Little Blue we took a course nearly northeast over the divide between Big Sandy and Swan Creek, a distance of about twenty miles, most of the way without water or wood. The soil is fertile and the surface is covered with a thick growth of grass. T'he valley of Swan Creek, a branch of Turkey Creek, which is a branch of the Big Blue, is a beautiful fertile one, with a large number of most productive farms. This region is settled with a large number of thrifty Germans, who are cultivating the land very successfully. But very little stone of any kind is seen in place in this valley. Yet the limestones of No. 3 furnish the materials for the foundations of buildings. The erodedc materials of the limestones of No. 3 mixing with the-sands of No. 1 make a most excellent soil. There is no rough land in this region; the bottoms. are broad and the ascents on either side are very gradual, so that the hills bordering on the creek seem quite inconspicuous. The bottomsn of Swan Creek will average three miles in length. All the basis rocks on the high lands are concealed from view by a large deposit of alllvial, which is composed of eroded materials from the basis rocks, with sorme water-worn pebbles; but strewed over the surface in imany places are moderately-large blocks of quartzite, evidently deposited there at a comparatively modern period. Many of the hills are paved with pebbles as if they had formed the bottoms of small streams. The junction of Swan and Turkey Creeks with the Little Blue, being near each other, makes a broad valley which is now a fine farming region. Near this point there are the remains of an old Indian village. Fragments of pottery have been dug up three feet beneath the surface. I notice everywhere in the ploughed land that small pebbles are mixed with the soil, which is not the case in the two tiers of counties next to the Missouri River. As.1 shall hereafter have occasion to refer often to the divisions of the Cretaceous group throughout this report, they will be better understood if defined more clearly in this connection. The Cretaceous rocks, as developed along the Missouri River, exhibit five quite well-marked divisions, which are characterized by peculiar fossils for the most part. In a paper published in the proceedings of the Acacdemy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, December, 1860, was given a general section of the Cretaceous rocks of the Northwest; long prior to that time Professor Hall and Mr. Meek had published the divisions by the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, but afterward Mr. Meek and the writer gave to them special geographical names. The sandstones which we have referred to in this report we denominated the Dakota Group or Formation No. 1, because these rocks were then supposed to reach their largest development along the Missouri River, near Dakota Territory. Formation No. 2 was called the Fort Benton Group, from the fact that it occurred in greatest thickness around Fort Benton, near the sources of the Missouri River. Formation No. 3 was named the Niobrara Division, from the conspicuous thickness of the bed near the mouth of the Niobrara River. These divisions constitute the lower series of Cretaceous rocks in the West, and are supposed to be the equivalent of the lower or gray chalk and upper greensand, by geologists. Formation No. 4 we called the Fort Pierre Group, because it reaches its greatest thickness' near this point along the Missouri River. Formation No. 5 was called the Fox Hills Beds, from the fact that they form a conspicuous range of hills between the Big Cheyenne and Missouri Rivers. These two groups NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 33 constitute the Upper Cretaceous series, and though they are quite distinct in their lithological characters, a large number of the species are. common to both groups, so that the line of separation can only be determined by the mineral nature of the beds. What I have said above is sufficient to render all references to these divisions clear to the reader, and they will be discussed more in detail in another part of this report. We find that as we proceed westward from Pawnee County, and in portions of that county, mote and more recent formations come to view. We find that in Jefferson County Formations 1, 2, and 3 are revealed, and if we were to continue our course still farther westward we should probably find the geological structure the same as along the Platte, the White River Tertiary beds overlapping and concealing the chalky limestones of No. 3. So far as I have been able to make examination, Nos. 4 and 5 are not seen, though we cannot doubt of their existence somewhere underneath the Tertiary beds. They are all well shown on the Missouri River and along the eastern base of the mountains far south to the Arkansas, but along the Platte and all the little branches No. 3 is seen to a greater or less extent, with no trace of Nos. 4 and 5. These two groups may have been removed by erosion along the margins of the great Tertiary lake, prior to the deposition of the Tertiary beds, or they may be concealed from view by the great superficial marl or drift which forms the edges of the true Tertiary deposits. There is evidence to believe that the county next west of Jefferson is covered with the Tertiary beds, and that they continue westward to the western limit of the State. We know that at Fort Kearney the Tertiary beds are shown along the Platte, in their full development, with high, bluff hills, 200 to 300 feet in height. The hostile Indians were roving all over the county bordering on the Republican Fork, committing all manner of depredations, effectively preventing me from making an exploration of this interesting region, but it is safe to state that the colors on the map are very nearly or quite correct. As to the resources of that portion of the State covered with the Tertiary beds, it is safe to say it must be the same as that bordering on the Platte west of Fort Kearney. It will never make very good farming land, yet it may be inhabited sparsely by a pastoral people, for the surface is thickly covered with short, nutritious grasses. CHAPTER V. JOHNSON AND LANCASTER COUNTIES. Johnson County.-The north branch of the Great Nemaha River runs nearly diagonally through Johnson County, in a southeasterly direction. It is the only important water-course in the county, and its value to the inhabitants cannot be overestimated. The entire county is underlaid by rocks of the age of the upper coal-measures; hence the geology is comparatively simple. There are very few exposures along the Nemaha and its branches, and the high divides on either side present only rolling prairies covered with a luxuriant growth of grass, exhibiting every evidence of remarkable fertility, but having no timber and comparatively little living water. From Beatrice our course was nearly northeast, passing over the divide between the waters of the Big Blue and those of the Nemaha. This divide, as usual, was treeless and nearly waterless for eighteen miles; yet, either to the right or to the.ft of our road, water and small trees H. Ex. 19 3 34 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF could have been found within five or six miles. The grass was excellent, showing a fertile soil, and the surface was monotonously beautiful to the eye, but not an exposure of the underlying rocks could be seen. On Yankee Creek, a branch of the Nemaha, the first exhibition of the rocks was observed. A few limestone quarries were opened for obtaining building materials. The beds are thin, not more than from 6 to 12 inches in thickness, intercalated with beds of clay and sand. The surface is rather rugged, some abrupt hills, but usually clothed with grass down to the water's edge. At Tecumseh a thin seam of coal has been opened, and is now worked with some success by Mr. Beatty. The drift is very similar to that before described in my report of Pawnee County, and extends into the bank about 100'yards. Mr. Beatty has taken out about 1,000 bushels of coal, which he sells readily at the mine for 25 cents per bushel. It is un doubtedly the same bed that is opened on Turner's Branch and at Frieze's Mill, in Pawnee County, but it is not quite as thick or as good; it contains large masses of the sulphuret of iron and other impurities The coal seam here varies much in thickness, from 10 to 15 inches. The cap-rock is a bed of limestone not more than 2 or 3 feet in thickness. A well was sunk in the village of Tecumseh 60 feet; a drill was driven down through rock and hard clay a few feet farther, and passed through what the workmen thought to be three feet of good coal. This discovery created- much excitement at the time, and increased the demand for the public lands in Johnson County. It afterward turned out to be the same seam of coal worked by Mr. Beatty on the /Nemaha, and was only 11 inches in thickness. The prospects, therefore, for workable beds of coal in Johnson County are no better than in the neighboring counties already examined. The succession of the beds at Beatty's coal-drift is nearly as follows: 9. Alluvial with pebbles. Small fragments of limestone. In this bed the tooth of a mastodon (M. giganteus) was found. 8. Hard layer of rusty limestone with seams of carbonate of lime all through, 4 to 6 inches. 7. Coal, varying in thickness and quality, 10 to 15 inches; contains much sulphuret of iron. 6. Blue potter's clay, 4 to 6 inches; rusty or light-gray sandstone, 20 inches, which is regarded as useful for whetstones. 5. Micaceous laminated grit, 16 feet. 4. Argillaceous limestone, full of fossils, 3liyalina subquadrata, Hemipronites crassus. 3. Reddish clay, 6 inches. 2. Reddish siliceous limestone, 15 inches. 1. Micaceous sandy grit, 20 inches. In a bed of limestone, holding a high position in the hills, the following fossils were found: Spirifer camneratus, Athyris subtilta, Syntrilasma hentiplicata, Productus semireticulatus. These rocks prevail all over the county, so that the geology is very simple, the Upper Coal-measures only being revealed. Tecumseh is the county seat of Johnson County, a small town located on the elevated prairie near Nemaha River. From Tecumseh to the source of the Nemaha, about forty-five miles, I did not discover a single exposure of rock, and I could not ascertain that any had ever been observed by the settlers. We must conclude, therefore, that building materials in the shape of rock are not well dis NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 35 tributed over the country; indeed, I do not know of any one in which 1 observed less. From the sources of the Nemaha we passed over to those of Salt Creek. This county is very beautiful and productive. As a compensation for the absence of rocky layers the slopes are gentle and the creeks and ravines are grassed to the water's edge. I was told that a few building-stone were obtained on one of the little branches of the Nemaha. On Salt Creekmost outcroppings were seen down to the forks. The best quarries of limestone are on the farm of Mr. S. B. Mills. The west fork has very little stone on it except for about a mile above the junction. It is hardly necessary to give the succession of the beds. There are alternations of clay and limestone, and the limestones appear to belong to the transition or Permo-Carboniferous series.'The fossils occur somewhat rarely, as Productus semireticulatus, P. prattenianus, P. punctatus, P. costatus, Retzia punctulifera, Fusulina cylindrica, Fenestella Shumardi. These limestones are exposed over an area of not more than five miles square. Their entire thickness cannot be more than from 15 to 20 feet, arranged in layers from six inches to two feet thick., In bstracting the rocks from the quarry the fracture is so regular, breaking into massive square or oblong blocks, and the texture so fine, compact, and of light cream-color, that they are highly esteemed by builders, and make beautiful as well as durable houses. There are quite a number of large dwelling-houses made of this stone in the vicinity. It works quite easily. The finest springs of water in this country issue from this rock. There are five or six of these quarries opened at this time. but the principal one occurs on the farm of Mr. S. B. Mills. These fine quarries must become of great value to this country, for they yield the only good building material for thirty to fifty miles north, south, and west, and from ten to twenty miles east of the place. The rusty, rather soft, friable sandstones of the Dakota Group are used, to some extent, for dwelling-houses. It presents an exceedingly somber and unpleasant appearance to the eye, and possesses no elements of durability. It can be relied on only in the absence of other building material. About twelve miles below these quarries, near the salt basins, Lincoln, the capital of the State, is located. Pretty good water is obtained here by digging, but there is a liability even then to strike brackish water, on account of the proximity to the salt lands. From a point five miles above Lincoln to a point five miles above the mouth of Salt Creek, there is a scant supply of building material, of timber, and of fresh water; so that it can be seen at a glance that this valley is not as desirable as many other portions of the State. Near Miss Warner's, about ten miles above Lincoln, a well was dug on the high hills, bordering the valley, to the depth of 60 feet, without striking rock. At Yankee Hill, two miles above Lincoln, a well was dug 66 feet, without reaching the basis rocks. These facts show the great thickness of the superficial alluvial deposits of this region, and also the skeleton form of the surface prior to the deposition of these deposits. I shall treat more fully on this subject at a future time. The sandstones of the Dakota Group are quite largely developed in this region, and exhibit their usual variability of texture and color. The prevailing color is a deep drab rusty-brown, sometimes yPllow, or nearly white. Some layers contain many impressions of dicotyledonous leaves. I was unable to find as large and perfect impressions as I have collected at many other localities. 36 TUNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF So far as the surface of the country is concerned, in Lancaster County it may be regarded as remarkable for its beauty. It is always gently;ul!ing, well drained, and from elevations the views are very fine, if'cmuing most excellent building sites. When the soil is not influ. enced by salt springs, it is equal to any in the State, but in an agricultural point of view there is no doubt that Salt Creek, with the numerous salt springs that issue forth near it, is a disadvantage to the valley. That portion about two miles above Lancaster does not seem affected by the salt. The farm of Mr. S. B. Mills, of over 1,000 acres, about tel miles above the county seat, is one of the most fertile and valuable in the State. Although the salt springs in this county may eventually be of some value to the State in the production of salt, yet I am convinced that if there was not a salt spring of any kind in the county, the difference in the value of the lands for agricultural and grazing purposes would much more than balance all income that will ever arise from the salt springs. In that case Salt Creek, instead of being almost useless, or rather an impediment, would be a fine fresh-water stream,naking it one of the finest stock counties in the State. The surface of the uplands lies very beautifully, is very attractive to the eye, buat there is scarcely any timber in the county. The soil 1 excellent, and forest trees may be planted with success whenever settlers choose to do so, though very little has been done as yet. The fact that the capital of the State is located in this county gives to it additional importance, and it also becomes a matter of no small interest to determine the true value of the salt springs that occur in this vicinity. The basins and scattering springs occupy a large area several miles in extent, but the main basin is located near the town of Lancaster. These basins are depressions in the surface nearly destitute of vegetation, and the white incrustations of salt give the surface the appearance in the distance of a sheet of water. The Great Basin, as it is called, is situated about one mile from Lancaster, township 10, range 6, section 22, and covers an area of about 400 acres. The brine issues from a large number of places all over the surface, but in small quantities. All the salt water that comes to the surface from this basin unites in one stream, and we estimated the entire amount of water that flowed from this basin at from six to eight gallons per minute. The second salt basin lies between Oak and Salt Creeks, and covers an area of 200 acres. Third basin is on Little Salt Creek, called Kenosha Basin, and covers 200 acres. Numerous small basins occur on Middle Creek, which occupy in all about 600 acres. Between Middle and Salt Creeks are several small basins, covering 40 or 50 acres. From the surface of all these basins more or less springs ooze out. In former years great quantities of salt have been taken fiom the surface and carried away. During the war as many as sixty families at a time have been located about these basins, employed in securing the salt. Besides the numerous basins above mentioned, Salt Creek, Hayes's Branch, Middle Creek, Oak and Little Salt Creeks, have each a dozen springs coming out near the water's edge. One spring on Salt Creek issues from a sand rock, and gushes forth with a stream as large as a man's arm, at the rate of four gallons a minute. This is the largest spring known in the State. The geological formations in the vicinity are of the Upper Carboniferous and Lower Cretaceous age. The salt springs undoubtedly come up from a great depth, probably from the Upper Carboniferous rocks, and are the same in their history and character as those in Kansas. Two methods have been used to some extent in this region in preparing the salt-boiling and solar evaporation. The only method NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 37 which can be employed profitably in this country, where fuel is so scarce, is solar evaporation, and this can be carried on more effectually than in any State east of Nebraska. The unusual dryness of the atmosphere, the comparatively few moist or cloudy days, the fine wind which is ever blowing, will render evaporation easy. The surface indications do not lead me to believe that Nebraska will ever be a noted salt region. It seems to me that if all the brine that issues from all thebasinsand isolated springs were united in one they would not furnish more than brine enough to keep one good company employed. What the result of boring will be can be determined only by actual experiment. Some large springs may yet be found in that way, but-I saw no brine that was much stronger than ocean water. The rains have been so frequent this spring that it is much diluted with rain-water. The Nebraska Salt Company made, from July to November, 1866, 60,000 pounds of salt. Anot;ler company, at work at the same time, made about the same amount. Good working days 6,000 pounds have been made in a day. The kettles used for boiling are very rude steam boilers split into two parts. In a vat 12 by 24 feet average evaporation was 125 to 130 pounds per day. An extra day was 250 pounds. I think it not improbable that a company with a large capital, and employing all the improved methods of manufacturing the salt, would succeed. The salt is said to be good, though not as strong as the common salt of commerce. Passing down Salt Creek toward its mouth, we see on every side a gentle undulating region covered with a fine growth of grass, with all the indications of a soil fertile and productive. There is but little timber in the valley of Salt Creek and its vicinity; very-little in Lancaster County; and this deficiency should be remedied at once by the planting of trees. There is no good reason why every quarter-section in the country should not have a proper amount of wood-land in a few years. There are no indications of the Carboniferous limestones until we reach a point near Dean's Mill, and then the river on the east side exposes a considerable thickness of them, with numerous fossils. On the west' side of Salt Creek the limestones do not appear, and this point may be considered the western limit on the south side of the Platte. About a mile above Ashland there is a quarry,of the rusty sandstone, which is much used for building purposes. Houses are not built of them generally, but walls or fortifications are sometimes made of them. These red sandstone quarries are quite abundant along the road from Ashland to Plattsmouth, but they thin out on the summits of the hills about ten miles before reaching the latter place. We do not see the Cretaceous sandstones in actual contact with the Carboniferous limestones, even along Salt Creek or along the Platte on the south side, but this is due, undoubtedly, to the beds of fine sand and clay that intervene, forming slopes. About fifteen miles east of Ashland a bed of fine, white, indurated sandy clay, with red streaksall through it, upon which the red sandstone rest. This bed is 20 or 30 feet in thickness, and can be made very useful for economical purposes. At Ashland, near Dean's Mill, there is a pretty good thickness of limestone with irregular cleavage, 20 to 30 feet in thickness, extending down to the water's edge, and forming a rock bottom or ford. Above this is a slope of clay, probably, and then 18 inches of hard, yellow limestone, which is also quarried out. From thence to the summit of the hills the slope is 150 to 200 feet, covered with a heavy deposit of yellow marl; and if the basis rocks crop out at all, they are red sandstone. From the lower bed at Dean's Mill I collected a large number of fossils, 38 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF Productus semireticulatus, P. prattenianus, P. punctatus, P. costatus, P. uwabashensis, Atkyris subtilita, Mleekella striato-costata, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Retzia punctulifera, Spirifer lineatus, S. planoconvexus, S. kentuckensis, Hemipronttes crassus, Chonetes granulifera, Fusulina cylindrica, Allorisma, Pinna peracuta, Schizodus wheeleri, Mlyalina subquadrata, Scaphihocinis, hemisphcerieus, _Fenestella, Lophophyllum, &c. The above list of fossils will show at once that the limestones here, even up to the apposition of the Cretaceous beds, are Upper Coalmeasure, and that the transition and Permian, if they were ever deposited here, have been swept away. About five miles east of Ashland the succession of the beds is thus shown: 7. Sandstone, cropping out from the summits of the hills of Cretaceous age. 6. Slope, probably fine sand and clay. 5. Yellowish magnesian limestone, gradually passing down into harder broken layers, 10 to 20 feet thick, in layers 6 inches to 4 feet. The upper part is mostly made up of comminuted organic remains. I detected Mleekella striato-costata, Athyris subtilita, Futsulina cylindrica. 4. Slope, 20 feet. 3. Layers of whitish limestone, very hard and good for lime, and for building purtposes, 4 to 6 feet; Fusulina, Athyris, Archeocidaris, Mleekella, crinoid stems and corals. 2. Slope 150 feet above the Platte; about 100 feet thick at this point. 1. A heavy ledge of rather brittle limestone full of Productus, Spirifer, Athyris, Chonetes, Fusulina, crinoid stems, &c., l to 15 feet thick. Bed 5 of the above section furnishes very excellent building-stone, which has been used in the fine dwelling of Mr. Dean and some others. It is very tenacious but soft, easily cut with a knife, can be smoothed with a common jack-plane, so that it makes excellent caps and sills. One special virtue in this rock for building is that it never sweats, that is, moisture never accumulates in the walls. So that a house built of it is dryer even than one of wood. Ashland is the county seat of Saunders County, and is very favorably located for a flourishing village. It is surrounded by a fertile and, productive country, and the water of Salt Creek has become so freshened by the time it reaches this point that cattle are not affected by it, but rather prefer it. All kinds of building material are abundant everywhere, and wood in moderate quantities. Farther westward the exposures of the basis rocks are very rare; occasionally a little stream will cut down into them. On Skull Creek the gray arenaceous shaly marls of No. 3 appear near the bed of the creek. The upper part of the bed is about one foot, of yellow or whitish-yellow limestone; over it is a. considerable thickness of coarse, loose sand, much of it worn down from the Cretaceous sandstones of No. 1. In the manufacture of artificial building material this might be made very useful. A little higher up on this creek I found a man digging for coal. A layer of shale, which possibly represents No. 2, deceived hinm into the belief that coal must exist near. He passed through a bed of chalky marl with, abundant specimens of Inoceramus problematicus, then a marl that disintegrates so rapidly on exposure. Along the Platte River, on the south side, about fifteen miles below the mouth of Loup Fork, there is a cut bank which exposes the following beds, which belong to the post-Tertiary, but which I regard as older than the yellow marl: NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 39 2. Three feet soil; 1 foot yellow marl with pebbles; 10 feet sand, gravel, and rounded granite boulders. 1. Black ash-colored plastic clay, 25 feet. There is a line of separation between beds 1 and 2, that seems to indicate a break or interval of time; at any rate the materials change most abruptly. The clay bed below has much the appearance of the dark Cretaceous clays, but is full of small, water-worn pebbles, with now:.nd then a rock of considerable size. I am inclined to the opinion that t his clay will be made very useful for many purposes, but more especially for the manufacture of pottery. The geology of Nebraska, south ol the Platte River, may be summed up as follows: The first two tiers of c )unties are underlaid by Carboniferous and Permian rocks; overlapping I liese in the third tier west, are the Cretaceous sandstones of No. 1, then i-o. 2 and No. 3, and possibly Nos. 4 and 5, but it is probable that the letter beds are not seen; but about thirty miles above the entrance of the Loup Fork the Cretaceous belt is overlapped in turn by Tertiary beds, and then continue uninterruptedly to the western limits of the State. We have, therefore, but these three portions that can be colored on the map. The simplicity of the geological structure of Nebraska south of the Platte can be seen at a glance, and I have perhaps devoted in this report all the attention to it which it deserves. The superficial deposits of that region are more difficult to study and require more attention than I was able to give them. They will be treated of more fully in the account of the geology of Nebraska north of the Platte. CHAPTER V-I. GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA NORTH OF THE PLATTE. With the exception of a small portion of Douglas and Sarpy Counties, bordering on the Missouri and Platte Rivers, the whole State of Nebraska north of the Platte River is underlaid with rocks belonging to two geological eras, Cretaceous and Tertiary. The Cretaceous rocks make their appearance in their eastward extension in rather thin beds, capping the summits of the hills, and only the. more compact layers, resisting the eroding effects of water or atinospheric agencies, remain to indicate its boundaries and extent. I am inclined to the belief that the rusty sandstones of the Dakota Group once extended in full force directly across the Missouri into Iowa, and that the sandstones recently discovered by Dr. White on the Nishnabotna River form a portion of the series, disconnected only by the wearing away of the intervening rocks. There is no doubt that a great portion of northwestern Iowa is underlaid by rocks of the Dakota Group. The green color on the geological map of Nebraska connected with this report will show the eastern boundaries of this group with accuracy. The Carboniferous limestones soon begin to disappear north of the Papillion River. At Sarpy's old trading post, near Bellevue Landing, some thin layers of rock occur in the hills, and a thin seam of coal has been found, and at low water two or three layers of rock are revealed, which can be made useful for building purposes. At Omaha five to ten feet of limestones are revealed near the water's edge. The rock is quarried to considerable extent; but from the fact that Omaha is almost entirely supplied with rocks and lime for building 40 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF purposes from the Platte, we may infer that the quarries at Omaha are not extensive. The cost of stripping the vast thickness of superincumbent Drift and Loess at Omaha must render the working of this quarry very expensive. The next exposure is at Florence, where the limestones are seen only at low water. The last exhibition is at Rockport, near De Soto, where at very low water the limestones are seen at the edge of the river, but at neither of the localities above named are there quarries of any special value. Along the Missouri bluffs there is no exposure of the underlying rocks again until we reach Tekaina, Burt County. Here the nuclei of all the hills are sandstones and clays of the Dakota Group. From Florence to Tekama the bluffs or hills bordering on the Missouri are very rugged and high, but are composed entirely of Drift gravel at the bottom, and a great thickness of yellow marl at the top; indeed, this yellow marl or Loess is not unfrequently 50 to 100 feet in thickness. It is so soft and yielding in its nature that the little temporary streams flowing down the bluffs wear out immense gorges 100 to 150 feet in depth. The sides of these hills along the Missouri bottom, on the Iowa as well as Nebraska side, are often very deep, with angles of descent of 300 to 400, and I have seen vegetation clinging quite thickly to their sides, when the'descent was 500 to 550, although the great geographer, Ritter, says that the grade at which it is possible for earth to cling is 450 At Tekama are some exposures of the sandstones of the Dakota Group, but mostly so soft and friable as to be of little value as building material. In the absence of all other rocks the inhabitants quarry out the harder portions and use them. Underneath the sandstones are the usual variegated clays and sands, red, white, gray, and drab, with nodules of the sulphuret of iron. In the sandstones above, there is quite a variety in the texture of the rock. Sometimes there are thin intercalations of clay; then little pockets, as it were, ofclay inclosed in a thin shell of iron; then the thin layers, are oblique, as if the waters in which the sands were deposited were in currents, or in a disturbed condition. Indeed, it would hardly be possible to describe all the varied conditions which this rock presents. Between Tekama and Decatur, a distance of about sixteen miles, there are frequent exposures of the sandstones and clays, but none worthy of special notice until we reach the vicinity of the tittle town of Decatur, near the border of the Omaha reserve. Here some harder layers of rock are exposed, which are used for the foundations of buildings and other economical purposes. There is one layer of quartzite. The range of hills, all the way from Tekama to Decatur, is well grassed over, and very abruptly steep. Numerous springs of the purest water flow from these hills at all elevations. One of them is quite remarkable, and is known as the Golden Spring, from which quite a stream flows through the coarse sand. The time must come, in the future, when this will become a popular watering-place for the West. Above Decatur the- Missouri cuts the bluffs so as to show a mnur:l escarpment as follows: 2. Massive yellow marl; no lines of stratification visible; immense masses slidden down, several yards having fallen in, 40 to 50 feet. 1. Variegeted clays, with a soft, fine grit; there is a dark seam in it filled with bits of coaly matter. These clays vary from a purplish hue to a dark drab; 100 to 200 feet exposed here. A little farther up the river the soft yellow sandstone NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 41 appears above the clays in regular order. There are great quantities of iron orena kind of limonite, scattered all along the river in large flat or irregular masses, also some nodules or concretions. Another section, near the last, shows the following succession of beds: 4. Yellow marl, with small calcareous nodules; no stratification; 10 to 20 feet. 3. Yellow and gray indurated clays; 8 to 15 feet. 2. Soft, yellow, rusty sandstone, massive, with very little sign of stratification; 50 feet. 1. Variegated clays; 50 to 60 feet. The rusty-yellow color prevails everywhere, arising from the oxydation of the iron. This gives complexion to everything in this formation. These different sandstones extend from a point near Florence, where they cap the hills above the mouth of Iowa Creek over one hundred miles. The fossil plants in the hills near Decatur, and at the Blackbird Mission, are very numerous; about fifty or sixty species have already been collected at these localities. The sandstone is quarried out and used for cellar walls, and for other purposes where stone is needed. It is useful, inasmuch as all other rocks are absent. Sand for making the patent concrete is exceedingly abundant. Near Tekama and Decatur there are thin seams of iron ore, which, when broken with a hammer, give forth a sound much like that from old pot-metal. It is really pretty good iron ore, but silicious and impure; and even if this ore were of the best quality, and in great abundance, there is no fuel in the country to render it of any value. At the Blackbird Mission, on the Missouri, eight miles above Decatur, the bluffs of sandstone are quite conspicuous, and often present very high mural fronts, upon which the Indians have carved many rude pictures, doubtless portions of their hieroglyphical history. At this locality are quite numerous layers, from 1 to 4 feet thick, of a very compact, massive quartzite, the hardest and most durable rock in the State. It has the appearance of a metamorphic rock, so very hard and closegrained is it. The harder portions have been quarried out and used for the construction of a very large three-story building for the mission school. As the construction of several railroad bridges across the Missouri are contemplated, no rock in the State would be so unyielding and durable for abutments as this, providing enough of it can be found. It seems to assume a concretionary form in the sandstone, and is of very uncertain thickness and extent. About two miles above the mission, the hills are cut by the river so as to reveal vertical bluffs, the rocks of which, in the distance, have a yellowish-white appearance, and from this fact are usually called chalk bluffs. The sandstone is massive, almost without stratification, and very friable and soft. 4. Yellow marl, recent, 10 to 50 feet. 3. Eight inches of earthy lignite, resting upon 12 inches of yellowishdrab arenaceous clay, underlaid by 8 inches impure lignite. 2. Massive yellow sandstone, with some thin intercalations of clay, soft and friable, readily yielding to the erosive effects of water, 60 to 80 feet thick. 1. Yellow, plastic, unctuous clay, toward the top becoming a grayishblue; contains fiat argillaceous concretions, 2 feet. This is perhaps the finest and largest exposure of the rocks of this group along the river. The mural exposures of soft sandstone present good surfaces for the Indian to make.use of to write his rude his 42 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF tory, and on the chalk bluffs there are many of these hieroglyphics in positions totally inaccessible to the Indians at the present time. None of them now living know anything about them, and it is supposed that they must be very ancient, and that since they were made great changes must have been wrought in these bluffs by the waters of the Missouri. These markings are at least 50 feet above the water, and 50 feet or more below the summit of the bluff; so that they must have been made before the lower portion of the bluff was washed away by the Missouri, It seems strange that none of these hieroglyphical writings, which occur quite often on the chalk rocks of the Niobrara Group higher up the Missouri, are known to any Indians now living. Manuel's Creek is called in the Dakota language, the creek where the dead have worked, on account of the markings on the rocks. The above illustration conveys an idea of the sandstones of the Dakota Group, as they front the Missouri, and shows the wearing away of the material of the rock underneath during high water. This erosion is continued for a series of years, until the superincumbent rocks fall down and are washed away by the river. Near the mouth of Omaha Creek are some very high vertical bluffs of sandstone, from which some rock has been taken for building purposes. It is useful, since no better can be found in the vicinity. For a considerable distance along the hills opposite Sioux City, beds of the gray quartzite are found, which are worked to considerable extent, and furnish a very good supply for the inhabitants. A few impressions of plants and a few fossil shells were found here. Near Sioux City, on the Iowa side of the Missouri, is a high cut bluff extending to the mouth of the Big Sioux River. Here was formerly a large. exposure of the rocks of the Dakota Group, and these rocks exhibited well their variegated texture and composition. The color seems to differ, depending upon the amount of ferruginous matter in them. Only about 20 feet of the different layers are exposed, and only about 5 feet hard enough for building purposes. This quarry has been wrought for twelve years or more, and at this time seems to have given out, for very little suitable building stone can be found, mostly loose sandstone and clay. In former years I have obtained impressions of dicotyledonous leaves, as willow, laurel, &c., with some fossil shells of the genera Pharella, Axinea, Mactra, and Cyrena, which are in part estuary and in part marine in their habits. Near the northern boundary of the Omaha reserve traces of a whitish, chalky limestone, almost entirely made up of the shells of a species of Inoceramus, make their appearance on the high hills. This rock indicates the first appearance of the Cretaceous division, No. 3, or the Niobrara group. In passing northward, as we continue up the Missouri, we find this formation becoming more and more conspicuous, until opposite Sioux City it is 50 to 100 feet in thickness. It is of much value to this region of the country, on account of its qualities as a naterial for lime, and it supplies a large district with that valuable material. Omaha, is largely supplied with lime from the region of the Platte. Between Omaha and the northern boundary of the Indian reservation, a distance of eighty miles or more, extending southward to the Platte, near Columbus, there are five or six counties entirely destitute of limestone. This limestone of the Niobrara Group becomes very valuable, therefore, and it will be from this upper district that the counties underlaid by sandstones of the Dakota Group must obtain their supply of lime. Number 2, or Fort Benton Group, seems to be wanting until we reach a point near the mouth of Iowa Creek. This is a thin bed, not over 40 feet in thickness at any NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 43 one point, and is characterized by black plastic clay filled with beautiful crystallized sulphuret of iron. It is pretty well exposed below the mouth 3f Iowa Creek, where the Missouri cuts the bluffs, and here we see all the rocks in their order: 1. Yellow marl, a recent deposit. 3. Niobrara Group, layers of white and yellow chalky lime, passing down into gray marly rock. 2. Black plastic clay, with hard layers, containing Inoceramus, a species of Ostrea, like 0. congesta, remains of fishes, many crystals of sulphuret of iron, selenite, &c. 1. Dakota Group, sulphuret of iron, fragments of wood, impressions of leaves, willow, laurel, &c. Near the mouth of the Niobrara River the black shaly clays of the Fort Pierre Group begin to make their appearance on the hills over the Niobrara Division, so that within the limits of Nebraska proper we have four out of five of the important divisions of the Cretaceous rocks of the west. Near the mouth of Iowa Creek there seems to be a bed of impure lignite in the Fort Benton Group, or in the transition between the Dakota and Fort Benton Groups. This bed, which has been worked to a considerable extent, and the coal used by blacksmiths in this vicinity with some success, does not seem to be the same as that seen along the Indian reserve, which is undoubtedly in the sandstone of the Dakota Group. I am inclined to the opinion that this bed of lignite near Ponka City is a local bed, or at least restricted in its geographical extent! and is the result of an accumulation of drift-wood in an estuary of the Cretaceous sea. I am informed that it is seen over on the Elkhorn River, about thirty-five miles west of this point. Mr. Clark tells me that he dug 12 or 15 feet below this bed, and struck another seam of coal much better than the one cropping out. The lower bed must be the one in the Dakota Group. Lithologically, it is impossible to draw a line of demarkation between these formations here. No. 1 passes so imperceptibly into No. 2, and No. 2 into No. 3, that there is no break, and yet their principal characteristics are very distinct. The first is a sandstone; second, a black, plastic clay; third, a chalky limestone; and yet I cannot tell the exact point where one commences and the other ends. The impressions of leaves have ceased to appear before the close of the Dakota Group. The sandstones of the Dakota Group occupy the whole country along the Platte from the mouth of the Elkhorn to a point some twenty miles beyond the entrance of the Loup Fork. The intermediate counties between the Missouri and Platte have very few exposures of rock of any kind, so that quarries in this region, even though the rock is of inferior quality, are much prized. We have, therefore, within the limits of the State of Nebraska north of the P'latte, the Carboniferous rocks underlying two counties-Sarpy and Douglas; then come the Cretaceous rocks, especially No. 1, overlapping the Carboniferous. These beds continue along the Missouri to the northern limit of the State. They extend in a southeastern direction beyond the south line of the State into Kansas, underlying a belt of country from fifty to two hundred miles in width. About the sources of the Loup Fork, and about thirty miles west ot/Jolumbus, the Tertiary beds begin to make their appearance, and then extend to the extreme western limits of the State. Even along the Platte, before reaching Columbus, their 44 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF influence is felt to considerable extent, for the soil of the bottoms is quite sandy, and in some places too much so to be productive. The area drained by the Elkhorn and its branches cannot be much less than from two thousand to four thousand square miles, and yet over this large surface there are but few outcroppings of rocks of any kind. We know that the Cretaceous beds underlie nearly or quite all of it, and yet they seem to have yielded so readily to atmospheric influences that the surface is very gently undulating, the slopes along the streams being grassed over down to the water's edge. Along Elkhorn or Logan's Creek there is a bottom of greater or less width on either side, so that the basis rocks are concealed along the banks by a moderate thickness of superficial marl, a great part of which is composed of the disintegrated materials of the Cretaceous or Tertiary rocks. Over all this region there is very little timber, but the clays for making artificial building materials are without limit. The soil is wonderfully fertile, the water very pure, climate healthy, so that we cannot but believe that all this district will eventually take the highest position as an agricultural and grazing region. West of latitude 990 the Tertiary beds prevail to the exclusion of all others; the soil is less fertile, water and wood is less abundant, and yet the surface is covered with a thick growth of grass and' other herbaceous vegetation. Although this portion of Nebraska cannot be cultivated successfully at this time, yet the climate is so healthy and the water so pure, the grass so abundant and nutritious, that it seems to me it will become in the future an excellent grazing region. The character of the surface, and the shortness, as well as the nutritious character, of the grass, would seem to adapt it especially for the raising of sheep, and immense herds of them might be raised by a pastoral' people. The Union Pacific Railroad will transport all the products of this vast region to market, and I am convinced that even the sand-hills will yet become a fine pasture ground for herds of sheep, cattle, and horses, and thus every part of the State may be settled and made productive. CHAPTER VIII. THE COAL-FIELDS OF COLORADO. I have endeavored in this chapter to take as complete a view of the Lignite formations of the West as the -facts will admit, first confining my observations to the country west of the Mississippi, and then endeavoring to trace them beyond those limits. If the lignites of the West prove of economical importance, as we believe they will, they will be of inestimable value to all parts of the West, but to no portion more than to the State of Nebraska, and the time is now fast approaching when their true value will be determined. It is on this account that I give them so much attention in this report. Although our knowledge of the Lignite formations of the West is not very extensive at this time, yet the discovery of them is by no means a new one, for they have been referred to in most books of travel since 1800. Lewis and Clark saw beds of " stone-coal" all along the Missouri. Wyeth says that the banks of the Yellowstone, below the mouth of the Big Horn, are in many places precipitous, with strata of " bituminous coal,,and Captain Bonneville saw i anthracite coal on Powder River. We now know that all these coal-beds are of Tertiary age, and cover a vast area bordering on the Missouri River. In 1842 Colonel Fremont NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 45 observed the lignite beds on some of the tributaries of the Columbia, and Green River, a branch of the Colorado. This is undoubtedly a western extension of a portion of the formations described on the Medicine Bow River. Near longitude 1220 and latitude 450 30', Colonel Fremont discovered a stratum. (Fremont, page 192.) On Muddy River, in longitude 111o, and latitude 410 30', he found a most interesting locality, with several beds of coal and clay, and in one bed of indurated clay was a great abundance of vegetable remains. The stratum containing the plants was about 20 feet thick, and above it were beds of coal; each 15 inches thick; below are three beds of coal, separated by layers of clay. Captain Stansbury, in his report of an expedition to Great Salt Lake, frequently notices the existence of coal in numerous localities. On a fork of Bitter Creek he saw a stratum 10 feet thick, exposed for 100 yards. During the whole day's travel coal was exposed in every favorable locality. The dip of the beds was northeasterly 50 to 10o. All along the Muddy it also outcrops, even to the summit, where the waters flow each side into the Pacific and Atlantic. On Rattlesnake Creek were indications of coal, also on Sulphur Creek, of so good quality that he calls it stone-coal. In his report he says: " Specimens of it, although much weathered, burned in a camp-fire with a clear, bright flame. It is bright black; but when cut with a knife, appears dark brown; and when weathered, light brown. It is superior brown coal." Mr. Henry Engelmann, in General Simpson's report, 1859, observed the Utah and Western Colorado coal beds in numerous localities. He regards the coal strata at Fort Bridger and beyond of Cretaceous age. On Sulphur Creek he found extensive coal beds with fossils, identical with Professor Hall's Turbo paludinceformis, from Muddy Creek. Captain Gunnison noticed coal-beds near the junction of Grand and Blue Rivers, in the Green River Valley; also on the eastern slope of the Wasatch Mountains, near the head-waters of Sevier River; also in the upper portion of the San Pete Valley, a stream which has its source in the eastern slope of the Wasatch range. This coal was used by the blacksmiths at Camp Floyd, and regarded by them as a superior " bituminous coal." Engelmann found the lignite all along Weber Creek, from Echo Canon to Kamas Prairie. As this last locality is apparently in the midst of the mountains, Mr. E. speaks of the great tilting up of the beds. He also found fossils on Sulphur Creek that appear to be identical with those discovered by Colonel Fremont on Snake River, longitude 1150, latitude 430, overlying a sandstone which contains in the greatest abundance an ostrea (0. congesta, probably) and Inoceramus, (L Crispii.) The sandstone was white, rather soft and fine-grained, and undoubtedly represents No. 3, or the Niobrara Group of Cretaceous rocks.. At the forks of Sulphur Creek the whitish sandstone occurs again, with Ostrea. Near the crossing of Sulphur Creek is a spring of petroleum, which has been referred to by several former travelers. Shallow depressions in the ground near the spring are filled with water, and rising on the surface is the oil or tar. The Mormons and other emigrants employ it as a liniment for wounds, and as a lubricator for their wagons. On exposure to the air it is changed from a green color to a dark brown, and it has an aromatic taste. This tar hardens as it flows from the ground, and becomes mixed with the soil around the sides of the spring. In 1860 I noticed the same phenomena in several places along the eastern side of the Sweetwater Mountains, and I was informed of the occurrence of these springs in many other localities. On Weber River, above the mouth of White Clay Creek, the Ostrea was found in several places in the white sandstones. Some specimens of coal have 46'UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF been found in Round Prairie, on the Timpanagos, and the little stream near this point has been called on that account Coal Creek. Colonel Emory, as far back as 1848, speaks of the occurrence of coal between Bent's Fort, on the Arkansas River, and Santa Fe, to the north and south of Raton Pass. A few specimens of dicotyledonous leaves were obtained, which indicate that the age of the rocks in which the lignite is found is Tertiary. I have thus far noticed the existence of this coal over districts which are about to be rendered more valuable by the construction of the two Pacific railroads, covering an area between the 48th and 38th degrees of latitude. I shall refer again in another portion of this chapter to the geographical extension of these beds beyond these limits. After having examined with some degree of care most of the settled portions of the State, I regarded it as my duty to pass beyond its limits into the neighboring Territories in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains to ascertain the quantity, as well as quality, of the lignite which was reported to exist there. The construction of the Union Pacific Railroads has created a new demand for mineral fuel all over this portion of the West, and if these great deposits can be made available, their value in the future development of the West can not be overestimated. By the kindness of the managers of the railroads I received free passes for myself and party, and thus was enabled, with comparatively little expense, to go beyond the first range of mountains, into the Laramie Plains, and returning by way of the overland stage route to South Boulder Creek, thence northward to Cheyenne City, along the base of the mountains. Along the line of the Union Pacific Railroad the limestones of the Upper Coal-Measures extend from Omaha to the north of the lFAkhorn River, a distance of about thirty miles. Before reaching this point westward, however, the rusty, reddish sandstones of the Dakota Group are seen on the summits of the hills, gradually increasing in thickness and. importance, until at the mouth of the Elkhorn, and for some distance up that stream, it forms moderately high, bluff banks. The rail. road then descends into the Platte bottom, which is very wide, and the yielding nature of this formation, as well as the other divisions of the Cretaceous, causes the gentle slopes and the almost entire concealment of all the underlying rocks. From the mouth of the Elklorn River to a point at least one hundred miles west on the Platte and Loup Fork, indications of the white chalky limestones of the Niobrara Group are seen, with the ever present Inoceramus, but there are no prominent exposures, and this rock, although excellent for limestone, is not found in sufficient quantities to be of much economical value. In 1857 I observed an exposure of soft, rusty sandstone at the mouth of Loup Fork, which belonged undoubtedly to the Dakota Group, but this year I was unable to find the locality again. It is safe td say that the Cretaceous beds extend up as far as the mouth of Calamus Creek, but all the underlying rocks in this region seem to be concealed from view by a thick deposit of yellow, sandy marl. The Tertiary beds commence overlying the Cretaceous rocks near the south portion of the Pawnee reservation. The exact position and age of these beds, as they first appear, I cannot tell, but they must be Upper Pliocene, or perhaps, indeed, of the age of the yellow marl or Loess. Near latitude 90O some small bones were found, which indicate the true Pliocene, and from there to the foot of the mountains the unmistakable Pliocene Tertiary beds prevail. So far as any evidence that I have yet been able to obtain, the Upper Pliocene beds shade off into the Loess in such a manner that I have seen no locality where I could detect any break in the continuity. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 47 At Cedar Bluffs the yellow arenaceous marl is 100 to 150 feet thick, filled with shells of recent species, and this marl diminishes in quantity as we proceed, until the true Pliocene beds are visible. At Fort Kearney the Tertiary beds are quite conspicuous, forming high, rugged hills on either side of the Platte. The bottom of the Platte varies somewhat in width from five to fifteen miles, but, for the most part, is very level, while the hills which border it are rugged or smooth, depending on the character of the underlying rocks. Sometimes, for miles, they will present softened, smooth outlines, clothed with grass, without a rock in view; then, again, they will be cut up into ravines, and from the sides will project thick walls of sandstone or marl. At Julesburg the sandhills form a somewhat conspicuous feature. The soil of the bottoms is so mixed with this floating sand that it seems hardly possible ever to make any use of this region for agricultural purposes. From Columbus to Fort Kearney there is little or no hard rock for building purposes, but from Kearney to the North Platte two or three moderately-thick beds of a fine, gray, calcareous sandstone, which, though soft and porous, might be made useful in the absence of any other materials for building purposes. The bottoms below the junction of. the North Platte are quite fertile, yielding from one and a half to two tons of hay to the acre. After passing beyond the junction of the North Platte, the sterilily and aridity increases until the sand monopolizes most of the country. This sand is mixed with small, water-worn pebbles, grains of quartz, fleshcolored. feldspar, &c. Near Sidney Station the hills on either side of Pole Creek are quite high and rocky, and the rock is used by the Union Pacific Railroad Company for the foundations of the buildings at the station. There are several beds of this rock, varying in texture from a fine-grained sandstone, with some water-worn pebbles, to a flesh-colored, marly limestone. A bed of reddish, flesh-colored, indurated, arenaceous clay is also conspicuous. The soil is everywhere from 1 to 29 feet thick, and sometimes from 6 to 8 feet thick. The summit is formed of a bed of marly sandstone 10 to 20 feet in thickness, and large masses of the rock have been detached and fallen down the sides of the hill. The lower part is composed of a light yellow, indurated marl. A few bones have been found in the rocky, as well'as the more yielding beds of this locality, but they were not sufficiently characteristic to be determined specifically. But there is one interesting feature of this region which is worthy of notice. Through all these rocks there is more or less silx in various forms. It sometimes assumes the purer forms of chalcedony, and is found in'great abundance, forming specimens of considerable beauty. The Indians, in ancient times, would gather this flinty rock into certain localities, and there manufacture their flint arrow-heads, knives, chisels, &c. Around Pine Bluffs is an abundance of these chipped flints, with broken arrow-heads, &c. These more recent Tertiary beds are a portion of the great basin to which the " Bad Lands " properly belong, but they do not always present those rugged features which are characteristic between White and Niobrara Rivers. Now and then there will be a small area which will remind one of those wonderful " lands," and the strata exposed give evidence of the age and their relation to the White River beds. On the North Platte are several localities that form landmarks, as it were, which are of very great geological interest. Nowhere, except close to the base of the mountains, are there any dislocations of strata or any evidences of upheaval, and where there are any hills, or " buttes," as they are called in the West, shooting their summits above the surrounding country, we know that they are monuments of the past which show that the surface of all 48 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF the country was once on a level with the summits of those high hills at least, perhaps much higher, for we cannot tell how much the summits have suffered erosion; we only know that the beds are horizontal up to the summit, and that there are fragments of beds which we never see elsewhere. The Court-house and Scott's Bluffs and Other well-known localities are examples. The soft, marly nature of the rock causes it to yield readily to atmospheric agencies,' and it is thus worn into the most fantastic forms, often giving to the scenery a wonderfully picturesque beauty. Near these localities have been found numerous specimens of fossil turtles and teeth, and bones of extinct animals. Some of them were ot enormous size, and probably belonged to the huge species of Elephas (E. imperator). whose remains are so abundant in the Pliocene beds ot Niobrara and Loup Fork. It would seem, from the organic remains found at various localities along the North Platte, that the Miocene beds of White River, and the Pliocene of the Niobrara, were represented there. The formations along the North and South Platte will need a more careful study than I have been able to give them yet, before the details of the.geology can be written with certainty. We know, however, in a general way, that all the rocks are of Tertiary age. The excavations made for the Union Pacific Railroad, along the valley of Pole Creek to the foot of the first range of the mountains, always reveal the marly beds of the Tertiary, varying in color from a chalky white to a deep reddish flesh color; but the superficial deposits attract the most attention, because more easily seen. Low down, almost to the mouth of Pole Creek, the small water-worn pebbles are seen mixed to a considerable depth with loose saffds and marls. These pebbles increase in size as we approach the mountains, and all along the eastern slope are wellworn boulders, 3 or 4 feet in diameter, and the cuttings for the railroad show that they extend down to a considerable depth. What relation this superficial deposit of boulders, sands, and marls bears to the Tertiary beds beneath it is difficult to determine without a more thorough examination; but that it is connected with the latest.period of upheaval of the Rocky Mountain range there can be scarcely room to doubt. I shall discuss this subject in another place. From Omaha to Cheyenne City, five hundred and twenty-five miles, the ascent is quite gradual but persistent. According to the observations of the engineers of the Union Pacific Railroad, which were made with great care, Omaha is 925 feet above the sea level, while Cheyenne City is 5,085 feet, averaging a little over 9 feet ascent to the mile. This point is regarded by the railroad company as the base of the mountains, and here some of their most expensive buildings will be erected. The city was laid out into lots in July, 1867, and by December of the same year there were from 2,000 to 3,000 inhabitants, with some very costly and substantial buildings. Such cities, springing up all along the line of the road, at once called into demand all the resources of the country, and the search for building materials, fuel, &c., has commenced in earnest. Although the resources immediately around Cheyenne are not extensive, yet at a distance of not over twenty miles into the Laramie Mountains timber is moderately abundant, while the best of building materials, in the shape of stone, are found on every side. Even around Cheyenne some of the marly Tertiary sandstones are found to be sufficiently hard and durable for houses, and General Stevenson is erecting a large warehouse of this rock. It is used to a great extent, and will probably be found to answer all practical purposes, though entirely devoid of beauty. Some of the beds of Tertiary marl are found to contan so large a percentage of lime that it is burned, and is thought by NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 49 some to be of excellent quality; but it has a dirty appearance and does not make a clean wall. Near the margins of the mountains there are some of the finest beds of limestone in the West. The rock itself is nearly white, and when burned in a kiln produces alime that is as white as snow, aiid the walls of houses prepared with it present a most cheerful, light appearance. There is the greatest abundance of these rocks; these carboniferous limestones sometimes attain a thickness of 1,000 to 1,500 feet. The roads up to the margins of the Laramie Mountains are excellent, and the ascent is gradual, so that transportation is comparatively easy. From Cheyenne to the summit of Laramie Mountains the distance is about twenty to thirty miles, and the elevation is 7,297-an increase in the ascent in this distance of nearly 90 feet to the mile. From Cheyenne to the summit of the mountains the railroad passes up a ridge which is quite remarkable, an'd seems especially adapted to the location of this great national road. On either side for irany miles no such range call be found, rising gradually, as it were, to the very summits, without any of the abrupt, rugged places which are so common everywhere along the margins of the mountains. UTsually there is a deep. valley scooped out by glacial action all along the immediate base of the mountains, which would prove a serious obstacle in the building of a road, but here, for a belt of five to fifteen miles in width, this erosive action seems to have been checked for the time, leaving one of the most remarkable inclined planes I have ever seen along the mountain slopes. The basis rocks are unquestionably Tertiary, probably later Pliocene, but scattered all over the surface are many water-worn boulders, and the cuttings of the road reveal a considerable thickness of superficial material filled with worn rocks of every. size and variety, most of them evidently having their origin in the nucleus of the mountains. The rocks which compose the true Tertiary beds seem changed here. All the hard strata are formed of an aggregation of crystals of quartz, feldspar, and small, water-worn pebbles, making a kind of puddingstole, and interstratified are these layers of whitish and yellowish clay, loose sand, or marl, the whole indicating a deposition in disturbed waters. This deposition must have taken place here also after the Rocky Moultains had reached their present elevation, or nearly so, for these beds jut up against the inclined older formations, reposing unconforinably on them. Indeed, in all the little valleys of the mountains, patches of these Tertiary beds may be found, sometimes resting high upon the margins, but in all cases nearly or quite horizontal. Farther north, about fifty miles above Fort Laramie, and near the Red Buttes, I have seen these beds dipping at an angle of 500, showing that they partook of the last period of elevation. At another locality, near the margin of the mountains, at least 7,000 feet above the sea, a bed of Tertiary sandstone inclined eastward from the mountains 100. These beds here are composed of materials more, or less coarse; some layers made up of crystals of quartz and feldspar, with now and then a rounded pebble; sometimes loosely aggregated, then cemented into a firm rock; then coarse beds like conglomerate. These beds attain -here a, great thickness, evidently not less than from 500 to 600 feet. By examining the border lines between the Pliocene Tertiary and the Eocene coal beds, a little farther to the southward, it will be seen at once that they do not conform. This same want of exact conformability is seen all along the slope of the mountains to the South Pass. Near Carmichael's Camp, or Evans Pass, the older rocks appear from beneath the Tertiary, inclining in regular sequence from the mountain nucleus. The Carboniferous and the red or Triassic beds are all that are exposed to view. Just at this loH. Ex. 19 4 50 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF cality all the more recent formations, as Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene Tertiary, are concealed by the immense deposit of recent Tertiary, yet all these formations are exposed in full force within a few miles on either side north or south of this point. Nowhere on either side of this range south of Laramie Peak was I able to find any rocks below the Carboniferous limestones and next to the metamorphic rocks that along the Wind River, Big Horn Mountains, and the Black Hills, I have hitherto called the Potsdam sandstone. A section along the upturned edges of the beds from the syenite nucleus would be as follows: 1. Light-gray, compact, siliceous limestone, 2 feet. 2. Reddish laminated sandstone, 10 feet. 3. Light-gray, limestone-like bed, 50 feet. 4. Fine reddish sandstone, 40 feet. 5. Light-gray, bluish limestone, 10 feet. 6. A reddish calcareous sandstone, 6 feet. 7. Light-gray limestone, 30 feet. 8. Reddish laminated sandstone, some parts quite soft, 20 feet. 9. Bluish limestone, 10 feet. 10. Reddish laminated sandstone, 10 feet. 11. Bluish, hard limestone, 15 feet. 12. Reddish laminated sandstone, 4 feet. 13. Excellent white limestone, with Productus Prattenianus, Atlhyris subtilita, &c., 150 feet. The above section is given simply to show the lithological character of these Carboniferous beds, that the brick-red character is not confined to the supposed Triassic. The thickness stated is merely approximative. The whitish limestones are quite persistent in their characters, but the other beds are variable, sometimes massive or laminated, siliceous or arenaceous, bluish or reddish here, &c. The dip is also variable from 200 to 450 southeast. Looking from the top of-the hills into the valleys below, we can see the white beds of the Tertiary jutting up against the older rocks, or in isolated patches high on the sides, easily detected by the eye far distant, by the numerous eroded surfaces. When the eye has become familiar with the lithological characters of the different geological formations it is easy to detect them even in the distance, and as far as the eye can reach the rocks belonging to the great Tertiary basins, the Miocene and Pliocene White River and Niobrara deposits, and the Eocene and Miocene lignite beds. The former always has a light color, and in almost all cases presents many eroded bare spots, which seem of a much lighter color in the distance, while the rocks of the latter basin always exhibit a brown, somber hue, each one possessing numerous characters which to the practiced eye are unmistakable. In 1859 I detected, through a glass, from the base of the Black Hills, some isolated ridges, thirty miles distant, which appeared to be the White River Tertiary beds superimposed on the lignite beds. Anxious, at that time, to show the relations of the two great basins to each other by actual contact, I rode to them and found them to be as I had conjectured, and thus I was enabled to solve the desired problem. Indeed, all the geological formations of the West possess certain lithological lineaments caused by the varied effects of atmospheric influences which are unmistakable to the practiced eye. As I have before remarked, no unchanged sedimentary rocks are seen in this region between the true Carboniferous and the metamorphic, and, consequently, we pass directly to the nucleus of the Laramie range. The principal rocks are syenite, and it'presents almost every variety, from an exceedingly compact, coarse-grained mass, NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 51 almost destitute of hornblende, to a very coarse aggregate of quartz, feldspar, and hornblende, the large, reddish crystals of feldspar being the most conspicuous. Most of these metamorphic rocks contain considerable iron, probably originally in the state of sulphuret, which has caused the separation of the crystals of feldspar, and there seems to be allover the surface of the country on the summits of this range a heavy superficial deposit which is mostly made up of small masses of feldspar. When this material is abundant it forms the finest of roads, which are very smooth. This tendency to disintegration seems to characterize all the metamorphic rocks of this region, and thus they are often worn into some wonderfully fantastic forms. These massive granite piles are not uncommon all along the summits of the mountain ranges, and, standing so clear above the general level of the country, seem more like immense boulders transported from some more northern region. Yet these massive piles, while they do not seem to reveal any distinct signs of stratification, extend along the mountains in definite, rather narrow belts, with a course about northwest and southeast. The illustration given above shows the forms of these massive piles of rocks as they are seen in hundreds of localities. The evidence is quite clear that all the rocks which are exposed in this Laramie range are really stratified metamorphic rocks in nearly or quite a vertical position. Sometimes the seams are of trap or greenstone, then quartz or clay slate, extending in definite lines, and all parallel. The corners are still very sharp, as if time, which rounds off the hardest granite, could not affect this. It forms exceedingly beautiful and picturesque scenery, and must prove an elegant and durable rock for building purposes. Some of the massive piles of syenite near the sources of Dale Creek are very close-grained, and would, if polished, be almost as handsome for building purposes or monuments as the Scotch syenite. Mr. S. B. Reed, engineer of construction, Union Pacific Railroad, first called my attention to this fine syenite, and it is now proposed to transport this rock from the summit of the Rocky Mountains to Omaha to construct the piers of the bridge across the Missouri River. Again, these granite masses assume forms sometimes looking like a figure with its broad cap, then apparently just poised ready to tumble down into the ravines below, where thousands of similar masses may be seen which have fallen at different times. Flowing among these hills are some of the purest streams of water that the mountains afford, well stocked with trout. Sometimes in the level, prairie-like portions of the mountains, these streams are so deep and the borders so boggy that it is difficult to cross them, and the dams of the beaver add to the difficulty; all through the mountains are thousands of beautiful valleys filled with springs and small streams, with a fine growth of grass; quite large, prairie-like areas, sometimes nearly level, or slightly undulating, dotted oVer with monumental piles of granite, syenite, gneiss, or slate. Continuous ridges, rising up in the prairie, are not uncommon, while the eroded or disintegrated materials, clothed with vegetation, so conceal the rocks sometimes for miles around that the country looks like a plain. Occurring quite frequently, but not as common as the syenite rocks, are stratified gneiss ridges which extend also across the summit of the mountains in definite lines. In, most cases these rocks seem to be vertical, but sometimes they are inclined; but taken in the aggregate no dip in any particular direction could be obtained. The timber in these mountains is mostly pine and spruce, but it isby no means abundant. There are no dense forests just along the immediate line of railroad. The soil in these mountains is excellent and pro 52 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF duces a good growth of vegetation, but it is hardly probable that any attempt will be made to cultivate land so much elevated above the sea level. As we descend the western slope of the Laramie range into the plains, the brick-red beds which are seen on the eastern margin again appear, inclining westward. It is then evident at a glance that. these beds are the counterparts of those on the opposite side, and that prior to the elevation of the mountains they extended without a break, and in a horizontal position over the area occupied by the metamorphic rocks. Even the moderately-thick covering of vegetation on the western margin, and extending far into the plains, cannot conceal the brickred color of the earth beneath. This fact gives a singular appearance to the scenery, and as these red beds are gypsiferous, a white efflorescence covers the surface ill low wet places in the dry season of autumn. This white material, which is most abundant everywhere throughout the Plains, is called alkali by travelers. These red beds seem here to rest directly upon a dull-red granitoid rock, which on exposure to the. atmosphere readily disintegrates, so that there is a great thickness of debris composed for the most part of feldspar crystals. The Carboniferous beds extend down the western slope in ridges, as if the erosive power had acted in grooves or channels, leaving alternate valley and ridge. A section of one of these will include most of the beds visible here, and convey a pretty clear idea of their composition. G. A compact, thin layer of arenaceous limestone, containing" a species of Orthis, forms the summit, 4 feet. 5. Fine sandstone, easily disintegrated, with very irregular laminme; a rather light-red rock, 100 to 150 feet. 4. Yellowish-white limestone, excellent quality, 2 feet. 3. Brick-red fine sand, with spots of white sand-rock; irregular lamina of deposition. 2. Very hard, bluish limestone, filled with comminuted crinoidal remains, 6 to 8 feet. 1. Loose, brick-red material, gradually passing up into a brick-red, fine, compact sandstone, 100 feet. The brick-red beds I have been accustomed to regard as Triassic, but' it is evident that this color is not confined to them, but is also common to the Carboniferous rocks. The evidence seems to point to the conclusion that in this immediate vicinity the beds are of Carboniferous age, and that there are none of the true gypsiferous beds occurring here, on either side of the range. The disintegration of beds 2 and 3 produces the superficial red earth which covers so much of the Plains. The lower part of bed 1 is composed of loose, red material, with the seams of harder laminated rock, with one or two seams of gray, rather coarsegrained sandstone. The ro/k seems to be an aggregate of particles of quartz. This is to some extent a gypsiferous deposit, and it is not strange that the soil composed of the disintegrated mnaterials of these beds should be alkaline. Bed 2 is a solid, massive limestone, composed almost entirely of fragments of crinoids, one of which was nearly perfect. This bed will be very useful for building-stone or lime. Tile inclination of the beds, as shown by these ridges, varies from 3~ to 250. But what adds much to the character of the scenery is the fantastic shapes these sandstones present through atmospheric action. Sometimes the ridges taper down * a point, the sides presenting the most rugged appearance, while the summits project in domes, columns, &c. Then again there are rounded masses, looking in the distance like boulders, and on near approach the well-furiowed sides can be seen. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 53 T'his sandstone is much in use at Fort Sanders for the construction of houses. It works easily, and seems to be durable, but- some\of it must disintegrate too readily. There are portions of it, when quarried out, of a light-brown color, which do not seem to have been penetrated with the sesquioxide of iron. There are also, in the different layers, fine examples of waved surfaces. The limestone has been used at the fort, and found to be of the best quality. The Larainie Plains are surrounded with mnountaijs as with a wall, and the scenery on a clear day is extremely fine. Along the west margin of the first or Laramie range the hills slope gently down into the plains, and are apparently lost in the level beyond. It is-an important question to determine whether these plains can be cultivated with ainy success. That towns and cities will be springing up all along the line of this great national highway is already rendered certain, and mnuch of the land has been taken by preemiption. General Gibbons made an attempt to raise garden vegetables in. 1867, but he began too late in the season. In October, beets, lettuce, turnips, cabbage, &c., were still growing, and from the appearance of the vines I thought there were some good potatoes. Irrigation is required, and another season General Gibbon is confident of success. Fort Sanders is the most comfortable military post I have seen in the West. Fine streams of water are causedr to flow all through the grounds, so that the best of spring water is at every oneg' door. About eight miles from Fort Sanders is a sulphur spring, which may eventually become of some importance. There are many other large springs in the plains. On both sides of the mnountains, and( about them, places of resort for health a.nd pleasure will be erected at no (listant day. East of the Big Laramnie River the Plains seem to be covered with the debris of the red beds, and I looked in rvai for some evidence of the existence of the Cretaceous rocks which should be represented. Near the Big Laramlie Stage Station about 10 leet of black slate is exposed, which is evidently of the age of the Fort Benton Group. There were an abundance of fish scales and Ostrea congesta. This bed is exposed only for a short distance, and the strata are apparently perfectly horizontal. On the east side of the river, farther up about five miles, is a long ridge, which is formed of yellow arenaceous marl, with a layer 2 feetthickof rusty concretionary sandstone, with fish scales, sharlks teeth, and finely-comminuted shells, 30 to50 feet in thickness. These Cretaceous beds seem to be lithologically like those that occur along the slope of the Big Horn Mountains, and they do not preserve their distinctive characters anywhere in the vicinity of the mountain ranges as well as on the Missouri Rivir. The subdivisions are not always as distinct, yet it is hardly possible to mistake them. The ubiquitous Ostrea congesta always marks divisions 2 and 3 at localities however widely separated geographically. About four miles above the station, immediately along the river, a bed of yellow chalky shale was observed, in which well-defined specimens of Ostrea congesta were found, and its calcareous character showed it to belong to the Niobrara Group. The rusty layers on the east side, which hold a higher position, might belong to the Fox Hills Group.'The layer of harder rock was a rusty, rotten sandstone, with some clay intermixed. Many of the high ridges that come down from the slopes of the mountains on each side of the river seem. to be composed of Cretaceous beds, so that there is ample room for all the divisions to be represented. So far as I could determine, the Cretaceous beds extend about fifteen miles above on the south, and ten miles below on the north of Fort Sanders, and on the east side of the Laramie 54 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF River about five miles, so that the red beds slope down from the mountains and pass from' sight directly under them. About eight miles west of Fort Sanders, near the valley of the Little Laramie River, there is an exposure fifty feet or more in thickness of thinlly-laminated shaly, light, rust-colored beds of the Niobrara Division, containing a great abundance of well-defined specimens of Ostrea congesta, in most cases attached to another large shell with a somewhat remarkable fibrous structure, observed long since on the Missouri River and in other places. This shell is here broken into fragments for the most part. yet the outline is seen complete, though it is quite impossible to procure perfect specimens of it. There is no doubt, however, that it is an undescribed species of Inoceramus of large size, sometimes a foot or more in diameter, to the smooth sides of which this little oyster seemed to have a strong tendency to attach itself. At the base of this exposure there is a dark-bluish, marly shale, which has the peculiar joitted structure of the Fort Pierre Group. These vertical joints run nearly northeast and southwest. Everywhere this bed is cut through in a remarkable manner by these vertical lines. All through these beds are seams varying from 1 to 6 inches or more in thickness, of calc-spar, often cutting the beds at right angles. There are also some apparently fibrous seams that are horizontal. Over the surface are abundant frag. nments of a rusty, argillaceous limestone, like that scattered over the cretaceous hills bordering on the great bend of the Missouri River, which would indicate the former existence of the Fort Pierre Group. On the summit of this exposure are layers of whitish, chalky rock, which is unmistakably No. 3, so that we may conclude that we find in the Laramie Plains certainly Nos. 2 and 3, and probably No. 4, of the divisions of the Cretaceous as developed along the Missouri River. There is another remarkable feature about this valley, as I have called it-that is, that it has no outlet. It is about two miles wide and ten or fifteen long, and has a drainage like the valley of some stream, and yet it has no connection with any permanent stream and ends abruptly at either extremity. Through the kindness of General Gibbons, conm mnanding Fort Sanders, I was enabled to visit the coal fields on Rock Creek, a branch of the Medicine Bow, under the most favorable auspices. A few inches of snow had fallen the day before we left for Rock Creek which obstructed our examinations somewhat, but we obtained facts enough to show that there is here the eastern limit of a most valuable coal-basin, which will yet have a marked influence on the develolpment of the West. The beds of lignite are exposed in hundreds of localities over an area at least forty miles in width and over two hundred miles in length. The report of Mr. Van Lennep, geologist to the Union Pacific Railroad, indicates more than fifty localities where good beds of lignite are exposed along the Medicine Bow River alone. And other facts show that we have here from 5,000 to 8,000 square miles of coal at least. It is only necessary in this connection to state the fact that this railroad is now being cut directly through the length of this great coal basin. The first exposures that I saw of the coal were about eight miles west of Cooper's Creek. Here we found several beds, which seemed to have been brought to the surface by the upheaval of the mountains. The inclinations of the strata are from 50 to 250 at the opening, but gradually becoming horizontal as they recede from the mountain. The coal beds vary from 1 to 10 feet in thickness, and the coal resembles in its' appearance the best quality of coals in Pennsylvania. In some of the'beds are solid seams 2 to 6 inches in thickness, of a ma NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 55 terial very like cannel coal, as if the vegetable matter of which it was formed was originally in a pulpy state. Even when'taken from the outcroppings, where it had been more or less exposed to the atmosphere, this lignite burned quite well, with some draught. The interest in thehe fields, which the supposed future demand for fuel in this region has brought about, is very great, and large numbers of claims have been taken up. Iron ore is found also in the vicinity, but to what extent I could not determine. Stray fragments of the carbonate of iron have been washed down the valleys of the little streams from the mountains, and it no doubt exists in large quantities somewhere toward the sources of these streams. All these beds repose on well-marked Cretaceous rocks, and among some plants found in concretions in a bed beneath the first bed of coal seen, were a species of Populus and a Platanus apparently identical with those occurring on the Missouri river. As we proceed westward the coal formations become much more extensive, and a number of beds of coal are exposed. From the best information I could obtain exposures have been observed in a hundred places or more all the way to Great Salt Lake. A remarkable feature in this vicinity was the evidences of Drift or glacial action along the foot of the mountains. The Medicine Bow range extends nearly northeast and southwest, and all along the northeastern base broad deep valleys are scooped out, leaving lofty ridges sometimes broken and sharp at the top, 500 to 1000 feet in height, formed to a great depth of materials of various kinds, with different degrees of fineness, mingled with water-worn rocks, while the southwest sides are completely paved with rocks, some worn and others angular, as if the transporting power had been checked at the summit of the hill, and melting away, had dropped its burden on the summit and side of the hill. The opposite side is usually almost free from rocks, and not unfrequently reveals the basis formations as near Cooper's Creek, the rusty arenaceous concretions projecting from the sides of the h ills were filledwith a species of In-oceracmus that indicate several hundred feet of the Fox Hills Gro.up. After having made some brief examinations as far as Rock Creek we returned to Fort Sanders, and prepared to start for Denver, October, 1867, along the overland stage route over the mountains. Our course across the mountains was nearly southeast over a most excellent road macadamized with feldspar crystals. As we passed up the western slope the same red beds and layers of limestone as before described could be seen inclining at various angles. Before reaching the summit also piles of rotten syenite occur. Far to the southwest the sharp snow-clad peaks of the main range could be seen, much of the time invested with clouds. A light snow had fallen the day before, adding much to the beauty of the scenery, but concealing the surface in most instances. The rugged piles of syenite, however, could be seen on every side, like monuments left after erosion. I am inclined to think that they are due to atmospheric agencies, and not to any local outbursts or upheavals, and that all these beautiful valleys which, like that of Dale Creek, have been admired by all travelers, are entirely due to the wearing away of the rocks by water. The soil is good, and the superficial materials or debris, as we may call the more recent deposit which forms the immediate surface, is quite thick. The vegetation which clothes the ground is quite abundant-grass, reeds, and smaller shrubs, but the larger trees are scarce over large areas. Along the-northeastern margins of the Medicine Bow Miountains there are some dense forests of the Douglass spruce (Abies Douglassi), which is used extensively by the Union Pacific Railroad for ties, and it surpasses 56 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF all other timber for that purpose. These trees are often as straight as an arrow for 80 feet. They seldom attain a larger size, so that the logs are hardly large enough for lumber. Houses are built of it by sawilln the logs into two portions, and laying the sawed side out, and thus solme of the handsomest buildings at Fort Sanders are constructed. Pine is not uncommon, yet there are no dense forests of it, as we might; expect in so mountainous a region. Oni the summits of the mountains it seems to grow low and scraggy, as if it drew but a scanty nourisllment, from the soil. In other localities it rises to the dignity of a forest tree 80 to 100 feet high, and has a trunk large enough for mill logs. The little cottonwood, quaking asp,, alder and some.other small trees and bushes occur, but they are very thinly represented. and would furnish a very scanty supply of fuel. After passing the summit we descend into the most beautiful and picturesque valley along the overland route, Virginia Dale. Dale creek is a branch of the Cache la Poudre, and is composed of a numnber of branches ramifying through the mountains, filled with trout. The water is most pure and delightful to the taste. It is a curious falct that while some of the branches of the North Platte rise in the divide with those of the South Platte, yet not a single trout has ever been seen in any of the waters of the North Platte; while in every mountain stream emptying into the South Platte the trout are very abundant. I have regarded the cause of the absence of trout in the North Platte due to -the existence of the great amount of alkaline matter all along its valley, which, mingling with the water, is destructive to the trout, but not to the ordinary kinds of fish. On either side of the road high mountain peaks rose like a wall, but in a southwesterly direction the beautiful mountain called Long's Peak, with the extensive and lofty range to which it belongs, could be seen. I found along the road in passing through this valley even to the Cache la Poudre, comparatively little rock, but the different varieties of syenite. In one instance I found some mica schist, but as a general rule mica is wanting. In Virginia Dale I found some high masses of the red feldspathic granite with small, thin plates of mica. This is the first true granite I have noticed. There are also thin seams of large crystals of feldspar. The granite here is elevated in huge piles with vertical and horizontal partings, so that it is separated into massive blocks 10 to 15 feet on a side in dimensions. This granite would be very durable for buildings-is not very coarse, although it is a mere aggregate of the three constituents. There are also dikes or wedges of hornblendic slate and greenstone, and seams of white quartz are not uncommon. Near Virginia Dale Station there is a hulge massive pile of rock forming the side of the canion of the stream 600 feet high. It is a coarse feldspathic granite, the feldspar predominating in large crystals of a reddish hue. Near Stonewall Ranch, on the east side of the range, there is an immense pyramidal pile composed of the red beds, which are nearly horizontal. At the base there is a whitish, gypsiferous sandstone, and from there, in ascending order are 350 to 400 feet of alternate layers of fine brick, red grit and harder red sandstone, the harder layers projecting out from the nearly vertical sides. These rocky layers vary from 1 to 10 feet, and the loose material 4 to 30 feet in thickness. These reddish rocks form a sort of wall along the road for miles. Near the summits are some beds of brown limestone like the limestone layers near Fort Sanders, and although I found no fossils, I do not hesitate to regard them as of Carboniferous age. This range of hills, atter extending southeastward along the road for a mile or more, in a nearly horizontal position, commence, inclining 10, then a little farther 50 to 70. The direction of the dip is southeast again; the NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 5.7 dip is 140 and still farther the whole series inclines 10~, 11~ to 17~, and in some insta.nces 300. On the summit there is a bed of yellowish limestone resting upon the reddish sandstone, 10 to 15 feet, then above this a whitish limestone, then a bluish, hard limestone, 6 to 10 feet, all of which would make excellent lime.'Farther down the margins of the mountains we pass over a great thickness, 1,000 feet or more, of brickred grit beds, which are plainly gypsiferous, entirely destitute of organic remains, inclining at various angles varying from 15o to 240. There seems to be no break in the continuity of the layers, at least none is perceptible to the eye; and, therefore, in the absence of fossils it would be unsafe to pronounce upon its age, but they are either a prolongation upward of the Carboniferous or possibly Triassic. Continuing our course eastward, we pass over a bed of light-gray, massive sandstone, 50 feet thick, nearly horizontal; above this there is a thin bed of greenish-g ray, arenaceous marl, 15 to 20 feet in thickness, capped with a fine, rusty-gray siliceous rock, which occupies the position of the Jurassic beds farther north, and resembles them somewhat, lithologically. After searching w'ith considerable care over a large area, I was unable to find even a trace of any organic body. On the east base, along the roads, and extending to Laporte, on the Cache la Poudre, we found a full development of the Cretaceous rocks. They seem to be 300 to 500 feet in thickness. No. 2, or Fort Benton Group, is well shown as a dark shaly clay, with seanms of marly clay, containing Ostra coznesta and an Inoceramus undistingulislhable from I. problematicus. Below No. 2, which we will regard as a fixe(t horizon, is a bed of gray silicious grit, which may iepresent No. 1 or Dakota Group, or it may belong to the Jurassic. Although this bed is quite persistent all along the margins of the mountains, from the Wind River range to Pike's Peak, I have never yet been able to find a tracel of any organic object, not even silicified wood. I have usually regarded this bed as No. 1, with a query. Above No. 2 we find a good thickness of No. 3, but becoming more arenaceous in its southern extension. Yet portions of it retain the same light color and chalky character as heretofore. Separating No. 2 from No. 3, there is a bed of light-gray sanlstone, which gradually passes down into the plastic clay of No. 2. No. 3 contains the 0. congesta and I. problematicus in considerable numbers. As we look eastward from the summit of the range toward the level prairie, the upturned edges of the different beds recede like waves of the sea until they die out in the plains. These ridges of upheaval, grow smaller and lower; the inclination is usually at a smaller angle until the beds that are exposed above the surface show no perceptible (lip. It seems quite strange that no rock is to be found south of the Red Buttes that can be referred to the Potsdam sandstone. Along the Wind RiTver and Big Horn range it is seen resting on the metamorphic rocks and charged with its peculiar fossils; but as we proceed southward it seems to disappear, so that, after leaving the central meta moorphic portion of the Laramie range we pass over Carboniferous, Triassic? Jurassic? Cretaceous, and finally, in the plains, the Lignite-Tertiary. Before leaving this nucleus, however, we see an abundance of the hornblendic slates and other metamorphic rocks which occur in the principle ranges, showfing the close proximity to the main crest of the mountains of which Pike's Peak, Long's Peak, &c., form a part. Somewhat extensive valleys occur between all the ridges of upheaval, varying from a fourth to half a mile in width, through which some little stream makes its way, usually. Sometimes, however, the rivers cut their way directly through these ridges, as is the case with Cache la Poudre. Nowhere south of Fort Laramie do we see those massive beds of whitish limestone that occur farther 58 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF north. Near the head of Deer Creek, about one hundred miles north of Fort Laramie, the Carboniferous rocks attain a thickness of 1,000 feet or more, composed of layers of massive limestone with hardly any tinge of red; but as we proceed southward the lime gives place to sand, and the color becomes more reddish, until even the thin layers of limestone are tinged with the red color. It is quite possible that this change is due to the decomposition of the sienite rocks, of which the nucleus of the Laramie range is mostly composed, and that these brick-red beds are formed of this debris. In these red beds are considerable quantities of silex, and in many localities the fragments cover the ground. This was the favorite material of which the Indians in former times fashioned their arrow-heads and knives. The distance from the plains across these ridges of upheaval to the nucleus rocks varies much at different localities. At Laporte, on the Cache la Poudre, the distance is not more than a mile, and there are not more than three of these ridges. At a point about ten miles north, along the stage road, the distance is five to ten miles, with a dozen or more of the ridges of upheaval. At Cache la Poudre, Cretaceous beds form the low ridges, inclining 16o to 170, the Jurassic, Triassic, and Carboniferous, two to three ridges, from 500 to 800 feet in height, and inclining 15o to 17~, with a strike about northwest and southeast. As we descend the Cache la Poudre River, we pass over the black shales of No. 4, and the rusty-yellow arenaceous rocks of No. 5, for about four or five miles, when they are overlapped by the Lignite-tertiary beds in nearly or quite a horizontal position. The soil along this- valley is quite good, and by irrigation the farmers raise good crops. Two and a half miles south of Cache la Poudre the first conspicuous ridge is composed of Carboniferous rocks and inclines 250,' again'a little farther, 210. Near Thompson's Creek the road runs along the immediate base of the first hills of the range. Between the upturned edges of the Cretaceous and the slope of the red beds and Carboniferous rocks is a beautiful valley, about half a mile wide, worn out in a concave manner, with little Tside valleys coming into it from the western side. This valley was finely grassed over, and seemed more like a park walled in on either side. The. Cretaceous beds formed two or three ridges inclining 59 to 8o, and finally sloping into the prairie, and passed under the Tertiary beds. Here also I found, in No.'s 2 and 3, 0. congesta and I. problematicus, with numerous fragments of the fibrous. shell of another species of Inoceramtus. In the bed of a little creek No. 4 is well shown, dipping 150. In a number of localities between Cache la Poudre and Thompson's Creek, No. 4 is revealed with a thickness of from 100 to 200 feet. These dark shales have been thoroughly prospected for coal, as is shown by the numerous excavations. Near this point is a fine exposure of No. 3, dipping in such a manner as to pass directly under No. 4. Without doubt No. 5 would be seen by proceeding eastward into the prairie at short distance before we come to the point of overlapping of the Tertiary beds. The truth is, all the divisions of the Cretaceous rocks3 of the west, with the exception of No. 1, are well developed all along the eastern flank of the mountains fiom the Red Buttes to Plike's Peak at least, a distance of more than four hundred miles. Sometimes some one of the divisions is concealed, for a short distance, by superficial material, but it reappears again under favorable circumstances. Between Cretaceous divisions No. 2 and( the supposed Jurassic, or the Trassic, if the former is wanting, is a massive bed of irregular, fine grit, in many instances so silicious as to form a NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 59 fine quartzite. The upper part shows irregular laminae of deposition. It is yellowish-white on exposure, with some masses of rusty rock. The lower part is a massive fine pudding-stone, composed of an aggregation of small, water-worn pebbles, apparently cemented together with iron. This bed, opposite Long's Peak, near Thompson's Creek, forms one main ridge and one sub-ridge. The sub-ridge comes about half-way up to the mlain ridge, forming a sort of break or notch; dip 170. The main ridge has a dip of 190, as observed from the summit. Then a very beautiful concave valley intervenes, about half a mile in width, to the next ridge, which is composed of gray limestone with brick-red beds. This is also composed of the ridges, forming really one main ridge. The first ridge has its southeastern slope covered with dark-blue limestone like a slate roof, with dip 240. Beyond this dividing ridge we find the metamorplic rocks, so that everywhere the Carboniferous beds seem to rest directly on the metamorphic rocks, though not conforming. In almost all instances between the main ridges there is the bed of a stream sometimes dry, sometimes with water. Taken in the aggregate, these ridges, although inclininig at so many different angles, at different localities, when not badly eroded or concealed by a superficial deposit, exhibit great system, convincing one at once that the upheaval was not a sudden paroxysrn, but a long-continued, slow movement. These ridges are divided by little streams, which have cut their way through them, into separate parts, each portion 100 yards to half a mile in length. The harder layers usually protect the sides and summits of these ridges from too much erosion. Thence in a direct line from the metamorphic rocks to the level prairie southeastward cannot be over four miles. The lower or southern end of this ridge (for it runs out at Thompson's Creek), shows the retd beds, and on the opposite side the rocks dipping in a contrary direction, forming one side of an anticlinal. The side next to the mountains dips 580, and the pudding-stone stands up like a high wall for a mile or more in extent in its massiveness. This anticlinal curves around westward, so that the ends of the two sides meet at Thompson's Creek. At this creek there is a jog in the upheaval of at least ten miles; that is, north of Thompson's Creek the ridges die out, while immediately south, in the open prairie, the ridges commencing again far to the westward, and continually running out in the prairie southward, the line of fracture seeming to be northwest and southeast, while the trend of the aggregate range is nearly north and south, so that, passing along the foot-hills of the mountains from the south, northward, we see the ends of the ridges of upheaval, as it were, en echelon. These jogs are not uncommon all along the base of the mountain ranges. At Cache la Poudre there is one that is quite remarkable. Passing over the Cherokee trail from Thompson's Creek southward about six miles, we come to a ridge of sandstone near the road. Toward the mountains a terrace-like ridge is visible, which is composed of the yellow, chalky layers of No. 3. This sandstone ridge is No. 5, dip 130, strike very nearly northwest and southeast. The black shale of No. 4 gradually passes up into the yellow anid gray arenaceous sediments, in which are huge round concretions with foliated layers, and many shells of Inoceramus. This passes up into regular stratified sandstone, the layers varying in thickness from half an inch to a foot. This sandstone is mostly a rusty yellow, and moderately coarsegrained, and possesses nearly the same characters as No. 5, seen at the head of Teton River and Fox Ridge, on the Missouri. Baculites ovatus also occurs here in considerable numbers. The concretions are somewhat calcareous, as the shells indicate. Just before reaching St. Vrain's Fork the wall-like character of these beds is again seen. In the upheaval No. 1, sandstone is broken off, leaving a portion in a nearly horizontal po. 60 UNITED STATES GEOI,OGICAL SURVEY OF sition on the summit of a ridge 300 feet high, while the fallen part is near the base, inclining 650.' This wall extends for nearly a mile without interruption. I was informed that about three miles above this point, on St. Vrain's Fork, a man discovered a bed of coal while digging post holes. Further examination showed the seam. of coal to be three feet thick, and that it had been used by a blacksmith in the vicinity, and pronounced by him as good as the bituminous coals of Iowa. This is quite possible, from the fact that isolated portions of the lignite formation may have been left after the erosive action which followed the elevation of the mountains. We know that the great thickness of Tertiary which we find eastward of the foot of the range, once extended in unbroken continuity across the area now occupied by the Laramie Mountains; and while it is impossible for a bed of coal to be discovered of very great extent, indications of it may be found even in the valleys, or on the sides of the mountains. Tertiary beds, with lignite, are found very near the summits of the Wind River Mountains, 12,000 feet above the sea. From Little Thompson's Creek, No. 5 a;pproaches the foot of the mountains, and at St. Vrain's Fork the coal beds are near the mountains, or perhaps form a part of the foot-hills. It would seem as though the erosive power of water had not acted as strongly on the sedimentary rocks in this region, and, in consequence, Cretaceous beds form ridge-like walls against the sides of the mountains, which may have partially protected the Tertiary beds from being washed away. This is especially the case from St. Vrain's Fork to Boulder Creek, and doubtless beyond. Some of the tipped-up ridges of Carboniferous, Jurassic, and Cretaceous rocks are nearly 2,000 feet high, and incline 400 to 60~. Long's Peak is seen most distinctly from this point, though we are still forty miles distant. Near Left-Hand Creek there is a high conical hill, at least 800 feet above the bed of the creek, finely rounded, which is composed of lignite beds, which, as they were elevated and tipped away from the mountains, escaped erosion. The surface of this region for miles from the foot-hills of the mountains is covered with water-worn rocks of every variety, some of which are evidently of eruptive origin. The valley of Boulder Creek, with its border, is about six miles wide, and derives its name from the vast numbers of worn rocks which literally pave the whole surface. It is on South Boulder Creek, where the Marshall mines are located; and at this locality is the best exposure of all the rocks in this region. Just north of the cafion of the South Boulder is a nearly vertical wall of what appears to be basaltic or eruptive rocks rising at least 3,000 feet above the bed of the stream. On examining this closely, it would seem to be the Carboniferous beds, standing nearly vertical, presenting the most remarkable mural front I have ever seen along the mountains. The rocks are almost metamorphosed by heat, so that, they are consolidated and hardened. Their dip is from 400 to 600. Deep firrows are worn down the sides of this wall by atmospheric agencies, so that narrow vertical columns seem to stand out, adding to the wonderfully picturesque beauty of the view. At the foot af the highest ridge, myriads of massive, nearly square blocks have fallen (lown, gray with lichens. These blocks are a fine compact sandstone, siliceous, light gray, yellowish; no loose red material; stratification perfect. The red rock is hard and massive. Most of the rocks are brittle, when broken showing a vitreous fracture. The outside rocks seem to be less affected by heat, and would make the best kind of building material. Between the main ridge and the next succeeding, there is an interval of one-fourth of, a mile. This valley-like interval is covered with grascs and a few pine trees growing from a rich black soil. The next ridge is perhaps NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 61 1,500 feet above the bed of Boulder Creek, but only a few feet above the debris at the base, while the main ridge is at least 1,500 feet above this. Tlis lower second ridge is a fine gray and yellowish-gray sandstone, with irregular lamiine, siliceous, of unknown age. One hundred yards farther is a third ridge, inclining at about the same angle, composed of pudding-stone, the same bed seen all along the margins of the mountains, from the Red B3uttes to Pike's Peak, and supposed to be occupying the position of No. 1 Cretaceous. It certainly lies between well-marked Cretaceous and Jurassic beds on the North Platte. There is another interval grass-covered, and then the fourth low ridge, composed of shale, line sand, and clay intermixed, inclinihg at an angle of 560. Upon the surface of the thicker layr are numerous mud markings. The yellow arenaceous clay terminates quite abruptly, and a bed of gray, quite-hard limestone comes in. In this limestone I found in considerable numbers Ostrea congesta, and a large, rounded species of Inoceramus, referred to by Professor Hall in Fr6mont's report, but not named. Professor H. compares it with I. involutus, Sow. (Min. Con.,) but it is doubtless an unde-:scribed species.* At any rate we can fix the position of this bed of limestone as No. 3. Between this point and the first opening for coal the distance is about two miles, and the intermediate rocks are concealed by a large deposit of drift material, but it is easy to see by the inclination of No. 3 that in this interval there is ample room for the existence of No. 4 and 5. I shall speak of the lignite beds, therefore, as Lower Tertiary until some more definite evidence is given to the contrary. 1 should have remarked that all these beds, even including the lower ligntite beds, exhibit evidence of having been subjected to moderate but long-continued heat. These marks of heat decrease as we proceed outward from the nucleus of the range, but some of the layers of Carboniferous sandstone seemed to have been changed to a mica schist, the plates of mica beingx very distinct. No. 3 was quite changed, exhibiting a compactness, a hardness, and a fracture never before seen in any part of the West. The value of the coal in the lower bed, now worked by Mlr. Marshall, has undoubtedly been greatly enhanced by the heat to which it has been subjected. Dr. Leconte observed similar phenomena, but on a much larger scale, in New Mexico and the RatonpMountains. By the close proximity-to the foot of the mountains, and the inclination of the strata, probably the most remarkable and complete section can be obtained that can be found anywhere. It seems hardly possible that so great a thickness of the Tertiary beds can occur, but the section taken at this point is the result of a pretty careful examination of one day under the immediate direction of Mr. Marshall, the owner of the mine, and the information he gave me is the result of over four years' experience at the mine. It is hardly possible that beds 6 to 13,t inclusive, have been broken down from some higher beds in the series. A more thorough examination at some future period will determine this. Beds l'to 10, inclusive, incline 8o to the east; the remainder, 350 to 400. Lignite beds 39 and 43 of the section have not been fairly opened yet, but were discovered in searching for iron ore. In clay bed 21 there are some features which cannot be well represented in the section. In addition to the main coal-bed are a couple of smaller seams. As the drift passes the upper seam becomes very hard, resembling anthracite, but it is so thin that no notice is taken of it by the miners. The following are the divisions of clay bed 22: * Mr. Meek has since named it 1. deformis, in Mr. King's report. t See Report of Colorado and New Mexico, page 29. 62 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF 7. Drab clay. 6. Lignite, 12 inches. 5. Drab clay, 6 to 12 inches. 4. Sandstone, 2; feet. 3. Drab clay, 6 inches 2. Lignite, 1 foot. 1. Drab clay, 1 foot. It is probable that the lowest bed of coal mentioned in the section will furnish the most desirable fuel. The day of my visit to these mines 73 tons were taken away, and Mr. Marshall informed me that an average of 50 tons a day were wrought. This coal brings readily $4 a ton at the mine, and from $12 to $16 at Denver, twenty-two miles distant. The coal has very nearly the hardness of anthracite, which it very much resembles, but it falls in pieces more readily. It can be exposed in a dry atmosphere without much injury, but water causes it to crumble in pieces at once. I spent two evenings at Mr. IMarshall's, burning this coal in an open grate, and I found that with a moderate draught it burned with a clear, bright-red flame, produced a good amount of heat, gave off no offensive odor, leaving scarcely any ash, and no clinkers. It contains very little sulphur, and, indeed, no erosive elements. For all domestic purposes it will undoubtedly prove equal or superior to any bituminous coals, and, in a sanitary point of view, there is no comparison. I will here quote a few paragraphs from the report, of Dr. John Torrey, United States assayer at New York, who analyzed specimens of coal for the Union Pacific Railroad from this place and Coal Creek, three miles south: The mineral has nearly the hardness of ordinary anthracite, but is much more brittle. The fragments are often cuboidal or rhomboidal, and in some of them a little amber was detected. The luster was bright and shining. The coal does not stain the fingers. The powder is black when viewed in a heap, but when a thin film of it is spread upon a white surface it has a slight tint of brown. Specific gravity, 1.29. When heated in a glass tube, the temperature of which is gradually raised to 400c or 500" F., it gives off water, the last portions of wljich a little empyreumatic oil or tar. At a dull-red heat it takes fire, burning with a bright-yellow and smoking flame, emitting an odor between that of heated bituminous coal and that of imperfectly-burning wood. Some of the fragments gave out a slight odor of sulphur, which was traced to minute scales and spangles of iron pyrites, scattered here and there among the lumps. Compared, however, with most bituminous coals, this mineral fuel is remarkably free from sulphur. When submitted to analysis it yielded the following results: Water in a state of combination, or probably its elements as in dry wood-...- 20. 00 Volatile matter, expelled at a red heat in the form of inflammable gases and vapors.- -—........ —------............. —--------—...- ---—..... —- 19. 30 Fixed carbon -.... 58.70 Ash, consisting chiefly of oxide of iron, alumina, and a little silica-,........ 2..00 100. 00 The ash is mostly reddish, but sometimes light gray. Another specimen contained only 16 per cent. of water. The coal from Boulder Creek, which occurs in a bed 4 feet thick, and in another 10 feet, has a general resemblance to that from the other locality. It is, however, more dense, having a specific gravity of 1.4, and is less brittle, and the fracture is not so glossy. It contains, also, flakes of mineral charcoal, scattered through the mass, and the proportions of its constituents differ considerably from those of the Coal Creek bed, it being a stronger fuel. It contains a little sulphur like the other; the composition is as follows, viz: Water in a state of combination, or its elements -.......... 12. 00 Volatile matter expelled at a red heat in the form of inflammable gases and vapors —..-.... -—......-................... 26.00 Fixed carlbon... -... —........................ 59.20 Ash of a reddish color, sometimes gray.................................. 2.80 100.00 NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 63 From the characters and analyses of the specimens here described, it will be seen that the Pocky Mountain belongs to the class of lignites, and that it is not technically a bituminous coal, neither cannel nor an anthracite. Still, in common parlance, it will be regarded as coal. In calorific power the Rocky Mountain coal may be placed. between dry wool and bituminous coal, and therefore it is a most valuable fuel, especially where bituminous coal and anthracite are not likely ever to be found, and firewood is difficult to procure. I see no other reason why it may not be used for the smelting of iron and other ores. For locomotives it could be employed to advantage, with some modification of the fireplace. The ash is so small in quantity, and so light, that most of it would be carried off by the blast of the furnace. From my own trials, I find that the coal burns freely in a small stove, making a hot and clear fire, and leaving no clinkers. The specimens that I have examined show a tendency to break up and crumble after they have been soaked with water and allowed to dry; so that it would be well to preserve the coal as much as possible from being wet by rain. The lumps that you brought home from your journey show no dispositionto crumble in a dry place. In conclusion, I remark that the discovery of such extensive beds of a good mineral fuel is of the highest importance to the section of country in which they occur. The iron ore is limonite, commonly known by the name of brown hematite or brown iron ore. It is a compact variety, and is certainly derived from carbonate of iron, some of which, in an unaltered state, is evident in one of the specimens. The carbonate will probably be found in larger proportion as the beds are worked further in beyond the reach of atmospheric influence. There is reason to believe that the iron obtained fiom this ore will be of good quality. The bed of coal opened on Coal Creek corresponded in every particular with the sixth bed, or bed 23, of the section on South Boulder, at Marshall's Mine. The drift was carried in about 150 feet. It was first opened in the summer of 1860, while Marshall's Mine was opened in the fall of 18S. The sandstone that lies above the coal seems to be in many instances nodular or concretionary, like that which occurs in a similar position on the Missouri River. This main bed of coal is 7 feet in thickness, and, with the beds above and below, inclines at an angle of 430 to the east. It is the great dip of the beds which renders these coal-beds far less desirable than those on South Boulder. Seven beds of coal have been opened on Coal Creek, and underneath the third bed is a layer of excellent fire clay, 6 or 7 feet thick. In this clay are found nodules of iron ore, containing impressions of leaves of deciduous trees. This nodular iron ore is abundant everywhere, however, in all the beds. Some of the nodules are filled with clay or sand. The coal has not been worked here for over two years, and, although only seven beds have been examined, there is no reason to suppose that the whole series will not be found on further examination. The distance from the Marshall's Mine, or South Boulder, to the Coal Creek opening, is just three miles; yet intervening, is a high plateau, 1,200 to 1,500 feet above the bed of the Boulder, extending close up to the foot of the mountains. Although this plateau is mostly composed of coal strata, yet it is covered with a vast thickness of drift material washed down from the mountains, so that the intervening formations are for the most part concealed. As in the South Boulde' Valley, no Jurassic beds, and only traces of one or two Cretaceous can be seen in Coal Creek Valley. Even where it emerges from the mountains the drift material juts up against the almost vertical sandstones of the Carboniferous period, yet we cannot doubt from what we have already seen that the complete series of rocks exist underneath. All along the foot of the mountains in this region, in the valleys and on the hills, there is a wonderful accumulation of particles of worn, and even angular rocks, so abundant as greatly to impede traveling. They present also every variety of texture and composition; but what most strikes the attention is the partially metamorphic condition of many of these immense masses.ofthe pudding-stone, which are found so abundant in the Carboniferous rocks, lying scattered about; the inclosed pebbles appearing not to have been affected by heat, while the matrix is almost changed. 64 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF There are also worn masses of gneiss, quartz, and most of the varieties of rocks that probably exist in the heart of the mountains. In the lignite beds on South Boulder are indications of spontaneous combustion, by which the rocks also have been baked. In all the coal-beds are quantities of wood, and in sinking shafts stumps are brought out which show the woody structure very perfectly. In the beds are masses of wood which are partially changed, the surface of which is composed of beautiful, jet-like coal, while the inner portions show the layers of growth. One of the beds is called the " peacock vein," on account of the iridescent hue of the coal, and this peculiarity seems to be confined to this bed. Before leaving this locality I will say a few words in regard to the iron ore which is found quite abundantly in the sand and clay beds inclosing the coal. The iron ore is, as Dr. Torrey has determined, a limonite, commonly known as brown hematite, or brown iron ore. It occurs in nodular masses, varying from an ounce to a ton or more in weight, and is never found in layers or strata, but is distributed through the beds. - On breaking these nodular masses, we find regular concentric layers, looking much like the bands of an agate, oftentimes varying in color from brown to yellow. From the immediate vicinity of South Boulder Creek Mr. Marshall has already taken out more than 500 tons of the ore, and from the examinations which have been made it must occur in great abundance over an area of at least fifty square miles. I am convinced that for all practical purposes there is no limit to the supply of this ore. The experiments of Mr. Marshall, in the furnaces at this locality, show that 4,400 pounds of ore will produce one ton of pigiron in about the following proportions: ore, 200 pounds; limestone, 20; charcoal, 13 to 15. This produces a very excellent quality of gray iron. Although on Boulder Creek the coal-beds seem to be most largely developed and to present the greatest facilities for their study, yet there are openings in many other points of the Territory, at G6lden City, and various localities farther down On Coal Creek and Boulder Creek. I was unable to visit any of these points, but I saw some of the coal which had been obtained from there. It is used more or less for fuel at all the little towns in this region, but I do not think it is as good as that from the Marshalls mine. That which I saw came from a mine opened along the stage route, low down on Coal Creek, and it had a dull-brown color and crumbled readily on exposure. Mr. Collier, editor of the Mining Register, gave me a list of exposures of coal in various parts of the Territory, and there is no doubt this list might be greatly extended. Twenty miles east of Canon City coal occurs in bars or seams, also seven miles south of the same place. At Colorado City small seams are seen and it is taken out in bars. This is a very curious form and must have existed originally in the form of asphaltum, for it is now found in bars half an inch thick, two inches wide, and sometimes several feet in length. On Cherry Creek divide, twelve miles east of Denver and two miles above the stage road on Coal Creek, there is a 7-foot bed which Mr. Collier opened in 1860; two miles below this point another bed has been opened. There are here five distinct beds. Again, on Running Creek, twenty miles southeast of Denver, and on Bijoux Creek, sixty miles southeast of Denver, also on White River, western end of the Colorado. There is an excellent bed of coal, 7 feet thick, at Golden City, and three miles north of the city. Seven miles south of Golden City, in Bald Mountain,' the jet is found. Seventeen miles up the Platte River from Denver, a bed 2 feet thick exists. It is said also to be found in the Middle Park. Leaving Boulder Creek I prepared to NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 65 return to Cheyenne City, along the main stage road, which is usually distant four to fifteen miles from the foot-hills of the mountains. Near a little town called Valmont, on North Boulder Creek, there is the most remarkable trap dike I have seen in the Territory. It rises about 200 feet above the little village at its base, and trends nearly east and west. It is about a mile in length and seems to have been thrust up through the Tertiary beds with vertical sides, so that it looks like a wall. The base of the dike is so covered with debris that it is not possible now to see what effect it had on the rocks through which it protruded itself. The rock might be called a hornblendic trachyte of a dark, greenishbrown color, the crystals of hornblende appearing quite distinctly. In the valleys of Boulder and St. Vrain's Creeks are a number of little lakes, many of them alkaline. The settlements are quite numerous and farming and stock-raising seem to be carried on extensively. It is only in the valleys of the streams, where irrigation can be employed, that any crops can be raised. The grass is so nutritious here that sheep and'cattle thrive well and seem to be healthy. About four miles east of the base of the mountains the ridges of yellowish-gray sandstone are seen, dipping at a slight angle. They may be traced to a point within twenty miles of Pole Creek, and are plainly Tertiary. Near Thompson's Creek the most conspicuous feature in the scene is a high wall of sandstone with a hole through it, which has received from the old trappers of the country the name of the Bears' Church. Mr. Carbutt took a most excellent photographic view of it. The Cretaceous beds here form a belt about five miles wide. Eighteen miles south of Cheyenne City. No. 5 is well developed, inclining at an angle varying from 100 to 150, and containing in some hard concretionary masses, a species of Inoceramus. Reposing on No. 5, without any apparent break in the continuity, are the Lignite-Tertiary beds. The following section will show the order of the beds here, as they are exposed over a considerable area: 7. Arenaceous clay with an abundance of Ostrea subtrigonalis? 6. Coal, 5 feet. 5. Clay. 4. Reddish rusty sandstone in thin layers. 3. Drab, arenaceous, indurated clay. 2. Massive yellow sandstone. L No. 5, Cretaceous, and arenaceous clay, a yellow sandstone. The bed of coal is 5'feet 4 inches thick, 200 feet from the entrance of the drift. In the bed above the lignite there seems to have been a layer which must have been 3 or 4 feet in thickness. The oyster-shells are scattered about in the greatest abundance, reminding one in their abundance, size, and form, of the small oyster along the shores of South Carolina and Florida. It is said that among the foot-hills of the mountains outcroppings of the coal have been. found. These irregular seams of jet, before referred to, occur abundantly in this region. I shall,dwell more fully on these western lignites in my chapter devoted to that subject. H. Ex. 19 5 66 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CHAPTER IX. SKETCH OF THE GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS ALONG THE ROtTE OF THE UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY, EASTERN DIVISION. The facilities for traveling afforded me by the kindness of Colonel Lamborn, secretary of the Kansas Pacific Railway, induced me to make a hasty examination of the geology along this route so far as the road had been completed. Accordingly I left Leavenworth City November 13, 1867, and proceeded directly to the valley of Kansas River by way of Lawrence. This valley is one of the most fertile in the West, quite broad, the banks sloping gently down, presenting, however, a good many exposures. All the rocks from the Missouri River to a point near Fort Riley undoubtedly belong to the age of the Upper Coal-Measures, and, as these rocks have been described very fully in a paper by Mr. Meek and the writer, published in 1859, I shall not dwell on them in this connection. Even at Fort Riley the upper beds, over the summit of the hills, indicate their Permian character, and must be included in the series called Permo-Carboniferous. From Manhattan to Fort Riley the outcropping beds of limestone are quite conspicuous on the sides of the high hills, showing also a considerable thickness of the intervening clay or sand beds which form the grassy slopes. The bed that furnishes the beautiful building-stone at Manhattan, Fort Riley, and Ogden, and which has been used for the construction of some of the finest houses in Kansas, shows a marked dip to the westward at least 10 feet to the mile. The rock can be wrought into any shape with great ease, and is most beautiful and durable. At Junction City the Permian magnesian limestone is so soft that it is cut into any desirable form with a circular saw, and is transported to all points along the line of the railroad. Masses, in the form of bricks for chimneys, caps, sills, &c., are made in the greatest abundance. Junction City, which is a city of 1,200 to 1,500 inhabitants, is almost entirely constructed of this Permian limestone. At the one hundred and forty-fifth mile-post west of the Missouri the bed of limestone from which so much building material is taken crops out quite conspicuously from the sides of the hills, about 30 feet above the river, but dipping so rapidly that it soon passes beneath the bed of the river. After passing the one hundred and fifty-fifth mile-post, the soft beds, or those intermediate between the well-known Cretaceous No. 1 and the Permian, begin to show their influence on the surface of the country, giving very broad level bottoms to the river, and the low, gently-sloping hills on either side. Very few exposures of the basis rocks are to be seen. Near Salina the grass-covered, sloping hills, the entire absence of any rock exposures, and the wide, level bottoms, show that the underlying rocks are composed of soft, yielding sands and clays. We know these belong to the series intermediate between the Permian and the rusty sandstones of the Dakota Group, and, so far as we have yet determined, are of doubtful age. At Fort Ellsworth the cuts along the road show that the Dakota sandstones have appeared, and then continue on as far as Fort Harker and beyond. Everywhere we find a thick, superficial covering of arenaceous material which was evidently derived from the disintegration of No. 1. Our road was along the valley of the Smoky Hill Fork, and the bluffs in the distance look as though they were composed of loose sand. It is plain that as we pass southward the sandy beds below the red sandstone, as seen on the Little Blue River, increase in thickness and retain their variegated color. The soil is still good all NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 67 along the road. Where the surface crust is cut through by the road we observe from one to three feet of vegetable soil. It is somewhat arenaceous and would be very favorable to the production of cereals and all kinds of garden vegetables, but there must be more or less irrigation. There is no timber here except a little fringe along the Smoky Hill Fork and some of its branches, and this is being fast removed as fuel for the use of the road. The surface is very rolling, showing the loosely aggregated character of the underlying basis rocks. The prairie grasses grow thickly over the ground, especially the short buffalo grass, which forms a mat in most places. No finer grazing country can be found in the world. At Wilson's Station I saw the chalky limestone of the Niobrara Group filled with Inoceramusproblematicus. A part of the bed is in slabs or thinnish layers, as it usually appears wherever it occurs south of the Missouri River, blt a part also is more massive, arenaceous, and rust-colored. Between the two hundred and forty-fifth and two hundred and fiftieth mile-stone west, the road cuts through No. 3 very distinctly, the whole country appearingto be underlaid by this rock. The superficial deposits are quite heavy in places' composed of a deep yellow or flesh-colored marl, With small white concretions of lime or chalk. This disintegrated material seems to take the place of the newer pliocene deposits on the Loup FQrk and other places. Between the two hundred and fiftieth and two hundred and fifty-fifth mile-post we saw a small herd of buffalo within a short distance of the track, also a herd of forty or fifty antelope. Asthe locomotive moved along they seemed more like native cattle grazing over these limitless pasture fields. We saw the mirage which is not uncommon in this country. Even small ridges rose up into lofty mountains and every valley reflected the light, so that it appeared like a pond of water. At the two hundred and eightieth milepost there seemed to be indications of Tertiary beds, and in the cuttings are thousands of the small white limestone nodules so common in the marls in other localities. I made inquiry at the station, but no rock has yet been found in that vicinity. The bluffs along the creek have a whitish appearance. At Hays City the massive rocky layers of No. 3 are sawed into blocks with a common cross-cut saw, and employed in the construction of buildings. It is a rather hard chalk, but is very easily worked, the shells, as Inoceramus, Ostrea congesta, &c., obstructing the saw to some extent. The builders informed me that this rock hardens after it is laid in the wall. The quarry from which this chalky limestone is obtained is about four miles from the village, and the bed is 40 feet thick. Fort Hays is located on Big Creek, a branch of Smoky Hill Fork. It is surrounded by a broad, rolling prairie country, and no timber in sight except the very narrow, irregular fringe of cottonwood along the streams. The soil appears to be fertile; indeed, it could not be otherwise with the basis rock composed of the limestones of No. 3, but the difficulty of irrigating will prevent the country from being used otherwise than as a grazing region, for which purpose it seems eminently suitable. The short nutritious grasses which are peculiar to this dry prairie region cover the surface like a mat, and it i not strange that the buffalo are so fond of this portion of the West, and still visit it every summer. About eight miles west of Hays City there are about 60 feet exposed, of the dark clays of No. 2, of the Fort Benton Group. The road cuts through it so as to show its character well. It is a bright bluish-black slaty clay, covered with a thin coating of iron rust whenever the water or air can have access to it. It is full of arenaceous concretions of every size, which are lined inside with crystals of calc-spar. On the summit of the hills, resting direct on No. 2, are the massive layers of the yellow 68 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF chalk No. 3, containing a few oysters and a huge Inoceramus. On the Smoky Fork are exposures of the bluish clays, with thin layers of arenaceous limestone containing fossils. At Fort Wallace the buildings are all made of this whitish chalk. This rock is also used in the construction of bridges along the road in many places, and, although not a durable stone, seems to serve a good purpose. We have, therefore, between Salina and Fort Wallace, exposures of three divisions of the Cretaceous, Nos. 1, 2, and 3. In No. 1 are found in great abundance well-preserved impressions of dicotyledonous leaves, as magnolia, oak, sassafras, poplar, sycamore, willow, fig, walnut, &c. There are also various casts of shells of unknown species. In No. 2, not far from Fort Wallace, have been found, the remains of gigantic reptiles 40 or 50 feet in length. No. 3 contains an abundance of the usual species, I. problematicus and O. congesta, with fragments of fishes. The interval between Wallace and Denver has not yet been examined by a competent geologist, and, therefore, nothing definite is known in regard to its geology. This chapter contains such observations only as I was able to make during a brief trip along the line of the railroad. In regaird tohe resources of Kansas, I cannot do better than to close this chapter with an extract from a memoir prepared by Mr. Meek and the writer from observations made in the summer of 1858, and published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia: "Although this paper is merely designed to give a brief sketch of the leading geological features of those portions of Northeastern Kansas visited by us, we cannot close it without alluding to the truly great agricultural and other natural resources of this new and interesting territory. We mean no disparagement to other portions of the Mississippi Valley when we state that after having traveled extensively in the great West, and after having seen many of its most favored spots, we have met with no country combining more attractive features than Kansas Territory. Her geographical position gives her a comparatively mild and genial climate, intermediate between the extremes of heat and cold, while the rich virgin soil of her beautiful prairies is admirably adapted to the growth of all the great staple grain and root crops of the West. It is true that'in some districts there is rather a deficiency of timber, but as a general thing there is along the streams sufficient for the immediate wants of the country. In addition to this, the wonderful rapidity with which forests are known to have sprung up on similar prairie lands in Missouri, as the country became settled so as to keep out the annual fires, shows that the present scarcity of timber should not be regarded as presenting any serious obstacle to the settlement of the most extensive prairie districts in Kansas. Before going out into the interior of the Territory we had expected to find the whole country immediately west of Fort Riley comparatively sterile; on the contrary, however, we were agreeably disappointed at meeting with scarcely any indications of decreasing fertility as far as our travels extended, which was about 60 miles west of Fort Riley. Here we found the prairies clothed with a luxuriant growth of grass, and literally alive with vast herds of buffalo that were seen quietly grazing as far as the eye could reach in every direction. " Even onthehigh divide between the Smoky Hill andArkansas Rivers, south of this, we found the soil rich and supporting a dense growth of grass; and from all we could learn from persons who have gone further out, the same kind of country extends for a long distance beyond this toward the west. Hence we infer that the belt of unproductive lands between the rich country on the east and the eastern base of the Rocky NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 69 Mountains on the west is& much narrower than is generally supposed; and even this so-called desert country is known to possess a good soil, which may be rendered fruitful by artificial irrigation. " In regard to the mineral resources of Kansas we have at present only time and space to say a few words: As already stated, coal is known to exist, though its'extent is not yet fully determined, at several localities in the region of Leavenworth City, while the geological structure of the country, as well as discoveries already made, warrant the conclusion that this important and useful mineral abounds at many localities south of there. Limestone suitable for building purposes and the production of quicklime exists throughout large areas, while inexhaustible beds of gypsum are known to occur at several places not far west of the mouth of Solomon's River. Nearthis place we likewise saw in the lower cretaceous rocks crowning the summits of the Smoky Hills deposits of iron ore, but were unable to determine, in the limited time at our command, whether or not it exists in large quantities. Of the discoveries of gold in the mountains on the western border of Kansas much has been said; nothing, however, but a thorough geological survey, by authority of the State government, can lay before the public such full, accurate, and reliable information on these subjects as will bring from the older States the capital, skill, and enterprise necessary to develop the great natural resources of the country." CHAPTER X. THE EXISTENCE OF BEDS OF PEAT IN NEBRASKA. The subject of peat is also of the highest importance to the West, and one which deserves much more attention than it has yet received. While the dry climate of Nebraska would necessarily prevent the accumulation of vast deposits of this useful fuel, such as we know to occur in many portions of Europe and on the Atlantic coast, yet even if beds of two feet or more in thickness can be found of peat that can be used as a fuel, it will prove a discovery of inestimable value to the State. Peat is usually regarded as holding a position next to coal in its value as a fuel, but of course its real value will depend upon the amount of carbon it contains. Low, marshy, swampy places occur all over the State, and, so far as I could determine, in a somewhat hasty examination, the conditions indicated were favorable to the existence of valuable beds of this fuel in almost every county. It is my opinion that at no distant day peat will become an article of great pecuniary value in the West, and that large fortunes will be made in its preparation from lands which are now regarded of little value. The first step to be taken is to ascertain the elements of success; and the proper way to answer the question whether there are actually any peat-beds in the State, and whether they can be wrought with profit, is to proceed at once to some neighboring State where the working of peat-beds is in successful operation, and determine the character of the peat and the mode of its preparation. Much discredit is often thrown upon new enterprises on account of the want of knowledge and experience on the part of the persons concerned, and the subsequent almost certain failure is attributed to other causes., It has already been shown by Dr. White, the State geologist of Iowa, that peat exists in great quantities in that State, and it is even now wrought with profit by companies which have 70 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF been organized for that purpose. This subject is regarded of so much importance to the people of Iowa that it is receiving a large share of the attention of the State geologist. In Minnesota, also, there are said to be vast deposits of peat, so that the supply is almost unlimited. Now if these statements are true, if we had no other knowledge, we should at once infer that peat beds of greater or less size and value must occur in Nebraska and the neighboring Territories. The conditions, as well as the character of the vegetation, must be nearly the same in all these States. Peat, so far as the West is concerned, may be defined as the slow decomposition of flags, rushes, and the common sedges and grasses under water a portion or all of the year. But very little accurate information in regard to this matter is known in the WVest. Many people who have read much about the peat-bogs of Ireland suppose that in order that there should be peat deposits there must be a vast growth of mosses. The great dryness of the climate prevents the growth of mosses to any extent in the West, and very few species occur there. Still in many of the Eastern States this subject is exciting much attention, and enormous prices are sometimes paid for peat-bogs. Some expensive machinery has also been invented for its manufacture into fuel. At Pittsfield, Massachusetts, there is a company that manufactures 100 tons of crude peat per day, which, when dried, is reduced to 30 tons. In New York State a peat bog was purchased at the rate of $400 per acre, and a gentleman in New Jersey refused $25,000 for 28 acres. Now, if the reader will refer back to the special reports on the different counties he will observe that there is scarcely a county in the State which has not more or less of those low bogs, in which there is a rank growth of reed grass and bulrushes, which are the resort of myriads of muskrats. In most of the true peat-bogs the conical huts of the muskrat may be seen. Now, where these masses of vegetable matter are covered with water so that they do not have access to the air for the greater part or all of the year, a process of slow decay or combustion goes on by which this vegetable matter is converted into peat. There are no large beds of mosses as we so often see east of the Mississippi, and even in the region of the Rocky Mountains this family of plants is very meagerly represented.. In Ireland, Scotland, and some other portions of Europe, there are beds of peat or turf 20 to 40 feet in depth. The heather grows in the greatest luxuriance, and especially the sphagnum, which has a wonderful avidity for moisture and remains fresh all summer. These mosses decay at the roots while the tops keep fresh and green, so that these peat-bogs increase in depth from year to year. In our Western as well as Eastern States there are certain kinds of aquatic plants that contribute largely to the vegetable matter in a bog. In all the marshy bottoms or low-lands of the West we find, oftentimes in great abundance, the water Polygonums, the pond lilies (Nymphcea and Nuphar), duck-weeds (Lemna), pickerel-weed, (Pontederia), arrow-weed (Sagittaria), pond-weed (Potamogeton). Many of these plants grow in deep water, with stems several feet in length, and with such luxuriance as to contribute yearly a large amount of vegetable matter to the bog. There are many kinds of peat which may be readily detected by the experienced eye. These differences are sometimes in color, some kinds being red, others gray, others black; sometimes they are almost entirely destitute of fiber or any traces of vegetation; again they are light and porous, and do not seem to be far advanced in the stage of decomposition. Some kinds of peat are so pure that, burning, only a small per cent. of ash remains. Others contain much soil, lime, iron, and other mineral substances. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 71 The geological formations of the country seem also to determine the character of the vegetation which forms the peat. The surface rocks of Nebraska are mostly calcareous, and the vegetation of the low places is composed of the coarse grasses and sedges. In granitic and silicious districts, according to Professor Johnson, the peat-bogs are likely to be filled with mosses. Peat as an article of fuel.-Perhaps it is hardly necessary, at this time, to' enumerate, in detail, the multiplied uses of peat as an article of fuel, and yet the want of information on the subject has been felt by the writer, even in his more recent investigations. He has made use of all the writings within his reach, but for the facts contained in this chapter he is mostly indebted to a thoroughly-scientific work by Professor S. W. Johnson," Peat and its Uses," and an interesting volume by T. H. Leavitt, " Facts about Peat." To these books, which are readily accessible to any one, the reader is referred for any further information. Mr. Leavitt has invented a machine which will work off 100 tons of crude peat, making 25 tons or more of condensed fuel, per day. The crude peat is dumped into a hopper, wet, as it comes from the ground, completely pulverized, so as to destroy its porousness, and worked into molds like bricks. When we consider that there is, in all probability, hundreds of acres of peat ground in Nebraska that would, with this machine, yield from 100 to 500 tons of condensed peat per acre, worth at least $10 per ton for fuel, we can at once conclude that the subject is well worthy of our earnest attention. This prepared peat seems to be a favorite fuel for all domestic purposes. It is commonly cut or molded into blocks or sods like bricks, with a length of 8 to 18 inches, a breadth of 4 to 6 inches, and a thickness of 1~ to 3 inches. There are other forms made, sometimes in circular masses or in balls. Mr. Rogers, of England, found by experience that peat was prepared by the drying process, in the month of March, by the strong winds, rather than in the hotter nonths of June, July, and August. So when there was little or no wind he created an artificial wind for that purpose by placing the sods in wicker frames and swinging them through the air, thus drying the sods in less than half the time. When thus prepared it is used in the heating of dwellings, by means of a furnace, stove, or open grate, and is said to give a more steadily-intense and mellow heat than any other kind of fuel. It is also used in manufacturing establishments in the production of iron, and the fact that it is free from sulphur makes it a favorite fuel for that purpose. It has been used also very successfully for generating steam. Experiments are said to have been made on the locomotives of the New York Central Railroad, where a half ton of peat performed the work of one ton of coal. Another experiment was tried on a steamboat on the Hudson River, when 1,200 pounds of peat lasted two hours and twenty minutes, while 1,200 pounds of coal were used in one hour. In France turf-peat is a favorite fuel for the manufacture of iron. At one of the shops 4,500 pounds of turf and 2,300 pounds of pig-iron produced one ton of puddled iron; 26 cubic feet of turf and 2,500 pounds of pig-iron yielded 2,000 pounds of bariron of superior quality. In Bavaria, also, 3,000 pounds of dense turf to 2,450 pounds of puddled iron produces a ton of small bars of fine quality. Peat charcoal and turf charcoal are much used, and their freedom from sulphur and acids renders them very useful. In Holland the manufacture of brick, alum-works, breweries, bakeries, are all carried on with turf as fuel. Mr. Rogers, at the request of the Emperor of France, made experiments on the Paris and Orleans Railway, and he found that the quantity of steam produced by peat was three times greater than that 72 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF of coal coke, while the steam was got up in one-half the time. The blaze was so great as to pass out of the furnace of the engine. The use of peat as fuel is almost universal in European countries; and east of the Mississippi the attention has been turned in that direction within a few years. It is found on examination to be widely distributed, and it is probable that it will be found to a greater or less extent in every State and Territory of the United States. The area covered with peat will, of course, depend much on the geological formation and the climate. We cannot look for such unlimited deposits in the West as in the East. The climate of the West is too dry, and there is comparatively little wet or boggy land, and an extensive swamp is hardly known. It is estimated that there are 120,000,000 tons in Massachusetts, which at the low price of $1 per ton would yield the enormous revenue of $120,000,000. In the State of Virginia several companies have been organized to work the peat-beds of that State; and it has been ascertained that the great Dismal Swamp, which had heretofore been regarded as waste land, is one of the most valuable deposits of peat in America. The Dismal Swamp Peat Company has already commenced operations with marked success. In a report from the latter company the following paragraph occurs, which at once reveals the interest connected with these great deposits: The peat of the Dismal Swamp has been the growth of uncounted ages. Recent geological investigations have established the fact that' The Bare Garden,' which is the richest and best portion of this enormous peat field,.was once covered by a gigantic forest of resinous woods, principally the gum-tree, cypress, juniper, and pitch-pine, which flourished in primeval luxuriance. When these forests were prostrated by convulsions, or the slow process of decay, they were decomposed and covered with mosses and grasses which accumulated for many centuries until, by gradual chemical changes, peat, extending to undiscovered depths and richer in caloric ingredients than almost any other peat hitherto discovered. Analyses of specimens by the ablest chemists in this country have fully attested its value. And its future influence on this country will be surpassed only by the great coal deposits. If the few words written on this subject aid in wvakening an interest in this matter throughout the' West, the object will be attained. CHAPTER XI. ARTIFICIAL BUILDING MATERIALS. The importance of ascertaining what kind of building material can be used, not only in the State of Nebraska, but in a large portion of the West, which can be manufactured without the use of fuel, cannot be overestimated. In this chapter I have gathered such facts bearing on this point as seemed to me to be of value to the people of the West, and to them I would call their earnest attention. I am convinced that if a company could be formed which would enter into the business of making pressed brick, pise, patent concrete, or any excellent building material which could be afforded cheap to the settlers of these almost treeless plains, it would confer a very great benefit on the inhabitants, and se. cure a large pecuniary return. The absence of fuel either above or beneath the surface of so large a portion of the West will be my excuse for the suggestions which I shall make in this chapter, whether any of them are ever adopted or not. 1. In regard to pise, (pronounced pee-za,) a French term given to a method of building which has been long in use on account of its cheap NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 73 ness and economy in many of the departments of France, and has always commended itself on account of its neatness, strength, and durability, and as the earthy materials for such buildings are very abundant all over the State, and indeed in every part of the West, I will here give a brief statement of the method of preparation, referring the reader to Rees' Cyclopedia, under the article Pise, for the details and illustrations. The walls of the building to be erected are formed by means of a mold made of boards, which are placed on their sides so as to inclose a space equal to the desired thickness, and then the earthy materials are placed in this mold in a damp condition, and rammed into a compact mass by a rammer of a peculiar kind, when it is left to dry. This rammer should be wedge-shaped, and made of the hardest kind of wood. Any small lumps of earth are thus crushed and the materials are well mixed, while the surplus water in the earth is pressed out, and the particles of earth are more closely united. Hence these houses or walls are constructed with great rapidity, and are remarkable for their healthiness, cheapness, strength, and durability. It is said that these walls may be made at the rate of three courses of three feet each in length in a'day, and that as soon as the walls are high enough to receive the roof the heaviest rafters can be placed upon them without danger. The next question that arises is, where shall the farmer look for the earthy materials he needs for his purposes, and are they abundant in the State? The materials are all around him in unlimited quantities. In Rees' Cyclopedia we have the kinds of earth given which are suitable for this purpose: 1st, all earths in general are fit for such use when they have not the lightness of poor lands, nor the stiffness of clay; 2d, all earths fit for vegetation; 3d, brick earths; but these, if they are used alone, are apt to crack, owing to the quantity of moisture which they contain. This, however, does not hinder persons who understand the business from using them to good advantage. 4th, strong earths, with a mixture of small gravel, which for that reason cannot serve for making either bricks, tiles, or pottery. These gravelly earths are very useful, producing the best work of this sort. Any one who is familiar with those vast superficial deposits of sand and gravel which cover all of Western Nebraska and the greater portion of the treeless surface of Colorado, Montana, and Dakota, know how abundant the best of materials are for this kind of work. There are also certain marks by which the commonest observer may determine whether the right kind of materials are in his vicinity. When a spade or plow brings up lumps of earth; when arable land lies in lumps; when field mice are able to make subterranean passages; when roads or streams form ruts or channels in the ground and the sides remain firm, but especially are these materials found in great abundance at the foot'of the hills where vines are planted, and all sloping cultivated lands. The presence of lime greatly improves the quality. It therefore follows that the yellow marl which attains such a great thickness all over the eastern portion of Nebraska, must be especially valuable for this purpose. In case the exact kind of earth is not found at the place where it is necessary to build, it is important to learn how to mix the earth so as to render it suitable. Strong earths must be tempered with light; when clay predominates there must be a mixture of chalk or lime and sand, and the proportions in which this mixture is made must be determined by the judgment of the builder. It is better to mix some small pebbles, gravel, rubbish, indeed any small mineral substances, but nothing of an animal or vegetable nature. These harder substances bind the earth firmly, and being pressed, and pressing in all directions, renders 74 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF the whole more firm and solid, so that at the end of two years the wall becomes as hard as freestone, and a chisel must be used to break it, like any solid rock. This material can also be used for the building of walls, as the inclosures for parks and gardens, for fences, for fields, &c. The ancients used it for making rough walls; the Italians now use it for the construction of terraces that cover their houses; the Moors for all their walls; the Spaniards, French, and others, for som'e of the floors of their apartments. The strength and durability of these houses, built in this way, is shown from the fact that some of them have been pulled down, the title-deeds of which, in the possession of the proprietors, showed them to be one hundred and sixty-five years old, and they had been kept in poor repair. The rich traders of Lyons have no other way of building their country houses. These buildings, by painting in fresco, may be made to look as beautiful as the owner may desire by the use of red or yellow ocher, or any other mineral paint. Along the Rhine many of the beautiful mansions which gladden the eye of the traveler as he glides along its banks, are made of nothing but these earths. In the dry climate of the West these houses could be inhabited almost as soon as finished. Besides the great strength and cheapness of this method of building, it has the advantage of speed in its execution. One may calculate to a day the time when a certain work can be completed. It is known that two men can build in one day six feet square of the Pise; then six men, which is the number required (three in the mold, and three to dig and prepare the earth), will build in sixteen days, or at the end of three weeks, at least 228 square feet of wall, or a solid and lasting habitation sufficient for the necessities of a family. Six men can complete a wall 540 feet long and 6 feet high in one month, and twelve men can finish the same work in fifteen days. Thus, by multiplying the number of molds and workmen, the rapidity of construction will be proportionately increased. The building is floored, roofed, and finished within like a.stone or brick house, except that lathing on the walls is not necessary. The above facts are given merely to show the simplicity of this process of building, and its admirable adaptability to the wants of the western people. Patent concrete.-Although Ransom's patent concrete, which is so popular in England, may never be brought into general use in this country under that name, yet the principle involved must be adopted to a greater or less extent; and as it seems to be so valuable, even to the production of a better and stronger building material than can usually be found in a natural state, I will here notice a few of its prominent features. It seems to me very proper that some of the methods of making artificial stones be briefly described in this connection, in order that the attentionrof builders may be called to it and some advantage be taken of the vast supply of materials that cover the country. The materials which are used in forming the "patent concrete" are mostly sand, which may be molded into any form. Even rubbish, fragments of rock, and almost any kind of loose sandy material, may be employed, and there is scarcely a county in the State that has not an abundant supply. The rock is made with great rapidity, and is ready for use without drying or burning. It hardly requires a temporary shed in this dry climate, for its manipulation is not affected by the weather. The rock becomes, when made with sand and cemented with the silicate of lime, a true sandstone. It is made by saturating the blocks in a solution of the silicate of soda and then applying a solution of the chloride of calcium. This produces a rapid double decomposition, leaving an insoluble silicate of lime within the stone, and a soluble chloride NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 75 of sodium (or common salt,) which could afterward be removed by washing. A coating of hard silicate of lime. has actually formed and deposited on the surface. Mr. Ransom made small blocks of various forms in the presence of a committee appointed for the purpose of examining the merits of this invention, mixed coarse sand with the fluid silicate of soda, and then dipping the mold into the chloride of calcium, there came out almost instantly a compact, solid, and evidently durable material. In such solids there appears to be no element of destruction. Many experiments were tried to ascertain the strength of this material, and it was found that very few of the natural rocks could compete with it. It was compared with the celebrated Portland and Caen stone, and found that a bar of the concrete stone 4 inches square and 8 inches between the supports sustained 2,122 pounds, while the Portland and Caen broke respectively at 750 and 780 pounds. It was also shown that the adhesion of the concrete by suspension was 1,980 pounds, while the others separated at 1,104 and 768 pounds. The lectures of Professor Ansted, of England, on the various kinds of economical rocks are of great interest, and he particularly commends this concrete as one of the cheapest, most beautiful, and durable of our artificial building materials. In connection with this subject I would call the attention of the western people to the American Building-Block Company, the office of which is at No. 24 Vesey street, New York. The principle involved is very similar to the one already described. The merits of this invention may be best explained by the following extracts from a pamphlet published by the company: A good, durable material for the construction of buildings, that combines facility of manufacture, cheapness, beauty of color and shape, convenience in handling, resistance against changes of atmosphere, and complete fitness for the uses for which it is intended, has been a want so well understood, that much time, capital, and labor have been devoted to its attainment. The building-blocks manufactured by this company are believed to fully and completely meet all the above requirements. These blocks are easily and rapidly made, each machine being capable of turning out about five thousand per day, and three or four machines may be run by one steam engine of thirty-horse power. They are composed of the cheapest known materials-mainly sand and lime-and are made in such form and size that walls can be construeted from them as cheaply as with good common brick. In their external appearance these blocks make a building of unsurpassed beauty. The shape is entirely uniform, with sharp, well-defined lines, and they can be made of every variety of shade, from a pure white to a dark-brown stone color. These blocks, as now manufactured, are ten inches long, five inches wide, and four inches thick, containing two hundred cubic inches, and weighing about eleven pounds each; they have an air-chamber running through the center, which facilitates the handling of them, both in transportation and in their construction into buildings. The fact that air is one of the best non-conductors, and a wall built with these blocks having air-chambers running vertically through the entire wall, shows conclusively that changes of temperature will be less felt in houses constructed from them than in those built of any other material. The blocks, from the nature of the material used, and the severe pressure to which they are subjected in process of manufacture, are very durable in their character, as it is a well-known and established fact that mortar composition, properly made, is the most enduring of all substances, withstanding exposure for centuries, and constantly growing harder by atmospheric changes, until it becomes a perfect stone. These blocks have been subjected to every conceivable test-have been immersed in water until they have absorbed all the moisture which they could hold, and in that condition have been exposed to severe frosts and then thawed, and the same process repeated again and again. After being subjected to all the alterations of the atmosphere, the result in all cases has but proved the indestructibility of the block. And it is believed to possess all the enduring qualities of the old Rorean mortars, which have existed unchanged for over three thousand years, except to become harder and harder. Blocks identical in shape and size, but not in hardness, known as the Foster block, 76 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF and composed of much the same materials as those manufactured by this company, have, fortunately for the actual test of their durability, been made, and houses built from them ten or eleven years ago. These houses are stronger and better to-day than when first erected. The Material would long since have been in general use, but for the difficulties and obstacles which have now, happily, been overcome by means of devices and improvements which are covered, by several letters-patent owned by this company. The block, as before stated, is mainly composed of lime and sand, and is molded under immense pressure; but in addition to the pressure, the blocks, as formerly made, required time to become sufficiently hard to be fit for use; this was an objection. The machines used to mold them were presses made in various ways, not one of which proved strong enough to do the work for any profitable length of time. This was a very serious obstacle. And the fact of the blocks being insufficiently solidified by pressure, and the want of experience and knowledge in the manipulation and after-treatment of the materials forming the blocks, caused some of them to be made of an inferior quality, which did the composition injustice, and has retarded their general introduction, The first of these difficulties has been overcome by improvements in the composition and mode of treating the mixture before and after pressure. The second has been. overcome by the invention of a machine so constructed as to produce all the density attainable. The theory of this composition, relative to its strength and durability, is simple and easily understood, and has been fully demonstrated to be practically and chemically true. Clean, sharp sand, when brought in contact with caustic lime in correct proportions, and under right conditions, with proper manipulation and after-treatment, produces a partial decomposition of the sand, by which silicate of lime is generated-an indispensable condition and an invariable result. In this condition the composition is ready for the mold and the press. The block thus formed, when exposed to the air, gradually parts with a portion of its moisture, and begins to absorb carbonic acid from the air, for which the lime has an affinity. This process goes on slowly; a portion of the water present, and that afterward absorbed, being chemically taken up and combined in the form of crystallization. This process goes on until the interstices of the stone are filled up, and the block becomes non-absorbant, growing harder for years, by the action and effect of the very agents that destroy freestone, marble, brick, &c., viz, water, frost, and carbonic acid from the atmosphere. The novel form of this block, having an air-chamber running vertically through the center of each block, six inches long by one inch wide, is so arranged as to secure a circulation of air through the entire wall, operating as a perfect non-conductor of moisture, cold and heat, making a perfectly dry wall inside, a cool house in summer, and a warm one in winter. This perforation likewise facilitates the seasoning or hardening of the block evenly and thoroughly, presenting more surface to the action of the elements that perfect the block. The size of the block above alluded to is considered, for general purposes, the most convenient, but the manufacturer is by no means confined to it; for it is contemplated to make all sizes, from thaiof the common brick to the ordinary-sized brown stone.and marble fronts, plain or fancy, as it may be molded in any desired form, and is, therefore, adapted to all kinds of buildings, as churches; halls, factories, houses, stores, cottages, stables, barns, or any other class of buildings, including bridges, sewers, docks, water and drain pipe, lawn and garden ornaments, tiles, statuary, vaults, ornamental work, &c., combining, it is believed, more positive advantages than any other building material now in use. While this block has heretofore been rather imperfectly made, it has stood the test of time and the elements. Ample evidence is at hand to prove to the entire satisfaction of the most skeptical the durability of the block. Buildings constructed ten years since from it have clearly demonstrated its indestructibility. The intelligent, practical mason, familiar with its component parts, admits it to be reliable; and those learned in the science of chemistry, pronounce it imperishable; and the only reason why this material has not been more generally introduced to the public for building purposes was for the want of proper machinery to manufacture the blocks. Years of time and thousand of dollars have been expended in efforts to reach the point where we now stand. We are now prepared to offer to the public the results-a building material which possesses the following merits, many of which are peculiar to itself: 1. Its material composition is such that, so long as the laws of chemistry hold good, time will but make it more durable. 2. It is made in such form, and with such exactness of outline and dimensions, that walls built with it give complete protection against atmospheric changes, and are fireproof. Buildings can be. finished cheaper and better than if of brick or wood. Interior walls may be left unplastered when desired, or, if plastering be preferred, it can be had at one-third of the cost, and of a better and more durable quality than by ordi NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 77 nary modes, as a coat of hard-finish may be applied directly upon the face of the wall, for which it has a strong affinity, attaching itself so firmly that it cannot be scaled off, thus saving the expense of studding, furring, lathing, and two coats of plaster, and leaving no hiding place for vermin that so frequently find shelter in a lath-and-plastered wall. The saving of the item of plaster is estimated to be abopt seven-eighths over the quantity requiredin constructing a brick lath-and-plastered house. There is another advantage gained, which is, the certainty of having walls that will never crack in the plaster. 3. The affinity of mortar for the material-both being of the same nature-is such that the bond is much stronger than in the case with brick or stone. In this respect the superiority is so great that it must be seen to be fully realized, as a wall built from this material becomes, in fact, one compact mass of stone. 4. The sharpness of outline, the shape and size, the exactness of dimensions, (which are not warped or impaired by burning, after being molded,) and the color of the blocks, which can be modified or varied to suit the taste, all furnish the skillful architect with means for producing the most beautiful effects. For the interior of churches and public buildings, designed to be finished in imitation of stone-work, it is most admirably adapted, either for columns, walls, or ceilings, especially if arched and groined, as it is not liable to discoloration or cracking, as is the case with lath and plaster. You get all the effects and durability of real stone at a small part of the cost, and the subdued color of the blocks gives a tone and quality most grateful to the eye. 5. The economy attainable by their use is not the least advantage. These blocks may be made wherever good sharp sand can be found, (the places where sand is not obtainable are rare,) in sections where there is neither stone nor clay for bricks, and in such districts the valde of these inventions can hardly be overestimated. The above statement being true, have we not that which will satisfy the great want that has been felt throughout the ages, from the time when men became wise enough to build houses rather than, huts? Combining the great elements of durability, availability, the greatest possible protection from atmospheric changes, strength of walls as a whole and in all their parts, beauty in color and texture, in form and proportion, cheapness without a sacrifice of any requirement-what more can be desired? Professor E. N. Horsford, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the most eminent chemists and scientific experts in this country, made a most careful examination of the merits of the building block manufactured by this company. Foster's patent is new. It differs from common sand and lime mortar in essential particulars. It is a STONE, while mortar is a material for binding stones together. The latter cannot be substituted for the former. Foster's stone owes its distinguishing characteristic to its having been produced under pressure. By means of this pressure and the small proportion of water employed, a product is obtained from common materials, suited to new and distinct uses, where uniform size and determined form are important-as in the erection of buildings-and in which great density and strength are required. By means of this pressure the sand grains are settled into positions of less mobility, and more surfaces have been brought into contact or close proximity. Within the stone there is developed silicate of lime, a cement, at the surface of each sand grain and binding it to its fellow. This cement is more effective because of the sand grains. The less the thickness of the layer of cement required the more effective it is. The hardness of Foster's stone is due in some degree to the formation of hydrate of lime, and double hydrate and carbonate of lime, as in common mortar, and to the formation of silicate of lime at the surface of the sand grains, but more to the pressure, which, by reducing the thickness, has increased the effectiveness of the cements. Common mortar, in setting or drying, becomes porous from the escape of surplus water. Through the pores thus left, the carbonic acid of the air enters and forms the double hydrate and carbonate; but, at the same time, prevents the formation of the more tenacious silicate of lime. I have analyzed a series of samples of artificial building stone, made by Foster and others-one of them that had served eleven years as part of a foundation wall, and others of various lesser ages, some of them only a few days old. In the oldest of them only was the lime all combined and rendered substantially insoluble. This sample was nearly as hard as Connecticut River sandstone. Others of only a few months' age were equally lard at the surface, but less firm in the interior. The surface of a freshlymade block, exposed to the air, rapidly hardens, while the changes within are slower. A fresh fracture of a block several years old shows a zone of peculiar shade, extending from the outer surface toward the heart of the stone. This zone marks the progress of certain chemical changes which attend the hardening process, and illustrates the fact of the improvement of the stone with age. These changes are accompanied by increase in weight, due to carbonic acid absorbed from the air, and moisture absorbed 78 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF and combined with the steadily forming silicate of lime. I have found, by experiment and analysis, that a block of Foster's building stone, eleven years old, contains from ten to fourteen times as much silica combined with the lime in the process of manufacture, and after it was molded and pressed, as was contained in a fresh block made by the same process. This increased amount of silicate of lime, as well as of double hydrate and carbonate of lime, is in keeping, as already suggested, with the observed increased hardness of the stone as it grows older. The newness of Foster's patent is in the process and in the proportions of the ingredients he employs, rather than in the character or kind of the ingredients themselves. Of these ingredients he makes a portable stone of definite form, having the same kind of advantage for building purposes that bricks have. The originality and validity of the patent seem to me beyond doubt. Van Derburgh's invention is the application of heat to the mixture of sand and moist hydrate of lime, to increase the amount and effectiveness of the cement before the blocks are molded. The amount of cement is increased, inasmuch as the production of silicate of lime from a mixture of sand. lime, and moisture is facilitated by heat, as I have demonstrated by experiment, and this has been brought to bear for a length of time before the materials are molded and pressed. The effectiveness of the cement is increased, since the mode of manufacture spreads the cement more uniformly over the surface of the sand grains. It has been found in practice that blocks made by Foster's process are subject to the condition of the atmosphere, whether moist or otherwise-that is to say, under the influence of a dry atmosphere, immediately after molding and pressing, they do not harden; whereas blocks made by Van Derburgh's process are not influenced by the hygrometric condition of the atmosphere, but the process of hardening goes steadily and uniformly forward. It is also found, in practice, that by first slaking the lime and then mixing it, as a powder, with moist sand, as in the process of Foster, the slaked lime does not so effectually and uniformly coat the sand- as when the mixture is made with moist sand and finely-ground unslaked lime, fnd the whole subjected to heat during the process of slaking, as in the method of Van Derburgh. By slaking the lime in confined space, with, or by means of, the ioisture at the surface of the sand grains, the nearness of the hydrate of lime formed to the silica, on which it is to act, is greater, and its chemical affinity is greater, both from the nearness and from the heat due to slaking, and to the admitted steam, than it can be where the hydrate is cold and dry, and encounters moisture at the surface of the sand grains. In the latter case the condition approximates to that of milk of lime and sand, in which, according to Fuchs and Petzholdt, little or no action takes place. In the former, chemical affinity between the silica and lime is aided, not only by the nearness and heat, but also by the nascent condition of the caustic lime, at the instant of its slaking, in contact with the sand. In Van Derburgh's process the ingredients enter the block in a more advanced stage of the chemical action that is to result in solidification; more freshly-formed silicate of lime exists in the block, when molded and pressed, under Van Derburgh's improved process than under the process of Foster. Microscopic examination shows the individual sand grains in a Van Derburgh block to be coated by a more transparent crystalline cement than is the case in Foster's block. This transparency and crystalline character are evidences of greater tenacity in the cement, because of the greater extent of surface and thickness through which the cement exerts its binding force. They are due in part to the hydrated silicate of lime, in part to the double hydrate and carbonate, and, doubtless also, in a fresh fracture, to the crystallized hydrate. This hydrate, on exposure to the atmosphere, absorbs carbonic acid, forming additional double hydrate and carbonate, which imparts greater tenacity and hardness to the extent of the action, and accounts, for the most part, for the rapid hardening which a fresh surface experiences on exposure to the atmosphere. I have prepared samples of building blocks from Berkshire sand and chemically pure lime, as nearly as might be in the laboratory, according to the practical working of Van Derburgh's, and according to the patent of Foster. These blocks, upon analysis, gave the following results: Silicic acid combined with lime, for every hundred parts of quicklime employedIn Van Derburgh's.............. —..........-..-...........-....-. 5.02 In Foster's.........- --—... ---- ---..... -.....- -- 2.76 I have also analyzed a block of Van Derburgh's stone, some twenty months old, and find the proportion of silica derived from the sand of the block, by the action of the lime at the time the block was made, and during the period that has since elapsed, to be very large. Assuming the composition of the block to be nine of sand to one of quicklime, I find the proportion of silica, produced by the action of the lime, to be 49.67 for every hundred of lime. This percentage, compared with the silica of a block of Van Derburgh's stone freshly prepared, using chemically pure lime, gives a ratio of 0.7430, 0.0751, or nearly 10 to 1. Compared with the silica in a block of commercial NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 79 quicklime, it gives a ratio of about 42 to 1; while Foster's block, eleven years old, gives a ratio in the best specimen of 13.5 to 1. I have found, by experiment, that a fresh block, made by Foster's process, placed in an atmosphere made artificially dry, does not harden so rapidly, or so thoroughly, as in ordinary atmospheric air, and especially as in moist atmospheric air. I have also found that, in an atmosphere highly charged with carbonic acid, the hardening of the block does not seem to be promoted, if the atmosphere be dry. These results might have been inferred from the general principle that the chemical action of the lime on silica. as well as the absorption of carbonic acid, and its combination with lime, demand moisture. They confirm the results of experience with the Foster building blocks, before mentioned, and enable one to see why a block in which more silicate of lime is formed at the outset, as in Van Derburgh's, should be less dependent, for its hardness, on the hygrometric condition of the atmosphere. I regard the practical working under the Van Derburgh patents, as now carried out, as based upon a new and distinct invention, producing results decidedly superior to those formerly obtained by the process of Foster. I have given an opinion to Mr. Strout, of Portland, on the claims of Foster, Van Derburgh, Ransome, Ruschhaupt, and other patentees, in which my attention had been drawn to only three out of seven of Van Derburgh's patents bearing on the subject. From the language of the patents submitted to me, I did not gain a just conception of Van Derburgh's processes, as practically carried out, and objected to them on account of the apparently great time required, and the moderate production to be expected. I have become satisfied from actual inspection of the process of manufacture that this great time is, in practical working, unnecessary, and that the whole operation is very simple, and permits continuous and rapid mixing, molding, and pressing. The claims of Van Derburgh, Ransome, and Ruschhaupt, to some extent, cover common ground. Van Derburgh may justly claim: 1st. The slaking of the lime in contact with the moist sand, which is to be made into building blockl, and, after subsequent dampening, subjecting the mixture to pressure to form building blocks. 2d. The application of heat to a mixture of lime, in the process of slaking, and moist sand, the heat being derived from the slaking lime, or from this and other sources combined, preparatory to pressing into blocks. 3d. The slaking of the lime in contact with the moist sand in confined space, by which very great heat is brought to the aid of the chemical action of the caustic lime on the silica of the sand. 4th. The subjection to pressure of a mixture of moist sand and lime, slaked in contact with the sand of the mixture, after having been subjected to heat. 5th. The use of a mixture of lime, slaked or unslaked, with sand, with the addition of a liquid silicate immediately before molding and pressing. 6th. The saturation, with a solution of an alkaline silicate, of blocks made by pressing a mixture of moist sand and caustic lime. 7th. The use of saccharate of lime and soluble silicates in the formation of silicate of lime in building blocks. 8th. The use of freshly-broken sand grains, to fill interstices between coarser grains, and thus produce a smoother and harder artificial stone. 9th. The application of pressure, by percussion, to a mixture of sand and lime, in whatever form his patents cover. That the manufacture of artificial building materials without the use of fuel will be an object of zealous pursuit is an absolute necessity. The various earths for that purpose are distributed all over the country in the greatest abundance, and the peculiar dryness of the atmosphere renders the climate especially adapted to success in that direction. The above extracts have been made in this chapter for the purposes of conveying information to the people of the West on this most important subject, and we propose to pursue it much farther in future reports. PA T II. PALEONTOLOGY. H. Ex. 19 6 REPORT ON THE PALEONTOLOGY OF EASTERN NEBRASKA, WITH SOME REMARKS ON THE CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS QF THAT DISTRICT. BY F. B. IEEK.* INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. There are probably few well-informed geologists who will, at the present time, maintain that the occurrence of a vely similar, or even the same group of fossils, at widely separated localities, necessarily proves the rocks in which they are found to be of exactly contemporaneous origin. The most that is now generally maintained in this regard is, that such identity or correspondence of types at very distantly se-parated parts of the world, indicates that the strata in which they are embedded were formed during the prevalence of identical or similar physical conditions at some time during the same great geological epoch, and that they hold the same, or nearly the same, relative position in the geological column of their respective districts. For instance, although a stratum in the Rocky Mountains, containing the remains of very nearly the same fauna as some particular subdivision of the Devonian system of Europe, might, for aught we know, be- hundreds of years older or newer than that particular division, we would have little or no room for doubting that it belonged to the great Devonian series, or possibly even to some definite known horizon in that series. We could moreover very positively assert, in such a case, that it would be, according to all past experience, useless to seek there at any lower geological horizon for workable beds of coal, or to expect to find Silurian rocks or any of their peculiar products above, supposing there had been no overturning of the strata at the particular localities. Hence, although paleontology does not enable us to ascertain the exact actual ages of rocks-when applied with due caution and skili in connection with a careful observance of their stratigraphical arrangement and lithological and other physical characters-it does afford the meanL of fixing their relative ages, as well as of identifying the same beds at different localities, within given fields of observation, with very considerable precision. It is therefore not merely one of the more important aids to the geologist in his investigations, but in the present state of geological science, it is the only sure guide in classifying and determining the order of succession of rocks, where this cannot be done by their actual continuity or obvious superposition. For these reasons, it is now the universal practice, in all geological surveys conducted upon sound scientific principles, to devote especial attention to this departient. In the present instance, this becomes the more particularly desirable I anm under obligations to Professor Henry for all desired facilities while preparing this report, at the Smithsonian Institution. 84 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ini order to throw as much light as possible upon questions of both scientific and economical bearing, since rather widely different views are entertained by geologists in regard to the age and position in the geological column, of some of the rocks in Eastern Nebraska, with relation to the Coal-Measures and other Carboniferous deposits of this country and Europe. This discordance of opinion has caused the writer to enter into lnore minuteness of detail in giving local sections, and repeated lists of fossils found in each particular bed and seam of rock seen at different localities, than would otherwise have been done. To all geologists familiar with our western Coal-Measures and their characteristic organic remains, it may also seem superfluous to bring forward arguments to prove that no part of the rocks under consideration n n either belong to the Lower Carboniferous, or to the Permian. My apology for discussing at length a question already so clear to all in this country acquainted with the subject, is the fact that an eminent foreign geologist (Professor Geinit z of Dresden) for whom I have great respect, from an examination of an incomplete series of specimens from these rocks (and doubtless partly from not being acquainted with the range of species and genera in the CaNboniferous system of this country) has referred the outcrops here described along the Missouri in part to the Lower Carboniferous, and in part to the Permian. As his views on these points have probably been accepted, at least by some geologists in the Old Worll, it has been thought desirable to place before the reader all the facts now known that have a bearing on the questions at issue. In order, therefore, to afford a fixed standard of comparison between the organic remains of the Nebraska deposits under consideration, and those of well-established horizons in the Coal-Measures of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, &c., I have considered it proper to give figures and descriptions of as many of the species of these Nebraska fossils as possible. With this view, eleven plates of closely arranged figures have been prepared, illustrating a few more than one hundred species, belonging to the several groups, Foraminifera, Corals, Polyzoa, Brachiopoda, Lamcllibranchiata, Trilobites, &c., together with a few fishes, all of which are more or less fully described in the following text.* Although most of the species are known to range through the entire series, the figures of those from the several outcrops that have been referred by others to widely different horizons are arranged on different plates, in order to illustrate, as far as it can be conveniently done, the vertical range of the various types. To do this completely, however, would require the repetition of most of the figures on each of the plates from specimens obtained at Bellevue, Plattsmouth, Rock Bluff, and Nebraska City. But as the Omaha, Bellevue, Plattsmouth and Roct Bluff outcrops so obviously all belong to one unbroken series of Upper CoalMeasures,t and are even all acknowledgTed by Professor Geinitz, after a study of their organic remains, to be Carboniferous, the figures of their fossils given are here arranged together on Plates 1, 2, and 3; though the particular locality and position of each is mentioned in the text in''These fishes have been described in a separate section by Professor 0. St. John, of the Iowa and Illinois geological surveys, who has devoted several years to the study of that branch of paleontology with Professor Agassiz, at Cambridge. t It may be proper to explain here, that by the use of the terms Upper, Middle, and Lower Coal-Measures, we simply mean the upper, middle, and lower parts of the true Coal-Measures, and not any divisions that are separated by constant paleontological or physical breaks in the series. We have no Coal-Measures below the horizon of the Mounta1in limestone of the Mississippi Valley, such;s are sometimes, in other coultrics, callet Lower Coal-Measures. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 85 connection with the descriptions, and further illustrated in the accormpanying sections. For convenience, this division of the series might be provisionally designated as the Platte division, from its development in the vicinity of the mouth of Platte River, where the various outcrops seem to exhibit altogether a thickness Qf between two and three hundred feet. It should be borne in mind, however, that there is no paleontological or constant lithological break between these beds and beds A and B, at Nebraska City, Wyoming, &c.; while bed B is closely related by most of its organic remains with the bed C above, at the first-mentioned locality. The fossils figured on Plate IV, with the exception of a few noted in the explanations as being from outcrops on the Missouri below Nebraska City, at Brownville, Aspinwall and Rulo, believed to hold entirely, or in part, a position above the horizon of division C at Nebraska City, were all found (at various depths) in a shaft sunk nearly one hundred feet, on Hon. J. Sterling Morton's place, one mile and three-quarters west of the Nebraska City landing, commencing at an elevation of 73 feet above low-water mark of the Missouri. In regard to the exact relations of the beds penetrated by this shaft, to the outcrop-at the Nebraska City landing, there is some room for doubts. If Professor Marcou was right in referring the beds exposed at Mr. Morton's place, at the top of the shaft, to the'lower part of the section seen at the landing, theia the beds passed through by the shaft must hold a position immediately below the base of the section at the landing, and between the latter and the horizon of Rock Bluff section; but if the outcrop at the top of shaft really holds a higher stratigraphical position than any part of the section at the landing, as there are some reasons (to be mentioned in another place) for believing, then the fossils figured on Plate IV, as the species would indicate, may belong in part to the horizon of division C, and in part to division B, of the section at the landing. This question, however, being involved in some doubt, it has been thought the better plan to figure the species from the shaft on a plate by themselves, distinct from those obtained at the Nebraska City outcrop; and this plate is placed provisionally between those containing the forms from bed B, and the plates including the fossils from the still lower Platte division. The species found in division B, at Nebraska City, Bennett's Mill, and Wyoming, are arranged together on Plates V and VI; while all the known forms from bed C are arranged on Plates VII, VIII, IX, X. and XI. As we did not succeed in finding good specimens of all the numerous species known to occur in division C at Nebraska City, and it seemed highly desirable that they should all be here fully illustrated together, a few of Professor Geinitz's figures of species from this horizon have been copied, and in each instance duly acknowledged in the accompanying explanations. Of all the species figured and described, comparatively few are entirely new to science, though many of them have not before been illustrated by figures; while the excellent illustrations of many of the others published by Professor Geinitz, in his recently issued work on the fossils of these rocks (Carbonformation und Dyas in Nebraska, 1866), are accessible to comparatively few in this country. As Professor Geinitz has referred a number of these Nebraska fossils to European species, from which they seem to me to be entirely distinct. figures of the European species to which he referred them are also given on the same plates, for comparison. These have been copied with great care, from the most reliable figures accessible, and in most cases from 86 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF those originally published by the authors of the species, in order to gi e the student the means of forming his own conclusions in regard to the relations of the American forms to the foreign species. Having enjoyed an opportunity, during the spring of 1867, in connection with the Nebraska geological survey, to examine personally, not only in Nebraska, but through rather wide areas in Iowa, and portions of Kansas, numerous natural sections, quarries, shafts, drifts, borings, &c., in the rocks from which the fossils described in this report were collected, some of the facts observed may be appropriately stated here, before entering upon the paleontological descriptions. Although thin beds of these Upper Coal-Measure limestones are known to exist under the bases of the, hills bounding the Missouri'Valley, a little above the surface of the river, for eight or ten miles above Omaha City, the quarry just below that place was the highest northern point at which these rocks were examined during the late survey. The base of these quarries is almost on a level with high-water mark of the Missouri, and the whole thickness exposed is only about eight feet, consisting of hard grayish and bluish gray, rather impure limestones, in four to ten inch layers, with more or' less flinty concretions, and arenaceous clay partings, all showing a slight local east or northeast dip. The fossils found in these layers were tFlsulina cylindrica, Scaphiocrinus (?) hemisph^ericus, Archceocidaris triserratus, Productus costatus, P. semireticulatus, P. longispinus, P. Prattenianus, Spiriferina Kentuckensis, Athyris subtilita, Spirifer cameratus, and teeth of Peripristis sermicircularis.* We were informed by one of the workmen at the quarry that a thin bed of black shale occurs beneath the limestone of the quarry, but it was not exposed at any place examined. The limestone is said to make good lime, and is well adapted to most kinds of masonry, while in hardness and strength, and the thickness of the layers, it is found to be an excellent material for door and window caps and sills. Unfortunately, however, the heavy deposits of Drift and Loess overlying these rocks, add materially to the expense of working the quarries. The superincumbent Drift is at some places from 10 to 40 feet in thickness, resting directly upon the hard, upper layer of limestone. It. consists of arenaceous clays and sand, with at places oblique planes of deposition, and contains some pebbles and a few boulders. Above the Drift the Loess rises back with the slope from a few feet to perhaps 150 feet. As noticed by Professor Egleston in his report of geological examinations made along the first hundred miles of the Pacific Railroad, as well as by Dr. White, in a paper published in the American Journal of Science, the upper bed of limestone at the above-mentioned quarries shows very distinct glacial scratches. The upper layer was not sufficiently uncovered at the time of my visit to show very clearly the direction of the strive, but Professor Egleston mentions seeing them at some places with a direction south 8~ east. Dr; White also saw them at other places ranging south 410 west by the magnetic needle, the variation of the compass being here about 110 east of north. From all the facts observed in this region, it is quite probable that a considerable thickness of Upper Coal-Measure strata, consisting of some beds of hard limestone, has been here ground off and swept away by glacial agencies, leaving the upper surface of the remaining limestones planed off, and sometimes beautifully striated or even polished. As an indication of the nature of the rocks below the horizon of the * The only tooth of this fish found at this locality was discovered by Dr. White, the State geologist of Iowa, who accompanied the writer while examining these quarries. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 87 quarry at Omaha City, the following statement of the beds perforated in a boring made at that place to a depth of four hundred feet, by the Union Pacific Railroad Company, is added: Statement of'a boring made in the Missouri Valley at Omaha City, by the Union Pacific Railroad Company, starting 22 feet above low-water mark of the Missouri.* No. Nature of strata penetrated. Depth. Feet. 1 Black soil (alluvial)............................................ 20 2 Sand and lime rock. [Doubtless the rock quarried below the city] -... 10 3 Slate mixed with coal. [The black shale under the quarry rock]. —. 5 4 Fire-clay......................-... —-------------- 8 5 Lime-rock........................................................... 16 6 Fire-clay..................-.........................-... ——... —- 3 7 Shale and lime rock...-...... —-..-.... -....... —... —. 5 8 Green-sandy slate....-... —.. — —..-.. —-................. 7 9 Sand-rock with soft seams,........... —....... —-.. —.. 11 10 Lime-rock....................................- 29 11 Magnesian [?] limestone..........-....-..-..-......... —..-.. ——. —- 5 12 Coal slate. [Bituminous shale]........ —..... —-.... —... —-—...... 6 13 Sand and lime rock...-.........-.....-...-...... —.. 10 14 Slate........... —----- —..................... —...... —-.. — 4 15 Lime-rock with soft seams......................................... 17 16 ited slate with hard layers. [Red shale and indurated clays]... 31 17 Sand-rock............ —.. --- —.. —.-.- 4 18 Lime-rock -3.................. —-.. —------ 3 19 Blue slate. —----- --—. —-- -. —--- --- ----- - ---- 40 20 Lime-rock............................................................ 24 21 Soap-stone with hard layers lime-rock 15 inches thick. [Alternations of limestone and indurated clay]...-.............. —-.... —.. - 28 22 Coal slate. [Bituminous shale].... —. 7..................... 7 23 Fire-clay...............4......................... -.. —-------- 4 24 Lime-rock....................................-.......... — -—..- -. 35 * I am under obligations to General Dodge, the chief engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad, for the foregoing memorandum of the beds passed through by this boring 88 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF No. Nature of strata penetrated. Depth. Feet. 25 Soap-stone. [Indurated clay]...................................... 5 26 Lime and sand rock with seams of flint........... 27 Black slate........................................,3 28 Gray soap-stone. [Indurated clay]............................... 13 29 Yellow soap-stone. [Indurated clay]................................. 20 30 Lime-rock........................................................... 2 31 — 18 Total.4.................................................. 401 In this section the names by which the several beds were designated by the parties who kept the memorandum of the same, are in all cases retained, as I had no opportunity to examine the borings. I have, however. added in brackets a few suggestions, as it is evident some of them, suchfor instance as " soap-stone," gray soap-stone," yellow soap-stone," &c., are not applied as generally understood in geology. It is also quite probable that there may be some errors in the details of the different seams and beds passed through, as it would be very difficult for any person not versed in lithology to be always strictly right in regard to the true nature and composition of rocks perforated in this way, by merely examining the borings brought up by the auger. The nature of the rock penetrated by the lowest 18 feet was not given in the section copied, and I failed to get any information in regard to it. As we know nothing respecting the organic remains contained in these rocks, of course we cannot positively demonstrate that they belong to the same general series of Upper Coal-Measures as the beds exposed at the quarry just below the city, but it must be evident enough to any one familiar with the lithological characters of our western Carboniferous rocks, that they certainly correspond to nO part of that system holding a position below the horizon of the Millstone grit, while they do agree quite well, in their general features, with portions of the Upper CoalMeasures of Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, as well as of Northern 3Iissouri. The most important fact revealed by this boring is that no workable beds of coal exist beneath the horizon of the Missouri Valley there within 400 feet of the surface. This, however, is not surprising, as all the investigations of these rocks in W7estern Iowa, Northern Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, tend to the conclusion, as will be seen further on, that there.is a considerable thickness of Upper Coal-Measure strata in that region, nearly or quite barren of workable beds of coal. As this is a question, however, in which not only the stockholders of the Pacific Railroad, but the whole community of this region are interested, it is to be hoped that this boring will be continued on deep enough to decide, positively forever, whether or not deep mining here can be expected to supply in quantity a good quality of fuel. The first locality south of Omaha City, at which I had an opportunity NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 89 to examine an exposure of these Upper Coal-tMeasure strata satisfactorily, was at Bellevue, 10 miles south of Omaha, where the following succession of beds was observed. Section of beds exposed at Bellevue, with an enumeration. of the fossils fountd in each. No. Nature of the beds, with the fossils found in each. TickFt. In. 11 Heavy deposits of Loess, underlaid by Drift........................... 200 0 10 Hard, dark-gray silicious limestone.. —-—.-....-..................... 2 0 9 Bluish and drab clays................-.... -.................... 6 0 8 Hard, dark silicious limestone. Productuslongispinus (?), P. ebrascensis, 2 0 Aviculopecten occidentalis, M1yalina subquadrata, Fusulina cylindrica, Spirifer planoconvexus, Phillipsia major, and Peripristis semicircularis. 7 Dark shale, with a 2-inch seam of good coal, showing together about 15 6 3 inches. Spiriferplanoconvexus, -c. Unexposed space, about 5 feet. 6" Gray and yellowish argillo-calcareous bed, splitting into thin pieces 2 6 where exposed. 5 Light clay above and dark laminated shale below.-.........-........ 2 6 4 Light-gray and greenish clays-....................................... 2 5 3 Soft yellowish, slightly gritty layer, passing into harder impure limestone. 2 6 2 Very hard massive gray and bluish-gray impure limestone, with Fusu- 3 0 lina and traces of embedded oolitic particles. 1 Yellowish, light-gray, and hard brittle whitish limestones, with some 18 0 argillaceous layers, all below high-water mark of the Missouri. Fuselinacylindrica, Fistulipora sp, Archceocidaris, Erisocrinus typus, Fenestella sp., Hemipronites crassis, C honetes granulifera, Productuspunctatus, P. Tebrascensis, P. symmetricus, P. costatus, P. semireticulatus, P. longispinus (?) P. Prattenanus, Rhynchonella Osagensis, Athyris subtilita, Spirifer lineatus, (=S. perplexus, McC.,) Sp. canmeratus, Spiriferina Kentuckeisis, Terebratula bovidens, Myalira subquadrata, Pleurotomaria sp7hcurulata, Macrocheilus inhabilis, Allorisma subcuncata, &c. Total thickness of Carboniferous beds..................... 47 + At the time of our visit to this locality the Missouri was so high as to cover all of the lowest member of the section, but in 1853 Dr. Hayden and I had a fine opportunity to examine it when the water was low, while waiting there for a steamboat, on our return from an expedition to the Bad-lands. These lower beds were at that time best exposed directly above the old landing. The beds above No. 1 of the section are seen at various places along the shore and base of the hill for about a quarter of a mile above the landing. The whitish, hard, brittle layers of the lower member of the above section, make beautiful white lime, while some of the other beds afford good building-stones. Excavations have been made at places under the bed No. 8 in search of coal, in the dark shale No. 7, in which there is a thin seam of coal from one to two inches in thickness. This coal is of 90 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF good quality, but is of course useless, in consequence of the thinness of the seam. At another place a little farther up the river, an excavation or short drift was made in search of coal, under No. 10 of the foregoing section, in the clays No. 9, but no indications of coal were observed, though a very fine spring of clear, cool water was developed. It is worthy of note in this connection that the rocks forming the foregoing section, as well as those mentioned at Omaha, were referred by Professor Marcou (see Bull. Geol. Soc. France, 2d ser., vol. xxi, p. 132) to the Mountain limestone series. Any one, however, having the slightest knowledge of the fossils of our Carboniferous series will at once see from those mentioned in the section, as well as from those found at Omaha, that these beds belong to the true Coal-Measures. Some of the species, it is true-such as Productus semireticulatus, P. costatus, P. punctatus, Hemipronites crassus, &c.*-are known to be common to our Coal-Measures and the Lower Carboniferous rocks, but all the others mentioned are peculiar to the Coal-Measures, not one of them, so far as known to the writer, having ever been found in the West below the horizon of the Millstone grit. It will also be observed further on, that all of these same species, with perhaps some two or three exceptions, occur together, along with other Coal-Measure forms, in the very beds referred by Professor Marcou to the Permian or Dyas south of the Platte, and the few exceptions alluded to, such as Mlacrocheilus inhabilis, and Pleurotomaria sphcerulata, are well known Coal-Measure forms. On the north side of Platte River outcrops of Upper Coal Measure rocks, that had been previously noticed by Dr. Hayden and Professor Egleston, were examined at several places along the bluffs from three to four miles up from the mouth of that stream. The particular localities examined are about five miles in a southwest direction from the exposures mentioned at Bellevue. These beds are said to rise considerably higher somewhat farther up the Platte than at the localities here alluded to, where the northeastward dip of a few degrees brings them lower. The exposures examined present the following succession of beds: Section of the beds exposed on the north side of Platte River, between three and four miles from its mouth, with an enumeration of the fossils found in each bed. No. Composition of the beds. Thickness. Ft. In. 12 Drift and Loess..................-.................................. 150 0 11 Hard, massive, light-grayish limestone, composed mainly of oolitic parti- 3 0 cles, and Fusulina embedded in a compact calcareous base. Syringopora m2ultattenuata, Productus costatms, P. Ncbrascensis, Mayalina subquadrata. 10 Light-grayish clay....................................-............. 6 0 "Professor Marcon also mentions among his collections from these rocks, Productus pustulosus, P. scabricltlus, Atbyris plano-sulcata and A. loyissii, but the first two are almost beyond doubt, only P. symmetricus, and P. Nebrascensis, as they appear in the condition of casts, when broken from hard limestone.. At any rate, Professor Geinitz identifies them also in the so-called Dyas at Plattsmouth. The A. planio-sulcata is the same Coal-Measure form described by McChesney under the name A. orbiclaris, and the other sp. (A. Royissii) was not identified by Professor Geinitz among the Bellevue collections. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 91 ThickNo. Composition of the beds. nessT,ess. Ft. In. 9 Hard, yellowish limestone, with some flinty concretions, and toward the 2 6 upper part, soft decomposing isolated masses, from a few inches to 1 or 2 feet in diameter. Productus Prattenianus, Athyrus subtilita, &c. 8 Whitish, hard, brittle limestone, in layers 5 to 8 inches thick, with light- 6 0 colored clay partings. Fusulina cylindrica, Axophyllum sp., Scaphiocrinus (?) hemisphcricus, ArchAcocidaris triserratus, Synocladia biserialis, Productus longispinus, P. costatus, P. Nebrascensis, Chonetes Verneuiliana, Spirifer cameratus, Spiriferina Kentuckensis, Athyris subtilitf, &c. 7 Light drab or grayish indurated marly clay. Rhombopora lepidodendro- 4 0 ides, Axoph1yllim sp., Flsulina cylindrica, Scaphiocrinus (?) hemnisphcricus, Lophophyllum proliferum, Synocladia biserialis, Hemipronites crassus, Orthis carbonaria, Chonetes granulifera, C. Verneuiliana, Productus semireticulatus, P. costatus, P. longispinus, P. punctatus, Rhynchonella Osagensis, Spirifer camerants, S. lineatus, Spiriferina Kentuckensis, Athyris subtilita, Terebratula bovidens, Chcennpmya, Myalina subquadrata, &c. 6 a. Hard, dark-gray compact limestone........- 8 inches. b. Light-gray indurated marlite...................-. 24 do... c. Black shale....................-............ 4 do. —. 4 8 d. Light-gray indurated marlite....... —-—............. 14 do —. I e. Hard, dark impure limestone.......................... 6 do —... 5 Light-grayish, slightly gritty, soft marlite................ 2 6 4 Bluish indurated crumbling clay or marlite, stained reddish purple.... 3 0 3 Bluish ash-colored (sometimes stained purple above) soft argillo-calca- 7 6 reous rock, becoming harder and in thicker layers below, with partings and irregular layers of soft yellowish marly clay, containing numerous Chonetes granulifera, Rhombopora sp., Synocladia biserialis, Productus symnetricus, P. NTebrascensis, HemiproMites crassus, Athyris subtilita, Spiriferina KentucL7ensi,, Fusulina, &c. 2 Black laminated shale................... —-.............. C 1 Very hard, bluish, compact argillaceous limestone —..-..-..........- 1 0 Thickness of Carboniferous beds....................................... 40 8 The base of this section was estimated to be about 20 feet above the valley of Platte River, and ad bout 23 feet above high-water mark of the Missouri. All the beds show a dip of 20 or 30, in a'direction to the east of north. They were observed to rise quite perceptibly in tracing the outcrops a little south of westward, up the Platte; though there is probably a reverse of dip farther up. In these rocks, here as elsewhere, the different subordinate beds are sometimes liable to change materially their lithological characters and thickness within comparatively short distances, as can be occasionally clearly seen in following an uninterrupted outcrop a mile or so. For instance, the bed of clay, No. 10 of the above section, which is 6 feet in thickness at the particular place where the upper beds of this section were observed best developed, is reduced to a mere seam of an inch or two in thickness, or in places entirely wanting, so as tq cause the bed 11 to rest directly down upon No. 9, at Other localities within less than a mile further eastward. 92 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF It will be observed that nearly all of the fossils mentioned in the Bellevue section also occur here, along with a number of other well-known Coal-Measure species. It is also evident that the lower member of the Bellevue section is represented by Nos. 8 and 9 of this section, and No. 2 of the former by No. 11 of the latter, the clays No. 10 of this section not being represented at Bellevue. This elevation of the lowest member of the Bellevue section (which, at the time of my visit during this survey, was entirely below the level of high-water mark of the Missouri) to something more than 40 feet above the same horizon, on the Platte, in a distance of about five miles, is a tolerably accurate indication of the northeastward inclination of the strata here, though farther south the inclinatioJ seems to be to the south of east. The upper limestone, No. 11, of the section last mentioned, makes good lime, and is much quarried and used in that way, as well as for building purposes, for which it is admirably adapted. Its compact, homogeneous structure, comparative' hardness (for a limestone) and uniform pleasing gray tint, are qualities that render it a desirable material even for much of the better kinds of masonry. At present it is much quarried for caps and sills, particularly at Mr. John B. Ducols's place. In looking upon the rather rough, uneven-fractured surface of this rock, without the aid of a magnifier, no one would suspect its trtue nature and composition. On examining a polished or moistened surface, however, under a lens, it is seen to be composed of millions of Fusulina and oolitic particles, embedded in a clear calcareous base. These little bodies are so numerous that they seem to be everywhere in contact, while they are so firmly cemented together that they never separate in breaking the rock, but the fractured surface shows sections of them in every conceivable direction. Larger fossils are sometimes, but more rarely, met with in it. At Mr. Ducols's quarry, mentioned above, the upper surface of this stratum is everywhere found, on removing the loose overlying superficial deposits, to be perfectly planed off by glacial agencies, as far in as the quarry has been opened; and it is quite probable that comparatively large areas of its upper surface have been thus polished and striated. This is a great puzzle to the quarrymen and others unacquainted with geology; but whether or not the stone-hewers trouble themselves with speculations in regard to its cause, they wisely accept the work thus ready-done to their hands; for, in cutting sills and caps from the upper part of this stratum, they always find one side already dressed more truly and evenly than they can possibly do it with a chisel. But one set of stria wvas seen at this locality, and these ranged (by compass) south 100 west. No striated or polished surfaces of this kind were observed by me at any locality south of Platte River; but it is said that they have been seen at some quarries a short distance south of the mouth of that stream. Boulders, however, of several kinds of granitic and metamorphic rocks, particularly of a kind of red quartzite, showing the action of glacial agencies here, were not unfrequently met with in the country between Platte River and Nebraska City, as well as, occasionally, soutji of there. These are generally not of large size, though, at one place, about three miles from Nebraska City, in a direction somewhat west of north near Bennett's mill, a huge angular mass of red quartzite was seen lying upon, or rather, projecting above, the sloping surface of the ground; for a large portion of it seemed to be embedded. It rises some 10 or 12 feet above the soil, and was estimated to contain not less than 1,000 cubic feet, and perhaps much more. This is evidently a metamorphosed NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 93 sandstone, for although now an extremely hard and compact quartzite within, it shows on the slightly-weathered surface indications of planes of stratification. It presents no marks of attrition, but retains all its angles and other irregularities of surface with remarkable sharpness, showing that it must have been transported from its original position on floating ice, or, at any rate, by some agency that did not bring it in contact with other rocks. Small erratic (nearly always angular) masses of this red quartzite have been noticed by Dr. White, in Iowa, and, as he has suggested, there is scarcely any reason to doubt that they have all been transported upon or attached to masses of floating ice during the glacial period, from Southern Minnesota, the nearest point to the northward where rocks of that kind are known to occur in situ. South of Platte River, the first exposure of the Upper Coal-Measure rocks of much extent seen in coming down the Missouri, is just below the town of Plattsmouth, where the following succession of strata may be seen: Section of the beds exposed at Plattsmouth, with the names of the fossils found in each. No. Nature of the strata. ThickneSS. Ft. In. 9 Slope, apparently composed mainly of Loess.......... 80 0 Drift, exposing a thickness of..-... —-- - ------ 10 0 8 Hard, yellowish and light-grayish limestone, in heavy beds and thinner 12 0 layers, with two intercalated seams, 8 to 12 inches in thickness, of ash-colored marly clay, containing millions of Fusulina cylindrica; also Ietzia punctlifera,' Athyris subtilita, Aviculopecten occidentalis, Entolium aviculatus, Myalina subquadrata, Macrodon tenuistriatu, Allorisma subcuneata, Pinna peracuta, Phillipsia major, &c. 7 Hard, light-grayish limestones, in thinner layers than the beds above, 9 0 and containing some flinty concretions. 6 Ash-colored clay................................................ 3 0 5 Black laminated shale................................................ 1 6 4 Red clay................-..................................... 6 3 Yellowish incoherent sand......... —-—.........-..-. —--—.... —-. 4 0 2 Layers light-colored and yellowish, more or less pure limestone, 10 to 12 10 6 inches in thickness, with light-colored and greenish marly clay partings; the whole passing down into light grayish and whitish marly clays, with many thin seams of limestone and numerous fossils. Fusulina cylindrica, Rhonbopora lepidodendroides, Lophophyllum, Synocladia biserialis, Polypora sucbmarginata, Fenestella, Zeacrinus mucrospinus, Eupachycrinus verrucosus, Hemipronites crassus, Chonetes granulifera, C. Verneuiliana, Productus costatus, P. semireticulatus, P. NTebrascensis, P. longispinus, P. punctatus, P. Prattenianus, Spirifer planoconvexus, Sp. lineatus, Syntrilasma heniplicata, Meekella striato-costta, Sp,. camcratus, Spiriferina Kentuckensis, Athyris subtilita, Rhynchonella Osagensis, Retzid punctulifera, Terebratula bovidens, Aviculopecten accidentalis, Bellerophon carbonaria, Euomphalus rugorus, Nautilus ponderosus, &c. 1 Green and reddish-brown clays; the former occupying the upper ten 10 10 inches, and the remainder below being mainly brownish-red, but in places mottled with green. Total of Carboniferous.................................,.... 49 + 94 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF At the time we visited this locality, the Missouri was at nearly highwater mark, covering all below the base of the section given above. Professor Marcou, however, visited it when the river was lower, so that he saw below No. 1 about 15 feet of blue shaly clay, with, near its upper part, thin layers of ferruginous limestone; the whole being without fossils. I found it convenient to group the beds above somewhat differently from the section given by Professor Marcou, and it will also be observed that there is a 4-foot bed of soft sandstone, and 6 inches of black laminated shale in the above section, not mentioned by him. Itlis not surprising, however, that these should have escaped his attention, because all the beds are so liable to slide and become so mingled and obscured from the undermining of the softer material below, that it is very difficult to make out the exact details of the section. Our opportunities, however, to make out the structure of the outcrop above high;water mark, were better than his, because several drifts and other excavations had a short time previously been made into the cliff here, by parties prospecting for coal, by which means much of the loose debris had been removed, so as to show more clearly the nature and arrangement of portions of the section. To any one having even a limited knowledge of the general principles of paleontology, or of the characteristic fossils of our western Coal-Measures, it must always remain an inscrutable mystery, why Professor Marcou, after visiting this locality, and collecting most of the fossils found in these beds, should hate pronounced them the remains of an eminently!New Red fauna, allied to the Carboniferous, and referred the rocks to the Lower Permian. This is all the more surprising, when it is borne in mind that every species, with possibly two or three exceptions, yet known from the rocks above the mouth of Platte River referred by him to the Mountain limestone, occurs here at Plattsmouth, while even these exceptions are well-known Coal-Measure species. In addition to this, by turning to the section given on page 90, of the beds exposed three or four miles up Platte River, on the north side, it will be seen that with a few exceptions the same group of fossils found in these socalled Lower Dyassic rocks at Plattsmouth, occur there beneath the same beds called mountain limestone at Bellevue.* But even Professor Geinitz, who was, from his personal relations with Professor Marcou, naturally inclined to favor his conclusions as much as he could, soon discovered, on examining the collections from Plattsmouth, that the so-called Lower Dyas at that locality was hopeless, because, out of the thirty-three species of fossils composing this so-called " eminently New Red fauna," he found thirty to be Carboniferous forms; and if he had been well acquainted with the fossils of our Coal-Measures, he would have undoubtedly added the other three species, as he might have done several others not included in the collections submitted to him. Indeed, so far from agreeing with Professor Marcou, in viewing these Plattsnouth beds as Lower Dyas, Professor Geinitz even goes to the opposite extreme, and places them in the upper part of the Lower Carboniferous series; though in this he is certainly in error, as I have * I can only account for Professor Marcou's reference of this section to the Dyas, upon the supposition that the occurrence of a red bed at its base was thought by him to indicate that it belonged to a widely more recent group than the Bellevue and Omaha City outcrops; especially as he gives great weight to lithological characters. Upon this kind of evidence, however, it will be seen by turning to the section of the Omaha boring, given on page 87, that he would have to carry the Dyas down so as not only to include the beds at Omaha, referred by him to the Mountain limestone, but so as to include more than 100 feet of strata below them. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 95 elsewhere shown,* and as any one who has studied the Western CoalMeasure fossils will at once see by examining the list of species, as they form a group especially characteristic of our Upper Coal-Measures of the Western States and Territories. With regard to the exact stratigraphical relations of the section seen on the north side of Platte River, to that just below the town of Plattsmouth, of course we cannot speak very positively, as the beds cannot be traced into contact. Any one, however, who will compare collections of fossils from these two localities, must be at once convinced that the rocks belong to the same series, and must be closely related. Yet it is quite evident that the visible dip of the rocks seen along the north side of the Platte would take them somewhat beneath the Plattsmouth section, though not far below it, as the inclination of the strata here is to the northeastward, while the Plattsmouth exposure is south of east from those mentioned on the north side of Platte River. At another locality on the Missouri, eight miles south of Plattsmouth, known as Rock Bluff; just above a village of the same name, there is to be seen perhaps the finest exposure of these Upper Coal-Measure rocks anywhere to be found in Nebraska. The lower beds here rise perpendicularly near the base from the river bank, and less precipitously above, exposing, with the exception of one uncovered interval of about 18 feet, about 120 feet.of strata. The following is a section of the beds seen here: Section of the beds exposed at Rockc Bluff,; on the Missouri, with a statement of the fossil fo.und in each. ThickNo. Nature of strata. Thickness. Ft. In. 23 Loess or bluff deposit, with possibly toward the lower part some Drift.. 150 0 22 Hard yellowish and grayish limestones, in rather thick layers, with some 24 0 clay partings. Fusulina cylindrica, Meekella striato-costata, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Productus costatus, P. semireticulatus, Spirifer lineatus, Sp. canweratus, Athyris subtilita, &c. 21 Ash-colored clay 1 foot 9 inches above, underlaid by 1 foot hard gray 2 9 limestone. 20 Soft ash-colored or bluish-gray clay, 1 foot, underlaid by black laminated 2 1 clay, resting upon 1 inch yellow do. 19 Very compact gray limestone, with an imperfect conchoidal fracture - 1 6 18 Gray somewhat laminated clay, 4 feet seen, with a 4-foot space below 8 0 unexposed. 17 Soft yellowish-gray sandstone, becoming almost loose sand below-..... 5 0 16 Not well exposed, but apparently in part occupied by the sandstone 18 0 seen above, with near the middle and at the base, some bluish clay seen. 15 Dark-bluish argillaceous limestone. Aviculopecten occidentalis, Produc- 1 9 tus Nebrascensis, Edmondia gibbosa. * See Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, vol. xliv, second ser., p. 335. 96 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ThickNo. Nature of strata. Thickness. Ft. In. 14 Bluish and ash-colored clays, with near the middle a 3 or 4 inch band 8 0 of red. 13 Hard light-gray limestone, with apparently oolitic particles. Allorisnma 1 6 12 Bluish, ash-colored and purple calcareous clays,with many Campophyllum; 2 0 also Spirifer cameratus, Zeacrinus hemispharicus, &c. 11 Hard light-gray limestone, with Aulopora, Fusulina cylindrica, Campo- 1 0 phyllum, &c. 10 a. 7 feet bluish, ash-colored clays; b. 20 inches black laminated shale; 13 8 c. 5 feet bluish clay. 9 Massive heavy-bedded, light-yellowish, rather hard limestone, with 5 0 some light-colored flinty concretions. Productus Xebrascenis, P. semireticulatus, Spirifer cameratus, Aviculopecten occidentalis, Pinna peracuta, Allorisma subcuneata, Schizodus, Sedgwickia gralosa, Edmondia subruncata, Myalina Swallovi, Petalodus destructor, Peripristis semicircularist, &c. 8 Very hard bluish argillaceous limestone. Chcenomya Leavenworthensis -- 2 0 7 Black laminated shale. Spirifer planoconvexzs....-...-. —---......... 1 6 6 Light-colored clays, with chalky concretions. Rhombopora lepidoden- 5 6 droides, Lophophyllum proliferum, fragments crinoids,Hemipronites crassus, Orthis carbonaria, Chonetes granulifera, Spiriferplanoconvexus, S. cameratus, Spiriferina Kentuckensis, Retzia punctulifera, Rhynchonella Osagensis, Terebreatula bovidens, Pinna peracuta, Solenomya, NYucula ventricosa, Euomnphalus rugorus. 5 Hard light-gray limestone, with minute rounded particles embedded... 1 3 4 Ash-colored and yellowish calcareous clay or marly material. Fusulina 0 6 cylindrica. 3 Massive, rather compact, light yellowish limestone, with numerous 5 0 _Fusllina cylindrica; also curious cavities, apparently left by the cylindrical stems of some marine plant, often abruptly recurved like a horseshoe magnet. 2 Soft ash-colored marlite, with millions of Fusulina; Fustulipora, &c.. —. 1 0 1 Hard, light-grayish heavy-bedded massive limestone, with great num- 10 0 bers of Fusulina embedded; also Spirifer cameratus, Productus Nebrascensis, P. semireticulatus, P. punctatus, P. Prattenianus, &c. Total of Carboniferous strata................................. 121 0 The lower members, 1, 2, and 3, of this section. with perhaps some other beds beneath the surface of the river at the time of my visit, almost certainly represent, as suggested by Professor Marcou, the upper part of the Plattsmouth section, so that the portion of the section above these may be regarded as a continuation upwards of the section seen at Plattsmouth. Professor Marcou only mentions 60 feet of beds exposed here; but as he does not give a section of these rocks, this is probably only intended as a rough estimate of the thickness of beds exposed at and near the lower extremity of the hill. By following these outcrops NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 97 about 150 yards farther up the river, however, I succeeded in ascertalining the nature, thickness, and order of succession of the various beds, with the exception of one unexposed space already mentioned, of about 120 feet of rocks here, above high-water of the Missouri. The fact that apparently the lower beds, within 10 or 15 feet of the river at this locality, are found nearly 40 feet above the Missouri at Plattsmouth, while there is probably a fall of 5 or 6 feet in the Missouri from Plattsmouth to this locality, shows that there must be a change in the dip of the strata to the southward somewhere near Plattsmiouth, as noticed by Dr. Owen. This is also further shown by the entire disappearance of this whole section of more than 120 feet of rocks beneath the level of the river between here and Nebraska City. The dip, however, is probably not due southward, but apparently somewhat east of south. This section Professor Marcou also referred to the Lower Dyas-that is, to the upper part of the Lower Dyas-while the fossils found here, like those at Plattsmouth, he regarded as representing an eminently New Red fauna. To any person who has studied ourCarboniferous fossils, however, the reasons for these conclusions must be very difficult to understand, as it will be at once observed, by a glance at the list of species found in these rocks, that they are precisely the group of forms characterizing our Coal-Measures, strangely enough at some other places referred by Professor Marcou to the Mountain limestone, as elsewhere explained. From this conclusion, however, Professor Geinitz was compelled to dissent, on examining Professor Marcou's collections from this locality, as he very properly referred these beds to the Upper Coal-Measures, to which they unquestionably belong. The strangest thing, however, is, that he should have referred these beds correctly to the Upper Coal-Measures, and the Plattsmouth section to the Lower Carboniferous, when of the thirty-four or thirty-five species of fossils found at Plattsmouth, about twenty-five also occur here at Rock Bluff, while the remaining ten or eleven Plattsmouth forms not yet found at Rock Bluff, are all, excepting two or three that are common to the Coal-Measures and Lower Carboniferous, as already stated, characteristic species of our Coal-Measures, and not yet known to occur at any horizon below the Millstone grit, in this country. He was doubtless led into this inconsistency in consequence of not having a full series of fossils from the two localities for comparison, as he seems to lay some stress upon the occurrence of numerous Fusulina at Plattsmouth, this fossil being generally regarded in Russia and Spain as characteristic of the upper part of the Lower Carboniferous series. He was, therefore, evidently not aware of the fact that it also occurs in vast numbers at Rock Bluff, even. to the top of the section, and that, so far as yet known, it is in this country peculiar to the Coal-Measures, being most abundant in upper portion referred by Professor Marcou in part to the Dyas, and in part to the Mountain limestone, and has never yet been found in any of our rocks below the Millstone' grit. As at Plattsmouth, several short drifts and other excavations have been here made in search of coal, but, of course, without success, as there is certainly no workable bed, or even less important seam of coal, in this bluff. Bick from the Missouri about six miles, in a southwest direction from Rock Bluff; on a small stream known as'Weeping Water, at a locality called Cedar Bluff, there is another very fine exposure of the Upper CoalMeasures, consisting in part of the same strata seen at Rock Bluff, Here the following beds were exposed: H. Ex. 19 7 98 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF Section of the rocks seen at Cedar Bluff. ThickNo. Nature of strata. Thickness. Ft. In. 23 Hard, light-gray and yellowish limestone, in rather thick layers. Fusu- 8 0 lina, Athyris subtilita, crinoid columns, &c. (An excellent buildingstone.) 22 Light yellowish-gray limestone, in parts hard, but generally softer than 8 0 that above; and in irregular layers of various thickness.'21 Greenish-blue clay.. —-.........-........-.... ——.. —... —.... 1 6 20 Light-grayish limestone, more impure and less compact than the next 8 limestone below. Hemipronites crassus. 19 Laminated clay, green above, darker below.-.. —--. —-...... --....... 1 6 18 Hard, light-gray limestone -......... —-............................... 1 8 17 Light-colored calcareous marlite, with seams of whitish hard limestone 8 above. 16 Soft, yellowish sandstone, in some parts laminated; possibly also occu- 12 0 pying some of the unexposed space below. 15 Unexposed, excepting a little greenish laminated Play about 4 feet above 15 0 base. 14 Brownish-red clay............... -.................. —. —--.... 3 0 13 Light-yellowish and ash-colored clays, with some thin layers of soft im- 6 0 pure limestone. 12 Brownish-red clay —... - - —. —................- ---............... 3 0 11 Greenish clay. Chonetes, Spirifer cameratus, Campophyllum............... 1 0 10 Hard, light-bluish gray or whitish limestone, with green clay partings. 2 0 Campophyllum torquium. 9 Greenish and yellowish clays.......-.... —-....................... 3 0 8 Reddish-brown clays, with one 4-inch band of bright green..-......... 3 6 7 Green crumbling clay... —---..................-... —--..... —-... 1 2 6 Yellowish clay with light-yellow calcareous concretions -.....-......... 1 0 5 Hard, bluish-gray, rather pure limestone -.......................... — 1 3 4 Soft, bluish argillaceous limestone, with at base 18 inches green clay 8 0 3 Light-grayish shaly clay, with a streak of black above................ 1 0 2 Black laminated shale........................-..................... 2 2 1 Dark-bluish argillaceous limestone, and indurated clay....... —... —-.. 33 Total..............................-..-....... —. —. 88 + NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 99 Having but a comparatively short time to devote to examinations here, only a few fossils were collected from the beds in place, but the fllowing species were found among the debris at the base of the bluff, that had evidently fallen from the rocks cropping out above, viz: Seaphiocrinus hemisphcericus, Zeacrinus mucrospinus, Lop hophyllum proliferum, Campophyllum torquium, Hemipronites crassus, Chonetes, Productus Nebrascensis, P. costatus, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Athyris subtilita, 1Rhynchonella Osagensis, Spirifer (lMartinia) planoconvexus, S. (M.) lineatus? (-perplexus, McC.,) Spiriferina Kentuckensis, the fragment of Pseudomonotis figured on Plate II, (Fig. 9), and Euomphalus rugosus. This exposure was not visited by Professor Marcou, but there can be no doubt that hi would have referred it to the Iyas if he had seen it, as it presents the same general lithological characters as the outcrops at Plattsmouth and Rock Bluff, with some differences in the details, and evidently belongs to the same series of Upper Coal-Measures. I am inclined to believe, however, that it represents that portion of the Rock Bluff section above bed No. 9. These beds all show a dip of a few degrees to the south, or southeast. The upper beds here afford a good building-stone, and have been found to make good.lime, while the sandstone, No. 16, is at places so soft and incoherent that it can be easily dug out and applied to most of the purposes for which sand is used. The bed of black slate at the base of the section was at one time supposed to be a sure indication that valuable coal mines might be found there, and caused the land to be held, and, if I am not mistaken, to be sold, at a high price. It is evident, however, that no coal of any value exists in this outcrop. At Wyoming, on the Missouri, twelve miles in a direction a little west of south, below Rock Bluff, a low exposure of rocks crops out on the immediate margin of the river, showing the following beds: Section at Wyoming, with an enumeration of the embeddedfossils. No. Nature of strata. Thickness. Ft. In. 6 Blue and red clay, entire original thickness unknown. Productus 4 0 semireticulatus, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Athyris subtilita, Chonetes granulifera, Productus Nebrascensis, Spirifer (Martinia) planoconvexus, Hemipronites crassus, Spiriferina Kentuckensis, Rhynchonella Osagensis,.Pleurophorus occidentalis, Belleropho carbonaria, Euomphalus rugosus, &c. 5 Hard gray, impure silicious limestone. Fusulina cylindrical Syntrilasma 2 0 hemiplicata, fragments crinoids, &c. 4 Light grayish ash-colored clay. Hemipronites crassus, Syntrilasna heni- 3 6 plicata, Chonetes granulifera, Meekella striato-costata, Spirifer cameratus, Productus longispinus, Spirifina Kntentkensis, Spirfer (Martinia) planoconvexus, &c. 3 Massive hard yellowish, or light-gray silicious limestone, somewhat ar- 4 0 gillaceous below. Schizodus, Allorisma, Pinnaperacuta, Fusulina, &c. 2 Bluish and ash-colored laminated, calcareous clays.................... 5 0 I Red gritty clay, passing down into a soft red sandstone, more or less 9 0 micaceous, ripple-marked and concretionary. Total...................................................... 27 6 100 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF All these beds show a slight inclination to the southward or southeastward. On the upper surface of bed No. a, I saw the same kind of curious markings, apparently of the cylindrical stems of some marine plant (often curved like a horseshoe magnet,) mentioned as occurring in bed No. 3, at Rock Bluff. The beds here at Wyoming, however, appear to hold a higher position in the series, judging from the southeastward dip of the strata here and at Cedar and Rock Bluffs, than any of the beds at either of the former localities. Professor Marcou places them on a parallel with the lower part of the section seen at Nebraska City, and I am inclined to believe they belong to that horizon, or at least very near it, in the series. He includes them, however, as a part of the Upper Permian, or Dyas, and in this Professor Geinitz concurs with him, though all the fossils yet found here occur also in the very beds referred by the latter author at Plattsmouth to the Lower Carboniferous, and all but about five of them in the same beds at Omaha and Bellevue referred by Professor Marcou to the Lower Carboniferous; while even the four species occurring here, that have not yet been found at Omaha or Bellevue, such as Meekella striato-costata, Bellerophon carbonaria, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, and Pinna peracuta, are well-known Coal-Measure species. In short, there is not the slightest reason, if we can place any reliance whatever upon fossils in identifying and determining the position of strata, for separating this outcrop from the Upper CoalMeasures. About four miles in a nearly south direction from Wyoming, and three miles in a northwest direction from Nebraska City, at Bennett's Mill, there is to be seen along a small stream, probably 90 to 100 feet below the summit of the immediately surrounding country, an exposure showing the following beds: Section at Bennett's Mill. ThickNo. I Nature of strata. Thic ness. Ft. In. 4 Hard silioious, light-gray limestone, at some places in two layers, with 2 6 a clay parting between; and although compact within, showing indications of a laminated structure on weathered surfaces. Rhombopora lepidodendroides, Fusulina cylindrica, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Spirifer (Martinia) planocOnvexus, Rhynchonella Osagensis, Chonetes granulifera, C. glabra, Productus longispinus, Spirifer cameratus, and teeth of Peripristis semicircularis. 3 Light drab and ash-colored clays.-.....-..............-.....-. —..... 3 0 2 Band of soft drab argillaceous limestone, containing Productus Prat- 0 8 tenianus, P. punctatus, Chonetes granulifera, Spir'fer cameratus, Syntrilasma hemipliata, Scaphiocrinus (?) hemisphcricus, Myalina subquadrata, Aviculopecten occidentalis, Pinna peracuta, Allorisma subcuneata, Pseudomonotis sp., Allorisma sp. and Chomatodus arcuatus. 1 Light grayish crumbling indurated clay, of which about two feet were 2 0 exposed. These beds Professor Marcou and Professor Geinitz regard as occupying the same horizon as those seen at Wyoming, and the lower part of the Nebraska City section, which is doubtless very nearly or quite correct. I cannot concur with them, however, in including these rocks NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 101 n the Permian, for the reasons already stated in regard to the Wyoming mnd other outcrops. About two miles down the same little stream, in an east direction from Bennett's Mill, the same beds are seen at a somewhat lower level in the bed of the creek. Here the following fossils were found: Rhomboporc lepidodendroides, Fistulipora, Scaphiocrinus hemispheericus, Hemipronites crassus, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Chonetes granulifera, Meekella striatocostata, Productus semireticulatus, P. longispinus (?), Athyris subtilita, Spirifer cameratus, Spirifer (iMartinia) planoconvexus and Platyceras. (See Plate IV, Fig. 15, a. b.) The next locality at which these rocks were examined was at the Nebraska City landing, where the following succession of beds may be seen: Section of beds exposed at the Nebraska City landing, with an enumeration of the fossils found in each. ThickNature of strata. Thic ness. Fit.It. Loess or bluff deposit, consisting of fine light-grayish pulverulent sili- 90 0 cious and more or less calcareous clay or marl, without distinct marks of stratification; rising back to a. height of 80 to D. Yellowish-gray micaceous, soft sandstone, laminated or in thin ripple- 10 0 marked layers, excepting 12 to 15 inches of the lower part, which is sometimes hard and compact; with fragments of plants. C. Drab, ash, and lead-colored, and reddish-brown clays, with, near the mid- 39 0 die, a 9 or 10-inch hard bluish-gray argillo-calcareous layer, weathering to a rusty color. Fossils numerous, particularly near the lower part, as follows: Rhombopora lepidodendroides, Lophophyllumproliferum, Scaphi- acrinus (?) hemisphcricus, Eocidaris Iallianus, Synocladia biserialis, Fenestel7a Shumardi, Polypora submarginata, Glauconome trilineata, Lingula Sco- tica (?), Henipronites crassus, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Chonetes glabra, C. I granulifera, Productus pertenius, Productus longispinus (?), P. Prattenlianus, P. Nebrascensis, P. symmetricus, P. semiretriculatus, Rhynchonella Osagensis, Spirifer cameratus, Spirifer (Martinia) planoconvexus, Spirife rina Kentuck- ensis, Athyris subtilita, Lima retifera, Entolium aviculatumn, Aviculopecten carbonarius, A. neglectus, A. Coxanus, A. occidentalis, Myalina Swallovi, M. subquadrata, Avicula longa, Avicula (?) Sulcata, ALiculopinna Americana, Pseudomonotis radialis (??), Nucla Beyrichi (??),;ucula ventricosa, Yoldia subscitula, Nuculana bellistriata, Macrodon tenuistriata, Solenoznya sp., Solenopsis solenoides, Pleurophorus oblongus, Schizodus curtlus, S. Wheeleri, Schizodus sp., Modiola subelliptica, Edmondia reflexa, E. Nebraseeasis, E. (?) glabra, Prothyris elegans, Allorisma (Sedgewickia) subelegans, A. (S.) *Geinitzii, A. reflexa, Dentalium Meekianum, Bellerophon Montjfrtianus, 1B. percarinatus, B. Marcouanus, B. carbonaria, Euomphalus rutgosus, Ortho- nema subtcaniata, Aclis Swalloviana, Pleurotomaria Haydeni, P. sub- decussata, P. Marcoulana, P. Grayvillensis, Orthoceras cribrosum, Nautilus occidentalis, Cythere NYcbrascensis, and Cythere sp. B. Several beds of hard, light-grayish, and yellowish limestones, in layers 12 C of from five to twenty inches in thickness, with soft, marly clay seams i and partings. Fossils: Fusulina cylindrica, Rhombopora lepidodendroides, Lophophyllum prolifertmn, Erisocrinus typus, Synocladia biserialis, emipro- nites crassus, Orthis carbonaria, Meekella striato-costata, Syntrilasuta hemiplicata, Chonetes granulifera, Chonetes glabra, Productus longispinus (?) P. semireticulatus, P. costatus, P. Prattenianus, P. Nebrascensis, P. symmetricus, Rhynchonella Osagensis, Spirifer (Martinia) planoconvexus, S. cameratus, Athyris subtilita, Retzia pulnctulifera, Pinna peracuta, Myalina subquadrata, Allorisma subcuteata, Euomphalus rugosus, Bellerophon carbonaria, Phillipsia scitula, Cladodus mortifer and Deltodus (?) angularis. 102 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF Nature of strata. Thickness. Ft. In. A. a. Lead-grayish and greenish clay, 4 feet................... 8 0 b. Reddish-brown ferruginous, slightly gritty, indurated clay, 4 feet exposed above high-water mark. Total below drift.................................. —-. 69 0 Fusulina cylindrica, mentioned among the fossils of bed B above, was not found by us in that bed immediately at the Nebraska City landing, but it occurs in this bed at Bennett's Mill and Wyoming; also in beds referred to this horizon by Professor Marcou, one and three-fourths mile and two and a half miles west of the outcrops at the landing, at elevations of from 73 to 80 feet above low-water of the Missouri. We also found it in a limestone cropping out of the bluff one mile below (southeast of) the Nebraska City landing, at a higher geological horizon than bed D, of the above section. The following other fossils, not yet found in bed B, at Nebraska City, occur in it at Bennett's Mill and Wyoming, as shown in the sections at those places: Scaphiocrinus (?) hemisphcericus, Zeacrinus mucrospinus, Entolium aviculatum, Aviculopecten occidentalis, Pseudomonotis sp., Pleurop7orus occidentalis (?), Peripristis semicircularus and Chomatodus arcuatus. In the foregoing section I have adopted the principal divisions recognized by Professor Marcou, and for convenience have also followed him in using letters instead of numbers, to designate the several divisions. He made other more minute subdivisions, but however well it may be to do this in first examining such exposures, with a view of keeping separate the fossils coming from each subordinate bed or seam, so soon as we know which beds are merely local modifications of color, hardness, &c., aled which are more persistent and recognizable at other localities by their lithological characters and the grouping of their fossils, such minute local details had better, in comparing sections, be dispensed with, as they make the sections more complex and less easily compared. By a glance at the list of fossils found in the bed B, it will be at once seen that with the exception of some five or six species (which are themselves well-known Coal-Measure forms), we have here all of the very same species found in the Bellevue and Omaha beds referred by Professor Marcou to the mountain limestone, and along with them a number of other species, forming altogether a group peculiarly characteristic of the western Coal-Measures, which Professor Marcou would also insist upon making mountain limestone, in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. This list of species, it will likewise be observed, not only includes suck types as the foraminiferous genus Fusulina, Corals, Crinoids, Brachiopods, &c., but also Lamellibranchs, Gasteropods, and the Carboniferous and older genus Phillipsia, as well as Carboniferous genera of fishes. For these reasons, I must repeat that I cannot concur with Professors Marcou and Geinitz, in separating these beds from the Coal-Measures and including them in the Permian or Dyas, m.erely because a few such forms as Pseudomonitis, Plurophorus, and Schizodus, closely allied to, or possibly even in some cases identical with, European Permian species, are occasionally met with in them. On ascending to division C, we also meet with a large proportion of the same fossils found in B, along with a considerable number not here found in the latter division. These, however, as will be seen farther NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 103 on, are nearly all species that occur elsewhere in the Coal-Measures of the western States. Consequently I can see no reason whatever for drawing any important line of division between the beds included in C and those of B, or for separating either fropi the Coal-Measures. The following beds were seen at Mr. Morton's and Mr. Werth's places near Nebraska City, but with the base of the outcrops elevated 73 to 80 feet above the Missouri. Section 1- and 23 miles due west of Nebraska City.* ThickNo. Nature of strata. Th ness. Ft. In. 5 Slope consisting of 50 or G0 feet of Loess, at the base of which some 60 0 slabs of ripple-marked micaoeons sandstone were seen apparently nearly in place. 4 Bluish, greenish and drab clays, showing about 19 feet..... — ------- 19 0 3 Bluish impure argillaceous limestone, some parts very hard, others de- 2 0 composing and shaly. Fusulina cylindrica, Scaphiocrinus (?) hemisphcericus, Rhombopora lepidodendroides, Hemipronites crassus, Chonetes granulifera, C. glabra, Spirifer (Martinia) planoconvexuss, Sliriferina Kentuckensis, Athyris subtilita, Spirifer cameratus, Rhynchonella Osagensis, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Productus costatus, P. semireticulatus, P. symmetricus, P. iongispinus (?), Myalina subquadrata, Euonmphalus rugosus, &c. 2 Black bituminous shale, with a few inches of coal. Some of the same 1 6 fossils in the shale as those in the bed above. 1 Blue laminated clay; only a few inches exposed. The group of fossils found in No. 3 here, it will be seen, agrees exactly, so far as they go, with that of division B of the section at.the landing, with the exception of Fusulina, which is quite abundant here, but, as already stated, is not yet known to occur at the Nebraska City exposures, though found in division B, at Wyoming and Bennett's Mill. The rocks themselves, however, do not correspond with those composing the section at the landing, in their composition and other characters. The clays of No. 4, it is true, might correspond to a part of division C at Nebraska City, and the loose masses of ripple-marked sandstone might be supposed to have slidden from a bed agreeing with division D, but the other beds below are so different from any of those forming the lower part of the Nebraska City section, as to give rise to doubts as to their identity. At least I saw nothing there representing the black shale and coal seen at Mr. Mortons and Mr. Werth's places. Another fact pointing to the conclusion that the beds forming. the foregoing little section probably hold a higher position than those seen at the Nebraska City. landing, is the occurrence of an outcrop agreeing almost exactly with the former, at,a locality one mile below Nebraska City, in a southeast direction, at an elevation of 30 feet above high water. Here the same black shale with seams of coal is seen, with blue and ashcolored clays below, and immediately above it a hard bluish-gray argil* Professor Gienitz alludes to the locality at Mr. Morton's as being four miles west of Nebraska City. I am informed, however, by the engineer who ran the level between the Nebraska City landing and this outcrop at Mr. Morton's, that the distance is 1I miles, and the elevation 73 feet. 104 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF laceous limestone 30 inches in thickness, with Fusulina, BHemipronites crassus and fragments of other fossils, while immediately above the limestone greenish and bluish clays were seen for some 15 feet in place,;vith pieces of bluish argillaceous rock lying loose. Now, as this outcrop is just about one mile from the landing,'and almost exactly in the direction.of the dip, it cannot of course belong to any position below the beds seen at the landing, without there should be a reverse of the dip, or a fault here, of which there is no evidence whatever; while the beds themselves are entirely different from any part of that section. Hence it seems almost morally certain that this is the same limestone, black shale, coal, &c., seen at Mr. Morton's and Werth's places, brought;iown to within 30 feet of the Missouri at this place, by a gentle southeast dip, the distance from Mr. Morton's to this point being about two and three-quarter miles. If these are the samlebeds seen at Mr. Morton's, then' the place they occupy here, one mile southeast of the Nebraska City outcrops, almost exactly in the direction of the dip, and yet at an actual elevation of 30 feet above the base of the outcrop at the landing, it would follow that the beds seen at Mr. Morton's and Mr. Werth's hold positions a little higher in the series than the top of the Nebraska City section, and of course that there is here a recurrence of nearly the same fauna above division C, as that found beneath it, in division B, at the landing. On the other hand, if these beds of shale, coal and limestone, seen one mile below Nebraska City, are not the same seen at Mr. Morton's, they must hold a still higher stratigraphical position; and, as they correspond to nothing in the Nebraska City section, they would at least establish the existence of the genus Fusulina above the horizon of division C at Nebraska City landing. It will also be seen farther on that the outcrop at Otoe City, doubtless correctly placed by Professor Marcou above the horizon of division C, contains great numbers of Fusulina, with various other Coal-Measure types, and, so far as yet known, none of the Permian forms. It is to be regretted that in sinking a shaft at Mr. Morton's, to a depth of nearly 100 feet, commencing nearly on a level with the base of the outcrop alluded to, no memorandum of the thickness of the various beds and seams passed through was kept. A great number of hand specimens of the material penetrated, consisting of various-colored clays, arenaceous matter, &c., with some limestones, were carefully preserved, but, unfortunately, it was impossible to obtaiiany more reliable information in regard to the exact thickness and order of succession of the numerous layers penetrated than could be given from memory by the workmen; while the planking up of the shaft prevented the possibility of any information of this kind being derived from a direct examination. It is worthy of note here, that some of the clays shown to us from the shaft, agree very well, in color and other respects, with those of division C, at the Nebraska City landing, and some of these specimens also contained a group of fossils very rarely found together in any other horizon than that division-such, for example, as Chonetes glabra, Aviculopecten carbonarius, Bellerophon Marcouianus, &c. All the fossils found in the material removed in excavating this shaft are figured together on Plate IV. No coal was struck, but at near the bottom of the shaft a black, bituminous shale, 3 feet in thickness, containing the impression of a Calamite, was penetrated. Immediately under this, a hard, white limestone, 3 feet in thickness, was also passed through. As a means of forming some conclusions in regard to the nature of the strata beneath the surface of the Missouri at Nebraska City, the fol NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 105 lowing statement of an artesian boring, made at this locality, is given. This boring was made in the valley of the river, about one mile below the landing, commencing about 13 feet above high-water mark. Mr. Croxton^s boring at Nebraska City.* No. Nature of strata penetrated. Depth. Ft. In. 1 Alluvial.-..-..........-.............-.....................-...... 17 0 2 Limestone —.. —...... —----------........... —.......... 2 8 3 Gray shales ------... —....... — --—.. —--—...... -....... --—... 6 0 4 Sandstone... —...... —...................-.-.............. 1 4 5 Limestone ----...................................- 2 0 6 Blue shales -----—..-...-.......-..-........-.......-...-2. 0 7 Red shales. ——. —-.... --—.... —............. —-. —.....-..... — -. 15 0 8 Limestone ---.. —--... —-.. —--. —-. —.. —.. —-..-... —-- 1 0 9 Red and buff shales..-....-..-..-...-.....-...-...-.... 7 0 10 Limestone --—..-.......... —. —..... - -. —-—.....-. 2 0 11 Shale. —-,. ---—... —-..................-.- -.-.................... 3 0 12 Limestone -- --—.......... —- |-. —-. —.-... —- -1..... — I 0 13 Red sandstone --—.. —-.....-.............. -...-................- 4 0 14 Gray shales.-. —....-...... —--..... —.... —.. —--........- -.... 8 0 15 Red shales. —................. -..........-....................... 5 0 16 Gray shales.- -.... —............................-. —........,,..... 20 0 17 Micaceous sandstones.. —.... ——...-..-... -—.-..-.......... —. 8 0 18 Blue limestone.................................... -................ 1 0 19 Buff shales ------.... ——....... —...........-.. —-......... 3 0 20 Gray shales...-.....-.....-..-..-..,-......-.................. 12 0 21 Red sandstone -......................- -.. 4 0 22 Redshales -.......... -... —..... —-....-.... -..-... —-------—. 3 0 23 Gray shales with intercalations of various kinds of rock, sulphuret of 65 0 iron (smutty, according to mines) and traces of petroleum. 24 Blue limestone....... —------—........... -- 5 0 * The different beds passed through in this and the other artesian borings, are numbered from above downward; while those of the sections examined above the horizon of the Missouri, are numbered from below upward. 106 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF No. Nature of strata penetrated. Depth. Ft. In. 25 Coal................................................................. 1 3 26 Clay and shale..........-...................-.................... 13 0 27 1Red shale --............-.... —-- -—.......... —..........._......... 3 0 28 Calcareous sand. —-... —-....-..-..... —-—.-. —..........-.........-. i 0 29 Blue slate rock —.. —----—..-...-............-...-..........,... —-. 1 4 30 Red shales. -... --—...... —-----..............................-...... 0 31 Limestone with hard seam —-- --- 0- 10 32 Black slate 1 0 33 Brown shales ---—.. -------—...... -—.......... —...................... 3 0 34 White limestone, very fine texture -................... —..... 6 0 35 White limestone —. —-—. —. —.. —-. 7 0 36 Gray shales —.. —..... —-... —--..... —..... —--- —.-.. —---------—............ 7 0 37 White sandstone, fine texture.. —-.. —-—....... —-...-.-.. —-----—... 3 0 38 Blue limestone..........................................-....... —.. 5 0 39 Coarse gray sandstone, (salt water).......-..... —-....... —......-... 5 0 40 Fine freestone ---... — -------—....-........ —-... —-—... —-...-....... —---- 4 0 41 Shale —--------....-.... —---—..-...... —-—.. —.....-.... —-. —---- 3 6 42 White limestone -—.... —........ —.... — -.. ——........-. —.- 6 0 43 Hard brown shale-3 0 44 Fossiliferous calcareous shale ---—......-...-.-.....-....... —-....-.. 1 0 45 Gray soft shale. —--- -...... -....-........-.. —-.. —......-........ 1 6 46 Calcareous sand-rock —.-............. —..............-. 4 0 47 White limeor marl-............. —--.. —---—.. —............... —..... 16 0 48 Blue limestone -... —.... —...... —---- - --- --- -----........... 3 6 49 White shales or marl. —-.. —......-......-............... —. —.....-. 3 0 50 Pyritiferous rock ---- -- - —... -—... —- - ----—.. 2 0 51 White shales or marl-. -------- ----- ----- -------- 3 9 52 Crinoidal limestone. ----- -- -----—....... -... —-----—.. -........ —------—......... 1 6 53 Brown shale-or slate -.. —--—...-...................... — ---—..... —. 2 0 54 Buff shale....... —-................................................. 2 0 NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 107 No. Nature of strata penetrated. Depth. Ft. In. 55 Blue shales................................................ 10 0 56 Gray and white shales.-. —-...-.......-............-... 15 0 57 Gray slate.........-............................................... 2 0 58 Black slate.-. -. — - --—,..... 2 0 59 Limestone.. —. —.......-.......-................................... 5 0 Total................................344 2 I had no opportunity to examine the borings from this well, and have to rely entirely upbn the memorandum kept by those conducting the work. Although it is probable, for reasons elsewhere intimated, that the details of the section may not be exactly correct in all respects, it doubtless gives a good general idea of the strata penetrated, and is important as a demonstration that no workable beds of coal exist here beneath the level of the Missouri Valley, within nearly 350 feet of the surface. It also confirms other evidences of a southeastern dip here, because it is evident that the beds numbered 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, near the top of the boring, are the same as divisions A and B, of the section at the landing; and'as they rise there nearly 20 feet above high water, and are here found entirely below that horizon, the evidence becomes quite conclusive as to the dip. It also shows that the Fusulina limestone cropping out of the hill 30 feet above high water, some 150 yards farther down, and in the direction of the dip, must hold a position above the whole of the section seen at the landing. After leaving the immediate vicinity of Nebraska City, no exposures of rocks in place were observed, until we arrived at Otoe City, about five and a-half miles farther down the river, in a direction east of south. Here we saw the following beds exposed: Section of the beds exposed at Otoe City. No. Nature of strata. Thickness. Ft. In. Loess, with some Drift at the base.................................... 40 0 11 Soft, yellowish sandstone............................................. 10 0 10 Drab and ash-colored, with seams and concretions of arenaceous matter 3 0 9 Bluish laminated clays, passing gradually into the next bed below..... 7 0 8 Nearly black laminated clay or shale, with sometimes between it -3 0 and the bed above a 6 to 8-inch bed of yellow limestone in the shale. Productus Prattenianus, P. longispinus (?), Sp. (Martinia) planoconvexus, Rhynchonella Osagensis, Chonetes granulifera, Spiriferina Kentuckeelsis, Productus semireticulatus, Bemipronites crassus. 7 Very hard, dark-gray calcareous layer................................ 4 108 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF No. Nature of strata. Tickness. Ft. In. 6 Red, green, blue, and light ash-colored clays, with near the base a, 58 0 2 or 3-inch seam of black shale. 5 Soft, drab, marly material, becoming in parts hard and compact, or with 3 0 hard, calcareous seams. Millions of Fusulina cylindrica; also, Chonetes granulifera, Hemiphronites crassus, Spirifer cameratus, Spirijerina Kentuckensis, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Meekella striato-costata, Productus semireticulatus, Myalina perattenuata. 4 Light drab laminated clay, with a streak of black; at one place seen to I 1 6 swell out, so as to form a bunch of coal, 6 to 8 inches thick, with efflorescence of sulphate iron. 3 Soft, incoherent, yellowish sandstone................... 6 0 2 Soft, bluish, sandy shale, with large, round, and compressed oval con- 5 0 cretions. 1 Bluish and drab clays, in parts more or less arenaceous. Productus Prat- 15 0 tenianus. Total, exclusive of Loess and Drift -------------— 111 - It is proper to state here, that the whole of this section was not seen in one uninterrupted exposure. All the beds from No. I ifp to, and including 8 feet of No. 6, are seen in regular succession immediately above the site of the deserted village called Otoe City. The remaining portion above was seen in another exposure about a quarter of a mile above the village, with just enough uncovered space below (allowing for a gentle inclination of the strata) to receive the beds seen immediately above the village, and, as but a moderate southeast dip was observed here, there is scarcely any reason to doubt the propriety of regarding the two exposures as directly succeeding each other in the vertical series. At the time this section was examined, the Missouri was nearly at high-water mark. I was informed by a gentleman living in the village, however, that the bluish-drab clays forming No. 1, continue on down 12 to 13 feet farther than the base of the section as given above, and that beneath the whole there is a dark bluish-gray limestone, of which I saw some pieces containing iemipronites crassus. If the southeast dip observed near Nebraska City is continued in this direction to this place, it is quite probable that the dark-bluish gray limestone seen at low water here at the base of the Otoe City section, is the same seen cropping out over the black shale aind coal, 30 feet above the Missouri, one mile below Nebraska City.* If so, it would apparently make the whole of the Otoe City section newer than the beds seen at the Nebraska City landing. This would agree nearly with the opinion expressed by Professor Marcou,t who, if I understand him correctly, thinks the lower beds here, up to No. 5 inclusive, of the foregoing section, the same as division D of the section at Nebraska City, and some 10 feet * Professor Marcou gives the distance from Nebraska City to Otoe City as twelve miles south; in this he probably means by the curves of the steamboat channel of the Missouri River, as it is only about five and a half miles by a direct line, and in a southeast direction. tBull. Geol. Soc. France, XXI, new ser., p. 137.-1864. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 109 of the bed No. 6 exposed in the bluff at Otoe City, a part of the highest bed of the Dyas. He seems not to have seen the other beds, forming the upper part of the section between a quarter and a half mile farther up the river. He also appears to have made the identification entirely from lithological characters, as neither he nor Professor Geinitz, who investigated his collections, mentions any fossils from this locality, while all of those yet known from this outcrop are, as may be seen by the names in the section, the same Coal-Measure types so often mentioned at other localities. So it will be seen we have here additional evidence to that mentioned in connection with the statement of facts observed at and near Nebraska City, that there are above the horizon of division C at Nebraska City section, repetitions of the same Coal-Measure group of fossils, seen in the beds below, including millions of Pusulina, with Chonetes granutlfera, Productus semnireticulatus P. Prattenianus, Spirifer cameratus, Spiriferina Kentuckensis, lhemiNronites crassus, Rhynchonella Osagensis, Syntrilasmac hemiplicata, Mileekella striato-costata, &c., while none of the Permian types have yet been found here! At the village of Peru, five miles in southeast direction, below Otoe City, about a quarter to a half mile above the landing, beds of light-colored limestone, 12 to 18 inches in thickness, crop out of the side of the slope 90 to 100 feet above high water. A little lower some loose masses of limestone, that have apparently slidden from the beds above, have been dug out for building purposes.' From the disintregrated limestone, or associated shaly matter, we picked up loose, many specimens of Spirifer (iMartinia) planoconvexus, Sp. cameratus, Procductus Nebraseensis, P. longispinus, Athyris subtilita, Spiriferina Kent'ukensis, LHemipronites crassus, Euomphalus rugosus, &c. Lower in the hill indications of red clays were seen, though not well exposed, the whole hill being probably composed of the same, or at any rate, a part of the same, beds exposed at Otoe City. Less than a quarter of a mile, however, below the village of Peru, there is an abrupt exposure of yellowish and light-gray, soft, somewhat micaceous sandstone, with large, round and compressed or oval concretions of arenaceous matter, of considerable hardness. There are also very curious irregularly and obliquely arranged seams and isolated masses of dark-bluish shaly matter and clay. These appear as if the sandstone had been very irregularly eroded in places during its deposition, and the shaly matter deposited in the depressions, and then more sand upon it again. Fragments of coal were also seen embedded in the sandstone, along with stems of Calamites, and broken-up leaves of ferns. The sandstone can scarcely be said to be stratified, but appears massive with the exception of some oblique marks of deposition, and the intercalated seams of shaly matter. The latter are not continuous for any distance, but often end very abruptly, or in other cases become much attenuated, and again swell out to a foot or so in thickness. They do not appear to conform to the bedding of the sandstone, but cut obliquely across it at various angles, and yet their laminated structure, and fragments of plants, show they were deposited in water. This exposure of sandstone rises abruptly from the edge of the river at high water, to an elevation of about 60 to 65 feet, and almost certainly holds a lower stratigraphical position than the outcrops of limestone seen 90 to 100 feet above the Missouri, a short distance above the village. Its positior is doubtless neatly the same as that of the lower part of the Otoe City section, though it is more arenaceous here, and perhaps thicker. Just over it some red clay was seen, apparently a little slidden from its proper position. At the time of our visit, the Missouri being high, no beds below this 110 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF sandstone were exposed above water. Dr. Owen, however, mentions seeing beneath evidently the same bed. either here or near here, a black bituminous shale, and brown encrinital limestone. As an additional evidence that this sandstone Holds a lower position in the series than the limestones mentioned high in the hill above the village, we may mention that at a locality about two and a half miles west of south from here, and a mile or so back from the river, at a higher elevation than the sandstone, there are outcrops of light-colored limestone agreeing exactly with those seen cropping out in the hill above the village. In the rubbish thrown out at a quarry in these beds, we found Spirifer (Martinia) planoconvexus, Sp. cameratus, Chonetes granulifera, Pleurophorus sp., fragments of Myalina, Pleurotomaria sp., Bellerophon carbonaria, B. lMontfortianus, &c. At Brownville, about five miles below Peru, in a direction east of south the following outcrops were seen: Sections of the various beds exposed at Brownville. No. Nature of strata. Thickness. Ft. In. 14 Loess rising back with the slope from 30 or 40 to................ 100 0 13 Dark-bluish, very fine unctuous clay, becoming nearly black below, and 2 0 weathering to drab color. Aviculopecten Whitei, Spirifer (Martinia) planconvexus, Productus pertenuis, small Polyphenopsis, Pleurotomaria, Macrocheilus, Myalina perattenuata, and Nuculana sp. (Seems to be merely the remains of a thicker bed.) 12 Yellowish-gray, granular or sub-oolitic limestone; massive, but showing 3 0 a disposition to divide into two layers. 11 Unexposed.-...-,.,,,...,,,....- -. 10 0 10 Whitish, soft argillaceous limestone, 6 to 8 inches thick... —.......... 0 8 9 Red, purple, and greenish clays-....... - -... —.. —.-. -..10 0 8 Whitish and yellowish impure limestone, rather massive. Allorisma 3 0 subcuneata, stems of crinoids, Bellerophon percarinatus, Productus Nebrascensis, &c. 7 Purple clay. -........ —.......................-.............. 1 0 6 Soft, whitish limestone -................................. 6 0 5 Bluish clay....................................................... 5 6 4 Black shale and seams impure coal, with impressions fern leaves.-.. 1 0 3 Blue clay, with fragments of coal and iron pyrites. —-......... 20 0 2 Black, hard rock, with crystals calc spar.. —-.... ----—............. 2?0 1 Soft, yellowish micaceous sandstone, with irregular seams and alternat- 57 ing laminm of black and greenish, more or less carbonaceous and sandy material, with fragments of coal. Many broken leaves of ferns, pieces of Calamites, &c. Neuropteris hirsuta, Neuropteris Loschii (identified by Professor Lesquereux), and Coprolites of some Selachian fish, as determined by Professor Agassiz. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 111 Of the lower member of this section only about 25 feet were exposed above high water of the Missouri, when examined. I was informed, however, by an intelligent gentleman who sunk a shaft into it through several of the overlying beds, that they penetrated it to a depth of 57 feet without passing'through it. Several persons also stated that when the Missouri is low, branches and trunks of trees are seen in this rock, which, judging from their descriptions, are probably Lepidoderon and Sigillaria. This is doubtless the same sandstone seen just below Peru, about five miles in a direction west of north from here. If so, there must be a moderate dip in this direction, or the bed is not so thick, as it onlyrises at this place about 25 feet above high water, while its summit there was 65 feet above the river, and there must be 3 or 4 feet fall in the river in that distance. Of the beds filling the interval between Nos. 1 and 4, of the foregoing section, I only saw the upper part of No. 3, but they were described to us and their thickness given by the gentleman who sunk the shaft already mentioned, through them. A little below the landing at Brownville, and not more than 100 yards in a southeast direction from where the sandstone No. 1 of last section is seen, showing a thickness of 25 feet above high water, 5 or 6 feet of greenish fine arenaceous clay was seen at the base of the hill, not more than 6 or 7 feet above the level of the river. Above this greenish clay, about the same thickness of reddish-brown clay occurs. Just over the latter fragments of whitish argillaceous limestone were lying, as if they had slidden down from a decomposing bed of the same. Among these great numbers of Fusulina and Chonites granulifera were found loose; also fragments Spirifercameratits, Productus semireticulatus, &c. Above this some beds of red clay, and in parts green, are imperfectly exposed, and still higher, or about 50 feet above high water of the Missouri, some thin beds of whitish, crumbling, impure limestone, and light-drab clay are imperfectly exposed. Among the loose fragments of the limestone were found Chonetes granulifera, Productus semireticulatus, P. longispinus, P. Nebrascensis, and some stems of crinoids. Immediately above the crumbling limestone some indications of a thin bed of black shale were observed, while the remainder of the hill (some 60 to 70 feet above) seemed to be composed entirely of Loess. It is probable all these beds of clay and limestone had slidden some from their proper horizons, as it would require a greater dip than we have reason to believe exists here, to bring the whole of the 25 feet of sandstone seen above high-water mark, just above the Brownville Land-,ling, beneath the base of the hill here, only about 100 yards farther down the river. Between one and two miles below Brownville, along the same line of bluffs, the following exposures were seen: Section one and a half miles below Brownville. ThickNo. Nature of strata. Ti.ess. Ft. In. 8 Loess rising back with the slope from 30 or 40 to... -.................. 10 0 7 Bluish, fine clay, a few inches only remaining; apparently same as No. 13 at Brownville. 0 0 6 Yellowish, granular sub-oolitic limestone..-..................... 0 10 112 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ThickNo. Nature of strata. Thickness. Ft. In. 5 Ash-colored clay, with whitish calcareous seams, more or less indurated, 8 0 with some. blue and red clays below. 4 Yellowish-gray, impure, sub-oolitic limestone -—.....-......_..... 2 0 3 Red and bluish clays...................................... 10 0 2 Whitish,-impure limestone. Productus Prattenianus. —..........-...... 0 10 1 Red, bluish, and ash-colored clays, with loose fragments of whitish lime- 43 stone strewed along the upper part of slope from the bed above; also loose Productus longispinus (?), P. Nebrascensis, Sp. cameratus. Near base great numbers of Chonetes granulifera; with Myalina subquadrata, Bellerophion percarinatus, &c. The whole of this bed not very clearly exposed. These exposures indicate a continuation of the upper part of the Brownville section, the lower sandstone being probably mainly below the level of the Missouri here. It is worthy of note that the beds 4 and 6 here agree exactly in structure, color, and composition, with the two layers composing No. 12 of the Brownville section, but here they are separated by about 8 feet of clays, represented at Brownville, in same position, by a mere seam, which is at other places wanting. This illustrates the changes liable to occur in the beds of these rocks in comparatively short distances. At Aspinwall, seven miles below Brownville, in a direction slightly east of south, we had an opportunity to examine various outcrops, from which the following section was constructed: Sections of beds exposed at Aspinwall. No. Nature of strata. Thickness. Ft. In. 15 Loess varying in thickness from 30 to.....................-... 40 0 14 Grayish and drab clays, with thin seams of light-colored calcareous 6 0 matter. 13 Massive, rather hard, yellowish limestone. Numerous Myalina perat- 3 0 tenuata; also Aviculopecten occidentalis, Hemipronites crass,, llorisma subcuneata, Productus Nebrascensis, Edmondia Aspinwallensis, Euomphalus rugosts, Nautilus occidentalis, &c. 12 Bluish and drab clays, with one or more 6 to 8-inch seams soft, grayish, 20 0 impure limestone. 11 Yellowish limestone -.. —........... -.-.. —.. —.. —........... —. —- 1 6 10 a. Bluish clay, 5 feet.. —.............-.........-..-............-..) b. Red clay, 5 feet...................................... 13 0 c. Bluish laminated clay, 3 feet.-...................... 9 Bluish and whitish impure limestone. Productus longispinus (?), Chonetes 4 0 granulifera, Athyris subtilita, Hemipronites crassus, Spirifer (Martinia) planoconvexus, Meekella striato-costata, Productus pertenis, Productus semireticulatus, Spiriferina Kentuckensis and a tooth of Xysrtodus (?) angularis. INEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 113 No. Nature of strata. Thickness. Ft. In. 8 Coal............................................................ 0 6 7 Clay...................................... 2 0 6 Bluish indurated clay.-...............-......................... 4. 0 5 Hard, bluish, impure limestone....-................................ 1 6 4 Black shale......................................................... 4 0 2 Bluish clay..................................................... 15 0 1 Sandstone, above low water.-...................-. 3 0 Total below Loess........................................... 78 10 At the time of my examination, No. 1, and part of No. 2, of this section were concealed by high water. No. 3 was seen grather imperfectly a little below its true horizon, owing to the slipping of a part of the outcrop from undermining by the river. Nos. 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12 were more or less perfectly exposed, and 13 was very clearly seen. All the information in regard to the thickness, order of succession, &c., of the other beds not seen by me, was obtained from an intelligent miner who has made various excavations into the hill, and stripped off the loose material at places, so as to be able to see all the beds in their proper positions. Most of these openings were covered again by slides, and the falling in of the clay, loose rocks, &c., at the time of my visit. The fossils from No. 9 were found in fragments of the rock thrown out of a shallow shaft. The miner working here says all these beds have a perceptible dip up the river, north or northwest, as he has determined by sinking a shaft at a point a little north of the main exposure, and he thinks the whole section passes beneath that seen at Brownville. The dip, however, may be local, as the beds here above No. 8 appeared to me very like those composing the imperfect exposures seen a short distance below Brownville. He says the bed of coal No. 3 and associated rocks, agree exactly with those seen at Clorinda, Page County, Iowa, where he has been engaged in mining coal.' It will be observed that this bed of coal is the thickest one yet seen in any natural exposure, or struck in any of the shafts or borings in these rocks. As near as can be determined from specimens taken from the rather weathered outcrop, it seems to be of good quality, and preparations are being made to mine it. It is not easy to determine yet. whether it can be profitably mined. It certainly could not, I should think, in a district where thicker beds are accessible, as it will probably be necessary to remove most of the overlying rather soft black shale in working it, in order to have a solid roof that can be timbered up, if not to give working space. Another disadvantage is that it cannot be conveniently mined at the outcrop along the bluff, owing to the tendency of all the beds of the lower part of the section to slide down, in consequence of the river washing away the soft underlying beds. Consequently, they will have to sink a shaft 70 to 80 feet in depth, back from H. Ex. 19 8 114 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF the river some little distance. In a country like this, however, with such a vast area of fertile soil, capable of sustaining a dense population, where there is at present a deficiency of wood, it is probable that this coal may be profitably mined, unless better and more extensive beds may be found within workable distances by sinking deep shafts in this region, which seems doubtful. The rocks seen here at Aspinwall were also, like those at Brownville, Peru, and other localities along this part of the Missouri, referred by Professor Marcou to the Permian (= Dyas), but upon what evidence he does not say, nor is it apparent to any one who regards fossils as any guide in identifying rocks, as those found here consist of the same forms constituting the group so often mentioned as characterizing the Coal. Measures of the Western States. At Arago, about fourteen miles southeast from Aspinwall, I saw at the base of the hill, near 12 feet above the Missouri, some 7 inches of yellow limestone, containing Productus longispinus, and a small Myalina; and over this 18 inches of hard, compact bluish limestone, containing Productus punctatus, Chonetes, Pinna, Entolium aviculatum, &c. Above the latter some bluish clays were seen, and some large masses of impure bluish limestone that had slidden from a higher bed, with numerous Fusulina, were lying along the slope. Two miles above' Rulo, and some six or seven miles in a direction.east of south from Arago, the following outcrop was examined: Section two miles above Rulo on the Mlissouri. No. Nature of strata. Thickness. Ft. In. 7 Loess with perhaps some Drift seventy to.......................... 80 0 6 Massive yellow limestone..................................... 5 0 5 Gray and yellowish impure limestone and drab clays.................. 4 6 4 Bluish and drab arenaceous clay with fossil ferns. Yeuropteris hirsuta 7 0 and N. LoSchii. 3 Coal...............................-............................... 0 6 2 Indurated clay, called soapstone by the miners. (Not seen) -....... 0 4 1 Bluish laminated sandstone, very soft, with thin streaks of black, and looking very much like No. 1 of the Brownville section. 8 0 I did not see the whole of No. 1 of this section, it being partly covered by the high water of the Missouri, though I was informed by a miner at work in a drift immediately over it, that he had seen as much as 8 feet of it exposed. The whole of this exposure seemed to me to have bodily slipped a little below its true horizon, probably from the washing away of the soft sandstone beneath by the river. This appearance is also confirmed by the statements of the miners, who informed me that the coal ends and all the beds change abruptly at the end of the drift, 40 to 50 feet in. The thickness, composition, and order of succession of the beds, however, can be very clearly seen. Of course any attempt to mine so thin a seam NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 115 of coal by drifting in and removing a portion of the clays above, will hardly be remunerative, and there is little or no reason for believing that it will be found materially to increase in thickness farther in the hill. At another locality, one and a quarter miles south of Rulo, and at an elevation of about 25 feet above high water of the Missouri, a shaft and boring were sunk to a depth of about 76 feet. The shaft was filled with water at the time of our visit, but the miner who sunk it, Mr. St. Louis, gave the following statement of rocks perforated: Shaft and boring one and one-fourth miles south of Rulo. No. Nature of strata penetrated. Depth. Ft. In. 1 Yellow indurated clay, called soapstone by the miners........ —.... —. 18 0 2 Yellow limestone...-.....-.....-.. —... —...-. 3 0 3 Blue clay. In this clay, lyingnear the shaft, we found the following fos- 12 0 sils: Rhontbopora lepidodendroides, an incrusting species of Fistulipora; Polypora submarginata, Hemipronites crassus, Productus Nebrascensis, P. Prattenianus, Chonetes granulifera, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Spirtfer (Martinia) planoconvexus, Sp. cameratus, Nucula (?) sp., Pleurophorus sp., Bellerophon Kansasensis, Bellerophon sp., Naticopsis sp., Pleurotomariaperhumerosa, and several undetermined species of Murchisonia. 4 Hard, gray limestone..-.............. -.. -....1............... 1 0 5 Blue clay ---....................................................... 17 0 6 Limestone. —-...-......-............................-...........- 3 0 7 Blue clay bored into below the limestone.............................. 12 0 Total............................................................ 76 0 In another shaft, sunk only about 30 yards south of the above, and commencing at a horizon about 20 feet lower, we were informed a bed of coal 16 inches thick was struck at a depth of 17 feet. It seems difficult to account for this bed not having been struck in the other shaft, sunk so near, to a depth of 76 feet. The miner thought that it was to be accounted for by the northern dip of the strata,, but this is scarcely possible, as no evidence whatever of such high inclination of the strata was observed in some beds of yellow Fusulina limestone seen cropping out of the slope a little above the horizon of the deeper shaft, though there seems to be good evidence of a moderate northern dip here..If there was no mistake in all the facts given, there is probably a fault here, though it may be the case that the disagreement between the beds observed in the two shafts was produced by a sliding down of some of the beds penetrated in the 17-foot shaft at some distant period, when the Nemaha (in the valley of which this latter shaft was sunk) ran close along the base of the hill at this place, as often takes place in these rocks. At the mouth of the Great Nemaha, a mile or two farther down the Missouri, Dr. Hayden saw an exposure (the same mentioned by Dr. Owen) of soft sandstone rising 20 or 30 feet above the river, with above it a thin (5 or 6-inch) seam of coal connected with arenaceous shales, 116 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF containing the same ferns found over the bed of coal two miles above Rulo, and at Brownville. The elevation of this coal and sandstone here above the Missouri shows there is quite a perceptible rising of the strata in this direction, the same coal being only about 8 feet above the river two miles above lulo, though it had apparently slidden somewhat below its true horizon at the latter place. I am inclined to believe this sandstone under the coal the same bed seen at Peru and Brownville, and at the base of the section at Aspinwall, though it may be another holding a lower position. If it is the same, there can be little doubt but the exposures here near Rulo hold a position in the series above the horizon of the Nebraska City section. On these points, however, more detailed examinations than we had hn opportunity to make are desirable. With the completion of the observations here in the vicinity of Rulo, ended our examinations of the rocks seen along the Missouri in Nebraska, between Omaha City and the southern boundary of the State. As some deep borings, however, had been made at St. Joseph, Missouri, and Atchison, Kansas, it seemed desirable that all the facts revealed by these borings should be noted and taken into consideration in connection with those observed along the Missouri in Nebraska above; consequently these two places were visited on my return eastward. The distance between Rulo, in the southeast corner of Nebraska, and St. Joseph, in Missouri is, by an air line, about thirty-three miles, the direction from the former to the latter being nearly due southeast. Along this interval I made no examinations, though it is evident from the observations of Dr. Owen, Professor Swallow, and particularly those of Mr. Broadhead, that Coal-Measure rocks, characterized by the same fossils already so often mentioned, form, with the overlying Loess, the hills bounding the Missouri Valley, as above Rulo. It is probable, however, that the rise of the strata below Bulo brings up a considerable thickness of rocks between that place and St. Joseph that are not seen at or near Rulo. If I understand Mr. Broadhead's section correctly, he recognizes about 700 feet of strata altogether, as rising up between the sandstone at the mouth of Great Nemaha and St. Joseph, Missouri. - From his description of these rocks, I have little doubt that they include the whole or a part of the Nebraska City section, and all of the beds bored through at that place, composed in part of the Rock Bluff and Plattsmouth sections. There may, however, be here a considerable thickness of intercalated strata not represented as far north as Nebraska City, as there are evidences of a thickening of the series toward the south. The fact that all of these rocks rise up from beneath the sandstone at Nemaha, which may be the same seen at Peru, believed to hold a higher stratigraphical position at least than the division C at Nebraska City, favors the view expressed, while the few fossils mentioned by Mr. Broadhead in these rocks at least show them to belong mainly to the same Coal-Measures series. These are, Fusulina cylindrica, Chcetetes, Hemipronites crassus, Syntrilasma hemiplicata,'Productus Nebrascensis, P. Prattenianus, Athyris subtilita, Spiriferina Kentuckensis, JMyalina subquadrata and Aviculopecten carboniferus. Mr. Broadhead used dif ferent, but synonymous, names for several of these fossils. While at St. Joseph I visited a place about one mile, a little west of north from the city, where a shaft had been sunk (commencing, perhaps, some 70 or 80 feet above the Missouri) to a depth of about 100 feet, in search of coal. Judging from the material thrown out, for more than half the distance it had penetrated through Loess, of which there are heavy deposits here. Beneath this they struck fine, rather bright NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 117 blue indurated clay, more or less laminated, and showing some minute specks of mica on the partings. This evidently belongs to the coal series, and not to the Drift or Loess. From the quantity thrown out, it was probably penetrated to a depth of about 40 feet, and of course below the level of the Missouri, without passing through it, or striking any coal or beds of limestone, or other hard rock. At another locality two miles south of St. Joseph the deep boring, to which allusion has already been made, was sunk. For the following statement of the various beds penetrated, and for the privilege of examining specimens of the borings from most of the beds, I am under obligations to T. B. Weakley, esq., of St. Joseph, one of the gentlemen at whose expense the boring was made. Section of a boring two miles south of St. Joseph, 60 feet above high water of the Missouri. No. Nature of strata penetrated. Depth. Ft. In. 1 Loose surface material. [Loess and soil]............................. 21 0 2 Blue clay, (with specks of mica)...................................... 74 0 3 Sandstone..-...-...................................... 16 0 4 Soapstone. [Indurated clay]-... —.. —- ------—. —--------- ----- 10 0 5 Limestone.. —----—.. —. —-----------—.. —-- 4 0 9 Biuminous shae................................................................ 0 10 imestoneal.............................. —...-. —........... -----—.. 2 9 Bituminous shale..................................................... 6 0 10 Limestone.............................................. 7 6 11_ Slate —5 0 131 Black slate...............................................-........... 0 16 Limestone.-....-...6-,. -. -. —-------- ---- --- -—. 0 15 Black shale or slate................, 5 6 16 Limestone........................................ —1 1 0 17 Slate............................................................ 114 0 18 Limestone.............-..........................-........... —-... -4 6 19 Hard soapstone. [Indurated clay]... -................ -.....-. — 3 0 20 Sandstone......................................................... 2 6 118 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF No. Nature of strata penetrated. Depth. Ft. In. 21 Soapstone. [Indurated clay]. -..-..................... 2 6 22 Limestone......-.............. —-....... —.... —..... —-- - - 4 9 23 Dark-bluish slate................-.....-.... —-. —-......... ——.. 24 0 24 Bluish-gray limestone.. —....-..0.......................... 12 0 25 Slate.................. —...-. --—.. —...... —.. ——....... 6 0 26 Bituminous shale.-................... —-- - -----... —-.... —..- ---. 1 6 27 Blue slate.. —....-.... -.......... -.....-... —- -... --..... -. 8 0 28 Limestone...-....-........... —-................... 4 0 29 Slate and shale.............. —-—.. - --—.......... ----....-.. —.... 20 0 30 Light-gray or drab limestone.............................. 6 0 31 Green slate..-.................................................... 20 0 32 Bluish limestone and clays..-...................-....-.....-......... 40 0 33 Coal.......-............ 1 0 34 Blue soapstone. [Indurated clay]..-............................... 3 8 35 Bluish-gray slate or indurated clay. —..................... —-.. 4 6 36 Light-bluish gray and darker limestone -........................ 16 6 37 Light-blue soapstone. [Indurated clay]- —...........-.... 3 0 3~ Coal.................................................................. 2 0 39 Light-drab limestone.-..................-...........-............ 9 0 40 Marble. [Compact limestone]................................. 4 0 41 Limestone......-................................. -—.. 3 0 42 Slate................................................................ 2 6 43 White limestone...................-...... ---....- -. —-------—. 2 6 44 Blue marley clay........................ 14 0 45 Bluish-drab soapstone. [Indurated ciay] —..................-.,. 7 0 40 Slate 38 0 47 Limestone........................................ 10 6 48 Soapstone. [Indurated clay] --—............... —-. —.. —. -—..... 15 0 49 Light-gray limestone............................................... 20 0 Total.......................................................... 496 7 NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 119 The bed of blue clay (No. 2 of the boring) is almost certainly the same struck in the shaft, one mile above St. Joseph, as the borings from it agree well with the clay thrown out at the shaft. It is probably the most extensive bed of that character in the whole series, and may possibly represent the 40-foot bed, No. 19, called " blue slate," in the Omaha boring. Between St. Joseph and Atchison, Kansas, I had no opportunity to make any examinations; but Mr. Broadhead's explorations of these rocks along the Missouri side of the river show a continuation of the same great series of Coal-Measures without any workable beds of coal. The distance between these two places is, by a right line, about seventeen miles, and the direction from St. Joseph to Atchison very nearly due southwest. At Atchison, and along the bluffs between there and " Riverside," the residence of Mr. George Scarborough, just above the village of Sumner, and three miles below Atchison, I had an opportunity to make out very satisfactorily (with the exception of one unexposed interval of 17 feet) a continuous section of Coal-Measure beds, altogether more than 175 feet in height above the Missouri. During my examinations here, I'was materially aided by Mr. Scarborough, whose taste for geological and botanical investigations had previously led him to explore the surrounding country, so as to be able to direct my attention to the best exposures, and otherwise to assist me in making out the following section of the rocks at this locality. Section of the rocks exposed at Riverside, Kansas, and along the river bluff between these and the Atchison Landing. ThickNo. Nature of strata. ThickIICSS. Ft. In. 22 Slope, probably Loess, to the summit of highest point, known as Prospect 27 0 Hill. 21 Rough, yellowish limestone, splitting into thin pieces on weathered sur- 2 0 faces; great numbers of Fusulina. 20 Blue clay below, yellow above.-............................ 2 0 19 Two layers yellowish-gray limestone with 18 inches clay between...... 5 6 18 Ash-colored clays with Chonetes granulifera....................-....... 2 6 17 Black, thinly laminated bituminous shale..................-........ —-. 2 6 16 Hard, impure, yellowish-gray limestone. —- ----............... 2 0 15 Blue clay.................................................. 6 0 14 Soft, yellowish limestone...................-....... —.............. 3 0 13 Grayish limestone weathering to yellow, in two layers, upper 1 foot, 2 8 lower 20 inches. Fusulina. 12 Bluish and ash-colored, more or less laminated and sandy clays, with 11 6 near the top a 21-inch seam of impure coal, or carbonaceous matter. 120 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF No. Nature of strata. Thicknless. Ft. In. 11 Yellowish and gray or bluish-gray sandstone; some parts Very soft, but 23 0 a few layers very hard and breaking almost like quartzite; the soft part sometimes laminated, and in others in 10 to 12 inch layers. 10 Unexposed.......................................................... 17 0 9 Hard, bluish-gray, impure limestone. Productus Nebrascensis, P. ler- 2 6 tenius, Chonetes granulifera, Athyris s ubtilita. 8 Unexposed space........................................... 21 0 7 Hard, bluish-gray, impure limestone, some parts argillaceous, others a 4 0 little arenaceous. Productus Necbrascensis, P. Prattenianus, Athyris subtilita. 6 Bluish laminated clay, with near the top two or three hard calcareous 5 0 layers. 5 Bluish and light-grayish limestones, weathering to yellowish, in irregu- 16 0 lar layers, with thin gray and yellowish partings. Many Fusulina, Productus lNebrascensis, P. Prattenian us, S)pirifer cameratus, Sp. lineatus (?, Athyris subtilita, Pinna peracuta, Avicula longa, Allorisma subcuneata, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Sclhizod-us, and teeth of Cladodus. 4 Yellowish and drab laminated clays................ 2 6 3 Black, regularly laminated shale......-.................. 2 6 2 Hard, bluish-gray, argillaceous limestone, weathering to yellowish in 1 10 places. Fusutina cylindrica, Hemirpronites crassus, Chonetes glabra, Productus Prattenianus, P. longispinus (?), Edmondiasubtruncata, Avicullopecten occidentalis, Bellerophon crassus, &c. 1 Bluish and drab-colored, more or less laminated, clay, with near the top 42 0 many Chonetes granulifera; also Myalina sp. Total Coal-Measures....-.-.............. -................... 175 6 Eight or ten feet of No. 1 of this section were under water at the time the examinations were made, and the nature of that part was learned from Mr. Scarborough and other persons at Atchison. At the Atchison Landing, the top of the heavy stratum of limestone, No. 5, which forums a well-marked horizon, is a little more than 65 feet above high water of the Missouri, while at Mr. Scarborough's place, (Riverside), three miles below Atchison, in a direction east of south, its upper layers are 100 feet above high water. Allowing 2 feet for the slope of the river surface in that distance, it would leave a difference of 37 feet in the actual elevation of the various corresponding beds at Atchison and Riverside, showing a dip here to the northwestward of a little more than 12 feet to the mile. At first I was unable to reconcile this with the boring two miles below St. Joseph, at which point it seemed probable this conspicuous bed of limestone should have been struck in the boring near the level of the Missouri. On reflecting, however, that the direction from Atchison to the locality where the boring below St. Joseph was made, although up the river, is not north, but a little east of northeast, while the dip Of the NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 121 strata here is northwest, or possibly a little west of northwest, it will be seen that the heavy bed of blue clay struck in the St. Joseph boring, at an elevation of 39 feet above the Missouri, almost certainly holds a stratigraphical position a little below the horizon of the 16-foot bed of limestone mentioned above. This conclusion is strengthened by the occurrence of a heavy bed of bluish and drab laminated clay beneath the 16-foot bed of limestone at Atchison, as well as by the fact that another boring at Atchison, commenced 22A feet above high water of the Missouri, and about 12 feet below the above-mentioned limestone, after passing through 15 feet of loose earth and fragments of rock (debris of the limestone in the hill above), struck shale, or laminated clay, and passed through a thickness of 11 feet of it. The " conglomerate rock," No. 3, 5 feet in thickness, mentioned in the memorandum of the Atchison boring, beneath the laminated clay, is doubtless the same sandstone, No. 3, of the St. Joseph boring, with some of the very hard concretions so often seen in the sandstones of this series. The want of exact agreement of thickness and composition of this and other beds penetrated, is easily accounted for by the changes so common in the lithological characters of the beds composing this series, and the different methods of grouping the subordinate beds, at the two borings. For the following statement of the borihg at Atchison, I am under obligations to George W. Glick, esq., of Atchison, the president of the company that sunk the boring: Boring at Atchison, Kansas, commencing 22~ feet above high-water mark of the Missouri; made by the Atchison Coal Company, 1865-'66. No. Natuire of strata penetrated. Depth. Ft. In. 1 Loose earth and fragments of rock........-......................... 15 0 2 Shale, (laminated clay)......... 11 0 3 Conglomerate rock, [so called by the workmen]....... —.. —-...... 5 0 4 Bituminous shale with a little coal..........-............-........... 19 0 5 Sandy mixed shale.....-..................... 82 0 6 Hard limestone.. —-... —..........-......-.....-........ — -—... 8 0 7 Gray shale.........-........................ -............. —....... 1 6 8 Sandstone, very hard.................................... 2 9 Sand and shale... —..............- -............................ —. 7 0 10 Shale, clayey and sandy........... 27 0 11 Dark-brown clay, with small seam of coal.............................. 8 0 12 Sandy shale........................................... 1 0 13 Gray shale with sand-rock at bottom................................. 7 0 14 Bituminous shale................................................. 6 0 15 Hard lime-rock................................................ 21 0 16 Soapstone. [Indurated clay]......................................... — 1 6 122 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF No. Nature of strata. Depth. Ft. In. 17 Very hardrock --.................................................. 0 18 Shale with a little coal -3................-.......................... 3 0 19 Sandy ironstone......-.......-............................... I 20 Gray shale...-................................................ 9 0 21 Lime-rock................-...................................... 6 22 Shale...5 0 23 Lime-rock...............................................-........... 0 24 Gray shale - -- -.........-..-....... 4 0 25 Lime-rock...................................................... 2 0 26. Shale with coal......................-...........................-... 1 0 27 Lime-rock................. —......... -. —....-.............-...... 3 0 28 Hard lime-rock -..................................-.......-.. 10 0 29 Soapstone. [Indurated clay]..- —................................. 2 0 30 L im e-rock.......................................................... 4 0 31 Sandy shale......... 2 0 32 Hard lime-rock......................................... 0 4 33 Sandy shale.......................................................... - -2 0 34 Sand-rock........................................................ 5 0 35 Hard shale.................... --.................................. -3 0 36 Sandstone.......................................................... 0 6 37 Shale. 10 0 38 Hard rock —.........-................................... —..... —-. 1 6 39 Shaler................ ---------.................................... 3 0 40 Lime-rock.............................................. 2 0 41 Shale, (hard) -—............................. 4 0 42 Sand-rock.. -. 0 6 43 Lime-rock..... —.. —-.. ——... —-..................... 4 6 If I am not mistaken, this boring, as already suggested, commenced at very near the same geological horizon as that at St. Joseph, and, as far as it went, merely explored, at least in part, the same ground as that penetrated at St. Joseph, allowing for the thinning out of some unim NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 123 portant beds, and the thickening or change in the composition df others. If so, the money expended on the Atchison boring added little or nothing to the information developed by that at St. Joseph. If it is, therefore, desired to make further explorations at either of these localities, I would advise that the St. Joseph boring be carried 500 or 600 feet deeper, and if a workable bed of coal should be struck there, it may reasonably be expected to exist at not far from the same depth beneath Atchison. Having thus given a somewhat detailed sketch of the various natural sections of tkese rocks seen along the Missouri, in Nebraska, below Omaha City, together with statements of the thickness, order of succession, and included fossils of the numerous subordinate beds, along with the facts revealed by the several shafts, drifts, borings, and other excavations examined, it will be interesting to consider the vertical range of the different types of organic remains so often mentioned, and their relations to those of our Carboniferous rocks elsewhere, with the view of throwing some light upon mooted questions respecting the age of some of these Nebraska strata. In order to facilitate such a review of the range of the fossils already mentioned in detail in their proper places in the several sections given, the following tabular list of all the species has been prepared. With regard to the abbreviations, Kans., Mo., o., Ill., W. Va., and Ky., inserted in the columns after the names, it is perlhaps scarcely necessary to explain that they are used instead of the names of the several States, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, West Virginia, and Kentucky.* The other columns designate localities in Nebraska at which the various species have been found. For the species found at Nebraska City two separate columns are used, to show which forms occur in the division B and which in C, the line of separation between these two divisions being more strongly marked upon paleontological grounds at this particular locality than others, though in some parts of the West the fossils of both divisions are, with few exceptions, known to range through the whole series. As it would be inconvenient, as well as unnecessary, for the proposed objects of comparison, to give a separate column for each of the numerous localities at which the fossils enumerated were found, only a few of the more prominent localities are thus noted, and these are the particular localities at which the outcrops occur that have been by Professors Marcou and Geinitz referred in part to the Lower Carboniferous. and in part to the Coal-Measures and Permian (= Dyas). In the column on the right, some additional localities are also occasionally noted, and of these it is proper to remark that the outcrops at Otoe City, Aspinwall, Brownville, and Peru are believed to hold a higher position in the series than division C, at Nebraska City. That at Otoe City was so regarded by Professor Marcou, in which opinion I am, as elsewhere stated, inclined to agree with him, and there are equally good grounds for believing the beds seen at Peru, Aspinwall, and Brownville are in part or entirely upon the same horizon, or very near it, as these Otoe City outcrops. * The comparatively small number of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska species, noted in the Kentucky column, is due to the fact that little attention was devoted, during the progress of the Kentucky survey, to collecting fossils. So far as the Coal-Measure fossils of Kentucky are known, however, the remains of both animals and plants agree very closely with those of Illinois, as might be expected from the exact correspondence shown by Lesqucreux to exist between the various beds composing this series in these two States. Tabular list, illustrating the geological and geographical range of the fossils of Eastern Nebraska. P. COAL-MEASURES IN OTHER STATES. ESPECIAL LOCALITIES IN NEBRASKA. No. "Names of species. Nebraska Miscellaneous localities in Nebraska. Kans. Mo. Io. Ill. Ky. W.Va. Omaha. Bellevue. mouth. BluRc Wyomintg, Bennett's Mill. Ci PLANTS. B C. 1 Ncuropteris hirsuta, Lesqx.....-...-..I.............B I11T Ky................................................ row ill twomiles.laove Rulo. t 2 Neuropteris Loschii, Brgt - Ru - ------- -—.ie. 2 Ne~uropterisloschii, Bgt................................................... Do. 3 Calamitcs.................. --............................................................. Brownville. ANIMAL REMAINS. 4 Fusulina cylindric, Fischer........... Kans. Mo.. lo. 111..-.......* * * Nebraska City, above bed C; Otoe City; Brownville, Rule, &c. 5 Rhombopora lepidodendroides, Meek.... Kans. Mo. Io. ll1T~.......* * * * * North side Platte, Bulo. 6 Fistulipora, undt. sp —.-.......... Kans. Mo. Io Ill. H I......!. * * * * Rule. 7 Syringoporamultattenuata, McCh..................t M.......... — - — 3 miles up Platte River, north side. 8 Lophophyllumproliferum, McCh., (sp.)- Mo.....o. M lo 111~. -.-............................ *o. 9 Campophyllun torquium, Owen, (sp.)........Mo. o-11111.......................................Cedar Bluff. 10 c nu? hemispherius, Sh Io. 111................................. * * 3 miles up Platte, north side; Cedar *i~~~~~ ~~Bluff. 11 Zeacrinus mucrospinus, McCh..- ans Mo.......... o-.......................................... Cedar Bluff. 12 Erisocrinus typus, M. & W............. o. III.................... 13 Archhcecidaris triserratus, M......................... 111.......................................... Three miles up Platte River. 14 Eocidaris lallianus, Geinitz. --- - -- - - --- 15 Fenestella,..................... - 1111T-......................J.. 16 FenesteUa Shuardi, Prout................................... 17 Polypora submarginata, Meek.................................. * * 18 Polypor, sp.. —..........................ans. o...................... 19 Syfnocladia biserialis, Swallow, K.........I j.ans. I Jo. 1J11~.....................*........ Three miles up Platte River. 20 Glauconorne trilineata, Meek..................................... * 21 Glauconome Americana, Swallow, (sp.). Kans. —---- Io. III..................................................... 22 LinqulEa Scotica, Davidson?............[ - - -...... —- - I II-........................................... 23 Orbiculoidea, sp....................................... Morton's shaft, 1 miles west of lNebraska City. 24 Chonetes erneuiiana, N. and P.....Kans. Mo..n. o I11T............l- Three miles up Platte River. 25 Chonetes ranulifera, Owen. —---.. —-o... o. l - -..... —--- * * * * * * Cedar Bluff, Otoe City, Rulo, &c..26 Chonetes glabCr, Geinitz..-..... Kans. o... —--—.-.. —-—.. —-... - * Morton's shaft, Nebraska City. 27 Productus pertenuis, Meek ---—....-....- Kans-...... Il. t......... ---—..... — Morton's. 28 1Productus Nebrascensis, Owen.......... Kans Mo.. o 11ll1F. Ky.. Va. * * Platte River, Brownville, Rulo, &c. 29 Productus symmetricus, McCh...-...-.. Kans. Mo.. o Io ITll................ * * Platte River and other localities. 30 Productuspunctatus, Martin, (sp.)....... Kans. 111............ * Morton's shaft. 31 Productus costatus, Sowerby?........... Kans. Mo-. o 1111. - Ky........ * 32 Productus semireticulatus, Martin, (sp.) Kans. Mo. o.. vao.........V. * * * * * * Otoe City, Brownville, Aspinwall, &o, 33 Productus longispinus, Sowerby -........ Kans. Mo.. Io. ~. Kv-........ * * * * * * Do. 34 Productus Prattenianus, Norw -......... Kans. Mo.. - o. I Ill.K.. w. V. * * * * * Otoe City, Rulo, &c. 35 I3emipronites crass8, M. and W. —. — Kans. Mo.. To. 111~. Ky.. W. Va.. * * * * * Platte River, Otoe City, Aspinwall, Rule. 36 Meekella striato-costata, Cox, (sp.). —-- Kanis. Mo.. To- Il.. Ky................ -...-. * *.. Otoe City, Aspmnwall 37 Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Hall, (sp) ans Mo.. o...Il -..- * * * * Otoe City, Rule, &c.38 Orthis carbonaria, Swallow -—.. —..... Kans. Mo. o 111 ----------' * *.. Platte River. 39 Rhynchonella Osagensis, Swallow.. ans..... Mo o- 1111T. -- --- Platte River, Otoe City. 40 Spirifercameratus, Morton.H.. Kans. Mo.. o. 111. Ky.. W.Va * * * * * * Otoe City, Brownville,' Rulo. 41 Sp. (Martinia) plano-convexus, Shum.... Kans. Mo.. Io Ill.'? W.V a........ * * * * Platte River, Otoe City, Brownville. 42 Sp. (Martinia) lineatus, Martin, (sp.)... Kans. Mo.. Io. 111[-....................... *43 8piriferina Kentuckensis, Shuam........ an. Mo.. o. T 1Il~ Ky.......... * Oto City, Aspinwall. 44. Rletzia punctulifera, Shum.............. Kans. Mo.. Io. 111l~. Ky.....-. - -..... * * *............ 45 Athyrissubtilita, Hall, (sp.)........... W. Va. * * Aspinwall. 46 Terebratula bovidens, Morton........... Kans. Mo.. o. 111T............................ Platte River. 4n Lima retifera. Shumard an................... — 48 Entolium av (ulatum, Swallow, (sp.)-..........-Mo.. Io- 111.............................. *.'............ Do. 49 Nucula Beyrichi, V. Schaur.??.... —.....*............. — 111.....- ---- --- *50 Nucula ventricosa, Hall................. Kans.? Io. 111...W..Va............. 51 Yoldia subsn tula, M. and W L................. -- ---- -.... —...............................-'-'.-.'.' --.'.'_'.-* — 52 Nuculana bellistriata, Stevens, (sp.). HKans-.T.....-lo. 111T.......W. Va........................... —-..'.'....-.....-. * Brownville. 53 Macrodon tenuistrata, M........ and W.......T. I*T 0 54 Schizodus curtus, M. and W............ Kans. T...... ~.. Hl^......:..... - ------ - ~ - - 55 Schizodus Wvheeleri, Swallow, (ip.).......Mo.. To. Ill..- —.. - - -................. Platte River. 56 Nchizodus, p......... 111.....................-... T 57 Avicuta lonqa, Geinitz, (sp.).H.......... Kans....... To. 111T — - - - - -.- -. —.-.-.-..-..-. 58 Avicula? s-ilcata, Geinitz -................................. ------- le --'..'.'.'.'. -—...-* — 59 Pseudomonotis, sp. 3-.-............I...~- Cedar Bluff. 60 Pseudomonotis radiais, Phill., (sp.)??................. Ill.......................................... * 61 Meyalina Savallovi, McChesIny.... Hn.M.. o..... T..111.... —.............*....... 62 Myalina subquaedrata, Shum.H... ans. Mo.. To. Il....-W. Va. — - * * - - * * Platte River. 63 Myalinaperattenuata, M. and WV.- ns...... ii....... -............................... Otoe City, Brownville Aspinwall. 64 Aviculopecten occidentalis, Sha........ ans. Mo.. To. 111. -................ * * * * 1 These plants were identifiedi by Professor Lesquereux, who informs me that N. Loschli, although found in the Permian of Europe, ranges through the whole thickness of H the Coal-Measures in Illinois; while N. hirsuta, which has been thought by some to be identical with a European Permian form, was first described by Prof. L. from the CoalMeasures of Pennusylvania, and.he says it ranges throughout the whole area and thickness of the Illinois Coal-Measures. The fact that these two ferns occur at Morris, Ill., H associated with a curious plant (?), thought to belong to a genus (Palceoxyris) only known in.Europe in the Trias, might lead those unacquainted with all the facts to suspect b that these Morris beds could scarcely be so old as the Carboniferous. It must not be forgotten, however, that these beds belong to the lower part of the Illinois Coal-Measures, ^j and that we find there, directly associated with these plants, the well-known European Coal-Measure genus of Crustacea, Anthraceopalemon, together with three other genera of y Crustacea (Pale ocaris, Euproops, and Eurypterus?) which, although not certainly identical generically, with European Carboniferous forms, are certainly far more nearly allied to the same than to anything yet known from tile Permian. Such facts only show that several types of both animals and plants appeared at considerable earlier periods hero H than in Europe. This is even more strikingly the case in the Cretaceous flora of this country than in that of the Carboniferous, which fact led one of the highest European ^ authorities on fossil botany, at first, to refer a collection of plant remains from our Cretaceous to the horizon of the Miocene. 2 This species ranges down into the Chester and St. Louis limestones, of the Lower Carboniferous, in Illinois. a A species of this genus occurs at Leavenworth City, Kansas, far down in the Coal-Measures, in a bed referred by Professor Swallow to the upper part of the middle Coal- 02 Measures. Dr. White also finds it at about the middle of the Upper Coal-Measures in Iowa, and I have seen an imperfect specimen of the genus from the Lower Coal-Measures of West Virginia. IT This mark in the fourth column after the letters " TII." indicates that the species is known not only in the'Upper, but also in the Lower, beds of the Coal-Measures of Illinois. l~A All of those from West Virginia were found in the Lower Coal-Measures. C-< Tabular list, illustrating the geological and geographical range of the fossils of Eastern Nebraska-Continued. i t~ COAL-MEASURlES IN OTIIER STATES. ESPECIAL LOCALITIES IN NEBRASKA. as M. o. I. KyNamoe.s.O aa of species.. el e l s ok Nebraska City, ~ Miscellaneous localities in Nebraska. Kans. Mo. Io. II. Ky. W. Va. Omaha. Bellevue. mouth. Bif. Wyoming, muh' B ~ Bennett's Mill. ANIMAL REMAINS-Continued. B. C. 65 Avtclopecten neglectus, Geinitz, (sp.)..-.- IlI.......l......... —----- - - - —........ * - 66 Aviculopectencarbonierow, Stv., (sp.)......... MAo.. uo. IlcT-.....W.......................a................ * Morton's shaft, Nebraska City. 67 Aviculopecten Whitei, Meek................... T- —....... /o 1- - - - -................Morton's shaft; Brownville. 68 Aviculopecten Coxanus,M. and W....................... aIl~............................................;. *, oW Aviculopinna Americana, Meek..................... Ho........... -............................................... * * 70 Pinna peracuta, Shumard.............. Kans. Mo.. Io- Ill...... 1^........ * *"........ 71 -lIodiola? subelliptica, Meek............ Kans.-..............-........................................................."'*'" H 7 Pleurophorus obloengus, Meek..........................- 111-...................................................... * 73 Pleurophorus occidentalis, M.and H..................... III..............................l *..........Otoo City... 74 Edmondia? reflexr, Meek-....*................. Moto'................................................. * Morton's shaft. 75 Edmondia? glabra, Meek......................... III.......................................................... 76 Edmondiae? Nebrascensig, Geinitz -.-.....-.-...........-............................... -* — 77 Edmondia subtruncata, Meek. Kas...... -........................................................ 78 Edmondia Aspinwallensis, Meek - W. Va................................................... Aspinwall. 79 Solenernya, sp................................... 11lll..................................... 80 So lenomya, sp-.......................................................''............... 81 Prothyris elegans, Meek-................-................. iTi......-................................................ 82 Chenomya Leavenworthensis,. and I. Kans- 111..................................................... 83 Allorisma (Sedgwickia) reflex, M........................................................'..... 84 Allorisma (Sedgwickia) Geinitzii, Meek..... 111..................................... 85 Aloerisma (Sedgvwickia) subelegans, M-................... ll~..................... * 86 Allorisma (Sedgwick-ia) granosa, Shum.. Kans-.l-...... _ Il......l.................................... ------—......... Cl 87 Allorisma subeuneata, M. and 11 —------ Kans. Mo. - Io. 111....................... * * * *........ Brownville and Aspiuwall. 88 Solenopsis solenoides, Geinitzs, (sp.)...................... 111................................-................ * 89 Dentalium Meekianum, Geinitz —......... -............ ---—.Ill. 90 Bellerophon carbonarius, Cox. —-------- Kans. Mo. -lo. I 111. Ky. - W. Va.*........*....... ----- - * 91 Bellerophon Montfortianus, N. and P... Kans. Mo.. lo. 111-.....W. Va-.-...........?.... -..........-....... Morton's shaft. 92 Bellerophon Mtarcouanus, Geinitz....-111...-..... -—.......... * T 93 Bellerophon percarinctus, Con —-------- Kans. Mo.. Io ll~T......W. Va.-...................................-'..... — * Brownville. 94 Bellerophon Kansasensis, Swallow. —--- Kans --..... IhliT- —. —.-. -—. -- ------- ----- --........ -------- -ulo. 95 Euoenphalus rugosus, Hall -------------- Kans- Mo. - 1. -lil~ET. - W. Va-*....,............ - * * Cedar Bluff, Aspinwall. 96 Platyceras Nebrascensis, Meek.-..........................111.1..-.............................................. —-........ Morton's shaR, Nebraska City; two miles below Bennett's Mill. 97 Macrocheilus intercalaris, M. and Wl...................-.................... 21 miles southwest of Nebraska City. 98 Mae'-'ocheilusprimoqenius, Con..?.. l- -o. 111: -.Va......... V-*.......-.......... 99 Oy-Ohonema subtenicata, Geinitz, (sp.)-.o.. -........ lo...................... 100 Aclis?) Swalloviana, Geiitz, (sp.)...................... Ill?. -- ------ * 101 Pleurotomaria lraydeniana. Geinitz-............................................................. — l............- * , Pl0 urofomaria0perhumerosa, 0...2................................................................. M...- Mor ton' s shaft, Nebraska City.; lulo. 104 IPleurotomria inornata, Meek —-1:::: - - --: -: -: - -----: - -'- - --- --'-Morton's shaft, Nebraska City. 105 Pleuro tormaria Grayvillensi-s, N P.. and P. Kans..o..llf.. Ky.. W...... — 106 Pleurotomaria Marconanus, Geinitz..- --------......-..... —..........- -—. ——. —-------— ~ —- ----— ~-~ —------ 107 Pleurotomaria subdecussata, Gcinitz.....i...n.............................................-.. 108 Murchisonia Nebrascensis, Geinitz..............-... —-..............................................-...........-.~ W 109 Orthoceras cribrosum, Geiinitz............. —. T - -- -.-.-.- W. Va........................................... -si 1a 110 Nautilus occidentalis, Swallow —-- -...... Kans. Mo-.-W........................................ —-- Aspiwa 111 Nautilus ponderosus, White & StJohn....................-Jo........-. — - ---........................ 112 Cythere Nebrascensis, GeinitzJ.......... o............. l......... —-- — Io-.-.......-.-. —---.-....-.... — * t 113 Phillipsia, sp-........ —- ----............-...... Io. -................................... —---—.- - s-.. -. 114 Phillipsia scitula. M. and.................. 11... *........... -..... * 115 Phillpyia ajor, Shurnar.d,...... —-— Kas.. -......- IT........... ----..........................h. -..-..................... lo. III.................... —-. —--------..-'... D 116 Dettodus? angttlaris, N. and WJ.-Do. 117 ladodus inortifer, N.andW. - -....... - --- -Kans -.-. --— I. ----- * - ----- - -. —.....-... t 118 Petalodus destructor, N. and WJ.........J................. -TO........................... - —.~..-.~~................. 119 Diplodus tompressus, N. and W. —-- --- ----- - -— o.................... I....-......................... — - *............ Rulo, Nebraska. 120 Peripristis semicircularis, N. & W., (sp.)................ I....*............ —.i...n.. sMorton's shaft. 121 Chomatodus arcuatus, St. John'- -............. - ----—... —-. —--—. —------— ~ — -. 122 Xystrodus? oociddentalis, St. John...............-...... -..-..................-..-.................... -..........-.... - This species was found at Bennett's Mill. near Nebraska City, by Professor 0. St. John. CQ 04 128 ITNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF The inseparable linking together of all of these Nebraska rocks under consideration, by their organic remains, as well as their identity with the Upper Coal-Measures of Iowa, Illinois, and other neighboring States, is so clearly exhibited in the foregoing list, as to render-any extended comments upon these points almost unnecessary. Some concluding remarks, however, may assist in making these facts more manifest to those who may not have the time, or inclination, fully to analyze the list. In the first place, it may be remarked, that as Professor Geinitz, the paleontological authority to whom Professor Marcou submitted his collection, now concedes that the Rock Bluff and Plattsmouth sections (which had been by the last-mentioned author referred to the Permian really belong to the Carboniferous, the only questions that need be discussed here are, whether Professor Geinitz was right i referring the Plattsmouth beds to the Lower Carboniferous or Mountain limestone series, instead of to the Upper Coal-Measures, as he correctly referred the Rock Bluff section; and whether or not he and Professor Marcou are right in placing the Wyoming and Nebraska City outcrops on a parallel with the Permian or Dyas of Europe? In regard to the first question, it is only necessary to repeat, that out of thirty-six species known from Plattsmouth, twenty-five (including millions of Fusulina). as may be seen by the list, also occur at Rock Bluff; while the remaining eleven Plattsmouth species not yet found at Rock Bluff, with one or two exceptions, may all (like the others) be seen to occur in the Upper and many of them in the Lower Coal-Measures of Illinois, Iowa, and other neighboring States. In addition to this, of all the species yet known from both of. these localities, only some four or five (and these are forms, in this country, common to both the CoalMeasures and Lower Carboniferous) have ever been here found at any horizon below the Millstone grit. It is true, a larger proportion than this of these fossils agree in their affinities with European Lower Carboniferous forms; but the fact that the rocks in which they occur, in Kansas, shade without any defined physical or paleontological break, into the Permian above, ought to be convincing evidence that these 1Tlattsmouth beds cannot be properly included in the Lower Carboniferous series.* This is also clearly shown by ther identity with the Upper CoalMeasure beds of Iowa and Illinois, which in the latter State, can be traced without interruption southward to where they and other still Lower Coal-Measure strata, containing, along with most of the.samne animal types, the remains of a well-marked Coal-Measure flora., rest directly upon extensive deposits, 300 or 400 feet in thickness, of Millstone grit; while beneath the latter, we have a great series of massive limestones and other strata, corresponding completely, not only in their physical characters and position, but also in the affinities of their entire group of fossils, with the Mountain limestone of Europe. By a glance at the foregoing list, it will also be seen that the same reasoning applies, with equal force, against Professor Marcou's reference of the outcrops above the mouth of Platte River, at Bellevue and Omaha, to the Mountain limestone; since of the twenty-six species of fossils now known from these localities, twenty-four are the common forms of our Coal-Measures, while none of them, excepting a few that are well *Since this was written, Dr. White, the able State geologist otlowa,has,inhis report, shown in the clearest manner possible, by sections across that State from the Mississippi River to the Missouri at Plattsmouth, that the rocks along the latter stream, at and near Plattsmouth, really belong to the Coal-Measures, and that there are no Lower Carboniferous rocks there within one thousand feet or more of the surface. NEBRASKA, AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 129 known to be common to the Coal-Measures and Lower Carboniferous rocks of the West, have ever been found below the horizon of the Millstone grit. Indeed, all but three or four of thein (which are themselves well-known Coal-Measure species) also occur in the Plattsmouth beds, referred by Professor Marcou to the Lower Dyas. He has, it is true, m~ade an effort to explain away this latter'fact, on the ground that most of the fossils known to him from Omaha and Bellevue are Brachiopoda, which lhe thinks can-not be relied upon in the identification of strata, owing to their great vertical range. We now know, however, from these very beds at Bellevue, as may be seen by the foregoing list, the lamellibranchiate genera, and Coal-Measure species, Myalina subquadrata, and Allorisma subcuneata, both of which occur in the very beds referred by him elsewhere to the Upper Dyas. Again, we have the crustacean genus and Coal-Measure species, Phillipsia major of Shumard, both from these so-caled Mountain limestone beds of Bellevue, and from the so-called Lower Dyas of Plattsmouth. Still further, we have from the Bellevue beds the well-known vertebrate Coal-Measure species, Peripristis semicircularis, which, strangely enough, supposing Professor Marconu correct, also occurs at Nebraska City and Bennett's Mill, in the so-called Upper -Dyas, and at Rock Bluff, in the upper part of the so-called Lower Dyas (see Plates III and IV). So even if we admit that the testimony of the Brachiopodca may be, in some cases, less reliable than that of a few other types, we cannot ignore it when directly corroborated by that of the lamellibranchiates, trilobites, and fishes. I can, therefore, see no reason whatever for separating these beds from the Coal-Measures. We come now to consider the propriety of Professors Marcou and Geinitz's reference of division B of the Nebraska City section, and at Wyoming and Bennett's Mill, to the Upper Dyas, or more properly to the Dyas at all. As shown in the list we know altogether from these beds about forty species of fossils, of which twenty, or one-half, are common to the same and the outcrops above Plattsmouth, referred by Professor Marcou to the Mountain limestone. Thirty of them also occur in the Plattsmouth and Rock Bluff strata, the first of which are placed by Professor Geinitz in the Lower Carboniferous, and the latter in the Upper Coal-Measures; while thirty-seven or thirty-eight, nearly the whole, consisting of PFusulina, polyzoa, corals, crinoids, brachiopods, lamellibranchiates, trilobites, and fishes, are found in the Upper, and, in part, the Lower Coal-Measures of Iowa, Illinois, and other neighboring States; and none of them, excepting a very few forms that are common to our Coal-Measures and Lower Carboniferous rocks, have ever been found in the latter in this country. Hence it seems to me clearly manifest that there is no reliable paleontological evidence for separating these beds from the Upper Coal-Measures. The only fact that gives the slightest show of reason for such a conclusion is the occurrence in them of the genera Pseudomonotis and Synocladiawith species resembling Permian forms of the genera Schizodus, Pleurophorus, Nuculana, &c., but it is exceedingly doubtful whether any of even these fossils are specifically identical with any known Permian form. The Synocladia is certainiy -not so, while it, and all the others, are well known to range far down into unquestionable Coal-Measures of the West, even below the horizon of the rocks referred by Professor Marcon to the Mountain limestone above Plattsmouth. For instance, a bed of limestone at near the level of the Missouri, at Leavenworth, Kansas, in which a Pseudomonotis, nearly allied to P. speluncaria, is known to occur, has been by Professor Swallow, who carries the line between the Upper Coal-Measures and Permian in that State several hundred feet lower than any others in this country, HI. Ex. 19-9 130 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF placed some 700 or 800 feet below the base of the Permian, in the Middle Coal-Measures. Dr. White, the State geologist of Iowa, also (inds this genus near the middle of the Upper Coal-Measures in that State. Professor Marcou would doubtless go around this difficulty by including all the strata in the Permian, as far down as a single one of these Permian types is knowa to range, regardless of all the other associated fossils: But in this he would be met by a still greater difficulty in having to include in the Permian the very same beds he at other places refers to the Mountain limestone, and at some places, as at Leavenworth City, even still lower strata than those so referred by him. But if these few fossils were known beyond doubt to range no lower in the series than division B of the Nebraska City section, and it could be positively demonstrated that they are all specifically identical with well-known European Permian species, should they alone set aside all the overwhelming weight of evidence of all the otherthirty-odd associated Carboniferous species, including such Carboniferous and older genera as Fusulina, Lophophyllum, Campophyllum, olenopsis, true Orthis* Phillipsia, Cladodus, Chomatodus, Peripristis, &c. I should think not. There being, therefore, no reason whatever for separating division B, with its numerous undoubted Coal-Measure species, from the Carboniferous, the next question to be considered in this connection is, whether there are any sufficient reasons for drawing an important division here between the beds B and C. For the solution of this question we must again appeal to the imbedded organic remains; and by examining the foregoing list, it will be seen that of about 70 species of fossils already known from division C (and some 8 or 9 others found in higher beds and not yet known to occur in C), about 32, as already stated, come in this region directly up from division B and lower beds, while we also now know that some 35 or more of the others, together with nearly all of those found in division B, occur at various horizons in the true CoalMeasures of Illinois and other Western States-most of them, indeed, there ranging into the lower part of that series. In fact, from what we now know of the range of species in our western Coal-Measures, I do not hesitate to express the opinion that nearly or quite all of the species found in division C, at'Nebraska City, will yet be discovered in beds holding positions below the middle of the Coal-Measures of Illinois and other Western States. From all of the facts, therefore, now determined, it must, I think, be clearly evident that all of these strata under consideration along the Missouri, that have been by some referred in part to the Mountain limestone, in part to the Permian or Dyas, and in part to the Coal-Measures, really belong entirely to the true Coal-Measures; unless the division C, at Nebraska City, and some apparently higher beds below there on the Missouri, may possibly belong to the horizon of an intermediate series between the Permian and Carboniferous, for which, in Kansas, Dr. Hayden and the writer proposed the name Permo-carboniferous. This latter distinction, however, it should be remembered, is, as we have always explained, even in Kansas, merely an arbitrary one, not founded upon any well-defined physical or paleontological break between these upper -beds and the Upper Coal-Measures. It is true that in first announcing the existence of Permian rocks in I am, of course aware that the genus Hemipranite8 (= Streptorhynchus) occurs in the Permian, and is sometimes, by those who are not very particular about generic distinctions, called Orthis; but I am not nware of any true typical Orthis, of the type of 0. Michilini, and 0. Carbonaria, having been yet found in the Permian of the Old World, though this genus may possibly occur at that horizon there. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES, 131 Kansas (Trans. Albany Inst., vol. IV., 1858), we also, upon the evidence of- a few fossils fro near Otoe and Nebraska Cities, resembling Permian forms, referred these beds to the Permian; but on afterwards finding that these fossils are there directly asssociated with a great preponderance of unquestionable Carboniferous species; and that there is also in Kansas a considerable thickness of rocks bet-ween the Permian and TUpper Coal-Measures containing, along with comparatively few Permian types, numerous unmistakable Carboniferous forms, we abandoned the idea of including these Otoe and Nebraska City beds in the Permian. And all subsequent investigations have but served to convince us of the accuracy of the latter conclusion. In3 his work on the fossils of the rocks under consideration, ~ Professor Geinitz has, without indicated doubts, identified, mainly from divisions B and C at Nebraska City, the following European Permian species: Gnilielmites permianus, G-ein.t| Pleurophor ts simplus, Keyserling. /Synocladia virgulacea, Phill. sp. Plenrophlores Pallasi, de Vern. Polypora biarmica, Keyserling. Nucala cBeyrichi, v. Schliaur. Stenopora colazarisis, de Vern. Produ'tus Jhorridius, Sowerby. Area striate, Brown. Productus horrescens, de Vern. Schizodis obscurus, Sowerby. Strolphalosia horrescens, (de Vern. kqSchizodes RBossices, de Vern. Caimarojporia globulina, Phill. sp. Schtizodles triencatus, King. Avicula sjpeluncaria, Schlot. sp. Solenomya biarmica, de Vern. Avicula pin~nafyormis, G-einitz. Serpitla pllanorbites, MLunster. Ancella Hcausmanni, Goldf. sp. In regard to nearly all of these, and several others of Professor GeinitZs identifications of these fossils, however, I have been reluctantly compelled to differ with him, after a very careful study of extensive collections. Indeed, so far fronm these fossils being in all cases specifically identical with the foreign forms to which he has referred them, I have already elsewhere shown that some of them do not even belong to the same genera, or families; t while very few, if any of them appear, to me really identical, specifically,'with European Permia-n species. For instance, the shell he has identified with Camarophoria globuina, is a true lRhynchonella, and at least one of those he referred to Stro)ophalosia horrescens is a true Productus; while he has identified two distinct species with the so-called Clidophorus PaUasi, de Vern., neither of which belongs to the same genus as the type of the Russian species, which is figured and described as an edentulous shell, by de VerneuiL under the name Aiodiola Pallasi. But in all of these cases, where I differ with Professor Geinitz respecting the relations of these Nebraska fossils, I have endeavored to give the student the means of forming his own conclusions, by figuring on the same plates for comparison the foreign species to which they have been, as I believe, erroneously referred. Of all the various fossils yet known from the Nebraska rocks referred by Professors Marcou and Geinitz to the Perinian, there are really very few that seem tome to be so closely similar to European Permian forms, that no entirely satisfactory specific distinctions have yet been detected in their external characters. These are the forms referred by Professor Geinitz to Nuoula Beyrichi, Leda Kazanensis, Schizodus Rossicus,~ Avicula (Pseudomonotis) sjpelunecaria, and Pleurophorus Pallasi.. The first four of * Carbonformation und Dyas in Nebraska, 1866. f In the bed at Nebraska City, from which the specimens referred by Prof. Geinitz to this species were obtained, we only found, after repeated and diligent examinations, mere fragments of plants too munch broken up to be clearly identified even generically. + See Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, vol. XLIV, new series,p. 170, and p. 331. 1867. $ S. Aossicus is said by Eichwald (Lethaea Ross. 1, p. 999) to occur both in the Carboniferous and Permian rocks of Russia. 132 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUIYEY OF thlese are, I acknowledge, very similar to the Permian species to which he has referred them, while the fifth seems to be as nearly like Pleurophorus costatus. To these we may perhaps also add the &chizodus represented by fig. 2, on plate X, which is very closely allied to 8. obscurws, though more compressed. The fact, however, that we know comparatively little of the hinges and interior of these shells, while they are mainly such types as usually present few reliable external characters for specific distinction, and belong for the most part to genera in which species are frequently very similar, must weaken our confidence in these specific identifications, under such circumstances. But when we take into consideration the fact that precisely the same forms are found in the Western States far down in beds acknowledged by to belong to the Coal-Measures, and which have even at some places been referred by Prof. Marcou to the Mountain limestone, and especially when we bear in mind, the numerous unquestionable Carboniferous species with which they are here directly associated in the beds under consideration, the impropriety of basing important conclusions upon them must be apparent. I am not, however, wishing, to conceal the fact that several of the genera found in these supposed Permian rocks, in Nebraska, and their equivalents in Iowa, Illinois, &c., are believe to be generally regarded as not in Europe dating back beyond the Permian epoch. But in considering these, we must not overlook the other genera equally characteristic of the Carboniferous, found in the very same rocks. The following lists include both types of genera: A. CARBONIFEROUS GENERA. B. GENERABELIEVED NOT TO DATE BACK OF THE PER1. Fusulina, 1 or 2 sp. 10. Petalodus, I sp. MIAN IN EUROPE. 2. Lophophyllum, I sp. 11. Cladodus, I or 2 sp. 3. Campophyllurm, sp. l12. Peripristis, I sp. 1. Synocladia, I sp. 4. Elapachycrinus, I sp. 13. Choomatodes, I sp. 2. Ailostegesj I sp. 5. i[risocrinus, I sp. 14. Xystrodus, 1 sp. 3. Pscedomonotis, 2 sp. 6. Orthis, I sp. 15. Deltodus, I sp. 4. Aviculopinna, I sp. 7. Solenopsis, I sp. 16. Antliodus, I sp. 5. Bakevellia, 1 sp. 8. Pro/h yris, I sp. 6. Placwuiopsis,I I sp. 9. Phillipsia, 2 sp. 7. Lima, I sp. It will thus be seen that while we have in the whole series of Upper Coal-Measures and Permo-carboniferous rocks of Kansas, Nebraska,,Iowa and Illinois, seven genera, consisting of one of Polyzoa and five or six of true Motlusca, that have not, sQ far al known to the writer at this time, been found in Europe at any horizon below the Permian, and two of these, it is believed, not even that low in the series there, we find in the same horizon, and for the most part directly associated with these, sixteen other genera, consisting of one of Poraminifera, two of Corals, two of Crinoidea, three- of Jolluseca( one of Trilobites, and seven of Fishes, not known to occur anywhere in more recent rocks than the Carboniferous. Seven of these, however, viz., Erisocrinus, Eapachycrinus, Prothyris, Deltodus, Peripristis, Antliodus, and Xystrodus, being new genera, it might be supposed ought not to be counted against the Permian. But it is worthy of note that even the typical species of Dr. White has discovered at about the horizon of the middle of the Rock Bluff section, in the Upper Coal-Measures of Iowa, attached to the coral Campophyllum, a minute Brachiopod, apparently possessing the characters of Aulos/eges. A species presenting at least all the external characters of the genns Pla.cunopsis, has been found in the Lipper Coal-Measures of Illinois (see Proceed. Chicago Acad. Sci. 1, March, 1866, p. 13), and the same has since been discovered by the Gcol. Survey of Ohio, in the Lower Coal-Measures of the latter State. t The genus Bellerop hon, of which we have four or five species in these rocks, has also, I believe, not been found in the Permian of Europe, though'one species is known from the Trias (St. Cassian' beds). NEBRASKA AND POIRTION8 OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 1 33 the genus Erisocrinus, occurs at Bellevue, in the very Coal-Measure beds erroneously referred, by Professor Marcou, to the Mountain limestone, as well as in the equivalent Upper Coal-Measure beds of Illinois. It is also certainly represented at far lower horizons by several lower Carboniferous species, two of which occur as low as the Burliligton limestone; while the only other known species of Eulpachyerinus is from the horizon of the Keokuk group. Again, the only other known species of the genus Prothyris was discovered by ProfessorWinchell in the very oldest member of the whole Carboniferous series in Michigan; and of the nine described species of Antliodus, and seven of Deltodus, all of the former, and all but one of the latter, are Lower Carboniferous forms, which is also the horizon of the only -two known European species thought by Newberry and Worthen probably to belong to Antliodus. Again, the only known European species, believed by St. John to belong to the new genera Peripristis and Xystrodus, are Mountain limestone species, one of which is the type of the genus Xystrodus. The genus Chomatodus is likewise, I believe, essentially, if not exclusively, a Mountain limestone group in Europe. At any rate, of the ten described species of this country, nine aLre from the Lower Carboniferous, and only one (an Upper Coal-Measure species of Illinois) was found at any higher horizon. The genus Petalodus seems also to be nearly or quite confined to the Mountain limestone of Europe, though two or three species are known from the Upper CoalMeasures of Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania. Fusulina is also, I believe, usually considered in Europe mainly, if not exclusively, a Lower Carboniferous genus, or at any rate one not ranging into the Permian. On the other hand, of the six or seven genera mentioned in the foregoing list, that are supposed to be in Europe confined to the Permian and later rocks (none of which types, it will be observed, rank even among the higher lamellibranchiate ]lollusea), the genus Aviculopinna, as may be seen by the figures and description, seems to be closely allied to Professor McCoy's Carboniferous and older genus Pteronites. Again, the genus Bakcevellia, although most generally regarded in Western Europe as a Permian type, is said, by Eichwald, also to occur in the Carboniferous of Russia; and it seems, also, to be represented in Nova Scotia, according to high authority, at or below the base of the enormously developed Coal-Measures of that region. And almost certainly the very species of Synocladia alluded to, also occurs in the Chester and St. Louis limestones of our Lower Carboniferous series. So it is evident that whether we look at the species or the- genera found in the rocks under consideration, we see that there is an overwhelming weight of evidence against the conclusion that they represent the Permian of the Old World. Indeed, looking at the genera of animal remains alone, without regard to the plants or the position of these beds above the horizon of the Millstone grit and Mountain limestone, and by taking into consideration the greater weight due the evidence of such highly organized types as Trilobites and Fishes, it would not be difficult to. bring forward a better argument in favor of the conclusion that this whole series belongs to the horizon of the European Mountain limestone, than that it represents the Permian. The mingling, however, of the few Permian types mentioned in the same beds with the numerous Carboniferous forms, already enumerated, through a considerable thickness of these and higher strata, together with the physical structure of our entire Carboniferous system, demonstrate, it seems to me, as clearly as facts can, that these rocks belong to the Coal-Measures, and that here we have no abrupt break between the Carboniferous and Permian. 134 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUIlVEY OF RIEMARKS ON THI-IE PROBABILITY OF FINDING VALUABLE BEDIS OF COAL WITHIN PROFITABLE WORKING DISTANCE OF THEII SURFACE IN EASTEItN NE1BRASKA. It is well kno\vn that along the valley of Des Moines River, and some of its tributaries in Iowa, 75 to 100 miles east of the Missouri, extensive and valuable beds of coal exist. This coal is of good quality, in beds varying from a foot or so to 7 feet in thickness, and is regarded by Dr. White, the State Geologist, as belonging to the Lower Coal- Measures. IIn going to INebraska in. the spring of 1867, 1 visited, with that gentleman1n, several localities where these Lower Coal-Measure rocks are seen, and as the facts observed there have a bearing on the coal question in Eastern Nebraska, a few remarks on these Des Moines Valley beds are necessary to a clear understanding of wha't will follow in regard to coal in Nebraska. Dr. White had previously thoroughly explored this region and the country through from here to the Missouri, and knew all the localities where the best exposures are to be seen, and I am under great obligations to him for conducting me throug'h from Iowa City to Nebraska City; and it is but just that I should state here, that all the facts observed by me, in the geology of Iowa, were previously known by him, and have been published in an interesting paper from his pen, in the American Journal of Sciences and Arts, vol. XLI\V, 1867, and subsequently in his able report published by legislative authority. The Lower and Middle Coal-Measures of the Des Moines Valley had also been, to a considerable extent, explored by Professor A. H. Worthen, when connected with a former survey of Iowa, and described at length in the report of that survey, published in 1858. They consist mainly of sandstones, shales, coal, and some thin, impure limestones, the maximum thickness of the whole, in this region, being supposed by Dr. VWhite to be about 800 feet. They only come to the surface in the region of the Des Moines River, and northeast of there, excepting in some of the deeper valleys somewhat farther west, and are believed by Dr. White to include all the workable beds of coal in the State. Although in some places quite fossiliferous, they are generally not so much so here as the Upper Coal-Measures occupying all the country from near the Des IMoines, westward to the Missouri.' As there is no Millstone grit here, the lower beds in this region rest directly down upon the Lower Carboniferous rocks. The Upper Coal-Measures west of the Des Moines, as already shown by Dr. White, are not separable from the Middle series by any physical or abrupt paleontological break, a number of the species of fossil being common to both, and the whole having here a uniform and slight general dip to the west of'south. The last locality at which we saw any of the beds of the Middle series in going southwestward from the Des Moines Valley was near Winterset, Madison County, in the rather deep valley of Middle River, a tributary of the Des Moines. Here we saw only one of the very upper beds of the Middle series, in the bottom of the valley. This valley, like all the others in this region, is merely one of erosion, cut down to a depth of perhaps 250 feet below the common elevation of the country by the * In some of the upper beds of the Middle series, however, we found Sperifer cameeratts, Morton, S. lineatus, S. placoconvexles, Shumard. Produchtus Nebrasccnsis, Owen, P. Loegispililes, Sowerby?, P. Punctatus, Martin (sp.), tlcmipronites crasses, M. & W., Chofetes,e(soloba, N. & P., together with Gc-villa longa, Geinitz (a true Avicela), and Aviculopectcel carboni eres Stevens ( = Pctcn Hlawvi, Geinitz). NIJEBRAKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 135 strea~m iow flowing in it. The hills on each side, to an elevation of about 220 feet, or perhaps more here, are composed of the succeeding hiogher series of the Coal-Measures, consisting of some comparatively heavy beds of light-yellowish limestones, with bluish, drab, and reddish clays, and sandy, micaceous shale, some black laminated shale, and a few inches of impure coal, the whole being overlaid by more or less heavy deposits of Drift. In this Upper series of Co al-Measures, as already intimated, only separated as a matter of convenience, and not by any natural break from the TMiddle, we found the following fossils, nearly or quite all of which had been previously collected here by Dr. White: FPusilina cylindrica, Rhomboporca and fistuipo'ra, sp., Eocidaris Hlalli, Hemipronites crasstus, Meekella striatocostata, P'rocductus costatus? P. Nebrascensis, P. Longispi111nus, Spirifer cameratus, S. planoconvexus, S. lineatust Spiriferina IKenhtuciensis, Chonetes Verneniliana, Athyris subtilita, Terebratula bovidcns, Retzia punctulifera^, Jiacrodon tenuistriatus, Myalina perattenuatat M,. subquadrata, Aviculopecten occidentalis,3 Bellerophon crassus, and an undetermined PhiilUipsia. Dr. White also found in one of the upper limestones a tooth of a Cochliodus. This, it will be seen, is, as far as it goes, with the exception of one or two species, almost precisely the same fauna characterizing the Upper Coal. Measures along the Missouri, already so often mentioned, where the v-hole series, however, is much more developed, the entire thickness of the upper series here, near Winterset, being estimated by Dr. White as probably not exceeding 200 to 2050 feet. On ascending from this valley, we saw no more exposures of the Middle series, the southwestward inclination of the strata taking these beds beneath the bottoms of the dee-,,pest valleys. At various places, however, south of there, on Grand River, in Union County, and westward to the Missouri, somewhat above Nebraska City, the Upper series was seen more or less exposed, and readily recognized by the various fossils already mentioned. As these fossils, however, have nearly all a great vertical range in this Upper series, and beds at different horizons, especially in Kansas and Nebraska, where these rocks are greatly developed, are known to resemble each other very closely in lithological characters, it is not easy to be always sure of the exact horizon in the series, of particular beds seen at different localities. Dr. White, how6ver, is quite confident that he can clearly identify the subordinate beds of most of the Winterset exposure, already mentioned, in the bluffs of the Missouri, on the Iowa side, twelve miles northeast of Nebraska City. Whether these beds are exactly equivalent or not with those at Winterset, there is not the slightest reason for'doubting that they belong to the same Coal-Measure series, as do all the intervening exposures between these two localities. On our arrival at Nebraska City, parties there interested in sinkinga shaft, at Mr. Morton's farm, one and three-fourth miles west of the lauding at that place, in search of coal, knowing that we had been examrining the country across from the coal region of the Des Moines Valley to the Missouri, naturally wished to know how deep we thought they would probably have to penetrate to find coal. After taking into consideration the gentle dip of the strata from the outcrops of the Lower productive Coal series near the Des Moines, and the thickness of the Upper nearly or quite barren series at Winterset, Iowa, and making some allowance for the thickening of the latter in a westerly or south. westerly direction, of which we had seen some evidence. Dr. White and the writer told the Hon. J. Sterling Morton that we thought it possible 13G UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF the productive series might be struck within about 500 feet of the surface of the Missouri Valley at Nebraska City. We apprised him, however, of the hazard and uncertainty generally attendin such mining enterprises, and advised that before proceeding farther with the shaft (at that time carried to a depth of 80 or 90 feet) that they should first sink an artesian boring 600 to 800 or 1,000 feet if coal should not be sooner struck. We were not at that time, however, nor until on the eve of starting from Nebraska City for Omaha City, aware of the fact that a boring had already been sunk in the Missouri Valley, a short distance below Nebraska City, to a depth of about 344 feet without striking any workable bed of coal. On taking this important fact, and others observed in the exposures seen between Nebraska, City and Omaha City, into consideration, together with those developed by the borings at Omaha, we were led to the conclusion that it is exceedingly improbable that sufficiently thick beds of coal exist at Nebraska City within profitable working distance of the surface. As we came back fron Omaha, a few weeks later, Dr. Hayden and I called to advise Mr. Morton to suspend work on the shaft, and, if he wished to make further exploration, first to sink Mr. Croxton's boring 500 or 600 feet deeper, if coal should no be sooner struck. Mr. Morton, however, was not at home, and we left the suggestions with his family. After my return to Washington I also wrote to himn to the same effect. Of course it is not within the scope of human wisdom to decide positively and beyond doubt, by any means short of actual boring, whether or not workable beds of coal couldbe struck there at depths that could be profitably wrought. The weight of evidence, however, from all the facts now known, is undoubtedly against success in such an undertaking. Some of the reasons for this conclusion are stated below. In the first place, although some facts were observed indicating a slight northerly or northeasterly inclination of the strata on the north side of Platte River, there is little reason to doubt that the boring at Omaha City, about thirteen miles farther north, penetrates nearly, if not quite, the whole 400 feet, into lower strata than those forming the Plattsmouth section, where at low water about 60 feet of rocks can be examined inch by inch, and certainly contain no workable coal. From near this point there is evidently a gentle south or southeastward dip, so that at Rock Bluff, about six miles by a right line in a direction a little east of south from Plattsmouth, the upper part of the section at the latter place is brought so low as to leave little room to doubt that in these two sections we h ave an opportunity to examine in detail about 150 or 160 feet of strata (with the exception of a few feet at Rock Bluff, almost certainly occupied by sandstone) without finding any coal. On going twelve miles farther down the river, in a nearly south direction, to Wyoming, we find the whole of the Rock Bluff section has, between these points, passed beneath the level of the Missouri, so that here at Wyoming we observe a low exposure, not agreeing with any part of the Rock Bluff section,, but'apparently occupying nearly the horizon of the lowexr part, or divisions A and B, of the Nebraska City section. It is possible, however, that there may be 40 or 50 feet of other unexposed stratt between the top of the Rock Bluff section and the Wyoming outcrop. From these exposures and the borings at Nebraska City and Omaha City, we have pretty good data for the belief that there are no workable beds of coal beneath the Missouri level at Nebraska City for a depth of at least 600 or 800 feet. Consequently the Upper barren measures almost certainly thicken much more rapidly in coming south NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIE.S 137 westward from Winterset, Iowa, than had been supposed. Dr. White's niummerous local sections, however, observed at various points west anUd southwest of Winterset, through to the Missouri, seem to show very clearly that this thickening of the Upper series is not due to the deposition of newer strata, upon the equivalents of those seen at Winterset,,but to a thickening of the same beds seen there, or with probably, in part, to the intercalation of other similar strata between or beneath the lower members of the same. At Nebraska City, and below there, at Otoe City, Brownville, and Aspinwall, there are, perhaps, altogether, near 150 to 200 feet of additional strata, holding probably all a position above the geological horizon of the top of the boring at Nebraska City. The various natural exposures, shallow shafts, drifts, and other excavations in these beds, show that they almost certainly contain no thicker bed of coal than the 22-inch bed seen at Aspinwall;5 so that these beds may, altogether or in patrt, also be added to the entire explored thickness' of strata almost certainly without any seam of coal thicker than that cropping out at Aspinwall. Somewhere below Aspinwall, a gentle dip of the strata to the north or northwest takes place, and causes lower beds to rise to the surface as we descend the Missouri from the southeast corner of the State. But. from what we saw near iRulo, it seems rather improbable that any beds come to the surface between that place and St. Joseph, in Missouri, belonging to much lower geological horizons than those penetrated by the borings.at Nebraska City and Omaha, though it is possible some beds may exist there not represented under the latter places. At any rate, the observations of Mr. Broadhead, and those of Dr. Owen and Professor Swallow, along the Missouri, render it exceedingly improbable that an'y workable beds of coal exist in any of the strata holding a geological position between those seen at Rulo and the horizon of the top of the boring at St. Joseph, in Missouri. And as the boring at the latter place was carried to a depth of 480 feet, without striking a workable bed of coal, and no such beds crop out between there and Atchison, Kansas, while none such were struck in a boring at the latter place, extending to a depth of about 300 feet, the evidence becomes very strong that we have here a great series of nearly barren Upper measures, containing no beds of coal of more than about 2 feet in thickness." It is worthy of note in this connection, that Mr. Broadhead had arrived at the same conclusion in regard to the Coal-Measures of northwestern Missouri, from the examination of numerous natural exposures before any of these borings had been made. By examining a paper on. the CoalMeasures of that region, published by him in the Proceedings of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences in 1865, it will be seen that he gives a continuous section of beds (with some unexposed spaces) of nearly 2,000 feet, before reaching a bed of coal as much as 2. feet in thickness; all of those noted above being from a few inches to 2 feet in thickness. It is quite probable that all the numerous thin beds and seans of shale, clay, limestone, sandstone, &c., composing this long section, are not always here placed by him in their exact order of superposition, since it is generally impossible to see more than. comparatively a few of them exposed in any one natural section, while it is very difficult, in a series of rocks like this, so liable to change their lithological characters in short distances, to be always right in identifying the same beds at different localities,'Dr. White's observations in Iowa have also led him to the conclusion that the Upper and most-of the Middle' Coal-Measures of that State, contain no bed of coal of -more than two feet in thickness. 133 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OP especially as most of their fossils have a great vertical range. There is little room for doubting, however, that this section gives a good geueral approximation to the true structure of the series in that region. It evidently includes most, if not all, of the series referred by Professor Marcou and Professor Geinitz to the Dyas, Coal-Measures, and Mountain limestone; also the Upper and some of the Middle Coal-Measures, as well as probably some of the Lower Permian. of Professor Swallow' Kansas section. There are a few leadingo facts that ought to be impressed upon the,minds of those who may wish to seek coal in Eastern Nebraska. Th first of these is, that the exposed rocks here belong to the upper, member of the great coal-bearing series, and that, although of considerable thickness, all observations and experience not only here in Nebraska but also in Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa, as aready stated, render it almost a moral certainty that this Upper series, in this region, contains none but thin and unreliable beds of coal. Consequently if good workable beds exist here, it may be regarded as a nearly settled question that they lie deep beneath the level of the lowest valleys, in the Lower or Middle Coal-Measures; and if ever made available it must be by deep shafts. It would not be prudent,however, to attempt to reach these lower beds by directly sinking shafts; the proper course is first to demonstrate their existence here, and their depth, by artesian borings. In making such borings here, they should, of course, commence in the deepest valleys. It ought also to be remembered, that it is simply throwing away money to make two or more such borings near each other, for in a country where the strata are so slightly inclined, ad so free from faults as this, a single boring settles the question for or against ^te existence of coal, to the depth that it penetrates, for a considerable area of the surrounding country; since regular workable beds of coal are, with rare exceptions, not confined to one spot, but extend with the other strata for more or less considerable distances. Indeed, it is very probable that one boring at Omaha City, or six or eight miles up Platte River, where the rise of the strata would give a somewhat lower start, and another somewhere in the valley of the Great Nemaha, if carried to a depth of 1,200 to 2,000 feet, in case coal should not be sooner found, would, with the boring already made at Nebraska City, and the numerous natural exposures examined, settle the question in regard to the existence of workable beds of coal within accessible depths, in Eastern Nebraska. Again, it ought to be generally known that money or labor expended in sinking shafts or excavating drifts into strata, every bed and seam of which m~y be examined in detail, and seen to be barren of coal in natural exposures in the immediate vicinity, will be certainly without reward. Much hard labor has also been squandered in Nebraska by excavating drifts into beds of black shale, with the delusive hope that if followed a hundred yards or so into a hill, they may be found to change into valuable beds of coal. Or, in thus following a 2 or 3-inch seam of coal, expecting it to be found much thicker farther in. Although such a result is not always certainly beyond the range of possibilities, it may be regarded as so nearly the case in these rocks as practically to amount to about the same thing. Indeed it may be almost taken for granted, from the nttmerous sections already examined inch by inch, and the facts developed by the borings, shafts, and other excavations already made, that no more valuable bed of coal than the 22-inch bed at Aspinwall, will ever be found here by such superficial openings. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 139 In regard to finding workable hbeds of coal within accessible depths in Eastern Nebraska by deep borings, I would remark, in conclusion, that "(although not prepared to discourage entirely all hope of success, it is proper to state, that all the kiown facts are unfavorable; not only on,account of the great thickness of the Upper nearly barren series, but becauise it is by no means certain that we would strike the productive ineasures here, even after going entirely through the Upper nearly barren series, since the lower beds may thin out in this direction. The great importance, however, of a good supply of coal to a country so rich in other natural resources, and at present so scantily supplied with wood, certainly renders it desirable that some of the borings already comme~nced should be sunk to greater depths before abandoning all hope of success. That at Omaha City, for instance, which probably starts at a lower geological horizon than any other yet commenced in the State, should be at least continued on to a depth of 1,000 to 2,000 or rnore feet, in case coal should not be sooner found; for it is scarcely possible to estimate, at this time, at what depths it might be profitable, at some future time if not at present, by the aid of improved implements and skill, to mine coal here, directly on the great thoroughfare of trade and travel between the Atlantic and Pacific shores.*'This report was prepared between three and four years back, and as I have not since visited Nebraska, I am at this time (April, 1871) unacquainted with any of the facts bearing on the question in relation to the probability of finding workable beds of coal there, that more recent borings or other explorations may have brought to light. As some persons seem to be surprised that it should be thought possible to mine coal at the great depth of 2,000 feet, it may not be out of place to mention here, that coal is now being profitably raised in England from the enormous depth of 2,418 feet, while some of the best English mining engineers believe that within 20 years it will be there raised from shafts 3,000 feet in depth. 140 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF DESCRIPTIONS OF FOSSILS. PROTOZOA. FORAMINIFERA. Genus FUSULINA Fischer. FUSULINA CYLINDRICA, Fischer. P1. I, Fig. 2; P1. Ii, Fig. 1; P1. V, Fig. 3, a, b; ad P. VII, Fig. 8, a. b. Fusulina cylindrica, Fischer, 1837, Oryct. Moscou, p. 126, PI. 18, Figs. 1-5; lurch. de Vern. and Keys., 1845, Geol. Russ., 11, p. 16, P1. 1, Fig. 1, a, b, e, d, e; Owen, 1852, Geol. Survey Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minn., p. 131, &c.; Meek & Hayden, 1859, Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, p. 24; Dana, 1863, Man. Geol, p. 164, Fig. 193; Meek & Htayden, 1864, Paleont Up. Mo., p. 14. PI. 1, Fig 6,, b, c, &.; Meek, 1864, Paleont. California I, Part I, p. 4, Pl. 2, Fig. 1; Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 71, Tab. V, Fig. 5. Shell small, fusiform or sub-cylindrical, more or less ventricose in the middle, somewhat obtusely pointed at the extremities, which generall have the appearance of being a little twisted. Surface smooth, excepting the septal furrows, which are moderately distinct, more or less regular, and a little curved as they approach the extremities. Aperture apparently linear, and not visible as the specimens are generally found. Volutions 6 to 8, closely coiled, the spaces (near the middle) being rarely more than twice the thickness of the shell wals. Septa from 20 to about 33 in the last or outer turn of adult specimens, counting around the middle; comparatively straight near the outer walls, but strongly undulated laterally within; foramina passing through the walls, moderately distinct in well-preserved specimens-as seen under a high magnifying power, in transverse sections near the middle of the shell, somewhat radiating, and numbering in the outer turn of a mediumsized specimen, from 12 to 20 between each two of the septa. Varyinug considerably in size and form; length or greater diameter of medium-sized individuals, 0.27 inch; thickness, or shorter diameter, 0.08 inch. In following the general practice of referring this to the xussian species, I am not only governed by comparisons with figures and descriptions of the latter, but I have had an opportunity to make direct comparison with specimens of F. cylindrica kindly sent to me by Colonel Romanowski, of the Russian mining-engineers's departmnent, from the Ural' Mountains. It is true these Russian specimens are not in a, condition to show very clearly in polished sections the minute, details of their internal structure under the microscope, but so far as I have been able to determine from the comparison, they seem to agree well with the American form.' I have never yet seen any specimens presenting the form of that figured by Professor G-einitz under Fischer~s name, P. compressa. If this compressed bicarinate appearance is not due to accidental pressure, I should think it a distinct species ^ though the specimens of these little foraminiferous shells have often been subjected to various accidents, I~1 waas interested to find among the Russian specimens sent by Colonel Romna.nowski, the globose species of FPsuib'a described by me in the California report, fira the Carboniferons rocks of that State, under the name T. robusta, with which the Russian authorities had correctly identified it. NEBRASKA. AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 141 and lbesides they vary so much naturally, that the separation of the species is generally attended with great difficulty. Loccality and position.-One of the specimens figured is from a locality two andi a half miles west of Nebraska City; it also occurs at Bennett's Mill, Wyoming, &c., all in beds referred by Professor Marcon and Professor Geiin-itz to division B of the lower part of their Upper Dyas: likewise at a higher position one mile southeast of (or below) Nebraska City, and at lower positions in the Coal-Measure on the Missouri, at Bock Bluff, Plattsmouth, Bellevue, Omaha City, &c. In short, it ranges all through the Coal-MLeasures, and is widely distributed in the Western States and Territories. AD ADI ATA. POLYPI. Genus IHOMBOPORA, Meek. Small ramose corals, with non-septate, short tubular cells, radiating obliquely outward and upwIard on all sides from an imaginary axis'; cell-mouths rhombic or rhoim~ibic-oval, and very regularly arranged in longitudinal and oblique spiral rows, the former of which are sometimes separated by more or less flexnuous longitudinal ridges; interspaces usually rather thick, and not pierced by transverse pores, but occupied by very minute non-septate longitudinal cells that are closed and represented at the surface by minute granules or spinules. Type, Rthombopora lepidodendroides, Meek. The little corals composing this group are closely allied to some of these included by Professor Hall in his genus Trematopora, if not really congeneric with a part of the same. They differ, however, from the typical species of that group, such as L\ tuberculosa, in not having the interspaces between the cells septate, but occupied by very minute tubes or pores (closed at the surface), as well as in the rhombic formn, and very regular arrangement of the cell-mouths. Trematopora aspera, Hall, has much the external aspect of our genus, excepting in its elongate oval instead of rhombic cell-mouths. Millepora rhombiferac Phillips, Vincularia ornata, Eichwald, and Eavosites serialis, Portlock, may, with much confidence, be included in this genus. The species of this group with which I am acquainted are fronm the Carboniferous rocks, through the whole of which the genus ranges, and I suspect that it is also represented in the Devonian and Silurian. None of the species I have yet seen seem to be incrusting or have hollow tubular stems, but there may be such among the undescribed species. Altliough some species of this genus have been referred to Goldfuss' genus Vincularia, they are widely removed from the typical Cretaceous species of that genus. RHOMBOPOIRA LEPID0D1)N1DR011DE8, Meek, PI. YI, Fig. 2, a, bl,, d, ef. T Stenopora columvawi8 (pan), Geinitz, 1866, Carb. ind Dyas in Neb., p. 66; (not Schloth. Ramose, slender, cylindrical or slightly compressed, and bifurcating at regular, distant intervals; divisions nearly straight between the points of bifurcation, where they diverge at angles of about 700 to 800 i com 142 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF posed of small, short, nearly round, tapering tubes, that ascend from an imaginary axis, obliquely outward, with more or less curve to the surface, near which they are separated by interspaces, which in cross-sections show the minute cellular structure; calices arranged very regularly in quincunx, so as to form vertical and oblique rows; distinctly rhombic at the surface, where their margins are roughened by small, prominent, node-like grains, placed one at each corner, with smaller granules along the edges between. Entire size unknown; thickness of one of the largest branches, 0.07 inch; length between bifurcations, 0.40 inch; number of calices in 0.20 inch. measuring longitudinally, 12; number of calices in 0.05 inch, measuring in the direction of the oblique rows, 4. The rhombic form of the cell-mouths, and their very regular arrangement, are often well marked in this species. These characters, however, and the granules along their margins, are only to be seen in well-preserved specimens, for when slightly worn the granules are removed, and the angular character of the calices becomes nearly obsolete. When the surface is ground a little obliquely, the calices present an oval outline, as seen in Fig. 2 e, of Plate VII, while the thin interspaces present a cellular structure, as if occupied by minute vertical' cells; one of these cells is larger than the others between the ends of the calices and seems to correspond to the larger grainlike node between the ends of each two of the calices.. In longitudinal sections I have been entiely unable to detect transverse plates in the calices or interspaces. In old specimens the'cell-walls seem to have become proportionally thicker nd the cells consequently smaller. As this is the only little coral we found in division C, at Nebraska City, among extensive collections, I am led to think it must be one of those referred by Professor Geinitz to Stenopora columnaris of Schlotheim. However that may be, I have no doubt, after a careful comparison with ramose specimens sent under the latter name from Posneck, Thuringia, that the Nebraska fossil is clearly distinct. In the first place, it differs in the regular rhombic form of the apertures of its well-preserved calices, and in the uniform arrangement of a larger granule at each of their corners, and one or more rows of very minute ones along each margin between. The specimens of S. columnaris mentioned above, have granulated margins to the calices; but these grains are irregularly arranged, while the calices themselves never present the rhombic outline seen in our fossil, but are always oval at the surface. In division B, at Nebraska City, the coral under consideration is often almost completely covered by the following described incrusting species. As Professor Geinitz includes under the one species Stenopora columnaris both incrusting and ramose forms, it is probable he included this as one of the varieties of that species. But Edwards and Haime consider the species columnaris as peculiarly an incrusting coral. At any rate, the species here described differs so materially from that incrusting it, that the two can be distinguished almost at a glance by external characters alone, while internally, also, they seem to me to present structural differences of generic importance. These differences are so readily seen in the figures as to render any detailed comparisons unnecessary. Locality and position.-Division C, of Nebraska City section; also in division B of the same at that place, where, as above stated, it is generally incrusted with another coral. It likewise occurs in the latter horizon at Bennett's Mill, Wyoming, &c., and at lower horizons in the U-pper Coal-Measures at Rock Bluff, and Plattsmouth, as well as at various NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES.' 1 43 positions in the Upper Coal-2Measures of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, MIssouri, and Illinois. Genus FISTULIPORA, McCoy. FISTULIPORA NODULIFERA, Meek. PI. V F. 5, a, b, c, d. Stenopora. colmnaris Geinitz, 1866, Cai-bonf. und Dyas in Nebraska, p. 83; (not S, coltmna7ris, Schoth., sp. Corallum incrusting crinoicd columns, small branching corals, and other objects, so as often to assume cylindrical, irregular, or false ramose *forms; surface more or less nodulous, but without granules or spinules; cell-miouths circular, small, or generally less than 0.01 inch in diameter, and, when not worn, with prominent smooth margins, generally directed a little obliquely outward from the centers of the prominences on the latter; interspaces usually slightly less than or about equal to the diameter of the cell-mouths, but sometimes (particularly on the prominences) wider; composed of from one to three ranges of minute vesicles, usually a little wider than high, and separated by very thin diaphragms; diaphragms of principal cells not seen. Thi s coral is quite common through most of the Coal-Measures of the'West. It often incrusts crinoid columns, and, wherever associated with the more delicate little coral for which I have proposed the name Rhomnbopora lepidodendroides, it incrusts the slender stems and branches of that species so completely as entirely to conceal the latter, and thus to appear as if it were itself ramose. Transverse or longitudinal sections, however, reveal the little stems, with an entirely different structure within. I have seen no examples of it ramose, however, where not thus modifled by the very distinct coral upon which it so often grows. I can scarcely doubt that this is one of the species referred to Stenopora columnaris by Professor Geinitz, as it is common in the same beds, and at the same localities from which he cites that species, some of the forms of which it nearly resembles in general appearance, as well as in its mode of growth. I cannot believe, however, that it is nearly allied to that species, because it shows no traces whatever, on perfectly preserved specimens, of the granules or spinules of the interspaces, elmaracterizing the forms included by Professor Geinitz in Schlotheim's species, where well preserved. On the contrary, it seems to me to have the structure of Fistulipora of McCoy; while the European forms referred by Professor Geinitz to the species columnaris are thought to belong, in part at least, to the genus Labechia, by Edwards and ilaime. Among the described species of Fistuliporc, this coral seems to agree most nearly, in the size of its cell-tubes and the structure of its intermediate vesicular tissue, with F. minor of McCoy. Still its cell-mouths are smaller and more closely arranged, there being from six to seven in the space of one line, while in Professor McCoy's species, four occupy the same space. It also never appears to grow to the thickness of that species, and consequently has much shorter tubes. The nodes or prow,, inences of its surface are comparatively large, like those seen on ]lioitiGutipora, d'Orbigney, and on,these the cell-mouths are most widely separated, and usually directed slightly outward from the middle of each node, in which case the upper margin or lip of each cell is slightly more prominent than the other. 144 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF I do not know that this nodose character has been observed in the genus Fistulipora, and hence the coral under consideration would seem to differ from the typical species of that genus about as Monticnuliporca differs from Chaetetes. These nodes, however, are not always developed, and seem to have no regular arrangement. Sometimes they seem to be merely represented by slightly more scattering spaces of cell-mouths, without any elevation. Locality ancd position.-Nebraska City, Bennet's Mill, and Wyoming, from bed B of the Nebraska City section. It also occurs at various other localities and positions in the Coal-Measures of Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and other Western States. Genus SYRINGOPORA, Goldfuss. SYRINGOPORA MIULTATTENUATA, Mcchesney. P1. 1, Fig. 5 a, b, c, d. Syringoporia multattenuata, McChesney, 1860, Descriptions New Paleozoic Fossils, p.: 75; also 1865, P1. 2 Fig. 4, a, b, illustrations of same. Corallum forming large masses; corallites cylindrical, long, slender, flexuous, more or less radiating, varying in their distance apart fromn once or twice their own breadth to close contact; connecting tubes nuinmrous, slender, transverse, irregularly distant, but generally rather close; epitheca thick and rather strongly wrinkled. Septa unknown; tabula very obliquely and irregularly arranged. Size of corallume unknown, but fragments indicate a diameter of 5 to 7 inches. The diameters of the corallites are quite uniform, and about 0.07 to 0.08 inch. They are rarely more than twice their own diameter apart, and often so closely compacted together as to become more or less angular, in which cases the connecting tubes are of course obsolete, but connecting openings take their places. In these compact examples, when the corallum is broken parallel to the corallites, these little transverse openings give it almnost the appearance of a Facosites. This species seems to be related-to S. geniculata, Phillips, but differs in having the corallites often closely compacted, and perhaps generally slightly smaller. Locality and position.-Four miles up Platte lRiver, north side, in the Upper Coal-Measures; it is also common at the same horizon in Illinois, eight miles south of Springfield. Genus LOPHOPHYLLUM, Edwards & Haime. LOPHOPHYLLUM PROLIFERUM, McChesney, (sp). P1. V, Fig. 4 a, b. Cyathaxonia prolifera, McChesney, 1860, Descr. New Pal. Foss., p. 75; also 1865, Fig. 10 PL, 2, illustrations same. Cyathaxonia, sp. Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., pp. 65 and 66, Tab. V, Figs. 3 and 4. Comp. C. tortuosa, Michelin, 1846, Icon. Zooph., p. 258, PI. 59, Fig. 8. Corallum elongate-conical, more or less curved, or sometimes nearly straight, tapering to a pointed base; epitheca very thin, with more or less distinct encircling wrinkles and striae of growth, crossed by longitudinal striae; rarely sending off a few spines near the base. Calice nearly or quite circular, moderately deep; columella prominent, compact in texture, compressed above, with its longer axis coincident with the general curve of the corallum; septa from about 30 to 50, every alternate one generally considerably shorter than the others, which latter extend to the columellan near which they are sometimes a little tortuous. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 145& The largest of the specimens from which the foregoing description was drawn up is about 0.82 inch in length, and 0.42 inch in breadth at the larger end; the species, however, sometimes attains quite double this length. I have not seen specimens of this species showing the eptal fossula very clearly.. Those from "Nebraska are generally broken, and distorted, but on comparison with examples from the Coal-Measures of llinois, they are found to agree well in all their known characters.'By examining longitudinal sections, Ii have ascertained that there are in this coral rather distant tabulhe or plates, extending outward with a strong downward curve from the coluniella, and hence that it does not even belong to the family Gyathfaxomnidc, but seems to agree well with Lopliophyllum. Professor G-einitz compares this species to' Cyathaxonia tortuosa of Michelin, from the Carboniferous rocks of Tournay, to vlxhicl it seems to be very'similar in external characters; but if that species is a Cyathaxonia, of course the forim under consideration must be widely different, Loclity an osition The specimens described are from division B of the Nebraska City section. Professor Geinitz also figures it from division C of the same section, and it occurs at Rock Bluff, Nebraska; and at Springfield, Lasalle, and numerous other localities in the CoalMeasures of Illinois, as well as in the adjoining States, and Texas. Genus CAMPOPHYI LL'UM. Edwards & Hairne. CAMPOPHYLLUM: TORQUIUM, Owen, sp. PI. 1, Fig. 1, a, b,, d. Cyatho phyllu vermiculare?, Owen, 1852, Report Geol. Survey Wisconsin, Iowa, and Mmnesota, p. 133, PI. IV, Fig. 2; (not Goldfuss, 1826). flexeosmvi?, Owen, 1852, ib., Fig. 3, a, b; (not C. (Madrqpora) flexaosaony Liun., 1767, nor Goldfuss, 1826). torquiem, Owen, 1852, ib., explan. PI. IV, Fig. 2. Corallum simple, attaiuing a rather lrge size, elongate-conical, and. often variously geniculated or bent when two or three inches in length,. but becoming nearly straight, subeylindrical, and considerably elongated. in the larger half of adult individuals. Epitheca thin, with small encircling wrinkles and strong undulations of growth, showing no traces of septal costm when unabraded, but, where even slightly worn, exposing the regularly disposed septa, and thin intervening dissepiments distinctly. Calice circular or slightly oval, comparatively shallow, with, thin margins, from which its sides slope rather steeply inward for some distance, and then descend very abruptly into a deeper, narrow, central. depression; provided at the outer side of the general curve of the corallum with a moderately distinct septal fossula, formed by the shortening of one of the primary septa, and the bending down of the tabuh-e at that point. Principal septa from 30 to 48, extending from about onehalf to two-thirds of the distance from the exterior toward tho center, stout and usually nearly straight inside of the vesicular outer zone, but becoming distinctly more attenuated (as seen in transverse sections) and somewhat curved or a little flexuous in crossing the vesicular area, where they alternate with an equal number of very short, thin ones; tabula very wide or occupying about two-thirds of the entire breadth, as seen in longitudinal sections, and passing nearly horizontally acrossn with a more or less upward arching; dissepiments thin and formingnumerous obliquely ascending, small vesicles, in transverse sections seen to pass across between the costoo with an outward curve. H. Ex. 19-10 146 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF Entire length unknown, but individuals incomplete at both extremities 5 inches in length and 1.60 inches in breadth, have been met with. These were probably not less than 7 or 8 inches in length vhen entie. Individuals of this size show at the thickest part 9 coste in a space of 0.50 inch. Young tortuous individuals of this coral were referred by Dr. Owen with doubt to Cyathophyllum tortuosum, Goldfuss, and large straighter fragments of adult specimens. from the sare beds, were doubtfully referred by him to C. vermiculare of Goldfuss. After a careful examination, however, of a large number of specimens, I'in led to the conclusion that they have the same internal structure, and really belong to one species. Although the large straighter specimens resemble quite nearly in their general appearanc fure Golof. vefussrculare, they are found to differ widely in their internal structure, C. vercilare having from 64 to 100 septa, the larger of which extend in to the center. In the same way the smaller flexuousspecimens resemble C. exsosvm of Goldfuss, with which they agree, more nearly in internl structure. They differ, however, in having the tab-lm'inuch more clo crowded, and arching upward, or, in other words, curved downward on each side, as seen in longitudinal sections. In some respects our coral seems nearly related to Caninia sub-ibicina of McCoy (as illustrated in his Brit. Pal. Foss., P. 3 1, Figs. 35, 35 a), but it has not near so many septa, that species having as many as about 130 in the two series. Localit y and position.-Very abundant in beds lI and 12 of the Rockbluff section; also common at about the same horizon at Cedar Bluff. Dr. White likewise finds it near this horizon in the Coal-Measures of.owa; and it also occurs in the Coal-Measures of Illinois. E C H I NI 0 B AM A T A. Genus ERISOCPINUS, Meek & Worthen. ERIsORINTUS TYPUS, M. & W. PI. 1, Fig. 3, a, b. nrisocrinus typus, Meek & Worthen, 1865, Am. Jour. Sci, Vol. XXIX, p. 174; also 1866, Geol. Rep. Ill., Vol. II. p. 317, Fig. 33. Philocrinus pelvis, Meek & Worthen, 1865, Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. XXIX, p. 350...Erisocrinus Nebi'rscensis, Meek & Worthen, March. 1865, ib., p. 174. Body below the summit of the first radials, basin-shaped, rounded Fig. 1.' below, and obscurely subpentagonal in outline ______ as seen from above or below; composed of thick, smooth, slightly convex plates. Basal pieces small, occupying a shallow concavity of the under side, about half hidden by the column, all pent\, C \ L^^3( Iagonal in external form. Subradial pieces considerably larger than the basal, and all equally hexagonal in form. First radial pieces four or five times s large as the subraclials wider than long, equal, and all pentagonal 5supporting upon their broadly and evenly truncated superior Erisocrinus type.-Show- sides the second primary radials, which are of -ing the structure of the body nearly the same size and form as the first, but radials inclusive. (From have their sloping sides above instea d of below, Illinois State Geological Re- while they each support above, two first braport.) chials, or a. series of secondary radials ye." unhnown. Surface smooth. NEBR~iASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 147 1Breadth of body below the surmmit of the first primary racdials, 0.72 inch; height of same, 0.35 inch. From the slightly larger proportional size of t1e suabradijal pieces, I was ali one time led to believe this specifically distinct fro' the Illinois specimens upon which the genus and species -E typus were founded. Further comparisons of additional specimens fron the original locality near Springfield, however, showed clearly that no separation could be made on this character. When Professor Alarcou announcedy some time back, that he had found a crinoid at Nebraska City, nearly related to Encerinus, I very naturally supposed be alluded to the form here under consideration, knowing it to be not unfrequently met with in these rocks in Nebraska, as well as in Illinois while its body, below the sumnmit of the first radial pieces, has almost exactly the structure of the corresponding parts of Encrinns, excepting t'hat it has a well-developed series of basal pieces within the series -uLsually regarded as basals in Eniacrnutsg It waS: not until the publication of Professor Geinitz's memoir, in which'the form, alluded to by Professor MlarcoU was figured, that I was aware the species mentioned by him is one Pmore Widely removed froim En,,Tcritus, by having a large, well-developed anal piece resting down upon one of the first subradials, a character modifying the whole structure of the- partl of the body above. The form mentioned by Professor Mareou, and figured. by Professor G-einitz (Poteriocrinus hiemispla'ricus, Shumard), Zeacrinus mucraospi'nuta McChesney-, and that here under consideration, as well as perh.ps soeeral. others only known by fragments, are all more or less nearly relattd. Indeed, the separate first primary radials, and, perhaps, some of the other parts of these crinoids, when found disconnected, can scarely if at all, be distinguished specifically. The truncated subradial, however, on the anal side of Poteriocrinus hemispicericus (not a true Poio)riocriins) can always be distinguished from any of the parts of the other forms mentioned; while the curiously developed spine-like second radials of Zeacrinus mucrospinus can always be readily recognized. All of these crinoids are peculiar to the Coal-M ~easures of the WTVest, where they are widely distributed. Locality and position.-The specimen figured on PI. 1, was found by Dr. Hayden, eight or nine years since, at Bellevue, Nebraska'. The2 species was first described from the Upper Coal-Mleasures at Springfield, Illinois. We also have fragments of apparently this crinoid froin division B, at Nebraska City. Genus SCAPHIOCIIINIS, Hall. SCAPHlOCRiNTUI HEMISPH)ERICUS, Shumard, sp. PI. V, Fig. I, a, b; and P1. VII, Pig. l, a, b, c. Poieriomfinus 7tenzisphcerices, Shumard, 1858, Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci. I, p. 221. Cyathocrinus inflexus, Geinitz, 1866, Garb. und Dyes in Jeb., p. 62, Tab. IV, Fig. 20, a, b, c, and Fig. 25, a, L), c. Body below the summit of the first radials sub-hemispherical, with the I mentioned in 1865 (Am. Jour. SCe, XXIX, 174), seeing a series of minute rui-n mentary pieces in a true EEncrius, belonging to Smithson's privato collection at the Smithsonia- Institution, within the rap.nge nsnully regarded as ba's is. As these, however, are not so developed as to be seen externally, and assume the character of true basals, and our crinoid seems to differ in the structure or its superior parts, it cannot be properly referred to that genus, though evidently closely adiel to it. 148 UNITED 8TATES GEOLOGICAL SUitVEY OF under side deeply concave. Base very small, pushed or inverted entirely within the cavity of the body, and nearly or quite -hidden externally; Fig. 2. column facet round and deeply sunken. Subiradial pieces of moderate size veary nearly equal1 havin g a genera.l pentagonlal form, excepting ^ ^~^" t~~the one on the anal side, which is a little truncated above by the anal piece, so as to give it a general hexagonal outline; each, lowever, has an additional very obscure inesial angle at its < ^/ 9 \~ 6connection with the base, and all atre strongly incurved below, to form the concavity of the under side. First radial pieces nearly twice as large as the sub-radials, twice as wide as highb \ \~/ /~> and equally pentagonal, the upper sides being longer than either of the others, and all evenly triuncated. Second primary radials (at least the two on the anal side) comparatively na rrow, Scapiiaocrabmt? heowipgcut- but still wider at, the base thatn hi'h roUtctit cM.,soDiagram showing the structure of the body from on the outer side, a little COnstricted in the ill the base to the first radial dle, and pentagonal in form, the two upper pieces, inclusive. sloping sides supporting the first divisions of the arms, which are composed, at least for -the first three rangesg each of a single series of wedge-formed pieces. First anal piece comparatively small, a little concave, resting upon one of the sub-radials, and connec{ting with the first radial on each side, above which it projects; supporting upon its slightly incurved' upper edge a second piece, the form of which is unknown. Surface smooth, or only with traces of minute granules. The specimen from which the above description was made out is 0.66 inch wide, and 0.27 inch high to the summit of the first radial pieces. In this, as in the several known species of Erisocrinus, and some other allied forms of the Coal-Measures, the first radial pieces are very thick on the upper edge, which has a neatly crenated ridge, with a furrow ou each side of it, along the outer margin. These first primary radial pieces have exactly the fori of the corresponding parts in Prisocrinus, and, as we have reason to believe, of one or more undefined genera of these rocks, and when found detached cannot be distinguished. The subradial piece, however, on the anal side of this crinoid, can at once be distinguished from any of those of Erisoerinus by the truncation of its -upper side (see Fig. 28, a, b.c, Tab. IV, of Geinitz's Carb. und Dyas). On the inside of the cup of this and the allied forms alluded to, the sunken basal pieces are seen to rise so as to form a kind of pyramidal or conical protuberance. Until the vault of these crinoids is known it will be difficult to determine whether they are more nearly allied to Poteriocrintis or to Cyathocrinus. From all analogy, however, I am led to think they will be found to possess the large prolonged trunk or proboscis of the Poter'iocrinus group, instead of the merely vaulted summit and lateral tube of Gyat[ocrinus. \~hen we compare the structure of this crinoid, as far as yet known. with that of Scaphiocrinuts simplex, Hall, the type of that group, it will be seen to agree in all respects, aside froln mere specific characters, such as its concave under side, slight difference of form, &c., thoug'l it differs more widely from several of the other species that have been referred to that group, in having but a single anal piece, composing a part of the walls of the cup. Hence I have been led to place it provisionally in'the NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 149 Scaphiocrinus group, generally regarded as a sub-genus under Poteriocri. nus..It is worthy of. note, however, that it is still a matter of doubt whether Scaphiocrinus will not be found a synonym of Graphiocrinus, de Kon., when it is known whether or not that type has minute basal pieces within those supposed to be such. Locality and position.-Professor Geinitz figures a fine example of this species from division C of the Nebraska City section; and we have it from Bennett's mill, included by him and Professor Marcou in division B of the "Upper Dyas. We also have it from Omaha, &c., from a, lower position in the Coal-Measures referred by them to the Lower CarboniferouslIt also occurs in the Coal-Mea~sures of Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, &c. Genus ZEACRINUS, Troost. ZEACRINUS 1 XUCROSPINUS, McChesney PI. V, Fig. 2 a, b, c. Zeacrinus mucrospinus, McChesney, 1860, New Paleozoic Foss., p. 10; also, 1865, illustrations of same, P1. 4, Fig. 7, a, b. Actinocrinus, sp., Geinitz, 1866, Carb. una Dyas, Tab. IV, Fig. 29, a, b; (not Actinocrinites, Miller, 1821). As pointed out by me some time back (Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. XLIY, new series, p. 176), the spines figured in Professor Geinitz's work, cited above, are those of a type belonging to the same family as Poteriocrins. This curious crinoid has a cup almost exactly of the same form as the last, being sub-hemispheral, rounded -below, and provided with a very small deeply sunken base, almost entirely hidden by the column. Its anal series of plates, however, is different from that of the last, these piecds being here more numerous and arranged as in Zeacrinus. Its most remarkable peculiarity, however, consists in having its second primary radial pieces produced outward into long spines. These spines Professor G. mistook for those of some species of the Actinocyinites group, like A. Gouldi of Hall. The spines of the latter, however, belong to an entirely different part of the crinoid, being modified vanltpieces, and hence have the head, or larger end, of a very different form. Consequently those under consideration can be distinguished at a glance from the spines of any of the species allied to Actinocrinites. lin addition to this, the two types occupy distinct geological horizons, no Actnocrinoid being known in this country as high in the series as the Coal-Measures. I have reproduced on Plate V, Professor Geinitz's figures of these spines, because we found no good specimens of them from any of the localities nearPNebraska City. For comparison I have also given a copy of Professor McChesney's figuire of one of these pieces of his typical specimen. That figured by Professor Geinitz, however, has the larger end somewhat obscured by adhering foreign matter, or from wearing so as partly to obliterate the markings on the upper side (Fig. 2 a) supporting the two first divisions of the arms. Locality and position.-Professor Geinitz figures the spines of this species from Bennett~s Mill, three miles northwest of Nebraska City, from beds referred by him and Professor Marcou to the lower part (division B) of their Upper Dyas. We have them from Plattsmouth, Cedar Bluff, Omaha, and numerous other localities and positions in the Coal-Measures of Nebraska and Kansas. They likewise occur in the same horizon in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, &c. But they never, so far as known, occur at any horizon below the Coal-Measures,though Professor Worthen and the writer have described a-n allied representative species from the Chester Limestone of the Illinois Lower Carbonifer 150 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ous series. No analogous crinoid has ever be described in Europe from the Permian. Genus EUPACHIYCRINUS, M. & W EUPACHYCRINUS VEEIBUCOSS, White & St. John. Hycdreionocrinus? verrucosus, White & St. John, 1869 Trans. Chicago Academy of Sciences. Vol. 1, p. 117, Fig. 1. Epacihyer'inus vcrriucostus, White and St. John, M. S. "Body below the top of the first radial plates basin-shaped;, ih its "base slightly depressed, more than twice as wide as high, and composed of somewhat massive, convex Fig. plates, which arejoined by close sutures, which latter are in the middle moderately deep, caused by the beveling of the edges of th e body-plates. Base modes-.\ \ ^/\'Sately large, pentagonal, having a little more than one-third its - \ )/'^ r~\ \ Jdiameter covered by the upper joint of the coiUmn. Vidth and Vshei~^J^t of sub-adi'al pieces about equal, stolgiy con vex fonm ase to top, th\ee ot \isein pen WE a iil sad twvo If Lhein hexa gonal, there beingo properly no angle at the base of any of them. First quite so large as subradials, nearly twice as wide as high, all of them truncated above, eo that the top of the calyx- is seen to be.Enp chycrnusverrucosus.~-Diagran showing nearly level when the arns a-e stracture ofthe-body, from base to first radials removed; the facets to whichl inclusive. they were attached so broad as to occupy more than half the semi-diameter of the calyx. First anal piece nearly half as large as a subradial, quadrangular, restingo between the superior sloping sides of two of the subradiaIs, an inferior sloping side of one of the first rad- Fig. 4. ials, and the second anal piece, all of it being below.d C the summit of the calyx. ft - Second anal piece pentagoinal, not quite so large as <-\)i1/ 1 the first, but projecting con-'o u e5i P;'l siderably above the top of'^/ t11 the calyx, and bordered by the first anal, one subradial, two first radials, and surmounted by two other small ~upaelicinus verucosus.~ ~ea, ani O't-li' posterior anal pieces. Surface marked view of the body; b, view of under side of same a by distinct verrucose eleva- ^ile, dstoratd ed a view of tho dorsn.] nido of a piece tions; and the whole sur- of one of the arms: a, a lateral view oI samie, showhing tions^ adh w lSur- the first joint of one of the piuilw at the leff lower fIce, including the sutures, comer. presenting a fine granulated appearance under the iniag Vfler. I am under obligations to Professor C. A. White, the State geologist of Iowa, for hie use of the type specimen from which these cuts ere made. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 151 Height of body. to the top of the first radial pieces, 0.55 inch; breadth of same, about 1.13.inches. This crinoid agrees nearly,) in the number and arrangement of the parts of its bodywith the g'enus Poteriocrinus, from the typical species of which, however, its body differs materially in its depressed form and concave base; but it differs more especially in the structure of its arams, which, instead of being' each composed of a single series of pieces, consist each of a double series of interlocking pieces. It, therefore, belongs to the same group as Graphiocrinus 14 —'rmachials of Lyon (Owven's Kentucky Geol. Rep., Vol. 3, PI. 1, Fig. 2, 2a, and 2b), for which Mr. Worthen and the writer -proposed the name _Eunpachyerminuts, i n Vol. 3, Illinois Geol. Rep., p. 177. _At one time we had been led to think Mr. Lyon's type might possibly belong to Hlydreionocrinus, de Koninck. Facts, however, more recently ascertained, in regard to the structure of some analogous Americanu forms, seem to indicate that the part in Ilydreionocrhinu supposed to be composed of the united armrns is probably only the ventral portion of the body extended upward. If t;his is so, it most probably had free arms: though even in, that case we have no evidence that they possessed the structure of those of th.e type under consideration; and if its arms, are united to forin a kind of extension of the body, as supposed by Professor de Koninck, then the species here described would certainly be widely removed, because the indentations for the attachment of pinn e, along their inner sidesshow that its arms were free. It also has relation~s to Zeacrinus and Scephiocrinus, from the typical forms of which, however, it differs materially in having its arms composed ofa double series of pieces. Specifically this crinoid is closely allied to ydrecionocrinus tuberculatus (Erisocrinus tuberculatus, Meek & VWorthen, fromn the Coal-Meiasures of Illinois), which proves to have the structure of,arms characterizing this group, instead of that seen in those of mErisocrinus. The species under consideration, however, is more delicate, and differs in the peculiar verrucose style of its ornamentation, instead of having a distinctly nodose surface. It also differs in having its sutures more channeled by the beveling of its plates, than the species hUberc datus. Dr. White and Mr. St. John have placed this species in MS. in the genus Eupachycrinus. Locality and position.-The only known specimen of this species was found by Dr. White in the bed No. 2 of the Plattsmouth section, at Plattsmouth, Nebraska. Genus ARCHEOCIDARIS, McCoy. ARCHAEOCIDARIS? TRISERRATA, Meek. PI. 1, Fig. Ga, b, c. Of this species I only know the primary spines, but these are so peculiar that they will alone probably be sufflcient to distinguish it. They are moderately long, rather slender, and usually a little arched near the base, where they present a nearly or quite circular section. Farther up they soon become compressed with a rhombic section, the lateral nargins being sharp and regularly serrated, the little teeth-like projectious being inclined outward or toward the apex of tht spine, and apparently sometimes alternately arranged. Of these there were probably 25 to 300 on each side of the spine, and 9 to 12 of them may be counted in the -*See remarks of the writer and Mr. Worthen on this subject in Proceed. Acad. Nat Sci., Philad., Ap. 1870, p. 29. 152 UNITED 8TATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF space of half an inch. On the middle or concave side of the curvature of the spine there is a third serrated carina apparently extending about two-thirds of its length from near the base toward the apex, the serra tions becoming more distantly separated toward the outer extremity. On the other side three or four rows of mich smaller granules, or minute, elongated nodes, extend from the shank of the spine, and. gradually become obsolete near the middle. The ring at the head is moderately well defined, and, when well preserved, is seen to be faintly milled The perforation of the abruptly contracted articulating extremity is about one-third as wide as the diameter of the shanl. Surface, at least near the shank, where not worn, marked with exceedingly minute longitudinal strie, entirely invisible without the aid of a good magnifer. Length, apparently about 2.30 inches. No entire specimens, however, were found. This species is evidently allied to A. bianguatus, Shumard (Trans. St. Louis Acad., 1, p. 223), to which I was at first inclined to refer it. As Dr. S., however, only mentions the two lateral rows of serations of the primary spines, and says nothing about the others oh the upper and lower side7 and particularly as he gives the entire number of the serrations on each side as 12 to 1.4, his species should be distinct. Locality and position.~-Upper Coal-Measures, Omaha, Nebraska; and same position (bed No. 8) in an exposure seen on Platte River, three miles above its mouth. I have also seen a specimen of it from Vermillion County, Illinois, where it was found by Mr. Brodhead, fifty feet below coal-bed No. 6 of the Illinois section. Thespecimen from. Illinois,like that here described, consists of a single spine. Until other parts of the fossil can be known, it is not possible to determine whether or not it is a true Archwocidaris. Genus BOCIDARIS, Desor. BOCIDA is HALLIANTuS, Geinitz. Pi. VIl, Fig. 9, a, b, e, d. Eocidaris Hallianus, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. ind Dyas in Neb., p. 61, Tab. V, Fig. 1 a, b, 2 a, b. Of this delicate little species I have seen only fragments of the spines from Nebraska City and other localities in Nebraska. Entire spines, however, occur on Grand River, Union County, Iowa. in a bed containing many of the same fossils associated with it at Nebraska City, and holding a position about the middle of the Upper Coal-Mleasures of that region. Locality and position.-Division C of Nebraska City section. POLYZOA. Genus FENESTELLA, Lonsdale. FEmNESTELLA, sp. PI. 1, Fig. 4 a, b. FeiaSStel~a plebeja, Geinitz, 1866, Carbon. und Dyas in Neb., p. 58, Tab. V, Fig. 8 a, b, (not McCoy, 1844). I have no specimens of this species for study and illustration, and therefore merely reproduce Professor Geinitz's figures to call attention to the fossil as one of the forms to be looked for in these rocks. I must NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 153 differ very decidedly from Professor Geinitz, however, in regard to the identity of this species with F. plebeja of McCoy, supposing both forms to have been nearly correctly figured, since they are represented so widely different that very few would think it necessary even to compare them. The differences are too strongly marked to be the result of any errors in the drawings, or due to peculiarities of different varieties of the same species, as may be seen by comparing the published figures of the two forms (see figure of F. plebeja copied on Plate VTI1, Fig. 11, from Professor McCoy's work on the Carboniferous fossils of Ireland, and that here given from Professor Geinitz's Carb. und Dyas in Neb). it is also worthy of note here that Professor fMcCoy's description agrees exactly with his figure, the fenestrules being represented in both as 1' rectangular, and from two to three times as long as wide," while in Professor Geinitz's enlarged figure of the Nebraska' fossils they are represented without any traces of angles, and of a broad-oval or subeireular form, but slightly longer than wide. We can never hope for any approximation to precision in paleonlotogy or geology, while such hasty identifications as this are insisted upon by geologists. Locality and position.-~Bellevue and Plattsmonuth in Upper CoalMeasures. FENESTELLA SHUMARDI, Prout?. Plate VII, Fig. 3 a, b, c. Fenestella Shumardi, Prout, 1858, Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., Vol. 1, p. 232. Polyzoum growing apparently in fiabelliform expansions, and composing an extremely fine, delicate net-work; branches very slender, of uni form size, rather flattened, and comparatively coarsely striated on the nonporiferous side, bifurcating at rather regular intervals of from 0.20 to 0.25 inch, the divisions diverging but slightly; fenestrules oblong, or about once and a half to nearly twice as long as wide, distinctly quadrangular, especially as seen on the non-poriferous side, and about equaling the breadth of the branches; dissepiments extremely slender or scarcely more than one-fourth as thick as the branches, not widened at the end on the non-poriferous side, but often somewhat expanded by a pore at one or both ends on the other side. Poriferous side with a mesial carina apparently sometimes bearing minute projecting points, and on each side of this angle about two and sometimes three comparatively, large pores, generally arranged so that there is one at each end of each dissepiment, and another between these opposite each side of each fenestrule. Entire size of polyzoum unknown; number of fenestrules in 0.25 inch, measuring longitudinally, 13 to 14; ditto, measuring transversely, 15 to 16; breadth of branches, 0.02 inch. As near as can be determined from Dr. Prounts description alone, this very delicate little species seems to agree quite well with his F. Shumardi, from the Carboniferous limestone (probably of the age of the Coal-Measurps) at the Organ Mountain, New Mexico. Still, as it is exceedingly difficult to determine the relations of such fossils with precision from descriptions alone, it is quite possible that the form under consideration may be found distinct on comparison of specimens. If so, I would propose to designate it by the name F. perelegans. Compared with foreign described species, this is perhaps most nearly related to F. plebeja of McCoy (Carb. Foss. Ireland, PI. XXIX, Fig. 3); but on comparison it will be seen to have its fenestrules only once and 154 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF a half to nearly twice as long as wide, instead of from two to three tines as long as wide, while it has only two or three pores instead of four or five opposite each side of each fenestrule. Its pores are also proportionally larger, while the entire polyzoum forms a more delicate net-work, as may be seen by comparison with a figure of Professor McCoy's species given on Plate VII. Locality andc position.-Division C of the Upper Coal-Mdeasure section at Nebraska City, Nebraska. It has also been discovered by Dr. Newberry in the Lower Coal-Measures of Ohio. Genus POLYPORA, McCoy. POLYPORA SUBMARGINATA, lMeeok. P1. VII, Fig. 7 a, b. Polypora marginata, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 69, PI. V, Figs. l a, b, and 12 a, b; (not McCoy 1844, Synopsis Carb). Fossils Ireland, p. 206, PI. XXIX, Fig. 5). Compare FenestelUl polyporata, Portlock, 1843, Geol. Londonderry, p. 323, P1. XXII A, Fig. 1; (not Phillips). Polyzoum growing in flabelliform (or infundibuliform l) expansions; longitudinal branches bifurcating at more or less regular intervals, and having their lateral margins sharply carinate; dissepinents about half as wide as the branches; fenestrules oblong oval, usually about twice as long as wide, or sometinies proportionally a little wider or longer, their breadth being about the same as the branlches. Non-poriferous side with the branches convex, and a little prominent along the iniddle, flattened toward the carinate lateral margins, and in good specimens finely and bea utifully striated longitudinally; dissepiments'rounded and sometimes showing faint traces of strke. Poriferons side with branches provided with a mesial row of small nodes or distinctu granules, giving them a subcarinate appearance, and five rows of altfernating pores, those of the middle row being placed one between epach two of the-nodes, while the other four rows are placed two on each side of the middle range; pores sometimes with a slightly raised, very narrow lip, most prominent around the outer side of the lateral ones, which, however, scarcely imparts any irregularity to the outline of the sharp lateral margins; dissepiments obtusely subcarinateo along the middle, and sometimes showing traces of strim, as on the other side. Entire size of Polyzoum unknown; number of fenestrules, measuring longitudinally, in 0.50 inch, 6 same, measuring transversely, 9 to 11 in same space. Professor Geinitz refers this species to P. marginacta of McCoy; but if we are to be guided by Professor McCoy's figures and description, it seems to me we must regard it as being clearly distinct, as may be seen by Figs. 1.3 a, b, c, copied from Professor Mcoy's Synopsis of the Carboniferous Fossils of Ireland. On comparing these with the figures of our fossil it will be seen that he represents the fenestrules as being proportionally longer, and the dissepiments much more slender. The most important differences, however, may be seen in the enlarged figures of the poriferous sides of the two, as represented by Figs. 7 b and 13 1c. in our species, for instance, there is, when well preserved, a row of distfinct little nodes along the middle of each branch, neither represented in the figures nor mentioned in the description of McCoy's species. In addition to this, he mentions in his description, and shows in his figure, waved lines running along between the pores, not seen in the Nebraska species; and he only shows 3, or rarely 4, pores in each row opposite each NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 155 fenestrule, while in our species there are from 4 to 5, or rarely 6, but generally 5. Surely such differences as this cannot be ignored if we mean to distinguish species at all. It is true that in the fige ure given by Professor Geinitz, he shows no traces of the row of little nodes along the middle of the poriferous side; this, however is due to the fact that his specimen had been subjected to some wearing or abrasion. At any rate, I have befor e e worn specimens showing the pores very clearly, and having the little nodes entirely removed on some parts, and more or less preserved on other portions of the same while in others they are as distinct as seen in our enlarged figure. It may be argued that McCoy's figure may have been taken from a worn specimen also; but the fact that it showed the peculiar waved striae so distinctly between the pores, seems entirely incompatible with the conclusion that it could lave suffered such abrasion. Our species would seem to be more nearly allied to a form referred by General Portlock to Fenestella polyporata of Phillips, and cited by Professor Geinitz as a synonym of P. marcinata, McCoy, particuliarly as General Portlock mentions seeing on some specimens a row of minute granules along the middle of the branches. The forlm figured by General Portlock, however, is certainly different from PhillipsSs species, which is clearly figured with but two rows of pores to each branch, while Portlock's shows four, the one being a Penestella, and the other a true Polypora. As General Portlock merely quotes Phillips's meager, unsatisfactory description, and gives a figure very unlike Professor MIcOoy's, I would neither feel warranted in identifying his species with P. marginata, nor in connecting our fossil with either of them. Locality and position.-The specimens from which our Fig. 7 of P1. VII were drawn, came from division O of the Nebraska City section, at that place. POLYPORA, (sp. undetermined). P1. VII, Fig. 6. Polypora biarmica, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 68, P1. V, Fig. 13, a, b (Keyserling? 1846). As we found no specimens of this species in division C of the Nebraska City section, I have merely given copies of Professor Geinitz's fgures of a specimen from that locality and position. In order that others may have some means of forming their own conclusions in regard to its relations to P. biarmica of Keyserling, I have also copied Count Keyserling's figures of his original typical specimen, published in his Petschora Land, P1. 3, Fig. 10, and 10 a. I can only say these figures o1ok to me exceedingly unlike, and I should not be willing to identify the Nebraska form with the lRussian, if the figures are even approximately correct representations of the fossils. In addition to this, the form figured by Professor Geinitz occurs in the unquestionable Coal-Measures of Kansas and Iowa. Locality and position. —Division C of the Nebraska City section. 156 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF Genus SYNOCLADIA, King. SYNOCLADIA BISEIIALIS, Swallow. P1. VII, Fig. 5, a, b, c, d, e. Synocladia virgulacea?, Swallow, 1858, Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., I, p. 179; (not Phillips, 182!). biseritalis, Swallow, lb.? Septopora Cestriensis, Prout, 1858, Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., I, p. 448, P1. XVIII, p. 2, a, b, c. Synocladica virgulacea, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 70, P1. V, Fig. 14; (not Phillips, sp.). Polyzouna infundibuliform? or composed of broad overlapping, or folded, rapidly-spreading flabelliform expansions, attached by a small root-like base. Primary branches, larger than the others, which are alternately and irregularly given off at various angles on each side, and themselves variously divided and subdivided, or rather increased by lateral and intercalated branchlets. Dissepiments, smaller than the branches, usually more or less arched or geniculated, and occasionally giving origin to intermediate branches. Fenestrules, often transversely oblong or irregularly subquadrangular, and usually wider than the branches. Non-poriferous side, with branches and dissepiments rounded, and finely and regularly striated, as well as provided with a few very scattering, irregularly disposed, round, and apparently superficial dimorphous pores, nearly as large as the true pores or cells of the other side;, never provided with projecting root-like processes. Poriferous side, with branches and dissepiments, more or less distinctly carinated along the middle, the carina being occupied by a row of little pointed nodes, sometimes rising into short little spine-like projections, with generally on or near the base of each, one or.two minute dimorphous pores; true pores or cells moderately large and rounded, with a siightly raised margin; arranged in two rows, one on each side of the carina of each branch and. dissepiment, to the lateral margins of which they usually impart a more or less undulated outline; sometimes on the larger primary branches, and some of the larger dissepiments, an occasional odd pore or cell, not properly belonging to either of the two rows, is placed along near the lateral margins, but these never form a third continuous row. The entire size of the polyzouln is not known, but some of the specimens indicate a diameter of 4 or 5 inches. This species was regarded by Professor Swallow as a variety of S. virgulacea, for which he proposed the name biserialis. Professor Geinitz also referred it to S. virgulacea of Phillips, without even regarding it as being sufficiently distinct to require separation as a variety. To me, however, it seems to present differences of too much importance to admit of being included eVen as a variety of S. virgulacea. In order the more clearly to illustrate these differences, I have given on Plate VII, Fig. 12 a, a copy of a part of Professor King's enlargement of the poriferous side of S. virgulacea for comparison with Fig. 5, c, an enlargement of a portion ol the same side of the Nebraska fossil. On comparing these, it will be seen that S. virgulacea has no mesial carina and is provided with three or more rows of pores or cells (Professor'King says, in his description, from 3 to 5), arranged in longitudinal furrows, the middle one of which is bounded on each side by a slight carina, with small, minutely poriferous nodes; the entire arrangement being very different from the characters constantly presented by the Nebraska species. In addition to this. so far as yet known from the examination of numerous specimens, the NEBRASKi AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 1 5 latter never shows any traces of the root-like process of the non-poriferous side, so often seen on S. rirgulacea (See P1. VII, Fig. 12, b); while it constantly shows on this side a few scattering, irregularly-arranged dimorphus pores, neither mentioned in any of the descriptions, nor illustrated in any of the figures of the European species I have seen. For these reasons I can but regard it as a clearly distinct species. Like the European S. virgulacea, the species under consideration varies in the arrangement of its branches, fenestrules, and dissepiments, to some extent, though it is constant in its other characters. Locality ad position. —The specimens figured on PI. VII are from division C, of the Nebraska City section; those on P1. IV are from a shaft at that place, sunk some distance below this horizon, probably. below division B, in which it also occurs. We'also have it from a lower positionat various localities in the Upper Coal-Measures of KIansas and Nebraska, Iowa, &c.; while in Kansas it ranges up into the Permno-carboniferons, and possibly into the Permian. In Illinois it occurs in both the Upper and the Lower Coal-Measures and we he thae tIere also found an undistinguishable form in the St. Louis and Chester limestones, of the Lower Carboniferous series. (See Proceed. Acad. T^at. ci., Philado March, 1870, p. 15.) Genus GLAUCONOMIE, Goldfuss. GLAUCONOMIE TRILINEATA, Meek. P1. VII, Fig. 4, a, b, c, d. Compare Glauconomne grandis, McCoy, 1844, Carb. Foss. Ireland, p. 199 PI. XXVIII, Fig. 3,. Polyzoums with main stem long, slender, and, as far as known, of equal breadth the entire length, not quite twice as wide as the lateral branches. Lateral branches, long, rather rigid, sometimes alternating, and, in other examples, nearly opposite, distant froml each other slightly more than the breadth of the main stem, with which they range at an angle of about sixty degrees; like the main stemn, showing no ta;peir as far as known; sometimes themselves giving off (at least on the lower side) a few distant lateral subdivisions, at some distance out from the main stem. Non-poriferous side, with main stem and branches minutely and very regularly striated longitudinally. Poriferous side, with a mesial ridge along the main stem, consisting of three slightly-raised lines, the middle one of which is larger than the others; on each side of this ridge is a row of pores, three of which are placed between each two of the lateral branches, and about their own breadth from the margin, to the outline of which they do not impart any irregularity; lateral branches with, on each side of a linear ridge, two rows of alternating pores, very slightly smaller than those of the main stem, and imparting sometimes a slightly undulated outline to the margins. Entire length unknown; a specimen imperfect at/both extremities 1.24 inches in length, sending off on each side six lateral branches in a space of 0.27 inch. This may not be distinct from Professor McCoy~s species, which is certainly a very closely allied form. As the main stem of our fossil, however, shows on the poriferous side, three longitudinal mesial-raised lines or ridges, as seen under, a good magnifier, and nothing of the kind is mentioned in the description or shown in the figures of G. grandis, I do not feelwarranted in identifying the Nebraska species with it. There are, also, some differences in the angle at which the lateral branches are given ff, as well as in the number of pores, that indicate a specific difference 158 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUIRYEY OF The presence of a secondary branchlet seen on one of our specimens may be another indication of further differences, though as this is only given off farther out from the main stem than the lateral branches are preserved in the specimen figured by Professor McCoy, they may really exist in his species. Locality and position.-Division C, at Nebraska City. BRA H IOP ODA. Genus LINGULA, Bruguiere. LINGULA SCOTICA, var. NEBRASOENSIS. P1: VIII, Fig. 3, a, b.? Lingul Scotica, Davidson, 1860, Monogr. Carb. Brach., Scotland, p. 62, P1. 5, Fig. 36, 37, and 37 a. Shell attaining nearly a medium size, compressed, subovate or ovoidsubtrigonal, a little longer than wide, the greatest breadth being near the anterior margin i front rather broadly rounded, or at maturity somewhat more nearly straight along the middl, rounding rathe r abruptly into the- ntero-lateral margins; sides convex in outline and converging (near the beaks) at an angle of about 900; beaks rather obtusely pointed and a little convex. Surface polished and ornamented by prominent, linear concentric ribs or striae, separated by flat spaces three or four times as wide as the ribs, in which traces of much finer, obscure irregular concentric striae can be seen by the aid of a magnifier. Internal cast nearly smooth, excepting three or four radiating linear impressions near the beak, apparently formed by little ridges on the inner side of the shell, but which are sometimes made visible on the outside, apparently in consequence of accidental pressure upon the thin shell..Length, 0.55 inch; breadth, 0.49 inch. This shell is so very nearly like L. Scotica, Davidson, from the Carboniferous rocks of Scotland, that I cannot, with the present means of comparison, regard it as more than distinguishable as a variety of that species. Its chief differences consist in its greater breadth in proportion to its length, and the more convex outline of its lateral margins, together with the larger size of its concentric lines. The former characters cause the beak to be rather distinctly less attenuated. As I have seen but a single specimen, I have no means of determining whether it is the shorter or longer valve from which the figure and description have been prepared. Locality and position.-Lower part division C, Nebraska City. Genus ORBICULOIDEA, d'Orbigny. ORBICULOIDEA, sp P1. IV, Fig. 3. I only know this species from an impression of the outside of the under valve in the clay matrix, with adhering portions of the shell, showing the inside. The outline of the valve is broad ovate, the posterior end being the narrower. It is rather convex in the region of the apex, and flat, or even slightly concave, between that and the anterior margin. The apex is situated between the middle and the posterior side, but nearer the former. The surface is ornamented by very regular, distinct concentric strie, some of which bifurcate as they pass around the sides from the posterior toward the rather broadly-rounded front. The remaining portion of the shell, between the apex and the posterior margin, shows very clearly that there is not a slit passing through NEBRASKA AND PORTION8 OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 159 the valve, as in true Discina, though there is evidently a deep furrow on the outside of the valve passing from the apex a little more than hal~f-way to the posterior mnarginl at which point there was a smalll round or oval foramen. On the inside a prominent smoothly-rounded ridge (d, of Fig. 3) corresponds to the deep furrow on the outer side. The shell is quite thin and has the usual dark semi-corneous appearance of )iscina. It is possibly an undescribed species, but not having the meanis of fully characterizing it, I propose no name for it at present. Anterio-posterior diameter, 0.64 inch; breadth, 0.55 inch. Locality and c osition.-The specimen figured and described was found in sinking a shaft on Hon. J. S. Morton's place, one and three-quairters miles west of Nebraska City landing. Genus PRODUCTUS, Sowerby. PRODUCTUS COSTATUS, Sowerby? sp. PI. VI, Fig. 6, a, b.? Producta costata, J. D. C. Sowerby, 18t27, Min. Conch., P1. 560, Vol. VI, p. 115; Phillips, 1836, Geol. Yorks., 11, p. 213, P1. VII, Fig. 2. -- eostellata, McCoy, 1844, Synopsis Carb. Foss., Ireland, p. 108, P1. XX, Fg. 15. costatus, de Verneuil, 1845, Geol Russ. et Ural Mts., Vol. II, p. 268, P1. XV, Fig. 13, a, b; de Koninck, 1847, Monogr. Prod. P1. VIII, Fig. 3, and P1. X, Fig. 3; Davidson, 1860, Monogr. Scott. Carb. Brach., p. 44, PI. II, Figs. 22-24; also Mlonogr. British Carb. Brach., p. 152, PI. XXX, Figs. 2-9; Shumard, 1855, Missouri Geol. Report, p. 216; Hall, 1858, Iowa Geol. Report, Vol. I, Part II, p. 712, PI. XXVIII, Figs. 3 and 4. Portloccianus, Norwood & Pratten, 1854, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila d., III, p. 15, P1. 1, Fig. 9 a, b, c. ~ —- sp., Prof. Henry D. Rogers, 1858, Geological Report, Pennsylvania, Vol. II, p. 833, Fig. 687. Shell of medium size, wider than long, very convex; hinuge margins about equaling the greatest breadth of the valves. Ventral valve exceedingly gibbous, and very strongly incurved, with a deep-rounded sinus extending from near the beak to the front, to which it imparts a sinmm;te outline; umbo prominent and distinctly incurved, so as to pass somewhat.within the hinge margin ears well-defined, arched, and rather distinct from the abrupt swell of the ulmbo, from which they are sometimes separated by a small ridge or fold. Dorsal valve flattened in the visceral region, and more or less abruptly curved or genieulated toward the front and anterior lateral margins, the former of which usually shows a small mesial ridge. Surface of both valves ornamented with distinct, rather unequal, depressed, and rounding radiating costa, which sometimes bifurcate, or, in other instances, two or more of them coalesce in front of the visceral portion, to form a largrer one crossi1ng all of these, on the visceral region, are numerous, well-defined, regalar, concentric wrinkles, producing a distinct reticulated appearatee, while the whole surface of the ventral valve is sometimes provided with a few scattering, rather stout, erect spines, someewhait regularly arra'nged in quincunx. Sometimes nearly all the spines, excepting those on the lateral regions, apparently wanting. Length of a medium-sized adult specimen, 1.06 inches; breadth, Cabonut 1.40 inches; convexity, about 0.70 ilch. This is the shell that has been in this co-untry very generally identified with P. costatus of Sowerby, thoughl its identity with the typical P. costatus may be questioned. At least I havTe never seen eamong thousands of specimens from numerous localities a single example of it presenting the large costic and the extravagant forms sometimes ass-umed by thalt shell at foreign localities, such, for instance, ats that figured on PI. XV, 160 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF Fig. 13, of the Geology of Russia. The form under consideration is quite constant in its adult size and general characters. Its ribs vary more or less, being often irregular in size, some being rather distinctliy larger than the others on the anterior slope, though this character is not well seen in the specimen figured, because the anterior edge of the valves is partly broken away, and the figures are not drawn in postures to show the anterior slope. Some years since I sent specimens of this shell to Mr. Davidson, the well-known English authority on the Brachiopoda, and he wrote back that he did not think it could be P. costatus, but that he thought it more probably a small variety of P. semireticulatus. This may be true, and yet it is curious that we find hundreds of specimens of this shell, often directly associated with well-defined examples of P. semdireticulatus, and still always readily distinguished at a glance by their smaller size and rather more unequal costve on the anterior slope. It cannot be that these are the young of P. semireticulatus, because they give every evidence, in their gibbous form and produced front, of being adult shells. Locality and positiomn.The specimens figured are frtom the division B of the Nebraska City section. We also found this form in what has been regarded as the same position (but as we believe Xt a higher horizon), two and one-half miles west of lNebraska City; at Wyomingl, and again at the horizon of bed B at Bennett's Mill, and still lower at ISock Bluff, Cedar Bluff, Plattsmouth, Bellevue, Omaha, and, in short, throughout the Coal-Measures of all this region. It likewise ranges through the whole of the Coal-Measures of Illinois. Missouri, Iowa, &c., though I am not quite sure that it occurs in any of our Lower Carboniferous rocks. Professor Rogers has also figured apparently the same fossil from the Coal-Measures of Pennsylvania. PRIODUCTUS SEMIRETICULATUS, Mlartin, sp. P1. V, Fig 7 a, b. Anomites semireticelatus, Martin, 1809, Petref. Derb., p. 7, P1. XXXII, Figs. 1, 2, and P1. XXXIII, Fig. 4. ~productus, Martin, 1809, ib., p. 9, P1. XXII, Figs. 1-3. Productus scoticus, Sowerby, 1814, Min. Conch., P1. LXIX, Fig. 3, and ib., P1. 317, Figs. 2-4. antiquatus, Sowerby, 1814, ib., p. 15, Figs. 1-5; Phillips, 1836, Geol. Yorks., p. 213, PI. VII, Fig. 1. semiretieulatus, de Koninclk, Mon. Gen. Prod., P1. VIII, Fig. 1, and P1. IX, Fig. 1, and PI. X, Fig. 1; also of Davidson, Salter, and others. Producta Martini, Phillips, 1836, Geol. Yorks., Vol. II, p., 213, PI. VII, Fig. 3; de Koninck, 1843, An. Foss. Carb. Belg., p. 160, P1. VII, Fig. 2. ~pugilis, Phillips, 1836, Geol. Yorks., Vol. II, p. 215, PI. VIII, Fig. 6. Leptcna antiquata, Fischer, 1837, Oryct. du Gouv. de Mose., P1. XXVI, Figs. 4-5. tubife'a, Fischer, 1837, ib., XXVI, Fig. 1; (not Deshayes). Productus Inca, dcOrbigny, 1843, Paleont. Voyage dans Am. Merid., Vol. III, p. 51, P1l IV, Figs. 1-3. Productaflexistria, McCoy, 1844, Carb. Foss., Ireland, p. 109, P1. XVII, Fig. 1. Productus Calhounianus, Swallow, 1858, Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., 1, p. 181.' This beautiful, and widely distributed species is too well known to require a detailed description or any comparisons. So far as I have been able to. see, after examining numerous specimens from various places in ourFWestern Carboniferous rocks, at different horizons, I ami not able to.see'any characters by which these American shells can be separated from the well-lmown European P. scmireticulatus.'The foregoing synonymy is adopted mainly from Mr. Davidson, Monogr. Brit. Carb. Brach. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 161 I am satisfied that the form described by Professor Swallow, under the name P. Calhounianus, cannot be separated from P. semireticulatus; at least I know of no well-defined characters by which it can be distinguished, although I at one time rather inclined to think it might be distinct. Locality and position.-Professor Geinitz mentions this species among the other fossils from division C of the Nebraska City section, and I remember finding an imperfect specimen of it in that horizon at that locality; but it was crushed to pieces in transporting the collections to Washington. It also occurs at apparently a higher horizon, 23 miles west of Nebraska City. The specimen figured on P1. V is from division B of the Nebraska City section, where we found it quite abundant, as well as at Bennett's Mill, Wyoming, &c. This large variety also occurs at numerous lower horizons in the Upper Coal-Measures of Nebraska; such, for instance, as at Cedar Bluff on Weeping Water, and lock Bluff, Bellevue, Omaha, and Plattsmouth;'and again at higher horizons at Brownville, Peru, Aspinwall, &c. on the Missouri, as well as at various localities in the interior. It is also common in the Upper and Lower CoalMeasures of Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and south to New Mexico; and it is widely distributed in the Carboniferous rocks of Europe, South America, India, &c. It is likewise common at various horizons in our western Lower Carboniferous rocks. PRODUCTTUS LONGISPINUS, Sowerby? P1. VI, Fig. 7, and P1. VII, Fig. 6, a, b, c. Productus longispinus, Sowerby, 1814, Mineral Conch., Vol. I, p. 154. PI. LXVIII, Fig. 1; de Koninck, 1843, An. Foss. Ter. Carb. Belg., p. 187, P1. XII, Fig. 11, a, b, and P1. XII bis, Fig. 2; Davidson, 1853, Introd. Biit. Foss. Bracli., P1. IX, Fig. 221; 1860, Monogr. Carb. Brach., Scotland, p. 39, P1. II, Figs. 10 to 19. Flcmigii, Sowerby, 1814, Min. Conch., Vol. I, p. 154, P1. LXVIII, Fig. 2; de Koiuck, 1847, Monoor. Prod. and Chonetes, P1. X, Fig. 2; Marcou, 1858, Geol. N. Am., p. 47 PI. VI, Fig. 7. - s8piosus, Sowerby, 1814, Min. Conch., Vol. I., p. 155, P1. LXIX, Fig. 2. ^~- lobatlls, Sowerby, 1814, ib., Vol. IV, p. 16, P1. 314, Figs. 2-6; Yon Buch, 1841. Verbandl. der Konigl. Aktld. der Wissensch. zu Berlin, Theil, I, p. 32. PI. II. Fi. 17; de Vern., 1845, Geol. Russ., Vol. II, p. 266, Pl. XVI, Fig. 3, Pi. XVIII, Fig. 8. - setosa, Phillips, 1836, Geol. Yorks., Vol. II, p. 214, P1. VIII, Fig. 9. caplcii, dcOrbignv, 1843, Voyage dans 1'Aiuerique, Mer., Vol. III, p. 50, PI. III, Figs. 24-26. - tubariu, de Keyserling, 1846, Petschora Land, p. 208, P1. IV, Fig. 6. TWelbacsh3ensis, Norwood & Pratten, 1854, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philad., Vol. III, new. ser., p. 13, P1. I, Fig. 6. ~- ssplelenens, N. & P., 1854, ib., p. 11, P1. 1, Fig. 5.? ~- mleicartus, N. & P. 1854, ib., p. 14, Fig. 8, a, b, c, d, e; (not of Phillips aind others). O-r-0bigyJamn1us, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 56, Tab. IV, Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11; (not de Koninck, 1848). h7orridus Geinitz, 1866, ib., Fig. 7; (not Sowerby, 1822). Shell small, thin, wider than long; hinge line generally longer than the transverse diameter of the valves at any point farther forward, and terminating in more or less distinct, rather vaulted, and often slightly reflexed ears; anterior and anterior-lateral outlines approaching a semicircular curve, but the middle of the front is generally rather distinctly sinuous. Ventral valve gibbous, the greatest convexity being usually behind tihe middle, and the curve to the beak more rapid than to the front, provided with rather deep mesial sinus; posterior-lateral slopes descending nearly vertically to the cars: umbonal region moderately prominent, and usually projecting rather distinctly beyond the hinge, as seen in looking down upon the shell when lying with the dorsal valve beneath; beak small, strongly curved, but scarcely passing beyond the H. Ex. 19 11 162 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF cardinal margin; surface ornamented with generally rather obscure, somewhat variable radiating costas, which are often obsolete in the umbonal region, or in some examples over much of the vTdlve farther forward, in other specimens quite distinct to the beak, sometimes bi. furcating, and in other instances coalescing to form larlge, faintlydefined ribs in front; fine indistinct marks of growth are also sometimes seen, and occasionally very obscure traces of smal,1 concentric wrinkles may be observed near the beak; spines stout, erect, long, scattering, and arranged in quincunx. Ventral valve distinctly concave, or following nearly the curve of the other, and provided with a small mesial ridge corresponding with the sinus of the latter; sur ace marked. as in the other valve, but apparently always without spines. Length of a medium-sized adult specimen, 0.41 inch; breadth, 0.61 inch; convexity, 0.30 inch. I follow Mr. Davidson in referring this little shell to P. lotngispinus of Sowerby, a conclusion arrived at by him after a comparison of authentic specimens sent from Illinois by Mr. Worthen, from some of the original localities of P. splendens and P. Wabashensis, N. & P. At first I was in some doubt whether or not our Nebraska shell is identical with the P. Wabashensis, on account of the costte being represented so fine, distinct, and regular, and with so few spine bases, on Norwood & Pratten's figures, but on comparison with good specimens of that species from their original locality, I am entirely convinced that our shell is in all respects identical, the figures of P. Wabashensis alluded to being quite defective in representing the costm, as stated above. In regard to the identity of this shell with P. Orbignyi, I am compelled to differ from Professor Geinitz. I am also satisfied, as elsewhere stated, that the little shell figured by Professor Geinitz under the name P. horridus on his P1. IV (Carb. und Dyas. in Nebraska), and copied on our Plate VIII, Fig. 6, b, c, is nothing but a young individual of the species under consideration. As already stated, this shell varies much in the distiactness of its costm, which are usually rather obscere. It is but necessary to examine a few good specimens to see by their smootht, non-costate umbonal region, that they often attain a size even greater' than that he has referred to P. horrides, without showir-g the slightest traces of radiating costse. Indeed, some individuals of nmature size show but faint indications of ribs even near the front marinr, while the various individuals present every intermediate gradation in this character between these and the most distinctly ribbed specimens. Ini addition to this, the extreme improbability of there being in these rocks a large, conspicuous species like P. horridus, when no traces of such a shell have ever been seen among all the vast collections tlhat have been obtained from them throughout the great area in which they occur in the West, would alone be a sufficient reason for rejecting the conclusion that such a mere mite as this is the young of that species. But the necessity for such an improbable conclusion is entirely removed by the fact that this specimen was found associated with a very common and' abundant species, the young of which evidently agrees exactly with it. Locality and position.- Nebraska City, division C (Geinitz); also in B at that place, Wyoming, Bennett's Mill, and lower at Rock Biuf f Cedar Bluff, Plattsmouth, Bellevue, and Omaha —in short, this species is found almost everywhere and at nearly all horizons in the Upper Coal-Measures of Nebraska, and in the upper; middle, and lower divisions of Iowa, Illinois, Kansas. Missouri, &c. WVe have no good specimens of it from division C at Nebraska City, and consequently reproduce Professor Geinitz's figures of individuals from that bed. We have good examples of it, NIEBiRASKA AND PORTIONS 01F ADJACENT TEERIlITOrIE8. 1 (33 however, from division B at Nebraska City, and the other localities mentioned above. P nOBDUCTU PrATTENIANUS, Norwood. P1. II, Fig. a,, b, c; P1. V, Fig. 13; and P!. VIII, Fig. 10, a, b. Productlus seminreticcloatus, Hall, 1852, Stansbury's Salt Lale lReport, p. 411, P1. III, Figs. 4 and 5; (not Martin, sp., 1809). ~Pyva'teniaoi8s, Norwood, 13854, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., Vol. III, new ser., p. 17, P1. I, Fig. 10. a, b, c, d. ~~ —:qaiGosiaitus, Shlnmard, 1855, M[issouri Geol. Report, p. 201, Pi. C, Fig. 10. cora, Marcou, 1855, Geol. N. Am. Pl. VI, Figs. 4 n c; (lot d'Orbigny). F lemnoii, Goinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 52, Tab. IV, Figs. 1, g 3, 4.; (not Sowerby, 1814). Coalhonioams, Geinitz, 1866, ib., p. 81;l (not Swallow, 1858).......)Lo:tinckiaoaos? G, (eiAitz, 1866, ib., p. 533,Tab. IV Fig. 5, a b; (not de Vern. 1845). Shell attaining a miedium size; breadth generally exceedingo thle leng'tl, especially when tihe ears are entirei cardinal margin usually soinewhat longer than the transverse lincenter of the valves at any point farther iorward; anterior and antcero-lateral outline regularly rounded. Ventral valve distinctly and rather evenly convex, and without any traces of ao lesial sinus; uinbonal region gibbons; beak incurved, but scanrcely passing the hinge margin; ears larg'e, rather compressed, and pro vided witxh a few large, str ongly definec, concentric flds, which ascend a little upon the slopincg sides of the unibo a'd extend mnie, or less along the posterior laterai margins, but never cross the beak, central region, nor front; surface ornamented with rather small, regular, rounded costa or striam, and armed with stout, erect, long spines, usually arranoged over the whole valve in quincunx, while one or two rows along the hinge manrgi are more crowded, larger, and in part directed backwards, with an inward curve. Dors al valve cocave, somnetimes a little flattened in the visceral region, and following the curve (f the other valve around o thle front and anterior lateral Imargins; ears ith frlds as in t4he other valve and each separated froma the concave central region by a'n oblique ridge Or prominence; surface without spines, but with radiating strive as in the ventral valve, and usually crossed by very obscure concentricwrinkles and a few enbricatiig -concentrie imarks of growth, particularly itear the front and sides; cardiinal process smnall, but slightly pron - eit, and b1fid, while from its base a slender linear mesial ridge extends forward to or a littile beyond, the middle. Muscular and reniform impressions very obscure or obsolete in the specimens exam ined. Length of a well-developed, mediumn-sized specimen, 1.40 inches; breadth, 1.47 inches eonvexity, about 0.85 inch. Th.,is species has been often referred to P. cora d'Orbiony, from whi"c, bh.owever, it differs (especi0a1111 fom the form referred to t iha- species by European authors)`i its greateir convexity, more extelnde hi nge, and much longer and stouter spitnes. It likeuwise difters friom i'Orbigai' original f 0igure of the South AnieriJcanI type of that pecies, givell ii his Paleont. Voyage, dca ns Anmerique i Meridionale, PI. 5, in several imortnt t chtaracters. rhi fact, however, that A. de Keoninck ad others refer a Europea.n form to dcOrbignyl s species, also dif(erig widely firom tlie li'?ureis of thme South Amerieii' shell alludc - to, after having' seend'Orbignys. typic sl e.i!mns, shos tIa.t lie must have igurici it ic ormu....have 4-0 figure i viu rcltl y, and that we should possibly look more to the figures given by IL'. Davidson and Ml. de Koliinck of the European form copared witht - iII a) iw' speiiiMens, they seem to be wv'asthg over tl geeter pat of the more convex region of theo valve. 164 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF d'Orbigny7s typical specimens, than to his own figures, in forming an idea of the true characters of P. cora. Professor Geinitz has referred the species under consideration in part to P. Flemingii, of Sowerby, which Mr. Davidson says, after seeing Sowerby's type of that supposed species, was founded upon a bad specimlen of the common P. longispinas. Some of the young individuals of P. Prattenianus look more or less like P. longispinus, but it is only necessary to have a good series of the Nebraska shell, of various sizes, for comparison, to be convinced that it is entirely distinct from P. longisptinuso I am also compelled to differ from Professor Geinitz, in regard to the shell represented by Fig. 5, P1. IV, of his Carb. und Dyas, being the P. Koninckianus, de Verneuil, a much smaller species, with a more prominent unibo, and a distinctly shorter hinge. To me, the shell figured under this name by Professor Geinitz seems to agree exactly with the usual adult characters of P. Prattenianus, but in order that others may have the means of forming their own conclusions on this point, I have given a copy of Professor Geinitz's figure (the ears of which I have restored in outline), and for comparison a copy of Mr. Davidson's figure of P. Koninckianus, from his Monogr. Brit. Carb. Brach., P1. LIII, Fig. 7, natural size. Mr. Davidson's figure was drawn from a British specimen; but in the prominence of its beak and the shortness of its hinge, M. de Koninck's figure of a Belgian specimen of P. Koninlckianus (under the name P. cancrini, but now generally regarded as the same as P. Koninlcianuts) differs in a more marked degree than Mr. Davidson's. The only figures I lHave seen of a Russian specimen of P. Koninekianus are those given by Count Keyserling, in his Petschora Land, Tab. IV, Fig. 4, a, b, c. These also show the umbo to be extremely prominent, and look in all respects quite unlike the Nebraska shell. It is also Worthy of note that all of these authors both figure and describe the P. Koninckkianus as a neat, pretty little species of the size of Mr. Davidson's figure, copied for comparison on our Plate V, Fig. 15, a, b, c. Having only crushed and imperfect specimens of this shell from division C of the Nebraska City section, I have given on PI. VIII, among the other fossils from that horizon, copies of two of the figures of this shell, published by Professor Geinitz in his Carb. und Dyas, P1. IV. Locality and position.-Divisions C and B of the Nebraska City section at that place, and in division B at Bennett's Mill; also at lower horizons at Cedar Bluftf Plattsmouth, Bellevue, Omaha., and, in short, at numerous other localities in the Upper Coal-Measures of Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa, and in both Upper and Lower Coal-Measures of Illinois. PRODucTUS PERTENUTIS Meek.. P1. I, Fig. 14, a, b, c, and P1. VTII,. 9 ab, c, d. Prodlctus cancri2i, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. unci: Byas in Neb., p. 54, Tab. IV, Fig. 6, a, b, c, d; (not Murch. de Vern. and Keys., Geol, Russ., Vol. II, part Paleont., P1. XVI, Fig. 8,,, c, and P1. XVIII, Fig. 7). Shell small, very thin, truncato-subhemispherical; sides and front regularly rounded; hinge line usually rather less than the greatest breadth of the valves. Ventral valve without any traces of a mesial sinus, moderately gibbous, the greatest convexity being slightly behind the middle, from which point it rounds off in all directions, but most abruptly to the beak and ears, which latter are flattened and subrectangular; beak small, slightly prominent, and but little incurved beyond the hinge line; surface with fine, regular, radiating strim, crossed by sxmall, rather distinct and regular, concentric wrinkles, which latter are rRttBASKA AN1) PORTIONS OF XDJACENT TERRITORIES. 165 generally most strongly defined on the ears; over the whole there are also regularly arranged in quincunx, very slender spines, 0.20 to 0.30 inch in length, rising from slight prominences or swellings of the radiating stri;e. Dorsal valve distinctly concave, or following nearly the curvature of the other valve, its greatest concavity being in the central region, while its ears are nearly flat; surface with concentric wrinkles and radiating strive as in the other valve, but apparently without spines, though a series of rather distinct pits are arranged over it in the same order as the spines of the other valve. Length of one of the largest specimens seen, 0.46 inch; breadth, 0.57 inch; convexity, about 0.24 inch. I have known this little shell since 1858, but had never been able to identify it with any of the known species, nor yet to feel sure that it was new, and consequently left it without a name in the Kansas collections, fearing it might be the young of some of the larger analogous forms. The comparisons, however, that I have recently had an opportunity to mnake, of a series of specimens from different localities, have satisfied me that it must be an adult shell, and as it cannot be properly identified with any of the described species, so far as yet known, 1 have ventured to regard it as new. Professor Geinitz has referred it to P. cancrini of M. V. & K., which it certainly resembles quite closely in some of its characters. But its dorsal or smaller valve (ventral of some authors) is certainly distinctly concave, particularly in the visceral region, while this valve in P. cancrini is described as having its' disk entirely fiat." It is an exceedingly thin shell, and the concavity of the smaller valve follows so closely the curve of the other, that the space occupied by the soft parts of the animal was very contracted. As the only specimens in the collection under investigation from division C, of Nebraska City, are in a crushed condition, I have reproduced the figures 9, a, b, P1. VIII, given by Professor Geinitz. Fig. 14, a, b, of P1. I, however, are from a specimen obtained at another locality. Locality and position.-Division C, of Nebraska City section, and from a shaft at that place, possibly below that horizon: also at Brownville, Nebraska, and a lower position at Atchison, Kansas. We likewise found it in 1858 in the Upper Coal-Measures on Grasshopper Creek, twelve miles west of Leavenworth, Kansas. PRODUCT US NEBRASCENSIS, Owen. P1. II, Fig. 2; P1. IV, Fig. 6;'and P1. V, 11 a, b, c. Productus Nebrascensis, Owen, 1852, Geol. Report, Wisconsin, owna, and Minnesota, p. 584, P1. V, Fig. 3; 1867, McChesney, Trans. Chicago Acad. Sci. 1, p. 24, P1. I, Fig. 7. ~- logersii, Norwood & Pratten, 1854, Jour. Acad. N. S. Philad., Vol. Ill, new series, p. 9, P1. I, Fig. 3, a, b, c; Ha1l, 1856, Vol. III, Pacific R. R. Report, p. 104, P1. II, Figs. 14, 15. ~- c::asper, McChesney, 1860, Descr. New Palaeozoic Fossils, p. 34; also illustrations same, 1865, P1. I, Fig. 7 a, b. Strojhcalosiat horrescens, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. nnd Dyas in Neb., p. 81; (not AMurci. de Vern. and Keyserling, 1845). Shell of about medium size, approaching subhemispherical; length most usually a little less than the breadth; hinge line nearly or quite equaling the greatest transverse diameter; anterior outline nearly straight, or a little sinuous near the middle, rounding into the lateral This figure is very imperfect and gives no idea of the surface characters of the species. 166 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF margins, which are generally rather straiight posteriorly, and ranging at anii ngle of from ninety to about one hundred degrees with the hinge; ears nearly rectangular, or a little rounded in outline, at their immediate extremiities. Ventral valve rather convex, most gibbous behind the middle, thence rounding regularly to the front and more abruptly to'the beak, generally with a moderately distinct mesial sinu s; posterior lateral slopes descending almost vertically to the ears; umbonal region gibbous, and with the strongly incurved beak projecting beyond the hinge line. Dorsal valve somewhat flattened in the visceral region, but miost concarve near the beak and toward the anterior lateral regions, the concavity widening rapidly forward, so as to leave a kind of broad, obscure, oblique ridge between it and the flattened ea'rs, and another in the middle; anterior and lateral margins following the curvature of the other valve; cardinal process prominent, bifid, and rather narrow; interior withl mesial ridge, narrow, well defined, extending forward beyond the miccddle, and a little bifid at its connection with the base of the cardinal process; muscular and reniform impressions obscurely marked; interior surface with numerous pustular projections which are most prominent and pointed on a belt around near the anterior and lateral margins. Surface of ventral valve with more or less defined, rather broad concentric undulations, and obscure strie of growth, over the whole of which are.. arranged two sets of spines, connected at their bases with short interrupted ribs or elongated tubercles. One of these sets consists of small, short, appressed spines, and the other of stout, more erect, long ones. Surface of dorsal valve with small concentric ridges and striae, with many little pits; spines nearly or quite all small, short a.nd appressed. Some confusion, in regard to the limits and relations of this species, has arisen from the differences presented by specimens, as broken from a hard limestone matrix, and the perfect shell as found weathered out of clay or soft shale. In the former case the spines, and nearly or quite all of the shell, are usually left in the matrix while the internal cast, when thus denuded, shows the concentric undulations and longitudinal ridges or elongated pustules, more strongly defined, with little indications of the spines. On the contrary, specimens from clay or shale are often found with the shell entire, and preserving the spines in a more or less perfect condition, so as to obscure, to some extent, the little interrupted ribs and concentric undulations. The specimens first described by Dr. Owen, as I kniow from a careful examination of his types, kindly loaned to me by his brother, Professor Richalrd Owen, are from limestone and only show traces of the spines. Partly fiom this fact, and probably in part from an error of the engraver, Dr. O.wen's published figure gives a very incorrect idea of the shell, though his description, and comparison with P. Hlumboldti, when taken in connection with the locality from which his specimen was obtained (Bellevue, Nebraska), would satisfy any one, familiar with the fossils of that region, that he must have had before him the form under consideraition, even if his original types were lost. The specimen upon which the species P. Royersii was proposed, which I have also lhad an opportunity to exa.mine, through the kindness of Professor McChesney, to whom it belongs, is also an internal east showing the rib-like pustules and concentric undulations very clearly, but without any traces of the spines. The specimens upon which Professor McOhesney proposed the species P. asper are well preserved and retain much of the spines. I have not NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 167 seen these identical specimens, however, but have had an opportniiity to examine a large collection, consisting of several hundied individuals' belonging to Professor Powell, of Bloomington, Illinois, from the same locality and position at Lasalle, of that State. From these and numerous others, in all conditions, I have seei from various localities in the West, I have no hesitation in regarding P. aslper as also synonym of P. _eebrascensis. Professor Geinitz was certainly in error in referring this shell to Strophalosiac horrescens, since it is positively not a Strophalosia at all, but a true Producttus, as may be seen by the figures on plate V. It never has any traces of the cardinal area of the genus Strop2lalosia, as I know from a careful examination of hundreds of well-preserved specimens, its cardinal margin being linear, as may be seen by Fig. 11,, c, of Plate V. By comparing this with Fig. 14 of the same plate, representing Strophalosia horrescens, from Professor Geinitz's work on the German Permian fossils (Dyas), the external difference between this genus, and Strophalosia, will be at once seen by the student, the latter genus having a, cardinal area, (marked a in the figure.) The presence of an area alone, however, is not always a sufficient distinction, since there is, in some very rare instances, al. abnormally developed area in true Prodtctzts. The total absence of cardinal teeth and sockets, however, in the latter genus clearly separates these types. That P. Nebrascensis is entirely lestitute of any traces of hinge teeth is well known to all in this country who have examined the interior of this shell. Figure 11 b, of Plate V, represents the hinge and interior of a dorsal valve of this species, and shows it to be entirely without sockets for the reception of teeth. P. Nebrascensis is evidently very similar to P. scabriculus of the Old World, even to the bifurcation of the internal mesial ridge of the dorsal valve. It differs, however, in having two very distinct sets of spines, the one small and appressed, and the other stout, erect, and long. (See Fig. 11 d, P1. V.) Locality and.position.-Professor Geinitz mentions this shell from divisions C and B of the Nebraska City section. I have only seen fragments of it from division C at this locality, though we have it from division B at that place, Wyoming, Bennett's Mill, &c.; and from lower positions at Rock Bluff, Plattsmouth, Bellevue, Omaha, and numerous other localities in Nebraska as well as Iowa) Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, &c. In short it is a widely distributed Coal-Measure species, from Nebraska to New Mexico, and from the Pocky Mountains eastward to West Virginia. PRODUCTUS SYMMETRICUS, M eChesney. P1. V, Fig. 6, a, b; and P1. VIII, Fig. 13. Productus symmetricus, McChesney, 1860, Descriptions New Paleozoic Fossils, p. 35; 1865, illustrations of same, Pl. I, Fig. 9, a, b; 1866, Trans. Chicago Acad. Sci., 1, p. 25, P1. I, Fig. 9. Shell of medium size, suborbicular, or a little wider than lo g; hinge line somewhat less than the greatest breadth; sides rounding regularly to the front, which is rather broadly rounded in outline; ventral valve somewhat compressed, or only moderately convex, without any traces of a mesial sinus i ears compressed but not abruptly separated from the swell of the unmbo, obtusely angular or a little rounded at the extremities; beak moderately large, incurved, but not curving much within the hinge margin. Dorsal valve rather evenly, and only moderately concave, cardinal process slender, prominent, curved, trifid, the middle 168 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF division more prominent than thle others, and ernartinate at its extremity, the emarlgination being caused by a distinct miesial furrow that extends the entire length of the process; muscular scars somewhat convex, rather distinct in well-preserved' specimens, and divxided by a slenler, simple mesial ridge, extending from the base of the cardinall process about three-fourths of the way to the front; whole interioir, excepting the region of the muscular scars, roughened by little pustular projections which become more prominent near the anterior and anterior-lateral margins. Surface of both valves ornamented by small, atlher obscure, and more or less regular concentric wrinkles, and covered by numerous small, short, rather appressed spines, which: are larger on the ventral valve, where they are often connected with little, somewhat elongated tubercles. Length of a. well-developed specimen, 1.37 inches; breadth, 1.45 inches; convexity, 0.70 inch. This shell will be readily distinguished from the last by its less convex ventral valve, without any mesial sinus, by its smaller concentric wrinkles, and particularly by having its spines consisting of a single series of small, rather depressed ones, instead of a large, stout, erect series, and another small, depressed series. Its cardinal process also differs in being trifid, and its internal ridge of the dorsal valve in being simple instead of bifid near the base of the cardinal process. The most striking differences, however, observable on comparing good specimens, consist in the differences of form mentioned, and the two sets of spines in the Nebrascensis. Among European species this shell is perhaps most nearly like P. scabriculus, which it rather nearly resembles in most of its characters. It differs, however, in having no traces of a mesial sinus, in its finer and more distinct concentric wrinkles, and particularly in its distinctly trifid cardinal process, and the simple mesial internal ridge of its dorsal valve; that of sccbricduls being like Owen's Nebrascensis, bifurcated near the base of the cardinal process. It was probably imperfect specimens of this and the last-described species that Professor Geinitz and others have referred to P. pustulosus and P. scabriculus, from the outcrops at Bellevue and Plattsmouth; at least these two forms are more like those two foreign species, than any others known to me from the rocks of that region. They are both clearly distinct species from P. pustulosus and P. scabrichluzs, however. Locality and position.-Professor Geinitz did not find this species in Professor Marcon's collections from division C, of the Nebraska City section. WTe found several fragments of it, however, in that bed at Nebraska, City, as wrell as at an apparently higher horizon 2- miles west of there; and the distorted, but nearly entire individual, figured on P1. VIII, Fig. 13, came from division C, at Nebraska City Landing. We also lfave imperfect specimens of it from division B, at that place and Bennett's Mlill; also, from Peru, and from lower positions, three or four miles up Platte Iliver, and from Bellevue, and numerous other localities in the Upper Coal-Mleasures of Nebraska and Kansas. It likewise occurs at the same horizon in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois, as well as in the Lower Coal-Measures of the last-mentioned State. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES, 169 PRODUCTUS PUNCTATUS, 1Martin, sp. P1. II, Fig. 6, and P1. IV, Fig. 5. Anomitespunctatus, Martin, 1809, Petref. Derb., P1. XXXVII, Fi(. 6; (not 7 and 8). Trigonia lugosa, Parkinscn, 1811, Oranlic reminas, Vol. III, PI. XII, Fig. 11. Anomites thccanrils, Schloth., Nacltr. zur Petref., II,. p. 63, P1. XIV, Fi. 1. Productus punctatus, J. Sowerby, 18.2, Mill. Conch., p. 22, Tlab. 323; Von Buch, 1841, Abhadcll. der K. Akad. der Wissensch. zu Berlin, Theil 1, P1. II, Figs. 10, 11; de Kon., 1843, An. Foss. Carb. 13elg., p. 196, P1. X, Fie. 2; and 1847, Mong. Genl. Productus, P1. XII, Fig. 2; do V ernenil, 1845, Russia and Ural lMts.. Vol. II, p. 276, P1. XVI, Fig. 11; Davidson, 1860, Scottish Carb. Brach., p. 42, P1. IV, Fig 20; and Monogr. Brit. Carb. Brach., p. 172, P1. XLIV. Figs. 9-16. - semipunctatlus, Shephard, 1838, Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. XXXIV, Fig. 9. Prodluctapunctata, Phillips, 1836, Geol. Yorks, p. 215, Vol. II, P1. VIII, Fig. 10. Leptama sulcata, Fisher, 1837, Oryct. Mosc., P1. XXIII, Fig. 2; (not Sowerby). Productls concentricls, Potie? et Michaid., 1844, Galer. des Moll. du Mus. de Dondi, Vol. II, p. 25, PI. XLI, Fig. 1. ~- ztubulospinus, McChesney, 1860, Descrip. New Pal. Foss., p. 37, also 1865, illustrations of same, P1. I, Figs. 10 and 11. Shell attaining a rather large size, thin, varying from rotundato-snbquadrate to longitudinally subovate, being sometimes wider than long, and in other examples longer than wide, with all intermediate forms; hinge margin always shorter than the greatest breadth of the valves; anterior outline regularly rounded, or faintly sinifous in the middle. Ventral valve more or less gibbous, with a moderately distinct mesial sinus extending firom near the beak to the front; beak incurved a little beyond the cardinal margin; ears rather compressedl but not distinctly defined from thp swell of the unmbo. Dorsal valve moderately concave with a small mesial elevation. Surface of both valves ornamented with numerous rather regular concentric ridges, increasing in size from the beaks towards the front, but becoming again smaller and more crowded in adult shells at the margin; in the ventral valve these ridges are a little prominent at the lower margin, separated from each other by smoother spaces, and support numerous small. appressed spines, those of the upper row of which are larger and less crowded than the others; on internal casts, or partly exfoliated specimens, the spines are represented by small tubercles; surface of dorsal valve as in the other, excepting that the ridges are represented by little furrows. Length of a fully developed, rather broad specimen, 2.66 inches; breadth of same, 2.50 inches; convexity, about 1.10 inches. This widely distributed species occurs in our Coal-Measures of the West, at numerous localities, as well as in'the Lower Carboniferous rocks. At one time it was thought that the Coal-Measure specimens were specifically distinct, or ought to be so, from those in the lower rocks, but after a careful comparison of some fine specimens in the Illinois collection, showing the interior, cardinal process, &c., I was entirely unable to detect any specific differences from the well-known P. punctatus. The specimen figured by Professor McChesney (New Palhozoic Fossils, PI. I, Fig. 11), has the cardinal process incomplete, and shows the muscular impressions imperfectly, without any traces of the reniform markings; but I hlave seen these, as stated above, in others in a better state of preservaltion from the Coal-Measures of Illinois, as they are represented by?Mlr. Davidson, in his beautiful figures of P. punctatus. Locality and position.-Division PB of Nebraska City section, at that place, Bennett7s Mill, and Wyoming, and at, possibly, a higher horizon inl a shaft near Nebraska Cit y; also at Pock Bluff, P lattsmouth, and Bellevue; and numerous places in the Upper Coal-Measures of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Ka(nsas, &c. It likewise occurs in the Lower CoalMeasures, and even in the Lower Carboni'erous rocks of Missouri, Iow.a, Illinois, &c. 170 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF Genus CHONETES, Fischer. CHONETES VER.NEUILIANA, N. & P. P1. I, Fig. 10 a, b. Chonetes Verneuiliaina, Norwood & Pratten, 1854, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., Vol. III, p. 26, P1. II, Fig. 6, a, b, c; Shumard, 1855, Missouri Geol. Report, p. "216. Shell rather small, varying from transversely sub-semicircular, to sub-oblong; hinge line more or less extended beyond the breladth of the valves at any other point; sometimes greatly produced. Ventral valve very convex, with a deep rounded irzesial sinus, starting near the beak and deepening and widening rapidly to tlhe aInterior imargin, to which it imparts a distinctly sinuos outline, thus dividing the gibbous part of the valve into two prominent, rounded lobes or diverging ridges, separated from the ear on each side by a broad rounded depression; ears more or less angular, sometimes extended and acutely pointed, slightly arching, and a little reflexed; beak rather prominent, and incurve'l; area moderately developed and cominon to both valves, but widest in the ventral; foramen wide; cardinal margin provided with four oblique spines on each side of the beak. Dorsal valve following rather hearly the curve of the other, and provided with a mesial ridge corresponding to the sinus of the other valve. Surface of each valve, ornamented with about 100 fine bifurcating, radiating striia, and sometimes near the front, by a few mnarks of growth. Length of a medium-sized specimen, 0.27 inch; breadth, 0.40 inch; convexity about 0.12 inch. This species is remarkable for its convex ventral valve, with'its deep mesial sinus, which imparts to it a peculiar bilobate appearance. I know of no species with which it is liable to be confounded. Locality and position.-Plattsmiouth, and various other localities in the Upper Coal-Measures of Neblaska, as well as Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, &c. The remarkably extended specimen firom which Fig. 10 b, of Plate I, was drawn, come -from near the same horizon as the Plattsmouth outcrop, four miles up the Platte. CIIONETES GRANULIFiERA, Owen. PI. IV, Fig. 9; PI. VI, Fig. 10; P1. VIII, 7. Jnlets griacmlifcra, Owen, 1855, Geol. Rep. Minn., Iowa, and Wisconsin, p. 583, Tab. V, Fig( 12. M1 ucrota!c, Meek & Hayden, 1858, Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., p. 262; Paleont. Upp. Mo., p. 22, P1. I., Fig 5, a, b, c, d, c; Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas, p. 58, Tab. IV, Figs. 12, 13 and 14; not Chonetes mucrontata (-=Strophomena mucronoata, Conr., 1843). Shell attaining a rather large size, semicircular in outline, having its greatest breadth on the hinge line, which often terminates in extended mueronate ears. Larger or ventral valve moderately convex, the greatest convexity being in the central region, or rather on each side of it, as there is usually a broad, shallow, mesial depressioni ears and lateral regions comllpressed; front somewhat straightened along the middle; betlk sla-ll, rather comlpressed, a little arched, and scarcely projecting beyond the cardinal margin, which is provided with from seven to about eleven oblique spines on each side of the beak; area rather narrow, ranging nearly parallel to the general plane of the valves, its fissure broad, partly closed above by an arching deltidium; hinge teeth well developed, compressed, and minutely striated; interior with impressions of cardinal muscles subovate, diverging, attenuate above NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 171 adductor muscular scars small, narrow-subellipt.ical; mesial ridge prolni uent near the beak, much lower, and rarely extending forward to the central region; most of the interior occupied by granules, which are largest and most crowded on a narrow space around near the front and lateral margins; but around the immediate margin they are much smaller, and arranged in distinct radiating rows. Dorsal or smaller valve, following nearly the curve of the other, the beak a'nd central regions being concave, and the ears flat; area well developed, but narrower than in the other valve; bifid cardinal process and mesial prominence, nearly or quite closing the fissure of the other valve. From the base of this process, there are extending, on. the innei side of the valve, five radiating ridges, two of which pass obliquely outward, forming the inner margins of the dental sockets, while a third mesial one extends at right angles to the hinge, a little mor( than half-way to the front; the other two are much shorter, oblique, and occupy intermediate positions between the middle and the two latter ones; granules of the interior as in the other valve. Surface of both valves ornamented with a few subimbricating marks of growth, crossed by very fine, obscure, regularly a nd closely arranged radiating strimc, of which about one hundred and fifty may be count.ed around the free border of a large individual, where eightf or nine of them may be counted in the space of one line. Length of a large specimen, 0.62 inch; breadth on hinge line, 1.13 inches. I am now. after seeing specimens from various localities along the Missouri River, nearly satisfied that this must be the same shll described by Dr. Owen, under the name C. granuliefera. His figutes and description are unfortunately so imperfect as to leave this question somewhat doubtful. He gives four figures, none of which are near so extended on the hinge, nor so mucronate at the lateral extremities as in well-developed specimens of the form for which we proposed the name 0. mucronctc^t while they give,the appearance of much coarser surface markings. Judging from the localities at which he obtained his typical specimens, however, and from numerous collections before me from the same and other localities, I can scarcely doubt that he must have founded his species on the same shell to which we afterwards gave the name C. mucronata. Chonetes Smithii, of Norwood & Pratten, is a form with which this shell should be compared, though the form here described attains a much larger size, and is more compressed, as well as more extended on the hinge. The latter character, however, can scarcely be regarded as a specific distinction in this genus, as may be seen by the figures of C. Verneuiliana, given on Plate I. Locality and position.-Division C, of the Nebraska City section; also in Division B, at the same place, and at Wvyoming and Bennett's Mill; likewise at lower horizons at Plattsmouth, Bellevue, Onaha, and at numerous other localities in Nebraska, Kansas BMissouri, Iowa, &c., it being a very common shell in the Coal-Mleasures of that region. Specimens of a somewhat smaller size, but otherwise undistinguishable, also occur in the Coal-Measures of Illinois. CIHONETES GLABRA, Geinitz. P1. IV, Fig. 10; P1. VIII, Fig.'8 a,b. Chonetes glabra, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 60, P1. IV, Figs. 15-18. Shell thin; transversely sub-semicircular, the length being more than half the breadth; hinge line a little longer than the greatest breadth of the 172 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF valves, at any point farther forward i lateral extremities abruptly pointed and sometimes slightly recurved; anterior and anterior-lateral margins, forming a semi-circular curve in outline, excepting that the former is generally faintly sinuous in the middle; lateral margins curving abruptly outward just before intersecting the hinge extremities. Ventral or larger valve moderately convex, the most gibbous part being in the form of two broad, rounded, undefined prominences, which diverge from the beaks to the anterior lateral regions, leaving a broad, rounded, rather deep mesial sinus between them, extending nearly to the beak, but widening and deepening rather rapidly to the front; outside of these prominences, the posterior lateral regions are more or less compressed; beak small, compressed, slightly arched, and scarcely projecting beyond the cardinal margin; area narrow, inclined obliquely backward; its fissure small, nearly semi-circular and partly closed by the cardinal process of the other valve; cardinal margin armed on each side of the beak by four or five slender, moderately long, oblique spines, with sometimes remains of one or two much smaller rudimentary additional ones near the beak; cardinal teeth compressed, their longer diameter ranging nearly parallel to the hinge line-as seen under a strong magnifier, finely striated on the outside, at right angles to their length. Interior, excepting in the region of the muscular impressions, with numerous rather distinct granules, arranged in radiating rows-immediately within the fissure, provided with a short, rather prominent, compressed ridge ranging at right angles to the hinge; muscular impressions very obscure. Dorsal or concave valve, following nearly the curve of the other; area of about the same size as in the dorsal valve, inclined forward from the hinge; cardinal process small, not very prominent, and as seen on the outer side somewhat trilobate, the middle lobe or ridge being divided by a linear sulcus; socket ridges very oblique; interior granulated as in the other valve. A very small, obscure linear ridge occupies the middle of the valve, without, however, extending up to the hinge; muscular impressions unknown. Surface of both valves nearly smooth, but showing obscure concentric marks of growth. In some conditions of weathering, there is a faint appearance of radiatingarking r s, but this is due rather to the structure of the shell, and not to proper external lines. When a single one of the thin valves is cleaned and examined by the aid of a good magnifier and a strong transmitted light, lirge, very scattering punctures or pores are seen arranged in quincunx, and passing obliquely through the shell. These appear to have been connected with minute tubular spines, arranged over the whole surface, during the life of the animal. At any rate, in one specimen, of which Fig. 8 b, Plate VIII, is a representation enlarged two diameters, there are numerous little projecting points having the appearance of minute spine bases projecting through a filn of shale on the surface. They must, however, be extremely fragile and readily removed, as no traces of them are to be seen on any of the numerous other specimens in the collection. Locality and position.-Division C of the Nebraska City section, where it is very abundant, and found in a fine state of preservation. It also occurs at that locality, though much less abundantly, in division B, It is likewise found common at a much lower horizon in the Coal-Measures at Atchison, Kansas. It is a remarkable fact that in a collection sent by Mr. Dall, from Russian America, there is' a small rolled erratic mass of very hard siliceous rock, picked up on the shores of Youkon River, containing a Chonetes apparently agreeing with this in every respect. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 173 Genus ORTHIS, Dalman. Or1THIS CARBONARIA, Swallow. P1. I, Fig. 8, a, b, c. Orthis carbonaria, Swallow, 1858, Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., 1, p. 218.? ~ Pecosii, Marcou, 1858, Geol. N. Am., p. 48, P1. VI, Fig. 14, a, b.? -(sp. undt.), Meek, 1864, Paleontology of California, Vol. I, p. 10, PI. II, Fig. 5, a, b, c. Shell small, suborbicular, slightly wider than long, moderately convex in adult specimens; lateral margils rounded, or, in some examples, faintly straightened posteriorly; front more broadly rounded, but usually very slightly sinuous in the middle; valves nearly equally convex;'hinge line very short, or only equaling about half the breadth of the valves. Ventral valve usually most convex in the umbonal region, sometimes a little flattened anteriorly, so as to give the shell slightly the form usually called " resupinate" though in gibbous specimens this character is nearly obsolete; beak moderately prominent, rather pointed and arched; area small, well defined, and arching with the beak; foramen narrow. Dorsal valve usually most convex between the middle and the beak, which is small, and nearly as p]rominent and arched as that of the other valve, generally with a shallow sinus extending from the middle to the front; area well developed, but smaller than in the other valve, arched and divided by a proportionally shorter foramen. Surface of both valves ornamented with concentric marks of growth and numerous fine radiating crowded striTn, which increase mainly by intercalation, and, as in minny other species of the genus, show occasional perforations toward the front, apparently left by the removal of very small tubular spines. Length of a well-developed gibbous specimen, rather above a medium size, 0.38 inch; breadth, 0.43 inch: convexity, 0.27 inch. Largest specimen about 0.44 inch in length, and 0.51 incli in breadth. This little shell resembles so nearly, in form and surface characters, some varieties of 0. respinatac and 0. Mlichelmni, that scarcely any one familiar with those shells, if shown a few of these, would hesitate to pronounce them young examples of one or the other, or both of those species. Still, from its uniform much smaller size, even at widely dis-' tant localities, and in beds of various lithological characters, where not associated with any similar larger shell, leadts me to think it must be distinct, and that our specimens really represent the adult size. In addition to their smaller size, a careful comparison also shows that they certainly do present some appreciable and constant differences. For instance, 0. carbonaria has its beaks more nearly equal than either 0. resupinata or 0. lichelini, and more prominent, particularly that of its dorsal valve, which is also more pointed. It is also generally proportionally more thickened within on each side of the rostral cavity in the ventral valve. Locality and position.-The specimen figured was found, with others (some of which are less convex), at Rock Bluff, in Upper Coal-Measure beds, referred by Professor AMarcou to the Lower Permian, (Dyas). We also have some crushed and distorted specimens of apparently the same shell from division B at Nebraska City, referred by Professors Marcou and Geinitz to the lower part of the Upper Permian. It likewise occurs at various lower horizons in the Upper Coal-Measures in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, &c.; while Professor Swallows typical specimens were from the Middle Coal-Measures at Lexington, M3issouri. 174 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF Genus HEMIPRONITES, Pander. HEMIIPRONITES CRASSUS, MT. and H. P1. V, Fig. 10, a, b c; and P1. VIII, Fig. 1. OrJtiisina crassa, Meek and Hayden, 1858, Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philad., p. 260. Orthtis Lasallcnsis, McChesney, 1860, New Paleozoic Fossils, p. 32; and 1865, illustrations of same, P1. I, Fig. 6, ac b. —' Rich1ondwi, McChesney, ib., Fig. 5, a, b, c. e.cmipronites crassus, Meek and I-Iayden, 1864, Paleont. Upper Missouri, p. 26, P1. I, Fig. 7, a, b, c, d. Lasallensis, and I. crassus, McChesney, 1867, Trans. Chicago Acad. Sci., Vol. I, p. 28, P1. I. Figs. 5 and 6. Compare Orthis KeoLkuc, and 0. robusta, Hall, 1858, Iowa Geol. Report, Vol. I, Part 2, p. 640, P1. XIX, Fig. 5, a, b, and p. 713, P1. XXVIII, Fig. 5, a, b, c. Shell varying from semi-circular to truncato-subcirculair, or transversely suboblong, generally wider than long, varying from compressed to distinctly' convex; hinge margin equaling, or shorter thani the greatest breadth of the valves, rectangular or sometimes more or rather less than rectangular at the extremities; anterior outline forming a more or less regular semi-circular curve. Dorsal valve always convex, sometimes very distinctly so, the greatest convexity being near the middle; beak not distinctifrom the cardinal margin. Ventral valve varying in convexity at the umbo, sometimes very prominent, and occasionally distorted there; less convex, flattened, or not unfrequently a little concave around near the front; area varying in height in proportion to the elevation of the beak, and either flat or with the beak a little arched, usually rather distinctly striated; its closed fissure varying in the proportions vf height and breadth, with the greater or less elevation of the beak; interior always provided with a prominent mesial septumn extending from the beak forward to- near the middle af the valve., Surface of both valves marked by numerous strong, raised radiating strive, of unequal size, there being generally one or several smaller ones between each two of the larger crossing the whole are also numerous fine, regular concentric striam, more or less defined both between and upon the radiating strie, to which latter they impart a neatly crenate appearance. After proposing the name T. crassus for this species, I was led to think it most probably only a variety of the well-knowni widely distributed European', B. crenistria, which it certainly very closely resembles in external characters. On sending specimens showing the interior of the valves from the original locality, however, to Mr. Daviidson, ihe wrote back that he could not think it properly belongs to that species, because amorg all the specimens of that form lhe had exalmined he had never seen one showing the peculiar mlesial septum always so strongly developed in. the interior of the ventral valve of this shell. I have no doubt in regard to its identity writh Orthis Lasallensis and 0. Rich mondi of MicChesney, and I slupect the same species has been described by Professor Ha ll in the Iowta Steport under the namnes O rthis KLeol,7Uc and 0. robusta, particularly the former, which seems to have the same moesial septum wiithin the ventral valve, and agrees nearly in other chalracters excepting in its larger size. Locality and position. Divisions B and C of the NebrasLka City section, and from apparently above the latterhorizon 1 and 21 miles west o there and again from bed B at 3Bennett's Mill and WAyomingi; also at lowNer horizons in tilhe U(pper Coal-3MIeasures at Cedar Bluff, Plattsmouth, Bellevue, and Otmalha. It likewise occurs at Peru, ulo, and Brownville, as well ass at nuifUerous' ot-her localities and positions in the NEBRASKA. AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRIT'OIIES. 175 Coal-Measures of Nebraska, Kansass, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois; and I have recently identified it among' s)pe, ilens collectedl by Professoi J. J. Stevenson ifom the horizon oi the Chester liiestone in NWest Virginia. Genus ]MEIEKELLA, lWhite and St. John. MEEIKELLA STlIIA'TO-COSTATA, COX, 1). P1. V. Fig. 12, a, b, c. Plicatcila striato-costata, Cox, 1857, Owen's Geol. Report, Ky.. Vol. III, p. 568, P1. VIII, Fig. 7. Orthis.stiato-costata, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. unl Dyas in Neb., p. 48, Tab. III, Figs. 22)-24. Meekella striato-costata, AWhite adI St. Jolhn, 1807, Trans. Chicago Acadl. Sci., Vol. 1, p. 120 and 121, Figs. 4, 5, and 6. Compare Strc2Dtorhyrchius peetiiformis, Davidson, 186)3, Liege, Brach., Pal. lInle, PliX, Fig'. 17. Fi c. 5. A. B. Mfellcla sthiato-costata. A. Slowing a transverse section of the lbeak of the ventral valve, (a),being the rema'liinig portion of the rdinail area, (d (d,) the dental processes, and (c c c) the treeciiunllibers into which the interior is divideld by the two interveninlg septa. B. Sihowing_ a longitiudinall section of tlhe salme valve, (1) beinoi the side and outline of one of the seplta or dental lanihizue, (b) the point of tlhe beak, and (d) the dental process. (After Dr. White's and Professor St. tJohnts figurlres. Fig, 6. Mtelecllat str'iato-costata. A posterior view of dorsal valve, showing above the remarklable cardinail prci ss, with. its broken alate part restored in outline; from a specimen borrowed froiu- Dr. WVhite. Shell trigonal-slbglobose9 becomingn) very convex withI age, g'eneraellv a little longer thain wide; hinge line very much shorter than the bre:iad th of the valves. Dorsal valve convex, the greatest prominence near the umbo, thence rounding over to the front, being usually sonmewhat fiiattened over the central and anterior regions, but without any mesial sinus beak strongly incurved and with its most prominent part sometimes projecting a little beyond the hinge line, but in others flattened, and with its immediate apex nearly always terminating at the margin of the hinge; posterior lateral margins laterally conmpressed and converging townard the umbo at nearly a right angle; surface ornamented by about ten to thirteen large radiating, more or less angular, simple or rarely biiurcating plica 176 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF tions, which are themselves (as well as the furrows between) marked by fine but distinct radiating strie, which, toward the front, instead of continuing parallel to the furrows and plications, converge forward on each side of the latter so as to intersect along the crests of the same at acute angles; crossing all of these, there are usually near the front and latteral margins, a few strong zigzag marks of growth. Ventral valve more convex than the other, the greatest convexity being at or near the beak, which is elevated and usually more or less distorted, being sometimes twisted to one side, and in other examples straight or somewhat arched backward; cardinal area narrow transversely, but proportionally high, being often distinctly higher than wide but well-defined, and usually finely striated transversely and vertically, either fiat or more or less arched backward; false deltidium closing the fissure, narrow and provided with a slender, rounded, prominent mnesial ridge extending to the apex of the beak; surface as in the other valve. Length of a medium-sized well-developed adult specimen, 1.06 inches; convexity of same, 0.97 inch; breadth, 1.12 inches. Individuals of this shell vary much in size andt form, and especially in the elevation of the beak and area of the ventral valve. As in the allied genus Hemipronites (-Streptorhynchus), the beak of its ventral valve is often considerably distorted, and occasionally with its immediate apex truncated as if from adhesion by the substance of the young shell. In most of its external characters it is very closely allied to an East Indian form described by Mr. Davidson under the name Streptorhynchus pectiniformis. (See Fig. 16 of our PI. V.) Professor Geinitz and Mr. Davidson (the latter after a direct comparison of specimens) think there are no well-grounded specific differences by which these shells can be distinguished and I confess, after comparing a specimen of the Indian form sent by Mr. Davidson to Dr. White, and along with it a fine series of the western shell from Iowa, kindly loaned to me for comparison by the latter gentleman, that one would scarcely suspect any specific difference to exist between these shells if found together at the same locality and associated in the same beds. Without undertaking to decide this question with but a single specimen of the Indian form for comparison, I would merely remark that both on Mr. Davidsonls figure and on the specimen before me of the latter, the radiatilng striae are perceptibly coarser than on our shell, and not converging to the crests of the plications, as may be seen by comparing the figures of the two on Plate V. In addition to this, a transverse section across the beak of the ventral valve.of the Indian specimen quite unexpectedly reveals no traces of the strongly developed dental laminae of the American shell. These, however, may have been broken out by some accident; otherwise there would seem to be even a generic difference. Dr. White and Professor St. John have, as I think, very properly separated the form under consideration generically from Hemipronites (=-Streptorhynchus), on account of its dental supports in the ventral valve instead of merely converging to the apex of the beak under the area, having the form of two strongly-developed laminae attached to the bottom of the valve and produced forward with slight divergence nearly to the middle of the same. The cardinal process of the other valve is also much more prominent than that of Hemipronites. and very differently formed, as may be seen by the annexed cut. These characters, and the differences in the general physiognomy of the two types, seem to me to distinguish them generically. There are also some large scattering punctures about the beak of the ventral valve of the form under consideration that I have never seen in femipronites. It, therefore, ap NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 177 pears to bear the same relations to the latter that Syntrilasma does to Orthis. Locality and position.-This shell was first described by Professor Cox from the Coal-Measures of Kentucky. It also occurs at various horizons in the Middle and Upper Coal-Measures of Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. The specimen we have figured is from division B, at Nebraska City, and we found it at lower horizons at Bellevue and Plattsmouth, and at higher positions at Otoe City, Aspinwall, &c., in Nebraska. I have never seen it from any locality east of Illinois, nor anywhere in the Lower Coal-Measures. Genus SYNTRILASMA, M. & W. SYNTRILASMA HEMIPLICATA, Hall, sp. Pl. VI, Fig. 1, a, b; and P1. VIII, Fig. 12 a, b. Spirifer hemiplicatus, Hall, 1852, Stansbury's Salt Lake Report, p. 409, P1. IV, Fig. 3, a, b, Syntrilasma hemiplicata, Meek & Worthen, 1866, Report Geol. Survey, Ill., Vol. I, p. 323. Fig. 36, and p. 324, Fig. 37. Rhynchonella angulata, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas,p. 37, Tab. III, Figs. 1-4; (not B. [Anomia] angulata, Linnaeus, 1767). Fig. 7. Syntrilasma heniplicata. a. A transverse section of a ventral valve, showing the three laminie (I, m, l) of the; interior. b. A longitudinal section of the two valves united, showing the side of one of the dental lamina (1) and the side of one of the socket-plates, (s). c. A cardinal view, showing the small area and the triangular foramen. Fig. 8. a b Syntrilasma hemiplicata. a. Shows a dorsal view with a portion of the shell removed so as to expose in the cast the diverging socket plates. b. A similar view of the ventral valve, showing the three closely approximated parallel plates within. Shell in young examples only moderately convex, and having all the external appearances of a true Orthis; in adult specimens, often globose, or even more convex than long or wide. Hinge line very short, or not more than one-third the greatest breadth of the valves, and, owing to the gibbosity of the shell, imparting little or no angularity to the outline of H. Ex. 19- 12 178 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF the lateral slopes. Dorsal valve more convex than the other, and very strongly arched, particularly in mature shells; umbonal region gibbous, and often, in adult examples, projecting somewhat beyond the beak of the other valve; beak strongly incurved, so as to bring its apex under the beak, and nearly against the area of the other valve; area rather narrow and distinctly incurved with the beak. Ventral valve convex; beak only moderately prominent and arched, or more or less incurved; area triangular, small, about one-third as high as wide, and moderately well defined; its triangular foramen scarcely as wide as high. Surface of both valves ornamented with rather fine, regular, crowded radiating strie, and a few very large, rounded, or more or less angular, radiating plications, which latter are never defined on the umbones, but occupy the anterior half, and become more prominent toward the front, where they often terminate in deeply interlocking angular marginal projections.. Of these plications there are two-rarely three-on each side of the slightly larger and more prominent one forming the mesial fold on the dorsal valve, while on the ventral valve there are three-rarely four-on each side of the mesial sinus; a few zigzag marks of growth also traverse the anterior and lateral margins of the valves, parallel to their deeply-notched edges. Length of a medium-sized adult specimen, 0.72 inch; breadth, 0.74 inch; convexity, 0.75 inch. Rbadiating strie numbering twelve to fifteen in 0.10 inch. This interesting and peculiar shell was, by an oversight, referred by Professor Geinitz to Rhynchonella angulata, Linn. sp. Although it resembles that species somewhat in general external appearances, it is really very widely removed from it by its generic and even family characters, being a distinctly punctate shell, with a well-defined, though small, cardinal area, divided by an open triangular fissure, and having in the other valve a cardinal process exactly as we see in Orthis.* It differs -generically, however, from the latter, in having the dental laminte very closely approximated, prominent, and, with a third mlesial plate, continued nearly parallel to each other far forward. Specifically, it is very closely allied to a South American Carboniferous shell referred by Mr. Salter in the Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. Loud., XVII, p. 64, P1. IV, Fig. 3, to Terebrctula Andii, d'Orbigny. I have also, through the politeness of Colonel Romanowski, of the mining engineers' department of Russia, some imperfect specimens from the Mountain limestone of Rjasanl, Russia, with the name Spirifer Lamarc1kii, Fischer, attached, that I believe to belong to the species under consideration. I have not seen the original figures and description of Fischer's species, but if correctly represented by Murchison, de Verneuil and v. Keyserling in the Geology of Russia, I should think it distinct, specifically, from the form sent by Colonel Romanowski. At any rate, I can scarcely doubt that Fischer's species ought to be called Syntrilasma Lamarckcii as it resembles our typical species apparently too nearly to belong to any other genus. Locality and position.-Divisions B and C of the Nebraska City section; also at the former horizon at Wyoming, Bennett's Mill, &c., and at numerous lower horizons in the Coal-Measures of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, &c. * Mr. Davidson, to whom I sent specimens of this shell, writes that he thinks it a good genus. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 179 Genus RHYNCHONELLA, Fischer. RHYNICHONELLA OSAGENSIS, Swallow. P1. I, Fig. 9, a, b, and P1. VI, Fig. 2, a, b. RhynchonelZa (Camarophoria) Osagensis, Swallow, 1858, Trans. St. Louis Acad., S. 1, p. 219. Terebratula Uta, Maroou, 1858, Geol. N. Am., p. 51, P1. VI, Fig. 12, a, b, c.? Rhynchonella, sp., Salter, 1861, Jour. Geol. Soc. London, Vol. XVII, p. 64, Fig. 5, a. b. Camarophoria globuina, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 38, Tab. III, Fig. 5; (not C. globulina, Phillips, sp., 1.834). Shell small, more or less variable in form, often subtrigonal, generally wider than long, more or less gibbous; front truncated, or sometimes sinuous in outline; anterior lateral margins rounded hl outline; posterior lateral margins convex, or nearly straight and converging to the beaks at an angle of from about 900 to 120(. Dorsal valve more convex than the other, greatest convexity near the middle or between it and the front, which has a broad, rather deep, marginal sinus, for the reception of a corresponding projection of the front of the other valve; mesial fold somewhat flattened, but slightly prominent, and rarely traceable back of the middle of the valve; generally composed of three, but sometimes of four-rarely more-plications sides rounding down rapidly on each side of the mesial fold, and each occupied by about three or four simple plications; beak curving strongly beneath that of the other valve; interior with a faint linear mesial ridge, on each side of which is a raised curved line inclosing an ovate space, occupied by the adductor muscular impressions. Ventral valve distinctly less convex than the other, with a broad, shallow, short sinus occupied by about two or three short plications; anterior lateral margins on each side of the sinus, with from two to four simple plications; beak moderately prominent, and more or less arched, rather pointed; foramen small. Length of a medium sized specimen, 0.40 inch; breadth, 0.45 inch; convexity, 0.32 inch. Like most other species of- the genus, this varies considerably in form; some individuals being proportionally wider and more gibbous than others. It also varies in the number of its plications, from six or seven to about twelve, or rarely thirteen or fourteen to each valve. In a, majority of instances there are only two plications in the mesial sinus and three on the fold. Some specimens have more, though I have not seen any I could confidently refer to this species, with as many as six plications in the sinus, as stated by Professor Swallow to be sometimes the case. As remarked by Professor Swallow, some individuals of this species resemble Camarophoria Schlotheimi, or at least certain forms of that species, quite closely. Professor Geinitz has even referred it to Camarophoria globulina, Phillips, a shell by some believed to be only a variety of C. Schlotheimi; but as I have elsewhere stated, it is certainly distinct from those forms, because it is not a Camarophoria at all, but true Rhynchonella. This I have ascertained both by internal casts and by sections made across the beak of the ventral valve, of specimens from various localities; As we obtained no good specimens from division C, at Nebraska City, I have copied on PI. VIII the figure given by Professor Geinitz. Fig. 2 a, b, PI. VI, represents another specimen from division B of the same section, two and a half miles west of Nebraska City; while Fig. 9, a: b, P1. I, represent an internal cast from Rock Bluff, on the Missouri, at a lower horizon in the Coal-Measures. From these figures, particularly Fig. 9 b, it may be at once seen that this shell is a true Rhynchoncla, and 180 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF not a Camarophoria, as it shows no traces whatever of the rostral chamber characteristic of that genus. I have been unable to find a figure of Camarophoria giobulina, showing the interior, but have copied for comparison from Professor King's work on the Permian Fossils of England, a figure of an internal cast of the closely-allied form C. Schlotheimi (Fig. 15, PI. I), from which students will at once see by comparison with Fig. 9 b, of the same Plate, the generic differences between these shells; (a) of Fig. 15, being the cast of the rostral chamber, which is separated by a wall from the other part of the interior; while in Fig. 9 b, the cast of the rostral cavity is a mere protuberance, without any traces of the deep slits left by the walls of a chamber. Locality and position.-This species occurs in divisions C and B, at Nebraska City. It ranges through a great thickness of our CoalMeasures, and is found at numerous localities in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, &c. I have also seen specimens of it from the Upper, Miiddle, and Lower Coal-Measures of Illinois; and it is probably the same shell that was figured by Mr. Salter in 1861, among Professor Forbes's collections from the Andes, South America. Genus ATHYRIS, McCoy. ATHYRIS SUBTILITA, Hall, sp. P1. I, Fig. 12; P1. V, Fig. 8, and P1. VIII, Fig. 4.? Terebratula cargentea, Shepard, 1838, Am. Jour. Sci., XXXIV, p. 152. E Spirifer lioissyi (Terebratula Peruviana, on plate), d'Orbigny, 1847, Pal ont. del'Amer. Merid., p. 46, P1. III, Fig. 17-19. Terebratlla subtilita, Hall, 1852, Stansbury's Grt. Salt Lake Report, p. 409, P1. IV (by error in text II), Fig. 1 a, b, and 2 a, b; Swallow, 1855, Missouri Geol. Report, p. 79, 80, 81, &c.; Shumard, ib. p. 216; Schiel, 1855, Pacif. R. R. Rep., II, p. 108, P1. 1, Fig. 2; Hall, 1856, Pacif. R. R. Rep., Vol. III, p. 101, P1. 2, Fig. 4. - subtilita, Davidson, 1857, Monogr. Brit. Carb. Brach., p. 18, PI. 1, Fig. 21, 22. Spi;igera subtilita, Meek and Hayden, 1850, Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philad., p. 20, &c. Athtyris subtilita, Newberry, 1861, Ives's Colorado Report, p. 126; Davidson, 1863, Fossils of S. India, P1. IX, Fig. 7. - subtilita, Salter, 1861, Quart. Jour. Geol. Soci., Lond., XVII, P1. IV, Fig. 4 a, b. Shell ovoid, being usually widest a little in advance of the middle, and nearly always somewhat longer thanwide, moderately convex, becoming rather gibbous with age. Ventral valve, usually a little more convex than the other, its greatest convexity being generally behind the middle; beak prominent, rounded and distinctly incurved upon that of the other valve; foramen round, of moderate size, and truncating the immediate apex of the beak; mesial sinus, absent or very shallow, in young or compressed individuals, but well defined, and round, flattened, or angular in adult gibbous specimens, in which it rapidly increases in size, from near the middle to the front, where it produces a more or less prominent marginal projection, fitting into a corresponding sinuosity in the margin of the opposite valve. Dorsal valve moderately convex, the greatest convexity in small or compressed specimens often near the middle or between it and the umbo, but in large, gibbous individuals, with a well defined, prominent mesial fold, sometimes near the front; beak rather distinctly incurved under that of the opposite valve. Surface of both valves nearly smooth, or with mere lines of growth, in young shells, but in large or mature specimens with well defined, imbricating marks of growth on the anterior half; exfoliated surfaces also show, under a magnifier, traces of obscure radiating strise. Length of a well-developed, medium-sized specimen, 0.95 inch, breadth, 0.81 inch; convexity, 0.56 inch. Very large specimens sometimes meas NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 181 ure as much as 1.54 inches in length. At some localities, however, the average length of evidently adult examples is only about 0.60 inch. As may be seen by the above measurenents, this shell varies considerably in form, as well as in size. Young individuals, or those that have had their growth arrested by unfavorable circumstances, are always more compressed and proportionally rounder in outline, while they show no traces of a mesial fold or sinus, and have less distinct marks of growth. Notwithstanding these differences of form, proportions, &c.. there is something in the general physiognomy of this shell that enables one, once familiar with its appearance, to recognize it without difficulty. It is quite probable that we may have to adopt the name Athyris or Spirigera* argentea, for this species, since Shepard, in 1838, figured under the name Terebratula argentea, a shell from the Upper Coal-Measures of La Salle, Illinois, agreeing more nearly with this than with any other known in these rocks, while this species is very common there. If his type can be found, and should prove to be another form, then it will become a question whether we will not have to call it Athyris or Spirigerca Peruviana, because clOrbigny figured a South American shell in 1847, under the name Terebratula Peruviana, almost exactly like this, and believed by Mr. Salter and others to be the same. Locality and position.-We did not find this species in division C of the Nebraska City section, and have therefore copied Professor Geinitz's figure of a specimen from that horizon. We found it, however, at apparently a higher position, one and three-fourths and two and threefourths miles west of there, and at the horizon of B at Bennett's Mill, Wyoming, &c. It is also common at lower positions at Cedar and Rock Bluffs, Plattsmouth, Bellevue, and Omaha; and it occurs at almost all horizons in the Coal-Measures, of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, West Virginia, and Ohio; also, at Pecos Villages, New Mexico; and less abundantly in the Coal-Measures and up through the Permo-Carboniferous beds into the Permian, in Kansas. In England and India it has been identified in Lower Carboniferous rocks; but in this country, unless A. subquadrata of Hall, is only a variety of this species, it has not been found below the Coal-Measures. Genus RETZIA, King. RETZIA PUGNCTULIFERA, Shumard. P1. I, Fig. 13; and P1. V, Fig. 7. Retzia pu'ctulifera, Shumard, 1858, Trans. St. Louis, Acad. Sci., Vol. I, p. 220. Terebratula Morimoii, Marcon, 1858, Geol. North Am., p. 51, P1. VI, Fig. 11. Retzia Mfiormonii, Meek and Hayden, 1859, Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., p. 27; Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 39, Tab. III, Fig. 6. Betzia subglobosa, McChesney, 1860, Descrip. New Pal. Fossils, p. 45; and PI. I, Fig. 1, illustrations of same, 1865. Shell small, ovate; in mature specimens, gibbous; hinge line short, or scarcely extended enough to show distinctly the little ears at the extremities. Ventral valve more convex than the other, the greatest convexity being between the middle and the umbo, which is prominent, rounded, more or less strongly arched, and provided with a moderately large circular foramen; area well defined, triangular, and arching with the beak. Dorsal valve most convex near the middle; beak extending It is an unsettled question, whether the name Spitrigera or A!'7tyris should be retained for this genus. Athyris has priority of date, but is very objectionable, because it implies a plain contradiction of fact, the shell being provided with a distinct foramen. 182 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF a little beyond the hinge margin, and distinctly incurved. Surface of each valve ornamented by fourteen or fifteen (very rarely sixteen to seventeen) simple, rather prominent, radiating coster, one or two of which are sometimes slightly more depressed than the others, near the front of the ventral valve, so as to cause some appearance of an obscure mesial sinus, but without producing any corresponding mesial elevation on the other valve, or visibly interrupting the general straightness of the uniting margins of the two valves; lines of growth obscure; punctures visible under a good pocket lens, and very regularly disposed. Length of a well-developed, rather gibbous specimen, 0.35 inch; breadth, 0.30 inch; convexity, 0.25 inch. If the shells generally included in the genus Retzia, but differing from Professor King's type of that genus (R. Adrieni) in the possession of a small cardinal area, are, as has been proposed,* to be considered generically distinct, the name of this species would become Eumetria punctulijfera as it has the small cardinal area characterizing that grou). Specifically, this form is related to Retzia radialis, Phillips, sp., and an occasional specimen may be picked out very closely resembling certain varieties of that species. It differs, however, in having the umbo of its ventral valve more prominent, thus giving a more ovate form to the entire outline than we see in 1R. radialis. Our shell is also much less variable in the number of its costar, of wjhich there are nearly always fourteen to each valve. I have never seen a specimen with more than sixteen or seventeen, while R. radialis, although sometimes not having more than fourteen or fifteen, generally has about twenty. A more important difference, however, is to be observed in the nature of the obscure mesial sinus sometimes observed in the ventral valve of our shell, which is not produced by a wider and deeper sulcus between two of the costae, but by- the depression of one or two of the costae themselves; nor does this faint sinus produce any traces of a corresponding ridge in the other valve, as ia R. radialis. Professor Geinitz cites my R. comnpressa, from the Carboniferous rocks of California, as a synonym of the form under consideration. In this, however, he is certainly in error, that species being a much more compressed shell, with only about half the number of costae, which are also proportionately more prominent. To me, the B. punctulifera seems more nearly allied to R. radialis, Phillips, than R. compressa is to B. punctulifera; so that if we were to include the California shell as a variety of B. punctuliJera, both of the latter might, with at least as much propriety, be arranged as synonyms of Phillips's species. I am in doubt whether Dr. Shumard's name, R. punctulifera, or Professor Marcou's name, Terebratula Mtiormonii, for this shell, has priority, both having been published in 1858. If Professor Marcou's name was published earlier in the year than Dr. Shumard's, it would of course have to be retained. If the two names, however, were published at exactly the same date, or so near it as to leave the question of priority in doubt, the name punctulifera should be retained, as it was proposed along with a much better description, and with a correct knowledge of the affinities of the shell. Locality and position.-The specimen figured on P1. I was, with many others, found at Rock Bluff, on the Missouri, referred by Professor Marcou to the Lower Dyas, and by Professor Geinitz to the Coal-Measures, to which latter horizon this outcrop certainly belongs. We also find it at Plattsmouth; in the division B, at Nebraska City; at the same horizon at numerous other localities, as well as at various positions in the Coal*See Report Regents University, N. Y., on State Cab. N. H., 1864, p. 64. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 183 Measures of Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, and the adjoining States; in short, it is a widely-distributed Coal-Measure species. Genus SPIRIFER, Sowerby. SPIRIFER CAMERATUS, Morton. P1. VI, Fig. 12; and P1. VIII, Fig. 15. Spirifer cameratus, Morton, 1836, Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. XXIX, p. 150, P1. II, Fig. 3; Hall 1856, Pacific Railroad Report, Vol. III, p. 102, P1. II, Figs. 9, 12, and 13; and 1858, Iowa Geol. Report, 1, Part II, p. 709, P1. XXVII, Fig. 2 a, b. ~meusebachanus, Roemer, 1852, Kreid. Von Texas, p. 88, P1. XI, Fig. 7, - triplicatus, Hall, 1852, Stansbury's Report Salt Lake Exp., p. 410, P1. II, Fig. 5, (by error P1. 4.) -fasciger? (v. Keyserling), Owen, 1852, Report Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minn., P1. 5, Fig. 4. Spirifer H. D. Rogers, 1858, Geological Report Pennsylvania, Vol. II, p. 833,. Fig. 694. Compare S. fasuiger, v. Keyserling, 1847, Petschora-land, p. 231, P1. 3, Fig. 3. Shell attaining a medium size, transversely semicircular or subtrigonal, more or less gibbous; cardinal margin nearly always equaling the greatest breadth of the shell, sometimes extended into pointed ears. Dorsal valve rather less convex than the other; beak but little prominent, and scarcely extending beyond the hinge-together with the narrow area, rather distinctly incurved; mesial fold prominent, subangular or narrowly rounded, commencing narrow at the beak and widening and deepening rapidly to the front. Ventral valve with beak rather prominent and incurved; area distinctly defined, of moderate height, with subparallel margins, and extending nearly or quite to the lateral extremities of the hinge, more or less straightened and arched; foramen forming a nearly equilateral triangle; mesial sinus corresponding to the fold of the other valve, extending to the beak. Surface ornamented with distinct, irregular, or unequal, more or less bifurcating, radiating costae, both on the rnesial fold and within the sinus, as well as on each side of the same, those on the sides showing a more or less marked tendency to group themselves into fasciculi, which are each composed, at the front, of from three to seven or eight ribs, only the middle one of which usually extends quite to the beaks; marks of growth moderately distinct near the free margins, but never forming raised lamellae. Length of a well-developed adult specimen, 1.35 inches; breadth, 2 inches; convexity, 1 inch. This is one of our most common and widely distributed Coal-Measure fossils, and, like other species of the genus, it varies considerably both in form and some of its other characters. Some individuals are quite gibbous with a comparatively short hinge, and rather obtuse lateral extremities; while others are less convex, have the hinge line considerably extended, and the lateral extremities acutely angular. The fasciculated character of the costae is also, to some extent, a variable character, though it is generally more or less marked, and often very strongly defined. Some of the extreme varieties look quite distinct enough to be considered different species, if it were not for the numerous intermediate gradations. One of these extremes, with an extended hinge line terminating in pointed extremities, and provided with rather fine, imperfectly fasciculated coste, Professor Swallow has proposed to call S. cameratus, var. Kansasensis. It is a remarkable fact, that this latter variety is almost exactly like certain varieties of the well-known S. striatus. Indeed, some of the best authorities of Europe have regarded even the typical S. cameratus as 184 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF merely a variety of S. striatucs. Yet in this country, although we have a form (S. Logani, Hall) agreeing well with the large typical S. striatus, the S. cameratus is in all its varieties strictly a Coal-Measure shell, and can be distinguished at a glance from all of our Lower Carboniferous species. Professor Geinitz cites Mr. Davidson's S. 1Moosakhailensis, from Punjaub, India, as a synonym of S. cameratus, but in this he is certainly in error, as that species is characterized by distinct, regularly disposed, raised lamnellae of growth, over the entire surface; a character never seen on the Amnerican shell. It is far more probable, however, as supposed by Dr. Owen, that S. fasciger of Keyserling is a synonym of this shell. Locality and position.-This species ranges through the whole CoalM[easures of this country, and up into the series called Permo-carboniferous by Dr. Hayden and myself in Kansas. It is more abundant, however, in the Upper than the Lower Coal-Measures. It occurs in division C of the Nebraska City section, and has been found by Dr. White in Iowa, and by Dr. Hayden and myself in Kansas, in beds believed to hold the same position. It is common in division B at Nebraska City and vicinity, and at various lower positions in the CoalMeasures of that and the adjoining States. It also occurs in the CoalMeasures of Eastern Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, and ranges south into Texas and New Mexico. SPIRIFER [AIARTINIA] PLANOCONVEXUS, Shumard. P1. IV, Fig. 4, a, b; P1. VIII, Fig. 2, a, b. Sp-irfer planoconvexus, Shnmard, 1855, Report Missouri Geological Survey, p. 202; Meek and Hayden, 1864, Pa.l ont. Upp. Missouri, Part 1, pp. 20 and 21, Figs. a, b, c, d, e; Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 42, Tab. III, Figs. 10, 11, 12 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. Ambocclia geimmula, McChesney, 1860, Descr. Pal..Foss., p. 41; also 1865, Fig. 3 a, b, c, Pl. I, illustrations of same. 2martiitia pflanoconvexa, McChesney, 1869, Trans. Chicago Acad. Sci., Vol. I, p. 34, P1. I, Fig. 3. Compare Spirifer Urii, Fleming, 1828, British Animals, p. 376. Shell very small, plano-convex, or very rarely even a little concavoconvex, sometimes wider than long, in other examples slightly longer than wide; hinge margin always shorter than the greatest transverse diameter of the valves, and rounded at the extremities; lateral margins and front regularly rounded; surface apparently smooth, excepting a few very obscure concentric marks of growth, but when examined by the aid of a magnifier, showing remains of the bases of minute hairlike spines. Dorsal or smaller valve truncato-suborbicular in outline, generally nearly fiat, with a faint longitudinal depression in front, sometimes slightly convex near the beak, and concave around the anterior and lateral margins; beak scarcely distinct from the cardinal margin; area narrow, but well developed, or about half as large as in the other valve; socket plates a little projecting, like diverging teeth on each side of the small fissure. Ventral valve very gibbous, particularly in the nmbonal regionl sometimes with bbscure traces of a narrow longitudinal depression along the middle, but without a proper mesial sinus beak very prominent, and strongly arched back over the hinge; area subtriangular, being moderately high under the beak, but narrowing rapidly, with moderately defined concave margins, to the extremities of the hinge, and arching with the beak; fissure rather narrow, or higher than wide, apparently rounded above under the beak, and spreading at the hinge. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 185 Length of a medium-sized specimen, 0.30 inch; breadth, 0.31 inch; convexity, 0.17 inch. This abundant little shell agrees so closely with Spirifer Urii of Fleming, that I have been somewhat inclined, as elsewhere stated, to think it n-ay really be a variety of that species. The only differences I have been able to see, consist in its more flattened, or, in some instances, partly concave dorsal valve, and the general (though not constant) absence of any traces of a mesial sinus in its ventral valve. The fissure of its ventral valve seems also to be narrower, and, so far as known, not partly closed by a false deltidium. Locality and position.-Very abundant in division C of the Nebraska City section; also common in division B at that place; at Bennett's Mill, Wyoming, and at apparently a higher horizon at Morton's and Werth's places, one and three-fourths to two and three-fourths miles west of Nebraska City. It is likewise common in still lower positions at Cedar Bluff, on Weeping Water; Itock Bluff, Plattsmouth, &c., on the Missouri; and less abundantly at Bellevue and Omaha. We also found it at Brownville, Otoe City, Rulo, &c.; indeed, it is one of the most common fossils of our western Coal-Measures in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, &c.; and I have seen it among some collections sent by Dr. Stevens from the Coal-Measures near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. I have likewise identified it among specimens sent by Professor J. J. Stevenson from the Lower Coal-Measures of West Virginia. Genus SPIIIFEIINA, d' Orbigny. SPIRIiFERINA KENTUCEINSIS, Shumard. P1. VI, Fig. 3 a, b, c, d; and P1. VIII, Fig. 11 a, b. Spirifer octoplicatts, Hall, 1852, Stansbury's Salt Lake Report, p. 409, P1. XI, Fig. 4, a, b; (not Sowerby?, 1827). Kentuckensis, Shumard, 1855, Missouri Geological Report, p. 203; Hall, 1856, Pacific Railroad Report, Vol. III, p. 103, P1. II, Fig 10-11. amin7sus, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 45, Tab. III, Fig. 19 a, b, c, d; (not S. laminosus, McCoy). Shell rather small, varying from subglobose, to semicircular, or even subfusiform, always wider than long; breadth sometimes twice or even three times the length; hinge line always equaling the greatest breadth of the valves, occasionally greatly extended, and terminating in slender mnucronate ears; anterior and lateral margins generally forming a nearly semi-circular curve. Ventral valve somewhat more convex than the other, the greatest convexity being between the beak and the middle; beak moderately prominent, and rather distinctly arched or incurved; area arched, usually of moderate height, well defined, and extending nearly or quite to the lateral extremities, highest in gibbous specimens, in which it is narrow near the extremities, while it increases rapidly in height, with concave lateral margins, toward the beak; foramen, generally higher than wide, with a marginal ifrrow on each side, and, so far as known, not closed by a deltidium; mesial sinus narrow, rather deep, sometimes with a small obscure rib along its middle, but more frequently without it; plications on each side of the sinus from about five to eight or nine, rather nfrrow, simple, prominent, and a little rounded; mesial septum of interior moderately prominent. Dorsal valve with greatest convexity near the middle; beak scarcely 186 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF projecting beyond the binge margin, more or less incurved; area very narrow, and incurved with the beak; mesial fold narrow, not very prominent, nor greatly larger than the first plication on each side, most generally rounded, but not infrequently with an obscure sulcus along the middle, near the front; lateral plications as in the other valve. Entire surface of both valves ornamented with numerous closely crowded, very regularly arranged, subimbricating lamnelle of growth, strongly arched in passing over the cost.e; over the whole may also be seen, by the aid of a magnifier, numerous granules, apparently connectedwith the punctures passing through the shell, which are comparatively large and distant, though regularly arranged. Breadth of a well developed, rather gibbous specimen, with the hinge line not greatly extended, 0.55 inch; length, 0.38 inch; convexity, 0.33 inch. This species varies extremely in form, some specimens being almost subglobose, with the hinge line not extended beyond the general breadth of the valves near the middle; while other individuals have the lateral extremities greatly extended and pointed, even in somie cases more so than in the specimen represented by our figure. For these most extended forms, Professor Swallow has proposed in the St. Louis Academy's Transactions the name Sjpiri/fer propatutls, as a variety of the S. Kentuckensis. After a careful comparison and study of an extensive series of specimens, it seems to me that there are all degrees of intermediate gradations between these extremes of form. Some of the less drawn out, or more nearly globose varieties, appear to me to be so nearly like Spiriferina octoplicata, Sowerby, that it would certainly be very difficult to point out any reliable characters (yet known) by which they can be separated. The fact, however, that these are so inseparably connected with the others, greatly extended transversely, and in this respect so very different fiom S. octoplicata, as figured and described in European works, is at least a sufficient reason for doubting the specific identity of the American and European forms. Mr. Davidson, however, wrote to me that gibbous specimens sent to him fiom Nlebraska, would scarcely be thought distinct from S. octoplicata if found in British Carboniferous rocks. The only specimens I have seen from division C of the Nebraska City section being too imperfect to figure, I have reproduced Professor Geinitz's figures of specimens from that division. We found nearly all the varieties of this shell, however, at that locality in the next division below, and the figures 3 a and 3 d, P1. VI, are given to illustrate the extremes of form. Fig. 3 c, same pla.te, shows the interior of a ventral valve from the latter locality and position with its mesial septum. Prof. Geinitz was certainly in error in referring this shell to S. laminosus, McCoy, which is a much larger species, with so high an area that Professor M3cCoy even thought it a CGrtia. Locality and position.-This species is found in divisions C and B, at Nebraska Cityi and at numerous localities and various position in the upper Coal-Measures of Kentucky, Illinois, MIissouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, &c., south to Texas and New Mexico; also in the Lower CoalMeasures of Illinois and Iowa. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 1 87 Genus TEIEBRATULA, Llhwyd. TEREBRATULA BOVIDENS, Morton. P1. I, Fig. 7 a, b, c, d, and Pl. II, Fig. 4. Terebratula bhovirens, Morton, 1836, Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. XXIX, p. 150. bovidelns', Hall, 185,, Iowa Geol. Report, Vol. I, Part II, p. 711; McChesney, 1869, Trans. Chicago Acad. Sci., Vol. I, p. 37, P1. I, Fig. 2....- nlillrepnctata, Hall, 1856, Pacific Railroad Report, Vol. III, p. 101, P1. II, FigI and 2. gelicnlosa, McChesney, 1861, Descriptions Now, Palzeozoic Foss., p. 82; also 1865, illustrantions same, P1. I, Fig. 2 a, b, c. Compare Terebratula arcuata, Swallow, 1862, Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., II, p. 83. Shell ovate, rounded and rather compressed at the anterior and anterior lateral margilis, and most convex a little behind the middle; valves nearly equally convex; ventral valve strongly arcuate longitudinally, and presenting a regularly increasing curve, fronm the front to the beak, which is moderately prominent, and very strongly and closely curved over and upon that of the other valve iforamen a little oval, and not truncating the immediate apex of the beak, but situated directly outside of it; mesial sinus rather wide, and rounded at the fiont, ibut narrowing and becoming less deep further back, until it dies out iear the curve of the umbo which is sometimes slightly flattened. Dorsal valve often nearly straight, or but slightly convex, along the middle, from the beak to the front, where its margin is usually somewhat raised for the reception of the slightly produced margin of the other valve at the terminatiBn of the sinus; sides sloping from the middle to the lateral margins along nearly the entire length of the valve; beak terminating directly under that of the other valve, without any distinct curvature. Surface nearly smooth, or only showing moderately distinct marks of growth; and, by the aid of a magnifier, exhibiting very disinnctly the moderately large regularly arranged punctures. Length of a mediulm-sized individual, 0.64 inch; breadth of ditto, 0.50 inch; convexity, about 0.28 inch. This shell often exhibits almost exactly the external form and appearance of T. elotngata, Schlot., as figured by Professor Geinitz, in his work on the German Permian fossils (Dyas), P1. XV, particularly the form represented by his figures 14 and 15. This resemblance is so striking that there can be no doubt whatever that he would have unhesitatingly referred the Nebraska shell to that species, had Professor Marcoa found it. Mr. Davidson and several other good authorities on the Brachiopoda regard the Permian T. elongata and T. sufflata as only varieties, or recurrent forms of the Carboniferous T. hastata. However this may be, I can only say that our shell is very constant in its characters, never presenting but slight variations from the forms figured on PI. I, which will be seen to resemble most nearly the T. elongata of the European Permian rocks, as figured by Professors King and Geinitz. Were it not for the fact that the foramen of that shell truncates (according to Professor King) the immediate extremity of the beak, instead of perforating it a little outside of its apex, I confess it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to separate our shell, upon any known external characters from certain forms of T. elongata. Yet I am assured by Dr. White that he has ground off Iowa specimens. in no way distinguishable from T. bovidens, so as to show the loop through the translucent calcareous matter filling the interior, and that it is elongated as in Waldheimia, and not short as in true Terebratula. If the appearance of a long loop, seen by Dr. White, is not due to some other cause, of course 188 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF our shell cannot be properly referred to any variety of T. elongata, or other allied European form of true Terebratula. Professor Swallow has described, under the name T. arcuata, from the Lower Carboniferous rocks at Chester, Illinois, a shell agreeing apparently exactly, in all external characters, with this, but it is desirable that their internal characters should be compared before arriving at any positive conclusions respecting their identity. Locality and position.-The specimen represented on P1. II, Fig. 4, was found at Plattsmouth, and figures 1 a, b, c, on Plate I, are from a specimen found three miles up Platte River, on the north side, in a bed holding a position a little lower than those at Plattsmouth. Fig. 7 d, represents a larger specimen from the Coal-Measures of Indian Creek, Kansas. Professor McChesney figured it from the Upper Coal-Measures of La Salle, Illinois; and Professor Hall from the same horizon in New Mexico. Dr. Morton first figured and described it from the Coal-Measures of Ohio. It also occurs at various localities in the Upper CoalAMeasures of Iowa, Missouri, And Kansas, as well as in the Lower CoalIMeasures of Illinois, though it is not usually abundant at any one locality. L A M E LLIB 1 A N C II A TA. Genus LIMA, Bruguiere. LIMA RETIFERA, Shumard. P1. IX, Fig. 5. Lima retifera, Shumard, 1858, Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., 1, p. 214; Geinitz?, 1866, Carb. 1ndc Dyas in Neb., p. 36, Tab. II, Figs. 20 and 21. Shell obliquely subovate, moderately convex, apparently not gaping in front; hinge line short, or between one-half and one-third the anteroposterior diameter of the valves; base forming a nearly regular semicircular curve; anterior side extended obliquely forward, rather narrowly rounded below, and straight or slightly concave in outline, with a rather long oblique slope to the hinge above; posterior side distinctly shorter than the other, and rounding from near the ear into the base; ears subequal, the front margin of the anterior one forming an obtuse angle with the hinge line, rather distinctly flattened from the swell of tie umbo, and somewhat extended along the anterior margin below; posterior ear a little more convex than the other, with its upper margin incurved, and its lower margin separated from the umbo by a faint oblique furrow, sometimes faintly sinuous behind, and nearly rectangular at its extremity; umbones rather convex or moderately compressed, extending very little above the cardinal margin, and placed near the middle of the same; surface ornamented by about twenty-five slightly irregular, angular, radiating costa, about equaling the spaces between, and occasionally bifurcating on the umbones and lateral margins of the body part of the valves, where they become obsolete; crossing all of these, as well as on the ears and lateral margins, are numerous fine concentric strie. Height of a well-developed specimen, 0.50 inch; antero-posterior diameter of same, 0.62 inch; convexity, about 0.40 inch; length of hinge, 0.27 inch. A fine series of specimens of this shell now before me shows it to agree well with Dr. Shumard's description, and I have no doubt in regard to its identity with his species. It should be borne in mind, however, in NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 189 making comparisons with his description, that he has inadvertently described the longer or anterior side as the anal side, and the posterior as the buccal side. I fully agree with Dr. Shumard in regarding it as having, at least, all the external characters of a true Lima. I am aware this fact may be appealed to as an evidence that these beds should be included in the Permian; but it should not be forgotten in this connection that the species was originally described by Dr. Shumard from acknowledged Coal-Measure beds in the valley of Verdigris River, Kansas, where it was found directly associated with the well-known Carboniferous types Fuusulina cylindrica and Productus Nebrascensis. The only remaining portion of the shell of this species, in all the specimens I have seen, is a thin layer preserving the surface markings so distinctly as to leave the impression that it is the outer layer; yet, in examining it by the aid of a high magnifier and a strong transmitted light, it seems to present a prismatic structure. Locality and position.-Division C of the Nebraska City section, and in the Coal-Measures on Verdigris River, Kansas. It also ranges through the whole of the Coal-Measures of Illinois. Genus ENTOLIUMA, Meek. ENTOLIUBM AVICULATUM, Swallow, sp. Pi. IX, Fig. 11 a, b, c, d, ef. Peen avicidatus, Swallow, 1858, Traus. St. Louis Acad. Sci., Vol. I, p. 215. Sell compressed lenticular, very thin, nearly or quite equivalve, suborbicular, or broad subovate in outline exclusive of the ears, the anteroposterior diameter being often a little less than that at right angles to the same; sides and base more or less regularly rounded; lateral margins above the middl aapparently a little gaping, straight, and converging to the beaks at an angle of 115~ to 1250; cardinal margin very short, or less than one-third the transverse diameter of the valves, and in the left valve generally concave, or more or less sloping in outline, from the extremities of the ears to the beaks; straight or nearly so in the right valve; ears small, fiat, very nearly equal, obtusely angular at the extremities, and separated from the body of the valves by an impressed line, not defined by any proper sinus in either valve, though the broad obtuse notch separating the anterior one from the straight, sloping adjacent margin is slightly more defined than the other; beaks small, rather compressed, equal, and not projecting beyond the cardinal margin. Each valve with two shallow undefined impressions diverging from the beak nearly to the anterior and posterior margins; that on the posterior side being longer than the other.* Surface with very fine close concentric strie scarcely-visible without the aid of a magnifier; crossing these are also sometimes seen traces of extremely minute radiating striae, curving gracefully outward toward the lateral margins.t Antero-posterior diameter of a specimen a little under medium size, 0.85 inch; height, 0.89 inch; length of hinge line, 0.27 inch. Specimens are sometimes found of nearly double these dimensions.: Owing to the thinness of the shell these impressions appear as ridges on the inside of the valves. t In most of the specimens these radiating strie are entirely obsolete, even as seen under a magnifier; and it is generally only on specimens that have been slightly weathered that they are most distinctly seen, while even on these they seem to be more due to some peculiarity of the shell structure, than proper surface sculpturing, the shell showing a disposition to crack along these curved lines. Both these and the concentric striam are almost invisible to the unassisted eye. 190 UNITED STATUS GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF This shell evidently belongs to a group for which I proposed, in the California Report, the name Entolium, with Pecten demissus, Phillips (not Fleming), as illustrated in Quenstedt's Der Jura, P1. 48, Fig. 6, as the type. At the time of proposing this name I was under the impression that the valves of these shells were closed on each side, but the species here under consideration seems to have been gaping on the sides above the middle. This being the case, I am not sure the group is more than subgenerically distinct from Pseud-amussium, Brug., 1789. It differs firom Amussium mainly in having no internal costae, and in having the valves more nearly equal, with, sometimes, minute radiating striae, and no traces of a sinus under the anterior ear in either valve. The species known to me have the cardinal margin of the lett valve angulated in outline by the elevation of the extremity of the ears; while that of the right valve seems to be straight, and articulatd in a little transverse groove of the other valve, not always defined, however (see Fig. 14 g, g, P1. IX, copied from Quenstedt's figure of Pecten demissus, taken from an impression of the hinge left in the matrix). The cartilage pit is as in other allied types of the Pectinidce, while diverging from it are two elongated tooth-like ridges (t, t of Quenstedt's figure). These, however, do not seem to have been properly teeth, fitting into sockets, but appear to have been a little raised in both valves, and occupy a position between the ears and the broad diverging impressions, descending obliquely from the beaks. On some of the internal casts of this shell I have noticed, some very singular fine sculpturing, rather difficult to account for. It closely resembles the zigzag markings seen on the surface of the group of Nucula for which H. and A. Adams proposed the name Acila; but is exceedingly fine and obscure, being formed by numerous very regularly and closely arranged, distinctly zigzag lines, traversing the valves with a general' direction parallel to the curve of the marks of growth. Fig. 11 d, of Plate IX, shows these markings as seen by the aid of a magnifier. The most singular fact in regard to these zigzag lines is that they have no connection whatever with the surface strie, since they are only seen on internal casts, often retaining portions of the shell, with the usual minute concentric lines, and showing no trace externally of these inner markings. They seem also to be more frequently seen on casts of the left valve, though on casts of many of the left, and apparently all of those of the right, they are entirely wanting. In regard to their complete absence from the interior of right valves, there may be some room for doubts, as it is only under the most favorable circumstances, where casts have been formed of exceedingly fine clays, that they are to be seen. They are possibly, as it were, a sort of effort at internal markings, of a very different kind, but in some respects analogous to the internal costte of Amussium. Professor Winchell, in 1865, proposed the name Pernopecten for a type (Aiculojpecten linmaformis, White and Whitfield) from near the base of the Lower Carbomiferous, that agrees exactly with this, in all external characters, but differs in having, in addition to the central cartilage pit, a row of minute. pits or crenulations along the whole hinge line. From Camptonectes of Agassiz, the shell under consideration differs in having * Klein first used the name Pseudo-Amusium, in 1753, and H. and A. Adams hav~ proposed to adopt it for a group including some forms more or less like our shell, ana others quite distinct. If the name is to be retained, however, Bruguiere should, I would think, have to be regarded as the author of the genus, as Klein was not a binomial author, while Bruguiere is the first binomial author that used it after the introduction of the binomial nomenclature, and with a diagnosis. He limited it to smooth species with only fine radiating strie. NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 191 no sinus under the anterior ear of either valve, and in wanting the distinct radiating curved surface strie. It is certainly congeneric with Pernopecten Shumardi of Winchell (which seems to be the same shell previously described by Dr. Shumard in the Missouri report under the name Avicula Cooperensis*), and I must confess that I cannot clearly see how it differs even specifically, although the two shells came from widely different horizons. The species Cooperensis, or Shumardi, came from the lowest division of the Carboniferous in Missouri and Iowa, and occurs in the same, horizon in Ohio. I have seen its hinge, however, and it has not the crenated character of the type 6f Pernopecten, but agrees with that of'the shell under consideration, As the species does in all other known characters. Compared with European species, our shell will be seen to be very nearly allied to Pecten Sowerbyi of McCoy (Carb. Fossils of Ireland, p. 100, Pi. XIV, Fig. 1), from the Carboniferous rocks of Ireland, which can scarcely belong to any other group than this, though it would appear to differ specifically, in having stronger concentric markings, without any traces of the minute obscure rtadiating striwe sometimes seen on this, as well as in having its ears more pointed and elevated, as may be seen by Fig. 13 a of our Plate IX, reproduced from McCoy's original figure. It is worthy of note that McCoy has noticed (British Palaeozoic Fossils, p. 475) that exfoliated laminae of his species exhibit minute zigzag divaricating, scrateh-like markings, like those observed in that here under consideration. Locality and position.-This species is common in division C of the Nebraska City section. It also occurs in division B, at Bennett's Mill, three miles northwest of Nebraska City, and at lower positions in the Coal-Measures at Plattsmouth, and at several localities near Rock Bluff on the Missouri. Dr. White has found it at various localities in the Upper Coal-Measures of Iowa, and it occurs in the same horizon in Kansas, from which position it was first described, by Professor Swallow. It likewise occurs in both the Upper and Lower Coal-Measures of Illinois. Genus AVICULOPECTEN, McCoy. AVICULOPECTEN OCCIDENTALIS, Shumard, sp. P1. IX, Fig. 10. PcctCe occidentalis, Shumard, 1855, Missouri Report, p. 207, P1. C, Fig. 18; (not Winchell). Claccvlatdicus, Swallow, 1858, Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., Vol. I, p. 184. Avrictllopeccen?, Meek and Hayden, 1864, Paleont Upper Mo., p. 50, P1. II, Fig. 10. occidentalis, Meek and WTorthe*, 1866, Geol. Report, Illinois, Vol. II, p. 331, P1. XXVII, Fig. 4 and 5. Pecten Mtissouriensis, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 35, Tab. II, Fig. 18; (not Shumard, 1855). Shell distinctly inequivalve, not oblique; subovate exclusive of the ears; lateral and basal margins regularly rounded; hinge margin nearly or quite equaling the greatest breadth of the valves; cardinal plate of moderate breadth. Left valve convex, with ears subequal; anterior one with distinct radiating costea, more convex, shorter, and more obtuse than the posterior, as well as more defined from the swell of the umbonal X It should be mentioned here that the engraver exaggerated the very obscure ribs sometimes (but rarely) seen on Shumard's species, in the figure given in the Missouri report, and that the out line of the right ear of the same figure is not exactly correct. The species is nearly always destitute of any traces of ribs, as I know from examining numerous specimens from the original locality. These agree exactly with Prof. Winchell's P. Shu1mardi. 192 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF slope; posterior ear flattened and more angular at the extremity than the other, sometimes without radiating coste, but in other instances having them more or less developed, each separated from the margin below by a rounded, rather broad, more or less deep, sinus. Right valve nearly flat, and having the general outline of the other, excepting that its bea.k is scarcely distinct from the cardinal margin, and its anterior ear much narrower, and defined by a deep, sharply angular sinus. Surface of left valve ornamented with rather depressed or flattened irregular radiating coste, of whicl only about twelve or fourteen of the largest reach the beak, the others dying out at various distances between the margins and the lunbo, in proportion to size, the larger of the interalated ones bein ng longer than the smaller; crossing all of these are numer ous fine concentric strie, some of which on the ears, particularly on the anterior one, often form little vaulted scales; in well-preserved specimens these vaulted projections are strongly developed on one of the posterior costse of the body part of the valve. Surface of right valve with generally only very obscure radiating costae, and fine crowded lines of growth. Height of a rather large specimen, 1.65 inches; breadth, from 1.40 to 1.55 inches; convexity, about 0.28 inch. The foregoing description is taken from well-preserved specimens, showing the surface markings better than any examples I had previously seen. As usually found in the condition of casts, the vaulted scales mentioned on the wings, and afew of the lateral coste, are entirely absent. This character is also variable in specimens showing the surface well preserved, it being scarcely possible to find any two individuals with it equally well developed, while in many instances it is nearly or entirely vwanting. I have copied Professor Geinitz's figure, because we found no example of this shell in Professor Maarcou's bed C, at Nebraska City. If this figure is accurately drawn, the specimen from which it was made may possibly be a different species, since it represents the anterior ear of the left valve more angular than I have ever seen it in this shell. This, however, is probably a slight error in the drawing in restoring a portion of the ear partly broken away or hidden in the matrix, since among the great numbers of specimens I have seen from these rocks, at numerous localities in that and the adjoining States, there is no otherwise similar shell agreeing with this figure in this respect. His specimen being a cast, of course does not show the vaulted scale-like surface character mentioned in the foregoing description. Professor Geinitz was certainly mistaken, however, in referring the form he has figured to A. Missouriensis of Shumard, which *is a smaller species, unknown above the St. Louis Limestone of the Lower Carboniferous series. Locality and losition.-Aviculo2ectce occidentalis has an extensive geographical distribution, as well as a considerable vertical range. It occurs at numerous localities in the Upper Coal-Measures of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and Kentucky, as well as in the Lower Coal-Measures of the first mentioned State; and has been found near the Black Hills. It occurs in the Coal-Measure rocks above the Platte, in Iowa and Nebraska, referred by Mr. Marcon to the Mountain Limestone; in those at the mouth of Platte River referred by him to the Lower Dyas; and at Rock Bluff, Bennett's Mill, Wyoming, Nebraska City, &c., in beds included by him and Professor Geinitz to the Upper Dyas. In Kansas it ranges through the whole Upper Coal-Measures, and Permo-carboniferous, into the Permian. I have never seen it at any western locality in any of the Lower Carboniferous or older NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TERRITORIES. 193 rocks; but from Nova Scotia I have seen casts of a form that could not be distinguished from it, obtained from beds generally regarded as Lower Carboniferous. AVIOULOPECTEN NEGLECTUS, Geinitz, sp. P1. IX., Fig. 1 a, b. Pecten neglectls, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. unl Dyas in Neb., p. 33, Tab. II, Fig. 17. Aviculopecten neglectts, Meek, 1867, Am. Jour. Sci. & Arts, Vol. XLIV, sec. ser.,p. 183. Shell very small, broad subovate exclusive of the ears, very thin, rather compressed; sides and base more or less regularly rounded; cardinal margin shorter than the breadth of the valves. Left valve (according to Professor Geinitz's figure) with ears nearly equal, the anterior one separated from the margin below by a broad, very shallow sinus, and forming less than a right angle at its extremity; posterior ear extending farther down the' margin than the other, very faintly sinuous behind, and forming an angle of about 10l0 at the extremity. Light valve with anterior ear narrow and rather acutely angular, defined by a deep, narrow sinus, extending back about half its length; posterior ear of about the same length, but of greater vertical breadth than the other, rather pointed at the extremity, and defined by a moderately deep, broadly rounded sinus, and a subangular umbonal slope. Surface of the body part of both valves apparently only marked by fine concentric strim; ears with a few radiating costre, crossed by fine stri3 and a few coarser marks of growth. Height and breadth each, 0.26 inch; length of hinge, 0.21 inch. This little species is rather remarkable in having the body part of the valves with apparently only fine concentric strime, while the ears are ornamented with a few comparatively distinct radiating coste. I know of no species with which it is liable to be confounded. The specimen figured by Professor Geinitz is a left valve, while those I have seen are all right valves. The latter are mainly casts, but one of them retains portions of the shell. On raising a small piece of this with the point of a knife, and placing it under the microscope, where it could be examined by a strong transmitted light, it was found to present distinct indications of a prismatic structure, apparently not due to crystallization. As this, the only remaining portion of the shell, is exceedingly thin, and consists of a single apparently prismatic layer, I have little doubt that the inner laminated portion of the shell has been dissolved away, as seems to have been the case in other species in these rocks. Locality and position.-Division C of the section at Nebraska City. It also occurs both in the Upper and Lower Coal-Measures of Illinois. AVICULOPECTEN CARBONIFERUS, Stevens, sp. P1. IV., Fig. 8, and P1. IX, 4 a, b. Pecten carboniferus, Stevens, 1858, Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, Vol. XXV, p. 261.. -.. Broadheadii, Swallow, 1862, Transactions St. Louis Academy Sci., Vol. II, p. 97. --- Hawni, Geinitz, 1866, Carb. und Dyas in Neb., p. 36, Tab. II, Fig. 19 a, b. Shell rather small, slightly oblique, moderately convex, length and breadth nearly equal; hinge line nearly or quite straight, and somewhat less than the greatest breadth of the valves, provided with a marginal ridge in both valves; basal margin regularly rounded. Left valve more convex than the other; posterior ear rather well defined from the swell H. Ex. 19-13 194 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF of the umbo, somewhat extended and terminating in an acute point, separated from the margin below by a deep rounded sinus; anterior ear about two-thirds as long as the other, and rather more distinct from the umbo and more obtuse, but still rather acutely angular, defined by a.moderately -distinct subangular sinus. Right valve nearly flat, or distinctly less convex tthan the other; its anterior ear narrow and defined by a deep, rather sharp sinus; posterior ear of the same size and form as in the left valveo.Surface ornamented in the left valve with about fifteen or sixteen regular, distinct, angular, radiating plications, separated by furrows of the same size, each one of which terminates at the free border in a little spine-like projection with curved-up margins; lines of growth fine on the body of the valve, but becoming more distinct and irregular on the ears, where there are rarely any defined radiating costae. At a few dista,A.. o-~ ===== = =:':~?:e~e}::,:::::Eli-i:.i:~':.:!:.?.~..one'b~-:~ot,:c,'.,~. T.:m~:hi:'::~fi-,.?h EXPLANATIONS OFt PLATE IV. * Page. Fig. 1.-SYNOCLADIA BISERIIALIS................ 156 la. A portion of the polyzoam, one-eighth diameter less than natural size, non-poriferous side. lb. A portion of same, magnified so as to show the fine strie, and irregularly scattered dimorphous pores, same side. lc. Poriferous side of a fragment, magnified. Fig. 2.-EDMONDIA ASPINWALLESSIS —..... —.. —-.. —........... 216 2a. Side view of internal cast, one-eighth diameter less than natural / size. 2b.. View of the left valve, with the beak and dorsal margin of the right valve seen above, in consequence of a slight displacement. 2c. Dorsal view of the cast of both valves united. (Aspinwall.) Fig. 3.-ORBICULOIDEA, sp — 1......................................... 158 An impression of the outside of the under valve in the matrix (slightly less than natural size), with portions of the thin shell adhering, so as to show the smooth inside, and a prominent internal ridge (d) corresponding to a deep external furrow, with a small, round, or oval foramen at its outer end. Fig. 4. —SPIRIFER (MARTINIA) PLANOCONVEXUS... -........-........ 184 4a. Ventral view, slightly less than natural size. 4b. Outline profile view of same, magnified. Fig. 5.-PRODUCTUS PUNCTATUS.............................. 169 Side view of an accidentally compressed ventral valve, a little reduced in size. Fig. 6.-PRODUCTUS NEBRASCENSIS......-...............................- 1165 An impression in the matrix of the inner side of a ventral valve, oneeighth diameter less than natural size. Fig. 7.-EDMONDA REFLEXA.?.......... -............. 213 A slightly reduced view of the two valves opened and spread out upon the matrix. [This figure does not show the marks of growth strong enough, and has the beaks a little too far forward.] Fig. 8.-AVICULOPECTEN CARBONIFERUS.................................... 193 A fragment of a left valve, enlarged nearly two diameters, and showing the costme and marginal digitations. Fig. 9.-CHoNETES GIRANULIFERA -........................................... 170 A ventral view, slightly reduced in size. Fig. 10. —C IONETES GLABRA............171 A ventral view, slightly reduced in size. Fig. -AVICLOPECTEN? WIITEI............................... 195 l1a. Left valve, flattened by pressure; one-eighth diameter less than natural size. 11b. Another of the same, of smaller size. llc. A flattened right valve, showing the deeper sinus under the anterior ear; slightly reduced in size. Fig. 12.-MYALINA SUBQUADRATA...............................-............ 202 An impression of the left valve (reduced one-eighth diameter) in the clay matrix, with adhering portions of the thin outer fibrous layer of shell remaining. Fig. 13.-PLEUROTOMARIA PERHUMEROSA..-...........................-... ---- -- 232 13a. A somewhat distorted specimen the distortion making the spire appear rather shorter than natural (a little reduced in size). 13b. Another specimen from Rulo, enlarged nearly two diameters, and somewhat restored. Fig. 14.-PLEUROTOMARIA INORNATA......................................... 232 View of side and aperture, slightly reduced in size. * All the specimens figured on this plate, not otherwise designated, are from a shaft sunk to a depth of aboaut 100 feet, at an elevation of 73 feet above the Missouri, one mile and three-fourths west of Nebraska City landing. 2 EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE IV. Page. Fig. 15.-PLATYCERAS NEBRASCENSIS2...................................... 227 15a. View of aperture, and laterally curved apes. 15. A side view, showing the undulated lip and marks of grow th. Fig. 16.-BF. LEROPHON CARBONARIUS....-2...4..................... 24 A side view, a little reduced in size, of a specimen from Mr. Morton's shaft. Fig. 17.-BELLEROPHON MARCOUIANA............................ 226 A cast solnewhat flattened and distorted by pressure, with much of the expanded lip also broken away; enlarged nearly two diameters. Fig' 18.-XYSTRODUS? OCCIDENTALIS................. 244 18a. Upper viewi a little less than natural size. 18b. The same, magnified nearly two diameters, and a portion of the pitted surface still further magnified. 18c. Outline transverse section across the widest part. 18d. Side view of same. (From Aspinwall.) Fig. 19.-DIPLODJUS CO.....PRES.... 240 19a. Anterior view, a little less than natural size, of a specimen, with the cusps, and anterior tubercle of the root in part broken away. 19b. Lateral view of same, magnified. Fig. 20. —PERIPRISTIS SEMICIRCULARIS........................................ 242 20a. View of the convex side of the root and crown, slightly less than natural size. 20b. An outline lateral view of the same. Pi~ illllliiA 4-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Oa 9'17 AN'T i f'1~ I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ X( /9 / LEorkoJ/ TIf ~~~~c~~~~~r~~~~~~~~~ -rI~~~~~~~A -/":r;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~V., ei"~~~~~~~~ el-19iJO-;D 1l f EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE V. Page. Fig. 1.-SCAPHIOcRINJS? HEMISPHBIEICUS.................................. — 147 la. Posterior view of body and arm-bases, including a few pieces above the bifurcation on the second primary radial pieces; all reduced one-eighth diameter in size. lb. Another specimen, with the second radials and arms removed, so as to show the upper and inner side of the cup in which the internally protuberant base is seen in the form of a little depressed cone within. Fig. 2.-ZEACRI NUS MUCROSPIUS.....149 2a b. Two views of the spine-lilke second radial pieces, reduced one-eighth diameter, from Professor Geinitz's figures. 2b. Upper side of the same, reduced from Professor McChesney's figures of an unworn specimen. Fig. 3.-FUSULINTA CYLINDRICA-..........................................140 3a. A specimen magnified nearly three diameters. 3b. A transverse section of the same, somewhat more enlarged, to show the involuted and septate character of the interior. Fig. 4.-LOPHOPHIYLLUJM PROLIFERUM. —-—....... —---—. —.................. 144 4a. A side view, slightly less than natural size, of a specimen with the walls of the cup partly broken away, so as to show the end of the columella within. 4b. A longitudinal section of another specimen of the same species, slightly reduced in size, showing the transverse arching plates, columella, &c. Fig. 5.-~FISTULIPORA NODULIFERA. —.- 143 5a. A specimen nearly natural size, incrusting a piece of another little coral of ramose form. 5b. One of the nodes or prominences of the same, enlarged so as to show the pores with their prominent margins, all directed a little outward from the middle of the prominence, which is nearly without pores. 5c. A transverse section of a portion of the same species, more highly magnified, to show the finely cellular tissue between the celltubes. 5d. A magnified longitudinal section of a piece of the same species, cutting through the cell-tubes and exposing the intercellular tissue. Figh. 6.-PRODUCTUS SYMMETRICUS....................... 17 6a c b. Slightly reduced interior and exterior views of a dorsal valve, with the trifid cardinal process, which does not show its entire length, owing to its strong curve. In Fig. 6a, the reniform scars are put in from another specimen of the same species. not being defined in that figured. Fig. 7.-PIRODUCTUS SEMIRETICULATUS — 1-.-..0-.. —-. —- - 00 7a. Side view (slightly reduced in size) of a specimen with the anterior margin not quite complete. 7b. Ventral view of another somewhat larger specimen, also reduced a little in size. Fig. 8. —RETZIA PUNCTULIFERA............................................. ].81 Dorsal view of a small specimen, enlarged to nearly two diameters. Fig. 9.-ATHYRIS SUBTILITA.................................-. 180 Dorsal view of a medium-sized specimen, slightly reduced in size. Fig. 10.-HEMIPRONITES CRASSUS.......174 10a. Dorsal view of a medium-sized specimen (slightly reduced in size), showing the area of the ventral valve with its false deltidium. 10b. Interior of a smaller ventral valve, showing the cardinal process (also slightly reduced). Fig. 11.-PRODUCTUS NEBRASCENCIS..-.......................-............... 16-, l1a. Ventral view of a small specimen (reduced one-eighth diameter in size), showing spine bases. 2 EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE V. Page. FIG. 11.-11b. Interior of a larger dorsal valve, also reduced in size, showing the bifid cardinal process, and the divided mesial ridge, internal asperities, &c. ic. Dorsal view of another specimen (slightly reduced in size), showing the cardinal margin without traces of an area, and the slightly truncated beak of the ventral valve. 11d. A diagram profile view, enlarged, of a piece of the shell of the ventral valve, to show the two sets of spines. Fig. 12.-MEEKELLA STRIATO-COSTATA...-..........-........... 175 12a. Ventral view of a rather small specimen, enlarged to nearly the medium adult size of the species. 12b. Dorsal view of same, showing area and false deltidium. Fig. 13.-PRODUCTUS PRATTENIANUS -..... —-......-.............-............ L63 A view of the ventral side of a moderately large specimen, slightly reduced in size, from Professor Geinitz's figure, with the ears and spines broken away. (The restored outline of the ears has been added from our specimens.) FOREIGN SPECIES FOR COMPARISON. Fig. 14.-STROPHALOSIA HORRESCENS...................................... 167 Dorsal view, showing hinge line and cardinal area (a), for comparison with Fig. lic. (Slightly reduced in size, from Professor Geinitz'sAnimalischen Ueberr. der Dyas.) Fig. 15.-PRODUCTUS KONINCKIANUS.. —.......:....................... 164 15a. Side view, slightly reduced in size. 15b. Ventral view of same, slightly reduced in size. lbc. An enlargement of a piece of the surface, showing the stria and short spines magnified. All after Mr. Davidson. For comparison with Fig. 13. Fig. 16.-MEEKELLA PECTINIFORMIS, ( Streptorhynchus pectiniformis) -..... — 175 Dorsal view, showing area and deltidium of ventral valve (a little reduced is size, from Mr. Davidson). For comparison with Fig. m12. C5T — dc./, 5' i an:'...a' Cabo l ~o., ":^^t i+ i = *e1* 0t i *S-Ri......~,i: -=====.. ============='=. * "v ii.\....:. -......... —. \,.?;./..<:.: / *!, --' 3 \ /0> 1 &',1'C).ln /""roi\,.. - i'".,~,; ~// -,' C~' 1) i:b J /,i:. _;vJee.:,. [{;,.{_~Ji' ~1 c.,::: i~,:t'x --.l. r:: - -' Yi~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE VI. Page. Fig. 1.-SYNTRILASMA HEMIPLICATA. -. —... —--- > —. —.... 177 la. Front view, a little reduced in size. lb. Cardinal or posterior view of same. Fig. 2.-RHYNCHONELLA OSAGENSIS........................-................ 179 2a. Ventral view, reduced one-eighth diameter in size. 2b. Same, enlarged nearly two diameters of natural size. Fig. 3.-SPIRIFERINA KENTUCKENSIS.. —--.- —... —-----. 185 3a. A specimen greatly extended on the hinge line; enlarged nearly to two diameters. 3b. Cardinal or posterior view of same. 3c. Cardinal and internal view of another specimen of ventral valve enlarged, showing internal lamina. 3d. A very small individual, with hinge line short; magnified two diameters. Fig. 4.-SPIRIFER (MARTINIA) PLANOCONVEXUS.........-............. —...... 184 Dorsal view, magnified nearly two diameters. Fig. 5.-EUOMPHALUS RUGOSUS, (Hall; not Sowerby)...-... 230 5a. Left view, magnified nearly two diameters. 5b. Section of same, showing the quadrangular form of the volutions, and the concavity of the right side. 5c. Right or concave side of another specimen, one-eighth diameter less than natural size. Fig. 6. —PRODUCTUS COSTATUS?. —---............................. 159 6a. Profile side view, reduced one-eighth diameter in size. 6b. Ventral view, same. Fig. 7.-PRODUCTUS LONGISPINUS?.. 161 Ventral view, reduced one-eighth diameter in size. Fig. 8.-MACROCHEILUS INTERCALARIS, Var. PULCHELLUS.................... 228 A side view, reduced one-eighth diameter in size. Fig. 9.-PHILLIPSIA SCITULA -....... 238 A crushed specimen, enlarged about two diameters. Fig. 10.-CHONETES GRANULIFERA.......... 170 A ventral view, slightly reduced in size. Fig. 11.-PINNA PERACUTA....................-................ 198 lla. Side view (slightly reduced in size) of an internal cast, incomplete at both ends. 11b. Dorsal view of same. Fig. 12.-SPIRIFER CAMERATUS............................................. 183 A dorsal view, nearly natural size, showing area and foramen. Fig. 13.-CLADODUS MORTIFER... --—.....-.......... —--—.. —-........... 239 13a. A specimen, consisting of the root of a tooth, with the bases of the cusps remaining; one-eighth diameter less than natural size. 13b. An outline section of the main cusp, at base. 13c. An outline view from above. 13d. An opposite view of the root and bases of cusps, enlarged. Fig. 14.-CHOMATODUS ARCUATUS.......................................... 243 14a. View of anterior side, one-eighth diameter less than natural size. 14b. Profile or section of the same. Fig. 18.-DELTODUS? ANGULARIS -............. 18a. View of upper surface, somewhat reduced in size. 18b. Profile view of same. FOREIGN SPECIES FOR COMPARISON. Fig. 15.-SPIRORBIS PERMIANUS.................................. 231 15a. View of left or attached side, magnified nearly three times, for comparison with 5a and 16a. 15b. Right or free side of same, for comparison with 5c and 16c: after Professor King. 2 EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE VI. Page. Fig. 16.-SPIRORBIS PLANORBITES 23................................ 230 16a. Left view, magnified nearly three diameters, for comparison with Fig. 5a. 16b. A fragment of the same, showing a section of whorls, for comparison with 5b. 16c. Another specimen of same, magnified two diameters, right side for comparison with 5c. 16d. Section of last, for comparison with 5b: all after Professor Geinitz. Fig. 17.-EUOMPrEALUS QUADRATUS -............. —-........ -... —. 231 An oblique anterior view. (Slightly reduced from Professor McCoy's figure, 2 b ~ ~ ~ ~ 2 Ib.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / d P12 3& Z*,. * a w ~~~:",17 Mmoi' O-~~~~~~~~Ii ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ v 4_1~~i 2 1or8Z9/7 Permian Carb olnferoas. / L~~~~~~C /2i~i N-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/ V Ii'911 K Li IL] 1 deL (in It 1liJ~oote' I lii ~~~c~ C:: -~Ji iI~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~P.S rcal-r I ~. i EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE VII. Page. Fig. 1.-SCAPHIOCRINUS? HEMISPI-I5ERICUS..................................... 147 la. View of the body from above, slightly reduced. lb. View of the same from below. lc. Posterior side of same in outline; all slightly reduced from Professor Geinitz's figures. Fig. 2.-RHOMBOPORA LEPIDODENDROIDES...-. —... —.... ——.. ——. —.. 141 2a. Branch, one-eighth diameter less than natural size. 2b. Part of same, magnified a little less than three diameters. 2c. Same, magnified about six diameters, to show the angular outlines of the calices, and the granules at their angles and along their margins. 2d. Longitudinal section, magnified nearly five diameters, showing the calices (c) apparently without tabule or septa, ascending from an imaginary axis, and the interspaces (i), with longitudinal sections of very minute intermediate pores. 2e. Portion of surface, ground off a little obliquely, showing the calices within rather more oval in outline than natural, with the very minute pores of the interspaces, apparently corresponding to the marginal granules of the exterior. 2f. Four of the calices, greatly magnified, to show their rhombic outline and marginal granules. 2g. Same, from another part of the same species, where they differ a little in form. Fig. 3.-FENESTELLA SHUMARDI?....................... -........... 153 3a. Fragment of the polyzoum slightly less than natural size, nonporiferous side. 3b. Fragment of the same, magnified to show the form and proportions of the fenestrules, branches, and dissepiments, comparatively course strie, &c. 3c. Same, poriferous sides. Fig. 4.-GLAUCONOME TRILINEATA, Meek. -—......... -- -—.........-.......... 157 4a. Slightly less than natural size, non-poriferous side. 4b. Same, enlarged to show striae. 4c. Poriferous side enlarged. 4d. Fragment of main stem, greatly magnified, to show the three mesial lines. Fig. 5. —SYNOCLADIA BISERIALIS,(- S. Cestriensi?)................ —............ 156 5a. Fragment, slightly less-than natural size, non-poriferous side. 5b. Same, magnified about five diameters,.to show strie and dimorphous pores. 5c. Poriferous side of another specimen, a little enlarged. 5d. Part of same, greatly magnified, to show the arrangement of the pores, the mesial carina, and spine-like projections, with their minute perforations, &c. 5c. Side view of one of the branches, much enlarged, to show the elevation of the spine-like projections along the middle, on the poriferous side. Fig. 6.-POLYPORA.-.................-... —-. —....- 155 Enlarged poriferous side, slightly reduced from Professor Geinitz's figure. Fig. 7.-POLYPORA SUBMARGINATA.........................-.............- -1 — 54 7a. Fragment showing non-poriferousside, slightly less than natural size. 7b. Part of same, magnified, showing the poriferous side, with its mesial carina and row of node-like granules. Fig. 8.-FUSULINA CYLINDRICA....-. 140 8a. Specimen magnified a little more than three diameters. 8b. Transverse section of the same, mangnified between four and five diameters, so as to show the internal structure. 2 EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE VII. Page. Fig. 9. -EOCIDARIS HALLIANA........................................... 1-52 9a. One of the primary spines, magnified a little less than six times. 9b. Part of same, still more greatly magnified, to show the surface sculpturing. 9c. One of the interambulacral plates of nearly natural size. 9d. Same, magnified; (all after Geinitz). FOREIGN SPECIES FOR COMPARISON. Fig. 10. —POLYPOR BIARMICA --..........-..-.. —...-...-.. —. 155 10a. A piece of the polyzoum, slightly less than natural size, 10b. Ma-gnified portion of same, to compare with Fig. 6. Both from Count Keyserling's illustrations of the species. Fi-,, II.-FENESTELLA PJEBEJA -... —............ —. —.......... —. 153 11a. Fragment, nearly natural size, to compare with Fig. 3a. 1lb. A piece of the same, non-poriferous side, greatly enlarged, to compare with Fig. 3b. llc. Another fragment, greatly enlarged, showing poriferous side, for comparison with Fig. 3c. (All from McCoy's figures of the typical specimens.) EFig. 12.-SYNOCLADIA VIRGULACCEA........................................ 156 12a. Fragment, greatly enlarged, showing the poriferous side, for comparison with Fig. 5d. 12b. Non-poriferous side, magnified to show spine-like processes, for comparison with Fig. 5b. (All from Professor King's figures.) Fig, 13.-POLYPORA M{ARGINATA........-..................... 154 13a. Fragment, slightly less than natural size, nonporiferous side, for comparison with Fig. 7a. 13b. Piece of same, magnified, to show surface strie of non-poriferous side, &c. 13c. Poriferous side of same, magnified, to compare with Fig. 7b. (All from Professor McCoy's original figures.) Fig. 14.-GLAUCONOME GRANDIS............. - 157 14. Fragment, greatly enlarged, showing poriferous side, for comparison with Fig. 4c. (From Professor McCoy's figure.) ';,.:.d..SCur;vey Of r tb-(ej'.rsi.' GV!W( I'easui^. ~ /5' I0 a.,;0. 8i. On l () r 3 e B 1S)als f2: it<-i 9' 9~~~~~~~~~~~i II 99~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~S / r; YI; j,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'u' fJ~9' lb~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~a~o ~~~ -i,-~~~~~~~~~~~~,V -9' - < jfqjjj$72'9"9'991 - Vt fq~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~j -~.j 9~~~~~~~~~~ l ~ ~ l oti 4.S 4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ( 9190 y hut e I EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE VIII. Page. Fig. 1. —HEMIPRONITES CRASSUS.-....-......................... —-- 174 A very small young specimen. Fig. 2.-SPIRIFER (MARTINIA) PLANOCONVEXUS.......................-...... 184 2a. Dorsal view, showing area and foramen of ventral valve magnified to nearly two diameters. 2b. Interior of dorsal valve, showing socket processes and crura for the attachment of the spires, still more enlarged. Fig. 3.-LINGULA SCOTICA, var. NEBRASCENSIS.. —--—.. —.. —- —...... —-. 158 3a. View of dorsal valve, slightly less than natural size. 3b. Enlargement of same. Fig. 4.-ATI YRIS SUBTILITA.-......-....0....................... ------ 180 Small specimen, dorsal view; slightly reduced in size from Professor Geinitz's figure of a specimen from bed C, at Nebraska City. Fig. 5.-RHYNC~HONELLA OSAGENSIS............... —-. —-.. —-—. 179 Ventral view (enlarged nearly two and one-half diameters); after Professor Geinitz's figure of a rather broad, flattened specimen from bed C, at Nebraska City. Fig. 6.-PRODUCTUS LONGISPINUS?..................-.161 6a. Ventral view, slightly less than natural size. 6b & c. Dorsal and ventral views of a young example; after Geinitz. Fig. 7.-CH-ONETES GRANULIFERA —- -- —. 170 Ventral view, nearly natural size, showing a few very scattering large perforations. Fig. 8. —CHON TES GLABRA........................ 171 8a. Ventral view, nearly natural size. 8b. Ditto of another specimen, enlarged nearly to two diameters, to show what appears to be the bases of minute, scattering spines, connected with large, distantly-separated perforations, arranged in quincux. Fig. 9.-PRODUCTUS PERTENUIS - 164 9a, c. Ventral and lateral views of an imperfect specimen, nearly natural size. 9b. The same enlarged. Both figured by Professor Geinitz, from bed C, Nebraska City. Fig. 10. —PRODUCTUS PRATTENIANUS. -.... -...................-. —-. 163 lOa & b. Dorsal and ventral views of a young shell; specimen nearly natural size; figured by Professor Geinitz, from bed C, at Nebraska City. Fig. 11.-SPIRIFERINA KENTUCKENSIS. —..-..-..... 185 11a. Posterior or cardinal view, showing area and foramen, beaks, &c. (Enlarged about one and one-half diameters). 11b. Ventral view of a compressed specimen, enlarged nearly two diameters. Both from Professor Geinitz's figures of specimens from bed C, Nebraska City. Fig. 12.-SYNTRILASMA HEMIPLICATA....... 177 12a & b. Ventral and front viecvs; slightly reduced from Professor Geinitz's figures of a Nebraska City specimen. Fig. 13.-PRODUCTUS SYMMETRICUS. —-...... —-. —---—.... —. —---—....- 167 Ventral view of an imperfect specimen from bed C, Nebraska City, slightly less than natural size. FOREIGN SPECIES FOR COMPARISON. Fig. 14.-RHYNCHOnELLA ANGULATA --. —..... ——. —-. 178 14a, b. Dorsal and side views for comparison with Fig. 12a, b; both slightly reduced from Mr. Davidson's figures. Fig. 15.-SPIRIFER CAMERATUS............................................... 183 An imperfect, rather small, specimen, from bed C, Nebraska City. 11 T___ __ ____ _! I /9,~ ~:S\St.: ~ ~.. IISi...'.4,o.~.,..~~~~~~~~~~~i 1,6 f,~,, ~,. EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE IX. Page. Fig. 1.-AVICULOPECTEN NEGLECTUS............. —-..................... —. 193 la. Internal cast of a left valve, enlarged nearly to three and onehalf diameters. (From Geinitz.) lb. Ditto of a right valve, from bed C, at Nebraska City, enlarged nearly three and one-half diameters. Fig. 2.-AVICULOPECTEN COXANUS-.-......... 196 2a. Lelt valve enlarged about two diameters. 2b. Enlargement of surface markings of same. Fig. 3.-PSEUDOMONOTUS RADIALIS??......................................... 201 View of cast of left valve, slightly less than natural size. Fig. 4-AVICULOPECTEN CARBONIFERUS.................... 193 4a. Left valve, one-eighth diameter less than natural size. 4b. Internal cast of a right valve a little less than two diameters. Fig. 5.-LIMA RETIFER A-........... 188 5a. Cast of right valve, one-eighth diameter less than natural size. 5b. Coste of same, a little enlarged. Fig. 6.-MYALINA SUQUADRATA............... 202 A fragment of a right valve, showing cardinal area, and interior, nearly natural size, from Professor Geinitz's figure of a specimen from bed C, at Nebraska City. The dimly-shaded outline is here added to show the most usual form of the entire shell. Fig. 7.-MYALINA SWALLOVI-.....2.......... 201 7a. Left view of a small specimen, slightly less than natural size. 7b. Right view of a larger individual, slightly reduced in size. Fig. 8.-AvICULA LONGA...... 199 Right valve, enlarged nearly two diameters. Fig. 9. —AVICLA? SULCATA. 200 Left valve enlarged to nearly three and a half diameters; from Professor Geinitz's figure. Fig. 10.-AVICULOPECTEN OCCIDENTALIS......................... 191 Left valve slightly reduced in size; from Professor Geinitz's figure. Fig. 1. —ENTOLIUM AVICULATUM-........................... 189 lla. Mould of the exterior (nearly natural size) of left valve. 11b. Enlarged external radiating and concentric strie. ile. Cast from the same. lld. Enlarged zigzag marking sometimes very dimly seen on the surface of internal casts. lie. Cast of a smaller specimen, left valve, with posterior margin a little truncated. 1lf. Interior of another specimen, left valve, showing the diverging hinge, teeth (t, t), cartilage pit (c), and transverse furrow (g, g), in the ears, for the articulation of the margin of the other valve. 11g. Cast of the interior of opposite valve, showing its cardinal line to be straight, apparently for articulation in the furrow (g) of Fig. 11f. Fig. 12.-AVICULOPINNA AMERICANA-... -—. -......,.. 197 12a. An internal cast, enlarged to nearly two diameters, showing the beaks not to be quite terminal. 12b. Mould of the outside of another specimen, somewhat enlarged. 12c. Surface markings, enlarged. 12d. Section to show convexity of valves. FOREIGN SPECIES FOR COMPARISON. Fig. 13.-ENTOLIUM SOWERBYI...... 191 13a. External view, for comparison with figure llc. 13b. Enlarged surface strim of same. Both a little less than natural size, from Professor McCoy's Carb. Fossils of Ireland. Fig. 14.-ENTOLIUM DEMISSUIM- 190 Internal cast of hinge, for comparison with figure 11f; slightly reduced in size; from Quenstedt. Fig. 15. —AVICULOPINNA PLNNEFORMIS. —.......................... 197 15a. View of left valve, showing traces of radiating stris; a little reduced from Professor Geinitz's figure of a German specimen. 15b. Section of the two valves united, taken from a fragment sent from Germany by Professor Geinitz to Prefessor Worthen. For comparison with Fig. 12. U-. S. Geoi. Survey- of Nebr aska. ( (CoaL teasulres. IP 4 \ 4''I x ), fI~rztt~za 5kr2ur:' lilott,.tL. 0m.Stotle vlibotsoti. TSiI-cblrsIt; EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE X. Page Fig. 1.-SCHIZODUS WHEELERI............................................. -209 la. Outside view of right valve, slightly reduced from Professor Geinitz's figure; referred by him to S. obscurus. lb. Sketch of the typical specimen of S. Wheeleri from the CoalMeasures of Missouri, slightly reduced in size from a drawing in the possession of Professor Swallow. lc. Outside view of a specimen from the Upper Coal-Measures of Iowa, belonging to Dr. C. A. White. Id. Inside of same, showing the hinge; both figures being slightly reduced in size. le &f. Dorsal and lateral views of a large internal cast, a little reduced in size, from the same position in Iowa, and apparently of the same, or a nearly allied species, belonging to Dr. C. A. White. Fig. 2.-An external cast of an undetermined species of Schizodls........ 210 Fig. 3.-SOLENOPSIs SOLENOOIDE S.-....................................... 223 Cast of right valve, magnified nearly to two diameters. Fig. 4.-PLEUROPHORUS OBLONGUS.......................................... 212 4a. Internal cast, about natural size. 4b & c. Internal casts of other specimens, right and left view, magnified nearly two diameters. Fig. 5.-MODIOLA? SUBELLIPTICA.-..... -.. -.. 211 Right valve, a little less than natural size. Fig. 6.-EDMONDIA REFLIEXA..............-... —..-....................... 213 6a. An internal cast of a small specimen, one-eighth diameter less than natural size. 6b. The same, enlarged. Fig. 7.-EDMiONDIA? GLABRA....... -—.............-.-......-.............. 214 7a & b. Right and left views of two small specimens, slightly reduced in size. Fig. 8.-EDMONDIA NEBRASCENSIS?.............-........-...............-.. 214 8a. A slightly reduced figure of a small, rather broad, specimen, probably of this species. 8b. The larger and more elongated typical form of the species, a little reduced in size. Fig. 9.-PROTHYRIS ELEGANS.. —-. —... —....................... 223 9a. Left valve of nearly natural size, showing anterior ventral notch, and linear ridge extending to its corner from the beak. 9b. Right valve of another specimen, enlarged to nearly one and a half diameters. Fig. 10.-YOLDIA SUBSCITULA? --—.......-0.... —..........5....-. 205 An external cast of the left valve, nearly natural size. Fig. 11.-NUCULANA BELLISTRIATA-..................2......................... 206 11a. Left valve, enlarged to nearly two diameters. lib. Surface strie, further enlarged. Fig. 12.-PLEUROPHOnr1US OCCIDENTALIS............................. 212 Left view of internal cast, enlarged to nearly three diameters. (From Professor Geinitz.) Fig. 13.-SCrHIZODUS CURTUS. —-----—.. —.....-..-................. s06 13a. Cast from Nebraska City, left view, one-eighth diameter less than natural size. 13b. Outline profile, anterior view of same. 13c. A somewhat larger specimen of same, a little reduced in size. 13d. A still larger specimen, of somewhat different form, a little reduced in size. Probably a different species. 13e. The typical form of S. cartus, slightly reduced in size, from the original locality in Illinois. 13f. An outline anterior view of same, to show its convexity. 13g. Surface strim of same, enlarged. Fig. 14. —ALLOIISMA SUBELEGANTS-. ——...-...................... 220 A little less than natural size, with enlargement of surface granules. 2 EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE X. Page. Fig. 15.-ALLORISIA (SEDGWICKIA) REFLEXA................................... 217 An imperfect left valve, nearly natural size. Fig. 16.-ALLO RISMA (SEDGWICKIA) GEINITZII.-...........-............ 219 16a. View of right valve, slightly less than the natural size, of one of the largest specimens among an extensive collection. 16b. Left valve of another individual, enlarged a little less than two diameters, to show the fine surface granules. Fig. 17.-NUCULA VENTRICOSA...S................................... 204 17a. Left view, a little less than natural size. 17b. Dorsal outline view of same. 17c. Left view of same, enlarged to nearly two diameters. Fig. 18.-NUCULA BEYRICHI??.......... 203 An internal cast, enlarged to nearly three diameters. From Nebraska City. Fig. 19a.-An outline, nearly natural size, of a different form, from Professor Geinitz's figure, referred by him to N. Beyrichi, from the same bed as the last, at Nebraska City. 19b. The same, enlarged to show the strie; (from Geinitz.) Fig. 20.-MACRODON TENUISTRIATA.-............ —........................... 207 20a. Right valve, nearly natural size. 20b. Enlargement of the, minute radiating strike on the anterior part of the shell. FOREIGN SPECIES FOR COMPARISON. Fig. 21.~-SCHIZODnS RossICus........................... 209 21a. Left view, slightly less than natural size, for comparison with Fig. 13a. 21b. A different form, supposed to be a variety of the same; both from de Vernenil. Fig. 22.-ALLORISMA ELAGANS....-................... —............ —... 219 22a. Right valve, nearly natural size (from Professor Geinitz), of a German specimen, for comparison with Fig. 16a, b. 22b. Internal cast of same, slightly reduced in size, from Professor King. Compare with Fig. 16a, b. Fig. 23. —NUCUILA BEYRIC II --- ----—................. —.... -—..... 204 23a. From a German specimen, slightly less than natural size. Compare with Figs. 18 and 19. 23b. Same, enlarged. Fig. 24.-NucuLA BEYRICHI.c —2.....................-............... —---. 204 24a, b. After Geinitz, from German specimen, nearly natural size, and enlarged. Compare with Figs. 18 and 19. Fig. 25.-NUCULA BEYRICHI..-..............-........................... 204 25a. Nearly natural size, from von Schauroth's original figure. 25b. Same, from same, enlarged. Compare with Figs. 18 and 19. 25c. Internal cast of same, from same. Fig. 26. CARPIOMORPIIA? (MYTILUS) PALLASI............................ —. 212,213 Hinge and interior of right valve, nearly natural size. For comparison with Fig. 12. Fig. 27. MACRODON STRIATA ----—...................... —-........-........ 207 Right view, after Professor Geinitz, from German specimen, for comparison with Fig. 20a. Loa eol. Surv?, of N4 Ta S;. 4b ~ f~ d I4 laI ~~~/.C' I 1,3 h YTO'ovso I /o~ /~:::1 ========= =====-====== On.fto,'t~ -by T~h1otsn. EXPLANATIONS OF PLATE XI Page. Fig. L.-CYTHERE...... sp...-.............-. -.. —--. 237 1a, b. Outside and inside view of right valve, greatly enlarged. lc, d. Outside and inside of left valve, greatly enlarged. Fig. 2.-CYTHERE NEBPrASCENSIS - —.-. --—... —. 237 Inside, greatly enlarged, left valve; from Geinitz. Fig. 3.-CYTHERE, sp.-............................. 237 3a,. Outside and inside of apparently the right valve of the same species; from Geinitz. Fig. 4.-EUOMPIHALUS RUGOSUS, (Hall; not Sowerby) -............ 230 4a. Left side of a rather small specimen, natural size. 4b. Right side of another specimen, somewhat enlarged. Fig. 5. —PLEUROTOMARIA HAYDENIANA...........231 Enlarged nearly to three diameters; from Professor Geinitz's figure. Fig. 6.-MURCHISONIA NEBRASCENSIS...... 234 Enlarged less than three diameters; from same. Fig. 7. ACLIS? SWALLOVIANA..-.........................-..-........ 229 7a. Avery small imperfect Specimen, enlarged less than five diameters. 7b. A large perfect specimen, enlarged less than three and a half diameters (after Professor Geinitz). Fig. 8.-PLEUROTOMARIA MARCOUIANA-........... 233 Enlarged less than four diameters; from same. Fig. 9.-PLEUROTOMARIA GRAYVILLENSIS —....2................ 233 Enlarged between three and three and half diameters; from same. Fig. 10.-ORTHONEMA SUBTJENIATA —. 228 Enlarged between five and five and a half diameters; from same. Fig. 11.-BEILEROPHON CARBONARIA -......................................... 224 11a. Front view, nearly natural size. llb ~ c. Posterior and lateral views of same; from division C, at Nebraska City. Fig. 12.-BELLEROPHON, SP... -...-.....-.........-.....................,. 225 The expanded part of body whorl enlarged about two diameters. Fig. 13.-BELLEROPHON MARCOUIANUS -..-..-.....-..-..........-........ 226 13a. Side view of an imperfect specimen, consisting of a portion of the expanded body volution, enlarged a little less than two diameters. 13b. An oblique view of a similar specimen, a little more enlarged; from Professor Geinitz. Fig. 14.-BELLEROPHON PERCARINATUS.-............................. -.. 227 A portion of the body volution, slightly less than the natural size. Fig. 15.-BELLEROPHON MONTFORTIANUS... - -. 225 Body volution and expanded lip nearly entire, slightly less than the natural size. Fig. 16.-DENTA.LIUN MEEKIANUM.-.....-.,............................ 4....... 16a. Side view, enlarged between two and three diameters. 16b. Enlarged section or aperture of same; both from Professor Geinitz. Fig. 17. —NAUTILUS OCCIDENTALS.................................... 34 A fiagment, showing the outer or ventral side, with the two rows of large lateral nodes, and two rows of smaller alternating mesial nodes; nearly natural size. Fig. 18.-ORTHOCERAS CRIBROSUr.-. ——.. —---- 234 18a. Slightly reduced from Professor Geinitz's enlarged figure. 1Sb. Pitted surface of same, enlarged. Fig. 19.-PLEUROTOMARIA SUBDECUSSATA. —................ 233 A side and aperture view, enlarged about four diameters; after same.