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TABLE OF CONTENTS,
PART I.
LKTTER TO THE HON. JOHN M. PALMER
CHAPTER I.
GEOLOGY OF CALHOUN COUNTY.
By A. H. Worthen Pages 1 to 23
CHAPTER II.
GEOLOGY OF PIKE COUNTY.
By A. H. Worthen Pages 24 to 42
CHAPTER III.
GEOLOGY OF ADAMS COUNTY.
By A. H. Worthen « Pages 43 to 61
CHAPTER IV.
GEOLOGY OF BROWN COUNTY.
By A, H. Worthen , Pages 62 to 74
CHAPTER V.
GEOLOGY OF SCHUYLER COUNTY.
By A. H. Worthen Pages 75 to 89
IV TA35LE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
GEOLOGY OF FULTON COUNTY,
By A. H. Worthen Pages 90 to 110
CHAPTER VII.
GEOLOGY OF DEKALB, KANE AND DoPAGE COUNTIES.
By Henry M. Bannister , Pages 111 to 125
CHAPTER VIII.
GEOLOGY OF McHENRY AND LAKE COUNTIES.
By Henry M. Bannister Pages 126 to 135
CHAPTER IX.
GEOLOGY OF KENDALL COUNTY.
By Henry M. Bannister Pages 136 to 148
CHAPTER X.
GEOLOGY OF MORGAN COUNTY.
By Henry M. Bannister Pages 149 to 162
CHAPTER XI.
GEOLOGY OF CASS AND MENARD COUNTIES.
By Henry M. Bannister Pages 163 to 175
CHAPTER XII.
GEOLOGY OF TAZEWELL, McLEAN, LOGAN AND MASON COUNTIES.
By H. M. Bannister Pages 176 to 189
CHAPTER XIII.
GEOLOGY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
By Frank H. Bradley pages 190 to 206
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
GEOLOGY OF WILL COUNTY.
By Frank II. Bradley Pages 207 to 225
CHAPTER XV.
GEOLOGY OF KANKAKEE AND IROQUOIS COUNTIES.
By Frank H. Bradley Pages 226 to 240
CHAPTER XVI.
GEOLOGY OF VERMILION COUNTY.
By Frank H. Bradley .' Pages 241 to 265
CHAPTER XVII.
GEOLOGY OF CHAMPAIGN, EDGAR AND FORD COUNTIES.
By Frank H. Bradley Pages 266 to 275
CHAPTER XVIII.
GEOLOGY OF HENDERSON COUNTY.
By H. A. Green Pages 276 to 287
CHAPTER XIX.
GEOLOGY OF WARREN COUNTY.
By II. A. Green. < Pages 288 to 300
CHAPTER XX.
GEOLOGY OF MERCER COUNTY.
By H. A. Green Pages 30] to 312
CHAPTER XXI.
GEOLOGY OF KNOX COUNTY.
By H. A. Green Pages 313 to 324
VI TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXII.
GEOLOGY OF STARK COUNTY.
By H. A. Green Pages 325 to 333
CHAPTER XXIII.
GEOLOGY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
By H. A. Green Pages 334 to 342
PART II.
PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
SECTION I.
DESCRIPTIONS OF VERTEBRATES.
By J. S. Newberry and A. H. Worthen Pages 346 to 3*74
SECTION II.
DESCRIPTIONS OF PLANTS.
By Leo Lesquereux Pages 377 to 508
TO HIS EXCELLENCY
THE HON. JOHN M. PALMER,
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OP ILLINOIS.
GEOLOGICAL ROOMS,
SPRINGFIELD, September, 1870.
SIR : I have the honor of submitting, for publication, the Fourth Volume of
my Report on the Geological Survey of Illinois, in accordance with the provi-
sions of the first section of an act passed by the Twenty-sixth General Assem-
bly, and approved March llth, 1869, entitled, "An act providing for the pub-
lication of the fourth volume of the report of the State Geologist, and fixing his
salary for the next two years," which section reads as follows :
Be it enacted by the People of tJie State of Il/inois, represented in t/ie General Assembly, That
the publication of three thousand copies of the fourth volume of the report of the state geolo-
gist is hereby authorized, and the aum of seven thousand five hundred dollars is hereby appro-
priated to defray the cost of the necessary plates, maps, diagrams and drawings ; and also the
further sum of fifteen hundred dollars, to complete the necessary drawings for the fifth volume
of said report ; said sums of money to be expended under the direction and by the approval of
the governor and the state geologist."
Circumstances entirely beyond my control have prevented the appearance of
this volume at an earlier day, and with the present facilities for publication, it
is quite impossible to make any reliable calculation upon the time that will be
required to place such a volume in the hands of the people, after the material
for it has been duly prepared.
The manuscript for the fifth volume is now ready for the printer, and the
plates for the engraver, and the materials for the sixth volume are in hand, and
will be prepared for publication as rapidly as possible. These two volumes will
include the reports on all the remaining counties in the State, and will com-
plete the work of the Survey, in accordance with the plan hitherto pursued.
I have the honor to be
Your obedient servant,
A. H. WOKTHEN.
CHAPTER I.
CALHOUN COUNTY.
This county comprises a long, narrow belt of territory, lying in the forks of
the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, extending about thirty miles from north to
south, with an average width of about eight miles. Topographically, it may be
described as a narrow limestone ridge, elevated from two to three hundred feet
above the river level, and flanked on either side by the alluvial bottoms of the
great rivers, which form its eastern, southern and western boundaries. Over
this limestone ridge there has been subsequently deposited beds of Quaternary
age, consisting of drift clays,' gravel and loess, covering the whole surface to
the depth of fifty- to one hundred feet. These deposits also fill some of the
lateral vallies which intersect the river bluffs, showing that these valleys existed
anterior to the drift epoch.
This county is bounded on the north by Pike, county, on the east by the
Illinois river, and on the south and west by the Mississippi. It embraces an
area of a little less than seven townships, or two hundred and fifty-one square
miles. It was originally a heavily timbered region, the whole of the uplands
and a portion of the bottoms being covered with a heavy growth of timber,
embracing the usual varieties of oak and hickory, linden, elm, hackberry, sugar
maple, black and white walnut and honey locust; all of which are found on
the uplands, while on the bottoms we find cottonwood, sycamore, ash, soft
maple, coffenut, hornbeam, pecan, willow, &c. The only stream of any impor-
tance in the county, besides the large rivers which form its principal boundaries,
is Bay creek, which enters the county near the northwest corner, and after a
southeasterly course of about ten miles, empties into the Mississippi about three
miles above Hamburg.
The upland region in this county is quite hilly, and some of it is too broken
for cultivation, though the soil is productive, and yields abundant crops of all
the cereals and fruits usually cultivated in this climate. The heavy deposits
of drift-clay and loess that overlie the stratified rocks, determine the general
character of the soil, which is but slightly affected by the older formations,
except on the steep slopes of the hills, where the limestones and sandstones
come to the surface, and by their decomposition, have modified to some extent
the soil above them. The marly clays of the loess, form the soil and subsoil
over a large portion of the uplands, while the bottoms are covered with a sandy
loam, similar in character to that of the principal alluvial valleys of the west.
The geological structure of this county is exceedingly interesting, both from
the wide range of formations exposed within its limits, and also from the dis-
—1
GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
turbing influences to which the older strata have been subjected. The great
fault, which crosses this country below Cap au Gres, is the most remarkable
disturbance of the stratified rocks to be found within the limits of the
State, and to this disturbance is due the wide range of geological formations
that appear within the area of this county, comprising the whole range of
paleozoic strata, from the St. Peters Sandstone of the Calciferous period to the
Coal Measures, and including something over a hundred feet in thickness of
the latter group, a wider stratigraphical range of formations than is found in
any other county in this portion of the State. This fault intersects the Mis-
sissippi bluffs immediately below the high cliff of St. Peters Sandstone, to which
the name " Cap au Gres" or Sandstone Headland, was given by the French
Voyageurs, and- with a trend of east 10° south, it intersects the bluffs of the
Illinois about two miles below Monterey, crosses to the bluffs on the eastern
side of that stream, about five miles above its mouth, and after intersecting an
elbow of the river bluff in Jersey county for three or four miles, it is finally
lost in the valley of the Mississippi. The strata have not only been dislocated
by this disturbance, but there has also been a down-throw of the beds, to the
extent of at least seven or eight hundred feet on the western side of the fault,
while on the east, they remain but slightly elevated above their original hori-
zontal position, and are se'en dipping gently to the northeastward.
To the northward of this axis, the Burlington limestone forms the bed rock
at the summit level of the dividing ridge between the two rivers, up to, and be-
yond the Pike county line, while to the southward, nearly all the highlands are
directly underlaid by the St. Louis limestone or the Coal Measures. The exact
line of this fault is hidden in the valley of a small stream, which enters the
Mississippi just below the Cap au Gres bluff, but immediately below this valley
the Lower Carboniferous limestones are seen standing in a nearly vertical
position, dipping south 10° west.
The following wood cut will serve to illustrate the relative position of the
strata at this point, showing the Cap au Gres bluff of Lower Silurian strata on
the left, and the upturned edges of the Lower Carboniferous limestones imme-
diately below it on the right :
o. Trenton Limestone.
6. St. Peters Sandstone.
e. Burlington Limestone.
dt. Keokuk "
e. St. Louis Limestone.
CALHOUN COUNTY. O
We are unable to fix the exact period when this disturbance took place, but
it seems to have been anterior to the coal epoch. This is indicated by the
unconformability of the coal strata to the underlying limestones on the north
side of this axis in Pike and Adams counties, where the Coal Measures rest
unconformably on the Keokuk and Burlington limestones, showing that these
beds had been elevated, and a considerable thickness of strata removed by
denudation, before the deposit of the coal. Southwest of this axis, the coal rests
on the St. Louis limestone, but whether exactly conformable to it or not, we
can not say, from the partial exposures we were able to examine.
The following section exhibits the different formations that may be seen in
this county, showing their relative position and thickness. This section pre-
sents a thickness nearly equal to one-half of all the stratified rocks found in
the State, and, with the exception of the middle and upper Coal Measures, and
the Chester group of the Lower Carboniferous limestone series, it comprises all
the important divisions of the paleozoic strata to be found in the State.
FEKT.
Loess 40 to 60
Drift, clay and gravel _ 10 " 20
Coal Measures *. 100 " 120
St. Louis limestone 200
Keokuk group 150
Burlington limestone 200
Kinderhook group 120
Hamilton limestone '. 6 " 15
Niagara " 50 " 75
Cincinnati group 80 " 120
Trenton limestone 350 " 400
St. Peters Sandstone . . 150
Maximum thickness .'. . . 1,630
The St. Peters Sandstone. — This is the oldest rock appearing above the sur-
face in this county, and its only point of outcrop is at the Cap au Ores bluff,
on section 30, town 12 south, range 2 west. It forms the lower escarpment of
this bluff, which is about a mile in extent on the river, but it dips strongly to
the northeastward and disappears below the succeeding formations so rapidly,
that it is nowhere seen except at this point. The lowest portion of the bed
does not appear above the surface, but there is about one hundred and fifty feet
in thickness exposed at the lower end of the bluff, which gradually passes be-
neath the magnesian beds of the Trenton group towards the upper extremity,
making its entire outcrop along the river a little more than a mile in length.
It is a purely silicious rock, made up of minute grains of quartz that are some-
times scarcely cemented at all, and some portions of it readily crumble to sand on
exposure. Other portions of the mass are tolerably well cemented by the infil-
tration of the oxyd of iron, and the rock then forms a bold mural precipice along
4 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
the river bank. A section of this bluff, made nearly midway between its north-
ern and southern extremities, shows the following order :
FEET
Loess capping the bluff <***
Light-gray Trenton limestone 8
Brown and buff magnesian limestone TO
St. Peters Sandstone 13°
The sandstone is irregularly stratified, and often concretionary, showing no
well defined lines of bedding. It may be regarded as the equivalent, in part,
of the Calciferous group of New York, and corresponds to the Saccharoidal
sandstone of Missouri. No organic remains have yet been found in it, either
in this State or elsewhere.
Trenton Group. — This group, as it is developed in this county, consists of
brown and buff magnesian limestones at the base of the series, which attain a
thickness of about seventy feet. These are succeeded by fine grained, compactj
gray and chocolate brown limestones forming the middle divisions of the series
and these are overlaid by a rather soft, coarse grained, yellowish gray limestone,
forming the upper division of the group. Its aggregate thickness may be estima-
ted at three hundred and fifty to four hundred feet. Its most northerly outcrop
in this county, is at the foot of the Mississippi bluffs, about three miles below
Gilead P. 0., on the northeast quarter of section 31, town 11, range 2 west,
though it was found only about three feet below the surface in digging a well
on the southwest quarter of section 29, in the same township. The rock where
it first appears in this vicinity, is a light yellowish gray, coarse grained lime-
stone, rather soft and very uneven in texture, and weathers on exposure with
an uneven and ragged surface. It is rather thin bedded at the top, but be-
comes more massive below, and the strata rise in a southerly direction so rapidly
that about two miles below the point where the rock first appears, it forms a
perpendicular cliff from eighty to a hundred feet in hight. A few fossils were
obtained from these coarse grained limestones, among which were Strophomena
alternata, Ortliis lynx, and a ramose form of Chsetetes. Below this coarse
grained limestone, we find about fifteen or twenty feet in thickness of fine
grained, chocolate colored, thin bedded limestone. It weathers to an ash gray
color, and the strata are generally from two to four inches in thickness.
Descending along the river bluffs below the outcrop of these limestones, we
find them underlaid by a series of light gray, compact, fine grained limestones,
partly thin bedded, but affording some massive strata in the lower part of the
series. These limestones continue to form the main portion of the river bluff
down to the small creek which intersects the bluffs just above the Cap au
Ores ferry landing. At this point the upper layers of the brown and buff
limestones, which form the lower division of the group, are seen just above the
creek level.
CALHOUN COUNTY, 5
On Cave Spring Branch, a small creek which intersects the bluffs about a
mile and a half above the ferry landing, the upper portion of the Trenton lime-
stone is well exposed, forming the bed and bluffs of the creek for a mile or more
from its mouth. The thin bedded, chocolate colored limestone, is also well exposed
on this creek, and is here quite arenaceous and passes into a fine grained calca-
reous sandstone. Some of the light gray compact limestones below this choco-
late colored bed, are filled with marine plants, or fucoides, which are well ex-
posed on the weathered surfaces of the rock. Trilobites are not uncommon in
these limestones, and fragments of Asaphus megistos, Ceraurus pleurexanthemus,
and lllenus ovatus were obtained here. They are associated with two or three
species of Orthocera, and the common Brachiopoda of this horizon.
The lowest division of this group consists of evenly bedded, buff or brown
dolomitic limestones, which attain a thickness of about seventy feet, and are
seen overlying the St. Peter's sandstone at the upper end of the Cap au
Ores bluff, the only point where they are found well exposed. The beds vary
in thickness from four inches to two feet or more, and the dip is so strong to
the northeastward, that this division of the group only outcrops over a very
limited area, in the immediate vicinity of the river bluffs. Indeed, the whole
of this group, nearly or quite four hundred feet in thickness, covers in its out-
crop in this county, an area of only about three or four square miles.
Cincinnati Group. — The Trenton limestone is immediately overlaid in this
county, by blue and green, partly indurated clays, which attain an aggregate
thickness of about a hundred feet, and although they have afforded no fossils,
their stratigraphical position, and lithological characters, are sufficient to deter-
mine their position in the geological series, as the equivalents of the Cincinnati
group of our general section of the Illinois strata. These clays are seldom
found well exposed, but partial outcrops are occasionally seen on the slopes of
the hills, either on the small streams or gulches, which intersect the river bluffs
along their line of outcrop. They are often met with in digging wells in the
region which they underlie, and where the Upper Silurian limestone is want-
ing, this group forms low rounded hills, or gentle slopes, that seldom afford any
good exposure of the underlying strata, although they may be but a few feet be-
neath the surface. Their first appearance on the eastern side of the county
on descending the river bluffs, is between Hamburg and Gilead, where they are
occasionally seen cropping out beneath the Niagara limestone, which here forms
the upper part of the bluff. When exposed at the surface, they form a tough,
blue plastic clay, very much like the potter's clays of the coal formation. On
the northwest quarter of section 19, township 10, range 2, west, they outcrop
beneath the Niagara limestone, and extend down to the river level and below,
showing a thickness above the river, of about forty or fifty feet. Gradually
rising in a southerly direction, they are found in the vicinity of Gilead about
6 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS
one hundred feet or more in thickness, but seldom well exposed. From this
point, their outcrop trends southeastwardly across the county, following the
direction of the Cap au Ores fault, and appearing in the Illinois river bluffs,
on the eastern side of the county, in the vicinity of Monterey, where they form
the base of the bluff, and are overlaid by the Niagara and Hamilton limestones.
From this point northward, they are occasionally seen at the base of the bluffs
for two or three miles, when, with a gentle northeasterly inclination, they pass
below the level of the Illinois bottoms, and are seen no more. No calcareous
or arenaceous strata, were found associated with this group in this county, and
it appears to be composed entirely of fine argillaceous sediments.
Niagara Limestone. — This is one of the most important formations in the
county, and is well exposed at many points in the river bluffs, on both the east
and west sides of the county. On the west, it appears at the base of the bluff
near the north line of the county, forming a low bench of light gray limestone,
from fifteen to twenty feet above the river level, and thence extends down
nearly to the mouth of Bay creek, where, by an indulation of the dip, it sinks
below the level of the river, and does not appear again above Hamburg. At
that point it again rises above the river level, and at the mouth of the small
creek, which enters the river on the lower side of the village, there is an out-
crop of the upper part of this formation, about twenty feet in thickness, over
which the creek forms a cascade just above its mouth. The rock is here a
compact bluish gray limestone in regular beds, from six inches to a foot in
thickness. It has a moderate dip to the northward, and a half mile below this
point, where another creek enters the river, a measured section showed about
forty-five feet of this limestone above the river level. At all the localities
where this formation was seen, from the north line of the county to a point
some two miles below Hamburg, the rock is of a bluish gray color, and usually
even bedded, but south of this, it changes to a light brown or buff color, and
presents the characters of a true dolomite. In the vicinity of Hamburg it is
immediately overlaid by a brownish gray, arenaceous, Devonian limestone, and
this is succeeded by the limestones and shales of the Kinderhook group. The
following section will show the relations of these different formations as they
appear in the vicinity of Hamburg, including all, to the highest point of the
bluff:
FEET.
Loess forming the summit of the bluff 60
Burlington limestone 40
Shaley ash colored limestones (Kinderhook) 40
Greenish sandy and argillaceous shales (Kinderhook) 60 to 70
Slaty oolitic limestones " 10 to 15
Fine grained light blue limestone " 4 to 20
Green shale « 1 to 3
Hamilton limestone (Devonian) 4 to 8
Niagara limestone (Up. Silurian) 40 to 50
CALHOUN COUNTY. 7
The Niagara limestone extends below the river level, at all the exposures in
the vicinity of Hamburg, and its entire thickness is not seen. On the north-
west quarter of section 19, township 10 south, range 2 west, the rock was
quarried for the jail at Hardin. At the base of this formation here, where it
rests on the blue clays of the Cincinnati group, we find from two to four feet of
light gray oolitic limestone forming the lower beds, which are overlaid by the buff
and brown dolornitic limestones in which the quarries for building-stone were
opened. These beds are here about fifty feet in thickness, and probably comprise
nearly the whole thickness of the Niagara group at this point, for on the adjoin-
ing section, on the small creek which intersects the bluffs on section 18, township
10 south, range 2 west, the Hamilton limestone is found in place overlying the
Upper Silurian strata.
From this point south, to a point a mile below Grilead, these limestones con-
tinue to show themselves in occasional outcrops, forming the upper portion of the
bluff, while below, there is a sloping talus, underlaid by the blue argillaceous
clays of the Cincinnati group. Below Gilead, the line of outcrop of the Niag-
ara limestone, and overlying formation recedes from the river bluffs, and is
found in the hills from one to two miles back, towards the interior of the
county. It continues in a southerly direction to section 28, township 12 south,
range 2 west, where its trend is changed to the eastward across the county, by
the disturbing influences that caused the Gap au Ores fault.
Its most southerly outcrop on the eastern side of the county, is in the vicinity
of the Stone Church, two miles below Monterey, where about twenty feet in
thickness of buff limestone is exposed, and has been quarried for building-stone
in this neigborhood. Between this point and Monterey this limestone is mostly
hidden under the overlying Lower Carboniferous formations. At Mr. C. W.
Twitchell's place on the southeast quarter of section 10, township 12 south,
range 2 west, this limestone has been quarried, where it forms a precipitous
bluff some forty to fifty feet high.
At the point of the bluff above Monterey on the Hardin road, on the north,
east quarter of section 11, in the same township, the following measured sec-
tion was obtained:
FT.
Hamilton limestone : 12
Buff colored Niagara limestones 50
Covered slope with partial outcrops of blue clays 48
The blue clays forming the lower part of this section undoubtedly belong to
the Cincinnati group, and, though the junction of the Upper and Lower Silu-
rian strata could not be seen here, it is probable that nearly the full thickness of
the Niagara limestone is represented in the above section, as this is about its aver-
age in this part of the county. From this point northward along the bluffs of the
Illinois river, the brown and buff limestones of this group continue, in occa-
8 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
sional outcrops at the foot of the bluffs, for about six or eight miles, when the
color of the beds change to a bluish gray, very much like the beds in the
vicinity of Hamburg, and from thence northward, only a few feet in thickness of
the upper part of this formation is seen. A half mile above Hardin, there is about
twenty-five feet of the upper part of this formation exposed above the level of
the river at low water, consisting of rough, irregular bedded, bluish gray lime,
stones. From this point northward, to the small creek jvhich empties into the
Illinois about three-quarters of a mile below Farrowtown, we find occasional
outcrops of the upper part of this limestone, and on this creek which is the
most northerly outcrop known on this side of the county, there is about ten or
twelve feet of the upper part of this group exposed, consisting of even bedded,
fine grained limestones, that may be seen for a distance of two or three hun-
dred yards to the westward of the road. But few fossils were obtained from
this formation in this county, though the beds in the vicinity of Monterey
seemed to be quite as fossiliferous as this rock usually is in this portion of the
State, and when the quarries here are worked to any considerable extent, as
they now are at Grafton, they will, no doubt, afford a good many interesting
forms of organic life.
Hamilton Limestone. — This is the only division of the Devonian system, that
has been identified in this county, and consists of from six to twelve feet of
brownish gray limestones, that are usually very hard and silicious, and some-
times pass into a coarse quartzose sandstone. At the most northerly outcrops
of the Niagara limestone in this county, there seems to have been no develop-
ment of the Hamilton beds, and the Upper Silurian limestones are immediately
overlaid by the shales and limestones of the Kinderhook group.
-On the west side of the county, the first exposure of this limestone met with,
below the north line of the county, was on the northeast quarter of section 20,
township 8 south, range 3 west, where a stratum of white sandstone, about a
foot in thickness, was found resting upon the Niagara limestones. No fossils
were obtained from the sandstone at this locality, but further south a similar
sandstone abounds in the characteristic fossils of this group, leaving no doubt
as to the age of these arenaceous strata. In the bed of the small creek, which
enters Bay creek about five miles above Hamburg, there is about six feet in
thickness of coarse brownish gray limestone exposed, filled with characteristic De-
vonian fossils, among which are two or three species of Spirifers, Atrypa recticu-
laris, Orthis lowcnsis, and several of the common corals of this group, among
which were large masses of a coral which has usually been referred to the genus
Acervularia, and has been called A. Davidsoni* At an old mill, a short dis-
tance below this point, these thin bedded limestones were eight feet in thick-
*0n referring this coral to Dr. Rominger, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, one of our best authori-
ties on fossil corals, he has pronounced it a true Cyathophyttum.
CALHOUN COUNTY. 9
ness, and were overlaid by two feet of green shale, which was succeeded by
the fine grained light blue limestone of the Kinderhook group.
At Hamburg this limestone is also exposed, and is about six feet in thick-
ness. The upper layers are quite arenacious and pass locally into a quartzose
sandstone. From this to Gilead, this limestone was met with at every locality
examined, where its proper horizon could be seen, and its characteristic fossils
are frequently met with, weathered out on the sloping hill-sides below its out-
crop. Just below Gilead, its outcrop trends eastwardly, leaving the river bluffs,
and it was next seen a few hundred yards to the eastward of the Salt Spring,
on section 16, township 11 south, range 2 west. In this vicinity it is quite
silicious, and passes into a sandstone, which is filled with beautiful silicious casts
of some of its most characteristic fossils. I am indebted to Mr. Wm. Mc-
Adams, of Otterville, in Jersey county, for some of the fossils of this sandstone
obtained in the vicinity of the Salt Spring.
The most southerly point, where we found this limestone exposed on the
eastern side of the county, is on the southeast quarter of section 11, township
12 south, range 2 west, just above Monterey, where it caps a bluff of Niagara
limestone. It is here quite silicious and thin bedded at the top, but becomes
more massive below. At Mr. Belt's place, near the north line of section 35,
township 11, range 2 west, we found this limestone well exposed, and a quarry
opened in it, on our first visit to the county in 1853. The bed is here about
twelve feet thick, and the rock is quite evenly bedded, the layers generally
ranging from four inches to a foot in thickness. It abounds in fossils, among
which are Spirifer Wortheni, Atrypa recticularis, and several species of Za-
phrentis and HeliopJiyllum. From this point northwardly, this limestone may
be seen outcropping along the base of the bluff, nearly to the north line of
township 10 south, range 2 west, beyond which point it was not seen. A half
mile above Hardin, it is found overlying the Niagara limestone, the latter for-
mation occupying the lower twenty feet or more, above the river level. It is
here about eight feet in thickness, the lower portion quite thin bedded, but
becoming at the top, a hard grey limestone, in thicker strata. Fossils are quite
abundant here, especially corals, which are found weathered out of the lime-
stone, and are mingled with the debris composing the shingle of the river
bank. This limestone is closely associated with the Niagara group, which it
immediately overlies in this county, and its outcrop is entirely restricted to
localities where the Niagara limestone also appears above the surface.
KinderTiook Group. — At the base of the Lower Carboniferous series in this
State, we find a group of rocks, mainly sedimentary in their origin, consisting
of shales, shaly sandstones and thin beds of limestone, but locally becoming
quite calcareous, and passing into thin bedded, ash colored, shaly, and magne-
sian limestones. At some points in this county, the upper portion of this group
—2
10 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
is represented by thin bedded, ash colored, shaly limestones, the equivalent
of the Chateau limestone of the Missouri Report, which are underlaid by sandy
and argillaceous shales, with thin beds of oolitic, and fine grained limestones at
the base. The following section, made in the vicinity of Hamburg, will show
the average thickness, and order of succession, of the various beds of this group :
FEET.
Thin bedded shaly limestones 30 to 40
Sandy^and argillaceous shales 40 to 50
Oolitic limestone 3 to 10
Fine grained, light blue or dove colored limestone 4 to 12
Green shale, sometimes partially bituminous - 2 to 15
These beds are seldom well exposed in this county, as they underlie the Bur-
lington limestone, which generally forms the -upper escarpment of the bluffs,
and they are consequently mostly hidden under the sloping talus beneath.
From the north line of the county to Hamburg on the west, and to the south
line of town 11 south, range 2 west, on the eastern side of the county, this
group may be found in partial exposures either in the face of the bluffs below
the perpendicular limestone escarpment, or in the ravines by which the bluffs
are intersected. In the vicinity of Hamburg this group is well exposed in the
banks of the small creek just below the village, showing exactly the order of
succession to be seen in the above section. The green shale at the base of the
group rests directly upon the Hamilton limestone, and may be the representa-
tive of what has been sometimes called " Black-slate" formation, but in the
absence of any evidence that it is of Devonian age, we have included it in
this group, with which it seems to be identified more closely than with the beds
below. Above this we find the light bluish gray silicious limestone, sometimes
called the " Lithographic" limestone, which is variable in its thickness in this
county, ranging from four to twenty feet. A few fossils were obtained from
this rock in the vicinity of Hamburg, among which were Producing pyxidatus,
Spirifer Marionensis, Cyrtia acutirostris, and an Orthis like 0. Michelini. On
the eastern side of the county, we did not find this limestone exposed. It re-
received the name of " Lithographic" limestone from its resemblance to the
stone used in lithography, but some examples of it which have been tested for
that purpose, have not shown the necessary qualities of a good lithographic
stone. It is regularly stratified, in beds varying from two inches to a foot in
thickness, but they are intersected by numerous seams and cross fractures, so
that good slabs of any considerable size are not easily obtained. This charac-
ter alone would render it unfit for the lithographer. This limestone is
succeeded by a thin bedded oolitic limestone, which, in the vicinity of Hamburg
ranges from five to ten feet in thickness, and splits readily into thin layers of
an inch or less in thickness. A portion of it is quite fossiliferous in the vicinity
CALHOUN COUNTY. 11
of Hamburg, and has afforded the following species: Rynchonetta pustulosa,
Spiriferina subtexta, Leda fiarrisi, and a Terebratula resembling T. hastata.
On the eastern side of the county we found an oolitic rock exposed on Mr.
Whitaker's place, northwest quarter of section 27, town 8 south, range 2 west,
which probably should be referred to this horizon. The lowest rock seen at
this point is a blue argillaceous shale, with some thin layers of limestone
strongly impregnated with the sulphuret of iron. This shale was overlaid by
a bed of oolitic conglomerate, closely resembling that found at Rockport in Pike
county. It is here from four to five feet in thickness, one-half of which con-
stitutes but a single layer, and the remainder is in thin beds, from two to six
inches thick. This was the only point where we found it exposed on the east-
ern side of the county.
These oolitic beds are generally succeeded by argillaceous and sandy shales,
which vary in thickness from forty to eighty feet, and are argillaceous at the
base and arenaceous at the top, passing into shaly gritstones. These beds
contain but few well marked fossils in this county, except a large fucoid, like
the Cauda Galli of the New York corniferous beds, which is quite abundant
in the shaly gritstones of this group. Its occurrence in these beds has been
urged as an evidence of the Devonian age of this formation, but a similar fucoid
is found high up in the Coal Measures in Illinois, and hence no satisfactory
conclusion as to the age of any formation could be predicated upon the occur-
rence of this peculiar fossil in it. At Reed's Landing^ in the northeast part of
the county, this fucoid is quite abundant in the thin gritstones which form the
upper portion of the group in that vicinity.
At Hamburg the upper beds of this group become calcareous, and form an
ash-gray shaly limestone, twenty-five to thirty feet or more in thickness. Some
of the beds are magnesian and partly concretionary in their structure, and con-
tain a few fossils, among which are Strophomena analoga, Euomphalus latus
and Producing semireticulatus. It may be that these magnesian and shaly
limestones are the stratigraphical equivalents of the lower division of the Bur-
lington limestone, but they contain very few crinoidal remains here, and these
are generally too fragmentary to be specifically determined.
About three-quarters of a mile north of Brussels, there is an outcrop, just
above the level of the Illinois bottoms, of a striped purple and green oolitic
conglomerate. The quarry exposes about four feet in thickness of the rock,
which lies in thin beds from two inches to a foot in thickness. It is overlaid
by about three feet of fine grained limestone, apparently the equivalent of the
so called "Lithographic" limestone of the Kinderhook group. No similar rock
has been found anywhere else in the State, and we are only able to determine
the horizon to which it belongs, from its connection with the overlying lime-
stone. From its association with that limestone we refer it without hesitation
12 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
to this group, and consider it as probably replacing the green shale, which
forms the base of the group at nearly all the other localities, where we found
the lower beds exposed in this county. This is the only point south of the
Crip au Ores axis, where we met with any exposure of the Kinderhook beds,
in the county.
Burlington Limestone. — This division of the Lower Carboniferous series, out-
crops over a wide area in this county, and forms the bed-rock over nearly all
the high lands north of the Cap au Ores axis. It forms the upper escarpment
of the river bluffs, from the north line of the county, to Hamburg on the west,
and to the vicinity of Monterey on the east, and also outcrops on most of the
small streams in the northern part of the county. Its entire thickness ranges
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet, but it is usually only partially
exposed, a considerable portion of it being hidden, either in the covered slope
at the top of the bluff, or in the sloping talus below.
At Reed's Landing, about two miles and a-half below the north line of the
county, the bluffs of the Illinois are about two hundred and forty feet in bight,
nearly one-half of which is Burlington limestone, forming a natural cliff a
hundred feet or more in bight. Below the limestone cliff, there is a sloping
talus, to the level of the bottoms bordering the river, covering the shales
of the Kinderhook group, which probably extend from the base of the lime-
stone down to the river level. This limestone is generally coarse grained or
granular in texture, of a gray or brownish gray color, and tolerably regular
bedded, the strata varying from four inches to two feet in thickness. It con-
tains a good deal of cherty or flinty material, which occurs either in nodules, or
in regular seams intercalated in the limestone strata. The term "Crinoidal
limestone" which has sometimes been applied to this rock, is very applicable to
the upper portion of it in this county, as it is almost entirely composed of the
remains crinoidea, and other marine animals, cemented by calcareous matter.
The chert with which the limestone abounds, is also filled with the silicified
remains of these marine animals, and it affords exquisite casts, in flint, of the
internal structure and markings of many of the organic bodies of which this
limestone is so largely composed. Casts of several species of Actvnocrimu, one
species of Platycrinus and Granatocrinus Norwoodi, were obtained from the chert
nodules at this locality, and from the limestone we obtained Spirifer Grimesi,
Strophomena analoga, and Euomplialus latus. The lower portion of this lime-
stone here, as elsewhere in this county, consists of alternations of gray and
light yellow, or brown, earthy or magnesian limestone, only slightly crinoidal
in its character, but finer grained and more compact than the upper beds. It
contains very few well preserved crinoids, though detached columns and crushed
bodies are frequently met with. In some respects, these brown beds would
seem to correspond to the lower division of this formation at Burlington, Iowa,
CALHOUN COUNTY. 13
but the fossils obtained here are too few and imperfect to enable one to identify
the strata with those at more northern localities, where fossils are abundant and
well preserved. From Reed's Landing to Farrowtown, this limestone forms a
continuous cliff, except where it is intersected by the vallies of the small streams,
the bluffs ranging from two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet in hight.
These bluffs continue, with but slight interruption, to Hardin, where they
are fully two hundred and fifty feet in hight, the upper escarpment being formed
by the lower portion of the Burlington limestone, the sloping talus below cov-
ering shaly limestones and shales of the Kinderhook group, while near the
river level we find the upper portion of the Niagara limestone, overlaid by the
Hamilton.
The following section shows the thickness, and order of succession of the
beds forming the bluff a half mile above the town :
FEET.
Loess capping the bluff. 30 to 40
Burlington limestone 70 " 80
C Thin bedded limestone and shale 80 " 85
Kinderhook. .. •< Slaty limestone 10
(^ Fine grained, light blue limestone 5
Hamilton limestones 8 " 10
0
Niagara limestone 20
These beds are mostly hidden beneath the sloping talus of the bluff, except
the upper and lower limestones, the former outcropping at the top of the bluff
and the latter on the river bank, and on the small creeks by which the bluffs
are intersected.
Following down the river bluffs, below Hardin, these beds continue, with but
slight variation, to the south line of town 11 south, range 2 west, where the
high bluffs terminate on the eastern side of the county. At Mr. Belt's place,
about three miles above Monterey, the following measured section was made in
1853, on our first visit to this county :
FT.
Loess capping the bluff, not measured.
Burlington limestone 50
Shaly ash gray limestones 95
Blue clay shale 18
Hamilton limestone 12
Slope covering Niagara limestone 40
Two miles below this, the Burlington limestone disappears for about two
miles, and the bluffs, which are comparatively low, are formed by the older
formations, but a mile below Monterey, it comes in again, capping the bluff for
a short distance, with a strong dip to the northeastward from its proximity to
the Cap au Ores axis. It extends down to the southeast quarter of section 14,
town 12 south, range 2 west, which is the most southerly point where it was seen.
On the other side of the fault, on the northeast quarter of section 35, town 12,
14 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
range 2 west, there is about twenty-five feet in thickness of this limestone to
be seen, dipping south 20° west, at an angle of about 24°. This is the most
southerly exposure of this rock that has been seen in the county.
On the west side of the county, on the north line, this limestone forms the
upper escarpment of the bluff, and in crossing the county from Eeed's Land-
in<* to Bay creek, through the north tier of townships, it forms the bed rock
over all the highlands between the two rivers. Following down the Mississippi,
it forms almost continuous exposures along the bluffs on the west side of the
county, to Hamburg, where the upper escarpment of the bluff is formed in
part of this limestone, and in part by the limestones of Kinderhook group.
From this point, its outcrop trends eastwardly, and the underlying formations
take its place in the river bluffs, but it continues to form the upper portion of
the dividing ridge between the two rivers, down to the center of town 12 south,
range 2 west, which is its most southerly point of outcrop in the interior of
the county, on the north side of the Cap au Ores fault. Below that fault, it
is only seen at one point on the west side of the county, where the upturned
edges of its nearly vertical strata, constitute the first rock exposure below the
Cap au Ores bluff. This exposure is about two hundred yards below the south-
ern terminus of the sandstone bluff, and the strata are in a nearly vertical posi-
tion, dipping south 20° west, at an angle of at least 60°. A measurement
across the upturned edges of the strata, indicated a thicknsss of about two
hundred feet. The Kinderhook shales and limestones are not exposed here,
but probably underlie a part of the valley of the small creek which enters the
river at this point. The Keokuk limestone is found immediately succeeding
the Burlington here, but with a diminished dip, and it is overlaid by the St.
Louis limestone, the upper portion of which holds a nearly horizontal position.
The wood cut on page 2 illustrates the position of the various formations seen
in connection with this fault, much more clearly than any verbal description
that could be given.
Keokuk Limestone. — This division of the Lower Carboniferous series is only
met with at the single locality above mentioned in this county. It immedi-
ately succeeds the Burlington limestone below the Cap au Ores bluff, and,
although the dip is considerably less than that of the underlying limestone, it
is nevertheless sufficiently strong to carry all the exposed beds of this group
below the surface, in a distance of about one hundred and fifty feet. Its entire
thickness here, probably, does not exceed one hundred feet, though an accurate
measurement could not well be made here. The upper portion appeared to be
shaly, and was filled with the silicious geodes, characteristic of the upper part
of this group at more northern localities. The lower portion was composed of
gray limestones, similar to the quarry rock at Hamilton and Nauvoo. On the
eastern side of the county, it should be found between the outcrop of Burling-
CALHOUN COUNTY. 15
ton limestone, on section 35, township 12 south, range 2 west, and the St.
Louis limestone, which appears a short distance below, but no exposure of it
was found in this part of the county.
St. Louis Group. — The Keokuk limestones, at the outcrop below the Cap
au Ores bluff, are succeeded by beds of brown magnesian limestone, some sixty
or seventy feet in thickness, which form the lower division of this group.
They dip at a moderate angle in the same direction as the lower beds, and
are overlaid by compact gray limestones which are nearly horizontal in their
position, and form a perpendicular bluff from forty to fifty feet high. From
this point to Johnson's Landing, these gray limestones, which, in the aggre-
gate, are probably a hundred feet or more in thickness, form a continuous line
of bluffs from fifty to seventy-five feet in hight, and a short distance back
from the river are overlaid by the Coal Measures. The gray limestones which
form the upper portion of this group are even bedded, and partly concretion-
ary, or brecciated in their structure. At Johnson's Landing, now better
known as Bell's Landing, the upper portion of this limestone forms the bluff
for thirty or forty feet above the river level, consisting of compact gray and
brown limestones, separated by partings of clay shale, in which the fossil corals
of this group, Lithostrotwn canadense, L. prolifera, and an undetermined Syr-
ingopora, are quite abundant.
Below this landing, the bluffs of the river trend to the eastward, and some
of the lower beds come again to the surface, and continue gradually rising to
the old town site of Milan, where the limestone bluffs end on the western side
of the Illinois river valley. On the eastern side of the county, below the Cap
au Ores axis, there are but few exposures of this limestone, although it un-
doubtedly continues along the bluffs on this side of the valley, for three or four
miles above their southern extremity. North of this axis, the St. Louis lime-
stone has not been found in this county, but south of that point, it forms almost
the entire limestone exposure.
Coal Measures. — This formation, like the St. Louis limestone, is restricted
in its developments to the southern part of the county, and is found under-
lying a considerable portion of the high lands below the Cap au Gres axis.
Commencing about two miles below this axis, it underlies the highest portion
of the county, in township 13, in ranges 1 and 2 west, though exposures of the
strata are rarely met with, and consequently its boundaries cannot be very defi-
nitely determined. The only coal mine that has been worked to any extent in
this county, is Williams's mine, located on a fraction of section 1, township 14,
range 2 west, about one mile above Frjiitland, and two miles above Bell's, for-
merly Johnson's Landing. These mines were opened nearly twenty years ago,
and have been worked, at intervals, down to the present time. The following
section, made at these mines, will show the character and succession of the
16 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
beds, and is, perhaps, as complete a section of the Coal Measure deposits as
could be made at any locality in the county :
FT. IN.
Brown shale 6
Hard, gray, concretionary limestone 4 to 6
Covered slope, with partial outcrops of shale 50
Brown, sandy 'shale 15
Coal
Clay shale and iron ore 2 6
Coal 2 2
Fire clay .' 2 to 3
Clay shale, passing downward into bituminous shale. 12
Sandstone and sandy shale " 20 to 25
St Louis limestone, to river level 30
i
The main coal seam at this point, ranges from twenty-four to thirty inches
in thickness, and affords a coal of fair quality, though as the work had been
suspended for some time when we last visited the locality, the opportunity for
examining the coal was not as good as could be desired. It seemed to be
rather free from pyrites, and the analysis, which will be found on a subsequent
page, shows its quality to be fully equal to the average of western bituminous
coals. It is overlaid by about thirty inches of clay shale, the upper part of
which is quite ferruginous, and forms an impure iron ore about a foot in thick-
ness. Above this, there is another thin seam of coal, which was four inches
thick at the only point where we found it exposed. These coals are overlaid
by a thick bed of brown shale, which was only partly exposed, but appeared to
be about sixty-five feet in thickness, above which was a bed of hard, gray, con-
cretionary limestone, from four to six feet or more in thickness, and above this
we saw a few feet of brown shale, which was the highest bed of the Coal Meas-
ure series met with in the county. The concretionary limestone contained a
number of species of Coal Measure fossils, among which we collected, Spirifer
lineatus, Athysis subtilita, Terebratula lovidens, Productus semiretkulatus, Fusu-
lina, sp? andjoints of crinoidea, and small turbinated corals.
Below the main coal seam there are two or three feet of fire clay, which
passes downward into a black shale, which is said to have been reached at the
depth of fourteen feet below the coal, but was not penetrated. This black
shale probably represents another coal seam, which may be developed at some
point in the county thick enough to be worked. Between this and the St.
Louis limestone, we found a partial outcrop of sandy shale and sandstone about
twenty-five feet in thickness, which forms the base of the Coal Measure de-
posits in this county. The Coal Measures, as developed here, seem to include
the horizon of at least three coal seams, the lowest being represented by the
black shale ; but so far as could be learned from the few openings made in at-
tempting to mine coal in this county, only one seam has yet been found of
CALHOUN COUNTY. 17
sufficient thickness to be worked. On Mr. Wm. Love's place, the northwest
quarter of section 10, township 13, range 2 west, the gray concretionary lime-
stone which is found sixty-five feet above the coal at Williams's mine, outcrops
on the south side of the hill, about a quarter of a mile south of his dwelling ;
and probably the whole thickness of the measures, as developed in this county,
are to be found here, though there is no exposure of the beds below this lime-
stone in this vicinity. Coal has been found on the southeast quarter of section
26, on the northeast of 36, and on the northeast of 24, township 13, range 2
west, and the Coal Measures, probably, underlie fully one-half of the highlands
in township 13, ranges 1 and 2, in this county.
Quaternary System. — This system is represented in Calhoun county, by the
three most common divisions, Alluvium, Loess, and Drift. The alluvial de-
posits are mainly restricted to the bottom lands which skirt the Illinois and
Mississippi rivers on three sides of the county, except between Gap au Ores
and Milan, where the limestone bluffs jut boldly out to the river's edge. On
the eastern side of the county, from the mouth of the Illinois river to Monterey,
the bottom lands average nearly three miles in width, but above Monterey they
grow narrower, and range from a quarter of a mile to a mile and a half in
width. A considerable portion of these bottom lands are prairie, and are the
only natural prairie lands in the county. In the northwestern portion of the
county, there is a belt of bottom land, lying between Bay creek and the Mis-
sissippi river, which is about four miles wide at the county line, but grows
narrower to the mouth of Bay creek, where it is not more than half a mile in
width. The most of these bottom lands are dry enough for cultivation, and
are among the most productive and valuable lands in the county.
Drift. — The drift deposits in this county, probably nowhere exceed forty or
fifty feet in thickness, but they cover nearly all the uplands in the county, ex-
cept at some points along the summit of the bluffs, from whence they have
been removed by denudation. They consist of brown clays, some of which are
quite free from gravel, with some bluish beds containing gravel and boulders
of considerable size, but good exposures of these beds, except a few feet of the
upper portion, are seldom to be seen, as there are no railroad grades, or other
artificial cuts through this formation in this county. Where the yellow clays
of this deposit covers the surface, they form a heavy clay soil, rather hard to
work, but quite productive where there is a natural surface drainage.
Loess. — This formation consists of buff, brown, or ash colored, marly clays,
or sandy marls, usually quite distinctly stratified. It caps the river bluffs in
nearly all parts of the county, and is also frequently found filling the lateral
valleys by which the bluffs are intersected. Just below Grilead, the bluffs, as
well as the hills, for a mile or more back from the bluffs, are composed mainly
or entirely of Loess, which is here from fifty to seventy-five feet in thick-
—3
18 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
ness. At this point, it appears to occupy the eastern portion of an ancient
valley, excavated by some cause in operation before the formation of the exist-
ing rivers, but now, in part occupied by them, and also in part, by the alluvial
deposits to which they have given origin. The hills around the Salt Spring,
and between that and the bottom lands on the Mississippi, are composed of
Loess. Where these marly deposits are subjected to a leaching process, they
contain numerous calcareous concretions, some of which assume fantastic forms
like the " clay stones " of the Connecticut valley, but more frequently they as-
sume an irregularly spherical form, and are known by the popular name of
" petrified potatoes." Bleached specimens of .the living species of land and fresh
water shells of the adjacent region are found in this deposit, and it frequently
affords the teeth and bones of extinct Mammalia, but we are not aware that
any have been found in it, in this vicinity.
Economical Geology*
Building Stone. — No county in the State contains a greater variety, or more
abundant supply of excellent building stone than this. First in value and im-
portance, is the Niagara limestone, which outcrops along the river bluffs on the
west side of the county, from Hamburg to Gilead, and thence trending back
for a mile or two from the river bluffs, it continues southward nearly to Cap
au Gres, whence it bends abruptly east across the narrow divide between the
Illinois and the Mississippi to Monterey. The whole thickness of the forma-
tion is exposed here, and from this point it extends northwardly on the east
side of the county, appearing occasionally in outcrops at the base of the bluffs,
as far north as Farrowton, opposite to Columbiana. At all the outcrops seen
between Gilead and Monterey, this limestone is an evenly bedded buff or brown
dolomite, very similar to the rock at Joliet and Grafton, and fully equal in
quality to the building stone obtained from either of the above named locali-
ties. The only drawback to the immediate availability of this valuable build-
ing material, is its situation, a mile or more distant from the Illinois river on
the east, and about a half mile from the Mississippi, on the west; but this
difficulty could be readily overcome, by the construction of a cheap railroad
track i'rom the quarries to the river bank. This formation is from fifty to
seventy-five feet in thickness in this county, and the whole mass in townships
11 and 12 south, is an evenly bedded buff, or brown magnesian limestone, and
equal in quality to any building stone to be found in the State.
In the northern portion of the county, the Burlington limestone outcrops
along the river bluffs, and on most of the small streams. It affords a very good
building stone, though not equal to that afforded by the Niagara limestone.
The upper part of the formation is a coarse, semi-crystaline limestone, that is
CALHOUN COUNTY. 19
easily cut, stands exposure well in a dry wall, and is a useful rock for all the
ordinary purposes for which a good building stone is required. Along the
river bluffs, and on the small streams it can be quarried very cheaply, and
will, eventually, come into very general use for farm buildings, fences, etc.
Between Hardin and Monterey, several quarries have been opened in the
Hamilton limestone, which affords a very good material for foundation walls,
but the rock is much harder to work than that from the Niagara or Burlington
beds. On the west side of the county this rock is too thin bedded to be of
much value as a building stone, and, locally, becomes quite arenaceous, and
passes into a quartzose sandstone..
In the vicinity of Cap an Gres, the Trenton group, which is from three
hundred and fifty to four hundred feet thick, could be made available for build-
ing material, and the magnesian limestone, which constitutes the lowest mem-
ber of the series, is an evenly bedded rock, and would furnish a building stone
nearly, or quite equal to the dolomites of the Niagara group. From the favor-
able position of its outcrop, near the top of the Cap au Gres bluff, extensive
quarries could be opened at this point, at a very moderate expense, and the
rock could be transferred directly on to lighters or barges, and towed to any
point on the river where a good building stone was in demand.
Below the Cap au Gres axis, the St. Louis limestone is the prevailing rock,
and forms a continuous limestone cliff along the river to the old town site of
Milan, the termination of the bluffs on the Mississippi, in this county. This
limestone makes a very durable building stone, but is much harder than the
magnesian limestones of either the Trenton or Niagara groups. It is, for the
most part, a thin bedded, light gray limestone, but contains some layers thick
enough for dimension stone, and the outcrops in this county would furnish an
inexhaustible supply of building stone of a fair quality.
Limestone for Lime. — The best material for the manufacture of quick lime
in this county, is supplied in great abundance by the St. Louis limestone,
which may be made available for this purpose at almost any point where it out-
crops along the river, for a distance of more than twenty miles. Some beds in
this formation, however, are arenaceous, and contain too great a proportion of
silicious or argillaceous material, to be readily converted into lime, while others
are a nearly pure carbonate of lime in their composition, and make a very pure
white lime. The outcrop of this formation for so great a distance along the
river, in the most favorable position for carrying on this branch of manufac-
tures, renders this one of the most eligible points on the river for prosecuting
this business on a large scale. The kilns could be constructed so near the
river, that the manufactured article could be readily transferred on board
steamboats, or barges, thereby saving all expense of land transportation ; and
the overlying coal beds, which outcrop in close proximity to the limestone,
20 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
would furnish a cheap and abundaut supply of fuel ; so that the most favora-
ble conditions exist here, apparently, for the prosecution of this business on an
extensive scale. In the northern and central portions of the county, the Bur-
lington limestone is the only rock that can be made available for this purpose,
except between Gilead and Cap au Gres, where the Trenton limestones are
found, a portion of which seem to afford a good material for this purpose.
None of the limestones of these groups, however, afford as pure a lime as some
of the beds of the St. Louis series, nor do they outcrop generally under such
favorable conditions, for the manufacture of lime.
Glass Sand. — The St. Peters sandstone, of which nearly one hundred] and
fifty feet in thickness is exposed at the Cap au Gres bluff, in this county, will
furnish an excellent white sand for the manufacture of glass, in great abund-
ance. No other rock in the Mississippi valley furnishes a sand for this pur-
pose, equal to that obtained from this formation, and at the point above men-
tioned, the supply of this material is absolutely inexhaustible, and the outcrop
is so situated, that the material could be transferred directly from the quarry
on to steamboats, or barges, and cheaply transferred to any point on the river,
where it might be desirable to establish glass manufactories. At La Salle, this
business is already established, and the material is obtained from an outcrop of
this sandstone in that county, and there is no apparent reason why the manu-
ture of glass should not be successfully carried on here as well as there.
Minerals. — Small pieces of the sulphuret of lead, or " galena," have been
found in the superficial deposits of this county, as well as in various other por-
tions of the State, and their discovery has led to considerable speculation as to
the probability of finding lead mines in this region; but, although the entire
thickness of the Trenton group, (the true lead-bearing formation of the North-
west) is well exposed here, we found no indications of its being a mineral-bear-
ing deposit in this portion of the State. On the contrary, it is entirely differ-
ent, in its lithological characters, from the lead-bearing rocks of the Northwest
being here a rather soft, coarse grained, yellowish gray limestone, exhibiting
nowhere in this region the magnesian character that every where prevails in
the lead producing rocks, of Lower Silurian age. It is probable the few spe-
cimens of galena found in this county, have been transported from the northern
lead mines by drift agencies, as both galena and native copper are frequently
found in the drift deposits in various portions of the State, and under conditions
that show that they have no relation with the underlying formations. Even
if the specimens of lead ore that are reported to have been found in the vicinity
of the outcrop of the Trenton limestone in this county, really came from that
formation, they have not indicated the presence of such an amount of lead in
the rock formations of this county, as would justify the expectation of their
affording productive lead mines. The same agency, by which boulders of
CALHOUN COUNTY. 21
granite, sienite, and other metarnorphic and igneous rocks, have been trans-
ported from localities hundreds of miles to the northward, would also account
for the occurrence in the drift material in which they are imbedded, of any
other mineral or rock that is known to occur in the direction from which the
great mass of the drift material has come.
Iron, both in the form of a carbonate and of a sulphuret, occurs in the Coal
Measures in this county. The carbonate is most commonly met with in the
form of nodules or " kidney ore," in the shales associated with the coal, while
the sulphuret occurs in the coal itself, as well as in the shales, in yellow or sil-
very gray crystals, and often forming nodular concretions of considerable size.
The sulphuret is worthless as an ore of iron, and is only useful when it occurs
in large quantities, for the manufacture of copperas and alum, both of which
may be obtained from it. The carbonate is a valuable ore for the production of
metalic iron, whenever it can be found in sufficient quantity to justify the
establishment of a furnace. The shales forming the roof of Williams's coal,
are highly ferruginous, and there is about a foot in thickness of impure iron ore
between the main coal seam and the thin, four-inch seam above it, at the only
locality where we found an exposure of the shales forming the roof of this coal.
Nodules of the carbonate of iron "were also seen at other points, which had, no
doubt, come from the shales of the Coal Measures, but we met with no body
of iron ore in this county, where it seemed to be in sufficient quantity to be-
come valuable for the production of iron.
Coal. — Although there is a development of about one hundred and twenty
feet in thickness of strata belonging to the Coal Measures, in this county, in-
cluding the horizon, of at least three seams of coal, only one has yet been found
thick enough to pay for working. This seam has been partially opened at sev-
eral points in the county, but no systematic mining seems to have been
attempted, except at Williams's mine, situated in the bluffs of the Mississippi
river, about a mile above Fruitland Landing. The coal is here about twenty-
six inches thick, of good quality, and apparently quite free from the sulphuret
of iron. An analysis of this coal, by Mr. Henry Patten, reported in Norwood's
"Analysis of Illinois Coals," gave the following results:
Specific gravity 1.2631
Loss in coking 45.7
Total weight of coke 54.3
100.00
Analysis: Moisture 4.8
Volatile matters 40.9
Carbon in coke 49.1
Ashes (brown) 5.2
100.00
Carbon in coal 53.06
Without a more complete exposure of the strata, and in the absence of fossils,
both animal and vegetable, in connection with this coal seam, it is difficult to
22 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
say exactly where this seam belongs in the general section of the Coal Measures,
but from the appearance of the coal, as well as from the stratigraphical position
which it occupies, I am inclined to regard it as No 2, or the equivalent of the
Murphysboro and Colchester coals. It is not very uncommon to find this seam
divided as it is here, and sometimes it is so equally divided that neither divi-
sion is thick enough to be worked separately. If this conclusion is confirmed,
then No. 1 would be represented by the black shale said to have been penetra-
ted at the depth of about fifteen feet below the main seam, and No. 3 would
belong about the horizon of the concretionary, gray limestone that lies about
sixty-five feet above it. But little has yet been done towards developing the
coal in this county, although the mines were opened in the river bluffs at an
early day, and have been worked at intervals for years. This seam has only
been opened at two or three points, away from the river, where the coal was
found outcropping in the ravines by which the Coal Measures are intersected.
Coal seams no thicker than this, are worked with profit in many portions of the
State, where the market facilities are no better than they are here, where the
outcrop is on the bank of the Mississippi, and the coal would all find a ready
market without incurring the expense and risk of transportation.
Brine Springs. — On the northwest quarter of section 16, town 11 south,
range 2 west, there is a large sulphur spring, slightly impregnated with salt.
The water is said to have been a much stronger brine formerly than now, but a
boring was made to the depth of 198 feet, which changed the character of the
water flowing from the spring, so that it is now a strong sulphur water, but so
strongly impregnated with salt as to render it rather unpalatable. This spring
flows out from the horizon of the Cincinnati group, but the water probably comes
from the Trenton limestone, or else comes up through a crevice in that rock
from some old formation, as that limestone was struck in the well at a depth of
twenty-two feet. Fine springs of fresh water abound in the central and north-
ern portions of the county, where the Burlington limestone is the prevailing
rock.
Soil and Agriculture. — The surface over a large portion of the uplands in this
county, is quite broken and hilly, and in some portions the hills are too steep
for cultivation, but the soil is excellent, being generally predicated upon the
Loess, and as a fruir, growing region it is hardly surpassed by any portion of
the State. The soil is generally a chocolate colored clay loam, such as we gen-
erally find over the regions adjacent to the river bluffs, where it rests upon the
Loess. It has a complete surface drainage from the rolling character of the
country, and is very productive in all the cereals and fruits of a temperate cli-
mate. This county has but recently attracted the attention of horticulturists,
and a number of extensive fruit farms have been opened within the past five
years. Extensive peach and apple orchards are already in bearing, and show
CALHOUN COUNTY, 23
by their healthy appearance and abundant crops of fruit, the complete adapta-
tion of the soil on these uplands to the cultivation of fruit. A good many vine-
yards have been planted in this county, and have generally produced abundantly,
yielding most satisfactory returns for the capital and labor expended.
The bottom lands in this county are exceedingly productive, and yield annu-
ally large crops of corn, wheat, oats, barley and grass, and may be fairly ranked
among the most valuable and fertile lands in the State. Calhoun county has
been entirely under-estimated as to its value as an agricultural region, and when
its uplands are planted with orchards and vineyards, and its rich alluvial bot-
toms are covered with the cereals to which they are adapted, it will compare
favorably, in the amount and variety of its annual productions, with the most
favored portions of the State.
In closing my report on this county. I^desire to express my acknowledgments
to Capt. Wm. H. Reed, of Reed's Landing, and his excellent lady, for the cor-
dial hospitality of their pleasant home, which they so kindly extended to me
while engaged in prosecuting my examinations in the northern part of this
county, and also, in behalf of the State, to acknowledge the receipt of valuable
specimens of minerals, fossils and Indian antiquities, contributed by them to
the State cabinet. To their little daughter, Miss Eliza Reed, the State collec-
tion is also indebted for a beautiful fossil crinoid, found by her in the Burling-
ton limestone, in the vicinity of their residence.
CHAPTER II.
PIKE COUNTY.
Pike county lies between the two great rivers, the Illinois and the Missis-
sippi, and is bounded on the north, by Adams and Brown counties ; on the
east, by the Illinois river ; on the south, by Calhoun county ; and on the west,
by the Mississippi. It embraces a superficial area of about twenty-one town-
ships, or seven hundred and fifty-six square miles, and the surface is generally
rolling, and on the borders of the streams it is quite broken and hilly. A
large proportion of the surface, on the upland, was originally heavily timbered,
but there are several small prairies in the central and northern portions of the
county. It is a well watered county, being intersected by numerous small
streams, besides the two large rivers which form its eastern and western bounda-
ries. Among the principal streams in the interior of the county, are McGee's
creek, and its tributaries, in the northeastern part ; Bay creek, which traverses
its central and southern portions ; and McDonald's creek, Hadley's creek, and
some others of less importance, which intersect the western part, and empty
into a bayou, which traverses the bottom lands on the west side of the county,
through its whole extent. The valley of the Mississippi is from eight to twelve
miles in width, and, as the present river channel is along the western edge of
this valley, it leaves a wide belt of bottom lands on the western border of the
county, containing an area of about one hundred and sixty square miles, or
more than one-fifth of the whole area of the county.
The general level of the uplands may be estimated at from two to three hun-
dred feet above the great water courses, on either side, with no very well de-
fined water shed to determine the courses of the smaller streams. The soil on
the timbered lands, is generally a chocolate colored clay loam, becoming lighter
colored on the breaks of the streams, and in the vicinity of the river bluffs.
The geological structure of this county is somewhat peculiar, and the strata
exposed within its limits comprise the upper part of the Niagara limeston^the
whole series of Lower Carboniferous limestones, except the Chester group, and
a limited thickness of Coal Measures, with the usual surface deposits of Loess
and Drift. No well defined beds of Devonian age were seen in the county,
though a little below the southern line, in Calhoun county, we found two or
PIKE COUNTY. 25
three feet of quartzose sandstone resting upon the Niagara limestone, which,
no doubt, belongs to the Hamilton group, and is the most northerly outcrop of
this formation known in this part of the State. The green and blue shales,
sometimes including a few feet of chocolate brown, or black shale, which imme-
diately overlies the Niagara limestone here, contains no fossils, and shades into
the arenaceous beds of the Kinderhook group so completely, that no line of
separation can be seen between them. Hence we have included these shales,
which have heretofore been referred to the age of the " Black Slate," of Ohio,
in the Lower Carboniferous series, and consider them as probably the equiva-
lent of a black shale, that is found in Ohio intercalated in the Waverly sand-
stone. This, in the absence of the Hamilton limestone, or any lower division
of the Devonian system, leaves the Lower Carboniferous beds resting immedi-
ately upon the Upper Silurian limestones.
A very decided want of conformability may be observed between the Coal
Measures, and the limestones on which they rest in this county. Usually in
this portion of the State, if the sequence of strata is complete, the Coal Meas-
ures rest upon the upper beds of the St. Louis limestone, but this group is
wanting here, except on the northern limits of the county, and the Coal Meas-
ures are found resting unconformably on the Keokuk limestones, in the east
part of the county, and on the Burlington beds, in the western portion. This
peculiar feature in the geology of the county, has resulted from the elevation
and subsequent denudation of the strata, anterior to the deposit of the coal.
In addition to the disturbance of the strata, resulting from the Cap au Ores
axis, described in the report on Calhoun county, which, no doubt, also affected
the strata in the southern part of Pike, there is another, though less decided,
axis in this county, which, probably, changed the level of the Lower Carbon-
iferous limestones, over nearly the whole extent of the county, and resulted in
the subsequent denudation of the strata already alluded to. This axis occurs
in the vicinity of Six Mile creek, and its effects are most apparent on the north-
west quarter of section 7, township 7 south, range 4 west, where the Niagara
limestone rises abruptly from beneath the surface of the bottom lands at the
foot of the bluffs, and, dipping north 20° west, at an angle of 7°, rises, in a
distance of scarcely more than a hundred yards, so as to form a perpendicular
cliff, from forty to fifty feet in hight. There has, evidently, been a dislocation
of the strata here, for we find this limestone outcropping along the foot of the
bluff, from Rockport down nearly to the point where it rises so suddenly from
the river bottoms, and showing above this point no very decided inclination.
The elevating force, however, was not sufficient to bring the whole thickness of
the group above the surface, although about fifty feet in thickness is exposed.
The following section will show the thickness of the formations found in this
—4
26 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
county, but for reasons already given, they do not always hold the same rela-
tive position as in the section given below :
FEET.
Quarternary deposits (Loess and Drift) 40 to 100
Coal Measures , 20 " 60
f St. Louis Limestones 00 30
Keokuk group. . , .100 " 12»
Lower Carboniferous J
I Burlington limestone 150 " 200
[ffinderkook group 100 " 120
Niagara limestone 00 50
The Niagara limestone is only found in the southwest part of the county,
where its main outcrop is at the base of the bluffs, between Rockport and the
south line of the county, and on Six Mile creek, for a short distance up that
stream. Where the rock first appears, the upper portion is a rather thin bedded,
rough, gray limestone, becoming more massive below, and on Six Mile creek,
it is partly a regular bedded buff or brown dolomite, and presents the usual
characters of this formation at other localities. It contains a few fossils at the
outcrop in the vicinity of Pleasant Hill, among which we obtained fragments
of Trilobites, a few fossil shells, too imperfect for determination, and a single
specimen of Halysites catenulatus.
At Mr. Wells's place, on the northwest quarter of section 17, township 7
south, range 4 west, the buff colored magnesian beds of this group are exposed
about ten feet in thickness, and the rock has been quarried for general use as
a building stone in the neighborhood. The beds appear to dip here in an op-
posite direction from those at the point where the rock rises so suddenly from
beneath the surface of the bottom lands, at the foot of the bluffs, the direction
being to the south 20° east, and the angle about 6°. On the southeast quar-
ter of section 8, in the same township, there is an exposure of about twenty-
two feet of this limestone, the lower ten feet being a gray, even bedded lime-
stone, and the upper twelve feet a buff colored magnesian rock, closely resem-
bling the rock from the Grafton quarries. It is the prevailing rock at Pleas-
ant Hill, and forms a limestone bench about thirty feet in hight, above the
road, at the base of the bluffs. Two miles north of Pleasant Hill, on a branch
of Six Mile creek, the upper part of this limestone is exposed in the bed of the
creek, dipping north 30° west, about 2°. Only about six feet in thickness is
exposed here, and the rock is a regular bedded, brown magnesian limestone.
This seemed to be about the most easterly outcrop of this formation, an'd it is
here overlaid by the shales of the Kinderhook group. From this point south-
westward, to the Calhoun county line, occasional outcrops of this limestone
may be seen along the base of the bluffs, and its entire outcrop in this county
is restricted to the vicinity of the river bluffs between Rockport and the south
line of the county.
PIKE COUNTY. 27
KinderJioolc Group. — One of the best exposures of this group in this county,
is at the point of the bluff, just above the village of Kinderhook, from whence
it has received its name. The following is the section at this point :
FKET.
Loess capping the bluff 20
Burlington limestone 15
Thin bedded, fine grained limestone 6
Thin bedded sandstone, and sandy shales 36
Argillaceous and sandy shales, partly hidden 40
The three lower beds of the above section belong to this group, and there
are some twenty feet or more of still lower beds, which do not appear above
the surface here. The thin bedded, fine grained limestone, which lies at the
top of the series here, resembles the fragmentary limestone at Burlington,
Iowa, which, at that locality, contains Chonetes Fischeri, Rhynchonetta pustu-
7osa, and Spirifer biforatus, but no fossils were found in it here. The thin,
bedded sandstones below this, however, abound in fossil shells, belonging to
the genera Aviculopecten, Spirifer, Orthis, and Productus, mostly identical with
those from the gritstones at Burlington, which belong to the same horizon.
The Argillaceous shales at the base of this group, have afforded no fossils as
yet from any of the localities examined in this county. From Kinderhook
southward, along the bluffs on the west side of the county, this group is more
or less exposed below the Burlington limestone, which forms the upper escarp-
ment, and at Rockport, nearly the whole of the group may be seen, forming the
following section :
FEET.
Loess capping the bluff 20 to 30
Arinaceous limestone and shale 16
TJnexposed strata 20
Green and blue clay shales 30
Covered slope to the level of the road 32
On our first visit to this county, in 1853, we found at this point a brecciated
oolitic rock, about three feet thick, which receives a high polish and makes a
beautiful marble. At a more recent visit, we did not find it exposed, and it
is probably included in the twenty feet of unexposed strata, below the arena-
ceous beds near the top of this section. This arenaceous limestone contains a
few fossils, among which are Spirifer Marionensis, S. hirtus, Productus pyxi-
datus, P. arcuatus, Rynchonella Missouriensis, and Chonetes geniculata. About
two miles below Atlas, the Burlington limestone caps the bluff, and we find the
Kinderhook group outcropping below it, affording the following section :
FEET.
Burlington limestone 12
Magnesian limestone 8
Unexposed t 18
28 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Sandy shales '• 38
Blue clay shales 44
Covered slope to the level of the road 2*7
Probably about fifteen feet in thickness at the base of this section, is occu-
pied by the Niagara limestone, leaving 120 feet as the aggregate thickness of
the Kinderhook group at this point. The sections above given will illustrate
the general character of this group, as it appears in this county, where it is
composed mainly of sandy and argillaceous shales, with some thin beds of lime-
stone. Its outcrop is confined to the river bluffs, and the lower courses of the
small streams that intersect them. Commencing on the west side of the coun-
ty at the north line, we find from forty to fifty feet of these shales outcropping
below the Burlington limestone, which forms the upper escarpment of the bluffs,
and thence southward they gradually rise until, at Rockport, we find the whole
thickness of the group in partial exposures above the level of the bottom road.
In the vicinity of Pleasant Hill, the bluffs are composed of Niagara limestone,
overlaid by Loess and Drift, and the outcrop of the Kinderhook is found further
back on Six Mile creek and on the branches of Bay creek. On Cold Run,
about a mile above the point where it enters Bay creek, the green and blue
shales of the Kinderhook group are well exposed, giving a measured section 31
feet in thickness. These are overlaid by sandy shales, that are but partially
exposed, but containing a few feet in thickness of fine grained, evenly bedded
sandstone, that has come into general use in the neighborhood for constructing
chimneys, building foundation walls, etc. It is said to be a very refractory
stone, that is scarcely affected by the action of fire, and also possesses a fine,
sharp grit, which makes it a useful material for grindstones, whetstones, etc.,
for which it has been very generally used in this vicinity. The bed, however,
is only from three to four feet in thickness at the point where we found it ex-
posed, which was about three-quarters of a mile east of Mr. J. Gr. Sitton's farm.*
These beds, and the blue and green shales which underlie them, will be found
outcropping on all the tributaries of Bay creek, in this vicinity, as well as on
the main creek.
Crossing the county to the Illinois river bluffs, near the south line, we find
these beds forming the lower portion of the bluff, and well exposed on the
lower course of Bee creek, and in the bed of the creek at the mill, there is a
partial outcrop of the black shale, which sometimes forms the lowest strata of
the group. The beds are not fully exposed here, but in ascending the stream,
the argillaceous and sandy shales are occasionally seen in partial exposures,
showing that the group retains essentially the same characters on this side of
*A rock exactly like this, from Marshalltown, Iowa, and from the same geological horizon,
receives a high polish, and is used for tables and various other purposes, as an ornamental
stone, and the rock from the above named locality, in Pike county, seems to be equally as well
adapted for this purpose.
PIKE COUNTY. 29
the county as on the other. From this point northward, these shales appear in
occasional outcrops along the bluffs, to the vicinity of Bedford, where they dip
below the surface and are seen no more. As this group does not form the bed
rock over any considerable surface area in this county, it fails to impart any of
the peculiar topographical features to the surface here, which usually character-
ize it where it is well developed, with no overlying limestone to modify its in-
fluence on the topography of the country. Then, it almost invariably forms a
broken and hilly region, so marked in its character that the extent of its out-
crop may be very accurately defined, from the peculiar topographical features of
the surface alone. But almost everywhere in this county, where the group is
exposed, the Burlington limestone overlies it, and therefore determines the
topographical features of the region also underlaid by the shales and gritstones
of this group.
Burlington Limestone. — This limestone forms the bed rock over fully one-half
of the entire surface of the uplands in this county, and its outcrop, in a gene-
ral way, may be thus described : Commencing on the western side of the north
line of the county, it forms a belt, from five to ten miles in width, the
western border of which is defined by the river bluffs, and extending thence to
the southern line of the county, forming the bed rock over all that part of the
county lying south of Pittsfield, and from that point northward to Griggsville
Landing, and south to the Calhoun county line, underlying all the highlands in
that portion of the county south of Pittsfield, except a very limited area in
the vicinity of Pleasant Hill, where the Niagara limestone forms the surface
rock. Its thickness ranges from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet, but
usually not more than fifty or one hundred feet can be seen at a single outcrop.
The best exposures of this rock are to be seen in the bluffs of the Illinois and
the Mississippi, and on some of the principal creeks in the western and south-
ern portions of the county. The rock is a rather coarse grained, gray lime-
stone, with intercalations of buff or brown layers, and is largely composed of
the fossilized remains of the Crinoidea and Mollusca, that swarmed in countless
myriads in the old carboniferous ocean, during the formation of this limestone.
It is the Crinoidal and Encrinital limestone of some of the old observers, and
it was so designated in consequence of its being almost entirely composed, at
some localities, of the remains of these radiated forms of animal life. Indeed,
the main portion of the rock consists of the calcareous plates and joints of
crinoids, with barely enough mineral matter to cement the organic remains to-
gether.
In the Mississippi bluff, near the north line of the county, there is from
forty to fifty feet of the lower portion of this limestone exposed, forming the
upper escarpment of the bluff. These lower beds consist of alternations of
gray and brown limestone, usually in regular and tolerably thick beds, and con-
30 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
tain Orthis Michelini, Euomphalus latus, Spirifer Grimesi, and S. imbrex. The
pygidium of a beautiful Trilobite was found in these lower beds, near Kinder-
hook, to which the name, Phillipsia tuberculata has been given. From the
north line of the county, southward, to a point about ten miles below Atlas, this
limestone forms the upper portion of the bluff at most of the points examined,
and from thence it trends eastwardly across Six Mile creek to the waters of Bay
creek, and caps the bluffs on the eastern side of that creek, at the south line
of the county. It outcrops on all the small streams south of Pittsfield, and is
extensively quarried on Big Blue creek, about four miles southeast of there, for
building stone for the supply of the town and adjacent country.
On the eastern side of the county, the most northerly outcrop of this lime-
stone is in the vicinity of Griggsville Landing, where the cherty beds of the
upper division of this rock are exposed at the base of the bluff. The outcrop
is here about fifty feet in thickness, and so far as it is exposed in the quarries
opened, the rock consists of alternations of thin bedded, gray limestones, with
seams of chert. The cherty material is also disseminated through the limestone
strata, in nodules and concretionary masses of considerable size. From this
point to Montezuma, this limestone forms a low bluff, seldom rising more than
fifty feet above the level of the adjacent bottom lands. At Montezuma, where
several quarries have been opened in this rock, the beds exposed are about fifty
feet in thickness, the lower ten feet being a massive gray limestone, compara-
tively free from chert, while the remaining portion consists of thin bedded,
brownish gray crinoidal limestone, with considerable cherty material in seams
and nodules. Fossils are quite abundant, and among others not yet determined,
the following species were collected here : Spirifer striatus, S. Grimesi, S. im-
brex, Productus punctatus, P. semireticulatus, Strophomena analoga, Orthis
Michilini, Euomphalus latus, Lyropora retrorsa, Evactinopora grandis, E. sex-
radiata, Agaricocrinus planoconvexa, Platycrinus planus, and several species of
Actinocrinus. From Montezuma to Bedford, this limestone rises rapidly, and
the bluffs immediately north of Bedford are at least one hundred and fifty feet
in hight, and consist mainly of this limestone, capped with a few feet of Loess.
Just below Bedford, the underlying shales appear at the base of the bluffs, and
from thence to the south line of the county, the bluffs range from one hundred
and fifty to two hundred feet, or more, in hight, the upper escarpment consist-
ing of a hundred feet, or more, in thickness, of Burlington limestone, while
the talus below covers the shaly beds of the Kinderhook group.
On Bay creek, this limestone is well exposed, and forms the main portion of
the bluffs along this stream, from the vicinity of Pittsfield to the point where
it intersects the river bluffs, about two miles above the Calhoun county line.
It is the most important of all the limestones exposed in this county, whether
PIKE COUNTY. 31
considered in reference to the extent of surface over which it outcrops, or the
amount and value of the economical material which it affords. Although as a
building stone it is not quite equal to the magnesian beds of the Niagara group,
which outcrop in the vicinity of Pleasant Hill, it is, nevertheless, a very durable
stone, and may be made available for all the ordinary uses for which such a
material is required, and it is easily accessible over about one-half of the whole
area of the county.
KeoJcuk Group. — This group, which immediately succeeds the Burlington
limestone in the ascending order, outcrops over a considerable area in the north-
ern and northeastern parts of the county, where it is frequently found imme-
diately beneath the Coal Measures, the St. Louis group, which should properly
intervene, having been removed by denudation, anterior to the coal epoch. It
consists of light gray and bluish gray, cherty limestones at the base, which
closely resemble the upper beds of the Burlington limestone in their lithologi-
cal characters, so that it would sometimes be difficult to define the line of sepa-
ration between them, except for the fossils, which always serve to distinguish
them. Some of the limestone strata are quite as crinoidal in their structure as
the Burlington limestone, but they are usually more of a bluish gray in color,
and may therefore be readily distinguished, even in hand specimens, from the
underlying formation. There is usually a series of cherty beds, from ten to
thirty feet in thickness, separating the main limestones of these two groups,
which may properly be considered beds of passage from one limestone to the
other. The upper division of this group consists of calcareo-argillaceous shales
and thin bedded limestones, containing geodes lined with crystalized quartz,
chalcedony, calcite, dolomite and sometimes, but more rarely, with crystals of
zinc blende and iron pyrites, the latter usually in minute crystals implanted on
quartz. This division may be seen a mile and a-half southeast of Griggsville,
and, where it first appears beneath the Coal Measures which rest upon it here,
the geodes are found embedded in a ferruginous sandstone, that perhaps repre-
sents the conglomerate, which usually lies at the base of the Coal Measures. A
similar occurrence was observed at Moore's coal bank, in Scott county, as has
been mentioned in the report on that county. This indicates some erosive ac-
tion, anterior to or during the formation of this conglomerate, by which the
shales in which the geodes were originally embedded were swept away, and the
geodes were covered and enclosed in sand, which subsequently hardened into a
conglomerate.
The shales and shaly limestones of the geodiferous division of this group, are
exposed in the vicinity of Perry Springs, and outcrop on the tributaries of
McGee's creek, in that vicinity. The springs flow out of these shaly limestones,
and probably derive the small amount of mineral matters which the waters con-
tain, from these beds. On McGee's creek, at Chambersburg, the limestones of
32 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
this group form the bed of the creek, and the overlying shales form the main
portion of the bluffs on the creek, throughout its course in this county.
The limestones which constitute the lower division of this group, occupy the
lower portion of the river bluff, about half a mile above Griggsville Landing,
and from thence to Chambersburg. Their entire thickness probably does not
exceed sixty feet, and at some points the beds are quite massive, and compara-
tively free from chert, and form an excellent building stone. This is the char-
acter of the rock at some points on the south forth of McGee's creek, between
Perry and Griggsville.
In the northwest part of the county this limestone is exposed on Hadley's
creek, and, in the vicinty of Huntley's coal bank, where the coal abuts directly
upon it, we found some of the characteristic fossils of this formation, among
which were Spirifer Keokuk, S. neglectus, and some teeth of fossil fishes.
Fossils were not found very abundant at any of the localities where we found
this limestone exposed, and as but few quarries have been opened in it, there is
but a limited field for the collector among the outcrops of this limestone in this
county. At Perry Springs we obtained two specimens of Agaricocrinus Amer-
icanus, and one of Archimedes Owenana.. The same species also occur in the
thin bedded limestones in the bed of the creek at Chambersburg.
St. Louis Group. — We saw no indications of the presence of this group any
where in the county, except on the breaks of McGee's creek, in the northeast
part of the county, and on the south fork of the same creek in the vicinity of
Perry. The beds exposed here consist of brown magnesian limestone and
shales, and range from twenty to thirty feet in thickness. One mile and a-half
northwest of Perry, quarries have been opened in the brown magnesian lime-
stone of this group, which is there about eighteen to twenty feet thick, and
directly overlies the geodiferous shales of the Keokuk group. About three miles
north of Perry Springs, and near the north line of the county, these magne-
sian beds are also exposed, and are overlaid by some shaly beds, the whole at-
taining a thickness of about twenty feet. No exposure of the gray concretion-
ary limestone, which usually forms the upper member of the group, was met
with in this county.
Coal Measures. — The coal formation occupies but a limited area in the cen-
tral and northern portions of this county, underlying the whole of town 4 south,
range 4 west, and a portion only of the four surrounding townships. The en-
tire thickness of the formation, as it appears in this county, probably does not
exceed sixty feet. The following are the principal points where coal has been
dug in this county :
Huntley's old bank, on the northwest quarter of section 15, town 4 south,
range 5 west. Coal sixteen to twenty-four inches thick, overlaid by about six
inches of black shale.
PIKE COUNTY. 33
Huntley's new bank, on the northwest quarter of section 10, town 4 south,
range 5 west. The coal is here about six feet thick, with a parting of clay shale
in the middle, about two inches in thickness. The coal in the upper part of
this seam is rather soft, and contains considerable bisulphuret of iron. The low-
er division affords a harder and better coal, and rests upon a gray fire clay, two
feet or more in thickness. Two or three hundred yards northeast of this open-
ing, a coal scam outcrops at about the same level with this, which is only about
eighteen inches in thickness, and is overlaid by a blue clay shale, containing
large septaria. This clay shale is apparently quite similar to that which forms
the roof at Huntley's mine, and it is probable that the greatly increased thick-
ness of the coal at the point where it is now worked, is due to some local cause,
and perhaps to the meeting of two seams, which are only separated by the part-
ing of clay shale, coming together in a pocket or depression in the limestone.
The coal here abuts directly upon the Keokuk limestone, which outcrops within
a few feet of the coal, and in the bed and bluffs of the creek below it. It is
not probable that this thickness of coal strata will be found extending over any
considerable area of surface, as the cause which has produced it is most proba-
bly entirely local, for no other outcrop of coal is known, either in this or the
adjoining counties, where the seams range above two feet, or thirty inches at most,
in thickness. Three miles east of Barry, coal has been dug, on a small branch
south of the Philadelphia road, and a mile further south, on the north fork of
the creek which intersects the river bluffs near New Canton, there is a ble clay
shale, from twenty-five to thirty feet thick, exposed along the creek, which con-
tains septaria and tuten-mergel, and closely resembles the shale over the coal at
Huntley's mine. From this point, the western boundary of the Coal Measures
trends southeastwardly to Houseworth's coal bank, two miles and a-half north-
west of Pittsfield. This mine is on the northeast quarter of section 16, town 5
south, range 4 west, coal about eighteen inches thick, overlaid by about three
feet of dark blue shale passing upward into sandy shale, of which about ten
feet in thickness was seen above the coal. The coal seam is variable in its thick-
ness here, and ranges from sixteen to twenty-two inches, but at Mr. Harshman's
place, a mile north, it is about two feet thick. An analysis of Houseworth's
coal, by Mr. Henry Pratten, as reported in Norwood's "Analysis of Illinois
Coals," gave the following result :
Specific gravity 1.2203
Loss in coking 49.5
Total weight of coke 50.5
100.00
Analysis : Moisture 5.0
Volatile matters 44.5
Carbon in coke. 45.5
Ashes (white) 5.0
100.00
Carbon-hi coal 53.2
—5
34 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Four miles west of Griggsville, on the northeast quarter of section 13, town
4 south, range 4 west, coal has been found on Mr. Dunham's place. The coal
is from fourteen to twenty inches thick, and is overlaid by about two feet of
fossiliferous black shale. Also, on the southeast quarter of section 11, in the
same township,' the same seam is exposed, and averages about eighteen inches
in thickness, and is overlaid by black shale, enclosing nodules of bisulphuret-of
iron with fossil shells. This coal outcrops at several localities, in the ravines
along the road between Griggsville and Salem, and also between Salem and New
Philadelphia.
A half mile south of Griggsville, coal has been worked on Mr. Parker's land.
The seam varies in thickness, from eighteen to twenty-four inches, and is over-
laid by blue shale. Three-quarters of a mile east of this point, the shales and
geodes of the upper part of the Keokuk group outcrop along the same creek
on which the coal is found, and half a mile south of Houseworth's coal, the
Keokuk limestone was seen, and this seems to be the formation on which the
Coal Measures rest, in the central and northern portions of the county, except
at the outcrops east and southeast of Barry, where they appear to overlie the
Burlington limestone.
On Mr. Lazarus Ross's place, a mile and a half northwest of Perry Springs,
some indications of coal may be seen in the bluffs of the middle fork of
McGee's creek. Partial outcroppings of black and dark blue shales appear
here, but so intermingled with drift clays, by the slipping of the beds; that it
is difficult to say whether the shales were in situ, or had been moved by drift
agencies. Some attempts have been made here to find coal, but without
success.
In the southeast part of the county we found an outcrop of the Conglom-
erate, which usually forms the base of the Coal Measures, overlying the Bur-
lington Limestone on Mr. Ch's Meisenbach's place, on the northwest quarter
of section 30, township 7 south, range 2 west. About ten feet in thickness of
the sandstone was exposed, where there had been an old quarry, and the whole
thickness of the bed at this point, is probably not less than fifteen or twenty
feet. This sandstone also outcrops on the adjoining farm, owned by Mr.
Jordan. This is probably an outlier of sandstone that was originally deposited
in a depression of the limestone, where it has been protected from erosion,
while the surrounding strata have been removed by denuding forces.
From the outcrops of coal already mentioned in this county, it will be seen
that the coal is generally too thin to be profitably mined, except where it can
be done in open trenches by throwing off the overlying material. Coal cannot
be profitably mined in a regular way, either by tunnel or shaft, where the seam
averages less than two feet in thickness, and as the seams in this county are
usually less than that, they are of little value unless so situated as to be easily
PIKE COUNTY, 35
worked by "stripping." The seam at Mr. Huntley's, near the north line of
the county is, however, an exception, and may be worked to good advantage
by any of the ordinary modes of mining. It is probable, however, from the
general development of the coal, both in Pike and Adams counties, that the
unusual thickness of the seani or seams, at this point, is a merely local phenome-
non, and will be found to extend over only a small surface area. Local thick-
enings of this kind are not uncommon, and are denominated" pockets" by the
miners, the coal sometimes thickening to twelve or fourteen feet, and yet cov-
ering only an acre or two of surface, thinning out entirely in a few rods in
either direction.
Quaternary System. — A broad belt of alluvial bottom lands, from six to
twelve miles in width, skirts the western border of this county, through its
whole extent from north to south. The soil on these lands is exceedingly fer-
tile, and where they are elevated above the annual overflow of the river, they
comprise some of the most valuable and productive lands in the county. Belts
of heavily timbered lands skirt the small streams that intersect these alluvial
bottoms, and also the eastern bank of the Mississippi river, through the whole
extent of the county, from north to south, but a large portion of these lands
were originally prairie, and have been more recently transformed into highly
cultivated farms. But little is known of the character of these alluvial beds
below the depth of ten or twelve feet, this much only being exposed in the
channels of the streams by which they are intersected, but if we could penetrate
down to the solid rock bottom, we should most probably find formations which
do not appear any where in this region above the surface. That the broad
valley of the Mississippi, and other western streams, was formed long anterior
to the existence of the rivers which now occupy them, admits of no question,
for at many points we find this valley partially filled with beds of drift clay and
gravel, exactly like that which covers the adjacent highlands, showing that the
formation of the valley antedates the Drift period, but whether these vallies
existed during the Tertiary age, or the age preceding the Drift, is a point not
yet fully settled, though some facts have been observed which lead to that con-
clusion. If we could see a complete exposure of the beds underlying these
alluvial bottoms, down to the solid rock on which they rest, it is quite probable
that evidence might be obtained that would help to determine this interesting
question.
So far as these alluvial deposits can be determined by the natural exposures
in the banks of the streams, they consist of alternations of clay, sand and loam,
in quite regular strata, but of variable thickness. On the east side of the
county, there is very little bottom land from the south line of the county to
the northern part of township 4 south, range 2 west, where it begins to widen,
and from that point to the north line of the county, the bottoms along the Illi-
36 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
nois river range from two to five miles in width. These bottom lands, how-
ever, are not so much elevated as those on the west side of the county, and are
generally too low and wet for cultivation. A portion of them are heavily tim-
bered with cottonwood, sycamore, soft maple, elm, ash, hackberry, honey
locust, linden, black walnut, water oak, hickory, etc.
Loess. — The river bluffs on both sides of the county, are capped with this
formation, which ranges in thickness from ten to sixty feet or more. It always
overlies the Drift, where both are present, and hence is of more recent origin,
and it also differs in its character and appearance from the Drift deposits. It
generally consists of buff or brown marly clays and sands, usually stratified,
and often so coherent as to remain in vertical walls twenty or thirty feet in
hight, when an artificial cut is made through it. On analysis, it generally
affords from seventy five to eighty per cent, of silica, from ten to fifteen per
cent, of alumina and peroxide of iron, from three to four per cent, of lime, and
one to two per cent, of magnesia. Its greatest thickness is usually on the top
of the river bluffs, and in the lateral valleys immediately adjacent to them, and
from thence it thins out generally towards the summit level of the interior.
In the vicinity of Chambersburg, in the northeast part of this county, the
Loess forms the main portion of the bluff, so far as can be seen, and appears
to be at least sixty or seventy feet in thickness. The timbered lands adjacent
to the bluffs on both sides of the county, are usually underlaid by this forma-
tion, and it furnishes a light porous subsoil, which is admirably adapted to the
growth of fruit trees, vines and small fruits. At many localities, it contains a
variety of fossil shells, which present the usual bleached and water-worn ap-
pearance of the dead shells of our ponds and bayous. It also affords a variety
of calcareous concretions, which assume many imitative forms, some of them
resembling potatoes, and others taking discoidal forms like the "clay stones"
in the drift clays of New England. It gives origin to the bald knobs so fre-
quently met with along the river bluffs, and is often rounded into natural
mounds, which have been very generally used by the Indians as burial places
for the dead. The bones of extinct mammalia are often found in the marly
beds of this formation, and are associated with both land and fresh water shells,
which would indicate this to be a sedementary accumulation in a fresh water
lake, or rather series of lakes, into which the land shells and bones of land ani-
mals were carried by rivers, or smaller streams of running water. Bones of
the Mammoth, the Mastodon, and the Casteroides, or fossil beaver, have been
found in this formation in this State, and also the flint arrows and other imple-
ments of primeval man.
Drift. — The lowest division of the Quaternary system comprises a series of
variously colored clays, containing gravel and boulders, to which the term
" Drift " is usually applied, because the materials of which it is composed have
PIKE COUNTY. 37
been transported, or drifted, to the region they now occupy. This appears to
have been accomplished, mainly by currents trending southwardly, for we find
in the drift deposits, water-worn boulders of all the rock formations, outcropping
over an area of four or five hundred miles to the northward, as far, at least, as
the northern shores of the great lakes, from whence the granitic, sienitic, and
igneous boulders have come. Over a large portion of this county, especially
adjacent to the river bluffs on either side of the county, the drift is rarely ex-
posed, from the thickness of the overlying beds of Loess, which covers it to
the depth of from ten to fifty feet. In the central portions, it is more accessible,
and is penetrated in digging wells, and all other excavations below the subsoil
of the surface. Heavy beds of drift material cover the surface, overlying the
Keokuk limestones in the vicinity of Perry, and extend southward through the
central portions of the county, with a variable thickness ranging from twenty
to forty feet, or more. They are composed mainly of brown and yellow grav-
elly clays, which usually become bluish gray towards the bottom, and enclose
rounded boulders of metamorphic and igneous rocks, as well as those derived
from the limestones and sandstones that constitute the paleozoic strata of our
own and the adjacent States. Towards the river bluffs, the drift deposits are not
so thick, and at some points along the summit of the bluffs, they are wanting
altogether, and the Loess rests directly upon the limestones. At many points
in the State, beds of stratified sand and clay are found beneath the Drift, over-
laid by the ancient soil which covered the surface anterior to the Drift period
but no shafts have been sunk, or other excavations made, so far as I am aware,
in this county, deep enough to determine whether these Post Tertiary beds
exist here. It is quite probable they will be found in the central and northern
portions of the county, as they are known to exist in the adjoining county on
the north. At the base of the Drift deposits, in the vicinity of Barry, there is
a bed of clean, yellow flint gravel, that is partly cemented by the oxide of iron
into a ferruginous conglomerate, like that on the Ohio river, in Massac county,
which has been considered as of Tertiary age. It was scarcely more than a
foot in thickness where we saw it exposed.
Economical Geology*
Building Stone. — Pike county has an abundant supply of excellent building
stone, which may be obtained from all the principal limestones that outcrop
within its borders. The Niagara limestone, in the vicinity of Pleasant Hill,
furnishes a buff magnesian rock, in very regular beds, fully equal in quality to
thnt afforded by the same beds atGrafton end Joliet. The upper ten or twelve
feet of this formation is of this character, while the lower strata are of a gray
color, contain less magnesia in their composition, and, although a durable stone,
38 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
are not as easily worked as the rock from the overlying beds. A portion of the
material for the construction of the new public school building at Pittsfield,
which is one of the finest in the State, and reflects the highest credit on the
people of that town, was brought from Joliet, while the same bed of limestone,
affording a material in every way equal to that from Joliet, outcrops within ten
miles of Pittsfield. A want of the knowledge of this single fact, has probably
cost the citizens of Pike county far more than their proportion of the entire
cost of the Geological Survey of the State.
The Burlington limestone, which outcrops over a wide area in this county,
will furnish an unlimited supply of excellent building stone. The thickness of
this formation is probably not less than one hundred and fifty feet, and nearly
the whole of it may be made available, either as a building stone, or, if the beds
are full of flinty material, as is locally the case, as an excellent macadamizing
material for the construction of turnpike or common roads. The rock is usu-
ally a light gray or brown sub-crystalline limestone, and where free from flint
or chert, is easily dressed and stands exposure well, being but slightly affected
by atmospheric action. In the vicinity of Montezuma, the lower ten feet of
the limestone exposed in the bluffs at that point, is a massive gray rock, quite
free from chert, and this lower division would afford dimension stone of any de-
sirable size. Similar beds are exposed on Big Blue creek, four miles southeast
of Pittsfield, where most of the rock required for use in the town is obtained.
There is about forty feet in thickness of the rock exposed here, mostly in mas-
sive beds, from two to four feet thick. On the west side of the county, it forms
an almost continuous outcrop, from ten to forty feet in thickness, along the
river bluffs, from the north line of the county to a point about two miles below
Atlas, where it is cut off by the elevation of the Upper Silurian strata, and on
the east side it forms a continuous outcrop in the bluffs of the Illinois, from the
vicinity of Griggsville Landing, to the south line of the county. It also out-
crops extensively on Bay creek, and all the smaller streams in the southern
part of the county. This renders it easily accessible to all that part of the
county south of Pittsfield, as well as the region adjacent to the river bluffs.
The lower portion of the Keokuk limestone, which immediately overlies the
Burlington, is quite similar in character and appearance to the latter rock, and
furnishes a building stone fully equal to that afforded by the Burlington lime-
stone. It is usually rather free from chert at the principal points, where we
found it well exposed, and excellent building stone is obtained at the quarries
two miles north of Griggsville, on the south fork of McGee's creek. It differs
from the Burlington rock more in color than in texture, being usually more in-
clined to a bluish gray, but is semi-crystalline and highly crinoidal, being
almost entirely composed of the joints and plates of crinoids, cemented together
by a calcareous paste. The bands of shale, or marly clay, which are usually
PIKE COUNTY. 39
found separating the strata of limestone at Nauvoo, Keokuk, and other north-
ern localities, were not observed here, and hence in its outcrop it is not readily
distinguished from the Burlington rock, except by a critical examination of the
fossils which it contains.
The St. Louis group, although quite limited in this county, both in its devel-
opment and outcrop, furnishes some excellent building stone. About a mile
and a-half northwest of Perry, there is an outcrop of about eighteen feet in
thickness of massive, brown, magnesian limestone, that, for culverts, bridge
abutments and foundation walls, especially where the rock is to be subjected to
the combined action of frost and moisture, has no superior in the State. It
contains considerable iron, which oxydizes freely, and gives to the surface a
rusty brown color, which unfits it for use in the outside walls of fine buildings,
where a pleasing exterior is desirable, but for all other uses it is a valuable and
durable stone. This limestone was also met with just on the north line of the
county, immediately north of Perry Springs, where a portion of the bed pre-
sented the same general character as at the locality above mentioned. It was
only seen in the extreme northern portion of the county, in township 3 south,
ranges 2 and 3 west.
Coal. — The coal deposits of this county are limited in their extent, and at
all the points where coal has been found, with a single exception, the seams
have proved to be too thin to be worked, except by the process of "stripping"
or throwing off the overlying material, and working out the coal in open trenches.
There are probably a good many points in the county where this may be done
to advantage, in the valleys of the small streams where the coal seams outcrop,
but the completion of the railroad from Naples to Hannibal will give access to
the heavy coal seams east of the Illinois river, and thus supply the demands
of this county for coal, at cheaper rates than could be done from the limited
deposits within the county. At Huntley's mine, in the northwestern part of
the county, the coal is six feet thick, and is worked by tunneling into the out-
crop, for the supply of the adjacent region, but for reasons given on a preced-
ing page, we are inclined to regard this as a local deposit, that will soon be ex-
hausted. With this single exception, there is no coal known in this county
that averages two feet in thickness over any considerable area, and the general
range is only from sixteen to twenty inches.
Minerals. — No ore of any kind, except iron, was met with in the county.
Carbonate of iron, as well as the bi-sulphuret, is found in the Coal Measures, and
the former is a valuable ore for the production of iron, where it is sufficiently
abundant, but no deposits of these ores were found in the county of sufficient
thickness to justify the expenditure of capital or labor in attempts to develop
them.
40 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Limestones for lime.— The best and purest limestone for the manufacture of
quick lime, will be found in the Keokuk and Burlington limestones. The up-
per or concretionary member of the St. Louis group, which is generally pre-
ferred for this purpose, was not met with in this county, and if found at all,
would be too local in its development to supply any considerable portion of the
county, but the limestones above named, one or both of them, are easily acces-
sible at most points in the county, and when the rock is carefully selected, they
afford a very good material for this purpose.
Hydraulic limestone. — Some of the upper beds of the Kinderhook group, in
the vicinity of Mr. Churchill's place, just above the village of Kinderhook,
presents the usual appearance of a hydraulic limestone, and a specimen of the
rock analysed by the late Mr. Henry Pratten, gave the following results :
Water 2.82
Silica 7.00
Alumina 0.77
Carbonate of Lime 68.15
Peroxide of iron 0.77
Protoxide of manganese 2.11
Carbonate of magnesia 18.55
This analysis would seem to indicate too large a per cent, of carbonate of
lime, and too small a proportion of the silicates of alumina and iron, to form a
good cement rock, but further tests might show that the rock was well adapted
for this purpose.
Clay and sand. — The fire clay which usually underlies the coal, if tolerably
free from lime, is valuable for the manufacture of fire brick and common pot-
tery, and where the coal seams are thin, it can be mined with the coal to good
advantage. The brown clays of the Drift furnish an abundant material for the
manufacture of common brick, and sand is abundant in the valleys of the streams.
The Loess often affords these materials in just the right proportion for the use
of the brick machine.
Marble. — The bed of oolitic conglomerate, already mentioned as occurring
in the Kinderhook group at Rockport, receives a fine polish and makes a beau-
tiful variegated marble. The bed, however, is only about three or four feet in
thickness, and can not be easily worked where it outcrops in the bluffs, on ac-
count of the thickness of the beds which overlie it, but it may be found in
some of the lateral vallies in that vicinity, where it could be quarried at less
expense. Some of the sub-crystalline beds of the Burlington limestone receive
a high polish, and make a fine ornamental stone.
Mineral Springs. — Perry Springs are situated about two and a-half miles
southeast of the town of Perry, on a small branch of one of the tributaries of
McGee's creek. The springs, three in number, issue from the upper part of
the Keokuk limestone, which underlies the valley, and outcrops along the bluffs
PIKE COUNTY. 41
of the creek below the springs. They are about a hundred yards apart, and the
upper one is called the Sulphur Spring, the middle one the Magnesian, and the
lower the Iron Spring. The middle one is the most used, and affords the larg-
est supply of water. They preserve a nearly equal temperature throughout the
year, of about 48 to 50° Fahrenheit. An analysis of the waters of these
springs, by Mr. Henry Engelmann, as reported to the proprietors, Messrs.
Watson & Divelbiss, gave the following amount of mineral matter, in grains,
to each gallon of water :
No. 1, or No. 2, or No. 3, or
middle spring. upper spring. lower spring.
Bi-carbonate of lime 15.89 19.75 19.66
Bi-carbonate of magnesia 17.01 14.81 10.49
Bi-carbonate of iron 0.55 0.60 0.27
Silicate of alumina 0.00 0.00 0.27
Silicate of potassa and soda 2.64 2.28 3.45
Silicate of sodium 0.12 0.38 0.58
Sulphate of soda 0.44 1.10 1.49
Carbonate of potassa 1.59 1.45 1.26
38.24 40.37 37.47
These Springs are situated in a beautiful valley, surrounded by wooded hills,
and afford a pleasant retreat for the invalid, and those desiring a temporary
respite from the dust and turmoils of city life. They probably derive their
mineral ingredients from the geodiferous shales of the Keokuk group, and a
similar spring issues from about the same horizon at Warsaw, in Hancock
county.
Soil and Timber. — The greater portion of the uplands in this county, were
originally covered with a heavy growth of excellent timber, but there are a few
small prairies, seldom more than two or three miles in width, interspersed over
its surface, and occupying the most level portions of its area. The surface of
the county is generally rolling, and in the vicinity of the streams, becomes quite
broken and hilly. The timber consists of white, red, and black oak, pig-nut
and shell-bark hickory, black walnut, elm, linden, wild cherry, honey locust,
sugar maple, sassafras, etc. The soil on the prairies and more level timbered
lands, is a dark, chocolate colored clay loam, very productive, and yields annu-
ally large crops of grass, and all the cereals adapted to the climate. On the
more broken lands along the streams, the soil is lighter colored, and less pro-
ductive, but well adapted to the growth of wheat, clover, and especially of
fruit. The freshly cleared timbered lands are well adapted to the growth of
tobacco, but it may be seriously questioned whether the best interests of « the
human race are promoted by its cultivation. On the river bluffs, and the regies
immediately adjacent thereto, where the Loess is the prevailing formaticfi •, the
soil is more sandy and drains freely, and is well adapted to the cultivation df ,
—6
42 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
grapes, and all other fruits adapted to the climate. The rich alluvial bottom
lands on the western borders of the county, have already been described on a
preceding page.
In closing my report on this county, I desire to acknowledge my obligations
to Dr. Benj. Norris, and Prof. Pike, of Pittsfield, for valuable information and
voluntary assistance, while we were engaged in prosecuting the survey of the
county. To Dr. Norris, the State Cabinet is also indebted for several valuable
specimens of fossils, and Indian antiquities from this county.
CHAPTER III.
ADAMS COUNTY.
This county lies upon the western border of the State, and is bounded, on
the north, by Hancock county; on the east, by Schuyler, Brown and Pike
counties ; on the south, by Pike county j and on the west, by the Mississippi
river. It embraces an area of about twenty-three townships, or eight hundred and
thirty square miles. It is well watered, having, in addition to the great river
which forms its western boundary, several smaller streams, which afford a thor-
ough surface drainage to all parts of the county. Bear creek drains the north-
ern portion of the county; McGee's creek, the eastern and central; and
McDonald's creek, Hadley's creek, and Mill creek, intersect the southern and
southwestern portion. These streams furnish a small amount of water power
for mills and machinery, as well as an abundant supply of water for the stock
grower. Fine springs of fresh water are abundant in some portions of the
county, and more especially, in the southern and western part, where the Bur-
lington or Quincy limestone is the prevailing rock. This limestone is some-
what cavernous, and admits the free passage of subterranean streams through
it, until they finally find an outlet at the surface, in limpid springs of cold
limestone water.
The uplands in this county are nearly equally divided into timber and
prairie, the timber portions being mainly restricted to the broken lands in the
vicinity of the streams. The prairies are generally quite rolling, except in the
northeastern portion of the county, where they are comparatively level. The
general elevation of the prairie region, above the level of the Mississippi, at
low water, is from two hundred to two hundred and eighty feet. Along the
western border of the county there is a belt of alluvial bottom land, from one to
five miles in width, extending the whole length of the county, from north to
south, except for about two miles in the vicinity of the city of Quincy, where
the bluffs approach near to the river bank. A portion of these alluvial lands
are quite dry, being only overflowed by the highest floods in the river, and
possess a very rich and productive soil, and are partly prairie, especially the
higher portions adjacent to the river bluffs. The low bottoms are in part cov-
ered with a heavy growth of timber, embracing many varieties not found on
44 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
the uplands. The bottom lands north of Quincy, towards the Hancock county
line, are intersected with numerous bayous, and in the northeast corner of the
county, one of these widens into a lake four or five miles in length, by about
two in width, known as Lima Lake. The bottom lands in this part of the
county, are mostly too wet for cultivation, but below Quincy, they are rather
higher, and afford some fine farming lands, especially along the foot of the
bluffs, where a considerable area is above the high water level of the river.
The geological formations exposed in this county, comprise the Lower Car-
boniferous limestone series, about three hundred feet in thickness, about one
hundred feet of the lower part of the Coal Measures, and the Quaternary and
Post Tertiary deposits of more recent age, which unconformably overlie all the
others. The following section will show the thickness and relative position of
the formations exposed in this county :
FEET.
C Alluvium and Loess 30 to 40
Drift clay, with gravel and boulders 80 " 90
Quaternary -{ Post Tertiary soil 2 " 6
I Brown clay 6
[ Tough blue clay 20
SBeds of sandstone, sandy, and argillaceous shale, with
bands of limestone, bituminous shale and fire clay, with
two or three seams of coal 100
(St. Louis group 40 to 50
Keokuk group 80 " 100
Burlington Limestone 100
Kinderhook group, partly exposed 50
The Quaternary system properly includes all the deposits, both stratified and
unstratified, that are of more recent origin than the Pliocene Tertiary. In this
county, we find a series of beds, comprising an aggregate thickness of about
one hundred and sixty feet, which properly belong to this system. They include
the surface soil and subsoil, on the uplands, and the alluvial deposits of the
river valleys, the Loess, which is largely developed along the bluffs of the Mis-
sissippi, the Drift proper, including all the thick beds of unstratified clay and
gravel, enclosing boulders of large size, and lastly, an ancient Post Tertiary
soil and subordinate clays, usually distinctly stratified, and without boulders,
•which rest immediately upon the stratified rocks.
The soil at different localities, rests upon, and is, in part, derived from each
of these subdivisions of the Quaternary system, and consequently varies con-
siderably in its general appearance and productive qualities, in accordance with
the character of the beds on which it rests, and from which it has been mainly
formed.
The Alluvial deposits of the Mississippi valley, consist of partially stratified
sands, alternating with dark bluish gray, or chocolate brown clays, deposited
ADAMS COUNTY. 45
by the annual floods of the river. In the vicinity of the bluffs, these deposits
are annually increased by the wash from the adjacent hills, and the sediments
that are carried down by the small streams during their frequent overflows.
The valley of the Mississippi has been excavated in solid limestone strata,
to the depth of from one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet or more, and
from five to ten miles in width, and as we frequently find some portions of
this valley still occupied by beds of unaltered drift material, exactly like that
which covers the adjacent highlands, we have undoubted evidence that it was
» not formed by the river which now, in part, occupies it, but is due to some
other and more potent agency, dating back to a period long anterior to the for-
mation of the existing water courses. It is very evident, that the surface of
the stratified rocks in this portion of the State, have been subjected to the
action of powerful denuding forces, anterior to the accumulation of the super-
ficial materials which now occupies the surface, by which these rocks were
greatly eroded, and in many places cut into deep valleys, some of which now
form our river courses, while others are wholly or partially filled with Drift
and Post Tertiary beds, and it is highly probable that, if we could see a com-
plete section of the beds which now occupy these ancient valleys, we should
find beneath the alluvial beds already described, deposits even older than any
which now cover the adjacent highlands. Along the banks of the water
courses, we find only from ten to twenty feet of the alluvial beds exposed by
natural causes, and the character of the underlying strata can only be deter-
mined by artificial excavations.
The next older division of this system, is the Loess, a deposit of marly sand
and clay, which ranges in thickness from ten to forty feet, and attains its greatest
development where it caps the river bluff's, thinning out rapidly towards the
adjacent highlands, which form the summit level of the interior portion of the
county. It is usually of a light buff, brown, or ashen gray color, frequently
showing distinct lines of stratification, and always overlies the drift clays,
when both are present in the same section. It is usually quite sandy, where
it caps the river bluffs, but becomes more argillaceous at other points where
the beds are thinner, and, locally, it becomes quite calcareous. The Loess is
well exposed in the bluffs at Quincy, where it is about forty feet in thickness,
and overlies some beds of plastic clay and sand, which are probably of Post
Tertiary age, and older than the true drift. Immediately above the limestone
here, we find a few feet in thickness of what might be called " local drift,"
consisting of angular fragments of chert, embedded in a brown clay, which
have probably been derived from the subordinate limestones. This is overlaid
by a few feet of blue plastic clay and stratified sands, on which the Loess is
deposited. At one point, near the base of the bluffs, in the northern part of
the city, we observed underlying the Loess, what seemed to be a chocolate
46 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
colored soil, about a foot in thickness, which may represent the Post Tertiary
soil, penetrated in the shaft, at Coatsburg, underlying the Drift deposits.
Here the true Drift is wanting, and the Loess directly overlies these older
Post Tertiary beds. Notwithstanding the unsolidified character of this deposit,
it is sufficiently coherent to present a vertical cliff where it is intersected by
artificial cuts, and often remains for years in nearly perpendicular walls, where
it has been cut through by running streams, or in grading the streets of the
cities that have been built upon it. It is, everywhere, a fine sedimentary accu-
mulation, and usually contains numerous terrestrial and fresh water shells,
which, notwithstanding their fragile structure, are found entirely perfect,
showing that they have not been subjected to any violent movements before
they were buried in the marly sands of this formation. The remains of the
Mammoth, Mastodon, Megalonyx, Casteroides, and other extinct animals,
occur in the Loess, indicating that it is a deposit formed in a fresh water lake,
into which the bones of land animals, and the shells of terrestrial molluscs,
were swept by the streams running into it from the adjacent land. The term
"Loess," was originally applied to a similar formation, which caps the bluffs
of the river Rhine, in Germany, and has been generally adopted by American
geologists to designate beds that are similar in their character and origin, to
those on the Rhine, and that appear to have been formed at about the same
time.
Drift. — This formation is composed of yellowish, brown or blue clays, with
sand, gravel, and large boulders of water-worn rock, the whole mass usually
showing little or no trace of stratification, and ranging in thickness from thirty
to eighty feet or more. It is a heterogenous mass of the water-worn fragments
of all the stratified rocks that are known to occur for several hundred miles to
the northward, embedded in brown or blue clays, and most of the large bould-
ers which it contains, are derived from the metamorphic sandstones, granites,
sienites, porphyries, and other metamorphic and igneous strata that occur on
the borders of the great lakes. Associated with these, there are also rounded
boulders, usually of smaller size, derived from the stratified rocks of this and
the adjacent States. Fragments of native copper, galena, coal and iron ore, are
often intermingled with the general mass, but are not indicative of mines of those
minerals in the immediate vicinity where such fragments are found, for they have
been transported from other localities by the same powerful agencies to which
the Drift formation owes its origin. The coal shaft at Coatsburg penetrated
the thickest bed of Drift that has. perhaps, been found in this county, and I am
indebted to Mr. Joseph Edwards, for the following section of the beds passed
through in sinking this shaft :
FEET. IN.
Soil and yellowish clay . 6 00
Bluish colored clay and gravel . 45 00
ADAMS COUNTY. 47
Clay, with large boulders 40 00
Black soil 2 6
Clay, stratified 6 °°
Very tough blue clay 20 °0
We have in this section eighty -five feet of what may be considered true Drift,
consisting of unstratified clays containing gravel and boulders. The upper six
feet of the section probably represents the age of the Loess more properly than
any other division of the Quaternary system, and its formation is explained by
Prof. Lesquereux, in his chapter on the formation of the prairies, published in
vol. I of this report, page 246 et seq.
The ancient Post Tertiary soil, which was reached at a depth of ninety-one
feet from the surface, and the stratified clays which underlie it, are of an older
date than the Drift proper, and were no doubt formed under very different con-
ditions. So far as we are aware, this was the first point in the State where a
bed resembling the surface soil was observed below the Drift, as this shaft was
sunk in 1859, but no public notice was made of it at that time, as it was then
supposed to be a merely local phenomenon that might not be verified elsewhere.
Fragments of wood, and also of bones, were reported to have been found in it
here, but we were not able to obtain specimens of them, and cannot vouch for the
truth of the report. Susequent discoveries at other points, however,
show that wood, in an excellent state of preservation, is often found in this
ancient soil, as well as in the underlying stratified clays, and in the shaft
at Bloomington, at the depth of one hundred and eighteen feet, a considerable
quantity of wood, some of which was perfectly sound, was taken from a similar
deposit These stratified clays, and the sands frequently associated with them,
appear to have been entirely of fresh water origin, the fossil shells which they
have afforded being all of lacustrine or fluviatile species.
At Camp Point, a few miles east of Coatsburg, the Quaternary beds were all
penetrated in sinking a tank well at the railroad station. They were here only
sixty feet in thickness, but no note was made of the character of the different
beds passed through. Probably the lower beds of stratified clays, and the an-
cient soil above them, were not found here, and the beds passed through were
only the surface soil and subsoil, and the true Drift deposits. From the soft
and yielding character of the beds, a satisfactory natural section of them is
rarely met with, and it is only where they have been penetrated in sinking coal
shafts, wells, and other artificial excavations, that a correct section of the whole
series can be seen. Along the breaks of the streams, the Drift clays and subor-
dinate beds of superficial material are generally eroded into sloping hill sides,
covered with soil and vegetation, down to the fundamental rock on which they
rest, and only very meagre exposures of the beds are to be found on the water
courses.
48 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Fossils are but seldom found in the Drift accumulations, and they consist
entirely of the remains of mammalia ; no shells, either marine or fresh water,
having yet been found in them in this State.
Carboniferous System.
All the paleozoic rocks that appear above the surface in this county, belong to
this system, and comprise the lower portion of the Coal Measures, and the whole
series of the Lower Carboniferous limestones, except the Chester series, and
the lower part of the Kinderhook group.
Coal Measures. — This term is applied to that portion of the Carboniferous
system that contains the workable seams of coal, and comprises shales, sand-
stones, bituminous slates, and thin bands of limestone, with seams of coal and
the fire clays that underlie them. The whole thickness of these strata in this
county, probably nowhere exceed about one hundred and twenty feet, and they
include the three lower coal seams, and the strata associated with them. The
greatest development of this formation is in the northeast part of the county,
on Little Missouri creek, where there is an exposure of some fifty or sixty feet
of shales with two thin beds of limestone, above No. 2 coal, which is worked at
different points in the valley of the creek.
The following section will show the general arrangement and thickness of the
coal strata, as they are developed in this county :
FT. IN.
Hard, gray, nodular limestone 3 to 6
Sandy shale and sandstone 25 " 30
Black shale 2 " 4
Coal, No. 3, sometimes wanting 1 8
Fireclay 2 " 3
Clay shale 25 " 30
Coal, No. 2 2 " 3
Fire clay and clay shale. 4 " 10
Gray nodular limestone 4 " 5
Shale 10 " 15
Bituminous slate 1 " 3
Coal, No. 1 li" 2
Shale and sandstone 20 " 30
The middle coal seam in the above section, (No. 2,) is the most regular in
its development, and furnishes altogether the best coal in the county. It out-
crops on the south fork of Bear creek, and is worked by Mr. Ferguson, on the
northeast quarter of section 17, township 1 north, range 6 west. The coal at
this point ranges from two to three feet in thickness, and is of good quality,
being generally quite free from the bi-sulphuret of iron. The roof is a bluish
clay shale, of which, about fifteen feet in thickness is exposed at the mine,
ADAMS COUNTY. 49
above which there is a thin seam of bituminous shale and soft coal, indicating
the horizon of another coal seam, which has been opened on another branch of
the creek, about half a mile southeast of Ferguson's mine. The coal in this
upper seam, which we refer to No. 3, is only from eighteen to twenty inches
in thickness, and is full of iron pyrites, at the only point where it had been
opened in this vicinity. It is overlaid by about two feet of black slate, and by
eighteen to twenty feet of sandstone.
A mile and a half southwest of Ferguson's, on section 19, coal has been
mined for several years, by stripping the seam along the valley of a small
creek, a tributary of Bear creek, but the mines are now abandoned.
On Little Missouri creek, six miles northeast of Clayton, coal is dug in the
same manner, by stripping the seam in the creek valley. The seam is here
about twenty-eight inches thick, and the coal is of good quality. This is on
section 12, township 1 north, range 5 west. On the southeast quarter of sec-
tion 12, township 2 north, range 5 west, this seam has been worked on Cedar
creek. The coal is here about thirty inches thick, and is underlaid by a white
fire clay, and overlaid by fifteen or twenty feet of clay shale.
On the southwest quarter of section 34, township 1 north, range 5 west,
about a mile southwest of Clayton, a thin seam of coal was opened in the early
settlement of this part of the county, where the coal outcrops on a small branch
of McGee's creek. The coal was found to be only from fourteen to sixteen
inches thick, and was overlaid by four feet of black shale, which contained a
few fossil shells, among which were, Discina nitida, and an Aviculo-pecten.
This is, perhaps, coal No. 3, of the above section. On the northeast quarter of
section 36, township 2 north, range 8 west, coal was dug at an early day on
Mr. Higby's land. The coal was found here in the bed of a small creek, with
no exposure of the beds associated with it, and was mined by stripping the
seam of the overlying soil and clay. It was said to be from two to three feet
in thickness, with six inches of blue shale, and about a foot of black shale
above it. The coal was rather poor in quality, and is probably an outlier of
the lower seam, No. 1. The coal was underlaid by sandstone, which was ex-
posed near by, and a half mile southwest of this point, the concretionary lime-
stone of the St. Louis group was found in situ.
South of Clayton, the country becomes quite rolling and hilly, but the
ravines seldom expose the bed rock, and no coal is found outcropping, though
it probably underlies most of the surface, north of McGee's creek. After
crossing this creek at Hughes's ford, coal is found in the bluff on the south
side, on section 28, township 2 south, range 5 west, while below ifc, are outcrops
of the St. Louis and Keokuk limestones, the latter forming the bed rock in the
creek valley. The coal seam has been opened here by Mr. Luke Snow, at two
points ; one in the face of the bluff, where a tunnel has been commenced, and
—7
50 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
the other, on a small ravine still further south, where the seam has been worked
in an open trench on the outcrop. The coal is here from eighteen to twenty
inches thick and is overlaid by about two feet of bituminous shale, above
which about six feet of clay shale was seen. The beds immediately below the
coal were not exposed, but we are inclined to regard this as an outcrop of the
lower seam, No. 1. On the northeast quarter of section 31, township 2 south,
rano-e 5 west, there is an outcrop of coal that was known as Bassett's coal bank,
and was worked at the time of our first visit to this part of the county, in 1853.
The coal is here from sixteen to eighteen inches thick, and is overlaid by about
two feet of black shale, containing numerous fossils, among which were a large
Distinct, perhaps only a variety of Discina nitida, Aviculopecten Coxana, A.
pellucidus, Productus muricatus, Orthisina crassa, Orthoceras Rushensis, and
Pleurophorus soleniformis. On the southwest quarter of section 7, township 3
south, range 6 west, there is a similar outcrop of coal and bituminous shale,
the latter containing the same fossils as at Bassett's. South of Liberty, and
west of Kingston, coal outcrops at various localities on the head-waters of Mc-
Donald's creek, and before the construction of the C. B. & Q. railroad, the
beds were worked quite extensively, and the coal hauled on wagons to supply
the Quincy market. Since the construction of the railroad, however, coal can
be more cheaply obtained from the mines in McDonough county, and those
formerly worked in this part of the county, have been generally abandoned.
There is, however, a little coal still dug in this vicinity, to supply the demands
of the immediate neighborhood. An analysis of Bassett's coal, reported in Dr.
Norwood's "Analysis of Illinois Coals," made by Mr. Henry Pratten, gave the
following results:
Specific gravity 1.2684
Loss in coking 42.52
Total weight of coke 57.48
100.00
Analysis: Moisture 9.20
Volatile matters 33.32
Carbon in coke 51.48
Ashes, pale red 6.00
100.00
Carbon in coal 55.91
The Coal Measures in the south part of this county, as in Pike, are quite
irregular in their development, and seem to assume the character of outliers
from the main coal field. North of Columbus, the three lower seams are found
in their regular order, although not all equally constant in their development.
Coal No. 2, or the Colchester seam, is by far the most constant, and will prob-
ably be found underlying nearly all of townships 1 and 2 north, in ranges 5 and
6 west, in this county, and may be reached by shafts, at a depth varying from
ADAMS COUNTY. 51
seventy-five to one hundred and fifty feet, according to the thickness of the
Quaternary beds at the different points. At Camp Point, No. 2 was found at
the depth of ninety feet, and at Coatsburg, at 129 feet. Its general thickness
is from two to two and. a half feet, being about the same here as in McDonough
county. The quality of the coal is good, but the seam seldom has a good roof,
and, consequently, requires considerable expenditure for cribbing, where the
mines are to be worked permanently. South of Columbus, there is no devel-
opment of coal in this county, that would justify the expectation of its ever
becoming a valuable mining region, though considerable coal may be found in
the vicinity of Liberty and Kingston, extending south to the Pike county line,
perhaps sufficient for the local supply of that part of the county for some years
to come. Mill creek, on the western borders of this region, and McGee's
creek, on the east, show continuous exposures throughout their whole course
of the Lower Carboniferous limestones, that lie entirely below the Coal Meas-
ures, and clearly define a horizon, below which no workable coal seam has ever
been found. These limestones may be reached any where over the coal field
in this county, at a depth of from one to two hundred feet, and when reached, a
further search for coal, by going deeper, will only result in failure. In the
northern portion of the county, the Coal Measures rest upon the St. Louis
limestone, and hence the outcrop of this rock is a valuable guide, in determining
the boundary of the coal area ; but in the southwestern part of the county,
this limestone is not found, and the Coal Measures rest upon a lower division
of the Lower Carboniferous series, as they also do in Pike county. This has
resulted from the erosion of the limestone strata before the coal epoch, by
which the upper beds have been wholly, or partially removed, allowing the
Coal Measures to rest unconformably upon the lower divisions of the series.
But whenever any division of this limestone series is reached in searching for
coal, it is entirely useless to extend the search below that horizon.
St. Louis Limestone. — This division of the Lower Carboniferous series, as
has already been remarked, usually forms the substratum on which the Coal
Measures rest, and will be found outcropping immediately below the sandstone
which forms the base of the Coal Measures, in the northwestern, as well as the
southeastern portions of the county. The upper division of this formation is
usually a light gray concretionary, or brecciated limestone, from five to twenty
feet in thickness, below which, there is usually a regularly bedded brown, or
brownish gray magnesian limestone, from ten to twenty feet thick, which
locally becomes shaly, and passes into a calcareous or argillaceous shale. The
concretionary limestone sometimes contains irregular seams of green shale, or
marly clay, disseminated through it, and at some points, as at Butt's Mill, on
McGee's creek, is entirely replaced by green shales. At this point, there is
about thirty feet in thickness of this group exposed, consisting of regularly
52 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
bedded limestones at the base, passing upward into green and bluish colored
shales, which are overlaid by ferruginous sandstone, the latter representing the
base of the Coal Measures. On Waters's Branch, a half mile south of this
mill, there is a fine exposure of the regularly bedded limestone of this group,
about ten feet thick, forming a perpendicular wall along the banks of the creek.
There is a bed of earthy gray limestone about four feet thick, intercalated in
it at this point, that appears like a hydraulic rock. The concretionary mem-
ber of this group, outcrops on the upper course of McGee's creek, three miles
southeast of Columbus, and with the regularly bedded limestones below, con-
tinues along the bluffs of this creek, through its whole course in this county.
In the vicinity of Hughes's ford, on section 27, township 2 south, range 5 west,
the brown magnesian limestone of this series is well exposed, the bed ranging
from ten to fifteen feet in thickness. It is about thirty feet above the bed of
the creek, and overlies the geodiferous shales of the Keokuk group, which
extend below the creek level. In the Coatsburg coal shaft, this limestone was
reached at a depth of about one hundred and forty-seven feet, and the shaft
was carried on through it, and into the geodiferous shales of the Keokuk
group, where it terminated at a depth of about two hundred feet. On the
Walnut fork of Mill creek, about four miles a little south of west from Colum-
bus, this limestone is exposed on the southeast quarter of section 21, township
1 south, range 7 west, and as it is only about seven miles to its outcrop on Mc-
Gee's creek, east of that town, it is probable that it constitutes the bed rock
entirely across the divide between these points, and separates the coal, south
of Columbus, from that in the north part of the county. In the vicinity of
Mendon, this limestone was met with at several points, and is overlaid by the
coarse qu.artzose sandstone of the Coal Measures. Here the upper part of it is
a light gray, more or less concretionary rock, from ten to twelve feet in thick-
ness, below which, we find the brown magnesian limestone, and the shaly beds,
which form the lower division of the group. This limestone is also found well
exposed on the tributaries of Bear creek, in township 2 north, range 8 west,
and on the main creek, on its upper course, for some distance further east,
where it passes beneath the Coal Measures, and the latter becomes the bed rock
over all the northeastern portion of the county.
This limestone may be readily distinguished from any of the lower divisions
of the Lower Carboniferous series, either by its lithological characters or the
fossils which it contains. The light grey concretionary limestone, is charac-
terized by two species of fossil corals, one or both of which may be found at
nearly every locality where the rock is exposed, and are often met with in fine
specimens, weathered out of the limestone, and lying in detached masses in the
debris along the streams. They are generally silicious, and where they have
not been rolled and water-worn after being detached from the rock, they retain
ADAMS COUNTY, 53
perfectly their original form and are frequently of a reddish pink color from
the silicious matter, which has replaced the carbonate of lime in the original
coral. These corals belong to the genus Lithostrotion, and are known as the
L. canadense and L. proliferum, and the former species, which usually occurs in
massive forms, is popularly known as " petrified honey comb," from the polygo-
nal form of the numerous calyces of which it is composed.
In the magnesian and shaly beds of this group, fossils are usually quite
abundant, and among the most striking forms we may mention the screw shaped
fossil, known as the Archimedes, the axis of a peculiar form of Bryozoa. The
largest form of this interesting genus, the A. Wortheni, of Hall, is found
abundantly through the shaly beds of this group, and some of the largest
specimens attain to a foot or more in length. Various other forms of Bryozoa
also abound in this rock, and at some localities, the magnesian beds of this
group appear to be in good part composed of the delicate, reticulated remains
of this class of organic forms. Marine shells are also abundant in the same
beds, among which are Spirifer lateralis, S. sub-sequalis, Rhynchonella mutata,
R. subcuneata, Retzia Verneuiliana, Orthis dubia, Terebratula hastata, Platyce-
ras, acutirostris, and Productus Altonensis. A knowledge of these species will
enable the observer to identify this formation wherever it may appear, as some
of them have a wide geographical range, especially the Lithostrotion canadense,
which is known to range from Illinois to Alabama, and on a recent visit to Utah,
/>>X^"I ^-*w£<—
we found it embedded in the highly metapjbewa limestones of the Wahsatch moun-
tains, within twenty miles of Salt Lake City. Hence we may understand the
great value of fossils to the geological observer, as they enable him to establish
the identity of strata at widely separated points, where the lithological charac-
ters of the beds are completely changed, and where it would be impossible to
trace the continuity of the strata.
Keokuk Group. — This group immediately underlies the limestone just des-
cribed, and usually appears in two well marked divisions. The upper one
consists of bluish gray or grayish brown calcareo-argillaceous shales, and shaly
limestones, enclosing silicious geodes of various sizes, some of them a foot or
more in diameter, a part of which are solid spheres of crystalline quartz, cov-
ered externally with a thin coating of chalcedony, while others are hollow, and
have their inner surfaces covered with beautiful crystals of quartz, calcite, or
dolomite, or with the mammillary forms of chalcedony. Crystals of arragonite,
iron pyrites and zinc blende are are also occasionally found in these silicious
geodes, and the finest cabinet specimens of the crystallized minerals above
mentioned to be found in this State, are obtained from this bed. The shales
and shaly limestones in which the geodes were originally embedded, yields
readily to the influence of frost and moisture, and the silicious geodes are
readily weathered out and may be found in great numbers in the beds of the
54 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
small streams by which this formation is intersected. The Coatsburg coal
shaft terminated in this bed at a depth of about two hundred feet below the
surface, and we obtained several finely crystallized geodes here in 1860,
from the material that had been thrown out of this shaft. This division of
the group is about forty feet in thickness, and is well exposed on McGree's
creek, and some of its tributaries, and also on Bear creek, and some of the
smaller streams in the western part of the county. Locally, this portion of
the group becomes quite calcareous, and the beds are then filled with the same
species of fossil shells and corals that characterize the lower division. Another
species of Archimedes much smaller than that found in the St. Louis group,
called the A. Owenana, occurs both in the upper and lower divisions of this
group, and is the oldest known form of this interesting genus of fossil
Bryozoa.
The lower division of the Keokuk group, consists mainly of bluish gray
limestones in quite regular beds, varying from six inches to two feet in thick-
ness, separated by intercalations of buff or blue shale, or marly clay. Towards
the base it is very thin bedded and cherty, the flinty material predominating
greatly over the calcareous. These beds are well exposed in the upper part of
the quarries at Quincy, especially in the northern part of the city, where
extensive quarries have been opened in these cherty beds, and also on the
small creek at Whipple's mill, where they gradually pass upward into the more
regularly bedded limestones above. At Col. Jamieson's place, two miles north-
east of Quincy, the regularly bedded limestones of this group, the equivalents
of the beds quarried at Nauvoo and Keokuk are exposed, and higher up on the
creek above mentioned, and a mile and a half further east, the quarries were
opened in this limestone to furnish the foundation stone for Gov. Wood's man-
sion, in Quincy. These quarries afforded an evenly bedded, bluish gray,
semi-crystalline limestone, in beds from six to twenty inches thick, and furnish-
ed large slabs of dimension stone, from the facility with which the rock could
be split into the desired form The quarry rock at this point is directly over-
laid by the brown shales of the geode bed.
From Quincy to the north line of the county, this limestone outcrops at
various points along the river bluffs, and is well exposed on Bear creek, near
the Lima and Quincy road, where it forms a mural cliff from forty to fifty feet
in bight. It is also found on all the small streams in the west part of the
county as far south as Mill creek, and on both forks of that stream, though
not on the main creek. The regularly bedded limestones of this group, are
mainly composed of organic matter, and are formed from the calcareous por-
tions of the molluscs, crinoids and corals, which existed in such countless
numbers in the carboniferous ocean during this period of the earth's history,
as to furnish the greater part of the material required to form entire groups of
ADAMS COUNTY. 55
limestone strata. All these animals secrete the carbonate of lime to form the
habitations in which they live, and the solid integuments of their various parts,
and these calcareous fragments, cemented together by the chemical precipitation
of the mineral matters held in solution by the waters of the ocean, now consti-
tute many of the limestones and marbles, out of which our cities are built,
and which enter so largely, under various forms, into the economic uses of
human life. The alternations of limestone with seams of clay or shale, indi-
cate the changing conditions that prevailed in the ocean at this time, as these
clay seams are formed by the muddy sediments that at various times were intro-
duced by currents or other causes into the ocean, which, settling to the bottom,
formed the shaly sedimentary strata by which the limestones are separated.
The characteristic fossils of this group occur almost everywhere, that the rock
is exposed. In the debris of the old quarries northeast of Quincy we found
Archimedes Owenana, Agaricocrinus Americanus, Actinocrinus pernodosus, A.
l>iturbinatus, Spirifer Keokuk, Productus punctatus, and Zaphrentis dalii. In
the quarries at Quincy we obtained Aviculopecten amplus, Spirifer striding, and
Productus semireticulatus, from the cherty beds at the base of the group.
Burlington Limestone. — This formation differs but little in its lithological
characters from the lower portion of the Keokuk limestone, but it is usually of
a lighter gray color, and contains intercalated beds of buff or brown limestone,
while the bands of argillaceous shale, which separate the beds in the Keokuk
group, are not seen in this. There is, however, one band of green clay, or
clay shale, from one to six inches in thickness, intercalated in the beds at
Quincy about midway from the bottom to the top of the exposure at the lower
end of the city, where the beds are well exposed. At the quarries in the
upper layers of the limestone, opposite the steamboat landing, the cherty beds
belonging to the Keokuk group are quarried, but in the lower part of the city,
the underlying limestones are well exposed, and are extensively quarried to
supply the demand for building stone, and for burning into lime. The rock is
tolerably even bedded, and affords some layers two feet or more in thickness
which, when free from chert, may be cut with facility, and forms an excellent
building stone.
The following is a section of the rocks exposed in the bluffs in the lower
part of the City of Quincy :
Loess capping the bluff 62
Thin bedded, cherty limestone, (Keokuk.) 13
Light gray limestone, (Burlington.) 12
Band of green shaly clay, (Burlington.) 0 4 in
Buff and light gray limestones, (Burlington.) 36
56 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The lower forty-eight feet of this section belongs to the Burlington limestone,
and furnishes most of the building stone, and limestone for the manufacture of
quick lime, to supply the city and adjacent country. The light gray limestones
are a nearly pure carbonate of lime in their composition, and often contain
pockets, lined with beautiful crystals of calcite. The buff and brown layers
contain carbonate of magnesia and iron in small quantities, and some of the
lower beds of this formation are highly magnesian, and approach a true dolo-
mite in their composition. On Mill creek, at the old mill, six miles southeast
of Quincy, there is about forty feet of this limestone exposed, the lower part
of which consists of alternating beds of light gray and brown limestone, all
of which are probably more or less magnesian in their composition, and afford
an excellent building stone, comparatively free from chert, and sufficiently
massive to furnish dimension stone of any desired size. From this point, to
the south line of the county, this limestone forms continuous outcrops along
the river bluffs, the exposures ranging from twenty-five to fifty feet or more in
thickness. This limestone outcrops only over a limited area in the southwest
part of the county, and a line drawn from the city of Quincy to the southeast
corner of township 3 south, range 7 west, would represent very nearly its
eastern boundary, while its western would be determined by the river bluffs.
The quarries at Quincy have afforded a good many fine examples of the fossils
peculiar to this group, among which the following are the most common spe-
cies : Spirifer plenus, S. Grimesi, Atliyris lamettosa. A. incrassatus, Chonetes
Illinoisensis, Productus semireticulatus, P. punctatus, Metoptoma umbella, Pla-
tyceras Quincy ensis, P. biserialis, Actinocrinus Verneuilianus, A. ohlatus, A.
Hageri, A. Christyi, A. pyriformis, Granatocrinm Norwoodi, and G. melo.
From the lower beds of this limestone, exposed in the river bluffs, between
Mill creek and the south line of the county, we obtained Actinocrinus carica,
a very rare species, not yet found at any other locality in the State, A. uni-
cornis, A. clarus, A. discoideusj A. verrucosus, Strotocrinus umbrosus, Codo-
naster stettiformis, and Pentremites elongatus, with three species of Plutycrinus
not yet determined. At Quincy, we obtained a number of specimens of the
remains of cartilaginous fishes, consisting of teeth and spines, and noticed
one layer of limestone, in the upper part of the quarries, that was well filled
with these fragmentary remains. The large spine, Physonemus gigas) figured
on PI. II, was obtained from the quarries at Thayer's mill, about a mile
below the city. The " fish bed " of this division of the Lower Carboniferous
series was first noticed at Quincy, and a fine series of teeth and spines were
obtained from it as early as 1854.
The fossil shells and crinoids above named, are nearly all of them peculiar
to this rock, and an acquaintance with them will enable the observer to dis-
tinguish this limestone from the Keokuk group, to which it is closely allied in
ADAMS COUNTY. 57
its lithological characters, being largely composed, like that, of the calcareous
portions of the marine animals that swarmed, in countless numbers, in the old
Carboniferous ocean in which these limestones were formed. Nearly all of the
purely calcareous strata of this formation, are made up of the remains of marine
animals, in which the Crinoidea,, or Encrinites, largely predominate, and hence
it has been called the Orinoidal, or Encrinital limestone, by some of the early
observers. It contains a good deal of chert or flint, disseminated through it
in seams and nodules, sometimes forming irregular layers between the limestone
strata, but more frequently in detached nodular or ovoid masses, in the lime-
stones. These chert bands and nodules furnished the flints, so much used by
the Indians in the manufacture of spears, arrow-heads, and other rude imple-
ments, and it was probably the most useful and valuable mineral known to
them, anterior to their acquaintance with the white man.
This limestone will be found at the base of the bluffs, for a few miles north
of Quincy, but at so low a level as to be seldom exposed by the natural outcrop
of the strata. On Mill creek, it may be found for several miles up the creek,
and on all the smaller streams, to the south line of the county, it forms the
principal rock exposed.
Kinderhook Group. — Immediately beneath the Burlington limestone, we
find a series of sedimentary strata, consisting of sandy and argillaceous shales,
and thin beds of impure limestone, only a portion of which appear above the
surface in this county, to which the name Kinderhook group has been applied,
from their fine exposure near the village of Kinderhook, in Pike county. The
first considerable exposure met with in this county, was at Fall creek, twelve
miles below Quincy, where there is about thirty feet of this group to be seen
in the creek bluffs beneath the Burlington limestone. The section here is as
follows :
FEET.
Burlington limestone _ 20
Sandy shale and sandstone 20
Thin bedded, silicious limestone JQ
Shale to the creek level g
This formation is altogether about a hundred feet in thickness, and fre-
quently has a bed of black, or chocolate colored shale intercalated in the lower
portion, which has led many to the belief that coal might be found in it.
This black shale was reached, in the boring made just below the city of Quincy,
in search of coal, at a depth of about one hundred and fifty feet, but does not
come to the surface anywhere in this county. As it lies nearly four hundred
feet below any coal seam known in this country, all the time and money spent
in the search for coal in this formation, can only result in pecuniary loss and
disappointment. This group is exceedingly variable in its lithological charac-
ters, and at some localities, it becomes quite calcareous, and consists mainly of
—8
58 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
calcareous shales and magnesian limestones. The bed of silicious limestone
near the base of the above section, may represent the light blue, or dove col-
ored limestone, called in the Missouri Report, " Lithographic Limestone," but
at this locality, it appears more like a stratified flint than anything else. Fos-
sils are quite abundant in the silicious gritstones at Kinderhook, and several
points in Pike county, but none were found at the exposures on Fall creek.
The outcrop of this formation in Adams county, is restricted to the vicinity of
the river bluffs, from this creek to the south line of the county.
Economical Geology*
Bituminous Coal. — About one-half of the entire area of Adams county is
underlaid by the Coal Measures, embracing the central and eastern portions of
the county, and the strata developed here, include the three lower coal
seams, and the beds usually associated with them, but the coal seams, except
the middle one, are very irregular in their development, and therefore be-
come of little value for the production of coal. The middle seam, or No. 2,
the equivalent of the Colchester coal in McDonough county, is generally quite
regular in its development, and will be found underlying most of the region
north and east of Columbus. Its average thickness is a little over two feet,
though it frequently attains to thirty inches, and sometimes to three feet. The
coal it affords is of a fair quality, and in some respects, above the average of
our western coals. The analysis of Bassett's coal, given on a preceding page,
will serve to indicate the quality of the coal obtained from the southern part
of the county, and may be compared with the following analysis of Higby's
coal, two miles north of Mendon, which I believe to be an outlier of coal
No. 1. This analysis was made by the late Mr. Henry Pratten, and is given
in Norwood's "Analysis of Illinois Coals" :
Specific gravity 1.3354
Loss in coking 48.4
Total weight of coke 51.6
100.00
Analysis: Moisture 10.0
Volatile matters 38.4
Carbon in coke 41.2
Ashes (yellow) 10.4 •
100.00
Carbon in coal 48.0
This is a heavier coal than that from No. 2, and contains about seven per
cent, less of fixed carbon, according to the analysis here given. The coals
from Nos. 1 and 3, are usually inferior in quality to that obtained from No. 2,
and the two former are not likely to be found sufficiently persistent in their de-
velopment in this county, to be of any great economical value for the produc-
ADAMS COUNTY. 59
tion of fossil fuel. Over all the northeastern portion of the county, No. 2 has
been found wherever the Measures have been penetrated to the proper depth,
or where the right horizon has been exposed by natural causes. The principal
drawback to the successful mining of this seam, is the shaly character of the
roof, which is usually a blue clay shale, though it has been seen at a few local-
ities where it was overlaid by a bituminous shale, which forms a good roof.
This coal seam will afford, according to the usual mining estimates, about two
million tons of coal to each square mile of surface which it underlies, and
although at the present time, there is but little demand for coal except along
the railroad lines, yet the time is not very remote, when a good coal, two feet
or more in thickness, will be considered of sufficient value and importance to
be opened, wherever it can be reached at a depth not exceeding one hundred
to one hundred and fifty feet below the surface.
Building Stone. — All the principal limestone groups of this county, furnish
more or less building stone of good quality, and there are but few points in the
western part of the county, where some of them are not easily accessible in the
bluffs or valleys of the streams. The Burlington limestone, which is exten-
sively quarried at Quincy, is one of the most important and valuable deposits
of building stone in the county, and as its aggregate thickness is about one
hundred feet, nearly all of which may be used as a building stone, the supply
from this formation alone might be fairly considered as inexhaustible. It is
for the most part, a light gray, or nearly white semi-crystalline limestone, which
cuts easily when free from chert, and is an excellent stone for dry walls, as
well as for caps and sills, and all the ordinary purposes for which cut stone are
required. The buff and brown layers contain a small per cent, of iron and
magnesia, and the surface becomes more or less stained by long exposure, but
the light gray beds are a nearly pure carbonate of lime in their composition,
and generally retain their original color. The lower portion of the Keokuk
limestone is similar to the Burlington in its composition, but is usually of a
little darker bluish gray color. The brown magnesian limestone of the St.
Louis group, is an evenly stratified rock, admirably adapted for common use
in foundation walls, and especially for bridge abutments and culverts, where a
rock is required to withstand the combined action of frost and moisture. This
rock may be found in the bluffs of McGrce's creek, through nearly its whole
course in this county, and also on Bear creek and its tributaries, in the north-
west part of the county. The bed is variable in thickness, ranging from five
to twenty feet, and it often affords massive strata from two to three feet thick.
In the vicinity of Ferguson's coal bank, four miles northwest of Camp Point,
there is an outcrop of brown sandstone overlying coal No. 3, which seems to
stand exposure well, as it forms a mural cliff, nearly twenty feet high, along
60 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
the creek for some distance, and would probably make a durable building stone.
There are but few counties in this State where good building stone is so abund-
ant, and easily accessible to all parts of the county, as here.
Limestone for Lime. — Most of the limestone used in the manufacture of
quick lime, is obtained from the Burlington limestone, in the vicinity of
Quincy, and a large amount of this article is produced annually for the supply
of the city and the adjacent country. The light gray beds of the Burlington,
and the bluish gray strata of the Keokuk group, are either of them sufficiently
free from silicious, or other foreign material, when carefully selected, to pro-
duce a quick lime of excellent quality. The upper or concretionary bed of the
St. Louis group is also, at many localities, a very pure carbonate of lime, and
may be found useful for this purpose in the eastern portion of the county,
•where the underlying formations are not accessible. Its outcrop is mainly
around the borders of the coal formation, immediately below the sandstone
conglomerate which usually forms the base of the coal series.
Fire and Potter's Clays. — The under clays of coal seams No. 1 and 2, are
usually of good quality, and where the strata are of sufficient thickness, they
become valuable deposits of fire clay, and may be successfully worked in con.
nection with the coal seams. At some points, there is a bed of fine, light blue
clay shale, intervening between these two coal seams, which, on exposure,
weathers to a fine plastic clay, and forms an excellent potter's clay. This is
the bed from which the clays used in the potteries at Ripley, in Brown county,
have been obtained. This bed of clay shale is exposed at various points in
this county, and will furnish an abundant supply of potter's clay, while the
under clay 6f No. 2 may be used for the manufacture of fire brick.
Clay and Sand for Brick. — The sub-soil clays of this county, intermingled
with the fine sand of the Loess, forms an excellent material for the manu-
facture of common brick, and may be obtained almost anywhere in the
western part of the county, and there are but few points in the State that
have produced as good an article of common brick, as has been manufactured
for many years in the vicinity of Quincy. In the eastern part of the county,
where the Loess is wanting, the sand for this purpose may be readily obtained
in the alluvial valleys of the small streams. These materials are so universally
abundant, that almost every farmer in the county may find them at hand upon
his own premises, for the manufacture of all the brick required for building
purposes.
Soil and Timber. — As an agricultural region, this county is not surpassed by
any other portion of the State of the same geographical area. The western
portion of the county, including a belt of country from five to ten miles in
width, adjacent to the river bluffs, and extending through its entire length,
from north to south, is underlaid by the marly sands and clays of the Loess,
ADAMS COUNTY. 61
and possesses a soil of remarkable fertility, with an undulating surface, which,
furnishes a free drainage, so that, with a rather porus sub-soil, it is less subject
to the deleterious influences of remarkably dry or wet seasons, than the other
upland soils of the county. The growth of timber on this variety of soil
consists principally of red, white and black oak, pig-nut and shell-bark hicko-
ry, elm, black and white walnut, sugar maple, linden, wild cherry and honey
locust. These lands are admirably adapted to the growth of fruit, and this
portion of Adams county has been long and favorably known, as one of the
finest fruit regions in this portion of the State.
On the breaks of McGee's creek, and its tributaries, the surface is consider-
ably broken, and the soil, which is mainly derived from the Drift clays, is a
stiff clay loam, better adapted to the growth of wheat and grass, than almost
any other crop usually grown in this latitude. The growth of timber on this
kind of soil consists mainly of two or three varieties of oak and hickory, which
is the characteristic growth of the "oak ridges," that are so frequently met
with on the small streams, in this and other portions of the State. In the
northeastern portion of the county, there is a considerable area of compara-
tively level prairie, covered with a deep, black soil, highly charged with vege-
table matter, derived from the annual growth and decay of the shrubs and
grasses which clothe its surface. This black prairie soil is predicated upon a
fine silicious brown clay sub-soil, which does not permit the surface water to
pass freely through it, and hence these lands suffer greatly from a surplus of
water during a wet season. They are very productive, however, when the
season is favorable, and produce abundant crops of all the cereals usually
grown in this latitude. A judicious system of drainage would add greatly to
the productive capacities of this soil. The alluvial bottom lands bordering the
Mississippi, are generally similar in their character to those in Pike county,
and are heavily timbered with the same varieties mentioned in describing the
bottom lands of that county, in the preceding chapter. Where these bottom
lands are elevated above the annual overflow of the river, they are exceedingly
productive, and rank among the most valuable farming lands in the county.
CHAPTER IV.
BROWN COUNTY.
This county embraces a superficial area of only about eight and a half town-
ships, or three hundred and six square miles, and is bounded, on the north,
by Schuyler county ; on the east, by Crooked creek and the Illinois river ; on
the south, by Pike ; and on the west, by Adams county. The county is well
watered by the two streams already mentioned as forming its eastern boundary,
and by McGee's creek, which traverses the southern part of the county, giving
a complete surface drainage to its entire area. The general surface level of
the uplands, ranges from one hundred to two hundred and fifty feet above the
level of the principal streams, and a large portion of it was originally covered
with a heavy growth of timber. The upland prairies are small, and mostly
confined to the middle and western portions of the county. The bottom lands
on the eastern border of the county, are mostly prairie, with belts of timber
immediately adjacent to the water courses.
The uplands are generally rolling, and in the vicinity of the streams, the
surface is cut into sharp ridges, separated by narrow valleys. The best soils
upon the uplands, are those underlaid by the Loess, and are characterized by a
heavy growth of the common varieties of oak and hickory, elm, sugar maple,
black walnut, linden, wild cherry, honey locust, etc., and are restricted to the
vicinity of the Illinois river bluffs. In their productive qualities, these lands
are fully equal to the best prairie soils. Further west, on the tributaries of
Crooked creek and McGee's creek, the timber is mainly oak and hickory, in-
cluding two or three varieties of each, and the soil is generally a heavy clay
loam, derived mainly from the brown clays of the Drift formation. The prairie
soil is usually a dark chocolate clay loam, highly charged with humus, espe-
cially on the level portions, where the annual accumulations of animal and
vegetable matters have been retained, and in its productive qualities, it ranks
next to the timbered soils of the Loess. It rests upon a subsoil of argillaceous
loam, which is also rich in the phosphates and carbonates essential to the
growth of vegetation, and will furnish the essential elements to replenish the
surface soil, when it becomes exhausted by a lona; continued and injudicious
system of cultivation.
BROWN COUNTY. 63
The bottom lands adjacent to the Illinois river, possess a light sandy soil,
and when sufficiently elevated to be susceptible of drainage, and are protected
from the annual overflow of the river floods, they are very productive. The
timber of the bottom lands consists of cottonwood, soft maple, linden, ash, elm,
black and white walnut, pecan, hackberry, sycamore, swamp white oak, bur oak,
Spanish oak, coffee-nut, shell-bark hickory, honey locust, wild plum, crab
apple, dogwood, etc. Although much of this land is now too wet for cultiva.
tion, being subjected to overflow from the periodical floods in the river, yet its
surface is constantly rising, from the accumulations of sediment left by the
river floods, and by the material constantly being deposited upon it by the
wash from the neighboring highlands. Thus, the hills are being leveled, and
the valleys filled up, a process constantly carried on now, as in all past time,
by wMch, in the coming ages, every portion of the earth's surface will become
fitted for man's use, and be made subservient to his interests. Every year
adds to the area of tillable land on our river bottoms, and the time is not very
distant, when their entire surface will be susceptible of cultivation.
Geology .
The geological formationt of Brown county, comprise the Quaternary, the
lower portion of the Coal Measures, including the three lower coal seams, and
the two upper divisions of the Lower Carboniferous limestones, as they are de-
veloped in this portion of the State. The following section will show the rela-
tive position and thickness of the formations above named, as they appear in
this county :
FEET.
Quaternary System, including Alluvium, Loess and Drift 80 to 110
Coal Measures , 130 « 149
St. Louis Limestone 30 " 40
Keokuk group 40 « 60
The Quaternary System includes all the superficial beds of soil, sand, clay,
gravel, etc., which cover up all the older formations, except along the streams
where the Lower Carboniferous limestone has been laid bare by the action of
running water. It is the newest, or last formed of all the geological systems,
and includes among its fossils, only the living species of animals, and those
closely allied to them. The term Alluvium, includes the surface soil and sub-
soil of the prairies, and the bottom lands along the borders of our rivers and
smaller streams. Possibly, the former may correspond nearer, in the time of
its formation, with the Loess, than with the deposits of the river valleys, but
it has generally been considered as coincident with the latter, in its formation,
and hence of Alluvial age. The Alluvium of the Illinois river valley, like
that of the Mississippi, consists, so far as we may judge from the exposures in
64 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
the banks of the river and the small streams by which it is intersected, of
sands, clays, and vegetable mould, more or less perfectly stratified, and fre-
quently replacing each other at short intervals. It has been formed, in part,
from the transported material brought down by the river current, together with
the vegetable and animal substances that decay upon the surface, to which is
added, the sands, clays, and organic matter, that is washed down upon it from
the neighboring hills.
The Loess is restricted to the region adjacent to the Illinois river bluffs, and
attains a maximum thickness of nearly a hundred feet, but thins out gradually
from the bluffs towards the central portions of the county. It consists of
brown, and drab colored sandy, and marly clays, sometimes partially stratified,
and varying in color, with the variable quantities of the oxyd of iron it con-
tains. It is well exposed in the vicinity of Versailles, and forms the main por-
tion of the hills adjacent to that town, and is exposed in the cuts along the
Quincy and Toledo railroad, westward, nearly to Harshman Station. At La-
grange, the Loess and Drift formations overlie the Coal Measures, and are, by
measurement, one hundred and ten feet in thickness, the greater portion of
which may be included in the Loess. It contains here a few of the land and
fresh water shells, which are the most characteristic fossils of this group at
other points, but they are less abundant here than at Quincy, and many other
localities in the State.
The Drift formation in this county presents the same general characters as
in the adjacent counties, and consists of unstratified clay and gravel, usually of
a brown or ashen gray color, containing boulders of igneous and metamorphic
rocks disseminated through it, but most abundant in the lower portion of the
deposit. As no rocks similar to these boulders are to be found within the
limits of this State, it is evident that a large portion of the material composing
this formation, has been transported from abroad, and by comparing specimens
of these boulders with the nearest known outcrops of similar rocks in situ, it
has been demonstrated that much of this material has been derived from the
region lying to the north of Lake Superior.
The transportation of this Drift material has been brought about by the com-
bined agencies of ice and water, during a period of submergence, while the en-
tire area of this and several of the adjoining States was beneath the water level.
Icebergs, impelled by winds, or currents of water, and loaded with the detritus
of distant shores, were, no doubt, one of the most potent agencies in the accu-
mulation of the Drift, and we find, as we trace this deposit southward from
the Lake Superior region, that the boulders diminish in size and number, in
that direction, until they entirely disappear.
When we consider the conditions under which the Drift formation has been
accumulated, it seems hardly possible that valuable mineral deposits could be
BROWN COUNTY. 65
found in it, and, although we occasionally do find specimens of native copper,
gold, and the ores of lead, iron, etc., in it, it is quite impossible, from the con-
ditions under which the Drift has been accumulated, that it should contain
any valuable deposits of these or any other metals or metallic ores. Small quan-
tities of native gold are reported to have been found in the gravel and drifted
clays of this and the adjoining counties, and possibly this may be true, but it
is far more probable, that the substance mistaken for gold, was yellow mica or
iron pyrites, derived from the Coal Measures which form the bed rock over a
large portion of the county. These substances are often mistaken for gold by
those who have no acquaintance with mineralogy, and most of the announce-
ments made through the public press in regard to gold discoveries, have no
other basis than the chance discovery, by some ignorant person, of one of the
substances above named, coupled with their firmly expressed opinion that it is
pure gold.
Although gold is frequently found in the gravel beds of the streams in the
auriferous regions, it is always in close proximity to the gold-bearing rocks,
from which the precious metal has been derived, for the specific gravity of
gold is so great, that it is rarely transported for any considerable distance from
the outcrop of the metamorphic rocks in which it occurs. The search for gold
in the Drift deposits of this State could scarcejy result otherwise than in dis-
appointment and pecuniary loss to those who may engage in it, and the geolo-
gist, who, for a temporary notoriety, should encourage such an enterprise, would
sooner or later receive his just reward in the contempt of all honest men.
Carboniferous System.
Coal Measures. — This term is usually applied to a group of. strata, consisting
of sandstones, shales, slates and thin beds of limestone, with the coal seams
and fire clays, with which they are associated. Only the lower portion of this
group is found in this county, including the three lower coal seams, and the
strata associated with them. The highest beds of this group are found in the vi-
cinity of Mount Sterling, where a hundred feet or more of strata may be found
outcropping on the small creeks which run northward into Crooked creek. A
section of these beds, down to the horizon of No. 2 coal, shows the following
order :
FT. IN.
Nodular gray limestone, partially exposed 6 to 10
Shale 20 " 30
Black shale t 4
Purple shale ; 0 6
Coal, No. 3 ? ! 3
Shale and fire clay 15 « 20
Rough gray limestone, passing into a ferruginous conglomerate 4 « 6
—9
66 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
• FEET.
Sandstone and sandy shale 15 to 20
Blue argillaceous shales 30 " 40
Shaly calcareous sandstone, with fossils 3 " 4
Argillaceous, or bituminous shale 8 " 10
Coal No. 2 H" 2£
Fire clay 2 " 3
This lower coal seam is worked at several points northeast of Mount Sterling,
in open trenches, along its outcrop, in the valleys of the small streams. Four
miles northeast of that point, it is worked in this way by Mr. Miller, on a
branch of Curry creek. The coal is about two feet in thickness, and of good
quality, with about five feet of clay shale in the roof, above which there is a
bed of black shale, that, at some other localities in this vicinity, rests directly
upon the coal. Two miles north of Mount Sterling, a shaft was sunk by Mr.
Graves to the depth of about ninety feet, when he struck the coal worked in
this vicinity at that depth. The seam was found to be from 28 to 30 inches
thick, which was not deemed sufficient to assure a paying investment in coal
mining at this point, and the shaft was subsequently abandoned. Another
shaft was sunk near Mound Station, with a similar result.
On Little Missouri creek, in the northwest corner of the county, on section
7, township 1 north, range 4 west, coal is dug at many points in the ravines
which intersect the bluffs of the main creek. The coal ranges in thickness
here from 24 to 30 inches, and is overlaid by clay shale, containing plants, and
otherwise presents the usual characteristics of No. 2 coal. A section of the
strata exposed in this vicinity, shows the following order of succession :
FEET.
Sandy shales 8 to 10
Evenly bedded sandstone " 8
Black shale " 3
Limestone * " 4
Clay shale •. 25 " 30
Coal 2 " 2£
The black shale in this section may represent the horizon of coal No.
3, and if so, then the thin seam near Mount Sterling, which we have
marked No. 3, with a query, is probably a local development. This seems most
probable, as it presents none of the usual features of either No 3 or 4, and we
have seen no other outcrop of coal, either in this or the adjoining counties,
that we can identify with this. If it represents No. 3, there is a great thicken-
ing of the strata at this point, for this coal is not usually more than forty or
fifty feet above No. 2, whereas, in the section near Moujjt Sterling, the thick-
ness of the intervening strata is from seventy-five to one hundred feet.
At the La Grange bluff, on section 29, township 1 south, range 1 west, the
lower part of the Coal Measures are well exposed, resting upon the St. Louis
BROWN COUNTY. 67
group, consisting of limestones and calcareous sandstones, which outcrop at the
base of the bluff. The following beds of the lower Coal Measures outcrop at
this locality :
FEET. IN.
Shale 10
Band of iron ore, with fossils 0 4
Shaly clay 3
Limestone . . 1
Bituminous shale 2
Coal 2 6
Shaly fire clay 4
Compact nodular limestone 4 to 6
Shaly clay 15
Ferruginous sandstone 15
The horizon of coal No. 1, in the foregoing section, is between the ferru-
ginous sandstone, and the bed of clay shale which overlies it, but no trace of
coal was to be seen where this section was made. A little further to the north-
ward, coal is said to have been found near the base of the bluff, and if so, it
must have come from seam No. 1. The upper shale in the foregoing section,
contains a calcareous band in the lower part of the bed, which is filled with
fossil shells, among which, we observed Productus muricatus, and Chonetcs
mesoloba, and these species were also found in the band of iron ore below. The
compact and nodular limestone below the coal, contains several species of uni-
valve shells, belonging to the genera Naticopsis Pleurotomaria, and Murchisonia.
The clay shale below this limestone, affords the potter's clays so extensively
used in this county in the manufacture of pottery, and its average thickness is
fifteen feet. At Ripley, the same beds are exposed as at LaGrange, and show
but little variation in their lithological characters, as may be seen from the fol-
lowing section at that point :
FEET. IN.
Micaceous sandstone , 4 to 6
Argillaceous shale 4
Bituminous shale 3 .
Coal No. 2 2
Fire clay and shale 6
Nodular bluish gray limestone 5
Light gray clay shale (Potter's clay) 15
Bituminous shale (Coal No. 1) 3
Ferruginous clay 0 6
Quartzose sandstone 20
The bed of sandstone at the base of this section, represents the conglomerate
which usually forms the base of the Coal Measures, and is quite variable in
thickness, ranging, in this county, from five to twenty feet, though it is fre-
quently wanting altogether. For three or four miles south of LaGrange, this
68 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
sandstone outcrops in a continuous mural bluff, from fifteen to twenty feet in
bight, and when the lower coal (No. 1,) is developed at all, it will be found
immediately above this sandstone.
From the preceding sections, a general idea may be had of the thickness,
and lithological character of the Coal Measures, as they are developed in this
county, and it only remains now to speak of the extent of surface which they
underlie. Originally, they covered the entire area of the county, but in the
subsequent excavation of the valleys of the Illinois river, and its main tributa-
ries, the whole thickness of Coal Measure strata have been cut away, down to
the underlying Lower Carboniferous limestones, into which all the principal
streams have cut their channels, along the lower portion of their courses.
Hence, the Coal Measures are now found only beneath the surface of the high-
lands, and in the valleys of the smaller streams, but they underlie nearly all the
uplands in the county, except a limited area in township 2 south, range 2 west,
in the vicinity of Versailles, where the hills consist of Loess. In this vicinity
the Coal Measure strata have been removed by the same agencies that scooped
out the main river valley, and the bluffs here are formed by the Quaternary
deposits, that were subsequently deposited in, and now partially fill this ancient
valley.
The principal coal seam developed in this county, is No. 2, or the Colchester
seam of McDonough county, and it outcrops on most of the small streams, and
may be reached by shafts almost anywhere on the uplands, in the central, north-
ern, or western portions of the county, at a depth varying from one hundred
to one hundred and fifty feet.
St. Louis Group — This group forms the upper division of the Lower Car-
boniferous series in this portion of the State, and consists of a hard gray con-
cretionary limestone, varying from five to ten feet or more in thickness, which
constitutes its upper division, and a brown magnesian limestone, and calcareous
sandstone, with some intercalations of blue clay shale, which form the lower
division of the group. Its entire thickness in this county, may be estimated
at about forty feet. We found the upper division well exposed on the Dry
Fork of McGree's creek, six miles south of Mount Sterling, at Tucker's old
mill. The rock is here an irregularly bedded gray limestone, a portion of
which is stained a deep rusty brown color, by the decomposition, or oxydation
of the crystals of iron pyrites which it contains, and it also contains irregular
seams of green marly clay. We obtained a few fossils from the beds at this
locality, among which were Lithostrotion proliferum, Archseocidaris Wbrtheni,
and Granatocrinus cornutus. The last named species has not been found at any
other locality in the State. In the bluffs of McGee's creek, about a mile and
a half below Jaqueth's mill, there is an exposure of about thirty feet of buff
and brown magnesian limestones and shales, which belong to this group, and
BROWN COUNTY, 69
at the mill we found the following beds overlying the blue geodiferous shales
of the Keokuk group :
FEET.
Fine grained greenish sandstone 6
Brown shale 12 to 15
Brown magnesian limestone 8 " 10
In the river bluffs, about two miles southeast of Versailles, the brown mag-
nesian limestone, which forms the lower division of this group, is exposed in
the face of the bluff", and a quarry has been opened in it, showing about fifteen
feet in thickness of regularly bedded limestone, which forms an excellent build-
ing stone. This quarry is about fifty feet above the level of the Illinois bot-
toms.
At LaGrange, there is from twenty-five to thirty feet of this group exposed
at the base of the bluff. The upper portion is a gray limestone, about
six feet thick, below which, there is about twenty feet, consisting of alterna-
tions of brown magnesian limestone, with calcareous sandstones and shales.
The magnesian limestone at this point, is not as evenly textured as this rock
usually appears, and some of the layers crumble readily, on exposure to atmos-
pheric influences. This group is also exposed on a small creek, five miles
west of LaGrange, on the Mt. Sterling road, the upper bed consisting of gray
concretionary limestone, while the lower part is a brown magnesian limestone,
about fifteen feet in thickness. The general outcrop of the St. Louis group in
this county, is along the valleys of Crooked creek, and McGee's creek, and on
some of their principal tributaries, and also along the base of the Illinois river
bluffs, wherever the stratified rocks are exposed. In the vicinity of Ripley,
we find this group outcropping in the bluffs of Crooked creek, affording, with
the underlying shales of the geode bed, the following section :
FEET.
Concretionary limestone 10
Brown magnesian limestone 15
Blue argillaceous shales, partly exposed 25
The two upper beds in the above section, belong to this group, while the
lower, which at this locality was only partly exposed, belongs, for the most
part at least, to the underlying Keokuk group. The magnesian limestone, and
the calcareous sandstone of the St. Louis group, furnish the most durable
building stone to be found in the county.
Keokuk Group. — Only the upper part of this group appears above the sur-
face in this county, including the geodiferous shales, and a few feet in thick-
ness of thin bedded limestone. These beds are exposed on the lower course of
McGee's creek, and also on Crooked creek, along its whole course in this
county. At Chambersburg, the thin bedded limestone which underlies the
70 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
geodiferous shales, may be seen in the bed of McGee's creek, and they have
afforded a few of the characteristic fossils of this formation, among which,
were Agaricocrinus Americanus, Archimedes Owcnana, and Spirifer Keokuk.
This limestone outcrops along the bed of the creek, at intervals, as far west as
township 1 south, range 5 west, in Adams county, the easterly dip of the strata
corresponding very nearly to the fall of the creek.
At Jaqueth's mill, about six miles a little south of1 west from Versailles, the
geodiferous shales of this group are well exposed, forming the base of the
bluff, as shown in the following measured section, made at this point :
FEET.
Fine grained sandstone 6
Brown shales 10 to 15
Brown magnesian limestone 8 " 10
Blue shales, with geodes 35 " 40
The lower bed in the above section consists of blue argillaceous shales, trav-
ersed by perpendicular veins of satin spar, from a quarter of an inch to an
inch in thickness. The geodes from this locality contain beautiful crystals
of brown and colorless calcite, dog-tooth spar, zinc blende, dolomite, iron py-
rites, and the more common forms of crystallized quartz and chalcedony. They
are mostly of small size in the bluff at the mill, but at other points they are
larger and are mostly lined with quartz crystals. The regularly bedded gray
limestones, which form the lower portion of this group, do not appear above the
surface in this county, but would be found a few feet below the level of the
main water courses.
Economical Geology.
Coal. — As has already been stated, the Coal Measures underlie nearly all
the uplands in this county, and attain a maximum thickness of nearly one
hundred and fifty feet, including the horizon of the three lower coal seams.
Only one of these, however, No. 2, or the Colchester coal, of McDonough county,
appears to be generally developed in this county, and from this, nearly all the
coal mined at the present time is obtained. We found this seam very uniform
in its thickness, and apparently extending over nearly the whole area underlaid
by the Coal Measures. It affords a coal of good quality, and the only draw-
back to the success of coal mining enterprises in this county, is the thickness
of the strata, which varies from twenty-four to thirty inches. The roof is
generally a clay shale, though, at some localities, the lower part of it becomes
highly bituminous, passing into a black shale, which forms an excellent roof.
This seam is only worked in a very primitive way, by the process called " strip,
ping," which consists of throwing off the overlying material, where the coal
outcrops in the valleys of the small streams, and then taking out the coal
BROWN COUNTY. 71
where the seam has thus been laid bare. This seam is as thick here as it is in
the vicinity of Colchester, where it is successfully worked, both by tunneling
into the hillsides along its outcrop, and by shafts sunk to the level of the coal
on the highlands. It will furnish about two million tons of coal to the
square mile, and probably underlies at least two-thirds of the area of the
county.
Coal seam No. 1 is quite irregular in its development, and at most points
where we found the horizon of this coal exposed, we found the coal replaced by
a thin bed of bituminous shale. Just above LaGrange, we were told that a
seam had been formerly opened at the foot of the bluff, where the coal was
about two feet thick, and if so, it must have been the lower seam. We also
found an outcrop, at about the same horizon, on Little Missouri creek, near the
north line of the county, on section 5, township 3 south, range 4 west, where
the coal was about two feet thick, which, probably, is an outcrop of No. 1. It
generally affords an inferior coal to that produced from the seam above it, and
for that reason it will not be as extensively worked as the other seam, even when
found of the same thickness.
The thin seam which outcrops a little northeast of Mount Sterling, may be
the representative of No. 3, and if not, is a local development of coal, coming
in between No. 3 and 4. It is the only seam met with in the county above
No. 2, and its distance above that may be due entirely to a local thickening of
the intervening strata. But, in the absence of the characteristic fossils that
are usually found in connection with No. 3 coal, it is difficult to decide posi-
tively whether this seam should be considered as the equivalent of that, or as
holding a higher position. However, as it is probably nowhere developed of
sufficient thickness to be successfully worked, the question has no important
practical bearing in estimating the coal resources of the county. No. coal will
be found here below the beds of the main water courses, as we have already
stated that these have been cut down quite through the Coal Measures, and into
the upper divisions of the Lower Carboniferous limestone series, which underlie
all the coal strata at present known in this country.
Potter's Clay. — This county has long been noted for the amount of potter's
ware, annually manufactured within its limits. The potteries are mostly loca-
ted in the vicinity of Ripley, though the bed of clay shale, which furnishes
the material from which the ware is manufactured, is found outcropping at
several other localities. It is exposed at LaGranee, and attains about the
same thickness there as at Ripley, and lies between the two lower coal seams.
The bed is about fifteen feet in thickness, but only the upper portion of it is
used for pottery. Where it was first opened, the overlying beds had been car-
ried away by Drift agencies, and the surface of the clay shale had been long
exposed to the action of atmospheric influences, which reduced it to the condi-
72 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
tion of a tough, plastic clay, well adapted to the potter's use. The same effect
may be produced on the freshly dug shales, by throwing the material into heaps,
and allowing it to remain fully exposed, for a year or two, to the action of the
atmosphere. About a dozen potteries have been established in the vicinity of
Ripley, and this number may be increased indefinitely as the wants of the com-
munity shall require, as the supply of the raw material is abundant.
Fire Clay. — The under-clay of coal No. 2 is often pure enough for the
manufacture of fire brick, though no attempt has been made, so far as I could
learn, to test its quality in this county.
Building Stone. — This county is not so well supplied with good building
stone as the counties lying south and west of it, where the older rocks outcrop
more extensively. 'The quartzose sandstone, which forms the base of the Coal
Measures, may sometimes be safely used for this purpose, and the massive beds
of this rock, which outcrop at the base of the bluff, for three or four miles
below LaGrange, seem to be sufficiently coherent in their structure to make a
durable building stone. The brown magnesian limestone, and the calcareous
sandstone, of the St. Louis group, may usually be safely used for this purpose,
and the former is especially adapted to the construction of culverts and bridge
abutments, where a material is required that will withstand the combined
influence of frost and moisture. The sandstone below the upper coal seam,
near Mount Sterling, appears to be a very good freestone, and the jail at that
place has been built of this rock.
Limestone for Lime. — The best material for the manufacture of common
lime, is the concretionary limestone, which forms the upper division of the St.
Louis group. It is usually a very pure carbonate of lime, and is more exten-
sively used for this purpose, than any other limestone in this portion of the
State. Along the river bluffs, below LaGrange, this rock has been used at sev-
eral points for this purpose, though at some localities it contains too much sili-
cious or argillaceous material to make a pure lime. In the vicinity of Mt.
Sterling, lime has been made from the nodular gray limestone, which lies be-
tween the two upper coals, and it is said to make a strong lime, suitable for
mortar and cement, but darker colored than that made from the concretionary
limestone of the St. Louis group.
Sand and Clay for Brick. — These materials are so common and abundant
in this portion of the State, that it seems scarcely necessary to mention their
occurrence at any particular locality, but as it is a primary object in all reports
of this kind, to make known abroad the natural resources of the State, it seems
hardly proper to entirely omit the mention of materials so nearly universal as
these in their distribution. There is, perhaps, no mineral product of the State,
if we except coal, more important to our vast prairie region, than the materials
for the manufacture of common bricks, and there are but few branches of
BROWN COUNTY. 73
manufactures perhaps none carried on in this State in which so great an amount
of labor and capital is annually employed. The subsoil clays at almost any
point on the uplands in this county, may be used for brick making, and where
this rests upon the sandy beds of the Loess, the necessary proportion of sand
may be obtained on the spot, and at other localities, it may be readily found in
the bed of some neighboring stream. As the country increases in wealth and
population, the desire for more artistic and substantial dwellings will also in-
crease, and with that, we shall have a just appreciation of the natural resources
so abundantly placed at our command, for this purpose.
Soil and Agriculture. — There is, probably, no portion of this county, where
the soil is so poor that it will not produce annually fair crops of most of the
cereals grown in this latitude, without the stimulant of any fertilizer, other
than that it naturally contains ; but there are some soils more productive than
others, and therefore more desirable for the agriculturist. First in rank, we
should place the timbered lands of the Loess, characterized by a growth of
sugar maple, elm, wild cherry, linden, etc., with the common varieties of oak
and hickory. Next, the prairie lands, and lastly, the white oak lands, which
occupy mainly the ridges along the breaks of the smaller streams. These last,
however, are very good fruit lands, and also produce fair crops of wheat, oats,
clover, etc. The principal growth of timber on these lands, is black and white
oak, and hickory." They have a thin soil, with a heavy clay subsoil, which will
improve under a liberal application of stable manure, applied annually, or by
fallowing, and the plowing under of green crops. The prairie region is quite
limited in this county, and confined to the northern and western portions.
The bottom lands on the Illinois river are very productive, and where they are
elevated above the annual overflow of the river, they may be ranked amon°- the
most valuable farming lands in the county. The soil is generally a sandy loam,
and better adapted to the cultivation of corn than the uplands. The subsoil is
for the most part, quite sandy, which gives a free surface drainage, where the
land is sufficiently elevated above the river level.
Mineral Springs. — The Versailles Mineral Springs, three or four in number
are situated about a mile northeast of the village, in a little valley surrounded
by hills, composed entirely of Loess and Drift. The valley in which these
springs are situated, was originally a part of the ancient valley in which the
Illinois river now runs, and was excavated for a hundred feet or more into the
carboniferous rocks that were once continuous across the area now occupied by
this valley, and are now found underlying the Quaternary deposits in the ad-
jacent region. The springs, probably, originate in the Loess, or some other
Post Tertiary beds, which now form the surrounding hills, and derive the small
per cent, of mineral ingredients which the water contains, from these recent
formations.
—10
74 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The following analysis of the waters, from three of these springs, were made
in Chicago, the two first, by Dr. J. V. Z. Blaney, and the last, by Mr. Geo. A.
Mariner, and gave the following results, as the total number of grains of solid
mineral matter in an imperial gallon of water :
NUMBER 1.
Sulphate of Lime 2.0852
Chloride of sodium, a trace.
Alumina, and a trace of iron 7268
Bi-carbonate of Lime 17.4315
" Magnesia 12.5-750
" Soda 10.9895
" Potash, a trace.
Organic matter, a trace.
Silica. , .8177
Total solid matter in imperial gallon . . , 44.6257
NUMBER 2.
Bi-carbonate of Iron, and trace of Alumina 2.1352
" Lime 23.2238
" Magnesia 11.7799
" Soda 10.9895
" Potash, a trace.
Silica 1.7036
Chloride of sodium, a trace.
Organic matter, a trace.
Total solid matter in one imperial gallon 49.8320
NUMBER 3.
Carbonate of Lime 14.600
" Magnesia 8.950
" Iron 060
" Soda and potassa 1.320
Chloride of sodium 003
Sulphate of lime, a trace.
Silica 1.400
Free carbonic acid. . . 11.683
Total grains in one gallon 38.016
CHAPTER V.
SCHUYLER COUNTY.
This county embraces a superficial area of a little over eleven townships, or
about four hundred and fourteen square miles, and is bounded on the north
by McDonough and Fulton counties, on the east by Fulton county and the
Illinois river, on the south by Brown county, and on the west by the counties
of Adams and Hancock. Its surface is considerably diversified with hills and
valleys, prairies and heavily timbered woodlands, the proportion of prairie and
timber lands being about one of the former to three of the latter. Along the
bluffs of Crooked creek, and the Illinois river, the surface is quite broken and
hilly, but even these broken lands possess a rich and productive soil, and are
valuable for agricultural purposes, wherever they are sufficiently level for cul-
tivation. The prairies are mostly small, and are restricted to the northern
and western portions of the county. The county is well watered, mainly by
Crooked creek, and its affluents, which traverse its southern and western por-
tion, and by Sugar creek and the Illinois river, the'' former intersecting the
eastern portion of the county, and the latter forming, in part, its eastern
boundary. Crooked creek furnishes considerable water power, and, in the
early settlement of the country, the inhabitants of this, and several of the ad-
joining counties, were dependent upon the water mills upon this stream for
nearly all their milling facilities. More recently, however, steam power has,
to a great extent, superseded the old water mill, and most of the mills on this
stream now have a steam engine attached, to enable them to run throughout
the year.
On the ridges adjacent to the small streams, the timber is mostly black oak
and hickory, but on the more level portions of the timbered region, as well as on
the bluffs of the Illinois river, we find, in addition to these, elm, linden, sugar-
maple, wild-cherry, and honey-locust, an arboreal growth which indicates a soil
of the best quality, fully equal to the best prairie soils. Much of the upland,
where this growth of timber prevails, is underlaid by the marly sands and
clays of the Loess, and rank among the very best lands in the State. Fine
blue grass pastures are easily made upon these lands, and the soil is well
adapted to the growth of fruit, especially the grape.
76 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
On the eastern border of the county, there is a belt of alluvial bottoms
skirting the Illinois river, from a half mile to about four miles in width. Some
portions of this bottom land is above the high-water level of the river, and
these lands are very productive, while other portions are subject to annual over-
flow from the river floods, and are of little value at the present time for agri-
cultural purposes. A considerable portion of this is bottom prairie, but there
is usually a belt of heavy timber skirting the river, and also the small streams
by which the bottoms are intersected. The timber on these low lands comprise
cotton-wood, sycamore, soft-maple, ash, elm, hickory, pecan, Spanish oak,
swamp white oak, pin oak, black walnut, hackberry, buckeye, honey-locust,
paw-paw, horn-beam, willow, etc. There are also narrow belts of bottom land
on some of the larger creeks in this county, as on Crooked creek and Sugar
creek, but these seldom exceed a half mile in width, and are covered with a
heavy growth of timber, embracing most of the varieties mentioned as occur-
ring in the Illinois river bottoms, with the addition of white walnut, sugar-
maple, linden, white oak, etc.
The general surface level of the uplands in this county, ranges from two to
three hundred feet above the level of the Illinois river, and the river bluffs
often rise abruptly to the height of two hundred feet or more above the bot-
toms, but exhibit none of the bold limestone escarpments, so conspicuous on
the lower course of the river, where the Lower Carboniferous limestones are
the prevailing formations.
G eo logy.
The geological structure of this county, like that of Brown, includes the
Quaternary system, the lower portion of the Coal Measures, and the upper
divisions of the Lower Carboniferous limestones, but differs from that in an
additional thickness of the Coal Measures sufficient to bring in another coal
seam, No. 4, which is not found in any county south of this, on the west side of
the Illinois river. The following section exhibits the formations to be found
in this county, in their relative order of superposition and thickness:
FEET.
Quaternary, comprising Alluvium, Loess and Drift 100
Coal Measures 200 to 250
St. Louis group 30 " 40
Keokukgroup 60 " 70
The three lower groups belong properly to what are called stratified rocks,
that is, to those that have been formed in regular strata or layers, and also to
that division of geological time termed paleozoic, because the embedded fossils
represent only ancient forms of animal and vegetable life, while the upper di-
vision belongs to the most recent geological age, and the fossils which it con-
SCIIUYLER COUNTY. 77
tains are the remains of species of animals now living, or but recently become
extinct. Hence this formation is unconformable with those below it, and may
be found immediately overlying either of them, even the lowest, if the others
are absent. If the geological series was complete, we should have above the
Coal Measures, and intervening between that formation and the Quaterna-
ry, the whole of the Secondary and Tertiary series, embracing many thou-
sand feet in thickness of strata, and representing, in their fossil contents, all the
missing links in the great chain of organic life, which connect the paleozoic
age with the present. But as the Quaternary is the most recent of all the
geological systems, it may be found resting directly upon any of the above de-
posits, from the Tertiary to the most ancient stratified or igneous rocks that out-
crop on the surface of the earth. This system includes the alluvial deposits of
our river valleys, usually termed Alluvium; the Loess, a deposit of buff-colored
marly sands and clays, most conspicuous in the vicinity of the river bluffs, and
the Drift, which usually consists of brown or bluish gray, gravelly clays, with
water-worn boulders of various sizes, from an inch to several feet in diameter.
There is probably no locality in the county where these deposits exceed a hun-
dred feet in thickness, and they attain their greatest development in the vicini-
ty of the river bluffs, where the Loess attains its greatest thickness, and rests
upon the Drift clays. In the interior of the county, the Loess is generally
wanting, and the drift deposits generally range from thirty to fifty feet in,
thickness, and consist of unstratified clays, with sand and gravel, enclosing
water-worn boulders of granite, sienite, gneiss, porphyry, horn-blende and
quartzite, and also the rounded fragments of the limestones and sandstones of
the adjacent region. Fragments of copper, lead ore, coal, iron and other min-
erals are often found in the Drift, or in the gravel beds' in the valleys of the
small streams, but their occurrence in this position is no indication of the prox-
imity of any valuable deposit of these minerals, and the fragments which are
found in this position are far removed from the beds from which they originally
came Small quantities of gold are reported to have been found in the washed
gravel of this formation, but nowhere yet in sufficient, quantity to pay the
ordinary price of the labor necessary to secure it, and it is quite certain that, in
many cases, the material mistaken for gold, is either pyrites of iron or yellow
mica"; the former, derived from the Coal Measures or other stratified rocks of
the adjacent region, and the latter from the decomposed boulders of sienite or
gneiss, transported from the northern shores of the great lakes.
Carboniferous System.
Coal Measures. — This term is applied to the upper division of the Carbon-
iferous System, and it embraces all the coal seams and the associated strata,
78
GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
and when fully developed, attains a thickness of eight hundred or a thousand
feet in this State. Only about two hundred and fifty feet of the lower portion
of the Coal Measures are found in this county, which may be illustrated by the
following section, showing the general arrangement and comparative thickness
of the strata :
10 to 15 feet.
3 to 6 feet
2 to 4 feet.
8 to 10 feet.
60 to 80 feet.
2 to 6 feet.
4 to 8 feet.
12 to 15 feet.
4 to 6 feet.
15 to 30 feet.
30 to 40 feet.
1 to 3 feet.
15 to 25 feet.
Brown sandy shale.
Compact gray limestone.
Bituminous shale, with concretions of limestone.
Coal seam No. 4.
Fire clay and septaria.
Sandstone and shale.
Bluish gray arenaceous limestone.
Bituminous and argillaceous shales.
Coal seam No. 3.
Sandy and argillaceous shales.
Gray limestone.
Sandy and argillaceous shales.
Coal seam No. 2.
Sandstone and shale.
Coal seam No. 1.
Fire clay.
Sandy shale and conglomerate sandstone.
SCHUTLER COUNTY. 79
The beds comprising the upper part of the foregoing section, are found well
exposed in the vicinity of Rushville, and also on a small branch, which heads
near Pleasant View, and runs eastwardly into Sugar creek. They enclose coal
seam No. 4, one of the most persistent and valuable in the Illinois Coal Field,
which outcrops in the vicinity of Pleasant View, and from thence trends north-
westwardly to Rushville, underlying an elevated plateau around and between these
points, that forms the water shed between the tributaries of Crooked creek and
Sugar creek. The seam ranges in thickness from four to six feet, and in this
county averages about five feet. The roof is generally a bituminous shale, which
often contains large nodules of dark blue or black limestone, filled with marine
shells, among which are Productus muricatus, Clinopistha radiata, Pleuropho-
rus soleniformis, P. radiatus, Cardiomorpha Missouriensis, Distinct nitida,
Schizodus curtus, etc. Above the black shale, there is usually a bed of bluish
gray limestone, containing joints of crinoidea, and a few small brachiopods,
among which the Spirifer lineatus, and a small variety of Atkyris subtilita, are
the most common. The shale and limestone forms an admirable roof to the
coal seam, so that it can be worked with perfect safety, and in the most eco-
nomical manner. Below the coal, there is usually, first, a thin bed of shaly
clay, and then a bed of septaria, from two to four feet thick. Messrs. M. Far-
well & Co., have been mining this coal in the vicinity of Pleasant View, for
many years, for the supply of steamboats at Frederick four miles distant, on
the Illinois river. It was first worked by tunneling into the hill where the
coal outcrops, on the breaks of a small stream running into Sugar creek, but is
now worked mainly by shafts sunk from the general surface level down to the
coal. I am indebted to Mr. J. Watson Webb, assistant engineer on the Rock
Island and St. Louis railroad, for the following elevations :
FEET.
Eight of the coal seam at Pleasant View, above the high water level of 1844 190
Above the river bank, opposite Beardstown 202
This seam has so great an elevation, that it will probably be found under-
lying only the highest lands forming the water shed already mentioned, and
consequently, extending over only a limited area in the southern part of town-
ship 2 north, range 1 west, and the eastern portion of 2 north, 2 west.
In the vicinity of Rushville, this seam has been worked for many years, and
on my first visit to the county in 1854, I found it opened about a mile north-
east of the town, where the seam outcrops in a small ravine, on the land of
Mr. Rose. Subsequently, this coal has been worked at various points in this
vicinity, and during the past year, a shaft has been sunk about a mile northeast
of Rushville, and the coal was found at the depth of twenty-five feet. The
coal presents the same general character here as in the vicinity of Pleasant
View, and the business of coal mining has been greatly extended, since the
80 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
completion of the Rock Island and St. Louis railroad to this point. The seam
has a good slate and limestone roof, and is underlaid by clay shale and septaria,
below which there is a thick bed of argillaceous and sandy shales, passing into
sandstone. Following down the creek, which runs northwardly from this point
into Crooked creek, the strata are found well exposed down to the horizon of
coal No. 3, which lies nearly, or quite, a hundred feet below. At this point,
the beds between these coals are more argillaceous than we found them north
of Rushville, or in the vicinity of Pleasant View, and showed the following
succession of strata, downward from coal No. 4 :
FEET.
Fire clay and shale, with septaria 8 to 10
Clay shale 25 " 30
Sandy shales , . 30 "40
Thin bedded concretionary sandstone ; . 8 " 10
Bluish gray calcareous sandstone 2 " 3
Clay shale 2 " 3
Black shale 3 " 4
Coal No. 3 2 " 3
The lower coal at this locality, is reported to be 2£ feet in thickness, but
the opening had been filled up, so that we could not obtain an accurate meas-
urement of it at this point. The calcareous sandstone over this coal, contains
joints of crinoidea, and the overlying concretionary sandstone contains frag-
ments of plants, among which were many broad, ribbon-like leaves of Cordaites.
Near Oakland Station, on Sugar creek, ten miles northeast of Rushville, No.
3 is found outcropping at several points at the base of the hills. It averages
here about three feet in thickness, with a roof of shale and sandstone. The
limestone which often intervenes between this seam and No. 2, was seen out-
cropping below the coal exposed here, but the underlying coal being below the
creek valley, was not seen.
Northeast of Pleasant View, a good exposure of all the beds, down to the
horizon of No. 2 coal, may be seen on the small stream running northwardly
into Sugar creek, and the following is the order of succession here, below coal
No 4:
FEET.
Coal No. 4 4 to 5
Clay shale and septaria 8 " 10
Sandstone and shale 116
Hard bluish gray limestone 8 " 10
Black shale, with concretions of dark blue limestone 4 " 6
Blue shale, with streaks of coal (No. 3) 2 " 3
Sandy and argillaceous shales 56
Coal ~] 2
Clay shale I No. 2 coal. 3
Coal J 2 " 3
Fire clay and clay shale 20 " 25
SCHUYLER COUNTY, 81
By the foregoing section it will be seen that the strata intervening between
coals 3 and 4 are mainly sandstones and sandy shales, and the same is true at
some other localities, and a portion of this sandstone is a very good freestone,
and has been used for the construction of the jail in Rushville, and for foun-
dation walls in the town and in the adjacent region. This sandstone is well
exposed on the breaks of the streams north of Rushville, and affords nearly all
the building stone used in this part of the county. Coal No. 3 is not so regu-
lar in its development as either No. 4 above it, or No. 2 below, and is frequently
replaced by bituminous shales. It is worked, however, at several localities in
this county, where it ranges from two to four feet in thickness. On Coal creek;
about a mile and a-half southwest of Frederick, tunnels have been opened in this
seam along its line of outcrop, where the coal ranges from two to three feet in
thickness, but is hardly equal in quality to that from the seam above. A sec-
tion on this creek, shows all the beds at the base of the Coal Measures, from
the horizon of No. 3 coal, down to the Lower Carboniferous limestones, as
follows:
FEET.
Soft yellow limestone 2
Bituminous shale 2
Coal, No. 3. 2 to 3
Shale 12 " 15
Hard bluish gray limestone , 4 " 6
Clay shale 1 5 " 1 8
Coal No. 2 1 £
Blue and green sandy shales 20 " 25
Hard calcareous sandstone 10 " 12
Ferruginous shales 6
Calcareous shale with fossils 3
Blue and gray shale 10 " 12
Shaly sandstone 3 " 4
At this point coal No. 2 is too thin to be worked, and No. 1 is wanting alto-
gether, its place bein? below the three foot bed of calcareous shale, which
contains several of the same species of fossils found in connection with coal
No. 1, in Fulton county. At Spillar's mine, a mile and a-half above Frederick,
No. 3 ranges from 30 to 3ti inches in thickness, and the coal appears to be
decidedly better in quality than that obtained from the same seam on Coal
creek. A half mile below Spillar's, the gray limestone of the St. Louis group
is seen just above the road at the foot of the bluff, and has been quarried to
supply a lime kiln at this point. The conglomerate sandstone is not repre-
sented here, but the ferruginous shale usually found above No. 1 coal, is found
here resting directly upon the limestone.
A half mile above Frederick, all the beds, from coal No. 3 down to the base
of the Coal Measures, are exposed in the face of the bluff, but neither of the
—11
82 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
coals are thick enough at this point to be worked. The following section was
made here, commencing at the top of the bluff:
FEET. IN.
Sandstone 10
Buff-colored, thin bedded limestone , 4 to 6
Shale 12
Bituminous shale, (Coal No.' 3,) 2 " 3
Shale 42
Thin coal, No. 2 0 6
Fire clay and shale 20
Thin coal, No. 1 0 6
Fire clay, shale and iron ore ; 6
Sandstone 6
This is the only locality that we met with in the Coal Measures of this
county, where one or more of these coal seams was not developed of sufficient
thickness to be worked, but there may be other points also, where the coal is
either absent altogether, or replaced with bituminous shale.
At the place formerly owned by Mr. James A. Chadsey, on section 32,
township 2 north, range 1 east, there are two bands of iron ore in the shale
below coal No. 2, that will afford a very good ore for the manufacture of metallic
iron. These bands of iron ore occur just above the horizon of No. 1 coal,
which is not developed here, and they are respectively 12 and 6 inches in
thickness, separated by about two feet of shale. The section at this locality
is as follows :
FT. IN.
Massive sandstone 30 to 40
Silicious limestone ., 3 " 4
Bituminous shale, (Coal No. 3,) 3 " 5
Shale 27
Hard gray limestone 6
Shale 14
Brash coal, ) 1
Shale, V Coal No. 2. 2
Coal, } 2
Shale and sandstone , 12
Iron ore 1
Shale 2
Iron ore . 0 6
Shale, with thin bands of iron ore , 6
Sandstone and streaks of coal, (No. 1,) 18
Hard gray limestone, of the St. Louis group 10
A little west of Chadsey's place, coal No. 2 has been worked by Mr. John
Rebman, where the seam is three feet thick, according to the report of those
living near, but the roof had fallen in so that it could not be measured when
we were at the locality. It is probable that the parting of shale, which
separates this coal in the foregoing section, has thinned out here so that the
SCHUYLER COUNTY. 83
two divisions form but one seam. On the same branch, a little higher up, the
bituminous shale of coal No. 3 is about three feet thick, underlaid by a few
inches of impure coal. The shale contains large concretions of dark blue arena-
ceous limestone, containing fossil shells, among which were Aviculopecten
rectalaterarea, Cardiomorpha Missouriensis, two or three species of small Gonia-
tites, Productus Prattenanus and Chonetes mesoloba. The hard gray limestone
which intervenes between these coal seams, at Chadsey's place, and at many
other points in this county, was wanting here. It is usually from four to six
feet thick, and more or less concretionary in structure, and resembles, in its
lithological characters, the concretionary member of the St. Louis group, but
may always be distinguished by its fossils, which consist of two or three species
of Naticopsis, Spirifer lineatus, Pleurotimaria sphserulata and Athyris subtilita.
The lower division of the Coal Measures, embracing the horizon of the
three lower coal seams, underlies nearly all the highlands in the central and
eastern portions of this county, and are found outcropping on all the principal
streams and their tributaries. In the western part of the county, on Crooked
creek, and the region lying west of that stream, the beds rise so that the Lower
Carboniferous limestone, and the conglomerate sandstone, form the principal
outcrops in the bluffs of the creek, while only a few feet in thickness of the
lower portion of the Coal Measures, sometimes including coal No. 2, are found
underlying the adjacent highlands. It is not probable that any coal, except
No. 2, will be found west of Crooked creek, of sufficient thickness to be of
any economical importance.
The upper seam developed in this county, or No. 4 of the general section, is
found in the vicinity of Rushville and Pleasant View, and is by far the most
valuable coal in the county, and will furnish an abundant supply of coal, suffi-
cient to answer all the demands of the region adjacent to its outcrop, for many
years. Its position in the series, is about one hundred and seventy-five feet
above the base of the Coal Measures, and consequently, it is only found under-
lying the most elevated portion of the county, comprising a belt of country from
two to four miles in width, extending northwesterly from Pleasant View to a
point a few miles northwest of Rushville, where the surface level gradually
slopes away towards Crooked creek, and soon sinks below the level of this coal.
No deep mining will be necessary to reach this seam, for if found at all, it will
be at a depth varying from fifty to seventy-five feet, or less, below the surface,
and it is found outcropping on the head-waters of several of the small streams,
that serve to drain the elevated region which it underlies. The seams below
this are generally too thin to be worked at the present time, except along their
outcrop, where tunnels can be driven into them, and the coal taken out without
the expense of sinking a shaft down to the coal, through the overlying strata.
84 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Nos. 2 and 3 vary in thickness from two to three feet, while No. 1 was not met
with in the county sufficiently developed to be of any economical value.
St. Louis Group. — The outcrop of the Lower Carboniferous limestones in
this county, is restricted to the valleys of the principal streams, and -to the Illi-
nois river bluffs, between the mouth of Sugar creek and the south line of the
county. The St. Louis group, which comprises the upper division of the series,
consists of a gray concretionary limestone of variable thickness, ranging from five
to twenty feet, forming the upper member of the group, below which we find a
brown magnesian limestone, sometimes quite massive, and in regular beds, and
at other localities, intercalated with shales, or passing into a thin bedded or
shaly limestone.
The concretionary limestone is not very regular in its development, but often
occurs in isolated patches or outliers, and is a rough gray limestone, presenting
no regular lines of bedding, but usually concretionary or brecciated in its struc-
ture. It outcrops at intervals, along the bluffs of Crooked creek, through its
whole course in this county, and also along the bluffs of the Illinois river, as
far north as the vicinity of Browning, where it disappears. It was also found
on Sugar creek, as far up as McKee's mill, on section 17, township 2 north,
range 1 east. The only fossils that were obtained from this limestone, was the
Lithostrotion canadense, a silicious coral that abounds in it almost everywhere,
and is found weathered out in the beds of the streams, in masses, often of con.
siderable size, which, from the polygonal form of the single corallites that go
to form the mass, are often called petrified honey comb. In the vicinity of Bir-
mingham, we found this limestone eighteen feet thick, and overlaid by the
conglomerate sandstone of the Coal Measures. It is underlaid by a bed of cal-
careous sandstone, and also a magnesian limestone about ten feet thick, which
forms the base of the St. Louis group at this locality.
The magnesian limestone is far more regular in its development than the
concretionary limestone, and is usually of a rusty brown color on the surface,
from the oxydation of the iron which it contains. It contains a few species of
fossils, among which are Productus Altonensis, Archimedes Wortheni, Spirifer
Keokuk, Rhynchonella mutata, and a large Conularia, perhaps C. Missouriensis
of Swallow. This limestone occurs at the base of the bluff at Frederick, and
also in the vicinity of Schuyler City, which is the most northerly point where
we found it exposed in the river bluffs.
Keokuk Group. — Only the upper portion of this group is exposed in this
county, and its greatest development appears to be in the vicinity of Birmingham,
in the northwest corner of the county. The greatest thickness exposed here is
about fifty feet, of which the lower fifteen feet is a thin bedded limestone, con-
taining many of the characteristic fossils of this group, above which there is
about thirty-five feet of calcareo-argillaceous shales, containing geodes of quartz
SCHUYLER COUNTY. 85
and chalcedony. The easterly dip of the strata is considerably more than the
fall of the creek in that direction, and these beds dip below the bed of the
creek, before it strikes the north line of Brown county. The thin bedded
limestones which occur at the base of the section near Birmingham, contain
many of the characteristic fossils of this group, among which are Archimedes
Owe.nana, Productus punctatus, Agaricocrinus Americanus, Platycrinus Saffordi,
Spirifer Keokuk, and S. neglectus. The g'eodiferous shales above, contain the
common geodes, lined with quartz crystals and mammillary calcedony, and more
rarely, crystals of dolomite, calc spar, and zinc blende. The limestones locally
intercalated in the shale, contains the same species of fossils that are found in
the limestones below.
Economical Geology.
Coal. — The most important and valuable mineral resource of this county
consists of the deposits of bituminous coal, which underlie the greater portion
of its surface, and especially that portion of the county lying west of Crooked
creek. Until quite recently, the coal of this county has had no outlet to
market, except as it was required for home consumption, but since the comple-
tion of the railroad to Rushville, and its probable extension, at an early day,
into and through a region further south, which is but poorly supplied with
coal, a ready market will be found for all the coal of this county. The upper
seam is the most valuable, and, from its greater thickness and excellent roof,
can be mined more economically than either of the lower seams. Its average
thickness is nearly five feet, and its product about five million of tons to the
square mile. It affords a hard, bright coal, which breaks with a conchoidal
fracture, and is traversed by vertical seams of carbonate of lime, which are
often stained with the oxyd of iron. The following analysis of a specimen of
this coal, from the mines near Pleasant View, by Mr. Henry Pratten, former
chemist and assistant in the Geological Survey of Illinois, is reported in Nor-
wood's "Abstract of a Report on Illinois Coals," page 24 :
Specific gravity 1.286
Loss iu coking 40. 60
Total weight of coke 59.40
100.00
Analysis : Moisture 6.0
Volatile matters 34.6
Carbon in coke 52.9
Ashes (deep red) 6.5
100.00
Carbon in coal 5*7.8
Another analysis of a specimen from Rose's coal bank, near Rushville, from
86 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
the same report, is as follows, and is interesting, as showing the variable char-
acter of the coals from the same seam at different localities :
Specific gravity 1.303
Loss in coking 41.6
Total weight of coke 58.4
100.00
Analysis : Moisture 4.5
Volatile matters '. 37.1
Carbon in coke 46.1
Ashes, (white) 12.3
100.00
Carbon in coal 51.79
The two lower seams, ranging from two to three feet in thickness, are not so
extensively worked at the present time as the one above mentioned, but as
they underlie a far greater extent of surface than the upper seam, they will, no
doubt, furnish by far the greatest amount of coal in the aggregate. No. 3 is
worked by Mr. Spillar, about a mile above Frederick, and affords an excellent
coal, containing less of the bi-sulphuret of iron than the coal from the upper
seam. No. 2 is often divided by a parting of clay shale, and the divisions are
then usually too thin to be worked, but at other localities, it forms a solid seam
from too to three feet thick. One or both of these seams will be found under-
lying the greater portion of the uplands north and east of Crooked creek, and
accessible at many points in the county, remote from the outcrop of the upper
seam, and their value and importance will be eventually appreciated, as popu-
lation increases, and the demand for coal for mechanical and manufacturing
purposes becomes more imperative.
Clays. — Clays suitable for fire brick and for the manufacture of pottery, are
usually abundant in the lower portion of the Coal Measures, and the bed
of clay shale below coal No. 2, which is used for this purpose at Ripley, in
Brown county, is also found here. We found an exposure of it on the place for-
merly owned by Mr. James A. Chadsey, on Sugar creek, where it presented
the same general appearance as at Ripley, and appeared to be equally well
adapted to the manufacture of potter's ware. At the coal bank of McKee and
Chadsey, on the head-waters of McKee's creek, north of Rushville, there is a
bed of excellent fire clay under the upper coal seam, from four to six feet thick.
This may be only a local development, however, as at all the other localities in
the county where we saw this under-clay exposed, it partook more of the char-
acter of a clay shale, and was also rather too thin to be of any economical value.
The fire clay below coal No. 2, is usually of a good quality, and may be profit-
ably worked in connection with the coal, when it is two feet or more in thick-
ness. Wherever a seam of good fire clay occurs with these lower coals, it will
add materially to their value, enabling the miner to drift more economically
for both together, than he could do for the coal alone.
SCHUYLER COUNTY. 87
Iron Ore. — Iron, either in the form of a carbonate or sulphuret, is very gen-
erally distributed through the Coal Measures, and the latter is almost always
found more or less in the coal itself, thereby greatly deteriorating its value.
A very good argillaceous iron ore occurs on Sugar creek, on the place formerly
owned by Mr. James A. Chadsey, on section 32, township 2 north, range 1
east, intercalated in the shale below No. 2 coal. It occurs in several bands?
the thickest one being a foot in thickness, the next in importance, about six
inches, and then some thinner ones, making altogether, an aggregate of about
two feet in thickness of iron ore, distributed through some five or six feet of
shale. An analysis of this ore by Messrs. Blaney and Mariner, of Chicago, is
given in this place, and also, for comparison, the analysis of a similar ore from
Pennsylvania :
Analysis of Chadsey's iron ore :
Protoxide of iron 52.31
Lime 1.16
Magnesia 1.48
Silica 8.84
Alumina 10.44
Water and carbonic acid 25.77
100.00
Analysis of argillaceous iron ore from Pennsylvania, as determined by Prof. H. D. Rodgers:
Peroxide of iron 23
Protoxide of iron 53.03
Lime 3.33
Magnesia 1.77
Silica 1.40
Alumina 63
Water, carbonic acid, and bitumen 39.61
100.00
In regard to the Schuyler county ore, Messrs. Blaney and Mariner remark
as follows : '' The Chadsey iron ore is an argillaceous carbonate of iron, of ex-
cellent quality, comparing favorably with the Pennsylvania ores, the analysis
of one of the best of which is given for comparison." There is no question as
to the good quality of this ore from Schuyler county, and the only point that
remains to be determined is, whether it can be found in a sufficient body to
justify the erection of an iron furnace in this vicinity. Iron ore of similar
quality, is found at about the same horizon, at several localities in this and the
adjoining counties, but nowhere in large bodies.
Building Stone. — Grood building stone is tolerably abundant in this county,
and is accessible on nearly all the streams. The sandstones below the main
coal seam, furnishes a free-stone of good quality, which has been used in the
construction of the jail in Rushville. The strata vary in thickness from one to
88 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
three feet, and the rock is even textured, and is easily cut and dressed, and is
used for caps and sills, as well as for foundation walls, and all the ordinary pur-
poses for which a building stone is required. It outcrops on McKee's creek,
north of Rushville, and also on the small branch running east from Pleasant
View into Sugar creek.
The brown magnesian limestone of the St. Louis group, furnishes the best
material for culverts, bridge abutments and similar purposes, where the rock is
required to withstand the combined influence of frost and moisture. It out-
crops along the bluffs of Crooked creek, through its whole extent in this county,
and also in the bluffs of the Illinois river, as far north as Frederick.
The Keokuk limestone, underlying the geodiferous shales of that group,
afford some good building stone, but its outcrop is limited to the bed of Crooked
creek, in the northwest part of the county. At the best exposures, which
were found in the vicinity of Birmingham, the rock was rather thin bedded
and cherty, but this was on the exposed outcrop of the bed, where the strata
had been split into thin layers by the combined influence of frost and moisture.
If quarries were opened in this rock, extending back beyond the influence of
atmospheric agencies, it would be found to improve in quality. For caps and
sills, where a handsome cut stone is desired, this bed will afford the best mate-
rial for that purpose, that can be found in this county.
Limestone for Lime. — The concretionary gray limestone, which forms the
upper division of the St. Louis group, furnishes the best limestone for the
manufacture of quick lime to be found in this portion of the State, and it may
be found in the bluffs of Crooked creek, through nearly its whole course, and
at intervals, along the bluffs of the Illinois river, as far north as Browning.
At Birmingham, this limestone is eighteen feet in thickness, which is, how-
ever, considerable more than it will average, but it is usually from eight to ten
feet, and it will furnish an abundance of limestone to supply the demand for
lime in this county, for all time to come. A fair article of lime may also be
made from the Keokuk limestone, but where the other is accessible, it is always
to be preferred.
The limestone over the upper coal seam, in the vicinity of Rushville, has
also been used for this purpose, but it does not appear to slack readily after
burning, and would, probably, make a dark colored lime. The abundant sup-
ply of both wood and coal in this county, will justify the manufacture of lime
on as large a scale as the wants of the adjacent region shall demand.
Sand and Clay, for brick making, are abundant in all parts of the county,
and may be readily obtained at nearly every locality where the manufacture of
common brick is desirable. The brown clay, forming the sub-soil over a large
portion of the surface, answers a good purpose for brick making, and sand is
SCHUYLER COUNTY. 89
abundant in the valleys of the streams, and in the eastern portion of the county,
in the Loess which caps the river bluffs.
Mineral Springs. — A sample of mineral water was sent to me from this
county, the locality of the spring not given, which was sent to Dr. Blaney for
analysis, and the following is his report : " Has an acid reaction, a strong
styptic taste, a trace of organic matter, and an obscure trace of chlorides. The
residue, after evaporation to dryness, does not give efflorescence with acids. A
wine gallon (231 cubic inches), by direct determination, gives a residue
156 28-1000 grains of solid matter, which consists of —
Sulphate of lime 73.936
" magnesia 2.982
Proto-sulphate of iron 69.959
Silica 1.315
Alkaline sulphates 7.836
156.028"
—12
CHAPTER VI.
FULTON COUNTY.
This county contains a superficial area of about twenty-four townships, or
eight hundred and sixty-four square miles. It is triangular in shape, and is
bounded on the north by Knox and Peoria counties, on the east by Peoria
county and the Illinois river, on the south by Schuyler county, and on the
west by Schuyler, McDonough and Warren counties.
The principal streams in the county are the Illinois river, forming its main
boundary on the east and southeast for a distance of about thirty miles ; Spoon
river and its tributaries, which traverse nearly the whole extent of the county,
from north to south, and Copperas creek, which drains a considerable area in the
northeastern portion of the county. These streams drain the whole area of the
county, and their valleys are from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet
below the general level of the adjacent highlands.
The surface was originally nearly equally divided into prairie and timbered
lands, the former occupying the most elevated positions of the county, as well
as a part of the Illinois river bottoms, while the timber belts are mainly re-
stricted to the more broken lands skirting the water courses. Much of the
original timber, however, has been cleared away in developing the agricultural
interests of the county, and splendid farms now occupy a large portion of the
area which, but a few years since, was covered with a dense forest. Much of
the upland was originally timbered with a dense growth of sugar-maple, black
walnut, linden, hackberry, elm, honey-locust and wild-cherry, indicating a very
rich and productive soil. This growth of timber usually prevails where the
Loess overlies the drift clays on a tolerably level surface, and these lands, in
their productive qualities, are second to none in the State. Where the surface
is broken into sharp ridges, along the borders of the smaller streams, black and
white oak, and hickory is the prevailing timber, and the soil is a thin choco-
late colored, or brown, clay loam, well adapted to the growth of small grain, clover
or fruit. The prairies in this county generally have a rolling surface, though,
FULTON COUNTY. 91
in the region about Fairview, there are some quite flat prairies that require
draining in wet seasons. The soil on the prairies is a dark brown or black
mould, varying from one to three feet in depth, with a sub-soil of brown clay
loam.
The bottom lands, on the western bank of the Illinois river in this county,
are from .one to four miles in width, and are mostly covered with timber,
though there is some bottom prairie near the mouth of Spoon river. A good
deal of this bottom land is too low and marshy for cultivation, but where it is
sufficiently elevated, the soil is a rich sandy loam, and very productive. The
bluffs generally range from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty
feet in height, and are usually cut into sharp ridges by the valleys of the small
streams that drain the adjacent region. The lower part of these blufls, to the
height of seventy-five to one hundred feet, consist of the stratified rocks of the
Coal Measures into which the original valley was excavated, ana* their elevation
has been subsequently increased by the accumulation of Drift clays and lacus-
trine deposits upon them. The valley of Spoon river seldom exceeds a mile in
width, and is excavated into the Lower G&rboniferous limestone on that part of
its course, extending from Seaville to Bernadotte. The depth^of this valley is
about the same as that of the Illinois river, but the lower rocks are reached
here, in consequence of the easterly dip of the strata, which brings the lime-
stones nearer to the surface in the western portion of the county.
Surface Geology.
The surface deposits of Fulton county consist of Drift clays and gravel, with
the subsequent lacustrine and alluvial accumulations. The Drift proper, ranges
in thickness from thirty to sixty feet, or more, and is usually composed of
brown and bluish colored clays with gravel, and boulders of metamorphic and
igneous rocks, varying in size from a pebble to masses of several tons weight.
Usually, the brown clays constitute the upper portion of the deposit, and the
blue clays the lower. In the vicinity of Utica, a bed of ferruginous conglom-
erate, about two feet in thickness, underlies the Drift clays, and similar beds,
in local outliers, have been met with in the same position, at several localities
in the State. This conglomerate exactly resembles the bed at Metropolis, in
Massac county, on the Ohio river, which has been usually referred to the Ter-
tiary period, and may be of the same age.
On the west side of Big creek bridge, near Canton, in grading the track for
the T. P. & W. railroad, a band of black mould or soil, containing leaves and
fragments of wood, was found below the Drift clays, which is, no doubt, a part
of the ancient soil covering the surface anterior to the Drift epoch. A similar
bed has been found in sinking shafts and wells in various parts of the State,
(JZ GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
indicating the prevalence of dry land over a considerable portion of the pres-
ent area of the State, during the Post-tertiary period. Mr. John Wolf, of
Canton, reports a similar bed of black peaty soil, four feet in thickness, under-
lying the town of Fairview, at the depth of eleven feet. The heaviest deposits
of Drift occur along the Illinois river bluffs, and in the vicinity of Lewiston'
where the beds range from forty to sixty feet in thickness, while in the central
and western portions of the county, their general range is from thirty to forty
feet.
The Loess caps the bluffs of the Illinois river, and extends back for three or
four miles, with a constantly diminishing thickness, towards the interior of the
county. This deposit consists of buff, or light brown, loamy sand, imperfectly
stratified, and locally contains an abundance of land and fresh water shells,
such as now accumulate at the bottom of fresh water ponds. Its presence in
the river bluffs is often indicated by bald, grassy knobs, which prevail more or
less wherever this formation is extensively developed. It is always uncon-
formable with the underlying deposits, and presents its greatest thickness
immediately at the river bluffs, thinning out rapidly towards the interior of the
adjacent region. Where it forms the sub-soil, and is overlaid by a loamy clay
soil, we find the heaviest growth of upland timber, such as sugar-maple, linden,
wild-cherry, black walnut and elm, and the lands, when reduced to cultivation,
are among the most productive in the State. This is the character of some of
the timbered lands in the vicinity of Lewiston, and at some other points in the
county adjacent to the river bluffs. When this formation was deposited, the
valley of the Illinois, as well as that of most of our large rivers, was a vast
fresh water lake, into which the sandy material that constitutes the greater part
of this formation was transported by the action of the rains, and streams of
running water that drained (he adjacent highlands. The fossils which it con-
tains, are mostly of the same species of land and fresh water shells that now
inhabit the adjacent region, but occasionally the remains of the Mammoth
Mastodon, Megalonyx, and some other extinct mammalia have been found in it
in this State.
Older Geological Formations.
The stratified rocks of this county belong, mainly, to the Coal Measures, with
a limited exposure of the St. Louis limestone in the valley of Spoon river.
Nearly all the uplands in the county are underlaid by coal, and we have found
here the most complete exposure of the productive Coal Measures that have
been met with in the State, and hence the section constructed in this county
will be considered a typical one, and will be used for the co-ordination of the
coal strata throughout the central and western portions of the State. We have
found here seven consecutive scams, all exposed by their natural outcrop,
FULTON COUNTY.
93
within the county, and all, except the upper one, have been worked to a greater
or less extent. The aggregate thickness of these seams is about twenty-five
feet, and their individual range is from twenty inches to six feet in thickness.
The three lower seams outcrop in the southern and western portions of the
county, especially along the bluffs of Spoon river, and as the general dip of the
strata is to the eastward, they pass below the level of the Illinois river, and are,
therefore, not seen on the eastern borders of the county. The upper seams
underlie nearly all the central and eastern portions of the county, and one of
them, No. 4, is found south of Spoon river, underlying the high lands in the
vicinity of Astoria. The following section, compiled from careful measure-
ments made at the outcrops seen in various portions of the county, will show
the relative position of these coals with each other, and the character and thick-
ness of the strata with which they are associated :
Section of the Coal Measures in Fulton County:
4 to G feet. Thin bedded gray limestone.
15 to 20 feet.
37 feet.
3 to 5 feet.
5 to 10 feet.
15 to 20 feet.
2 to 3 feet
25 to 30 feet.
2 to 6 feet.
Shales but partially exposed.
Coal seam No. T.
Shale and shaly sandstone.
Argillaceous limestone and bltumiuou* shale,
Coal seam No. 6.
Fire clay and nodular limestone.
Sandstone and shale.
Black shale and nodules of limestone.
Coal seam No. 5.
Sandy and argillaceous shales.
Bituminous shale and limestone.
Coal seam No. 4.
3 to 6 feet. Clay shale and septaria.
GO to SO feet.
Sandstones and sandy shales.
GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
2 to 6 feet.
3 to 4 feet.
30 to 40 feet.
40 to 60 feet.
3 to 6 feet.
1 to 6 feet.
2 to 3 feet.
20 to 30 feet.
Dark blue silicious limestone,
filack eh ale.
Coal seam No. 3.
Argillaceous and sandy shales and sandstone.
Coal seam No. 2.
Sandstone and shale.
Bituminous limestone and band of ir^n ore.
Bituminous shale.
Coal seam No. 1.
Clay shale or fire clay.
Conglomerate sandstone and shale.
These coals we have numbered from the bottom upward, and they will be
described in the same order. The only point in the county where we found
No. 1 sufficiently developed to be worked profitably, is in the vicinity of Sea-
ville, on the west side of Spoon river, at the crossing of the T. P. & W. rail-
road. The seam is worked here at two localities, one above the railroad bridge
and the other below. At these mines, the coal averages about three feet in
thickness, and is mined by tunneling into the bluff on the outcrop of the seam.
About a hundred yards to the westward of Mr. Harris's mine, below Seaville
Station, the seam is divided by a parting of shale, which soon thickens to the
westward, to three or four feet, and thus destroys the value of the seam for
mining. The roof consists of a bituminous shale, that ranges in thickness from
one to six feet, above which there is a bed of blue argillaceous limestone, from
three to six feet thick, forming, altogether, an excellent roof to the coal.
The limestone at this locality, has afforded an interesting group of fossils,
several of which have hitherto been considered as especially characteristic of
tne upper coals. We obtained the following species at this locality: Athyris
subtilita, Retzia punctilifera, Spirifer cameratus, S. Kentuckensis, S- opimus,
Productus Prattenanus, P. nana, P. punctatus, Ortliis carbonaria, Terebratula
FULTON COUNTY. 95
boviclcns, ScMzodus Alpinus, S. amplus, Macroclieilus inliabilis, Eupacliycrinus
tuber culatus, or a closely allied species, Zcacrinus mucrospinus, and several un-
determined species of Bryozoa. This group of fossils, if found in connection
with a coal, the position of which could not be determined from the associated
strata, would certainly be considered as strongly indicating an upper coal hori-
zon, and their occurrence here at the very base of the Coal Measures, shows
that many species at least, of the fauna of the carboniferous epoch, range
through the whole extent of the coal-bearing strata.
We also found this seam well exposed in the cuts of tha C. B. & Q. railroad,
through the bluffs on the north side of Spoon river, below Lewiston. It is
divided here by a parting of shale, which leaves both divisions of the seam too
thin to be of any practical value for mining, as the average thickness of the
two divisions ranges from six to twelve inches only, and they are too widely
separated at this point to be mined together. In the vicinity of Bernadotte, a
good section of the lower coals may be seen in the bluffs of Spoon river, but
the horizon of No. 1 coal was only indicated by a bed of bituminous shale, four
feet in thickness.
The following section was made near .Bernadotte :
FEET.
IN".
Shale and sandstone
38
Coal No. 2?
2
6
Fire clay
3
Arenaceous limestone ,
1
Clay shale
4
Bituminous shale
1
3
Clay shale
4
Band of septaria
1
Shale and sandstone
10
Bituminous slate
1
> 6
Sandstone and shale
24
Bituminous shale (Coal No. 1 ?)
4
Clay shale with iron ore 5 to 6
Sandstone and shale 15 " 20
St. Louis limestone 6
No. 1 coal is probably represented in the above section by the lower bed of
bituminous shale, and we find two additional seams of bituminous shale below
the upper coal in this section that are not found at Seaville. Nevertheless,
there can be no doubt of the equivalency of the strata at these localities, as at
both, the sandstane at the base of the section rests directly upon the St. Louis
limestone.
In the vicinity of Avon, in the northwest corner of the county, a seam of
cannel coal occurs, occupying, apparently, about the same horizon as the lower
bed of bituminous shale in the foregoing section, though, from the imperfect
96 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
exposure of the strata associated with it, its exact position could not be accu-
rately determined. The seam is here only about 14 to 20 inches in thickness,
and was extensively worked at the time of our first visit to the county, in 1859,
for the distillation of coal oil. Ten retorts were then in operation at this lo-
cality, and the product was said to be thirty gallons of oil from a ton of coal.
However, the development of the oil wells of Pennsylvania, shortly afterwards,
put a stop to the manufacture of oil from cannel coals in this State, and the
mines were abandoned. This seam is underlaid here by about five feet of
excellent fire clay, which was worked at that time in connection with the coal,
and used in the manufacture of fire brick. About a quarter of a mile from
this exposure, on the other side of the hill, a two foot seam of bituminous coal
is seen, overlaid by two feet of dark blue bituminous limestone, exactly like
that above coal No. 1, at Seaville. The seam of cannel coal is probably the
lower division of No. 1, or a local development of another seam, occupying
nearly the same horizon.
On Swan creek, one mile north of Avon, the following beds are exposed :
FEET. IN.
Sandy shales 16
Coal 0 10
Fire clay and shale 20
Band of iron ore 0 10
Bituminous shale 5
Sandstone 10
The band of iron ore in the above section resembles very closely that at
Chadsey's place, in Schuyler county, and at Seaville, in this county, above coal
No. 1, and probably occupies the same horizon. If so, it shows a very irregu-
lar development of the lower coal in this vicinity, and it is probable that this
seam is the least reliable of all the coals in this county, except No. 5, hereafter
to be mentioned.
Coal No. 2 is one of the most regular seams in the whole series, and usually
ranges from two to three feet in thickness. It will be found everywhere in the
bluffs of Spoon river, where the strata are well exposed, and its stratigraphical
position is generally about forty or fifty feet above the horizon of No. 1,
although, in the vicinity of Seaville, the distance intervening between them
is about seventy feet. The roof is almost invariably a blue clay shale, and in
tunneling it requires to be thoroughly cribbed to prevent the falling of the
roof. In the south part of the county, this seam outcrops on Otter creek,
about a mile and a half west of Vermont, where it has been worked since the
earliest settlement of the county. It ranges in thickness from two and a-half
to three feet, in this vicinity, and outcrops along the bluffs of the creek for a
distance of three or four miles. A boring for oil was made in the valley of
this creek, commencing just below the horizon of No. 2, and extending to the
FULTON COUNTY. 97
depth of about eight hundred feet, but unfortunately no journal was kept of
the different strata passed through. The Lower Carboniferous limestone was
reached at a depth of about sixty feet, as we learned from Mr. Matthewson,
who made the boring, and he also stated that no coal was passed through in the
boring, which would indicate that there was no development of coal No. 1 at
this point.
In the bluffs of Spoon river, south of Lewiston, as well as on some of the
small tributaries of that stream in the same vicinity, No. 2 is worked at
many points, and about a mile west of the city, at one or two of the localities
examined, the roof was found to be slightly calcareous, and contained several
species of fossil shells, among which we observed Lingula umbonata, Productus
Prattenanus, P. muricatus, Macrocheilus, Nautilus, etc. A half mile east of
Lewiston, this seam has been opened by a shaft forty feet in depth, on the lands
of Mr. Hunter. This shaft is situated in the valley of a small stream, and
about sixty feet below the level on which the city is built. Two miles and
a-half southeast of Lewiston, we found a mine opened in this seam, on the
lands of Mr. "VYm. Winterbottom, on our first visit to the county, in 1859,
and at the same time it had been opened a mile nearer to the town, by Mr.
Butler. At both these localities, the coal varies from two and a-half to three
feet in thickness, and is overlaid by blue shale and sandstone.
In the vicinity of Bernadotte, this coal is found at an elevation of about
eighty feet above the river level, and the coal was mined by Mr. Parks, one
mile and a-half southwest of the village, in 1859. In the vicinity of Seaville
this seam has been opened on Mr. Harris's place, a little south of the school
house, where the coal has been worked in open trenches, by throwing off the
overlying shale. In the vicinity of Avon, it was not met with, unless it is
represented by the ten-inch seam near the top of the section, on Swan creek.
No. 2 usually affords a coal of excellent quality, freer from the bi sulphuret of
iron than the average of Illinois coals, and one that cokes well, and contains
more than an average per cent, of fixed carbon. An analysis of this coal will
be found further on.
Coal No. 3 has been mined but little in this county, and consequently we
know less of its peculiar characters, than of the seams lying either above or
below it. It is somewhat irregular in its development, resembling No. 1 in
that respect. It usually lies from forty to sixty feet above No. 2, but in the
bluffs of Spoon river, near Seaville, they are only a little more than twenty feet
asunder. It is almost invariably overlaid by black slate, and a dark blue or
bluish gray silicious limestone, which contains Aviculopecten rectalaterarea,
Cardiomorpha Missouriensis, with two or three species of small Nautili and
Goniatites. About two miles southwest of Bryant Station, the limestone and
slate above outcrops at the water's edge on Big creek, and, about a quarter of
—13
98 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
a mile further down the creek, a tunnel has been made into the coal where it
was said to be five feet thick, but, from the partial filling up of the opening,
we were unable to ascertain its exact thickness. In the vicinity of Marietta,
we found a coal seam opened in 1859, on section 12, township 6 north, range
1 east, which we are inclined to believe is this coal, though the seam is here
only about two feet six inches in thickness. In the bluff, at Seaville, the
blue silicious limestone usually overlying this coal, is found about twenty-five
feet above coal No. 2, but there is only a few inches of black shale to represent
the coal that belongs below it. In the bed of Coal creek, three miles northwest
of Fairview, this coal is 'found in the bed of the creek. It is here only about
eighteen inches in thickness, and is overlaid by about two feet of bituminous
shale, above which is the blue silicious limestone about two feet thick, con-
taining the characteristic fossils of this coal. Nodules of septaria, associated
with a band of iron ore, occur here, above the limestone. This septaria, has a
blue ground, veined with pearl spar, and affords very handsome specimens.
Coal No. 4 is a very persistent seam in its development, and has been found
at every locality in the county that we have examined, where the proper hori-
zon for it was exposed. On the south side of Spoon river, it underlies the
high lands about Astoria, and we found it opened a half mile northwest of the
town in 1859. The seam is here from four and a half to five feet in thick-
ness, and -is overlaid by two feet or more of black shale that forms a good
roof. Nodules of dark blue limestone occur in the black shale above the coal,
filled with the characteristic fossils of this horizon. On the north side of Spoon
river, we found this seam outcropping in the bluffs of Big creek, west of Bryant
Station, about twenty five feet above the creek valley. The coal had been un-
dermined here, in the excavation of the valley, and a portion of it. with the
overlying strata, and covering a considerable area, had fallen down about twenty
feet below its original level, and retains its horizontal position so nearly, that
we were at first disposed to regard it as the apparent outcrop of two distinct
seams, but further investigations showed that all the coal exposed here, proba-
bly belonged to the same horizon. The roof shales at this locality contained
many large concretions of bituminous limestone, filled with the characteristic
fossils of this seam, among which are Discina nitida, very abundant, Productus
muricatus, abundant, Clinopistha radiata, Schizodus curtus ? Pleurophorus solen-
iformis, P. radiatus, Nautilus, one or more species, and a small Orthoceras.
This seam has been more extensively worked by Mr. David Williams, at Can-
ton and St. Davids, than by any other person in this county. His main shaft
is about half a mile southwest of Canton, and is about eighty-five feet in depth,
passing through the following beds :
FEET.
Drift clay 30
Sandstone and shale 50
FULTON COUNTY. 99
FEKT.
Black slate, with limestone nodules 3
Coal No. 4 5
Below the coal, there is a bed of septaria limestone, from three to four feet,
and below that, a fire clay, three or four feet in thickness, passing downward
into clay shale. This seam affords a heavy coal, rich in bitumen, and contains
from thirty-five to forty per cent, of volatile matters, and from fifty-five to fifty-
six per cent, of fixed carbon. At his middle shaft, a little further down on
Big creek, the outcrop of coal No. 6 may be seen about sixty five feet above
No. 4, with no indications of the presence of No. 5 at this point. The coal
from the two shafts near Canton, finds a market mainly on the line of the T.
P. & "W. railroad, while that at St. Davids, three miles below, finds a ready
market on the Lewiston branch of the C. B. & Q. railroad, now completed from
Rushville to Galesburg.
At Breed's Station, on the T. P. & W. railroad, about six miles east of Can-
ton, a tunnel has been opened in this seam, by Mr. J. R. Breed. The coal
averages about five feet in thickness at this mine, and has a good roof of black
slate, from two and a-half to three feet in thickness. The coals Nos. 5 and 6,
or 6 and 7, are said to outcrop in the hills in this vicinity, but have not been
opened. The upper two feet of the coal at this mine, appears to be quite free
from iron pyrites, and is reputed a good smith's coal. A band of iron ore, re-
sembling "Black Band Ore," was observed in connection with this coal, but
apparently too thin to be of any practical importance. This seam outcrops at
various points on Copperas creek, and may be conveniently worked by tunnels
in the hill sides, or in open trenches, where it underlies the creek valley.
About two miles southeast of Cuba, we found this seam opened in 1859, on
the land then owned by Mr. John Winterbottom. The coal at this locality
ranges from four and a half to five feet in thickness, and is overlaid by about
three feet of black slate, with concretions of argillaceous limestone. This seam
affords a coal of good quality, in this vicinity, hard, bright, and generally quite
free from iron pyrites. We also saw the outcrop of No. 4, about a mile north
of Cuba, where it was found, by measurement, to be thirty-two feet below No.
5. Northwest of Fairview, this seam is worked at several points on the breaks
of Coal creek, where it presents its usual thickness and appearance. It may
be fairly considered as the most valuable of all the coals outcropping in this
county, from its wide extent, and the average quality of the coal which it
affords.
No. 5 appears to be quite local in its development, and we found it worked
only in the vicinity of Cuba, where it ranges from four to five feet in thick-
ness, but it has also been found at two or three points in the vicinity of Can-
ton, where it occurs in local basins, or " pockets," sometimes attaining a thick-
100 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
ness often or twelve feet, and then thinning out entirely in a distance of a few
rods. It affords a softer and lighter coal than that from No. 4, and in this re-
spect, it bears some resemblance to the coal from No 6. A section of the Cuba
coal shaft, including the beds below, down to the horizon of No. 4 coal, is as
follows :
FEET. IN.
Hard blue limestone 8 to 4
Black slate 1 " 2
Coal No. 6 6
Fire clay 5
Nodular limestone, with Ckcetetes milleporaceous 4 6
Clay shale 6
Limestone 1 6
Sandstone and shale ... 5
Limestone 1
Black shale 9
CoalNo.5 4" 5
Shale 30
Black slate 2
Coal, No. 4 6
In the vMJinity of Canton, the horizon of this coal is exposed at many points,
•where no indication of coal is seen. This is the seam worked in the shaft at
Cuba, and it affords a tolerably soft coal, that burns freely and leaves but little
clinker.
At Mr. John Williams's place, five miles and a half northeast of Canton,
there are two coal seams exposed in the same hill-side, and both are directly
overlaid by sandstone. I am inclined to regard them as coals 5 and 6, and
they are separated by about thirty feet of sandstone, very similar in its appear-
ance to that usually found overlying No. 6. These coal seams average about
four feet and a half in thickness, and the sandstone forms a very good roof.
These are the only points in the county where we found No. 5 sufficiently well
developed to be of any practical value, though it is quite probable that it may
be found elsewhere. It usually lies about midway between coals 4 and 6, or
thirty feet above the former, and about the same distance below the latter, and
•when either of these seams are found, the horizon of No. 5 can readily be de-
termined.
Coal No. 6 is the highest coal in the series that has been worked to any ex-
tent in this county, and it affords an excellent coking coal, and also a better
smith's coal than is usually obtained from either of the lower seams. On our
first visit to this county, in 1859, we found this seam opened at Mr. Piper's
place, two miles north of Canton ; at Mr. Burton's place, two and a half miles
north of Farmington, and it was also worked by Mr. Burbridge at that time,
about three miles west of Farmington, on Little's creek. More recently, it has
FULTON COUNTY. 101
been opened by Mr. Johnson, on lands adjoining Piper's, and about the same
distance from Canton. This coal varies in thickness from four to five and a
half feet, and at all the localities examined in this county, the seam is invaria-
bly divided a little below the middle, by a clay parting from one to two inches
in thickness. This character alone, will serve to distinguish this seam any where
in this county, from either of those below it. This coal is usually overlaid by
a hard, black shale, from six inches to two feet in thickness, which comes im-
mediately above the coal, and is succeeded by buff, or yellow shaly, or compact
limestone, above which comes a heavy bed of sandstone. At some localities,
the slate and limestone are wanting, and the sandstone rests directly upon the
coal. Where the limestone is present, it contains a great number of minute
fossils, resembling grains of wheat, and about the same size. This small fossil
is called Fusulina, of which there are two or three species in the Coal Meas-
ures of this State, and they may be regarded as the characteristic fossils of this
coal. It is also frequently underlaid by a calcareous fire clay, containing a fos-
sil coral in great abundance, known as Chsetttcs milleporaceous, which, so far
as we know, has not been found in this State below the horizon of this coal, but
has also been found in connection with No. 7. There is also a thin layer of
limestone above No. 6 coal, that appears to be mainly composed of the remains
of minute Foraminifera, and polished sections of the stone exhibit many of
these microscopic fossils in an excellent state of preservation.
Six miles northeast of Canton, on a branch of Copperas creek, near Mr.
Kosenbaum's place, this coal has-been worked by tunneling into the base of
the hill, on the outcrop of the seam, and the strata intervening between this
and the upper seam are well exposed. The distance between these coals at this
point is 37 feet, and the intervening strata consist entirely of sandy and
argillaceous shales. These two coals are also found together at Powel's coal
bank about two miles east of Norris, where No. 6 has been mined for several
years to supply the coal demand of the surrounding region.
Burbridge & Co.'s shaft, one mile west of Farmington, in the valley of one
of the branches of Coal creek, reaches coal No. 6 at a depth of twenty-six
feet. The coal is four feet and a-half in thickness at this shaft, and similar in
quality to that at Piper's mine, near Canton. This seam lies about ninetv feet
below the level of the town of Farmington, and coal No. 7 outcrops on the
hill side east of Burbridge's shaft, and from thirty-five to forty feet above No. 6.
Two miles northeast of Fairview, No. 6 is mined in the bluffs of Coal creek,
and is here about four feet and a-half in thickness, with a good roof of black
slate, above which there is about twenty feet of massive sandstone. This seam
probably underlies some three or four townships, north and east of Canton,
and may be reached any where in that region at a depth varying from twenty-
five to one hundred feet.
102 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Coal No. 7 is the highest coal strata seen in this county, and being usually
only from sixteen to twenty inches in thickness, no attempt has been made to
mine it in competition with the thicker seams that underlie it, and outcrop
over a much wider area in this county. Judging only from the appearance of
the coal, where it was exposed in natural outcrops, we were disposed to regard
it as a coal of a very superior quality, good enough, apparently, to be used in
the iron furnace without coking, and hence, if it should be found as much as
two feet in thickness, at some favorable locality, it might be mined as success-
fully as some of the heavier seams are at the present time. It outcrops on the
head of Big creek, about a mile north of Piper's mine, along most of the hill-
sides east of Norris, to Copperas creek, and also underlies all the highlands
about Farmington. At Powel's mine, two miles east of Norris, the following
measured section was made, showing the relative position of the two upper
coals, and the character of the strata associated with them, and they constitute
the highest beds of the Coal Measures seen in this county :
FEET. IN.
Compact, hard gray limestone 4 to 6
Shale, partially hidden 15
Coal No. 7 1 4
Shale, and shaly sandstone 35
Brown argillaceous limestone 2 6
Bituminous shale 1 " 2
Coal No. 6 4 6
The limestone at the top of this section appears to form the bed rock over the
highest ground in the region of Farmington, where it is immediately overlaid by
the Drift deposits, and is probably the highest rock exposed south and west of the
Kickapoo. Just over the line, in Peoria county, the bed is twenty feet or more
in thickness, which was probably its original thickness in the vicinity of Farm-
ington, but it has been reduced to its present thickness, perhaps by erosion
anterior to, or during the Drift period.
Conglomerate. — At the base of the Coal Measures, in this county, there is
from ten to twenty-five feet of coarse grained sandstone, which probably repre-
sents the conglomerate usually underlying the lower coals. This sandstone was
only seen at two or three points in the bluffs of Spoon river, between Seaville
and Bernadotte. Just below Seaville Station, it measures about twenty-five
feet in thickness, extending from the under clay of No. 1, which rests imme-
diately upon it, down to the low water level of the river, where it rests upon
the St. Louis limestone. The sandstone is here a massive, coarse grained rock,
quite ferruginous, and forms a mural cliff, from its tendency to harden on ex-
posure. At Bernadotte, it is thin bedded, and partly shaly, and crumbles
readily on exposure to the atmosphere. It is quite irregular in its developmen*
and general aspect, and cannot always be identified unless found in connection
FULTON COUNTY. 103
with the coal seams above, or the limestones below, because of its close resem-
blance to some other sandstones of the Coal Measures.
St. Louis Limestone. — The outcrop of this formation appears to be restricted
to the valley of Spoon river, between Bernadotte and Seaville, and there are
but few points where it is well exposed. At Bernadotte, there is only from
six to ten feet of this limestone exposed above the lower water level of the
river. The rock is concretionary in structure, and contains Lithostrotion pro-
liferum and L. canadense, the most characteristic fossils of the upper division
of this formation. Just above the mouth of Barker's run, on Spoon river, the
following section of this limestone group was seen :
FEET.
Gray concretionary limestone 10
Bro. magnesian limestone 12
Arenaceous beds, partly hidden 16
The two lower divisions of the above section are tolerably even bedded, the
layers varying in thickness from six inches to two feet, and will afford an ex-
cellent building stone. The magnesian limestone is especially valuable for
culverts and bridge abutments, where a rock is required to resist the combined
influenceof frost and moisture. A very fine specimen of Lithostrotion canadense
was fonnd at this locality by Mr. James H. Cooper, and presented by him to
the State Cabinet. We saw no other locality in the county where so great a
thickness of this formation was exposed as at this point.
Economical Geology.
Bituminous Coal. — The great mineral wealth of this county, as must be ap-
parent from the perusal of the preceding pages, consists in its almost inexhausti-
ble beds of coal, which are so distributed as to be easily accessible to every
portion of the county. The three lower seams, ranging from two to four feet
in thickness, outcrop on all the principal streams in the southern and western
portions of the county, while coals 4, 5 and 6, the thickest aud most valuable
seams known in the northern portion of the State, underlie the central and
northeastern portions of the county, and are easily accessible at any point
where a large supply of coal may be required. These coals underlie nearly, or
quite, seven townships in this county, with an aggregate thickness of about
fourteen feet, and throwing out of the calculation entirely, No. 5, which is more
local in its development than the other two, we still have an aggregate of from
nine to ten feet of coal, equal to 9,000,000 tons of coal to the square mile, as
the product of these two seams, from the central and northeastern portions of
the county alone, and within one hundred and fifty feet of the surface, at the
general level of the prairie region. Coal mining is yet in its infancy in this
most highly favored region, and until the construction of the two railroads
104 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
which now intersect the county, the demand for coal was too limited to justify
any large expenditures in coal mining operations. Now, an extensive market
is opened on the Mississippi river for the coals of this region, and the cities of
Burlington and Keokuk, in Iowa, and Warsaw, in this State, will soon obtain
their main supplies of coal from this county.
In quality, the coals to be obtained here, are fully equal to the average of
our Illinois coals, and they will answer all the purposes for which coal is re-
quired, except for the smelting of iron in the raw state, and it is probable that
a part of No. 6, and the whole of No. 7, if it could be found thick enough to
be worked successfully, could be used in the iron furnace without coking. No.
6 is generally a soft coal, with a tendency to break into cubic blocks, and has
afforded the following result, on analysis, by Messrs. Blaney & Mariner, of Chi-
cago:
Water 6.17
Ash 1.91
Bitumen r 29.82
Carbon. . .... .. 62.10
100.00
Coke 64.01
The specimens affording the above, which is the average of two analyses, was
taken from Mr. Piper's mine, two miles north of Canton. An analysis of spe-
cimens from John Winterbottom's mine, two miles southeast of Cuba, probably
No. 4 coal, gave the following as the average result of two analyses :
Water 5.18
Ash 7.51
Bitumen 30.06
Carbon.. .. 57.25
100.00
Coke 64.76
An analysis of No. 6, from Effnour's mine, near Cuba, gave, as the average
of two analyses, the following :
Water 5.94
Ash 5.38
Bitumen 30.80
Carbon 57.85
99.97
Coke 63. 23
These analyses of the two most important coals in the county, will serve to
indicate the average quality of the coals of this region, and also show the vari-
ations that may occur in the quality of the coal from the same seam, at differ-
ent localities, as evidenced by the result of the analyses of specimens of No. 6
from Effnour's mine, near Cuba, and from Piper's mine, near Canton. At
FULTON COUNTY,
105
the former locality, the coal contains a much larger per cent, of ash, with more
bitumen and less carbon than at the latter, and in quality it seems to be con-
siderably below the average of the coal from this seam at other localities in the
county.
The following analysis of coal No. 2, from Colchester, in McDonough county
is given here to indicate its general character in this portion of the State. It
is taken from Norwood's "Abstract of a Report on Illinois Coals," and was
made by the late Mr. Henry Pratten, former assistant in the Illinois Geological
survey :
Specific gravity 1.290
Loss in coking 4L2
Total weight of coke 58.8
100.00
Analysis : Moisture ' 5.4
Volatile matters 35.8
Carbon in coke 66.8
Ashes, (white) 2.0
100.00
Carbon in coal 60.10
Coal No. 5, as has already been stated on a preceding page, is rather local in
its development, and was only seen in the vicinity of Cuba, and at John Wil-
liams's mine, five miles and a half northeast of Canton. The coal afforded by
this seam is more like that from No. 6, being softer and lighter than the coal
of No. 4.
The lower seams are generally much thinner than those above, and usually
range from two to four feet in thickness, but afford a very good coal, especially
No. 2, which, in its average quality, is probably not surpassed by any coal in
the State. Nevertheless, occurring here in close proximity with seams much
thicker, and more favorably situated for working extensively, it will only be
mined along the outcrop of the seam, for the supply of the immediate neigh-
borhood, until the thicker beds overlying it are partially exhausted. It is but
seldom that No. 1 is found thick enough to be mined profitably, and the mines
at Seaville are the only ones that we met with in this seam, in the county. No.
3 has been opened at several points, but the mines have been subsequently
abandoned, probably because it could not be successfully worked in competition
with No. 4, which usually outcrops in the same vicinity.
Cannel Coal. — A thin seam of cannel coal occurs in the vicinity of Avon, in
the northwest corner of the county, and before the discovery of the vast depo-
sits of oil in Pennsylvania, was mined for the distillation of oil. We first vis-
ited the locality in 1859, and found ten retorts in operation at that time, the
product of which was said to be from three to five hundred gallons of oil per
day. The seam from which the material was supplied, was only from fourteen
to twenty inches in thickness, and the cost of mining at that time was about
—14
106 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
two dollars per ton. It was said to yield about thirty gallons of oil per ton,
but the subsequent discovery of oil in Pennsylvania and Ohio, put a stop to its
manufacture from cannel coal in this region.
Fire Clay. — A good bed of fire clay, from three to five feet in thickness, oc-
curs below the cannel coal at Avon, and was worked by the Avon Coal Com-
pany, in connection with the coal, and they were thus enabled to manufacture
the fire brick required for their own furnaces. At Andrews's coal bank, two
miles and a half north of Marietta, there is from two to three feet of good fire
clay below the coal, and at many other localities in the county, especially in
connection with the lower coals, clays suitable for pottery or fire brick may be
obtained.
Iron Ore. — Iron ore, in considerable quantities, was met with at several lo-
calities in the county. In the vicinity of Seaville there is a bed of limonite,
from eight to twelve inches thick immediately above the limestone that forms
the roof of the lower coal. This ore closely resembles that at Chadsey's place,
in Schuyler county, an analysis of which is given in the report on that county,
in the preceding chapter, and it holds about the same stratigraphical position.
The same band of ore was seen in the vicinity of Avon, and it probably extends
over a large area in the county. In the vicinity of Utica, there is a considera-
ble amount of impure carbonate of iron, occurring in regular layers of nodules,
or kidney shaped concretions, disseminated in bands through a bed of clay
shale, from fifteen to twenty feet in thickness. The bands of ore are from two
to three inches thick, and are separated by from two inches to a foot in thick-
ness of shale, and the aggregate thickness of this ore at this locality, would be
from three to four feet, and it would probably yield from thirty-five to forty
per cent, of iron. The shale in which this ore is embedded, is probably the
shale over coal No. 3, and if so, an abundant supply of coal could be obtained
on the spot, either from that seam, or No. 2, which lies from forty to fifty feet
below it. The roof shales of coals Nos. 4 and 5, abound in large ferruginous
concretions, but they are generally too strongly charged with pyrites to be of
any value for the iron furnace. Iron ore is almost universally disseminated
through the Coal Measures in this State, but usually in too small quantities to
be of any great value for the production of metallic iron, but it is quite proba-
ble that the ores of this county may at some future time, become valuable for
this purpose.
Buildinfj Stone. — The Coal Measures seldom afford large bodies of lime-
stone of sufficient thickness, and of the right quality for good building
stone, and this material has to be mainly supplied from the sandstones, which
are usually the prevailing rock in the coal regions. There are some beds of
limestone, however, in this county, that furnish a suitable material for rough
walls, though the supply is quite limited. The limestone that immediately
FULTON COUNTY. 107
overlies coal No. 6, in the vicinity of Cuba and Canton, as well as at several
other points in the county, affords some good building stone, and the Farming-
ton limestone, which overlies coal No. 7, also affords some tolerably good rock,
in rather thin layers, that has been used very generally in the vicinity of its
outcrop, and answers very well for foundation walls, etc. The gray con-
cretionary limestone of the St. Louis group, which is found in the bed of
Spoon river below Seaville, and at Bernadotte, is not regularly stratified, and
therefore not a good building stone, but on Barker's run, near where it empties
into Spoon river, there is about twelve feet of brown magnesian limestone in
regular beds, underneath the gray beds of this group, that will afford the most
durable stone to be found in the county.
Sandstones are abundant, and easily accessible to most parts of the county,
and when carefully selected they answer a good purpose for foundation walls,
and for various other purposes. In the vicinity of Seaville, the sandstone both
above and below coal No. 1, is found in heavy beds, and seems to be sufficiently
coherent to form a durable building material. The stone for the bridge abut-
ments and culverts, on the T. P. and W. railroad in this vicinity, has been
taken from these beds, and although sufficient time has not yet elapsed to fully
test its durability, it seems to be a reliable stone for building purposes. In the
vicinity of Lewiston, there is a bed of sandstone intervening between coals 2
and 3 which is a good freestone, and has been extensively quarried and used as
a building stone in the city and vicinity. It is not altogether uniform in its
texture, however, and requires to be very carefully selected where it is to be
used in the construction of permanent buildings. In the vicinity of Canton,
a very good bed of sandstone is found below coal No. 6, and further north
there is also a heavy bed of the same kind of rock overlying this coal, which
was seen at the mines on Coal creek, two miles and a-half to three miles north-
east of Fairview, and at some other points. Most of these sandstones are more
or less ferruginous, the iron, in the form of a brown oxyd, being disseminated
in minute grains through the entire substance of the rock, giving it a tendency
to harden on exposure to atmospheric influences, thereby improving its quality
and durability as a building material.
Limestone for Lime. — The gray concretionary beds of the St. Louis group,
which outcrop in the valley of Spoon river, from Seaville to Bernadotte, will
afford the best material for the manufacture of quick lime to be found in the
county. This rock is usually a nearly pure carbonate of lime, and the beds in
the vicinity of Alton, which also belong to this group, afford the purest and
whitest lime made in the State. The gray beds, which are the only ones adapt-
ed to this purpose, are only from eight to ten feet in thickness in this county,
and form the upper portion of the group, on which the conglomerate sandstone
of the Coal Measures rest.
108 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The limestone over No. 6 coal may also be used for the manufacture of quick
lime, but at some localities it is too argillaceous, and when burned does not
slack readily, and might make a good hydraulic cement, to which it seems best
adapted. The limestone above No. 7 coal, is generally a purer carbonate of
lime than any other of the Coal Measure limestones in this county, and might
be extensively used in the vicinity of Farmington for lime burning.
Sand and Clay for Brick. — These materials are abundant on all the uplands
in the county. On the bluff lands, adjacent to the Illinois river, the Loess
affords an excellent material for this purpose, in which the ingredients are
often mixed in just the right proportions. The sub-soil of the prairies, and of
the oak ridges, furnish an abundance of brown clay, which, mingled with sand,
that is abundant in the beds of the streams, forms a good material for this
purpose. These materials are so universally distributed, that they may be
readily found in every neighborhood, and on almost every farm in the county.
Soil and Agriculture, — There is considerable variety in the soils of this
county, though there are none so poor that they will not produce good crops
annually of most of the cereals usually grown in this region, when judiciously
cultivated. The most productive soils are those covering the prairie lands, and
those underlaid by the Loess, in the vicinity of the river bluffs. The latter
were originally covered with a heavy growth of timber, consisting of sugar-
maple, black and white walnut, linden, elm, hackberry, wild cherry, honey-
locust, black and white oak, and two or three varieties of hickory. This is the
character of the best lands in the vicinity of Lewiston, and over a considerable
area along the eastern borders of the county. They produce quite as heavy
crops of corn, wheat, oats, barley and grass, as the best prairie soil, and are
much better adapted to the growth of fruit, especially grapes and apples. The
peach seems to grow equally well on the prairie, though it is doubtful whether
the trees would live as long, or produce as freely, as on the timbered lands.
The prairie lands are very productive, and have a deep chocolate brown or black
loamy soil, rich in organic matters, and when sufficiently rolling, produce
annually large crops of corn and grass. Wheat is a far more uncertain crop
on the prairie soil than on lands originally covered with timber. The poorest
lands in the county are the white oak ridges, that skirt the borders of the
small streams. These lands have a thin soil, with a stiff clay sub-soil, but will
produce fair crops of wheat, oats and clover, and are also equal, if not superior,
to the prairie lands for the growth of fruit. They require a more generous
treatment, and are greatly benefited by occasional fallowing, and plowing under
green crops.
For the following complete list of the forest trees and shrubs indigenous to
this county, I am indebted to Mr. John Wolf, of Canton, whose quiet and un-
obtrusive labors in botany, geology, and conchology, have resulted in import-
FULTON COUNTY.
109
ant additions to our knowledge in these departments of Natural History. The
State collection is also indebted to him for a fine series of the fossils of the
Coal Measures in this vicinity, and I am also under personal obligations to him
for much valuable information in regard to the most important localities to be
visited in this county. To Mr. David Williams and family, of Canton, I am
personally indebted for the generous hospitality extended to me while engaged
in the survey of this county, and for valuable information and assistance in the
prosecution of the field work of the survey. I am also under obligations to
Mr. Harris, near Seaville, for hospitable entertainment, while at work in that
vicinity, and to the citizens generally for acts of personal kindness, and assur-
ances of interest in the general results of the work in which I was engaged:
LIST OF THE TREES AND SHRUBS FOUND IN FULTON COUNTY.
Acer dasycarpum, Ehr. Sugar maple.
A. sacharinum, Wang. White, or silver ma-
ple.
jEsculus glabra Willd. Buckeye.
Amelanchier Canadensis, T. <& G. Service
berry.
Amorphafrulicosa L. False indigo.
Ampelopsis quinquifolia, Mich. Virginia
creeper.
Eetula nigra L. Red birch.
Carjrimis Americanus, Mich. American horn-
beam.
Car.ua alba, Nutt. Shell-bark hickory.
C. atitara, Nutt. Swamp hickory.
G'. olivceformis, Null. Pecan nut.
C. tomentosa, Nutt. Mocker nut.
C. sulcaia, Null. Thick shell-bark.
Ceanothus Americanus, L. New Jersey tea.
Celastnis scandens, L. Bitter sweet.
CeJtls occidetilalix, L. Hackberry.
Cophalanthus occidentalis, L. Button bush.
Cercis Cfanadensif, L. Red bud.
Cor mis alteniifolia, L. Alternate leaved cor-
nel.
C. paniculata, L'Her. Panicled cornel.
C. sericea, L. Silky cornel.
G. asperifolia, Mich. Rough leaved dogwood.
Corylm Americanus, Walt. Hazel nut.
Crattegus coccinea, L. Red thorn.
C. crus-gallii, L. Cock spur thorn.
C. tomentina, L. Black thorn,
var. a. L\ mol/is, T. & Gray.
" b. C. fabellatn, Bosc.
" c. C. pyrifulia, Ait.
" d. C. punctata, Jacq.
Diospyros Virginianm, L. Persimmon.
Ewmymus Americanus, Jacq. Waahoo.
Fraximts Americanus, L. White ash.
F. viridis, Mich. Green ash.
F. pubescens, Lam. Red ash.
F. quadrangulatus, Mich. Blue ash.
F. sambucifolins, Lam. Black ash.
Gleditxchia triacanthus, L. Honey locust.
Gymnocladus Uanadensis, Lam. Coffee nut.
Hydrangea arborexcens, L. Wild hydrangea.
Jiiglans nigra, L. Black walnut.
J. cinerea, L. White walnut, or butternut.
Junipcnis Virginiana, L. Red cedar.
Lonicera parvi folia, Lam. Small honey-
suckle.
Morus rubra, L. Red mulberry.
Negundo accroides, Mcench. Box elder.
Ostrya Virginica, Willtf. American horn-
beam.
Ilatamts occidentalis, L. Sycamore. .
Populm tremuloides, Mich. American aspen.
P. granditentata, Mich. Large toothed aspen.
P. monilife.'a, Ait. Cottonwood.
Prunus Americanus, Marsh. Wild plum.
P. Virginiana, L. Choke cherry.
P. serotina, Ehr. Wild black cherry.
Ptelea trifoliata, L. Hop tree.
Pyrus coronaria, L. Crab apple.
Quercus alba, L. White oak.
Q. Lcana, Nutt. Lea's oak.
Q. coccinea, Wang. Scarlet oak.
Q. castaria, Willd. Chestnut oak.
Q. imbricaria, Mich. Laurel oak.
Q. rubra, L. Red oak.
Q. pahtstris, DwRoi. Pin oak.
110
GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
LIST OF THE TREKS AND SHRUBS FOUND IN FULTON COUNTY — Continued.
Q. bicolor, Willd. Swamp white oak.
Q. macrocarpa, Mich, and var. olivctformu,
Mich. Bur oak.
Rhainnus lanceolatus, Pursh. Buck thorn.
Shun fflabra, L. Smooth sumac.
R. aromatica, Ait. Fragrant surnac.
R. radicans, L. Poison ivy.
Ribes floridium, L. Wild black currant.
R. rotundifolium, Mich. Wild gooseberry.
Rosa sctigera, Mich. Prairie rose.
R. lutida, Ehr. Dwarf wild rose.
Rubus villosus, A it. Blackberry.
R. occidcntalis, L. Black raspberry.
Sambucus Canadensis, L. Common elder.
Sassafras officinalis, Nees. Sassafras.
Similax rotundifolia, L. Green briar.
Staphylea trifolia, L. American bladder nut.
TiUia Americana, L. Bass wood or linden.
Salix tristis, Ait. Dwarf gray willow.
S. humilis, Marshall. Bush willow.
8. ni.gra, Marshall. Black- willow.
S. longifolia, Miihl. Long leaved willow.
S. cordala, Muhl. Heart leaved -willow.
5. anguslata, Pursh. Narrow leaved willow.
S. eriocephala, Mich. Silky headed willow.
Ulmus Americanus, L. American elm.
U. fulva, Mich. Slippery or red elm.
Viburnum Lentavo, L. Sheep berry.
Zanthoxylum Amcricanum, Mill. Northern
prickly ash.
CHAPTER VII.
DEKALB, KANE AND DUPAGE COUNTIES.
These three counties, the description of which is included in the present
chapter, are situated contiguously to each other, in the northeastern portion of
the State, and together comprise a rather irregularly shaped area of about fif-
teen hundred square miles. Their respective boundaries and areas are as fol-
lows:
DeKalb county is bounded on the north by Boone and McHenry counties,
on the east by Kane and Kendall counties, on the south by LaSalle county, and
on the west by Lee and Ogle counties. It comprises an area of eighteen town-
ships, or about six hundred and forty square miles. The remaining boundaries
of Kane county are, McHenry county on the north, Cook and DuPage coun-
ties on the east, and Kendall county on the south. Of DuPage, Cook county
on the north and east, and Will county on the south. The areas of these two
counties are, respectively, about five hundred and twenty-eight and three hun-
dred and thirty square miles.
The principal water courses in this territory are, first : the Fox river, which
traverses the whole length of Kane county, near its eastern border ; the Kish-
waukee or Sycamore river, which, rising in the western part of Kane, runs
through the northern portion of DeKalb county, and the DuPage. which,
with its two forks, drains nearly the whole of DuPage county. These, with
their tributaries, and a few minor streams, furnish an abundant supply of
water in all parts of this district. Springs are not generally numerous, except-
ing in the immediate vicinity of the water courses.
The predominating character of the surface of the country, in this district,
is that of an upland rolling prairie, with, however, numerous groves, or timber
islands, and extensive wooded tracts along the principal streams. The propor-
tion of wooded land to prairie may perhaps be as small as one to three or four,
but the checking of the prairie fires which formerly swept over this region,
and the greater attention which has of late years been given to arboriculture,
have probably made up for the deficit caused by the cutting down of the tim-
ber for fuel and other purposes, and it may perhaps be safely said that the
amount of surface actually occupied by growing woods, excepting in a few locali-
112 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
ties in the immediate vicinity of the railroads, is not less at the present time than
in the period of the early settlement of this region. The principal kinds of tim-
ber are, black, white, red and bur oaks, bitternut and shell-bark hickory, black-
walnut, butternut, elm, black and white ash, soft maple, sugar maple, and cot-
tonwood. The red cedar andaarbor vitse are also found in a few localities in
this district. The varieties of soil are altogether the same as have been des-
cribed in the reports on the adjoining counties — on the prairie a deep, black or
dark brown humus, and in the timber a lighter colored, sandy clay soil or loam.
In a few localities the sandy or gravelly character of the soil is more predomi-
nant, as in township 42, ranges 6 and 7, in the northern part of Kane county,
where some of the ridges or irregular elevations of land, separating small wet
prairies or sloughs, are quite sandy. These low prairies are found, of incon-
siderable area, in various portions of the district, but are more abundant in this
particular region. Along some of the principal streams, and especially the Fox
river, in Kane county, the country is more roughly broken, and can in some
parts even be called hilly, although the more abrupt elevations seldom exceed
eighty or one hundred feet above their immediate base.
The geological formations, otherthan the surface deposits of Alluvium, Drift,
etc., which appear at the surface in this district, comprise portions of the Niag-
ara, Cincinnati, and Trenton groups. The St. Peters sandstone, also, judging
from facts developed in the survey of LaSalle county, probably underlies a por-
tion of the southern part of DeKalb county, but as the whole of that region is
covered with heavy accumulations of Drift, no exposures of this formation are
to be found. The exposures of the older rocks are found only along the
courses of the larger streams, and at one or two isolated localities in DuPage
county, on the easternmost borders of the district. Elsewhere they are overlaid
with heavy deposits of Drift, varying from twenty to eighty or one hundred
feet in thickness, and in some localities even more.
Above the Drift proper, we have only the surface soils and a few local allu-
vial deposits in the river bottoms, etc. Some of the springs along the upper
course of the Fox river, in Kane county, issuing from the lower limestone bed
of the Niagara group, hold much lime in solution, and deposit calcareous tufa.
A considerable deposit of this material occurs on the eastern bank of the river,
about three miles north of the city of Elgin, and close to the track of the Fox
River Valley railroad. This deposit was formerly quarried for the manufacture
of lime, and is exposed in the excavations to the depth of about four feet. It
appears to be regularly bedded, and varies in structure from a loosely compact-
ed, porous material, resembling petrified moss, and full of traces of vegetable
remains, to a compact travertin, almost resembling in density some of the older
rocks. The whole extent of this deposit is not to be seen, as it is covered by
DEKALB, KANE AND DUPAGE COUNTIES. 113
from one to four feet of soil bearing large forest trees. It is exposed, however,
for a distance of several rods in the ditches alongside of the railroad track.
The remains of extinct Post Tertiary mammals have heen found in the
superficial deposits in one or two localities in this district. A portion of the
remains of a Mastodon, consisting of the tusks and several teeth, were obtained
in excavating for the track of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad
near the City of Aurora, and are now preserved in the museum of Clark Semi-
nary, at that place. The skull, and it is said the other parts of the skeleton,
also, of Castoroides Ohioensis, were found by a farmer in a slough not far from
the town of Naperville, DuPage county. The skull was obtained by Col. Wood's
museum, in Chicago, where I believe it still remains.
The deposits of the Drift, in this district, consist of loam and blue clays,
and hard-pan, with here and there, amid the mass, seams and pockets of sand
and gravel. Boulders of granite, quartzite, greenstone, and various other
rocks, are abundant in varions localities on the surface of the ground, and are
frequently met with in excavations for wells, etc., and large deposits of rolled
boulders, chiefly of limestone from the underlying Niagara beds, similar to
those already described in the report on Cook county, occur in the Drift de-
posits of the adjoining portions of Kane and DuPage counties. These may
be well observed in the vicinity of Elgin, and, in DuPage county, near Danby
and Bloomingdale. Sections of the bluffs in various places along Fox river,
show that the materials of the Drift have been rearranged, and present a strati-
fied appearance. The limestone boulder deposits may, perhaps, be referred to
this modified Drift.
Pieces of wood, and occasionally large trunks and branches of trees, have
been found at considerable intervals in the Drift, and such cases are reported
in various parts of this district. At Sycamore, in DeKalb county, large pieces
of wood were said to have been met with, in the blue clays of this formation,
at the depth of fifty feet, in digging a well, and other instances were mentioned,
though no particulars were given.
It is not easy to estimate the thickness of these deposits in all parts of this
district, as it is very seldom penetrated by wells or any artificial excavations;
nor is there generally in any such works any record kept of the materials,
which would also be very desirable in the study of this formation. The
bluffs along Fox river, however, furnish partial data for a portion of the dis-
trict, and, judging by these, the Drift will average from fifty to one hundred
feet in thickness, above the uppermost bed of rock. Away from the river, on
either side, the thickness is most probably not less, and may be even more.
At Sycamore, a well is said to have reached, by digging and boring, a depth of
(?) feet, without penetrating the blue clays and hard-pan of this for-
mation.
—15
114 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The artesian well bored by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad
company, at their work-shops, in the City of Aurora, affords a means of ascer-
taining the thickness of the older geological formations at that point. In this
boring, after passing through thirty, or more, feet of the alluvial surface de-
posits of the river valley, the section afforded is as follows :
FEET.
1. Alternating beds of grayish white and gray limestone, sixty-eight feet, followed by
forty feet of buff or brown limestone, Niagara group 108
2. Sixty-four feet of light grayish limestone, underlaid by one hundred and one feet of
shale and shaly beds, the middle portion dark colored and bituminous, Cincinnati
group 165
3. Gray, buff, and nearly white limestone, Galena and Trenton 232
4. Buff and reddish yellow sandstones, St. Peters 158
A comparison between the record of this boring and the Chicago section,
given in the report on Cook county, will show a very considerable diminution
in the thickness of the different formations above the St. Peters sandstone.
In the Chicago section, the total vertical thickness of all the strata between the
base of the Niagara and the top of the St. Peters sandstone, is six hundred and
thirty feet, which is here decreased to three hundred and ninety-seven feet, a
very noticeable difference. As, however, none of the beds below the upper
portion of the Galena limestone are represented in .the surface exposures within
the limits of this district, the remainder of this section only is of general
interest.
Niagara Group. — This formation, underlies the whole eastern portion of the
district, including the whole of DuPage county, and the greater part, if not
all of Kane county. Its western border cannot be located with any certainty.
It seems quite probable, indeed, that it extends westward through the central
portion of DeKalb county, but, from the want of outcrops, this point cannot
be determined.
The lower part of this group, which alone is exposed in this district, consists
of gray, buff and sometimes nearly white, limestones, in some cases dolomitic
in composition, and in others nearly pure, and affording a good material for the
manufacture of quick lime. The beds also contain much chert, unequally dis-
tributed throughout the strata, in thin seams and lenticular masses. A large
portion of the rock, however, is quite free from this material, and answers
excellently well as building stone. Its aggregate thickness in this district can-
not be easily ascertained. In Kane county, the section before given probably
includes all the beds exposed, but to the eastward the outcrops are not so easily
identified with it. At the utmost, however, it will probably not exceed one
hundred and fifty feet, if, indeed, it approaches that thickness. The principal
outcrops are as follows :
DEKALB, KANE AND DUPAGE COUNTIES. 115
In the eastern portion of DuPage county, on the northwestern quarter of
section 2, township 39, range 11, about half a mile west of the railway station
at Cottage Hill, a light gray or nearly white sub-crystalline limestone is quar-
ried. The rock is concretionary in its structure, showing bedding very imper-
fectly, and though very full of traces of organisms, affords but very few well
preserved fossils. The whole depth of the quarry is fifteen or twenty feet, but
at the time of my visit only about ten feet of the upper portion was exposed
the bottom of the quarry being filled with water. Directly east of this point,
in the village of Cottage Hill, rock is said to have been struck in a well at a
depth of twelve feet. The rock exposed in this quarry is not seen in any of
the other outcrops in this district so as to be identified by its lithological char-
acters. It seems possible, indeed, that this may be the uppermost bed of the
Niagara group within these limits.
Passing to the southward about three miles, we find the nearest outcrop oc-
curring on the western bank of Salt creek, in the southwestern quarter of sec-
tion 14, on the land of Mr: Torode. About nine feet in thickness of thin bed-
ded limestone is here exposed, the upper two or three feet, porous and yellow,
the remainder, a rather even textured stone, light drab or gray in color, and
containing numerous nodules of chert. The beds appear to increase in thick-
ness, the deeper the rock is- worked. There is in this quarry a slight, in some
places almost imperceptible, local dip to the northward. The upper portion of
the rock exposed at this place, is fossiliferous, affording various corals, crinoids,
bryozoa, and brachiopoda, but generally ill preserved, and often indistinguish-
able as to species.
Further to the southward, no exposures are met with, until the vicinity of
the DesPlaines river is reached, where we find the bottom land opposite Le-
mont, underlaid by limestone beds. The rock also appears to a limited extent,
near the base of the bluffs, on the northwestern edge of the river bottom, but
no good exposures are met with on this side of the river. On the flats, it is
generally covered with a thin layer of surface soil, and wherever it does appear
at the surface, is so changed by weathering as to make an almost complete
alteration in its appearance. It seems probable, however, the beds at a suffi-
cient depth under the surface, may afford a good building material.
To the northwestward of this, the only remaining outcrops of rock in DuPage
county, are met with on the western fork of the DuPage river, at Naperville
and below. At Naperville, in the quarries on the southwestern bank of the
creek, just below the milldam, there is a section, consisting at the base, of an
even textured, regularly bedded, light drab or buff limestone, about six feet of
which is exposed in the excavation. Nodules of chert, of irregular flattened
forms, are quite frequent in the upper part of this bed, but less abundant be-
low, where the layers also appear to be thicker and more adapted for a building
116 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
stone. This bed is overlaid by about nine feet, in vertical thickness, of a
thin bedded, yellowish, or dark buff limestone, showing a light gray color,
on freshly fractured surfaces, and closely resembling the upper portion of the
rock at Torode's quarry, on Salt creek. The upper beds in these quar-
ries afforded specimens of Atrypa reticularis, Strophomena rhomboidalis, Or-
this flabellum, Leptsena transversalis, Spirifera radiata, S. Niagarensis, Or-
thoceras undulatum, Calymene BlumenbacMi, and species of Illsenus and Sphae-
rexochus, together with many corals and bryozoa. The lower beds were alto-
gether less abundant in individuals j the species were mainly the same. In
many cases, the fossils were merely casts, but some were nearly perfect.
Going from Naperville, in a southeasterly direction along the western bank
of the creek, we find, at a distance from the town of a mile or a mile and a
half, limestone, apparently the same as the upper beds at Naperville, occurring
in the bottom of ditches and small runs, and alongside of the road. Still far-
ther on, at Kimball's mill, a thickness of eight or nine feet, probably of the
lower bed, is shown at the western end of the milldam, on the right bank of
the stream. On the opposite bank, about two hundred yards above the dam,
on the southeastern quarter of section 19, township 38, range 8, the upper beds
are well exposed, and have been quarried. Here, they yield in abundance,
the same species of fossils as at Naperville, and in the same condition. Below
Kimball's mill, the lower beds of buff limestone appear along the western bank
of the creek for a short distance, and have been quarried at one or two points.
It disappears entirely, however, under the Drift, before reaching the county
line.
In Kane county, all of the exposures of rock, with one exception only, are
along Fox river. Along this line of outcrop, the greatest development of the
formation is at Aurora and Batavia, and between these two points. Both above
and below this particular portion of the river, a lesser thickness of the forma-
tion is exposed. Commencing at the southern limit of the county, and going
up the river, the following are the principal exposures met with :
At the village of Montgomery, and almost exactly on the southern line of the
county, there is an exposure of about eight or nine feet of thin bedded buff lime-
stone, abounding in thin seams and flattened nodules of chert, which appears
much broken up and decomposed on the exposed surfaces. No good speci-
mens of fossils were obtained at this point, and only a few unrecognizable frag-
ments were observed. On the opposite side of the river, at the eastern ex-
tremity of the milldam, rock was again observed, similar in lithological char-
acter to that at the first mentioned outcrop, only that it was harder, less de-
composed, and more free from chert. A slight dip, one or two degrees, to the
northeast or a little more north, was observed at these exposures, which would
apparently bring the one last described above the other. The whole thickness,
DEKALB, KANE AND DUPAGE COUNTIES. 117
however, including both exposures, and such intermediate beds as may be con-
cealed by surface deposits, cannot well exceed twenty-five or thirty feet.
Continuing up stream, no outcrops or exposures of rock in place, are met
with, until entering the city of Aurora. Here, in the southern part of the city,
on the eastern bank of the river, at Hoyt's quarry, about forty feet of the
limestone is exposed. Of this, the upper nineteen or twenty feet is a rather
thin bedded buff limestone, with chert very abundant in layers and lenticular
nodules. The remainder of the excavation, below this, is in a regularly bedded
impure limestone, varying in color from light gray to buff or drab, and closely
resembling in appearance portions of the well known Joliet stone. The dip in
this quarry is to the northeast, and amounts to from one to four degrees. The
line of separation between the upper and lower beds is quite distinct in this
section. In the upper beds, a few indistinct fossils were observed : Atrypa
reticulariSj and Orthoceras undulatum, were the only species recognized. The
lower portion of the quarry, on the other hand, appeared to be entirely desti-
tute of fossils, but abounded in small geodes, containing crystallized quartz.
In the northern part of the city, the limestone again appears on the western
bank of the river, at first, only at the edge of the water, but gradually appear-
ing higher on the bank, further up the stream. It also underlies the surface
farther up the bluffs, but how hi<rh cannot be exactly ascertained, as it is mostly
covered with soil. Nearly a mile above the city, there are several quarries on
the side of the bluffs, on the western bank of the river, which show vertical
cliffs of limestone from fifteen to twenty-five or thirty feet, or higher. The
stone in these quarries is an impure limestone, in some layers approaching a
true dolomite in composition, of a decidedly buff or yellow color. Some of the
beds, in some localities, are deeply stained with oxyd of iron, and present a
dark, reddish brown color. There was here, apparently, a slight local dip to
the westward, which, however, was not very noticeable. There may be, possi-
bly, a slight undulation of the strata, or anticlinal, having a strike about north-
west and southeast, but at all events, it is very inconsiderable, and does not
affect the general disposition of the strata in this region. I have considered
the rock exposed in these quarries, and along the river bank, as below the
cherty beds of Hoyt's quarry, and, perhaps the equivalent of the strata imme-
diately below them, though not exactly agreeing in lithological characters. I
have, however, no positive proof of this. But few fossils are to be found at
these localities ; the only specimens obtained were two or three imperfect Caly-
mene Blumenbachii, and the pygidium of an Illsens.
To the north of these quarries, along the western bank of the river, and,
though to a somewhat less extent, on the eastern bank also, ledges of rock are
seen almost continuously, near the water's edge, for some seven miles, as far as
the town of Batavia. In most cases only a very limited thickness of the weath-
118 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
ered edges of the strata are to be seen ; at none of the intermediate points is
there to be seen a good section, where either of the beds observed in the south-
ern exposure at Aurora, can be recognized. The strata generally lie nearly
level, though there are, in some places, appearances of local dipping, which may
perhaps be sometimes due to the undermining and consequent tumbling of large
masses of the rock. About two miles and a-half north of Aurora, a cherty
band may be traced in the rock for a short distance, and then disappears. It, or
another similar one, again appears at the base of the bluff near the mouth of
Mill creek, about a mile and a-half below Batavia. For nearly half a mile, the
limestone appears on the banks of the creek also. It is here a brittle, yellow
limestone, thin bedded, and quite fossiliferous in places. One of the best expo-
sures of this rock is on Mr. Stevens' place, at the old milldam, a few rods above
the crossing of the wagon road from Aurora to Batavia. Here some layers are
almost entirely made up of casts of Pentamerus oblongus, with very rarely a co-
ral or other fossils.
Between this point and Batavia, although the ledges still continue along the
base of the bluffs, there is but one exposure of more than a very few feet ; a
disused quarry, about a mile south of the latter place, which shows a perpen-
dicular cliff of about twenty or twenty-five feet, all apparently of one bed of
yellow or buff limestone. No fossils were afforded by this locality.
At Batavia, in the quarries on both sides of the river, the beds are precisely
similar to and probably identical with those worked at Hoyt's quarry in Aurora.
In Mr. Barker's quarry, on the western side of the river, there is about twenty-
five feet of buff and drab limestone, overlaid by eight feet of the upper cherty
layers ; the line of division between the two is very distinct. -This upper
cherty portion of the rock appears in the exposure to be much shattered, but is
consolidated again by a stalagmitic cement. It is altogether worthless as a
quarry rock, and is very troublesome to remove. Throughout the greater part
of the quarry, the strata lie horizontally, but at its northern end there is a sud-
den dip to the southward of from ten to fifteen degrees, bringing the lower beds
to the level of the top of the quarry. On the opposite side of the river, the
same dip is to be seen in Shannon's quarry, exactly where the strike would lead
us to look for it. In the three principal quarries on the eastern side of the
river, those of Messrs. Starkey, Shannon and Randall, respectively, the same
lower beds are shown as at the one already mentioned on the western bank, but
at Shannon's quarries only, are the upper cherty beds exposed. Near the bot-
tom of this quarry there is also a thin stratum of bluish shaly limestone, and
a seam, two or three inches thick, of sandstone, which is probably only local.
A very noticeable feature in all of these quarries, is the presence of large, well
defined, perpendicular joints, trending about E. S. E. and W. N. W. Another
set of joints, at right angles to these, is less conspicuous. In Shannon's
DEKALB, KANE AND DUPAGE COUNTIES. 119
quarry, two of these joints, parallel to each other, enclose about ten feet in hor-
izontal thickness of the strata, which is said to be shaly and entirely worthless
for building purposes, while on either side are continuous strata of valuable
stone. Fossils appeared to be exceedingly rare in these beds, and when found,
except when in a silicified condition, are very indistinct.
Just north of the bridge, on the western side of the river, at Batavia, is a
quarry, the rock of which is a light yellow limestone, very similar to that at
Mill creek, and containing in one of its narrow layers great numbers of Penta-
merus oblongus. The whole exposure is of about twelve feet. I consider this
exposure, and that at Mill creek, as of a lower bed than those exposed in the
six principal quarries at Batavia, which cannot be identified as appearing any
more above the surface to the northward of that point.
From Batavia northward, the ledges may still be observed along the river
bank. The rock is probably that of the lower beds, the upper ones may still
perhaps be in place higher up in the bluffs, but if so, they are completely cov-
ered with soil, and invisible. Before reaching Geneva, however, the ledges
disappear and are not again met with until that place is reached. On the east-
ern side of the river, a little north of the bridge, a quarry affords a section of
about eleven feet, the upper five of which are of a yellowish limestone, similar
to that already mentioned as occurring at Batavia and Mill creek. Under this,
six feet of a white grayish stone is exposed, which is quarried for building stone.
The upper bed affords a few Pentamerus ol>lonc/vs, the lower one appears almost
destitute of fossils. A lower bed of similar limestone, exposed on the river
bank a little higher up, afforded a few corals and other fossils.
North of Geneva, the limestone may be observed outcropping at various
points, and forming the bed of the river and several smaller streams. The best
section which is afforded by any exposure between this point and St. Charles,
may be seen at a place called Cedar Bluffs, about a mile south of the latter
place. The two lower beds seem similar to those which are exposed further
down the river, at Geneva :
FEET.
1. A thin-bedded buff and gray limestone, apparently destitute of fossils 7
2. A bluish or bluish-white shaly bed 1
3. Brittle yellow limestone, similar to the upper bed at Geneva, and containing many
Pentamerus oblongus, corals, etc. . , 4
4. Bluish or grayish-white rock, containing a few fossils, Illcenus, Orthocerai, etc., and
resembling in appearance the lower bed at Geneva, exposed 3
Below the lowermost bed in this section, and the level of the river, is a con-
siderable thickness of strata, which are not exposed well enough to enable us to
judge of their lithological character. Much of it, however, is in all probability
the same as No. 4. A half a mile farther north, at McAulay's quarry, the
same beds are again seen, but, in this exposure, No. 1 is somewhat thinner, and
120 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
No. 4 thicker by five feet. Here, it also is divided into two strata, each four
feet thick, not differing lithologically, but with a very distinct line of separa-
tion. At this place, I obtained from bed No. 4, in addition to the species col-
lected at the other locality, Galymene Ittumenbachu, Pentamerus oblongus, a
Comulites, and some additional corals. The quarry in the village of St.
Charles, on the western side of the river, may perhaps be in another bed than
those exposed here, as the stone seems slightly different; it, however, resembles
No. 1, rather than the others, and is possibly identical with that bed.
At St. Charles, the rock disappears under the surface, and no exposures are
met with, up the river, for nearly four miles. At this distance from the vil-
lage, however, a slight undulation of the strata, or a low anticlinal, brings it
again to the surface, and it is prominent, in perpendicular ledges and cliffs of
low elevation for nearly a mile along the western bank of the river, and for a
less distance on the eastern side. The exposures of the rocks of this group
here consists of about twenty-five feet of the lowermost beds, resting immedi-
ately on the shales and shaly limestones of the Cincinnati group. The slope
here is very slight each way, and indeed, but for the fact of the underlying
beds of the Cincinnati group being brought to the surface, the disturbance of
the strata would be hardly noticeable. The rock consists of intercalated beds
of light gray limestone and buff colored dolomite, containing in the lower por-
tion a few thin seams of chert. The light gray portions of the rock answer
well for burning into quick lime, and some of the other beds seem to be suitable
for the manufacture of cement. The axis of the disturbance is crossed by the
road at Mr. Jucket's lime kiln, in the southwest corner of section 3, township
40, range 8 east, and its trend is about northwest and southeast. The Fox
river is diverted from its course by this obstruction, and runs in a northwesterly
direction along its northeasterly edge for about a mile, breaking through it
and running again to the southward, in the southwestern part of section 3,
township 40, range 8. But few fossils were obtained in the bed of the Niagara
group at this locality, only Stromatopora concentrica, a Favosites, an lllajnus,
together with a few imperfect casts of gasterapod shells, and some indetermin-
ate corals, being found.
North of this disturbance, exposures are also wanting along the river till the
village of Clintonville, distant between two and three miles, is reached, where
the rocks once more come to the surface. In the quarry here, on the western
side of the river, a little above the village, in the southwest quarter of section
26, township 41, range 8, the same strata and order of superposition are ob-
served as at Cedar Bluffs, below St. Charles, with the exception of the upper
part of No. 1, only about ten feet of which is exposed. The thin shaly seam,
No. 2, is also much thinner, having here a thickness of not more than five
inches, and about three feet in thickness, immediately below, represent No. 3.
DEKALB, KANE AND DUPAGE COUNTIES. 121
The remaining eight feet exposed, to the bottom of the quarry, represent No. 4.
The whole thickness exposed is fourteen feet and five inches. The fossils are
similar in species to those collected at the former locality, Pentamerus oblongus,
Halt/sites catenularia, and various indeterminate casts of corals and shells.
There is, at this locality, a very slight dip to the eastward, not more than one
or two degrees. North of this point there are no exposures of the older rocks
along the river within the limits of the county.
The only exposures of the Niagara group which remain to be mentioned as
occurring within this district, are met with in the forks of Big Rock creek, in
the southern portion of section 26, township 38, range 6, in the southwestern
portion of Kane county. There are here two principal outcrops, one on each
branch of the stream, and not more than a quarter of a mile apart. The bot-
tom land lying between the two, is also underlaid at a depth of from two to four
feet by the same rock, which has here been also artificially exposed at a point
about midway between them. At the easternmost exposure, the rock is a soft
ferruginous limestone, of a yellow, and, in some specimens, reddish color. At
the diggings on the western fork, and in the bottom land, it seems less ferru-
ginous and more compact and hard, and generally better fitted for use as a
building and flagging stone. As nearly as could be made out, the strata were
horizontal. The limestones here are hardly fossiliferous ; such few specimens
as were obtained, however, were identical with those found near the base of the
formation elsewhere. On the creek below this point, no exposures are met
with north of Kendall county line, though the rock is evidently not far beneath
the surface.
Cincinnati Group. — The rocks of this group underlie a small area in the
northern part of DeKalb county. As, however, they are exposed at only two
or three points within this area, it cannot be defined with any exactness ; it
may, however, be approximately described as a narrow strip, extending into this
county from the north or northeast, and having a width from east to west of
probably not more than eight or ten miles. Its western border is probably
somewhere near the west line of range four of townships east of the third
principal meridian. South of the Kishwaukee, or Sycamore river, there are no
outcrops in DeKalb county, its limits therefore cannot be well defined in that
region, though it probably does not extend very far to the southward.
One of the few exposures of this group in the DeKalb county area, occurs on
the north bank of the Kishwaukee, just north of Stewartsville, where about
fifteen feet of interstratified green and blue shales and rotten limestone, with
some more solid beds, were seen. The exposure continues only so far as the
beds have been worked. Elsewhere the high banks of the creek present only
grass-grown slopes. No dip was observed in this locality, nor were any fossils
discovered except a few fragments of Trijobites generally ^distinguishable as to
—16
\
122 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
species, on account of the incoherency and fragility of the material. The more
solid beds were not rich in fossil remains ; the only specimens found were frag-
ments of Calymene senaria, and Lingula. A little over two miles from this
point, near the middle of the dividing line between sections 17 and 18, or a
little over into section 17, is another quarry into a yellowish, and in some
parts reddish, porus limestone, almost entirely made up of undistinguishable
organic remains, and containing also some well preserved fossils. The depth of
the excavation was about five feet, with apparently no change in the character
of the rock. About a quarter of a mile farther south, I observed another
similar excavation in similar beds of limestone.
Mention has been made in the remarks on the Niagara group, of an isolated
exposure of Cincinnati beds forming the base of a low anticlinal, cut through
by Fox river, in the western part of section 3, township 40, range 8. No good
section is afforded at this place, as a sloping, grass-grown talus extends almost
uninterruptedly from the foot of the ledges of Niagara limestone to the level
strip of bottom land along the river. The highest point to which this forma-
tion extends in the axis of disturbance, is about thirty feet above the river.
The upper beds here appear to be shaly, containing many thin plates of a highly
fossiliferous gray limestone, containing many of the characteristic fossils of this
group. These are washed out abundantly in the small runs and water channels
in the bank, and afford in great numbers Orthis subquadrata, Ortliis biforata,
0. testudinaria, 0. occidentalis, Strophomena alternata, Leptsena sericea, and many
other common species.
Trenton Group. — The upper beds of the Galena limestone, which alone are
included in the surface outcrops of this district, underlie the surface in that
portion of DeKalb county lying west of the area already mentioned as occupied
by the Cincinnati group. The exposures are few and, with one exception, con-
fined to the banks of the Kishwaukee and its immediate vicinity. The princi-
pal exposures are as follows:
Near the center of the western half of section 30, township 42, range 3, and
about a quarter of a mile from the western line of the county, I observed, in a
small ravine at the side of the road, a ledge of thinly bedded, buff colored, po-
rous, fossiliferous limestone, which had been quarried to some extent, and was
exposed in the natural and artificial section to a depth of about ten feet. No
dip was perceptible in this exposure. The fossils were, from the nature of the
rock, very imperfect, being principally very indistinct internal casts of Mur-
chisonia, Pleurotomaria, etc. Similar beds of limestone are said to occur in
the bed of the Kishwaukee, in the northern parts of sections 21 and 22, but at
the time of my visit the water was too high to make any thorough examina-
tion.
DEKALB, KANE AND DUPAGE COUNTIES. 123
Passing up the creek, we find again in the southeast quarter of section 42,
similar ledges of brownish-yellow and buff colored limestone appearing to the
hight of about six feet, on the north bank of the creek. Fossils were numer-
ous at this place also, but were similar in condition to those in the locality pre-
viously described. One and a half miles farther east, in the western part of
section 2, township 42, range 4, is another exposure, at which also the rock has
been somewhat quarried. The limestone is worked right at the water's edge,
and is said to appear also in the bed of the stream in this vicinity. The upper
beds here are friable and thin ; the lower beds, however, are said to answer well
as a building material for the rougher kinds of work.
Economical Geology.
Building Stone.— The best stone for general building purposes which is found
in this district, is that which is obtained from the quarries at Batavia and the
southern part of the city of Aurora. This is apparently near the top of the
Niagara group, as it is developed along the Fox river, though probably within
one hundred feet from the base and actually in the lower part of the formation.
It is probably in about the same geological horizon as the well known Joliet
stone, which it very much resembles. It is here a light gray or drab, evenly
bedded limestone, the beds varying from eight inches or lessee nearly three
feet in thickness, affording blocks of all sizes required for building purposes.
The stone dresses well, is strong and durable, and after being cut is of an agree-
able light drab or buff color, which, .however, is liable to be considerably deep-
ened by the action of the weather. Occasionally, also, some layers of the stone
contain nodules of pyrites which, decomposing, leave unsightly stains on the
walls and buildings in which it is used, as may be observed, for instance, in the
court house at Geneva. This stone is used extensively for building purposes,
not only in this district, but also in other parts of the State. The quarries at
Batavia are worked in the side of the river bluffs, and the consequent necessity
of removing the superincumbent masses of Drift and surface soil is a hindrance
to their extension, causing a great increase in the labor and the expense of
working them.
The other exposures of the Niagara group, and the limestones of the Trenton
and Cincinnati groups, occurring in various parts of this district, also afford a
supply of material suitable for foundations, rough walls, etc., and are also used
to some extent for general building purposes. The rock, however, is generally
too thinly and irregularly bedded to afford a superior quality of building stone,
Large portions of this district, however, are entirely destitute of a local supply
of building stone, and in some parts this material, whenever it is required, must
be transported a distance of from ten to eighteen miles.
124 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Limestone for Lime. — Many of the limestone beds of the Niagara group, in
this district, afford a good material for the manufacture of lime, and have been
worked for this purpose. Lime kilns have been established at Naperville and
other places in DuPage county, and at several points along the Fox river, in the
vicinity of the towns of Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, and St. Charles, in Kane
county. In northern DeKalb county, the outcropping beds of the Galena
limestone have been used for the same purpose, and are reported to have fur-
nished a good article. The deposit of calcareous tufa, three miles north of the
city of Elgin, and its former manufacture into lime, have been already men-
tioned in the earlier part of this chapter.
In the lowest part of the Niagara group, at Fayville, on the Fox river, about
four miles north of St. Charles, there occurs a stratum of somewhat argillaceous
magnesian limestone or dolomite, which it is reported has been tried and found
to answer for the manufacture of hydraulic cement. An analysis of this rock,
by Dr. Blaney, may be found in the appendix to the third volume of these Re-
ports. Beyond this I am not aware of any material which has been tested for
this purpose, within the limits of this district.
Other Building Materials. — Clay and loam suitable for the manufacture of
brick may be obtained from the Drift and surface deposits in various parts of
this district. The best material .for this purpose, however, is found in the
northern part of Kane county, at the village of Dundee. The clay here,
which appears to belong to the Drift formation, is quite free from oxydes of
iron, and burns into brick of a delicate pale yellow color, in assorted lots, not
inferior in appearance to the celebrated Milwaukee brick. In other places,
however, the same difficulty is met with as in Cook county ; the clay contains
too great a proportion of lime to produce at once a handsome and durable
article of brick. Sand and gravel for mortar and concrete are sufficiently
abundant in all parts of the county.
The limestone boulders and hard-heads, which are so abundant in various
places along the Fox river, in Kane county, are also used to a limited extent as
a building material, in ornamenting the fronts of houses, etc.
Peat. — Deposits of this material, of greater or less extent, are found in vari-
ous parts of this district, but are most numerous and extensive in the northern
portion of Kane county, where there are some rather extensive level, wet prairies.
But little attention, however, has as yet been paid to the economical value of
this material, and the depth and extent of the deposits have been scarcely tested.
At the village of Carpenterville, on the Fox river, one mile north of Dundee,
there is a deposit of peat one hundred acres or more in extent, and averaging at
least four or five feet in depth, which has been somewhat used in the neighbor-
hood as fuel, and found to answer well. Still more extensive beds occur farther
DEKAB, KANE AND DUPAGE COUNTIES. 125
west, in the towns of Rutland and Hampshire, which are reported to have also
been used to a slight extent.
Agriculture, etc. — The principal varieties of soil, etc., in this district, were
briefly mentioned in the beginning of the present chapter. The prairie soil,
which covers the greater portion of the surface, does not differ from the aver-
age in this part of the State. It is always productive, and yields good crops by
proper tillage. Although a few comparatively poor sections may be found, yet,
as a whole, in the elements of material prosperity, it is not behind any other
territory of equal extent in this part of Illinois. The nearness and the easy
accessibility of most parts, by means of the several railroads, to the great com-
mercial metropolis of the northwest, adds greatly to its other advantages.
Water is readily obtained by sinking wells to depths varying from ten to
fifty feet, and very rarely more. The supply here comes largely from water
veins in the gravel beds or seams, which traverse the clays or hard-pans of the
Drift. It is only in extraordinarily dry seasons that any inconvenience is felt in
the want of a sufficient supply of water for stock.
CHAPTER VIII.
McIIENRY AND LAKE COUNTIES.
These two counties are situated contiguously to each other, in the northeast
corner of the State, and are bounded, respectively, as follows : McHenry
county is bounded, on the north, by the State of Wisconsin ; on the east, by
Lake county ; on the south, by Cook, Kane, and DeKalb counties ; and on the
west, by Boone county. Lake county, lying to the east of McHenry, has for
its remaining boundaries on the north, east, and south, respectively, the State
of Wisconsin, Lake Michigan, and Cook county. The superficial area of the
whole district is about ten hundred and six square miles, of which area, the
greater portion, six hundred and twelve square miles, is within the limits of
McHenry county, and the remainder, three hundred and ninety-four square
miles, in Lake county.
The principal streams by which this region is watered are, in the order of
their importance, as follows : the Fox river, which, entering this district from
the north, and passing through several expansions or lakes, traverses it in a
general north and south direction ; the DesPlaines, also rising in the State of
Wisconsin, and pursuing a generally parallel course; the Kishwaukee, rising
in the central and western portions of McHenry county, in two or three
branches, and flowing westward into Boone county ; and the Nippersink, a tri-
butary of the Fox, also rising in McHenry county, and traversing several of
its northern townships. Besides these streams and their .lesser tributaries,
there are one or two small water-courses discharging directly into Lake Michi-
gan, and a slough, or succession of sloughs, in the southeast corner of Lake
county, are drained by the northern branch of the Chicago river, which, in this
county, can hardly be called a stream, except during the wet seasons. That
portion of the district, however, which drains its waters into the lake, and may
properly be said to belong to the basin of the St. Lawrence, is very inconsidera-
ble, a mere strip along the coast, hardly averaging three or four miles in width.
The surface configuration of this district is somewhat varied, embracing not
only the upland rolling prairie and woodland, the prevailing character of the
surface in this part of the State, but also extensive wet prairies or sloughs, in
certain localities, and tracts of alternate sand ridge and marsh of the most re-
MCHENRY AND LAKE COUNTIES. 127
cent lucustrinc formation. This last character of the surface, however, is con-
fined to a narrow strip extending along the coast, from Waukegan northward ,
and in its widest part, not more than two miles across. The ridges here are
composed almost entirely of sand, but nevertheless, support a growth of stunted
black and red oak, dwarf juniper, and occasionally, white pine ; their elevation
is but a very few feec above the lake. The outermost one is the widest, and
indeed, in many places, the only one, being constantly enlarged by accretions
along its lake front, and by the loose sand blowing inland from the beach, which
is itself a wide one, and is fronted by shallow water for some little distance
from the shore. The low prairie or marsh, between the ridges and the bluffs
is overflowed in many portions during a great part of the year, and in some
places is scarcely ever passable. In the firmer spots, there are occasional
clumps or thickets of bushes and low trees, but over the greater portion, the
only vegetation is rank grass and rushes. A strip of land of this general
character, extends along the coast nearly to the State line, gradually rising,
however, to the northward, and becoming dryer and more wooded.
This low coast does not extend south of Waukegan, and the bluffs, which,
north of that place, are a mile or more inland, form the immediate coast to the
southward, in many places without even a strip of beach between their bases
and the water's edge. Being thus exposed, the bank crumbles rapidly under
the wearing influence of the waves of the lake, and in violent storms, large
masses are often undermined and carried away. Another frequent cause of
landslides is, the water percolating the clay from the top of the bank down-
wards, which, when the frost is coming out of the ground, or after long con-
tinued wet seasons, must affect materially the rapidity of the process of degra-
dation. The hight of the bluffs, however, some seventy or eighty feet, is such
as to render the inward progress of the lake upon the land comparatively slow.
The actual rate of wear could not be exactly ascertained, but from the appear-
ance of the clay bluffs themselves, I judged that in the course of years it might
be considerable, amounting, perhaps, to several hundred feet in a century.
Inland from the bluffs, we find, for several miles, a gently undulating sur-
face, which, for the most part, was originally covered with a heavy growth of
timber, principally of the different species of oak and hickory, with a sprink-
ling of other kinds of trees. The soil is a light colored, somewhat arenaceous
clay or loam, with more or less admixture, in its upper portion, of organic mat-
ter, rendering certain portions slightly darker in color than the remainder.
The same general character of the soil prevails in the undulating timbered
tracts in all parts of the district, and also forms the subsoil of most of the
prairie. It appears to me to be a somewhat modified upper member of the"
Drift, and may be seen with the same general characteristics, in similar situa-
tions, in all of the northeastern counties of the State.
128 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Passing still further westward in Lake county, the general appearance of the
country is found to be the same, undulating prairie and forest, with here and
there over the surface, small level prairies and lakes or ponds. These latter
are most numerous in the western and northwestern portions of the county
where they are extremely abundant and vary in extent from a few acres to sev-
eral square miles. The largest are those on the upper course of the Fox river,
near the McHenry county line, Pistakee Lake and Fox Lake, which are from
four to seven miles in length, and a mile or more in breadth. The others sel-
' dom exceed one or two square miles in area, and vary in character from quiet
land-locked ponds to shallow, grassy marshes, differing but little from the ordi-
nary wet prairie or slough. Indeed, almost every intermediate form between
the two may be found in this region. The larger lakes, in many instances, are
themselves widely margined with a growth of wild rice and various aquatic
grasses and weeds, the matted stems of these, together with the floating con-
fervoid vegetation, forming, in some places, a mass of sufficient buoyancy to
support the weight of a man. When, however, this mat is once penetrated, a
stick or an oar may sometimes be thrust down for a depth of several feet, meet-
ing with scarcely any more resistance than is furnished by its own buoyancy.
There are in Lake county, including the smaller ones, some twenty or thirty
of these lakes or ponds ; their average extent is, perhaps, nearly one square
mile.
Passing westward into McHenry county, we find much of the surface of the
same character, but also a much greater proportion of prairie, both level and
undulating. The wooded country becomes more broken, even rising in some
instances, into what may be called in this part of the country, hills of moder-
ate elevation.. The general characters of soil and timber continue about the
same; the small lakes, however, so characteristic a feature in the adjoining
county, are scarcely met with at all to the westward of the Fox river. The
prairies of this county, which, including under this head the low-lying marshy
tracts or sloughs, comprise probably two-thirds, or a still greater proportion of
its surface, show in themselves rather greater variety of soil and surface than
those in the counties farther to the south. We have here the gently undulat-
ing or rolling prairie, a continuation of that of the counties lying to the south
and west, with its dark brown or blackish upper soil of varying depth, with a
sandy or gravelly clay sub-soil, and with narrow strips of marsh or slough
between the undulations. This is the general character in the southern tier of
townships, and to a considerable extent, though less generally, in other parts
of the county. In the central, and in some other portions of the county, the
"surface of the prairie sometimes becomes less undulating, and even apparently
level, though still preserving sufficient rise to afford good drainage. A good
example of this variety of prairie surface may be well seen in the Kishwaukee
MCHENRY AND LAKE COUNTIES. 129
prairie, and at one or two other places in the county. Lastly, we have the
before mentioned wet prairies, or sloughs, which combined, occupy a consider-
able area in this county. Small sloughs, varying in extent from one acre or
less to several hundred, are found in all parts of the county, but the largest are
in the northern tiers of townships. The soil of these wet prairies is generally
more or less peaty, varying in composition from ordinary black, swamp muck to
true peat ; its depth varies from one to twelve feet, and is sometimes even more.
The geological formations in this district comprise only the Drift, and of
the older rocks, the Cincinnati and Niagara groups. The latter, however, are
exposed at onl_y two or three points in the district, everywhere else being
deeply buried under the deposits of the Drift. These consist here, chiefly of
clay and hard-pan, with occasional beds of sand, gravel, etc., and with frequent
boulders scattered throughout the mass. Its depth over the whole district will
probably average at least seventy feet, being seldom less than that, and often
much deeper. The best section is aiforded along the lake shore, from Wauke-
gan southward, where the exposed face of the bluffs, washed by the lake waves,
and constantly exposed to their wearing action, presents an almost continuous
section of from sixty to eighty feet perpendicular, for twelve or thirteen miles.
In most places these bluffs appear to be entirely composed of clay and hard-
pan, without stratification or any horizontal arrangement whatever, except in
having the upper portion generally of finer material than the lower, as was
observed in the continuation of these same bluffs southward, and mentioned in
the report on Cook county. In some places, however, a kind of a rough strati-
fication may be seen, rarely extending any considerable distance, and often so
indistinct as to escape the notice of a casual observer. In the bluffs near Port
Clinton, I observed the variation of the beds more by observing the line of
springs, or the level at which the most of the moisture seemed to gather in the
face of the bank, and to some extent also by the same means farther to the
northward. At one point, a little north of the City of Lake Forest, I made
out the following section. As the cliff was nearly perpendicular and unscalable,
the thickness of the different ?jeds are merely estimates, their relative thick-
nesses, however, are comparatively unimportant, as at no two points were they
exactly the same :
FEET. IN.
1. Clay , 10 to 14
2. Sand and cla^ intermixed „ . c -. ... 9 " 11
3. Clay J " 1 6
4. Sand 1
5. Clay , 50
I could not trace this section for more than a few rods along the face of the
bluffs, as the different beds appeared to run out or to graduate into each other in
—17
130 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
such a manner as scarcely to be detected. Farther to the northward, between
this place and Waukegan, I noticed bands or strata of different colored clays in
the upper portion of the bluffs at one or two points.
Irregular pockets of sand and gravel, sometimes with a kind of rough strati-
fication of the contained material, and large and small boulders of nearly all
kinds of rock, are scattered abundantly throughout the hard-pan and clay of
which the cliffs are mainly composed. One of the largest of these boulders
was seen on the beach at the foot of the cliffs, a little north of the southern
line of Lake county. The material of the mass is a light blue or drab colored,
close grained, impure limestone, containing a few silicified crinoidal stems, etc.,
but not enough of fossil remains to determine the age of the beds from which
it was derived, though it is probably from some of the silurian rocks of Wis-
consin. Its dimensions I was unable to take with accuracy, as it was deeply
bedded in the sand and partly covered by a land-slip from above, but the
exposed portion was about ten feet by six or seven, on its upper surface, stand-
ing three or four feet above the beach. Its upper surface was polished, but
not level, and showed striae in nearly all directions, but with the deepest ones
and largest number in the direction of its greatest diameter. Other smaller
masses of the same rock are frequently found with two or more sides flattened
and striated, and it seems quite possible that this larger mass, if fully exposed,
might show other similar striated surfaces to the upper exposed one. Most of
the large boulders are of limestone, the masses of the primary or intrusive
rocks are generally of comparatively small size, or when of considerable size,
are but rarely met with.
Passing away from the immediate vicinity of the coast, where the frequent
deep ravines afford an occasional view of the lower clays, we find no good sec-
tions of the Drift in Lake county. There are no natural exposures, and all the
data which can be obtained from wells, etc., are meagre and unsatisfactory;
they seldom penetrate more than forty feet, and but little is met with but blue
clay or hard pan, with an occasional pocket or irregular seam of quick sand or
gravel. Boulders, however, are tolerably abundant on the surface, and are also
met with in these excavations, many of them of considerable size and weight,
and of nearly every material, granite, syenite, greenstone, trap, etc., as well as
of the more recent sedimentary rocks, such as limestone and sandstone. In
the western part of the county, near the Fox river, we find the ridges, in some
places, to be largely composed of rolled limestone boulders. The same character
has been observed further south along the same stream, and remarked upon in
the chapter on Cook county. The material, judging from the lithological char-
acters and contained fossils, is chiefly derived from the beds of the Niagara
group, to the northward, in the State of Wisconsin.
MCHENRY AND LAKE COUNTIES, 131
In the northeastern part of Lake county, along the bluffs north of Wauke-
gan, the Devonian beds of Wisconsin appear to have contributed largely to the
debris of the Drift ; in a collection of fossils, all more or less worn but mostly
recognizable, which had been picked out of the gravel beds of this region by
Mr. J. W. Milner, a very enterprising and zealous resident collector, I noticed
a very large proportion of Devonian species, apparently of the age of the Ham-
ilton group.
In McHenry county, we find this formation presenting much the same gen-
eral characters as further to the eastward. In the vicinity of the Fox river
the same kind of gravel ridges are met with as those which have been described
as occurring in the western part of Lake county. In the central and western
portions of the county, the mass of the Drift appears to consist of clay and hard-
pan, with occasional boulders. We have, however, in this county, accounts of
logs of wood and other vegetable remains being found at various depths in these
deposits, a feature which appears to be wanting, or extremely uncommon in
Lake county. One such instance of the finding of a cedar (?) log seven inches
in diameter, at the depth of forty-two feet below the surface, is reported, on
the land of Mr. Thos. Dufifield, near the eastern line of section 13, township
44, range 6. Other instances are reported in various parts, at depths varying
from fifteen to fifty feet or more. Such of these tree trunks, etc., as are found
within fifteen or twenty feet of the surface may, perhaps, belong to a later
period than that of the mass of the Drift, but those which are met with at
depths of forty or fifty feet, or even more, cannot, it seems to me, be properly
so referred.
Niagara Group. — This formation, probably, underlies the whole surface of
the district, with the exception of a narrow strip along its western border; its
outcrops, however, are limited to two or three localities. For this reason,
therefore, its boundaries can be determined only approximately, by lines drawn
from localities beyond the limits of the district. The outcrops, judging from
the character of the rock, appear, with perhaps one exception, to be confined
to the upper or middle portion of the group, and are as follows :
In the northwest quarter of section 31, township 44 north, range 11 east, on
the land of Mr. Thomas Rawson, a ledge of light gray limestone, weathering to
a pale yellow or buff color, has been opened to a limited extent. The exposure
is not natural, the top of the ledge having been originally covered with earth
to the depth of about a foot or eighteen inches, and was only discovered as late
as the year 1867. The depth of the excavation is about six feet, the rock
showing no signs of stratification whatever, but becoming rather darker in color
and more dense in the lower part of the exposure. Although in its upper por-
tion the stone seemed to be almost entirely made up of disintegrated organic
remains, but few fossils were collected, a few corals and an internal cast of
132 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Caiitocrinus. A half a mile west of this point, in the northeast quarter of
section 36, of the adjoining township, the same limestone is said to have been
met with at the depth of four feet.
About five miles due north of this locality, in the northwest quarter of sec. 1,
on Mr. Watson' Convers's place, a bed of limestone rock was struck in two
separate places, in digging wells, in one at the depth of only five and a half
feet below the surface. A few flakes of the stone were turned up and were to
be seen on the surface at the time of my visit ; a rather even textured, light
drab or buff limestone, containing imperfect casts of Pentamerus. . If this lime-
stone is here in place, and judging from the account of Mr. Convers, I think it
quite probable that it is, it may, perhaps, belong to a considerably lower hori-
zon than that of the other localities in the district. In general appearance, the
specimens of the stone which were seen were not very different from some of
the beds exposed on the Fox river, in Kane county, which were there referred
to the lower part of the group.
The only remaining locality where the beds of this age have been exposed at
the surface, is in the northeast corner of section 17, township 44, range 9; and
nearly on the county line between McHenry and Lake counties. The lime-
stone is here seen in the sides and bottom of a shallow excavation on the road-
side, about ten or fifteen feet in diameter. In general appearance and texture,
it is the same as that at Mr. Rawson's, except that at this point, being some-
what more exposed to atmospheric and other wearing influences, it is softer
and more disintegrated. No well preserved fossils are contained in this rock;
a few imperfect casts of corals and crinoids, and a single specimen of StropTio-
mena rhomboidalis were only obtained.
At a place called the Sand Hills, on the Kishwaukce, in the southwest part
of section 21, township 44, range 6, a bed of limestone was reported to have
been struck at the depth of fourteen feet below the surface. This, also, proba-
bly belongs to the Niagara group, as we have no reason to infer that the other
formations extend so far to the eastward.
Cincinnati Group. — This formation, as nearly as we are able to judge, un-
derlies a narrow strip of territory running nearly due north and south, near
the western border of this district. Its exposures are restricted to one locality,
about two miles east of G-arden Prairie Station, on the Chicago and North-
western railway, Galena division, and about a quarter of a mile south of the
main wagon road, between that place and Marengo. It is here extensively
quarried, the excavations being twelve feet or more in depth. The rock is a
thin bedded, buff limestone, having frequently a slight bluish tinge, and con-
taining much chert in some parts of the quarry. In general appearance, it is
very similar to some of the lower beds of the Niagara, to which group I was at
first inclined to refer it. Fossils appeared to be scarce, only a few imperfect
fragments were obtained.
MCHENRY AND LAKE COUNTIES. 133
It is just possible that I have drawn the dividing line between the Niagara
and Cincinnati groups too high up, and that these beds should properly be con-
sidered as forming the base of the upper Silurian. In referring them, however,
as I did, I was influenced by their resemblance to undoubted Cincinnati beds,
farther to the westward, as well as by the position of the outcrop. We fre-
quently find, moreover, in this part of the State, a greater or less similarity in
the beds on both sides of the line of separation of two members of the Silu-
rian, lying conformably one upon the other, and occasionally what appear to be
beds of passage between the two.
Besides the Niagara and Cincinnati groups, which we know to underlie por-
tions of the territory of this district, the Galena limestone may possibly be also
found to occupy a very narrow strip along its northwestern border. As, how-
ever, I am aware of no outcrops nor exposures, whatever, of this formation, in
the district, and its presence here is only inferred from the facts afforded by the
exposures in the adjacent portion of Boone county, directly to the westward,
this bare mention of it may be sufficient in this report.
Economical Geology.
Building Materials. — The only stone quarry of any extent within the district,
is that which has just been described under the head of the Cincinnati group,
a little distance east of the western line of McHenry county. The rock here
is generally too thin bedded and contains too much chert, to serve all purposes
as a building stone, but nevertheless answers well for foundations and for the
rougher kinds of masonry generally. In the other localities where the beds of
rock appear, they have been worked only to a very slight extent, and for the
manufacture of lime alone. It does not appear, moreover, from the nature of
of the rock itself, that any very good building stone will ever be obtained from
the most of these outcrops. In many parts of the district, the erratic boulders
of the Drift are used more or less in rough masonry, and in some places along
the Fox river, boulder quarries, so to speak, are worked in the ridges which
have been mentioned before, as being largely made up of loose masses of lime-
stone rock.
Good clay for making brick is found in most parts of the district, although
in some instances the same difficulty is met with as in Cook county — the clay
contains too large a proportion of lime or limestone pebbles to make a good arti-
cle. The prevailing color of the brick made in this district is red or reddish
brown. A white or straw-colored brick is made, however, at Woodstock, and
at McHenry, in McHenry county. At Woodstock the clay from which the
white brick is made is obtained under a peat bed, and may possibly be a sedi-
mentary formation, more recent than the Drift. That at McHenry I am in-
clined to think belongs to the Drift proper. The same clay that is used for
134 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
making the white brick at Woodstock, is used also for the manufacture of drain
O '
tile, and is said to answer well.
Lime is burned from the limestone boulders, which are abundant in many
parts of the district, and has also been manufactured from some of the limestone
outcrops, but no very extensive manufacture of it has been attempted in either
of the two counties. Sand and gravel, for mortar and concrete, are generally
sufficiently abundant in all parts of the district.
Peat. — This material is found, in a greater or less extent, in all parts of the
district, but the most extensive deposits are found in its northern half. The
different bogs or sloughs in which these deposits exist, are so numerous and scat-
tered that it is difficult to give more than an approximate estimate of the area
they occupy. Perhaps, taken altogether, four or five thousand acres would be
a sufficiently low estimate. Only a few of the sloughs have been at all exam-
ined as to the quality and depth of the beds.
One of the largest of the sloughs is that which may be seen in sections 7
and 8, township 46, range 7, a little north and northeast of Hebron station on
the Rockford and Kenosha division of the Northwestern railway. From this
point it extends, with some interruptions, several miles in a general southwest
direction to the Nippersink, and probably occupies altogether an area equal to
two or three square miles. The depth, when I was able to observe it, averaged
from six to ten feet; the peat ranging from a light, fibrous substance, of a red-
dish brown color, to a denser dark colored material, of a considerable specific
gravity, when dried.
Most of the other sloughs are of comparatively small size, varying from one
to two or three hundred acres in extent. In the eastern part of Lake county,
the low and marshy tract along the shore of Lake Michigan, north of the city
of Waukegan, includes in its area a large proportion of peat bog, much of it
of considerable depth. A very large proportion of the area in the district, now
occupied by these deposits of peat, is so situated as to be capable of drainage,
and nearly all can be made use of to a greater or less extent for the purpose of
pasturage, etc.
In regard to the value of the material as an article of fuel, we have the tes-
timony of those who have used it, generally in its favor. It has been used to a
considerable extent in the brick and tile works of E. B. Durfee, Esq., at Wood-
stock, both in the kilns and in the furnace of a stationary steam engine, and in
both cases is reported to have given entire satisfaction. I am not aware of its
having been made use of for these purposes at any other place in the district,
but it has been used, to a greater or less extent, for domestic firing, in various
parts, and is generally said to answer well. It use, however, in most places, has
been only experimental as yet, and it will probably be a long time before it will
come into general use as a fuel, even in limited districts. In some portions of
MCHENRY AND LAKE COUNTIES. 135
the district, this material has been used to a slight extent as a fertilizer, and
when composted with other substances and allowed to stand for a season before
using, it has been found beneficial to some of the varieties of soil.
None of the more useful minerals have as yet been discovered, in any quan-
tity, in this district, nor is it probable that any extensive deposits will ever be
discovered. The soil, however, is generally productive, and the lands in all
parts of the district are generally readily accessible to good markets. Timber
is generally abundant, and, except in the vicinity of the several railroads,
scarcely less so than when the country was first settled.
In closing this report, I must here express my indebtedness to various citi-
zens of McHenry and Lake counties, and especially to Mr. J. W. Milner, of
Waukegan, for kind assistance and information voluntarily afforded during the
prosecution of the field work in this region.
CHAPTER IX.
KENDALL COUNTY.
Kendall county is bounded on the north by Kane county, on the east by Will
county, on the south by G-rundy county, and on the west by LaSalle and
DeKalb counties. It comprises an area of nine townships, or about three
hundred and twenty-one square miles, of which about one-sixth is wooded and
the remainder is prairie. It is watered by the Fox river, which traverses the
northern and northwestern portions of the county, and by several smaller
streams, the largest of which are the AuSable and its branches, the Blackberry,
Big Rock and Little Rock creeks. The water supply of three streams, in this
county, is chiefly derived from surface drainage, and to a very limited extent
only, from springs, therefore the smaller ones are nearly or quite dry during
seasons of drouth.
The general character of the surface of the country in this county, is that of
an undulating prairie, with the timbered portion either in isolated groves, or
skirting the principal streams. Sloughs, or flat damp meadows, frequently
occupy the hollows between the high rolling prairies, but are not often of any
considerable extent. It is in these sloughs that most of the streams which
head in this county take their rise. Along the Fox river, which flows in a
valley one hundred feet or more below the general surface, the country is more
broken. The alluvial bottom lands along this river, are nowhere of any very
considerable extent, being seldom of more than half a mile in width, and, for
much of its course through this county, the Fox runs through precipitous
banks coming to the water's edge, without even a narow strip of bottom
land.
The principal varieties of timber found in this county, are similar to those
in the adjoining counties. On the uplands we find the woods consisting chiefly
of black, white, red, and burr oak, shell-bark and bitternut hickory, black
walnut, butternut, white and slippery elm, white ash, iron wood, white and
sugar maple, and on the lower grounds, in addition to the most of these, we
find black ash, cottonwood, and occasionally a sycamore. The red cedar is
also frequent along the banks of Fox river, though it forms no large portion
of the timber. The undergrowth is pretty constantly of hazel, with wild plum,
KENDALL COUNTY. 137
crab-apple, and other small trees. The soil of the timbered tracts is generally
light colored, sometimes sandy, or gravelly clay, often somewhat darkened in color
by an admixture of vegetable matter. On the prairies, the soil is mainly a
dark colored mould, but containing in some places a proportion of sand and
clay, especially near the borders of the streams and woods. The depth of this
soil varies from one to three feet.
The deposits of the Drift epoch in this county, are in all respects a continu-
ation of the region adjoining on the north, and over the greater portion of it,
will probably average very nearly the same thickness, viz : from fifty to one
hundred feet. In the extreme southern portion of the county, there are dis-
tricts where these deposits are comparatively quite thin, but over by far the
greater part, they are seldom passed through by even the deepest wells. Ex-
cepting the Fox river, and the AuSable, none of the streams cut down to the
older rocks for any great part of their course, although they sometimes have
cut ravines sixty or eighty feet belew the general level of the country. The
beds of this age consist here, as elsewhere, of blue and yellow clays and hard-
pan, with occasional seams of quick-sand and gravel, and frequent boulders.
In two places in this county, I have noticed faint glacial striae on the exposed
surface of the underlying beds of the older rocks. One of these was on Big
Rock creek, near the southern half of section 1, township 37, range 6 east,
where the top of the uppermost strata of an exposure of Niagara limestone
was worn smooth and covered with faint scratches, running in the direction
south 60° east. The other locality, was in about the center of section 9, town-
ship 35, range 8, where a ledge of limestone of the Cincinnati group, appears in,
the bed of the AuSable creek. At this point the direction of the striae was
different, being about southwest.
Along the Fox river, the materials of the Drift appear to have undergone a
sifting, and reasserting process, by the action of the river, the bluffs frequently
presenting sections of roughly stratified sand, coarse gravel and boulders, with
sometimes a bed containing fossil fresh water shells of existing species. A
good section of this modified Drift material, is afforded by the cutting down of
the bluff for the grade of a road near the center of section 4, township 36,
range 6, about ten and a-half miles south of Piano, where also a bed of shell
marl is to be seen, intercalated between very irregular layers of sand, gravel
and limestone boulders.
Of the older geological formations, we have the following named in descend-
ing order:
1. Coal Measures.
2. Niagara Group. Buff, drab, and brown impure limestones, with frequent
nodules of chert. Aggregate thickness in this county, probably between fifty
and seventy feet.
—18
.«
138
GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
MONTGOMERY '-,
A'/INC COUNTY UN£
3. Cincinnati Group. Gray and bluish limestones, with green and blue
shales. Total thickness, not over two hundred feet.
4. Galena and Trenton Limestone. Porous yellowish lime-
stone, with some bluish beds near the base, and beds of passage
into the next formation below. Total thickness estimated at
I about two hundred feet.
| 5. St. Peters Sandstone. Very incoherent white sandstone,
§ brought up by anticlinals.
The accompanying reduced section, taken along the Fox river
in its course through this county, shows all of these formations,
except the first. The only outcrops of the St. Peters sandstone,
are where it is brought up by anticlinals on the lower course of
the river in this county, as represented in the section.
The coal measures probably underlie a small area of not more
than three or four square miles in extent, in the extreme south-
western corner of the county. The underlying rocks are
nowhere exposed above ground in this vicinity, but the exist-
ence here of deposits of this age, is inferred from the strike
J and dip of the exposures in the adjoining counties of LaSalle
•fc and Grundy, and not from any evidence afforded within the
i limits of this county. It seems highly probable, however, from
; the fragments of coal, etc., found in this Drift, that at one time
most of the southern portion of Kendall county was overlaid by
deposits of this age, which have been carried off by erosion
during the Drift period, and it is possible that small outliers
may still exist, under the heavy bed of Drift clay and gravel
which overlies nearly the whole surface of the county. The
only exposure which can in any way be referred to this period,
is in the northeast quarter of section 16, township 35, range 8,
very near the section line between sections 15 and 16, where we
find a thin bedded bluish sandstone, overlying the gray fossilif-
erous limestones of the Cincinnati group, in the bed of the Au-
Sable at this point. The sandstone can be traced for only a few
rods, and the exposure is in no place good, it being generally
almost buried in mud and water. In making an excavation on
| the bank of the creek at this point, Mr. House, the owner of the
land, found many fragments of coal, with fire clay, and fossil
plants, underlying a yellowish rotten limestone reported to be
four feet thick, which seemed more like a mass of loose frag-
5 ments washed together, than like a bed of rock in place. About
i!
j a mile north of this point, the rocks of the Cincinnati group
again appear, no intermediate exposures being seen.
POSTS MILLS-
KENDALL COUNTY. 139
Niagara Group. — This formation, judging from the outcrops, occupies a con-
siderable area in the northern and northeastern portion of the county. From,
the scarcity of outcrops, however, it is difficult to bound this area with exact-
ness, the junction between it and the next, being only seen on the Fox river at
Oswego. Its southern border may be approximately represented by a line
entering the county in the northeast corner of section 18, township 37, range
6, and running in a direction a little south of east, to the Fox river, at Oswego,
then bearing gradually more and more to the southward, until it leaves the
county in the southeastern corner of township 36, range 8. The general direc-
tion of this border line of the formation, is inferred from widely separated
outcrops, some of them outside of the limits of Kendall county.
At Esq. Shontz's quarry, on Big Rock creek, near the centre of the southern
half of section 1, township 37, range 6, about twelve feet of the regularly bed-
ded light buff, or drab limestone of this group is exposed. It here contains
much chert in irregular seams and concretions, especially in the lower part of
the exposure, the upper two or three feet being almost entirely free from this
substance. Above the quarry, at the milldam,this rock forms the bank of the
creek, in ledges rising some seven or eight feet above the water, and may still
be seen above water for about thirty rods above the dam. Farther up stream,
the rock continues under the bed of the creek to beyond the county line, but is
not again exposed in the bank in this county. Below the quarry, it appears in
the bed of the creek for between a quarter and a half a mile, before finally dis-
appearing entirely, and at several points within this distance, there are limit-
ed exposures in the banks. In none of these exposures is there any noticeable
dip of the strata, and the level surface of the upper beds in the quarry, is cov-
ered with the glacial strise, which have been already mentioned in the preced-
ing pages. Fossils are not abundant in any of these localities, but Holy sites
catcnularia, Favosites favosus, Calymene Blumenbachii, an lllsenus, and a few
other species were collected.
Eastward from this point, no prominent exposures or ledges of rock are met
with, until the Fox river is reached. At the point where the river crosses the
Kendall county line, just below the village of Montgomery, a ledge of yellowish
limestone containing much chert, appears on the right bank of the river, rising
to a hight of seven or eight feet above the water's edge. From this point
down stream nearly to Oswego, there is very little exposure, the rock appearing
only below high water mark, and in the bed of the stream. Just north of the
village, near the southern line of section 8, township 37, range 8, the thin bed-
ded limestone of this group is quarried in the bottom and sides of a small ra-
vine. The lower eight or ten feet of the rock, which is quarried near the river
bank, is mainly of a light buff color, with some portions of the strata approach-
ing to gray, and with a few thin seams of bluish cherty rock very nearly resem-
140 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
bling true chert in appearance, and breaking with its conchoidal fracture.
Farther up the ravine, we find above this, six or seven feet of a rather darker
colored, thin bedded limestone exposed. No fossils were obtained from any of
the beds in this locality.
Across the river from this point, there is a rather more extensive quarry in
apparently the same bed of limestone, which is worked, both for building stone*
and for material for the manufacture of lime.
In the village of Oswego, in a perpendicular face of rock on the bank of
Waubansia creek, a few rods below the bridge, about five feet of the low-
ermost beds of the Niagara limestone may be seen, resting directly upon the
strata of the Cincinnati group. The rock here is a brownish, ferruginous lime-
stone, and contains a few fossils, chiefly corals, Stromatopora concentrica, and a
Zaphrentis, being most abundant. Thin seams of chert traverse the rock here,
as in the other localities. The dip of the strata here is to the eastward, about
three or four degrees, thus bringing to view a greater thickness of these beds
further up the stream. A little above the bridge, near the lime kiln, and still
farther up, there cannot be less than twenty feet in exposed vertical thickness,
of the Niagara limestone, in the sides of the ravine.
The only remaining exposure of rocks of Niagara age in this county, is on
Waubansia creek, in the northern part of section 16, a little over a mile from
Oswego. At this point, the rock underlies the prairie at a very slight depth,
over an area, probably, of several acres, and is exposed in the bed of the creek,
and in the artificial excavations of the quarries. This exposure is of a light
buff or drab, thin bedded limestone, containing some shaly layers. It also con-
tains, in some of the upper layers, many small nodules of iron pyrites. The
whole depth of the excavations in the rock at this place, was not more than
four feet at the time of my visit, and for this reason I could not compare this
exposure with some others in this county, as satisfactorily as I could wish, but
I consider it as higher in the formation than any of them, probably fifty feet or
more above the base.
Fossils were neither abundant or well preserved at this locality ; a few frag-
ments of Trilobites and corals only, were collected.
Cincinnati Group — This formation occupies a considerable area, lying south
and west of that underlaid by the Niagara group, equal, perhaps, in extent to
one-third of the whole superficial area of the county. Its western border would,
perhaps, be nearly represented by a line running from north, northwest to
south, southeast, and crossing the Fox river in the southeast quarter of section
35, township 37, range 6. The line of junction between it and the formation
next below, is not shown anywhere in Kendall county.
The upper beds of this formation are well exposed at Oswego, directly under-
lying the lowermost strata of the Niagara group . The following section of these
KENDALL COUNTY. 141
beds, was taken on Waubansia creek, in the same place which has been already
noticed as a locality of the Niagara lower beds. Commencing at the base of
the Niagara limestone, about five feet below the top of the bank, the strata
were as follows :
FEET.
1. Gray, or bluish gray limestone, with chert, apparently destitute of fossil remains 3
2- Gray limestone 7
3. Soft bluish shale 1
4. Gray limestone 2
A little farther down the creek, the gray limestone, (No. 4), is better devel-
oped, and contains many fossils. The rock is a hard, sub-crystalline, thin bed-
ded limestone, with even, thin shaly layers, and is considerably quarried at this
point, as a material for the rougher kinds of masonry. The most abundant
fossils in this locality are, Tentaculites Oswegoensis, Rynchonella copax, Orthis
occidentaiis^ Orthis bellarutjosa, Strophomena alternata, S. deltoidea, Chsetetes
petropolitana, and various crinoidal remains. On the opposite side of the river
from the village, at the western extremity of the bridge, there is also an expo-
sure of about twelve feet in vertical thickness, of thin bedded, grayish lime-
stone, containing, at this point, considerable chert in lenticular and irregularly
flattened masses. It has been quarried here to some extent, and has afforded
some very fine crinoids. These same beds of grayish, cherty limestone, con-
tinued to be exposed in ledges near the water's edge, on both sides of the river,
for some little distance below the bridge, but are not quarried elsewhere.
Below Otiwego, along the Fox, the beds of the Cincinnati group, with occa-
sional interruptions, continue to appear in the bank of the river. The expo-
sures are of shale, with thin beds of limestone more or less abundant, and in
many places, indeed, the limestone forms the greater part of the outcrop, the
shale only appearing as partings between the thin beds of stone. Tn a few
places, the exposures consist entirely of bluish shale, as, for instance, in the
bed of Morgan creek, in the southeast corner of section 27, township 37, range
7. The beds of limestone are rarely sufficiently heavy to afford a good mate-
rial for building, and are therefore worked in very few places. The thin plates
of limestone are often covered with the more abundant fossils of this formation,
as, Rhyncli. capax, Orthis occidentalis, Orth. testudinaria, LeptsK.ua sericca,
Strophomena alternata, Ch&tetes, etc. At Yorkville and Bristol, these thin
beds of limestone are exposed at the ordinary stage of water, along the bank of
the river, and contain the same fossils as the exposures above.
At the inilldam, on Blackberry creek, in the village of Bristol, about ten
feet perpendicular of grayish, crystalline limestone, with some hard, bluish,
shaly rock, is exposed. • About thirty rods above, on the southern bank, is a
small quarry, in which about four feet of the limestone is exposed. The beds
142 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
of this limestone are here of sufficient thickness to afford a tolerable material
for foundations and rough walls. Its color is a dark grayish blue, on weathered
surfaces, sometimes appearing buff or brown. In this locality, besides the spe-
cies already noticed as abundant in other beds, there are found many large
Orthocerata, and a great abundance of Ambonychia, together with numerous
fragments of Trilobites. The limestone, with some intercalated beds of bluish
shale, continues to appear in the bed of the creek for upwards of half a mile
above this point, before it finally disappears under the Drift.
Below Yorkville and Bristol, I observed ledges of this formation continuing,
with occasional interruptions, along the banks of the river for nearly three
miles, and presenting much the same appearance as those already described, as
occurring along the river above Yorkville, but with, perhaps, a greater predomi-
nance of shale, as compared with the limestone. Just below Yorkville, the
river bank shows from fifteen to twenty feet in vertical exposure of crumbling
shale and rock, and an equal amount may be observed at other points below.
Some of the thin layers of rotten limeston at this exposure, are extraordinarily
rich in certain species of fossils, .chiefly Trilobites, Calymene senaria, Asaphus,
etc. The last appearance of these beds, down stream, is at a point not quite three
miles below Yorkville, in the southwest quarter of section 36, township 37,
range 6.
The outcrops of this formation which remain to be described in this county,
are on the AuSable creek, in township 35, range 8. The intermediate prairie is
entirely destitute of outcrops, and, except in the immediate vicinity of the Au-
Sable and Fox, no rock in place has been reached by any artificial excavation.
The northernmost of the outcrops of this group on the AuSable, occurs in the
bed of the creek, very near the center of section 9, and is only visible at low
water. The ledge, which is of very limited extent, is of an apparently massive
gray crystalline limestone, containing a few characteristic fossils, among which
I noticed Rhynchonella capax and one or two other brachiopods. The upper
surface is smooth, and covered with faint striae, which have been already noticed
in the remarks on the Drift of this county. The next appearance of the rocks
of this age, is at the crossing of the county road, on the center of the western
line of section 15. Here the bed of the stream at the ford, and for a few rods
above and below, is composed of a thinly-bedded, highly fossiliferous, light
gray limestone, the beds dipping slightly (8° or 9°) to the northeast. The fos-
sils here are the same as in the other localities described. About half a mile,
in a direction a little east of north, from this place, on the southwest quarter of
section 10, limestone, apparently the same as that exposed in the bed of the
AuSable, was reached at a depth of ten feet, in digging a well.
In the bed of the AuSable, near the southern line of section 15, a dark col-
ored shale, or shaly limestone, is exposed, which affords many fossils. A little
KENDALL COUNTY. 143
further down stream, at the ford and below, the bed of the creek is composed
of a bluish-gray, thin-bedded limestone, which is likewise fossiliferous. By a
boring which was made by Mr. Durst, at his place, near the center of the west-
ern line of section 22, and half a mile from the creek, the following section was
afforded :
fEKT.
1. Surface soil and clay 7
2. Hard, bluish-gray limestone — reported by Mr. Durst to be the same as that occurring
at the crossing of the AuSable, half a mile west 17
3. Hard, thin-bedded, bluish limestone, with shaly partings, said to contain, in its upper
portion, about two inches of black, coaly matter, probably bituminous shale 54
I have not positively identified the lowest beds (No. 3) of this section, in any
of the surface outcroppings along the creek, although they probably appear at
some points in its bed farther down stream, in this or the adjoining county.
Below, this point, the rock does not appear continuously in the bottom and
banks of the stream, but is covered in most places with mud and gravel. The
nearest points where it appears prominently in the bed of the creek, are the
southwest corner of section 23 and the center of section 27. In both of these
places, at the time of my visit, the stage of water was such that the strata were
not visible, but, from pieces thrown out upon the bank, I considered the rock
in this place to be the same as that in the localities above named. Further
down stream, at the crossing of the old stage road from Joliet to Ottawa, just
west of the center of section 34, I observed ledges of thin-bedded limestone
appearing in the bank, to the hight of three feet or more above the water. The
upper beds are light gray, inclining to a buff color, while some of the lower
layers are dark gray and bluish. At the county line, a half mile further south,
rock again appears in the bed of the creek — a highly fossiliferous, bituminous
limestone, dark colored, almost black on freshly fractured surfaces. The gen-
eral dip of the strata, in all these localities, is toward the northeast, although it
is so slight as not to be everywhere apparent.
Trenton Group. — This formation, consisting, as has been stated, of heavy-
bedded, yellowish and blue limestone, occupies all of that portion of the county
which has not already been described as underlaid by the more recent forma-
tions, with the exception, perhaps, of a very small fraction of township 35, range
6, in the southwestern part, which may be underlaid by the St. Peters sandstone.
Its outcrops are confined to the banks of Fox river, and a small area in the
southern part of the county, in township 35, ranges 6 and 7.
At Post's mills, near the mouth of Big Rock creek, in the southwestern part
of section 34, township 37, range 6, a quarry has been opened in this rock, to
a depth of almost five feet. It is here a light buffer yellowish, porous limestone,
the more solid portions showing a grayish hue on freshly fractured surfaces.
The beds lie apparently level, as no dip in any direction is perceptible at this
144 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
point. The same beds appear in the bed of Little Rock creek, near the
quarry, and have been uncovered at one time, half a mile further up the stream^
though not now visible. Fossils were rare at this quarry, and when found
were generally ill preserved. A few fragmentary Murchisonia and Pleuroto-
maria, only, were obtained.
Above this place, according to Mr. Post, this limestone may be found in the
bed of the Fox, as far as the mouth of Rob Roy creek, in the southwestern
quarter of section 35, township 37, range 6, and it appears in a ledge, visible at
low water, in the left bank of the river, in the southwestern quarter of sec-
tion 34.
About half a mile below Post's mills, on the right bank of the river, in the
northwest quarter of section 3, township 36, range 6, there is another quarry, on
the eastern side of a small knoll which rises a few feet above the general sur-
face of the bottom land. In this quarry I observed the beds dipping towards
all points of the compass, from north around to south by the east, and, from
appearances, it seems probable that if the rock was exposed on the western slope
of the knoll, it would be found dipping in that direction also. One or two other
similar knolls, or slight elevations, occur within a short distance from this, and
in one of them, also, the rock has been quarried and presents similar appear-
ances. The rock is the same as that worked at Post's mills, a porous, yellowish
limestone, full of traces of organisms, but affording very few well preserved
fossils. Those collected here were mostly imperfect casts of lllsenus, Pleurotuma-
ria, Murchisonia, Subulites, and one or two small fragments of Zaphrentis and
Receptaculites.
Nearly half a mile further down stream, at Black Hawk's Cave, in the eastern
part of section 4, the river cuts through a ledge of this limestone, of which
about 16 feet in thickness is here exposed. Black Hawk's Cave is a name giv-
en to a natural crevice or a small cave in the rock, which formerly extended
back into the ledge for some little distance, but which, with several other sim-
ilar cavities in this ledge, has now been almost or entirely destroyed by the
quarrying of the stone for the construction of a dam across the river at this
point. At the northern edge of the exposure, the strata dip down at an angle
of five or six degrees. At the other side, on the contrary, the beds break off
abruptly. On the right bank of the river, the outcrops continue a few roda
further down stream before disappearing entirely. The next appearance of the
rock is on the right bank of the river, in the eastern part of section 8, where it
is quarried for building purposes. It is here, as in the other localites, a light
yellowish, porous limestone, crumbling in some of the uppermost layers, but
becoming more solid and better, as a building material, the deeper it is worked.
It contains numerous nodules of chert, and casts of fossils, seldom, however,
sufficiently perfect to be at once recognizable as to species.
KENDALL COUNTY. 145
Below this place for some distance the strata of this age are met with and
are doubtless tilted up by a small anticlinal, the crest of which has most probably
been eroded away. The evidence of this fold is in the existence of an exposure
of the underlying St. Peters sandstone on the opposite side of the river in the
southeastern quarter of section seventeen, and above the next exposure of the
Trenton group, and not by any decided dip of the strata in any direction.
One mile above Milford, on the right bank of the river, is Brodie's quarry,
where a thickness of over twelve feet of the rock is exposed, a bluish-gray porous
limestone, the lowermost beds the darkest in shade of color. This exposure is
on the northeastern slope of still another anticlinal than that one before men-
tioned, the strata having an inclination of between twelve and fifteen degrees
in the direction north 60° east. This is further proved by exposures of St.
Peters sandstone along the river bluffs immediately below this point. Imme-
diately above, at the edge of the water, the limestone may be seen for a short
distance, the beds becoming less inclined and finally appearing nearly horizontal.
Still farther down the river, below this fold, nearly on the north line of section
thirty, and between one-fourth and one-half a mile above Milford, on the right
hand bank, I observed the following section :
FEET. IN.
1. Coarse porous yellowish limestone 3 6
2. Hard silicious rock, resembling quartzite 0 6
3. Light gray or drab argillaceous shales, with thin layers of rock, same as No. 2 26
4. Light colored shaly bed 2 to 4
5. Impure yellowish limestone 3 " 5
The arrangement of the strata in this exposure is very irregular, and their
order is somewhat changed, even within a distance of only a few feet from the
point where this section was taken. I am at present inclined to consider these
beds, as very near the base of the Trenton, close to the junction with the St.
Peters sandstone, and possibly indicating something like beds of passage
between the two formations.
The remaining outcrops of this group in this county, are to be found in the
southern part of township 35, ranges 7 and 6. The westernmost of these occurs
on the land of Mr. J. Bushnell, in the northeast quarter of section 36, town-
ship 35, range 6, a little over half a mile south of the village of Lisbon. The
rock is exposed in the bed of a small rivulet at two points, about a quarter of a
mile apart. The most southern of these exposures, is of a soft, brown, porous,
decomposing limestone; in the other, the rock is harder, and contains consider-
able chert. A fragment of a Recept acuities, and one or two other indistinct
casts of fossils only, were collected here. The next nearest exposure is at
Morris's stone quarry, the southeast quarter of section thirty, township 35,
range 7, where the rock appears at the surface of the ground on one of the
—19
146 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
higher undulations of the prairie, and has been quarried for building purposes
to the depth of about six feet. It is an unevenly bedded, porous, yellowish or
buff limestone, very similar to that, described on the Fox river at Post's mills,
and like that, contains very few good fossils. The strata here appeared to be
nearly or quite horizontal.
A little more than a mile and a half east of Lisbon village, in the northeast
quarter of section 29, the same beds have been again quarried, on the land of
Mr. S. Peterson. About half a mile south of this quarry, on the banks of a
small run, I noticed many freshly quarried fragments, which had been taken
out of its bed, but the strata in place were not visible at the time of my visit.
The stone was similar in all respects to that already described, but was alto-
gether richer in organic remains, containing very many epecimens of Receptacu-
lites, Zaphrentis, Orthis testudinaria, and various other fossils. Still farther
down the course of the same run, in the northeast corner of section thirty-two,
just below the crossing of the county road, I saw low ledges of thin bedded
yellow or buff limestone, extending for a few rods in the banks of the stream.
East of these localities, no beds of rock appear above the surface of the
prairie, for between two and three miles, though it is evidently not buried very
deeply. The nearest exposure in this direction north of the county line, is
nearly in the center of the northern part of section thirty-five, on the land of
Mr. Lewis Sherrill, who has opened a quarry for building stone at this point
The rock is the same as at the localities farther west. Though not perceptible
to the eye, the rocks here have a slight dip to the eastward, not more, probably,
than twenty or thirty feet in a mile. The most eastern point where the rock
appears at the surface, is half a mile east of Mr. Sherrill's, in a small ravine in
the northeast quarter of section thirty-five, and the southeast quarter of sec-
tion twenty-six. Still farther east, it has only been struck in wells.
St. Peters Sandstone. — From observations made in the adjoining parts of
LaSalle county, it seems probable that a small area in the western part of town-
ship 35, range 6, is underlaid by this formation. The tract thus underlaid is
of very inconsiderable extent, at most, probably not more than one or two
square miles, and includes portions of sections eighteen, nineteen and thirty, in
the western part of the township. The only exposures of this sandstone in
the county, are those which have been incidentally mentioned in the remarks
on the Trenton group, in the preceding pages, as occurring along the Fox river
In the center of the southern part of section 19, township 36, range 6, on the
western bank of the river, the principal one of these exposures occurs, the sand-
stone being brought up by an anticlinal, forming the base of the arch, and is
exposed in excavations in the side of the bluff for thirty feet or more above
the water. It is here as elsewhere in this part of the State, a soft incoherent
mass of white sand, hardly deserving the name of sandstone, so soft, indeed, as
KENDALL COUNTY. 147
to be easily excavated at some points with a common spade. Another exposure
of the same material in a similar situation, was observed higher up stream, on
the eastern bank in the southern part of section seventeen.
Economical Geology.
Building Stone. — From what has been stated in the preceding pages, it will
be seen, that Kendall county is well supplied with building stone, although the
finer qualities, suitable for cut stone and ornamental work, are generally want-
ing. The proximity, however, of the excellent quarries at Batavia and Joliet,
will make up for this deficiency. The limestones of the Niagara group, in the
northern part of the county, afford a good material for rough walls, founda-
tions, etc., and have been used to some extent for general building purposes,
though the beds are not always of sufficient thickness to supply the better
qualities. At Mr. Shontz's quarry, in the northwest part of the county, blocks
of considerable size are sometimes obtained, but in many instances contain so
much chert as to seriously impair their quality. The limestone beds of the
Cincinnati group, which have been quarried to some extent along the Fox river,
at Oswego and Bristol, and also on the AuSable, in the southeastern part of the
county, are found, whenever sufficiently resistant to atmospheric influences, to
afford a fine material for foundation walls, and for the rougher kinds of masonry
generally. The heavier bedded limestone of the Trenton group, affords a still
better material for the same uses, and has also been employed for general build-
ing purposes, and found to answer well. It will readily be seen from the des-
criptions of quarries and outcrops of rock in the preceding pages, that they
are so distributed as to be easily accessible from all parts of the county.
Other Building Materials. — Limestone, suitable for the manufacture of a fair
article of quick lime, is found in both the Niagara and Trenton groups in this
county. At Oswego, lime is made from rock of the former age, which appears
here to be somewhat magnesian, and affords a strong, but not perfectly white,
lime. The limestones of the Trenton group are burned at Posts's mills, and a
little above Milford, on the Fox river, and also near Lisbon, and at each of
these places, is said to afford a good article of lime. Another source of this
material which has been made use of to a limited extent, is found in the collec-
tions of limestone boulders, frequently met with in the deposits of modified
Drift along the Fox river.
Sand, for building purposes, is abundant throughout the county, and the sub-
soils and Drift afford good clay for making the ordinary red brick, which are
manufactured in quantities to meet the local demands, at various places in the
county. In this connection, I may also mention the white sand of the St. Pe-
ters sandstone, occurring along the lower course of Fox river, in this county,
148 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
which, when free from mineral salts, by which it is sometimes deteriorated,
affords one of the very best materials for the manufacture of glass.
Sulphur Springs. — Springs containing sulphuretted hydrogen, occur in sev-
eral places in township 35, range 8, in the southeastern portion of the county-
One of the largest and best known of these springs, occurs on the land of Mr.
L. House, a little southwest of the center of section 15. It is a clear, constan-
spring, and gives off an odor of sulphuretted hydrogen, which is perceptible at
several yards distance, although the sulphurous taste to the water is not suffi-
ciently strong to render it disagreeable to most persons ; indeed, the reverse is
very often the case. It is much favored by picnic parties, and from various
relics which have been found in its immediate vicinity, it would seem to have
been used as a watering place by the aboriginal inhabitants of the country. An-
other similar spring, of less value, occurs close to Mr. House's residence, between
a quarter and a half a mile farther west, on the western bank of the creek, and
still others, in the southern part of section 23, and in the northeastern part of
section 16, in the same township. The formation in which these springs ap-
pear to have their source, id the Cincinnati Group.
Peat. — Small deposits of peat have been found in the prairie sloughs in va-
rious parts of this county, and also at one or two points along the Fox river,
but, with only one exception, so far as I am aware, they have not been tested
as to their extent or value as fuel. On the western bank of Fox river, in the
northeast quarter of section 4, township 36, range 6, there is a bed of this sub-
stance, which occupies an area of probably seventy or one hundred acres, or
even more, which has been used to some extent in the neighborhood as fuel,
and is reported to have made a good fire. This bed will, I think, average six
feet or more in depth, over the whole area which it occupies, and is probably
the most extensive deposit of the kind in the county.
From the small fragments of stone coal, which are occasionally found in the
Drift and surface deposits in this county, some persons have been led to sup-
pose that coal beds might be found under the surface. In regard to this, it
can only be said, that there is no probability of the existence of any such beds
under any part of the county, excepting, perhaps, a very small area in the ex-
treme southwestern corner. It is possible, indeed, as has been stated before,
that small outliers of the Coal Measure strata may yet exist, under the Quater-
nary deposits in this region, and these might also be productive, but as we have
no certain knowledge of their existence, the chances are too hazardous to war-
rant any expenditure of labor or capital in their search.
CHAPTER X.
MORGAN COUNTY.
Morgan county is bounded, on the north, by Cass county ; on the east, by
Sangamon county ; on the south, by Macoupin and Greene counties ; and on
the west, by Scott county and the Illinois river. It comprises about fifteen
and two-thirds townships, or about five hundred and sixty-three square miles,
of which nearly or quite one-half, is well wooded, and the remainder is prairie.
Besides the Illinois river, which forms a portion of its western border, this
county is watered by several lesser streams, among which, the Indian, Mauvais-
terre, Sandy, and Apple creeks, may be mentioned as the most important.
Nearly all of these streams head in this county, and attain considerable dimen-
sions before passing beyond its limits.
The country, away from the immediate vicinity of the streams, is, in most
parts, a gently undulating prairie, with a rich, dark colored surface soil, similar
in all respects to that in the adjoining regions, and differing but little from
the general character of all the prairie soils in this portion of the State. On
the broken land along the streams, the soil is generally lighter colored and
clayey, and generally bears a heavy growth of black, white and red oak, with
some laurel oak; pin oak, bitternut and shell-bark hickory, black walnut and
butternut, white and slippery elm, ironwood, sassafras, hackberry, red bud,
soft and sugar maple, linden, and hazel. On the narrow strip of level bottom
land which borders many of the streams, we find, in addition to many of the
above species, swamp white oak, chinquapin oak, sycamore, paw-paw, and cot-
tonwood. In the extreme western portion of the county, the Illinois river is
bordered by an extensive tract of bottom land, ranging from four to six miles
in width at different points. In this bottom^with the exception of a few tracts
of low sand ridge, covered with stunted blackjack, the soil is a rich arenaceous
loam, which, whenever sufficiently elevated, is one of the best soils in the
county. A considerable portion of this bottom, however, is flooded by the
Illinois river, and certain tracts are so little elevated as to form permanent
shallow lakes or sloughs. Along the edges of the bluff's, at their immediate
base, there is generally a sandy slope, similar in soil and timber to the sand-
ridges in the bottom, the material of which is derived from the marly sand of
the Loess, of which the bluffs are mainly composed.
150 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The Loess, the most recent of the geological formations after the Alluvium,
occurs in this county only along the Illinois river bluffs, in which it attains a
thickness of from sixty to eighty feet. Back from the bluffs, it rapidly thins
out, and is seldom seen extending more than a mile or two up the side ravines,
and, indeed, it frequently disappears entirely within a much less distance.
The material is generally an ash or buff colored, marly sand, containing fossil
fresh water shells of existing species, here as elsewhere, forming high, conical
bluffs, which constitute a peculiar feature in the landscape. So resistant is this
material to atmospheric influences, that many of the bluffs are crowned by steep,
mural escarpments of compacted sand, which preserve their shape from year to
year, in spite of the wearing action of the frosts and showers.
The deposits of the Drift extend over nearly the whole surface of the county,
their thickness ranging all the way from twenty to eighty, or one hundred feet,
and at Jacksonville, its thickness amounts to even one hundred and forty-seven
feet. The material of this formation is generally a blue or yellow clay, with
occasional seams or strata, of quicksand or gravel. Good sections of this for-
mation are, however, rarely met with, both on account of the infrequency of
shafts or wells of sufficient depth, and of the frequent lack of reliable informa-
tion in regard to those wells which have been sunk. In general, however, the
brown clays are uppermost, and are underlaid by bluish clays and hard-pan.
A little distance north of Prentice Station, on the St. Louis, Jacksonville and
Chicago railroad, in the extreme northeastern part of the county, a shaft passed
through eighty-five feet of the beds of the Drift, aad the following section was
reported :
FKKT.
1. Surface soil, and brown and yellow clays 25
2. Bluish hard-pan 50
3. Sandy clay, containing a log eighteen or twenty inches in diameter 10
Logs and drift-wood are reported to have been frequently found in the clays'
etc., of the Drift in this county, but seldom as deep as in this instance, at the
very base of the formation.
Boulders are abundant in all parts of the county, but in this region are sel-
dom of such very large size as farther north. Many of the transported boul-
ders show polished and striated surfaces on two or more sides, but no such sur-
faces were observed in any of the exposures of rock in situ.
The older geological formations which appear in the surface exposures of
this county, are the Coal Measures, and the St. Louis limestone. Of the for-
mer, there is between the uppermost and lowest exposures a considerable
aggregate thickness, it is difficult to state exactly how much, but probably sev-
eral hundred feet, including the horizon of at least three or four workable coal
seams. Of the St. Louis limestone, only a limited thickness of the upper beds
is exposed.
MORGAN COUNTY. 151
Coal Measures. — This formation underlies nearly the whole surface of the
county, the only portion in which it is not the uppermost rock, being a com-
paratively limited area along the Illinois bottoms and bluffs. We find consid-
erable difficulty in forming a correct idea of the details of this formation in this
county, on account of the wide separation and varying character of the differ-
ent outcrops. The aggregate thickness, however, may, I think, be safely set
down as not less than three hundred feet, and probably still more. Within this
thickness there are at least three, and most probably four, beds of coal of suf-
ficient thickness to be profitably worked.
The only surface outcrops of No. 1, of the Illinois river section, are along
the Illinois river bluffs, near the northern line of the county, in sections 2, 3 and
4, township 16, range 12 west of the 3d principal meridian, where it has
been worked to a slight extent, by drifts driven horizontally into the hillside,
and it has, besides, been worked at least at one point by stripping along the
outcrop.
The following section, which is made up, in part, from natural exposures in
the northeastern quarter of section 3, and in part from information derived
from the parties who had worked the coal, will serve to furnish an idea of the
order and thicknesses of the beds at this point :
FEET. IN.
1. Clay shale, containing a few indeterminate, apparently vegetable, impressions, and
passing downwards into the underlying bed , 1 5
2. Arenaceous shale, containing no fossils except, perhaps, a few crinoidal stems ... 3
3. Brownish sandstone, containing a few indistinct vegetable impressions 20
4. Black slate 2
5. Drab, argillaceous shale (exposed) 5
6. " " " (reported) 2
7. Coal 2 6
8. Fire clay, penetrated only a few inches.
The sandstone No. 3, of this section, has been worked to some extent as a
building stone, and is exposed in several places along the river bluffs in this
vicinity. The other beds are only to be seen at one or two points, and the out-
crop of the coal vein itself is everywhere covered up by soil and debris from
the beds above.
In the southwest quarter of section 4, township 16, range 11, it is reported
that a coal bed occurs a few feet belcw the bed of Indian creek, which has been
worked by stripping, during seasons of very low water. A little distance below
the point where the coal was said to occur, I observed masses of nodular, argil-
laceous limestone, which I judged to have been derived from the under-clay of
the coal. Still farther up the creek, in the northeast part of section 15, I ob-
served an outcrop of a reddish, concretionary sandstone, which may perhaps be
the equivalent of the sandstone No. 3, in the above section.
152 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
McPherson's coal bank is situated in the northwest quarter of section 33,
township 16, range 12. The distance from the surface of the ground to the
bottom of the coal :n the shaft, is about twenty-six feet. After passing through
fifteen feet of soil and drift clay, a'jout eight feet of dark colored shale and
black slate, containing many heavy ironstone concretions are met with, and
still under this, the coal — at this point only twenty inches in thickness. The
fragments of black slate, which had been thrown ont of the shaft, contained a
few fossils, among which I recognized only Discina nitida, the others being
mostly unrecognizable.
A bed of coal, which may possibly be the same as that in the localities already
mentioned, is reported to occur in about the center of the western part of section
20, township 16, range 12, on the land of Mr. Harris. The coal is said to occur
at a depth of about twelve feet below the bed of Coon run, where it has been
struck by excavations, although it was found impossible to work it on account
of the water. The bed of the creek, a short distance above this point, is com-
posed of rather irregularly bedded, light-gray limestone ; the beds, as far as I
was able to observe them at the time of my visit, lying horizontal, or very nearly
so. Below, along the banks and bed of the stream, in the eastern part of sec-
tion 19, there appears alight colored, shaly limestone in the bed of the stream,
and about two hundred yards still farther down stream, but higher in actual
position, heavy beds of a soft, massive, ferruginous sandstone appear in the sides
of the ravine. I am, however, inclined at present to think that these beds may
possibly belong to the upper part of the St. Louis Group, and not to the Coal
Measures, though the lack of fossils and the want of continuity in the expo-
sures, make this a rather difficult question to decide with certainty.
The coal No. 2, of the Illinois river section, is worked in this county, at one
of its typical localities, and probably at several other points also. At Neely-
ville, on the Toledo, Wabash and Western railroad, near the western border of
the county, this seam of coal immediately underlies the Drift, at a depth below
the surface, at the principal diggings, of from ten to fifteen feet. A shaft sunk
upon the top of the hill, however, a short distance south of the railroad, passed
through eighty-five feet of the brown and blue clays of the Drift, before reach-
ing the coal. The seam varies from four feet two inches to four and one-half
feet in thickness, of which, however, only about three and one-half feet is avail-
able— from eight inches to one foot of the coal being required to be left to
support the roof.
In the eastern part of the village, a shaly sandstone, varying in color from
light reddish to gray, is exposed in the bottom and sides of the ditches along
the railroad, for a distance of three hundred yards or more. The whole thick-
ness exposed is not over eight feet, and the beds appear to be very nearly hori-
zontal. From the locality and appearance of this sandstone or sandy shale, I
MORGAN COUNTY, 153
am inclined to consider it above the coal in stratigraphical position. If other-
wise, its presence here must be due to a fault, of which we have no other
evidence.
Other localities, of probably this same vein of coal, are in the northwest cor-
ner of section 34, township 16, range 12, and in the southern part of sections
21 and 22 of the same township. The former of these localities is on the land
formerly owned by Mr. Robert McPherson, and the coal is said to have been
worked by drifting into the side of a small ravine. The bed was reported to be
about four feet in thickness. No satisfactory information as to the overlying
beds could be obtained. This coal bank is distant about half or three-quarters
of a mile from McPherson's shaft, already noticed as a locality of the lowest
seam, No. 1, of the Illinois river section. Its level is probably from forty to
fifty feet above the coal seam opened by the shaft. In the southeastern quarter
of the same section, I observed exposures of arenaceous shales and shaly sand-
stone, which I judged to be the overlying beds of this coal, and at one or two
points the exposures were from ten to fifteen feet in vertical thickness.
In the southern part of section 22, the workings were scattered along the
bank of Coon run, for a distance of about half a mile. The coal was worked
by horizontal drifts, in the side of the bluff, all of which have been long dis-
used, and few particulars as to the vein itself, or its surroundings, could be ob-
tained. It was reported to be three feet or more in thickness. A short dis-
tance below the coal diggings, limestone is reported to occur in the bed of the
stream, but this was not visible at the time of my visit. It is possible that
the coal in this locality may be No. 1, although from the position of the dig-
gings, I had thought it more probably No. 2.
In the northwest corner of section 18, township 15, range 11, at the point
where the Toledo, Wabash and Western railroad crosses the Mauvais-terre,
there is an exposure on the side of the bluff, and in the railroad cutting, of
thirty feet or more of shaly sandstone and arenaceous shales. The shaly beds
may be traced along the stream for a distance of between a quarter and a half
a mile from the bridge, where they finally disappear, and above this point along
the stream, and indeed in the whole northeastern portion of the county, there
are no prominent exposures of any of the beds of the older formations.
On Willow Branch, in the southeast quarter of section 19, township 15,
range 11, I observed the following section, in a small quarry near the road-
crossing :
FEET.
1. Shale, slightly argillaceous at top, and passing downwards into a shaly sandstone,
containing concretions with indistinct vegetable impressions 6
2. Massive, brownish-white sandstone, containing a few imperfectly preserved impres-
sions of plants 12
3. Clay shale, only exposed at one or two points in the lower bed of the quarry. . . 6 or 7 inches.
—20
154 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
No. 2 of this section is the bed which is here worked as a building stone. It
is extremely soft and easily worked when first taken out, but is said to harden
on exposure to the weather. It is considerably used for general building pur-
poses in the vicinity. Below the quarry, exposures of shaly sandstone and
arenaceous shales occur along the banks of the creek, wherever it touches the
bluffs which edge the narrow bottom, as far as the county line, a distance of
about one mile, and probably continue to appear along the lower course of the
branch in Scott county. Above the quarry, there are no prominent outcrops,
although the same beds undoubtedly occur in the hill sides. At one point only,
in a ravine running down to the creek, in the northeast part of section 29, I
observed indications of the sandstone in the material thrown out of an artificial
excavation.
Passing southward from this point, along the western side of the county, the
next exposure of the Coal Measures is on the south side of Sandy creek, in the
western part of section 16, township 14, range 11, on the land of Mr. S. Can-
non. The outcrop is only of limited extent, and consists of light colored,
rather argillaceous shale, overlaid by sandstone. The vertical thicknecs of the
shale is altogether, perhaps, four feet. The sandstone was only seen in tumb-
ling masses, with, at one point, a glimpse of the rock in place. No fossils were
collected in this locality.
Proceeding up the ravine of Sandy creek, in the bottom of one of the side
ravines opening from the northward, in the northwest quarter of section 11,
township 14, range 11, I observed a large, tumbling mass of light colored, brit-
tle limestone, which evidently had not been far removed from its original bed.
Similar masses occur in one or two of the side ravines of this stream and its
tributaries in this vicinity, but no good outcrop of beds in place occur along
this part of its course. In the western half of section 9, township 14, range
10, there are exposures of light colored, fossiliferous limestone, which has been
quarried in several places on the bluffs on the south side of the creek. Under-
neath this limestone, at one or two points, a little west of the center of the
section, appear exposures of a light colored shale, apparently entirely destitute
of fossil remains. The whole exposed thickness of the shale is about ten feet ;
that of the limestone is not so easily ascertained, as the exposures are not con-
tinuous, and the whole thickness is not exposed at any one place. Judging,
however, from the difference of level in the different exposures, it would seem
to be not less than that of the shale, and probably much more.
A little farther up stream, near the center of the section, at the crossing of
the railroad (St. Louis, Jacksonville and Chicago), a shaft has been sunk about
half way up the side of the bluff. It penetrates the Drift and underlying beds,
to the depth of about eighty feet, and afforded the following section, accord-
ing to the statement of parties present during the excavation :
MORGAN COUNTY. 155
FEET. IN.
1. Surface soil and drift clay , 22
2. Light colored shale 52
3. Limestone, containing Hemipronites crassus, Petalodus deah-uctor, and a
few other fossils 0 10
4. Black slate, containing Aviculopecten rectalaterarea, Cardinia, and impres-
sions of plants 1 6
5. Goal 3
6. Fireclay 8 8
7 Buff or yellowish, close-grained limestone, breaking with a slightly con-
choidal fracture 3
No. 2 of this section, is probably the shale which has been mentioned as out-
cropping along the stream below this point.
No prominent exposures of rock occur on any of the tributaries of Sandy
creek, lying to the southward. The nearest point where they appear, is on the
left bank of Coal creek, in the northwest corner of section 16, township 14,
range 10, where a foot or two in thickness, of a light colored calcareous shale,
or shaly limestone, has been laid bare by the wash of the stream, in the over-
hanging bank. The same occurs at several points below, along the stream, and
at one place in the northwestern part of section 29, I obtained a few fossils,
Spirifer camcratus, Athyris subtilita, Chonetes mesoloba, Productus longispinus,
etc. A little farther down stream, near the center of the south part of section
i30, is Fuller's coal bank, at which locality I took the following section :
FEET.
1. Light grayish limestone, containing a few fossils, mostly the same as those men-
tioned above 15
2. Argillaceous shale 2
3. CoalNo.3? 4
4. Fire clay passing downwards into nodular argillaceous limestone 5
5. Argillaceous and arenaceous shales 4
6. Clay, containing nodules of bituminous limestone, exposed 4
This section was made up along a line of exposure of more than one hundred
yards in length, and the thickness of the different beds are an average, and not
exact measurements taken at one point only. The coal ranges in thickness
from three feet eight inches to four feet, and is overlaid at one or two points
with decomposing black slate. Perhaps this is generally the case, but the ex-
posures do not show it well. The limestone No. 1 is well exposed, and the
vein of coal has been slightly worked by stripping in one of the side ravines a
little distance below the main coal banks, and the limestone here affords the
same fossils as were mentioned before, together with many large Productus
punctatus, P. scabriculus.
Following down the stream, below the coal bank, we find a reddish, shaly
Bandstone exposed in its bed, whiph, at a point about a mile below, forms a per-
156 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
pendicular bank ten feet high. Similar exposures of the same light reddish
or brown sandstone, occur here and there along the creek to the county line,
and below, into Greene county.
In the village of Murrayville, and its immediate vicinity, two or three borings
have been made, in two of which coal is reported to have been met at depths
of one hundred and seven, and one hundred and twenty feet. This coal was
reported as overlaid by sandstone and black slate ; but in neither case did the
boring penetrate the coal more than twenty-three inches. It may, possibly, be
the same vein as that which is worked on Coal creek3 and which I have referred
with doubt, to No. 3, of the general section, or possibly, another higher vein;
the known facts are, however, not sufficient to decide the question with cer-
tainty.
The principal natural exposures of the Coal Measures in this county, which
remain to be mentioned, are those on the main Apple creek and its principal
tributaries. The greater portion of the eastern and northeastern townships of
Morgan county, are upland prairie, where all the older formations are deeply
buried under the heavy accumulations of Drift, and where none of the streams,
which here take their rise, have cut down through these Quaternary deposits
to any considerable extent.
In the northeast quarter of section 18, township 13, range 8, on the north
fork of Apple creek, I observed an exposure in the side of the bluff, of about
twenty-five feet in vertical hight, the upper twenty feet of which is an arena-
ceous shale, and the remaining lower portion consists of one or two thin beds
of limestone, with black carbonaceous shale, and fire clay, and in some places,
one or two inches of coal between the dark colored shale and the fire clay. The
limestone afforded a few fossils, chiefly of one or two species of Bclleroplion
and Cyathoxonia. These lower beds may be traced along the banks of the
creek for about half a mile, although the exposure is not continuous, and then,
the dip of the strata being, apparently, a little greater than the fall of the
stream, and in the same direction (about southwest), it finally disappears be-
neath its bed. A little below where these beds disappear, I observed in one
of the side ravines running down from the northward, heavy exposures of a
massive brownish or reddish sandstone, having, probably, a total thickness of
over thirty feet. A similar sandstone is said to occur some two miles above
this point on the creek, but it escaped my observation while examining this
region. This sandstone contained a few impressions of plants, generally very
imperfectly preserved, but no other fossils were obtained.
Continuing down the ravine of the creek about half a mile further, I ob-
served a place where there had, apparently, been limestone quarried, though
the ledges were not visible at the time of my visit. From the appearance of
the fragments, I judged it to be an irregularly bedded, light grayish, fossilife-
MORGAN COUNTY. 157
rous rock, somewhat resembling the limestone outcropping along Sandy creek,
which has been described on a preceding page. Below this exposure, outcrop-
pings of the older rocks are not frequent along this fork of Apple creek, until
we approach its junction with the main creek. About half a mile above the
junction, in the northeast corner of section 34, township 13, range 9, 1 observed
a foot or two in thickness of argillaceous shale, with about eigTit inches of im-
pure shaly limestone appearing in the bank of the creek, just above the water.
Below the forks of the creek, as far as to the county line, a bed of hard, bluish
limestone appears at the water's edge, and at a few points it may be seen that
this is overlaid by argillaceous shales. Passing up a small branch, which comes
down from the northwestward, and enters the creek bottoms near the county
line, I observed at one point, in the northwest quarter of section 34, on the
land of a Mr. Hart, a place where a coal seam had been worked by stripping,
though I was unable to see the coal itself, or to note its surroundings. A lit-
tle farther up the ravine, I observed exposures of a shale^ with thin beds of
limestone, and over all, a massive grayish sandstone and sandy shale. Passing
up the east fork of Apple creek, above the junction, we find the continuation
of the exposures of the hard, bluish limestone before mentioned, appearing
along the banks of the stream for a mile or more, sometimes in place, and
sometimes in large tumbling masses in the bed of the creek. It also appears
in some of the side ravines, and has been somewhat quarried at one place on
the land of Mr. Benj. Taylor, in the southwest quarter of section 31, township
13, range 8, at a distance of half or three-quarters of a mile from the creek.
About a quarter of a mile above the Sperry bridge, in the northwest quarter
of section 31, township 13, range 8, a section made up from about one hundred
yards' exposure along the banks, was as follows :
FT. IX. FT. IN.
1. Limestone 2
2. Bluish and dark colored argillaceous shales 12
3. Black slate 2
4. Coal 1 3tol 6
5. Clay, containing calcareous nodules 6 " 8
6. Shale. Only visible in the bed of the stream.
No fossils were obtained from any of the strata, except the limestone, which
afforded a few imperfectly preserved specimens of Productus punctatm, P. semi-
recticulatus, and Atliyris subtilita. This limestone is probably the same as that
observed farther down stream, as it is identical with it in appearance and thick-
ness. Still farther up stream, it appears still higher in the side of the bluffs,
and has been considerably quarried, and a little above this point it disappears
entirely, and is seen no more along the stream .
158 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Up a small branch which enters Apple creek from the southwest, near the
center of the south line of section 27, I observed outcrops of shale, limestone,
etc., with a small vein of coal, in the following order. :
FEET.
1. Light colored, fossiliferous limestone , . 1
2. Clay shale 3
3. Black or dark colored shale or slate 10
4. Light colored shale 8
5. Coal 1
6. Fire clay, exposed 4
In one or two places, I observed an exposure of a few inches of shale in posi-
tion above No. 1 of this section, but not in contact. The fossils in the lime-
stones were generally imperfect and indistinct. In the shales below they are
easily obtained, and tolerably well preserved. The most abundant species ob-
served, were corals of the genus Cyathoxonia, Leda ventricosa, Astartella varica,
Pleurotomaria, Grayvillensis? an Orthoceras, etc. A little below the point at
which the foregoing section was taken, there is a continuous ledge of the shale,
from five to eight feet in hight, extending along the bank of the river for a
distance of twenty or thirty rods. Still farther up the ravine, in the northeast
quarter of section 34, the coal again outcrops, and still above this, near the
Macoupin county line, in the southwest quarter of section 35, there is an expo-
sure of ten or fifteen feet of shale, overlying the thin limestone, No. 1, of the
above section.
North of these exposures, in the eastern part of the county, there are but
one or two points where the older rocks appear above the surface, or are artifi-
cially exposed. One of these occurs on the land of Mr. John Rohrer, in the
northeast quarter of section 25, township 13, range 8, where a reddish sand-
stone, in layers varying from two inches to a foot in thickness, has been quar-
ried as a building stone. The stone occurs in the bed of a small branch, run-
ning north into Apple creek, and four or five feet of gravel has to be removed
before reaching the valuable portions of the rock. To the northward of this,
in the vicinity of Waverly, sandstone is said to have been met with in digging
wells, at a depth of sixteen or eighteen feet — possibly the same beds that are
exposed at this point.
Near Prentice station, on the St. Louis, Jacksonville and Chicago railroad,
in the northeast corner of the county, a shaft has been sunk in the beds of the
Coal Measures, and the overlying Drift, to the depth of about two hundred and
twenty feet, and has been continued by boring over one hundred feet more.
As this affords the only means we have of judging of the Coal Measures in this
part of the county, it will, perhaps, be as well to give the section of the beds
passed through, in full, as reported to me. After eighty-five feet of Drift, the
variations of which have been already given in a previous portion of this chap-
ter, the order of the strata was as follows :
MORGAN COUNTY. 159
FKET. IN.
1. Rotten black slate 2 6
2. Coal 0 2
3. Fire clay , 12 4
4. Shale 1
5. Coal 0 2
6. Fire clay '..... 1 3
7. Sandstone and shale ... 16 7
8. Shale with bands of ironstone , 56
9. Black slate (fossiliferous) 3 10
10. Soft sandstone 15
11. Shale 14
12. Limestone 1
13. Slate 2
14. Coal 2 10
1 5. Fire clay 6
Ninety-two feet below the lowest coal in this section, another two inch seam
of coal was reported by the borers, the intervening strata below the fire clay,
being argillaceous limestone six feet, and eighty feet of shale. If the lower coal
in the shaft is No. 4 of the Illinois river section, as given by Prof. Worthen, as
seems quite probable, it would indicate a remarkable thinning out of all the coal
seams in this particular region, and a considerable local variation in all the
strata at this point.
The only point which remains to be mentioned, in Morgan county, as a lo-
cality where the beds of the Coal Measures have been penetrated, is at the city
of Jacksonville, where a bed of coal, thirty inches in thickness, is reported to
have been struck by a boring made on the grounds of the Insane Asylum, at
the depth of one hundred and ninety feet. Another boring, which was made
near the track of the Toledo, Wabash and Western railroad, just without the
eastern city limits, is reported to have struck coal at very nearly the same depth,
but with the remarkable thickness, according to a journal of the boring, which
was kindly furnished by the proprietors, Messrs. Davenport & Berry, of eighteen
feet. This, it seems probable, is a mistake, but the shaft which was being sunk
at this place, at the time of my visit (Nov. 30th, 1868), had not penetrated the
Drift, which here is over one hundred and forty feet in thickness, and no more
reliable data could be obtained.*
*Since this report was made, a section of the Jacksonville shaft has been obtained from
Messrs. Davenport & Berry, and is as follows :
FEET. IN.
Drift clay and gravel , 142
Quicksand 10
Hard, green sand, with a trace of coal 2
Soapstone (clay shale) 14
Sandstone . . 3 9
160 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
St. Louis Limestone. — The outcrops of this formation are confined to the base
of the bluffs, along the eastern edge of the Illinois bottoms in this county. In
lithological characters, it is also rather variable, consisting of reddish and light
colored sandstones, and a hard, impure, reddish, calcareous rock, which appears
in one or two places. It nowhere presents such a development as may be met
with farther south, and disappears entirely before reaching the northern limits
of the county. The most northern exposure observed, was in the southwest
corner of section 19, township 16, range 12, on the land of Mr. Chamberlain,
where I observed a light gray limestone on the sides of the bluff road, and a lit-
tle higher up on the side of the bluff, large, tumbling masses of a light colored
sandstone. About a quarter of a mile below this point, ledges of a reddish,
splintering, calcareous sand rock, appear in the side of the bluffs, and have been
somewhat quarried.
Passing still further to the south and west, along the bluff road, we see at
various points, a light reddish, shaly sandstone, appearing in the ditches along-
side of the road, and in the bottoms of some of the small ravines, which come
down through the bluffs. Mention has already been made, in the earlier part
of this chapter, of a reddish sandstone occurring in heavy ledges up in the ra-
vines of Coon run, which may, possibly, belong to this formation, but more
probably to the Coal Measures. About half a mile north of the southern line
of the county, in the western part of section 36, there is a small quarry on the
edge of the bottom, in a rather coarser grained, light colored sandstone, which
has been excavated to the depth of about four feet. In none of the exposures
of the rocks of this age in Morgan county, were any good fossils obtained, but
ledges of rock containing some of the characteristic fossils of this group in tole-
rable abundance, occur a short distance over the boundary in Scott county.
FEET. IN.
Gray, sandy shale 12
Clay shale with iron bands 6
Conglomerate 2 6
Gray shale 14
Limestone 0 6
Black shale with concretions of septaria 4
Coal 3
Fire clay, not passed through 1 6
The fire clay passes downward into a very hard, arenaceous rock, filled with Stigmaria. The
slaty, black shale of the roof contains lAngula umAonata, Discina nitida, Aviculopeden rectala-
terarea, and Monotis? gregaria. .The concretions of septaria are veined with selenite. From
the appearance of the coal and the beds with which it is associated, I am inclined to regard
it as probably the equivalent of coal No. 3 of the section in Fulton county. A. H. W.
MORGAN COUNTT. 161
Economical Geology.
Coal. — As will be seen by the foregoing pages, at least four or five different
beds of coal appear in the surface outcrops and artificial excavations of this
county, several of which have been more or less extensively mined. In fact,
the whole surface of the county, excepting the Illinois bottoms, and a small
area immediately adjoining, is probably underlaid by one or more veins of coal.
The lowest of these, the No. 1, or Exeter coal, has been mined to some extent
along the river bluffs, near the northern border of the county, where the seam
is about two and a half feet thick. It is, also, probably, the seam that is
worked at McPherson's, and on Indian creek in section 4, township 16, ranjre
11, but beyond these points I have not identified it in any exposures within
the limits of the county. Although the coal of this seam is of a good quality,
yet it is not generally of sufficient thickness to be profitably mined, except
along the natural outcrops, or where it is only of comparatively insignificant
depth below the surface.
The next seam above this, the Neelyville coal, is rather extensively worked
at that place. The seam here is about four feet thick, and only twelve or four-
teen feet below the surface at the principal diggings along the railroad. As,
however, it has no good natural roof, but is overlaid immediately by the clays
of the Drift, from six to twelve inches of coal has to be left for a roof, and
much trouble and expense must be incurred in cribbing. The coal is of good
quality, and is much used on the Toledo, Wabash and Western railway, and is
also sent elsewhere to market.
The four-foot vein, which outcrops along Coal creek, in section 30, township
13, range 10, and which I have referred, with doubt, to No. 3 of the general
section, has been mined to some extent, but the works have been abandoned.
This bed contains some pyrites, disseminated throughout the mass, but when
sufficiently free from this material, the coal is reported to be of a very good
quality.
The other veins of coal which are worked at all in this county, probably be-
long to the middle and upper Coal Measures, and as far as they have been
opened, are generally of comparatively slight thickness. It would seem proba-
ble, however, considering these beds to belong to the upper or middle parts of
the formation, that other and heavier seams of coal may be met with at greater
depths beneath the surface. All the borings which have been made in the
central part of the county seem to confirm this, as far as they go. The small
vein outcropping along Apple creek, in the southeastern part of the county,
is not easy to place in the general section. It probably is, also, in the middle
portion of the series, if not higher. The thickness is too slight to admit of its
being profitably worked, except by stripping, etc., along its outcrop.
—21
162 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Clays. — Some of the underclays of the different coal seams in this county,
will probably furnish a good material for fire brick, tile, or pottery. The clay
beds under the different coal seams, however, generally appear at the surface
only along the sides of high bluffs, or in the bottoms of deep ravines, and
have not been as yet, turned to economical account. Good clays for ordinary
brick making, are found in the beds of the Drift, under the surface soils in all
parts of the county.
Building Materials. — The sandstone over coal No. 1, in the northwestern
part of this county, has been worked to some extent as a building stone, and in
some instances, appears to answer the purpose well, and when a proper selection
is made of this material, it appears durable. The stone abutments of a bridge
over Indian creek, at Arenzville, just over the line in Cass county, which were
built for the proposed Kock Island and St. Louis railroad, are of this sandstone,
quarried within the limits of Morgan county, and after ten years' exposure,
appear as whole and sharply cut as when first laid. In some parts of these
beds, however, the rock seems to crumble on weathering, and should, therefore
be rejected as a building stone.
The sandstone worked on Willow Branch, in section 19, township 15, range
11, is probably near the same geological horizon. It is very similar in appear-
ance, being a light brown or gray sandstone, weathering, however, to a rather
lighter color than that from the previously mentioned localities. It is, as has
been said before, quite soft and easily worked when first quarried, but is said
to harden on exposure.
The limestone beds of the Coal Measures, and their use as a building mate-
rial, have been briefly noticed in the preceding pages. Their use has been
mainly local and limited, and from the restricted nature of the exposures in the
sides of high bluffs or bottoms of ravines, and the general inconsiderable thick-
ness of the strata, it seems probable that it could not well be otherwise. The
sandstone beds of the Coal Measures, when sufficiently resistant to atmospheric
influences, are likely to afford the principal home supply of building material
in this county. The sandstones, etc., of the St. Louis group, which outcrop in
this county, have also been used to some extent, but no such quarries as are
found in this group in the adjoining counties, have as yet been opened in Mor-
gan county.
Some of the limestone beds in this county, appear suitable for the manufac-
ture of quick lime. Most of this article, however, is derived elsewhere, and I
am not aware that this manufacture has been carried on to any extent in any
place in the county. Sand and gravel for building purposes are sufficiently
abundant in all parts.
CHAPTER XI.
CASS AND MENARD COUNTIES.
The two counties of Cass and Menard, which are described in this chapter,
are situated contiguous to each other in the western central portion of the
State. Cass county, the largest of the two, is bounded on the north by Mason
county, on the east by Menard county, on the south by Morgan county, and on
the west by the Illinois river. The remaining boundaries of Menard county
are Mason and Logan counties on the north and east, and Sangamon county on
the south. The superficial area of Cass county is about four hundred and
sixty square miles, of Menard county about three hundred and eleven, thus
forming an aggregate area for the whole district of about seven hundred and
seventy-one square miles, or very nearly twenty-one and a-half townships.
The surface of the country is, for the most part, gently undulating, becoming
hilly and broken only along the courses of the streams. In the western part
of Cass county, along the Illinois river, there is a strip of bottom land, varying
in width from three and one-half to five miles. This extends also along the
Sangamon river on the northern border, and through the eastern part of this
district, gradually, however, becoming more narrow and interrupted until,
through the greater part of Menard county, the bottoms are seldom more than
half a mile broad.
The soil of the prairie portion of these counties is the same as that in the
whole of this portion of the State, a dark colored loam, with a lighter colored
clay sub-soil. On the ridges and bluffs which skirt the streams, we find this
sub-soil everywhere, except upon the Loess formation, exposed at the surface of
the ground, and generally bearing a heavy growth of timber. On the bottom
lands, the soil is an alluvial arenaceous loam, and, excepting in localities where
the sand too greatly predominates, is an excellent and productive soil. The
principal kinds of timber upon the uplands are, the common varieties of oak
and hickory, with elm, sugar-maple, black and white walnut, linden and various
other species which are rather less frequent. On the bottoms we find willow,
ash, sycamore, cottonwood, etc., in addition to some of the before mentioned
species, forming a considerable proportion of the timber. The proportion of
prairie to wooded land in the whole district is probably nearly two to one.
164 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The geological formations in this district, consist of the Quaternary deposits,
the Loess and Drift, and the Coal Measures, which alone of the older forma-
tions, underlie the surface beds of clay, gravel, etc., in these counties. The
Loess forms the bluffs along the Illinois and Sangamon bottoms, in Cass county,
and also appears in the bluffs of the Sangamon river, and Salt creek, to some
extent, in Menard county, though it does not appear as prominently in the land-
scape as farther west. Its general features here are the same as in the other
river counties, and it forms the same bald bluffs, that are seen in other localities
along the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. The material here is an ash or buff
colored marly sand, containing fossil fresh water shells of existing species.
The thickness of the formation is considerable, some sixty or seventy feet
immediately at the bluffs, but it rapidly thins out in the back country, in many
places disappearing entirely within a very short distance. It appears to extend
the farthest inland along the Sangamon river in Cass county, north of the town
of Virginia, and several good sections of this deposit may be seen in the cuts
on the Peoria, Pekin and Jacksonville railroad, between that place and Chand-
lerville. Along the upper course of the Sangamon, in Menard county, this
formation is scarcely to be seen at any point, and may perhaps be said to cease
entirely along this stream, within the limits of the county.
The Drift deposits in this district consist of brown, yellow, and blue clays,
with boulders, while sand and gravel seams are of frequent occurrence
amid the mass. The thickness will probably range, over the whole district,
between forty and one hundred feet; of this, only an estimate can be made in
most cases, as shafts and wells of sufficient depth, and other opportunities of
obtaining any exact knowledge in regard to this particular, are rarely met with
over a greater portion of this region. At Sweet-water, in Menard county, it
was found to be one hundred and ten feet from the surface to the uppermost
bed of rock, and the boring presented the following section.
FEET.
1. Surface soil and brown clay 40
2. Quicksand 11
3. Blue clay , , 59
In the eastern part of section 2, township 17, range 6, near the village of
Athens, a shaft commenced at the bottom of a ravine, which cuts down some
forty or fifty feet below the general level of the country, was sunk eighty-six
feet without striking a bed of rock, and at the depth of sixty-five feet, pieces
of coniferous wood, in a tolerable state of preservation were taken out. Many
large boulders, which had to be removed by blasting, were also met with, some
of them of granite, indicating by their material a remote northern origin, but
more were fragments of the underlying Coal Measure limestone, and sandstone,
containing many of their characteristic fossils and showing, by their compara-
CASS AND MENARD COUNTIES. 165
lively angular outlines, and unworn surfaces, evidences that they have not been
transported far from their original beds. Some of these latter, near the mouth
of the shaft, are of such size and in such positions, as to appear like a natural
outcrop of the Coal Measure rocks, and might perhaps be taken for such, were
it not for the incontestible proof to the contrary afforded by the rocks them-
selves. Throughout the western portion of this district, good sections of this
formation are rarely met with, and accurate information as to its details cannot
be obtained. Its thickness, however, may be put down approximately, as at
least averaging sixty or seventy feet, over the greater part of this region.
Coal Measures. — This formation, as developed in this district, comprises a
thickness of over three hundred feet of the middle and lower portion of the
series, and contains two or three seams of coal of workable thickness. The
best development appears to be to the eastward, the westernmost exposures
being also the lowest in stratigraphical position, and the higher beds appearing
as we travel east. The principal exposures, commencing with the lowest, are as
follows :
In the southwest part of section 21, township 18, range 11, where the road
between Virginia and Beardstown comes down through the bluffs to the bottom
lands along the Illinois river, there are several old coal shafts, only one of
which, (Mr. Kinney's,) is now worked. This is reported to have afforded the
following section :
FEET.
1. Soil, (Loess.) 15
2. Brownish sandstone, containing many vegetable impressions 13
3. Limestones, (" Blue rock.") 2
4. Clay Shale, (" Soapstone.") , 12
5. Coal, (No. 1 of Illinois river section.) 3
6. Fire clay, very hard -4
No. 2 of this section crops out along the bluff road, at the edge of the bluffs,
and a few rods farther west, in ledges several feet in vertical exposure. It is a
soft micaceous sandstone, of a light brown, or whitish-brown color, and appears
slightly crumbling at this locality. About a quarter of a mile farther north,
the coal seam, No. 4. is reported to have been reached by digging in at the foot
of the bluff, and worked by stripping. Still farther to the northward, in the
northwest quarter of the same section, I noticed in an old quarry on the
side of the bluff, a little to the right of the wagon road, an exposure of about
ten feet in thickness of a heavy bedded sandstone, the same as that which is
met with in the shaft, and exposed on the roadside near by. A little farther
northeast, near the eastern line of section sixteen, the coal seam is said to
appear again, and to have been worked to a slight extent in the side of a ravine
about half a mile from the road.
166 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Above the north line of section 21, the bluffs, for about two miles, are mostly
of Loess, and it is necessary to go up the side ravines in order to see the ex-
posures of rock. About half a mile up the large ravine, which cuts through
the bluffs in the southern part of section 10, I observed on the eastern side,
another exposure of the sandstone, (No. 2 of the section) and a little above
this, near the northwest corner of section 14, I also noticed about ten feet ex-
posed of the shales No. 4, capped by a single layer of limestone, two feet thick,
(No. 3). The coal seam must be very near the bottom of the ravine at this
point, but it is not exposed. The outcrops of the sandstone continue up this
ravine and its branches, in the eastern part of section 14, and the western part
of section 15, for about three-quarters of a mile above this point, and then dis-
appear entirely. The rock is, in most respects, the same as in the localities
before described, a soft, even textured sandstone, varying in color from brown-
ish red to a dirty white, and in some portions having a light bluish tinge, and
a slightly variegated appearance. It contains a great abundance of fossil vege-
table remains, Calamites, etc., but from the nature of the rock, very few are
found in a good state of preservation.
From the mouth of this ravine, for a short distance to the northeast, along
the face of the bluffs, there are no very good exposures of any of the beds.
There seems to be here, however, a low anticlinal. The strata having gradu-
ally risen, until at this point, the coal seam No. 4, has been worked by drifting
into the side of the bluff almost midway between the base and summit. The
crown of the arch is very near this point, and the direction of the axis of the
fold must be, judging from appearances, about southeast. The vein of coal is
said to be about three feet thick at this point, but at present only the entrances
to the old drifts, and the debris can be seen, no work having been done here
for a number of years.
A short distance further along the bluff road, nearly on the line between
sections 10 and 11, another large ravine opens out, and the rock again appears.
The coal seam was formerly worked also at this point, at a level some fifteen or
twenty feet above the road, though its outcrop is not now visible. Just below
the level of the old drift, I observed an outcrop of what appeared to be a nodu-
lar argillaceous limestone, which I take to be just underlying the fire clay.
Above the opening of the drift, the shale No. 4, appears, and still higher up
the bank, the limestone No. 3, has been slightly quarried, and above all the
sandstone, No. 2 appears, but at present the debris of the sandstone and shale
covers all the lines of junction, and no very reliable measurements of the thick-
ness of the beds can be taken. The sandstone continues to appear in the sides
of the ravine, and in the bed of the small stream which occupies it, for up-
wards of half a mile. Its total thickness, although in no place so fully exposed
CASS AND MENARD COUNTIES, 167
as to afford an opportunity for accurate measurement, can hardly be less than
fifty or sixty feet.
East of the mouth of this ravine, through the northern half of section 11,
this sandstone appears in ledges in the bluffs, at an elevation of fifty feet or
more above the road, and has been quarried in one or two small ravines. In
one of these ravines, in the northeast quarter of section eleven, I observed the
only outcrop I Was enabled to find of the coal seam, the exposed thickness of
•which was about three feet. This is on the northeastern slope of the anti-
clinal, and only a little further on the Loess and Alluvium come down to the
road, and the exposures of rock cease to appear for the distance of several
miles. Leaving the last mentioned localities, and continuing eastward along
the base of the bluffs, the next prominent exposure is met with near the center
of the western part of section 10, township 18, range 10, on the left bank of
Job creek, just above the point where it comes out of the bluffs and enters the
bottoms. Here, the sandstone No. 2 has been quarried in the hill-side, some
thirty feet or more above the water, and presents precisely the same appear-
ance as at the other localities already mentioned. The lower beds of limestone
and shale, and the coal seams, if, indeed, they occur above the bottom of the
ravine at all, are completely hidden by the fragments and debris from above.
The sandstone appears again at one or two points farther east, within the dis-
tance of one mile, in the northeast quarter of section 10, and almost on the line
between sections 10 and 11.
The only remaining locality in Cass county, where the older rocks appear at
the surface, or are artificially exposed, is on Panther creek, near Chandlerville,
in sections 5 and 6, township 18^ range 9. A shallow coal shaft in the south-
east quarter of section 6 affordedithe following section, according to Mr. Wil-
liam Shores, the proprietor :
^ FEET. IN.
1. Surface soil *3fa 4
2. Gravel (" Blue bind ") ^*k; 4
3. Black slate 7^ , 2
4. Clay shale (" Soapstone ") 13
5. Coal 2 6
6. Fire-clay, passing downwards into nodular limestone 2
7. Clay, penetrated 2
The shale and slate appear in the bank of the creek, for upwards of half a
mile above the eoal diggings, seldom rising more than two or three feet above
the water's edge. No fossils were discovered. It seems quite probable that
this seam of coal is the same as that in the exposures further west, although
from the lack of continuity in the exposures, and of other sufiicient evidence,
it may, perhaps, be best to refer it only provisionally.
168 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
In Menard county, the eastern portion of thia district, we find exposed only
the middle beds of the Coal Measures, no rocks lower than the under clays of
the coal No. 4 of the Illinois General Section having been identified. The
following section shows the order of superposition and comparative thickness
of the different beds in this region :
FEET.
1. Limestone 20 to 30
2. Argillaceous shales 10 " 15
3. Coal (No. 7, 111. R. sect.) 1J-
4. Fire clay and shales 18 " 20
5. Limestone 3 " 4
6. Coal (No. 6, 111. R. sect.) 1 in. to 3
7. Fire clay 5 " 10
8. Shales and sandstone 30 "40
9. Limestone 1 " 3
10. Black slate 1" 4
11. Coal (No. 4, 111. R. sect.) 5 " 7
12. Fire clay 6" 8
Of this section, the beds below the coal No. 6, have not been identified in
any natural outcrop, and have only been reached by borings, and shafts sunk
down to the coal No. 4, which is extensively worked at Petersburg and vicinity.
The upper and middle beds of coal in the above section, were also formerly
worked in the vicinity, but since the opening of the lower vein the work has
been discontinued, or is only carried on in a desultory way by stripping. The
fire clay under these two beds was not separated from the shale in all the sec-
tions reported to me by other persons, and it is possible that in some cases it
may not be developed to any considerable extent.
Just above the village of Petersburg, on the western bank of the Sangamon
river, and close to the water's edge, the limestone overlying the middle vein of
coal No. 6 appears, and has been quarried to a slight extent. It is a rather close
textured, light drab or gray limestone, weathering buff, and contains a few fos-
sils of the species Spirifer cameratus, Athyris subtilita, Atliyris Roissii, Produc-
tus costatus, Producing longispinus, etc. The underlying coal has been worked
by stripping, a few rods further down stream, and is, at this point, two or three
feet thick. The peculiarity of this seam of coal is its uneven thickness, it be-
ing reported sometimes to vary, within short distances, from a thickness of two
or three feet to only as many inches, or even less; and, from this fact, it is gen-
erally considered too unreliable to be worked, except by strapping along its
surface outcrops. Both the coal and its limestone roof are passed through by
Taylor's and Wright's coal shafts, which are sunk from the top of the bank to
the lower coal, or No. 4, within a quarter of a mile of this outcrop.
On the opposite side of the river, near the center of the north line of sec-
tion 25, township 18, range 7, and about a mile and a half above the town,
CASS AND MENARD COUNTIES. 169
there appears a ledge of brownish sandstone, which extends along the river bank
about two hundred yards, with an elevation above the water of some six or eight
feet. This appears to replace the limestone over the middle coal, as it is stated
that that vein immediately underlies it, and was at one time worked at this point.
The rock appeared massive, or very irregularly bedded at this point, and seemed
to stand exposure well.
The upper bed of coal is not at present worked, but the entrance to the old
drifts may be seen in several places along the Sangamon river bluffs, above Pe_
tersburg. It does not outcrop near the village, but its position may be told by
these marks, and the clay shale which forms its roof appears at one or two
points up the ravine which opens out of the bluffs just above the woolen mills
on the southern outskirts of the town, and may be seen on close examination
at the mouths of some of the drifts. This shale is also exposed in other side
ravines farther up the stream, but the beds underlying the coal, and between it
and the middle seam, are only exposed at the Salem mills, some two miles above
Petersburg, on the west bank of the river. At this place, just below the mill-
dam, at the edge of the water, there is an outcrop of the middle coal, overlaid
by two feet or more of shaly, bluish limestone, and still above this, there is
exposed, in the almost perpendicular bank, nine or ten feet of light colored
shales, containing a few thin seams of clay and bands of iron ore. A little
farther up the road, and about ten feet higher in actual elevation, the upper
coal seam crops out of the bank on the roadside. It is here about sixteen
inches in thickness, and this is said to be pretty constantly the same in all places
where it has been worked. The thickness of the middle bed could not be well
ascertained by personal observation at the time of my visit, but it was stated to
me to be two or three feet.
Following up the road south of the mills, the entrances to the disused drifts
along the bluffs at the side of the road, will show the position of the small
seam, though there are no good natural outcrops for some little distance. About
half a mile up this road, however, in the northwestern corner of section 36,
township 18, range 7, we find it again outcropping in the bed of a dry branch,
and a little farther up, the bottom and sides of the branch are composed of the
drab and brown, and in some parts nearly black, argillaceous shales, which form
its roof. This shale contains many concretions of ironstone, generally .lenticu-
lar in form, and sometimes of considerable size. Still farther up the ravine,
at Arnold's quarry, we find, above the shale, though the line of junction is no-
where visible, heavy beds of a light gray or bluish-gray limestone, exposed in
the hill sides to the hight of some thirty feet or more above the bed of the branch.
This limestone is quarried, both as a building stone and for the manufacture of
lime, and affords many fossils of the species Spirifer tineatus, Spirifcr camera-
tus, Athyris subtilita, Retzia mormoni, Rynclionella Osagensis, Productus Jongis-
—22
170 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
pinus, and others. The exposures of both this limestone and the underlying
shales, are not such as to allow any very exact estimate of their respective
thicknesses. The limestone, however, will probably not exceed twenty or thir-
ty feet, and the shale fifteen or twenty feet in total thickness.
On the Sangamon river above the Salem mills, there are no very good expo-
sures above high water mark, though beds of rock are said to form the bottom
of the stream at one or two points. A coal shaft, however, which was sunk
on the land of Mr. Sampson, in the southeast quarter of section 32, township
18, range 6, affords a section of all the beds, from the top of the upper seam
of coal to the under clay of the lower and largest bed. The total depth of the
shaft is a little over ninety feet, and the strata were passed through in the fol-
lowing order, as reported to me :
FEET. IN.
1. Surface soil and blue clay 14
2. Black slate or shale 1
3. Coal 1 3
4. Fire clay and shale 17 3
5. Hard limestone. 4
6. Coal 2 6
7. Fire clay and shale (very hard) 39
8. Black slate 1
9. Coal 6 4
10. Fire clay, penetrated in sump .* 5
It will be observed that, in this section the limestone, which generally is
found just above the roof slate of the lower coal, is missing. This, however,
is probably only a local peculiarity.
Another point along the bluffs of the Sangamon, where rock is said to occur,
is in the northwestern part of section 15, township 17, range 6, on the land of
Mr. A. Hale, where it is stated that limestone was quarried out in former times.
I visited the excavation, but the rock was not visible above the rubbish, and
judging from the chips, I made out the rock to be the same in appearance and
fossils as that in Arnold's quarry, near Salem. The only doubt is, whether this
may not have been merely a large detached mass, imbedded in Drift, like many
in this vicinity.
In the northeast quarter of section 19, township 18, range 5, on the head-
waters of Indian creek, there appears in the banks and beds of the stream, for
about two hundred yards, a bed of light colored, nearly white, limestone, which
seems to be almost entirely made up of crinoidal stems, no other fossils being
observed. Half a mile or more below this, on the land of Mr. T. Kincaid, in
the northeast quarter of section 24, township 18, range 6, the limestone again
appears, and has been quarried to the depth of about seven feet. It is here
CASS AND MENARD COUNTIES. 171
somewhat different, the upper five feet in the quarry being of a grayish, heavi-
ly-bedded limestone, containing very few fossils. A section of the quarry
would be nearly as follows :
FEET. IN.
1. Heavy bedded, gray limestone 5
2. Dark colored, somewhat shaly beds 1 6
3. Dark colored, argillaceous shale, containing Hemipronites crassus, etc 6
4. Hard, pyritous band, with a trace of coal 1£
5. Whitish fire clay, only penetrated 8
Numbers 4 awd 5 of this section, are not to be seen in this quarry without
special excavation, and numbers 1 and 2 appear to graduate into each other at
some points.
Below this for about a quarter of a mile, the limestone is met with by dig-
ging into the banks, and outcrops at one point in the side of the branch, about
one hundred and fifty yards below the quarry. The rock there is somewhat
different from that before described, being a very light colored, nearly white,
thinly and irregularly bedded limestone, containing Spirifer lineatus, Athyris
subtitita, and a few other species, in considerable abundance.
The remaining exposures in the southern part of Menard county occurs in
the southern parts of sections 13, 14 and 15, township 17, range 7, along the
banks of Rock creek. The easternmost of these, occurs in the southeast cor-
ner of section 13, a little west of the Springfield road, where a thickness of a
few feet of light colored shale appears in a field on the bank of the creek. About
three-fourths of a mile above this on the stream, and nearly due west, we came
to the first of the limestone quarries, which continue to appear at intervals for
upwards of a mile above this along the creek. The stone which is quarried
here is a gray or bluish-gray fossiliferous limestone, occurring in rather heavy
beds in the bed of the creek, and in the sides of the bluffs along its course.
In one or two places I noticed from one to two or three feet of brownish shaly
sandstone immediately above, and resting upon the limestone. It seems to me
probable that this limestone may be identical with that at Arnold's quarry,
near Salem, and in that case it will probably be found to underlie the Drift
deposits over a considerable area in the southern part of Menard county. Its
thickness at this point could not be well ascertained, as at no one point is there
exposed more than a few feet, but from the difference of level of the different
outcrops and workings, the beds being apparently horizontal or nearly so, 1
should judge that it is not less here than at Arnold's, at least twenty feet, and
perhaps more.
North of Petersburg, in Menard county, there are comparatively few out-
crops, or artificial exposures, borings, etc. At the eastern extremity of the
wagon bridge over the Sangamon, near the brewery, there is a slight exposure
172 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
of shales, and the small upper (16 inch) vein of coal has been somewhat
worked in former times, and in the hill side a little distance to the north of
this point, I observed many large boulders or fragments of Coal Measure lime-
stone, which may perhaps indicate the presence in the body of the bluff, of
the heavy limestone beds which occur above this coal, farther to the south.
Fischer's coal nv'ne is situated on the railroad nearly two miles north of the
village of Petersburg, and nearly at the base of the river bluffs. The follow-
ing is the section afforded by the main shaft :
FEET. IN.
1. Surface soil and Drift clay 46
2. Shale 14
3. Hard, dark colored limestone 4
4. Black slate 2
5. Coal No. 4 6
6. Fire clay and shale 8
The hard limestone, No. 3 of this section, lies very irregularly upon the
dark slate, its average thickness, however, is in this shaft not more than stated
above. Discina nitida, and one or two other of the species most common in the
roof slate of the coal occur also in this limestone, though less abundantly. A
shaft which was sunk by Captain Taylor, near the railroad station, about three-
quarters of a mile farther south, passed through the same beds, but as this
shaft commences higher up on the hill side, some thirty-five feet of the shale
was penetrated, and the limestone and slate were rather better developed.
The coal No. 6, would doubtless be met with in a shaft sunk from the top of
the hill, and perhaps the small upper vein also.
On the eastern bank of the Sangamon, in the center of the eastern part of
section 1, township 18, range 7, and about half a mile above the railroad
bridge, I observed an exposure of a reddish-brown, shaly sandstone, extending
about two hundred yards along the river bank, and rising to a hight of seven
or eight feet above low water mark. The rock is precisely similar in appear-
ance to that in a similar exposure on the river bank above Petersburg, which
has been described on a preceding page, and which was then said to overlie the
coal No. 6. If it is identical with that, it will show a dip of at least twenty
or thirty feet to the northward, between Fischer's and this place, a distance of
rather less than a mile. A similar sandstone is said to have been quarried in
former times, by the early settlers, in the northwest quarter of section 36,
township 19, range 7, on the edge of the river bottom at the base of the bluffs.
At present no rock in place is visible, but the scattered fragments, or quarry
chips are identical in appearance with the rock in section 1, township 18.
The boring at Sweet-water, penetrated to the depth of one hundred and
seventy-five feet. After one hundred and ten feet of Drift and. surface
deposits, the order and thickness of the different beds was reported as follows:
CASS AND MENARD COUNTIES. 173
FEET.
1. Hard limestone ........................................................... 2
2. Pipeclay ................................................................ 10
3. Shale, (" Soapstone." ...................................................... 40
4. Limestone ................................................................. 3
5. Black slate .............. ................................................. 5
6. Coal ..................................................................... 5
*7. Fire clay, not penetrated more than a few inches.
The coal in this section is doubtless No. 4 of the general section, which will
probably be found to underlie the greater part of the northern portion of Me-
nard county. No. 6 had probably dwindled in thickness until it was not
detected in the boring, as its proper place would be between 1 and 2 of the
above section. This boring affords almost the only means of ascertaining with
any degree of accuracy the lay of the strata in the more northern parts of
Menard county. There remain only two or three isolated localities where the
beds of the older rocks have been met with in artificial excavations, and in
these instances, the facts necessary to enable one to form a correct judgment
are wanting. Near the center of the south line of section 12, township 19,
range 7, a bed of yellowish sandstone is said to have been once uncovered in
the side of the river bluffs. This is immediately overlaid by a silicious con-
glomerate, which I am not disposed to consider older than the Drift, and the
sandstone may very possibly be of the same age. Near the base of the bluffs,
not far from this point, I heard it reported that a small sixteen-inch vein of
coal had once been found, but is not now visible. Other localities where coal
is stated to have been found are, at the foot of the bluffs of the Sangamon,
near the center of section 3, township 19, range 7, and on Clary's creek, near
the center of the south line of section 27, township 19, range 8. In neither
of these localities were the beds visible, nor could any very satisfactory informa-
tion be obtained.
Economical Geology.
Coal. — As has been stated in the foregoing pages, all parts of this district
appear to be underlaid by the Coal Measures, which here include the horizon
of four or five different seams of coal. It seems highly probable, indeed, that
there is no portion of the district, excepting the bottom lands along the Illi-
nois and Sangamon rivers, in the western part, that is not underlaid by at least
one coal bed of workable thickness. The lowest of these seams, which is
exposed or worked anywhere in this region is probably the coal No. 1 of the
general section of the State, identical with the Exeter coal of Scott county,
although it is possible that it may prove to be No. 2 of the general section, or
the same as the Neelyville coal, in Morgan county. The absence of black
174 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
slate in the roof, and the great thickness of the sandstone above are facts which
seem to slightly favor this view, but are, however, not conclusive. The absence
of exposures in the southwestern portion of Cass county, is to be regretted as
not affording the means of positively determining this question.
This vein of coal is now actively worked at only one or two points in Cass
county, although it was formerly much more extensively mined along its out-
crop on the side of the bluffs of the Illinois and Sangamon rivers. The seamv
will average three feet in thickness, and is reported to be of fair quality, the
discontinuance of the most of the mining operations, was mainly due to the
small local demand, and the competition of other mines in the adjoining
counties on the Illinois river.
In the eastern portion of this district, the lowest seam worked is No. 4 of
the general section, which will average in the different shafts and borings from
five to seven feet in thickness. Along the Sangamon river bottoms, at Peters-
burg and above, it has been met with at depths varying from seventy to eighty
feet. On the upland portions of the county, it has been reached but once, by
a boring at the depth of one hundred and seventy feet. This bed has every-
where a good roof of limestone and black slate, and' is generally easy to work,
although au occasional annoyance is met with in the shape of horse-backs, etc.
The coal is pretty uniformly of a good quality for fuel and steam purposes, al-
though the quality of some portions of the vein is sometimes injured for black-
smith's use by the presence of small quantities of sulphuret of iron. This is
the only seam of coal which is extensively worked at the present time.
The next seam above this is No. 6 of the general section, which outcrops at
several points along the Sangamon river, in the vicinity of Petersburg, and is
also met with in one or two of the shafts at that place. A peculiarity of this
bed, which has prevented its having been worked to any extent, except along
its outcrop, is the tendency it has to run out, it ranging in thickness, within
short distances, from three feet to hardly as many inches. It is a softer and
less open burning coal than No. 4, and is therefore sometimes preferred to it
for blacksmith's use.
Iron Ore. — Mention has been made in the preceding pages of the concretions
of the carbonate of iron, which occur rather abundantly in the shales overlying
the small upper seam of coal near Petersburg. These, however, hardly seemed
to occur in any one place in sufficient abundance to continually supply an iron
furnace and render their reduction profitable.
Building Stone. — Probably the best material for building stone in this dis-
trict is the massively bedded, light gray limestone of the Coal Measures, which
is quarried on Rock creek, in the southern part of Menard county, and near
Salem, about two and one-half miles south of Petersburg. This may be ob-
tained in blocks of any convenient size, and appears to dress easily and weather
CASS AND MENAKD COUNTIES. 175
well. It has, however, been used chiefly for the rougher kinds of masonry
only, the limestone from the Joliet quarries, in the northern part of the State,
being generally preferred for the finer kinds of work, such as window caps and
sills, etc., wherever ij is accessible. I have seen this limestone used as dressed
stone in only one or two instances, but it then appeared to answer well. The
limestone quarried on the upper portion of Indian creek, is also said to answer
well for foundations and rough walls.
In the western part of this district, a material which seems to promise well
as a building stone, is the brownish sandstone, which occurs in very heavy
beds above the roof shales of Coal No. 2. This sandstone is usually of a red-
dish brown color, though in some places it approaches a dirty white, or has a
bluish tinge, is very soft and easily dressed when first quarried out, but is said
to harden on exposure. At the junction of this rock and the underlying shales,
there is generally from one to three feet in thickness of limestone, which has
been also quarried to some extent at one or two points. The quantity of this
sandstone is such, that it is practically inexhaustible ; it is, probable, however,
that all parts of it will not be found to answer equally well as a building stone.
Other Building Materials. — Limestones suitable for the manufacture of a
fine article of quick-lime, are found in several places in the eastern part of this
district, each of the localities already noticed as affording limestone as a build-
ing stone, also furnishes a material for the manufacture of lime. Some selec-
tion, however, has to be made among the beds at some points, for a material
which will afford an article of lime suitable to supply the local needs.
Clay and sand for brick making are found in abundance in all parts of the
district, and will, probably, at some future time, become one of the chief
sources of building materials in those parts most distant from available stone
quarries.
The general surface configuration and soils have been noticed in the first
part of this chapter, and but little more need be said. The soil of the upland
prairies in this district takes rank with the best in this portion of the State,
in general agricultural value. The soil of the timbered portions is also pro-
ductive when properly cultivated. Along the Illinois and Sangamon rivers,
in the bottom lands, there are occasional sandy tracts or ridges, generally cov-
ered with a growth of stunted oak and black-jack, which are, of course, infe-
rior, but as a general thing the soil of these bottoms is a deep rich arenaceous
loam, which, when sufficiently elevated or properly drained, is one of the most
productive soils in the State.
CHAPTER XII.
TAZEWELL, McLEAN, LOGAN AND MASON COUNTIES.
These four counties, which I describe together in the present chapter, are
situated contiguously to each other in the central part of the State, and toge-
ther, comprise a very irregularly shaped area, of nearly three thousand square
miles. The respective areas and boundaries of the several counties, are as fol-
lows:
Tazewell county comprises an area of about six hundred and thirty-five
square miles, and is bounded, on the north, by Woodford county , on the east,
by McLean county ; on the south, by Logan and Mason counties ; and on the
west, by the Illinois river. McLean county contains an area of a little more
than thirty-two townships, or about eleven hundred and sixty-one square
miles, and is bounded, on the north, by Woodford and Livingston counties ;
on the east, by Ford and Champaign counties; on the south, by Piatt, DeWitt,
and Logan counties ; and by Tazewell county on the west. Logan county lies
immediately south of Tazewell and McLean counties ; on the east, it is bound-
ed by DeWitt and Macon counties ; on the south, by Sangamon county ; and
on the west, by Mason and Menard counties. It comprises an area of a little
more than seventeen townships, or about six hundred and eighteen square
miles. Mason county lies south of Tazewell, and east of Logan county; its
remaining boundaries are Cass and Menard counties on the south, and the Illi-
nois river on the west ; its area is abont five hundred and eighteen square miles.
The surface of the country over the greater portion of this district, including
McLean, Logan, the greater part of Tazewell, and the eastern part of Mason
county, is a high, undulating prairie, with here and there groves and belts of
timber. The soil is generally a rich brown mold, varying somewhat in differ-
ent localities, in the proportion of clay, etc., which it contains, some portions
being more argillaceous than others. In the timber, however, which occupies
scarcely more than one-fifth or one-sixth of the entire surface, and in the
broken country along some of the principal streams, the soil is of a somewhat
different character, the lighter colored and more argillaceous subsoil appearing
at or nearer to the surface.
TAZEWELL, Me LEAN, LOGAN AND MASON COUNTIES. 177
In the greater part of Mason county, and over considerable tracts in the
southwestern part of Tazewell county, the surface configuration varies from that
which we have just described ; the prairies are low and comparatively flat, and
in many portions, were originally overflowed, or marshy, at some seasons of the
year. The soil of these prairies is a rich alluvium, generally more or less are-
naceous, which forms, when sufficiently elevated or drained, one of the best
producing soils in this district. Along the Illinois and Sangamon rivers in
this region, we find in some places rather extensive sandy tracts of river forma-
tion, and on the Sangamon river, in Mason county, and on the Illinois river, in
Mason and Tazewell counties, the bald bluffs of the Loess, are in some locali-
ties conspicuous features in the general landscape.
The principal streams occurring in this district, besides the Illinois and
Sangamon rivers, which form a portion of its borders, are the Mackinaw river,
in Tazewell, Mason and McLean counties, Salt creek, in Mason and Logan
counties, and Kickapoo and Sugar creek in Logan and McLean counties.
These, with many minor streams, and nameless tributaries, drain nearly the
whole surface of this district. With the exception of the Illinois and Sanga-
mon rivers, none of the streams have very extensive adjoining tracts of bottom
land, and even along these rivers, the bottoms are frequently of inconsiderable
width, or wanting altogether.
The principal kinds of timber found in the upland wooded tracts of this dis-
trict are nearly the same as those already enumerated as occurring in the
adjoining counties, namely, the principal varieties of oak and hickory, black
walnut, butternut, maple, bass-wood, red-bud, sassafras, etc. On the river bot-
toms, and in low damp lands generally, the sycamore, buckeye, black ash, elm,
etc., are abundant. The sandy ridges are generally covered with a growth of
scrubby oak and black-jack, with a thin admixture of other species.
The geological formations appearing at the surface in this district, consist
almost entirely of the Drift and later formations, the older rocks outcropping
only at a comparatively few localities, in Tazewell and Logan counties. The
underlying rock, however, as far as can be ascertained from these outcrops, as
well as from artificial exposures by shafts, etc., in various parts of the district,
consists entirely of the different beds of the Coal Measure series.
The Loess, the uppermost of the more recent geological formations, appears
only in the vicinity of the Illinois and Sangamon rivers, and consists here as
elsewhere, of buff or ash colored marly sand, containing fresh water shells of
existing species. It is not everywhere equally well developed, and in various
localities along the Illinois river, in Mason and Tazewell counties, it either does
not appear or is not at all conspicuous. It may be well seen, however, along
the Sangamon river, in Mason county, where it appears in the bald, rounded
bluffs, with occasional mural-appearing escarpments covering their summits,
—23
178 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
which form so characteristic a feature in the landscape along the river below.
In the northern part of Tazewell county, although this buff marly sand appears
to some extent in the bluffs along the Illinois river, it is not by any means as
well exposed, or prominent, as in the counties farther to the south.
The Drift formation, which covers the older rocks in almost every part of
this district, is here composed of beds of blue and brown clay, sand, and gravel,
and varies in thickness, in different portions, from fifty feet in the western part
of Tazewell county, to two hundred and fifty feet in the Bloomington shafts.
It has been penetrated, however, at comparatively but few points, and over the
greater portion of this region, its depth can only be approximately estimated.
It seems probable, indeed, that it may be of this thickness over considerable
portions of McLean county, as a boring at Chatsworth, in the adjoing portion
of Livingston county, was reported to have penetrated to a depth of two
hundred and fifty feet before striking rock.
The material of the Drift in this region, appears to be generally roughly
stratified, alternating beds of sand, gravel, and clay, are frequently met with
in wells and borings. The sand and gravel beds, generally make up but a very
small part of the total thickness, though sometimes single beds attain a very
considerable thickness, as, for instance, at Chenoa, in the northern part of
McLean county, where a boring for coal passed through a bed of sand and
gravel thirty feet in thickness, overlaid by forty-five feet of the usual clays of
this formation. Occasionally, also, a bed of black earth or vegetable mould,
still containing pieces of wood, trunks of trees, leaves, etc., only partially
decayed, is met with, and a bed of quicksand, containing fossil land or fresh
water shells of existing species. The following section of the Drift, afforded
by a shaft sunk in the city of Bloomington, is of especial interest as showing
both of these conditions at unusual depths. The shaft was sunk by the Bloom-
ington Coal Mining company, near the track of the Chicago and St. Louis rail-
road, about half a mile north of the depot:
FEET.
1. Surface soil, and brown clay 10
2. Blue clay ._ 40
3. " Gravelly hard pan " 60
4. Black mould, with pieces of wood, etc "..... 13
5. Hard-pan and clay 89
6. Black mould, etc 6
8. Blue clay 34
8. Quicksand, buff and drab in color, and containing fossil shells 2
9. Clay shale, (Coal Measures.)
Total 254
Another shaft, a little over a mile distant from this one, passed through
materially the same succession of strata, with only local variations in the thick-
TAZEWELL, Mo LEAN, LOGAN AND MASON COUNTIES. 179
ness of the different beds. The quicksand, No. 8 of the above section, resem-
bles somewhat in appearance the sands of the Loess, and the only species of
the contained shells which could be identified was the Helicina occulta, which is
also not uncommon in the Loess of the river valleys in this State. Beds of
black vegetable mould are met with at less depths than in this section in vari-
ous places in this district, as for instance in the vicinity of Pekin, Tazewell
county, where it is said, in a few instances, to have tainted the wells which
penetrated to it to such an extent as to almost render the water unfit for use.
Sections of the Drift are also afforded by the borings for coal, which have
been made in various parts of this district. In all cases they show variations
of the material from blue to yellow clay, sand and gravel, but do not generally
afford sections of such especial interest as the shafts at Bloomington, nor is the
depth of the formation as great. At Chenoa, its thickness was found to be
ninety feet from the surface to the rock, at Lexington one hundred and eighty
feet, at Atlanta one hundred and twenty-six feet, at Lincoln seventy feet, at
Cheney's Grove one hundred and two feet, and at several points in Tazewell
county from sixty to one hundred feet or more. Its thickness is quite irregu-
lar, but seems, however, to be greatest in the central and eastern portions of
the district. In Mason county, we have no very reliable data upon which to
base our estimates, but its average thickness in that portion, I think, may be
safely put down at not less than fifty feet, and is probably much more.
In the western part of Tazewell county, in the ravines and broken country
along the Illinois river, I observed, in a number of places at the base of the
Drift, a bed of cemented gravel or conglomerate, showing sometimes an irregu-
lar stratification, similar to that of beach deposits. A ledge of this material,
nine or ten feet in thickness, may be seen in the northwestern quarter of sec-
tion 7, township 25, range 4 west of the third principal meridian, up one of the
side ravines which comes down through the Illinois river bluffs, a little south
of Wesley City, in Tazewell county, and other similar ledges appear in various
places in the vicinity of Fond du Lac, and also on the Mackinaw, in the eastern
portion of the county. Another similar bed of cemented gravel, of, however,
a comparatively insignificant thickness, may be seen about half way up the face
of the bluff, at the steamboat landing in the city of Pekin. where it does not
appear to be more than a few inches thick. I have not observed any similar
deposits in the eastern portion of the district, either in Logan or McLean
counties, nor have I heard of its having been met with in sinking the various
shafts or borings.
d oal Measures. — All the stratified rocks which outcrop within the limits of
this district, belong, as has been already stated, to the Coal Measure-", and the
actual surface exposures are confined, for the most part, to a thickness of about
sixty or eighty feet of the middle portion of the formation. In the whole dis-
180 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
trict, there is but one boring which affords an artificial section of the beds
down to the base of this formation. This one is that made by Voris & Co., on
the bottom lands on the Tazewell county side of the Illinois river, and directly
opposite the city of Pepria. The first bed of the Coal Measures which is met
with in the boring, is about forty feet below the lower coal seam which is
worked in this section, No. 4 of the Illinois river section, as given by Prof.
Worthen. The following is a section of the first four hundred and fifty-nine
feet of the boring. Below that depth, the records kept by Messrs. Voris &
Co. were not complete, as to the thickness and material of all the different beds :
FEET. FEET.
1. Alluvial soil of river bottom , 4
2. Sand 4
3. Gravel (boulder drift) 20
4. Clay shale • 59
5. Bituminous slate 3
6. Fireclay 15
7. Clay shale 15
— 120
8. Coal 4
9. Clay shale 34
10. Sandy and argill. shale (very hard) 34
1 1. Sandstone 4
12. Nodular, argill. limestone 6
13. Compact, fine grained sandstone 5
14. Hard, dark blue, sandy shale 25
15. Coal 3
— 235
16. Sandy and argill. shale 25
17. Bituminous shale, with thin bands of limestone 57
18. "Cherty rock" 44
19. Hard, silicious rock, mainly chert — possibly chert and limestone intermixed . 33
20. Fine grained sandstone 65
— 459
As nearly as the limits of the formations can be made out from this section,
I think that at least that portion between the base of the Alluvium and Drift,
and the bituminous shale and limestone No. 17 of the section, may be referred
to the Coal Measures. The remainder is Devonian, with perhaps some of the
upper beds Lower Carboniferous. The exact equivalents of the two beds of
coal passed through, may perhaps not be stated with certainty; the lower one,
however, is probably No. 1 of the Illinois river section. The greatest depth
reached in the boring was seven hundred and seventy-four feet, and the lowest
rock was a gray, porous limestone, the fragments of which, brought up by the
instruments, were exactly similar in appearance to some of the upper limestones
of the Niagara group, exposed in the northern part of the State, with which
formation this bed may doubtless be properly identified.
TAZEWELL, Me LEAN, LOGAN AND MASON COUNTIES. 181
The coal seain which is worked in this immediate neighborhood, is No. 4, as
has been already stated. A good exposure "of this coal may be seen near the
track of the Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw railroad, at the point of the bluff where
the road enters the valley of Farm creek. It is here immediately overlaid by
the Loess and Drift, and is about four feet in thickness, the same as its average
in other localities thereabouts. It is worked in various places, both in the river
bluffs and for a mile or more up the valley of Farm creek, by horizontal drifts
into the hill sides, some of which, in their various branches, are of considerable
linear extent. The beds overlying the coal are not exposed at the surface at
any point north of Farm creek, but the seam is generally found to have a roof
of sandstone or sandy shale in the interior portions of the drifts. South of the
creek, however, this sandstone is exposed in many places up the side ravines,
and in R. A. McClelland & Co.'s shaft, in the center of the southern part of
section 34, township 26, range 4, it was found to be twenty-eight feet in thick-
ness between the coal and the overlying drift clay and gravel. This, however,
is by no means to be taken as its full average thickness, as at this point it has
probably lost much of the upper portion of the bed by denudation.
Passing up a small branch, which comes down through the bluffs from the
southward, just back of the village of Fond du Lac about half a mile, I ob-
served a striking exposure of about twenty-five feet in vertical thickness of con-
cretionary sandstone, sandy shales, and soft argillaceous sand-rock, which be-
long to these same sandy strata overlying the lower bed of coal. The more
shaly beds contained numerous iron-stone concretions, and I observed in the
more massive portions, what appeared to be indistinct vegetable impressions,
but no other fossils. About half a mile or a little more, still farther up the
ravine, the upper vein of coal has been worked to a very slight extent. In
actual position, it must be, at this point, at least seventy feet above the coal
No. 4, and is possibly still more than that. It is here reported to be about
three feet in thickness, and is overlaid by about two feet of grayish, fossilifer-
ous limestone, with occasionally an intermediate layer of black slate just over
the coal, and forming its roof. Still another seam of coal about fifteen inches
in thickness, is said to outcrop farther up the hollow, but after a careful search
I was unable to discover its outcrop, and concluded that it must have been cov-
ered by the sliding of the drift gravel, etc., from the bluffs above.
Along the Illinois river bluffs, between Fond duLac and Wesley City, there
are several points where coal is now, or has been worked, and there are a few
exposures of the overlying sandstones, in the bluffs near the main wagon road.
South of Wesley City, there are scarcely any exposures on the river face of the
bluffs, but up the side ravines they are more numerous. In one of these ra-
vines some distance from the road, on the land of Mr. Davis, I observed the
182 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
following succession of beds in a vertical exposure, for about sixty rods along
the side of the bluffs :
FKET. IN.
1. Shale passing downwards into black slate 25
2. Coal 1 6
3. Fire clay, passing downwards into nodular limestone 11 to 12
4. Limestone 3
5. Sandstone, exposed for only a few inches.
It seems to me probable, that the vein of coal observed here, is still above
both of the poal seams which are worked in this region ; the distance between
this and the next vein below it, I should not judge to be more than forty or
fifty feet. The limestone which almost always overlies the coal No. 6, is en-
tirely wanting here, although, as may be seen by the section, a bed of limestone
occurs below its under clay, and farther down the creek. Below the exposures
from which the above section was made up, numerous thin beds of limestone
are to be seen, intercalated in sandstone outcrops. These limestone bands ap-
peared to be somewhat fossiliferous, but no good specimens were obtained.
In the northeastern part of section 24, township 25, range 5, on a northern
fork of Lick creek, I noticed a small quarry in a ledge of soft, light gray and
brown micaceous sandstone, generally thin bedded and shaly, but in some
places with the beds thick enough to answer for building purposes. The total
vertical thickness of the exposure was less than twelve feet. Passing farther
down the branch, in a general westerly and southerly direction, we find the
hill-sides along its banks strown thickly with fragments of similar sandstone,
indicating the probable existence of the same beds, but a short distance under
the soil. At a point on the immediate bank of the creek, near the center of the
section, 1 observed an exposure of about twenty feet of sandy and argillaceous
shales, containing a thin seam of coaly matter, not over one or two inches thick
at its best development, and from that down to nothing. About half a mile
further east, near the center of the eastern line of the section, alongside of the
road which crosses the creek at this place, and well up the bluffs, I observed
the outcrop of a coal seam, which had been' worked to some slight extent, and
which I take to be the upper workable vein of this region, No. 6 of the Illi-
nois river section. The whole exposure at this point, presented the following
section :
FKET.
1. Shale 9
2. Limestone (light colored) 2
3. Dark colored shaly beds, in some portions approaching black slate in appearance and
texture 2
4. Bluish shaly clay 1
5. Coal.. . 3
TAZEWELL, M0LEAN, LOGAN, AND MASON COUNTIES. 183
•
Farther to the eastward from this point, and higher in the bluffs, I observed
limited exposures of a reddish, shaly sandstone, or arenaceous shale, which
seems, from its position, to overlie the uppermost beds of the above section.
In the vicinity of Pekin, there are but few natural exposures of the under-
lying rocks, but the lower coal is mined at several points in the neighborhood
of the city. The coal is generally overlaid by black slate, with, as is stated, in
some cases a foot or two of limestone. Above the slate there is generally from
twenty to forty or fifty feet of sandstone or sandy shales, according to the lo-
cality of the shafts on the edge of the bluffs, or farther up towards the rolling
upland. This sandstone may be seen in the bottoms of ditches at one or two
points along the Tremont road, about a mile east of the city of Pekin, and in
the immediate vicinity of the principal coal mines.
At Mr. Hawley's place, about five miles southeast of Pekin, a shaft was
sunk, which passed through both the upper and lower coals, affording a section
of the intermediate beds, which, as reported to me, was as follows:
FEET.
1. Argillaceous shale .... 4
2. Light colored limestone 2
3. Coal 4
4. Fire clay 8
5. Sandstone . . , 50
6. Bluish black slate 4
7. Coal 4
8. Fireclay 8
About ~wo miles east of Mr. Hawley's place, in the southwest quarter of
section 20, township 24, range 4, on a branch called Lost creek, there is said
to be another exposure of brownish sandstone, of very limited extent. I failed
to find this locality myself, but if a sandstone occurs here, it may be that over-
lying the lower coal, or possibly a still higher bed, not represented in the above
section.
In the central and eastern portions of Tazewell county, there are a few
localities where borings, etc., have been made, but satisfactory records of the
variation in the strata could not in all cases be obtained. At Rapp's mills, near
the center of the north line of section 20, township 24, range 4, a shaft was sunk
to the depth of eighty-five feet, and, as it was reported to me, struck limestone
at that depth. If this be the case, it was very possibly the limestone overlying
the upper coal, but, without more reliable data, it is impossible to speak with
certainty. The shaft was abandoned before completion, on account of the
difficulty of keeping it free from water. At Delevan, in the southeastern por-
tion of the county, a boring was made, which was reported to have passed
through sixty feet of sandstone, and, below that, seventy-five feet more of
arenaceous and argillaceous shales. No coal was reported in this boring.
184 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
•
In Mason county there are no natural exposures of the older rocks, and, as
far as I could ascertain, no good artificial sections are afforded in shafts, wells,
borings, etc. Passing eastward, however, into Logan county, we find along
Salt creek, some distance above Middletown, a few tumbling masses of bluish
limestone, which have evidently come out of the bluffs, but no good exposures-
In the southeast quarter of section 13, township 19, range 4, a boring was
made in the side of the bluff, by Messrs. Boyd, Paisley & Co., of Lincoln, which
passed through one hundred and thirty feet of alternating beds of limestone,
and arenaceous, and argillaceous shales, passing through the Drift and surface
deposits at the depth of only fifteen feet. A seam of coal was also stated to
have been met with near the bottom of the boring, but its thickness could not
be satisfactorily ascertained. I also heard it stated that a seam of coal about
two feet in thickness, had been worked by the early settlers of the county
in this vicinity, and afterwards abandoned on account of its poor quality.
No traces of the outcrop, or the old workings, are now visible, and I am not
able to state with any degree of exactneas, the place in the series of this seam
of coal, though it is undoubtedly among the upper beds of the Coal Measures.
At Rankin's mill, about two miles farther up stream, in the northwest quar-
ter of section 7, township 19, range 3, the creek flows over a bed of limetone,
which is also quarried at one or two places on the southern bank. The rock is
a light gray, or bluish-gray, irregjular bedded limestone, and contains a few of
the common Coal Measure fossils, of which Spirifer cameratus, S. lineatusi
Athyris subtilita, and a few others only were collected. Its thickness here, as
ascertained by means of a well dug in one of the quarries, was eleven feet j
and underneath it was found four feet of black slate, underlaid by seventeen
feet of fire clay, and then six feet of limestone. The hole was continued by
boring to a depth of eighty feet from the surface, at which depth a seam of coal
was struck, the thickness of which I was unable to ascertain. This, or a similar
bed of limestone, outcrops on Lake Fork of Salt creek, in section 23, township
19, range 8, in a ledge about three feet high, which has been quarried to a slight
extent at one point, near the center of the section.
The above comprises all the natural exposures within the limits of the district.
There remain, however, various shafts, borings, etc., which, over the larger por-
tion of the territory, aflbrd us the only means whatever of ascertaining the
character and thickness of the underlying beds. Of these, with one or two
exceptions only, the shafts alone furnish sufficiently reliable sections of the
strata, and as yet but two or three have been sunk. At Lincoln, the shaft
NOTE. — Since this report was written, the shaft at Lincoln has been completed down to the
coal, but we have not been able to get any response to our application for a copy of their jour-
nal, and consequently cannot state definitely the thickness of the coal seam, or its depth
below the surface. A. H. w.
TAZEWELL, Mo LEAK, LOGAN AND MASON COUNTIES. 185
afforded the following section, after passing through about seventy feet of soil
and Drift :
FEET. IN.
1. Light blue arenaceous shale 6
2. Hard, bluish, impure limestone, containing many small corals, etc 3
3. Black slate 10
4. Coal 1 6
5. Fire clay 6
6. Arenaceous shale 3
The black slate which had been taken from the shafts was too much decom-
posed at the time of my visit for me to obtain from it any well preserved fos-
sils, although amongst the rubbish I observed various indistinguishable frag-
ments of what had apparently been fossil shells. The coal in this section is
probably not below No. 6 of the Illinois river section, and may possibly be
still higher. About four miles south of Lincoln, on the land of Mr. J.
Braucher, near the center of the south line of sectien 14, township 19, range
4, a hole was sunk by boring to the depth of near two hundred and fifty feet,
and three separate seams of coal were reported to have been met with. Un-
fortunately, however, the particulars of the variation and thickness of the beds
could not be obtained, and we are therefore unable to form an opinion as to the
equivalents of these seams. In a boring at Atlanta, in the northern part of
the county, a seam three feet and six inches thick, was reported at the depth
of two hundred and forty two feet, the overlying bed, as reported, consisting
of alternating strata of "slate," " soapstone," "rock," (limestone?) etc. This
is probably coal No. 6, although, without more positive evidence than is
afforded by an isolated boring, nothing can be stated with absolute certainty.
The two shafts at Bloomington,' which have been mentioned in the remarks
concerning the Drift, in a previous portion of this chapter, afford us the most
satisfactory section of any of the excavations in the district, enabling us to
identify the two seams of coal which they penetrate, with numbers 4 and 6 of
the general Illinois river section. The following section, made up from records
afforded by both shafts, illustrates well the variation of the strata of the mid-
dle Coal measures in this region. This section commences at the base of the
Drift, and its upper portion, from 1 to 4 inclusive, was afforded by the Bloom-
inton Coal Company's shaft, and the remainder by that of the McLean county
Coal Mining Company, a mile farther south, along the railroad track: *
* Since this report was written, the McLean County Coal company have extended their shaft
down to a lower coal, which they struck at the depth of 513 feet 8 inches below the surface.
The following is the section below No. 4 coal:
FEET. IN.
Fire clay 10
Slate 3
—24
18(5 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
FEET. IN.
1. Clay shale 16
2. Sandstone 32
3. Clay shale ... 1
4. Coal No. 6 4
5. Fire clay 13
6. Limestone 2 7
7. Fire clay 10
8. Clay shale 8
9. Fireclay 15
10. Shale 5 6
11. Softblueslate 22 7
1 2. Black slate 5
13. Coal No. 4 4 6
14 Fireclay , 6 9
No. 2 of this section is a light colored, laminated sandstone, containing a
few remains of fossil plants ; in the more southern shaft it seems to be replaced
by a conglomerate. No fossils were obtained from any of the other beds ex-
cepting the black slate (No. 12) over the lower coal, which cantained, in great
abundance, Lingula umbonata, Aviculopecten rectalaterarea, Cardinal fragilis,
and other fossils characteristic of the shales of this coal. A rather peculiar
feature, however, is the comparative rarity of Discina nitida, usually the most
abundant fossil in this slate, only one or two specimens being found in a rather
protracted search.
In the northern and eastern portions of .McLean county, we have only the
records of several borings, which afford but few particulars as to the character
of the underlying beds. Just over the county line, in Livingston county,
Fire clay > , 4 6
Sand rock 20 6
Soap stone, (clay shale) 62 5
Black slate 2 7
Fireclay 1 7
Sulphurons rock , 1 2
Gray slate , , 11 1
Shale 1 2
Hard, lime rock , .....? 2 1
Gray slate 2 8
Soapstone, (clay shale) 6 8
Coal 3 8
The distance between these lower seams is 133 feet and 1 inch at this shaft, and from the
thickness of the seam, and the character of the associated beds, I am inclined to regard the
lower coal in this shaft as No. 3 of the Fulton county section, given on pages 93 and 94. It
is possible, however, that No. 3 is represented in this shaft by the 2 feet 7 inch bed of black
slate, and that the lower coal here is really No. 2. A. H. w.
TAZEWELL, Me LEAN, LOGAN AND MASON COUNTIES. 187
about two miles from Chenoa, in a northeast direction, a ledge of bluish-gray,
irregularly bedded limestone outcrops in the side of a ravine. In general ap-
pearance this rock is very similar to that noticed in the preceding pages as
occurring on Salt creek, in Logan county, and like it, is probably in the upper
part of the Coal Measures.
Economical Geology.
Coal. — From the preceding remarks it will be seen that, although at least
four or five different seams of coal underlie different portions of this district,
but two of them have been worked to any extent. The upper of these two,
No. 6 of the general section, is worked to a slight extent along the Illinois
river, in the neighborhood of Pekin and Peoria, and is also the upper seam in
the Bloomington shafts. Its thickness in these localities ranges from three to
four feet. The coal in this bed is generally softer, and often more impure
than that of the next seam below, and its workings have frequently been for-
saken for those of the lower bed. The sixteen-inch vein of coal, which has
been mentioned on a preceding page, as occurring on a ravine a short distance
back of Wesley City, and which I have there considered as a still higher vein
of coal, may possibly be this seam, in spite of its lesser thickness, as it is a
characteristic of this bed, in other parts of the State where it has been identified,
to vary considerably in its thickness, in some cases, indeed, thinning out very
rapidly within the distance of a few feet. The more reliable indications of
the accompanying limestone beds, with their characteristic fossils, cannot,
under all circumstances, be well observed, nor, indeed, do they appear to be
invariably present.
The lower coal, No. 4, is the seam which is now mined in nearly all the
principal workings within the limits of this district, and will generally average
here at least four feet in thickness. The coal is generally a harder and better
heating material than that in the upper bed, besides being more reliable in its
thickness. It, however, contains, in some parts, its share of impurities, but
often so disposed in the vein as to be more easily separable. In some of the
shafts near the city of Pekin, the seam of coal, which I have referred in the
preceding pages to this horizon, contains in its lower portion, about sixteen
or eighteen inches above the base, a thin seam of fire clay, separating it into
two unequal portions, and sometimes a vein of slate, or slaty coal, is reported
to occur only five or six inches above the bottom. In the upper portion, also,
there is frequently some thickness of what is called "hickory," or mixed coal
and shale, or sand rock. The thickness of good coal, however, is sufficient to
render its working profitable.
188 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
At Bloomington the shafts were first sunk only to the upper coal, which was
worked for a short time, and then the shaft having been deepened, the upper
bed was abandoned, and only the lower seam was worked. The difference in
quality was very marked at this place, the lower coal being very much superior
to that of the upper seam.
Beneath this coal No. 4, we find, by the boring opposite Peoria, by Voris &
Co., two seams of coal at the depths of one hundred and twenty and two
hundred and thirty feet, and respectively four and three feet in thickness,
which are most probably the equivalents of Nos. 1 and 3, of the general sec-
tion referred to. Although we have no positive data, as to the existence of
these, or other beds under the coal No. 4, in other portions of the district, yet,
from their existence at this point, and from our general knowledge of the
development of the lower Coal Measures in this portion of the State, it seems
quite probable that these seams of coal might be found at the proper depth in
other parts of this, and the adjoining counties. A boring of from two
hundred, to two hundred and fifty feet, below the known horizon of No. 4, or
from five, to seven or eight hundred feet from the surface in different parts of
the district, would probably penetrate all the Coal Measures, and settle all the
questions in regard to the existence, and develpment of the underlying coal
seams.
The upper coal seams are perhaps represented in this district, by the bed
reached in the Lincoln shaft, and it may be also by the small vein near Wesley
City, in Tazewell county, which T. have, in the preceding pages, referred with
doubt to a higher level than No. 6, though still admitting its possible identity
with that bed itself. In neither of these localities is the seam of sufficient
thickness to be worked with much profit, excepting where it might, perhaps,
be profitably worked in a small way by stripping along the line of its outcrop.
Building Materials. — This district, as a whole, is within itself but scantily
supplied with building stone, the greater portion of its surface being occupied
by the Drift deposits, and containing no exposures whatever of the older rocks.
Along the Illinois river, however, in Tazewell county, the sandstones of the
Coal Measures have been quarried to some extent to supply the local demand,
and in some localities appear to afford a stone suitable for foundations, cellar
walls, etc. The limestone beds which also occur in the Coal Measure strata in
this region, though generally of inconsiderable thickness, may also furnish a
limited supply for the same purposes, as well as for the manufacture of lime.
The limestone ledges noticed as occurring on Salt creek and Lake Fork, in Lo-
gan county, also furnish a fair material for the rougher kinds of masonry, and
have been considerably quarried for this purpose. Dimension stone, etc., when
used in this dirtrict, are brought from beyond its limits, in great measure from
the quarries at Joliet.
TAZEWELL, Me LEAN, LOGAN AND MASON COUNTIES. 189
Clay and loam, suitable for the manufacture of a fair quality of red brick,
are found in nearly all parts of the district, and have been made use of in most
of the principal towns within its limits. Sand for building purposes is also suf-
ficiently abundant.
Mineral Springs — We may, perhaps, properly mention again, under this head,
the artesian well sunk by Messrs. Voris & Co., on the edge of the bottom land
along the Illinois river opposite Peoria, in which a current of water, holding in so-
lution sulphuretted hydrogen, was struck at the depth of seven hundred and thir-
ty-four feet. When struck it was stated to have had a head of sixty_or seventy
feet, and the flow is said to be nearly as strong at the present time. This water
appears to be derived from the upper portion of the Niagara group, but before
the boring had reached its present depth, a strong stream of saline water was
met with, at a distance from the surface of three hundred and seventeen feet.
Copperas and saline springs occur in various places in this district, and occa-
sionally give names to some of the minor streams. Such names as Salt creek
and Lick creek occur here, as in other parts of the State. These springs, how-
ever, are few in number, and can hardly be considered of any economic value.
It is, perhaps, superfluous to mention at length the agricultural capabilities
of this district, since the capacity of its soils, etc., are so well known, and its
territory is so generally taken up by actual settlers and now under cultivation.
I may safely say, however, that, with the exception of some sandy portions
along the principal rivers, there are no extensive tracts of what can be called
poor land in the district. There are, indeed, some tracts of comparatively low
bottoms and marshy land, which are not at present available for all kinds of
agriculture, but these are generally of limited extent, and are rapidly dimin-
ishing under an improved system of drainage, which places them at once among
the more valuable lands of the district. The numerous railroads now travers-
ing this region, and others projected or in process of construction, by making
all portions readily accessible to the centers of trade, will add greatly to its
present wealth, and guarantee its future prosperity.
CHAPTER XIII.
\
GRUNDY COUNTY.
Grundy county is bounded on the north by Kendall, on the east by Will and
Kankakee, on the south by Livingston, and on the west by LaSalle. It in-
cludes twelve townships, or about 420 square miles, forming a rectangle of
twenty-four miles long and about seventeen and a half miles widef Of this,
about two-thirds is slightly rolling prairie, and the balance mostly well tim-
bered creek banks and river bottoms.
The Illinois river divides the county near the middle of its northern half,
running in a W. S. W. course, with but little variation. Its principal affluent
on the south is Mazon creek, which drains fully one third of Grundy, and por-
tions of Livingston, Kankakee and Will counties. Its principal water supply
is from surface drainage — but few springs being found along its course. From
this character, one would readily predicate the truth, that a very wet season
often causes it to overflow its banks, though twenty feet or more in hight, while
a dry one leaves its bed bare, except where deep pools have formed. The sum-
mer of 1867, dryer than a score of its predecessors, gave me an unusually fine
chance for the exploration of this stream, as well as all others included in this
season's work.
A few miles west of the Mazon is the Waupecan, draining a comparatively
small extent of country; but, in an ordinary season, carrying nearly as much
water, the product of several strong springs on the lower part of its course —
some of them from the Drift, others from the sandstones and shales of the
Coal Measures, which here show a small outcrop. Still farther to the westward,
are Billy run, Hog run and Armstrong run, which are simply prairie drains, and
show no outcrop of rock. Nettle creek, on the north side of the river, is prin-
cipally of the same character ; but in the lower part of its course, there are a
few springs, and two or three outcrops of the shales and sandstones which over-
ly the lower coal. Finally, in the northeast corner of the county, is the Au-
Sable creek, with a comparatively large amount of water, partly derived from
springs, and partly from drainage of this and part of Kendall county.
GRUNDT COUNTY. 191
Post-tertiary Formations.
Alluvium. — The beds of this formation are very largely developed in the ter-
races of the river valley and the beds of the smaller streams. From the west
line of the county nearly to AuSable creek, the Illinois and Michigan canal fol-
lows the north bank of the present river valley pretty closely, while the second
terrace varies from a half mile to two miles to the northward. On the south
side of the river, the high, gravelly banks of the second terrace hug the river
banks very closely, as far at the Waupecan creek. Here the^ lose much of
their elevation, and have as their continuation a low ridge, about a mile distant
from the present bank. East of Mazon creek this declines still more, and be-
comes the heavy sand ridge which bears still farther southward, and then east-
ward, south of Wilmington, into Kankakee county. This sand ridge forms the
watershed between Mazon creek and Kankakee river, so that, where it strikes
the bank of the latter stream, to the southward of Wilmington, the water flows
from within two hundred yards of the river, through swamps and sloughs, and
finds its way, through the Mazon, into the Illinois, opposite Morris.
The flats of the old river valley, back of the present banks, show, in many
places, plain evidence of the comparatively recent date of their formation. At
Gen. Birney's place, on section 11, town 33 north, range 6 east, my attention
was called to the fact, that at a short distance beneath the surface, at a pretty
uniform depth through that neighborhood, there is a layer of thin slabs of the
fissile sandstones of the Coal Measures, still tolerably solid. They were evi-
dently distributed here by the current of the river, not long before it became
so contracted as to leave this level dry. When this old channel was the outlet •
of Lake Michigan, a large body of water must have flowed through here, and
appearances seem to indicate that its diversion toward Niagara must have been
sudden, rather than gradual; otherwise, the present valley would probably have
been wider, and the descent to it less abrupt.
A topographer would take peculiar pleasure in studying the various islands
of the old valley, especially at the confluences with the Illinois of AuSable and
Nettle creeks, both of which streams, apparently, were much larger than at
present. Upon one of these islands stands Morris, the county seat.
Another, and far the largest in the county, is the high land lying between
the head of the Illinois, the lower part of the Kankakee, and the slough which
contains Goose Lake, and runs thence to Pine Bluff, near the embouchure of
the Mazon, upon the Illinois valley.
The following levels of points within this county have been furnished to me,
mostly from the notes of the Illinois .River Survey, from the office of its chief,
Gen. J. H. Wilson, U. S. A., now in charge of the river improvements at
192 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Keokuk, Iowa. The figures indicate distances below the established "datum
of six feet below the lowest registered water of Lake Michigan :"
FEET.
Bluffs at Morris, north side (level of town) 55.938
" south side 59.48
" " lower terrace 78.00
Level of river, at head of the Illinois 87.809
" mouth of AuSable creek 92.664
" Morris, under road bridge 95.13
" Marseilles, LaSalle county, above dam 99.808
" " " below dam 103.256
" Goose Lake, about 60
" Minooka, as per railroad survey, above datum 35
These levels show that the elevation of the first terrace above the river, op-
posite Morris, is a little over seventeen feet, and that the elevation of the sec-
ond bluff or gravel ridge above the first terrace, is about eighteen and a half
feet. The present floods reach nearly up to the first terrace, and it is probable
that when the lake poured its waters through here, even the much wider val-
ley of the old river did not so accommodate the floods as to prevent their
nearly or quite overflowing the gravel ridge, and covering large portions of
the upper terrace, both north and south of the river.
The coarser portion of the beds of river gravel consists mostly of fragments
of the Niagara group limestone, which forms so heavy beds, from below Joliet
to Chicago and beyond. Much of the sand is probably due to the disintegra-
tion of the Coal Measure sandstones, while some of it may have come from the
northward. There is, however, in these beds, but a very small proportion of
the mctamorphic material from Canada, which forms so large a part of the true
Drift, but, upon the surface of the soil, and often partially buried, are great
numbers of small boulders of quartzite, gneiss, granite and trap, unquestionably
of northern origin. These are especially abundant south of Goose Lake, over
the surface of the valley which starts from the Kankakee, near the county
line, includes Goose Lake, and joins the Illinois valley near where the Mazon
first strikes the bottoms. This was probably a shallow channel, in which float-
ing fields of ice lodged, melted and dropped the loads of stone which they had
brought from the northward. Similar aggregations of boulders occur in the
adjacent parts of Will county, at points where eddies would have been likely
to detain the ice floes. I have suspected that this Goose Lake channel was
formerly the main channel of the Kankakee, which thus met the DesPlaines
only four miles above Morris; but I have not collected sufficient data to decide
the point.
The bed of " potter's clay," worked near the southwest bank of Goose Lake,
and lying " near the level of the fire clay," (see vol. i., p. 58) owes its origin
GRUNDY COUNTY, 193
and deposition to river action, though principally consisting of the decomposed
shales and fire clays of the Coal Measures.
During the autumn of 1868, the remains of a Mastodon were found at Tur-
ner's strippings, about three miles east of Morris, under eighteen inches of
black mucky soil, and about four feet of yellowish loam, and resting on about
a foot of hard blue clay which covered the coal. The bones were badly de-
cayed, and most of them were broken up and thrown away by the miners ; of
the remainder, Mr. Joseph Even, of Morris, with his usual zeal for science, ob-
tained and presented to the State Cabinet, a part of a thigh bone, a fragment
of a lower jaw, three teeth, and a few of the small bones. The locality is a
portion of the old river bottom, and, in the lack of personal observation, I am
uncertain whether to believe that the presence of the bones indicates that the
animal was mired and died here, or to suppose that the carcass was deposited
here by the river.
The Coal Measure rocks of this county are too soft and too readily disinte-
grated to allow of the preservation of any scratches that may, at any time, have
been impressed upon their surface ; so that, although we find in the gravel
very numerous scratched and polished pebbles and boulders, it is within only a
very small area that striated and polished rock surfaces have been noticed. In
the southeast quarter of section 23, township 34 north, range 7 east, at Waters's
quarry of Trenton limestone, smoothly polished surfaces have been frequently
met with. In the southwest quarter of section 16, township 34 north, range
8 east, Collins's run exposes a small surface of the shaly limestone of the Cin-
cinnati group, upon which are plainly marked three sets of striao, running, by
compass, north 30° east, north 37° east, and north 50° east. In the southeast
quarter of section 19, of the same township, the surface of the black slaty shale
which overlies the coal at Pettys's shaft, is scratched and polished in a similar
manner. As these three localities, however, are all within the old river valley,
we cannot, with certainty, predicate upon these- facts the conclusion that those
scratchings and polishings are attributable to glacial action. In fact, these and
some other circumstances give some reason for assuming that they are results
of river action alone. At the coal mine, we find the outer portion of the shale,
next to the creek bank, broken up for several feet, and thoroughly mingled
with the drifted materials which here form an overlying bank of about fifteen
feet. This disturbance, as well as the grinding of the surface, we may fairly
attribute to the action of the creek while at its former level. But, while allow-
ing that, in these particular cases, river agencies are sufficient to account for all
observed phenomena, we must also record the frequent occurrence in the Drift
gravel of large and small boulders unquestionably planed and striated by glacia 1
action. These are especially abundant along the Mazon.
—25
194 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The True Drift, in the western part of the county, consists, mainly, of the
tough blue " boulder clay," with pebbles and boulders, sometimes also including
fragments of wood, overlaid but slightly, or not at all, with gravel, and under-
laid, so far as known, with a bed of " hard-pan," and a water-bearing quick-
sand which has thus far prevented any knowledge of the underlying materials.
The eastern part of the county, on the contrary, shows but little boulder-clay,
this being replaced by a heavy layer of sand and gravel. Township 34 north,
range 6 east, has no known outcrop of rock, and wells near its south line have
reached depths of forty-eight, fifty and fifty-two feet, before meeting the quick-
sand. Townships 31 and 32, of the same range, and so much of 33 as lies
south of the river, together with townships 31 and 32, range 7 east, possess no
outcrop of rock, but the depth of the Drift is not known. At Gardner, in sec-
tion 9, township 31 north, range 8 east, the Drift is said to be one hundred
feet deep at the coal shaft. At Braceville, section 25, township 32 north,
range 8 east, it was found to be forty-four feet deep. Going northward into
townships 33, in ranges 7 and 8, it rapidly thins out, owing partly to the down-
ward slope of the surface, partly to the upward slope of the surface of the un-
derlying rocks, which come to the surface in the northern part of these town-
ships. Much of the " coal land " in the immediate neighborhood of Morris is
bare of drift, having been stripped by the old river. To the northward, how-
ever, through township 34 north, range 7 east, the gravel and boulder-clay lie,
in some places, forty feet deep. Township 34 north, range 8 east, is deeply
buried in Drift; at Minooka, on the line between sections 1 and 2, a well-
boring found one hundred feet of gravel overlying the shaly limestone of the
Cincinnati group.
Rock Formations.
Coal Measures. — The beds of the Coal Measures occupy far the larger part
of the surface of the county. The outcrops, however, are so disconnected, and
the beds so irregular, that I have been unable to construct any general section
to represent connectedly all the outcrops. Apparently, the higher beds ex-
posed in the county are those which outcrop near the old coal openings on the
Waupecan, in the southeast quarter of section 20, township 33 north, range 7
east. I was unable to find any outcrop of beds above the coal, and did not
learn whether any were seen in the deeper parts of the mine. Near the out-
crop, a foot of coal was left as a working roof. The seam is five feet thick,
resting on a bed of fire clay. It is coal No. 4, of the Illinois valley section.
The connection below is not exposed, but, at a short distance from the floor of
the seam, not over ten feet, we came upon a coarse, ferruginous, shaly sand-
stone, filled with fragments of Lepidodendron, Calamites, Neuropteris hirsuta,
etc., with an occasional streak of coaly matter. Of this bed, there is a low,
GRUNDY COUNTY. • 195
nearly continuous outcrop for a mile up the stream, the last spot observed being
at " Hog-grove quarry," in the southwest quarter of section 28. At the road
crossing, about half a mile down the creek fronj the coal mine, the sandstone
rises a little, and exposes about six feet of blue and black shales, filled with
small Mollusca of the genera Pleurotomaria^ Macrocheilus, Euomphalus, Ortho-
ceras, Nucula, Aviculopecten, Productus, Chonetes, Hemipr-onites, etc., and yield-
ing some small remains of fish, such as Petrodus octidentaliz, and the type of
the new Crustaceon, Ceratiocdris ? sinuatiis, M. and W. The lower part of the
blue shale holds two thin layers of rusty brown nodules of carbonate of iron,
which often partially or wholly include shells of the above named Mollusca.
The upper part of the black shale also contains nodules of the same material,
(with probably some phosphate of lime,) but smaller and less evenly distribu-
ted ; the smaller of these contain comminuted scales and bones of fishes, and
judging from both form and contents, are probably the 'fossil excrement of
larger fishes. These beds, with others, outcrop at intervals for about a mile
along the right bank of the stream; and the following section will fairly repre-
sent the whole:
FEET.
1. Sandy shale 5
2. Blue clay shale 3
3. Fissile sandstone 15
4. Blue clay shale, with iron nodules 4 2 to 5
5. Black shale, top slaty, with small nodules, bottom very fragile 2 "3
G. Cone-in-cone, locally becoming a solid limestone $ " 1£
7. Soft olive shale 1£
8. Solid gritty sandstone 1
Another outcrop, on nearly the same horizon, occurs on Morgan creek, from
the center of the south line of the southwest quarter of section 6, town-
ship 32 north, range 8 east, to near the center of the south line of section 25,
township 33 north, range 7 east. The strata are here very irregular in thick-
ness, but the following section gives an average representation of the exposed
outcrop:
FEET. IN.
1. Ironstone conglomerate, (local.) 6
2. Sandstone . 8
3. Black shale, some slaty, with large ironstones 3 to 4
4. Cone-in-cone, running into massive limestone 2 to 6
5. Olive shales, changing into concretionary argillaceous limestone 5 " 7
6. Soft black shale 2 " 3
7. Blue clay shale 9
8. Coal No. 3 ? 2
9. White fire clay ?
Small quantities of coal have been mined at this seam at several points
along the limited outcrop. The latest opening was by Mr. Herald, for his own
196 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
use, just back of his house, on section 1, township 32 north, range 7 east. The
coal was said to be good house fuel, but rather soft ; none could be found at
the time of my visit. The argillaceous limestone of No. 5, of this section,
generally contains numerous shells of the genera Productus, Athyris, Tercbra-
tula, etc., and some fragments of crinoids. The coal apparently holds the po-
sition of the thin coal which locally underlies No. 56 of the LaSalle county
section. (See Vol. iii, p. 267.)
The outcrop along the Mazon appears nearly continuous, but still I have not
been able to satisfy myself as to the connection of the above beds with those
of the lower part of the stream. The strata there developed consist of very
variable sandy clay shales and sandstones, in some places becoming nearly
pure clay shales, but containing many nodules of carbonate of iron. Pine
Bluff, at the lowermost crossing of the Mazon, is composed of about forty
feet of heavily bedded, but rather fissile sandstone, partly nearly white, partly
highly ferrug'nous. Less than a mile up the creek, the lower part of this bed
changes to highly argillaceous sandy shales, with occasional streaks and nodules
of sandstone. The section is not quite continuous, but there is no distinct line
of demarcation to separate these latter beds from the ferruginous sandy shales,
twenty to thirty feet thick, of section 24, of township 33 north, range 7 east,
which contain large numbers of the fossiliferous nodules of carbonate of iron,
for which this locality has become famous. Besides the many species of ferns,
which are named in Mr. Lesquereux's report, in this volume, the nodules also
contain the fossil insects, Miamia Bronsoni, M. Danse, Hcmeristia occidentalis,
Clirestotes lapidea, Mylacris anthracophila, Megathentomum pustulatum, Euphe-
merites simplex, E. gigas, E. affinis ; the Myriapods, Euphoberia armigera,, E.f
major, Anthracerpes typus; the Arachnids, Eoscorpius carbonarius, Mazonia
Woodiana ; the Crustaceans, Anthrapalsemon gracilis, Polxocaris typus, Acan-
thotelson Eveni, A. Stimpsoni, A. insequalis, Euproops Danse,, Eurypterus, (An-
thraconectes,) Mazonensis; the Worm, Palceocampa anthrax; the Salamander, Am-
phibamus grandiceps, with three or four undescribed Fish and Ostracoid Crusta-
ceans. It is thus evident that this is one of the richest deposits of Carbonifer-
ous Articulates ever discovered, if not the richest.
These nodules range from about two to about ten feet above the main coal
seam of all this region, the intervening space being occupied by the soft, blue
clay shales, filled with fossil plants, which, at most points, overlie this seam.
About a mile farther up the stream, coal has heen dug in the bed and banks
of the stream, but is now abandoned. Still farther south, near the southeast
corner of section 19, township 33 north, range 8 east, a shaft was recently
sunk, by Mr. Wm. Burt, upon the creek bottom, starting at about twenty-five
feet below the general level of the prairie. The section is as follows :
GRUNDY COUNTY, 197
FEET. IN.
Blue clay and sandy shale, with ferns .... , 20
Coal 3
Soft black shale 6 to 8
Fire clay, with rootlets 6 " 8
Hard, sandy clay 8
Fireclay , , 2 6
At this place, the coal is about eight feet below the bed of the creek.
Near the water level, an offshoot from the main seam, about seven inches
thick, is exposed in the bank ; the shales immediately over it afforded a few
plants.
Near the center of section 18, township 33 north, range 8 east, Mr. John
Holderman's artesian well has afforded the following section, kindly furnished
by Mr. A. J. Henry, who had charge of the boring :
FEET.
Gravel 15
Sandstone 34
Coal 3
Sandy shale , 88
Limestone 185
It will be noticed that this section gives the sandstone as immediately over-
lying the coal. This condition of the seam has been elsewhere noticed, so far as
I can learn, only in a shaft recently sunk near the southeast corner of section
9 of the same township, and in one shaft in the adjoining part of Will county.
Mr. Henry has also furnished me the section of the well bored by him at
the railroad station in Morris, from which an abundance of water is now
flowing, as follows :
FEET. IN.
Shale, with sandstone layers 63
Coal 2 10
Fire clay. 4
Shales and clays 100
Hard limestone, " Trenton." 200
White sandstone, " St Peters." 37
On the north side of the Illinois river, in the neighborhood of Morris, the
coal outcrops in the bank of the canal, and in the stretch of low land about
one mile to the northward. The overlying beds are here mostly blue clay
shales, with occasional irregular layers of sandstone. The iron nodules, above
mentioned, occur here at the same level, but not in so great numbers as at the
Mazon locality. The shales immediately above the coal frequently yield mag-
nificent specimens of fossil ferns and other plants. The following section of
the seam and its overlying beds was obtained at the shaft of Messrs. Symonds
& Jones, just south of the railroad station at Morris :
198 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
FEET.
Boulder clay 8
Ferruginous sandstone * 1
Shale 20
S h;ily sandstone 19
Shale, filled with fossil ferns 12
Coal 3
Soft slaty coal 1
Fire clay 3
In the north part of township 33 north, range 6 east, the shaly sandstones,
overlying this seam, are exposed in the bottom of every little run which cuts
away the soil from the edge of the second terrace, and fragments of them are
found scattered just below the surface over the whole lower flat.
It has long been a favorite theory with miners that another seam of coal
could be found, by sinking shafts in the bottom of the present working. This
is not impossible, at points farther from the outcrop ; but at Morris, and to the
eastward, the coal lies directly upon Lower Silurian rocks, with only four or
five feet of fire clay to separate them. This is shown at several points.
I had supposed that the seam had formerly extended, in its full thickness,
much further northward; but two wells, one in section 27, and the other in
section 13, township 34 north, range 7 east, after passing through the fossili-
ferous shales which overlie the coal, met with only about ten inches of soft
coaly shale, underlaid by a few inches of greenish clay shale, with small rounded
grains of calcareous (?) matter, (probably belonging to the Cincinnati group,)
which rested upon the solid limestones of the Trenton. The artesian boring of
Mr. Samuel Holderman, in the northeast quarter of section 3, township 33
north, range 8 east, after passing through forty-seven feet of the sandstone and
clay shales which, everywhere to the southward of that point, overlie the coal,
passed directly into a solid limestone which I can only refer to the Trenton
group. From these and similar facts, I am led to the conclusion that the pres-
ent line of workings corresponds very nearly with the original outline of de-
posit of the true coal seam, while beyond this line, only occasional small outly-
ing patches will ever be found, though thin layers of coaly shale may be met
with some miles further northward. On the AuSable creek, a few miles north
of the county line, small quantities of coaly shale and cannel coal have been
found, but they are probably of no practical value, and have no direct connec-
tion with the Morris seam.
Upon the lower part of the AuSable, however, in the southeast quarter of
section 19, township 34 north, range 8 east, there is a peculiar outcrop of proba-
bly the lower seam. We have here a seam of coal twenty-eight inches thick?
with a floor of fire clay at least six feet thick, and a roof of black shale which
is, at the outcrop, quite solid and a foot thick ; but, at the shaft, perhaps fifty
GRUNDY COUNT?. 199
yards distant, it thickens to between five and six feet, and becomes quite soft.
This shale has yielded a few small Discinse, and Lingulse, and a few fragments
of fish scales ; but these are not sufficient to determine its position in the series.
The bed seems to be but a small outlier, covering only a few acres, as borings
to the southward and westward have failed to find any continuation of the bed
in these directions, while to the northward and eastward, the shales and lime-
stones of the Lower Silurian, outcrop within a few hundred yards. I am still
uncertain whether this is a locally peculiar condition of the main seam, or lies
above or below it. If it be the main seam, the black roof shales are probably
the equivalent of the bed mentioned in the LaSalle county section as lying
there about eighteen feet above the coal j but no other outcrop of it has been
seen in this part of Grundy, though it appears in Wilson's shaft in the south-
east corner of the county.
Another peculiar outcrop, of uncertain connections, is along the Kankakee,
from the east line of the county to the " Head of the Illinois/' in section 36,
township 34 north, range 8 east, where the river has cut through some fifty
feet of shales and sandstones of the Coal Measures, including a thin seam of
coal, and has reached the underlying shaly limestone of the Cincinnati group.
A few indistinct plants have been met with in the sandstone, but in too poor
condition for specific determination. The following section was taken on the
west bank of the river, about midway of the length of the exposure as above
named:
FEET. IN.
1. Soil and gravel 2
2. Boulder clay. 2
3. Dark purplish shaly clay , 2
4. Ferruginous shale 3
5. Coal 10
6. Coaly shale, with thin layers of sandstone 8 to 10
Y. Sandstone 6
8. Gypsiferous clay 3
9. Olive shales 3
10. Ash colored shales, with limestone nodules 8
1 1. Limestone of Cincinnati group
In other parts of the outcrop, the ash colored shales, No. 10, contain as many
as six distinct layers of the limestone nodules, which appear like good material
for making hydraulic cement. The sandstone No. 7, thickens to the south-
ward, aud forms at least fifteen feet of the bluff at Schoonmaker's ford, on the
county line, where it contains many spherical concretions, both large and small,
and a few indistinct Lepidodendra and Catamites. The coaly shales, No. 6,
become more carbonaceous in the same direction, and finally are replaced by a
true coal, which, with No. 5, forms a layer which is known in the neighbor-
200 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
hood as the Schoonmaker coal, and is found to be ten and a half feet thick at
Schoonmaker's shaft,, near the center of section 7, township 33 north, range 9
east. Its relation to other seams are still doubtful. (See further, Report on
Will county.)
In ascending the DesPlaines river, from its junction with the Kankakee, the
sandstone of the above section, No. 7, is found at intervals for about two miles
on the south bank, but does not cross the river above the "feeder " aqueduct,
at Old Kankakee.
The outline of the Coal Measures in this county, may be roughly stated as a
line running from near the northwest corner of the county, with some varia-
tions, in an east southeast course to the mine on AuSable creek, just above the
railroad; thence, southeasterly to the Groose Lake slough, and easterly to the
east end of the lake ; thence, northerly to the mouth of the Kankakee.
Cincinnati Group. — The shales and shaly limestones of this group outcrop in
the northeastern part of the county, showing most prominently upon the high
ground between Goose Lake and the Head of the Illinois. This outcrop con-
sists of coarsely granular, highly fossiliferous, ferruginous limestones, readily
disintegrated by the weather, which have been used, to some extent, for fences.
This outcrop continues southward for about a mile, and forms the bottom of the
north half of Goose Lake, the south half being underlaid with coal. At the
ford of the Kankakee, in the northwest quarter of section 36, township 34
north, range 8 east, beds of soft blue shaly limestone, which probably lie near
the base of this group, outcrop in the bed of the river, but show little upon
the bank, and contain but few and indistinct fossils.
From the bed of the canal, a half mile west of Dresden, there were thrown
out considerable quantities of a heavy, but rather cellular ferruginous limestone,
in heavy layers, probably belonging below the beds above mentioned. The out-
crop at this point, did not quite reach the surface. Over most of the county,
north of the Illinois, the Alluvial and Drift deposits cover the country so
deeply as to allow of outcrops only along the streams. In ascending the Au-
Sable creek from the railroad, we frequently see scattered fragments of the
shaly limestones of this group, but meet with no outcrop until we approach the
middle of section 3, township 34 north, range 8 east, where small quantities of
stone have been quarried for wells and under-pinnings. From this point there
is a nearly continuous outcrop to some distance above the county line. Fossils
are numerous, such as Clisetetes lycoperdon, Pleurotomaria bilix, Orthis testudi-
naria, Leptsenasericea, Ambonychia radiata, Calymene sendria, etc. These beds
were struck at one hundred feet, in a boring through the boulder clay at Mi-
nooka.
A small outcrop of rock of this age is exposed in the bed of Collins' s run, a
branch of the AuSable, in the southwest quarter of section 18, of the same
GRUNDY COUNTY.
township. The rock here is a rather more solid limestone, breaking irregu-
larly, and containing but few fossils. It is reported that similar small outcrops
occur farther up this run, but they have not been opened, so as to know whether
stone of any value can be obtained. Similar outcrops were observed in the
bottoms of ditches near the middle of the north line of township 34 northj
range 7 east. In the borings about Morris, only a few feet of beds which can
be referred to this group are found between the Coal Measures and the under-
lying Trenton limestone, and to the northward of that place, no such beds have
been found.
Trenton Limestone. — The two remaining outcrops of rock in this county are
limestones of the Trenton group, probably near its top. The principal one is
near the center of section 24, township 34 north, range 7 east, where Mr. H.
Waters has, for "some years, quarried stone for building and for making lime.
The top layers of the quarry are thin, and somewhat stained with iron. Be-
low these, the rock is a heavily bedded, gray or light drab, fine grained, clink-
ing limestone, not very rich in fossil, but yielding some good specimens of Re-
ceptac^llites, Illsenus, Strophomena, Leptsena, Orthis, Discina, Murchisonia, Or-
thoceras, etc. These have been penetrated to the depth of twenty feet, without
exposing any other layers ; but it is said that at one point the drill passed
into a pocket of a softer black material, which strengthened the owner's pre-
vious opinion that the coal seam extended under his quarry. Possibly this
may have been a small deposit of carbonaceous material analagous to the petro-
leum which this rock has yielded in small quantities in the adjoining county of
LaSalle. These beds contain small portions of pyrite (sulphid of iron) dis
seminated through the whole mass. There were also occasional streaks of soft
clay. The quarry has exposed two sets of crevices, one tending south 45°
west, and the other south 35° east. These crevices are filled with a fine clay
of very nearly the same color as the limestone, through which are sparsely dis-
seminated small crystals of blende (sulphid of zinc,) with occasional pyramidal
crystals of pyrite ; no galenite has been observed.
The remaining outcrops of this rock are in the beds of the AuSable, on the
two sides of the yoke-like bend of the stream, in the east half of the northeast
quarter of section 19, town 34 north, range 8 east, and consist of small patches
of a thin-bedded, fine-grained limestone, containing but few fossils.
In the Morris boring, the Trenton limestone is two hundred feet thick.
St. Peters /Sandstone. — This rock has been struck at the railroad station in
Morrs, at a depth of about three hundred and seventy feet, and here, as else-
where in this region, has furnished a constant and abundant supply of artesian
water.
—26
202 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Economical Geology*
Under this head we have to consider coal, potter's clay, brick, building stone,
lime, hydraulic lime, iron ore and water.
Coal, as already stated, underlies fully three-fourths of the county, the seam
averaging about three feet, except on the borders of the field. It is very large-
ly worked in the immediate neighborhood of Morris, by from twenty-five to
thirty shafts — twice as many are now deserted — varying from thirty to sixty
feet in depth, and several extensive " strippings." Some of these strippings
uncover coal thirty inches thick, which is about the average thickness in this
neighborhood; while others, on the borders of the outcrop, find not more than
eighteen inches. West of Nettle creek timber, no shafts have been opened,
though the seam cannot be anywhere, on this side of the river, more than
eighty feet below the level of the canal, and in most places much less than that.
A well on Gen. Birney's place, four miles west of Morris, stopped, at. a depth
of thirty feet, in soft, blue clay shales, apparently only a few feet above the
coal.
A smaller cluster of shafts and strippings is found to the south and west
of Goose lake, with the average thickness of full thirty inches. At a stripping
in the southwest corner of section 12, town 33 north, range 8 east, the bed is
locally thickened to over four feet, but contains, near its center, a heavy band
of crystalline carbonate of iron and lime, with much disseminated pyrite. The
coal covers the bottom of the south half of Goose lake.
This seam is also worked at Braceville, (section 25, town. 32 north, range 8
east,) by a shaft ninety-eight feet deep, and in section 26 of the same town-
ship, by a shaft of one hundred and ten feet. At Gardner, (section 4, town. 31
north, range 8 east,) it is worked by a shaft one hundred and sixty feet deep.
In the southeast corner of this township, three or four shafts, of about sixty
feet each, work this seam in its usual condition ; but one, in the northeast cor-
ner of section 25, finds a roof of black, slaty shale, with heavy iron-stone con-
cretions covering about three feet of a very pure "block coal," with much min-
eral charcoal in the partings. Both the coal and the accompanying beds, at the
mine on AuSahle creek, closely resemble the conditions found here ; and at both
points I have been unable to decide whether they represent a local change of
the main seam, or are portions of a lower seam which is only occasionally pre-
sent. 1 at present favor the former view.
The upper seams, which have been worked upon the Waupecan creek, and
upon the Mazon, near the mouth of Johnny run, apparently occur over only
small areas at either locality; and elsewhere, whenever met with, they have
proved to be irregular seams, locally quite thick, but often running out to a mere
streak of coaly matter, and even disappearing altogether. It is probable that
GRUNDT COUNTY. 203
the Waupecan bed is nearly exhausted, but other portions of the seam will pro-
bably be found farther southward, if borings or shafts should be sunk. The
Mazon seam is, apparently, the equivalent of a seam which, on the eastern side
of the coal-field, in the Wabash valley, is usually too thin to work, except at a
single point, where it reaches twenty-two inches. Still, as it lies near the sur-
face, and is reputed to be good fuel, it will probably be mined, to some extent,
as population increases in that part of the county.
The outcrops are not sufficient to give any exact data as to the dips, but I
see no reason to believe that the main seam lies at a greater depth than two
hundred and fifty feet in any part of the county, and I doubt whether it is any
where so deep as that. Whenever, therefore, any portion of the southern part
of the county becomes so thickly settled as to create any considerable demand
for coal, it can be obtained on the spot without much difficulty. This seam is
of pretty constant thickness, at every point where it has been opened, and the
miner can rely upon finding a paying thickness of coal at almost any point in
this part of the county, even if he sink his shaft without the usual preliminary
boring. At many points, also, one or more of the upper seams would be found
much nearer the surface, with from two to nine feet of coal.
In the openings of this county, as elsewhere, the miner is often troubled with
"faults" and "rolls," which interrupt the regularity and even the continuity
of the seam. Upon the outer edge of the field, near Morris and to the east-
ward, the dip of the seam is very variable and irregular, which greatly inter-
feres with the drainage of the mines in many cases. Much of this seems to
have resulted from the irregularity of the denuded surface of the Silurian rocks
upon which the coal was deposited; but, in one or two cases, I have been led
to consider the contortions as the result of the removal of the subjacent lime-
stone by solution in subterranean streams after the deposition of the coal. This
is the only solution which I can devise for the reported condition of the seam,
in a shaft a short distance east of the Jugtown pottery. In this neighborhood,
the seam is generally about twenty feet below the surface ; but, in the shaft
referred to, it was found forty feet down, and after yielding about three hun-
dred bushels, the coal ceased abruptly, on all sides.
So far as known, all the coal mined in the county contains more or less pyrite
— " sulphur," of the miners — and streaks of calcite ; but this is so variable, even
in neighboring portions of the same mine, that it would be useless to attempt
to discriminate between the products of the different shafts. " Stripped " coal
is always inferior to that from a shaft of considerable depth, from its greater
exposure to atmospheric and aqueous influences. As a whole, the product of
the main seam is a fine steam and grate coal, and is largely shipped to the Chi-
cago market, the distance being only sixty-two miles. The Waupecan coal; not
now mined, is said to have made much less " clinker" than the lower seam, but
204 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
its yield of ash was very much greater, being from six to eight per cent., while
that of the lower seam is from one to three per cent.
BricJc. — There are several large brick-yards near Morris, which manufacture
brick from the decomposed shales which overlie the lower coal. As these beds
contain considerable calcareous matter, the brick arc not very firm, and do not
stand the weather well. It would appear probable that the fire clay below the
coal would make a better article. This has not been tried at Morris, but at the
Gardner coal shaft the manufacture has been recently commenced. The fire
clay, and soft clay shales underlying it, are said to be thirty-five feet deep, and
so much of these beds as may be convenient, in mining the coal, is dug out and
used promiscuously. Without thorough grinding, therefore, in the pug-mill,
the bricks are variable in character and irregular in burning.
Potter's Clay. — The only bed known and worked, is that previously noticed,
as occurring near the west end of Goose lake, and extensively used, at Jug-
town, in the manufacture of a good grade of domestic earthenware, together
with drain-tile and sewer-pipes. The bed consists of more or less thoroughly
decomposed clay shale and fire clay of the Coal Measures, containing many
fragments of coal, thoroughly mingled, and deposited in a low part of the old
river channel, which contains Goose lake, by the current of the river which
formerly flowed there. The mixed character of the materials has given much
trouble to the potters. The bed has been worked to a depth of about fifteen
feet.
Building Stone. — The only considerable source of building stone in this
county is Waters's quarry of Trenton limestone, in Saratoga, about four miles
northeast of Morris. This yields an abundance of a light gray or drab, massive
limestone, which has been extensively used for foundation walls, and in a few
cases also for the superstructures. It appears fitted to stand the weather as
well as any ordinary stone. It is said to dress well.
The Cincinnati group, along the AuSable creek, near the county line, yields
small quantities of stone for wells and foundations, but nothing suitable for su-
perstructures. Beds of the same group upon the northern side of Goose Lake,
have been quarried slightly, for similar purposes.
Upon the bank of Waupecan creek, in the southeast quarter of section 18,
township 33 north, range 7 east, Mr. Starr has quarried small quantities of a
very solid limestone, No. 6, of the Waupecan section, as given above.
A sandstone, representing Nos. 1 and 3 of the same section, has been quar-
ried to some extent for foundations, on the upper part of the stream, at Hog-
grove quarry, and has given good satisfaction ; though where exposed to the
weather, it crumbles rapidly. The same defect exists in the sandstone of Pine
Bluff.
GRUNDY COUNTY. 205
All deficiencies in this respect, however, can be readily supplied from the
neighboring quarries of Joliet.
Lime. — The limestone of Waters's quarry is burned for lime in large quan-
tities, and is said to furnish a very good article, though care must be taken to
exclude from the kiln the more ferruginous layers.
Hydraulic Lime. — The only hydraulic limestone found in the county occurs
in nodules along the Kankakee, and in very small quantity. The abundant
supply of this material from LaSalle county, makes these deposits valueless.
Builder's Sand can be obtained in limitless quantities from the sand ridges
of the river valley. From one of these ridges, about one mile south of Morris,
large quantities of road gravel are also obtained.
Iron Ore. — The ironstone nodules (carbonate of iron) of the Mazon andWau-
pecan, are not sufficiently abundant to supply a furnace ; and the bog-ore, no-
ticed near Waters's limestone quarry, has not yet been tested for either quan-
tity or quality.
Water. — In a dry season, large portions of this county are very scantily sup-
plied with water. In ordinary seasons, wells running ten or fifteen feet into
the top of the Drift, supply all needs; but in the western part of the county,
reliable wells can be obtained only by passing through the boulder clay to the
underlying quicksand. The lower seam of coal is everywhere accompanied by
an abundance of water, which is pure and good, until the working of the coal
exposes the accompanying pyrite to decomposition. A well recently bored at
the tile factory in Jugtown, struck the coal at about thirty feet, and gave exit
to a strong stream of water highly charged with sulphuretted hydrogen. Small
springs of similar character are said to accompany the supposed line of outcrop
of this coal seam, along the foot of the first terrace, from Mazon creek nearly
to the Morris bridge. A very strong spring of this character flows from be-
neath the Drift gravel, over the black shale, No. 3, of the Upper Mazon section,
in the southwest quarter of section 6, township 32 north, range 8 east, leaving
a heavy white deposit of sulphur on the surface of the shale.
The artesian boring of Mr. Samuel Holderman, on the northeast quarter of
section 3, township 33 north, range 8 east, brings to the surface a small, but
constant supply of slightly sulphurous water from the upper part of the Tren-
ton limestone, at a depth of about one hundred and thirty-seven feet. Mr.
John Holderman's well, on section 18, of the same township, has met with no
flowing water at 320 feet, after penetrating one hundred and eighty-five feet
of the Trenton limestone. The more recent successful boring at Morris, shows
that this limestone is two hundred feet thick, and that in this county, as well
as in LaSalle, to the west, and Will, to the east, the underlying St. Peters
sandstone is full of pure water, which is ready to flow to the surface wherever
206 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
it is tapped. This abundant supply can be reached anywhere in the northern
part of the county at about four hundred feet, and in the southern part, at
probably nowhere more than six hundred feet, and in part of it, much less
than that. Any one boring for this in the prairie, where drainage cannot
readily be had in every direction, should be careful to so locate his well as to
avoid the fate of certain residents of Iroquois county, who have allowed the
surplus water of their wells to saturate the soil of their orchards, and so drown
their trees.
" Gras " wells in the boulder clay are known at two localities. Near the
northeast corner of section 3, township 32 north, range 6 east, Mr. Whitton's
well, at twenty feet, gave off so much carbonic acid as to prevent farther exca-
vations. Probably this flowed from some ancient soil, like the muck beds en-
countered in Livingston, Champaign and McLean counties. On section 35,
township 34 north, range 6 east, Mr. Cassel's well, at forty-seven feet, gave off
light carburetted hydrogen with so much noise as to be heard at a considerable
distance, and in such quantity as to blaze " as high as the house," for some
fifteen minutes after being approached with a lighted candle. The gas still
flows freely, though it is several years since the well was dug, and a wagon-
load of gravel has been thrown in to act as a filter for the water, which was at
first filled with quicksand, brought up by the ebullition of the gas. Similar
phenomena have been observed in wells recently dug, about a half a mile far-
ther south. Near the south line of section 22, in the same township, on land
of Mr. Samuel Hodge, is a large spring which constantly gives off bubbles of
this gas. Springs of this character have been found by Capt. H. C. Freeman,
to accompany the outcrop of the lower seam of coal, in the adjoining part of
LaSalle county, and I am inclined to accept them as partially indicating the
coal outline here, where the depth of the Drift prevents actual observation of
its position.
CHAPTER XIV.
WILL COUNTY.
Will county is bounded on the north by Cook, on the west by Kendall and
Grundy, on the south by Kankakee, and on the east by Kankakee and Cook
counties, and the State of Indiana. Its form is very irregular, its length, from
north to south, varying from twelve to thirty-six miles, and its breadth from
twelve to nearly thirty miles. It includes twenty-three entire townships, and
two fractional townships along the State line, the whole amounting to some-
thing over eight hundred and forty square miles.
This county probably exhibits as great a variety of soil and surface as any
portion of the State of equal extent. Through its western half flow the Des-
plaines and DuPage rivers, with wide bottoms, subject to annual overflows,
and underlaid, at no great depth, through nearly their whole extent,
with beds of limestone, which two causes combine to make these bottoms
exceedingly fertile, wherever the soil is deep enough to give holding-ground
for crops.
The banks of these rivers, with those of the Kankakee, which flows through
the southern part of the county, being largely composed of decayed limestone
ledges, and banks of limestone gravel, furnish many fine localities for the culti-
vation of the erape and other fruits, Messrs. J. H. Daniels, R. H. Waterman,
and others, are already engaged in grape culture, near Wilmington, with very
flattering success.
The eastern part of the county is mostly rolling prairie, with some consider-
able stretches of small timber in its northern portion, where the high land of
this part of the county begins to slope off toward Lake Michigan. The ridges
are mainly composed of sand and gravel, which give good drainage to the com-
paratively thin covering of brown loam, and favors wheat and other small
grains, while the intermediate stretches of lower ground possess a heavy black
mucky soil, underlaid by clay, and produce heavy crops of corn.
The southwestern corner of the county, below the Kankakee, is a level
prairie, being the northern extremity of Grand Prairie, and possesses the usual
heavy, rich, black muck, which produces such immense crops of corn. Con-
208 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
siderable portions of this, however, are occupied by coal miners, this being the
nearest source of supply for the Chicago coal market.
Throughout the valley of the DesPlaines,- DuPage and Kankakee rivers,
the alluvial deposits constantly remind the observer that this county once
bordered the lower end and the outlets of Lake Michigan. The "mounds"
along the DesPlaines, which were formerly attributed to the industry of the
aboriginal " Mound builders/' are evidently the islands and banks of the old
western outlet; while the sandy ridges of the Kankakee valley, apparently
identical in structure and in timber overgrowth with those now formed and
forming on the shores of the presentlake, tell us of the former existence of either
an eastern outlet, by the way of either Deep creek or Salt creek, (in Indiana,)
and the Kankakee, or, perhaps more probably, a lake-like expansion of the
Kankakee, before it cut down through the heavy bedded Niagara limestone and
the underlying shaly calcareous sandstones of the Cincinnati group, which form
the high bluff banks of this river along its course through this county. These
sand ridges have been traced on the southern side of the Kankakee as far as
the mouth of Yellow river, in Starke county, Indiana, and at frequent inter-
vals on the north side of it. Further remarks upon this subject will be found
in the report upon Kankakee county.
Among the alluvial deposits of the DesPlaines valley, Mount Joliet claims
especial attention, from the fact that it has been made notorious by those early
writers who supposed it to be the work of the " Mound-builders," who pre-
ceded the Indians in the occupancy of the country, and also because the bed of
clay at its base is now made of considerable economical value in the production
of brick. This bed is a light drab homogeneous clay, from seven to eight feet
thick, of either river or lake origin, and is overlaid by from twenty to thirty
feet of a limestone gravel, formed from the outcrop of Niagara limestone,
which is continuous for several miles above this point. This is probably only
a remnant of a bed which formerly filled the whole valley, and was cut away
again by river action before the waters of Lake Michigan were turned from
their ancient outlet.
As subsequent in age to this river and lake alluvium, we may here refer to
the large boulders, which are so abundantly distributed over the broad levels
which cap the first terrace, in the southwestern part of the county. The ma-
jority of them are composed of "green-stone," or "trap," probably from the
Lake Superior region, while the remainder furnish representatives of nearly
all the varieties of metamorphic rocks. From their position above the black
soil, it is evident that they floated to their present position on fields of ice, not
long before the river retired to its present lower level. They are especially
abundant at points where the surface configuration shows that eddies would be
likely to form, which would retain the ice-floes until they had time to melt
WILL COUNTY. 209
and drop the burdens of rock which they had brought from more northern
regions.
Of the Drift proper, we see but little, since the alluvium covers so large a
portion of the surface. The boulder clay, however, with occasionally a patch
of conglomerated sand and pebbles, shows along the Kankakee for two or
three miles below Wilmington, and the same beds are often met with in deep
wells in the eastern part of the county, and also in the northwestern townships
above the DuPage.
The gravel bed above the boulder-clay is, at gome points, more or less com-
pacted by a ferruginous cement, so as to form quite a solid conglomerate. The
most notable instance of this is at " Knowlton Mound," about a mile east of
Joliet. along the Cut-off- railroad, where huge masses of the conglomerate lie
about in every direction, the looser and finer underlying beds having been
shipped to Chicago for street improvements. Traces of iron, in the water
which leaches through the overlying soil and clay, give to the gravel a cement-
ing quality, so that it packs very finely in the roadway, and, after a few months'
use, can hardly be broken up with a pick. C. Knowlton, Esq., of Joliet, the
owner of the mound, informs me that between 30,000 and 40,000 yards of this
gravel were delivered in Chicago during the season of 1869, at a cost of over
$70,000.
The rock formations of the county are confined to the Coal Measures, the
Niagara limestone and the Cincinnati group.
Coal Measures. — The rocks of the Coal Measures cover something less than
two townships in the southwestern corner of the county. They consist mainly
of fine grained sandstones, clay shales and fire-clays, accompanied by one, or,
possibly, two seams of coal.
The outcrop enters the county near the mouth of the DesPlaines river, in-
cludes a few sections about the junction of the DesPlaines and the Kankakee,
passes south of the latter river below the feeder-dam, crosses the center of sec-
tion 8, the west half of section 17, the northwest corner of section 20, the east
halves of sections 19 and 30, the north halves of sections 32 and 33, and the
west half of section 34, of township 33 north, range 9 east, and through the
west half of section 3, the east half of section 9, the west half of section 16,
the east halves of sections 20, 29 and 32, of township 32 north, range 9 east?
to the southern line of the county.
Two seams of coal appear to exist in this county, viz. that worked at the
Schoonmaker shaft, in section 7 of Wilmington township, and the main seam
of all this region, which is worked at all the other mines, and is the equivalent
of No. 2 of the general section of the coals of the Illinois valley.*
*See Geology of Illinois, vol. Hi., p. 5.
—27
210 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The Schoonrnaker coal is locally ten and a half feet thick, and at no place in
the workings is it less than eight feet thick. So far as known, it is overlaid
directly by brown and drab alluvial clays; and, to supply the deficiency of
roof rock, the upper layers of the coal are left in place, the workings nowhere
much exceeding six feet in hight. The upper and lower benches are of clean
cubical coal ; while the central portion has a very irregular fracture, and pow-
ders readily. As a whole, the coal is impure, containing disseminated pyrite
and partings of calcite, and yielding a very large proportion of ash. Certain
portions of the bed are quite free from all these objections; but, here as else-
where, no pains has ever been taken to separate the good from the bad, and
the mine has consequently a bad reputation, though what is dug still finds a
ready market. The floor of this mine is composed of from four to six inches of
fire clay, resting upon a thin bedded, fissile, carbonaceous, micaceous sandstone,
which has been penetrated to the depth of four or five feet in the sump.
This seam is evidently the equivalent and continuation of the ten-inch seam
of coal, accompanied by from eight to ten feet of coaly shale and shaly sand-
stone, which outcrops on the bluff of the Kankakee, about one and a half miles
northwest of the mine, in the edge of Grrundy county. Above the mine, in
section 8 of the same township, this seam has been worked in the bed of the
river, and is said to be from three to four feet thick, with a floor of a few inches
of fire clay resting upon the lowest beds of the Niagara limestone. The coal
is here, of course, greatly deteriorated by exposure ; but it is considerably used
by the neighboring farmers. This was the first coal known in all this region,
and has been worked more or less since a very early date in the settlement of
the country. At Schoonmaker's ford, on the county line, this seam is recog-
nized in a band of rotton coaly shale at the top of the bluff, and is underlaid
by from fifteen to twenty feet of ferruginous and micaceous shaly sandstone,
accompanied by concretionary nodules, which sometimes contain fragmentary
remains of Lcpidodendron and other plants. A short distance below the ford,
we find this sandstone resting upon a few feet of olive and ash-colored shales,
which, in turn, rest upon the shaly limestones of the Cincinnati group. Where
this seam has been worked in the bed of the river, four or five feet of blue clay
shale, with fossil ferns, have been reported as resting upon it, in some cases;
but, below the county line, it is overlaid only by a thin bed of purplish shaly
clay, entirely destitute of fossils.
The extent of this bed is supposed to be very limited, as borings made within a
half mile of the shaft, on the southward and eastward, have failed to find it or
its equivalent, while there is reason to believe that it does not extend far north
of the river. The underlying shaly sandstone has been met with in small
patches as far north as the southwest quarter of section 21, township 34 north,
range 9 east, but unaccompanied by any indications of coal. Along the Des-
WILL COUNTY. 211
Plaines, below this point, the sandstone lies partly upon the bottom beds of the
Niagara limestone, partly upon the green shales at the top of the Cincinnati
group. It here contains some remains of trees, one of which, forty or fifty
feet long, has been mentioned by Schoonmaker as a tree of " black walnut,"
vhich in color it very much resembles.
Above the feeder dam pn the Kankakee, coal is said to have been found in
/he bed of the river opposite the mouth of Prairie creek; but, at Mr. Mellai's
place on the opposite bank, the bluff is composed of dark colored shales, partly
sandy, partly calcareous, belonging to the Cincinnati group, between which
and the Niagara limestone quarried on the other bank, there is certainly no
place for any regular deposit of coal.
As I have been unable to connect the foregoing section with any outcrop
whose position" is known, and in the absence of characteristic fossils, I cannot de-
termine with certainty, its relation to the other Coal Measure rocks of this
county; but it probably belongs below them, and its equivalent should be
found by boring below the level of the main seam at points further south.
However, as the seam is so variable within the small space over which we have
recognized it, there would be no certainty, in fact, very little probability, of its
yielding any paying quantity of coal at any given locality. I cannot, there-
fore, encourage the hopes which some persons entertain, of finding another
seam of coal, by boring in the bottom of the present workings, while, at the
same time, I would not deny the possibility of finding such.
On the other hand, as I believe that no borings have been made on the west
side of this mine, between it and the strippings southeast of Goose lake, the
coal at which latter point unquestionably belongs to the main seam, although
its characters are very unusual, I cannot assert that this is not also a continu-
ation of the same seam, which owes its irregularities to its position upon the
extreme border of the basin.
The southwest corner of this county is full of shafts, varying from twenty
to seventy feet in depth, by which the main seam of coal is reached, and from
which, hundreds of thousands of tons of coal are annually sent to market.
This seam varies from two feet ten inches to four feet in thickness, and pos-
sesses various characters, according to location. Some portions yield a very
pure coal, fit for blacksmith ing, while others yield a very impure article, con-
taining much pyrite and flakes of calcite. Some parts contain these impurities
disseminated in small particles through the whole mass ; and in others we find
them concentrated in certain benches of the seam, or even compacted into one
or more thin bands which can readily be removed in mining. As a whole, this
seam yields a good coal for steam purposes.
212 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Lying so near the border of the basin, this seam, as well as the one previously
treated of, has suffered, more or less, from local displacement, besides having
been deposited upon a surface originally irregular. This has been the princi-
pal cause of its irregular^ thickness, and, to some extent, that of its variable
character. Where the bed lies upon a sloping floor, a large part of the impuri-
ties, especially the sulphid of iron (pyrite), seems to have settled away by
gravity and to have accumulated in the lower portions, leaving the upper part
comparatively pure.
This irregularity of bottom prevents any regularity in the depth of shafts,
and so prevents any accurate estimate of the dip, the general direction of which
is toward the southwest. It also prevents any certainty as to the exact line of
outcrop ; since, from it, we may reasonably predicate the probable existence
of outlying patches, separated from the main bed by portions of barren
strata. Such will probably be found, when more borings shall be made beyond
what is now accounted the boundary of the coal area. These patches, however,
are likely to be small, and would not warrant any great outlay in searching for
them, especially while so large a portion of territory known to be underlaid by
coal remains undeveloped.
So far as is yet indicated by borings, the outcrop of this is essentially as fol-
lows : Entering the county near the northwest corner of section 30, town 33
north, range 9 east, it passes diagonally to the center of the south line of this
section ; thence to the middle of the east line of the northeast quarter of sec-
tion 31, and eastward to the same point in section 33; thence diagonally to the
center of the north line of the northwest quarter of section 3, township 32 ;
thence southwest to the center of the west line of the same section, and to cen-
ter of south line of section 4; thence to the southwest corner of section 9, and
in nearly the same course to the center of section 20 ; thence due south into
Kankakee county. The last three or four miles of this line are determined
with less accuracy than the upper portion, since fewer borings have been made
in that part of the county.
To the eastward of this line of outcrop, borers have often been encouraged
by finding beds of soft clay shale — " soapstone" — corresponding in general char-
acter with that which overlies the coal ; but, so far as T can learn, none of those
lower beds contain any of the nodules of carbonate of iron, often containing
vegetable or animal remains, which characterize ten or fifteen feet of the shale
immediately on top of the coal, and, in many cases at least, they probably be-
long to the underlying Cincinnati group, the Niagara limestone being absent
from this part of the county.
The overlying shales are of very variable thickness, and are often accompa-
nied by bands, and occasionally by thick beds of sandstone. I am indebted to
WILL COUNTY. 213
Mr. Andrew Binney, of Braidwood, for the following section of the Eagle shaft,
on the southeast quarter of section 8, township 32 north, range 9 east :
FEET. IN.
Soil and Drift 22 6
Sandstone, — water-bearing 24
Clay shale, — "soapstone" 27 6
Coal 2 ft 10 in. to 3 10
Fire clay 7 to 8
Coarse, porous, water-bearing sandstone 12
Fire clay 3
Coarse sandstone 6
Greenish fire clay 15
The section below the coal was obtained while boring in search of another
seam. I have suspected that the "greenish fire clay," at the foot of the section,
may be the green shaly clay of the Cincinnati group, but have, at present, no
means of deciding the matter.
From other deep borings in this district, I have been unable to get any accu-
rate measurements. I understand, however, that at Keeversville, on the west
half of section 5, in the same township, several openings have found a portion
of the main seam, varying from six inches to two feet in thickness, separated
from its lower side by from eight to twelve feet of fire clay, and itself still over-
laid by fire clay. At Cadysville, in the east half of section 5, Mr. Wm. Henne-
bury has bored, and reports the seams split into two or three portions, each of
workable thickness. A company of miners was preparing to sink a shaft at
this spot, in the fall of 1868. I have not been able to learn what success they
had.
The soft, shaly sandstones along the Kankakee, above Wilmington, which
have been supposed to belong to the Coal Measures, are really part of the Cin-
cinnati group, and will be noticed under that head.
Niagara Limestone. — The Sub-carboniferous and Devonian rocks being en-
tirely wanting in this part of the State, we find the Niagara group appearing
next in order. The limestones of this group underlie fully four-fifths of the
area of the county, but the outcrops are somewhat limited, in consequence of
the great extent of the Alluvial and Drift deposits. It is difficult to form any
very accurate estimate of the beds exposed, because the outcrops are so discon-
nected ; but it probably does not much exceed two hundred feet.
I choose to consider as the uppermost beds, those thin-bedded but compact
layers which are slightly exposed near the center of the south half and on the
west line of section 13, and in the southwest quarter of section 15, township 35
north, range 11 east. The outcrop at these points is inconspicuous, and has never
been developed. It could probably be made to yield a sufficient supply for all
local uses.
214 , GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Probably near the same level, possibly a little higher, belong the loose, vescu-
lar layers in the bed-rock of the creek, at the north-west corner of section 8,
town 34 north, range 11 east. The rock is not such as to invite quarrymen,
but a local supply, for fences, wells and underpinning, can be drawn from near
the west line of section 19, of this township, and the southeast corner of section
13, in the adjoining township ; and more extensive quarrying in the low ground
would, undoubtedly, develop beds of fair building stone. At present, this is
hauled either from the Jackson quarries, near the center of section 15, town-
ship 34 north, range 10 east, or from those at Joliet.
The beds which form the bluffs on both sides of the DesPlaines, at and near
Lockport, belong at and below this level. Opposite Lockport, the bluff shows, at
intervals, from fifty to sixty feet of these beds, which are mostly thin, and more
or less vesicular, containing imperfect impressions of fossils. The upper part
of these beds is passed over in going east from Lockport, and the fragments loose
in the soil indicate that they lie not far below the surface ; but the only outcrop
seen is in the bed of a small stream near the southwest corner of section 2, town-
ship 36 north, range 11 east. At several points, these beds are used for lime,
and yield a very fair article. The lower part of these beds contain several lay-
ers of chert nodules, often accompanied by a chalky substance. (Messrs. A.
Hyatt and E. Bicknell, of the Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, Mass., have,
at my request, examined portions of these cherts, microscopically, but have not,
as yet, succeeded in finding any organisms except sponge-spicula.) These flinty
layers form a ready means of determining a general equivalence of level, though
they extend through a considerable thickness of rock, which varies in amount
at different localities. I consider them sufficient, however, to synchronize with
these beds those that are quarried extensively in the southeast quarter of sec-
tion 2 and the northeast quarter of section 11, township 36 north, range 9 east.
Here I include, also, the beds quarried to some extent in the southwest quarter
of section 26, and the northwest quarter of section 35, township 37 north, range
9 east.
The top of the quarry, in the southeast quarter of section 11 of the Jast
named township, belongs at the bottom of the foregoing Jjeds, while the lower
part of it reaches the solid blue quarry rock which lies next below. Some
thin beds of this rock have been quarried to a small extent, in the southwest
quarter of section 31, township 36 north, range 10 east. Its lower portion
underlies the DesPlaines valley, from the county line to below Lockport, and
furnishes the quarries so extensively worked between Lockport and Joliet.
The Jackson quarries, before mentioned, are at nearly the same level. These
beds are also extensively quarried in "Twelve-mile Grrove," near the center of
section 10, township 33 north, range 11 east, and the lower part of the bed is
seen in the bottom of Forked creek, in the southwest corner of section 21 of
WILL COUNTY, 215
the same township. The rock of this division is a hard, fine grained, compact
limestone, with comparatively few fossils ; though some of the beds furnish
fine large specimens of Orthoceras, Cyrtoceras, etc. In these beds, also, we
frequently find layers filled with the wood-like markings known as lignilites or
stylolites. Through the whole of this division, we find more or less partings
of greenish clay, which upon long exposure, ultimately develop seams, even in
those beds which, when freshly quarried, appear the most solid. The amount
of this material increases rapidly as we approach the base of this group in its
southern extension, indicating that the conditions which produced a deposit
of from forty to fifty feet of it in the Cincinnati epoch, continued, though with
less intensity, long after the introduction of the fauna which characterized the
Niagara period.
The bottom division of this group contains beds of very various characters.
Near Grinton's mill, the beds are partly cellular, partly quite compact, partly
nearly a pure drab limestone, partly a soft buff, impure limestone, in character
approaching the underlying beds of the Cincinnati group.
At and below Joliet, they are nearer the upper beds in material, and fur-
nish some fair building stone, but they are still quite cellular, and contain more
of the greenish clay partings. They retain this character, the thin layers
becoming more compact in structure, but separating more readily, as we pass to
the southward of Chanuahon, and across to the Kankakee. Here, they retain
their later character until we pass Wilmington ; but, near the southeast corner
of the county, they again become more porous and impure. This change of
character is noticeable in connection with the fact that, at and near Grin-
ton, these beds rest upon the shaly magnesian limestones of the Cincinnati
group, which thin out toward the southwest, and finally disappear entirely,
leaving the Niagara beds, from above Wilmington to opposite Channahon,
resting directly upon the underlying green shales.
At the mouth of Prairie creek, three miles below Wilmington, one of the
lowest beds of this group has furnished large slabs covered with fine speci-
mens of Pentamerus oblongus, which is, in New York, characteristic of the
Clinton group, but I am unable to distinguish any corresponding division of
the rocks in this region. The Orthis bilobus occurs in the corresponding beds
near Channahon, and Stromatopora, and other Niagara corals are not rare in
the bottom layers of the quarries east of Wilmington.
As a summary of the rocks of this group, I offer the following general
section :
FEET.
Thin bedded, coarse, rather vesicular beds 75
Irregularly bedded limestone, with bands of chert 40
Blue quarry stone, weathering buff, heavy bedded 60
Thin bedded, compact to porous, parting readily 40
216 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The outline of this group is nearly as follows: Entering the county near
the northwest corner of township 35 north, range 9 east, it runs nearly south-
east to near the south east corner of section 24, and includes the larger part of
section 30 township 35 north, range 10 east ; here, it crosses the DesPlaines,
and follows down its south bank, on the top of the bluff, as far as to the center
of section 29, township 34 north, range 9 east ; here, it passes under the shaly
sandstone of the Coal Measures for a short distance, and then accompanies
their outcrop up the " Cut-off" to the Kankakee, which it follows, with only a
small show upon the south bank, to the mouth of Prairie creek; here it bears
more to the eastward, and passes around to the north and east of Wilming-
ton, turning south through section 31, township 33 north, range 10 east, and
following the north bank of Forked creek to the middle of section 17, town-
ship 32 north, range 10 east; here it crosses, and strikes the bank of the
Kankakee in section 20, and follows it westward through the county. Forked
creek and its cut-off also inclose an island of this group, which occupies con-
siderable portions of sections 7 and 18, township 32 north, range lOeast. This
group also appears upon the south bank of the river for about a mile below the
county line.
The general dip of the beds is toward the northeast, but there are every-
where so great local variations, both in direction and amount, that any attempt
to indicate them by figures would be fruitless. This has probably resulted, at
least in part, from the softness of the underlying beds.
Cincinnati Group. — The rocks of this group, in Will county, consist of buff
shaly argillaceous and magnesian limestones, with pyrite and some chert, a
heavy bed of green shaly clay, and blue shaly limestones with some petroleum.
The bottom beds at Grinton's mill probably belong to this group, but, at
this locality, the lower beds of the Niagara approach so closely in character to
the upper beds of this group, that it is very difficult to mark the division with
certainty. One mile down the DuPage, however, in the southwest quarter of
section 16, township 35 north, range 9 east, there is an outcrop of undoubted
Cincinnati group. The beds here are light buff, porous, magnesian limestones,
with bands of chert nodules. A small Loxonema in the chert was the only
fossil observed. The section exposed is from twelve to fifteen feet thick.
Near the center of the north half of section 5, township 34 north, range 9
east, from eight to ten feet of thin-bedded buff limestone with sandy partings,
probably corresponding with the lower part of the above section, have been
quarried to a small extent in a hill side. A half mile east of this, in the south
half of section 33. township 35 north, range 9 east, from eight to ten feet of
thin-bedded argillaceous limestone, with many of the common fossils of this
group, form the low bank of the DuPage. These beds underlie those before
WILL COUNTY. 217
mentioned, and are probably equivalent to the middle of the Rock run
section.'
At the mouth of Rock run, near the east line of section 35, township 35
north, range 9 east, considerable stone has been quarried for local use. It is
a thin-bedded, very argillaceous limestone, originally blue, but weathering first
rusty and then light-drab, with bands of chert near the top of the quarry, and
more or less pyrite scattered through the whole mass. Fossils are abundant,
but rather fragmentary, including Orthocerata, various brachiopods, a few
trilobites, and some fucoidal markings. The thickness exposed is nearly forty
feet.
Near the bridge over the DesPlaines, in the northeast quarter of section 21,
township 34 north, range 9 east, we find these beds of limestone thinned out
to about ten feet, between the Niagara limestone and the underlying green
shale. They here contain an abundance of Petraia and Orthis, with an occa-
sional Cafymene, and one or two other forms. No equivalent of these beds
has been recognized upon the Kankakee, though it may possibly be repre-
sented among thelmff limestones of this group, near the southeast corner of
the county.
The bed of green shaly clay which forms the middle division of this group
in this county, is a perfectly homogeneous, fine-grained clay, with no fossils,
and no impurities of any kind so far as observed. Along the DesPlaines,
through the east half of township 34 north, range 9 east, this bed is known
to be from forty-five to fifty feet in thickness, and it is not less than
that on the Kankakee, where it is first observed just above the mouth of
Prairie creek, on the north bank, and thence accompanies the outcrop of the
overlying Niagara rocks up the river to near the county line, where it dips
below the water level. Above Wilmington, it becomes more impure, and
somewhat thinner.
Below this bed, along the Kankakee, especially near and on the banks of
Horse creek, there is a considerable outcrop of about fifty feet of drab and
greenish shaly sandstones, rather irregularly bedded, and showing fucoidal
markings. The same beds, of a locally different character, are exposed for a
short distance along the south bank of the Kankakee, opposite the mouth of
Prairie creek. From near the top of this bed, a boring has been made at Mr.
Johnson's place, on section 13, township 32 north, range 10 east, of which the
following is the reported section :
FEET. IN.
1. Shaly sandstone 50
2. Soft clay shale, (" soapstone ") 30
3. Flinty sandstone 5 6
4. Blue " soapstone " 24 6
5. Hard drab clay shale 6
—28
218 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The " soapstone " No. 2 of the section, outcrops along the river bank, about
two miles above Wilmington, and, from its close resemblance to the blue shale
above the main coal seam, has misled many persons into the belief that the
coal could be found farther east. It was only after repeated examinations that
I became satisfied of its true position.
The " flinty sandstone," No. 3, is probably the representative of the com-
pact fragmentary clinking limestone which shows a much greater thickness at
its outcrop near Wilmington. This lower division of the group there consists
of light blue shaly limestones, with occasional bands of these compact layers,
fitted for underpinnings, but rarely furnishing material suitable for superstruc-
tures. Its outcrop is very limited, being confined to the bottoms of the
Kankakee, between the mouth of Forked creek and the ford near the north
line of section 12, township 32 north, range 9 east, and the banks of Forked
creek below the " county road" running east from Wilmington. Over all this
outcrop, the beds are crowded with the ordinary fossils of the group, such as
Rhynchonclla capax, R. Tiemiplicata, Ortliis lynx, 0. subquadrata , Leptsena
sericea, Strophomena altcrnata, Orthocerata, Tentaculites, corals, bryozoa and
crinoidal fragments, with occasionally fine fragments of trilobites.
A boring upon the island, at Wilmington, gave the following section :
FEET.
Blue shaly limestone 15
Hard, gritty rock, in thin layers 15
Dark clay shale, with pockets of petroleum 70
Petroleum is also found filling cavities in the overlying beds of more com-
pact limestone, which outcrop farther up the river, and add probably twenty-
five or thirty feet to the foregoing section. These beds also frequently contain
cavities lined with very pretty crystals of the " doa; tooth spar" variety of
calcite. The limestone itself is composed of comminuted shells and crinoids,
and yields few fossils in good condition.
Mr. Jason Franklin reports the following as the section found in his " oil-
well," in the south half of section 23, township 32 north, range 10 east:
FEET.
Sandstone 15
Clay shale, with harder bands 115
Yellow and white sandstone 5
Blue sandstone 100
Blue sandstone, with pyrite 38
As no beds of sandstone are found elsewhere to correspond with the lower
beds of this section, and as the upper fifteen feet are evidently the rotten beds
of magnesian limestone which form the base of the Niagara group in this
region, I am disposed to believe that the lower beds are also limestone. If this
is true, the one hundred and fifteen feet of "clay shale, with harder bands"
WILL COUNTY, 219
will correspond with the two upper divisions of the Cincinnati group, as
above given; the one hundred and five feet of " sandstones, "the lower division
of this group, and the thirty-eight feet of pyritous rock may represent the
compact drab limestone, sometimes pyritous, of the Trenton group, the top
layers of which are quarried in Saratoga, four miles northeast of Morris, in
Grundy county. The whole section, however, is liable to error, having been
made by an inexperienced borer. I give it as the only indication, however
imperfect, of the underlying beds in this part of the county, with the excep-
tion of Mr. Johnson's boring, before given, which did not reach so great a
depth.
SUMMARY.
The following is an approximate estimate of the total thickness of rock ex-
posed and explored within the county :
FEET.
Alluvial and Drift clays and gravels 100 to 150
Coal Measure sandstones and shales 100 " 125
Niagara group limestones 200
Cincinnati group limestones, shales and clays 220 " 260
Trenton group limestones ? * 38 ?
Economical Geology.
Among the mineral resources of Will county, the first place is naturally
given to
Coal. — Though the outcrop of the Coal Measures covers but a very small
part of the area of this county, yet the amount of coal mined therefrom is very
large.
NOTE. — During the summer of 1869, an artesian well was sunk at the Penitentiary, near
Joliet, and the following section of the bore has been furnished me, through A. J.-Matthewson,
Esq., of Lockport:
FEET.
1. Rubbish 12
2. Cherty limestone 16
3. Soft white granular limestone 60
4. Coarse rock, resembling Niagara limestone 279
5. Soft shales and clay 110
6. Clear sharp sand-rock, full of water 50
Total 527
It is impossible to make this agree with known outcrops, or with the facts ascertained by
borings in adjacent counties. Nowhere in this region, if anywhere, is there such a bed as
No. 6 lying upon the St. Peters sandstone of No. 6. If Nos. 4 and 5 could be made to ex-
change places, we might suppose the 279 feet of limestone to represent the lower part of the
Cincinnati group and the whole of the Trenton. There is probably error in the reqord.
220 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Analyses of a few coals from this county were made some years since, and
were published in the first volume of these Reports : since, fuller examinations
of the territory have shown the great variations in the character of the coal
within short distances, a phenomenon which usually accompanies outcrops so
near the edge of the basin, it has not been thought best to make any further
examinations of this sort. Throwing out the more noticeable impurities, such
as the nodules and layers of pyrite or " sulphur/' and the occasional bands of
slaty clay, the mass of the coal makes a very good article for steam purposes,
and some portions furnish a good blacksmithing coal ; but no considerable
quantity is found that appears suitable for smelting purposes.
Assuming the coal area in this county to be about twenty square miles, and
allowing to the seam an average thickness of three feet three inches, the usual
rule of estimate would give 66,000,000 tons as the amount accessible within
the county.
Building Stone. — The quarries of Joliet and Lockport make no insignificant
figure in an estimate of the resources of Will county. The amount of stone
accessible here is almost unlimited. Only from twelve to fifteen feet of beds
furnishing " dimension stone " are now quarried, as the bottom of this brings
the quarrymen down to the water level, and the supply has thus far been so
abundant as to make deeper exploration unnecessary. Above the layers which
are quarried, there are several feet of beds, now decayed, which were originally
of very nearly the same consistency as the lower ones ; and when they shall be
worked back into the hill beyond the extent of atmospheric influences, will
probably be found equally valuable. The stone itself is a very compact, fine
grained, clinking, magnesian limestone, but thin seams of greenish clay run
irregularly through the whole mass, which, upon long exposure in situations
alternately wet and dry, must ultimately cause the most solid layers to split up,
especially when they are set up on edge. The separation in the quarry into
"ledges" of ten, twenty-four, thirty, and forty inches in thickness, simply re-
sults from the presence of somewhat thicker partings of this same greenish
shaly clay. It is not probable that this structure will sensibly affect the stone
used in building in ordinary situations, except after the lapse of many years ;
but care should be taken to reject such portions of the layers as come from very
near the outcrop.
These beds were formerly described as composed of light buff stone, while
the deeper portions of the quarries now furnish " blue stone." The difference
results from the difference in amount of oxidation of the small portion of iron
disseminated through the whole mass, the change having resulted from atmos-
pheric influence. The same change must ultimately take place in all the " blue
stone" which is brought to the surface.
The same beds are now quarried at Twelve-Mile Grove, in the town of Wai-
WILL COUNTY. 221
lingford, and some fine stone is obtained. Distance from railroad communi-
cation alone prevents the development of quarries of equal value with those of
Joliet.
The Jackson quarries are also in nearly equivalent beds.
The beds of this portion of the Niagara group, where exposed near the sur-
face for some time, yield flagstones of considerable size ; but those of the lower
portion of the group are more extensively quarried for this purpose, and have,
apparently, a rather larger proportion of the shaly partings. This character
alone prevents some portions of these lower beds from equaling the higher
ones for building purposes.
From the whole extent of the outcrops of this group, small quantities of stone
are quarrved for fences and wells, and occasionally for buildings ; but no other
quarries than those above mentioned have assumed any considerable importance
as sources of regular supply. The quarry in the southeast corner of section 11,
township 37 north, range 9 east, seems to have reached the solid beds below the
cherty layers, and is likely to prove valuable ; but, at the time of my visit, it
had not been fully tested.
The upper division of the Cincinnati group has been quarried to a small ex-
tent for local uses, at the mouth of Rock run, between Joliet and Channahon ;
but the beds are so shaly as to be readily broken up by the weather, and can
never furnish a reliable building stone. The limestone of the lower member
of the Cincinnati group, occasionally quarried in the bed of the Kankakee, be-
tween one and two miles above Wilmington, gives small quantities of a perma-
nent but rather rough and irregular stone. It would probably be worth more
for limej if care were taken to exclude the shaly portions of the beds.
Lime is burned at numerous points in this county, the principal production
being from the lower portion of the Niagara group. An impure article is also
furnished from the shaly limestones of the Cincinnati group, at the mouth of
Forked creek, in Wilmington. Small quantities of hydraulic cement have
been burned from a bluish bed near the base of the Niagara group in the south
part of Joliet.
Brick. — With such an abundance of building stone, comparatively few brick
are used in the county. The production is principally from the brown clay sub-
soil, which is found distributed throughout the timbered portion of the county,
and, to some extent, under the prairie soil. A few brick are also made from
the alluvial clay of Mt. Joliet. The fire clays which underlie the main coal
seam, in the southwest corner of the county, are made to yield a good article
of brick, at Gardner, in the adjoining part of Grundy ; but no use has been
made of them in Will county.
Pottery. — At Mt. Joliet, large quantities of drain-tile are manufactured from
the alluvial clay of the neighborhood. The green, shaly clay, which forms the
222 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
middle division of the Cincinnati group, in the south part of the county, ap-
pears well fitted for potter's use, but I can not learn that any attempts have been
made to utilize it. The results of experiments made by the " Mound Compa-
ny," with the various beds of the neighborhood, are well summarized in the
following letter from a son of one of the proprietors, for which I am indebted
to our mutual friend, Mr. H. M. Bannister, of the Survey :
PORTLAND, Oct. 6th, 1868.
H. M. BANNISTER, Assist Geologist of Illinois.
DEAR SIR: As regards the Joliet Mound, situated one and a-half miles southwest of the city
of Joliet : It is about one-fourth of a mile in length, and two to three hundred feet in width.
At its northeast extremity is solid limestone rock, overlaid with a thin stratum of blue clay,
above which is about twenty feet of fine gravel, containing a large per centage of cement, and
many boulders of various sizes and species. The rock dips toward the southwest, and when it
reaches the gravel pit, at or near its extreme end, the gravel bed is forty or fifty feet in thick-
ness in the center, while beneath it is a bed of fine, blue, earthern clay, six feet in thickness,
and remarkably free from stones and other impurities, though strongly impregnated with salts
and lime, and so solid as to require a sharp pick to excavate it. The top of the bed is strati-
fied and colored with oxide of iron, producing a fine slip or glaze for pottery ware. The lower
portion of the bed is solid, and rather an impure clay. The bed dips with the rock, and in-
creases in thickness in the same proportion as the gravel.
Many Indian remains have been exhumed while excavating the gravel, and an old flint-lock
pistol was found ten feet in the gravel, while excavating the clay. I have seen toads jump out
of the solid bank and hop off.
Under this bed of clay are boulders, gravel and clay, and under that a stronger brown clay,
beneath which are strong evidences of the same formation as that above it, and then rock.
One-half mile further to the southwest, is Mount Flat-head, one mile in length, one-quarter
in width, and about sixty feet in hight, composed of boulders and gravel, with very little ce-
ment and no clay under it. The rock in this mound dips in directly the opposite direction from
that in Mount Joliet,
The clay used in the manufacture of tile is from a ridge one-quarter of a mile northwest of
the mound, and forming one of the boundaries of the DesPlaines valley. It is a red, earthern
clay, formed in cubes, strongly impregnated with iron, and a little lime and some fine gravel
mixed with it. (I found the same bed at White Lake, Michigan.) The bed is ten or fifteen
feet thick, and is a good, strong, earthern clay, and can be used as a high-fired slip clay, or a
lower fire if a flux be mixed with it. Its formation is very irregular, as is all that region.
Under it are fine, yellow and blue loams, and under them gravel and boulders and then the rock.
Not one hundred feet from this bed is one of brown clay, of great depth and filled with lime
pebbles. The internal arrangement of the whole ridge is similar to rolling prairie, and of
every species of drift. Two miles below the mound, in a railroad cut, you will find a bed of
hard, stratified or shaly clay, brown, red and green, with which we experimented largely, but
it was so full of lime and lime-dogs as to be of very little value, although it stands a heavy
fire to a certain point, and then suddenly gives way, and in burning checks badly by fire and
air.
All down the DesPlaines valley, on either side, are extensive beds of the same material. At
Channahon, on Mr. Althower's place, in his low land, is a bed of fine, greasy, blue clay, which
is very good for a glazing clay, and not far from it is a bed of white marl. On the Rock Island
railroad, near Mokena, is a bed of green clay, and you will find pockets of it in the rock at
Lockport.
I know very little of the Goose lake clay, save that they have had great trouble with it. At
WILL COUNTY. 223
the coal mines at Morris, is a species of fire clay, but we did not think much of what we tested.
On the line of the Alton and St. Louis railroad, between Willow Springs and Athens, you will
find white fire sand. There are no valuable clays within sixty miles of Chicago, and not extra
brick clays. Yours truly, and in haste.
GEO. D. GOODRICH.
Peat has been found in small patches, in some of the swampy land near the
east line of the county, but no beds of any importance have yet been reported.
Copper. — Nuggets of native copper have been found in the Drift of this
county, and have 'caused occasional excitements over the prospect of finding a
copper mine. One was picked up at Lineburger's quarry, near Wilmington,
where it had fallen upon and partially sunk into the decomposed green, shaly
clay of the bottom of the quarry, and "boring for copper" was seriously talked
of, but better counsels prevailed.
Iron Ore nodules accompany the shales overlying the coal, but no considera-
ble quantities are accessible. A small bed of bog iron ore was noticed, near
the saw mill, near the center of the west line of section 13, town 35 north, range
11 east, but no exploration has been made to ascertain its depth or exact extent.
Considerable beds are known to exist in the adjoining parts of Indiana, and all
extensive deposits will ultimately become valuable for use, in connection with
the more compact and richer ores of Marquette and Missouri.
Water. — Through the eastern part of the county, a constant supply of water
is not readily accessible, in consequence of the thickness of the deposits of sand
and gravel which overlie the boulder clay and form the high, rolling surface
characteristic of this region. A few springs reach the surface in the timber,
and some of the prairie ponds retain their water through the year ; but, in a dry
season, there is often much suffering among cattle. So far as I could learn, no
wells have been driven through the boulder clay ; below it, an unfailing supply
could be reached, though, in some places, the depth would forbid attempts to
raise it. The three river valleys are mostly well watered by springs flowing
from the outcropping edges of the rock strata. All over the DesPlaines bot-
toms, wells are readily obtained at a small depth in the rock, the water of the
river finding ready passage through the numerous crevices and worn passages
which are so characteristic of limestones exposed, in any degree, to water action.
The triangle between the DesPlaines and the Kankakee, below the bluffs of
the second terrace, which run from opposite Channahon directly toward Wil-
mington, has comparatively little soil upon the rock, and much of it is entirely
destitute of surface water. By penetrating, however, the heavy beds of green,
shaly clay, which underlies it, and is here from forty-five to fifty feet thick,
an abundant and never-failing supply can be obtained, from the surface of the
underlying shaly limestone.
The high ridge of boulder clay and gravel along the western line of the coun-
224 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
ty, above the DesPlaines, has few wells that do not fail in a dry season. On
the eastern slope of that ridge, in section 30 of Plainfield township, as I am in-
formed by Rev. Dr. Clark, of that town, Deacon Caton bored sixty-one feet
through the boulder clay, and got water just after striking the solid rock. I
do not know the level of the surface at that point, but judge, from what I know
of the levels elsewhere in that region, that this well must have reached as low
as the lake level, and perhaps lower.
In the Eagle shaft, at Braidwood station, the coarse sandstones, which accom-
pany the Coal Measure shales, yield a very large amount of pure water, a four-
inch stream flowing constantly from the pumps.
Through the artesian well at Joliet penitentiary, water flows freely from the
St. Peters sandstonej which was struck at the depth of four hundred and seven-
ty-seven feet. The following data will be the means of calculating, approxi-
mately, the depth of this bed in most parts of the county, assuming that the
dip of the sandstone is regular :
Morris — section 4,
Joliet— " 3,
Chicago — " 9,
town. 22 north, rang
" 35 " "
" 38 " "
Feet above or
below datum.
Depth to
sandstone.
—56
—24
plus 21
370
477
834
10 "
14 "
Morris to Joliet, east 30Q north, 21 miles.
" " Chicago, " 35Q " 51 "
Levels of points in Will county, above or below " Datum of six feet below
the lowest registered water of Lake Michigan," as furnished by the Illinois
River Survey, in charge of G-en. J. H. Wilson, U. S. A.:
FEET.
DesPlaines river (low water) at county line above Lockport plus 12.150
" " " " " Lemont (Cook co.) " 13.795
" " " " "Lockport —13.540
" " " " below railroad bridge at Joliet — 58.657
" " " " mouth of Rock run —71.640
" " " " under Kankakee feeder aqueduct — 85.268
" " " " at junction with Kankakee — 87.809
Bluffs at Lockport, east side, plus 74.09; west side, plus 66.27
" " Lemont, " " " 102.00; " " " 137.20
Kankakee river (low water), east line Grundy co — 83.110
" " " " head of feeder, below State dam —69.588
« " " " " " " above " " — 69.580
" " " " Prairie creek — 58.498
" " " " under road bridge at Wilmington — 51.501
« " " " above rapids " <( —39.112
" " " " east line of Will co.. ..—27.698
WILL COUNTY, . 225
FEET.
* North of Momence — Kankakee and Will co. line plus 128.578
" " " summit, or dividing ridge " 173.206
" « " Eagle lake " 147.532
" " " waters of Plum creek " 125.280
" " " village of Crete " 154.460
" " " waters of Thorn creek " 125.830
" " " village of Bloom (Cook co.)— Cut-off railroad " 108.550
Illinois Central railroad — Village of Monee " 228.000
" " " Cook and Will co. line " 180.000
" " " line townships 34 and 33 " 200.000
" " • " " Kankakee and Will co's " 103.000
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad — Village of Mokeiia " 142.000
" " " " " " DuPage river _30.000
" " " " " " village of Minooka (Grundy co.) plus 35.000
In the survey of this county, I am especially indebted to the kind assistance
of A. J. Mathewson, Esq., of Lockport.
*0n a rather irregular line, varying from one to two miles, east of west line of township,
range 14.
—29
CHAPTER XV.
KANKAKEE AND IROQUOIS COUNTIES.
Kankakee county is bounded, on the north, by Will ; on the west, by Grundy
and Livingston ; on the south, by Ford and Iroquois ; and on the east, by
Lake and Newton counties, of Indiana. It forms nearly a rectangle of twenty
miles from north to south, by about thirty-eight from east to west ; but two
townships of the northwest corner of this rectangle have been assigned to Will
county, thus reducing the area of Kankakee to about 674 square miles.
This area is divided into three unequal portions by the Kankakee and Iro-
quois rivers, the former of which enters the county near the middle of its east-
ern side, runs westerly, and thence southwesterly to the mouth of the Iroquois
near the center of the southern third of the county, and thence northwest to
the southwest corner of Rockville township, whence it passes into Grundy
county. From near the center of the south line of the county, the Iroquois
flows in an irregular northerly course to its junction with the Kankakee, just
below Aroma. The Kankakee is fordable at numerous points below Momence ;
but above the dam at that place, it is deep, and nearly level for some miles
beyond the State line, having a fall of from four to six inches to the mile.
From Momence to Rockville, its fall is one hundred and twenty-seven feet, or
above five feet to the mile. Throughout this latter part of its course, it has a
rock bottom, affording good foundations for dams, whether for utilizing the
water power, or for purposes of navigation. With this latter point in view,
the United States Government has caused surveys to be made, which have
shown that, by the construction of a few dams and locks, this stream can, at
comparatively small expense, be made navigable from St. Joseph's county, In-
diana, to its junction with the Illinois. The Iroquois is rocky and shallow
through all of its course within the limits of this county, but, from the county
line, it is deep and still, and is navigable for flat-boats, nearly or quite to the
Indiana line.
Along the latter part of the course of the Kankakee, its bottoms are narrow,
and rocky bluff-banks are quite frequent, but, above Aroma, the bottoms are
much wider, and any rocky banks are of very little hight. Over these bot-
KANKAKEE AND IROQUOIS COUNTIES. 227
toms are large deposits of sand ; and sand ridges from fifteen to thirty feet high,
form, in many places, the boundaries of the bottoms, that is, the banks of the
ancient river valley. Similar banks were traced up the valley of the Iroquois,
as far as Middleport, in Iroquois county, and are said to form its banks for
some miles above the Indiana line. These banks were not carefully examined,
for want of time, but I learn that they contain, in many places, numerous
shells of Unio, Paludina, and other forms, identical with those now living in the
rivers.
I was formerly inclined to believe that the Kankakee valley was at one time
occupied by an outlet of Lake Michigan, which ran from its southern extremity
by the valley of either Deep river or Salt creek; but, since I find that the
sand ridges are continuous with those which are so largely developed in the
upper part of the Kankakee valley, and especially since Dr. E. Andrews, the
learned President of the Chicago Academy of Science, assures me, from per-
sonal observation, that no connection ever existed by Deep river or Salt creek
valley, I am compelled to believe that this was a distinct lake basin, twenty-
five or thirty miles wide in its upper part, and of as yet undetermined length
The sand ridges, which mark its outlines, have been traced, almost continu-
ously, from the mouth of Waupecan creek, on the south bank of the Illinois,
nearly opposite Morris, in Grundy county, to the mouth of Yellow river, in
Starke county, Indiana. I learn from Mr. A. J. Matthewson, of Lockport,
who has explored much of the Kankakee valley, that they continue over the
divide, and connect with the sand ridges of the Wabash valley. This, how-
ever, unless the connecting portions are proved to have been deposited by water
in their present position, would not prove the connection of the waters of the
two basins, since the wind often raises, upon lake shores, accumulations of sand
to a considerable hight above the water level, as at Michigan City, where an
elevation of this sort has attained a hight of one hundred and seventy-six feet
above the lake ; and these connecting portions may have had that origin.
Along the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago railroad, the highest sand
beds on the south side of the valley were found at forty-five miles from Michi-
gan City, at an elevation of twenty-five feet above the Kankakee, and one hun-
dred and four feet above Lake Michigan. On the north side of the valley,
the highest beds were found at Hog creek, twenty-one miles from Lake Michi-
gan, at about the same level. Above this level, at both points, the gravel beds
of the Drift come to the surface, covered only by the soil. Through the east-
ern part of Iroquois county, Illinois, and the central part of Benton county,
Indiana, there is said to be a stream of boulders, two miles wide, having a gen-
eral northwest and southeast direction. Although these must have been
dropped from floating ice, at a time when all this country was under water, so
228 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
that we cannot argue directly from their position with regard to the form of
the land at a later period, yet we may fairly infer that whatever channel then
existed probably had the aforesaid direction ; and, since no such depression
appears to exist, or to have existed toward the southwest, it probably did exist
to the eastward, and it is not impossible that old Lake Kankakee had its out-
*et by the Wabash, before its waters began to cut down the rocky barrier
through which they have since excavated the deep valley from Aroma to Wil-
mington.
Though the sand ridges have not been traced to their limit on the upper
Iroquois, yet, as the bed of the river at Renssalaer, only sixteen miles from
the southernmost sand bed on the L., N. A. & C. R. R., is said to be only
thirteen feet higher than the top of that bank, it is evident that the old lake
must have nearly surrounded the high land of the southeastern part of Kan.
kakee county, and the northwestern part of Iroquois. The elevation of this
peninsula is known to me at only one point,* namely, at Morocco, Newton
county, Indiana, which Owen states to be one hundred and eighty feet above
the bed of the Kankakee at Momence.
The peninsula between old Lake Kankakee and Lake Michigan varies from
ten to twenty-five miles in width, and is seventy or eighty miles long. The
lowest measured point is near Eagle lake, in Will county, Illinois, where CoL
Worrall's surveying party found an elevation of one hundred and seventy-three
feet above the established " datum " of " six feet below the lowest registered
water of Lake Michigan." Monee, a few miles west of this point, is two
hundred and twenty-eight feet above " datum," by railroad survey. It is
probable that a much lower point exists upon the "divide," somewhere near
Deep river or Salt creek, in Lake county, Indiana. A large sand ridge forms
the north shore of Eagle lake, at an elevation of one hundred and forty-eight
feet above " datum ; " but this is probably local, and not directly connected
with the ridges of the river valley.
Much of all these sand accumulations is nearly pure quartz grain, partly
worn and rounded, as if by long wear and travel; while parts are evidently
merely the disintegrated sandstones of the Coal Measures, not much changed
by friction.
For further details of elevations and distances, I must refer to the map
accompanying this report, for which the survey is originally and principally
indebted to the liberality of Mr. A. J. Mathewson, chief engineer of the Illi-
nois and Michigan canal ; though many levels have also been added from data
kindly furnished by Gen. J. H. Wilson, chief of the Illinois River Survey, and
*The Chicago and Danville Railroad crosses this promontory, a short distance west of the
State line ; but applications for the profile of that road have been unsuccessful.
KANKAKEE AND IROQUOIS COUNTIES. 229
I
Dr. E. Andrews, of Chicago, as well as from the publications of Profs. Richard
Owen* and R. T. Brownf, and from reports of railroad surveys.
1 have been unable to obtain any satisfactory information regarding the
character and levels of the country between South Bend and Lake Erie. It
seems highly probable that when that lake stood at the level indicated by the
highest terrace upon its ancient shores, not far from two hundred and fifty feet
above its present level (say eight hundred and fifteen feet above the ocean), it
should have had an outlet toward the west ; and this must have been either
the Kankakee or the Wabash.
The sloughs which lie between the sand ridges of the old valley are filled
with soft black muck, which is just the material needed to make these sandy
portions exceedingly productive j when drained of the surplus water, they are
themselves unsurpassed as corn-land. In their present condition, they would
appear to be just the places for the culture of cranberries for the Chicago
market.
Upon the bottom of Beaver lake, just east of the State line, since it has
been partially drained, skeletons of Mastodon and Bootherium have been found
by Dr. H. M. Keyzer, of Momence, and others ; and it is not improbable that
remains of these animals will also be found within the limits of Kankakee
county.
Drift Formation. — The drier portions of the county, out of the river valleys,
are mostly high, rolling prairie, with a few small groves, which shows but a
slight covering of soil and thin clay subsoil above the gravel beds of the Drift.
At a moderate depth we find everywhere, with few exceptions, the tough, blue
" boulder-clay," which usually has, in this region, a thickness of over one hun-
dred feet.
Whether there was or not an outlet from the south end of Lake Michigan,
after the close of the Drift period, there certainly was one at that point before
the Drift was deposited. This valley, including that of Lake Michigan, may
have been excavated by a glacier; but of this we cannot be certain, without a
more extended examination of its bottom than will probably ever be possible.
The depth of this channel, in its northern part, is unknown ; its western bank
is seen on the Kankakee, just above Momence, where the rock suddenly breaks
off, and probes forced to considerable depths found no solid bottom. These
facts were ascertained in 1867, by Col. James Worrall, then of the Illinois
River Survey, now of Harrisburg, Pa., who also informs me that the same
" shoulder " of rock is found upon the Calumet, nearly due north from Mo-
mence. In this part of its course, passing through very solid rocks, the chan-
*Geology of Indiana, 1859-60, pp. 201-220.
•{•Proceedings of the Wabash Academy of Science, Indianapolis, 1855, p. 16.
230 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
nel is rather narrow, rock having been found upon its east side and south of
the Kankakee, within seven miles of Momence; the exact location of its
eastern bank is as yet unknown. From this point, the course of the channel is
not certain ; but it probably keeps near the State line until it nearly or quite
reaches the valley of the Iroquois, then runs westerly to the valley of Spring
creek, having a depth of one hundred and sixty feet near Sheldon (as reported
by H. S. Wing, Esq., of Kankakee City), and then turns south with a depth
of two hundred and sixty-eight feet between Onarga and Gilman, of " over
four hundred feet" between Onarga and Spring Creek Station, and of " over
three hundred feet" between Paxton and Rantoul, as reported by John Faulds,
Esq., of Catlin, Vermilion county. As the western bank was found at Chats-
worth, Livingston county, with its top eighty-eight feet, and its bottom two
hundred feet below the surface, thus giving a width of fifteen miles or more, it
is evident that the softer materials of the Devonian, Sub-carboniferous, and
Coal Measure shales and sandstones have afforded less resistance to the denud-
ing agent than the solid Silurian limestones, which confined it to less than
seven miles at Momence. Champaign and Onarga, in Champaign county, are
located over this old channel, and from one hundred and seventy-five to two
hundred and twenty-five feet above its floor ; but are probably near its eastern
border. Here and at Chatsworth we find, among the Drift beds, a single layer
of old mucky soil, with leaves and trunks of trees. At Bloomington, in Mc-
Lean county, the channel is two hundred and fifty feet deep, and the beds
which fill it include two beds of old soil, which I am inclined to accept as
indications that this point is near the middle of the old valley, or at least near
it principal channel. The route west of Bloomington is unknown.
As the bluffs which bound the DuPage valley, upon the west, are composed
entirely of Drift gravel and clay, with a rock foundation nearly on a level with
the rock at the head of the Illinois, or about ninety feet below the present level
of the lake, while there is an elevated rock island reaching from there to Mo-
mence, it is not impossible that, in that region, also, there was at this same
period some outlet for the contents of the basin of Lake Michigan ; but no
deep, strongly-marked channel is there indicated.
Rock Formations.
Though great quantities of fragments of black shale, with not infrequent
rounded lumps of coal, are found in the Alluvial and Drift deposits, and con-
tinually excite the imaginations of persons ignorant of geology, no beds of
either coal or black shale exist within the county, except on its extreme west-
ern border. These fragments are either the remnants of beds which formerly
existed here, or, more probably, are remains of the beds which formerly con-
KANKAKEE AND IROQUOIS COUNTIES. 231
nected the northeastern portion of the Illinois coal field with that of Central
Michigan, and have drifted hither from the east and north. Much of the
black shale, however, probably came from the outcrop of the Devonian (or
Sub-carboniferous ?) bed of that material which outcrops so widely through
Northern Indiana.
Coal Measures. — As already indicated, the Coal Measures are confined to
the extreme western portion of the county. Their eastern boundary enters
the county from the north near the center of section 5, township 31 north,
range 9 east, runs due south nearly three miles, then bears a little westward,
and near the center of the west line of township 30 north, passes into Livings-
ton county. Explorations have not yet been made to such an extent as to in-
dicate more exactly the southern part of this line ; but its general correctness
has been proved, since its location, by finding that its continuation southward
passes directly across the known edge of the field, at Chatsworth, in Livings-
ton county. Along the northern part of the line, numerous borings have been
made, and a few shafts sunk. The only ones now furnishing coal are, Hook's,
and Gamble's shafts, in section 8, and Conklin's shaft, in section 19, of town-
ship 31 north, range 9 east. Hook's shaft is sixty-thr.ee feet deep to the coal,
with the following section :
FEET.' IN.
1. Soil and sandy loam 4
2. Brownish clay, with cobble-stones 4
3. Blue boulder clay 30
4. Bluish clay shales 25
5. Coal 2 10
6. Fireclay 2
7. Sandstone. 6
At Gamble's shaft, which is a little shallower, Nos. 2 and 3 of the foregoing
section are wanting ; and the shales of No. 4 continue up to the sandy subsoil.
All of these mines find the coal of pretty uniform thickness, and furnish a good
clean coal, well fitted for domestic use and for steam fuel. Their product is
all delivered to wagons, for the local supply of the country to the east and
southeast of the mines ; and the extent of the coal field in this county is so
small as to render it doubtful whether a railroad will ever be so built as to give
them outlet to a larger market.
The seam is the continuation of that so largely mined about Morris, in
Grundy county, and in the lower corner of Will county, namely, " No. 2," of
the Illinois valley section. As in the adjoining part of the field, the limit of
the seam is quite irregular, the numerous borings having shown that, at some
points, currents have washed away the coal, so as leave deep depressions in its
outline ; and at others, projecting and even isolated patches of the seam are
found outside of the general boundary. In the latter case, the seam is some-
.232 GEOLOGY OP ILLINOIS.
times found of full thickness, but without a roof, while in others, only a streak
of coaly matter is left.
The extent of the beds of the Coal Measures, below this seam, is unknown.
They here rest directly upon the greenish, sandy shales of the Cincinnati
group, which, to the uneducated eye, are not readily distinguishable from the
bluish drab, sometimes sandy, shales of the Coal Measures.
Niagara Limestone. — No Sub-carboniferous or Devonian beds are known to
exist in Kankakee county. It is, of course, possible, that such may remain
in place, under the high country of the southeastern corner of the county, but
their existence is in no way indicated, and is altogether improbable.
The highest Silurian beds exposed are impure earthy limestones which out-
crop along the Iroquois, from Sugar Island, at the county line, nearly to its
junction with the Kankakee. The outcrop covers so much space that it would
be difficult to make any exact measurement of the thickness of these irregu-
larly bedded strata. I estimated them at from fifty to sixty feet. They have
mostly a moderate dip to the southward. Some of the layers have been quar-
ried, in the small way, for local use ; and many of them appear well fitted for
making hydraulic lime.
These beds apparently correspond in position with the Leclaire limestones,
forming the top of the Niagara group ; there is no marked separation from the
lower beds. A few indistinct plant markings were the only fossils found.
Apparently belonging between these beds and those which outcrop near the
mouth of the Iroquois, though on that stream no equivalent strata were seen,
are the layers which are quarried at Momence. Here, we find from fifteen to
eighteen feet of light gray and drab, impure, argillaceous limestone, the upper
half of which contains great numbers of concretions of chert and silicified
corals ; but the lower half makes a fine building and monumental stone, and is
largely quarried in the bed of the river. There are also exposed, just above
town, a few feet of light buff, very vesicular, magnesian limestone, full of casts
of fossils, which is burned for lime. This apparently belongs beneath the
quarry-stone. Among the fossils of this bed were observed Pentamerus,
Knightii, Bumastes, Platyostoma, Favosites, Cystiphyllum, and fragments of
undetermined crinoids.
Along the river, between Momence and Aroma, a small amount of thin-
bedded limestone crops oufr, but presents no opportunity for measurement.
Both at Aroma, and for a short distance up the Iroquois, we find from ten to
twenty feet of thin, roughly-bedded, pretty compact, light drab and buff lime-
stone, occasionally cherty, and full of the striated marks of pressure and slip-
ping, which are called stylolites. These are locally used for building, though
not at all a handsome material. !No fossils were obtained here, though they
probably occur.
KANKAKEE AND IROQUOIS COUNTIES. 233
In descending the river, the next outcrop seen is at Kankakee City, where,
beneath the bridge, twelve or fifteen feet of thin-bedded, light buff, vesicular
limestones ara exposed, which are sometimes quarried for the linings of wells, for
foundations, or for road-material. At the foot of Court street, large flags are
quarried, with small quantities of thicker stone, from an outcrop of thin-bedded?
compact to vesicular, bluish-gray limestones, with partings of greenish clay.
The surfaces of these layers often show crinoidal fragments, and occasionally
present small crystals or fragments of pyrite. The same beds continue up
Soldier creek, and are largely quarried, above the Wilmington road, where the
greater amount of covering has prevented the disintegration of the clay-layers,
so that the beds appear to be more solid. At this, point, a slight southerly dip
is apparent. The broad floor of the quarry is strongly marked by a double
system of joints, the best developed of which bears by compass due northwest
and southeast ; the other set is not regular. The same beds present a nearly
continuous outcrop down the river, through section 24, township 31 north,
range 11 east, and are underlaid, in section 23, by a few feet of cellular lime-
stone, containing casts of crinoids and other fossils, which is locally used for
fences. In section 16, we pass down to very compact, though rather thin-
bedded limestone, every way fitted for building purposes, for which it is
occasionally used. These beds apparently correspond with those quarried at
Joliet, in Will county. The same beds are known to exist, at slight depths
below the surface, over much of the southern part of this township, and have
been opened for local use at two or three points. They are also worked in a
small quarry on the west side of section 7, township 30 north, range 11 east
(the fractional township), where from eight to ten feet of valuable stone have
been opened in the prairie. A fine specimen of Spirifer crispus was the only
fossil seen here.
Apparently near this level, though possibly a little above it, at Manteno, a
small quarry has been opened in an outcrop of thinly and irregularly bedded
limestone, which is said to be easily broken up by the frost. It contains many
cavities lined with calcite, and a few Orthocerata are occasionally met with.
In descending the river, below the quarries, in section 16, we find the beds
becoming thinner and more vesicular, and finally passing gradually into more
impure and strongly ferruginous layers, and decomposing readily. It is this
feature which has made the valley broader and the slopes of the banks more
gentle in this locality.
Cincinnati Group. — Just at the county-line, we pass below the Niagara
group, and find about ten feet of the sandy calcareous shales of the Cincinnati
group exposed above low-water mark. This is the only outcrop of rocks of this
group within the county, but the two ranges of townships, west of this point,
are almost entirely underlaid by them at slight depths. The prairie surface
—30
234 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
gives no opportunity of determining the exact outlines of the group ; but it is
evident that the Coal Measures occupy but a narrow strip of the western side
of range 9, and the Niagara limestone a probably still narrower one on the
east side of range 10.
A boring in Otto township, five and a half miles south of Kankakee City,
and eighty rods west of the railroad, started above the top of the highest beds
seen on the Iroquois ; and the following section of it was reported to me by
Mr. H. A. Williamson, of Kankakee City, who superintended the boring,
after it had reached the depth of two hundred and eighty-seven feet :
FEET.
1. Gravel and clay 47
2. Clouded solid stone — " not limestone " 388
3. Shale, with limestone bands and flints 75
4. Impure limestone, slacked but little 40
6. Nearly black, slightly gritty shales 15
6. Shale, with limestone bands and " flints " 83
7. Pyrite ' 1£
8. White shaly limestone 1£
Total 651
The three hundred and eighty-eight feet of "clouded solid stone," undoubt-
edly includes all the limestones, pure and impure, of the Niagara group. The
impression that it was " not limestone," arose from the fact that certain speci-
mens, when burned, did not slack. No. 3, with its " flints," may possibly be-
long to the Niagara; but I am more inclined to account it the top of the Cin-
cinnati group, and to suppose that the "flints" of both it and No. 6, are merely
thin layers of compact clinking limestone, sometimes pyritous, such as .are fre-
quently called flints by borers and quarrymen, although they contain no
noticeable amount of silica. Nos. 7 and 8 apparently represent the top of the
Trenton limestone. If that bed has here the thickness of two hundred feet,
which is usual in this part of the State, the top of the water-bearing St. Peters
sandstone would be reached at eight hundred and fifty-one feet, about one hun-
dred feet nearer the surface than it would be, if the dip observed in Grundy
and Will counties was continued to this place.
Economical Geology.
The local supply of all especially valuable minerals is small ; and the county
must rely for wealth, chiefly upon its agricultural and manufacturing capaci-
ties. Aside from the sandy ridges of its river bottoms, its soil is fertile and
already produces large crops. But much of the surface is yet uncultivated,
and, as elsewhere in fertile countries, the abundance of rich land leads to waste-
ful farming, which, before many years, must inevitably lead to the production
KANKAKEE AND IROQUOIS COUNTIES. 235
of "old fields," the characteristic result of such farming in the older States.
The remedy, of course, lies in thorough manuring, which is, and always will
be neglected by those who are ambitious to have the largest farms, without re-
gard to the rate of production. The abundant marshes or sloughs, often un-
derlaid by deposits of shell marl, furnish the best of material for rendering the
sand ridges fertile.
The water power of the Kankakee is partially utilized by four or five dams
and mills; but not a tithe of it is thus employed, though it might be made the
source of immense wealth.
Coal exists in sufficient quantities for domestic use, though, even for this, it
must be hauled many miles ; but it can hardly be profitably used in extensive
operations until a railroad shall bring it directly from a larger coal field near at
hand. If the east and west road through the county, so long talked of, should
be built, an abundant supply of coal would be brought from Grundy and LaSalle
counties ; otherwise, the reliance must be upon Vermilion county and the Indi-
ana field, whence coal will soon be delivered in the eastern part of the county
by the new Chicago, Danville and Terra Haute railroad. The Danville coal
is now brought to Kankakee City, via the Great Western and Illinois Central
roads ; but the route is so circuitous that freights make a very heavy addition
to the cost. Possibly, the coal recently discovered in Iroquois county may
prove sufficiently abundant to be the best source of supply for Kankakee county.
Iron. — Bos ore is known to exist in small quantities in some of the sloughs
near the State line. If larger beds can be found within easy reach of the new
railroad, there seems to be no reason why Momence should not speedily have
an iron furnace, supplied with bog ore from its own neighborhood, with richer
ores from Lake Superior, via Chicago, with "block" coal direct from the Wa-
bash, and a blast driven by the water-power of the Kankakee. If this be un-
dertaken, it would be well to examine more thoroughly the beds of
Peat, which are known to exist near that place, though now supposed to be
of small extent.
Building Stone is quarried at many points in the county. The best rock
seen is in the southwest corner of Limestone township, in section 16, of that
township, and in the river bed at Momence. The quarries in section 16, of
limestone, should be more largely developed, and made to supply stone to all
the neighboring country. If the Kankakee were rendered navigable, this
might be made a very profitable business, and would pay well even as it is.
The rock quarried at Kankakee City is very objectionable on account of the
abundance of shaly partings which must ultimately cause the destruction of
buildings now erected at so great expense. It would be much wiser for build-
ers of any large structure, especially of those of so extensive and elegant a
character as the Methodist church in that city, to pay enough more to cover
236 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
the expense of hauling good stone five miles, than to use at less expense, a ma-
terial which will insure the ultimate destruction of the buildings by weathering
at no very distant day.
Water. — Artesian wells can probably be obtained anywhere in the county,
at a depth nowhere exceeding twelve hundred feet ; and it is probable that a
permanent supply could be had at nine hundred feet in the western part of the
county. The water from the St. Peters sandstone has, in some cases, been
found quite saline ; but in such cases a purer water can generally be reached
by boring into the underlying Calciferous sandstone, and tubing out the upper
flow. No artesian wells have yet been obtained in this county, the only deep
boring, the " oil well," south of Kankakee City, having stopped at the top of
the Trenton limestone. The Drift beds which supply the numerous flowing
wells of the south part of Iroquois county, apparently do not exist north of the
east and west portion of the Iroquois river valley.
Iroquois county is bounded on the north by Kankakee county ; on the west,
by Livingston and Ford ; on the south, by Ford and Vermilion counties ; and
on the east by Indiana. It contains eleven hundred and fifty-six square
miles, being thirty-four miles square. Of this area, far the larger part is
gently rolling prairie. The northeastern quarter is separated from the rest of
the county by the Iroquois river, which, entering the county from Indiana, a
little north of the center of its east line, flows in a general west course to near
the middle of the county, and thence nearly due north into Kankakee county.
This stream is quite sluggish, and navigable for flat-boats from the northern
county-line up to Middleport ; above this point, it is smaller and more broken.
Its principal branches are Sugar creek, from the southeastern part of the
county, and Spring creek, from the southwestern. All these streams have
considerable bottoms, but those of the main Iroquois are especially interesting,
on account of their connection with the subject of the old Lake Kankakee.
All along this valley, and for considerable distances from the present river
bottoms, we find the extensive accumulations of sand which mark the bottom
and shores of the old river valley. These beds have not been traced along the
upper part of the river, so as to ascertain whether or not they are continuous
with those of the upper Kankakee, as has been suspected ; but the lower
portion of the valley was certainly filled by a broad arm of the expanded chan-
nel through which the waters of Lake Kankakee passed to the narrower outlet
below. In my report upon Kankakee county, I have expressed the opinion
that Lake Erie may possibly have, at one time, poured out its waters in this
NOTE. — The map referred to on page 228 has not been published for the lack of means to
defray the expense of engraving. The most essential parts of it will, however, be transferred
on to the State map, now in process of construction, to accompany the final volume of these
reports. A. H. W.
KANKAKEE AKD IROQUOIS COUNTIES. 237
direction; but further consideration of the summit-levels of the Wabash has
shown that that stream would have given exit to the waters of Lake Erie at all
times when its elevation would have approached that of Lake Kankakee.
The sands of these old river or estuary bottoms, are mostly quite pure silex,
and blown about by the winds. Judging from the material, it would seem
probable that at least the larger part of them originated from the disintegra-
tion of the sandstones of the base of the Coal Measures, which formerly covered
the larger part, if not the whole, of this county, together with an extensive
region on the upper Iroquois. They therefore have little fertility, except what
is due to the small quantity of river-silt deposited with them, and the debris
of the small amount of vegetation which has thus far grown upon them. They
are in some places entirely barren; in others, they are covered by a thin growth
of oaks and hickories. The present river bottoms are of course well covered
with a great variety of timber, being very fertile.
The remainder of the county is rich, rolling prairie, covered with the char-
acteristic deep, black, mucky soil which produces such heavy growths of all
sorts of vegetables. This is based upon generally thin clay-beds of the " Loess,"
and this upon the sands, gravels, and heavy boulder-clay of the Drift period,
which latter bed is, in at least one case, one hundred and sixty feet thick. In
a well sunk at Sheldon, the gravel above the boulder clay was found com-
pacted into a coarse sandstone. At a shaft and boring made in 1865, by Mr.
John Faulds, of Vermilion county, between Onarga and Oilman, the following
section of these surface deposits was obtained :
FEET.
Blue and red clay 98
Sand and soft sediment 140
Hard pan 10
Hard stony clay 20
Total 268
At this depth limestone was encountered, and the boring stopped. This
may have been only a boulder, but was more probably a solid bed of the Niag-
ara group. A boring made in 1866, between Onarga and Spring creek, is said
to have reached a depth of four hundred feet without encountering any solid
rock. These and other borings in this region have indicated the existence of
an old channel running through the county, which is nowentirely filled with
the Drift deposits. Examinations in adjoining counties have shown that this
is the continuation of the valley now filled by Lake Michigan. Its course is
southward from the southern extremity of the lake, trending a little westwardly
(though still passing to the eastward of Momence, in Kankakee county), until
near the northern line of Iroquois, where it bends more strongly to the west-
ward, and passes on to the southwest corner of the county, with its eastern
238 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
border near the Spring creek valley east of Onarga, and its western at Chats-
worth, in Livingston county. Passing on to the southward and westward,
Urbana was within its limits, though probably near its eastern border ; and
Bloomington appears to have been near its center. Further westward, its loca-
tion has not been determined. This valley was doubtless first excavated by
the glacier which dug out the basin of Lake Michigan ; and, as this gradually
melted and retired, the material of the " terminarmoraine " partially filled the
channel, while the river formed from the melting ice, still occupied a part of it-
The partially-filled bottom, as the glacier retired to Lake Michigan and beyond)
became overgrown with vegetation, the remnants of which we find both in dis-
tinct beds, such as have been encountered in boring and shafting at Chats-
worth, Urbana and Bloomington, and in the sand and gravet beds which
afterward accumulated and filled the valley.
Rock Fo rmations .
No outcrop of rock is known within the county, and we are obliged to rely
wholly upon bores and shafts for our knowledge of the underlying beds. The
southeastern part of the county is probably underlaid by Coal Measure rocks ;
but the only point at which this is known to be the case, is between Gilman
and Watseka, where coal is said to have been found recently at a depth of one
hundred and five feet. Reported thickness of seam, eight feet. No details
known, at the present writing.
Limestone was reported as existing on the bank of the Iroquois, in section
14, township 27 north, range 13 west, but no outcrop was found ; and all evi-
dence favors the supposition that loose fragments found there were remnants of
loads of rocks formerly brought in flat-boats from Sugar Island just below the
county line, in Kaukakee county. These rocks are the uppermost beds of the
Silurian, and may be referred to either the Onondaga Salt group, or the top of
the Niagara group.
A boring at Onarga encountered its first rock at about three hundred feet in
a bed of calcareous shale, which should probably be referred to the upper part
of the Cincinnati group, the overlying Niagara and Coal Measure rocks having
been removed from their original position here, during the excavation of the
glacier valley.
It is not improbable that some thin continuations of the Devonian and Sub-
carboniferous rocks of Indiana might be found in place, between the Niagara
limestone and the Coal Measures, in the eastern part of the county j but it is
not probable that they reach to the western portion of it.
KANKAKEE AND IROQUOISJCOUNTIES." 239
Economical Geology.
It is probable that enough coal will be found in the southern part of the
county to become largely an article of export, as well as to supply the local de-
mand. From the position in the Measures which the seams here to be found
probably occupy, it is not improbable that they may furnish the free-burning
"' block " coal so much sought for, for furnace use. But of this, nothing is
known yet.
Limestone for building, though not of the most durable variety, can be ob-
tained in any quantity along the lower course of the Iroquois, in Kankakee
county, and can be brought in flat-boats to the center of the county. Some ef
the same beds will yield a good article of hydraulic lime. A strong building
lime can be obtained at Momence, and brought into the county very cheaply
by the new Chicago and Danville railroad.
The river bottoms are, of course, well supplied with water ; and the prairie
portions of the southern half of the county, besides getting moderate supplies
by the shallow wells in the subsoil, also obtain unlimited quantities of flowing
water by forcing " drive wells," or sinking borings from thirty to sixty feet
into the sand or gravel beds which occur in the top of the boulder clay. The
occurrence of artesian water at so small a depth, and especially in unconsolida-
ted deposits, is very uncommon,. though not unknown elsewhere. The cause
of the phenomenon is a little uncertain. I was at first inclined to suppose that
the water supply came from the higher land of Central Indiana, north of the
Wabash ; but have concluded that that position is untenable. The only ex-
planation which has proved entirely satisfactory to me, is that which refers the
source of the water to the St. Peters sandstone, which supplies so many arte-
sian wells in LaSalle, Grundy, Will and Cook counties. Following the line of
the anticlinal axis, which runs south 33° east from LaSalle, we find that it
passes very near Urbana, at which place deep borings in the materials which
fill the old valley, before described, have found at the bottom a pure white
sand, closely resembling that into which the St. Peters disintegrates at its out-
crop. This sand, and others in contact with it, are so abundantly filled with
water in all this region, as to have defied all efforts to sink shafts through it;
and it is natural to refer the water to the artesian supply of the St. Peters.
If the boulder clay were continuous over the whole region, it would not be
likely to allow this water to ascend and escape, except from the edges of the
stratum ; but, as the Lake Michigan glacier must have continued to occupy
this valley after the disappearance of the universal glacier which covered the
whole country, and deposited the boulder clay over the general surface, its
later deposits, though of the same material, were not continuous with the earlier
240 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
ones ; and it is through the beds formed along the slopes of the valley that
the water probably finds means to escape to a higher level. It is only the top-
most layers of the boulder clay and those of the overlying clays of the Loess
which prevent its escape everywhere to the surface.
Many persons have been inclined to suppose this to be " mineral water," or
" poisonous," because where the surplus overflow has been allowed to run
through orchards, it has killed the trees. But this was only in consequence of
their being suffocated, by the water preventing the access of air to their roots.
Care should be taken, in sinking these wells, to select points where the sur-
plus water can escape directly to the channels of natural drainage.
The area within which these wells have been successfully sunk is about fif-
teen miles from north to south, and about thirty-seven from^east to west, in-
cluding a small part of Ford county, as indicated upon the map. At many
points outside of this area, the water comes within a few feet of the surface, so
as to be pumped out with the utmost ease.
For information concerning this county, I am especially indebted to Edward
Rumley, Esq., of Onarga, and H. S. Wing, Esq., of Kankakee City.
CHAPTER XVI.
VERMILION COUNTY.
This county lies on the eastern border of the State, about midway of its
length ; and is bounded on the north by Iroquois county ; on the west, by
Ford and Champaign counties; on the south, by Edgar county; and on the
east, by Warren and Vermilion counties, of Indiana. It is forty-two miles
long, and about twenty-one miles wide, giving an area of about eight hundred
and eighty square miles.
The surface of the county presents considerable variety. The northern and
southern portions are high rolling prairies, the eastern arms of Grand Prairie,
more or less broken by the sloughs and small streams which gather from their
surface the main supply of the water which fills the Big and Little Vermilion
rivers. Through its center, Salt Fork, which drains a considerable portion of
Champaign county, runs in a general easterly direction, until, by its union with
Middle and North Forks, it becomes the Big Vermilion, and, near Danville,
turns southeastwardly to join the Wa'jash below Eugene, Indiana. In its en-
tire length within this county, it runs through a belt of timber varying from
two to four miles in width. Through the western third of the county, the Lit-
tle Vermilion is little more than a prairie drain ; but becomes of more import-
ance in the lower part of its course, where it is lined with from one to three
miles of timber. Both Middle and North Forks have considerable timber along
their banks for ten or twelve miles above their junctions with Salt Fork, but
only scattering groves farther up. Below the points where they enter the tim-
ber, all of these streams have high bluffy banks, with noticeably wider bottoms
where they have cut through the softer beds of rock, and narrower ones where
they have encountered the harder sandstones. The prairies have a dense,
black mucky soil of variable depth, underlaid in most cases by a tough, brown
clay subsoil. Along the streams the soil, and in many places, the subsoil, has
been removed by drainage, and the underlying more porous clays and gravels
have allowed of a heavy growth of timber. Upon the higher grounds, this
—31
\
242 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
consists principally of white and black oak and hickories, with only a small
proportion, though a considerable variety, of other species. The bottoms sup-
port a dense growth of oaks, white and black walnut, mulberry, elm, hack-
berry, etc., with not unfrequent groves of sugar-maple.
Alluvium. — The alluvial deposits of the bottoms, composed of the broken-up
materials of all the older beds which have been worn away in the excavation of
the valleys, together with the portions which are continually brought down by
the small tributaries, cover considerable surfaces, but have nowhere accumulated
to any great depth.
Loess. — The marly and sandy clays of the Loess, a lake deposit made before
the formation of the present soil, are not very thickly developed in this county,
though they include the brown clay subsoil which underlies almost the entire
surface. The only shell-bearing clay observed, though it is doubtless common
in the prairie sloughs, is about two miles southeast of Fairmount. The black
soil is here from one to two feet thick, and is underlaid by a light brown, tena-
cious clay, filled with the calcareous shells of Lymnea, Phi/sa, Planorbis, Sphse-
rium, etc. In some portions, these have decomposed, and we have white, marly
lumps and streaks which are characteristic of beds of this formation. At this
locality, the partially decayed skeleton of a Mastodon was found, in September,
1868. The bones were lying partly upon, partly imbedded in, this marly clay,
the tip of one of the tusks being within thirteen inches of the surface. The
slough had been mostly drained, of late years, the air had permeated the bed and
pretty thoroughly decayed the bones, which were doubtless in good preservation
so long as they were constantly covered with water. The parts were promiscu-
ously mingled, showing that the animal had not been left to decay undisturbed.
Marks of gnawing upon a few of the bones, give reason to suppose that the
water in which the animal lay was so shallow as to give access to wolves or
other carniverous animals. The fragments are now in the possession of the
Chicago Academy of Science.
I am informed that, in the early settlement of the county, the bones of these
animals were quite common in the sloughs of this region, and even at the pre-
sent day the discovery of isolated fragments is no rare occurrence. It seems
probable that a little careful searching, in such localities, would secure some
still perfect skeletons. It is evident that these enormous animals roamed in
considerable numbers over the prairies at no very remote period.
These beds of Loess are everywhere underlaid by the
Boulder Drift. — The deposits of this age form extensive beds, in the north-
ern part of this county. They have been penetrated to the depth of one hun-
dred and fifty feet, near the north line of the county, where they compose the
dividing ridge between the waters of the Big Vermilion and those of the Iro-
quois. Along both sides of the Middle and North forks of the Big Vermilion,
VERMILION COUNTY. 243
they form extensive bluffs, in some cases one hundred feet high. Two mem-
bers are here represented ; the upper consisting principally of heavy beds of
sand and coarse gravel, with occasional thin layers of clay, which, where near
the surface, have been discolored by the oxydation of the small portion of iron
which they contain, and appear as yellowish and reddish-brown beds, but, at.
greater depths, still retain the original blue tint which is the prevailing color
of the lower members.
In connection with these upper beds of the Drift, and also with the Loess,
we find, scattered over the surface of the county, many large masses of lime-
stone and occasionally sandstone. In several cases, these are so large and so
deeply imbedded as to have induced the belief that they were the outcropping
edges of solid beds of rock. Some of these masses are composed of a beauti-
ful, light, fawn colored limestone, of a homogenous, fine grained texture, and
destitute of fossils, so far as noticed. Kilns of lime have been burned, from
rock of this character, one or two miles north of Rossville, and also about one
mile south of Mann's chapel, in section 36, town 22 north, range 12 west. One
mile south of this latter locality, and also at about the same* distance to
the northwest, there were observed several large masses of a dark, semi-crystal-
line, bituminous limestone, with a few fossils. The rock is supposed to be Si-
lurian. Smaller fragments of the light colored rock are not unfrequent to the
southward, even as far as Terre Haute. The general appearance of the stone
would indicate that it belongs to the Coal Measures, but no outcrop of an ex-
actly similar rock is known, so that its origin is uncertain. In the western
part of this county, and in the adjoining part of Champaign, there are numer-
ous scattered masses of a light drab, semi-crystalline or fragmentary to massive,
sometimes shaly, limestone, highly fossiliferous, which belong to the bed marked
No. 1, in the general section of the rocks of the county, and indicate its former
extension toward the north and west. Many of the other rocks of the county
are also locally distributed in connection with these upper beds of the Drift, as
at Danville, where, in the banks of gravel stripped from over the coal, we find
very numerous thin slabs of a compact, fragmentary to semi-crystalline lime-
stone, containing numerous fragments of fish teeth — No. 21 of the general
section — which, at Rock ford of Salt fork, lies ninety-five feet above the Dan-
ville coal. These beds, also, not unfrequently contain fragments of coal and
shale, which have led many persons to suppose that coal was necessarily close
at hand. But they also contain lumps of native copper transported from Lake
Superior, and bits of lead ore from the Galena region ; and it is by no means
certain that the coal of the same beds has all been taken up from the immedi-
ate neighborhood where it is found. These masses of coal and shale are abun-
dant in these beds, as far as Lake Michigan at least, and it is still an open
question whether they have been swept down from the Michigan coal fields, or
244 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
are the remnants of some broken up beds which may formerly have connected
that with the Illinois field.
Both these beds and the lower member of the Drift formation give rise to
numerous springs, some of which have taken up so much lime from the lime-
stone pebbles which fill the gravel, that, upon coming to the surface, they make
abundant deposits of tufa, as along the bank of the Big Vermilion, at Danville,
and especially at the " Moss Bank" on North Fork, about one mile northwest
of that city. Some of the deposits are light and porous, and take beautiful
impressions of the mosses, twigs, and leaves which become imbedded in them.
Kecent snail-shells, thus fossilized, are not rare. In other cases, the deposition
has gone on more slowly, and without the introduction of extraneous matter,
and we find as the result some very solid masses with a radiating semi-crystal-
line structure, which approximates more nearly the ordinary stalagmitic for-
mations.
The lower member of the Drift— the (( boulder-clay" — is a tough, light-blue
clay, filled with gravel of various degrees of fineness, with some larger boulders.
In this county, it is from fifty to eighty feet in thickness, and forms some con-
siderable bluffs, as at Mills'* s mill, on Middle Fork, where it is capped with the
gravel and sand of the upper member. It also forms the mound at Kyger's
mill, near the mouth of Grape creek. Here, the river ran for centuries to the
west of the mound, and excavated a broad valley, which is now deserted and
partially filled up, and the stream passes to the eastward, leaving a small island
of the boulder-clay, which presents an almost perpendicular face on the east
side, where it is now undermined by the current. Curiously enough, a spring
of cold water flows out at the top of this mound.
Goal Measures. — The rock formations of this county all belong to the Coal
Measures. The following is a general statement of the section, from the high-
est beds seen in the county to the junction of the Big Vermilion, with the
Wabash river below Eugene, with the addition of the section from the lowest
beds there seen to the bottom of the Lodi salt well, as carefully determined
and reported by John Collett, Esq., of Eugene. It was found necessary to
make these connections with the Indiana field, both in order to judge of the
beds underlying Vermilion county, and also to connect the section in Vermilion
with that in Edgar county :
FEET.
1. Light drab limestone , 12 to 18
Level of coal No. 12 ?
Covered ?
2. Shaly sandstone, with some solid beds 25 to 50
3. Olive, dark red and light blue clay shales, lower part sandy and micaceous,
with bands of argillaceous limestone 5 "20
4. Black shale 0 " 3
5. Coal, No. 11? 0 " 1|
VERMILION COUNTY. 245
FEET.
6. Fire clay 0 to 2£
7. Sandy shales 0 " 10
8. Light drab clay shales, with ironstone nodules 0 " 15
9. Argillaceous limestone, with shaly partings £ " 4
10. Black shale, some slaty \ " 3
11. Coal, No. 10? 0 " 2
12. Drabfire-clay 3 " 6
13. Light drab sandy shale, with iron veins 6 " 8
14. Black shale, with ironstones — Cardiomorpka, etc $ " 2
Level of coal No. 9 ?
15. Variously colored shales and clays, with bands of concretionary argillaceous
limestone 8 "40
16. Sandy shales and shaly sandstones 15 " 20
17. Soft drab clay shale 0 " 1
18. Shaly sandstone, with (Jaulerpites 10
19. Argillaceous and ferruginous limestone — few fossils £ " 2
20. Dark drab shales, with ironstones 20 "25
21. Limestone, semi-crystalline to concretionary 4 " 8
Level of coal No. 8
22. Coarsely concretionary clay shale 8 " 10
23. Carbonaceous sandy shale and shaly sandstone 15 "40
24. Fine-grained sandy shale, with ironstones ... 30 "40
25. Dark and light drab clay shale — bottom fossiliferous 10 "30
26. Soft black shale, with pyritous fossils and nodules 0 " 5
27. Coal, No. 7 H " U
28. Fire-clay 0 " 3J
29. Coal, (parting of No. 7,) 0 " 2
30. Fire-clay 6 " 15
31. Sandy shales and shaly clay 9 "12
32. Compact silicious limestone 1 " 1J
33. Dark shaly clay 5 " 10
34. Coal, No. 6 H" 7
35. Fire-clay, with concretionary limestone 5 "20
36. Sandy shales with ironstones — some quarry-stone near top 50 "80
37. Clay shales, with few ironstones 20 "40
38. Black concretionary ferruginous limestone i " 3
39. Black clay shale, some slaty • • 3 " 6
Level of coal No. 5
40. Soft, light drab shale i " 1
41. Shales and sandstones 15 " 30
42. Dark drab clay shales 5 "20
43. Argillaceous limestones, changing to calcareous ironstone ,- . 1
44. Sandy shales, with some heavy beds of sandstone, with some ironstones
and " cone-in-cone " 35 "40
45. Black slaty shale, with ironstones 2 " 3
46. Coal, with bands of shale, No. 4 4 " 14
47. Shales, with limestone bands 10 "20
48. Black slaty shale, with some cannel 2 " 3
49. Coal No. 3.. 1 " If
246 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
50. Fire clay and Stigmarial sandstone 4 to 6
51. Shales, with limestone band 10 " 15
Top of Lodi Salt well „
52. Argllaceous limestone and calcareous shale 4 " 8
53. CoalNo.2 1 " 5
54. Fire clay, and shale with iron nodules 1 6 in.
55. Hard white sandstone 20
56. Argillaceous sandstone, with thin streaks of coal 10
57. " " white 8
58. Laminated sandstone, with ironstones at bottom 16 9 in.
59. Sandstone and shale 127 "
60. Sandy shale, with streaks of coal and slate. ,-,... , 171 "
61. Buff and white, fine grained, micaceous sandstone, bottom coarser 20
62. Black and drab clay shale, some sandy layers at bottom 8 11 "
63. Coal, " Conglomerate seam " '. 16"
64. Black shale 12
65. Soft clay shale, or fire clay 19
66. Hard sandstone 32
67. Clay shale, few bands of sandstone 24 1 "
68. " frequent bands of sandstone 30 7 "
69. Very hard sandstone 23 "
70. Sandy shale 60 7 "
71. Fine sandstone 46 5 "
72. Shale, some portions sandy 92 11 "
73. Hard fine sandstone 29 "
74. Shale, with bands of coarse sandstone 951 "
75. Hard sandstone 6 10 "
76. "Flint," (probably compact limestone bands, possibly a geode bed). 82"
77. Shale, some sandy 44 11 "
78. Compact, coarse, sharp sandstone, with pyrite 10 3 "
79. Fine sandstone, some shaly layers 54 7 "
80. Soft clay shale 8 8 "
81. Shale, with some fine grit 65 5"
82. "Flint" 1
83. Porous sandstone 7 3 "
84. Clayshale 53"
85. Compact white sandstone . 40 5 "
86. Sandstone, with flinty layers 34 1 "
87. Flint 16"
88. Soft sandstone, top ochreous 9 4 "
89. Soft clay shale 39 5 "
90. Shale, with compact sandstone at bottom 26 2 "
91. Bituminous shale 102 1 "
92. Hard, coarse, calcareous sandstone, fossiliferoua. 23 1 "
93. White fossiliferous limestone 910 "
94. Flint 22"
95. Magnesian limestone 7 10 "
VERMILION COUNTY. 247
. FEET.
96. Flint 10 lOin.
97. Compact limestone, with flint 22
98. Magnesian " " 2310 "
99. Soft, fine sandstone 5
100. Compact, fine sandstone 10
101. Gray limestone 6
102. Hard drab to the semi-crystalline limestone, with drusy cavities 28 10 "
No. 1, of the foregoing section, as already stated, is a lig;ht drab or fawn
colored, fine grained, sub-crystalline to massive limestone, in some parts quite
pure, in others somewhat shaly and slightly ferruginous. It is generally quite
fossiliferous, containing Productus, 2 or 3 sp., Spirifer lineatus, S. cameratus,
Atliyris subtilita, Terebratula bovidens, etc. The only known outcrops in this
county, are near Big Spring, south of Fairmount, on section 16, township 18
north, range 13 west, and for two or three miles south and west of this point.
The bed is here said to be from fifteen to eighteen feet thick, though the bot-
tom has never been certainly reached, and only from five to ten feet are now
exposed. Some lime has been burned here, and considerable portions of the
bed seem well fitted for that use. It is too irregular, and breaks up too readily
with the frost to be of any value as a building stone. The same bed occurs at
several points in Edgar county, where portions of it afford very solid stone,
fitted for any rough work, such as foundations and culverts. The supposed
outcrop of this rock at Osborn's mill, on Salt Fork, a half mile east of the
county line, is only one of the large drifted masses before mentioned. From
below this limestone, flow very strong springs ; therefore, although there is no
outcrop of rock on the south side of the water-shed toward the Little Vermil-
ion, where we should naturally expect to find it, I am inclined to consider the
strong springs on the land of John M. Sidell, near the west line of township
17 north, range 13 west, on the north side of the Little Vermilion, as pretty
good signs of its presence at that point. Still, some other circumstances may
have given exit at that point to the water, which, in both cases, doubtless comes
from the great water-bearing quicksand of Champaign county.
Below this limestone, there is in the section a space of undetermined thick-
ness and character, since no outcrop has been found which will give a con-
nected view of this and the sandstone beds numbered "2," and no borings have
been made in this neighborhood to decide the matter. It is entirely possible
that the limestone belongs below this sandstone, and is simply missing from its
place in the section along Salt Fork, in consequence of having been removed
by the heavy erosion which the beds in that region evidently suffered before
the deposition of the sandstone No. 2. There is, however, at present, no suf-
ficient reason for believing this.
248 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
No. 2 of the section is first met with in following down Jordan creek, about
two miles north of Fairmount, in the south half of section 27, town 19 north,
range 13 west. It is here a very shaly rock, and of no practical value; but in
sections 20 and 21 of the same township, above and below the Conkeytown
bridge over Salt Fork, it furnishes some more compact beds, which have been
quarried for foundations and bridge abutments. One of these layers, near the
bottom of this bed, from one to two feet thick, is a very solid stone, and would
pay for quarrying if the quantity were greater. From its outcrop along the base
of the river bluffs, considerable quantities have been gathered for use at Fair-
mount. Less compact layers, from the upper part of this bed, are quarried, to
some extent, at Davis's quarry, in the south part of section 31, of this township,
and are said to become hard and durable under the action of the weather, on
account of the contained oxyd of iron. Other openings in this neighborhood
are now abandoned.
These are the highest beds exposed upon Salt Fork. Ingoing but short dis-
tances up and down the stream, we come upon the underlying thin coal seam,
with its accompanying black shales and argillaceous limestones, so that this is
evidently a point of the north and south axis of the synclinal between the east-
ern border of the coal field and the axis of elevation which has been noted as
running about south 33° east from the neighborhood of LaSalle. This latter
axis must evidently pass through the adjoining county of Champaign, though
the upper strata were there so extensively removed before the Drift period, that
no outcrops now exist to show what the actual dip is.
Through the eastern part of Vermilion county, the dip is mainly to the south-
west, at a small angle, though local dips are very various. In ascending Salt
Fork, these characters are constant until we pass the west line of township 19
north, range 12 west, where the dip becomes much more rapid for a few miles,
and until it is reversed at the synclinal, above which the eastward dip is very
gentle.
Nos. 4 to 12 of the section are exceedingly variable in their characters and
succession, so that it is very difficult to give a general section which shall fairly
represent their different aspects. Their most noticeable components are the
bands of argillaceous limestone near the top of the series, which are sometimes
compact and sometimes marly, but always contain great numbers of fossils, espe-
cially Hemipronites crassa and Productus longispinus, together with P. costatus,
P. Rogersii, P. scdbriculus, Athyris subtilitat Spirifer cameratus, S. plano-con-
vexa, Spiriferina Kentuckensis, Retzia, punctilifcra, Cyathoxonia proUfera,
plates of Zeacrinus, and various Bryozoa, The black shales which appear, some-
times above, sometimes below, and sometimes between these limestone bands,
are sometimes soft and sometimes slaty; under all which variations, we find them
containing a few specimens of Dlscina nitida, Liwjula^m^. rhombic fish-scales.
VERMILION COUNTY. 249
Above the synclinal axis, the coal accompanying these beds is pretty con&tant,
with a thickness of six to twenty inches; further east, it is very thin, and in
some cases disappears. Near the west line of section 35, town 19 north, range
14 west, I also found a point where the whole of these beds had been removed
by erosion, and the shaly sandstone of No. 2 had been deposited directly upon
No. 13. These beds also occur just above the mouth of Stony creek, with six
inches of coal. In ascending this creek, no rock was found above No. 2, which
forms the banks just above the crossing of the State road, in section 22.
In descending Salt Fork, the black, slaty shale of No. 14 is found in the tops
of the hills below Major's mill, accompanied by large concretions of black, cal-
careous ironstone, containing CardiomorpJia Missouriemis, Orthoceras, Nautilus,
and fish-scales.
The shales of No. 15 are generally green and red. The limestone bands ac-
companying them are in some places crowded with fossils, such as Myalina,
Nucula, Lt>da, Monopteria, Aviculopecten, Bellerophon, Macrocheilus, Hemipronites
crassa, Athyris subtilita, Productus scabriculus, etc. The best locality is about
eighty rods below Major's mill, on the north bank of the Oxbow bend.
No. 18 is a shaly sandstone, which furnishes a good horizon for recognition-,
since it is characterized by a great abundance of more or less perfect fronds
of the fucoid Caulerpites marginatus, Lesqx. This is found to occupy nearly
the same position in the section in Edgar county.
No. 19 is analogous in character with Nos. 3 and 9, and contains the same
fossils, with the addition of Myalina, Orthis carbonaria, and scales and teeth
of fishes.
No. 21 is generally a very compact, fragmentary to semi-crystalline limestone,
ringing under the hammer, and marked by the presence of numerous bony scales
and teeth of fishes. At Rock Ford, below Major's mill, in the northwest quar-
ter of section 25, township 19 north, range 13 west, this bed presents a very
curious structure, having been apparently coarsely broken up by some violent
action, and afterward reconsolidated by the deposition of a cement of a calca-
reo-ferruginous material, mingled with some sand. I have been unable to con-
ceive of any circumstances which could have produced just such a bed of rock.
It has been named to me as the result of volcanic action, but that is impossible.
Apparently belonging at the bottom of this bed, though the connection could
not be clearly made out, is a bed of impure, concretionary limestone, which has
occasionally been burned for lime in a ravine just east of Finley chapel, on the
southwest quarter of section 18, town 19 north, range 12 west. Only a small
outcrop is here exposed, and only a few fragmentary fossils were detected ; but
at Garrett's (formerly Swank's) old mill, on the Little Vermilion, in the north-
west quarter of section 14, township 17 north, range 12 west, we find a consid-
erable outcrop of the whole of this bed, except the peculiar conglomerate just
—32
250 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
mentioned, which is evidently local. In the outcrop of about two hundred
yards, there are great variations, from the very compact clinking stone, with
fish remains and large valves of Productus costatus, to an impure, concretionary,
almost granular limestone, crowded with generally quite small fossils. Among
these we find Spirifer cameratus, S. Uneatus, Spiriferina Kentuckensis, Athyris sub-
tilita, Terebraiula bovidens, Orthis carbonaria, Productus longisplnus, Waldheimia
(OryptacantMa) compacta, Retzia punctilifera? Nucula, Bellerophon, Loxonema, Ifa-
ticopsis, Fusulna cylindirica, etc.
At Rock Ford, as previously stated, this bed was found to be about ninety-
five feet above the Danville coal seam, No. 27 of the general section. But this
distance is far from constant. My estimate of it on the Little Vermilion, where
the broken condition of the section rendered connected measurements impossi-
ble, was not far from eighty feet; while, in the shaft at Catlin, as I am informed
by Mr. John Faulds, of that place, one hundred and thirty feet of sandy and
argillaceous shale were passed through above the coal, without any intercalated
bed of limestone.
This coal-seam appears above the level of the river, near the east line of
township 19 north, range 13 west ; but owing to the local undulations before
mentioned, it dips, rises and dips again, two or three times before making its
final emergence a short distance below the mouth of Middle Fork. Up that
stream, also, we find the coal in or not far below the bed for about two miles,
to near the north line of section 8, township 19 north, range 12 west, where a
sudden dip carries it below the level, and brings in the upper beds to the top
of No. 16, which, on Makemson's branch, in the west half of section 5, con-
tains a heavy bed of very solid ferruginous sandstone, which appears well fitted
for building purposes, though no quarry has been opened. Still ascending the
stream, we find the rocks rising, somewhat; but, at the last rock exposure, on
Mr. Cox's land, in section 32, township 20 north, range 12 west, the coal is
probably still from forty to fifty feet below the water level. Above this point,
we come upon the heavy beds of Drift clay and gravel which cover the north
part of the county so deeply as to render the exact location of the underlying
rocks impossible, except by boring.
The so-called " Danville " seam of coal, No. 27 of the section, is apparently
equivalent to that which is numbered " 6 " in the general section of the coals
of the Illinois valley (see 111. Rep., iii., p. 6) ; but, as the numbering there
adopted will not accommodate all of the seams which have a well-defined level
in the field now under consideration, I am compelled to adopt, provisionally,
another set of numbers for the coals of the Wabash valley. I regret that the
impossibility of determining, at the present time, the number and constancy of
the seams near the base of the series, east of the Wabash, has thus far pre-
vented the adoption of a numbering which may be considered permanent. The
VERMILION COUNTY. 251
numbers here used, however, correspond, at least so far as concerns the seams
outcropping in Vermilion county, with those adopted by Professor Cox, in his
reports upon the eastern counties of the southern part of the State.
In the neighborhood of Danville, coal "No. 7," or the "Danville" seam,
outcrops for many miles. It is here generally covered by from two inches to
five feet of a soft black clay shale, rarely a little slaty, which commonly contains
large numbers of fossil shells replaced by pyrite. This mineral is also fre-
quently present in the form of irregular crystals and nodules of various sizes.
Small nodules, apparently composed of phosphate of lime, also occur, generally
inclosing fragments offish scales: one has yielded the three-pronged tail of a
Dithyrocaris. Among the most characteristic of the species which crowd this
bed, are Aviculopecten rectalaterarea, Entolium amculatum, Lima retifera, Solen-
omya radiata, Sanguinolites carbonarius, Ufacrodon tenuistriatum, Pernopecten, Myali-
na attenuate/,, Leda bellastriata, Gervillia longa, Nucula parva, Astartella, Chonetes
mesoloba, Discina nitida, Lingula umbonata, Productus scabriculus, P. longispinus,
Rhynchonella Osagensis, Dentalium Meekianum, Chiton, Euomphalus rugosus, Bel-
leropJion carbonarius, B. Montfortianus, Pleurotomaria Grayvillensis, P. carbon-
aria, P. Beckwithana, Macrocheilus isentricosus, M. Newberryi, Orthoceras Rushemis,
Nautilus 4 sp., several minute species of Actseonina, Polyphemopsis, etc.
Where the bed is at its greatest thickness, is quite it solid, and the fossils
are generally readily preserved : but, in the thinner portions, it is very fragile,
and the superabundance of pyrite, in such condition as to be readily decompo-
sed, renders their preservation very difficult. Where the black shale is thin,
or entirely wanting, the overlying drab shale, which replaces it, becomes fossilif-
erous in turn, though elsewhere generally barren, and yields many of the same
fossils, though rarely in good condition. This bed can be seen at the upper
end of Donlon & Chandler's " strippings," opposite Danville, below the railroad
bridge, and also along Ellis's branch, near Georgetown. The black shale is
at present most accessible, in its fragile pyritous presentation, at Kelly's strip-
pings, about one mile northwest of the court house, and at Short's strippings,
across North Fork, opposite Danville, and in its more solid condition, along the
inclined plane at the old Carbon company's mines, near Tilton.
The coal is very variable, both in character and thickness. Near Danville,
along Salt Fork above that place, and at Lafferty's bank, on Grape creek, it
varies from five feet six inches to seven feet three inches in thickness. About
Georgetown, the only place in the county where it has been opened, south of
Lafferty's, it is said to vary from three to four feet; at the few points where it
was accessible, I could find no thickness over three and a half feet. It is said
to be here of very poor quality, and the mines are abandoned.
This seam is mined at the Horse Shoe bend of the Little Vermilion, five miles
above Newport, Indiana, with a thickness of from four and a half to five feet,
252 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
and a heavy limestone roof. Further south, we find its equivalent in the seam
worked near the Indiana Furnace, on Brouillet's creek and its branches, west
of Clinton, Indiana, and also at the base of the hills north of the national road
opposite Terre Haute.
Immediately below this seam, and properly forming a constituent part of it,
though separated, near Danville, by a variable thickness of fire-clay, is the so-
called "Blacksmith's seam," of from ten inches to two feet of good coal.
Though the separation increases rapidly as we ascend Salt Fork, it is probably
only local, and the partings are not likely to attain anywhere the dignity of
distinct seams. In the Catlin shaft, the division is not noticeable, except by
the more ready separation of a few inches from the bottom of the main seam
in mining. At Georgetown, and southward, no such division is noticed.
Both the thickness and the character of the strata between this and the
" Grape Creek" seam, No. 34, vary considerably. Along the Big Vermilion,
especially in the nighborhood of Danville, we have generally from twelve to
fifteen feet of fire clay, rarely with nodular limestone and soft shale, the latter
partly sandy, underlaid by a very compact layer of limestone, partly silicious,
partly nearly pure, which contains some fragmentary fossils, but nothing charac-
teristic. Below this, and forming the roof of the lower coal, No. 34, we have a
few feet of a dark drab, sometimes black shaly clay, in which no fossils were
noticed. Though the different beds vary as indicated in the section, the whole
thickness, in this part of the county, rarely exceeds twenty feet, and is often
not more than sixteen feet. Along Grape creek, just below the distillery on
the northwest corner of section 33, township 19 north, range 11 west, the
lower seam is covered by three or four inches of soft black shale, followed by
from twenty to thirty feet of drab clay shale, becoming sandy above, which,
two hundred yards below, are replaced by a heavy bank of sandy shales and
shaly sandstone, with some solid bands of quarry rock. I was unable to decide
from the partially covered outcrop, whether this was simply a change in the
character of the layers, or whether the shale had been removed, and the sand-
stone deposited in the eroded basin. At least forty or fifty feet of strata are
here exposed above No. 34, without bringing in any representative of No. 27.
Along the creek, above the distillery, there are indications of a low anticlinal,
with confused dips; and I was at one time inclined to refer to the "Grape
Creek" seam proper, the coal mined at and near Lafferty's, which here shows
characters and accompaniments intermediate between those of coals Nos. G and
7 ; but the weight of evidence finally turned in favor of No. 7.
Along the Little Vermilion, below Georgetown, the intervening strata have
thickened up still further. It would be difficult to measure an exact section ;
but the following is approximately correct :
VERMILION COUNTY. 253
FEET.
Coal, No. 7 2 to Si-
Fire clay 6
Micaceous shale, some fine sandy, with few nodules of argillaceous limestone 10 " 15
Sandy shales and shaly sandstones, some quarried 30 " 40
Drab clay shales, with large ironstones. ... 15 " 20
" " " small ironstone nodules and bands 30 " 40
Fine grained, micaceous, carbonaceous clay shales 10 " 15
Fine grained, micaceous, carbonaceous clay shales, with flat nodules and thin bands
of ironstone; bottom darker, with Leaia and fern leaflets 12 " 15
Coal, No. 6 4
This outcrop of the lower seam of coal is reached about three miles below
Georgetown, near the northeast corner of section 3, township 17 north, range
11 west. The roof shales are in places crowded with the separated compressed
valves of Leaia tricarinata, accompanied by a few scattered fragmentary fronds
of ferns. The Leaia was found abundant, in the same position, upon Yankee
branch, in section 14, of the same township. It is also found uncompressed,
but in less abundance, in some of the small ironstone nodules of the overlying
beds, where it accompanies considerable numbers of ferns, among which are
found N^uropteris Mrsuta, .ZV. rarinervis, If. vermicular is, Pecopteris Bueklandi /, P.
oreopteridius, P. vittosa, P. Miltoni?, Odontopteris Schlotheimi, together with
Stigmaria, ficoides, Sigillaria Brardii, 8. monostigma, Lepidophyllum maju/t,
Lepidodendron rugjsum, Lepidostrobus variabilis, Calamites approximatus, Aste-
rophyllites and Equisetites ? One nearly perfect insect found here, probably
belonging to the genus Miamia, is in the collection of Dr. J. C. Winslow, of
Danville. This same bed of nodules, containing the same set of fossils, ex-
cepting that the Leaia has not been noticed ; outcrops on the bank of the Wa-
bash at Durkee's ferry, about six miles above Terre Haute. In the southern
part of this range, the roof of the coal is a black, bituminous shale, often slaty,
three or four feet thick, accompanied by huge concretions of pyritous ironstone.
No. 34 is apparently the equivalent of coal No. 5, of the Illinois Valley sec-
tion. Along the Wabash valley, its outcrop is nearly continuous from above
Danville to where it dips under the river between Clinton and Durkee's Ferry.
Its thickness is variable : about Danville, sometimes less than four feet ; two
or three miles farther south, five to six feet ; on Grape creek and its branches,
five to seven feet; on the Little Vermilion, near Georgetown, four feet; at the
Horse Shoe, above Newport, five to seven feet; near Clinton, five to six feet.
It is generally a free burning coal, much freer from sulphur than the upper
seam, and better liked for domestic use. Along Grape creek, there is a thin
clay parting about four feet from the top of the seam, analagous to that in the
upper seam. I cannot say whether this is constant further north ; further
south, it is generally present throughout the outcrop. In the northern part
of its outcrop, this seam is capped by from six to ten inches of cannel; but this
character is not common.
254 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The fire clay, No. 35, is, in some places, very largely developed, as on Tros-
per branch, about four miles northeast of Georgetown, where, below the open-
ing of the coal seam, on the northeast quarter of section 22, township 18 north,
range 11 west, I measured fifteen feet of clay in several alternating bands,
with from three to four feet of nodular, argillaceous limestone, and was not
certain that I had then reached the bottom of the bed, since the outcrop below
was not exposed. The clay is here much variegated with streaks, blotches
and beds of light blue, dark drab3 dark brick-red, crimson and purplish tints,
the red portions furnishing the boys with an unlimited supply of " keel." The
accompanying nodular bands of limestone occasionally contain fragments of fos-
sils, but nothing characteristic. Possibly, some of the lower of these bands
may be the practical equivalent, of the fossiliferous limestones at the Slip-bank,
below the Horse Shoe of the Little Vermilion, which, however, lie some thirty
feet below the coal seam, the intervening beds being mainly fire clay and shales,
with some sand, and a few ironstones. The nodular limestones accompanying
the fire clay of this seam, at Pettys's ford of the Little Vermilion, about four
miles below Georgetown, have recently been found to contain considerable
numbers of small land snails of two species, one apparently identical with the
Pupa vetusta of the Nova Scotia Coal Measures, and the other, possibly a Zo-
nites, but smooth.
The beds numbered 33 in the section, are exceedingly variable. The upper
layers, which are generally rather soft, contain, near and opposite Danville,
from one to five bands of a very hard, calcareous sandstone or silicious lime-
stone, varying from six to eighteen inches in thickness. Where exposed to
the weather, these are very hard and tough, but are softer below the surface.
Perhaps fifteen feet below the level of the floor of the coal, we find, at Leon-
ard's quarry, a mile or so below Danville, a thick bed of gray, highly ferrugi-
nous sandstone, which is in much favor as a building stone. The bed ig not
constant, running into sandy shale within a short distance. The lower beds
of this member of the series are all soft shales, of no practical value, and are
entirely destitute of fossils. For some distance below Danville, they form a
set of high bluffs, reaching seventy or eighty feet at least.
After passing below Kyger's mill, near the mouth of Grape creek, the black
limestone and shales of Nos. 35 and 36, come above the water, and continue to
form the prominent feature of the river banks to below the State line. They
deserve notice only as indicating the level of coal No. 5, which is here wanting,
though it begins to make its appearance at White's mill, on the Little Ver-
milion, four miles above Newport, with a thickness of four inches, and contin-
ues along the outcrop southward, with a general thickness of ten or eleven
inches, nearly to Clinton, where it dips below the river level. At Hawley and
Hett's bank, on Norton's creek, about four miles above Clinton, it is locally
VERMILION COUNTY. 255
thickened up to from twenty inches to two feet. The overlying shales, through
all the outcrop, are generally quite full of the conical, bony teeth, or dermal
scales of Petrodus occidentalis, constantly accompanied by the long, slightly
curved, and fringed fin-spine, and the small rhomboidal scales which there is
every reason for referring to the same species. The accompanying black fer-
ruginous limestone commonly contains more or less of the same fish remains,
accompanied by CardiomorpJia Missouriensis.
The beds of the lower part of the section show no outcrop within this county,
but as they will very probably be met with in any moderately deep borings
which may be made near the State line, east and northeast of Danville, it was
thought best to complete the section as far as possible ; and some general state-
ments regarding these lower beds may not be out of place here.
No. 43 is a valuable bed of low grade ironstone. No. 44 generally contains
a heavy band of tolerably compact sandstone, such as forms the Hanging Rock
on the Big Vermilion, a few miles below the State line. No. 46 commonly
presents two or three, and sometimes four or five partings of coal, separated by
shale and fire clay, some of which are occasionally thick enough to work profit-
ably. No. 49 is too thin a seam to command attention, until nearly the entire
supply of the tolerably thick seam in the neighborhood has been used up. It
outcrops along the Big Vermilion below Eugene. No. 53 is a thick scam of
semi-block coal, tolerably well fitted for smelting iron in the raw state. Two
or three seams of coal occur below this, at Thome's ferry, just below the mouth
of the Big Vermilion; but, as their extent and regularity are unknown, and
they are not represented at the point where the bore of the salt well was put
down, it was thought best to omit them from the general section. They prob-
ably represent partings of coal No. 1. Below all these coals, but not repre-
sented in the section, from lack of certain connections, is the heavy bed of lime-
stone, with underlying shales, at Perrysville, Ind. These beds are full of fos-
sils, and it is interesting to note that among them are some of very wide dis-
tribution, such as Athyris subtilita, Petrodus occidentalis, and Aviculopccten rec-
talatcrarea, the latter of which was formerly considered especially character-
istic of one seam, but which presents itself to the explorer in every one of the
black shales of the general section, from this basal bed to No. 4 of the section.
Economical Geology,
Coal. — After the fertile prairie soil, which has been already spoken of, this
mineral naturally occupies the first place in an enumeration of the natural re-
sources of Vermilion county. Two heavy seams underlie the larger part of
the southern half of the county, both of which could be worked, at depths
varying from nothing up to probably nowhere more than three hundred and fifty
256 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
feet, in all that portion of the county west of a line passing north and south
through Danville, and south of the north line of township 19 north, with the
exception of about one section in the northwest corner of township 19 north,
range 11 west. Both seams are constantly present along the entire outcrop,
and there is reason to believe that both will be found of workable thickness at
all points where their level shall be reached in the county.
The upper seam is largely worked at and near Danville, both in shafts and
sbrippings. At this point it has more than twice the thickness of the lower
seam, and is accordingly made a source of supply, although of inferior quality.
This fact, together with the carelessness of the miners, in not duly separating
the slaty and pyritous portions of the seam from the good coal, has tended to
impair the reputation of the coal of this county. As a fair estimate of the
character and value of the coal, I append the following letter from Maj. Joseph
Kirkland, now of Chicago, who has owned and worked coal mines in this re-
gion for many years :
307 HURON STREET, CHICAGO, Dec. 25th, 1858.
PROF. FRANK H. BRADLEY, Assistant Geologist of Illinois :
MY DEAR SIR: The coal of the main Danville seam is a strong, fat, soft, caking coal ; aver-
ages six feet thick, lies nearly level, dipping say ten feet per mile toward the southwest ; is
hardest and most impure in its lowest stratum of eight inches or so ; purest and best in the
" blacksmith coal " stratum, one and a half to two feet next above, and more and more friable
as you near the roof. The seam contains probably quite as much sulphur as other Illinois coals,
but it is in masses, thick layers or nodules, easily separated and thrown out, and therefore less
of a detriment in use than would be a smaller proportion more intimately associated with the
body of the coal. The roof is generally not good in the workings so far explored. The coal
at all the mines (say six miles apart at farthest) is nearly equal in quality, though harder and
therefore better in proportion to its distance from surface and outcrop. Its money value in
general markets is about ten per cent, less than the best Illinois coal; and say fifty per cent,
less than the best bituminous coal mined in the country.
There is no doubt as to the existence of two seams of coal at and near our workings. The
main one is that we are working, and is that I have described. The second is from one foot
to two or more in thickness, and is about sixteen feet below the upper, at our mine. You can
see it at many bluff exposures on the Vermilion ; also, in the well which supplies our mine en-
gine with water. The mooted point is the existence of a third seam reported, at say eighty feet
below the upper seam, by the traditions of the old salt works borings ; which legends also re-
port it to be sixteen feet in thickness.
Some Geologists (Col. J. W. Foster, of Chicago, for example,) have concluded that there is
such a seam, and that it is identical with the " Grape Creek " coal, a development six miles
or so south of Danville, of a superior quality of coal. The Chicago and Carbon Coal compony
sunk an experimental well (under my superintendence), starting in the ravine at a point about
twenty feet below the working scam of coal (below the second seam) and prosecuted down
some eighty feet, finding no coal ; nothing but a continuation of the pale, sandy shale, hard
while in loco, but disintegrating on exposure.
From the result of my observations and experience, and the absence of any known outcrop,
northeast of the outcrop of the main seam of Danville coal, I am disposed to conclude that
VERMILION COUNTY. 257
there is no such seam as the "third seam," reported from the "saltworks" borings; or, if
any seam exists at or near the locality and depth described, it is the thin "second seam " (2)
I have spoken of, thickened up and become more distant from the main seam in the six miles
intervening distance. At one place (just at the low water level of the Vermilion) on the
north (left) bank of the "Salt Fork" of the Vermilion, about two miles above Danville, that
" second seam " shows a well defined stratum of " block " or " cannel " coal. I think I called
your attention to this part of this seam.
The main defect of the Danville coal is its friability and tendency to disintegrate or "slack"
on exposure. It is a strong steam coal, and answers a very good purpose for all domestic
uses. Yours truly,
JOSEPH KIRKLAND.
Of analyses of coal from different openings in this seam, made some years
ago. and published in 1858 by Dr. Norwood, in his Report on Illinois Coals, I
give the following summary :
Specific gravity. 1.213 to 1.2833
Average..... 1.2563
Moisture 3.4 to 8.6
Average 7.13
Volatile gases 40.1 to 42.3
Average 41.85
Carbon in coke. 40.5 to 48.96
Average 45.96
Carbon in coal 49.8 to 55.5
Average 51.576
Ash 2 to 16
Average 7.25
Gray, bluish gray, and grayish white
The principal openings from which the coal of this seam is now shipped, are
the drifts of Messrs. Chandler &Donlon, and Kirkland Bros., on the bank of
the Big Vermilion, opposite Danville, and the several shafts along the T. W.
& W. B. R., as far west as Catlin. The mines of the Carbon Coal company*
about two miles above Danville, along the river, were formerly extensively
worked, and shipped their coal by a long branch track; but they are now de-
serted.
All the openings along the North Fork and its branches are on this seam, the
lower seam being in all cases, apparently, thin and unprofitable. The last out-
crop seen in ascending this fork is in the banks above Baldwin's old mill, in
section 31, township 20 north, range 11 west, where the lower seam shows at
the top of the bluff, bul is apparently not worth working. It is worked, how-
ever, with a thickness of about four feet, at Leonard's mine, below the city, the
last show of either seam in going eastward.
(2) The solution of this problem is found in my remarks upon the two seams on the pre-
vious pages. F. H. B.
—33
258 GEOLOGY OP ILLINOIS.
The openings along Salt Fork, as far as the west line of township 19 north,
range 12 west, are all in the upper seam, though, for two or three miles above
Danville, the lower seam is exposed in every bluif, arid in some cases with a
thickness of four feet or more. Up Middle Fork, the upper seam has never
been fairly opened, though small quantities of coal have at times been taken
from the bed of the stream for local use, and it could be mined at about that
level as far north as the north line of section 8, township 19 north, range 12
west ; but the sudden dip previously mentioned here, carries it downward to
probably one hundred feet below the level of the stream, and it does not again
appear in going northward.
The lower or "Grape creek" seam is comparatively thin at Danville, in
some cases not exceeding three feet*, and accordingly has not been worked suf-
ficiently to ascertain its quality with certainty; but, on Grape creek, it has
been worked by several drifts and etrippings, with a thickness of from five to
seven feet, and furnishes a superior coal. The portion below the clay parting
would in most cases probably prove satisfactory, if used in the raw state for
smelting iron. If nearer to railroad transportation, these mines might fairly
compete with any in the State. The coal still contains small portions of pyrite,
and here, as elsewhere, it appeared to me that this mineral became more abund-
ant as the seam became thicker. At Blakeney's mine, on Possum Hollow, a
branch of the Grape creek valley — the only mine in all this region where it is
done — T found that care was taken to separate the pure from the impure benches
of the scam, a difference of two cents per bushel being made in the price. As
n consequence, much local trade was centering here, and I heard it spoken of in
distant parts of the county. The following is a detailed section of the seam at
this point :
FEET. IN.
Micaceous clay shale 8 to 1 0
Pyritous coal 2 1
Pure coal 8
Pyritous coal 1 6
Soft drab shaly clay J
Pure coal 1
Pyritous coal 1 9
Fire-clay, with thin bands of nodular limestone 8
Along the Little Vermilion and its branches, from about four miles below
Georgetown to below the State line, there are frequent openings of this seam
for local supply, but no extensive workings. The coal appeared good. If rail-
road facilities could be supplied to this part of the county, these mines would at
once become of great value.
*1 have not seen it where t>o thin as stated by Major Kirkland.
VERMILION COUNTY. 259
Two analyses of coals from this seani, given in the aforesaid report, arc as
follows :
Specific gravity 1.811 and 1.3127
Moisture 9. " 6.4
Volatile gases 34.5 " 39.17
Carbon in coke 50. " 48.93
Carbon in coal 58.8 " 53.
Ash, (white) 6.5 " 5.5
This seam has also been opened along Trosper branch, on J. Ogden's land?
in the northeast quarter of section 22, township 18 north, range 11 west,
about three miles northeast of Georgetown. At the time of my visit, the
openings had caved in, so as to prevent examination; and I was informed (hat
the coal here contained too much pyrite to be valuable.
The only other coal openings in the county are the small stripping;* of the
thin seams Nos. 5 and 11 of the county section, which I have numbered pro-
visionally as coals No. 10? and No. 11 ?, and whose character and distribution
have been sufficiently described in the general description of the section. Small
quantities of coal of very fair quality can be obtained here for local use ; but
the seams are not thick enough to make them of any economical importance.
Coal No. 8 (probably corresponding to No. 7 of the Illinois valley section —
see 111. Rep., Vol. iii., p. 5,) does not appear at its proper level, in the section
of the rocks of this county, viz: under the limestone, No. 21 of the section.
Its only appearance in all this region is at the Horse Shoe bend of the Little
Vermilion, in the west half of section 20, township 17 north, range 10 west,
about a mile east of the State line, where it comes in suddenly, with a thick-
ness of from three to four feet, and a reported roof of black slaty shale. It
does not continue to the southward, and there is no reason to expect that it
will be found sufficiently developed to furnish any considerable amount of coal
within the limits of Vermilion county, though small patches may be found in
the regio.i ju.st west of the Horse Shoe.
Through the region between the Big and Little Vermilions, no coal scams
have been developed; but there is every reason for believing that both "No.
7" and "No. 6" are in place under all the western portion of this area, except
on the slopes toward and near the Little Vermilion, where " No. 7 " can only
be looked for high in the bluffs.
Where the State line crosses the Big Vermilion, the " Eugene" or " Hang-
ing Rock" seam, No. 4G of the county section, is probably about fifty feet be-
low the water-level, and, judging from the general dip of the rocks, should
come to the surface, in going north, before we reach the railroad at " Illiana,"
or State Line station. In this region, however, the surface is unbroken, and
no wells or borings have exposed the rock, the Alluvium and Drift being appa-
rently rather deep. The "Hanging Rock " seam, however, even if found here,
260 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
would not probably be thick enough to bo worked with profit, in competition
with the Danville mines. There is reason, however, for supposing that No. 53
of the section may be found in this neighborhood, at no very great depth, and
this, if found, would be likely to yield considerable supplies of superior coal.
No outcrops were found which would give any certain data for locating it; but
a boring of two hundred and fifty feet would fully test the matter.
From somewhere in this neighborhood, the outcrops of the various strata
seem to turn more northwestward ; but shortly after passing down the south
line of township 20, on all the branches of the Big Vermilion, we find the
Drift deposits beginning to thicken so rapidly as to conceal all outcrops farther
north ; so that we are left to conjecture for the possibilities of that part of the
county. Furthermore, there are no outcrops in Iroquois county to give us any
hints ; and the knowledge of the beds to the westward is too limited to furnish
any certain data. From what we know, however, I am inclined to think that
the "Danville," or at least the " Grape creek," seam could be found as far
north as Higginsville, at a depth of perhaps one hundred and fifty feet, while
the lower seams might be found at Rossville, at not over two hundred and fifty
feet. But, with the Chicago and Danville railroad bringing coal from the Dan-
ville mines at low rates, it would be long before mines could be profitably opened
at that depth, if the presence of the coal were ascertained. In the northwest
part of the county, near and beyond Marysville, it would probably pay some
enterprising man to bore for coal, unless the heavy bed of quicksand under the
boulder clay, which has caused trouble in Champaign county, should be met
with. Its undoubted presence in the southwestern part of the county — a well
at Dallas encountered it at eighty-nine feet — appears to be the only reason to
hesitate about sinking shafts there for mining either " No. 7" or " No. 6,"
both of which seams probably underlie the whole of that part of the county.
An average thickness of eight feet of workable coal appears to be a suffi-
ciently low estimate of the two principal seams, over their indicated area,
which will include about three hundred square miles. At the usual estimate
of one million tons per square mile for each foot of thickness, this would give
2,400,000,000 tons of available coal supply. With the probabilities above
stated, as to the existence of workable seams outside of the limits here calcula.
ted for, it would be a very moderate estimate to increase these figures to 3,000,-
000,000 tons, which, at the average price at the mine of $1.50 per ton, would
yield to the county $4,500,000,000 ; and by rise in value, the actual receipts
will probably much exceed this.
The present shipment and consumption of coal, from all the mines of the
county, is estimated by Col. W. P. Chandler, of Danville, at about 75,000 tons
per annum. At that rate, the supply will last only 4,000 years; and the con-
sumption is increasing. Alas ! for our descendants.
VERMILION COUNTY. 261
As already stated, the " Grape creek" scam, " No. 6," has, in some parts of
the county, a cap of a few inches of cannel. Loose fragments of this have
caused some profitless explorations for a seam of that material.
Lime. — All the lime now used in this county is brought from a distance,
principally from Indiana. Along the railroads, there is no bed of limestone
in the county ; but at Big Spring, less than two miles from Fairmount
station, there is an abundant supply of limestone, the larger part of which is
suited for making lime. Small quantities have been burned here, in former
years. At this point, it is true, there is no wood for fuel, but a shaft not over
three hundred feet deep would furnish an abundant supply of coal for this pur-
pose, while at the same time supplying a stretch of country which will soon fur-
nish a large market for fuel. This is an especially favorable point for a shaft,
having rock all the way from the surface, and thus avoiding the heavy bed of
quicksand which would probably make trouble farther to the southward and
westward. A little enterprise would make Fairmount the center of a large
trade in both coal and lime. Several kilns have been burned along the upper
course of the Salt Fork, from the drifted fragments of this bed.
The large drifted masses of Silurian (?) limestone which are quite numerous
in the neighborhood of Mann's chapel and Rossville, have furnished, and will
still furnish, small quantities of lime for local use. Small supplies could also
be obtained from the outcrops of No. 21 of the county section, at and near
Rock Ford on ^Salt Fork, and at Swank's mill on the Little Vermilion. The
deposits of tufa from the springs near Danville, are not sufficient in quantity
to be of any value.
Bmldinrj Material. — Coal-measure sandstones are proverbially unreliable as
building material; still, at three points in this county, considerable quantities
of apparently solid sandstone can be obtained. Danville is at present supplied,
for foundations and to a small extent for superstructures, from Leonard's quar-
ry, about a mile below the city, on the river bank. The best stone is of a
rather coarse grain, somewhat vesicular, and stained in spots with oxyd of iron.
It appears to be a permanent stone. The beds do not continue solid through
neighboring portions of the outcrop, and the supply of stone is therefore preca-
rious. The following is a section of the quarry, as it appeared in May, 1868 :
FEET. IN.
Olive shale, with purple streaks 8
Coal 1
Purplish shale 5 4
Gray, sandy shales 2
Gray sandstone 16 to 18
Gray and bluish shales • • • • . 15
On the opposite side of the river, not far from the same level, in the lower
part of the ravine of the branch which flows through Donlon & Chandler's
262 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
strippings, I observed four or five thin, irregular bands of a very compact,
highly calcareous sandstone, of very irregular fracture, which are said to have
furnished some stone for the piers of the T. W. & W. 11. R bridge. They ap-
pear solid in the outcrop, but the quantity is small, and the irregular fracture
would interfere with ready working.
On Makemson's branch, as before mentioned, there are some heavy beds of
ferruginous sandstone, which appear better fitted for resisting the action of the
weather than any other stone in the county. They are underlaid by softer
bads, which have been washed away by the stream, so as to leave the upper
beds projecting many feet in some cases. They may be found somewhat soft
in quarrying, but will harden upon exposure, and make a permanent stone, un-
less they are quarried so late in the season as to freeze before the quarry water
is dried out of them.
Along Salt Fork, below Gonkeytown, a layer near the bottom of No. 2 of the
county section, has yielded small quantities of very solid, calcareous sandstone,
apparently permanent. Above this point, stone 1ms been quarried at several
places. Davis's quarry, in section 81, township 19 north, range 13 west, is the
only one now open. The stone is soft in the qu irry, but is said to become very
hard and durable upon exposure, in consequence of the cementing quality of a
small quantity of oxyd of iron.
The limestone near Fairmount, so far as now exposed, is too shaky to be
suitable for building. The upper layers of this bed, in Edgar county, have
furnished some good stone for rough uses, and possibly corresponding beds may
yet be developed here, especially at the southern extremity of the outcrop.
The drifted masses of Silurian limestone in the north part of the county, are
still sufficiently numerous to be mentioned as a source of building stone for
that region.
The clay subsoil throughout the timber, w4R furnish abundant material for
brick making, and small quantities are manufactured at several points. The
yard of Perry Fairchild, at Danville, is especially worthy of mention. It fur-
nishes from three to four millions of brick per annum.
Fire Cloy. — As already stated, this article exists in very la-'ge quantities
below both of the principal coal beds, especially the lower one. The greatest
development noticed is on J. Ogden's land, about three miles northeast of
Georgetown. No use has been made of it, thus far; but it is well deserving
of attention.
Iron Ore. — Along the banks of the Little Vermilion, for some miles below
Georgetown, large quantities of nodular carbonate of iron are scattered and
piled. The quality of the ore is not constant; but I judge that the larger
part of it would yield from twenty-five to thirty-five per cent, of metal. The
layers are so scattered in the shale, ajid so irregular in thickness, that no proper
VERMILION COUNTY. 263
estimate of the quantity can be made; but, judging by the eye, there must be
nearly or quite as much ore here as at the locality on Brouillet's creek, in Ed-
gar county, which for years furnished an abundant supply of ore for the Indi-
ana furnace, without any signs of piving out. On the Big Vermilion and its
branches, just below the State line, I found a pretty constant band of a calca-
reous carbonate of iron, varying from one and a half to three feet in thickness,
which may, at some points near Browntown, outcrop within the limits of the
county. Upon the whole, there appears to be enough ore to warrant the erec-
tion of an iron furnace somewhere in this region, \vhenevera railroad shall fur-
nish the requisite transportation.
Zinc Lh-ntle has been found in small quantities in some of the ironstone nod-
ules of the Little Vermilion, and small quantities of this mineral, disseminated
in small grains through an ironstone jut-t below coal No. 6, at the Horse Shoe
of the Little Vermilion, has caused considerable excitement over the supposed
discovery of " silver." The quantity is nowhere of any importance in this
region.
Gold is met with in small quantities in certain thin gravel beds which ac-
company the boulder clay, but not in sufficient amount to be anything mere
than a periodical source of excitement to the ignorant.
Several large masses of Native Copper have been picked up in the Drift beds
of this county. It is needless to say that they do not indicate any valuable
deposit of this metal at any point nearer than the mines of Lake Superior,
whence they have drifted. Here, as elsewhere, " the Indians" are credited
with the knowledge of valuable lead mines in this region.
Salt. — Springs feebly impregnated with salt are known at several points in
this region. The most notable is near the junction of Middle and Salt Forks,
in section 16, township 19 north, range 12 west, where, during the early set-
tlement of the country, a well was bored to a considerable depth, and salt made
in large quantities. The following account of the work done here was taken
from the lips of Harvey Luddington, E?q., of Danville, who was engaged in
the work for some years :
The well was begun in 1819, by a small company, of which Messrs. Black-
mail, Treat and Beckwith, are remembered as the principal members, and deep-
ened at intervals. The following is given as an approximate section of the
materials passed through :
FEET.
1. Alluvium 19
2. CoalJ\To. 7 2 to 2^
3. Blue fire clay .-. 3 " 4
4. Shale.. 90 " 100
264 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
FEET.
5. Coal* (and shale) No. 6? 16
6. Fire clay ?
7. Very hard gray rock 69
8. Soft clay shale 175 " 200
9. " " ? 75 " 100
The thinness of the upper coal is evidently due to a partial wearing away of
the seam by the current of the river, before the deposition of the Alluvium.
The first digging only passed through the fire clay, and a brine yielding one
bushel of salt to one hundred and seventy gallons of water was boiled at such a
rate as to yield from forty to fifty bushels per week, with eighty kettles. Be-
low the lower coal, a cavity of eighteen inches was found, from which flowed a
much stronger brine, one hundred gallons of which gave a bushel of salt.
The production was now about one hundred and twenty bushels per week, and
the price, $1.50 per bushel. In 1825, Major Vance bought the works, and
deepened the well, the boring being continued at intervals until 1827, but the
strength of the brine did not notably increase. After the construction of
canals and railroads, they were unable to compete with the Syracuse salt, and
work was stopped and never resumed. The brine probably came from the
sandstones at the base of the Coal Measures, and would have been found of
greater strength if the well had been deepened considerably. From these
lower beds, wells bored on the east side of the "Wabash, have obtained brine of
a strength of from 7° to 8£° Beaume. It would seem that, with the abund-
ance of coal on the spot, the reduction of this ought to be made to pay. .
This abundance of brine in the lower strata makes it doubtful whether pure
water can be obtained in this county by artesian wells sunk in the rock. In
nearly all parts of the county, however, water can be obtained from the quick-
sand below the boulder clay, which, in most cases, will rise high enough to be
readily pumped to the surface, and in some cases, in the north part of the
county, flows out naturally, as in the numerous flowing wells of Iroquois
county, which are probably supplied from the same source.
*The enormous thickness of this coal, as reported by the well borers, has always been a
mystery to the coal miners, since no such bed appears upon the outcrop, and the boring re-
ferred to in Major Kirkland's letter did not reach any corresponding bed. It was long sus-
pected that at least a part of this was shale, and the parties who bored an " oil well " at Rock
Ford, on Salt Fork, report finding, at a considerable depth (amount not given) below coal No.
7, " twelve feet of black shale and four feet of canncl." If this report is correct, this is prob-
ably coal No. 6, the changed condition being only the result of the more complete action of
the causes which gave to that seam, two miles above Danville, a top bench of nine inches of
caunel. Until, however, some shaft has been sunk io this lower seam at some considerable
distance west of the outcrop, I shall not be willing to believe in any such condition of things
at that level.
VERMILION COUNTY. 265
Road Material. — Along Jordan creek, about a mile below Fairmount, several
strong springs flow from a heavy bank of very sandy boulder-clay, which is
said to harden rapidly when exposed to the air. It would be worth while to
try the effect of a good coating of this upon some of the prairie-roads, making
the application when the road is dry and smooth.
In working up the geology of this county, I have met with most cordial treat-
ment everywhere; but can only express my great indebtedness to Dr. J. C.
Winslow, of Danville, who, since the day I commenced work in the county,
has done all in his power to forward my plans, and both during my stay there
and since my departure, has constantly furnished me with needed information
and specimens. The exigencies of the survey required me to extend my lines
into the adjoining part of Indiana ; and here I received the indefatigable
assistance of Mr. John Collett, of Eugene, who, whenever called upon, has
been always ready to put himself and all he possessed entirely at my disposal.
I could wish no geologist better fortune than to fall into his hands. In this
part of my work, I was also very greatly assisted by Mr. William Gibson, of
Perrysville, and Dr. C. P. Boyer, of Williamsport.
NOTE. — The coal No. 6 or " Grape creek scam " of this county seems to correspond much
better in its general characters with No. 6 of the Illinois valley section, than the Danville
coal, which Mr. Bradley suggests as its probable equivalent. Everywhere in Fulton and Peoria
counties, where No. 6 has been examined, it has a clay parting, usually a little below the
middle of the seam, and varying from a half inch to two inches or more in width. The
coal is also very free from pyrite, and is usually preferred for blacksmiths' use, and has a
well defined "block" character. We see no objection to considering No. 7 in the Wabash
valley as the eauivalent of some of the thinner seams above No. 6. in the Illinois river sec-
tion, which are there too thin to be of any value practically, and hence have been but slightly
studied, and consequently their peculiar features are as yet but little known. So far as the
specific character of the fossils of the roof shales can be relied on to determine the equivalency
of the strata, there is a much closer resemblance between those found in connection with the
Danville coal and the small seam outcropping in the vicinity of Springfield (which must be as
high in the series as Nos. 8 or 9 in the Illinois valley section), than with any of the lower
seams. A. H. W.
—34
CHAPTER XVII.
EDGAR, FORD AND CHAMPAIGN COUNTIES.
Edgar county lies adjacent to the eastern part of the State, and is bounded
on the north by Vermilion county, on the west by Coles county, and on the
south by Clark county. It is nearly a square, being about twenty-three and a
half miles long by about twenty-seven miles wide, and thus containing some-
thing less than six hundred and forty square miles.
The eastern and southern borders of the county, comprising perhaps two-
fifths of its area, are occupied by the timbered land adjoining the breaks of the
streams which run toward the Wabash. The remainder, with the exception of
a few sections about the head of Embarras river, in the western edge of the
county, is occupied by the Grand Prairie, some arms of which also run quite
deeply into the timber, along the divides between the different creeks.
The timber is mainly the same as that of the timbered lands to the north-
ward ; but in the southeastern part of the county, beech begins to take a promi-
nent place, and considerable numbers of pines find congenial soil above the
heavy-bedded sandstones which form the bluffs of the Barren Fork and its
branches, in the edge of Clark county, south of Grandview.
The prairie generally has a deep black mucky soil, but, in some of its east-
ern extensions into the timber, this is mostly wanting, and the soft dark brown
clay of the subsoil comes nearly to the surface. The bottoms of the prairie
sloughs generally contain more or less light brown marly clay containing fresh
water shells. From one of these slough bottoms, a nearly perfect skeleton of a
Mastodon was obtained some years since, which, after having been exhibited
through all this part of the United States, is said to have been sold to a Phila-
delphia museum. Fragments of skeletons of this animal are not rare here-
abouts.
The beds of the Drift period do not show any very great thickness in this
county, and only the boulder-clay member is well developed. They may per-
haps attain a depth of one hundred feet in the northern part of the county.
Where any considerable quantities of these materials occur, they arc generally
underlaid by a heavy bed of water-bearing quicksand, apparently continuous
EDGAR, FORD AND CHAMPAIGN COUNTIES. 267
with that found in Champaign and Vermilion counties in the same position.
This was encountered at Grandview, in 1869, at a depth of fifty feet, in
the shaft attempted by Messrs. Holding in search of coal.
Rock Formations.
The rocks exposed within the county all belong to that portion of the Coal
Measures which lies above coal No. 6 of the Illinois valley section, or No. 7 of
the Wabash valley section, as given in the report upon Vermilion county.
Above that level, no workable seam of coal is .developed in this region. Im-
mediately upon the borders of the county, however, we find the outcrop of No.
7 and No. 6 is not far below. Both seams are probably workable by shafts in
all parts of the county. For the readiest understanding of the geology of the
county, I give the following general section :
FEET.
1. Soft clay shales 40
2. Coarse sandrock and shales, with limestone bands 95
3. Limestone, bottom often shaly 25
4. Green, dark drab and black clay shale (level of " No. 12 ? ") 3 to 4
5. Greenish shaly sandstone and sandy shales 12 " 15
6. Green and drab clay shales 30 "40
7. Light drab and greenish, very ferruginous sandy shales 15 "20
8 Dark drab clay shale, with few large ironstones 5 " 6
9. Impure shaly coal, " No. 9 ? " „ 1£
10. Greenish clay shales 8 " 10
11. Sandy argillaceous limestone, containing pebbles of black limestone, and
fragments of fossils If " 3
12. Red and green, changing to green sandy shales and shaly sandstones,
locally heavy-bedded, containing Cauleipites, and graduating below
into 10 " 15
13. Green and drab clay shales, with ironstones very numerous at bottom. . . 30 " 35
14. Marly argillaceous limestone, with fossils 1-6 " ^
15. Soft black shale 2
16. Coal, "No. 8?" 1-6 " f
17. Fire-clay 3 « 4
18. Light drab sandy shales, weathering greenish, with heavy ironstones .... 40 "50
19. Dark drab sandy shales, weathering greenish, coarsely concretionary .... 12 " 15
20. Light blue clay shales 15 "20
21. Coal, top shaly, " No. 7 " 5 "6
22. Fire-clay 6 "8
23. Sandy shales : 10 " 12
24. Limestone 1 " 2
25. Sandy shales 8 " 12
26. Compact sandstone 3 " 6
27. Greenish sandy shale, with few ironstones 25 "30
28. Black shale, some slaty, with very heavy pyritous ironstone nodules 5 " 6
29. Coal,"No.6" 5 "6
30. Fire-clay and soft clay shale 4 " 6
268 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Nos. 1 and 2 of this section are here given in general terms from the report
of the boring at Sutherland's distillery, two miles north of Paris. The out"
crop of the corresponding beds on Sugar creek, the only point where they were
seen, is so disconnected that a detailed section can not be made. With the ex-
ception of the limestone bands of No. 2, of which I can find no trace along
the outcrop, I am inclined to accept them as generally correct. Apparently
belonging near the top of No. 2, I found, at two or three points, about three
inches of shaly coal, overlaid by from one to two feet of black, slaty shale, with
pyritous nodules apparently of coprolitic origin, though no fossils were seen.
Of the shaly sandstone next beneath these beds, several layers will yield very
fair sized flag-stones, though they do not appear very durable. The coal must
represent seam " No. 13," according to the numbering adopted in these reports
for the Wabash valley coals.
The bed of limestone numbered 3 in the section, was reported as being
twenty-five feet thick in the boring. The best outcrop seen is at the Roman
Catholic church, one mile east of Baldwinsville, where a small stream runs over
and exposes twelve or fifteen feet of its lower layers. These are partly compact,
partly shaly, and, near the base, contain several thin layers of green, shaly clay.
Fossils are tolerably abundant, but only of the most common species. The
higher layers of this bed are more solid, and have been quarried for culverts
and foundations at several points near the southeast corner of township 14
north, range 11 west. The lower layers have been quarried, to a small extent,
near Mr. Clinton's, on Lane's branch, in the northeast quarter of section 5,
township 13 north, range 11 west. They are here also quite thin and with
shaly partings, and contain great numbers of fine fossils, such as Athyris subtilita,
Spirifer cameratus, S. lineatus, Meekella striato-costata, Pleurotomaria turbini-
formis, Cyathaxonia prolifera, 3eliophyttum?p\&tes and spines of Palsechinus, etc.
On the main branch of Sugar creek, there is no exposed outcrop of this bed,
though the large masses of it lying in the bed of the stream, a short distance
above the railroad bridge, may be considered as indications that the bed is not
far off. Tumbling masses of this rock are also seen in considerable numbers
just at the county line on Big creek, but no outcrop was detected in this neigh-
borhood.
On Barren fork of Big creek, at the Big creek mill, in the southwest quar-
ter of section 1, township 12 north, range 13 west, the-same bed outcrops, with
nearly the same fossils as on Lane's branch. Not more than ten feet of the
lower shaly portion of the bed is here exposed. In descending this fork, we
come to shaly sandstones, which, near the county line, and especially in the
neighboring part of Clark county, give place to very heavy bedded sandstones,
forming abrupt banks and cliff's of from ten to perhaps forty feet in hight. The
connection between these beds and the limestone was not exposed, and the dip
EDGAR, FORD AND CHAMPAIGN COUNTIES. 269
was not strongly enough marked to decide their relations; but my impression
at the time was, that the limestone was the higher bed. I will not, however,
insist upon that interpretation of the facts, since it in no way affects my deter-
mination about the overlying beds, and Prof. E. T. Cox, who surveyed Clark
county, though confessing that he nowhere saw the direct connection of the two
sets of beds, is very strongly of the opinion that the sandstone is the higher.
From the Koman Catholic church before mentioned, there is an almost con-
tinuous outcrop, down Brouillet's creek, as given in the section, until we meet
the first workable coal seam just below the State line. A similar section is ex-
posed upon Coal creek, two or three miles farther south, which joins Brouillet's
creek at the Indiana furnace. On both these streams, Nos. 13 and 18 furnish
large quantities of ironstone nodules of fine quality.
No. 11 of the section, with its numerous pebbles of black, bituminous lime-
stone, furnishes a readily recognizable horizon, for some miles along the creek,
near and below Baldwinsville.
No. 12, although quite variable in character within short distances, is no-
ticeable for containing the Caulcrpites marginatuSj which marks the same level
along the Salt Fork in Vermilion county.
No. 14 contains a few fossils in good preservation, such as Spirifer lineatus,
S. planoconvexus, Spirifeiina Kentuckensis, Pleurotomaria sphserulata, P. Gray-
villensis, Productus longispinus, Cyathaxoniaprolffera, Astartella, etc.
The coarsely concretionary structure of No. 19 allies it with corresponding
beds in Vermilion county, which there lie perhaps thirty feet higher than coal
No. 7.
With the exception of the limestone No. 3 of the section, whose distribution
has already been spoken of, the small outcrops along the streams in the south-
ern part of the county are so disconnected, and of such common characters,
that it would be next to impossible to determine their exact equivalents in the
section. On Clear creek, in the northwest quarter of section 7, township 12,
range 11 west, a few feet of a soft, fine grained sandstone, somewhat ferrugin-
ous, has been quarried to a small extent, principally for grindstones. It is un-
derlaid by four or five feet of very dark drab clay shale. This may be the
equivalent of No. 12 of the section, but I am rather inclined to believe that No
7 has here taken the form of a sandstone. In either case, it is not impossible
that the report may he correct, that coal was struck at eighty feet, in a boring
made in this neighborhood some time since. The shales and irregular shaly
sandstones, which outcrop just at the railroad bridge over the main branch of
Sugar creek, evidently belong to Nos. 4 and 5 of the section. In going down
this creek, we find no beds of rock evidently in place, except about a mile north
of Elbridge, where two or three feet of soft, drab clay shale make their ap-
pearance at two or three points, but give no indication of their position in the
270 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
section. Upon the streams west of Big creek, in the southwest corner of the
county, and about the head of Embarras river, in the western part of the coun.
ty, no rock outcrop could be found.
The boring at Sutherland's distillery seems to have been put down at nearly
the highest point in the county, geologically speaking; and a carefully prepared
record of it would aid very greatly in the determination of the geology of the
county. Such a record was kept by Dr. Newell, of Paris, but was unfortu-
nately lost in the burning of his store, and only general facts have been pre-
served by memory. It is stated, however, that one hundred and thirty feet of
strata were found between the limestone No. 3 and the first workable coal, and
about one hundred feet between this and the next one, below which no coal is
reported. It would be queer if none of the lower seams should run under
here; but two five-foot seams are enough, for several generations at least.
The following is reported as the section of a boring made at Sandford's Sta-
tion, in May, 1867 :
FEET. IN.
1. Soil and subsoil 15
2. Sand 6
3. Sand and clay 4
4. Hardpan 66
5. Brown clay 10 3
6. Blue clay 8 4
7. Sandstone 4
8. Blue clay 37 2
9. Black shale 1 3
10. Fire clay , 4 5
11. Limestone 6 5
12. Red clay 2
13. Limestone 3
14. Soapstone 2 8
15. Limestone 9
16. Red slate 7 6
17. Hardpan 2 9
18. Limestone 3
19. Sand and clay 4
20. Limestone 1 9
21. Red slate 1 6
22. Sand and blue clay 5 3
23. Sandstone 3 10
24. Black slate 8 3
25. Hard stone 5
26. Black slate 4 2
27. Bastard lime , 8
28. Slate 7 5
29. Soapstone 5 3
30. Rotten coal 4 7
31. Sandstone 6
EDGAR, FORD AND CHAMPAIGN COUNTIES. 271
FEET. IN.
32. Fire clay 7 2
33. Sandstone .4
239 7
The black shale of No. 9 of this section apparently represents coal "No. 7,"
while Nos. 24 to 26 may represent coal " No. 6." No 30 may possibly be a
parting of " No. 6," locally separated from the same seam. There are spots in
every coal seam where the coal is wanting, and this boring, if correctly re-
ported, seems to have been sunk at a point where this is true of both seams.
It is possible that the seams do not extend under the southern part of Edgar
county; but I do not believe this to be true. I put no faith in the reports of the
sections obtained in sinking several oil wells in the northwest corner of Clark
county and the southeast corner of Coles county, most of which, as reported,
contain no coal. I judge that coal can be found under every section of the county,
at a depth nowhere exceeding three hundred and fifty feet ; and, along the line
of the railroad, two hundred and fifty feet would probably reach the first seam
of coal " No. 7," in nearly every case ; the most doubtful point being at Paris.
The distance from "No. 7" to "No. 6," is reported at one hundred feet in the
distillery boring ; but this distance is probably about seventy feet on Brouillet's
creek, and less elsewhere. " No. 7 " is quite impure in all this region, and, in
shafting for coal, it would probably be best to go on to the lower seam, No. 6,
which is a much purer article, considerable portions of it being the so-called
"block" coal, in most of its outcrops in this region. In consequence of the
great variations in thickness in most of the beds exposed along Brouillet's
creek, I have been obliged to give, in the general section, very variable
thicknesses for nearly every bed. In calculating from the section the probable
depth to any particular bed, at any one point, the average of thicknesses should
be used. I had hoped that, before the publication of this report, at least one
shaft might have been sunk, so as to determine the exact section at some one
point, but the shaft proposed at Paris is apparently given up, and the one com-
menced at Grandview, by Holding Bros., has been temporarily stopped, through
meeting with the heavy beds of water-bearing quicksand at the base of the
boulder clay.
One kiln of lime was burned at Collins's quarry, on Lane's branch, but care
was not taken to separate the shaly layers before burning, and the lime is
worthless, except for agricultural purposes. Some portions of the bed No. 3 of
the section, would make good lime.
For courtesies and information, while engaged in the survey of this county,
I am especially indebted to John W. Blackburn, Esq., and to Dr. Newell, both
of Paris.
272 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
CHAMPAIGN AND FORD COUNTIES.
These counties occupy a nearly central position in the State, measuring north
and south, and lie in the second tier of counties from the Indiana line. They
are near the center of the Grand Prairie, and have an almost exclusively prai-
rie surface. The groves are few and small, and are situated upon the small
streams which head in these counties.
Champaign county contains about ten hundred and eight square miles, being
about thirty-six miles from north to south, and about twenty-seven from east
to west.
Ford county consists of two parts, the one adjoining Champaign county,
about fifteen miles from north to south, and twenty-seven miles from east to
west ; the other, running thirty miles northward, between Iroquois and Liv-
ingston counties, to the south line of Kankakee county, with a width of only
six miles.
So far as is known, there is no outcrop of rock within the limits of these
counties. Scattered over their area, there are many large drifted masses of
Niagara group limestone, and Coal Measure limestone, and sandstone. These
are, in some cases, of very large dimensions, and have yielded considerable
quantities of stone for local use ; so that some persons have supposed them to
be solid beds of rock. The evidence is, however, as we have stated, that no
solid bed reaches the surface.
The soil is mainly the rich black prairie muck, from one to five feet thick,
underlaid, in most cases, by a yellow clay subsoil. Along the sloughs and
ponds, the subsoil is a tough brown to yellow clay, with numerous small fresh
water shells of the genera Physa, Limnea, Plcmorbis, Ct/clas, etc. These are
often so numerous as to give a whitish cast to the whole mass. We have not
heard of the finding of any Mastodon remains in these beds, though they are
not rare in similar situations in adjoining counties.
The subsoil is underlaid by irregular alternating beds of clay, gravel and
quicksand of the Drift formation, to the depth of from one hundred and fifty
to probably three hundred feet.
In an attempt to sink a coal shaft at Champaign, Mr. John Faulds found
the following section :
FEET.
Soil, clay and quicksand 17
Red and blue clay 73
Peat 2
Quicksand, containing a tree seven inches in diameter. . . ', 9
EDGAR, FORD, AND CHAMPAIGN COUNTIES. 273
FEET.
Soft yellow clay 9
Sand 3
Yellow clay 7
Quicksand and gravel 59
179
The bottom bed of quicksand defied all his efforts to reach a greater depth.
Within a short distance of this place, however, an earlier boring, of which we
have not the data, is said to have reached soft blue shale at one hundred and
sixty-eight feet from the surface.
The depth and character of these beds correspond with what is known of
similar deposits to the northward and eastward. We find in them evidence
that, at some former period, some powerful denuding current has torn up the
rocks and excavated a broad and deep channel, extending from the southern
end of Lake Michigan, down the eastern line of the State until, shortly after
passing the line now occupied by the Kankakee river, it rose over the declining
edge of the Niagara limestone, and then bore off southwestward through the
softer beds of the Coal Measures, which here seem to lie directly upon the
Niagara. This channel passes through the central and western parts of Iro-
quois county, and includes large parts of Ford, Champaign and McLean coun-
ties, with the southeastern part of Livingston, where its western bank must be
located between the two borings at Chatsworth, the western, on the southeast
quarter of section 4, township 26 north, range 8 east, near the east line of the
section, striking the Coal Measure rocks at eighty-eight feet, and the eastern,
in the southeast quarter of section 3, of the same township, striking no rock
until it reached the green calcareous shales of the Cincinnati group at two
hundred feet.
To the westward of Champaign county, its course is not so well indicated;
we know only that it runs under Bloomington, in McLean county, with a depth
of two hundred and fifty-four feet. However, as we find at Rantoul and Cham-
paign, points probably near the eastern side of the channel, and at Chatsworth,
which we know to be on its western bank, only one "dirt bed," or ancient
mucky soil, noted as "peat" in the foregoing section, while at Bloomington
we find two such beds well developed, one six feet, and the other, thirteen feet
thick, I am inclined to believe that this point is near the center of the old val-
ley. I will further suggest that its junction with the valley of the Illinois
will probably be found somewhere in Tazewell or in Mason county.
The erosion of this great valley, of course, took place before the beginning
of the Drift period, since the deposits of that age not only fill it completely,
but deeply cover its banks, except at the few points where they have been re-
moved in the course of the erosion of the present river valleys.
—35
274 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The gravel beds contain the ordinary variety of metamorphic rocks, with
not unfrequent larger or smaller masses of galenite from the Galena region, and
native copper from Lake Superior ; but the larger part of the pebbles and rock
masses consist of the Niagara limestone, or " Kankakee stone," and the shales,
sandstones and limestones of the Coal Measures.
The sands and gravels of these beds furnish abundant supplies of water at
moderate depths; and the white quicksand, lying between them and the under-
lying rocks, yields inexhaustible quantities, though generally at too great a
depth to be readily pumped up.
Underlying Rocks. — The boring above reported as having reached blue shale
at one hundred and sixty-eight feet, is said to have encountered, at one hun-
dred and seventy-six feet, a bed of coal five feet thick, which is supposed to be
equivalent to the Danville seam, " No. 7." As the synclinal axis of this part
of the Coal Measures crosses the Salt Fork of the Big Vermilion river at Con"
kcytown, five miles east of the east line of Champaign county, with the Dan-
ville seam not far from two hundred feet below the surface, while the under-
lying beds begin to rise slowly as we ascend the river from that point, it seems
not improbable that this seam may be found at the depth reported, but its ex-
istence there seems still uncertain.
It appears almost certain that the northern strip of Ford county is destitute
of coal ; but no boring has proved its absence in the southern portion of the
county ; judging, therefore, from the data obtained in the surrounding region,
it seems probable that the whole of this district is underlaid by one or more
workable seams of good coal, the uppermost probably lying nowhere more than
three hundred and fifty feet below the surface, and generally at a much less
depth. There appears, therefore, to be no good reason why shafts should not
be sunk to furnish a home supply in place of that now transported from a dis-
tance. And, as both counties are crossed by the Illinois Central railroad, giv-
ing direct connection with Chicago, a ready market could be found for any
surplus of this sole source of wealth, aside from those which are strictly agri-
cultural. The heavy bed of quicksand which is said to rest directly upon the
rock, under a part, at least, of this district, presents the only obstacle to easy
mining; and this could be readily overcome by any engineer of ordinary skill.
It is reported that at Urbana, starting fifty feet lower than the surface at
Champaign, coal was encountered at two hundred and twenty-five feet.
Borings made near Rantoul in 1857, whose results were then suppressed, are
now said to have found, about a half a mile south of the station, a nine-foot seam
of coal at a depth of one hundred and twenty feet, having struck rock at a depth
of eighty feet; and one and a half miles east of the station, the same seam at
one hundred and sixty feet. ,».
EDGAR, FORD, AND CHAMPAIGN COUNTIES. 275
The purity of the white water-bearing quicksand which underlies the Drift
calls to mind the character of the St. Peters sandstone at its outcrop in La-
Salle county, in which region it supplies several large artesian wells. The
southern continuation of the anticlinal axis, which brings this rock to the sur-
face at that point, would pass not far from Champaign; and it is altogether
probable that the aforesaid quicksand is really a part of the disintegrated out-
crop of that bed distributed over the bottom of the great channel, which must
have exposed it at some point in this region. It is also probable that the
water which fills the quicksand comes from the edge of this bed.
CHAPTER XVIII.
HENDERSON COUNTY.
Henderson county is situated on the western border of the State, and em-
braces a little less than eleven townships, or about three hundred and eighty
square miles. It is bounded on the north by Mercer county, on the east by
Warren county, on the south by McDonough and Hancock counties, and on the
west by the Mississippi river. The surface is much broken by the numerous
streams passing through it. The principal one of these is the Henderson river,
which enters the county near its northeast corner, and, passing in a southeast-
erly direction, empties into the Mississippi about six miles below Oquawka.
Tributary to the Henderson, and in the northern part of the county, are Fall,
and North and South Smith creeks. South Henderson creek enters the county
on its eastern border, through the southern part of township 10 north, and run-
ning a little to the north of west, empties into the Henderson about a mile
north of Sagetown. South of this the county is intersected from east to west
by Ellison creek, which empties into the Mississippi about two miles north of
Shokokon. In the southern part of the county there are Honey and Dugout
creeks.
The prairies of this county are mostly small, and occupy less than half its
entire area. The soil of the prairie is a deep, black loam, with a brown clay
subsoil. On the ridges, which skirt the streams, the soil is of less depth, and
of a lighter color than that of the prairie. It is usually a dark brown, loamy
clay, becoming lighter brown on the slopes of the hills, and partaking more of the
character of the subsoil. Formerly these ridges were, for the most part, tim-
bered, but much of the timber has been cut off, and the process of denudation
still goes on. The timber on these ridges is principally the common varieties
of oak and hickory, with an undergrowth of ha/el and sumac. Along the
slopes of the hills, and on the bottom lands of the streams, we find in addition
to these, red and white elm, white, blue and prickly ash, linden, sycamore,
sugar and white maple, ash-leaved maple or box-elder, black walnut, butternut,
buckeye, cotton wood, honey locust, American aspen, wild cherry, coffee tree,
HENDERSON COUNTY. 277
hackberry, mulberry, iron wood, wild plum, thorn, crab-apple, dogwood, and
redbud.
Between the bluffs and the Mississippi there is a belt of bottom land extend-
ing from the north end of the county to Camp creek, with an average width of
from two to three miles. A portion of the soil of this land is a deep black
loam, very fertile, and originally covered in part by a heavy growth of timber.
Here we find black, white, red and pin-oak, pecan, the common varieties of
hickory and elm, buckeye, black walnut, butternut, sycamore, box-elder, etc.
. Along this bottom land, and for nearly the entire length of the county, there
runs a variable belt of sand ridge. It generally lies in low, rolling ridges,
which, in some cases, become hills of thirty or forty feet in hight. This belt
passes irregularly through the bottom lands, here forming the river's bank, and
there running nearly back to the bluff. In the northern part of the county it,
in some places, attains a width of about two miles. The soil is mostly poor ;
still considerable portions of it are cultivated, and by proper manuring, yield
moderately, though but few seasons are wet enough for it to produce largely.
The timber is principally scrubby, black-jack oak.
Springs are numerous in this county, and some of them are large and valua-
ble, furnishing a constant supply of water, in quantities sufficient for the
necessities of large herds of cattle. -Good wells may generally be obtained at
depths of from fifteen to sixty feet. Mineral springs are not uncommon, cop-
peras being the mineral most commonly held in solution. One of the largest
and best known of these is in section 32, townsphip 11, range 4 west.
Surface Geology.
The surface deposits of this county comprise the three sub-divisions of the
Quaternary System, Alluvium, Loess and Drift, and attain a thickness of from
thirty to eighty feet. The largest alluvial deposit in this county is that along
the Mississippi, but smaller belts are found along the smaller streams, especially
Henderson river, South Henderson, Ellison and Honey creeks. These, how-
ever, are seldom over a half mile in width, and frequently but a few rods. The
soil of these deposits is generally largely composed of vegetable mould, mixed
with sand and gravel, and is very fertile. That along the Mississippi has been
already described.
The Loess is a marly sand deposit, generally more or less calcareous, and
usually containing large numbers of fresh water and land shells, mostly of
species still existing in this region. It frequently contains small concretions
of carbonate of lime, which have resulted from the leaching of the mass
These were noticed in township 9, range 5 west. This deposit caps a portion
of the Mississippi bluffs in this county, and is also found along South Hender-
278 GEOLOGY OP ILLINOIS.
son and Honey creeks. Elsewhere it was not noticed, though it is probable
that it may be found in other parts.
The Drift comprises a series of brown, yellow and blue clays, locally inter-
mingled with sand and gravel, with, in some places, thin beds of cemented
gravel. These deposits are spread over the entire surface of the uplands, and
when the Loess is present, underlie it. Bituminous coal in rounded fragments,
is frequently found in the Drift, and has been derived from the coal strata in
the adjoining region. Prom these fragments, many have been led to suppose
that valuable beds of coal might be found where they occur, and much time
and money have been wasted in searching for them. They do not furnish any
evidence, however, of deposits of coal in the immediate vicinity in. which they
occur. In section 23, township 8, range 6 west, just above the bridge, where
the bluff road crosses Dugout creek, considerable quantities of .drift coal has
been observed. It is reported that, at one time, a sufficient quantity was ob-
tained here to be used for blacksmithing purposes.
The other geological formations that occur in Henderson county are the Coal
Measures, St. Louis group, Keokuk Limestone, Burlington Limestone, and
Kinderhook group.
The Coal Measures are found only in the southeastern part of the county
They are represented by a few thin beds of sandstone, shales, clays, and a single
seam of coal, which has been found only in sections 23 and 26, township 9,
range 4 west. It probably belongs to coal No. 2 ? of the Illinois river section,
and at this point varies from one foot eight inches to two feet ten inches in
thickness. In the south part of section 23 it is overlaid by a yellow sandstone
mottled with whitish spots, which appears to be unfossiliferous. At the other
mine, in the northeast quarter of section 26, this sandstone contains pebbles
and fragments of carbonized coal plants, while in some parts of it there are
nodules of fossiliferous limestone. Among the fossils obtained here are Spiri-
fer planoconvexa, Athyris subtilita, A. Royissii, Rhynchonella Osagensis, Retzia
punctilifera and Terebratula bovidens. The coal rests upon a bed of fire-clay, the
thickness of which has not been ascertained. At this point the strata dip, at a
slight angle, to the southwest, while in section 23 they dip to the northeast.
Sandstones resembling those of the Coal Measures have been found in various
parts of townships 8 and 9, range 4 west, also near Biggsville. Thin outliers
of the Coal Measure strata may also be present in other parts of the county,
but deeply buried beneath the Drift, and would probably afford no coal of any
value, if found. Where the Drift is known to rest on the Sub-carboniferous
limestone, the search for coal would be useless.
St. Louis Group. — Beds belonging to this group have been recognized with
certainty only along South Henderson creek, near Biggsville. At the time I
visited this place (in the spring of 1868), the creek was so high that many of
HENDERSON COUNTY. 279
the beds were covered, and others could be examined only with much difficulty.
I am indebted to Prof. A. H. Worthen for the following section, which was
made by him about a mile and a half southeast of Biggsville:
FEET.
1. Loess 10 to 12
2. Gravel, sand and clay 12 "15
3. Blue plastic clay, with pebbles 15
4. Quartzose sandstone 2
5. Band of broken, rotten limestone 1
& Blue marly clay, stratified 15 "20
7. Band of broken magnesian limestone 1£
8. Keokuk beds 25 "30
No. 4 of the section probably belongs to the Coal Measures, while Nos. 5, 6
and 7 belong to the St. Louis group. West of Biggsville it was again recog-
nized in section 17. Commencing below the Drift, a section of the strata gave
the following :
FEET. IN.
1. Shale and yellow clay 10
2. Soft, yellow sandstone 10
3. Blue clay shale 2
4. Keokuk beds (not measured)
Nos. 1. 2 and 3 of this section belong to the St. Louis group. South of this,
along Ellison creek, thin outliers may exist, but none were recognized.
Keokuk Limestone. — This division of the Sub-carboniferous series is found
along the southern line of the county, at and near Dallas City. It rises to the
north or northeast, and on going up the bluff road about a mile, it disappears,
having either run out, or is so deeply covered by the Drift as not to be exposed
along the streams. East of Dallas City this limestone appears, forming the
bluffs of Camp creek, but on going down the creek, northwest, it soon runs
out, and the lower layers exposed are Burlington limestone. The Keokuk beds
again appear in section 11, township 9, range 4. A section at this point is as
follows :
FEET. IN.
1. Soil and Drift (not measured)
2. Yellow clay shale, containing a few gcodes 1 to 2
3. Limestone 3 2
4. Blue clay shale ?
North of this it is again exposed on South Henderson creek. Its most west-
erly outcrop along this stream, is about two miles east of Sagetown, in section
13, township 10, range 5. Here it appears near the top of the bluff, and a
mile or two up the stream it forms the bed of the creek. Its most easterly ex-
posure is about three miles southeast of Biggsville, in section 26, township 10,
range 4. A short distance west of Biggsville, in section 17, the rocks exposed
in the creek bluff gave the following section :
280 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
1. Soil and Drift. Not measured.
2. Sandstone, soft* ....................................................... 1 5
3. Yellow clay shale ...................................................... 1 7
4. Bluish clay shale .................................... ................. 6 6
5. Limestone ....................................................... 4 6
6. Shale ................................................................ 2 2
7. Limestone ............................................................ 2 11
8. Clay ................................................................ 2
9. Shale ................................................................ 4
10. Limestone ........................................................... 5
11. Shale ........................................................ . ....... 1 1
12. Limestone ........................................................... 6
13. Shale ................................................................ 2 1
14. Limestone ............................................................ 11
16. Shale, with a little thin-bedded limestone .................................. 2 5 *
16. Argillaceous limestone ........................................ ....... 4 2
17. Limestone and a little shale ..................... • ........................ 1 8
18. Shale ................................................................ 11
19. Limestone .................................................. . ....... 3
20. Shale ................................................................ 9
21. Limestone ............................................................ 1
22. Thin-bedded limestone, with chert ........................................ 5
23. Limestone, a little cherty ............... . ............................... 1
24. Chert ............................................................... 4
25. Limestone ............................................................ 2 1
26. Shale, with thin layers of limestone ...................................... 7
27. Limestone, very cherty, to the water ...................................... 8
39 2
All below No. 4 belongs to the Keokuk. The thickness of these strata are
quite variable, but this section serves to give a general idea of their lithological
character in this region. Some idea of their variableness may be had from the
following section, made at Shoemaker's quarry, which is but a short distance from
this point :
FEET. IN.
1. St. Louis beds 3 8
2. Limestone 2 7
3. Shale 1 9
4. Limestone, very shaly 8
5. Limestone 2 11
6. Shale 7
7. Limestone ?
Lower than this, the quarry was not worked, and the rock was not exposed.
This quarry lies near the top of the bluff, and corresponds very nearly with the
upper part of the other section. North of the immediate vicinity of the South
Henderson, this limestone is not exposed, and probably thins out rapidly in
that direction, as the Burlington limestone appears but a few miles north of this
on South Smith creek.
HENDERSON COUNTY. 281
Fossils. — The beds of this limestone that are found in this county, though
not as rich in organic remains as at other localities, furnish some interesting
specimens. They seem to have been deposited in a quiet ocean, where the
beautiful crinoid and the delicate bryozoan abounded, and considerable por-
tions of the limestone are thickly covered with the finely preserved skeletons of
these organic forms. Indeed, these waters must have teemed with animal life,
for not only the shales are full of their remains, but the solid limestone itself
is largely composed of them. Numerous fish swam these seas in those early
days, as the teeth and spines they have left, as a record, abundantly testify. .
Among the fossils most common in this limestone, are the following : Spiri-
fer neglectus. S. Keokuk, S. lineatus, Hemipronites crenistria, Productus Wortheni,
P. punctatus, ZapTirentis Dalii, and an undescribed Chsetetes. Of the crinoidea
most worthy of mention, is the Barycrinus magnificm. Nearly all the plates of
a full grown individual, together with a portion of the arms and stem, I ob-
tained near Biggsville. It is supposed to be the largest crinoid yet found in
this State.
Burlington Limestone. — This formation, which underlies the Keokuk lime-
stone, outcrops near Dallas City, in section 36, township 8, range 7, along the
river bank. The quarries lie but little above the river, and are overflowed at
high water. Higher up in the bluff, the Keokuk beds appear. Proceeding
along the bluff road, there is an outcrop of the Burlington beds, near the divi-
ding line between sections 28 and 29, township 8, range 6. Northeast of this, in
sections 22 and 23, the rock again appears, and is quarried. South and east
of here, there are exposures of the rock in sections 24, 25 and 26 ; also in
sections 29 and 30, of township 8, range 5, along Dugout creek and its tribu-
taries. Numbers of the more common crinoids were found at these localities
The rock here is considerably cherty, and much of it thin bedded. The thin
layers, when freed from chert, furnish good material for lime, and at most of
the openings there are one or more layers, a foot or so thick, that afford good
building stone.
Between Dugout and Honey creeks, there are no outcrops in the bluff, but
they commence along the latter stream, in section 12, township 8, range 6.
Higher up the creek, we find outcrops in abundance for six or eight miles.
Quarries have been opened in sections 1, 4 and 18, township 8, range 5; also
in section 6, township 8, range 4. The rock has been more extensively worked
here than on Dugout creek, and the layers are generally thicker. Blocks of
any desirable size, from one to two or three feet thick, may be had. Some of
the layers are of a yellowish-brown color, others are tinged with blue, while
others are nearly white, or of a light, creamy gray.
Much assistance was rendered me by Messrs. D. Edmonds, Jas. Peasley and
M. Nolan, while examining this region.
—36
282 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
North of this, there are no exposures in the bluffs for several miles. Along
Ellison creek, the rock does not appear till we reach the east part of township
9, range 4, but it crops out in several places on some of its branches. It has
been worked in sections 23 and 25, township 9, range 5 ; also in sections 9,
20, 21 and 29, township 9, range 4. In the bluffs of North Ellison, section
13, and of main Ellison, section 24, of the latter township, there are extensive
and valuable quarries. These have been worked for a long time,' and have fur-
nished an immense amount of stone, both for lime and for building. Most of
the strata here are sufficiently thick for any ordinary use. Section 13 affords
an excellent article of building stone, the most of which is light colored. That
from section 24, is largely of a yellowish or reddish brown, but otherwise of
good quality. Some of the layers are more or less arenaceous. The following
section was made here :
FEET.
1. Drift 10 to 30
2. Limestone, with some layers of sandstone too little exposed to be separately meas-
ured 24
3. Shales of the Kinderhook group ?
The quarries on these two sections furnish the principal supply of building
stone to the surrounding region for some distance, especially to the south and
east. At these localities, fossils are quite abundant, especially crinoids.
At this place there is a dip of from 2° to 3° to the north or northeast.
This inclination carries the beds of the Burlington below the surface, and
probably continues to a point near Biggsville, from whence they rise towards
the north, thus forming a shallow synclinal. At Biggsville, some forty or more
feet of the St. Louis and Keokuk group, overlie the Burlington. The first
outcrop of the Burlington to the north, that was observed, was a little to the
north of the centre of section 32, township 11, range 4.
West of this, the first exposure of importance is along the Mississippi bluff,
in section 15, township 10, range 5. A short distance east of Sagetown, on
the Chicago and Burlington branch of the C., B. and Q. railroad, there are ex-
tensive quarries owned and worked by A. Wallbaum, Esq. Work was com-
menced here in 1861. The quarries lie along South Henderson creek, one on
either side, and to each there is a side track from the railroad. A section
from the highest point in the openings to the level of the railroad track, gave
the following section :
FEET. IN.
1. Drift 20 to 25
2. Chert and clay in irregular layers 10 4
3. Limestone and chert in thin layers 21 10
4. Limestone, mostly good, but in places a little cherty 18 10
5. Soft sandstone 9
6. Chert 8
HENDERSON COUNTY. 283
Some of the lower layers of the heavy limestone beds furnish a beautiful
stone of a light brown or yellowish tint, that dresses w^ll. This is largely
used for window caps, sills, etc. Large quantities of rock are sent from here by
the railroad into Warren, Knox and Peoria counties. The material for the
second class masonry of the Burlington railroad bridge, crossing the Missis-
sippi, was from these quarries ; the rest of the material coming from Joliet.
Northeast of Sagetown, in section 10, there are outcrops which furnish con-
siderable quantities of stone, both for lime and building purposes. Farther up
the bluff, and along the Henderson river, the rock has been worked in section
2, of the same township ; also, sections 35, 25 and 24, township 11, range 5.
In section 25, at Mr. Bosler's quarry, I obtained the following section :
FEET. IN.
1. Slope, with outcrops of limestone ?
2. Limestone 3
3. Sandstone and chert 1 3
4. Limestone 6 4
5. Arenaceous limestone 4
6. Limestone 10
7. Shaly limestone and sandstone, with chert 6 3
8. Calcareous sandstone, with chert 1 3
9. Shaly limestone 6
10. Chert 6
11. Limestone 8
12. Chert and shaly limestone 8 2
13. Limestone 6
14. Shaly limestone and sandstone, with chert 3
15. Limestone 1 6
16. Chert 11
17. Slope, with outcrop of limestone 15
In the northeast quarter of section 25 there are extensive outcrops. At
this point, on the farm of Mr. Jenks, there is a crevice in the rocks known as
Jenks' cave. A portion of it has been destroyed in quarrying the rock, but
for ten or fifteen feet from the entrance it is from six to nine feet high, when
it suddenly becomes smaller. It has been penetrated about seventy-five feet.
Along North Smith creek the beds of the Burlington limestone form exten-
sive ledges. Some of the lower and softer layers having been worn away by
the combined action of the atmosphere and the water, the upper layers are
frequently left projecting, in some cases, quite a number of feet. Quarries
have been opened in these ledges, at convenient points, in sections 19, 20 and
21, township 11, range 4. Considerable of the rock at these quarries has a
yellow or reddish brown color, other portions are light-colored, and make a
very pretty building material. In section 19, on the north side of the creek,
where the Drift had been removed so as to expose the upper surface of the
284 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
rocks, they presented that peculiar ground, and striated appearance, commonly
referred to the action of glaciers.
North of this there are no outcrops till we reach the southwest quarter of
section 8. In section 5, on the Malay and Russ branches, the rock again
appears. The most extensive quarry in this section is in the southwest quar-
ter, on the farm of Mr. Malay. An ahundant supply of good building material
can be had here.
Along Fall creek, there are exposures for two or three miles from its mouth.
The rock has been most extensively worked in the north part of section 4. It
is light-colored and compact. In township 12, range 4, sections 27 and 28,
there are other outcrops of these beds. The strata as exposed here, commenc-
ing below the drift, gave —
FEET.
1. Thin-bedded sandstone 2
2. Limestone, containing thin beds of clay, and towards the top some chert 12
Some of the less common crinoids were comparatively abundant at this local-
ity, and the rock here is mostly thick-bedded, light-colored, and when free from
chert, it makes good lime.
The most northerly exposure of the Burlington is in section 18, on the west
and northwest sides of Bald bluff. Only about twenty feet are to be seen at this
point, and the whole mass is thin-bedded, seldom over a foot in thickness, and
is composed of brown arenaceous limestone and sandstone. Bald bluff is a little
over two hundred feet high. From here the bluff runs back for several miles
in nearly an easterly direction. The Burlington limestone, though not exposed
north of here, may exist in the bluffs for some distance, where it probably
thins out.
Fossils. — The beds of this limestone exposed in Henderson county probably
belong, for the most part, to the upper Burlington division of the group, for at.
nearly every outcrop I obtained more or less crinoids, all of which have been
identified as belonging to the upper Burlington. These beds are exceedingly
rich in fossils, particularly crinoidea. Along the northern shores of the lower
carboniferous ocean these "stone lilys" flourished in much greater profusion
than in any other known region ; and nowhere else have their remains been
found in such abundance, or so finely preserved, as in this rock. Though but
part of the beds are found in this county, many species have been already ob-
tained, and new ones are still being found. Other fossils, though not as
numerous, are abundant, particularly brachiopods. Bryozoa are also found
here, but not as abundantly as in the Keokuk rocks. Teeth and spines of fish
are not uncommon.
Among the crinoids found are Actinocrinus multiradiatus, A. asterius, Batocri-
nus rotundus, B. oblatus, B. Christyi, B. wquibrachiatus, B. pyriformis, B. Verne-
uilianus, B. Nashville. B. Konincki, B. Hageri, Strotocrinus cegilops, S. liratus. S.
HENDERSON COUNTY. 285
umbrosuc, 8. aubventricosus, 8. glyptus, Dorycrinus cornigerus, D. dicornis, Stegano-
crinus pentagonus, Platyerinus plenus, Zeacrinus, species nearly allied to Z.elegans,
Cadaster stelliformis, Granatocrinus Norwoodi, G. Sayi and Pe.ntremites elongatus.
In addition to these, the following species of brachiopods were obtained : Spirifer
plenus, 8. Grimesi, Productus semireticulatus, var., Burlingtonensis, Ohonetes Illi-
noiensis, OrtMs Swallovi, 0. Michelini ; and of other divisions, Platyceras, Metop-
tomn umbella, EvacMnopom sexradiata and HadrophyUum glans. This is not a
complete list of the fossils of this group found in this county, but comprises the
most common forms.
Kinderhook Group. — This group, which underlies the Burlington limestone,
is exposed in but lew places in Henderson county. Across the river, at Bur-
lington, the beds of the group comprise variable strata of shales, gritstones and
oolitic limestone. On this side, the oolitic limestone and gritstone beds are
wanting, and the group is represented by shales only, which are commonly
argillaceous, though occasionally calcareous or arenaceous. The shale is usu-
ally in very thin layers, and of little or no value. There is a partial exposure
of these beds in section 24, township 9, range 4, along Ellison creek, which
gives the following succession, commencing below the Drift:
FEET.
Burlington limestone 24
Shales of Kinderhook, to the surface of the stream 22
These beds outcrop for some distance along the Mississippi bluffs, but are
mostly hidden by the talus of the sloping hills. A short distance southeast of
Sagetown, a boring was made a few years since, for the purpose of obtaining
water for a distillery. I am indebted to Squire Rice, of Sagetown, who had
the work done, for the following section:
FEET. IN.
1. Chert and clay 40
2. Bluish clay shale 120
3. Black slate 7
4. Bluish clay shale 162
322 7
Considerable of the shale was calcareous, but did not, at any point, become
limestone. At a depth of three hundred and twenty-two feet, the character of
the rock had not changed, and the work was abandoned, for the time, without
having obtained water. This work was commenced in the Drift at or near the
base of the Burlington limestone.
Southeast of Oquawka, these shales are exposed on Mr. Bosler's farm, at a lit-
tle run, about twenty feet above the bed of Henderson river. Along South
Smith creek, section 24, township 11, range 5, fifteen feet of these beds may
be seen between the Burlington limestone and the creek bottom. At this
locality, there is a band of calcareous clay shale, from six to ten inches thick,
just below the limestone. These shales, where exposed, seem to be destitute
of fossils, none having been found, after a close examination.
286 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Economical Geology.
Building Stone. — Henderson county has an abundant, though not evenly
distributed, supply of building stone. The Burlington limestone, which out-
crops nearly from one end of the county to the other, along the bluffs of the
Mississippi, and also on the larger streams, will afford much the greater part
of this supply. The rock is principally a light colored, massive, crinoidal lime-
stone, which is but little affected by the weather. The prevailing color is a
light bluish or yellowish gray. In some localities, a portion of the strata con-
tains considerable oxyd of iron, which gives the stone a much darker brownish
color. It is tolerably even bedded, in strata from six inches to two feet or
more in thickness, and can be easily and cheaply quarried. A few good farm-
houses have already been built in this county from this material, and, as wealth
increases, it will probably come into more general use as a building stone.
The Burlington beds have been most extensively worked in the eastern part
of the county, especially on Ellison creek and its branches, and near Sagetown.
Of the quarries near the latter place, the most important are those of A. Wall-
baum, Esq. These have been opened about eight years, and at present are ex-
tensively worked, a large number of hands being employed. Many of the cul-
verts and the abutments of the bridges of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
railroad are built of material obtained here. Large quantities of rock are now
quarried here, and sent out of the county by this railroad.
The Keoku's limestone furnishes the balance of the building stone for this
county. It is generally even textured, dresses well, and affords strata suf-
ficiently thick for all the ordinary purposes for which building stone is required.
It is exposed in the southwest part of the county, where it has been worked to
some extent, but the strata rise to the north, and soon run out, and are not
again visible till just north of Ellison creek, in township 9, range 4. Its
greatest exposure is at and near Biggsville. Just west of town, in the bluffs
of the south Henderson, there is a partial exposure of these beds of from
twenty-five to thirty feet in thickness, a section of which has already been given.
Limestone for Lime. — The largest supply, and the best material for the
manufacture of quicklim3, is furnished by the limestone beds of the Burlington
group. At nearly all the exposures, rock suitable for this purpose can be had.
The light colored layers are nearly a pure carbonate of lime. At some locali-
ties, the quality of the rock is much injured by the quantity of chcrty nodules
present, which have to be removed before it is burned. The beds of the Keo-
kuk also furnish considerable material for this purpose, which, when carefully
selected, make good lime. The supply of stone, both for building and for
lime, is inexhaustible.
The cherty nodules, so common in both the Keokuk and Burlington beds,
HENDERSON COUNTY. 28?
while worthless for other uses, make a most excellent material for macadamiz-
ing roads, and for this purpose, are much more valuable than the limestone.
Coal. — The supply of this useful mineral in this county, is very limited. It
is confined to one thin seam which has been found only in sections 23 and 26,
township 9, range 4. But little coal has been mined at either opening, and
what has been taken out, is reported to be of inferior quality. It is quite
likely that this seam may be found extending from here to the south line of the
county, at least in places, but probably does not extend much to the westward,
unless it be in the northern part of township 8, range 4. Under the most
favorable circumstances, the amount that can be obtained from this seam in
this county will be comparatively small, and the inhabitants will have to de-
pend mostly upon more favored localities for their supplies of coal. Along the
line of the railroad it may be obtained, at reasonable rates, from the coal re-
gion to the east.
Other Minerals. — Clay, for brick-making, may be obtained from the subsoil
of the uplands, at convenient points, throughout the county.
Iron Ore. — The variety called limonite, was noticed at several localities^ but
not in sufficient quantities to be of any importance.
Sulphuret of zinc, or Sphalerite, is of frequent occurrence in the geodiferous
or concretionary masses of the Keokuk limestone.
Crystals of calcite, (carbonate of lime) are found in the different limestone
beds lining small cavities.
Soil and Agricultural Products. — The prairie soil is a dark colored loam,
everywhere productive where properly drained and cultivated. It contains a
large amount of humus, which has resulted from the growth and decay of ani-
mal and vegetable matter upon the surface for untold ages. The soil of the
timber lands or "oak barrens," is a clay loam, frequently containing but a
small percentage of humus, and partaking largely of the nature of the subsoil,
which usually lies but a few inches below the surface. The timber found upon
these lands is principally red, black and white oak, and shell-bark and bitter-
nut hickory. Along the slopes, the soil is usually much richer and darker col-
ored, except near the top, where it has been nearly or quite washed away, and
the subsoil appears. Here the timber is much more varied than on the ridges,
and we find the common varieties of oak, hickory and elm, sugar and white
maple, linden, wild cherry, black walnut, butternut, red-bud, and several other
kinds. Wild grapes are abundant, and would seem to indicate, from the luxu-
riance of their growth, that they had found a soil adapted to their wants. A
few vineyards have been started along the bluffs and on the uplands, which ap-
pear to be doing well. The finest orchards in the county are found along these
bluft' lauds, which are much better adapted to fruit growing than those of the
prairie.
CHAPTER XIX.
WARREN COUNTY.
Warren county contains fifteen xtownships, or five hundred and forty square
miles, and is bounded on the north by Mercer, on the east by Knox and Fulton,
on the south by McDonough, and on the west by Henderson counties. The
fourth principal meridian passes along its eastern border, and it embraces town-
ships 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 north, of ranges 1, 2 and 3 west. It is intersected in
the northern part, from east to west, by Main Henderson and Cedar creeks.
South of this, there is South Henderson creek, which rises in township 10,
range 2, and runs nearly west; while to the east, Slug Run rises in the north-
ern part of township 10, range 1, and passing south, empties into Cedar fork,
near the eastern line of the county. Cedar fork rises near the western boun-
dary of township 9, range 2, and runs a little to the south of east; south of this is
Nigger creek, of which Little Nigger and Swan creeks are branches. By these
and a number of smaller streams, the county is well watered, and its surface
thoroughly drained.
Springs are not very abundant, but there are some which are large and valu-
able. Good wells may usually be obtained at depths varying from ten to thirty
feet, but if, at the latter depth, water is not obtained, it is generally necessary
to dig sixty feet or more, or through the blue clay of the Drift.
The larger part of Warren county is prairie, but the prairies are seldom large,
being divided by the numerous streams. The soil is a dark colored vegetable
loam, differing but little, in its general character and appearance, from that of
the adjoining counties. Along the ridges that skirt the streams, the soil is of
less depth, lighter colored and less fertile. The subsoil is a yellow or brown
clay.
Much of the land lying along the water courses, was originally covered with
timber. Large portions of this have been cut off", and the work is still contin-
ued. The varieties of timber found here are nearly the same as in Henderson
county.
WARREN COUNTY. 289
Surface Geology.
Two of the subdivisions of the Quaternary system, viz., the Alluvium and
Drift, are found in this county. The alluvial deposits are not extensive, being
confined to the borders of the streams, and are seldom over half a mile in width,
while commonly they are much less. The soil of these bottom lands is very
fertile, and consists of black loam, more or less mixed with sand and gravel.
The Drift covers the whole surface of the uplands to a depth of from ten to
eighty feet or more. These deposits comprise a series of yellow, brown and
blue clays, locally intermingled with sand and gravel. In the northwestern
part of the county, the Drift rests upon the Kinderhook crroup and Burlington
limestone, but elsewhere, as far as is known, upon the Coal Measures. Loose
coal is frequently found in the Drift, but this is no indication that there is any
bed of it in the immediate vicinity.
The older geological formations found in this county, are the —
Coal Measures,
Burlington Limestone, and
Kinderhook Group.
The Coal Measures underlie nearly the whole of Warren county. Sumner
and the northern part of Hale townships, probably embraces the entire district,
or nearly so, where they are not found. The Coal Measures comprise, in this
county, various strata of shales, sandstones, limestones, clays and coal, and
attain a thickness, in some parts, of from one to two hundred feet. These strata
rest upon the Burlington limestone, and where this is found near the surface or
reached in shafting, no coal need be looked for in deeper explorations. Thus
far, the coal mines that have been discovered arc, with but one exception, con-
fined to the townships in ranges 1 and 2. There are three workable coal seams
found in this county.
The upper seam is from three feet to three feet six inches in thickness, and
has been found at but one locality — section 17, township 8, range 2. There is
some doubt as to which seam this may be referred, as I was unable to make
any measurement of the strata between it and the seam (No. 2) below, but the
distance is probably not over forty or fifty feet between them, perhaps less. As
the only open bank in this seam was on fire when I was there, an examination
could not be made, or any specimens of the coal obtained, but I have learned that
the roof is black slate and the floor arenaceous shale. It may be coal No. 3
of the Illinois section, and the coal obtained from it is reported to be of good
quality.
The next seam, No. 2 of the Illinois section, is from one foot eight inches to
two feet thick, in this county. Elsewhere it attains a thickness of from three
—37
290 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
to five feet. Though thinner, this seam is more extensively worked than either
of the others. It is worked along Cedar creek, on section 19, township 11,
range 1, and sections 13, 14, 23 and 24, township 11, range 2. Also, in the
latter township, there are other mines along Honey Run and its branches, in
sections 25, 35 and 36. The strata were reported by the miners to be, in this
neighborhood, as follows :
FT. IN. FT. IX.
1. Drift, not measured
2. Clay shale ('-soapstone") 10 to 20
3. Limestone 0 6
4. Blue clay, shale and black slate 2 to 2 6
5. Coal, No. 2 of Illinois section 1 8 to 2 3
6. Fireclay 3 to 8
1. Bituminous limestone '. 2 to 6
8. Clay shale ?
9. Thin coal ?
The coal is of good quality, and, though containing some pyrite (the " sul-
phur" of the miners), it is easily freed from it.
In sections 23 and 26, township 10, range 1, mines have been opened. We
again find this seam worked in section 3, township 9, range 1. In this locality
there is sometimes two or three inches of cannel coal at the top of the seam.
South of this, in township 8, range 1, there are mines in sections 23 and 26.
Though the coal here is but one foot six inches thick, large amounts of supe-
rior coal are taken from these mines.
From the blufis of Nigger creek, sections 14 and 23, the following section
was obtained, which gives a general idea of how the strata lie in this region :
FT.
1. Clay shale
2. Coal, No. 2 of the Illinois section
3. Fire clay
4. Clay shale „
5. Coal and black slate
6. Clayshale 1
7. Sandstone
8. Clay shale 20
9. Sandstone or arenaceous shale 3
10. Arenaceous shale 2
11. Clayshale
12. Coal
13. Sandstone 1
14. Clay shale
15. Slaty coal
16. Sandstone or arenaceous shale
17. Clayshale
18. Coal
WARREN COUNTY. 291
FEET. IN.
19. Fireclay 2 3
20. Black slate 3 6
21. Bituminous shale 4
22. Fire clay ?
In No. 9 of this section, there are some valuable quarries. The rock is
from six to seven feet thick at some of the localities, and the whole of it is
thick bedded, so that blocks of any desirable size can be had. There are, how-
ever, large concretions of a calcareo-arenaceous rock, locally called " flint," in
the sandstones. One of these was taken from the quarry of Mr. J. Worden,
section 14, that was about two and one-half feet thick, six to seven wide, and
from ten to twelve long. This rock is very compact, hard enough to scratch
glass, and in chloro-hydric acid effervesces slightly. It is not considered of any
value, and is so hard that when it occurs in large masses it is very expensive
getting it out of the way. At other localities, this sandstone is replaced by
arenaceous shale.
No. 13 of the section is locally called " water flint," and is easily recognized,
whenever met with in this vicinity, by the numerous specimens of Stigmaria
ficoides present in it. These have much the appearance of dark brown or black
roots, and in some cases the rock seems full of them. This rock is a somewhat
argillaceous sandstone, compact, and not usually as hard as No. 9.
No. 15 may possibly be the representative of coal No. 1, but this seems
doubtful.
In the northeast quarter of section 23, the strata appear to have been con-
siderably disturbed, and at one place are tilted, for a short distance, to an angle
of about 5°. Not far from here, two faults are to be seen within a few yards
of each other.*
For some distance up the creek, northwest, the strata appear to have been
somewhat disturbed, and dip in all directions. In sections 26 and 22, mines
have been opened and more or less work done. In section 16, the following
sections were obtained at points but a few rods apart :
No. 1. No. 2.
FEET. IN. FEET. IN.
1. Coal ? 1 6
2. Fire clay 8
3. Coal 3
4. Arenaceous shale 2
5. Light colored clay shale 1 8 8
6. Dark blue clay shale 4 11
*This appearance has probably been occasioned by the undermining of the strata in the
erosion of the creek valley, and their subsequent displacement by being crushed downwards
from the weight of the superincumbent beds. A. H. W.
292 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
No. 1. No. 2.
FEET. IN. FEET. IN.
7. Sandstone 6 1 3
8. Black slate 8 ?
9. Coal and black slate 3
Several of the strata were readily traced from one point to the other, and
this section will serve to illustrate how, in shafts only a short distance apart,
the strata may vary considerably.
West of this point, in township 8, range 2, this seam crops out for some dis-
tance along Swan and Little Nigger creeks. At these localities mining has
been carried on for years, and in places the bluffs are almost honey-combed
by the entries, new and old. The mines along Little Nigger creek are mostly
in sections 7, 8, 9 and 10. In some of them the fire-clay below the coal is
varied in color, the usual tints being a light blue, though in some places it is
nearly white, while in others it is yellow or yellow and red. It is said that on
being burned the yellow turns to a blood red'. Along Swan creek, the mines
are in sections 15, 16 and 21. A little north of Roseville, in section 30, town-
ship 9, range 2, this seam has been worked to some extent.
The coals of this county are mostly worked by drifts, or tunnels driven hori-
zontally into the hill-sides along the outcrop of the seams, and owing to the
shaly character of the roof of No. 2, considerable expense is incurred in " crib-
bing " to sustain the roof. The thickness of the coal is usually from twenty
inches to two feet, and in driving the entries it becomes necessary to remove
a portion of the roof shales, or the under-clay, in order to obtain the amount
of vertical space required to take out the coal.
The lower seam, No. 1 of the Illinois section, varies from two to four feet in
thickness in this county. It is generally overlaid by black slate, or a dark col.
ored, and frequently, shaly limestone. This forms a very good roof, and makes
the working of this seam less expensive than that of the seam above, as, fre-
quently, but little or no cribbing is required. In section 14, township 12,
range 2, this coal crops out along the bluffs. In the eastern part of the section,
it is from three to three and a-half feet thick, and as it is here overlaid by clay,
the upper part of the coal is left for a roof. That part that is left is, however,
of but little value, it being impure.
Flattened nodules of impure pyrite, called "nigger-heads" by the miners,
and frequently a foot or so in diameter, are not uncommon at some localities in
the upper part of this seam. Many of these contain numbers of fossils, which
are frequently well preserved. Some of the nodules from this mine afforded
Productus longispinus, var. muricatus, Athyris subtilita, Spirifer cameratus,
Chonetes mesoloba, Spiriferina Kentuckensis, Hemipronites crenistria, Pinna
f Lima retifera, ScMzodus curtus, CardimorpTia Missouriensis, Edmondia
ovata, Streblopteria tenuilineata, Pleurophorus radiata, Allorisma subcuneata,
WARREN COUNTY. 293
A. costata, Bellerophon Montfortianus, Rhynchonella Eatoniseformis^Pleurotoma-
ria Grayvillensis, P. sphserulata, var. depressa, Nautilus, and some others not
recognized.
Of these, the following species also occur in the upper Coal Measures :
Spirifer cameratus, Spiri/erina Kentuckensis, Allorisma subcuneata, Aihyris sub-
tilita, Edmondia ovata, Lima retifera, Schizodus curtus, Pleurotomaria Grayvillensis,
Sellerophon Montfortianus.
A little west of this point and in the same section, the roof is black slate, a
few inches thick, and is overlaid with limestone. Here the coal is but about
three feet thick. In the western part of this section, the seam is from three
and a-half to four feet thick, with a roof similar to the last. Did not learn the
thickness of the limestone, but, judging from the exposures in some old quar-
ries, it must be several feet. At these mines, sandstone underlies the coal.
Besides these, there are other mines in this township, in sections 15, 22 and 23.
In township 12, range 1, there are a number of mines which probably belong
to this seam. The exposures in sections 21, 22 and 27, showed 1 foot 6 inches
of coal overlaid by 2 feet-of soft clay shale.
There are also mines in sections 29, 30 and 32. As these are worked only
during cold weather, I was able to make but little examination of them, as I
visited this neighborhood in the summer. In township 12, range 2, the only
mines in this seam are in sections 10 and 15. I am indebted to Mr. Chicken
for the following section of the strata penetrated by his shaft :
FEET. IN.
1. Soil and clay, about 4
2. Sandstone 5
3. Light colored clay shale 4
4. Dark blue clay shale 4
5. Compact calcareous clay shale 1 6
6. Chert •„ 1 6
7. Clay 2
8. Dark colored limestone 6 inch, to 2
9. Coal, average 2 8
In section 4, township 9, range 3, the coal is reported to be two feet two
inches thick. As it lies below the bed of the stream, it is worked by means
of a shaft. A shaly limestone lies but little above the coal, but I was unable
to learn whether there is any slate between them. This mine is just south of
the road on the township line, and on the other side of the road this limestone
has been quarried. Here I obtained Productus longispinus, P. semireticulatus,
Avicidopecten, Naticopsis, and some other fossils.
In township 9, range 1, on the southwest quarter of section 24, this seam
crops out in the bluffs of Slug run, on the Peabody farm. The coal is about
three feet thick, and overlaid by a dark, bluish limestone. About ten feet be-
low this seam, there is an outcrop of the Burlington limestone, but the inter-
294 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
vening strata were not exposed. In section 26, along Cedar Fork, this coal is
exposed a little above the bed of the creek. A section of the strata gave:
FEET.
1. Bluish-black limestone 8 to 10
2. Black slate 6 in. to 2
3. Coal 3
A short distance up the stream, there appears to be a fault, and apparently
higher strata are exposed, and show the following succession :
FEET. IN.
1. Clay shale, not measured
2. Sandstone, about 14
3. Coal 1 1
4. Fire-clay, passing into clay shale 2
5. Black slate, not measured
The strata on either side can be traced to within a few feet of the fault.
This, however, is not exposed, but a small gulch runs down the bluff at the
point where it probably exists.
In section 13, township 8, range 1, there is another outcrop along Nigger
creek, which probably belongs to this seam. The exposed strata give the fol-
lowing section :
FEET. IN.
1. Clay shale, not measured
2. Coal 10
3. Shale, with a band of sandstone about 14 feet from the top 22
4. Sandstone 1 6
5. Black slate 1 6
6. Coal, with some slate and clay shale 2 ft. 6 in. to 3
7. Sandstone and arenaceous shale 3 4
8. Coal from 1 in. to 2
9. Fire-clay 1
10. Sandstone, not measured
The mines at this place have been abandoned for some time. The coal was
reported to be of poor quality, and mixed with slate.
It is probable that everywhere in this county, this seam lies but a few feet
from the bottom of the Coal Measures, and wherever the lower strata are ex-
posed, they rest upon the Burlington limestone. Northwest of Monmouth, in
section 7, township 11, range 2, the rocks exposed in the bluff of Cedar creek
gave the following section :
FEET.
1. Slope, containing black slate, fire-clay and coal, not measured
2. Sandstone, with thin beds of shale 10
3. Burlington limestone, as far as exposed 33
The coal mentioned in No. 1 of this section, is not likely to prove valuable,
as it lies too near the surface.
WARREN COUNTY. 295
At or near Monmouth, a boring was made, but I was unable to obtain a copy
of the journal of the work, though it waa promised me. As nearly as I could
learn, only about ten inches of rotten coal was found. It is probable that it
will be necessary to go farther east or south to find any place where the seain
will prove workable.*
It is doubtful whether the lower seam can be found underlying No. 2 through-
out the county, but still it may, and probably does exist all along the eastern
border. At the outcrop in Henderson county, a few miles southwest of Ellison,
coal No 2 lies but a short distance above the lower formations, and the same
may prove to be the case along the southwestern portion of this county. Still,
a seam, which is probably No. 1, is found but a short distance northeast of
Ellison. In searching for coal, either by sinking a shaft or otherwise, it should
always be borne in mind that, when any of the beds of Lower Carboniferous
limestone are reached, it is useless to go deeper in search of it.
Burlington Limestone. — The beds of this group immediately underlie the
Coal Measures in this county, wherever the junction of the coal with the under-
lying beds can be seen. In the south part of the county, there may be thin
beds of the St. Louis between them, and east of Biggsville, and near Young
America, the Keokuk may be present, but there are no outcrops where either
can be seen beneath the Coal Measures.
The Burlington group, in Warren county, consists mainly of light gray and
brown limestones, with some layers of sandstone, chert and calcareous clay shale,
and attains a thickness of from forty to fifty feet. These beds outcrop along
the small streams in the southern part of township 12, range 3. Section 31
furnishes layers of good building material, sufficiently thick for all ordinary
purposes. In sections 32 and 33, it is thin bedded where it has been worked.
In section 35, at Kockwell's mill, on Cedar creek, the rock is quite arenaceous.
When the quarries were first opened they afforded good limestone, but on work-
ing into the bluff, the beds are changed to a soft or rotten sandstone. This
exposure of the strata gave the following section :
FEET. IN.
1. Limestone and sandstone 15 6
2. Sandstone 17
3. Green, argillaceous sand 1
4. Shales of Kinderhook to the bed of the creek 17
East of this, in sections 19, 20, 29 and 30, township 12, range 2, the Bur-
lington limestone outcrops along some of the small streams, and is overlaid by
thin strata of the Coal Measures. As far as exposed here, it is somewhat arena-
*Since this report was made, Dr. A. W. Black, of Monmouth, has sunk a shaft to the coal,
which was found at the depth of about forty feet below the surface. The shaft is a little east
of the city, and the coal found to be from twenty-four to thirty inches in thickness and of excel-
lent quality. This is probably coal No. 2 of the Fulton county section. A. H. W.
296 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
ceous, with much chert. This is the most northerly outcrop of the group in
this county, and in Henderson county it is exposed but a very little further
north. Thin outliers may be found for some distance in this direction, beneath
the Coal Measures, but, like the other members of the Sub-carboniferous serieSj
it soon thins out.
In section 1, township 11, range 3, there are extensive quarries in this
limestone. Some of the layers are very light colored and even textured, and
are reported to take a good polish. Other layers, though not as light colored,
furnish a durable building material. Much lime is burned here, and the rock
being nearly a pure carbonate of lime, affords a good article. In section 2 and
the northwest quarter of 11, there are small outcrops. In sections 4, 5, and
the north part of 8, there are exposures all along sonic small streams. The one
in section 4 gave the following succession of strata :
FEET. IN.
1. Chert 2
2. Thin bedded sandstone, with a little chert 7
3. Limestone and chert 1 9
4. Limestone 9 6
5. Slope to the water, with outcrop of limestone , 5 6
Much material, both for building and making lime, has been taken from
these places. As we go south, from the north line of the township, we find
thin outliers of the Coal Measures forming the tops of the bluffs, till in section
8 the Burlington beds disappear beneath the sandstone and conglomerate which
form the base of the Coal Measures.
On Cedar creek, from Rockwell's mill in township 12, range 3, to Olmstead's
mill in township 11, range 2, this limestone outcrops almost continuously along
the bluffs, frequently in perpendicular or overhanging ledges. Occasionally it
is covered by the sloping talus of the hills, but only to be again exposed a lit-
tle further on. In section 7 of the latter township, it is overlaid by a few feet
of the Coal Measures, and at this point gave the following section :
FEET. IN.
1. Slope, with outcrops of Coal Measure strata. Not measured.
2. Slope, with outcrops of Burlington limestone 7 6
3. Limestone and chert 3 2
4. Compact calcareous clay shale 2
5. Limestone 11 6
6. Sandstone and limestone, to the bed of the creek 8 6
Near the middle of section 7, on Cedar creek, and along a little branch put.
ting in from the southeast, there are extensive quarries in the bluffs, which
supply Monmouth and the adjoining region with large quantities of excellent
building material. As we proceed up the creek, the outcrops, though still
large, are not as extensive as below, being more frequently covered by the talus
WARREN COUNTY. 297
of the bluffs. In the east part of section 7, they are overlaid by heavy beds of
Coal Measure sandstone. Small quarries have been opened at various points
from here to the east half of section 8, where, a few rods south of the Cedar,
and along some small runs that put into it, there are extensive quarries. The
rock obtained here is mostly taken to Monmouth and its vicinity. At this
place, and for some distance up the creek, the bluffs are not as high as farther
down, and the Coal Measure strata have been largely, and in some places en-
tirely removed. From here to the middle of section 9, though occasionally
outcropping, the rock has been but little worked. At this point there is a
small quarry on a run coming in from the northeast. Near this, along a branch
entering the Cedar from the south, the rock has been almost continuously
worked, from near the mouth of the stream to the center of section 16. In
the southeast quarter of section 9, the Burlington limestone disappears beneath
the strata of the Coal Measures, and does not again appear to the eastward,
along Cedar creek.
In section 24, township 9, range 1, the strata dip to the north of west and
the south of east, forming an anticlinal. As only a few feet of the beds were
exposed, I was unable to determine, accurately, the direction of the dip and the
trend of the anticlinal. To the eastward, the Coal Measures thicken, and it is
not probable that the limestone is again exposed.
The limestones of this group are generally rich in fossil remains, which are
well preserved, and the rock is largely composed, in most cases, of the frag-
ments of crinoidea, and at almost every point where it is exposed, more or less
good fossils may be obtained. Among the Brachiopoda found here, were
Spirifer Grimesi, S.plenus, Productus semireticulatus, var: Hurlwgtonensis, Or-
this Michdmi, and O. Swallovi.
The crinoidea are not as common as farther west, but some fine ones were ob-
tained there, among which were Actinocrinus rotundus, A. oBlatus, Satocrinui
Verneuilianus, B. Christy i, B. Kbnlncki, B. pyriformis, Ayaricocrinus, Granato-
crinus Norwoodi, and Pentremites elongatus.
Kinderhook Group. — The beds of this group, which underlie the Burlington
limestone, are, as far as exposed in this county, composed of shale, with
occasional layers that are more or less calcareous or arenaceous, and compact.
Some of the more compact portions might be used for building purposes, where
not exposed to the weather ; but an abundance of far superior building stone
renders this unnecessary. It seems probable that but a few feet of the upper
portions of the group are exposed at the different outcrops, but being, appa-
rently, destitute of fossils, it is difficult to recognize the beds. At Rockwell's
mill, section 35, township 12, range 3, there is an exposure which gives this
section :
—38
298 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
FEET. IN.
1. Burlington limestone. , 32 6
2. Compact, calcareous clay shale, from 6 inches to 1
3. Blue clay shale, to the level of the creek 16
In the south part of section 15, there is another outcrop of a few feet along a
small branch, and in section 9 there is an exposure of shale which probably
belongs to the Kinderhook. At this point, one or two shafts have been sunk,
for a short distance, in search of coal. It is reported that the water came in
so fast that the work was suspended, without, of course, having found any indi-
cations of coal.
North of here, the beds of this group are not exposed, but may extend for
some distance in that direction beneath the Coal Measures, but, like the other
members of the lower Carboniferous series, this group also soon thins out.
There were no fossils found in these beds at any point in the county.
As these shales very closely resemble those of the Coal Measures, those
unacquainted with geology will be very likely to mistake them for the latter.
This has been done at nearly every exposure, though, as far as 1 learned, but
little time had been spent in examinations. Notwithstanding all that experi-
enced coal-miners may say to the contrary, it is useless to search for coal in the
shales of the Kinderhook group.
Economical Geology.
Goal. — The supply of this valuable mineral is mostly obtained from seams
Nos. 1 and 2, the upper bed, No. 3, affording but a small amount. Coal No. 2,
though thinner at most places than No. 1, is more extensively worked, as it is
generally more easily got at, and affords an excellent quality of coal. This seam
has been worked principally in townships 8, 9 and 11, ranges 1 and 2. At
most of the mines, there is more or less sulphuret of iron mixed with the coal,
which has to be separated from it before sending it to market.
The lower seam is, at nearly all localities, considerably thicker than No. 2,
and hence the yield is much greater. This coal, though generally of fair qual-
ity, is not as good as that from the bed above. It has been worked principally
in township 9, range 1, township 11, range 2, and township 12, ranges 1 and
2. It probably underlies the whole of the township 9, of range 1, and a consid-
erable portion of each in range 2, and, perhaps, a portion of townships 8, 9 and
10, of range 3. At a single place in range 3, along the dividing line between
townships 9 and 10, coal, apparently belonging to this seam, has been found,
and a mine opened. The coal is but twenty-six inches thick at this point.
Building Stone. — The Burlington limestone furnishes a good article of build-
ing stone, and is found along the southern part of township 12, range 3, and
WARREN COUNTY. 299
the northern part of township 11, range 3, also in the northwest part of town-
ship 11, range 2. From Rockwell's mill for several miles up Cedar creek, the
outcrops of these beds form mural, or overhanging bluffs, from thirty to forty
feet high. Notwithstanding the immense quantities of stone taken from this
region, these vast ledges appear to have been but slightly worked at a few points.
These outcrops are not on Cedar alone, but along all the branches that enter
it in this vicinity. Nearly all the rock is light colored, some portions being
tinged with a light shade of buff, and others with blue. It is -compact and
dresses well, and some of the layers afford a stone susceptible of taking a good
polish.
The sandstones of the Coal Measures furnish a large amount of valuable
building rock, and the most extensive quarries are in Greenbush and Berwick
townships. The most important quarries in Greenbush, township 8, range 1,
are located along Nigger creek in sections 14 and 15. The following section
will show the thickness and relative position of the beds :
FEET. IN.
1. Coal, No. 2 of the Illinois section 1 6
2. Fire clay * 3
3. Clay shale 11
4. Coal and black slate 8
5. Clay shale from 1 foot 6 in. to 2 6
6. Sandstone 1 6
7. Clay shale from 20 ft. 2 in. to 22
8. Sandstone or shale " 3 ft. 9 in. to 7
The quarries are in No. 8 of this section, and the rock is from five to seven
feet thick where worked.
The most important quarries in Berwick, township 9, range 1, are in sec-
tions 14 and 15, along Slug run, and in sections 18 and 20, on Cedar Fork.
The sandstone is much thicker here than in Greenbush, it being from twelve
to fourteen feet thick, and in some places more. I was unable to ascertain the
position of the strata in which those quarries are, but it may be the same as
No. 8 of the last section.
i In section 11, the sandstone forms immense ledges, which in some places
overhang the water ten and fifteen feet. " Rock House," as it is called, is in
this section, and was formed in some past time, when the bed of the stream
was considerably higher than at present, by the water cutting a passage through
a portion of the lower strata. In the denuding process, a large pillar of sand-
stone was left, and now supports the outer edge of the upper strata, which
forms the roof.
In some localities along Slug run, this sandstone is of little value, as it
crumbles to pieces by exposure to the weather. The quarry stone is quite soft,
splits readily and dresses easily, and may be obtained in large blocks. In
some of the quarries, there is a bluish calcareo-arenaceous rock, hard and
300 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
tough, that occurs in concretions. This makes a very durable building stone,
but is hard to work.
In section 8, township 11, range 3, there is a somewhat extensive quarry
in the sandstone below coal No. 1, and very near the bottom of the Coal Meas-
ures. A similar rock was formerly worked in sections 7 and 8, township 11,
range 2, along Cedar creek. Besides those already mentioned, there are some
smaller quarries in township 9, range 3, township 10, range 1, and township
12, ranges l.and 2.
Limestone for Lime. — Nearly all the outcrops of the Burlington will afford
abundant supplies of material for this purpose, and being nearly pure carbon-
ate of lime, yields an excellent article. Some of the Coal Measure limestone
has been burned, but the supply from this source is very limited. Lime is, at
present, most extensively manufactured in section 1, township 11, range 3.
Better facilities for getting fuel for the kilns, and the manufactured lime to
market, is all that is necessary to render this business an important source of
wealth to some portions of the county.
CHAPTER XX.
MERCER COUNTY.
Mercer county lies on the northwestern border of the State, and embraces a
little more than fifteen townships, or about five hundred and fifty square miles.
It is bounded, on the north, by Rock Island county; on the east, by Henry
and Knox ; on the south, by Warren and Henderson ; and on the west, by the
Mississippi river. The fourth principal meridian passes along its eastern bor-
der, and it embraces townships 13, 14, and 15 north, of ranges 1, 2, 3, 4 and a
part of 5 and 6 west.
It is intersected from east to west, through the northern portion, by Ed-
wards river, which, near the western border, changes its course, and, running
in a southwesterly direction, empties into the Mississippi about a mile and a-
half below New Boston. A few miles south of the Edwards is Pope creek,
which passes through the county in the same direction, and enters the Missis-
sippi at Keithsburg. In addition to these, there are in the northwest, Eliza
creek, which empties into Swan lake, and Camp creek, a tributary of the Ed-
wards ; while in the northeast are Parker's run and another Camp creek, also
branches of the Edwards. South of these is North Pope, a tributary of Pope
creek, and in the southeast are North Henderson and Duck creeks. These,
together with some smaller streams, furnish an abundant supply of water.
A large portion of this county is prairie, while along the borders of the
streams are the so-called " barrens." The soil of the prairie is usually a deep
black or chocolate colored loam, with a yellow or dark brown clay subsoil. The
soil of the barrens is similar to that of the prairie, only lighter colored and of
less depth, while along the upper part of the slope it is of a light brown or yel-
lowish color, owing to the character of Ihe subsoil, which comes near the sur-
face. In some portions of the barrens, there is but a thin covering of soil, and
in these places it is quite light colored, showing that but little humus is present.
302 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Surface Geology.
The surface deposits of this county comprise the usual subdivisions of the
Quaternary, Alluvium, Loess and Drift. The most extensive alluvial deposit
is that of the Mississippi bottom. This extends along the whole western bor-
der of the county, with a varied width of from two to five miles. Of this,
that portion which is situated in the northwest, and extends as far south as
New Boston, is much cut up by swamps, lakes and bays. Much of this land
is comparatively low, and valuable chiefly for meadow and grazing.
Through a large portion of these bottom lands, there are one or more low
ridges of sand. The soil of this sandy portion is of but little value, there being
but few seasons when it is wet enough to produce full crops. In other por-
tions, the soil is a deep black loam and very productive. Narrow alluvial
belts are also found along nearly all the water courses, the soil of which is very
dark colored, but more or less intermingled with sand and pebbles.
Loess. — This deposit is found capping the Mississippi bluffs, and attains a
variable thickness of from ten to forty feet. It is a calcareous marl of light
brown or buff color, and generally contains great numbers of bleached fresh
water shells, mostly of species existing in the streams of the adjoining region.
Drift. — The deposits of this subdivision comprise a series of brown and blue
clays, locally intermingled with sand, gravel and small pebbles, which are
spread over the entire surface of the uplands, and underlying the Loess, where
both are present. Some large boulders of igneous or metamorphic rocks lie
scattered in the valleys of the water courses, but they are not numerous. In
section 9, township 13, range 4, and forming a portion of the bluff of Pope
creek, there are heavy beds of a sandy marl, containing some recent shells.
Two genera were recognized among the specimens obtained here, Limnea and
Succinea. Some fifteen or twenty feet of these beds were exposed, and they
appear to underlie the yellow clays of the Drift, which form the subsoil.*
The older geological formations exposed in this county, belong to the Coal
Measures and the Kinderkook group.
Coal Measures. — Nearly all the stratified rocks exposed in this county belong
to the Coal Measures, and include the lower portion from coal No. 3 (?) of the
Illinois section, to near the base of this formation. They comprise various
* It is probable the beds of sandy marl here referred to, are equivalent to the Post Tertiary
beds of stratified sands, clays, etc., mentioned in the preceding chapters as occurring in Mc-
Lean, Tazewell, Adams, and some other counties, and though underlying, and consequently
older than the Drift, they have as yet afforded no fossil molluscs of extinct species.
A. H. W.
MERCER COUNTY. 303
strata of limestone, sandstone, clay shale and coal, and attain a thickness of
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty, or possibly, in some places, two
hundred feet. There are three, perhaps four, seams of coal worked in this
county.
The upper seam, No. 3 (?) of the Illinois section, has been found and worked
at but one point, sections 31 and 32, township 14. range 2. This seam is from
three to five feet thick, and the coal of good quality. From Mr. Martin's
shaft in the southwest quarter of section 32, and the exposed rocks in the
bluff below, the following section was obtained :
FEET. IN.
1. Drift. Not measured.
2. White clay, sometimes sandy 7
3. Limestone, impure 18
4. Coal No. 3 (?) 3 to 5
6. Sandstone, or sandy shale 10 " 15
6. Slate, not always present 2
7. Limestone 8
8. Coal 1 foot 10 in. to 26
9. Clay 4
10. Slate, penetrated 16
The limestone over the coal No. 4 of this section, contains numerous fossils,
among which are Hemipronites crenistria, Lima retifera, Productus Nebrascen-
sis, Conularia, and several species of Bryozoa.
The second coal seam, No. 2 of the Illinois section, is, in this county, from
one and a-half to two and a-half feet thick. This seam has been found in quite
a number of places, but is, at present, worked at but two or three points. In
sections 20 and 21, township 13, range 2, it has been extensively minnd,
though but one mine, in section 20, is now in operation. The exposed strata
in this vicinity give the following section :
FEET. IN.
1. Coal, No. 3 (?), a trace.
2. Sandstone, or sandy clay, about 15
3. Limestone, impure and shaly 1 foot 2 in. to 14
4. Blue arenaceous clay shale 6 in. " 1
5. Coal, No. 2 2 feet " 2 6
6. Blue clay, but partially exposed.
The sandstone, No. 2 of this section, is light colored and soft, but hardens
on exposure. The quarries that are and may be opened at or near this locality,
will furnish an abundant supply of a fair article of building stone for the sup-
ply of the adjacent region. About two miles down North Henderson creek, in
the southwest quarter of section 1 9, there is an extensive quarry of sandstone
and conglomerate. This probably lies below coal No. 2, and near the base of
the Coal Measures. The sandstone is of fair quality, and can be had in blocks
of any desirable size, and, when first taken out, is soft and easily worked, but
304 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
hardens by exposure. The conglomerate, though of little value to the builder,
is interesting to the geologist on account of its containing a considerable amount
of the cherts of the Burlington limestone. These are almost entirely composed
of crinoid stems and heads, and a few other fossils. As is commonly the case
in these cherts, the fossils are not often well preserved, and of those obtained,
but few could be recognized, among which were Batocrinus oblatus, Actinocri-
nus, Platt/crinus — , and Spirifer imbrex.
In section 32, township 14, range 2, the coal seam No. 2 was formerly
worked, but the thicker seam above having been discovered, this one was
abandoned. In section 33, township 14, range 3, a mine was opened a few
years since, but the amount of pyrite contained in the coal was so great, that
it could not be profitably worked in competition with the better coals. Near
Aledo, in section 20, several banks have been opened, at one of which the fol-
owing section was obtained :
FEET. IN.
1. Clay shale. Not measured.
2. Limestone 1 to 1 6
3. Clay, passing into clay shale 3 to 4
4. Coal No. 2 1 foot 6 in. to 2
5. Clay. Not measured.
No. 2 of this section, and the lower portion of the shale above it, contains a
number of fossils, among which are Spirifer lineatus, Athens subtilita, P/euro-
pJiorus soleniformis, Producftis, etc. In section 8, a little north of Aledo, a
mine was opened, though worked but little, in which the strata presented a pe-
culiar feature, as will be seen from the following section :
FEET. IN.
1. Shale. Not measured.
2. Sandstone 8 to 9
3. Clay shale 1 "3
4. Coal 8
5. Limestone f 6
6. Coal . . , 1 6
7. Clay, Not measured.
This is the only instance in which I have noticed a stratum of limestone
separating the coal.
In section 9, there are extensive quarries in the sandstone, No. 2 of the last
section. They have been worked for years, and have furnished immense
amounts of good building material.
Near Millersburg, section 2, township 14, range 4, there is a mine that is
worked where the coal is from two to two and a half feet thick.
Section 1 affords a sandstone which is much harder than that obtained from
most of the other quarries. There is but a single layer found here, and this is
only from a foot and a half to two feet thick. I was unable to learn its posi-
MERCER COUNTY. 305
tion, as but little of the strata above or below was exposed. The material for
the foundation of the jail at Aledo was taken from this locality.
A little coal has been mined in sections 35 and 36, township 15, range 3.
The exposed strata here gave —
FT. IN FT. I N
1. Clay shale. Not measured
2. Sandstone, about 15
3. Blue clay or clay shale 2 to 3
4. Coal 1 6to 2
5. Clay. Not measured
There are extensive quarries in the sandstone, No. 2 of this section, in this
vicinity. Though soft when taken out, it hardens by exposure, and is light
colored and thick bedded. Much of the material for the walls of the Aledo
jail was taken from the quarries in section 35.
The lower coal seam, No. 1 of the Illinois section, varies in thickness from
three to four feet, and it is from this seam that the principal part of the coal
for the supply of this region is obtained. From the mine in the southeast
quarter of section 1, township 14, range 3, the following section was obtained :
FEET. IN.
1. Impure, gray limestone 8
2. Flinty limestone , 6
3. Blue limestone 3
4. Black slate 1 ft. 6 in. 2
5. Coal 1 6
6. Slate or shale 4
7. Slaty coal 4
8. Coal 1 8
9. Sandy clay. Not measured
A little farther west, the dividing slate in the upper coal was reported to be
four feet thick, and at a mine east of this, in section 6, township 14, range 2,
it is one foot and eight inches. Where it becomes so thick, the mining is ren-
dered very expensive, and these mines have been abandoned for the present.
In sections 3, 4, 5 and 6, township 14, range 2, this seam has been extensively
worked. A general idea of the position of the strata may be obtained from a
section made at the mines and quarries in section 4 :
FEET.
1. Impure, drab colored limestone 15
2. Blue limestoae 2
3. Coal 4
4. Sandy clay. Not measured
The shaly seam, mentioned above as dividing the coal into two parts, is only
found at a few mines, and is generally quite thin. The limestone, No. 1 of the
section, is extensively quarried in sections 3, 4 and 5. The rock is mostly in
—39
306 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
thin layers, from two to eight inches in thickness. The large slabs that form
the roof and floor of the cells of the Aledo jail, were taken from section 4, and
some of the thicker layers were used for the walls of the cells.
The blue limestone, No. 2 of the section, is of little or no value for building
stone, as it falls to pieces on being exposed to the weather a short time. It is
sometimes burned for lime.
Large quantities of the gray or drab colored limestone are taken from the
quarries of H. Boone, Esq., in section 34, township 15, range 2. The coal,
No. 3 of the last section, is also worked here.
From the mines in section 19, township 15, range 3, and sections 23 and 24,
township 15, range 4, the following section was obtained :
FEET.
1. Sandstone. Not measured
2. Limestone 2 to 4
3. Black slate 1 to 8
4. Coal 3
5. Clay shale. Not measured
The black slate, No. 3 of this section, in some cases attains a local thickness
that was not noticed elsewhere in this county. A number of mines have been
worked in section 34, township 15, range 4. In section 12, township 14, range
4, there is a coal shaft near the Edwards river. The following section, obtained
in part from the slope above, and in part from the shaft, was furnished me by
the proprietor of the shaft, B. C. Taliaferro, Esq., of Keithsburg :
FT. FT. IN.
1. CoaINo.2 1 to 1 6
2. Slope 12 to 15
3. Clay, very hard and compact 4
4. Quicksand or decomposed sandstone 3
5. Clay shale, very hard 23
6. Coal No. 1 3 6
7. Impure coal, or slate 6
8. White clay. Not measured
The coal obtained from this mine is reported to be of good quality. A layer
of sandstone in section 8 has furnished considerable building stone, but no
work appears to have been done here for sonic time.
From the mines in sections 20 and 21, township 15, range 1, the following
section was obtained :
FT. IN. FT.
1. Sandstone 4 to 6
2. Limestone 1 to 21
3. Coal No. 1 3 to 4
4. Sandy clay shale 8
5. Limestone 6 to 8
6. Coal.. .1 6 to 6
MERCER COUNTY. 307
No. 3 of this section is supposed to represent No. 1 coal. It very closely
resembles, in appearance and position, the coal which in other localities in the
county is referred to this seam.
No. 6 is reported to have been worked in sections 16 and 20. None of the
mines were in operation at the time 1 was there, and I was unable to make a
very satisfactory examination of them. In section 16, at Captain Sisson's mill,
this seam was worked by means of a shaft. The coal was reported to be six
feet thick, but thinned out towards the east. This may be only a development
of No. 1 coal in two divisions, a phenomenon by no means uncommon in other
and adjacent counties. As will be seen from the section, these seams are about
fifteen feet apart, and nearly half the intervening strata are limestone. A
broken coal was reported to have been found in section 1, township 14, range 3,
in digging the drain, which at that point is quite deep, and this may corres-
pond with the lower coal of the last section.
In section 34, of this same township, along Parker's run, a coal seam is
worked, which may belong to coal No. 1, or perhaps to No. 2. There was but
one mine open here, and in this, "horsebacks" or slips are numerous, and the
thickness of the coal quite variable. The following section was made here :
FT. FT. IN.
1. Sandstone. Not measured
2. Limestone 2 to 3
3. Black slate 2 to 2 6
4. Coal 2 to2 8
5. Sandy clay . 5
6. Sandstone. Not fully exposed
This seam more nearly resembles coal No. 2, as it is usually found in tliis
county, in quality and thickness, than No. 1 ; but No. 2 is seldom overlaid by
black slate or underlaid by sandy clay, and both are common with No. 1.
Kinderliook Group. — The only strata belonging to this group that I found
exposed in this county, are in section 5, township 13, runge 5, near the mouth
of Edwards river. Quarries have been opened at this point, and in years past
much building material has been taken from here. Both limestone and sand-
stone, the latter containing considerable magnesia, are found here. These
quarries lie but little above the level of the Mississippi, and are overflowed at
high water. But little work appears to have been done at these quarries for
some time. Fragments of fossils were observed, but nothing perfect enough for
identification was obtained.
Econo-mical Geology.
Building Stone. — Mercer county has, in some parts, an abundant supply
of this material, both of sandstone and limestone. With but one exception,
308 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
the quarries are in strata belonging to the Coal Measures. Nearly all the most
important sandstone quarries appear to belong to one horizon, which is but a
few feet above coal No. 2. This bed is worked in section 21, township 13,
range 2, section 9, township 14, range 3, sections 35 and 36, township 15, range
3, and in some other places. When first taken out, the stone is quite soft, and
is easily cut into blocks of any desired size, but on exposure becomes harder.
So easily is this stone worked, that an old ax is frequently used, and is all that
is necessary to dress the more irregular and uneven beds into shape, and is also
frequently used to split the larger ones. These quarries have been opened
along the slopes of the hills where but little material has to be removed to reach
the rock, and when heavy stripping is required, the quarries are abandoned and
new ones opened. Though this sandstone bed is not continuous, frequently
changing into sand or sandy shale, still the workable portions are sufficiently
extensive to render the supply inexhaustible.
Another extensive sandstone quarry is in section 19, township 13, range 2
This is probably below coal No. 2, and appears to be near the base of the Coal
Measures.
In sections 3, 4 and 5, township 14, range 2, there are extensive quarries of
gray or drab colored limestone. The rock is mostly quite thin bedded, very few
of the layers reaching eight inches in thickness. It is, however, largely used
and much liked. This bed is from ten to fifteen feet in thickness, and is sepa-
rated from coal No. 1, which lies below it, by two feet of blue limestone. The
quarries of H. Boone, Esq., in section 34, township 15, range 2, are in this
bed. Large amounts of building material have been taken from these quarries,
and still the rock has only been worked back for a few feet along some of its
outcrops.
A hard, calcareo-arenaceous rock has been quarried to some extent in the
northwest quarter of section 15, township 15, range 3. Building stone has
also been obtained from the Coal Measure rocks at a number of other places.
The Kinderhook group affords a fair article of building stone, which has been
quarried on section 5, township 13, range 5, just north of the mouth of the
Edwards river, and on the point of land formed by it and the Mississippi. Both
sandstone and limestone are found here, and considerable material has been taken
out in times past, though at present the quarries appear to be nearly abandoned.
Limestone for Lime. — Some of the blue limestone, No. 2 of the last section,
found above coal No. 1, has been burned, and produces a fair article of lime, but
generally needs to be screened before using, and the amount thus obtained is
comparatively small.
Coal. — Mercer county has an abundant, though unequally distributed, supply
of coal. The upper seam, No. 3 (?), has been found only in sections 31 and 32,
township 14, range 2. The coal is from three to five feet thick, and at the
MERCER COUNTY. 309
time I was there, there were two shafts and a drift bank in operation. These
mines furnish a large amount of good coal. To the east, this seam was reported
to thin out within a short distance. On going still farther east, it may become
thicker, and should this be the case, the seam may be found and worked in the
eastern part of the county. No coal has been discovered from this point for
about twelve or fourteen miles up the creek, where a seam, probably coal No.
4, is worked in section 3 of the northwestern township of Knox county. It is
thought that there is a coal seam in section 5 of this township, lying below
the bed of Pope creek, which may be No. 3 (?), and in that case it could, pro-
bably, be found between this point and the mines in township 14, range 2, in
Mercer county.
The next coal seam, No. 2, has been found over a much larger area. This
seam, however, is only from one and a-half to two and a-half feet thick. At
present, the only mines in operation are in section 20, township 13, range 2,
section 20, township 14, range 3, and section 1, township 14, range 4. This
seam has been opened in a numbar of other places, but from one cause or ano-
ther, the mines have been abandoned for the present. The amount of coal
now obtained from this seam is comparatively small, but in most places the
quality is good. It probably underlies a portion of townships 13 and 14, range
1, the larger part of township 13, range 2, and the northern part of township
14, range 2, a little of the northern part of township 13, range 3, nearly all
of township 14, range 3, the northeastern part of township 14, range 4, a part
of township 15, ranges 2 and 3, the northwest part of township 15, range 4,
and the uplands of township 15, range 5. Although it has not been found in
township 15, ranges 4 or 5, I think that it may be, from the fact, that in or
near section 21, township 16, range 5, Rock Island county, a two-foot seam of
coal, resembling No. 2, is worked. This coal is found but little above the bed
of Copperas creek, and the mines are only about three miles from the north
line of township 15, range 5. The coal is worked both by drifts and a shaft,
and is said to be of excellent quality. Traces of coal were reported to have
been discovered in or near section 8, township 15, range 5, and if so, it may
belong to this seam.
The lower seam, No. 1, affords the larger part of the coal now used in this
county. It is from three to four feet thick and underlies a large area, but is
most extensively worked in township 14, ranges 2 and 3, and township 15,
ranges 1, 2 and 4. It probably underlies township 13, ranges 1 and 2, town-
ships 14 and 15, ranges 1, 2, 3 and 4, and perhaps a portion of township 13,
ranges 3 and 4, and township 15, range 5. Coal No. 1 is not always found
where No. 2 is developed and its proper horizon is exposed, as in some places,
particularly along the outer edges of the coal field, the lower part of the meas-
ures were not deposited very regularly, and hence, in some of the above-named
310 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
places coal No. 1 may not be found; In section 19, township 13, range 2, the
rock at the quarries has the appearance of belonging to the conglomerate, at
the base of the Measures, which lies below coal No. 1, although No. 2 is found
at the bottom of the bluff within about two miles up the creek, and the strata
appeared to be nearly horizontal. At some of the mines, the coal from this
lower seam is not of the best quality, there being much slaty material with it
which requires to be sorted out before it is sent to market. This is not always
carefully done, and thereby the value of the coal, and the reputation of the
mine is much injured.
In searching for these lower seams, it is well to know beforehand whether
the Coal Measures are present and upon what they rest, though it seems proba-
ble that some of the strata belonging to the coal series will be found throughout
the county, with, perhaps, the exception, of the bottom lands of the Mississippi.
None of the underlying strata have been seen in townships 14 and 15, but
the coal seam worked along the Edwards, is most likely the lowest one, un-
less the lower one found in Richland Grove, township 15, range 1, should
prove to be a different seam. This lower seam was recognized with certainty
at but two places, about a mile apart, and was reported to be, in each case,
about fifteen feet below the seam supposed to be No. 1, and it is not improba-
ble that this may prove to be only a lower division of No. 1. In section 1,
township 14, range 3, the strata dip as the entry runs back from the mouth
of the mine, hence they were obliged to make the drain quite deep, and in dig-
ging this they found a broken coal about fifteen feet below the one they work,
which is probably the lower division of the seam.
In township 13, ranges 1 and 2, the Coal Measures may rest, at least along
the southern border, upon the Burlington limestone, though it is not certain
that this group extends as far north as this, but it is not improbable. Should
it be present it will form a horizon readily recognized, below which coal need
not be looked for, as the light colored crinoidal, or even the brown arenaceous
limestone is very different in appearance from the limestones of the Coal Meas-
ures, which are usually dark colored and fine grained.
From the southern part of Henderson county, where the Burlington lime-
stone outcrops, to its most northerly exposure at Bald Bluff, the strata rise
gradually. East of here, at the most northerly exposure of the junction of
this group with the Kinderhook, in section 35, township 12, range 3, in War-
ren county, it is nearly twenty feet above the level of Cedar creek, and proba-
bly not less than forty to sixty feet above the Mississippi. At this point the
whole of the Burlington rocks appear to be exposed, and do not exceed thirty-
five or forty feet in thickness. East of here they are exposed a very little far-
ther north, when they disappear beneath the Coal Meaaures. In range 3, the
surface of which is considerably lower for some distance than that of ranges 1
MERCER COUNTY, 3 11
and 2, it will not probably be found north of section 35, township 12. All
the stratified rocks that have been observed north of this in this township, ap-
pear to belong to the underlying Kinderhook group. Hence it seems probable
that along some portions of the southern border of Mercer county, the Coal
Measures rest upon the Kinderhook group. As the latter is here composed of
shales much resembling those of the Coal Measures, it will be very difficult, if
not impossible, for the miner, who knows nothing about geology, to tell when
he has reached the horizon, below which coal cannot be found, and he may dig
or bore into the Lower Carboniferous beds without the slightest prospect of
reward for his labor.
A much larger amount of coal might be taken out in this county, were the
demand sufficient to warrant it, none of the mines being worked to their full
capacity at the present time. The railroad now being constructed intersects
the county from east to west, and runs within three miles of nearly all the
mines along Edwards river, while some of them are much nearer, and those
along Pope creek, sections 31 and 32, township 14, range 2, are less than four
miles from it. It is probable that at almost any place between Windsor and
Monroe, a shaft might be sunk, near the railroad, and reach a workable seam
of coal at a depth not exceeding one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet.
This road once in operation, new mines will be opened, and sections that are
now unable to obtain coal at reasonable rates will be supplied, while those who
have coal lands near the road will find their value much increased.
Pi/rite. — This is a sulphuret of iron, and the so-called "sulphur" of the
miners. It is more or less mixed with the coal of all the seams, and is the
great bane of all our western coals. It occurs in various forms, sometimes in
crystals, and thin vertical layers disseminated throughout the coal, and again
in horizontal bands. In the latter case, it is readily separated from the coal
in the mines, but in the former this cannot be done. If much of it be present
the coal is valueless for blacksmithirig purposes, as it renders the iron brittle.
If the coal is to be used in the manufacture of iron, the sulphur of the pyrite
may be removed by coking. This mineral is of no value, save for the manu-
facture of copperas (sulphate of iron) and sulphuric acid.
Timber, Soil vnd Agriculture. — The soil of the prairie is a dark colored or
black loam, containing much humus, and everywhere productive, when prop-
erly drained and cultivated. Corn and other cereals are the principal crops.
The soil of those portions which skirt the water courses is usually much lighter
colored, and of less depth than that of the prairie. Though much less pro-
ductive, it is better adapted to some crops, particularly fruits. Nearly all these
lands were originally timbered, but large portions of them have been cleared,
either to obtain fuel or for cultivation. The most abundant kinds of timber
found here, and along the slopes of the hills are, white, bur, black, red and
312 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
laurel oak, red and white elm, blue and white ash, bitternut and scaly-bark
hickory, sugar and white maple, wild cherry, and red-bud, with occasionally
black walnut, butternut and American aspen. In the creek bottoms there are,
in addition to these, honey-locust, sycamore, cottonwood, ash-leaved maple or
box elder, buckeye, wild plum, thorn and crab apple. Grape vines and other
climbers are abundant.
The bottom lands of the Mississippi are in part prairie, and in part covered
with a heavy growth of timber, consisting of sycamore, cottonwood, black wal-
nut, butternut, red and white elm, white and sugar maple, buckeye, coffee tree,
honey-locust, hackberry and the common varieties of oak, hickory and ash.
This land is very fertile, and produces large crops of hay, corn, etc.
A large portion of townships 14 and 15, range 6, is comparatively low land,
and valuable principally for timber, grazing and meadow. Some parts of this
produce immense quantities of a coarse grass, which is much liked by cattle,
and hence stock growing is extensively carried on in some portions of the
county.
Other portions of these bottom lands are very sandy and the soil poor, but
in wet seasons comparatively large crops may be raised here by proper cultiva-
tion and fertilizing. Irish and sweet potatoes do better here than on the
prairies. Some portions of this sandy land is covered with a scrubby growth
of timber, consisting of black-jack, black, white and red oak, and shell-bark,
and bitternut hickory.
CHAPTER XXI.
KNOX COUNTY.
Knox county comprises a superficial area of twenty townships, or seven hun-
dred and twenty square miles. It is bounded, on the north, by Henry county;
on the east, by Stark and Peoria ; on the south, by Fulton ; and on the west,
by Warren and Mercer. The fourth principal meridian passes along its west-
ern border, and i£ embraces townships 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 north, of ranges 1,
2, 3 and 4 east.
The southeastern part of the county is intersected by Spoon river, which en-
ters it in township 11, range 4, and passes out in township 9, range 2. French
and Littler's creeks lie to the east, while Haw and Court creeks with their
branches, the larger of .which are Brush, Middle, North and Sugar creeks, lie
on the west. In the northeast, is Walnut creek, a branch of Spoon river,
while in the northwest, Cedar, Main Henderson and Pope creeks have their
origin, and run to the westward.
By these, and some smaller streams, this county is well watered. Springs,
though not numerous, are occasionally found along the lower lands. Good
wells may generally be had at depths varying from fifteen to fifty feet.
A large proportion of the county is prairie, but so numerous are the streams
that the prairies are commonly but a few square miles in extent. The soil
does not present any material difference in appearance from that of the other
counties in this part of the State, and is of the usual dark colored, vegetable
loam, with a brown clay subsoil. That along the water courses is generally of
less depth and lighter in color.
Surface Geology.
This embraces the usual subdivisions of the Quaternary, with the exception
of the Loess, which was not noticed. The alluvial deposits are not extensive ,
seldom over a mile or so in width, and commonly much less, and comprise the
bottom lands found along nearly all the water courses. The soil is a dark
colored loam, frequently intermingled with sand and gravel.
The Drift is spread over the entire surface of the uplands, to a depth of from
ten to sixty feet, perhaps occasionally a little more. It comprises a series of
—40
314 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
yellow and blue clays, here and there mixed with sand and gravel. Boulders
of igneous and metamorphic rocks are not uncommon in it, and may fre-
quently be seen along the courses of the streams. Wells are not usually sunk
entirely through this deposit, an abundant supply of good water being com-
monly found before the beds of the Coal Measures are reached, though occa-
sionally they go deeper, and good water is sometimes obtained in the Coal
Measures.
All the stratified rocks exposed in Knox county belong to the Coal Meas-
ures, and they comprise a series of sandstones, limestones, clays, shales and
seams of coal, and represent the middle and lower part of the series, from coal
No. 6, of the Illinois section, to coal No. 1 inclusive.
The upper seam, No. 6, is found principally in the eastern half of the county.
It varies in thickness from four to six feet, and affords a good quality of coal.
In this and the adjoining counties, it has a clay band about a foot and a-half or
two feet from the bottom, and frequently several other clay partings, as the two
sections given below will illustrate. No. 1 was taken from a mine in section
15, township 10, range 4, and Nc. 2 from section 32, township 12, range 4.
No. 1. No. 2.
FEET. IN FEET. IN.
1. Coal 2 10 18
2. Clay ' ito £ i
3. Coal 1 1
4. Clay 1 "2 3
5. Coal , 8 6
6. Clay !«1 1
7. Coal 11 1
No. 4 of this section is nearly always present, but is occasionally replaced
by clay shale, and rarely by pyrite. Partings Nos. 2 and 6 are quite variable,
always less than No. 4 and frequently wanting or marked by a band of shale
or pyrite. The principal clay parting, No. 4 of the section, is largely used as
a mining seam. The clay having been removed the coal above is broken down,
and that below taken up.
In the western half of township 12, range 4, this coal seam has been exten-
sively worked. Mines have also been opened in sections 4, 5, 17, 18, 19, 29,
30, 31 and 32. A section of the strata on section 12, gave :
FEET. IN.
1. Clay shale. Not measured
2. Limestone 1 to 3
3. Slaty or clay shale 6 in. to 4
4. Coal 2 " 2 8
5. Clay, mining seam ....,„ 2 in. to 3
6. Coal 1 foot 6 in. to 2
7. Clay 2 " 4
8. Sandstone
KNOX COUNTY. 315
In some mines this coal runs as thick as six feet, but the section above given
shows its more common thickness. At the mines of P. Peterson, Esq., in the
northwest part of the northwest quarter of section 32, and some others in the
vicinity, the coal was thicker than in the mines in the northern part of the
township. The overlying limestone is here quite hard and durable, and is
worked somewhat for building stone. In township 12, range 3, mines have
been worked in sections 1, 10, 1,1 18, 19 and 20. East of Wataga, township
12, range 2, in sections 13, 15, 22, 23 and 24, much coal has been taken from
this seam. From the mines of John A. Leighton, Esq., in section 12, the fol-
lowing section was obtained :
FEET. IN.
1. Clay shale. Not measured.
2. Limestone 1 foot 6 in. to 2
3 . C 1 ay 6
4. Black slate 8 in. to 2
5. Coal . . 4 2
8. Clay. Not measured
The clay parting here varied from two to four inches in thickness. Near the
center of section 24, limestone is found in considerable quantities, which makes
good lime.
In township 11, range 3, there are mines in sections 3, 4 and 5, and the coal
is reported to belong to this seam, and to be from four to five feet thick. In
section 15, towHship 10, range 4, the coal appears along the bluff a number of
feet above the stream. The following section was obtained here :
FEET. IN
1. Limestone. This is sometimes replaced by two feet of black shale 1 to 4
2. Clay, containing limestone nodules 6
3. Coal, clay parting from one to two inches thick 5 8
4. Clay 10 " 12
5. Sandstone 3 " 5
6. Clay shale 8 " 12
The limestone, No. 1 of the section, is worked at this place, and the fol-
lowing fossils were obtained from it : Productus Prattcnanus, Chonetes Flemin-
gii, Yoldia Knoxensis ? and some others not identified. This limestone is again
exposed and worked in the southeast quarter of section 25, township 9, range
4. It is quite hard at this point, and makes a valuable building stone, and
being four feet thick, can be quarried more readily than at most other locali-
ties in this vicinity where it is thinner. It also forms a good roof for the coal
below, there being but six inches of shaly limestone between. This seam is
worked in sections 23, 24, 31 and probably 32 and 33. There is also a mine
in section 35, township 9, range 3. At this point the coal is found high up in
the hill and is reported to be somewhat rotten.
316 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The mines formerly worked by Messrs. Camp and Powell at Oneida, section
36, township 13, range 2, also belongs to this seam. The mine was closed at
the time I was there, so that I was unable to make any examinations. The
seam was reported to be quite thin, but with the usual clay parting.
The following analyses of three specimens of this eoal are taken from the
first volume of this report, and were made by Dr. Blaney, of Chicago :
Weight of a •»,• . , Volatile combusti- n , i .1, r> i
f. f , Moisture. Carbon in coke. Ashes. Coke,
cubic foot. ble matter.
1. 78.4855 12.0 27.2 55.2 5.6 60.8
2. 81.5112 8.8 30.8 58.0 2.4 60.4
3. 79.4892 11.6 29.3 55.9 3.2 51.1
No. 1 was from near the top of the seam ; No. 2 from just above the clay
band, and No. 3 from below this band.
This seam is only found in the higher portions of the county, which are
principally in the eastern half, and north of Spoon river. The river divides this
seam, leaving a small portion in the southeastern part of the county. Here it
is found along Kickapoo and Littler's creeks, in township 9, range 4, and
probably underlies the lands between the two in the southeastern part of the
township. At a single point in section 15, township 10, range 4, there are
some mines that appear to belong to this seam. North of Spoon river this
seam underlies the western half of Victoria, township 12, range 4, a portion of
the northern and western parts of Copley, township 12, range 3, and a part of
the eastern half of Sparta, township 12, range 2.
At most of the mines in the county, this coal is of good quality, and no
other seam, unless it be No. 2, furnishes as good blacksmith's coal. " Horse-
backs," or slips, are not very numerous, though occasionally occurring. At
present this is the most valuable seam worked in the county.
The next seam, No. 4 ? of the Illinois section, usually lies from forty to sixty
feet below this one. As there is no place in the county where the two are ex-
posed, I was unable to obtain a section of the strata between them. This coal
is seldom less than three, or more than four feet in thickness. Mines, which
appear to be in this seam, are worked in sections 2 and 3, township 13, range
1. A section obtained from here showed :
FEET. IN.
1. Limestone 1 6
2. Clay shale 8 to 10
3. Coal 3 " 5
4. Clay 3
5. Sandstone. Not measured
These are the only coal mines that have been opened in this part of the
county, and there are none in the adjoining parts of Mercer and Henry coun-
ties. A mine has been opened in this seam in the eastern part of section 25,
KNOX COUNTY. 317
township 12, range 4. No work was being done at the time I was here, but
another mine just over the line in Stark county, was open. As they are but a
short distance apart, the following section, which was taken from the latter,
will probably show the general character of the strata :
FEET. IN.
1. Limestone 3
2. Clay shale 10 to 12
3. Coal 4 " 6
4. Impure cannel coal 6 in. to 10
5. Clay. Not measured
In the cannel coal, No. 4 of this section, there are the remains of fishes and
plants, some of which are beautifully preserved, though generally quite frag
mentary.
The mines along Sugar creek and its branches, in township 12, range 3, may
belong to this seam, or perhaps to No. 6, but as none of the banks were open,
I could not make the necessary examinations to determine this point. The
coal furnished by these mines was reported to be of superior quality, and this
would seern to indicate that it belonged to No. 6.
The mines in sections 9, 16 and 32, and along Middle creek and its branches,
in the northeast part of township 11, range 2, also those in section 25, town-
ship 11, range 1, are probably in coal No. 4, or possibly in No. 5.
South- of Spoon river, there are a number of mines along Littler's creek, in
sections 26, 27, 28, 34 and 35, township 9, range 3. A section here gave:
FT. IN. FT. IN
1. Black slate 1 3 to 2
2. Coal 3 6 to 4 6
3. Fireclay 1 6 to 2
The mines in section 3, township 9, range 4, and sections 26 and 27, town-
ship 10, range 4, may also belong to this coal, but the evidence was quite un-
satisfactory. The following section was reported from section 26 :
FEET.
1. Sandstone 3to 5
2. Clay shale '. 8 to 12
3. Clay 2
4. Black slate 2 to 4
5. Coal 2 to 3
6. Clay shale. Not measured
This seam, though not as extensively worked as No. 6, underlies a much
larger portion of the county. It probably underlies township 13, ranges 2, 3
and 4, and the eastern part of range 1.
A short distance southwest of Milroy, a thin seam was reported somewhere
from twenty to forty feet below the one now worked there, which appears to be
No. 6. Should this lower seam be No. 4, it is much thinner here than it is
318 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
usually, and it is more probably No. 5. It probably underlies township 12,
ranges 2, 3 and 4, townsbip 11, range 2, and the southeastern part of range 1>
and the northern borders of ranges 3 and 4, perhaps the eastern part of town-
ship 10, range 4, and township 9, range 4, and the southern half of range 3.
The coal from this seam is generally of fair quality, but is a little harder, and
not as well liked as that from No. 6.
In township 10, range 1, there is a coal seam worked in several places, which
may be No. 3 (?) of the Illinois section. The exposed strata in section 23
showed the following succession :
FT. IN. FT. IN.
1. Clay or clay shale, rotten. Not measured
2. Coal 4 to 5
3. Sandstone and shale . 10 to 15
4. Clay shale 1
5. Black slate 6 to 1 3
6. Clay shale 4
7. CoalNo.2 1 6 to 2 3
8. Fire clay. Not measured
Abundance of fossil plants were found in some portions of the shale overlying
the upper coal seam of this section, among which are, Pecopteris villosa, P.poly-
morpha, Neuropteris rarinervis, Stigmaria Evenii, Sphenopteris intermedia, An-
nulariq, longifolia, A. sphenophylloides and Pinnularia capillctcea. A.11 these
plants are found in connection with coal No. 2 of the Illinois section, and have
not hitherto been observed in connection with No. 3 in this portion of the
State.
The lower seam is considered by the miners to be the same seam as that
worked near Avon, ten or twelve miles southeast of this, which is referred by
the best authorities to coal No. 2. The upper seam, at this place, agrees very
nearly with the one found in section 17, township 8, range 2 west, in Warren
county. The lower scam, No. 7 of the section, is worked in several places in
section 23, but the upper one only on the farm of Deacon Andrews, in the south-
east quarter of the section. The coal furnished by this mine is rather soft,
kindles easily, and has a good reputation.
A portion of the mines worked in section 10, of this township, appear to be
in this seam. A section at this point gave :
FT. FT.
1. Calcareous clay or shale. Not measured
2. Coal 3 to 6
3. Calcareous clay or shale 7 to 9
4. Coal 5 to 6
6. Blue clay or shale, about . * .... 20
6. Coal 2
No. 6 of this section I consider to be coal No. 2, and No. 4 of the section
to be the equivalent of the upper coal in section 23. No. 2 of this section may
KNOX COUNTY. 319
be only a division of the coal below it, or it may be a separate seam, perhaps
coal No. 3., The equivalents of either of thes seams have not been recognized
elsewhere in the county.
Near the former site of Dr. E. Hall's mill, ection 5, township 13, range 1,
there is an outcrop of limestone along Pope creek, close to the water's edge.
It is supposed that there is a bed of coal but a few feet below this, but the mat.
ter had not been thoroughly tested when I was there. Should it prove to be
so, it seems quite probable that it may be the same seam, No. 3 of the general
section, and the same as the upper one found in the southwestern part of town-
ship 14, range 2 west, in Mercer county. Much of the limestone at this out-
crop is highly fossiliferous, and contains many well preserved remains. The
following fossils were obtained here : Spirifer cameratus. S. planoconvexa,
Productus longispinus var. muricatus, P. Prattenanus, P. Nebrascensis, Chonetes mes-
oloba, Amcula longa, Aviculopecten pellucida, A. carbonarius, A. occidentalis, Lima
retifera, Nucula parva, Edmondia ovata, Entolium aviculatum, Allorisma Geinitzii,
Toldia Knoxensisf and Leda bellastriata, Bellerophon ellipticus, B. Montfortianus,
B. Meekianus, B. percarinatus, Pleurotomaria Grayoillensis, P. sphceruluta, Macro-
don, Machrocheilus inhabilis, PolypJiemopsfe peracuta, P. inornata, Pleurophorus,
Nautilus and Orthoceras cribrosum. Of these, Allorisma Geineitzii, Leda bellastri-
ata, Nucula parva and Pleurophorus? have been referred by Prof. Geinitz to the
following European Permian species : Allorisma elegans, Nucula Kasanensis, N.
Beyrichi, and Pleurophorus Pallasi. Some of these species are found in connec-
tion with the lowest coals. (See the description of coal No. 1 in the report on
Warren county.) For the identification of the above named fossils, and for other
points of interest, I am indebted to Mr. F. B. Meek.
The next coal seam, No. 2 of the Illinois section, is generally from a foot
and a half to three feet in thickness. This coal is considered fully equal in
quality to that of any other seam found in the county. In township 12, range
1, a coal that appears to be the equivalent of this seam, is worked in sections
20, 21, 29, 30, 32 and 33. The seam is from two to three feet thick, with from
one to three feet of clay shale, and a band of limestone above, and a floor of
fire clay. In sections 23 and near the southeast corner of 16, township 11,
range 2, it is again worked. From here along down Court creek to its mouth,
and on some of its branches, this seam has been more or less worked in sections
19, 22 and 23, township 11, range 3, also in sections 13 and 35. In Truro,
township 11, range 4, it appears in or near the bed of Spoon river, and has been
worked at various places. From here there are outcrops along the river, at in-
tervals, to near the south line of the county. The exposure near the river
.bridge, section 12, township 10, range 3, shows the following succession :
1. Clay shale. Not measured.
2. Limestone
3. Clay shale
320 GEOLOGY OP ILLINOIS.
FT. IN. FT. IN.
4. Calcareous iron ore 2 3
5. Clay shale 2 3
6. Limestone 6 to 9
7. Clay shale 1 3
8. Limestone 2
9. Arenaceous shale 3
10. Limestone 2 to 3
11. Clay shale 6 6
12. Black slate 3
13. Coal 1 S to 3
14. Clay. Not measured
The limestone, Nos. 2, 6, 8 and 10, contain a greater or less percentage of
carbonate of iron. From the shales and limestones were obtained Producing
Prattenanus, P. Nebrascensis, Athyris subtilita, Chonetes mesoloba, Lingula
umbonata, and other fossils.
West of the river, in township 10, range 3, this seam is worked in sections
8, 16, 18, 19 and 29, also in township 10, range 2, in sections 14, 22, 23, 25,
26, 27, 29, 33 and 34. In section 33,. along Hog creek, specimens of " cone-in-
cone" were found in considerable quantities. West of this the coal has been
found in sections 10, 14 and 23. The exposure in the bluffs of Brush creek, in
the northeast quarter of section 14, gave :
FT. IN.
1. Sandstone. Not measured
2. Shale. Not measured
3. Black slate. Not measured
4. Clay shale 6 6
5. Coal 2 2
6. Clay shale or clay • 3
7. Sandstone. Not measured
Nos. 1, 2 and 3 of the above sections were only exposed sufficiently to de-
termine their lithological characters, but not so as to be accurately measured.
The following section was obtained in section 10 :
FEET.
1. Clay or shale. Not measured
2. Coal 3 to 6
3. Clay or shale 7 " 9
4. Coal No. 3 5 " 6
5. Clayshale 20
6. Coal No. 2 2
7. Sandstone. Not measured.
Seams that appear to be the same as Nos. 4 and 6 of this section, are worked
in section 23, and the plants obtained from the overlying shales of the upper
bed, are the same as are found elsewhere in connection with No. 2. This
would indicate that the lower coal might be No. 1 of the general section of the
KNOX COUNTY. 321
coal strata in the Illinois river valley, as given in the third volume of these
reports, and that the others are the equivalents of coals No. 2 and 3 of the
same section, to which they correspond more decidedly in their general fea-
tures than with the higher beds. They are, however, considerably thicker
here than coals Nos. 2 and 3 average in other portions of the State, but as the
local thickening of the coal is not an uncommon occurrence, no definite con-
clusion can be based on that character alone. It may be, however, that the
lower coal in the above section will prove to be No. 2, and that the beds above
either represent coals 3 and 4, or an unusual local development and division
of No. 3 only. If this proves to be the true solution of the question, it shows
that the fossil plants usually found in the roof shales of No. 2, also occur some-
times in connection with the higher seams.
The lower coal in the above section is also worked in township 9, range 1,
section 17, and the mines in section 36 probably belong to it. The seam there
is about three feet thick. In township 9, range 2, it is worked in sections 6,
8, 9, 27 and 31. Along the little run that intersects the western part of sec-
tion 31, a coal that appears to be the same has been worked high up in the
bluff, and in the bed of the run the lower coal, No. 1, crops out.
No. 2 is worked either by stripping or drifting. Along the bluffs of the
streams and in the hill-sides where it crops out, it is frequently the case that
but a few feet of other material lies over it, and by stripping this off, large
amounts of coal are obtained at a small expense. At no place in the county
is this seam worked by means of a shaft, but in those parts where it attains a
thickness of from two and a-half to three feet, it may hereafter be profitably
worked by this method.
The lower seam, No. 1, is not worked to any extent in but one locality in
Knox county, on section 21, township 12, range 1. It is here worked by
means of a shaft, which is about thirty feet deep. The coal is six feet thick,
but as much of the roof is not very firm, and the upper part of the coal is of
inferior quality, from one to two feet of coal is left to strengthen the roof. In
section 36, township 9, range 1, this seam has been found several feet below
the bed of the little stream that passes through it. In section 31, township
9, range 2, it crops out in the bed of a small run, and a little coal has been
taken out here. South of this, and just over the line in Fulton county, the
strata exposed in the bluff of Cedar Fork show the following section :
FEET. IN.
1. Clay shale. Not measured
2. Coal No. 2, about 3
3. Shale and slate 35 to 40
4. Coal, upper division of No. 1 10
5 Shale 8 in. to 1 2
6. Sandstone 6 " 9
—41
322 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
FEET. IN.
7. Clay shale 1
8. Black slate 3 6
3. Coal No. 1, about 3
None of the mines in either seam were open when I was at this place, and
hence I was unable to measure the coal accurately. It seems probable that
this coal, and also No. 2, underlies nearly, if not the whole, of Knox county.
While the strata of the Coal Measures dip, locally, in almost every direction,
they appear to have a general inclination to the southeast, save, perhaps, in the
northwestern part of the county, and here I do not know the direction. The
dip, however, is not regular, but seems to be quite undulating.
Coal No. 2 first outcrops in the bed of Walnut creek, in section 17, town-
ship 12, range 5, in Stark county. South of this it is not again exposed, as far
as I learned, between that point and section 14, township 11, range 4, in Knox
county. From this point, Spoon river, with its various windings, runs to the
west for about five miles, and then south about nine miles, from whence it
passes to the southwest till it leaves the county. From where this coal first
appears in Knox county, it is occasionally exposed along the river and near its
bed to a point a little beyond where the river turns south. In the northwest
quarter of section 6, township 10, range 4, it lies low in the bed of the river,
and is frequently torn up in considerable quantities by the current at high
water, and is sometimes worked when the river is very low. Some two or
three miles south, near the bridge, it appears a little above the bed of the river.
At Burnett's mill, section 34, township 10, range 3, the coal lies some ten or
more feet above the river level, but southwest of this, in section 10, township
9. range 3, it is worked in the bed of the river. In sections 26 and 27, town-
ship 9, it again appears, but how much above the bed of the river I did not
learn. A mile and a-half west of this it crops out along a branch of Spoon
river, about fifteen feet above its bed. South of here, this coal is not worked
along the river in this county, as far as I could learn.
Economical Geology.
Stone for Building, — Knox county has but a limited supply of good build-
ing stone. Some portions, however, have sufficient for their own wants.
North of Knoxville, in the western half of sections 16 and 21, township 11,
range 2, quarries have been opened in a heavy sandstone bed. Some portions
of the rock do not appear to be of much value, while others, though soft, form
a durable material for the use of the builder. This rock appears to lie above
coal No. 2, and is probably the equivalent of a similar bed, in this position, in
Mercer county. In the northeast quarter of section 16, there is a quarry that
affords an entirely different rock. It is a dark drab-colored conglomeratej
KNOX COUNTY. 323
spotted by darker slate-colored pebbles. By exposure it changes, on its sur-
face, to a lighter and yellowish color that is mellow and pleasing in its effect.
It is compact, moderately hard, and makes a valuable building stone. The
foundation stone of the " fire-proof" building attached to the court house in
Knoxville, was obtained from this locality.
Sections 27, 33 and 34, township 10, range 2, furnish some building stone.
Some of the other localities are section 14, township 10, range 3; section 27>
township 10, range 4; and sections 21, 27, 35 and 36, township 9, range 3.
Some of these quarries are large, and considerable amounts of material have
been taken from them.
The band of limestone which lies just above coal No. 6, and is from one to
four feet thick, has been considerably worked, when so exposed as to be readily
obtained. One of the largest quarries in this limestone is south of Yates City,
in section 25, township 9, range 4. The bed is here four feet thick, and yields
a hard, dark drab or grayish-colored, compact rock, which readily breaks into
blocks of good shape for building purposes.
Limestone for Lime, — This is rarely found in any abundance. In township
12, range 2, near the center of section 24, considerable quantities of limestone
are found, which is manufactured into lime, yielding a fair article. Elsewhere
the manufacture has been attempted only on a small scale. For the most part
Knox county has to depend upon localities more favored in this respect, for its
supply of lime.
Coal. — The best and largest amount is furnished by the upper seam, No. 6-
This is principally worked in township 12, ranges 2, 3 and 4, and in townships
9 and 10, range 4. This seam is from four to six feet thick, and at many of
the mines it is comparatively free from foreign substances, and hence requires
but little sorting. " Horsebacks," or slips, which, in some places greatly in-
jure this seam, are not so numerous in this county as elsewhere. The coal is
somewhat lighter than that from seam No. 4, and is preferred by blacksmiths.
No. 4* furnishes the northwestern part of the county with a good supply of
coal of a fair quality, and the mines in this seam are among the best in the
county. Nearly all the coal obtained in township 11, range 2, is, probably,
from this seam, and also that from township 9, range 3. It is also worked in
some other places, and affords a coal of good quality, and harder than that
* It is quite probable that No. 5 is also locally developed in this county, but as there is no
very decided features pertaining to this seam that will serve to distinguish it from No. 4, un-
less both are exposed, it is very difficult to decide positively whether an outcrop of a single
seam at about this horizon, belongs to one or the other of these coals. The quality of the
coal it affords is more like No. 6, while the roof shales and limestone above it, correspond
more nearly with No. 4. In Fulton county, the distance between these coals, when all three
are present, is only about thirty-five feet, and when No. 5 is not developed, the distance be-
tween Nos. 4 and 6 is about sixty-five to seventy feet. A. H. W.
324 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
from No. 6. It does not kindle as easily but lasts longer, and for some pur-
poses is preferred.
Coal No. 3. — This is worked in township 10, range 1, and furnishes a good
coal, and the larger part of the supply for this section.
The remaining portions of the county are supplied by mines which, probably,
are in coal No. 2. At most places where worked, this coal is of excellent
quality, and usually pretty free from admixture with other substances. It is
largely used for, and well adapted to, blacksmithing purposes. Though this is
the thinnesl seam worked, yet the amount obtained from it is quite large.
Coal No. 1 was only recognized at one point in the county, on section 21,
township 12, range 1.
From this it will be seen that Knox county is abundantly supplied with good
coal, there being but three townships in which coal is not mined now, viz:
township 13, ranges 2, 3 and 4, and in two of them it has been worked for-
merly, and probably not less than two workable seams may be found in every
part of these townships.
CHAPTER XXII.
STARK COUNTY.
Stark county is bounded on the north by Henry and Bureau counties, on the
east by Putnam and Marsha], on the south by Peoria, and the west by Knox
and Henry. It has a superficial area of eight townships, or two hundred and
eighty-eight square miles. It embraces townships 12 and 13 north, of range 5
east, and townships 12, 13 and 14 north, of ranges 6 and 7 east.
Spoon river intersects the county from north to south. In the northeastern
part of township 13, range 6, the river branches — the West Fork passing
through township 14, range 6, and the East Fork through township 14, range 7.
In the southern part of the latter township, is Cooper's Defeat Creek. In the
southeastern part of the county are Camp and Mud runs, and in the southwest
is Walnut creek. Indian creek rises near the northern part of township 13,
range 5, and empties into Spoon river just above Slackwater. By these and
some smaller streams, this county is well watered. Springs are occasionally
found along the lower lands, but are not abundant. Good wells may generally
be had at depths varying from fifteen to fifty feet.
A large portion of the county is prairie, but on account of the numerous in-
tersecting streams, the prairies usually contain but a few square miles of area.
There are, however, some large prairies in township 12 and 13, range 7. The
soil is similar in appearance to that of the other counties in this part of the
State, and is of the common dark colored loam, which, when properly drained
and cultivated, is everywhere productive. The subsoil is usually of a brown or
yellow clay. The soil of the timbered lands along the water courses is usually
of less depth and lighter in color. .
Surface Geology.
Two of the subdivisions of the Quaternary are found in this county, Allu-
vium and Drift. The Alluvial deposits comprise the bottom lands found along
nearly all the water courses, but they are seldom over a mile in width, and
generally much less.
326 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The Drift, which comprises a series of brown and blue clays, locally inter-
mingled with sand and gravel, is spread over the entire surface of the uplands
to a depth of from twenty to fifty feet, and perhaps in some places a little
more. Boulders of the older rocks are not uncommon in it, and frequently lie
scattered along the water courses. These are most commonly granite, or be-
long to that class of rocks closely related to it. Wells are seldom sunk through
this formation, an abundant supply of good water being commonly found before
the lower beds are reached.
All the stratified rocks that are exposed in this county belong to the Coal Mea-
sures, and include all the lower portion of the series, from coul No. 7 to coal
2, inclusive. Lower than this the rocks are not exposed.
Coal No. 7, of the Illinois valley section, has been found only at a few places.
It has been worked in or near the north line of section 10, township 14, range 7,
along East Fork. In section 10, a shaft has been sunk by Mr. S. C. Francis,
which affords the following section :
FEET. IN.
1. Yellow ciay 2
2. Red sand 2
3. Limestone, nodular 2 4
4. Clay, light colored 6 10
5. Clay shale 2
6. Sandstone • . 8
7. Blue clay shale 4 2
8. Sandstone • • • • 1 4
9. Blue clay shale 8
10. Dark colored clay shale 5 8
11. Coal ;'. 2
12. Blue clay shale 12
13. Impure limestone f, 8
14. Clayshale 8 0
1 5. Impure limestone 2
16. Blue clay shale 1 4
17. Dark colored clay shale 3 1
18. Coal. 2 7
19. Clay, penetrated 1 8
The shaft had not been sunk any farther at the time I visited it — in the fall
of 1868 — neither had the coal, No. 18 of this section, been tested. This coal
appears to occupy the position of coal No. 7, and probably belongs to that seam.
The coal worked at the Bradford shaft, which is but a short distance from here,
in section 21, is thought to lie some thirty or forty feet below, and is probably
No. 6. In section 32, township 10, range 7. this coal has been worked a little,
by stripping, along Mud run.
Coal No. 6 is the principal seam worked in the county. It first appears in
the bluff of West Fork, in the southeast part of section 3, township 14, range 6.
STARK COUNTY. 327
From this point to the southeast quarter of section 16, it has been worked
at intervals along the west bluff of the creek. At the latter place numerous
openings have been made and large quantities of coal taken out. The coal
here crops out of the bluff some ten or fifteen feet above the bed of the creek,
is four and a half feet thick, and has a two inch clay parting near the middle
of the seam. In township 14, range 7, section 28. this seam is worked at the
Bradford shaft, which is located on the east bank of East Fork, and near the
north line of the section. I am indebted to S. C. Francis, Esq., for the follow-
ing section of this shaft :
FEET. IN.
1. Yellow clay 3
2. Limestone , 4
3. Light colored clay 4 6
4. Light colored clay shale . . . , • • • • 8 4
5. Limestone 2 4
6. Clay shale 9 10
7. Coal 2
8. Soft black slate 4
9. Clay 4 5
10. Sandstone 22 3
11. Clay shale 6
12. Limestone 4
13. Light colored clay shale 6
14. Green clay shale 2 4
15. Dark colored clay shale 3 2
16. Limestone, impure 1 6
17. Dark colored clay shale 2 6
18. Coal, with 3 inch clay parting 3 to 5
" Horsebacks" or slips are very numerous in this mine, rendering the work-
ing of it quite expensive.
Near the junction of East and West Forks, and in the northern part of sec-
tion 1, township 13, range 6, other shafts have been sunk. The shaft at Mo-
dena, in the southern part of section 1, furnished the following section :
FT. IN. FT. IN.
1. Drift, variable
2. Sandstone, sometimes not present 1
3. Blue clay 8 to 10
4. Clay shale 12 to 14
5. Impure blue limestone 2
6. Coal 4 6 to 5 6
West of this, in the northern part of section 4, this coal appears in the bed
of Jack creek, and has been worked a little. Farther down the creek, in sec-
tions 2, 11 and 12, it crops out along the stream, from eight to ten feet above
it. A number of mines have been opened at various points in these sections.
328 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
Along a little branch that enters Spoon river, near the north line of section 14,
this seam outcrops some ten or more feet above the stream. The exposure in
this locality gave the following succession of strata :
FT. IN. FT. IN.
1. Sandstone. Not measured
2. Clay shale 12 to 15
3. Impure limestone 1 to 2
4. Clay shale 1 6
5. Black slate 6
6. Coal 2 to 4
1. Clay, parting 2 to 3
8. Coal 1 6 to 2
9. Clay or clay shale 3 to 4
10. Sandstone. Not fully exposed
The black slate over the coal contains numerous fossils, but mostly imper-
fectly preserved. Among those obtained^are, Cardlnia fragilis? Avicidopecten
rectalaterarea, Discina nitida, Pleurotomaria Grayvillemis, together with some
fish remains.
No. 10 of this section is worked for building stone, and affords a fair article
The coal, and also the other strata for some distance above and below it, are
well exposed in the bluff.
From this point, along the river and on the little runs that put into it, the
coal has been more or less worked, until we reach sections 25 and 26, where the
seam lies some twenty feet or more above the river. In section 26, on the level
land and a little back from the river, several shafts have been sunk. One of
the most westerly of these gave this section :
FEET. IN.
1 . Soil and Drift 20
2. "Second soil," black and very soft 10
3. Clay 4
4. Limestone 2 to 5
5. Sandstone 12
6. Clay shale 15
7. Limestone, containing much pyrite 1 8
8. Blackslate 1 6
9. Coal 4 to 5
10. Clay. 6
11. Sandstone, exposed 15
A short distance to the east of this, and from about the same level, it was
found necessary, in sinking a shaft, to go about thirty feet deeper in order to
reach this seam. South of here, this coal is worked in section 23, township
12. range 6, when it appears in the bluff some eight or ten feet above the river.
It is thinner here than at the other mines in the county, and the overlying
STARK COUNTY. 329
strata are in part different. A shaft, sunk a short distance from the river,
penetrated strata as follows :
FEET. IN.
1. Clay and rock, mixed 21
2. Clay shale 8
3. Limestone 1
4. Clay shale, with usually a little black slate at the bottom, and sometimes all
slate 1 8
5. Coal, with two inch clay parting 2 6
6. Clay. Not measured
" Horsebacks" are very common here, and, together with the thinness of
the seam, render the working of this mine very expensive. The fact that there
are no other mines in this vicinity, alone renders the working of this one
profitable.
Coal No. 4, of the Illinois section, has been found at but one place, section
19, township 12, range 5, where the following section was obtained :
FEET. IN.
1. Limestone 3
2. Clay shale 10 to 12
3. Coal 4" 6
4. Cannel coal, impure •£ " 10
5. Clay. Not measured ,
The cannel coal, No. 4 of this section, contains the remains of fishes and
plants. Among the plants obtained here are Pecopteris arborescens, P. oreop-
teridius, P. acuta, P. cheer ophylloides, Sphenopliyllum Schlotheimn, Sphenopte-
ris tehella, Pinnularia — , Selaginites — , etc. Among the fish remains found
was one nearly perfect fish belonging to the genus Paleoniscus ; also, teeth, etc.
of a Diplodus.
This cannel coal is seldom taken up with the main coal, and still less seldom is
it brought to the mouth of the mine; hence, the amount of material from which
I could collect was very small. Large quantities.- of a good article of coal are
obtained from this mine.
The next seam below this appeared to be coal No. 2, of the Illinois section.
From an exposure in the bluff of Walnut creek, section 17, township 12, range
5, this section was obtained :
FEET. IN.
1. Drift. Not measured
2. Clay and gravel stratified 3 to 5
3. Shale 45 " 50
4. Black slate 2 " 4
5. Coal 1 6
6. Clay. Not measured
This coal lies in the bed of the creek, and can be worked only at low water,
most of it being covered at the time I was there. As this was the only place
—42
330 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
I examined, and no fossils were obtained here, this seam is only provisionally
referred to No. 2 of the general section. A similar seam is reported in section
17, township 12, range 6, at the foot of the bluff, along Indian creek. This
outcrop has not been worked to any extent.
The general dip of the Coal Measure strata in this region appears to be to
the southeast, though not uniformly, but rather in undulations.
Coal No. 6 first appears in Stark county near its northern line, in township
14, range 6/ Here it lies above the creek, and continues above it to the south-
ern line of section 16. From here it is not exposed for several miles down the
creek. At Medina, section 1, township 13, range 6, it lies considerably below
the bed of the river. About a mile west of here it is some ten or more feet
above Jack creek, a branch of Spoon river, and farther down this creek, and
near its mouth, the coal lies but little above its bed. Farther south, and a lit-
tle west, in the northern part of section 14, where it is again exposed, it lies
some ten or twelve feet above the river. The exposures, thus far, have all
been on the west bank. Half a mile south, and near the eastern line of the
section, the coal appears some distance up the bluff, not less than twenty or
twenty-five feet above the river. In the northwestern quarter of section 23,
it is again exposed along a little run, and but a few feet above its bed. South
of here, and near the eastern line of section 2(5, it crops out some twenty or
thirty feet above the river. On the level upland, and but a short distance
from the bluff, there are two shafts. The first one is about 50 feet deep, and the
other one, which is but a few hundred feet to the east, is about 3 Ofeet deeper,
both working this same coal. South of this, I did not learn of any exposure
for about five miles, when, in section 23, township 12, range 6, it again crops
out some six or eight feet above the bed of the river. The course of Spoon
river from here is to the southwest, and this coal seam does not, probably,
again appear near the river. A statement of the workings and outcrops of
coal No. 2, will be found in the report of Knox county.
Economical Geology.
Stone for building purposes. — Stark county is not very abundantly supplied
with good material for these purposes. The supply is unevenly distributed,
some parts being destitute, while in others there is plenty. There are but few
valuable deposits of limestone in this county. In sections 21, 22, township 14,
range 7, the most extensive bed is exposed. It is from six to twelve feet
thick, and furnishes considerable building stone, but the layers are thin, sel-
dom exceeding four inches, and are very uneven. The stone is of a light drab
color, compact, even textured, moderately hard, and is uninjured by the weather.
The following section will show the position of this limestone to the underlying
coals :
STARK COUNTY. 331
FEET. IN.
1. Limestone 6 to 12
2. Clay shale, not accurately measured, but supposed to be somewhere from. . . 5 " 10
3. Limestone 4
4. Clay 4 6
5. Clay shale 8 4
6. Limestone 2 4
7. Clay shale 9 10
8. Coal 2
9. Clay shale 12
10. Limestone 3
11. Clay shale 8
12. Limestone 2
13. Clayshale : 4 5
14. Coal No. 7? 2 7
The limestone, No. 1 of this section, is reported to make, when properly
burned, an excellent lime for building purposes, being nearly equal to cement.
For plastering it is not so good, being too dark colored. For this and other in-
formation, I am indebted to A. B. Abbott, Esq., of Bradford.
Of sandstone, there are a number of outcrops that have been worked in
this county. In section 16, township 14, range 6, there is a bed of this mate-
rial which lies some ten or fifteen feet above coal No. 6. The stone is light
colored and quite soft. In section 14, township 13, range 6, there is a stra-
tum of sandstone that lies a few feet below coal No. 6, and had furnished some
building stone of fair quality. In township 12, range 6, section 14, a quarry
has been opened whicn affords a harder stone, and is thought to be one of the
best sandstone quarries in the county. West of this, in section 17, there is
also a quarry which furnishes a fair article of building stone, and a dwelling
house in this vicinity which was erected quite a number of years ago, the ma-
terial being taken from this quarry, is still uninjured. Another sandstone
quarry was reported to have been opened on Walnut creek in section 20,
township 12, range 5.
Coal. — Stark county has an abundant supply of coal, which is at present de-
rived mainly from coal No. 6. It crops out along West Fork, in Elmira town-
ship, and Spoon river, in Toulon, at intervals for about twenty miles, and can,
probably, be found and worked along these streams and their tributaries, for
the whole distance. This coal varies in thickness from two and a-half to six
feet, seldom reaching either extreme, but averaging from three and a-half to
five feet. Immense quantities of coal have been taken from this seam at its
outcrops along the different streams. In Osceola township, one shaft has been
sunk near East Fork, and several others are partially completed. Shafts have
also been sunk at Medina, and near Wyoming, in Toulon, and at Cox's mill,
in Essex township.
332 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The coal from this mine is generally good, and easily worked. At but two
mines, as far as I learned, are " Horsebacks," or slips, common. The clay
band, which is usually from one to two feet above the base of the coal, and is
called the " mining seam," is frequently taken advantage of by the miners,
who remove it and then break down the coal from above. This seam is found
throughout this coal in this region, and serves as a ready means for recognizing
it, there being nothing in the other coal seams that corresponds with it.
This seam probably underlies townships 12, 13 and 14, range 7, and the
eastern part of the same townships, range 6.
Coal No. 4 ? furnishes nearly all the rest of the coal used in this county, al-
though but one mine is at present being worked in this seam, but the coal
is from four to six feet thick and of fair quality, and the amount annually pro-
duced is large. This seam probably underlies the whole county, with, per-
haps, the exception of a portion of townships 12, ranges 5 and 6.
A coal that is supposed to be No. 2, appears in the last named townships,
and has been worked a little. Coal No. 1, which lies some forty to seventy
feet below No. 2 has not been reached in this county, but it seems probable
that it underlies the whole of it. This seam is generally from three to six feet
thick, and the coal of fair quality.
Of the eight townships in 8tark county, four of them, Osceola, Elmira, Tou-
lon and West Jersey, furnish nearly all the present supply of coal, Essex fur-
nishing but comparatively little, and Valley far less, and none is obtained from
Penn and Goshen townships. As may readily be seen, the present yield is but
a small fraction of what might be annually obtained, were the demand suffi-
cient to justify more extensive operations. As yet there is no railroad pass-
ing within the limits of the eounty. But two are talked of; one of them, the
Peoria and Rock Island railroad, is to enter the county not far from the line be-
tween Valley and Essex, and runs north to near Wyoming, and from thence
northwest through the city of Toulon, to Gralva, in Henry county. The other,
the Dixon, Peoria and Hannibal railroad, is to enter the county near its north-
eastern corner, and passes south to Bradford, and from thence in a southwest-
erly direction to Princeville, Peoria county. Both of these roads will pass
through more or less of the coal field underlaid by No. 6, especially the one
last named. It seems probable that anywhere in this county, along the pro-
posed line of the Dixon, Peoria and Hannibal railroad, shafts may be sunk, and
reach this upper seam at depths not exceeding one hundred and thirty feet.
According to the miners' estimate, there are one million tons of coal to the
square mile for every foot of thickness of the seam. Coal No. 6 is generally
from four to five feet thick, but supposing that it will average only three feet,
this will give over one hundred million tons of coal to either of the three east-
ern townships
STARK COUNTY. 333
Timber, Soil and Agriculture. — Along the water courses, there is usually a
variable belt of timber, consisting principally of the common varieties of oak,
hickory, ash and maple, black walnut, butternut, cottonwood, sycamore, coffee
tree, buckeye, box elder, redbud, wild plum, cherry and crab apple. The soil
of these timbered lands is a clayey loam, sometimes resembling that of the
prairie, though generally lighter colored and of less depth, but frequently par-
taking largely of the character of the subsoil, and of a dark brown or yellowish
color. Though much less fertile than the prairies, these lands are better adapted
to the cultivation of fruit.
The soil of the prairies is a dark-colored loam, which contains a large per-
centage of humus. Its peculiar character is due to the admixture with the
finely comminuted matter, which constituted the surface of the Drift, of the
material resulting from the growth and decay, for long ages, of animal and
vegetable substances upon its surface. If properly drained and cultivated, the
prairies are everywhere productive. Drainage renders the soil dry enough for
working earlier in the spring, and later in the fall ; makes it warmer at those
periods, when warmth is most needed ; helps, by admitting the atmosphere, to
prepare the mineral food for the nourishment of the growing plants, and ren-
ders the latter less liable to injury from drought.
CHAPTER XXIII.
WOODFORD COUNTY.
Woodford county is bounded, on the north, by Marshall and LaSalle coun-
ties; on the east, by Livingston and McLean ; on the south, by McLean and
Tazewell ; and on the west, by the Illinois river. It is quite irregular in out-
line, and comprises a little over fifteen townships, or about five hundred and
fifty-six square miles.
The most important stream in the county is the Mackinaw river, which in-
tersects the southern part from northeast to southwest. To this, Panther and
Walnut creeks are tributary, the former rising in township 27, range 2 east,
and the latter in township 27, range 1 west. The two forks unite in the south-
ern part of township 27, range 1 east, and, running a little to the west of
south, enter the Mackinaw in the southeastern part of township 26, range 1
west. Walnut creek rises in township 27, range 2 west, and empties into the
Mackinaw about four miles below the mouth of Panther creek. In the north-
western part of the county, are Richland and Partridge creeks, which rise, re-
spectively, in townships 28 and 27, range 2 west, and empty into the Illinois
in township 28, range 3 west. Only the southern and western portions of the
county are even comparatively well watered by these streams, and there are but
few springs within its limits. Good wells may generally be obtained at a depth
of from fifteen to fifty feet, but in some cases much difficulty is experienced in
finding water even at the latter depth.
The larger part of the county is prairie, and the surface is, for the most part,
gently rolling. In the southern portion of the county the surface becomes more
broken and hilly, and the prairies of much less extent, while in the western
part, along the Illinois bluffs, and for some distance back, there is little or no
prairie land, and the country is quite broken and intersected by deep ravines.
The soil of the prairies is a black loam, usually from one to three feet deep,
and sometimes even more, with a yellow or brown clay subsoil. Timber origi-
nally skirted, for the most part, the ridges along the water courses, and along
their summits and steep slopes, the subsoil conies near the surface, and the soil
is usually of a lighter color. Much of the timber has been cut away since the
*
WOODFORD COUNTY. 335
first settlement of the county, and the process of denudation is continually
going on.
The principal varieties of timber noticed on the level portions of the tim-
bered lands were white, red, black and laurel oak, and shell-bark and bitternut
hickory, and along the slopes of the bluffs and in the valleys of the small
streams, there are, in addition to those above mentioned, sugar and white
maple, box elder, black walnut, butternut, white and red elm, mulberry, wild
cherry, sycamore, cottonwood, white and blue ash, hackberry, and red-bud,
with an undergrowth of sumac and hazel.
On the bottoms of the Illinois river, we find white elm, willow, buckeye,
black ash, cottonwood, and in the dryer portions the common varieties of oak
and hickory, sycamore, and a few other kinds.
/
Surface Geology.
This comprises the usual subdivisions of the Quaternary, Alluvium, Loess
and Drift. The most extensive alluvial deposit in this county is on the west-
ern border, along the Illinois river. It extends from the north line of the
county to Spring Bay, with an average width of about two miles. South of
Partridge creek, it becomes narrower, and gradually decreases in width, till at
Spring Bay the bluff comes nearly to the river, leaving but a very narrow strip
of bottom land. Along the river much of this land is wet, and only valuable, at
present, for its timber, as it is subject to overflow at every considerable rise of
the river. Occasionally there are low ridges that run nearly to the river, and
here the land, together with that nearer the bluff, is valuable. The soil is a
black, peaty loam, somewhat mixed with the sediment deposited at high water,
and occasionally with fine gravel and sand. It is very fertile and produces
large crops when sufficiently raised above the river.
Along the valleys of the small water courses, there are generally some allu-
vial dsposits, but they are quite limited in extent, seldom exceeding a few rods
in width. The soil is a dark colored loam, intermingled with sand and gravel.
Loess. — In township 28, range 2 west, on Richland creek, a deposit of sandy
clay was found which contained fresh water shells, probably of existing spe-
cies, but this bed appeared to underlie the yellow clays of the Drift, and will
be noticed under that head. It is probable that the Loess caps the bluff of the
Illinois, at least in places, but no point was observed where it could be identi-
fied with certainty.
Drift. — The entire surface of the uplands of the county are covered by ac-
cumulations of this age, which attain a thickness of from fifty to one hundred
and twenty-five feet. These deposits comprise a series of yellow, brown and
336 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
blue clays, sand and gravel. At Minonk, township 28, range 2 east, a shaft
has been sunk, from which the following section of the Drift was obtained :
FEET.
1. Soil 2
2. Yellow clay -. 14
3. Blue clay 18
4. Sand and gsavel 15
5. Cemented sand and gravel 76
125
In section 21, township 28, range 2 west, the Drift exposed in the ravine of
Richland creek, presented a different order of arrangement. A section here
showed :
FEET. IN.
1. Soil and yellow clay. Not measured
2. Purplish clay or hard pan. Not measured
3. Blue sandy clay, containing fresh water shells 6
4. Rotten drift-wood or peaty matter 3 6
5. Blue clay 3 to 4
6. Drift-wood or peaty matter 5 "6
7. Blue clay. Not measured
In this vicinity, on the uplands, wells are reported to have been sunk to a
depth of from fifty to sixty feet, and the hard pan or purple clay not reached.
Judging from the hight of the bluff, I should think that Nos. 1 and 2, of the
last section, would probably exceed these figures.
No. 3 contained fragments of fresh water shells, among which the genera
Succinea and Limnea were recognized by Mr. Meek. This bed resembles the
Loess, but its position, below a considerable portion of the Drift, shows that it
belongs to an older formation.
No. 4 resembles peat, and contains fragments of wood, some of which are well
enough preserved to be recognized, but the larger portion has been converted
into peaty matter. Among the specimens collected from this bed, the follow-
ing kinds of timber were recognized by Prof. Lesquereux: American white
birch, black or double spruce, American larch or Tamarach, and one variety of
cedar.
No. 5 resembles No. 3, but no shells were noticed in it.
No. 6 is similar in character to No. 4. This bed was not as well exposed as
the upper one, but was examined by boring through it. Of course, but small
specimens could be secured by this method, and the only kind of wood thus
obtained, that could be recognized, was the American or black larch.
These beds appear to have been formed mainly of drift wood, the larger part
of which has undergone a partial decomposition. There is too large a percent-
age of earthy material intermingled with the peaty matter to be valuable for
WOODFORD COUNTY. 337
fuel. It might, however, be used as a fertilizer, and where it crops out so as
to be readily obtainable, may prove of value. The material of both beds has
the odor of well decayed manure.*
No. 7 resembles the ordinary blue clays of the Drift period. I am indebted
to Mr. Wm. Rice, who resides in the neighborhood, for assistance in examin-
ing these beds. The peaty layers have been examined, for some distance, by
him.
A bed of light colored sand, of considerable extent and thickness, is reported
to lie in the Illinois bluffs in the northern part of township 28, range 3 west.
It is said to be too fine to make good mortar, and may prove valuable for glass
making.
Boulders of various kinds, and varying from a few inches to several feet in
diameter, are found in the Drift. They consist of granite, syenite, porphyry,
trap, hornblende, quartz, limestone, etc., and occasionally a specimen of native
copper.
Coal Measures. — All the stratified rocks exposed in Woodford county, belong
to the Coal Measures, and they crop out in but very few places. In section 1 ,
township 27, range 3 west, about four miles northwest of Metamora, some beds
of limestone are exposed, for a short distance on Partridge creek. The upper
layer is a compact rock, and makes a good building material, but only about
three feet in thickness of this was to be seen. The only fossils I obtained from
it were, Productus longispinus, and Atliyris subtilita. The lower rock is of poorer
quality, and breaks badly on being quarried. From this I obtained a large
Aviculopecten, species not known.
Near to this, a shaft has been sunk over one hundred and thirty feet, and a
boring was made nearly eighty feet further. The shaft is located at the foot
of the bluff, which is some sixty or eighty feet high. The rocks penetrated
give the following section :
FEET. IN.
1. Drift 5 6
2. Clay shale 19
3. Sandstone , 6
4. Clay shale ..-, „ 4
5. Sandstone , 7 6
6. Clay shale , 4 6
7. Sandstone 1
8. Slate 5
9. Coal 1
*These beds are, undoubtedly, the equivalents of similar strata passed through in the shafts
at Bloomington, at a depth of about two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet below the sur-
face, and being entirely below the true boulder clay, or Drift proper, they may be considered
as stratified Post Tertiary deposits, representing the ancient soils and surface conditions, that
obtained anterior to the Drift epoch. A. H. W.
—43
338 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
JFEET. IN.
10. Clay ahale 56
11. Sandstone 15
12. Coal 3
] 3. Sandstone 5
14. Coal 3 6
15. Clay shale 5 4
1 6. Sandstone ... 4 2
17. Clay shale 5
18. Limestone and chert 1 1
19. Black slate 6 2
20. Clayshale 14 7
21. Sandstone, fine grained 31
22. Black slate 4 8
23. Coal 10
24. Clayshale 6 1
25. Sandstone ?
212 2
No. 14 is the coal seam worked at this shaft. The larger part of it furnishes
a very poor quality of coal, there being only about nine inches near the middle
of the seam that is good. The lower part of it contains considerable pyrite, the
" sulphur" of the miners, but by mixing the good with the poor, the whole is
made saleable. As the expenses of mining this coal are considerable, a high
price has to be charged for it, and at present there are no other coal mines
nearer Metamora than those opposite to Peoria, in Tazewell county. Should
another shaft, furnishing better coal, be opened in the vicinity, the working of
this would have to be abandoned.
The fossils found in connection with this seam are, Ghonetes mesoloba, and
Khynclwnella Osagen&is. These are abundant, and fragments of others were
noticed.
The journal of the shaft was obtained for this report by Dr. J. M. Clark, of
Metamora. A boring was made from No. 14 to No. 25, to learn if a better
seam could not be found. This part of the section was furnished me by the
foreman, Mr. Ai'ien.
Coal has been mined in but one other place in the county, which is at Mi-
nonk. This place is located on nearly the highest land in the county, and the
shaft was sunk on the prairie, near the railroad, and about on a level with the
town. The most of the following section was furnished me by the Superintend-
ent, Mr. Atherton ; the remainder by D. C. Taft, Esq. :
FEET. IN.
1. Drift 125
2. Limestone 6
S.Clayshale 3
4. Black slate 1
WOODFORD COUNTY. 339
FEET. IN.
6. Blue clay shale , . . . . 7
6. Red clay shale 3
7. Limestone 1
8. Clay shale 18
9. Limestone 1
10. Sandstone 14
1 1. Clay shale 10
12. Arenaceous shale 7
13. Black slate 3
14. Blue clay shale ; 9
15. Red clay shale 13
16. Sandstone 100
17. Black slate 3
18. Clay shale 2
19. Coal 3
20. Clay 12
21. Arenaceous shale 6
22. Argillaceous limestone 2
23. Arenaceous shale 30
24. Coal 2
26. Clay 6
26. Arenaceous shale 33
27. Black slate 19
28. Sandstone 12
29. Limestone . . 2
30. Clay shale 18
31 . Limestone 2
32. Sandstone 6
33. Clay shale 18
34. Chert 9
35. Clay shale 18
36. Black slate 2.
37. Clay shale 14
38. Sulphur rock 1
39. Black slate 6
40. Clay shale i
41. Black slate )
42. Coal 3 10
546 9
As the shaft had been sunk sometime before I visited it, much of the mate-
rial taken out was covered up, and many of the fossils had been carried away.
Crinoidal stems were abundant in some of the upper beds, but the exact hori-
son from which they came I did not learn.
340 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
No. 2. — This is the thickest bed of limestone that was found in sinking the
shaft. In it were, Productus lonfftspintu, P. Prattcnianus, Athyris subtilita,
and Platyostoma Peoricnsis.
No. 7 contained Productus lonyispinus, Syntrielasma hemiplicata, and a coral,
probably a Cyathaxonia.
No. 19. — This coal corresponds with that worked at the Metamora shaft,
No. 14 of that section, and like that, the upper and lower portions are impure,
only about nine inches of the middle being good. After working this seam for
a short time it was abandoned, being unable to compete in the market with the
superior Vermilion coal brought here by the railroad. Ttiis seam is, probably,
No 6 of the Illinois section. A boring having been made to No. 27, and a
portion of it mistaken for coal, the shaft was sunk through it into No. 28.
No. 22. — This is the only limestone penetrated by the shaft below the coal.
Only a small piece of this limestone was obtained, but in it we recognized
two species of Productus, and a Chonetes. The remainder of the section, from
No. 28, was obtained from the journal of a boring.
No. 24, is probably the representative of coal No. 5 of the Illinois section,
though this is by no means certain. No. 38 was called by the miners " Sulphur
rock." I was unable to learn anything further about it.
No. 42. Coal. — This is supposed to be coal No. 2 of the Illinois section, and
corresponds with the lower LaSalle coal. This has only been reached by
boring. Work has ceased at this shaft for the present, but it is reported that
it is to be resumed hereafter.
Economical Geology.
Stone for Building. — The supply of this material is very limited, there being
but very few outcrops of rock within the limits of the county. Southwest of
Secor, in sections 23 and 24, township 26, range 1 west, there is an outcrop of
limestone. The lower part of the quarry was filled with water, so that I was
unable to learn upon what the limestone rests, or how thick it is, but it ap-
pears to be somewhere from eight to twelve feet. It is of a bluish-gray color,
streaked with white, and for the most part, compact. It appears to have been
at one time celular, and the white portions have resulted from the infiltration
of colorless carbonate of lime. In some portions of the strata the cavities still
remain, and are coated with crystals of calcite, with, occasionally, pyrite. The
rock contains a few fossils, among the most common of which are the following:
Productus longispinus, Athyris subtilita, and Cyathaxonia prolifera? These
quarries furnish a considerable quantity of good building stone, which, from
its scarcity in this vicinity, is quite valuable. The rock makes good lime, and
the fragments from the quarries might be utilized in this way.
WOODFORD COUNTY. 341
South of Versailles, in section 33 of this township, there is another quarry,
the rock from which is reported to be similar to that above mentioned. Some
small exposures of limestone are reported along the Mackinaw river, but wheth-
er in Woodford county or beyond its limits, I did not learn. There is an out-
crop of limestgne a few miles northwest of Metamora, in section 1, township
27, range 3 west. This exposure has been described in the preceding pages.
Coal. — The supply of this -important mineral is quite limited. The only
mine that is worked at present, is the one northwest of Metamora in section 1,
township 27, range 3 west. The seam worked here is probably coal No. 6 of
the Illinois valley section. So far, this coal has been tested at two places in
this county, and at each it is from three to three and a-half feet thick, and
there is a band about nine inches thick near the middle of the seam, that fur-
nishes an excellent quality of coal, while that above and below is very poor.
A boring was made from the bottom of this shaft, to see if a more valuable
coal could not be found. Coal No. 4 (?) was struck about seventy feet below,
but was only ten inches thick. The next seam, if No. 3 is absent here, would
be No. 2, and probably lies about one hundred and fifty feet below this.
This lower coal, No. 2, has been reached at Minonk, by sinking a shaft about
four hundred and forty feet and boring about one hundred feet farther. The
coal was found to be three feet ten inches in thickness. This seam probably
underlies the whole county at a depth of from three hundred to five hundred
and fifty feet. Elsewhere, coal No. 4, numbered 24 in the section of the Mi-
nonk shaft, may be thick enough to be of some value. In the LaSalle section,
reported by H. C. Freeman, this seam is from three to six feet thick.
Though coal cannot be obtained in this county, except by means of shafts
sunk to a considerable depth, still it can be furnished from abroad to those
along the line of the railroads at reasonable rates, and hence deep mining has
not been largely undertaken.
Soil and Agricultural Products. — The soil of the prairie is usually of a
black or dark brown color, and from one to three or more feet deep. Its dark
color shows it to be largely composed of humus, which has resulted from the
growth and decay of vegetable and animal matter upon the surface for long
ages. This admixture of organic matter with the finely pulverized mineral
matter, which constituted the upper surface of the Drift, when it emerged
from the waters in which it had accumulated, was necessary in order to form
the fertile soil which now constitutes the surface of our prairie lands. - The
brown clays, which lie immediately below this vegetable, mould, and forms the
subsoil, do not readily absord the excess of moisture which filters through
the soil, and hence the surface is frequently rendered too wet, where it is level
or but slightly rolling, as is the case over a considerable portion of this
county, to be successfully cultivated without artificial draining. It is true,
342 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
that by waiting a little later in the spring, the soil can then be worked, but
that gives so much the less time for the crop to ripen, add if the frost comes
early it is likely to be injured, if not entirely lost. By proper drainage this
would be, in a lara;e measure, remedied, the soil made warmer and more pro-
ductive, and the growing season rendered somewhat longer. In most places
there is sufficient descent towards the streams, so that drains can be made with
but little difficulty. Frequently, the partial or entire saving of a crop would
result from a thorough drainage of the surface. Wheat, corn and hay are the
principal products of the prairie, but other grains, and fruits, adapted to the
climate, may bo grown with more or less success.
In the vicinity of the water courses, the land is more rolling and hilly, and
the subsoil comes nearer the surface, and a portion of the humus has been
washed out of the soil, leaving it much less fertile, but better adapted to some
kinds of crops, particularly fruits. For ordinary purposes these soils require
little or no draining. In their uncultivated state they produce good timber:
the common varieties of oak, hickory, elm and ash, sugar and white maple,
wild cherry, black walnut, butternut and hackberry.
Along the Illinois river bluffs, grapevines are very abundant, more so than I
noticed elsewhere. I saw but few vineyards in the portions visited, but the
abundance and luxuriance of the wild vines would seem to indicate that here
is a favored locality for the culture of the grape. Along these bluffs but little
draining would be necessary, though in most places where the grape has been
successfully cultivated, it has usually been found to pay to underdrain even
where the soil appeared, to the unpracticed eye, dry enough. Underdrains are
profitable, not only to carry off the surplus moisture, but also to give the at-
mosphere a chance to act more readily and thoroughly upon the subsoil. This
action is necessary to assist in dissolving and preparing the mineral food for
the vine, which sends its roots deep into the surrounding soil for this very
nourishment.
The finest apple orchards in the county are found on these " barrens," and
most other kinds of fruit succeed best on this kind of soil.
PART II.
PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
SECTION I.
DESCRIPTIONS OF FOSSIL VERTEBRATES,
BY J. S. NEWBERRY AND A. H. WORTHEN.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
Since the publication of the second volume of the Geological Survey of Illi-
nois, in which descriptions and figures of one hundred and eighteen species,
and several new genera of fossil fishes were given, the collections from various
portions of the State, brought in by those engaged in field geology, have added
largely to the number already known of this most interesting group of fossils,
and we are now enabled to present figures and descriptions of thirty-two new
species and four new genera, embracing some of the most remarkable forms yet
found in the Carboniferous system.
The Edestus Heinrichsii, figured on PL 1, fig. 1, was found by Mr. John P.
Heinrichs, in the Belleville coal seam at Belleville, in St. Clair county, and is,
perhaps, the most remarkable fossil of its kind at present known, and its study
has enabled us to throw some additional light on the probable position and use
of these remarkable serrated spines in the animal economy.
The Belleville coal is usually quite regularly stratified, the layers varying
from six to fifteen inches in thickness, and separated by a thin parting of bitu-
minous shale or slaty coal, and it is probable that this fossil was embedded in
one of these shaly partings between the layers of solid coal. The fauna of this
coal is eminently marine in its character, and the following named species of
Brachiopoda are abundant in the roof shales and limestones associated with it,
in St. Clair county : Productus longispinus var. splendens, P. Prattenianus, P.
Wilberanus, P. costatus, P. punctatus, Athyris subtilifa, A. Royissii, Spirifer
cameratus, S. Hneatus, Chonetes mesoloba, and 0. granulifera, associated with
plates and joints of Crinoidea. Moreover, it is not uncommon to find this coal
directly enclosed between beds of marine limestone, with only a few inches of
shale or clay intervening between the limestone and the coal. The limestone
beneath the coal is generally nodular and argillaceous, and contains Chsetetes
milleporaceous, two or three species of Naticopsis, several species of Pleuroto-
maria, and a few Brachiopoda, among which, Spirifer lineatus, S. cameratus,
and Athyris subtilita are the most common. No remains of fishes have yet been
obtained from these limestones in St. Clair county, and the only ichthyic re-
mains yet found in the bituminous roof shales of this coal at other localities,
—44
346 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
are Petrodus occidentalis, and spines like that figured on PI. II, fig. 3 and 3 a,
under the name of Listracanthus hisfrix.
The occurrence of the so-called dermal plates of Petrodus, with the peculiar
spine above referred to in the same stratum, would seem to indicate that they
might have once belonged to the same species of fish, and this supposition seems
to be strengthened by the fact, that while these two forms are tolerably abun-
dant at some localities, all other traces of vertebrata are exceedingly rare in the
roof shales of this coal.
The large spines, Physonemus gigas and Ctenacanthus Mayi, represented on
PI. II, figs. 1 and 2, were obtained from the upper division of the Burlington
limestone, the former from the quarries near Thayer's distillery, about one mile
below the City of Quincy, and the latter from Burlington, Iowa. More re-
cently we have obtained another specimen of the last named species from the
same limestone on Cedar creek, in Warren county, Illinois. The specimen of
Physonemus, the only one at present known, so far as we are aware, in America,
was found in the debris of the quarry, and the stratum in which it was origi-
nally embedded, could not be positively identified, but the Ctenacanthus Mayi
was obtained from the limestone layer known as the "fish bed" in the upper
division of the Burlington limestone.
The remainder of the ichthyic material, still in hand, and upon the investi-
gation of which we are now engaged, indicates that this department of palaeon-
tology is by no means exhausted in this State, and we hope to present in a sub-
sequent volume of this report, some ten or twelve additional plates of these
very interesting fossils, illustrating at least fifty or sixty additional species,
which will enable us to extend our catalogue to something over two hundred
species of fossil fishes from the Carboniferous system alone, showing that our
western localities of Coal Measure and Lower Carboniferous limestone strata,
are far more productive in this interesting group of fossils than any other por-
tion of the earth's surface hitherto explored. A. H. W.
GENUS PLATYSOMUS, Agassiz.
PLATYSOMUS CIRCULARIS, N. and W.
PL iv, fig. 2.
FISH small, two inches long, nearly orbicular in outline, head
elongated, acute, granulated, nearly as long as body. Tail very
heterocercal, with thirty or more rays; vertebral column pro-
longed to the extremity of upper lobe; lower lobe strongly
marked, dorsal and anal fins opposite, set far back, broad, ex-
tending nearly to caudal fin, each highest anteriorly, anal with
about thirty, dorsal with forty rays; rays supported by strong
interspinous bones. Scales oblong in outline, smooth, those
on the sides three to six times as high as long.
The discovery of this little fish in the Coal Measures of Illinois, is a fact of
great geological interest, as the genus has not before been found in America.
In the old world, most of the species are found in the Permian, but a number
have also been taken from the Coal Measures near Leeds, England.
From these, the species before us is apparently distinguished by its small
size, more orbicular form, and broader dorsal and anal fins. . :
Formation and locality : Nodules of iron ore ; Mazon creek, Grundy county,
Illinois.
GENUS PAL^ONISCUS, DeBlainv.
PAL^EONISCUS GRACILIS, N. and W.
PL iii, fig. 4.
FISH of very small size; body cylindrical and slender; head
one-fifth of the entire length, rounded and obtuse anteriorly ;
mandibles and maxillaries ornamented with fine raised lines;
cranial bones tuberculated (?) ; dorsal and anal fins placed far
348 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
back and accurately opposite; ventral fins set about tbe mid-
dle of the body; scales rhomboidal, of nearly uniform size —
except on the tail, smooth on surface and margins.
This elegant little fish seems to be quite distinct from any heretofore found
in this country. It is much less in size than any species of the genus before
known, sometimes hardly exceeding an inch in length. The body is elongated
and narrow, bearing simple polished scales. The dorsal and ventral fins placed
so near the caudal as to almost reach it when collapsed, and are exactly oppo-
site. In this character it is unlike any other species known.
It might be inferred that this was but the young of P. peltigerus, N., the most
common species in the Coal Measures of the Western States, but it wants the
row of large scales which cover the dorsal line of that species, and also differs
from it in the position of the fins and the smooth scales. In size it is about
equal to Eurylepis minutus, N., found in the cannel coals of Ohio, but is more
slender, has the fins differently placed, and wants the high side-scales of that
species.
Formation and locality: Coal Measures; Mazon creek, G-rundy county, 111.
GENUS AMBLYPTERUS.
AMBLYPTERUS MACROPTERUS ? Ag.
A somewhat shattered nodule of clay ironstone obtained by Mr. S. S. Strong,
from the Coal Measures at Mazon creek ; contains an unmistakable impression
of a species of Amblypterus, the first that has been recognized in America.
From the mutilated condition of the specimen, it is impossible to decide with,
certainty whether it was or was not identical with either of the species found
in the Coal Measures of Europe, but it so closely approaches A. macropterus,
Ag., so abundant in the similar nodules of ironstone at Saarbruck, that we are
not justified in giving it a new name. Other specimens, which it is to be
hoped will be discovered in the locality that has furnished this, will doubtless
decide the question. In either case, this adds another to the list of genera
and species found in that wonderful deposit of Mazon creek, and affords addi-
tional evidence of the minute and exact parallelism between the Coal Meas-
ures of Europe and America. While we may leave the correspondence between
other parts of the geological column on the two sides of the Atlantic open to
further proof as to whether they be cases of homotaxis or synchronism, we
must insist that here, at least, the phenomena were coincident in time, and are
due to cosrnical and not to local causes.
VERTEBRATES. 349
The specimen of Amblypterus before us, though so imperfect, shows some
points in the structure and habits of the genus which have been long misun-
derstood. Agassiz says of the dentition of Amblypterus, that the teeth are en
brosse, and hence it was a vegetable eater ; but in these specimens the mandi-
bles are distinctly shown, bearing on the outer edge of each a row of relatively
large and acute teeth, such as could only be intended for the use of a carnivore.
Probably, as in analagous fishes, the jaw bore smaller teeth within, but the
large ones are as distinct, and relatively as large as those of Lepidosteus. The
dentition is even better shown in some specimens of Amblypterus from Saar-
bruck in the possession of one of the authors, and these exhibit precisely the
character described above.
GENUS RHIZODUS, Owen.
RHIZODUS RETICULATUS, N. and W.
PI. iii, fig. 9, 13, 14.
SCALES of large size, oblong or oval in outline, anterior ex-
tremity somewhat pointed, posterior end truncated; margins
bordered by a distinct radiate-striated band, broadest on the
anterior and posterior extremities, and marked by numerous
imperfectly parallel and concentric plications or lines of growth ;
under surface nearly smooth, with a subcentral tubercle ; up-
per surface, within the marginal band, covered with an irre-
gular reticulation of raised lines, which enclose elongated poly-
gonal areolae ; on the exposed anterior third of the scale, these
lines are more or less broken into rows of minute tubercles.
The elongated form of these scales is their most striking character. This is
best shown in some of the smaller specimens, which are more than twice as
long as broad, and spatulate in outline. The largest ones are two and a-half
inches long by one and one-quarter broad. The scale is thin, and the orna.
mentation delicate, similar in style to that of R. occidentals, but less strong.
In that species, the scale is much more rounded, the two diameters being nearly
equal.
Formation and locality : Coal Measures ; Mazon creek, Grundy county, 111.
350 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
GENUS EDESTUS, Leidy.
EDESTUS HEINRICHSII, N. and W.
PL i, fig. la and 16.
SPINE robust, one foot or more in length by two and a-half
inches wide, and one and a-quarter inch thick, composed of
dense, bony tissue, symmetrically flattened, with an ovoid
section below, lenticular above ; one margin nearly straight,
the other gently arched ; the basal end irregularly rounded
off; the arched border set with nine large, triangular, flat-
tened, doubly crenulated, enamelled denticles, each about an
inch in hight ; the upper half of the straight side forming a
sharp cutting edge. The denticles of the arched border are
broadly triangular in outline, rising perpendicularly from the
curved edge on which they rest, each three-quarters of an
inch in hight by one and a-quarter inch in breadth, com-
pressed laterally, with crenulated cutting edges. They are
contiguously placed, and each is embraced by the acute pro-
longations of the enamelled base of the superior denticle which
reaches back to its middle point. The spine is segmented
throughout, each segment bearing a denticle; the segments
overlapping to such a degree that the one bearing the supe-
rior denticle reaches two-thirds of the distance from the sum-
mit to the base of the spine.
By a glance at the figures now given of this fossil, it will be seen that it is
genetically identical with that described by Prof. Leidy, under the name of
Edestus vorax, (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sciences, Phil., 2d series, vol iii, p. 159,
PL 15). The fragment upon which Prof. Leidy based his description was,
however, exceedingly imperfect, and left much in regard to the complete form,
as well as relations of this fossil, to conjecture. Though noting its anomalous
structure, Dr. Leidy was constrained to regard his specimen as the fragment of
a jaw of a plagiostomous fish. No other conclusion was fairly deducible from
the fragment which he had, or his proverbial aeuteness and knowledge of com-
parative anatomy would have led him to it. Yet the specimen before us, which
is nearly complete, exhibits features that seem to be incompatible with that
VERTEBRATES. 351
conclusion, and indicates that it was rather a defensive spine. Although the
denticles which crown its convex margin have the general form and crenulation
of the teeth of Oarcharodon or Hemipristis, their structure is, in many respects,
quite different.
1st. The teeth of none of the sharks are symmetrical, but the anterior face
is flattened, and the posterior is more or less arched, while on the denticles of
the specimen before us the two sides are equal.
2d. The jaws of sharks are cartilagenous, holding the bony and enameled
teeth only by ligamentous attachments, so that in the fossil state the jaws have
usually quite disappeared, the teeth being scattered about in all directions,
whereas in Edestus we have a mass of dense bone to which tooth-like denticles
are united by a firm, bony anchylosis.
3d. The form of this fossil, as shown by the nearly complete specimen before
us, is wholly unlike that of any jaw of fish, reptile or mammal known, being
roughly rounded below, above terminating in an acute point, its upper portion
flattened, smooth, even-polished, evidently never having been covered by the
integuments, and is bordered on one side by a sharp cutting edge, on the other
by crenated denticles.
. 4th. The rounded, roughened base proves that it could not have been articu-
lated with any bones, and scarcely with cartilages, else we should have some
evidences of co-adaptation. In this respect, it resembles most the dorsal spines
of sharks and skates, which are implanted in the integument of the back, have
a roughened base and a bony structure, with various forms of enameled denti-
cles on one margin.
It is apparent that this fossil is genetically identical with that exhibited at
the ninth meeting of the Am. Ass. by Prof. Hitchcock, and of which a better
figure is now given than any heretofore published. That specimen was found
in the coal of Parke Co., Ind., and when exhibited to the Am. Ass. was con-
sidered by Prof. Agassiz as a jaw ; one of a pair placed on the sides of the
head, and compared to the embryonic condition of the saw of Pristis. There
are, however, some features in the specimen before us, which seem to militate
against that conclusion :
1st. The tissue of the rostrum of Pristis is only partially ossified, while this
is all dense bone.
2d. The denticles of the rostrum in Pristis are set in alveolar cavities, while
in this fossil they are inseparably united with the bony mass without sockets.
3d. If the fossil was the homologue of the rostrum of the saw -fish, the base
would have presented some evidence of articulation with the bones or cartilages
of the head, whereas it is rounded as though it had been completely buried in
soft tissue.
352 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
4th. If it were the homologue of the embryonic half of the rostrum of
Pristis, it must have been placed on the side of the snout, separated from its
fellow, as it shows no points of contact; on the contrary, a cutting or serrated
edge at the summit. On this supposition, its flattened sides must have been
more or less horizontal, but if that had been its position, the upper and lower
sides would hardly have been equally arched, and the organ transversely sym-
metrical.
"We are, therefore, driven by this perfect bi-lateral symmetry to suppose this
was not one of a pair, but that it stood alone, somewhere in the medial line,
either as the homologue of the sword in Xiphias, or of the rostrum in Pristis
(in which case it should have had an articulated base) ; or, as the homologue
of the dorsal spines of Chimsera, Spinax, Hybodus, Ctenacanthus, etc., or the
caudal spine of Trygon and the other Sting-Rays.
There are one or two anomalous features in this fossil which require notice :
and first, there is no distinct line of demarcation between the exposed portion
and that buried in the integuments, though it is plain to see that the rough-
ened, knobby, basal portion was implanted in tissue, while the smooth, polished,
and keen-edged upper portion was as certainly exposed. In most fin spines of
sharks and rays, the line of the dorsal surface is very plainly marked. This
is not always the case, however, so that no great importance can be attached
to that feature. Another peculiarity of this spine is the comparative insignifi-
cance in size of the medullary cavity. In the great spines of Hi/bodus, Gyra-
canthus,Oracanthus^etG., the medullary cavity is very conspicuous, but in Edes-
tus it is hardly observable, and the basal extremity, which in most species of
ffybodus, etc., is a mere shell, is here quite solid. In some of the spines of
rays, however, there is scarce any medullary cavity, so that this feature need
not be considered incompatible with the conclusion that our fossil is a spine.
The segmented structure of the fossil is its most marked and anomalous fea-
ture, but one equally so whether it be considered spine or jaw, and for which
no parallel suggests itself. It is undoubtedly to this structure that we must as-
cribe the absence of a large medullary cavity, as each segment seems to have
been nourished somewhat independently of its fellows.
It is also evident that this spine was implanted in the integuments at a low
angle, and that an investing skin or other nutrient tissue covered fully half its
surface, on the lower portion reaching up to the enameled bases of the denti-
cles. This is the relative position of the defensive spines of rays, to which an
analogy is suggested by this character.
In some plagiostomous fishes, a bone is found quite buried in the integuments
of the back, and which is a rudimentary representative of a posterior dorsal fin;
it is, therefore, not impossible that we have in the fossil before us, a higher de-
velopment and special modification of that organ.
VERTEBRATES. 353
On comparing the specimen under consideration with that described by Prof.
Leidy, it will be seen that ours is less robust ; that the segments overlap to a
much greater extent; that the denticles are broader, not so high, and are not
set obliquely on the spine as in E. vorax, while the decurrent spur of the
enameled base is much longer and more acute.
From the specimen exhibited to the Am. Ass. by Prof. Hitchcock, and which
is probably identical with that described in this report, vol. ii, p. 84, as E. mi-
nor, N., the one before us may be distinguished by its greater size, its more
rectilinear outline — having only one of its margins curved — and by its shorter,
broader and more erect denticles.
The specimen of E. vorax described by Prof. Leidy, is supposed to have
been found in the Coal Measures of Western Arkansas, was coated with car-
bonaceous matter, and was doubtless taken from a stratum of cannel or bitumi-
nous shale.
Prof. Hitchcock's specimen was obtained from a layer of " slate " (Bitumi-
nous shale ?) which overlies a seam of coal in Parke Co., Indiana.
The specimen described in the 2d vol. of this report was obtained from a bi-
tuminous limestone in Posey Co., Indiana ; while that before us is reported by
Mr. Heinrich to have been found in the coal of Belleville, Illinois.
In all these cases, the enclosing material was undoubtedly an aqueous sedi-
ment, as the bituminous shales interstratified with the coal seams and cannel
beds always are. There is, therefore, no reason to doubt that the animal which
bore this organ was aquatic in habit.*
The species described above is dedicated to Mr. John P. Heinrich, in whose
mine it was found, and to whose intelligent appreciation of its scientific value
we owe its preservation, as to his courtesy we are indebted for the opportunity
of describing it.
*In the Am. Jour Sci. 2d series, vol. xxiii, p. 212, will be found a discussion of the origin
of the difference between cannel and ordinary bituminons coal. The conclusion drawn from
the facts there cited is that this difference is mainly due to the relative quantities of water
present during the process of bitumization; cannel coal having been formed from vegetable
matter completely submerged, while ordinary bituminous coal was produced from vegetable
matter saturated, but not constantly covered with water. In the former case, the vegetable
tissue was thoroughly macerated, its softer parts forming a fine carbonaceous pulp which was
suspended, transported and deposited in laminated beds by water action. All cannel coals
may be said to contain remains of fishes, shells, or aquatic reptiles, while ordinary bitumi-
nous coal rarely contains anything but vegetable organisms. In the open lagoons of peat
bogs — which receive the leachings of the surrounding mass of vegetable matter, and where a
fine carbonaceous mud is deposited with the remains of aquatic animals — cannel may be said
to be forming, while the spongy, saturated, but not submerged peat, may be regarded as the
representation of our cubical coals.
—45
354 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
GENUS CLADODUS.
CLADODUS ISCHYPUS, N. and W.
PL iv, fig. 6, 6a.
TEETH large and stong; base broad and thick, one and a
half inch wide by five-eighths of an inch in its antero-pos-
terior diameter ; central cone three-quarters of an inch in
hight, broad and thick below, rapidly narrowed to an acute
point (in the specimen before us the summit is deflected for-
ward and laterally) ; anterior face nearly flat, posterior
strongly arched, both finely striated, forming an acute angle
along their line of junction ; lateral denticles numerous, in a
single row on the anterior margin, and running up on to the
lateral angle of the crown.
The most striking characters of this tooth are its broad thick base — in its
longest diameter double the hight of the crown — and the strong, anteriorly
flattened and rapidly tapering central cone. These characters, if equally
marked in other specimens, will serve to distinguish it at a glance from any
other species hitherto described.
Specimen in cabinet of Prof. Litton.
Formation and locality : St. Louis limestone ; St. Louis, Mo.
CLADODUS ELEGANS, N. and W.
PL iv, fig. 9.
TEETH of medium size, as high as broad, measuring about
one inch in each direction ; central cone very much compressed,
double-edged ; anterior face nearly flat, posterior gently arched
and regularly striated with nearly equidistant, relatively
strong and sharp raised lines, at base about thirty in number,
above fewer and stronger ; lateral denticles two on either side,
of which the exterior pair is much the larger, divergent, flat-
tened before, rounded behind, double-edged, strongly striated.
The general contour of this tooth is remarkably exact and elegant, as is its
ornamentation. The central cone is erect, straight and very much flattened.
VERTEBRATES. 355
From C. spinosm, which occurs in the same formation, it is distinguished by
its relatively narrower base, fewer lateral denticles, and by its flattened anci-
pital central cone. The same characters will serve to separate it from C. mor-
tifer and C. ferox, although the former of the last two mentioned approaches
it most nearly, and if they occurred in the same deposit it might be suspected
that they formed parts of the necessarily somewhat variable dentition of one
fish. They are, however, too widely separated geologically, to render this sup-
position at all probable. The specimen is in the cabinet of Prof. Litton.
Formation and locality : St. Louis limestone ; St. Louis, Mo.
CLADODTJS DEFLEXUS, N. and W.
PI. iii, fig. 3, 3a.
TOOTH of medium size, base as broad as hight of cone, very
narrow ; antero-posterior diameter scarcely more than a quar-
ter the breadth ; anterior margin straight, posterior regularly
arched ; central cone flexed laterally and backward, somewhat
flattened and strongly striated in front, rounded and finely
striated behind ; lateral denticles, two on each side, relatively
large and nearly equal : sometimes there are one or two addi-
tional ones of smaller size.
The laterally deflected median cone, flattened, striated, and angled before,
rounded behind, with the very narrow transversely elongated base, will serve
as a means of identification of this species wherever found, and to distinguish
it from all others of the genus.
Formation and locality : Burlington limestone ; Quincy, Illinois.
GENUS PETALODUS.
PETALODUS CURTUS, N, and W.
PI. ill, fig. 2.
TEETH of moderate size, thin and light in crown and root ;
crown broadly arched, twice as wide as high, concavo-convex
laterally and vertically ; superior margin serrated or rough-
ened by the termini of the calcigerous tubes ; anterior face of
crown without imbricating enamel folds, half as high as pos-
356 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
terior face; posterior face elliptical in outline, basal enamel
folds 5-6, broad and strong ; root relatively short and thin, on
posterior face two-thirds the hight of the crown, in breadth
two-thirds that of the crown, sides nearly straight, bottom
arched and somewhat three-lobed, strongly bevelled off so as
to form a blunt edge on the anterior and longer side.
In general aspect this tooth resembles most P. linguifer, N. and W., from the
Chester limestone, but it is thinner, and has a much shorter root, of which the
lower edge is characteristically bevelled. There is no other species for which
it is likely to be mistaken.
Formation and locality : Keokuk limestone; Otter creek, Jersey countyi
Illinois.
GENUS ANTLIODUS.
ANTLIODUS SARCULULUS, N. and W.
PI. ii, fig. 8, 8(7, 8&.
TOOTH small, oval in outline, thin ; root entirely obsolete ;
upper surface polished and obscurely striated ; anterior border
raised into a sharp cutting edge, roughened but scarcely ser-
rated by the extremities of the calcigerous tubes ; posterior
margin bordered by about three imbricating enamel folds,
*/ t_j /
which form a deep bow-shaped arch ; anterior face vertical,
less than half as high as the antero-posterior diameter of the
tooth, terminating in an arched cutting edge above, below by
two or three very narrow imbricating folds, surface polished
but obliquely punctate ; under surface sub-triangular in out-
line, bony, posterior portion roughened.
This is another of the small unguiform teeth which are so common in tlfe
Lower Carboniferons limestone of the Western States, and which form our
genus Antliodus. On comparing it with the species before described it will be
seen that while approaching closely in dimensions and general form to A. par-
vulus (vol. ii, p. 38, PI. vi, fig. 7, 7a, 76) and A. minutus (op. cit. p. 43, PI. iii,
figs. 3, 3a, 36,) it is specifically distinct. It is a little larger than either; is
without the rudimentary roots of A. pai-vulu*, less regularly oval in outline, and
VERTEBRATES. 357
the anterior margin is more vertical. In A. minutus the outline is elliptical,
and the imbricated folds more numerous and widely separted.
Formation and locality : Burlington limestone; Burlington, Iowa.
GENUS POLYRHIZODUS.
PoLYRHIZODUS TRUNCATUS, N. aild W.
PI. iii, fig. 16, 16a.
TEETH small, massive, sub-elliptical in outline ; crown gently
arched transversely on its upper and anterior face, which is
flattened and slightly excavated, and roughened by the oblique
sections of the calcigerous tubes; posterior face nearly straight,
laterally and vertically smooth or punctate ; this is bordered
below by four enamel folds which are slightly arched upward
at the ends ; root very small or obsolete.
Although the specimens which we have of this tooth show little or no root,
there is scarce room for doubt that tubercular rootlets existed when it was in
a perfect condition ; the spongy texture of the root causing it to yield first in
the process ot decay or abrasion, when the tooth is detached from its support.
A comparison with the species we have named P. inflexus and P. porosus (vol.
ii, pp. 48, 49, PI. ii, figs. 8 and 9) will show that they should be placed in one
generic group with that now under consideration.
From those species it is distinguished by its outline, lower and broader than
in P. inflexus, less low and broad than in P. porosus, and by a root more nearly
obsolete than in either.
Formation and locality : Burlington limestone; Quincy, 111.
POLYRHIZODUS LITTONI, N. and W.
PI. iv, fig. 10. 100.
TEETH of medium or large size, strong, oblong or elliptical in
outline, one and a quarter inch broad, half inch high; crown
low and depressed, superior margin broadly arched, subacute,
roughened by the extremities of the calcigerous tubes; ante-
rior face three lines high, lenticular in outline, with acuminate
358 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
lateral angles, bordered at base by a narrow, prominent, bow-
shaped band of about four closely approximated enamel folds ;
posterior crown face long-elliptical in outline, five lines high,
concave in both directions ; root strong but short, two-thirds
as broad as the crown ; on the posterior face one-third, ante-
rior face two-thirds the entire hight, divided into seven or
eight oblong, thick, tooth-like radicles.
This well-marked species has, at first sight, much the aspect of P. maynus
(McCoy, Brit. Palseoz. Fossils), but is smaller in all its dimensions, much thin-
ner, with fewer and relatively stronger radicles. One of its most characteristic
features is the prominent ridge formed by the imbricating enamel folds at the
base of the anterior face.
This, with other fish remains, was obtained by Prof. A. Litton, who has
kindly loaned it to us for description.
formation and locality : St. Louis limestone; St. Louis, Mo.
GENUS ORODUS.
ORODUS CORRUGATUS, N. and W.
PI. iii, fig. 18, 18or.
TEETH of various forms and sizes, forming many rows ; of
these the largest are strongly arched in both directions, the
crown of the arch forming a broad, massive eccentric cone, or
protuberance, which is without rugae, but is coarsely granulo-
punctate.
The crown surfaces of all these teeth — with the exception of the compara-
tively smooth cone summits of the largest — are strongly and sharply corrugated
by a medial, longitudinal crest, and numerous pinnate lateral crests which run
down to and strongly crenulate the sides.
The lateral crests are beaded or pectinated; the whole forming an elaborate
system of surface ornamentation.
The smaller teeth vary in size from 10 lines to 4 lines in length, being three
times as long as wide, long-elliptical in outline, the larger ones highest near one
end, showing a tendency to form the eccentric crown-cones of the larger series.
The beautiful group of teeth represented in our figure form one of the most
interesting specimens yet discovered of the dentition of the fishes of the Car-
VERTEBRATES. 359
boniferous period, and by far the most striking are furnished by the Coal
Measure strata. The corrugated and highly ornamented surface of these teeth
will serve to distinguish them at a glance from all the teeth of Orodus de-
scribed, therefore no extended comparisons are necessary. It should be said,
however, that this group of eleven teeth, though evidently belonging to one in-
dividual, give but an imperfect idea of his complete dentition. They are not
in their normal position, for the longer diameter of all doubtless once coincided
with the arch of the jaw on which they were placed. If this is true — and the
analogies presented by the dentition of living and fossil cestracionts all indi-
cate that it is so — we must suppose that the smaller teeth have been shifted
from their original position, in which they must have presented their ends
rather than their sides to the series of larger teeth. In Acrodus, the Jurassic
representative of Orodus, as in the living Cestracion, we find the largest and
strongest teeth placed near the middle of each mandible at the point where the
muscles which raise it act with the greatest mechanical advantage : the syin-
physis of the jaw being generally covered by more or less conical and what may
be called prehensile teeth ; while the posterior portion of each ramus bears rows
of teeth diminishing in size backward. A similar structure is visible in the
dentition of the mammalia, where the anterior portion of the jaw is occupied
by incisors and canine teeth, the middle portion by the molars, or grinders as
they are properly denominated. Reasoning from these analogies, we should con-
sider the group of teeth under consideration as having occupied the middle and
posterior portion of the left mandible or the right maxillary.
What were the forms of the anterior teeth of the series to which these be.
longed we can only conjecture, but the very striking resemblance which the
teeth we have described under the name of Lophodus varialilis (PI. iv, fig. 4,4a,
46, 5, 5a, 11, Ha, 116, present to these, in the surface markings of all, and the
form of a part, suggest that the two groups once formed but portions of the
dentition of oiie genus; the conical forms of Lophodus being the anterior teeth.
Formation and locality : Coal Measures; Alton, 111.
GENUS HELODUS.
HELODUS RUGOSUS, N. and W.
PI. ii, fig 10, 10a.
TEETH small but strong ; crown broadly conical in outline,
set obliquely on the root, lateral extremities rounded, entire
surface roughened by papillae of enamel, or vermicular raised
lines ; root as high as the crown and nearly as wide above,
360 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
rapidly narrowed downward where it becomes thinner, and
terminates in a sharpish edge ; posterior face of root shorter
than anterior, and marked by strong, vertical ridges and fur-
rows.
In general form the teeth of this species resemble those of H. compressm,
but are smaller and less flattened. The character by which it may be distin-
guished from all other known species of the genus is the rugosity of the crown
surface.
Formation and locality : Coal Measures ; Collinsville, Illinois.
HELODUS COMPRESSUS, N. and W.
PI. iii, fig. 15, Ua.
TOOTH small, much compressed or flattened ; crown yoke-
shaped, smooth, coarsely punctate, bearing a flattened, smooth,
sub-central, medial cone, arched upward at base; root less in
hight than crown, bevelled to an edge below, and marked on
either surface with vermicular lines.
In outline this species resembles H. consolidatus, N. andW. (vol. ii, p. 87,'P1.
vi, fig. 2) but is much smaller and more flattened.
Formation and locality : Burlington limestone; Quincy, Illinois.
GENUS LOPHODUS, N. and W.
TEETH of various forms, many transversely elongated ; the
crown raised into several summits, and traversed in its longest
diameter by a sharp crest ; root vertical, flattened. In others
the medial cone is greatly developed, the lateral ones obsolete
or represented by buttress-like wings that are given off on one
side of the tooth. The medial cone is laterally compressed,
and bears a sharp crest along its antero-posterior medial line.
The most elongated of these teeth, taken by themselves, would be included
in the genus Orodus, being formed altogether on the same plan ; but those
bearing the high, ancipital, medial cone are very different from any found in
the dental series of Orodus, and approach the form of the ancipital teeth of
some of the mesozoic reptiles.
VERTEBRATES. 361
There is no doubt of the affinity of the fish that bore these teeth with Oro-
dus, but the differences which have been indicated seems to us of generic value.
Orodus has, up to the present time, not been found in strata more recent
than the Lower Carb. limestone, and we may regard Lophodus as the represen-
tative of that genus in the fauna of the Coal Measures.
LOPHODUS VARIABILIS, N. and W.
PL iv, figs. 4, 4a, 46, 5, 5a, 11, lla, 116.
TEETH of medium size, of three or more forms ; largest and
central? teeth (fig. 11) having a V shaped base, on the angle of
which is set an ovoid or conical, laterally compressed crown
which bears on the medial line a sharp, serrated crest, passing
from the base on the anterior face over the crown to the base
on the posterior face. On the anterior side the crown is con-
stricted at its juncture with the base. On the posterior face
it is supported by acute crested buttress-like wings, which run
down to the lateral prolongations of the base. The base is
vertically flattened under the wings of the crown, thicker and
conical before, somewhat pitted and roughened. Other teeth
of the series are transversely elongated laterally, somewhat
arched backward at the extremities. The crown has a gen-
eral conical outline with a pectinated crest along the most ele-
vated line. Transverse crests cross the central summit and
two lateral eminences from front to rear. On the posterior
face the central and lateral eminences form strong ridges
which give the tooth a peculiar yoke-like plan.
The third form of tooth (fig. 5) is still more elongated laterally, having the
form of some species of Orodus. The crown is marked by a central or sub-
central prominence, on either side of which are several minor summits which
may be said to be formed by projecting rings arching over the crown from
front to rear. The root is vertical, flattened, pitted or vernacularly marked,
and bevelled on the lower edge. Like the others, these teeth are ornamented
by pectinated ridges along the line of greatest elevation, and transversely on
the more prominent points.
The enamelled surface of the crown in all these teeth is highly polished, and
—46
362 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
must have been very hard. Though obscurely granular throughout, ifc can
hardly be said to be anywhere punctate.
Formation and 'locality : Coal Measures; La Salle, 111.
GENUS PELTODUS, N. and W.
TEETH small and low, round, oval or elliptical in outline,
arched above in both directions, concave or flattened below ;
crown surface most strongly arched from front to rear, highest
near the anterior margin, more or less evenly punctate through-
out; under surface bony and rough; margins thin and irregu-
lar where the teeth are separated, thickened and even along
the lines of contact when closely set.
These teeth indicate a dentition intermediate in character between that of
Psammodus and Cochliodus ; less flat, smooth and pavement-like than the for-
mer ; less convoluted than the latter ; though, doubtless, performing the same
duty — crushing the shells of mollusks — for which the teeth of so many of the
Cestracionts were employed. They are smaller and thinner than the teeth of
the genera which have been cited, Sandalodus, Deltodus, etc., and apparently
belonged to the humbler members of the great group of Selachians which in-
habited the Palaeozoic sea. The type species, P. unguiformis, is found in the
calcareous beds of the Coal Measures, and forms a distinct and interesti ng ele-
ment in the small Cestraciont fauna of that epoch ; the few and feeble repre-
sentatives of the shoals of sea monsters which lived in the epoch that immedi-
ately preceded.
Among the fish teeth from the Lower Carb. strata contained in the collection
there are some which so much resemble these in general character, that they
have been placed in the same generic group under the name of P. pulvinulus-
They are longer, thicker, more elongated laterally, and much more coarsely punc-
tate.
In P. unguifcrmis, the broader, anterior end bears marks of attrition, and it
is evident that they were so placed on the jaw that the anterior margin was
most elevated and took all the wear to which the tooth was subjected. From
this it will be seen that, though resembling some of the Petalodont teeth in gen-
eral form, they were placed on the jaw in reversed position from them, as
though the teeth of Antliodus were turned with the concavity down. The dis-
tinction of crown and root, and the imbricated enameled folds visible in all the
Petalodonts are in Peltodus entirely wanting.
VERTERRATES. 363
PELTODUS UNGUIFORMIS, N. and W.
PL ii, fig. 7, 7o.
>
TEETH small, ovoid in outline, thin, convex above, concave
below ; antero-posterior diameter of largest individuals half
inch ; lateral diameter quarter inch ; anterior margin broadly
rounded, posterior portion narrowed to the abruptly rounded
or truncated edge ; crown surface obscurely punctate over
the middle and posterior parts, distinctly so on anterior slope
which formed the triturating surface.
There are several of these little teeth in the collection, all from the upper
Coal Measures, and all alike in the generalities of form and structure, though
varying considerably in size. They are quite thin and are the smallest and
most delicate of all the great series of crushing teeth which have been obtained
from the Carboniferous strata of Illinois. In general aspect they are not un-
like a small, much-curved nail of the human hand ; a resemblance which has
suggested the name given to the species.
Formation and locality : Upper Coal Measures ; La Salle, III.
•
GENUS CYMATODUS, N. and W.
TEETH of medium or small size, oblong or elliptical in out-
line, thin, forming a flat or arched plate of which the crown
surface is transversely undulated and uniformly punctate ;
under surface flat and smooth, at the posterior end bearing a
narrow, strap-shaped, oblique root.
This genus is created to receive a quite perfect and peculiar tooth from the
Coal Measures, of which a more detailed description is given below. This
tooth has much in common with Deltodus and Pcecilodus, and was doubtless used
for precisely the same purposes in the same manner. It has, however, no defin-
ite deltoid form, and no ridges or furrows which follow the line of curvature,
as in Deltodus, nor yet the banded structure of crown surface which is the most
prominent character of Pcecilodus ; and more than in all things else it differs
from the teeth of the genera cited, by its long, narrow, back-reaching root.
No teeth bearing any close resemblance to this have been found in the
Lower Garb, limestone, and it probably represents a genus of Plagiostomous
364 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
fishes which inhabited exclusively the Coal Measure seas. It would seem that
in the region east of the Mississippi, during the Coal Measure epoch, marine
conditions prevailed only locally and for a limited period ; circumstances ap-
parently not favorable to the existence of any considerable number of large
cartilaginous fishes; for we here find a marked falling off from the rich and
diversified ichthyic fauna of the Lower Carboniferous period.
CYMATODUS OBLONGUS, N. and W.
PI. iv, fig. 7, 7«.
TEETH of medium or small size (one inch long by three-
eighths of an inch wide), oblong or spatulate in* outline, thin,
flattened and somewhat arched ; crown surface undulated by
relatively large, transverse waves, in all parts and nearly
equally dotted by the round or vermicular sections of the ob-
lique calcigerous tubes ; under surface parallel to the crown
face, smooth throughout the broader portion of the tooth, near
the narrow end rising into a long, narrow, strap-shaped,
curved root.
The generalities of the R>rm and structure of this tooth are given in the
generic description which is based upon it. It will be seen to have consider-
able resemblance to the undulated species of Deltodus, but the transverse waves
of the crown surface are more acute-crested, are not curved as in those spe-
cies, and no species of Deltodus has the root which forms so conspicuous a fea-
ture in this tooth.
Formation and locality : Upper Coal Measures ; LaSalle, Illinois.
GENUS COCHLIODUS, Ag.
COCHLIODUS COSTATUS, N. and W.
PL iii, fig. 10, 12, 12a.
TEETH relatively small, very convolute, crown surface bear-
ing strongly marked ridges in the line of enrollment ; enam-
elled surface uniformly punctate throughout, sometimes with
obscure transverse lines of growth ; anterior convolute tooth
VERTEBRATES. 365
very small, form unknown, second tooth spirally enrolled,
narrow, obliquely triangular in outline, posterior margin round-
ed, lateral margins sulcated for co-adaptation, crown bearing
a single central revolving ridge ; third tooth much broader,
also strongly revolute, bearing a distinct ridge on its anterior
border and another much stronger on the median line ; a deep
and smooth sulcus separates the ridges.
These teeth form a typical species of Cochliodus corresponding accurately in
position, relations, and general form with those of C. contortus, Ag., on which
the genus was founded.
Deltodus had apparently a similar series of teeth on the mandibles, but they
were less convolute. There are, however, connecting links between these gen-
era which render it very difficult to separate them.
In our description of Cochliodus nobilis (vol ii, p. 89) we noticed the discov-
ery of a mass of teeth, evidently the dentition of one individual, which includes
forms that have been referred by Agassiz to Cochliodus, Helodus, and Streblo-
dus. We then suggested that the teeth having the Helodus form were placed
in the middle and anterior portion of the jaws, corresponding to the middle
series of conical teeth in Cestracion.
Prof. Owen has recently figured mandibles of Cochliodus and other Cestraci-
ontsin which no space is left between the convolute teeth for any such group as
those of Cestracion referred to. It should be stated, however, that the denti-
tion of the upper jaw of these fossil Cestracionts has never been seen in place,
and the mandibles of Cochliodus have never been found absolutely terminated
anteriorly. In Cestracion they approach each other so closely posterior to the
group of conical teeth, that if the extremity were removed by decay or vio-
lence, the jaw would seem to be normally terminated without any cuspidate
teeth.
Hence, we may say that the presence of conical teeth in the dentition of any
of the fossil conchivorous sharks is not yet disproved.*
Formation and locality : Burlington limestone ; Burlington, Iowa.
*The figure given as that of the head of " Cestracion, Philipi " in Owen's Palaeontology, 2d
edition, p. 126, is really a representation of the head of Myliobates Aquila turned wrong side up.
366 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
GENUS POECILODUS, Ag.
P(ECiLODirs CONVOLUTUS, N. and W.
PI. ii, fig._9.
TEETH small and thin, spirally enrolled, arched transversely
by a strong, obtuse ridge, which occupies the central portion in
the line of spiral curvature. On each side of this ridge is a
shallow furrow, which, on one side, is bordered by the raised
margin of the tooth ; entire triturating surface marked by nu-
merous nearly equi-distant ridges or folds, obliquely transverse
to the line of enrollment. These rugse are obtuse and, like
the inter-spaces, coarsely punctate.
The analogue of this species is P. angustus, Ag., found in the Garb, limestone
of Armagh, Ireland. That species is, however, generally smaller and narrower ;
the plications of the enameled surface do not cross the medial ridge — affecting
only the sulci — and they form a ruffled margin to it on either side. In our
species they affect equally the ridge and the lateral furrows.
From the other species found in the Carboniferous strata of Illinois (P. ru-
gosus and P. ornatus,) it is distinguished by its smaller size, more convolute
form and smoother surface.
Formation and locality: Keokuk limestone; Warsaw, Illinois.
GENUS DELTODUS, N. and W.
DELTODUS FASCIATUS, N. and W.
PI. iii, fig. 17.
TEETH large and strong, sub-spatulate in outline, very
obliquely convolute, without longitudinal ridges or furrows;
crown surface marked by transverse alternate bands of denser
and more porous tissue, which, on the upper portion, are sud-
denly bent upward as they approach one side; below are im-
perfectly parallel with the rounded margin of the broader end.
These bands give a peculiar waved appearance to all the upper
surface.
VERTEBRATES. 367
This tooth illustrates the difficulty of establishing a satisfactory classification
among Plagiostomous fishes by a comparison of one set of organs alone ; for,
with the general form and structure of Deltodus, it has the crown surface cov-
ered with alternate bands of dense and porous tissue, scarcely different from
those which have been relied upon as the distinctive character of the genus
Pcecilodus. In Deltodus undulatus (vol. 2, p. 98), the crown surface is
waved on its lower half, though there is little difference in the porosity of the
ridges and furrows, and the triangular, deltoid outline is distinctly marked.
In D. cingulatus (vol. 2, p. 99), the bands of dense and porous tissue are
much more strongly defined, and that tooth would perhaps naturally fall
into Mc'Coy's genus Climakodus (or, as he writes it, Climaxodus), taking the
name of C. cingulatus. It is of very little consequence in which of these two
none-too-well defined generic groups, Deltodus or Poecilodus, this is placed,
but it is of consequence that this so strongly marked and conspicuous fossil of
the Keokuk limestone should be made known, that it may be used for geologi-
cal purposes.
Formation and locality : Keokuk limestone; Warsaw, Illinois.
DELTODUS LITTONI, N, and W.
PI. iv, fig. 8. 8a.
TEETH of medium size, one inch and three-quarters long by one
inch wide at broader end, very thick and strong, triangular in
outline, strongly convolute, narrow end terminating in an acute
angle, opposite and broader end regularly arched; crown sur-
face mainly occupied by a very strong but obtuse ridge which
follows the line of curvature along one of the margins. This
ridge is bordered by a broad, shallow furrow which reaches to
the oblique lateral border, and which is slightly raised ; entire
enamelled surface coarsely granulo-punctate, but otherwise
smooth.
In form and size this tooth approaches that of D. stellatu-s, N. and W. (vol. 2,
p. 97), but is more convolute in form, thicker, the crown surface smoother, the
rid^e less angular, the punctation simpler. There is no other species for which
it is likely to be mistaken.
Dedicated to Prof. A. Litton, of St. Louis, Mo.
Formation and locality: Lower Carboniferous limestone ; Boone county, Mo.
368 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
»
DELTODUS ANGUSTUS, N. and W.
PI. iii, fig. 7.
TOOTH narrowly triangular in outline, about one inch in ex-
treme length by one-quarter inch in breadth at widest part;
under surface nearly flat ; upper face coarsely punctate and
raised by a strong but obtuse ridge which borders the longer
margin, running from the narrower nearly to the broader end,
where it gradually slopes down to the edge. Parallel with the
margin of the tooth, opposite the ridge, is a broad, shallow
furrow, which runs from the narrower to the broader end.
This tooth is much smaller and relatively narrower than any other species of
the genus hitherto described. In its general aspect it is most like D. rhomboi-
deus, N. and W. (Geol. Survey Illinois, vol. 2, p. 100, pi. ix, fig. 8), but is very
much narrower and has but a single ridge, while D. rhomboideus may be said
to have three ridges crossing the crown longitudinally.
Formation and locality : Chester group ; Chester, Illinois.
DELTODUS ALATUS, N. and W.
PI. ii, fig. 6.
TEETH of medium or large size, thick and massive, broadly
triangular in outline, strongly arched in both directions, crown
mainly composed of one high and broad arched ridge extend-
ing from the acute angle to the opposite side, bordered on the
shorter side of the triangle by a relatively broad, low margin
or wing ; bony base of the tooth prolonged, in a wing-like ex-
pansion from the broad, rounded extremity of the crown ridge;
enamel surface all coarsely granulo-punctate.
This species has much in common with D. spatulatus (vol. 2, p. 100, pi. 14,
fig. 7), but the wing-like expansions of the crown and base, referred to in the
description given, have not been noticed in any specimens yet found of that
species, which also comes from a different horizon, the Burlington limestone,
where nearly all the species are distinct from those accompanying the fossil
under consideration. A beach-worn tooth, from which the margin had been
VERTEBRATES. 369
removed, leaving only the spatulate ridge of the crown, would hardly be sepa-
rable from those of D, spatulattts, but as we have teeth of both in nearly per-
fect condition, we are compelled to regard them as representatives of allied but
really distinct species.
Formation and locality : Keokuk limestone j Wareaw, Illinois.
GENUS 3ANDALODUS, N. and W.
SANDALODUS CRASSUS, N. and W.
PI. iv, fig. 3, So.
TEETH clavate in form, very thick and strong, two inches
long, five-eighths inch broad where widest, three-eighths inch
thick ; one margin nearly straight, the other forming a broad
arch ; crown surface irregularly spatulate in outline, strongly
arched in the line of the shorter diameter, toward the narrow
end showing a broad but well marked longitudinal furrow ;
enamel coating uniformly, rather finely punctate.
The tooth, of which figures are now given, though from the Lower Carbonifer-
ous limestone, is remarkably like those of S. carbonarms, described in vol. 2,
p. 104, though by its greater relative thickness, more arched section, etc., spe-
cifically distinct. It will be seen that the teeth of these two species present
some common characters — in their one straight and one arched margins, their
broadly rounded anterior end — not possessed by the typical species of Sanda-
lodus, so that when a larger number of specimens shall be obtained it may be
found convenient to divide them into two generic groups. For the present,
however, in consideration of the marked similarity which they all exhibit in their
surface markings, general spatulate form, longitudinally plane, laterally concave
base, it has been thought best to group them together.
We owe this specimen to the courtesy of Prof. Litton, of St. Louis.
Formation and locality; St. Louis limestone j St. Louis, Mo.
GENUS PETRODUS ? McCoy.
PETRODUS(?) PUSTULOSUS, N, and W.
PI. u, fig, 5, 5« ; pi. iii, fig. &
DERMAL tubercles (?) of large size, very thick and massive,
ovoid or sub-triangular in outline, flattened below, arched or
—47
370 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
conical above ; under surface flat, or slightly concave, rough ;
upper surface smooth, at summit somewhat ridged with short
rows of enamelled tubercles ; microscopic structure showing a
congeries of irregular, vertical, prismatic columns.
Of these specimens the larger one, represented by fig. 5, 5a, plate ii, is evi-
dently much worn on the upper surface, and is so massive and strong that it
seems something of a stretch of the imagination to consider it a dermal tuber-
cle. It has, however, a strong generic resemblance to the specimens of Petro-
dus occid entalis, figured in vol. 2, pi. iv, especially to that represented in fig.
16, and is also so closely allied to the smaller specimen now figured (pi. iii, fig.
6), that there seem to be no good grounds for separating them.
As has been stated in our description of P. occidentalis (1. c.), there are
apparently good reasons for considering that to be the dermal tubercle of some
Plagistomous fish, and the reasons given for that conclusion are to a certain
degree applicable to the specimen before us. The microscopic structure is
certainly different from that of any of the teeth which have come under our
notice. The mass of this fossil is composed of contiguous, prismatic columns,
which run through from the upper to the lower surface; in the larger speci-
mens apparently solid and homogeneous in structure, while in the smaller they
form polygonal tubes which give a reticulated marking to the tipper surface.
These prisms may be considered to be the Lomologues of the caleigerous tubes
which by their ends mark the enamelled surface of most of the placoid teeth
that have been described, but in all the species of Psammodus, Deltodus, etc^
these tubes are distinctly separated at their superior extremities, while they
inosculate below. The difference which the two forms of structure exhibit will
be best understood if we compare the calcicerous tubes of JPsammodus, Cocli-
liodus, etc., with Syringopora, while the tubes or prisms of the specimens be.
fore us may be compared to Favosites.
Formation and locality : Burlington limestone; Burlington, Iowa.
GENUS ASTEROPTYCHIUS, Ag.
ASTEROPTYCHIUS TRIANGULARIS, N. and W.
PI. ii, fig. 4.
SPINE short, robust, with a nearly equal-sided, triangular
section, the sides concave ; anterior keel strong, sharp, and
smooth ; lateral surfaces marked with 5-6 nearly equal, smooth,
VERTEBRATES. 371
flattened, enamelled carinae, separated by sulci which are lon-
gitudinally striated. These sulci are very unequal in width,
the anterior one being much the broadest, occupying nearly
half the lateral surface, and set with enamelled tubercles,
forming a single row above, below irregularly scattered. The
posterior denticles are not distinctly shown in the only speci-
men obtained.
This species is clearly generically identical with those described by Agassiz
and McCoy (British Palseoz. fossils, pp. 615, 616, pi. SK, figs. 22, 23, 24), and
forms an interesting addition to the genera common to the Lower Carboniferous
strata of the old and new worlds. From the two species to which reference has
been made^this is, however, distinguishable. From A. ornatus, Ag., it is sepa-
rated by its single longitudinal band of tubercles, and its larger number of
lateral carinae. From A. semi ornatus, McCoy, it differs in its triangular sec-
tion being much less compressed laterally, and in the greater inequality in the
breadth of the sulci.
Formation and locality : Burlington limestone ; Quincy, Illinois.
GENUS LISTRACANTHUS, N. and W.
SPINES small, gently arched, flattened, thin; sides marked
by numerous sharp longitudinal carinse, edges set with many
divergent slender acute teeth, those on the convex margin
most numerous and largest; base abruptly expanded, and
obliquely truncated.
These spines are considerably unlike any hitherto described. They are
marked on the sides somewhat "like Leptacanthus, but are flatter, shorter, and
more rapidly narrowed above, while the bristling, divergent teeth of both mar-
gins serve to distinguish them at a glance. The base is different from that of
most defensive spines, as it is abruptly truncated and expanded : showing that
it was set on the surface and did not penetrate the integuments.
In this respect these spines resemble those of Climatius, as well as those of
some recent scaled fishes (Gaslerostcous, etc.), and may be considered modified
scales or cranial scutes. They were probably attached by their broad bases to
the body or head, serving perhaps both for ornament and defense.
372 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
LISTRACANTHUS HYSTRix, N. and W.
PI. ii, fig. 3, 3a.
SPINES small, delicate, thin, flattened, broad below, rapidly
narrowed above, gently arched in outline, both edges set with
sharp, spiny teeth directed upward; the sides marked with
fine longitudinal ridges, which successively terminate above
in the margin.
Two specimens of this distinctly new form are before us, of which one is
three inches, the other, one inch in length. In the larger specimen, the mar-
ginal teeth are very numerous, of unequal size — those of the concave margin
being much the larger. In the smaller specimen they are fewer, relatively
larger, and about equal on both margins. The base is the same in each, ob-
liquely truncated, and expanded like a trumpet mouth, indicating that it was
set on the surface of body or head, and had not been inserted in the integu-
ments.
Formation cind locality : Coal Measures ; Vermilion county, 111.
GENUS CTENACANTHUS, Ag.
CTENACANTHUS MAYI, N. and W.
PL ii, fig. 2, 2a.
SPINE of medium size, six to eight inches long by one and
a-quarter broad at base, much compressed, gently arched back-
ward ; summit sub-acute, smooth ; anterior and convex mar-
gin sub-acute and marked by relatively large and remote an-
nular tubercles; posterior margin furrowed longitudinally and
striated transversely, the salient edges set above with remote
and small denticles ; sides flattened, and ornamented by ten
or more strong longitudinal costse bearing flattened annular
tubercles.
This is a typical species of the genus, and perhaps the most beautiful yet
discovered. Its outlines are regular and elegant; the ornamentations very
elaborate and distinct. It may be readily distinguished from all other known
VERTEBRATES. 373
species by its great relative breadth, its flattened, compressed sides, and strong,
crowded ornamentation. The number of the longitudinal ribs is not the same
on the two sides, and they increase toward the base, as is usual in the genus,
by their bifurcation. They cover the entire surface of the exposed portion,
except just at the summit, which is smooth, and evidently worn by use.
Formation and locality : Lower Carb. limestone j Burlington, Iowa
GENUS PHYSONEMUS, Ag.
PHYSONEMUS GIGAS, N. and W.
PI. ii, % i.
SPINE large, massive and strong, one foot or more in length,
two inches in breadth, and three-fourths of an inch in thick-
ness at the base ; strongly curved, with the summit turned to-
ward the front; base expanded, flattened, and somewhat bi-
lobed; posterior (convex) margin slightly flattened, and ob-
scurely furrowed longitudinally; anterior (concave) margin
sub-acute, beveled, the flattened faces which include the angle
covered with a fine reticulated ornamentation, and bearing
each a single row of remote, large obliquely-stellate, enamelled
tubercles, which alternate with those of the other side.
Only the basal portion of one of these spines has, at yet, come under our ob-
servation. This is, however, sufficient to prove it quite different from any
other hitherto described from an American locality. Its rarity, great size, pe-
culiar markings and reversed curve, all combine to make it a specimen of unu-
sual interest, but it has a still higher value in its close generic identity and
specific affinity with a spine obtained by Prof. McCoy from the Carboniferous
limestone of Armagh, Ireland, and described by him (Brit. Paleoz. Fossils, p.
638, PL 3 f,jftff- 29) under the name of Physonemus arcuatus.
The resemblance between the spine described and figured by McCoy, and
that before us, is so strong that we have had some hesitation in deciding them
to be distinct. Our spine is, however, many times larger than that which oc-
curs in the Armagh limestone, and the large stellate tubercles of the anterior
margin are very obliquely conical, the summit being turned toward the base of
the spine, so that if a little prolonged they would form hooks. In Ph. arcuatus
they are represented as being symmetrical. No generic or specific description
374 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
was ever given by Agassiz of the spine which he named Ph. sulteres, so that it
is not certain that it should be considered generically identical with the one
now under consideration, but there can be no question that our spine belongs
to the same genus with McCoy's Ph. arcuatus, and as he has framed a generic
description on that, our species may be almost considered a type. The great
size of our specimen, however, requires a qualification of so much of McCoy's
description as refers to the size ("Pin spine of small or moderate size ").
Formation and locality : Burlington limestone ; Quincy, 111.
Note on the Genus Rinodus, N. and W.
When the descriptions of the fish remains described in Vol. II, were writ-
ten, we had not access to all of Pander's Monographs of the Fossil Fishes of
Russia, Since then we have obtained them, and find in his paper (Uler die
Ctenodiptfirinen des Devonischens Systems, pp. 48-51, PL viii and ix,) descrip-
tions and copious illustrations of a group of fish teeth from the Devonian rocks
of Russia, which include two species unmistakably generically identical with
that peculiar one described by us (Vol II, p. 106, PI. x, figs. 10, lOa, lOb), un-
der the name of Rinodus calceolus. These are grouped by Pander in the genus
Ptyctodus, forming his two species, Pt. obliquas and Pt. ancinnatus. Both these
species are ornamented on the sides, where ours is plain, and hence are appar-
ently specifically distinct; but, in the generality of form and structure, the re-
semblance is so close that no one would hesitate to include them all in one genus.
Our species, Rinodus calceolus, must therefore, take the name of Ptyctodm
calceolus.
So far as we can learn, no teeth of this kind have been found elsewhere in
Europe than in Russia, and there only in the Devonian strata. It is, there-
fore, a fact of peculiar geological interest that a very closely allied species
should reappear in far distant America, in the same geological horizon.
PART II.
PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
SECTION II.
REPORT ON THE FOSSIL PLANTS OF ILLINOIS.
BY LEO LESQUEKEUX.
FOSSIL PLANTS.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
The generic classification of the species of fossil plants, enumerated and de-
scribed in this paper, is the same as that in the second volume of this Report.
Perhaps it would have been advisable to modify, by subdivision, a number of
our genera, especially for some species of ferns, of which we have recently
obtained fruiting specimens, which seem to indicate a relation to peculiar spe-
cies of the present time. But as this Report is a mere continuation of the first,
a change of classification would have rendered it more obscure to the student,
and would have required a long discussion on the value of some of these new
genera, without any advantage to science. For the fructifications of the fossil
ferns are scarcely, if ever seen, except obscurely, through the substance of the
leaflets under which they are attached, and even when the position of the sort
or groups of fructifications relatively to the veins and veinlets, or to the bor-
ders of the leaflets can be ascertained, their true form, and especially the mode
of attachment and of dehiscence of their indusium cannot be recognized. The
natural affinity of these fruiting fossil fragments is, therefore, always more or
less uncertain, and a mere change of name, without sufficient authority, tends to
obscure, rather than to enlighten the classification. I have, therefore, merely
appended some remarks to all the species, which, by their known organized
parts, may differ in some way from the characters of the genera to which they
are united. I have also, in this paper, omitted to repeat descriptions of genera
and of species already given in the second volume of the Report, but have
added to the names such remarks as have been suggested by the discovery of
more complete specimens. In botanical palaeontology, we have to deal merely
with fragments, and none of these separate fragments are sufficient, in them-
selves, to indicate the general character of the whole plant to which they be-
long. The discovery of each part of a fossil plant adds, therefore, to our ac-
quaintance with a species, and the record and description of any of the separ-
—48
378 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
ate members, are often of more value to botanical science, than the description
of so-called new species, established on some remains of a peculiar form, and of
unknown relation.
The number and diversity of the plants published in this volume, tend to
indicate the richness of the fossil flora of our Coal Measures, and at the same
time, show an increasing activity in research.
The publication of the fossil flora of the second volume of the Geological
Survey of Illinois, has excited a remarkable interest for botanical palaeontology.
Not only private gentlemen have given their time to the collection of speci-
mens, but local societies have been formed for encouraging research, and
founding cabinets of fossil plants. We can therefore hope soon to see our fos-
sil flora in America as thoroughly studied and as well known as that of Europe,
where this field of science has been ardently worked for more than a century.
Among those to whom the survey is especially indebted for the communica-
tion of valuable material used in the preparation of this Report, thanks are due
to Mr. Jos. Even, of Morris, who. after the loss of his valuable cabinet by fire,
has begun again his researches with renewed zeal and great success ; and to
Mr. S. S. Strong, of the same place, who has most liberally presented the State
Cabinet and myself with a large number of specimens of rare and new species.
Messrs. M. Prendel and John Collins, also of Morris; Mr. M. S. Hall, for-
merly of Wilmington, and Mr. Thos. Tijou, of Dnquoin, have also furnished
valuable contributions to this Report. As, moreover, the assistants of the State
Geological Survey were instructed by the State Geologist carefully to look for
and preserve specimens in their explorations, and as the Director of the Sur-
vey and myself worked hard in collecting specimens as often as opportunity
permitted, the amount of materials which have been examined for this report,
and which now mostly belong to the State Cabinet in Springfield, are exten-
sive and of great value.
DESCRIPTION OF NEW SPECIES, AND AN ENUMERATION,
WITH REMARKS, ON SPECIES ALREADY KNOWN.
FUCOIDES, OR MARINE PLANTS,
GENUS CHONDRITES. Sternb., Vers. 2, p. 25.
FROND cartilaginous ; stem filiform, dichotomous; branches
cylindrical.
CHONDRITES COLLETTI, Sp. nov.
FROND large, dividing fan-like into numerous crowded
branches, dichotomous, either diverging on both sides of the
main axis or arched on one side ; ultimate divisions simple,
linear, cylindrical, with irregular borders.
This species is not as yet satisfactorily known. I have but recently received
from Mr. John Collett, Eugene, Ind., some specimens of a black, fossiiiferous
limestone, whose surface is marked with the remains of these plants, true Fu-
coides. The species distantly resembles, by the curving of its branches, Fu-
coides cauda galli, Van. But it is evidently a compound of separate branches,
dichotomous from near the base of the frond (the base is broken from the spe-
cimen), the branches in dividing and ascending, forming fan-like or flabellate
fronds. The branches, which are ultimately simple, leave upon the stone a
half cylindrical impression, and are distinct from each other. The locality is
indicated as Towle's mill, five miles east of Lodi, Ind., and the geological posi-
tion about the level of coal No. 1 of the 111. section. If it is so, this black
380 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
fossiliferous limestone, whose characters are so much like those of the Penna.
black limestone seen at the top of the millstone grit with Caulerpites margi-
natus, Lesqx., Jour. Am. Phil. Soc., vol. 13, p. 313, occupies the same level.
This is a peculiar coincidence of a singular formation, which, exceptionally in
the flora of the Coal Measures contains Fucoides, in both the coal basins of
Penna. and of Illinois.
FRONDS AND BRANCHES OF FERNS,
GENUS NEUROPTERIS, Brgt.
This genus, limited as it is, vol. ii, p. 427 of this Eeport contains some spe-
cies, whose leaflets, more generally round, have no distinct medial nerve, and
which, from this peculiarity of form and nervation, are referable to the genus
Nephropteris, Brgt., already a modification or subdivision of the genus Oy-
clopteris, of the same author. As some of our species are represented, even
on the same specimens, by fronds bearing both oblong leaflets with a well
marked medial nerve, and nearly round ones without it; or by branches bear-
ing round or polyform. pinnules with a definite medial nerve, and oblong ones
without a trace of it, the subdivision of the genus Neuropteris is as difficult as
it is inconvenient, with the materials now at hand. This opinion is further
supported by the descriptions and figures of some of our species.
NEUROPTERIS HIRSUTA, Lesqx.
Boston Jour, of Nat. Hist., 1854; State Geol. Rept. of Penna., p. 857, PI. iii, 6/, PI. iv,
fig. 1 to 16, excl. syn.
The degree of relation of this species with Neuropteris cordata, Brgt., is not
yet ascertained. In his admirable work on the Fossil Flora of the Permian
(1864-65) p. 100, PI. xi, fig. 1 and 2, Prof. G-oppert has published as Neurop-
teris cordata, Brgt., part of a pinna, bearing on one side of its broad rachis a
series of alternate, oblong, cordate, obtuse leaflets, one inch broad, four inches
long, marked with a thick medial nerve, and on the other side diminutive leaf-
lets, very short and enlarged, resembling, according to the author's remarks,
some of those of the polymorphous Neuropteris auriculata, Brgt. If the true
Neuropteris cordata has such leaflets of various forms alternately attached to a
FOSSIL PLANTS. 381
common rachis, as Goppert describes, our Neuropteris hirsuta is certainly not
identical with it. For this very common and polymorphous spfecies of ours,
whose frond is sometimes 5 feet long, and at least tripinnate, and generally bears
compound tertiary alternate pinna? or pinnules formed of a large oblong or
lanceolate obtuse leaflet, cordiform at base, having on each side, and attached
to the base of its slightly elongated pedicel, a small round or veniform pinnule,
which is as different in its form as in its nervation from the main middle leaf-
let. This one has generally a well marked, sometimes thick medial nerve,
from which the veins go out, anastomosing and curving to the borders ; while
the veins of the small basilar leaflets all come out of an enlarged or circular
base, without trace of a medial nerve. These leaflets are, therefore, true Ne-
phropteris, while the main pinnule is a Neuropteris. We have obtained from
various parts of our Coal Measures, where this species is the most abundant of
all, numerous specimens which all show the same characters. The pinnae de-
crease in size to the point, and the two upper leaflets under the terminal pin-
nule are .simple or do not bear at the base the small round pinnules; all the
others are compound. This terminal pinnule is large, round oval, obtuse and
entire. On the other side, Prof. F. A. Rremer has published in the Paleonto-
graphia (1860) p. 186, PI. 29, fig. 4, a leaf which he considers identical with
Neuropteris corddta, Brgt., though he calls it Dictyopteris cordata. It resem-
bles one large leaflet of Neuropteris hirsuta by its form, and by the straight
pointed hairs with which its surface is marked. But in the leaf figured by the
German author, the veins and veinlets are undulate, and in curving and anas-
tomosing, they pass from one to the other, forming a kind of reticulation, like
that which characterizes the genus Dictyopteris. As this peculiar mode of
reticulation is not remarked in our species, we have to consider it as different
from Neuropteris cordata, Brgt.
NEUROPTERIS FASCICULATA, Sp. nov.
PI. v, fig. 1 to 4.
FROND pinnately divided, bearing alternate ovate lanceolate
pointed leaflets, variable in size, irregularly rounded or auri-
culate at the base, being more extended on one side than on
the other, or truncate on one side, and rounded on the other.
Medial nerve distinct, and comparatively broad, either de-
scending to the point of the leaflets, or disappearing at or be-
low the middle, sometimes absent ; veinlets thin, close to each
other, scarcely distinct, arched, forking in ascending.
382 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
This species, by the divisions of the leaves, presents a truly peculiar appear-
ance, which floes not compare with any previously known fossil plants, except
perhaps with some of the abnormal forms of Neuropteris hirsuta. It is evi-
dently distinct from this last species, as shown by its smooth (not hairy) sur-
face, its thinner texture, its more closely approached veinlets; by the pointed
form and the peculiar division of the leaflets, which are generally united three
together, and by a subdivision of the main rachis. In the specimen repre-
sented by fig. 3, the large leaflet has a well marked medial nerve, while the
small ones have no trace of it. The specimen represented by fig. 4 is creased
in the middle, but the secondary nerves come out from the broad, round base,
as in the genus Cydopteris. I consider it as one of the leaflets attached to a
round, perhaps climbing stem, while the others represent the top leaves I
have only seen of this species the four specimens figured here. Figs. 2 and 3
are from the bottom clay of the upper coal bed of Neelyville, Morgan Co. ; the
two others in concretions from Mazon creek, Grundy Co.
NEUROPTERIS COLLINSII, Sp. nov.
PI. v, fig. 5 and 6.
THE mode of division of this species is still unknown, as it
has been found as yet only in separate leaflets. These leaflets
are large, from two to three inches long, one and a-half to two
inches wide, either oval in outline or oblong ovate, and smooth.
The veins and veinlets are thin and distinct, inflated near the
base, emerging from an oblique or horizontal truncate broad
base, many times forking in ascending, and but slightly arched.
The leaflets have no trace of a medial nerve, and could not,
therefore, be referable to the genus NepJiropteris, Brgt
But as it has been seen to be the case with species of this genus, other leaf-
lets, taken from different parts of the same plant, may have another kind of
nervation. Our species is related to Neuropteris ingens, Lind & Hutt., Foss.
Flora, vol. 2, PI. 9 la, by the form and size of the leaflets, but it differs by the
mode of division of the veins, which do not radiate from one common point,
but ascend in slightly curving lines to the borders from an enlarged base,
where they become parallel, resembling, in that manner, the nervation of an
Odontopteris. In our species also, the veins, though inflated near the base, are
not as distinct as in the English species, which is compared to Neuropteris au-
FOSSIL PLANTS. 383
riculata, Brgt., a plant which has not yet been discovered in our Coal Meas-
ures. The two specimens figured in this Keport, have been found in the con-
cretions of Mazon creek, the first one, fig. 5, by Mr. John Collins, to whom the
species is dedicated. Other and larger leaflets of the same species have been
obtained from the same place.
NEUROPTERIS CAPITATA, Sp. nov.
PI. vii, fig. 1, and PI. viii, fig. 9.
FROND or part of frond bi-pinnately divided, triangular in
outline or tapering upwards from an enlarged base ; pinnse
linear, with alternate, oblong, short, very obtuse, broad, con-
tiguous pinnules, and a proportionally very large triangular
obtusely pointed terminal leaflet, obtusely lobed on each side
near its base. Medial nerve, none; veinlets scarcely visible
to the naked eye, coming out from the narrowed base of the
leaflets, strongly arched towards the borders, with numerous
bifurcations. At the upper part, or near the point of the
frond, as seen in PL vii, fig. 1, the pinnae become shorter, less
divided, and at last mere pinnules attached to the rachis by a
broad pedicel. All leaflets are unsymmetrical at the base,
being auricled or elongated downwards, or toward the main
rachis, and merely rounded on the other side.
The general appearance of this species is somewhat similar to that of Neu-
roptcris Loschii, Brgt., from which it is readily distinguished by its propor-
tionally broader, round-topped pinnules, more abruptly cut at the base, its pol-
ished smooth surface, and the large terminal triangular leaflet. The large spe-
cimen figured is from Murphysborough ; the other has bten found in concre-
tions at Mazon creek. The same species is abundant in the roof shales of the
main four-feet coal bed at Yellow creek, Ohio.
384 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
NEUROPTERIS FIMBRIATA, Lesqx.
PL vi, fig. 4.
Cy dopier is fimbriata, Lesqx.
Journ. Bost. Soe. Nat. Hist., 1854, p. 416.
This species has also been published in part, and from isolated leaflets, in
the Geol. Rep. of Penn., p. 855, PI. iv., fig. 17 and 18, as a Cyclopteris. The
specimens now on hand represent it with a pinnate frond having an undulating,
flexuous, round, finely striate rachis, marked with points as if it had been
scaly, which bears alternate, distant, broadly oblong or, ovate, sometimes nearly
round leaflets, entire at the round auriculate base, attached to the rachis by a
broad pedicel. These leaflets are finely fringed from the middle upwards by
long, undulating, narrow laeinise. The veins which come out parallel from
the broad pedicel and divide three or four times in ascending, are thin but dis-
tinct, slightly arched towards the borders and ascend to the top of the fringes.
The specimen figured here from the concretions of Mazon creek, and found by
Mr. S. S. Strong, seems to show that the species was a climbing fern resem-
bling by its nervation and its mode of division a Lygodium. It has been sup-
posed that the fimbriate leaves were the fruiting part of a species, which in its
sterile form has entire leaflets, as it happens with some ferns of our time. But
the fringe is not inflated, and the lacinise, though very distinct in some speci-
mens, do not show any trace of remains of sporanges. Like the former spe-
cies, this one is, by its nervation, a Nephropteris, at least so far as it is known.
It varies much in the size of its leaflets, some being still smaller than those
figured here, while most of the others found detached from the stem, and
which are broad oval or nearly round in outline, are about two inches or more
in diameter. It is one cf the finest and rarest species of our Coal Measures,
though it has been found at different places over the whole extent of the N.
American coal fields. When this species was first published, no plant of this
kind had yet been found in the Coal Measures of Europe, but recently Prof.
Heer has given in his Urwdtder Schweiz, under the name of Neuropteris lace-
rata, Heer, 1. cit., p. 12, fig. 11, a species which has a near relation to ours. It
is a round leaflet, bordered by a narrow fringe, which, unlike ours, is nearly
regular with equal narrow divisions. As far as can be seen from a mere wood-
cut, the species is a truly different one. Prof. W. P. Schimper, in his Palfeon-
tologie vegetale, seems to consider both species as identical, for he says of Neu-
ropteris (Cyclopteris) lacerata, Herr, that it is found at Saarbruck and in some
places in North America. If both species are identical, our name has the
FOSSIL PLANTS. 385
right of precedence, and should be preserved, it having been published, with
description, in 1854, in the Journal of the Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist.; and in 1858,
in the Report of the Geological Survey of Penna., with figures and description,
while Prof. Herr's species was published ten years later.
NEUROPTERIS VERMICULARIS, Lesqx.
PI. vii, fig. 1, 2, 3.
This species, described in the 4th vol. of the Geol. Report of Kentucky, p.
434, has not before been figured. The frond is apparently tripinnate, with
linear lanceolate somewhat obtuse pinnje, and alternate, oblong very obtuse
leaflets, placed ata short distance from each other. They are slightly narrowed
in the middle, turned upwards or a little scythe-shaped, and nearly round, and
equal at the corners of the base. The terminal leaflet, fig. 3, is oblong obtuse,
regularly and equally undulate-lobed on both sides. The nervation is particu-
larly distinct, the medial nerve being short and thick, and the veinlets dis-
tant, twice forking in curving to the borders, round, deeply marked, easily de-
tached from the substance of the leaves, polished and thus appearing like pieces
of rain worms. The main rachis is broad, straight, and irregularly striate.
The general appearance of this species is like that of the large forms of Neu-
roptcris rarinervis, Bunb., but its nervation is far different, the veinlets in this
last species being flat, or looking as if formed of two parallel lines.
Found in the concretions of Mazon creek.
NEUROPTERIS VERBEN^EFOLIA, Lesqx.
PL vi, fig. 5 and 6.
FROND pinnate ; rachis round, slightly and regularly striate;
leaves alternate, varying in length from half an inch to four
inches and a-half, proportionally broad, ovate lanceolate-obtuse
in outline, truncate at the base, regularly serrulate-toothed on
the borders, attached to the rachis by a broad pedicel, medial
nerve narrow but distinct ; veinlets distinct and distant, thin,
moderately arched in ascending to the borders, forking twice,
the last divisions descending to the point of the teeth.
—49
386 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The figure and description given of this species in the 2d vol. of this Report,
p. 431, pi. xxxvii, fig. 1, are imperfect, being made from the only specimen
found at the time. Better specimens now on hand show that this fern evi-
dently belongs to the genus Neuropteris, not only by its nervation, but by its
ramification and the position of the leaves on the rachis. The species nearest
to this is Neuropteris crenulata, Brgt., easily distinguished by its elongated nar-
rower leaves, with crenulate rather than toothed borders, and the thickness of
its veinlets. Our fig. 5 represents a specimen whose upper leaflets, scarcely
dentate, have the surface wrinkled around, and marked by points of irregular
size, placed without order, which resemble traces of fructification, the epider-
mis appearing as if it had been perforated by glomerules of spores placed under
it. This peculiar appearance may result from the process of maceration. It
is too obscurely marked to merit more than a passing mention.
NEUROPTERIS RARINERVIS, Bunb.
PI. viii, fig. 1 to 6.
The specimens figured 1 to 4 on this plate, from the concretions of Mazon
creek, bear round leaflets, apparently attached on both sides of a secondary
rachis, as are generally the pinnules of a Neuropteris. According to this ap-
pearance we should have not only to consider these leaves as representing a
new species, but also to accept the genus Nephropteris or Cyclopteris for their
classification. But I think that the parts represented in fig. 1 and 2, are not
fragments of a secondary pinna with alternate pinnules attached to it, but only
parts of primary pinnae with the basilar leaflets of the secondary pinna- at-
tached to them, in the same way as such leaflets are attached along the rachis
in fig. 6, which represents a fragment of pinna of Neuropteris rarinervis.
This remarkable specimen is also from Mazon oreek. As is easily seen, it
shows a primary rachis with the base of its diversions marked by the remains
of the secondary branches and the two basilar leaflets on each side of them. If
this branch were longer, we should see these basilar leaflets more and more en-
larged, becoming round farther down, and then showing the same forms as we
see on fig. 1 and 2. In vol. 2, p. 429, in a foot-note of this Report, mention
is made of a specimen from Newport, R. I., which bears on the same part of a
frond two round cyclopteroidal leaflets attached at the axil of secondary pin-
nae, while the same pinnae bear true neuropteroidal oblong pinnules, with a
medial nerve. As this specimen elucidates the position of the two kinds of
leaflets, and as it is the only one found as yet elucidating this peculiar differ-
ence, I have figured it fig. 5, as affording the most conclusive representation of
the unity of both the genera Neuropteris and Nephropteris. This figure, I
FOSSIL PLANTS. 387
think, demonstrates that all the leaflets represented in our plate viii, fig. 1 to
6, belong to the same species. The cyclopteroidal leaflets of this species vary
in size from little more than half an inch to four or five inches in diameter.
NEUROPTERIS INFLATA, Lesqx.
Geol. Rep. of 111., vol. ii, p. 43], PL xxxvii, fig. 2.
Though a few specimens of this species have been found in the concretions
of Mazon creek since its description was made, these specimens do not indicate
in the nature and characters of this plant anything more than was formerly
known. All these specimens have only two basilar ? round inflated leaflets,
of a thick coriaceous substance, without any traces of lateral branches. One
of the specimens has the leaflet of one side lacerated, or cut in lanceolate linear
laciniae, much like the leaves published in the Geol. Report of Penna , p. 85H,
PI. v, fig. 5, as Cyclopteris Germari, Gopp? As the specimen which I con-
sidered then (1854, Bost. Soe. of N. H.) as referable to Goppert's species, is
not in my possession, I cannot, by comparison, ascertain if it is or is not iden-
tical with ours. Moreover, as both the European and the American species
are founded on mere fragments of specimens, we must consider the species
which they represent as still uncertain or doubtful.
NEUROPTERIS CORIACEA, Sp. nov.
PI. viii, fig. 7 and 8.
WE have of this species only a small branch in a concretion
from Mazon creek. It is part of a secondary pinna, lanceolate
in outline, bearing nearly opposite oblong lanceolate obtusely
pointed pinnules, turned upwards at an acute angle to the ra-
chis, and gradually diminishing in size to the terminal leaflet,
which appears proportionally broad. As it is broken from the
middle upwards, its form is unknown. The texture of the
leaflets is thick, and the smooth epidermis is inflated along the
veins and veinlets in an irregular manner, as seen in fig. 8,
enlarged.
This inflation may be caused by groups of spores or elongated sori, placed
along the veins which are twice forked, and along their divisions. A swelling
388 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
of this kind on the veinlets of Neuropteris eorafata, Brgt., and which is also
often remarked on specimens of our N~. hirsuta, has been considered by Euro-
pean authors as representing organs of fructification. As the form and thick-
ness of the inflation is very irregular, it may be caused on both species by some
casual influence in the process of mineralization. The basilar leaflets of this
species show a tendency to be divided into lobes and pinnules, having thus the
same form as some of those of Neuroptcris Desorii, Lesqx., to which this spe-
cies is related, and from which it differs only by the thick epidermis, and by
the more distant ramification of the veinlets. The small fragment mentioned
in vol. ii of this Keport, p. 430, as possibly belonging to N. Desorii, Lesqx.,
is referable to this species.
GENUS DICTYOPTERIS, Gutbier.
Aldr. u Verst., p. 62.
FROND at least tripinnate, pinnae linear-lanceolate, bearing
alternate leaflets much variable in size, ovate-oblong obtuse
squarely cut at the base, with equal lobes on both sides, or
with the lower lobes slightly elongated. Medial nerve none,
or merely basilar ; veinlets anastomosing from the base, arched
towards the borders, but irregularly undulating in ascending,
and forming by their contact an oval-polygonal reticulation.
DlCTYOPTERIS RUBELLA, Sp. nOV.
PI. vii, fig. 2 to 6.
FROND bi or tripinnate ; pinnae linear-lanceolate, with alter-
nate oblong or oval-lanceolate leaflets, attached to the rachis
by a broad pedicel. The inferior basilar lobes, as is generally
the case in the species of the genus Neuropteris, are slightly
longer or protracted into a little obtuse auricle. The terminal
leaflet, somewhat broader and longer, is oval in outline, ob-
tuse, and cut on one side into a short obtuse lobe, fig. 2. The
leaflets of the large inferior pinnae are more distant, larger,
truncate at the base, slightly scythe-shaped outwards; and
FOSSIL I-LANTS. 389
the axillar pinnules, still larger and cyclopteroidal in form, are
attached around the stem by a half circular notch, nearly sur-
rounded by two broad auricles. The veins, anastomosing from
the base without medial nerve and in their undulations form-
ing oval-polygonal elongated meshes, curve towards the bor-
ders, where the last divisions end in arched close lines.
In this species, found in soft shales at Murphysborough, the epidermis or
substance of the leaflets has become, by maceration, separable from the stone,
and is easily obtained in lamellae. Whole pinnules can be got in that way
without any earthy substance adhering to them ; and in that semi-opaque state
their texture, and nervation are easily studied with the glass. The veins pre-
sent, under the microscope, the appearance marked in fig. 2.
When the 2d vol. of this Report was published, no species of this genus had
been found in Illinois. Now this new one, obtained in numerous and well
preserved specimens, not only adds a beautiful species to the flora of the Coal
Measures, but furnishes us new evidence on some questions concerning the vege-
tation of plants of this kind. First, our specimens prove, beyond doubt, the
close relation of this genus with the former. The form of the fronds, of the
pinnaae, of the leaflets, and their variety in size and shape, are exactly alike in
both genera. Truly but for its nervation, we should have in our new Dictyop-
teris a Neuropteris scarcely distinguishable from Neuropteris Loschii, or Neu-
ropteris tenui folia. But further, the peculiar nervation, as well as the peculiar
reddish color of the plant in its fossil state, permit us to identify the large
leaflets of the species of this genus with the small ones, or afford the proof that
for Dictyopteris as for Neuropteris, the large round cyclopteroidal pinnules,
always found isolated, really belong to species represented by pinnae bearing
small leaflets of a widely different form. It would not certainly be possible to
admit specific identity between the leaves represented, pi. vii, fig. 2, and those
of fig. 5, without those peculiarities of structure remarked in both.
The species of Dictyopteris are rare in the Coal Measures. In the United
States none had as yet been found but D. obliqua, Bunb., whose remains are very
abundant at some places in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and which have also been
found, but rarely, in Kentucky and Arkansas. By the form of its leaflets, its
ramification f c. f, this last species is related to Dictyopteris Brongnarti, Gutb.,
the only species of this genus known in the Coal Measures of Europe. For
D. neuropteroides, Gutb., described from a few small leaflets, is, according to
Prof. Ellinghausen, a true Neuropteris^ and Dictyopteris cordata, Roem., ac-
cording to the remarks of the author himself, is a variety of Neuropteris cor-
data, Brgt., as his D. Hoffmanni seems to be a variety of D. Brongnarti, Gutb.
390 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
GENUS ODONTOPTERIS, Brgt.
111. Geol. Report, Tol. ii, p. 432.
ODONTOPTERIS SUBCUNEATA, Bunb.
PI. viii, fig. 10 and lOb.
From the specimen figured here from Mazon creek, it is clear that the fern
published under this name in the 111. Geol. Report, vol. ii, p. 433, pi. xxxvi,
fig. 3, does not belong to this species. It is referable to Odontopteri$ hetero-
phylla, Lesqx., loc. cet., p. 433, pi. xxxviii, fig. 2 to 5. The pinnules of Odon-
topteris subcuneata, Bunb., are opposite, proportionally longer and narrower,
slightly narrowed in the middle, and enlarged to the very obtuse point. The
veins are closer to each other ; and as the English author has figured them,
they curve downward before coming into the border of the rachis, and descend
in fascicules along the somewhat decurrent base of the leaflets. In their lower
part and just above the decurrent border, these leaflets are all strongly bowed.
The terminal pinnule is broken above the middle ; it is proportionally large,
and appears to be oval-obtuse, entire or without any lateral lobe. I owe this spe-
cimen, the most perfect known of this peculiar species, to the kindness of Mr.
Michael Prendel, of Morris, 111.
ODONTOPTERIS BRADLEYI, Sp. nov.
PL viii, fig. 11.
NOTHING is known of this species but the leaflet, which has
been copied in our figure. It is lanceolate pointed, somewhat
contracted at its base in a broad pedicel. The veins are
closely approached, sharply and deeply marked, dichotomous
in ascending, nearly straight from the base, where they be-
come parallel. The veins and veinlets of this species are too
close to each other and too numerous to admit it as related to
0. heterophylla, Lesq., which has its leaflets sometimes pointed.
It may be compared only to- Odontopteris acuminata, LI. and
Hutt, of the Oolite.
In concretions from Mazon creek.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 391
ODONTOPTERIS SCHLOTHEIMII, Brgt.
Veg. foss., p. 256, pi. 78, fig. 5.
Rarely found in the concretions of Mazon creek, but abundant in the roof
shales of the coal at Morris. The frond of this fern is very large, at least tri-
pinnately divided; the alternate secondary pinnje linear lanceolate, two inches
long or more, and more or less deeply and regularly cut in alternate round, ob-
long lobes, or in oval-lanceolate obtusely pointed pinnules, varying from one-
fourth to half an inch long. The veins and veinlets, with the disposition and
divisions as marked in Brongniart's description, are thick, parallel, and gener-
ally forking once. In the large leaflets there is a medial depression looking
like a medial nerve, the veins generally branching from a medial point.
Though somewhat obscure, the specimens or this species at Morris are easily
identified by the reddish-brown color of the epidermis.
GENUS ALETHOPTERIS, Sternb.
This genus is admitted, for the disposition of the fronds and for their divi-
sion, as it is characterized by Goppert in his Systema, p. 175, and for the
position and the form of the fructifications, as modified by Geinitz.in his Ver-
stein, p. 27. It therefore contains not only species whose fructifications are
marginal and continuous, but species also bearing in some division of their
veins, or between them, round or starlike groups of sporanges like those of the
genur Asterocarpus, Gopp. As the fructification of some of our species is
unknown, or is not clearly seen through the substance of the leaves, some are
admitted into this genus from mere analogy in the divisions and in the form
of their fronds, and in their nervation.
ALETHOPTERIS MAZONIANA, Sp. nov.
PI. ix, fig. 1 to 8, and PI. xiii, fig. 5 and 6, fruiting.
FROND evidently large, many times pinnately? divided, dicho-
tomous at the end of the divisions; pinnae long linear, taper-
ing slightly toward the points, either pinnately or bi-pinnately
lobed; lobes oblong entire obtuse, joined near the base and per-
392 PALAEONTOLOGY OP ILLINOIS.
dendiculartothe rachis, or longer broader linear obtuse regularly
undulate, lobed on the borders, and more or less distinct and
distant to the base. Medial nerve thin, but deeply marked;
veins of the simple pinnules rather curved upwards, forking
once only at the middle ; in the undulated lobed leaflets, one
of the veins ascends to the sinus, and is twice forked upwards.
The divisions of the frond of this species appear to have been opposite to
each other, and distant, at least in the upper part of the frond, as it is seen
fig. 7, representing a specimen which at first seems to belong to another spe-
cies. As the nervation, the broad deeply grooved rachis, and the form of the
pinnules are the same, it is evident that it merely represents the upper part of'a
frond or of a pinna, whose ramification is either in the whole, as in the Glei-
chenia of our time, truly dichotomous, or pinnate and dichotomous, as in some
of our species of Pteris. The fructifications of this species as represented pi.
xiii, fig. 5 and 6, would rather refer it to the genus Gleichenia or even foly-
pocfium, than to Pteris. They appear like round, oval, enlarged sori, placed
along the borders on both sides of the leaflets, between the branches of the
veins, as seen fig. 6 enlarged. The outline only «f the fructifications is ob-
servable through the substance of the leaflets in the form of an oval ring, de-
pressed in the middle, indicating perhaps the point of attachment of an/indu-
sium.
This fine species has as yet been found only in the concretions of Mazon
creek, where it is tolerably abundant.
ALETHOPTERIS CRENULATA, Brgt.
(Fruiting) PI. xiii, fig. 14 and 15.
Though the nervation of this fragment is scarcely well enough preserved to
permit the ascertaining of its disposition, it is evident, from the form of
the pinna and of the leaflets, that it represents a fruiting branch of this spe-
cies. The leaflets united at the base, regularly crenulate around, with the bor-
ders apparently reflexed, are marked near the margin by two rows of scars of
round sori, each placed in a curve of the crenulation, as seen fig. 15 enlarged.
The medial nerve, like the veins, are obsolete, and the details of the nervation
could be somewhat distinctly observed only on one of the leaflets. In com-
paring our figures with that of the sterile parts, published vol. ii of this Re-
port, pi. 39, fig. 3, the essential characters are seen to be the same. This spe-
FOSSIL PLANTS. 393
cies is generally rare, and its mode of fructification has not been observed be-
fore.
It occurs in the concretions of Mazon creek.
ALETHOPTERIS HYMENOPHYLLOIDES, Sp. nov.
PI. x, fig. 1 to 4.
FROND large, tripinnately divided, with primary and second-
ary pinnse alternate, turned upwards, ovate-lanceolate in out.
line, decurrent in a narrow-winged rachis ; secondary pinnae
or pinnules either entire, short oblong, obtusely pointed, joined
at the middle in acute sinuses; or longer, divided nearly to
the base, ovate-lanceolate and pinnately cut into regular ob-
tuse lobes with obtuse sinuses. In the short divisions, the
medial nerve only is distinguishable; in the larger ones, the
veins, though obscure, appear pinnately branching from the
medial nerve in an acute angle and forking at the middle. But
for this kind of nervation, this species should be considered as
a Hymenophyllites.
Mazon creek ; in concretions of clay iron ore.
ALETHOPTERIS INFLATA, Sp. nov.
PI. x, fig. 5 and 6.
NOTHING has been found of this species but the fragment
figured here. It shows part of a linear pinna, gradually taper-
ing to the point, divided into broadly ovate, or ovate obtusely
pointed lobes, enlarged and united near the base, marked in
the middle by a short thick nerve pinnately divided by five or
six pairs of arched veins forking once. The fructifications are
marked by oval inflated large fruit-dots, placed at the base of
the leaflets, one only on each side of the enlarged medial
nerve. The surface covering these inflated fruit-dots is
wrinkled above, and around them, as seen in fig. 6 enlarged.
—50
394 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
In considering the form of its fructifications, this species should
be separated as the type of a peculiar genus.
Mazon creek ; in concretions of clay iron ore.
ALETHOPTERIS HALLII, Sp. nov.
PL x, fig. 7 and 8.
FROND bi-pinnate ; pinna3 perpendicular to the straight
round mainrachis, linear, alternate, narrow, close to each other,
apparently short, merely cut on the borders by obtuse narrow
lobes, either emarginate or square at the top, separated by
short obtuse sinuses. Veins and veinlets deep and narrow, the
primary ones ascending to the middle of the sinuses and fork-
ing twice upwards as seen in fig. 8, enlarged.
This species is closely related to Alethopteris serrufa, Lesqx., Penna. Geo).
Report, p. 865, pi. xii, fig. 1, differing from it by its shorter, broader pinnae,
placed close to each other ; by its more obtuse lobes, and by the primary divi-
sions of the veins, ascending to the middle of the sinuses, and not to the point
of the lobes. Though in both species the borders of the pinnules are appar-
ently reflexed, these differences are too marked to be considered mere varieties
of the same species. Nevertheless, it might be possible that the specimens from
Illinois represent a sterile frond, and those of Pennsylvania fruiting branches
of the same species.
Mazon creek ; in concretions found by Mr. M. S. Hall.
ALETHOPTERIS EROSA, Gein.
Verst., p. 29, PI. 32r tig. 7-9.
PECOPTERIS EROSA, Gutb. (1843.)
Numerous and large specimens referable to this species have been found by
Mr. S. S. Strong, in the roof shales of the coal at Morris.
The American plant merely differs from that of Europe by the longer divi-
sions of the three-pointed lobes, and by the much longer pinnae. The same
fronds, or parts of fronds, bear sterile and fruiting pinnae ; thoae especially in
FOSSIL PLANTS. 395
the upper part. They are scarcely lobed, and covered by groups of sporanges,
apparently confluent, and of undeterminable form. Prof. Geinitz figures and
describes them as star-like.
ALETHOPTERIS CRISTATA, Gein.
Verst., p. 29, PL 32, fig. 6.
Pecopteris (Diplagites) cristatas, Gutb.
We have only small fragments, which, by the size of the pinnae and by their
divisions, are referable to this species. As the nervation is obscure, it can-
not be positively seen whether they do not perhaps represent different parts of
a frond of the former species. The European specimens, at least so far as they
are figured, leave us in the same doubt about the value of the species.
From the shales of the Morris coal.
ALETHOPTERIS MURICATA, Gopp., Syst.
Pecopteris muricata, Brgt.
Hist, veget. foss., p. 352, PL 9V.
Good but small specimens of this species have been obtained in the concre-
tion of Mazon creek. It appears to be rare in the western coal fields.
ALETHOPTERIS PLUCKNETI, Gein.
Verst., p. 30, PL xxxiii, fig. 425.
Nothing proves better than this species the insufficiency of our classification
of the fossil plants of the Coal Measures. First, a Felicites for Schlotheim,
it has been a Pecopteris for Brongniart, an Aspidites for Goppert, and now an
Alethopteris for Geinitz. The form of its pinnules, especially those of the lower
pinnae, seems to force its admission into this genus. Some good specimens
have been obtained from the shale of Morris, especially part of a tertiary pin-
nae, bearing large leaflets with a broad base, lanceolate pointed, scythe-shaped
in form, with the borders divided by alternate obtuse lobes, whose surface is
396 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
generally convex and polished. This form is the same as that published by
Geinitz, being in all its parts larger than the common one generally found in
the eastern Coal Measures.
ALETHOPTERIS SPINULOSA, Sp. nov.
PL xi, fig. 1 and 2.
FROND broad, bi-pinnate ; primary pinnae apparently long
linear slightly tapering toward the point, divided into alter-
nate broad, half an inch long, oval leaflets, joined above the
base, cut at the obtuse top in sharp spiniform short teeth,
separated by obtuse sinuses ; main stem round, regularly and
narrowly striate ; secondary rachis straight and flat ; medial
nerve thick and enlarging toward its slightly decurrent base,
with five pairs of alternate veins slightly curved upwards and
forking at the middle.
o
This fine species has no relation, even distant, with any other published as
yet from the Coal Measures. The veins and veinlets are not deep, but very
distinct by their black color, as seen in fig. 2, enlarged.
From the roof shales of the main coal at St. John's, Perry Co.
ALETHOPTERIS FALCATA, Sp. nov.
PL xi, fig. 3 and 4.
THE specimen figured represents a part of a simply pinnate
frond, or of a pinna with simple leaflets attached to a main
broad smooth rachis, by their whole unconnected base. These
pinnules, about two inches long, are linear-lanceolate obtusely
pointed, scythe-shaped and entire. The veinlets perpendicu-
lar to the half round medial nerve, are very close to each
other, very thin, either simple or forked from the base.
On account of its broad curved rachis, of its long nearly linear leaflets at-
tached to it by their whole base, especially of its obsolete nervation, the vein-
FOSSIL PLANTS. 397
lets being scarcely perceivable to the naked eye, this species rather resembles
a Cycas than a fern. With a strong glass, the veinlets are seen as marked on
fig. 4, enlarged, and these indicate the true relation of the plant.
The specimen may represent a part of a frond in the process of unfolding
its leaves, which appear as being pressed upon each other on the lower side of
the rachis, and at the same time, still half uncinnate. It may also be the re-
presentative of a species in its full development. Some Lomarix of our time
resemble it, by the nervation and the form of the leaflets. It has no relation
with species known from the Coal Measures.
Mazon creek ; -in concretions of clay iron ore.
ALETHOPTERIS SOLIDA, Sp, nov.
PL xi, fig. 5-7.
THIS species is, like the former, known only by a frag-
ment of a frond or of a pinna. It is pinnately divided into
narrow leaflets, attached to a proportionally very broad flat
rachis, by the enlarged base of a thick medial nerve. These
pinnules, a little longer than one inch, perpendicular to the
main rachis or slightly turned upwards, are linear obtusely
pointed, disconnected at the enlarged rounded base, and en-
tire. They bear along the borders, at equal distances from
each other, round groups of sporanges, apparently divided
star-like into five round dots, as marked in fig. 7.
By the position of its sort and of its leaves, our species is a Polypodium. It
resembles by these characters the species published by Prof. Brongniart, under
the name of Phlelopteris polypodioides, Veg. foss., p. 372, pi. 83, fig. 1, and if
the nervation should prove to be the same, the American species would be dis-
tinguishable only by the broad rachis, the enlarged base of the medial nerve,
and the separation of the leaflets. No trace of secondary veins or veinlets is
observable on the specimen, which is in a concretion from Mazon creek. Our
species is also related to Polypodites clegans and Polypodites Lindleyi of Gop-
pert.
398 PALEONTOLOGY OP ILLINOIS.
ALETHOPTERIS LANCEOLATA, Sp. nov.
PI. xiii, fig. 1 to 3.
THE specimens represent two parts of simple pinnae or of
fronds, with alternate linear lanceolate obtusely pointed leaf-
lets, oblique on the rachis, or slightly scythe-shaped, narrowed
at the base to half their width, and rounded to the point of
attachment to the rachis ; entire on the borders and smooth
on the surface. Main or medial nerve half round, moderately
thick ; secondary veins attached to it in a very acute angle,
alternately branching from the base in veinlets curved in-
wardly, as marked fig. 2, the upper ones ascending to the bor-
ders of the leaflets, the lower ones becoming confluent in as-
cending.
Of the two specimens which have been seen of this species, and which are
figured here, that of fig. 1 seems to represent the upper part of a frond, while
the other, fig. 3, looks like the terminal part of a pinna, and therefore the spe-
cies is apparently bi or tripinnate. The nervation resembles that of the fol-
lowing species, but the veins and their divisions are more oblique, more slen-
der and of a more delicate texture.
Mazon creek; in concretions.
ALETHOPTERIS EMARGINATA, Gopp.
Syst. foss., p. 274, PL xvi, fig. 1 and 2.
PI. xiii, fig. 4.
We have in the concretions of Mazon creek many separate leaflets of the
same form and of the same size as the one figured. The borders of these linear
obtuse leaflets are slightly and equally undulate-lobed, as formed of pinnules
connate to the top ; the nervation is nearly similar to that of the former spe-
cies, the secondary veins being only more open to the medial nerve, or nearly
perpendicular to it, while their branches, generally more marked and thicker,
FOSSIL PLANTS. 399
ascend to the border of the leaflets. This kind of nervation is that of Goppert's
species. But in our American specimens, the leaflets are broader, shorter, and
by the increasing depth of the divisions of the borders, they become by degrees
cut into lobes nearly to the base, and then are undistinguishable from Pecop-
teris unita, Brgt., except, perhaps, by the medial nerve or secondary rachis,
half round and not quite as thick, and by a thinner texture of the leaves. The
fructification is marginal, in round distinct sort which sometimes become irre-
gularly scattered by compression.
GENUS PECOPTERIS, Brgt.
PECOPTERIS STRONGII, Sp. nov.
PI. xiii, fig. 7-9.
FROND simply pinnate or poly-pinnate, pinnge linear taper-
ing above to a point, slightly narrowing toward the base.
Pinnules alternate, perpendicular to the striated narrow ra-
chis, nearly one inch long and proportionately narrow, linear
obtuse, often slightly enlarged at the obtuse point, attached to
the rachis by their whole, sometimes enlarged base, discon-
nected and often distant, the distance, between them being
sometimes as wide as the breadth of the leaflets, becoming
closer to each other towards the point of the pinnae, where
they are shorter and connate at base. Fructification, marked
by scars of broad round sori, with a concave point in the cen-
tre, placed near the borders of the leaflets, close to each other,
ten to twelve on each side of the pinnules. Their place in re-
lation to the veins and veinlets is unknown, the substance of
the leaflets being thick, coreaceous, and the nervation obsolete.
As it is seen in fig. 7 and 8, enlarged, the borders of the leaflets are slightly
undulate, an irregularity apparently caused by the compression of the sori ex-
panding the margin, or passing out of it, for in fig. 9 all the pinnules are en-
tire on the borders. This last specimen seems to represent a small frond ra-
ther than a pinna, for the leaflets turn downwards towards its base, as is the
case in some simple fronds of species of Poly podium of our time. By its form
400 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
and the position of the 'son, our species could also be compared to Aspidium
Wrightii, Mitt, of Cuba. Its place is, therefore with the Poli/poditcs or Asjri-
elites of Groppert.
The specimen fig. 7, is in a concretion form Mazon creek ; the others on shale
from Morris.
Found by Mr. S. S. Strong.
PECOPTERIS SQAMOSA, Sp. nov.
PI. xii, fig. 1 to 4; PL xiii, fig. 10 and 11, fructif.
FROND evidently bi or tripinnately divided, triangular or
lanceolate in outline, with a thick rachis, half an inch or more
at its base, covered to the top of its last divisions with long,
linear lanceolate pointed scales, either straight and appressed
to the stem, or open and diverging all around, even sometimes
appearing as dried up and crumpled as in fig. 2. The rachis
of the last divisions is proportionally broad as seen in fig. 1
and fig. 4, enlarged, and is also either scaly or marked, with
crowded points indicating the base of the scales. Secondary
pinnae long, linear, slightly tapering to an obtuse point, flex-
uous or curved upwards, bearing alternate, unequal, narrow
linear, obtuse, oblong leaflets, nearly perpendicular to the ra-
chis, reflexed on the borders, very close to each other, or often
contiguous for their whole length, marked with a deep medial
nerve, but no trace of veins. These leaflets, generally more
or less irregular in their length, have their fructification indi-
cated by small round dots, placed in two rows, close to the
borders; the dots are numerous and distinct; their relation
to the veins and veinlets is unknown.
The species is quite distinct and only distantly related to Pccopteris platy-
rachis Brgt. The specimen represented, pi. xii, fig. 4, shows a part of a frond
of this species, in its process of development. The divisions appear still un-
opened and the outline only of the secondary pinnae with mere traits of medial
nerves, are indicated by flakes of scaly matter.
This specimen is upon shale from the roof of the coal at Colchester ; tho
other specimens figured are in concretions from Mazon creek.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 401
PECOPTERIS SILLIMANI, Brgt., Yeg. foss., p. 353.
PI. 9C, fig. 5
This is one of the rarest species of our Coal Measures. The few specimens
which I consider referable to it, are small and incomplete ; one of them is from
Mazon creek, in concretions of clay iron ore.
PECOPTERIS BUCKLANDI, Brgt., Veg. foss., p. 319.
PL 99, fig. 2.
The specimen representing this species, distinctly shows the character indi-
cated by the author. The pinnae are straight, nearly horizontal (four inches
long with the end broken off), the leaflets oblong, somewhat lanceolate obtuse,
but not quite as obtuse as in Brongniart's figure, slightly scythe-shaped out-
wards, etc. The pinnules are of a thick coriaceous substance, concave, and
deeply impressed upon the stone.
Found in a concretion on Little Vermilion river, by Dr. J. C. Winslow.
PECOPTERIS CANDOLLIANA, Brgt., Veg. foss., p. 305.
PI. 100, fig. 1.
One good distinct specimen, in a concretion from Mazon creek, while nume-
rous specimens from the same locality have branches, with characters interme-
diate between this species and fccopteris cy'athca of the same author.
PECOPTERIS HEMITELOIDES, Brgt., Veg. foss., p. 314.
PI. 108, fig. 1.
The specimen from Mazon creek, is half a concretion, representing part of a
pinna, bearing oblong, slightly pointed leaflets, disconnected at the base, with
borders inflated, and a double row of large son, unlike any other hitherto seen
of this genus. These sori open by a transverse solit, agreeing with Brongniart's
fig. 2 A in every peculiarity of form. Our specimen does not show any trace
of nervation.
—51
402 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
PECOPTERIS VILLOSA, Brgt., Veg. foss., p. 316.
PL 104, fig. 3.
This species is the most abundant of all in the concretions of Ma/on creek,
which show it in its multifarious forms. The nervation does not appear to
have been seen by European palaeontologists. Brougniart does not give any
details of it, and Geinitz indicates it as simple, or with veinlets forking once
only, which is totally at variance with its true nature. The concretions con-
tain numerous parts of the plant preserved in a state of partial maceration,
either with pinme whose substance is destroyed, and which have nothing left
but the outlines of their leaflets, and the entirely free veins and veinlets ; or
pinna? half preserved, one part of which bears leaflets with the villous epider-
mis, while the other part has the veins and veinlets free of epidermis, and
quite distinct. From the form of its pinnule, the multiple divisions of its
pinnae, and of its veins, this Pecopteris is exactly similar to P. polymorpha,
Brgt., the veinlets dividing once or twice or more, according to the place and
size of the pinnules.
i
PECOPTERIS ARGUTA, Brgt. (fruiting.)
»»
PL xiii, fig. 12 and 13.
The part of a pinna, as represented in the figure, bears leaflets, connate at
the base, oblong, lanceolate obtuse, somewhat shorter, more pointed, and more
distinct than is generally the case in sterile pinnae of this species. But as the
nervation, as well as the crenulate-toothed borders of the leaflets, are similar to
those of Pecopteris arf/uta, and as these peculiar characters are not known in
any other species of the coal. I consider this specimen as representing its fruit-
ing part, which was before unknown. The sort appear like inflated dots placed
just at the point of the simple veins or rather like conical sori, with the point
to the inside of the leaflets and the enlarged opening outside at the point of
the teeth, as marked, fig. 13, enlarged. Their form is distinct ; with a strong
glass they even appear filled with a pulverulent matter. According to the form
and the position of these fruit-dots, the species resembles an Aspidium, and
should be placed in the genus Aspidites, Gopp. Sterile pinnae of this species
are not rare in the shales at Morris.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 403
PECOPTERIS ELEGANS, Germ.
Polypodites elegans, Gopp., Syst., p. 344.
PL xv, fig. 10.
We have in abundance, in the concretions of Mazon creek, specimens which
agree in every point with the figures and description of this species. Pin-
nae, bearing linear leaflets, entire on the borders, round at the top, marked
by medial nerves from which branch in an acute angle simple veins, ascending
straight to the borders, or sometimes slightly curving upwards. But the
characters here indicated are so variable and passing by such inappreciable
transitions to those of the true Pecopteris unita, Brgt., that after the examina-
tion of many hundred specimens, it is impossible to point out a single trait
which could be described as distinctive of one of these species. I therefore
consider this Pecopteris elegans, Germ., as a variety of Pecopteris imita, Brgt.
PECOPTERIS ASPIDIOIDES, Brgt., Veg. foss., p. 311.
PI. 112, fig 2.
Found at Mazon creek ; rare ; seen only in two specimens.
PECOPTERIS ABBREVIATA, Brgt., Veg. foss., p. 337.
PL 115, fig. 1 to 4.
Numerous and very fine specimens in concretions from Mazon creek are
referable to this species, rather by the figures given of it by Geinitz in his
Versteinerimgen, than to those of Brongniart. The secondary pinnae are short,
all equal, the veins and veinlets much inflated, the pinnules more generally
disconnected f. c. f. It is altogether a different species from Pecopteris Miltoni
Brgt., to which the German author unites it as a variety, at least, if we con-
sider our American specimens identical, which, however, may represent a new
species.
404 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
PECOPTERIS DENTATA, Brgt.
Veg. foss., p. 836, pi. 124.
A fine species found in large specimens in the shales of the coal at Morris,
and also in the concretions of Mazon creek.
PECOPTERIS FLAVICANS? Presl.
Sphenopteris flavicans ? Presl.
Sternb., Vers., vol. n, p. 127. PL xxxviii, fig. 1, a, b, c.
From Mazon creek also, and in concretions, we hare obtained a number of
specimens of a species which appears closely related to this species, if it is not
identical with it. They represent parts of fronds or pinnae, bipinnately divi-
ded ; primary divisions alternate, open, straight or slightly flexuous, linear,
bearing alternate, oblong, short, obtuse pinnules, connate at their base, slightly
decurrent, with a decurrent medial nerve ; alternately branching in simple
veins, two or three on each side, turning inwards in ascending or straight to
the border. The fruit dots are marked in a double row near the borders of
the leaflets, apparently placed upon the veins. The main rachis and its divi-
sions are deep and grooved. But for the position of the sori and of the thick
epidermis of its leaflets, this species could be referred to Oligocarpia Gutbieri,
Gopp., the disposition of the deeply marked veins and the form of the pinnules
being alike. As this Pecopteris flavicans is not mentioned by any recent au-
thor, not even by Unger, and as it is known only by the short description and
the incomplete figures given of it by Sternberg, our species is referred to it
with doubt.
PECOPTERIS CIKEROPHYLLOIDES, Brgt.
*
It is remarked, vol. 2, p. 443 of ^his Keport, that this species was still un-
certain, having been found only in incomplete specimens. It has been ob-
tained since from the roof shales at Colchester in large and good specimens.
Except Pecopteris Cistii, Brgt., P. velutina, Lesqx., P. Newberryi, Lesqx., all
the species of Pecopteris enumerated in the 2d vol., have been since found in
Illinois.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 405
GENUS STAPHYLOPTERIS.
Presl. in Sternb. Vers., ii, p. 174.
'Count Sfcernberg, in his Versuch, loc. cit., defines this genus merely as: in-
florescence or fructified panicles of ferns, analogous to those of Botrychium or
Aneirnia.
The only species described by the author as the type of his genus : Staphy-
lopteris polybotrya, from the Tertiary of Europe, represents a small group of
round sporanges. In our American species here described, these sori have
various forms. But it is convenient to consider them under the same generic
name, till their relation to sterile fronds, or their true generic affinity can be
ascertained. To this genus, therefore, I refer all agglomerations of sporanges
of various forms, either borne upon separate plants, or upon separate segments
of a plant, like those of our species of Botrychium, without visible remains of
leaves, or whose connection to frond-bearing leaves can not be traced, and is
unknown.
No species referable to this genus has been found as yet in the Carboniferous
strata of Europe, a fact which led Palaeontologists to suppose that ferns bear-
ing fruits in separate panicles did not exist at. the time of that formation.
From our Coal Measures, we have previously obtained only Staphylopteris stel-
lata, Lesqx., Arks. Geol. Rept., vol. ii, p. 309, pi. 2, fig. 2 and 3, from the
Sub-Conglomerate coal of Arkansas. The discovery and publication of the
following species is, therefore, a valuable contribution to the fossil flora of the
coal.
STAPHYLOPTERIS WORTHENI, Sp. nov.
PI. xiv, fig. 1 and 2.
FROND bi-pinnate, ovate lanceolate in outline ; pinnse linear,
gradually tapering to an obtuse point, short, one inch long
near the base of the frond, scarcely half an inch near the top
perpendicular to the main rachis; pinnules alternate triangu-
lar, formed of an agglomeration of three or five sori apparently
attached to a main pedicel, but without trace of leaves. The
main rachis of this fruiting segment of a fern is proportionally
thick, three lines at its base, finely irregularly striate, the
branches or pinnse appearing attached rather upon it or
406 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
around it than along its borders ; the rachis of the branches
is also thick, smooth, and on both sides of it are attached the
groups of sori, three to five in number, in a kind of pyramidal
position, with a thick short pedicel in the middle. The sori,
when unopened, are round, marked on the flattened surface by
four or five lines diverging from the center to the circumfer-
ence. Fig. 2a. When opened the sporanges appear placed
like the rays of a star around a central point. These spo-
ranges, oval, elongated or gradually enlarged outwards from
the narrow point of attachment, deeply concave, finely striate
within, are all turned to the same side, viz : the point down-
wards and the branches tending obliquely upwards ; in that
way the upper sori of the pinnae have the point towards the
rachis, while in the lowe^ ones it is turned from it : see fig. 2,
enlarged twice, and fig. 25, enlarged four times. The spo-
ranges are deeply marked or excavated in the stone, which is
still more deeply penetrated by the point, and this point appears,
as said above, to have been attached to a common pedicel by
filaments now destroyed.
Found in a concretion from Mazon creek; discovered by Mr. M. S. Hall.
STAPHYLOPTERIS ASTEROIDES, Sp. nov.
PI. xiv, fig. 6 to 10.
FROND tripinnate, with straight alternate branches ; primary
pinnae lanceolate pointed or tapering to a point from an en-
larged base; secondary divisions alternate linear, merely formed
of narrow, filiform, obliquely straight branches or common
pedicels, bearing groups of sporanges pinnately attached to
them in pairs and opposite ; sori round at first and before
maturity, opening at maturity in five lanceolate-pointed lacin-
iae around a central round point, and forming a star (fig. 7 and
7 b enlarged) .
This fruiting species is still more remarkable than the former. Groups of
sori resembling round dots, fig. 8, are seen on the same piece of shale, but on
FOSSIL PLANTS. 407
the reverse. They apparently belong to the same species, and seem to have
been detached before maturity from their pedicels, whose remains are still
marked by dark lines, fig. 8, fig. 9, enlarged twice, and fig. 10, enlarged about
ten times. In this last figure dark but absolute lines are seen, apparently show-
ing the suture of walls. In the pinnately divided part of the frond, fig. 6, ah
the sori are opened, and their envelope is still attached to short pedicels, appa-
rently placed opposite to each other. The details of the form of the sporanges
are easily recognized, but those of their ramifications, or the point and mode of
attachment of the sori are rendered indistinct by the superposition of the groups
of sporanges. The specimen is on shale from Morris, and was contributed by
Mr. Jos. Even.
STAPHYLOPTERIS SAGITTATUS, Sp. nov.
PI. xiv, fig. 3 to 5.
THIS species has a bi-pinnate frond, as seen on a specimen
from the shales of the coal at Morris, too large to be figured.
The divisions are alternate ; the thick secondary rachis is de-
current on the main stem, which is also broad and smooth.
The double celled sporanges are linear, attached by their backs,
and pressed against each other in horizontal rows. The en-
larged pedicel of the sporange cells is, before maturity, appa-
rently at least, folded in the middle, and both rows of spo-
ranges are joined together by their back., forming in that state
slightly scythe-shaped cylinders, obtuse at both ends, attached
to the pedicel by a dorsal membrane, and marked all around
by the ring-like outlines of sporanges (fig. 3a). More gener-
ally the sporange-cells are open side by side on each side of the
dorsal support, and the sporanges appear then in two convex
rows, fig. 4 and 5. In some specimens on concretions from
Mazon creek, where small branches of this remarkable species
are finely preserved, the sori or sporange bearing cells are deep-
ly immersed in the stone, generally leaving around them an
empty space, as seen in fig, 3ft and 3c; they are thus isolated
and their form is easily ascertained. No traces of leaflets
have been seen in connection with this species, which has as
yet been obtained only from Morris and from Mazon creek.
408 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
GENUS SPHENOPTERIS, Brgt, 111. Geol. Rep., vol. ii, p. 435.
SPHENOPTERIS SCABERRIMA, Sp. nov.
PI. xv, fig. 1 and 2.
FROND tripinnate, primary pinnae lanceolate, curved down-
wards, flexuous; secondary divisions perpendicular to the verru-
cose, broad, round rachis, linear lanceolate pointed, one to two
inches long, distinct and somewhat distant alternate; pinnules
lanceolate acute, gradually diminishing to the point, distinct
to the base, horizontal, irregularly cut on the borders or entire
with borders irregularly expanding and undulating by crushed
groups of sporanges or of scales ; surface rugose, marked by
round small convex points resembling small dots, produced by
groups of sporanges placed on the lower surface. All the
plant, even the thick, primary rachis, is covered with verrucose
points, evidently indicating the base of scales, or hairs, with
which the plant was covered, and which are still indistinctly
seen on some part of the secondary branches. The frond of
this species was evidently a large one, the pinnae being more
than six inches long.
The whole appearance of the plant is like that of some species of Cheilan-
thcs of our time, especially of Cheilanthes vestita, Schwarz. The species should
therefore be classed in the genus Cheilantites, Gopp. Nevertheless, the group
of sori appears to cover the whole under surface of the leaflets, a position
which is not similar to that of the sori of a Cheilanthes. On shales from
Morris.
SPHENOPTERIS GRACILIS, Brgt.
PL xv, fig. 3 to 6.
FROND bi or tripinnate ; primary pinnae or fronds triangular
in outline, taper-pointed, slender; secondary pinnae linear
lanceolate, alternate and distant, open, curved upwards, flexu-
FOSSIL PLANTS. 409
ous, bearing alternate divisions, cordate, lanceolate in outline,
deeply exit on each side in three to five irregular obtuse or
pointed lobes, as seen in fig. 4, 5, 6, enlarged; medial vein
somewhat inflated like its pinnate divisions, which branch
once or twice to the borders, according to the size of the lobes.
The surface of the leaflets is quite smooth. By its slender, half round secon-
dary and tertiary rachis, and the general form of the pinnae and of the divi-
sions, our species agrees well enough with that published by Brongniart, Veg-
Foss., p. 197, pi. 154, fig. 2. But the author describes and figures the lobes of
the pinnules as being more regular, longer, regularly tridentate at the point
while those of our specimens are always either more or less irregularly cut, or
entire, and also either pointed or obtuse. The difference in the form and size
of the lobes of the pinnules of the same pinnae, indicate for this species, as
seen from our fig. 4, 5 and 6, a great disposition to vary, and the more essential
characters being identical, I can but consider the American specimens as repre-
senting the same species as that of Prof. Brongniart.
It is found in fine large specimens on the shales over the coal at Morris.
SPHENOPTERIS MIXTA, Schp. Pal. Veg., p. 382.
Sphenopteris sinuosa Lesqx, ined.
PI. xv, fig. 7 and 8.
This species is the same which, from incomplete specimens, was in the second
volume of this Report, page 435, considered as doubtfully referable to Sphenop-
teris rigida, Brgt. It has a tripinnate or polypinnate frond, the specimens being
covered with numerous secondary pinnae, of which one only is figured here. Pin-
nae branching at a right angle from a broad winged smooth rachis, bearing alter-
nate lanceolate secondary divisions, with a half round comparatively broad and
regularly sinuous rachis. The pinnules obliquely attached upon each of its con~-
vex flexures are oval, lanceolate pointed, regularly divided on each side into three
to five half round lobes. The medial vein which, like its divisions, is thin and
somewhat obscure, alternately branches into each lobe of the pinnules, the
branches forking above the middle. The epidermis is thick, the surface con-
vex and somewhat rough. This species appears essentially distinct from Sphe-
nofopteris rigida, Brgt., by its broad winged rachis, the form of the pinnules
and of their divisions, the slightly rough surface, etc.; nevertheless there may
—52
410 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
be some error of description or of illustration of the European species, which
is marked as having its surface entirely smooth, while the figure shows it cov-
ered with points or rugose.
Abundant in the shales of the coal at Morris.
SPHENOPTERIS TRIFOLIATA, Brgt. Veg. Foss., p. 202.
PI. 63, fig. 3.
In the shales of Colchester ; found by Prof. A. H. Worthen.
SPHENOPTERIS ELEGANS, Brgt. Veg. Foss., p. 172.
PL 53, fig. 1 and 2.
Two fine specimens of this species have been obtained from the concretions
of Mazon creek; by Mr. M. S. Hall.
GENUS HYMENOPHYLLITES, Gopp and auct. 111. Geol.
Rep., vol. ii, p. 436.
In preserving this genus, with its characters too vaguely defined as it is in
vol. 2 of this Report, p. 436, it would be advisable to subdivide it as follows :
§ 1. BymenaphylKtes proper, containing species with a generally inenibra-
naceous delicate frond, pinnately divided, the primary divisions alternate or
dichotomous, decurrent on the rachis and ultimate lobes linear obtuse, either
simple alternate or irregularly divided ; nerves percurrent pinnately branching,
ascending, simple in each lobe. This section contains Hymenophyllites and
Trichomanites, Gopp.
§ 2. Aphlebia, including species with fronds of various sizes and forms, gen-
erally with a broad rachis and more or less irregularly divided, the divisions
rather dichotomous or pinnatifid, entire or variously laciniate lobed, the lobes
sometimes enlarged and recurved ; veins parallel and numerous from the base
of the fronds, dividing in fascicles from the rachis in each primary division,
and passing by subdividing, as simple veinlets to the point of each lobe. To
this section are referable the genera Aphlebia, Schizopteris, Rhodea, Pacliy-
phyllum, etc. auct.*
*W. P. Shimpcr, in Pal. Veg., makes for this section a new genus, Rhacophyllum.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 411
§ 3. Schizopteris proper, to which belong the species with a frond generally
laciniate, or cut in linear erect or curved divisions, sometimes enlarged at the
top, marked with thin parallel veins ascending from the base of the frond to
the top of the lobes without branching, being split in fascicles with the divi-
sions. To this section belong merely the genus Schizopteris, as characterized
by Prof. Brongniart for his Schizopteris anomala.
It is difficult to separate these sections in genera by reliable and permanent
characters. Some o£the species which are considered as Schizopteris by authors,
as Schizopteris adnascens, LI. and Hutt, for example, have the nervation and a
mode of division of their fronds similar to those of some Hymenophyllites, while
species referable to this last genus have, with a regular mode of division a nerva-
tion by disconnected fascicles of veins, like species of Aphlebia and Schizopteris.
This is the case with our Hymenophyllites splendens. The plants of the two
last divisions are little known, their apparently soft tissue having often been
destroyed by maceration. I have described and figured here some remarkable
forms, especially from the concretions of Mazon creek, whose study may throw
some light upon the nature and conformation of these singular vegetables.
§ 1. HYMENOPHYLLITES (proper).
HYMENOPHYLLITES ALATUS, Brgt.
Veg. foss., p. 180, PL 48, fig, 4,
This species is mentioned in the 111. Geol. Rep., vol. ii, p. 437, as present-
ing some characters at variance with the European one. Good specimens of
it from the concretions of Mazon creek, show it to be identical.
HYMENOPHYLLITES TRIDACTYLITES, Brgt,
V«g. fbss., p. 181, PL 5a
Good specimens of tfais fine species have been lately procured from the roof
shales of the coal at Morris, by Mr. S. S. Strong,
HYMENOPHYLLITES TRICHOMANOIDES, Brgt.
Veg. foss, p. 182, PL 48, fig. 3.
A small specimen from the same place as the former.
412 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
HYMENOPHYLLITES MYRIOPHYLLUM, Brgt.
Veg. foss., p. 184, PI. 55, fig. 2
The straight, strong main rachis and its branches, like the form and divisions
of the leaflets, entirely agree with the author's description and figures of this
species. Some of the terminal divisions of the pinnules appear on our speci-
men as slightly inflated at the point. It is not possible to see whether this
swelling is caused by fructification, or by the remains of some part of the half
destroyed epidermis.
Roof shales of the coal at Morris, contributed by Mr. S. S. Strong.
HYMENOPHYLLITES SCHLOTHEIMII, Brgt.
Veg., foss., p. 193, PI. 51.
This species should be placed in its natural order after Hymenophyllites tri-
dactylites, Brgt., but our specimen, a very fine one, is described here from the
remarkable likeness of its divisions when deprived of their epidermis, with the
former species. Except a few entire leaflets which have preserved their inte-
gral form, the whole specimen represents merely the veins and their divisions,
without any substance of the leaflets attached to them ; in that state, the spe-
cies could easily be confounded with the former or considered as a new one.
From the same place as the former, and due also to the successful researches
of Mr. S. S. Strong.
HYMENOPHYLLITES DELICATULUS, Brgt.
Veg. fo«9., p. 185, PI. 58, fig. 4.
This species, also from the shales of Morris, could be admitted, by some of
its parts deprived of their epidermis, as identical with that of the same name
of Sternberg, which has been considered as a Cheilanthes by Goppert. The
thin membranaceous substance of the pinnules in our HymenopJiyllites, is gen.
erally partly or totally cft'aeed by maceration.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 413
HYMENOPHYLLITES TENUIFOLIUS, Brgt.
Veg. foss., p. 190, PI. 48, fig. 1.
Well characterized by its straight broad rachis, the position of the pinnules,
the narrow lobes, etc. The epidermis is also partly destroyed.
Roof shales at Morris ; a small specimen.
All the foregoing species of Hymenop~hyllites are described as Sphenopteris
by the author.
HYMENOPHTLLITES SPLENDENS, Sp. nov.
PL xix, fig. 2a and 26.
FROND tripinnatifid ; primary pinnae at a right angle to the
flattened main rachis, broadly lanceolate in outline ; sec-
ondary pinnae alternate, narrowly ovate-lanceolate, oblique
decurrent on the flexuous alate rachis, alternately two or
three lobed on each side, the lobes divided in two or three
lanceolate, somewhat obtuse teeth. Veins in fascicles from
the base of the secondary pinnge, separating in each lobe, one
of the divisions ascending to the point.
The surface of the whole plant is polished shining, of a reddish brown color.
This species resembles the variety of H. furcatus, Brgt , called H. membranace-
ous, by Gutbier, which is common enough in Pennsylvania, especially in the
upper part of the sandstone at Pottsville and Mauch Chunk. It differs, how-
ever, essentially, by the thick substance of the leaves which easily separates
from the stone, by much thicker veins, merely approached in fascicles but not
united at the base of the secondary pinnre, which are longer, narrower, more
equally and pinnately divided in lanceolate pointed teeth.
This species appears intermediate between H. furcatus, Brgt., and H. stipu-
latus, Grutb.
Abundant in the roof shales of the coal at Colchester and Morris.
414 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
HYMENOPHYLLITES INFLATUS, Sp. nov.
PI. xvi, fig. 6.
A tripinnately divided part of a frond, with primary divi-
sions broadly oval in outline pinnately cut into alternate ob-
ovate obtuse inflated lobes, either simple or parted again in
short obtuse divisions; nervation obsolete, the veins appar-
ently branching in each division of the leaves, and simple.
This species is intermediate between the two sections of HymenopTiyllites,
having the mode and regularity of division of the first, the thick inflated leaflets
without distinct nervation, like some species of the second. It is distantly re-
lated to Sphenopteris Rutsefolia, Gutb., Verst., p. 42, pi. x, fig. 10 and 11, from
which it differs by the form of its more elongated, narrow, inflated pinnules,
by the obsolete nervation, etc.
From the roof shales of the main coal, Duquoin.
The specimen is a large piece of shale covered with fragments of the plant,
none larger than the one figured.
§ 2. APHLEBIA.
HYMENOPHYLLITES ADNASCENS, LI. and Hutt.
The two specimens figured, pi. xvi, fig. 7 and 8, from the roof shales of the
coal at Morris, exactly represent the species of Lindley, as it is figured and de-
scribed by Geinitz, in his Versteinerungen, p. 20, pi. xxv, fig. 7 to 9. But I
cannot recognize an identity between the plants represented in these figures. The
one, fig. 8, of ours, has the lower divisions short lanceolate obtuse, irregular
in their directions, with thin parallel veinlets, and the upper ones narrower,
curved, marked also by thin parallel veins branching into each lobe ; while
the other, fig. 7, has dichotomous or forking, linear, narrow branches, without
trace of veins or veinlets. The first of these forms agrees with the description
and figures given by Lindley, vol. 2, p. 58, pi. C and CI, who compares the
plant to some Lygodium, or Hymenophyllum, but I am disposed to consider the
other as a peculiar species. Our fragments are nevertheless too small to allow
a precise and satisfactory description. Prof. Lindley considers his species as
a climbing fern, twisted round the stem of a frond of Sphenopteris crenata, to
FOSSIL PLANTS. 415
which it is evidently attached, while Prof. Geinitz thinks that it is fixed in
small bundles to the stem, like a parasitic plant. The State Cabinet at Spring-
field possesses specimens of a large fern whose stem, like that described by
Lindley, is bordered by bundles of leaves of the same Hymenophyllites. The
specimen is obscure, and it is not possible to decide how they are attached to it.
HYMENOPHYLLITES LACTUCA, Gutb.
This species is more rarely found in our Coal Measures than its near rela-
tive, II. Clarkii. Lesqx. The State Cabinet has a very fine specimen of it in
a concretion from Mazon creek. It is distinguished from H. Clarkii by its
broad enlarged fronds and narrow laciniae. These fronds or rather pinnae, on
one side of the rachis, which are only visible in part, appear placed in a row,
like the alternate divisions of a fern. As the epidermis of some of these pin-
nae is destroyed by maceration, the veins and veinlets are distinct, an d^ are seen
passing in bundles from the rachis, separating more and more in curving into
each division, to end by a simple veinlet, ascending to the point of the acute
ultimate lobes.
HYMENOPHYLLITES ARBORESCENS, Sp. nov.
PI. xvii, fig.l .
STEM long, (the specimen, though broken, shows more than
one foot of it,) straight, about one inch broad at its lower end,
two-thirds of an inch at its upper part, marked in its length
by obscure lines apparently formed by bundles of veiiilets and
alternately divided in thick oblique branches, more or less
regularly and deeply lobate ; lobes alternate, simple and linear
elongated, or bi-trifid, of various lengths and obtusely pointed.
The divisions of this plant are rather dichotomous, like those of species of
Lycopodiacea, than pinnatifid like those of ferns. They are merely a continu-
ation of a main axis thrown out in various directions. The substance appears
to have been a compound of cellular soft tissue, intermingled with bundles of
continuous vessels, forming veins or veinlets, and, by mere separation, ascend-
ing to the last divisions of the frond. There is no trace of branching of veins,
416 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
but merely of divisions of fascicles of vascular tissue. The species, in its gen-
eral form, resembles Scliizopteris pachyracliis, a species of the Keuper.
Found at Morris on a large piece of shale, and kindly presented by Mr. Jos.
Even.
HYMENOPHYLLITES CLARKII, Lesqx.
PI. xvi, fig. 1 and 2.
The description of this species is given in vol. ii of this Report, p. 438, pi.
xxxix, fig. 7, from a small specimen. It is abundantly found in the concre-
tions of Mazon creek, and, though very variable, preserves the characters
which separate it from H. Gutbierianus, Gein., viz : its broad, round, or very
obtuse divisions, and the great thickness of the leaves, which were evidently
hard and coriaceous; for they are not flattened on the stone as in II. Gutbieri-
anus, but enter it, and mark on it a deep impression, as a hard body only can
do. Of the two remarkable specimens figured here, the first appears to repre-
sent a plant with a long twisted or climbing stem. The principal axis is round,
grooved, and has its surface roughened, and marked with points or scars, as if
it had been covered by hairs or scales. As the stem of the second specimen,
which seems to represent a young plant evidently of the same species, is
smooth, these points may be the scars of rootlets or suckers, serving as adhe-
sive agents to help the climbing process. The young plant, fig. 2, has a short
stem already curved or twisting, and at its base, some filaments resembling
rootlets. It would, therefore, be rational to conclude, from these specimens,
that the plants which they represent were attached to the ground or to some
soft substance, like decayed wood, by rootlets, but were at the same time
climbing plants. This would explain the position of H. adnascens upon the
broad rachis of some ferns.
HYMENOPHYLLITES GUTBIERIANUS, Ung. Gen. and Spec., p. 132.
The true species, as figured by Geinitz, is in the State Cabinet, in speci-
mens from Colchester, found by Prof. A. H. Worthen.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 417
HYMENOPHYLLITES THALLYFORMIS, Sp. nov.
PI. xvi, fig. 3 to 5.
The specimen here figured, represents only part of a frond,
which, in its whole, appears to have been large and round-
ish in outline, with undulate borders and undulate rugose
hairy surface. From the emarginate border of the frond, pro-
trude cylindrical branches, either erect or creeping, whose
form is totally different from that of the frond. These
branches, half an inch thick, are covered with ob-lanceolate,
obtuse scales or leaves, narrowly striate, as marked, fig. 4, en-
larging upwards and closely imbricate. As the scales are
mostly crushed upo^n each other, it is not possible to see if these
stems are fruit-bearing, like the branches of a Lycopodium, or
are merely the base of the stems of some fronds of ferns, and
thus only a different representation of the same organs of the
plant. The specimen is good, the various parts of the plant
are distinct, and the connection between the branches and the
frond is evident.
This kind of development may be compared to that of the Marchantiacese and
of the Lycopodiacex with the fronds of the first, and the fruiting-stem of the
last family of plants. I suppose that the fragment, represented fig. 5, belongs
to the same species. It is apparently the plant in the first development of its
frond. The specimen, fig. 5. is in a concretion from Morris; the other is on
shale from Colchester. The same species has been found also on the shales
from Morris.
HYMENOPHYLLITES STRONGII, Sp. nov.
PL xviii, fig. 1.
STEM half an inch broad, erect, undulately veined or stri-
ate in its length, bearing alternate leaves ? covered with long
thick hairs or scales, diverging all around. It is not possible
—53
418 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
to see the form of the leaves or divisions, which may be merely
part of branches. On the left part of the specimen the stem
is smooth and has the appearance of a stem of some species
of Hymenophyllites of this section ; on the other side, which
is unhappily broken, the borders are fringed with long straight
hairs, appearing to come out from another part of the stem.
From this it is hardly possible tc decide if the specimen repre-
sents a true HymenopJiyllites or merely some disconnected part
of a Lycopodiacceous plant.
In a concretion from Mazon creek, collected by Mr. S. S. Strong.
§ 3. SCHIZOPTERIS.
HYMENOPHYLLITES MOLLIS, Sp. hov.
PI. xviii, fig. 2 to 6.
LEAVES or fronds formed of groups of thin filaments, emerg-
ing from a common support, apparently parasitic, enlarging
in growing up or by grouping together, and by compression
taking various forms; the laciniae or filaments are generally
united together without distinct nervation.
This is still one of those singular plants of the coal epoch which baffles every
attempt at analysis, when one is trying to compare them with representatives
of our existing vegetation. This kind of vegetable is doubtfully referable to
this section of this genus. Fig. 2 represents a kind of tubercle, resembling a
piece of decayed wood, with traces of an axis in its middle and irregular cavi-
ties, bordered all around by a short fringe of these filaments which appear as
growing out of it in an incipient state of vegetation. These filaments repre-
sented separately, fig. 3, are like linear, thin, short, obtuse laeiniie, united
together and without nerves, or with thin parallel veinlets. In fig. 4, these
filaments, much elongated, are separated in the middle and near the base in
various ways, appearing to come out from a mere point and to enlarge in as-
cending. In fig. 5, the point of attachment of the whole group of filaments is
well marked, and from it, the lacinias seem to be attached or to grow upon one
another like the subdivisions of a kind of FUIKJUS. Fig. 6 represents a group
or a heap of these filaments which appear attached and growing upon each
FOSSIL PLANTS. 419
other like parasitic plants, the whole by compression being crushed, forming
a kind of flattened ball. In all these varied appearances of the same plant,
no distinct trace of a true nervation can be seen. The lines marked on the
figures, exactly as they are perceivable on the stone, are more or less inflated
in places, and can be considered, as well as the borders of the filaments, as
true veins. They do not branch, and are mostly -parallel. They may, never-
theless, represent the parallel groups of vessels which characterize the species
of this section of Hymenophyllites. The substance of these plants was evidently
soft, for the specimen fig. 6 represents a compound of many of these leaves ap-
pressed and crushed together, and the impression is merely of a thin surface.
All the specimens figured here have been found in concretions at Mazon
creek, and nothing except Schizopteris anomald, Brgt., is comparable to this
kind of vegetation.
GENUS PACHYPTERIS, Brgt.
'Frond simply pinnate or bipinnately divided, bearing upon the same hori-
zontal plan, opposite entire coreaceous pinnules, with a medial nerve, or with-
out any trace of nervation, narrowed towards the base, not joined to the rachis^
The peculiar disposition of the lobes or leaflets of these plants, is similar to that
of the pinnules of some ferns. The genus was established by the celebrated
author for two species of the Oolite of England.
PACHYPTERIS GRACILLIMA, Sp. nov.
PI. xix, fig. 6 to 8.
THE specimen represents only simple branches or simple pin-
nae, bearing on each side, but on the same plan, opposite very
oblique, linear, oblong, obtuse, narrow leaflets, joined by their
base to the enlarged border of the rachis, or of a medial nerve,
and thus appearing decurrent upon it. The substance of the
leaflets is thick, coriaceous, without any trace of a medial nerve.
Fig. 6 shows, apparently, a peculiar kind of ramification by
innovation.
The specimen from which the figures and descriptions are made, is on a
large piece of shale whose surface is covered by a quantity of simple branches
420 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
of this plant. They are placed without any kind of order, crossing each other
in various directions, as if they had been strewn on the stone, and therefore
the kind of divisions marked in the figure, and abnormal, if this plant belongs
to a fern, may be merely caused by the casual superposition of two branches
joined by their bases. The form of the leaves, their peculiar position along
the stem on the same side of it, resembling the divisions or lobes of some ferns,
and their mode of attachment, indicate the close relationship of this plant to
those published by Prof. Brongniart as Pachypteris. In some of our branch-
lets the basilar prolongation of the pinnules along the rachis ? of the pinnae
has become detached by compression, and they appear in that way as bearing,
at the base, a long, linear auricle. The pinnules are a little enlarged to the
very obtuse point, as seen in fig. 8, enlarged four times, and in fig. 7, enlarged
twice.
On shale, from Morris, collected by Mr. Jos. Even.
LEAVES OF UNCERTAIN OR UNKNOWN AFFINITY.
GENUS CORDAITES, Ung.
111. Geol. Rep., vol. ii, p. 443.
CORDAITES ANGUSTIFOLIA, Sp. MOV.
The roof of the main coal at Duquoin and St. Johns is in
places covered to a thickness of six inches to one foot, with
remains of flat, narrowly equally striate, long linear leaves,
one to one and a-half inches broad, which, as yet, have not
been found in connection with any stem.
From their linear form and from the narrow striae marking their surface, I
refer these leaves to the genus Cordaites, Ung., being unable to see the char-
acters which separate these ribbon-like leaves into two genera, viz. Cordaifes
and Noeggerathia.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 421
GENUS SPHENOPHYLLUM, Brongt.
SPENOPHYLLUM CORNUTUM, Sp. nov.
PL xix, fig. 1 to 5.
MAIN stem round, half an inch broad, articulate at equal
distances (about one inch), inflated at the nodi or points of in-
sertion of the whorls of leaves, smooth but obscurely ribbed
in the length, divided about at right angles by long straight
branches bearing whorls of five or six leaflets, joined at the
base ; leaflets equal, fan-like in outline, broadly cuneiform to the
base, divided from below the middle into seven to nine linear,
pointed, nearly equal lobes ; veins distinct, flat, four to five at
the base of each leaflet, forking once, each division ascend-
ing to the top of one of the lobes (fig. 5 enlarged) .
It is a well characterized and distinct species, and in studying it at Colches-
ter, I have found among the shales a great number of broken specimens, rep-
resenting different parts of it, and have seen all the leaflets, from the
largest one around the broad part of the stems, to those of the branchlets, pre-
senting the same form and kind of division. It can be compared only to a
variety of Sphenophyllum emarginatum, Brgt., figured by Geinitz in his Verst.
pi. xx, fig. 6. But it differs indeed in its essential characters: broader stems
and leaflets, peculiar and equal divisions, and a different kind of nervation.
The branching, as seen, fig. 1, is also peculiar for a species of this genus. It
is worth remarking that the branches of this plant are mixed on most of the
specimens with the remains of a somewhat obscure Calamites, resembling Cata-
mites Suckowii, Brgt , a coincidence which may be casual. In any case I could
not trace any evident connection between the two plants, and the stems of this
SphenophyUum do not appear as equally and deeply striate as are generally the
branches of Calamites.
Hoof shales of the Colchester coal.
422 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
SPHENOPHYLLUM FILICULMIS, Lesqx., Geol. Rep. Penn., p. 853
PI. i, fig 6.
Nodule from Mazon creek ; F. H. Bradley.
Fruiting catkins of Sphenophyllum, referable to Asterophyllites ovalis, Lesqx.
Penn. Geol. Rep., p. 851, pi. i, fig. 2, are found in the concretions of Mazon
creek, and in the shales of Morris.
GENUS ANNUL ARIA, Brgt. 111. Geol. Rep., vol. II, p. 444.
ANNULARIA LONGIFOLIA? Brgt.
PL xxi, fig. 1 to 3.
STEM thick, round, narrowly and equally striate, articulate,
divided into opposite diverging branches placed crosswise in
ascending, bearing at the articulations whorls of ovate-lance-
olate obtusely pointed flat leaflets, marked by a broad medial
nerve.
This species is represented in the concretions of Mazon creek, by two kinds
of specimens, with different appearances. Those figured in our plates seem to
belong to the upper, still undeveloped part of the plant. The branches and
leaflets are crowded and pressed upon one another in a scarcely distinguishable
mass, presenting sometimes, as in fig. 1, the appearance of a peculiar species
of Sphenophyllum. In fig. 2, the branches and leaves are more distinct, and
the form of the leaflets is distinguishable as marked fig. 3, magnified. On an-
other specimen, which was obtained too late to be figured, and which shows
the plant in its full development, the stem about one foot long, half an inch
thick at the base, regularly striate in length, is articulate at the distance of one
inch by whorls of leaves of the form described above, and two opposite branches
diverging in open angles from under the leaves, and crosswise in ascending.
The leaflets, one inch long, one-sixth of an inch broad, twelve to fourteen in
each whorl, are joined at their base. The point of attachment of the leaflets
upon the stem and the branches, is marked around the articulation by small,
semi-lunar inflations or knots, corresponding in number with the leaflets, and
placed just above the point of attachment. The plant represented by the two
specimens fiirurcd, pi. 21, can be compared with what Prof. Geinitz has des-
cribed and figured in his Verst., p. 10, pi. 16, fig. 1, under the name of Astero-
phyUitcs foliosus, LI. and Hutt. The form of the leaflets being indistinguisha-
FOSSIL PLANTS. 423
ble in the above mentioned figures, a close comparison with our species cannot
be established. It is nevertheless evident that it does not represent the Fame
plant as ours, as its stem, though striate, like a Catamites, is not marked like
ours by any knots of the articulations. Erom the mode of division, the form
and the size of its leaflets, this species of ours is a true Annularia, The one
described and figured by Messrs. Lindley and Hutton as Asterophi/llites foliosus,
and which does not even resemble that of Greinitz, has linear lanceolate, pointed,
narrower leaflets, and is not comparable to this, which I refer with doubt to
Annularia longifolia, Brgt., considering it rather a distinct species, under
the name of Annularia calamitoides, Schp. Prof. Schimper has published, in
his Pal. Veget., p. 349, pi. xxvi, fig. 1, a new species which, though the leaves
are narrower and more acute, is nearly related to this one, if not identical
with it.
ANNULAKIA INFLATA, Sp. nov.
PI. xx, fig. 1 to 3.
THE essential difference which separates this species from
Annularia longi/olia, Brgt , consists in the form of the leaflets,
which are ob-lanceolate, obtuse, subcylindrical or inflated up-
wards without trace of medial nerve, or with merely an ob-
scure line indicating a central vessel, while the leaflets of A.
longifolia, are flat, with recurved borders and marked by a
thick, flat medial nerve. The difference in the form of the
leaflets is seen in fig. 3 and 4, and their comparative sections,
36 and 4 ft. The stem of this species does not appear as thick
as in A. longifolia, and the branches come out in opposite di-
rection from the middle of the whorls, or rather from above
them, than from below.
The specimens figured are from the concretions of Mazon creek, where both
species are abundant, and may be distinguished always by the same characters,
without any form appearing intermediate. It may be that we have here two
parts of the same species, one representing branches growing out of or above
water under atmospheric influences, with dry, flat leaflets ; A. longifolia, the
other, representing the floating part, sustained in water by bladderly-inflated
leaflets, as shown in our species. But if it is so, it is peculiar that this, so dif-
ferent a form of a common species, has not been found elsewhere and described
before.
424 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
GENUS ASTEROPHYLLITES, Brgt.
111. Geol. Rep , vol. ii, p. 444.
ASTEROPHYLLITES RIGIDUS, Brgt.
PL xxi, fig. 4 and 4 b.
This species has been referred to Asterophyllites longifolius? Brgt, p. 444,
vol. ii, of this Report. The whorls of the leaflets, very close to each other, in-
dicate the top of a branch. The leaflets are about three inches long, not quite
rigid, not open as in A. rigidus, but they are of a hard, solid texture, exactly
linear, marked in the middle by a deep medial nerve, reflexed on the borders,
canaliculate on the lower surface, thus presenting the true characters of A.
rigidus as recognized by other and better specimens from the same locality —
Mazon creek. The true Asterophyllites longifolius, Brgt., has been found on
shales from Morris, by Mr. Jos. Even. It greatly differs from A. rigidus by
its leaves, which are soft, flat, scarcely marked by the medial nerve, ascending
along the stem and undulate, and by the narrower, nearly smooth stems and
branches.
ASTEROPHYLLITES GRANDIS, LI. and Hutt.
Foss. flora, i, PI. xvii.
Found in fine specimens on the shales of the coal at Morris. Leaves still
narrower, and whorls still mor,e numerous than indicated by the description
and plate of the English authors.
ASTEROPHYLLITES FOLIOSTJS, LI. and Hutt.
Foss. flora, i, PI. xxv.
Not rare in the concretions of Mazon creek.
ASTEROPHYLLITES TUBERCULATUS, Brod., p. 159.
In the shales at Morris.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 425
GENUS EQUISETITES, Sternb., Vers. ii, pi. 43.
Stem fistulose, cylindrical, striate lengthwise, articulate, simple or branching
at the sheathing articulation, sheaths attached under the articulations, erect,
dentate.
EQUISETITES OCCIDENTALIS, Sp. nov.
PL xx, fig. 5.
WE have only one sheath of this species, the first trace of a
true Equisetites found in the Coal Measures of this continent.
The sheath is open or unfolded, somewhat broken in the mid-
dle, about three inches across, two inches long, regularly divi-
ded to about the middle by lanceolate, obtusely pointed teeth,
marked by a strong nerve, which descends from the point of
the teeth to the base of the sheath. The surface in the mid-
dle and between these nerves is irregularly wrinkled, and the
base, in the line of connection with the stem, is marked by
regular, half round notches, corresponding evidently with the
striae of the stem.
The specimen is from Mazon creek, a concretion where this part of the plant
is distinctly preserved. Another specimen from the same locality, but in a
bad state of preservation, contains also fragments of an Equisetites, whose spe-
cific relation cannot be recognized. It has the remains of a stem about one
inch in diameter, with a lacerate sheath.
—54
426 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
SELAGINI$, Endl.
GENUS LYCOPODITES, Brgt.
111. Geol. Kept., vol. ii, p. 447.
LYCOPODITES ANNULARL&FOLIUS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxi, fig 5.
STEM round, as seen in fig. 5 dichotomous, bearing opposite
leaves, apparently united by two at the base, half embracing
and slightly decurrent ; leaves linear-lanceolate, obtusely
pointed, slightly narrowed to the base, marked with a medial
nerve, disappearing above the middle, open or slightly reflexed.
The mode of branching of this species, by a peculiar kind of dichotomy ob-
servable in some Lycopodiacest of our time, the Ruelliee, for example, indicates
the nature of this peculiar plant. It is not quite evident that the leaves are
approached by pairs, and placed in two parallel rows or distichous ; the speci-
men shows nothing more definite than what is represented by the figure.
No species of Lycopodites of the Coal Measures has been as yet published
having leaves of the same form and type as ours ; the only one somewhat com-
parable to it is Lycopodites macrophyllus, Gold. Flor. Saar., i, p. 12, pi. 1, fig. 5.
On a concretion from Mazon creek; in the cabinet of Prof. A. H. Worthen.
LYCOPODITES MEEKII, Sp. nov.
PI. xxvi, fig. 6 and 6a.
STEM very slender, about one-sixth of an inch thick toward
the base, dichotomous, with continuous, elongated branches,
scarcely diminishing upwards ; leaves imbricated all around,
narrow, linear, lanceolate, acute, erect, or slightly open and
curving upwards at the point. As seen, fig. 60, enlarged,
these small leaves are thick, concave on the inside, sharply
pointed, not enlarged, but semi-embracing at the base, and
without trace of a nerve.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 427
This extremely fine and delicate Lycopodites may be compared to the upper
branches of Lepidodendron selaginoidcs, Ste.rnb., as figured by LI. and Hutt.,
vol. 1, tab. 12; and also to Lycopodites Sfichlerianus, Gopp., Silurian, p 170
tab. 25. In our species the stem is longer, more slender ; the leaves narrower
and proportionally longer, and the ramification different.
On the roof shales of the coal at Morris.
GENUS SCHUTZIA, Goppert, Permian Flora, p. 161.
Stems either single or branching, bearing on short alternate pedicels small
cones or strobiles of an ovate truncate form, a compound of imbricate, broadly
linear pointed scales, united at the base.
SCHUTZIA BRACTEATA, Sp. nov.
PL xxi, fig. 6 to 9.
STEM proportionally thick, smooth, bearing alternate short
pediceled cones or strobiles, about half an inch long, enlarged
ovate from a narrow base, truncate at the top, slightly turned
upwards, placed at the axil of a narrow linear bractlet, about
one inch long and curved upwards. The cone is a compound
of lanceolate pointed, concave scales, placed in spiral, closely
imbricated and pressed upon one another, fig. 7 and 8; covering
a transparent, yellowish membrane, formed of small, elongated,
equilateral meshes : fig. 9, which enclose or support small
granules of opaque, brown matter. These granules, scarcely
the one-hundreth part of a millimeter in diameter, are of a
roundish, irregular, polygonal form, agglomerated and separa-
ting with difficulty. Their size and irregularity of form pre-
vent considering them as spores ; they look rather like grains
of pollen.
From the great difference in the form of the buds born on the stem, which
cannot be accounted for, I think, by difference in maturity, it would appear as
if the scape of this plant was bearing monoacious flowers, the ones in strobiles
bearing pollen, the other fertile buds. These, as seen in a, fig. 6, have the
appearance of an inflated receptacle, either naked or bordered at its top by foli-
aceous, narrow divisions. Two specimens of this plant have been found in the
428 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
concretions of Mazon creek, and both present the same appearance. Some
plants resembling ours have been described under the generic name of AntTio-
lithes. But this genus is still indefinite, and the plants referred to it really
unknown. I have, therefore, placed this species for description in this new
genus of Goppert, as more related to it by some of its characters.
GENUS LEPIDODENDRON, Sternb.
111. Geol. Report, rol. ii, p. 451.
The species of this genus, as it is well known, are characterized merely by
the form of the cicatrices, which have been left by the base of the leaves upon
the bark of the trees or of their branches. These cicatrices or bolsters vary
indeed in size and also in their relative position, according to the thickness of
the different parts of a tree, where they are examined. But this variety is far
from being as marked as some authors, who have attempted to reduce the spe-
cies to two or three, seem to suppose it. In following the course of the devel-
opment of these scars on long stems of Lepidodendron, from parts measuring at
least one foot in diameter to the smallest branches, they may be seen to vary
in size and position according to the degree of activity of the vegetation at
different times, and also on account of some irregular mode of growth , but
their essential characters, viz. : their outline, the position of the vascular
points, as also the form of the leaf scars surrounding them, is generally pre-
served and recognizable in the whole length of the stem; It is argued that
for the genus Lepidodendron, we should have too large a number of species if
we would consider the scars as specific characters. But the genus Sigillaria,
so admirably studied by Prof. Brongniart, and after him by the most careful
Palaeontologists, especially by Goldenberg, whose acuteness of observation is
beyond question, has a number of acknowledged species, at least double of those
of the genus Lepidodendron. Goldenberg describes sixty-seven species of
Sigillaria I and yet the specific characters are taken from the same vegetable
organs, or from the cicatrices of the bark, which are certainly as much subject
to variations in Sigillaria as in Lepidodendron. Why, then, deny the value of
the species of one genus, and admit the reality of those of the other. The
most marked species of Lepidodendron of our American coal fields, L. modula-
tum, L. giganteum, L. clypeatum, L. vestitum, L. distans, published in the Geo-
logical Report of Penna., have been found over the whole extent of our Coal
Measures, and are recognized everywhere by their distinct characters from the
form of their cicatrices. In collecting specimens on shale, for the State Cabi-
net, great care has been taken in comparing the largest possible number of spe-
cimens of the same species at the same place, not only to obtain the different
FOSSIL PLANTS. 429
parts of a plant, but also to carefully note the variations of the same plant un-
der different circumstances. In this way it has been possible to ascertain the
reliability of some doubtful species of Lepidodendron, and to unite in one some
parts formerly referred to different species or even to different genera.
LEPIDODENDRON RIGENS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxvii, fig. 1 to 3.
THE concretions of Mazon creek, which have generally pre-
served plants or their parts in their integrity, without deform-
ing them by compression, have furnished, among other very
interesting specimens, the branch of Lepidodendron which is
copied in our figure. It shows distinctly the bolster, the point,
and mode of attachment of the leaves, around the leaf scars,
and the vascular vessels, or bundles, in their disposition in pass-
ing from the stem to the leaves, as in fig. 2. At the same time
it proves that, in some species at least, the leaves of Lepido-
dendron were inflated, or somewhat cylindrical in their whole
length, as marked in fig. 3, and not flat, as they are generally
seen on the shales. These leaves were not hollow or tubulose .
j
they are too stiff for that in this species at least, but were
probably filled by cellular tissue traversed by three bundles
of vessels. The form of these leaves does not appear to be
exactly like the outline of the leaf scar, as they seem to ex-
tend and become flat on the sides in joining the scar, fig. 2,
and in the cross section, fig. 3, enlarged, the leaf does not in-
dicate any angular compression on the sides. The bolsters
of this branch have not yet their definite form, and therefore
the specific affinity, considered from these characters, can not
be satisfactorily recognized. The narrower leaves and cica-
trices distinguish it evidently from the following species, which
it resembles by the length and straightness of the leaves.
430 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
LEPIDODENDRON MORRISIANUM, Sp, nov.
PI. xxn, fig. 1 and 2.
THE cicatrices of this species are of three kinds. Under the
surface or true cortex, they appear slightly upraised, like those
of a Knorria, upon a short pedicel which is enlarged down-
wards, rough on the sides, with a flat rhomboidal top or
leaf scar, marked like that of the surface by three vascular
points, fig. la. The surface cicatrices are broadly rhom-
boidal, with the opposite sides nearly parallel, curved outside
and the leaf scar placed near the top, rhomboidal obtuse above
and below, acute on the sides and marked by three horizontal
large vascular points. The medial line of the bolsters is merely
indicated by two or three horizontal wrinkles, enlarged in the
middle. These cicatrices of the surface, when covered with
the base of the leaves and their coat of coaly matter, appear
hexangular, fig. 15. The leaves one foot lojg or irore, one
and a half line broad when flattened, are sharply marked by
three vascular lines and narrowly, regularly striate on their sur-
face, formed of a pellicle of coaly matter as thick as a leaf of
paper, fig. 2 enlarged.
The tubular form of the leaves of some Lepidodendra is visibly marked in
this species, for it is only by considering them in that way, that we can account
for the difference remarked in the relative position of the vascular bundles
when the leaves are flattened, for they appear on our specimen either central
or lateral or single, double, triple, according to the plan in which leaves have
been compressed. This fine specimen from the roof shale of the coal of Morris
was communicated by Mr. J. Even. It now belongs to the State cabinet.
LEPIDODENDRON MODULATUM, Lesqx. Geol. Rep. Penn., p. 874.
PI. XV, fig. 1.
In the shales at Morris, by Mr. S. S. Strong. It distinctly preserves its char-
acters, though the cicatrices are small. Found, also, in concretions at Mazon
creek.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 431
LEPIDODENDRON FORULATUM, Sp. nov.
PI. xxiii, fig. 5 to 8.
CICATRICES distant, oval, narrower and pointed at both ends,
wrinkled across ; leaf scar large, central, marked with three
distinct large vascular points, without medial line or appenda-
ges; corticated surface deeply undulate-wrinkled lengthwise,
marked by deep, narrow, equally distant furrows, separating the
cicatrices in vertical rows as in the genus Sigillaria. The de-
corticated surface, fig. 7 and 8, is regularly striate lengthwise
by narrow, nearly straight wrinkles, and has its cicatrices up-
raised or convex-rhomboidal, split from the central point down-
wards, by a deep narrow line.
The peculiar furrowing of the surface of this species does not appear merely
casual. A disposition of this kind has already been observed, though not quite
as distinctly marked, in Lepidodendron costatum, Lesqx., described and figured
in the second volume of this Report.
Found at St. Johns, in the roof shales of the main coal.
LEPIDODENDRON Tuoui. Sp. nov.
PI. xxiv, fig. 1 to 3.
CICATRICES of the cortex proportionally small, ovate, long
pointed at both ends, separated by a flat irregularly wrinkled
border, about one line broad; leaf scar large, placed above the
middle, smooth, marked by its three vascular points, without
medial line or appendages; cicatrices of the decorticated sur-
face of the same form, smooth, merely marked in the middle
by a vertical line, fig. 3, (3 5 enlarged) . A small piece, fig. 2,
of the same, though taken from the largest part of the tree,
preserves the form and distance of the cicatrices as in the spe-
cimen of fig. 1. The coat of coaly matter covering the surface
is thin, smooth, and the place of the leaf scars is hardly indi-
cated on it.
432 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The specimens of this species were found in connection with the Lepdio-
phloyos auriculatum and its LepidopJiyHum, as seen in fig. 1, in the roof shales
of the main coal of St. Johns. Dedicated to Mr. Thos. Tijou, superintendent
of the coal mining company, Duquoin.
LEPIDODENDRON MAMMILLATUM, Sp. nov.
PI. XXV, fig 1.
GENERAL cicatrices marked obscurely by an irregular nar-
row furrow, obtuse at the upper end, narrowed downwards
into a caudate curved point, central scar round, mammillate or
convex, notched at the top, or with irregularly undulate bor-
ders. The specimen represents the decorticated part of the
species, and does not indicate any trace of leaf scar or of vas-
cular points. The surface is deeply and irregularly grooved,
the grooves passing in undulations between the cicatrices.
Found in large specimens on the roof shales of the coal at Morris.
From specimens obtained two late for the plate, the species shows the char-
acter of a true Lepidodendron. The cicatrices are broadly oval, pointed at
both ends, the leaf scar is of an oval form, enlarged on the sides or horizon-
tally marked with a large medial vascular point and two lateral ones, placed at
the corner of the leaf scar under which is an oval convex bolster. This bolster
is the oniy part left of the specimens where the surface is old or eroded, as seen
in our figure.
LEPIDODENDRON CRUCIATUM, Sp. nov.
PI. xxv, fig. 2.
SURFACE furrowed by deep, irregular grooves, diverging from
the scars in quincunxial direction ; cicatrices distant, deeply
cut in the shale, but irregular and variable, generally oval and
narrowed downwards. The supercortical layer of coaly mat-
ter is very thick, one line at least, deeply, narrowly and regu-
larly striate, filling the depressions or hollow scars, and oblit-
erating their forms.
The specimen from which the figure is copied, is large, and apparently repre-
sents the base of a tree whose bark has become roughened by age. The spe-
cies is uncertain and not satisfactorily known.
Roof shales of the coal at Morris.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 433
LEPIDODENDRON? GREENII, Sp. nov.
PL xxvii, fig. 7 and 8.
CICATRICES distant and deeply marked, oval in outline,
pointed at the top, rounded at the base, marked under the
point by a round, deeply sunk leaf scar, bordered by an up-
raised ring, and marked by a single central vascular point,
thus resembling the scar of Syrigodendron.
From the great distance of the cicatrices, which are placed in a quincunxial
order, and from the form of the leaf scars, it is presumable that this species
may helong to another genus, or that it is the type of a new one.
Found by Mr. H. A. Green, in Mercer Co., Ills.
LEPIDODENDRON RUGOSUM, Brgt. Brod., p. 85.
Little Vermilion ; Dr. J. C. Winslow.
LEPIDODENDRON GRACILE, Brgt.
Veg. foss., 2, t. 15?
LEPIDODENDRON ELEGANS, Brgt.
Veg. foss., 2, t. 14?
In the roof shales of the coal of Morris and of Colchester, there is an abund-
ance of small stems or branches of a Lepidodendron covered with short, linear,
lanceolate-pointed, flat leaves, referable, from the figures given by the author,
to the above-named species. These are considered by more recent authors as
identical with Lepidodendron abovatum, Sternb., the form of the cicatrices
being alike, and differing merely in size. Lepidodendron abovatum is also
found at Morris and Colchester with large cicatrices.
—55
434 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
GENUS ULODENDRON, Rhode.
Beitr., PI. 3, fig. 1, Endl. Gen., p. 70.
STEM arborescent, simple, ? covered with rhomboidal cica-
trices, remains of deciduous, strobile-like branches, densely
covered with imbricate leaves.
This description, translated from Unger's Genera, p. 262, does not give a
clear idea of the form and nature of the trees referable to this genus, for the
good reason that now, after years of research among the remains of fossil plants,
these species are known to us by mere detached fragments, whose relation is
uncertain. Prof. Brongniart has considered this genus as merely representing
species of Lepidodendron, and this opinion has been more or less generally ad-
mitted by others. And truly, the bark of the trees or of the species referred
lo this genus, bear cicatrices or bolsters generally of the same type as those of
the true Lepidodendron, with also the leaf scars and vascular points of the same
kind and placed in the same position.
They differ essentially in this : that they have two or more parallel rows of
large round or oval scars, which appear as if they had been made by the base
of large strobiles or cones, thickly covered with scales or short leaves. These
organs have not yet been found in connection with trunks or branches, and
therefore their origin is hypothetical. They have been considered either as the
cicatrices of a peculiar kind of leaves, a supposition which is not admissible, or
as the scars of lateral abortive or adventive branches, a supposition "also unsus-
tainable for vegetables regularly dichotomous, like those of the genus Lepido-
dendron, or as the scars of large strobiles like those of our Lepido&trobus prin-
ceps, (this Report, vol. ii, pi. 45, fig. 1) whose size corresponds with that of
the cicatrices, and prevents the idea that they may be borne at the top of the
slender branches of Lepidodendron.
I consider this last supposition as the right one. These scars, one or two
inches in diameter, are placed in parallel rows, alternate or opposite to each
other, at a distance varying vertically from two to eight inches. It is possible
that these organs]were borne on peculiar fruit-bearing branches of species of Le-
pidodendron. The horizontal distance between them is not great : 2 to 3 inches.
What seems also to indicate branches is the small size of the cicatrices of the
bark, which in all our specimens is about the same. There is, nevertheless, a
peculiar character remarked on the specimens of all our American species,
which is not observable on the bark of species of Lepidodendron. Their sur-
face is ribbed lengthwise by irregular ridges, from one-fourth to one-half of an
inch broad, one to two lines thick, generally angular at the top, bearing be-
FOSSIL PLANTS. 435
tween them flattened furrows, or strips of true bark with its cicatrices. The
irregularity of these ridges, which vary in size as well as in their respective
distances, being sometimes close to each other, sometimes a few inches apart,
contradict the supposition that they are a kind of organism resulting from the
normal growth of the trees. They are mere excrescences, similar to those
which are seen on old trees ; for in some places, by the expansion of their bor-
ders they cover part of the scars, in some others they push them aside, as from
the enlarging border of a split. When supercorticated, the surface of the spe-
cies of this genus between the top of the ribs, is filled by a coat of carbona-
ceous matter, half a line to one line or more in thickness, in such a way that
the surface of the coat of coal is on a plane with the ridges, and that conse«
quently, the coal is thicker in proportion to the depth of the grooves, as seen,
pi. xxiii, fig. 1.
The surface of this coaly matter is smooth, striate lengthwise by narrow par-
allel lines, and the position of the cicatrices of the bark and of the leaf scars
is merely indicated by a slight depression, with a point in the middle. The
peculiar nature, or rather the mode of formation of this supercortical coat of
coal, which covers the surface of the plants now examined, as also of most of
the species of trees found in the shales and in the sandstone of the Coal
Measures, is not explained. It is evident from what is seen on our specimens,
that it does not represent a true cortex, but that it is rather produced by some
exudation of matter (ulmic acid ?) forced, by compression, during the process
of maceration and carbonization of the plants. This supposition, however, does
not account for the peculiar marks left and defined upon the surface of this
matter, and different in each species.
ULODENDRON MAJUS, LI. and Hutt.
Foss. flora., i, p. 22, t s.
Sigillaria Menardi, Lesqx.
111. Geol. Rep , vol. ii, p. 450, PI. 43.
Large and numerous specimens of this species, obtained from the shales at
Morris, have afforded opportunity of studying it under various appearances,
and of recognizing its identity with the species described and figured by Lind-
ley and by Sternberg. Though the cicatrices are most of the time obliterated,
and their outline modified, some specimens present them in their primitive
forms, with the essential characters, the three-pointed leaf scar of the genus
Lepidodendron.
They are rhornboidal in outline, pointed or truncate at the top, rounded at
the base, enlarged on the obtusely pointed sides, marked in the middle by a
436 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
slightly inflated bolster, and topped by a small rhouiboidal leaf scar, marked
with three vascular points. The details characterizing this species, and which
have not been given by the authors, are represented in our plate 22, fig. 4.
The outline of the cicatrices differs indeed from that of the known species of
X/cpidodendron, and when the surface is somewhat erased, as in the part repre-
sented fig. 46, and as is generally the case on specimens of this species, it is un-
distinguishable from that of Sigillaria Menardi, Brgt.
In its decorticated state the species equally preserves the appearance of a
Sigillaria^ its wrinkled surface beinir marked by mere semilunar, inflated dots,
as seen in fig. 4. The strobile scars are proportionally large, approximated to
each other, alternating in two vertical rows, nearly exactly round, or rather en-
larged horizontally.
Mr. Jos. Even, of Morris, has kindly sent photographic plates of large spe-
cimens of his, which bear these strobile scars, one and a-half inches in diam-
eter, at a horizontal distance of three inches, and only one and a-half inches
from each other in vertical direction. The vertical distance of these scars is
apparently variable ; it is, however, generally shorter in this species than in
the following ones.
On snales at Morris and Colchester.
ULODENDRON ELLIPTICUM, Sternb.
PL xxii, fig. 3, and PL xxiii, fig. 1 to 3.
Under the name of H/epidodendron ornatfssimum, Prof. Brongniart has repre-
sented in his Foss. Flor., vol. 2, pi. 18, a large specimen of this species. As
there is not as yet a detailed description of it, and as the cicatrices of the sur-
face are not as clearly defined on the European specimens as on ours, I have
figured the essential parts of this species as exemplifications of its general ap-
pearance.
The surface cicatrices are almost exactly rhomboidal, angular on the sides,
slightly elongated, more or less distant, with the leaf scar nearly central,
marked in the middle by a depression or small hollow, as indicating the place
of a single vascular scar. These scars arc not indicated by any of the Euro-
pean authors. It is probable that the two lateral ones are obliterated, but,
although a great number of specimens were carefully examined, they could not
be detected on any one of them. PI. 23, fig. 3 enlarged, shows the details of
the forms of these cicatrices.
The strobile scars on this species are opposite to each other, vertically more
distant than in the former, or four to six inches, and horizontally six inches.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 437
On the largest of rny specimens, the scars are two and a-half inches long and
one and three-fourth inches broad. Some of these scars are distinctly marked
by the cicatrices of the surface nearly to the middle, or just to the point of at-
tachment of the strobile, which has only one-third of an inch diameter.
This clearly indicates that the growth of the leaves was stopped around the
pedicel of the cones by the compression of their open scales, and that the cone
itself was attached to the tree by a pedicel as small as is generally the central
axis of a Lepidostroibus.
Collected in splendid specimens from Morris, by Mr. S. S. Strong.
ULODENDRON ELONGATUM, Sp. nov.
PI. xxiii, fig. 4.
THE cicatrices of the surface are in this species about of the
same form as those of Lepidodendron rimosum, Stern., or of
Lepidodendron simplex, Lesqx., as represented vol. 2, pi. 45,
fig. 5, ofthis Report. They differ only by a narrow, elevated
round border, which, as they are slightly apart from each other,
leaves between them a narrow smooth furrow. The leaf scar
is nearly central, as marked on the figure, and shows the three
vascular points of a Lepidodendron. The strobile-scars are
proportionally longer and narrower, than in the former spe-
cies, nearly twice as long as broad, vertically distant eight
inches or more.
As I have not seen any specimens with double rows of these scars, I do not
know at what distance they are placed horizontally, and whether they are alter-
nate or opposite. From the form of its cicatrices, this species might be identi-
cal with our Lepidodendron simplex, and the strobile scars represent the base of
a cone like Lcpldostrouus princcps, Lesqx., loc. cit. Both species also may be
referable to Lepidodendron rimosiim, Siernb., and Lepidostrolus variabilis, LI
and Hutt., which Prof. Geinitz, in his Verst.. p. 35, describes as the same. It
is only remarkable that this celebrated author persists in considering these enor-
mous cones as sustained at the end of small branches which, according to his
description, are only one-third of an inch in thickness, and that he admits the
round scars of cones as mere branch scars. Pie has only figured one of them,
however, in his tab. 3, fig. 16. It appears to represent the three different forms
of U lodvndron majus, under the name of llalonia punctata, LI.
438 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
ULODENDRON PUNCTATUM, Sternb. Vers. 2, p. 186.
Tab. 45, fig. 1, a-e.
I refer to this species, though with some doubt, a beautiful and well preserved
specimen, lately communicated by Mr. John Collet, from the Mahoning sand,
stone? of Clinton, Vermilion county, Ind., near the limits of the State of Illi-
nois. The specimen represents a branch compressed into an oval shape and
slightly arched, three and three-fourths inches broad across in its broadest
diameter, two and a-half inches in the narrowest compressed part, its upper
cortex marked by small, oval, convex-pointed intumescences, with a small oval,
deeply concave scar at the point, placed in spiral at about one line distance from
each other. The upper cortex is tormed by a pellicle of ferruginous, semi-car-
bonaceous hard matter, no thicker than a quarter of a line. Under it the surface
is marked with the same kind of cicatrices, but the top oval scars are oblitera-
ted. On both sides of the branches there are two longitudinal rows of strobile
scars, one and a-half inches distant from each other, a little less than one inch
broad, oval in outline, the center marked by a round cavity, from the bottom of
which a small mammilla protrudes. This is surmounted by an elevated margin
surrounded with round cicatrices like those of the bark. These branch or
strobile scars are alternate, five on one side, three on the other, horizontally
three inches distant in measuring across the upper broadest part of the branch,
and six inches in measuring on the other side across the more flattened part,
therefore appearing as placed in two rows on both sides and towards the supe-
rior part of the branches. The same configuration is remarked in Sternberg's
figure; but here the scars are placed along the concave border of the curved
branch, while in ours it is along its convex portion. The name of punctatum is
2;iven to the species from the points upon the branch scars, in the author's figure,
the cortex being marked by broadly triangular cicatrices. A few only of the
same form are perceptible at a single, small, decorticated spot near the most
erased part of our specimen, under a double layer of upper cortex. It appears,
therefore, that this specimen represents the same species in a better state of
preservation. Botliiodcndron punctatitm, LI. and Hutt., 2, p. 86, has the same
cortical cicatrices as ours, but differs by its long and more distant strobile
scars.
Morris, on shales.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 439
GENUS LEPIDOPHLOIOS, Sternb.
111. Geol. Rep., vol. ii, p. 457.
LEPIDOPHLOIOS? AURICULATUM, Sp. nov.
PI. XXX, fig 1.
STEM or cone covered with large thick rhomboidal imbricated
scales, broader than long, rounded at the sides, marked at the
top by enlarged rhomboidal cicatrices and three obscure vascu-
lar points.
The specimen copied in our figure looks like a part of a large flattened cone
whose broad thick rhomboidal scales are imbricated like those of a strobile of
pine, and in the same order. According to Prof. Goldenberg, specimens of this
kind should merely represont the surface part of stems (Lepidophloios) , whose
leaves are attached at the base of the scales which cover them. If this is
the case, it is doubtful, indeed, whether our plant is referable to this genus,
notwithstanding the similarity of the scales to those of some species of Euro-
pean Z<epidophloios, or whether it should be considered as a cone or Lepidos-
trobus. It is evident that the scales, which are often found isolated and vari-
ously grouped on the shales, were free to their base ; that in their union, as in
the specimen which is figured Here, they rather represent the form of a strobile
than that of a stem, and that also some of these scales appear connected with
Lepidopliyllum auriculatum, Lesqx., though the mode of connection is not dis-
tinct. On the other side these scales are marked at the top by three vascular
points like (he scales of Lepidophloios, and also have in the middle the small
scar scarcely perceptible with the naked eye, which Mr. Goldenberg considers
as the scar of a spine, and which also is a character of the genus. They are,
moreover, remarkably similar in form to those of JJepidophloios laricinus,
Sternb., as figured by Goldenberg in his Flor. Sarr., pi. 16, fig. 1. Though
this may be its true generic relation, this species differs from the European one
by the scales, which in ours are proportionally broader and shorter, and by the
small medial scar which is triangular and not round.
Found in the shales of the coal of St. Johns.
440 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
LEPIDOPHLOIOS LARICINUS, Sternb.
Vers. 1, p. 23, PI. 11, fig. 2, 3, 4.
It is not rare in the shales of the coal at Morris, in good, well characterized
specimens.
LEPIDOPHLOIOS PROTUBERANS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxvi, fig. 1 and 2.
STEM arborescent with cicatrices somewhat distant, separated
by thin, undulating, continuous wrinkles bordering the cauda;
cicatrices double; the upper part or leaf scar is rounded up-
wards and downwards, obtusely acute on both enlarged sides,
marked by three vascular points, the middle of which is
capped by a small, half round dot; the lower part like a broadly
oval-rhomboidal wing, has both sides curving downwards as
a prolongation of the borders of the leaf scar, and abruptly
bent into a long pointed cauda, fig. 2. The wing is marked
above the middle and under the leaf scar by a semi-lunar up-
raised scar. The cicatrices are generally deeply immersed in
the stone, and their outlines rarely discernible. They are
often covered with a coat of thick carbonaceous matter, and
their center marked by a prominent nose-like gibbosity.
In the shales at Morris ; collected by Mr. S. S. Strong.
GENUS LEPIDOSTROBUS, Brgt.
Ills. Geol. Rep., vol. ii, p. 455.
LEPIDOSTROBUS (species).
PI. xxx, fig. 4 to 7.
THE figures represent in detail a specimen of a cone of Lepi-
dodendron in concretions, which has its sporanges and spores
still preserved in their primitive position. The form of the
FOSSIL PLANTS. 441
blades and of the sporange-pedicels, as they appear when iso-
lated from the cone, is not recognizable, therefore its specific
relation is uncertain.
The cone is figured as an illustration of the position of the sporange-cells on
their axis, to which they are perpendicular, and also of the form of the seeds.
These seeds, fig. 6 and 7, highly magnified, resembling those of a Lycopodium,
are exactly three one-hundredths of a millimeter in size, nearly round or slightly
tetrahedral, with valves discernible but without borders, and often agglomerated
by triplication, but separating easily. The absence of borders or wings on
these seeds indicates their maturity. They are easily detached from the spo-
ranges, like a brownish powder. The part seen at the top of the cone, and
represented enlarged in fig. 5, seems to be the support or the pedicel of a blade
or the scale of the sporange.
In a concretion from Mazon creek.
LEPIDOSTROBUS OVATIFOLIUS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxx, fig 2 and 26.
CONE about three inches long, one inch broad, with short,
erect blades; blade obtuse at its base, lanceolate obtusely
pointed, comparatively broad; pedicel of the sporanges short,
lanceolate. The axis of the cone appears to be narrow, a pe-
culiarity which does not agree with the shortness of the pedi-
cel of the sporange. As the detached blade, fig. 2 Z>, is copied
from another specimen which is crushed, and whose form is
unrecognizable, it may belong to a different species.
In concretions from Mazon creek.
LEPIDOSTROBUS OBLONGIFOLIUS, Sp. nov.
PL xxx, fig. 3 and 36.
A VERY fine specimen, also from the concretions of Mazon
creek, representing an exact cross section of a cone. The
central axis is one line broad, the blade one inch long, its
breadth one-third of the length, oblong, obtusely pointed,
—56
442 PALAEONTOLOGY OP ILLINOIS.
squarely cut at the base, and without auricles ; pedicel of the
sporange narrow, lanceolate pointed, one-fourth of an inch
long. In its length it corresponds exactly to the distance be-
tween the border of the axis and that of the line of circumfer-
ence of the cone. The sporanges are obscurely marked on the
stone, mixed with pyrites, but I could not detect any spores.
LEPIDOSTROBUS LANCIFOLIUS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxxi, fig. 7.
A SMALL, apparently narrow cone. The pedicel of the spo-
ranges, fig. 7 by is very short, broadly wedge-shaped, obtusely
truncate at its base ; blade one inch long, slightly enlarged in
the middle, tapering into an acute point, with slightly diverg-
ing acute auricle at the base ; medial nerve sharply marked.
On a concretion from Mazon creek.
LEPIDOSTROBUS TRUNCATUS, Sp. nov.
PL xxxi, fig. 5.
CONE less than one inch long, round ovate, obtuse, truncate
at the base, with densely imbricated, short, lanceolate splio-
rophyllce (blades) . None of these can be distinctly seen, being
compressed against the cone.
In a concretion from Mazon creek.
LEPIDOSTROBUS CONNIVENS, Sp. nov.
PL xxxi, fig. 6.
CONE small, ovate obtuse, of the same size as the former,
with long, narrow, linear lanceolate spwopliyllce ; blade as
long as the cone, curved at its top and covering it.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 443
In this species, also, the pedicel of the sporanges is unknown. Both these
small cones resemble in size and somewhat in form Lepidostrol>m gemmiformis,
Gopp., Permian flora, p. 142, pi. xix, fig. 14, 15, 16; but are evidently dis-
tinct species.
From Mazon creek, in concretions.
LEPIDOSTROBUS ORNATUS, Brgt.
Ll. and Hutt, Foss. Fl. 3, PI. 26.
A broken specimen of a cone of this species has been discovered by Mr. Jos.
Even, in a nodule from Mazon creek. It is cut across near its base, and the
form and position of the sporanges and of the pedicels are distinctly observable.
GENUS LEPIDOPHYLLUM, Brgt.
111. Geol. Kept, vol. ii, p. 456.
LEPIDOPHYLLUM ROSTELLATUM, Sp. nov.
PI. xxxi, fig 8.
A LARGE blade, broken in the middle, four-fifths of an inch
broad, with a triple medial nerve, round, attenuated at the
base or strangled at its point of union to the pedicel; pedicel
of the sporanges half an inch long, rounded at its enlarged
sides, and narrowed to an acute, slightly curved point. The
collum between the blade and the pedicel is long and narrow,
giving to this species a peculiar appearance.
Mazon creek ; in concretions.
LEPIDOPHYLLUM STRIATUM, Sp, nov.
PL xxxi, fig. 9.
THE specimen shows two blades and curved pedicels of spo-
ranges. The blades, broken at the point and along the bor-
ders, are about half an inch broad, two inches and a half long,
lanceolate, slightly enlarged above the middle, marked with
444 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
one narrow medial nerve, and striated in the length with well
marked parallel regular lines, nearly as strong as the medial
nerve. The pedicels of the sporanges are still curved as in
their normal position on the strobile, and appear linear.
This species is distinct from every other kind published, by its striated blade.
Also from Mazon creek ; in concretions of clay iron ore.
LEPIDOPHYLLUM FOLIACEUM, Sp. nov.
PI. xxxi, fig. 10.
Tins leaf or blade has a form totally at variance with any
other seen in the Coal Measures, and it is doubtful whether
it represents a kind of vegetable organ, like those described
under this generic name. It is marked in the middle by an
inflated body (medial nerve?) one-tenth of an inch broad,
which, at its base, is abruptly curved on one side like a spo-
range pedicel of Lepidophyllwn at its point of union with the
blade. This medial nerve,? slightly enlarging upwards, ab-
ruptly terminates at some distance under the obtuse point of
the blade. The whole leaf is a little more than one inch long,
half an inch broad, oblong-ovate in outline, cut or truncate at
the base, with a small round lobe on one side of it, and split
at the top in two or three deep, narrow, obtuse lobes Its sur-
face is smooth, covered all over by a pellicle of coaly matter;
the medial broad nerve only is naked and obscurely striate in
its length.
On a piece of shale from the main coal of Mnrphysborough.
I have lately received from Mr. S. S. Strong, and from the shales of Morris,
another specimen of this species, representing an agglomeration of three leaves
of the same kind and form as the one above described. The point and mode
of connection of these leaves is not distinguishable, though they appear to be
imbricated around a common axis.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 445
GENUS KNORRIA, Sternb. and Gopp.
Cicatrices half cylindrical, obtuse at the point, more or less enlarged down-
wards, like those which are indicated as the essential character of this genus,
have been recognized as subcortical scars of some species of Lepidodendron by
Prof. Goppert and other recent authors. We have seen the same also in our
Lepidodendron Morrisianum, and in this Report still a specimen referable to
Sigillaria monostigma, Lesqx., is figured, and bears the caudal intumescence of
a Knorria. We have, therefore, abstained from describing any new species as
referable to this genus, though we have in our Coal Measures the two species
admitted to it by Goldenberg : Knorria imbricata, Sternb., mentioned in vol.
ii, of this Report, and Knorria Selloni, Sternb., Vers., i, iv., p. 37, pi. 57,
from the shales at Morris.
GENUS SIGILLAHIA, Brgt.
111. Geol. Rep., ii, p. 448.
SIGILLARIA CORRUGATA, Sp. nov.
PL xxiv, fig. 4, and PL xxv, fig. 5.
CORTEX very rugose or deeply wrinkled in the length,
marked by linear-oval, elongated cicatrices, gibbous in the
middle and cut by a round angular scar, as seen pi. xxv, fig.
5. Lower surface also wrinkled lengthwise with smooth, shal-
low strise, marked by cicatrices, oval in outline or somewhat
pointed at the top, rounded in its lower part, marked in the
middle by three irregular, vascular scars, placed in the shape
of a horse-shoe, or by a semi-lunar scar which points down-
wards, and a mere vascular point underneath. These cica-
trices are one inch long, half an inch broad, distant, and placed
in quaternate order.
This species resembles a Lepidodendron, appearing related to L. punctatum,
Sternb., which Prof. Brongniart considers a Sigillaria. Its leaf scars have
more analogy to those of the last genus.
Found at Marseilles, LaSalle Co., at the base of the thick bank of sandstone
which there appears to take the place of the lower coal strata, and which gen-
erally contains remains of large species of plants, rarely in a good state of pre-
servation.
446 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
SIGILLARIA MASSILIENSIS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxv, fig. 3 and 4.
STEM ribbed, ribs flat, half an inch broad, with intermediate,
deep, sharply cut furrows ; surface striated lengthwise by dis-
tinct, nearly continuous lines, scarcely flexuous on the bor-
ders of the cicatrices ; cicatrices larger, one-third of an inch
long, not quite as broad or half as broad as the ribs, rhomboi-
dal, rounded at the top, enlarged downwards to the angular
sides, obtusely pointed at the base, minutely, obscurely striate
on the surface; vascular scars three, the lateral ones semi-lu-
nar, caudate, vertical ; the medial one horizontal, large, oval.
The cicatrices are separated from each other by a space equal
to their length. The form of the decorticated cicatrices is not
known.
This fine species is allied to Sigillaria intermedia, Brgt., differing in its pro-
portionally larger cicatrices, and by the regular striation of the ribs, without
cross wrinkles at the base of the cicatrices, and by their angular base.
In the sandstone at Marseilles.
SIGILLARIA MONOSTIGMA, Lesqx.
PI. xxvi, fig 5.
This species is referred, with some doubt, to the one published in vol. ii of
this Report, p. 449, pi. 42. It represents a part of a trunk or branch, four
inches broad, flattened to one-half an inch in thickness, marked all around in
the general quincunxial order by broadly rhomboidal scars, with a round point
in the middle, exactly of the same form as those of the cortex of Sigillaria
monosti(jma, and at the same comparative distance. These scars are placed at
the top of an inflated lanceolate cauda, three-fourths of an inch long. This
kind of half cylindrical appendage attached to the specimen evidently under
the cortex, gives to this species the character of a Knorria. If, as Prof. W.
P. Shimper will have it, in his Vegetaux fossiles du terrain de Transition des
Vosges, p. 33, Knorria, as a genus, differs essentially from Lepidodendron by
the cicatrices having a single central vascular scar, our species should be con-
sidered as a true Knorria. But the same author denies the existence of any
FOSSIL PLANTS. 447
specimen showing, at the same time, the character of Lepidodendron, or the
three vascular scars of the leaves and the semi-cylindrical and subcortical ap-
pendages of a Knorria. These we have evidently in our Lepidodendron Morisi-
anum. The value, therefore, of the genus Knorria, and its true characters, are
still questionable and open to discussion.
Colchester and Morris.
SlGILLARIA ALTERNANS, LI. and Hutt.
Foss. Fl. 1, pi. 66.
A remarkable specimen of this species has been found upon a piece of coal
at Morris, by Mr. S. S. Strong. In its lower part it shows the row of double
scars separated by a space of half an inch, elongated and irregularly oval. In
ascending, the scars approach insensibly till they pass to a row of single ovate
pointed cicatrices, joined together by their ends with an oval depression in the
middle. This last representation of Sigittaria alternans, LI and Hutt., is ex-
actly Sigillaria catenulata of the same authors, Foss. Flor. 1, pi. 58, and there-
fore both species ought to be united in one, as is done by Goldenberg.
SIGILLARIA SPINULOSA, Germ, in Gold. 2.
P. 20, PL 10, fig. 4.
Our species merely differs by the lateral angles of the cicatrices being slight-
ly obtuse and not acute, as figured and described in the European species.
There is no trace of scars of spines. It may be a different and a new species,
but it is on a piece of coal, decorticated, and all the details of structure cannot
be recognized.
Carmi, White county ; collected by E. T. Cox.
SIGILLARIA CISTII, Brgt.
Veg. Foss. 1, p. 418, PL 140, fig. 2.
This species is placed in the genus Stemmatopteris by Corda, and appears to
be a true Caulopteris. Mr. Bradley has found at Morris a specimen referable
to this species; but it has only one scar, and from it to the base of the specimen
there is a surface half a foot long, without trace of any other scar. The whole
surface is ribbed or striated as in Brongniart's figure, the striae curving and
uniting under the scars.
448 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
GENUS SYRINGODENDRON, Sternb. and Brgt.
111. Geol. Report, TO!, ii, p. 451.
SYRINGODENDRON PES-CAPREOLI, Sternb.
Vers. 1,4 ; p. 24.
In shales at Gray ville ; collected by E. T. Cox.
SYRINGODENDRON PORTERI, Sp. nov.
PI. xxvii, fig. 4 to 6.
STEM round and thick. (The State cabinet at Springfield
has a branch four inches in diameter, and another double this
thickness.) Surface covered with scars placed close to each
other in vertical rows, no more than one-sixth of an inch dis-
tant, the horizontal space between the rows double as large,
filled with vertical parallel and continuous lines or narrow
wrinkles close to each other. Scars small, scarcely one-twelfth
of an inch across, round, marked in the middle by a vascular
depression, overtopped by a convex or semi-lunar deep cavity,
which gives to the scars the appearance of an open eye, fig. 6.
This line either divides the round scar at its top, or passes
a little above it. These scars have the form of those on Syrin-
godendron cyclostigma, Brgt., and the strise of the surface are
also of the same kind in both species.
But this species greatly differs by its closely approached scars, and especially
by the absence of the intermediate furrows. This character might even prevent
the admission of the species into this genus. If, as I am informed, there is a
specimen (which I have not seen), found in connection with those examined
for this description, and which is abruptly strangulated and reduced to half its
diameter, a form indicating a root rather than a branch, this species should be
admitted into the following genus.
Found at Eugene, Ind., and presented to the State cabinet by Mr. Isaac
Porter.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 449
SYRINGODENDRON CYCLOSTIGMA, Brgt.
Hist. Vcg. Foss, p. 480, Tl. 160, fig. 2 and 3.
Found at Alton, by Mr. H. A. Green.
GENUS SIGILLARIOIDES, Lesqx.
CYLINDRICAL roots or stems ? variable in size, marked on the
surface either by round scars, without trace of a central vascu-
lar point, placed in a regular quincunxial or spiral order, or
by defined Sigillarioid cicatrices with a central vascular point,
without any regular order of position in relation to each other.
To this genus are referable the remains of what I consider as
roots of Sicjillaria.
SIGILLARIOIDES RADICANS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxxi, fig. 4.
PRIMARY axis cylindrical, about one inch broad, irregularly
inflated and strangulated towards the narrower^base, bearing
long tubular rootlets or leaves attached to rhomboidal cica-
trices, which are narrowed on both acute sides, and marked in
the middle by a broad vascular point; leaves or rootlets more
than one line broad, marked in the middle by a vascular line
or medial nerve. The scars are tolerably distant, and without
any regularity of position relatively to each other. Though
slightly variable in their form, they are so remarkably similar
to those of Sigillaria monostigma, that the intimate relation
of these remains cannot well be doubted. This specimen is
interesting, especially as seemingly indicating a similarity of
scars between some species of trees of the Coal Measures and
their roots.
Mazon creek ; in clay iron-stone nodules.
—57
450 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
SlGILLARIOIDES STELLAKIS, Sp. ROV.
PI. X*ix, fig. 3.
STEM cylindrical, half a foot in diameter, irregularly inflated
and contracted, obliquely crossing the shale, marked on its
surface by small, round, slightly angular, sometimes nearly
square or triangular cicatrices, in exact quincunxial order.
These are slightly upraised above the surface, truncate, with-
out trace of vascular point. Surface obscurely wrinkled be-
tween the scars, with lines diverging starlike toward the near,
est cicatrices.
This beautiful specimen, figured half its size, evidently represents part of a
root of a large Sigillaria. Its oblique position in the shale is marked by the
upper and lower flattened surface, to which the direction of the stem is at an
angle of thirty degrees. The inflation and contraction of the cylinder, which
is irregularly strangulated, indicates also a tree's root. The scars placed in
regular order, though double the size marked in the figure, are much smaller
than cicatrices of Stigmtfria. In the strangulated part of the cylinder, some
of these cicatrices are deeply immersed in the stone, and do not show, any more
than those which are slightly upraised above the surface, any trace of a mam-
milla or central point. The wrinkles of the surface and their direction resem-
ble those of Stigmaria anabathra var. stettaris, Gopp.
Found in the roof shale of the coal at Morris ; by Mr. Jos. Even.
GENUS HALONIA, LI. and Hutt.
Foss. Flor. 2, p. 12.
THIS genus represents aborescent stems bearing two kinds of
cicatrices; small ones, like round or rhomboidal points closely
approached, disposed in regular spiral order around the stem ;
large ones more distant, upraised like half round, obtuse tuber-
cles, disposed about in quincunxial order.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 451
HALONIA TUBERCULATA ? Brgt.
PL xxix, fig 1.
STEM about three inches broad, flattened by compression to
one inch, bearing large, round, elevated tubercles, hollow in
the middle, or funnel-shaped, with a round convex point or
small mammilla in the center. The specimen is not only
decorticated, but corroded by sulphuric acid, and nothing is
seen of the cicatrices between the tubercles but irregular, un.
dulate wrinkles, crossing each other without any definite di-
rec*ion. The hollow tubercles look like large cicatrices of
Stigmaria.
As the tubercles of the species of Halonia have never been described hol-
low in the center, our plant is doubtfully referred to it. The deterioration of
the surface has evidently not produced the cavities of the tubercles, for the in-
ternal surface is smooth, regularly inclined downwards, bearing at the bottom
a discernible vascular scar, similar to that of a Stigmaria. This species may
be a Stigmaria, though the cicatrices are at least double of those of S. umbo-
nata, Lesqx.
From the Chester group, Pope county.
GENUS STIGMARIA, Brgt.
111. Geol. Rep., vol. ii, p. 447.
STIGMARIA ELLIPTICA, Sp. nov.
PL xxix, fig. 2.
STEM thick, half a foot broad, flattened to one inch; cica-
trices placed in regular spiral quaternate order, elliptical, more
or less elongated and proportionally narrow, with a central
nearly round, small mammilla, marked in the middle by a
vascular point. The specimen is covered with a thin coat of
coaly matter, which has filled the scars, where it has an in-
creased thickness, obliterating generally the mammillae. These
452 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
are, however, distinguishable at the bottom of some cicatrices.
Their size is proportionally small. The species is perhaps re-
ferable to some of the numerous varieties ascribed by authors
to Stigmariaficoides.
Prof. Goppert (Flora dcs Ulergangsgelirycs, p. 246, pi. xxxii, fig. 3,) has
published as S.Jicoidesvar. elliptica, a specimen apparently decorticated, with
oblong, elliptical and unequal cicatrices. These, by their irregularity of form,
size and position, evidently belong to a species different from ours. The same
author, in his Gattunyen Liv .1, 2, pi. xv, fig. 49, shows part of the stem of a
Stigmdriu ficoides, whose cicatrices, taken from within the cylinder, are ellipti-
cal, while those of the surface are round. But in the specimen here figured
we have the true cicatrices of the cortex. I do not think it advisable to enu-
merate and describe ihe different forms of Stiymaria as mere varieties of the
same species. The vegetable remains described in the next genus, demonstrate
that even the roots of plants of the Carboniferous age are distinguishable by
peculiar forms and peculiar cicatrices. It is my belief, the genus Stigmaria
does not represent tree roots, but floating stems, of which species of the genus
Siy'dlaria constitute the flowers or fruit-bearing stems ; the difference in the
form, the size, and the relative position of the scars ought to be admitted as
specific characters in the same manner as for the species of the genus Sigillaria.
Duquoin ; shales over the main coal.
STI&MARIA UMBONATA, Lesqx.
Gcol. Kept, of Penu., p. 870.
I refer to this species remains of a Stigmaria found in abundance in the
shales of the coal at Colchester, where the leaves are seen in connection with
the stems. The cicatrices of the stems are of much larger size than those of
Sligmaria Jicoides, and the flattened leaves are twice as broad, measuring half
an inch or more in diameter.
GENUS STIGMARI01DES, Lesq
x.
THE species referable to this genus, very variable in form,
tuberculose, or globular, or cylindrical, are apparently tree
roots or rhizomas. They have, as common characters, round,
FOSSIL PLANTS. 453
small scars of rootlets, generally placed without symmetrical
order, and without a central vascular point.
The affinity of this genus with the former appears at first very close ; but we
have here species, evidently roots, some of them rhizomas of ferns, marked by
irregularly placed scars, which cannot be united to a genus which, even if it
should represent a kind of roots, is far different in its essential characters, viz :
the regularity of position and the form of the scars. The name of Rhizolitcs,
P. Braun., a genus enumerated but not described by Unger, might be, there-
fore, appropriate if, per contra, the species had not a near relation to those of
the former genus, by the form of the cicatrices and of the leaves.
All these species appear to have been of a soft substance, and without excep-
tion, have been found preserved in nodules.
STIGMARIOIDES TRUNCATUS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxix, fig. 4.
A cylindrical root, about one inch in diameter, with a smooth
surface, marked with small round cicatrices, without order of
position. These cicatrices vary much in size, and are evidently
scars, left at the base of short, horizontal, flat rootlets, scarce-
ly one line broad, without mark of a vascular line. The vas-
cular point is also absent in the middle of the scars, or marked
by a mere cavity.
This species resembles the one published in vol. ii of this Report, p. 448,
pi. xxxix, fig. 9, under the name of Stiymaria Evenii, which has the surface
undulately ribbed and broader scars, and is also referable to this new genus.
Found at Mazon creek, in concretions of argillaceous iron ore.
STIGMARIOIDES TUBEROSUS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxix, fig. 5.
I do not know any vegetable organ to which these peculiar
remains could be compared. The specimen figured represents
a nearly round or square oval tubercle, with a convex sur-
face covered with small round points irregularly placed, re_
sembling scars of hairs or scales. In its upper part it is
4 54 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
strangulated or narrowed into a broad, tubulous, plaited leaf?
or stem ? resembling a large leaf of Stigmaria. It may indi-
cate the first development of a rootstock, or represent a tuber-
cle like those found at the end of the leaves of Stigmaria.
It is marked in its upper part by a large round mammillate
cicatrice, resembling also that of a Stigmaria. Its peculiar
form cannot be considered as some casual deformation, as it is
not only distinct in the middle of a concretion, but we have
two specimens of exactly the same conformation. The one
which is not figured has the leaf longer, and the tuberule
slightly smaller.
From Mazon creek.
STIGMARIOIDES VILLOSUS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxxi, fig. 1.
THE form of this kind of tubercle is about the same as
that of the former species, square, round in outline, appearing
to have been cylindrical or inflated. Its surface is marked by
two kinds of cicatrices: the one, numerous, punctiform, infla-
ted, placed close to each other in irregular spiral order ; the
other much larger, auricular, with a mammilla and central
point. The first look like scars of scales, the others like those
of rootlets. This tubercle is, as seen on the figure, in close
connection with a branch of Pecopteris villosa, Brgt.
But the union of both parts is not evident, for at its base the rachis is
straight, and not curved to the root, by which the juxtaposition may be casual.
Nevertheless the verrucoee surface of the tubercle resemble so much that of
the stem of the Pecopteris villosa, that it is scarcely hazardous to consider it as
part of the rhizoma of this fern, and the same familiar juxtaposition of the
same species of fern and the tubercle is marked upon the three specimens,
which are all that have been procured as yet of this peculiar form.
Found at Mazon creek, in concretions of argillaceous iron ore.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 455
STIGMARIOIDES LINEARIS, Sp. nov.
\
PI. xxxi, fig. 2.
A long, linear, cylindrical root, half an inch thick, slightly
tapering downwards, obtuse at the base or broken, bearing
narrow linear leaves or radicles one line broad, without medial
nerve, leaving at their point of attachment small round cica-
trices, placed without order and without visible central point.
The rootlets or the first divisions of the root are also marked
with round scars, fig. 2 a, indicating a subdivision similar to
that which is sometimes observable on leaves of Siigmaria.
Found at Mazon creek, in concretions.
STIGMARIOIDES AFFINIS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxvii, fig. 9.
THIS species, represented by two specimens, appears inter-
mediate between S. tuberosus and the following. It has a
short cylindrical base, divided like a root in branches, tending
obliquely downwards and diminishing to a point. This part,
about one inch long, is covered with horizontal, half an inch
long linear narrow scales, or by their scars, in the form of
sharply elevated points. From its slightly strangulated col-
lum, or top, it abruptly passes into a broad linear flat leaf or
blade, marked on each side by two obsolete lines resembling
nerves. Its surface is equally marked with distant points,
basilar scars of scales, a few of which are still seen on its
borders. These borders are straight, sharp, well defined, like
those of a leaf of Lepidodendron, and the surface is minutely
and irregularly striate lengthwise.
Found in the concretions of Mazon creek ; by Mr. Jos. Even.
456 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
\
STIGMARIOIDES SELAGO, Sp. nov.
PL xxxi, fig. 3 and 36.
AN apparently cylindrical branch or root, whose essential
axis, about half an inch thick, is tapering downwards, dicho-
tomously forking, covered with long, narrow, linear hairs or
scales (fig. 3 5 enlarged), bearing from the end of the divisions
long, hard, quadrangular, tubular, thick, naked leaves ?, with
a thick, medial, vascular vein, and a narrowlv striated surface.
These leaves or roots are similar in form to those of Lepidophloios, but much
longer. The figure exactly represents the specimen, which is finely preserved
in the middle of a concretion. But the union of these hard, smooth, cylindri-
cal leaves with a stem or root entirely covered with hairs, and from the point
of alternate divisions, is so peculiar, that nothing among fossil or living vege-
tables, that I know, can be compared to it. It is uncertain whether these hard
leaves represent rootlets of some kind, or root-stalks or leaves, and possibly the
specimen may be figured the wrong way. By its straight, horizontal, narrow,
linear hairs, the part of the stem which bears them resembles the species pub-
lished in vol. ii, of this Report, p. 446, pi. xli, fig. 3, under the name of Sclag-
inites uncinnatus (1).
In a concretion from Mazon creek.
(1) Under the name of Rhizomopteris, Prof. Schimper has published, loc. cit, p 699,
two species formerly referred to Selaginites, one of them, S. uncinnatus, Lesqx., III. Geol.
Rep., p. 446, pi. xli, fig. 3, which he considers as rhizomas of ferns. These two last spe-
cies of ours should be referred t ) the same genera. Phizomoplerls (SelaginUefi) Rrdmanni,
Germ., has been found in the concretions of Mazon creek in well preserved specimens.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 457
GENUS CAULOPTERIS, LL and Hutt.
111. Geol. Rep., vol. ii, p. 458.
CAULOPTERIS OBTECTA, Sp. nov.
PL xxviii, fig. 1 to 4.
STEMS of small size, varying in thickness from four to six
inches, entirely covered with long, linear, cylindrical, aerial
rootlets, attached to it without relative order of position, bear-
ing at. their base an elongated oval scar. Branch scars dis-
tant, oval obtuse at both ends, two to three inches long, one
to one and a-half inches broad, marked lengthwise by broad
striae, or marks of aerial roots. The rootlets are regularly cy-
lindrical, one foot long or more, apparently tubulose, without
trace of a medial vascular line, closely appressed to each other,
and upon each other in the same downward direction, and so
entirely covering the stem that their cicatrices are rarely dis-
tinguishable. The branch scars are distant, as seen figs. 1 and
2, which show both sides of the same part of a stem, and indi-
cate the relative position of the scars. The order of position
appears to be as one to four, but is ebscured by the flattening
of the stem, whose thickness is, by compression, reduced to
one inch at the upper part, and to two inches at the lower
part. A branch scar and part of stem are figured, natural
size, fig. 3. The distance between these branch scars is so
great, especially toward the base of the stem, that a number
of specimens, some as large as one foot square, were collected
at Colchester, and, though closely scrutinized, did not show
any trace of them.
—58
458 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
These specimens are generally flattened to less than one inch in thickness, as
if the stem had been of a soft texture. Generally the coat of superposed radi-
cles is transformed into a pellicle of coal and these are marked on their sur-
face by very thin parallel striae, perceptible only with a strong glass. This
coating of radicles upon the stem of a fern has nothing peculiar in it, as some
fern trees of our time show the same kind of conformation. One species,
Polypodium armatum, Swartz, from Brazil, is figured in Sternberg's Vers., vol.
i, pi. E. But from the Coal Measures we have as yet nothing anala^ous to this
species.
The beautiful stem represented, figs. 1 and 2, is from the shale of Morris,
and belongs to Mr. Jos. Even, who kindly furnished me with splendid photo-
graphs of it.
CAULOPTERIS ACANTOPHORA, Sp. nov.
PI. xxvi, tig. 3 and 4.
THE species is represented by numerous specimens, some of
them of large size, all of the same appearance. Their sur-
face, either naked or coated with a pellicle of thin coaly mat-
ter, is marked by irregular elevated points, placed without
regular order, evidently the basilar scars of spines, with which
the branches or stems were covered. On the large specimens
no trace of branch scars was discernible, but the oval line,
marked fig. 3, running parallel to a broad depression seen at
the corner of the figure. It is a kind of deep convexity in the
shale, with smooth, irregular borders, resembling rather the
impression left by the sides of a nodule than a branch scar.
Fig. 4 represents a branch of this species, apparently at least, for it has the
same kind of cicatrices exactly on the surface, and still bears on its borders
some of the hooked spines by which they are produced. The branch is atten-
uated into a conical point of attachment which does not resemble that of a
branch of Caulopteris, and is also marked in the middle by a scar which, per
contra, has the form of the branch scars of a fern. These specimens, all flat-
tened, are therefore probably only referable to this genus.
It abounds, like the former species, at Colchester, and is also found at Morris.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 459
CAULOPTERIS INTERMEDIA, Sp. nov.
CICATRICES elliptical, elongated, three inches long, a little
more than one inch broad, narrowed downwards into a broad
cauda, pointed at the top, irregularly ribbed or sulcate, with a
central, elongated scar, and without definite marginal disc.
Surface between the cicatrices apparently smooth, marked by
points or mammillae about one-eighth of an inch broad, half
an inch distant, placed in an irregular spiral order. The
space between the cicatrices is horizontally one and a-half
inches, and two inches in the direction of the spiral.
This species is known to me only by a sketch lately communicated by the
State Geologist, and received after the preparation of the descriptive part of
this Report, and the engraving of the plates. It appears to be intermediate
between Sigillaria Marodiscus, Brgt., and Sigillaria Oistii, of the same author.
The form of the cicatrices is about the same size as in the first of these species,
but they are disconnected at the base, placed in true spiral order, and at some
distance from each other, as in the last species. It is a true Caulopteris, ac-
cording to Schimper's definition of the genus, while most of our species of
Caulopteris, viz., those whose internal cicatrices are surrounded by a flattened
border generally opening inwards in the form of a horse shoe, are referable to
the genus Stemmatopteris, of Corda.
In sandstone, over coal No. 3, one mile south of Rushville, 111.
460 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
FRUITS OR NUTLETS.
GENUS TBIGONOCARPUM, Brgt.
111. Geol. Rep., vol. ii, p. 460.
TRIGONOCARPUM N(EGGERATHII, LI. and Hutt.
PL xxxi, fig. 16.
This fine fruit is cut in the middle by a section of a nodule which only rep-
resents its internal part and structure. As the outside form is not known,
and the internal disposition is slightly different from that of the fruit pub-
lished by Lindley and Hutton, vol. ii, pi. 142, our species is doubtfully con-
sidered as identical with the European one. This fruit has three distinct
walls or envelopes. tThe external one, more than one line thick, looks like a
fleshy, soft exocarp, the part which it occupies being of the same compound as
that of the stone, merely changed in color and intermixed with small pyrites.
Its form is exactly ovate-pointed, slightly emarginate at the point. The second
wall, transformed into crystallized iron, is irregular in thickness, ascends, first
as high as the point of the central rootlet, where it divides, one part uniting
both borders, the other ascending near to the point where it is joined in an
obtuse top. The third envelope, as thick as the first, ascends to the point c.
and is a compound of a black substance mixed with fibrous tissue. The inter-
nal nut is of a spongious compound like the third envelope, but is marked with
more numerous, yellowish filaments, directed longitudinally, and irregularly
broken across. Its point seems ascending into the first wall of the whole fruit,
The English authors compare the fruit to that of a palm, and recognize in the
middle of it, the place of the embryo, a depression which is not seen in ours.
Found in a concretion of Mazon creek, by Mr. Jos. Even, to whom the spe-
cimen belongs.
TRIGONOCARPUM OLIVJEFORMIS, LI. and Hutt.
Foss. Fl. 3 t. 222, fig. 1 and 8.
Collected from the sandstone of Eugene, Ind., by Mr. John Collett.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 461
GENUS RHABDOCARPOS, Gopp. and Bergr.
Fruits oval or cylindrical oblong, marked lengthwise on their surface by nar-
row equal striae.
RHABDOCARPOS CLAVATUS?, Sternb.
PI. xxxi, fig. 11.
Our specimen much resembles the figure given of this species by Geinitz, in
Versteinerungen, pi. xxii, fig. 13, though it is much larger than the fruit fig-
ured by Sternberg. The endocarp is about round, elongated upwards in a col-
lum resembling the neck of a bottle ; its surface, which is somewhat convex,
is a mass of coaly matter, cut across by deep wrinkles, caused by disruption ;
the exocarp surrounding it is about one line thick, of the same shape as the
endocarp, but slightly enlarged at the point and funnel shaped. It looks of a
harder texture than the internal fruit.
In a concretion from Mazon creek.
RHABDOCARPOS MAMMILLATUS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxxi, fig. 12 to 15.
A FINE small nutlet, quite entire and separated from the
stone. It is apparently of a hard texture, oval, marked on its
surface by regular, distinct deep striae, running down from the
borders of a smooth mammillate top to the base, as seen fig.
14 and 15.
The surface of the nut is a thin shell which, as seen from a small part which
is detached, covers a hard, smooth fruit.
From Mazon creek, in concretions.
462 PALAEONTOLOGY OP ILLINOIS.
GENUS CARPOLITHES, Sternb.
111. Geol. Rep., vol. ii, p. 460.
CARPOLITHES CORTICOSUS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxxi, fig. 17.
»
A SMALL flattened nutlet, oval, short pointed at one end,
(the point turned on one side) and covered with a thin yel-
lowish meinbranaceous pellicle. It is surrounded by a pro-
portionately thick pericarp, having the same form, and being
a compound of crystallized iron.
Mazon creek ; in concretions.
CARPOLITHES PERSICARIA, Sp. nov.
PL xxxi, fig. 18.
A SMALL fruit, one-half of an inch long, only half as broad,
oval elongated, pointed at one end, slightly emarginate at the
other, with a thick exocarp, and an internal compound of the
same form, but of a softer substance. The outer wall is pre-
served, while the internal part is nearly destroyed. It resem-
bles a small kernel of a peach.
On shale found at Murphysborough ; and poorly preserved.
CARPOLITHES VESICULARIS, Sp. nov.
PL xxxi, fig. 19 to 21.
THIS kind of fruit resembles a small bladder, which, by com-
pression in various ways, has taken different forms. It is gen-
erally elongated, more inflated and obtuse on one side than on
the other, cylindrical. Its surface is smooth, generally cov-
ered with a thin coating of coaly matter, marked with broad
wrinkles and undulations, as in fig. 19. Fig. 21 shows a kind
FOSSIL PLANTS. 463
of inflation or convexity, surrounded by a flattened border,
resembling an endocarp and its exocarp. This form may be
merely casual.
Morris and Murphysborough ; abundant in the shales over the coal. •
CARPOLITHES BULLATUS, Sp. nov.
PI. xxxi, fig. 22 to 24.
AN agglomeration of oval or round, small, wrinkled seeds,
resembling vesicular spores, all nearly of the same size. Like
the former, they appear to have been of a soft vesicular tex-
ture Fig. 24 shows them enlarged.
In concretions from Mazon creek.
The surface of the stone transversely cut, is covered with them.
SIGILLARLE ? SfiMiNA, (Seeds of Sigillaria?).
PL xxxi, fig. 25, and 25a.
The concretions of Mazon creek contain agglomerations of small seeds,
united into cylindrical-ovate clusters, about one inch long, nearly half an inch
broad, obtuse at both ends, without trace of any common receptacle to which
they might be attached. These seeds are rounded upwards, triangular and taper-
ing to a point downwards, as seen in fig. 25«, enlarged five times. The space
which contains these seeds in the middle of nodules, is filled with a calcareous,
white compound, in which the yellowish brown seeds are imbedded without
any apparent regular order.
On the shales at Morris, where clusters of the same kind have also been ob-
served, the agglomerations are flattened in irregular round patches, about one
inch in diameter, no more than half a line broad. Though these seeds, by their
form and size, are similar to those which have been figured by Goldenberg in
his Fl. Sarr., 2, pi. 10, fig. 1 and 2, as seeds of Sigillaria^ and also to those re-
marked under the scales of true cones of Sigillaria found in Ohio by Dr. New-
berry, their generic relation is still uncertain. They are evidently referable to
some species of the family of the Selaginese.
Collected by Mr. Jos. Even.
464 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
ORGANS OF UNCERTAIN AFFINITY,
GENUS PAL^EOXYRIS, Brgt.
Ann. Sc. Nat, xv., p. 456.
SPINDLE-SHAPED strobiles, covered with closely imbricated
rhomboidal scales, disposed in spiral order, the inferior ones
passing to an angular pedicel, the upper ones lengthened into
linear appendages.
This description is copied from Unger's genera, and though inappropriate
for the classification of the species referred to it, this genus is preserved, with
its diagnosis, for the good reason that, as will be seen hereafter, the true nature
of these organs is unknown.
PAL^EOXYRIS PRENDELI, Sp. nov.
PL xxvii, fig 10 and 12. ._
A SPINDLE or bottle-shaped body, appearing like a flattened
small bladder, enlarged in the middle, tapering into a long
neck, more abruptly rounded and narrowed downwards into
an obtuse point, surrounded by a double line of thin but deep
filaments or strise, scarcely half a line distant, often close to
each other, ascending in spiral form from the basilar point, at
first in an obtuse angle with the borders, but elongating up-
wards and ascending into the neck where they become nearly
parallel to its sides. The surface of this capsular body is
formed of a thin pellicle, and by its compression, the spiral
lines of both sides are marked upon it, thus forming, by their
crossings, a trellis of more or less enlarged rhomboidal divi-
sions. In ascending into the neck, the spiral lines approach
FOSSIL PLANTS. 465
more and more, nearly uniting into one. The whole surface
is marked with close, very narrow lines, running in the direc-
tion of the twining, and discernible only with a strong glass.
The borders are smooth or without any projections.
On the specimen represented, fig. 12, the spiral lines are erased in the mid-
dle of the body, which is there undulately and irregularly wrinkled like the
outside of an empty bag. As the form, the distance, and the direction of the spi-
ral lines from under the neck and upwards, where they are distinct, are the same,
I consider this specimen as representing a modification of this species by age.
The best specimen found to the present time, of all those referable to this
genus, is that represented fig. 10. It was kindly presented to me by Mr.
Michael Prendel, of Morris, for whom the species is named.
It is, like all the others mentioned here below, from the concretions of Ma-
zon creek.
PALyEOXYRIS APPENDICULATA, Sp. nOV.
PL xxvii, fig. 11.
BODY spindle-shaped, ovate in the middle, tapering and
elongated at both ends, filaments placed at about equal
distances from each other, distance averaging the twelfth
part of an inch, turning at the middle in a nearly horizontal
spiral, descending downwards in a more acute angle, and ab-
ruptly terminating above and in ascending, in a concave
straight blade, where they become parallel with its borders.
On both sides, in the middle of the body, the lamina or sub-
stance intermediate to the spiral filaments, protrudes outwards
forming irregularly pointed triangular teeth or appendages,
which, however, are not marked at some places. This shows
them to be the result of a mere mechanical lateral projection,
like those which would be produced on its sides by the com-
pression of an envelope, either formed of twisted, concave,
semi-cylindrical blades, or of a soft bladder, surrounded by
strong spiral fibres. Our figure may be represented in a wrong
direction, or turned upside down.
—59
466 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
PAL^EOXYRIS CORRUGATA, Sp. nov.
PI. xxvii, fig. 13.
Its form is, like that of the former, spindle-shaped, more elongated, and gradu-
ally tapering to both its ends. Its surface, irregularly folded and wrinkled,
has not any trace of spiral fibres. In its upper neck, the body appears passing
into parallel blades, while downwards it is bordered by two leaf-like appenda-
ges of a coriaceous substance. These linear blades are somewhat concave, the
one bending downwards, the other upwards, like the remains of spiral, still half
bent laminae. The folds of the body do not show any peculiar form like the
outline of a hard substance inclosed, but they are mere irregular wrinkles, like
those which could be formed upon the outside of a crumpled empty bag.
From what is said in the above descriptions, it is evident that the true nature
of the organs placed under this generic name is unknown. They cannot have
any relation to the flower-bearing spikes of a Xyris, for they do not show any
trace of scale-like bracts, forming a flower head, or of points of attachment of
such scales ; nothing that could be compared to flowers or to their receptacles.
If these bodies were more regular, and appearing as though containing some
nutlet, they could be compared, by the rhomboidal marks of the surface, to
some fruits of palm, like those of the genus Mauritia or Lepidocarpum. But
in all the vegetable organs of this kind, the disposition of the scale-like sur-
face of the walls is far more regular than it is in ours. It is not quite evident
whether the spiral lines marked on the outside are formed by the twisting of
leaf-like blades, or by mere thread-like filaments. The variety in the distances
between these lines, as seen fig. 10, tends to support this last supposition, while
the lateral projections of the borders, in fig. 11, and the leaf-like appendages
seen at the point and base of our two last species seem, on the contrary, to in-
dicate a conformation by the spiral winding of grass-like leaves. In this case,
it could be supposed that these bodies represent rhizomas of some plant like
Cordctites, whose unfolding of the leaves is in a spiral, and which might be
seen already folded in that way in the embryonic or radiculose state ? After
all, they may belong to the animal rather than to the vegetable kingdom, and
represent envelopes formed in that shape by some kind of insects for inclosing
the larvas. Their irregularity seems to dictate this conclusion. The two fig-
ures given by Count Sternberg in Vcrs., 2, p. 189, pi. 59, fig. 10 and 11, of
Paleeoxyris Munsteri, represent a species far different from ours ; but if the
figures are exact, they distinctly show that the spindle-shaped body is an en-
velope, formed by the twisting of three or four leaf-like blades, for at the upper
and lower ends, where the twisting ceases, these blades separate, and are seen
FOSSIL PLANTS. 467
linear and parallel, each about one-eighth of an inch broad, with the same form,
size and position, at both endsof the inflated body. Such a conformation seems
far more the result of animal industry than of vegetable organization.
The species hitherto referred to this genus, are, with the first-named: P.
Munsteri, of Sternb., Palseoxyris regulars, Brgt., loc. cit., which, by its regular
scale-like scars, is different from ours ; Palseoxyris multiceps and Palseoxyris
rhomlea, two species of F. Braun, merely enumerated in Unger's Genera and
Spec., without description. The two last species, like that of Sternberg, are
from the Keuper Lias : that of Prof. Brongniart, from the Permian. Our spe-
cies, represented in the lower part of the true Coal Measures, are therefore in-
teresting to science, from their geological position.
Mazon creek, Grundy county.
The following species have been found and communicated to me since the
preparation of the plates : and have not yet been figured :
NETJROPTERIS MICROPHILLA, Brgt.
Foss. Flor., p. 245, PI. 74, fig. 6.
Represented by two specimens from Mazon creek, which, though showing
the characters marked by the author, do not distinctly indicate whether the spe-
cies is truly a distinct one, or merely a small form with obscure nervation of
Neuropteris Loschii, Brgt.
NEUROPTERIS ANGUSTI-FOLIA, Brgt.
Foss. Flor., p. 231, PI. 64, fig. 3 and 4.
The specimen is an exact representation of Brongniart's figures of this spe-
cies. The surface of the leaflet is smooth or without hairs ; the veinlets some-
what coarser, and not quite as distinct as in JV. hirsuta, are marked at the up-
per part of the leaf and at the base of the veinlets by the same kind of swell-
ing or tumor which is seen in the author's species, and has been considered by
him as remains of fructification. The leaf at its base is elongated on one side
in a kind of auricle, and abruptly narrowed or truncate at the other, linear
lanceolate, obtusely pointed with a comparatively broad pedicel one-fourth of an
408 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
inch long. This last character seems to unite this species to Ncuroptcris Schcuc7t-
zeri, Brgt., which the author considers as probably identical with Neuropteris
angusti-folia. I have lately received from Mr. S. S. Strong, and also in a con-
cretion from Mazon creek, a splendid specimen representing the top of a pinna of
Neuropteris hirsuta, Lesq., in the process of unfolding, or still curved in spiral,
whose leaflets, very hirsute on one side only, are narrow, linear lanceolate, and
unequal at base, exactly like the leaflets of JV. ctngusti-folia, Brgt. I am,
therefore, not yet satisfied that this last species is a distinct one, and still believe
that it may represent a form of N. Irirsuta, as it has been explained, Geol. Kept.
Penn., p. 857.
Concretions of Mazon creek; from Mr. Even.
NEUROPTERIS CRENULATA, Brgt.
Foss. Flor., tab. 64, fig. 2.
I refer with doubt to this species a specimen procured by Mr. S. S. Strong
from the concretions of Mazon creek. It represents the upper end of a pinna
bearing oblique, oblong, obtuse leaflets, attached to the rachis by the narrowed
base, forming a broad pedicel, and of the same form as those figured by Brong-
niart. The upper leaflets are simple, the lower ones compound, or bearing on
each side at their base a round, small, cyclopteroidal pinnule. The medial
nerve of the leaflets is obscurely inflated, the veins and veinlets are distant,
arched, distinct, not inflated, forking once or twice ; the borders are slightly
crenulate by a contraction of the epidermis at the point of the veinlets. Our
specimens agree well enough with some of this species obtained from Pennsyl-
vania, as also with the description of the author. There is, nevertheless, a dif-
ference especially marked by the division of the inferior leaflets with small
round pinnules at the base, like those of Neuropteris hirsuta, a division which
has not been heretofore noticed in this species. The teeth of the borders are
also less prominent and distinct on our own specimen.
CALLIPTERIS SULLIVANTII, Lesqx.
111. Geol. Rep., vol. ii, p. 440, PI. 38, fig. 1.
Some specimens, in concretions from Mazon creek, show the lower divisions
of the pinnae more elongated, and pinnately cut-lobed, as in species of Alethop-
teris. This kind of subdivision would therefore indicate the place of this spe-
cies in this last genus, as admitted by Schimper, Paleont. Veget., p. 561. But
the peculiar nervation of this fine fossil fern, which is half neuropteroidal, has
FOSSIL PLANTS. 469
a close analogy with the species admitted by Brongniart as the type of his
genus Callipteris. When better known it may probably indicate the character
of a new genus.
ALETHOPTERIS LONGIFOLIA, Brgt.
Foss. Flor., p. 273, PL 83, fig. 2.
The specimen, a fine one, represents the upper part of a pinna, with a broad
half round rachis, bearing alternate, horizontal, narrow, linear, simple pinnules,
attached to it by their whole base, but not connate, with entire or scarcely undu-
late borders. The nervation is exactly as figured and described by the author.
The leaflets are marked by round scars of son', placed near the border, one only
upon each middle vein ; the details of their structure cannot be seen, but they
greatly differ in form and position from those of Alethopterisemarginata, Gopp.
Concretions of Mazon creek; r. Even.
ALETHOPTERIS PENNSYLVANIA, Lesqx.
Penn. Geol. Kept., p. 864, PL ii, fig. 1 and 2.
In the shales of Morris; Mr. S.. S. Strong.
ASTEROCARPUS GRANDIS, Sp, HOV.
UPPER end of a pinna, two inches long, a little more than
one inch broad at the broken base, evidently part of a large
frond. The lanceolate pinna is simply divided into alternate,
open, lanceolate, obtuse pinnules, one-fifth of an inch broad
at their connate base, and one-half of an inch long, with a
smooth surface or with merely an obscure medial nerve, with-
out other traces of nervation. The fructification is marked
by large starlike sori, placed near the borders of the pinnules,
four on each side, one at the top, with six to ten sporange-cells
pointed towards the center, obtuse to the outward. The form
of the sporanges is the same as in Asterocarpus Sternbergii,
Gopp., Foss. Farn., p. 188, pi. 6, fig. 1 and 2, but they are
470 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
larger and more distant from each other. The form of the
pinna and of its division is also totally different in our species.
Mazon creek ; S. S. Strong.
A number of specimens, representing fruiting pinnae of Pecopteris or Ale-
thopteris, have been recently obtained from Mazon creek, but are left unde-
scribed, tbe essential characters, form and position of the son', nervation, etc.,
being too obscure for a satisfactory diagnosis.
HTMENOPHYLLITES FTJRCATUS, Brgt.
Veg. Foss., p. 179, PI. 49, fig. 4 and 5.
A few small specimens of this species have been collected by Mr. S.'S. Strong,
from the roof shales of Morris. It is rather a sub-conglomerate species, being
found most abundant at the base of the mill-stone grit, or the top of the red
sandstone, in the anthracite basin of Pennsylvania.
STIGMARIOIDES ? RUGOSUS, Sp. nov.
As much as can be seen from two specimens obtained in con-
cretions at Mazon creek, by Mr. S. S. Strong, the stem is cy-
lindrical, two to three inches in diameter, marked with circu-
lar depressions, points of insertion of branches, or rootlets di-
verging from it all around, enlarged at base, cylindrical, flat-
tened by compression, tapering or diminishing in size from the
base, half an inch broad to the top, one-fourth of an inch in
diameter, where these rootlets are broken, two and a half
inches from the points of insertion. Their surface is wrinkled
and narrowly striate in their length, and marked by small
round holes, which appear as the basilar points of attachment
of branches of rootlets. The cross section of half a cylindri-
cal stem is obscurely seen, and appears to be marked by broad
tubercles like those of a stem of a Calamites, only much lar-
ger. There is nothing published as yet, which can compare
with these fossil remains, but the roots of Equisetum Mougeotii,
Schp., Pal. Veg., pi. 13, fig. 9. I consider them as represent-
ing the rhizomas of some Equisetacece.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE FOSSIL FLORA OF THE ILLINOIS
COAL FIELDS,
The following table enumerates all the species of fossil plants known to this
time, (March, 1870,) from the Coal Measures of Illinois, and indicates the lo-
cation where the specimens representing them have been found. This synopsis
of the fossil flora of the Illinois coal fields may serve to elucidate the remarks
which have been suggested by the study of this flora. The figures marked on
the table show approximately the proportion of specimens which represent each
species : 1, for example, for a spe6ies represented by less than five specimens;
12 for a species represented by one hundred or more.
LIST OF FOSSIL PLANTS.
t?
1
!
5
K
§ 3
^
CO
er
S
Colchester.
Morris.
Mazon creek.
ti Ncuropteris hirsuta Lesox
2
191
4
4
1?,
1
1
1
1
6
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
9,
2
a
?,
2
2
15 u rurinervis Bunb
1
4
4
6
6
16 " Villiersii Brgt
1
2
2
1
1
1
2
1
1 '
26. DictvoDteris rubella, Lesa..
6
Other localities.
Lodi, Indiana.
Neeleyville.
Alton.
Alton and Gray vi lie.
Abounds at Grayville.
Gravville.
Rock Island.
Still doubtful.
472
PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
LIST OF FOSSIL PLANTS.
e
a
|.
£
Murphysbor-
ough. |
Colchester.
I
Mazon Creek.
— * —
Other localities.
2
3
1
1
30 " Bradley i, Lesqx
1
31 " Schlotheimii Brgt. . . .
4
1
1
6
3
6
34 " iiquilina Brgt
3
2
2
35. " Pennsylvanica Lesqx...
1
36 " Massillonis, Lesqx
1
3
I9
4
40 . " hymenophyllo ides, Lesqx.
1
41 . " Hallii, Lesqx
1
1
43 . " erosa, Gutb
3
1
1
1
1
1
47 " Plukneti Brgt ....
1
48. " callosa Lesqx
2
1
1
1
1
2
53. " longifolia, Brgt
1
1
1
6
8
4
57 . Pecopteris Strongii, Lesqx
3
2
1
2
2
2
3
1
61 Caiidolliana Brgt ......
1
62. cyathea&arborescens? Bgt
1
1
64 lepidorrhachis, Brgt. .....
2
1
66 villosa Brgt
1
2
4
6
12
9
68 oreopteridius Brgt
1
3
2
69. Bucklandi, Brgt
jittle Vermilion riv.
1
71. Cistii, Brgt
1
Abounds at Grayville
5
74 . unita, Brgt
3
3
12
3
76 . dentata, Brgt
2
2
3
3
6
1
78 . flavicans? Presl
2
1
80 . chaerophylloides, Brgt
2
2
81 . Newberri, Lesqx
1
1
88. Staphylopteris Wortheni Lesqx ....
1
1
85. " sagittatus, Lesqx..
1
FOSSIL PLANTS.
473
LIST OF FOSSIL PLANTS.
o
1
9.
P"
. K
9 c
c -s
*-t
•
iT
|
Colchester.
Morris.
Mazon creek.
Other localities.
1
3
4
1
a
1
1
93 trifoliata Brgt
2
94. abbreviata, Lesqx
1
95 . elegans, Brgt
1
96 Hymenophyllites alatus, Brgt
1
1
2
9*7. " spinosus, tiopp. . . .
9,
98. " pinnatifidus, Lesqx.
3
99. " tridactylites, Brgt..
1
2
100. irichomanoides, Bgt
1
101. " imriophyllum, Brgt
1
102. Schlotheimii, Brgt. .
103. " delicatulus, Brgi
1
....
1
1
....
104. " tenuifolius, Brgt...
1
105 . splendens, Lesqx. . .
6
6
106. " furcatus, Brgt ....
1
1
1 08 . " inflatus, Lesqx ....
2
109. " adnascens, LI. & Ht.
2
110. ' lactuca, Gutb
2
111. arborescens, Lesqx.
1
112. Clark i, Lesqx
8
113. Gutbierianus, Presl.
1
114. ' thallyformis, Lesqx.
1
1
115 Strongii, Lesqx. . . .
1
91
117. Pachypteris gracillima, Lesqx
2
118. Cordaites borassifolia, Ung
2
4
?,
2
a
119 . " angustifolia, Lesqx
6
2
1
i
120. Sphenophyllum Schlotheimii. Brgt. . .
121 . emarginatum, Brgt. . .
122. " filiculme, Lesqx
2
2
2
4
2
6
2
2
2
]
123. " cornutum, Lesqx
2
1
124. Annularia longifolia, ? Brgt . ....
2
125. " longifolia, Brgt
1
1
2
2
6
126. " inflata, Lesqx
4
127. " sphenophylloides, Brgt. . . .
9,
2
3
3
128 . Asterophyllites rigidus, Br>>t
2
2
1
130. " grandis, LI. and Hutt
3
131. equisetiformis, Brgt. . .
1 32 . sublaevis, Lesqx
1
....
1
2
1
1
133. lanceolatus Lesqx. . .
1
134. ovalis, Lesqx
2
135. " foliosu?, LI. and Hutt
4
136. " tuberculatus, Brgt. . . .
2
1
138. Calamites Suckowii, Brgt
2
and Carmi abundant
139. " ramosus, Brgt
1
2
2
2
1
1
2
141 . ' nodosus, Brgt
2
1
142 . ' Cistii, Brgt
1
and Grayville
143. ' pachyderma, Brgt
9
144 . ' bistriatus, Lesqx
9
—60
474
PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
LIST OF FOSSIL PLANTS.
«
1
o
5'
g
o- c
O 1
2 'o
o &•
c *<i
CR t»
cr '
Colchester.. .
t
Of
Mazon creek.
1
1
2
1
146 . " undulatus, Brgt
1
1
2
149. " carifolius, Lesqx
1
150. " crassus, Lesqx
2
151 . Lycopodites annulariasfolius, Lesqx. .
1
1
153. " asterophyllitsBfolius, Lesq.
1
1 54 . Schutzia bracteata, Lesqx
1
1
156 " Morrisianum, Lesqx. .
1
157. " forulatum, Lesqx. ...
1
158. " Tijoui, Lesqx
2
159. " diplotegioides, Lesqx. .
1
160. " Worthenii, Lesqx....
?,
161. " turbinatum, Lesqx.. ..
1
2
166. " modulatum, Lesqx....
1
1
167. " clypeatum, Lesqx
168. " rugosurn, Brgt
169 " obovatum, Sternb . . .
3
3
1
170. " gracile & elegans, Brgt
3
4
1
171- " Velthehnianum, Stern.
172. " dichotomum, Sternb..
2
173. inammillatum, Lesqx.
2
1
176. Ulodendron majus, LI. and Ilutt
1
4
177. " ellipticum, LI andHutt..
....
....
3
4'
2
....
180. Lepidophloios ? auriculatum, Lesqx.
2
8
182 protuberans, Lesqx...
2
183. " obcordatum, Lesqx. ..
1
1
184 . Lepidostrobus species
1
185 . '" princeps, Lesqx
4
....
1
1
2
187 oblongifolius, Lesqx. .
2
1
189. lancifolius, Lesqx ...
1
1
191. " connivens, Lesqx
1
192. " ornatus, Brgt
1
193. Lepidophyllum lanceolatum, Brgt
2
1
2
195. auriculatum, Lesqx ..
196. rostellatum, Lesqx
2
1
1
197. striatum, Lesqx
1
1
1
199. Knorria imbricata, Sternb and Go pp.
200. " Selloni, Sternb
2
201 . Sigillaria monostignia, Lesqx
3
1
202. " sculpta, Lesqx...
1
Other localities.
and Carmi,
Grayville.
Carol's place,
Chester group.
Rock Island.
Little Vermilion,
and Rock Island.
Chester group.
Mercer county.
Vermilion co., Ind.
and Neelyville.
Chester group.
FOSSIL PLANTS.
475
•
LIST OF FOSSIL PLANTS.
Duquoin . . .
?r
it
N? 03
Colchester. .
£
3.
55°
Mazon creek.
Other localities.
1
Carmi.
u
Marseilles, 111.
!Jig Vermilion.
9
9
jallatin county.
Grayville.
Alton.
Chester group.
Chester group.
Carmi, White co.
Fulton county.
[co. , Ind.
Eugene, Vermilion
Grayville.
Grayville.
1
1
212 Cistii Brgt
1
213 Syringodendron pachyderma Brgt .
1
1
220 • Stigniaria ficoides Brgt ...
2
1
2
6
6
2
2
8
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
231 . Pinnularia capillacea, LI. and Hutt . .
2
2
4
4
2
1
1
6
4
....
8
2
....
239 . Trigonocarpum Noeggerathii, LI. & Ht.
240- " olivEeformis, LI. & Ht .
1
242. " rostellatum Lesqx...
....
1
1
1
1
244. " mammillatus Lesqx...
245 . Carpolithes multi-striatus, Sternb . . .
8
3
246- " Jacksonensis Lesqx
2
247 • " cistula Lesqx
1
1
1
1
2
l'
1
2
1
i
252. " bullatus Lesqx
1
245. " appendiculata, Lesqx
256. •' corrueata, Lesax. . .
476 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
This table enumerates 256 species of fossil plants, or more than double the
number of those which were known from Illinois at'the time when the second
volume of the State Geological Report was published. The catalogue of the
American fossil plants which served as a point of comparison for the table pre-
pared for that volume, p. 464, enumerates 280 species, (120 from Illinois) even
comprising some pertaining to the Devonian strata. It is, therefore, evident
that the assertion, concerning the insufficiency of our knowledge of the flora
of the Coal Measures of Illinois and of the future discoveries promised to con-
tinued researches, is fully corroborated by facts. Of the recently discovered
species, seventy-nine are considered as new, and forty, though known already
from Europe, had not been recognized before in our American Coal Measures.
The species marked in the table as from Morris and from Mazon creek, are
from the same geological horizon. The bed of shale overlaying the coal at
Morris covers, apparently, the whole extent of the Coal Measures of Grundy
county. At Morris, this shale contains but few nodules or concretions, while
at Mazon creek these nodules are found quite abundant, having been washed
from the shales into the bed of the creek. The two localities are separated in
the table merely to indicate the proportion of species preserved in shale or in
concretions, and to show the difference in the nature of the fossil remains.
About 180 of the species enumerated in the table have been found at Morris
and Mazon creek. This remarkable predominance is due to peculiar circum-
stances :
1st. It is at and around Morris that an uninterrupted series of researches has
been pursued by the two ardent and clever investigators, Messrs. Jos. Even
and S. S. Strong, so often named in this Report. Researches of this kind, in
which the miners often become interested and afford valuable assistance, offer
the best chances to make new discoveries. They also enable the observer to
obtain, when still in place and before the fragments are scattered, specimens
of the different parts of a plant ; to compare the different organs, or the same
organs in different positions, and thus to become better acquainted with the
true nature, and with the variations of forms of the same vegetable.
2d. In the shale of Morris, there is not only a great abundance of remains
of plants, but the coal which it covers is opened either by snafts, or by drifting
at numerous and distant places, and therefore the flora is exposed in its local
varieties. The distribution of plants in the coal epoch was evidently governed
by the same laws as is now the vegetation of our swamps. There was a gen-
eral uniformity of species, with a constant diversity of groups on small areas-
As we see now in the peat bogs, here the ferns, there the grasses, or the rushes
or the mosses, according to the degree of humidity of the surface, which varies
at every step, we find, in examining the fossil plants of a given area, a eon-
FOSSIL PLANTS. 477
stant recurrence of the same species at the same place, and a diversity only at
a distance in various directions.
At Mazon creek, the meanders of the stream have dug a broad bed through
the same bank of shale, and the water, washing for centuries, has uncovered
great numbers of concretions and scattered them for miles from their point of
origin. As a whole, therefore, the concretions represent the characters of the
flora of a large area. No other place in the Illinois coal field has afforded the
same advantages for research.
The shales al Colchester, Murphysborough and St. Johns, are rich in vege-
table remains; but little has been done there in the way of collecting speci-
mens of fossil plants, except by the assistants in the Survey. And from the
above remarks it is easy to understand that researches made in passing, or re-
maining at a place only for a short time, are far from affording the chances of
valuable discoveries. It is, therefore, very probable, that these last named locali-
ties have still in reservation a good many species of coal plants which are now
unknown to us, and that the fossil flora of Illinois is far from being fully
known at the present time.
The Report on the Flora of the Coal Measures of Illinois should have been
closed here, but for the recent publication of a remarkable work on vegetable
palaeontology. (1) Among other matters of general interest, this work is pre-
faced by some discussions on the cause and nature of phenomena attending the
preservation or fossilization of vegetable remains. It also describes and critically
reviews most of our new species published in the 2d vol. of the Ills. Geol. Re-
port. This, of course, is a reason for considering, from American observations,
some well established facts which corroborate or invalidate the conclusions of
the celebrated author. It also provokes a discussion on the value of some of
our species, and on their affinity with the flora of the Carboniferous Measures
of Europe. And further, it now becomes of importance to review the conclu-
sions which have already, or should be hereafter drawn, on the geographical
and stratigraphical distribution of our species of fossil plants in relation to geol-
ogy, and to fix some reliable points of reference for future researches on the
subject.
(1) Traite de Paleontologie vegetale par W. Ph. Schimper. Paris, Bailliere & fils, 1869.
478 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
MODE OF PRESERVATION OF VEGETABLE REMAINS IN
OUR AMERICAN COAL MEASURES,
§ IST. REMAINS OF PLANTS IN COAL.
It has been erroneously asserted that the coal itself does not contain any re-
cognizable vegetable remains, it being merely a mass of bitumen, independent
of any of the plants which are found in the shales overlaying or underlaying
it. Our bituminous coal is generally a compound of supposed layers of crys-
talline matter, about one eighth of an inch in thickness, separated by a thin
coat of pulverulent coal, or mineral charcoal, which is a mere compound of cel-
lular tissue and of vessels of plants. (2)
Generally, this agglomeration of broken tissue preserves some outline by
which the genera, even the species to which the remains belong, can be recog-
nized at first sight : leaflets of ferns, stems of Calamites, bark of Stigmaria,
Lepidodendron, etc. But besides this, the coal itself, though more rarely, is
marked with distinct prints of the plants of which it is a compound. This
case is especially observable in a kind of hard, laminated, flint coal, obtained in
Mercer county by Mr. H. A. Green, which bears on the horizontal surface of
its crystalline lamellae, however thin they maybe cut, the outline and nervation
of leaves and branches of ferns, and other vegetables of the coal ; and these
are so distinctly marked, that the most delicate parts are as easily identified
as those of plants preserved in shales.
The great abundance of these remains show that the whole mass of this coal,
which is true coal and burns freely, is a compound of them. In the cannel
coal which has been formed under water from more decomposed vegetables,
the forms are more rarely recognizable. Yet the cannel coal of Breckenridge,
Ky., is marked through its whole mass by stems and leaves of Stigmaria and
Lepidodendron, rendered distinct by infiltration of sulphuret of iron. Even
in the anthracite coal of Penna., whose matter has been subjected to heat and
(2) This fact is easily ascertained by microscopical examination. Prof. J. W. Dawson, of
Montreal, has closely examined this charcoal, and published, as results of his interesting re-
searches, numerous forms of vessels of plants. The same kind of researches had been
already pursued by Prof. Goppert, who had recognized, in this pulverulent coal, remains of
plants of every family hitherto kuown to occur fossil in the eoal. (Quat. Geol. Jour., vol. 5,'
mem., p. 17.)
FOSSIL PLANTS. 479
fused to cohesion after the transformation of vegetable matter into coal, one
can easily discover an abundance of remains of plants whose genera and even
species are sometimes recognizable. These facts, which cannot be overlooked,
may be taken into account in examining new theories in relation to the forma-
tion of coal.
§ 2. VEGETABLE REMAINS PRESERVED IN SHALE.
It is in the clay or silicious shale that the fragments of plants of the coal
epoch have been more generally preserved. When a bed of vegetable matter
heaped for the formation of a coal has begun to cease its growth, its top indi-
cates a greater scarcity of vegetable remains, mixed with a larger proportion of
earthy or clayey matter. The coal then becomes a less homogeneous mass,
easily separating in layers of heaped fragments of vegetable and foreign mat-
ter. By and by, the vegetation becoming scarcer by superabundance of water
upon the surface of the bogs, the clay is more thickly deposited, and the vege-
table remains, more rare and scattered, are more distinct and more easily re-
cognizable. When preserved in that way, the plants or their fragments have
been first slowly decomposed and softened by humidity, and then more or less
flattened by compression. All the naturalists who have examined the coal
formations are well acquainted with the appearance of the remains found in
shale, and sometimes admirably preserved. Generally, the woody tissue of the
plant has been destroyed, and the surface of the stems and branches only are
preserved in a thin coat of coaly matter, bearing impressions of scars of the
bark, etc. For the leaves, the coaly matter represents the whole substance,
and for the ferns, especially, it preserves the exact form of the vegetable and is
marked by the impression of veins and veinlets, mostly distinct to their last
divisions. Some leaves of a coriaceous texture have their epidermis hard-
ened by mineralization, and separable from the shale like a transparent pelli-
cle. It can then be easily examined under the microscope, and all the details
of structure recognized. It is especially the case with our Dictyopteris rubella
of Murphysborough, as also with the leaves of Whittleseya clcgans, Newb., of
Ohio. Sometimes the leaves of Neuropteris hirsuta have been heaped and
compressed together in such quantity, that the pinnules are separable from
each other as a carbonaceous cuticle, preserving traces of the primitive or-
ganism.
The shales, according to the amount of vegetable matter mixed in them,
and the depth at which they have been formed under water, are of a more or
less dark color ; whitish or yellowish when of fresh water origin, and with few
remains of plants ; black and generally more homogeneous when formed in deep
480 PALEONTOLOGY OP ILLINOIS.
water, and having for a larger proportion of their compound, broken remains of
organized beings. In this case the remains are either animal or vegetable
mixed together, both fragments of moluscs and fishes with fragments of plants
recognizable on the same piece of shale, or mere remains of animals or only
plants. These various appearances are easily explained in considering the phe-
nomena accompanying the formation of tha coal strata, from deposits analo-
gous to those of our existing peat bogs. For the surface of these bogs, even
in our time, shows the same differences in the superposed deposits, according
to the depth and chemical compounds of the water by which they become
covered, either by casual inundation in the interior of the land, or by slow ini.
mersion near the borders of lakes or sea shores. Even where the coal and shales,
from the amount of remains of fishes which they contain, appear to have been
formed in water of a certain depth, the matter always bears evident traces of
its origin from land vegetation, and never from marine plants. The lower part
of a bed of coal, worked near the mouth of Yellow creek, Ohio, is a kind of
cannel coal, or very bituminous compact shale, full of the remains of fishes,
whose entire skeletons vary in length from one inch to one foot. Yet this shale
has an abundance of the remains of land plants mixed in its compound. The
same case is observable in Kentucky — for example, at Airdrie, on Green river,
where the upper coal (No. 11 of the Kentucky section,) is overlaid by a bitu-
minous laminated shale, containing teeth of large fishes with trunks of Sigil-
laria, Lepidodendron, etc., and branches and leaves of ferns. Those who have
examined our immersed peat bogs along the shores of New Jersey, have seen
in activity a formation of the same kind, where logs of large trees are fished
from a depth often or fifteen feet, out of beds of peat submerged in water deep
enough to feed a variety of fishes ; while here and there, small islands, half float-
ing fragments of wood or heaps of mud, are covered with a luxuriant growth
of ferns, reeds or bushes, which throw their debris to the surface, to be con-
veyed to the bottom and there mixed in the bed of rnud, an incipient shale,
with animal remains.
Among the various metamorphoses to which remains of plants have been
subjected in the shale by compression, decomposition and other chemical and
mechanical agencies, one peculiar phenomenon is worth noticing here. In the
shale covering the bed of anthracite of Rhode Island, the whole carbonaceous
matter of the plants has been destroyed by heat, and the mere skeleton of the
leaves and other remains is marked upon the shale as a more or less distinct
mould, often covered by a whitish incrustation of selenite. In this process of
fusion, the vegetable fragments have been distorted in such a way that they
often present an appearance far different from that of the species to which they
belong. For example, in some branches of ferns, the leaflets have been, on
one side of the pinnae, extended to double their original length, and narrowed
FOSSIL PLANTS. 481
in proportion, while on the other side they have been relatively contracted and
widened. Without an examination of the shale at Newport, it would be diffi-
cult to account for such a metamorphosis. At this locality, the shales present
along the shore a series of low undulations, resembling slightly elevated waves ;
and there one can see that, in the state of fusion of the whole mass, the re-
mains of plants, following the force of upheaval, have been, at peculiar places,
drawn upwards and therefore elongated on one side, and of course drawn on
the other towards the rachis. It is peculiar that the rachis and stems do not
show any appearance of flexure and of deformation, and it is remarkable also
that the same phenomenon of dimorphism is not observable on the plants found
in the shale of the anthracite basin of Pennsylvania, where the flexures of the
veins of coal are often abrupt, and where traces of tortion are frequently seen
upon fragments of the combustible mineral. This deformation of vegetable
remains may give an idea of the difficulties encountered by the palaeontologist
in studying, as he has to do, mere fragments of plants in their fossil state. Not
only do these remains generally insufficiently represent the whole vegetable,
but often they are deformed by various forces and influences, to which they are
subjected in the process of mineralization.
§ 3. VEGETABLE REMAINS PRESERVED IN FERRUGINOUS
CONCRETIONS.
As far as we know, from the specimens abundantly found in Illinois, the
mode of preservation of fossil plants in concretions is somewhat different from
what it is in argillaceous shale. These concretions are found, especially in the
shale of Grundy county, irregularly scattered from top to bottom of the strata,
in the form of oval, more or less elongated, generally slightly flattened concre-
tions. They appear to have been formed by superposition of concentric layers
of slowly deposited carbonate of iron or ferruginous clay around central nu-
clei, which are most commonly parts of plants, bones of fishes or the remains
of insects and Crustacea. Their size and form vary according to that of the
body around which the deposit has been made. Some small leaflets of ferns are
found in nodules which are not larger than a walnut ; pieces of calamites are in-
closed in cylindrical concretions varying in length from two inches to one foot or
more ; pinnae of ferns or of Asteropliyllites have been discovered in flattened con-
cretions measuring about one square foot and only two inches thick, their form
agreeing more or less with that of the body around which they have originated,
though always showing an oval or round outline, by superposition of concentric
layers. It is not yet clear whether the flattening of some of the specimens is
the result of compression. Generally, the nodules which have cylindrical
pieces of stems, or nutlets for nuclei, are round or exactly oval, while they
—61
482 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
are flattened for pieces of ferns, in proportion to the breadth of the fragments
which they have entombed.
The origin of these concretions has been explained in admitting a general
tendency of some mineral bodies to concentrate around centers, whether solidify-
ing from fusion, solution or vapors. (1) This explanation may be satisfactory
in regard to other kinds of concretions, but from their peculiar position, their
form and size, varying according to the nature and outline of the bodies which
they contain, the nodules of Mazon creek rather seem to be the work of infu-
soria or Bacillaria concentrating molecules of iron around some centers, as it
now happens in the formation of the bog iron ore, or in other deposits, in
springs or pools, whose waters contain a solution of iron. This supposition ap-
pears confirmed by the manner in which the bodies in concretions have been
preserved and selected for preservation. Though generally mere fragments,
their integrity is complete, and yet some of them are of very soft texture.
The pinnae or leaflets of ferns are always found in them in a flattened position,
their axis or rachis extending through the center of the elongated nodule, with
the divisions on both sides; the surface of the pinnules, slightly swollen, as
when in their living state, is marked by recognizable hairs or fruit dots, with
distinct veins and veinlets, and their appendages, like the scales, are seen in
the various modifications which they present in living specimens ; for example,
long, straight, flat, diverging, on primary rachis, and becoming shorter, ruf-
fled and curled on their upper divisions. The small organs of plants appear,
therefore, in a better state of preservation than in the shales. With small ani-
mals like crustaceans, scorpions, insects of a fleshy and very delicate texture,
the preservation of form is still more remarkable. They are found entombed
in the middle of the nodules just as if they were in life, or as if they had been
transformed into stone while still living. The fruits or nutlets are not flat-
tened. By the section of the nodules, which generally break into two equal
halves by hard strokes on their edges, the middle and internal part of the fruit
is exposed to view, while the outside surface is immersed in the stone. The
numerous cones also of Lepidodendron found in these concretions are equally
well preserved, either whole or in part, by horizontal cross sections. Some
specimens not only show distinctly the pedicels of the sporanges and the blades
in their natural position, but even sporanges with their seeds have been found
in them, without perceptible alteration. In the cross section of these Lepidos-
trobi the sporange cells form a central row, which is surrounded by the blades
in the form of a star.
Peculiar species of plants and animals, or their fragments, seem to have
been selected as the nuclei of these nodules. They contain, for example, an
(1) Dana's Manual of Geology, p. 626.
FOSSIL PLANTS 483
abundance of leaflets of various species of Neuropteris, especially 2f. hirsuta,
of Alethopteris Serlii, of Pecopteris villosa, P. abbreviates, Hymenophyllites Clarkii,
Annularia longifolia, Stigmarioides, etc., which are either rare or have not yet
been found in the shale at Morris, while these shales are rich in the remains of
Odontopteris Schlotheimii, Alethopteris erosa, Ulodendron, Oarpolithes multistriatus,
scarcely or not at all preserved in concretions. As the bank of shale border-
ing the bed of Mazon creek has not yet been opened, these differences may re-
sult from geographical distribution. Yet, as the animals and plants of soft
exture, like the species of the genus Sigillarioides, have not yet been found in
the shale of our American Coal Measures, it is evident that these remains have
been generally destroyed by maceration, and only escaped total destruction by
their entombment in these nodules. The same can be remarked on the re-
mains of small animals. The remains of fishes found in these concretions are
merely bones, scales and coprolites, while of molluscs, they have afforded only
some agglomerations or very small shells.
§ 4. VEGETABLE REMAINS PRESERVED BY MINERALIZA-
TION OR TRUE PETRIFICATION.
This kind of fossilization is performed by slow infiltration of mineral matter
into the substance of the vegetable, when in a soft state of decomposition. The
phenomenon is produced either by a total destruction of the vegetable substance ,
for which sand, clay or oxyd of iron is substituted by infiltration, or by a slow,
still unexplained mineralization of the vegetable substance, by silex or lime.
By the first process, the whole texture of the vegetable is destroyed, except
the surface, preserved as in a mould, which shows the original outline of the
vegetable, and bears the cicatrices of the bark and other external characters,
which often render it recognizable. These moulds, generally covered by a
coat of coaly matter, are rarely flattened by compression, and mostly represent
trunks or branches of large size, sometimes fruits of a hard consistence, rarely
branches and leaves of ferns. They abound in the sandstone beds of our
Coal Measures, and some of our new species of Lepidodendron and of Sigillaria
have been described from specimens of this kind. In the second case of petri-
fication, on the contrary, the surface or outside of the vegetables is generally
obliterated, as if it had been more or less decayed while subjected to minerali-
zation, while the internal structure is preserved in its minutest details, and so
distinctly, that it can be studied under the microscope when lamellte of the
fossils are detached, and polished thin enough to become transparent. Speci-
mens of wood fossilized in this way, though often remarked in the Carbonifer-
ous formations of Europe, and very common in the more recent formations of
484 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
this continent, have rarely been found in our Coal Measures, and none as yet
have been obtained, except from Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky.
Both these processes of fossilization have acted upon vegetables already separ-
ated from their support, and more or less decayed, or upon trees still standing
or still living, when they were surrounded by the mineral substances which
caused their petrification. Though not quite as abundant as prostrated fossil
trunks, petrified standing trees are not unfrequently obtained from the sandstone
of our Coal Measures. Near New Harmony, Ind., some petrified trees, vary-
ing in size from six to twelve inches in diameter, have been obtained from a
sandy shale, and transferred to his museum in their standing position, and
with their roots attached to the trunks, by my lamented friend, D. D. Owen.
Though entirely metamorphosed into sandstone, their mould preserves remark-
ably well the scars of the point of attachment of the leaves, the wrinkles of
the bark, etc., and show the gradual variations which modify the form of the
cicatrices in passing from the stem to the roots. True petrified forests have
been observed in banks of sandstone of the Coal Measures of Pennsylvania and
of Kentucky. This phenomenon should, therefore, demand but a passing
notice, if it did not give rise to some discussions concerning the mode and
cause of dislocation or fracture of these fossil trees, and also concerning the
causes and agents of their petrification.
Fossil trees, except when observed in their standing position, still half in-
closed and sustained in the matter in which they hjave been originally buried,
are always found in pieces or broken. This is observable as well in the fossil
wood of the Carboniferous measures as in that so abundantly found in more
recent formations ; for example, in the Cretaceous and Tertiary beds of our con-
tinent. The fracture of the pieces is of two kinds : either irregular, in vari-
ous directions, like the breaking of mineral substances produced by hard strokes,
or horizontal, as if by a kind of cleavage, the separate pieces forming disks or
regular cylinders of various length. Generally, in both cases the fractured sur-
face is clean, smooth, distinctly angular, and showing that in most cases, at
least, the breaking of the trunks has been effected after the fossilization. Prof.
Groppert, who has visited the fossilized forests of Egypt, south of Cairo, and
has published the result of his researches*, has found there the trunks subjec-
ted to a kind of multiple fracture, produced at various times and in various
ways ; some of the trunks having their fractured surfaces obliterated as if by
decay, others showing on their fragments, still closely approached to each oth-
er, evidence of recent separation. He therefore explains their fracture as due
to mere atmospheric influences, especially to sudden changes of temperature,
which are not rare in those regions. This explanation could be admitted for
*Der Versteinerte Wald by Cairo, &c. ; Acad. der Weiss: zu Wien. vol. 38, 1858.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 485
the irregular fragments of silicified wood, found in connection with our recent
formations, and which, in some countries — in Arkansas and Mississippi, for ex-
ample— are in some places strewn upon the ground in profusion. Agglom-
erations of silex are rarely homogeneous or regularly compact throughout.
They are interspersed with fissures or soft veins which, when penetrated by water,
expand under the influence of frost, and determine fractures in various direc-
tions. But fossil wood broken in that way is rarely found in our Carboniferous
measures. Generally, the fossil trees of this formation, when separated from
the mineral substances in which they were originally imbedded and petrified,
show the fracture by horizontal divisions, as by cleavage, and when in a stand-
ing position, and taken out of the matter which surrounds them, they separate
in disks of various lengths, and can thus be taken out in pieces, which super-
posed afterwards rebuild the whole trunk, without marks of any other mode of
disconnection, but horizontal through fissures. In that way the different parts
of the trees mentioned above, as found by Dr. D. D. Owen, have been taken
out of the sandstone separately and replaced in their order of superposition, to
rebuild the vegetable in its original position. AtCarbondale, in Pennsylvania,
a true forest of Catamites has been crossed in the opening of an inclined tun-
nel through a bank of sandstone to a bed of coal underlying it. The fragments
of petrified stems taken out of this passage are in such abundance that they
have been used for the construction of a kind of gangway for running the coal
cars out of the mines. These fragments, nearly without exception, are mere
disks, varying in length from one to four inches, without relation to the size
or diameter of the stems, which measure from three to six inches; the differences
in the length of the sections being as marked for the large as for the small
stems. All these fragments represent only as far, at least, as I could determine
from the examination of hundreds of specimens, two species of Calamites :
G. SucJcowii and G. approximatus, Brgt. The walls of the tunnel are adorned
by a number of these trees, still in their standing position and half imbedded
in the sandstone. Though these stems are continuous, they show, at various
and irregular distances, horizontal fractures where they break or are dislocated
at their separation from the surrounding sandstone. Some of these trunks of
Calamites, which in their natural state were evidently hollow, have been
abruptly folded or crushed, like hollow cylinders in bending under their own
weight, or by some external force; but even at the point of inclination or tor-
tion of these stems, the fracture is horizontal or perpendicular to their erect
position. At Paintsville, Johnson county, Kentucky, the bottom of the river,
which at some places has been cleanly washed, is marked, as in a kind of irregu-
lar mosaic work, by the broken tops of large trunks of Sigillaria, still in their
original standing position, all horizontally fractured. One of these trunks
measures twenty-two inches in diameter. The same peculiar kind of horizontal
486 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
fracture is generally observable on the silicified trunks so abundantly found in
some parts of Southern Ohio, especially in the bed of Shade river, near Athens.
They are, most of them, pieces of stems of fern trees (Psaronius), varying in
diameter from ' three to twelve inches, broken in disks from two to fourteen
inches long. A few of these pieces of silicified wood are irregularly broken
and disfigured on the outside by maceration ; but generally they preserve their
cylindrical form, and when of some length show here and there, at various dis-
tances, horizontal splits, uninterrupted all around the trunk, where a disruption
is easily produced by a hard stroke. From the great bed of sandstone overly-
ing the Pittsburg coal, near Grreensburg, I have received, from Rev. W. D.
Moore, large specimens of fossil wood, most of them long, irregularly broken,
much decayed pieces, evidently representing sections of trunks broken length-
wise. These were found in various positions in the sandstone, and were mostly
broken before they were imbedded in it. But among them there is one which
bears, attached to a short stem, three diverging branches of its roots, a proof
that it has been buried in its original standing position ; and this one has its
top horizontally broken and flat.
From these data and a number of others, which it is useless to mention, being
all of the same kind, and bearing the same evidence, it appears that the frac-
ture of the fossil wood is of two kinds : irregular, for trunks fossilized after
prostration or in a decaying state, as they are generally found in our Tertiary
and Cretaceous strata ; and horizontal, by splits perpendicular to the natural
direction of the stems and the roots. If the cause of fracture in the first case
is, without doubt, essentially due to atmospheric agency, that of the second,
which has acted upon the vegetable while it was still subjected to the process
of petrification, is certainly different, and can be explained, I think, by the
difference of density of both the surrounding mineral matter and the imbedded
vegetable. Evidently, all the stems in the process of fossilization have been
subjected to a softening process of their whole mass. The outside pressure of
the surrounding mineral matter must have been felt, and can have acted only
in one way, that is, vertically, as it happens in the forcing of a body of less
density out of water ; and the result of that action cannot but have been a ten-
dency to dislocation, and therefore to splitting of the trunks in a horizontal
direction. It might be supposed, perhaps, that a gradual accumulation of sand
or other mineral matter around standing trees, in burying them, has formed
layers of different density, whose action may have produced, in the fossil vege-
table, zones of petrification also varying in density, tending, therefore to cleave
from each other, and horizontally separable. But the roots of fossilized trees
which tend downwards in an inclined direction, or even are nearly horizontal,
should be split in an inclined plane and not perpendicularly to their axis, as
they are, at least, on all the roots of standing trees which I have had opportu-
FOSSIL PLANTS. 487
nity to examine. Moreover, the silicified stems which have been noticed
above as marked by horizontal splits, are of the same compound in their whole
length.
The silicified wood of the Coal Measures of Ohio, as that also of more recent
formations of our continent, furnish us some valuable data for the examination
of another vexed question : concerning their mode of fossil ization, or rather the
origin of the silica which has produced their transformation. Two opinions,
above all, have been advanced on this subject. Prof. Goppert thinks that the
process of petrification has been very slow, of long duration, and that to explain
it, it is not necessary to suppose that the water in which the vegetable sub-
stance has been transformed, was richer in silica than it may be now in its
normal state. Prof. Schimper, on the contrary, asserts that the water in which
wood has been silicified should have been of a higher temperature, more abun-
dantly saturated with silica, and therefore, he concludes that the kind of min-
eralization has happened in a much shorter time than is generally supposed,
and by volcanic agency, as is now the case in the vicinity of the Geysers of
Iceland. (1) To sustain this assertion, the celebrated professor says : that the
progress of the fossilizing process should have been rapid enough to reach the
whole substance of the wood before its decomposition by putrifaction. But
the woody tissue, when entombed and protected against atmospheric influence,
is unalterable for a considerable period of time, and slowly passes, by emere-
causis, into coal. It is, therefore, conceivable that in the first stage of this
slow burning, when the whole vegetable has been reduced to a soft matter, it
may be penetrated by mineral fluids which, by crystallization, transform it into
stone. In the valley of Locle, Switzerland, large prostrate trunks, more than
fifty feet long, were discovered some years ago in a bed of sandy clay of the
upper Tertiary. These trees, most of them Dicotyledonous, had their bark
still in a good state of preservation, their woody tissue admirably preserved,
and looked indeed as if they had been recently buried. Yet their wood was
soft enough to be cut through with the knife without effort, like butter. Beds
of lignites, in Germany, where the emerecausis is in a more advanced stage,
contains large trunks of wood, softened in the same degree, and already black-
ened. In that state, the woody tissues are easily impregnated by dissolved min-
eral substances. But to omit theoretical discussion and merely consider facts
observable around us, it is evident that our silicified wood, as well in our Coal
Measures as in the more recent formations, is found in connection with strata
which show no trace of volcanic agency. The silicified trunks of Southern
Ohio have been washed out by the creeks from the Mahoning sandstone. The
area covered by this formation, and over which the trunks are found in greater
(1) Traite de Pal. Veget., p. 38 and 39.
488 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
cr smaller quantity, extends from Athens southward, to the Ohio river, and in
Virginia, as far up the Great Kenawha river as Charleston, or about one hun-
dred miles in a direct line. There is no trace of any volcanic agency in that
country. No distubance of any kind is observable in the strata, which have
their normal, slightly-marked dip to the eastward; nor does the sandstone it-
self indicate, in its appearance, by a variation of its compounds or of its density,
any trace of metamorphism. At Gallipolis, near the mouth of the Great Ken-
awha, a number of fossilized trunks, still buried in the sandstone, are seen
protruding from the bank, in which they have been petrified in a prostrate
position. As these trees have been examined already by "other geologists, and
mentioned as indicating a peculiar direction of a current, by which they have
been brought and deposited, a short account of them here may not be uninter-
esting. There are five of them, from four to fifteen inches in diameter, their
length unknown, lying, two in a southeastern direction, one due east, and the
two others due south. The part seen out of the sandstone is much decayed,
the outer surface, where it is preserved, is covered by a coat of coal varying in
thickness from one-half to one-fourth of an inch. What is most remarkable,
and bears directly on the question of their petrification, is that they appear to
have been transformed into stone by different substances, showing a different
kind of mineralization. In one of these trees the internal texture has been
destroyed, and the woody tissue is replaced by a hard calcareous sandstone or
clay, separating in layers of about one-fourth of an inch in thickness. A second
is a compound of small crystals of iron flint, its interior being perforated
lengthwise by a number of irregularly placed cylindrical apertures, filled with
small iron crystals, forming regular stars of more than twenty rays. A third,
of which I have obtained large pieces, it being of smaller size, four inches in
diameter, is transformed into a compact, opaque, black silex, which does not
preserve any trace of organic structure. (1) As these trees, of course, have
been petrified where they are found now, it would appear as if different min-
eral substances, held in solution in the water, had acted upon the woody tissue
in different ways, according to its nature. In any case, it is evident that the
petrification has been performed in various ways, by the slow action of the
liquids penetrating the sand, and not by the uniform crystallization of silica as
it is now produced in the hot springs of volcanic origin: This is more evi-
dent, in considering silicified wood of our more recent formations. Neither in
the plains of Kansas and Nebraska, nor in Eastern Arkansas, nor in Missis-
(1) It is marked by inflated articulations, like a species of Anarlhrocanna, Gopp., and
is as yet the only specimen found in our Coal Measures which might be compared to the
trunks seen by Prof. Brongniart in the coal mines of St. Etienne, France, and compared to
Bamboos, from their inflated articulations. (Lyell. Manual, 4th ed., p. 319.)
FOSSIL PLANTS. 489
sippi and Ohio, where fossilized wood is found generally associated with a fer-
ruginous argillaceous sandstone, is there any trace of volcanic agency. There
is merely an evident relation of this kind of fossilization with the deposition of
iron. In Ohio and Virginia, that part of the Mahonmg sandstone containing
silicified trunks, borders, and perhaps overlays in part, the area where the
richest and most numerous beds of iron ore have been deposited. In the re-
cent formations, the fossilized wood is generally associated with the red or fer-
ruginous clay. Even in the small area occupied by our Post Tertiary forma-
tion at Barlow, Ohio, disks of silicified fossil wood of dicotyledonous species
are found in a bed of red ferruginous clay, associated with species of shells of
the genus Anodonta, entirely transformed into a compact mass of oxyd of iron.
§ 5. THE FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS MEASURES OF
ILLINOIS, CONSIDERED IN SOME OF ITS AFFINITIES.
As a whole, the coal flora of Illinois has, like that of our American Coal
Measures, the general character of the Carboniferous flora of the whole world.
It is well known that the representatives of this flora mostly pertain to a single
class of vegetables : that of the acrogenous or vascular cryptogamous plants,
containing the three families of Equisetacese, FUices and Lycopodiacese. The
.nodules of Mazon creek, where fragments of plants, even of the softest texture,
have been preserved in their integrity, offered a good opportunity for examin-
ing the often proposed question : whether plants of a lower or of a higher order
than those could not have entered into the compound of the coal, and, from a
peculiar consistance of tissue, have been destroyed by maceration, without* leav-
ing any traces of their primitive forms. This has been affirmed, for example,
of the Algsp, or marine plants, which have left their remains in abundance in
the Lower Carboniferous and Devonian strata, and also of the small cellular
vegetables, Fungi and Lichens, which, at the present time, live on the bark of
the trunks and branches of our trees, and are also observable, in the same cir-
cumstances, in the Tertiary and Cretaceous formations. I have already re-
marked, that no remains of any kind of marine plants have as yet been observed
in the concretions of Mazon creek.* This is the more noticeable, as some of
them have for nuclei bones of fishes of moderate size. As the so-called
Fucoides have also never been seen in any bed of shale overlying coal strata, it
is reasonable to conclude that the remains of these plants have not contributed
*Since this report was written, two or three nodules have been obtained from Mazon creek,
inclosing marine shells, one of which is an Aviculopecten, and the others probably referable to
the genera Nucula and Polyphemopsis or Macrochdlus, and indicate that these Mazon creek
shales were probably an estuary deposit, in which the remains of marine animals were sparingly
intermingled with the fauna and flora of the adjacent land. A. H. W.
—62
490 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
in any way to the formation of the coal. But this is not a sufficient reason for
asserting their non-existence at the Carboniferous epoch. Ghondrites Colletii,
Lesqx., collected from Lodi, Ind., and found in connection with a bed of lime-
stone overlying a thin coal at the base of the true Coal Measures, or just above
the mill-stone grit, like Caulerpites marginatus, Lesqx., from an analogous sta-
tion in Pennsylvania, are sufficient proof of the existence there of marine vege-
tables already of a high order. But marine Algce could not live in the low
swamps where the coal was in process of formation, no more than they could
live now on the surface of the peat bogs, even of those which extend along the
sea shores. These plants had then, as they have now, a domain of their own .
they have casually been brought to live upon a limestone formed under deep
water, as the roof of a coal bed, but no remains of them could enter into its com-
pound.
Of Epiphyllce, small Fungi or Lichens, as parasites of stems and leaves, the
concretions of Mazon creek have also no trace. They have, however, in great
quantity that peculiar small organized body, Gyromices Ammonis. Gopp., which
some European naturalists still persist in considering as a Fungus*. In the
nodules the white, shining, bony substance of this small Serpulidce is better pre-
served still than in the shale, and the tissue of fragments of thick leaves,
wherein it burrowed, is often perforated like a sieve, by the removal of this
shell after the destruction of the epidermis.
The reason generally given for the non-appearance of remains of small, cellu-
lar, vegetables, like Fungi or Lichens, upon the bark of branches and trunks of
the Coal Measures, is, that the maceration of the woody tissue and its softening
has necessarily detached these small bodies from their place of origin. But if
this was the real cause of their disappearance, small vegetables of this kind
should have been preserved in the nodules of Mazon creek, as well as the small
vegetable organs, scales, hairs, fruit dots, and even seeds of Lycopodiacece, which
are as much exposed to separation and destruction by the process of maceration.
We find, moreover, a large number of these small plants in the fossil remains of
the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations, upon fragments of wood, which have
been exposed, before their petrification, to maceration, just as much as the plants
of the Carboniferous period. As these parasitic Fungi and Lichens are at our
time of rare occurrence on ferns, as also on Lycopodiaceoe and Equisetacece, I
would rather admit that their appearance is cotemporaneous with that of the
exogenous plants, on which they especially thrive, and that species of this class,
and also of mosses and Hepaticce had scarcely any representatives in the vege-
table world before the end of the palaeozoic period.
*Prof. W. P. Schimper places it in species of doubtful affinity in his Pal. Veg., p. 144
In his Permain Flora, Goppert has it still as a Fungus.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 491
The shale of the coal at Morris and the concretions of Mazon creek have
furnished also a number of specimens of three species, or rather forms, of
Paloeoxyris, a kind of organism which is considered by Brongniart, Schimper,
and other naturalists, as a plant belonging to a higher class of the vegetable
kingdom, that of the monocotyledbnousphoenogomous plants. In describing these
bodies, I have expressed my views on their nature. If the opinions of the Eu-
ropean authors are right, we have already, from the lower part of the Coal
Measures of Illinois, vegetable organisms of a class of plants, whose first ap-
pearance has been marked in the Triassic period. Though it may only effect
their generic affinity, the presence of these bodies in the concretions of Mazon
creek is the more remarkable that they are there associated, as in the Permian
of Europe, with a quantity of animal remains, especially insects of large size,
which have, as yet, not been discovered elsewhere in the Carboniferous for-
mations.
There has been found in the Coal Measures of England and Nova Scotia,
specimens of fossil wood, referable by their tissue, a compound of large woody
cells or fibres, marked by vertical circular spots, to the Conifers or Pine family.
It is remarkable that most of the fossil wood of our Devonian strata indicates
the same characteristic form of cells, and that as yet, neither in Illinois nor in
other parts of our true Coal Measures, no kind of branches, leaves, or petrified
wood distinctly related to this order of vegetables, have ever been observed.
The fragments described from a nodule of Mazon creek in vol. 2, p. 447, pi.
xxxvii, fig. 3, of this Report, under the name of Lycopodites asterophyllitsefo-
lius, resembles, indeed, a branch of some kind of Conifer, but it is as well com-
parable to some species of Lycopodiacese. We have also obtained from the
lower strata of the Coal Measures of Illinois and of Pennsylvania, specimens
of Artisia transversa, Sternb., a species whose affinity is still uncertain, it being
considered by Dawson a Conifer, while most of the European palaeontologists
describe it with the Lycopodiacese. Our specimens are all transformed into
sandstone, with no other part preserved but the mold, do not afford any light
on this question. From this uncertainty as to the true affinity of these vege-
table remains, and what is said above concerning other orders of fossil plants
found in the Carboniferous strata, it would seem proper to conclude that the
flora which has furnished the materials for the formation of our coal, and which
covered the bogs of our continent at the Carboniferous epoch, was limited to a
single group of vegetables, that of the acrogenous cryptogams. (1) The same
(1) Prof. Goppert considers the genus Sigillaria as rather related to a gymnosperm family.
Its relation with the genus Lfpidodendron is too evident to permit this conclusion ; the cones
and seeds of Sigillaria have moreover been found in our Coal Measures, of the same charac-
ter as those described by Goldenberg.
492 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
remarks would seem also to authorize an affirmative answer to the often pro-
posed questions :
1st. Does what we already know of the Coal Measures give us a just idea of
the boggy vegetation of which the coal is a compound ?
2d. Is the vegetation of the bogs of the coal a true representation of the
whole flora of the epoch ?
For though it is argued, with an appearance of right, that the whole flora
of the Carboniferous time could not have been limited to that of the swamps,
that a part of the land was high and dry, and as we have now, on our peat
bogs, a peculiar group of plants appropriate to that kind of soil, and without
analogy to the vegetation of our dry land, the same differences should have
existed at the time of the formation of the coal. The contrary proposition,
considered hypothetically, could be equally well sustained. From all appear-
ances, the land, especially on our western coal fields, was, at the Carboniferous
period, represented merely by a series of flat swamps, separated by lagoons,
and therefore the whole vegetation of the land was essentially of the boggy kind.
But, even if at this epoch there was any elevated land, the extreme atmospheric
humidity should have forced upon it the same vegetation as that of the bogs,
as it happens at our time in some parts of Ireland and Germany, where, under
the influence of atmospheric humidity, peat bogs ascend on inclined slopes to
the top of high mountains. Prof. Schimper says, in speaking of the ferns
which constitute the essential vegetation of the coal formations : there is no
other natural order of plants whose intensity of vegetation so much depends
upon atmospheric humidity. Ferns are true natural hygrometers, whose indi-
vidual as well as numerical development is always in direct proportion to the
humidity of the climate wherein they live. Therefore, the land vegetation of
the Carboniferous period must everywhere bear the same general character.
A confirmation of this assertion seems also to be found in the fact, that even
in the formations of great thickness of Nova Scotia, where trees are seen stand-
ing and imbedded at different altitudes, and where no coal is seen in connec-
tion with them, these trees are recognized as belonging to species, or at least
to genera of the coal : Sigillaria, Lepidodendron and Catamites. But on the
other hand, we have to account for the presence in the slate and sandstone
overlying our coal strata, of various kinds of fruits or hard nuts, whose relation,
for some of them at least, can not be traced to any species of the coal flora
known by other kinds of remains: leaves, stems, etc. It is true that as fast
as our acquaintance with this ancient vegetation becomes more intimate, some
of these so-called fruits are recognized as peculiar vegetables of the coal, for
example, some species of Trigonocarpum or Carpolithes, as tubercles of Equi-
setacese, or as vesicular appendages grown at the end of leaves of Stigmaria.
But an explanation of this kind can not be admitted for nutlets, representing
FOSSIL PLANTS. 493
an internal ovule or seed, covered with three different envelopes like those of
Trigonocarpum Nceggerathu, of which a fine specimen from Mazon creek has
been figured in this Report. They resemble fruit of palms, and have been re-
ferred by authors to species of Cordaites or Nceggerathia. Still less can it be
proposed for winged seeds or fruits generally described under the generic name
of Cardiocarpus and Rhabdocarpus. These fruits, whose place in the vege-
table kingdom is still problematical to palaeontologists, are far better known
from American than from European specimens, and their analysis can, there-
fore, be pursued with chances of more satisfactory results. One of them is de-
scribed and figured in its whole, in the Arks. Geol. Kept., vol. i, p. 311, pi. 4,
fig. 4, as Cardiocarpus ingens, Lesqx. Another, still more remarkable, has
been published by Dr. Newberry, in the Annals of Science, of Cleveland, May
1853, p. 152, N. 2, as Cardiocarpus samarceformis. A third has been obtained
in good and numerous specimens from the shale overlaying the coal of Coshoc-
ton, Ohio, by Rev. H. Herzer. This peculiar fruit, Ptilocarpus bicornutiis,
Lesqx., (1) is composed of a small oval seed, pointed downwards, rounded or ob-
tuse at the top, obscurely ribbed in the length, attached to the inside of an
oval scale, elongated upwards, diverging at its base into two short horns and
overlapping the seeds by its border. The seeds, though generally found con-
nected to the winged scales, are easily detached from it, and indeed all the
specimens which I have examined, show the seeds already half detached from
the top downwards, and to prevent them becoming lost, I had to take them
out of the specimens and preserve them separately. This connection of a small
oval seed to one side of a winged scale, point out evidently the relation of this
fruit and of others related to it, and mark their places as belonging, if not to
true Conifers, at least to the Gymnosperm family. However peculiar they may
be in their form, though different from seeds of the species of our time, it is
scarcely possible to compare them to any other family of vegetables. As the
seeds are generally found separate from their scale, a number of fruits of our
Coal Measures are probably referable to the new genus, Carpolithes multistri-
atus, for example. For some of the numerous specimens from Colchester, 111.,
bear evident remains of scales overlapping the seeds like a broad rim, more or
less lacerated and partially destroyed, especially towards the point. And in
the nodules of Mazon creek, where these seeds are preserved in their original
form, they appear merely tumid in the middle, as compressed under a scale,
and not cylindrical. Rhabdocarpus clavatus is, perhaps, also a seed of the
same kind, as are evidently the species of Cardiocarpus published by Dr. New-
berry, loc. cit., and many European species like Rhabdocarpus mammilla 'tus,
Artis, etc.
(1) As the name indicates, this new genus Ptilocarpus is established for the special de-
scription of winged fruits having an affinity to those of the Conifers.
494 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
I have said above that the relation of these fruits can not be traced to any
other kind of vegetable remains, leaves, branches or trunks of the Coal Meas-
ures, but there is, I think, a remarkable exception worth mentioning here.
The shale overlying the coal of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where Ptilocarpus sama-
rceformis has been found with many others of the same genus, is, in some
places, covered with a quantity of leaves of the peculiar Whfttleseya eleyans,
Newb. These leaves, by their flabellate form, seem related to the genus Sulis-
buria, while the nervation resembles that of a Pterophyllum or Zamites. I con-
sider it very probable that some of the above mentioned winged fruits are re-
lated to these leaves, and that we have, therefore, two remarkable organs of
species of the Conifer family.
It appears, therefore, that if the Acrogenous plants did constitute the essen-
tial part of the vegetation of the Carboniferous epoch, this vegetation had
already representatives of the three essential classes of plants of our actual
flora: the Phenogamous dicotyledonous, represented by Gymnosperms; the
Phenogamous monocotyledonous, to which are referable species of Cordaites,
Naggerathia and Trigonocarpum, and the Cryptogamous, represented by the
three families of Equisetacece, Filices and Lycopodiaceai. And from all appear-
ances, we have to admit the similarity of characters and uniformity of the
entire flora of the Carboniferous period. For it does not appear that any of
the species known from our Coal Measures have been transported from a dis-
tance, either by water or by the winds, and casually deposited in sands or clays
of the coal swamps. The leaves and fruits are generally found in groups/'a
number of their remains being together, and covering a limited area, as if
originating from trees or plants grown at the place around which these remains
are spread, and, as it has been remarked above, all the species of fossil trees
as yet examined from the sandstoae, are referable to genera known from shale
overlying the coal strata.
In pursuing the same mode of investigation, I have still to make some re-
marks on the affinity of our new species and genera of fossil plants from Illi-
nois, in addition to what has already been said in the detailed description of
each. As our table shows, by far the greatest number of our new species have
been found in the concretions of Mazon creek, from which it is reasonable to
infer that the preservation of many of these species is due to their mode of fos-
silization, and that the same kind of plants may have been constituents of the
vegetation of the coal in other countries, though their remains have not as yet
been found elsewhere. Of species of Neuropteris, for example, described and
figured in the second volume of this Report : Neuropteris Evenii, JV. pachyderma
and -#"• Mrbencefolia, all from Mazon creek, have been omitted by Schimper in
his enumeration; and yet, though the two first have not been elsewhere discov-
ered, their preservation is so remarkable, and their distinctive cnaracters so
FOSSIL PLANTS. 495
well marked, that their specific value is beyond question. The case is still
more evident with Neuropteris verlencefolia, with which we now have a more in-
timate acquaintance, from the discovery of a number of specimens, all found
at Mazon creek. I mention only these species, not merely as a kind of vindi-
cation in favor of our American discoveries, but in order to secure points of
comparison in considering the geographical distribution of the plants of the
Carboniferous epoch.
No more evident proof of the truth of what is said above could be afforded,
than the discovery in the nodules of Mazon creek of numerous specimens of
organs, which have as yet scarcely been found elsewhere. The fructification
of ferns and their rhizomas, are of this kind. Besides two of the species de-
scribed in the genus Staphylopteris , we have, in nodules from this locality,
seven fruiting species of Alethopteris^ six of Pecopteris, with one Asterocarpus ,
most of which were as before unknown in fructifications. And if the fossil
fruit-dots of ferns were not generally obscured, and their form and position in-
distinct, discernible only, as they are, through the substance of the leaves, we
should have had for description a far larger number of fruiting specimens of
ferns. When Prof. Brongniart published his justly celebrated Fossil Flora
(1848), only three species of ferns, Pecopteru cyathea, P. hemiteloides and P. Mil-
toni, were known and described, with fruiting branches. No fruiting racemes,
like those of a Staphylopteris, had then, nor have been found even now, after
forty years of further researches in the Coal Measures of Europe.
Considering this peculiar scarcity of fruiting ferns, Schimper comes to the
conclusion that, as arborescent ferns of our time are rarely fertile, the species
of this 2;enus, in the Carboniferous epoch, were mostly fern trees. I should
be inclined to admit the same conclusion, especially in considering the number
of trunks of ferns, Caulopteris, found in the Coal Measures of Illinois, if the
coal flora represented in the concretions did not indicate a proportion of fruit-
ing branches nearly as marked as it would be in collecting ferns of our time in
a given area.
It is peculiar that, though evidently belonging to herbaceous species of
fern, there has not as yet been found any fructification of the genus Neuropteris.
Leaves of Neuropteris hirsuta are the most abundant and the best preserved of
all the remains of fossil plants in the nodules of Mazon creek, and yet neither
here, nor anywhere else in our Coal Measures, has anything been discovered
which might be considered, beyond a doubt, as its fructification. For the in-
tumescence of veins or veinlets, often remarked on the surface of the leaflets of
this and other species of Neuropteris, and doubtfully considered as produced by
groups of fructification placed underneath, seems rather to be the result of some
casualty of maceration of the leaves. A mode of fructification of this kind
does not agree with that of ferns, and is rather comparable to the Osmundacece
496 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
of our time, which bear their fructifications either as separate racemes or on
peculiar divisions of their fronds. The fructifications of species of the genus
Odontopteris , so closely related to Neuropteris, are known for Odontopteris
Schlotheimii and 0. Reichiana, Gutb. The fertile pinnae, not yet found in con-
nection with sterile fronds, bear inflated, round leaflets resembling small blad-
ders, which have no relation whatever to the intumescence of veins considered
as the fructification of Neuropteris.
Still more than their fructification, the rhizomas of ferns have hitherto been
unknown to palaeontologists, at least from the Coal Measures. Prof. Goppert
has given, in his FOBS. Farnkreuter, p. 91, tab. 33, fig. 1, the only fragment
which as yet has been published by European authors, as evidently belonging
to true rhizomas of the coal. In his Pal. Veg., Prof. Schimper has published,
under the name of JRhizomopteris, two fragments of plants, Selaginites Erdmanni,
Gein., and Selaginites uncinnatus, Lesqx., which, from the spiral development of
their branches, their ramifications and their scales, he considers as representing
small rhizoma of ferns rather than Lycopodiacew. I cannot agree, on this sub-
ject, with my celebrated friend. The plant published as Selaginites uncinnatus,
Lesqx., vol. ii, p. 446, pi. 41, of this Report, is too slender, and hag too slender
divisions to represent a rhizoma, even of a climbing fern. Its slender branches,
rather pinnately placed, are not more curved in spiral than they may be in
some of our species of Lycopodium, and the divisions are evidently pinnate,
like leaflets, and not scattered like hairs. The plant named Lycopodites Erd-
manni, by Geinitz, and which, as Prof. Schimper remarks, is different from
L. Erdmanni of Germ., has, like our Selaginites crassus, the ramification and
appearance of a Lycopodium, but from the examination of peculiar specimens
of the same species, seen by the author, it seems to belong to a rhizoma. Even
admitting that these two species represent climbing or aerial rhizomas, this
small proportion of organs of this kind, compared with the numerous species
of ferns known from the Coal Measures of Europe, would beunexplainable,but
for our American species. For the concretions of Mazon creek, and only
these from the whole extent of our Coal Measures, have furnished us numer-
ous specimens of eight species of these organs, some of them referable to sub-
terraneous rhizomas. It is, therefore, apparent that the organs of the ferns of
the Carboniferous epoch were the same, and in -the same proportion, as those of
our time, but, that some of these, like rhizomas and fruit-bearing fronds, have
been more generally destroyed in the shale on account of their soft texture.
The inflated subcylindrical base of a species of Annularia and of a Lepido-
dendron are also two remarkable characters, not recognized as yet in the same
kind of plants of the Coal Measures, and which we owe still to the peculiar
preservation of vegetable remains in the concretions of Illinois. Species of
the genus Annularia may have been represented in the swamps of the Carbon-
iferous period by two kinds of leaves, according to their growth, either in water
FOSSIL PLANTS. 497
or out of it, like some of our actual water plants which have for their suste-
nance in water peculiar organs, sometimes a mere swelling of their petioles, as
in Trapa natans for example, which disappear on the emerged parts. A like
lubulose, bladdery form characterizes the leaves of the species of Stigmaria,
whose long stems were sustained by these floating organs, and we could there-
fore easily admit a dimorphism of the leaves of plants which, like Annularia,
evidently lived partially in water. But the cylindrical form of the leaves of a
Lepidodendron, like those of L. rigens, cannot be explained in the same manner.
These leaves are evidently aerial organs, and by their form expose a new charac-
teristic not yet surmised in species of this genus, though it was already ob-
scurely marked by the position of the vascular lines seen in a different relation,
according to the plane in which their leaves have been flattened in shale.
The shales of Morris and Colchester have remains of small branches of a
Lepidodendron, referable to L, elegans or L. gracile, Brgt? one to two inches
thick, mostly dividing perpendicularly to their axis, bearing short flat leaves
and so abundant that they fill the shale to the thickness of one foot or more,
extending and covering a large space. These remains, scarcely varying in
thickness, do not look as though pertaining to erect stems, but rather appear
like creeping branches, extending all around, like those of some of our species
of jLycopodiacece. The roots of Lepidodendra are unknown as yet, and I be-
lieve that some species of this genus, heretofore considered as branches of trees,
are mere creeping stems, which, in some circumstances, only bear flowering
stems, or true Lepidodendra, It is the same with the genus Sigillaria, the
species of which I consider as fruiting stems of Stigmaria. It is easily con-
ceivable that large trees, like those of Lepidodendron and Sigillaria, could
not be sustained upon the soft surface of the swamps of the Coal period,
without a peculiar kind of support ; and this solidifying process of the surface
could only be afforded by a vegetation like that of floating or creeping stems
of the same kind of plants. Some Lycopodes of our time, when growing in
swamps, Lycopodium inundatum and L. clavatum for example, cover the soft
ground with their interlaced creeping branches, bearing their rare flowering
stems here and there, out of the reach and influence of water. Many aquatic
plants of our time also multiply their stems, extending them in every direction
by constant division, and fill large basins, even small lakes, never bearing any
flowering stem until they have formed, by compact netting, a kind of support
strong enough to sustain them out of water for fertilization. This is the case
especially with some species of our mosses, Hypnum Lycopodioides, H. fluctans,
Sphagna, etc. Some of our species of Utricularia have two very distinct
modes of vegetation. U. intermedia, for example, has, in water, its stems infi-
nitely expanded and divided, sustained as they are by their utricles, while in
sand the same species has a simple stem dividing at the base into three
—63
498 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
branches, true roots which still lower bear a few thread-like filaments, without
trace of leaves or utricles. I have compared this kind of vegetation to that
of Sigillaria of the Coal Measures, merely, of course, for the mode of develop-
ment.* Remains of Stigmaria fill whole banks of fire clay of our Coal Mea-
sures, to a thickness of from six to fifty feet, and no remains of Sigillaria have
ever been found in this clay in connection with them. Prof. Schimper men-
tions an analogous circumstance from his observation on the Vosges sandstone
(Grauwacke Vosgienne), whose entire strata are also filled with remains of Stig-
maria, and where no Sigillaria is ever found.t Roots cannot live by themselves,
independent of any other kind of organs, and it is certainly impossible to ex-
plain the mode of vegetation, the form, the nature of the Stigmaria and its
action, in considering it as a root. But admitting these plants to be the float-
ing stems of species of Sigillaria to which they have been sometimes seen at-
tached, their peculiar nature and mode of vegetation becomes explainable,
and in circumstances where they are found in the Coal Measures, they are in
perfect harmony with the general vegetation of that epoch, as well as with the
end which they were called to achieve. As is the case especially with our float-
ing mosses, these floating stems of the Carboniferous epoch have the characters
blended in a kind of uniformity which renders them scarcely recognizable.
All the Stigmaria bear the same kind of cylindrical, bladdery leaves, and there-
fore have all, though belonging to different species, the same kind of cicatrices
upon their stems, viz. , a circular, double ring, with a single vascular scar in the
center. This peculiarity has been heretofore a problem to palaeontologists.
Binney has seen Stigmaria ficoides as the roots of Sigillaria reniformis,
Rich. Brown has seen the same Stigmaria as the roots of Sigillaria alternans.
Prof. Goeppert has obtained a splendid specimen of Sigillaria elongata, with
Stigmaria as its roots, and Prof. Schimper has the same Stigmaria at the base of
a fourth species of Sigillaria, and the fossil trees procured by Dr. D. D. Owen,
should be quoted still as a fifth species, S. Owenii, Lesqx., bearing Stigmaria
as its basilar appendages. This Sigillaria to which I have already alluded, has
its mould preserved in perfect integrity with the scars of the stems, those of its
base and those of the divisions called roots, fully discernible. The cicatrices
of the stem have no affinity with those of any other species of Sigillaria hith-
erto known. They are double, horizontally distant from each other one and
one-fourth inches, vertically three-fourths of an inch, formed of two transversly
oval scars, close to each other, joined at the corners by a deep line, thus resem-
bling in miniature a pair of spectacles. The small oval scars are about one-
eighth of an inch across in their broadest diameter, deeply marked into the
*W. P. Schimper, Terrain de transition des Vosges, p. 324.
fProf. Goppert, in his Permain, compares it to that of the Prothalliun of the mosses.
There is a mere analogy of division of the branches ; nothing more.
FOSSIL PLANTS 499
stone, formed of an outer ring with crenulate borders, and a comparatively
large oval or elongated vascular scar in the middle. The double scars evidently
represent the point of attachment of single leaves, which, if they had any anal-
ogy of form to that of their base, should have been one-third of an inch broad,
with round sub- cylindrical borders, and a broad, flat, medial line. The surface
of the trunks is regularly and finely wrinkled in the length : the scars trans-
versely and still more finely so. The cicatrices, in descending towards the base
of the tree, gradually change their form. They first become united into one,
forming a deep triangular depression, with a single oval scar at the bottom,
and further down in reaching the divisions representing their roots, they be-
come round, with a central vascular point, exactly like those of Stigmaria
ficoides, though a little smaller. The divisions of the stem, at first inclined
downwards, become nearly horizontal at the broken extremities, distant twelve
inches from the base of the stem. The largest and best preserved of these
trunks is, near its base, four to five inches in circumference, dividing there in
nine cylindrical branches, the largest ones seven to nine inches in diameter,
merely forked near the broken end, which is two to three inches in diameter.
The smallest ones, five inches across, are simple. These divisions, though
marked with stigmaroid scars, appear indeed like roots, but it is evident that
species of Sigillaria have sometimes grown in sand, and I believe that, under
such circumstances, their subterranean divisions have somewhat modified their
form, and hence they become similar to roots, as do the stems of Utricularia
when they grow in sand. It is <to this kind of organs or roots of Sigillaria,
that the fragments described in this report are referable, under the generic
name of Sigittarwides*
From what is said of the relation of Stigmaria with Sigillaria, it is evident
that though the forms of Stigmaria are much alike, and generally as yet re-
ferred to one species, viz., S. faoides, Brgt., we have indeed as many species of
Stigmaria as of Sigillaria, In his Permian, Prof. Goppert still describes Stig-
maria' ficoides with eleven varieties, I cannot see why differences, though diffi-
cult to appreciate, should be considered as specific for one genus and as a mere
variation for the other. But botanical palaeontology is a peculiar science. It
offers to its adepts mere fragments of organs, whose relation to a whole is most-
ly unknown, forcing him either to generalize, and to consider in one species a
number of organs which evidently pertain to plants of various kinds, or to
specify and to divide under divers genera and species, fragments which, if not
evidently, at least often apparently, belong to the same vegetable. It is not
surprising that opinions concerning these remains are often at variance and
often modified, or that the student of these fossil remains becomes discouraged
*I have never had an opportunity of publishing descriptions with plates of these remarka-
ble trees. It may be done hereafter in the report of the Indiana Geological Survey.
500 PALEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
by the sterility of his researches. And yet it is to vegetable palteontology
mainly that we owe our acquaintance with the surface of our earth at the vari-
ous epochs. From it we learn the character of the various changes which
have modified this surface, and the admirable harmony of all the phenomena
produced in its successive modifications. This branch of science has therefore
a fascinating attraction, as it opens to our view the treasures of a vegetation that
no human eye has ever seen or can expect to see, except in their fossilized frag-
ments, and it shows us that all the divers epochs have been constantly working
to the same end: the preparation of a home for the human race; and this work
has been constantly pursued in admirable harmony under the direction of a
Supreme Intelligence.
§ 6. ON THE STRATIGRAPHICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL DIS-
TRIBUTION OF THE FOSSIL PLANTS OF THE COAL
MEASURES.
European palaeontologists, who have especially studied the fossil plants of
the Carboniferous strata, Brongniart, Goppert, Schimper, Geinitz, etc., have
admitted that the distribution of these plants is modified according to the age
of each bed of coal, and that, therefore, the horizontal position of the coal strata
may be recognized by species peculiar to each. These views, as it now ap-
pears, (1) have been advanced on theoretical ground, or are based on local ob-
servations which cannot be considered as furnishing conclusive proofs; for
local modifications in the succession of species of plants may be the result of
mere local atmospherical, or geographical changes, which do not affect the
characters of the whole flora, and therefore the comparative distribution of
the fossil species of plants of an epoch can not be ascertained, but from the
examination of this flora over the whole extent of its domain. A question of
this kind can certainly be examined in our country with better chances of a
definitive solution, than in any other part of the world, for our coal fields are of
vast extent, the disturbances of stratification are rare or uniform, easily recog-
nized by geologists, and the identification of the coal strata is ascertained at
different localities from stratigraphical evidence.
From the beginning of my researches, in 1850, on the fossil flora of our Coal
Measures, they have been pursued especially in view of obtaining positive data,
marking changes in the vegetable constituents of each coal bed, according to
its age, and therefore of recognizing species of plants peculiar to each (leading
species), which would serve for their identification. As my views on the sub-
(1) From the authority of Prof. Brongniart, in letters, 1869.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 501
ject have been published at different times, with the modifications induced by
the progress of the researches, a summary of what is positively ascertained as
yet on the stratigraphical distribution of the vegetation of the Coal Measures
is not out of place in this Report. (1)
When researches are restricted to a limited area, or to basins of small extent,
marked differences are recognizable in the species of vegetable remains in the
shales, as well as in the essential vegetable components of each bed of coal. It
is, then, an easy task to ascertain the relative position of the coal strata from
the comparison of these remains. But when researches are extended over a
wider area, changes of vegetation, evidently caused by geographical distribu-
tion, become more and more appreciable, some of the predominant species of a
recognized horizon disappearing at some localities, and giving place to others
of different characters. A glance at our table of distribution puts this in full
evidence. The coal beds of Morris, Colchester and Murphysborough, the two
first on the northeastern and northwestern, the last on the southwestern bor-
ders of the coal field of Illinois, are recognized, from all evidence, as repre-
senting coal No. 2, of the Illinois section, (in vol. 3, p. 6, of this Report) the
equivalent of coal 1 B, of the Kentucky Report. (2)
Though the general character of the flora may be considered as the same,
we find, by comparison of the species at Murphysborough, eight peculiar spe-
cies ; five only in common with Colchester and Morris, and twelve in common
with Morris only, or altogether, eight species proper, and seventeen in common
with strata of the same horizon examined elsewhere in Illinois. Colchester
and Morris have been more carefully searched for specimens and are nearer to
each other. They have seventeen species in common, while Colchester has
nine species not yet found at Morris, and Morris has forty-four species, with-
out counting those of Blazon creek, which, as yet, have not been seen at Col-
chester. The coal of Duquoin, considered as No. 5, of the Illinois section, and
the only one from which as yet we have in Illinois and from a higher hori-
zon a number of fossil plants which can be used for comparison, has eleven
species proper, and seventeen in common with some or all of the other named
localities. Points of difference and identity are therefore as well marked for
this bed of coal as if it belonged to the same horizon as the others, and the
same differences are observable in the distribution of common or more pre-
dominant species. For example, Neuropteris flexuosa is most abundant at
Murphysborough, and has not as yet been found at Colchester and Morris,
where Pecopteris villosa and Callipteris Sullivantii are the predominant species;
and these are but rarely found, or not at all, at Murphysborough. On the
(1) See, on this subject especially, Penna. Geol. Kept., p. 837; Amer. Jour, of Sci. and
Art, Nov. 1860.
(2) All these strata are here marked according to the Illinois section.
502 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
contrary, Pecopteris unita and Pecopteris plumosa are common at Duquoin and
Morris, especially in the nodules of Mazon creek, and rare, or not recognized
as yet at Colchester and Murphysborough.
From the examination of the table, one may easily see other points of differ-
ence between the species found at the same station, or of analogy between
those of different horizons. Nevertheless, I am not, on this account, prepared
to abandon, as an unsustainable hypothesis, the question of the stratigraphical
distribution of the fossil plants of the coal, for the following reasons :
1st. In a theoretical point of view, it is scarcely admissible that at an epoch
where the land surface has been universally, and at repeated times, modified
by deposits, either of sand or of limestone, sometimes of great thickness, indi-
cating a prolonged submersion, the flora, re-appearing after these terms of sub-
sidence, has always been represented by the same species distributed in the
same proportion. Atmospherical circumstances, indeed, are the essential
agents in modifying the characters of a flora, and these circumstances have
been apparently the same during the whole duration of the Carboniferous
epoch. But the elements or components of the soil, or of the water where the
plants have lived, have been evidently modified at different times, and even if
the medium affording life to the vegetation had been repeatedly the same,
some species of plants should have been lost or have somewhat changed their
forms in these repeated and prolonged submersions of the whole surface of the
coal fields. The destruction, or the first appearance of a species, either animal
or vegetable, is the most difficult phenomenon to ascertain. Animal species,
for example, seem to appear at once, and of far different kinds, in successive
geological strata. But these strata are either composed of different materials,
or have been formed in water of various depths, and under other varied cir-
cumstances. The changes of life, therefore, are local or casual phenomena,
which generally represent a mere displacement of groups, and are of no account
whatever in considering the first appearance, or the destruction of a single
species.
2d. The fossil plants hitherto obtained from the Coal Measures of Illinois
are mainly the result of local researches, too limited to serve as a basis for gen-
eral conclusions, and it is only after more extended examinations, and more
complete collections from other portions of the great area now occupied by
Carboniferous strata in this and the adjacent States, that we may expect to
obtain the data for determining, in a satisfactory manner, the distribution of
the Gabon iferous flora over the whole extent of our American coal fields.
3d. When this is done, we shall have sufficient proofs of a gradual change
in the characters of the vegetation of the Coal Measures from the first appear-
ance of land vegetation. The Lycopodiaceoun plants, represented by the genera
Lepidodendron, Knorria, Ulodendron, Sigillaria, etc., are already represented by
FOSSIL PLANTS. 503
large tree in the Devonian of Ohio; in the Upper Silurian and Lower Devo-
nian of Pennsylvania, (1) and occur in abundance in the Chester group (Lower
Carboniferous) of Illinois. Representatives of this family of plants become
more and more predominant in ascending, and by the number of species, and
the size of the trees, the group attains its full development near the base
of the true Coal Measures, at the horizon of coal No. 2. The bed of shale
overlaying the Sub-Conglomerate coal of Kentucky and Arkansas, appears gen-
erally as a compound of mere debris, especially the leaves of Lepidodendra.
This coal, like that of No. 2, shows also, upon its horizontal layers, distinct
remains of plants of the same kind. In Pennsylvania, the shale of the mam-
moth bed, which I consider as the equivalent of coal 2, is, in places, a com-
pound of large pieces of the bark of Sigillaria and Lepidodendra, superposed
in a thickness of one to two feet, like the leaves of a book. (2) At Cuyahoga
Falls, Ohio, the shale of the same coal is, in places, a mere compound also of
pieces of bark of Sigillaria, and in Illinois, as seen by our table, the remains
of Sigillaria and Lepidodendra predominate in the shale of coal No. 2, and
the place of this coal in the sandstone of Marseilles is marked by remains
of large trees of the same genera.
Ascending higher in the Measures, the Lycopodiaceous plants decrease in
number to coal No. 5, or to the Duquoin coal, which, from its vegetable re-
mains, appears to be the equivalent of coal No. 3. of the Kentucky Reports.
This family is here represented still by some species of Lepidodendron, Lepido-
phloios, by cones or Lepidostrobi of large size, and by a few Sigillaria of the
Lepidodendroid type, viz. : Sigillaria sculpta and 8. Brardei, which appear to be
universal species of the Carboniferous epoch. In higher strata of the Coal
Measures of the United States, species of Lepidodendra have not as yet been
found.
In connection with the Pittsburgh coal, as with coal No. 9 and No' 11, of
Kentucky, I have seen specimens of the two last named species of Sigillaria,
but no remains of Lepidodendra. From horizons above the Pittsburgh coal,
we know nothing as yet of the flora of our Coal Measures. But in Europe,
G-oppert, in his flora of the Permian, enumerates Sigillaria Brardei, and de-
scribes two new species, 8. denudata and 8. Danziana, which are nearly related
to Sigillaria sculpta, Lesqx., if not identical with it. The same work men-
tions also, as found in the lowest strata of the Permian Measures, Lepidoden-
dron Veltheimianum, already present in the Devonian of Europe, and with us
in the Lower Carboniferous limestones of Illinois, and with it he describes a
(1) Perm. Geol. Rep., p. 829, fig. 675, 677.
(2) A shale of this kind is, by an abrupt flexure of the coal strata, thrown up near Trevor-
ton, and exposed as a perpendicular wall.
504 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
few species of cones (Lepidostrobi) of diminutive size, indicating there the dis-
appearance of the large Lycopodiaceous plants which afterwards were not re-
presented in any of the formations of our earth.
The fruits described under the generic names of Trigonocarpus, Rhabdocarpus,
and Ptilocarpus, have as yet been found only from the Sub-Conglomerate coal
strata upwards to coal No. 2. They abound in the Millstone grit and the
hearth sandstone, as in the shale of coal No. 2. A few fruits of uncertain
affinity, and considered under the name of Carpolithes, have been observed
higher in the Measures ; for example, Carpolithesfasciculatus, at Grayville, Ills.
As yet these cases are very rare.
As to the ferns, the distribution at different horizons is more striking in
considering certain groups or races, rather than peculiar genera or species.
The genus Neuropteris, for example, is equally well represented, from the Sub-
Conglomerate coal of Arkansas to the highest strata of Pennsylvania and Ken-
tucky, by Neuropteris hirsuta, Neuropteris flexuosa, and Neuropteris Loschii, all
species closely related by their peculiar nervation. These are, moreover,
universally distributed over the whole extent of our coal fields, and in Europe
two, at least, ascend to the Permian. From this group, Neuropteris tenuifolia
is the only one which, appearing with the Sub-Conglomerate coal, has not as
yet been found higher than coal No. 2. Another section of this genus, espe-
cially comprising species of a coarse or thick nervation or texture, like Neu-
ropteris Clarksonii, N. rctrinervis, N. vermicularis, N. coriacea, N. pachyderm®,
etc., is as yet truly characteristic of coal No. 2, none of them having as yet
been found above or below it. All the species of the genus Odontopteris ap-
pear distributed from the coal strata under the Millstone grit up to coal No. 1
and No. 2. In Illinois, as in Pennsylvania, most of the species are found in
connection with the last bed. It is the same with the species of large, thick
leaved Alethopteris, A. lonchitica, A. Serlii, A. Mazoniana, A. Massillonis, . A,
Owenii, etc. They form, with Callipteris Sullivantii, a distinct and peculiar
group, which may be considered truly characteristic of coal No. 2. AktJiopteris
lonchitica, has always been for me an essential leading species, and never, as
yet, has misled me as marking the horizon of the mammoth vein of Penna.
In the east, it is a most common species ; it abounds also at Cuyahoga Falls,
Ohio ; but it seems to disappear in some basins, as for example in Illinois,
where its place is taken by Alethopteris Serlii and Callipteris Sullivantii.
Of Pecopteris, the section which Brongniart separates under the name of
Sphenopteroides, and which Schimper rightly places in the genus SphenopteriS}
is the only one which may be considered as yet as peculiar to the lower Coal
Measures. Its species, Pecopteris Murrayana, P. chosrophylloides, P. Newlerryi.
with Sphenopteris latifolia, S. oltusiloba, and 8. acuta} are found in connection
FOSSIL PLANTS. 505
with coal No. 2. Hymenophyllites furcatus has more generally been found be-
low the Millstone grit, but it ascends, though rarely, to coal No. 2, where also
Hymenopliyllites splendens, If. Scklotheimii and some other species of the section
Aphlebia are generally found.
As representative of the higher coal strata of Illinois, or of coal No. 5, there
is no particular species to quote. AletTiopteris aquilina, with Pecopteris unita, P.
plumosa, Cordaites angustifolia, and species of Lepidophloios, are there repre-
sented by more abundant specimens than anywhere else, but remains of these
plants have been also observed in the lower Coal Measures. In the anthracite
basin of Pennsylvania, the highest strata are recognized by the presence of
Pecopteris arborescens, which has not been as yet positively discovered in Illi-
nois, the small specimens referred to it from a nodule of Mazon creek being
too obscure for certain identification; This species, the most abundant of all
in some localities of Pennsylvania, is found also in profusion in the red clay
beds of Ohio, especially in the grotto of flowers, near Marietta, where it is
represented by a slightly different form, perhaps a mere variety of P. rubra,
Lesqx. In Europe, it ascends to the Permian, where its characters, though
somewhat modified, have been considered as specific by Goppert, who has
named it P. ( Cyatheites) Sclilotheimii. It is there, as with us, associated with
its large form P. Cyathea, Brgt. The section Cyatheites of the genus Pecopte-
ri&, is, indeed, of all the fossil ferns of the coal, the one which is, in some of
its species, characteristic of the higher coal strata. But as yet these species
are indifferently known, and therefore it is hardly possible to indicate them as
peculiar to a certain horizon. For example, Pecopteris polymorpha, Brgt.,
abounds in the highest coal strata of Illinois at Grayville, and near New Har-
mony, Ind. It is generally like P. arborescens, a marked species of our upper
Coal Measures, while Pecopteris abbrcviata, which Prof. Geinitz takes as a
mere variety of it, is common at Morris, Mazon creek and other places, always
in connection with coal No. 2, and has not yet been observed in higher strata.
The differences in these horizons, as well as in the form of the pinnae, indicate
these remains as representing two different species, though the nervation is of
the same kind. It is certain that, as the Lycopodiaceous plants of the coal
decrease in the number of their representatives, as in their size, in ascending
in the Coal Measures, they are proportionally replaced by ferns, either herba-
ceous or arborescent. This change is everywhere evident in the shale over-
laying the coal beds, as in the coal itself. At Grayville, and especially at
Springfield, 111., where the upper coal is nearly 200 feet above coal No. 5,
the lamellae of the coal bear a quantity of recognizable leaflets and branches
of ferns, especially of the genus Pecopteris. The roof shales of the Pomroy
coal in Ohio are thickly covered with remains of ferns, especially large'pinnje,
still bearing leaves of Neuropteris flexuosa and N. hirsuta. A bed of shale,
—64
506 PALEONTOLOGY OP ILLINOIS.
which in places underlies the Pittsburg coal, is also a mere compound of stems
and leaves of this last species, and I have received from the highest coal bed
of Kansas, which is considered by some geologists as belonging to the Permian
strata, a large lot of specimens of the roof shale, which, like those from under
the Pittsburg coal, contain leaves of the same Neuropteru hirsuta heaped in
profusion, without any other species but JV. Loschii.
From the horizon of the Pittsburg coal, we have from Pennsylvania two re-
markable species, whose discovery is due to the sagacious investigation of Rev.
D. C. Moore, and which, by their characters, appear related rather to species of
the Permian, or even of the Oolite, than to those of the Carboniferous epoch.
One is the peculiar Neuropteris JMoorii, Lesqx., Penn. Geol. Kept., p. 860, PL
xix, fix. 1,* related by the pointed form of its leaflets and their size to Pecop-
teris Whitbiensis, LI. and Hutt., of the Oolite of England. The second is
apparently a species of Schizoneum, a new genus of Schimper, represented as
yet by only four species in the Trias and the Oolite of Europe. Our species
is known only by small branches, one-fourth of an inch broad, striated length-
wise, like those of a Sphenophyllum, articulated at short distances, bearing at
the articulations whorls of ten to twelve ob lanceolate obtuse flat leaflets, about
one inch long, marked lengthwise by parallel thin veinleta. These leaflets ap-
pear distinct or unconnected to their base, which is marked by small, circular,
distinct scars. No trace of a vagina has been observed as yet.
The presence of these peculiar plants in the higher Coal Measures of Penn-
sylvania may not be more conclusive, as indicating a distinct geological horizon,
than are the numerous remains of insects, crustaceans, etc., discovered in the
nodules of Mazon creek, and which have as yet their relatives only represented
in the Permian. But I desire to make here only a record of facts, according to
our actual knowledge, in regard to the flora of the Coal Measures, and leave to
future discoverers the task of obtaining more reliable data for a definitive con-
clusion on the subject.
The examination of the geographical distribution of the flora of our Car-
boniferous strata, according to the suggestions of Prof. H. D. Rogers, in the
preparation of the Pennsylvania Geological Report, proposes the solution of
these three questions: 1st. What is the geological relation of our Coal Mea-
sures with those of Europe, in considering the vegetable constituents of the
strata in both continents ? 2d. From the same kind of researches, is the anthra-
cite basin of Pennsylvania identical in its age and in the distribution of its
measures with the great Apalachian bituminous coal basin of Ohio and Penn-
sylvania ? And as a corollary : 3d. What is the geological relation of the sepa-
*Prof. W. P. Schimper has separated this species as the type of a new genus Lescuropteris^
a separation already indicated by my remarks with the description of this species, loc. cit.
FOSSIL PLANTS. 507
rate coal basins of Western Kentucky, Illinois and Michigan with our eastern
coal fields ? The first two of these questions have been examined and answered
in the Geological Report of Pennsylvania, pp. 839-842. Though new discove-
ries might now furnish some interesting details to the discussion, nothing has
as yet been found in the Coal Measures, which might tend to invalidate the
conclusions admitted in that report. The third question has been also consid-
ered* from data obtained in the geological explorations of Kentucky, Arkansas
and Indiana, and therefore I have but to add here a few remarks which are
called for by the species recently found in the Coal Measures of Illinois.
We cannot expect to trace any marked differences indicating climatic divi-
sions from the northern to the southern limits of the coal fields of Illinois.
Local changes, as indicated from the table of distribution, can but be consid-
ered as casual, and not ascribed to any permanent or general thermal influence.
The relation of the Coal Measures of Illinois with the eastern coal fields of
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Nova Scotia, is indicated not only by the com-
mon or more predominant species, but also by some rare and striking ones.
The coal of Morris, for example, has, in common with that of Newport, R. I.,
Pecopteris squamosa, Pecopteris unita, Odontopteris Schlotlieimii and Asterophyl-
lites loBvis ; with the low beds of anthracite of Pennsylvania, Callipteris Sulli-
vantii, Neuropteris Jimbriata, N. rai'wervis, N. Clarksonii, N'. Desorii, etc.,
and with the Coal Measures of Nova Scotia: Odontopteris subcuneata, a species
not seen as yet in any other part of the coal fields of the United States. Some
species of the eastern basin, lilce Neuropteris Rogersl, Lesqx., Odontopteris
aluta, Lesqx., Alethoptei-is obscura, Lesqx., Whittleseya elegans ,Newb.5etc., have
not yet been found in Illinois • but these are very rare species, discovered each
at a single locality, as are some of the new species described from the coal fields
of Illinois, and which may be found elsewhere hereafter. Illinois has likewise
about 30 species known in the coal flora of Europe, and which have not been
yet seen in the more eastern coal fields of America.
Of the common species of our eastern coal fields, not yet found in Illinois,
none can be quoted but Dictyopteris obliqua, Bunb., locally abundant in the
shale of the high coal near Pottsville, Penn., of Newport, R. I., and of the sub-
conglomerate coal of Arkansas; Sphenopteris artemisvEfolia, Brgt., rare every-
where, sparingly found in the low beds of the anthracite basin of Pennsylva-
nia and of the western coal fields of Kentucky ; Pecopteris arborescens, already
quoted; Pecopteris Loschii and the peculiar Brackyphylkim obtitsum, Lesqx.,
both locally predominant in the anthracite fields. The near relation of the coal
basin of Illinois with the other coal fields of this continent, is thus demonstra-
ted by its fossil flora.
* Journal of Science and Art, July, 1860.
508 PALAEONTOLOGY OF ILLINOIS.
The number of European species recognized in the Coal Measures of Illinois
do not change in any way the relation of the American Coal Measures with
those of Europe. It remains now the same as I have presented it formerly
(Penn. Geol. Rep., loc. cit.). If general affinity is ascertained by a large num-
ber of plants, either identical or closely related, geographical differences in the
vegetation are indicated by peculiar species or races of ours, which as yet have
not been observed in the Coal Measures of Europe. It is true that European
palaeontologists, though at work on the coal flora for more than a century, still
discover species, either identical with or allied to some of ours, which were
once considered as exclusively pertaining to the American coal flora ; for ex-
ample, a fimbriate Cyclopteris* from a small anthracite basin of the Swiss Al-
pine mountains. But these cases are very rare indeed, and besides what is
known from other parts of our coal fields, Illinois has now furnished a number
of these peculiar types of vegetables, which render geographical disparity more
appreciable. Of this kind are especially Neuropteris verbenirfolia, JV. Evenii,
N. pachyderma, Dictyopteris rubella, Alethopteris hymenophylloides, A. inflata,
A. solida, Pecopteris Strongii, species of Stapliylopteris, /Sphenopteris scaberri-
ma, Hymenophyllites mollis, /Schutzia bractenta, a number of species of Lepido-
dendra and Sigillaria, Syringodendron Porteri, MegapTiytum McLayii, species
of Caulopteris and of fruits of Palseoxyris. Indeed, no genus of our coal flora,
except, perhaps, Calamites, can be considered as represented on both continents
by species all identical or closely allied. As these points of difference, like
those of affinity, have been observed from the beginning of the researches on
the coal flora, and have not varied much in comparative quantity, they appear
to fully corroborate the statement that, at the Carboniferous epoch, the flora
which formed the constituents of the coal, was in Europe and in the United
States as different, and at the same time as relatively alike, as is now the flora
of the peat bogs of the two continents.
* Cyclopteris lacerata, Heer., see descriptive part. The predominant species of this Alpine
basin, which was fora long time considered as of a different formation from that of the Car-
boniferous epoch, is Odontopteris Alpina, Brgt., a peculiar plant, which, as yet, with uSjhaa
been found only in connection with the anthracite of Rhode Island.
INDEX.
Adams county, geology of 43
Adams county, Quaternary system in 44
Adams county, Coal Measures in 48
Adams county, St. Louis limestone in . . 51
Adams county, Keokuk limestone in 68
Adams county, Burlington limestone in. . 55
Adams county, Kinderhook group in 57
Adams county, economical geology of. ... 58
Adams county, soil and timber in 60
Alethopteris 391
Alethopteris crenulata 392
Alethopteris cristata 395
Alethopteris erosa 394
Alethopteris emarginata 398
Alethopteris falcata 396
Alethopteris Hallii 394
Alethopteris Hymenophylloides 393
AJethopteris longifolia 469
Alethopteris lanceolata .398
Alethopteris Mazoniana 891
Alethopteris muricata 395
Alethopteris Pluckneti 895
Alethopteris Pennsylvaniaca 469
Alethopteris eolida 397
Alethopteris spinulosa 396
Amblipterus macropterus 348
Annularia inflata 423
Annularia longifolia 422
Antliodus sarcululus 356
Aphlebia 410 and 414
Asterocarpus grandis 469
Asteroptychius triangularis .... 370
Asterophyllites grandis 424
Asterophyllites foliosus 424
Asterophyllites rigidus 424
Asterophyllites tuberculatus 424
Brown county, geology of 62
Brown county, Quaternary system in 63
PAGE.
Brown county, Coal Measures in 66
Brown county, St. Louis limestone in. ... 68
Brown county, Keokuk group in 69
Brown county, economical geology of. ... 70
Brown county, soil and agriculture 73
Callipteris Sullivantii 468
Carpolithes bullatus 463
Carpolithes corticosus 462
Carpolithes persicaria 462
Cass and Menard counties, geology of. . . 163
Cass and Menard counties, Coal Measures
in 165
Cass and Menard counties, economical ge-
ology of 173
Calhoun county, geology of. 1
Calhoun county, St. Peters sandstone in . . 3
Calhoun county, Trenton group in 4
Calhoun county, Cincinnati group in 5
Calhoun county, Niagara limestone in... . 6
Calhoun county, Hamilton group in 8
Calhoun county, Kinderhook group in .... 9
Calhoun county, Burlington limestone in. 12
Calhoun county, Keokuk limestone in 14
Calhoun county, St. Louis limestone in. . . 15
Calhoun county, Coal Measures in 15
Calhoun county, Quaternary system in. ... 17
Calhoun county, economical geology of. .. 18
Calhoun county, soil and agriculture of. . 22
Cap au Ores, fault 2
Caulopteris acantophora 458
Caulopteris intermedia 459
Caulopteris obtecta 467
Champaign and Ford counties, geology of.. 272
Chondrites Colletti 379
Coal, analyses of. .33, 50, 58, 85, 86, 104,
105, 257, 259, 316
Coal shaft, Jacksonville 159
Coal shaft, Bloomington 186
II
INDEX.
Coal shaft, Braidwood 213
Coal shaft, Martin's, Mercer county 803
Coal shaft, Bradford, Stark county 327
Coal shaft, S. C. Francis', Stark county. .326
Coal shaft, Metamora 337
Coal shaft, Minonk 338
Cladodus deflexus 355
Cladodus elegans 354
Cladodus ischypus 354
Cochliodus costatus 364
Cordaites angustifolia 420
Ctenacanthus Mayi » 872
Cymatodus 363
Cymatodus oblongus 364
DeKalb, Kane and Dupage counties, geolo-
gy of HI
DeKalb, Kane and DuPage counties, arte-
sian well in 114
DeKalb, Kane and DuPage counties, Nia-
gara group in 114
DeKalb, Kane and DuPage counties, Cin-
cinnati group in 121
DeKalb, Kane and DuPage counties, Tren-
ton group in 122
DeKalb, Kane and DuPage counties, econo-
mical geology of 123
Deltodus alatus 368
Deltodus angustus 368
Deltodus fasciatus 366
Deltodus Littoni 367
Dictyopteris 388
Dictyopteris rubella 388
Edestus Heinrichsii. 850
Edestus vorax 350
Edgar county, geology of 266
Edgar county, section of rocks in 267
Equisetites 425
Equisetites occidentalis 425
Fossil fishes, remarks on 345
Fossil plants 377
Fossil plants, distribution of. 500
Fossil plants, list of 471
Fossil plants, preserved in coaP 478
Fossil plants, preserved in shale 479
Fossil plants, preserved in concretions. . .481
Fossil plants, preserved by mineralization.488
Fossil plants, affinities of 489
Fulton county, geology of. 90
Fulton county, Coal Measures in 93
Fulton county, conglomerate in 102
Fulton county, St. Louis limestone in. . . .103
Fulton county, economical geology of. . . .103
Fulton county, list of trees in '. . 109
Grundy county, geology of. 190
Grundy county, Post Tertiary beds in. . . .191
Grundy county, Coal Measures in 194
Grundy county, Cincinnati group in 200
Grundy county, Trenton limestone in. . . .201
Grundy county, St. Peters sandstone in.. .201
Grundy county, economical geology of. . .202
Grundy county, artesian wells in 205
Halonia 450
Halonia tuberculata 451
Helodus compressus 360
Helodus rugosus , . 359
Henderson county, geology of. 276
Henderson county, Coal Measures in 278
Henderson county, Keokuk group in 279
Henderson county, Burlington limestone in281
Henderson county, Kinderhook group in. .285
Henderson county, economical geology of 286
Hydraulic limestone 40, 205
Hymenophyllites 410
Hymenophyllites alatus 41 1
Hymenophyllites adnascens .... 414
Hymenophyllites arborescens 415
Hymenophyllites Clarkii 416
Hymenophyllites delicatulus 412
Hymenophyllites furcatus 470
Hymenophyllites Gutbierianus 416
Hymenophyllites inflatus 414
Hymenophyllites lactuca 415
Hymenophyllites mollis 418
Hymenophyllites myriophyllum 412
Hymenophyllites Schlotheimii 412
Hymenophyllites splendens 413
Hymenophyllites Strongii 417
Hymenophyllites tenuifolius 413
Hymenophyllites thallyformis 417
Hymenophyllites trichomanoides 411
Hymenophyllites tridactylites 411
Iron ore 21, 87, 106, 174, 223, 285, 262
Iron ore, analyses of 87
Kankakee and Iroquois counties,geology of. 226
Kankakee and Iroquois counties, Drift in . . 229
INDEX.
Ill
Kankakee and Iroquois counties, Coal Mea- ;
sures in 231
Kankakee and Iroquois counties, Niagara
limestone in 232
Kankakee and Iroquois counties, Cincinna-
ti group in 233
Kankakee and Iroquois counties, economi-
cal geology of , 234
Kankakee and Iroquois counties, ancient
valley in 23*7
Kendall county, geology of 136
Kendall county, Coal Measures in 138
Kendall county, Niagara group in 139
Kendall county, Trenton limestone in. . . .143
Kendall county, St. Peters sandstone in.. .146
Kendall county, economical geology of. . . 147
Knorria 445
Knox county, geology of. 813
Knox county, Coal Measures in 314
Knox county, economical geology of. 322
Lepidodendron 428
Lepidodendron cruciatum 432
Lepidodendron elegans 433
Lepidodendron forulatum 431
Lepidodendron gracile 433
Lepidodendron Greenii 433
Lepidodendron modulatum .430
Lepidodendron Morrisianum 430
Lepidodendron mammillatum 432
Lepidodendron rigens 429
Lepidodendron Tijoui 431
Lepidophloios auriculatum 439
Lepidophloios laricinum 440
Lepidophloios protuberans 440
Lepidostrobus 440
Lepidostrobus connivens 442
Lepidostrobus lancifolius 442
Lepidostrobus oblongifolius 441
Lepidostrobus ornatus 443
Lepidostrobus ovatifolius. 441
Lepidostrobus truncatus 442
Lepidophyllum foliaceum .444
Lepidophyllum rostellatum .443
Lepidophyllum striatum 443
Listracanthus 371
Listracanthus hystrix 372
Lophodus 360
Lophodus variabilis 361
Lycopodites annulariaefolius 426
Lycopodites Meekii 426
McHenry and Lake counties, geology of. .126
McHenry and Lake counties, Drift depo-
sits in 129
McHenry and Lake counties, Niagara
group in 131
McHenry and Lake counties, Cincinnati
group in 132
McHenry and Lake counties, economical
geology of 183
Mercer county, geology of 301
Mercer county, Loess and Drift in 302
Mercer county, Coal Measures in 302
Mercer county, Kinderhook group in 807
Mercer county, economical geology of. ... 807
Mercer county, soil and agriculture of. . . .311
Morgan county, geology of. 149
Morgan county, Coal Measures in 151
Morgan county, St. Louis limestone in. . .160
Morgan county, economical geology of. . . .161
Neuropteris. 380
Neuropteris angustifolia 467
Neuropteris capitata 388
Neuropteris Collinsi. 382
Neuropteris coriacea 387
Neuropteris crenulata 468
Neuropteris fimbriata 384
Neuropteris fasciculata. . . . , 381
Neuropteris hirsuta 380
Neuropteris inflata 387
Neuropteris microphylla . . . : 467
Neuropteris rarinervis 386
Neuropteris verbenaefolia 385
Neuropteris vermicularis 385
Odontopteris Bradleyi 390
Odontopteris £chlotheimii 391
Odontopteris subcuneata 390
Orodus corrugatus 358
Pachypteris 419
Pachypteris gracillima 419
Palaeoniscus gracilis 347
Palaeoxyris 464
Palaeoxyris appendiculata 465
Palseoxyris corrugata 466
Palasoxyris Prendeli 464
Peat, deposits of 124, 134,148
Pecopteris abbreviate 403
Pecopteris arguta 402
Pecopteris aspidioides 403
Pecopteris Bucklandi 401
IV
INDEX.
Pecopteris chcerophylloides 404
Pecopteris dentata 404
Pecopteris elegans 408
Pecopteris flavicans 404
Pecopteris hemiteloides 401
Pecopteris villosa 402
Peltodus 862
Peltodus unguiformis 868
Petalodus curtus. ." 355
Petrodus pustulosus 869
Physonemus gigas 873
Pike county, geology of 24
Pike county, Niagara limestone in 26
Pike county, Kinderhook group in 27
Pike county, Burlington limestone in. ... 29
Pike county, Keokuk group in 31
Pike county, St. Louis group in 82
Pike county, Coal Measures in 82
Pike county, Quaternary system in 35
Pike county, economical geology of 37
Platysomus circularis 847
Poecilodus convolutus. 866
Polyrhizodus Littoni 357
Polyrhizodus truncatus 357
Potters' clay 60, 71, 86, 162, 204,^221, 262
Rhabdocarpus 461
Rhabdocarpus clavatus 461
Rhabdocarpus mammillatus 461
Rizodus reticulatus 849
Riuodus 374
Sandalodus missus 369
Schizopteris 411, 418
Schutzia 427
Schutzia bracteata 427
Schuyler county, geology of 76
Schuyler county, Quaternary system in . . , 76
Schuyler county, Coal Measures in 77
Schuyler county, St. Louis group in 84
Schuyler county, Keokuk group in 84
Schuyler county, economical geology of. .. 85
Sigillariae semina 463
Sigillaria alternans 447
Sigillaria I'istii 447
Sigillaria coirugat^ , , «.•••• 445
Sigillaria Massiliensis .....' 448
Sjgillaria spinulosa 447
Sigillarioides 449
Sigillarioides radicans , . . .449
Sigjllarioides stellaris .4,50
Sphenopteris elegans 410
Sphenopteris gracilis 408
Sphenopteris mixta 409
Sphenopteris scaberrima 408
Sphenopteris trifoliata 410
Sphenophyllum cornutum 421
Sphenophyllum filiculmis 422
Springs, mineral 22, 80, 148, 189
Springs, Perry 40
Springs, Versailles 73
Staphylopteris 405
Staphylopteris asteroides 406
Staphylopteris sagittatus 407
Staphylopteris Wortheni 405
Stark county, geology of 325
Stark county, Quaternary^deposits in 326
Stark county, Coal Measures in 326
Stark county, economical geology of. ... 330
Stark county, soil and agriculture of . . . . 333
Stigmaria elliptica 461
Stigmaria umbonata 452
Stigmarioides 452
Stigmarioides aflinis 455
Stigmarioides linearis 455
Stigmarioides selago 458
Stigmarioides truncatus 453
Stigmarioides villosus 454
Stigmarioides? rugosus 470
Syringodendron cyclostigma 449
Syringodendron pes-capreoli 448
Syringodendron Porteri 448
Tazewell, McLean, Logan and Mason coun-
ties, geology of 176
Tazewell, McLean, Logan and Mason coun-
ties, boundaries of. 176
Tazewell, McLean, Logan and Mason coun-
ties, geological formations in 177
Tazewell, McLean, Logan and Mason coun-
ties, Drift section of 178
Tazewell, McLean, Logan and Mason coun-
ties, Coal Measures In 179
Tazewell, McLean, Logan and Mason coun-
ties, economical geology of. 1 8/7
Trigonocarpum noeggerathii 460
Trigonocarpum olivaeformis 460
Ulodendron 434
Ulodendron elongatum , 437
Ulodendron ellipticum ^ 486
Ulodendron jnqjus 435
INDEX.
Ulodendron punetatuni
PAGE.
..438
Vermilion county, geology of 241
Vermilion county, Loess in 242
Vermilion county, Drift in 242
Vermilion county, Coal Measures in 244
Vermilion county, economical geology of. 255
Warren county, geology of 288
Warren county, Coal Measures in ...... 289
Warren county, Burlington limestone in.. 205
Warren county, Kinderhook group in ...297
Warren county, economical geology of. . .298
Will county, geology of 207
Will county, Quaternary beds in . . .208
Will county, Coal Measures in 209
Will county, Niagara limestone in 213
Will county, Cincinnati group in 21G
Will county, general section of beds in. ..219
Will county, economical geology of 219
Will comity, comparison of levels in 224
Woodford county, geology of 334
Woodford county, Loess and Drift in 335
Woodford county, Coal Measures in 337
Woodford county, economical geology of. .340
Woodford county, soil and agriculture of. .341
E R 11 A T A .
Page 22, 15th lino from bottom, tor "oUV read older.
Page 90, 15th Hue from bottom, for "positions" read portions.
Page 97, Kith line Irom top, for ''southeast" read southwest.
Page 109, 15th line from bottom, lor "Cophalunthus'' read Cephalauthus.
Page 110, 10th line from top, f.«r "eriocephala" read eriocephala.
Page 120, llth line from bottom, for "gas I era pod" read gasteropod.
Page 136, 8th line from top, f.ir "three" read these
I'age 16S, 12th line from bottom, ftr "Koissi"' read Royssii.
Page 184, Kith line from top, for "exactneas"' read exactness.
Page 195, 8th line from top, for "Crustareon" read Crustai can.
Page 195, ISth line from bottom, f >r "Morgan" read Mazon.
Page 201, Kkh line Irom top, for "fossil" read fossils.
\Pagc 2-iii, 18t!i line from top, for "oxide"' read ox;d.
Jage 233, 3d line from top, for "ara"' read are.
'age 251, 20th line from top. for "is quite it" read it is qni!o.
ge 319, Hith line from top, for "Geineiizii"' read Geinitzii.
re S'56, 10th line from bottom, for 'Tamarach'' read Tamarack.
e :i50, luth line from top, for "enamelled" read enameled.
1 "A 353, llth line from bottom, for "bHumizat'on" read bituminizatlon.
£s6, f>th Hue from top, for "bevelled" read beveled.
;jst ] 11Ci for "are" read one.
ll, 15th line from top, and 3C1, 4th line from bottom, for ''bevelled'" read beveled
, bottom line, for "enamelled" read ennmetodi
12th tine from bottom, for "diversions" read divisions,
jjth line from bottom, and bottom line, (or '-Brongnaiti" read Brongniarli.
th line from Bottom, for "coreaeeous" read coriaceous.
opteris Erdmauni.
PLATE I.
PAfiE.
Fig. 1 . EDESTCS HEXREICHSII, N. and W 350
1 a. Side view, two-thirds natural size.
1 b. Section of the same, one-half natural size.
Fig. 2. EDKSTUS VORAX, Leidy 350
Side view of specimen, natural size.
ii a TAJ
.
••hi) lohaiii. i
. . . - : 7/ f)fii; ./ ,j.i
,
! ,'•!•>/ y.
.iiyjiii'»'i<|- Hliii:
.
.
7/ lni.
.
908
.Off
v/ 1 i/i
.oxifc lirt:t>
V/ lun ,'M.nU
.y,\ia Iintuii/t .ii-jitri'j'Xi*- '!<> '••)(;)•!•
•
PLATE II.
PAGE.
Fig. 1. PHYSONEMCS GIGAS, N. and W 378
1. Lateral view of spine, natural size. t
1 a. One of the anterior tubercles enlarged.
Fig. 2. CTENACANTHUS MAYI, N. and W 372
2. View of a specimen of large size, imperfect at the base.
2 a. Section of the same.
Fig. 3. LISTRACANTHUS HYSTRix, N. and W 872
3. A very large specimen, natural size.
3 a. View of a very small specimen.
Fig. 4. ASTEROPTYCHIUS TRIANGULAR^, N. and W 370
4. Lateral surface of a specimen of medium size, imperfect at base and apex.
Fig. 5. PETRODUS ? PUSTULOSUS, N. and W 369
5. Upper surface of a very large specimen.
• 5 a. Profile of the same.
Fig. 6. DELTODUS ALATITS, N. and W 368
Superior surface of a large specimen, natural size.
Fig. 7. PELTODCS TINGUIFORMIS, N. and W 363
7. View of the basal and anterior crown surface.
7 a. Profile of the same.
Fig. 8. ANTLIODUS SARCULULUS, N. and W 356
8. Posterior face, natural size.
8 a, 86. Anterior face, and profile of the same.
PCECILODTIS CONVOLUTUS, N. and W 366
View of superior surface, natural size.
10. HELODUS RITGOSTS, N. and W 359
10. Posterior face of specimen, natural size.
10 a. Profile of the same.
IB O K a IP- IE !B <D
Coal Measures.
& Lower CarL. Limestone.
Chs. KWorthen del.
A.H.Woilhen dirext
, . /..ll
. .
-
.
.89
,
8S8
.
.
•V(H.
.00 f
•j.ial-J
. . .
•
.fcl
PLATE III.
PAGE.
PLATYSOMUS ORBICULARIS, N". and W*
View of specimen, natural size.
Fig. 2. PETALODUS CURTUS, N. and W 355
. 2. View of inner face of specimen, natural size.
2 a. Section of the same
Fig. 3. CLADODUS DEFLEXUS, N. and W 355
3. Anterior face, natural Aze.
3 a. Ou line of base seen from below.
Fig. 4. PALAIONISCUS GRACILIS, N. and W 847
View of specimen, natural size.
Fig. 5. DELTODUS COMPLANATUS, N. and W., vol ii, p. 98.
5. View of upper surface of a much worn specimen, natural size.
8. Basal portion of a larger individual, also much worn.
Fig. 6. PETRODUS ? PUSTULOSUS, N. and W 369
Upper surface of a small specimen.
Fig. 7. DELTODUS ANGUSTUS, N. and W 368
View of specimen, natural tuze, and enlargement showing the character of
the surface punctation.
Fig. 9. RHIZODUS RETICULATUS, N. and W 349
9. View of a scale of very small size.
13. View of a very large specimen.
14. A specimen of medium size; all natural size.
Fig. 10. COCHLIODUS COSTATUS, N. and W 364
10. "Third " tooth, showing crown surface.
12. " Second " tooth.
12 a. The same, seen from above.
Fig. 11. DELTODUS SPATULATUS, N. and W., vol. ii, p. 100.
An imperfect specimen of medium size, seen from above.
Fi<>- 15. HELODUS COMPRESSUS. N. and W .. 360
O
15. Posterior face of tooth, natural size.
15 a. Profile of the same.
Fig. 16. POLYRHIZODUS TUUNCAius, N. and W 3S7
16. Posterior face, natural size.
16 a. Section of the same.
Fig. 17. DELTODUS FASCIATUS, N. and W 366
View of upper surface of tooth, natural size.
Fig. 1 8. ORODCS CORRUGATUS, N. and W , 358
18. View of a series of teeth, natural size.
18 a. Profile of the game.
* The description of this species was unfortunately overlooked.
rOL.lV
PL. Ill
r IJ131
Coal Measures and
Lower Garb. Limestone
AlH .Worthen dirext
.71
:;ntH
'ff i'tji; • .S .yt'i
'
, . ..554
;<;/. ,!
•
. •
.
,• If
-
.
.
PLATE IV.
PAKE.
Fig. 1. RHIZODUS OOCCIDKNTAI.IS, N. and W., vol. ii, p. 19.
View of a Fcale preserved in f=ha!e, natural eiz<\
Fig. 2. PLATYSOMCS CIRCULARIS, N. and W 347
View of a specimen of natural size.
Fig. 3. SANDALODCS CRASSUS, N and W 369
3. Superior surface of a specimen of ordinary size.
3 a. Section of the same.
Fig. 4. LOPHODUS VARIABILIS, N. and W 361
4. Anterior face of tooth, natural size.
4t a. " " viewed from above.
46. " " posterior face.
fi, 5 a. Anterior and posterior of another specimen, natural size.
11. Anterior face of central ? tooth, natural size.
11 a. Po teri r face of the same.
116. " " seen in profile.
Fig. 6. CLADODUS ISCHYPUS, N. and W 354
6. Anterior face of tooth, natural size.
6 a. " " " seen in profile.
Fig. 7. CYMATODUS OBLONGUS, JsT. and W 364
7. Crown surface, natural size.
7 a. Profile of the same.
Fig. 8. DELTODUS LITTONI, K and W 367
8. Upper surface of a specimen of large size.
8 a. The same, seen in profile.
Fig. 9. CLADODUS ELEGANS, N. and W 3.j4
View of the posterior face of tooth, natural size, and section of median cone.
Fig. 10. POLYRHIZODUS LITTONI, X. and W 3C7
10. Anterior face of tooth, natural size.
10 a. Section of the same
•QL.1V
PL'-IV
IK 19 iX 3 3PTF1 35 O "t 8
.*:>*'!
IHJ;
PLATE V.
PAGK.
Fig. 1 to 4. NKUROPTERIS FASCIOI'LATA, Sp. uov 381
Fig. 5 and 6. N'KUROPTKRIS COLUNSU, Sp. nov. , 382
Coal Measures
Detail, IFI.D.R.!
A.H.Worthen dirext
.
'
PLATE VI.
PAGE.
Fig. 1. NEUROPTERIS VERMICULARIS, Lesqx 385
Fig. 1. Enlarged pinnule of the same
Fig. '6. Terminal leaflet of a pinna of the same.
Fig. 4. NEPROPTERIS FIMBRIATA, Lesqx 384
Fig. 5 and 6. NEUROPTERIS VERBENVEFOLIA, Lesqx 385
101
CA:H B r> .>• I f ,fi ,11 o r t
Lesquereux deL
A.H_Worthen dirext
PLATE VII.
PAGE.
Fig. 1. NEUROFTERIS CAPITATA, Sp.'nov 383
Fig. 2 to 5. DICIYOPTERIS RUBELLA, Sp. nov 388
Fig. 6. Part of a much enlarged pinnule of the same.
common DWIB
QJZ U_L U £/J U J-\1L £j 'UJf ! S^£T Jf UL? lilLliiHi^U K£j
UB ( Coal Measures I
Leo Lesquereux del
A.H.Wbrthen diroxt.
PLATE VIII.
PAISK.
Fig. 1 tO 4. NEUROPTERIti (CYCLOPTERIti) RARIN'ERVIS ? Builb 386
Fig. 5 and 6. NKUROPTKRIS RARINERVIS, Bunb.
Fig. 7. NEUROPTERIS CORIACEA, Sp. nov 387
Fig. g. Pinnule of the same enlarged twice.
Fig. 9. NKUROPTERIS CAPITATA, Sp. nov 383
Fig. 10. ODONTOPTKRIS SUBCUNKATA, Bunb. . . . , 390
Fig. 11. ODO.YTOPTEP.IS BRADLEYI, Sp. nov 3'JO
OKHIPHl IR OTD 8
SSMJgL.D M-SMS&*
( Coal Measures
Leo Lesquereux del.
A.H-Worth'en dirext
PLATE IX.
Fig. 1 to 7. ALKTHOPTKBIS MAZOXIAXA, Spec. nov.
Fi°-. 6 and 8. Enlarged pinnules of the same.
PAGK.
..391
TI LIL? XL
( Coal Measures)
Leo Lesqufereux del.
A--H_"Wbrthen dirext.
PLATE X.
TAGK.
Fig. 1 and 2. ALKTHOPTERIS IIYMKNOPHYLLOIDKS, Spec, nov /. 398
Fig. 3 and 4. Enlarged pinnules of fig. 2.
Fig. 5. ALKTHOPTERIS INFLATA, Spec, nov 393
Fig. 6. Enlarged part of the same.
Fig. 7. ALETHOPTERIS HALLII, Spec, nov 894
Fig. 8. Enlarged pinna of the same.
:B .D sr 3 IF
PLATE XI.
PAGE.
Fig. 1 . ALKTHOPTERIS SPINTLOSA, Spec, nov 396
Fig. 2. Enlarged pinnules of the same, showing nervation.
Fig. 3. ALETHOPTERIS FALCATA, Spec, nov 390
Fig. 4. Pinnule of the same, showing nervation.
Fig. 5. ALETHOPTERIS sou DA, Spec. nov. 897
Fig. 6. Pinnule of the same, with group of sporangrs.
Fig. 7. Group of sporanges, much enlarged.
IV
PL,. XI
B -D Tf a IFIW IB
PLATE XII.
PAGE.
Fig. 1 to 8. FKCOPTERIS SQUAMOSA, Spec, nov 400
Fig. 4 Part of an enlarged pinna of the same.
A.H-Wbrthen dirext
PLATE XIII.
PAGE.
Fig. 1 and 3. ALKTHOPTEIUS LANCEOLATA, Spec, nov 398
Fig. 2. Enlarged part of pinnule of the same.
Fig. 4. ALETIIOPTERIS EMARGINATA, Gopp 398
Fig. 5. ALETHOPTERIS MAZOXIANA. Lesqx. (Fruiting,) 891
Fig. t>. Enlarged pinnule of the same.
Fig. 7 and 9. PECOPTERIS STRONGH, Spec, nov <;''9
Fig. 8. An enlarged pinnule of fig. 7.
Fig. 10. PECOPTERIS SQUAMOSA, Lesqx-., (Fruiting,) ... c 400
Fig. 1 1 . Enlarged part of the same.
Fig. 12. PECOPTERIS ARGUTA, Brgt., (Fruiting,) .402
Fig. 1 3. Enlarged part of the same.
Fig. 14. ALETHOPTERIS CRENULATA, Brgt., (Fruiting,) ,..,....- 392
Fig. 15. Enlarged pinnules of the same.
U131 JlLi
PLATE XIV.
PAGE.
Fig. 1. STAPHYLOPTKRIS WORTHEXII, Spec, nov .- 405
Fig. 2 and 2 b. Groups of its sporanges, enlarged.
Fig. 3. STAPHYLOPTERIS SAGITTATTS, Spec, nov 407
Fig. 4 and 5. Sporanges and their cells, enlarged.
Fig. 6. STAPHYL'OPTERIS ASTKROIDES, Spec, nov 406
Fig. 7. Opened sori of the same, enlarged.
Fig. 8. Round unopened sori of the same? natural size.
Fig. 9 and 10. Same, enlarged.
PLATE XV.
PAGK.
Fig. 1. SPHKXOPTKRIS SCABKRRIMA, Spec, nova . , , 408
Fig. 2. Pinna of the same, enlarged.
Fig. 3. SPHKSOPTERIS GRACILIS. Brgt , t 408
Fig. 4, 5, 6. Enlarged pinnules of the same.
Fig. 7. SPHENOPTKRIS MIXTA, Schp . . . . , . 409
Fig. 6. Enlarged pinna of the same.
IV
<Dif u ;I";H 29 'nil; i
A.H-Wortheri d'.rext
f
.£ buj. t
.5 bnu 8
PLATE XVI.
• PAGE.
Fig. 1 and 2. HYMEXOPHYLLITES CLARKII, Lesqx 416
Fig. 3 and 5. HYMENOPHYLUTES THAU/YFORMIS, Spec, nov 417
Fig. 4. Scales of the same, enlarged.
Fig. 6. HYMENOPHYLLITES INFLATUS, Spec, nov 414
Fig. 6 a. Inflated lobe of the same.
Fig. *7. HYMENOPHYLUTES AD.VASCEXS? LI. and Hutt 414
Fig. 8. HYMENOPHYI.MTES ADXASCENS, LI. and Hutt
.»»AfI
PLATE XVII.
Fig. 1 . HYMENOPHYLUTKS ARBORESCENS, Spec. nov.
FAGS.
..415
ire IB <n> Tt s a»B m o
Coal Measures
••.-,.. i.
Leo Lesquereux del.
A.H.\A/orther. dirext.
Wis'tarn EngravihpCc
PLATE XVIII.
PAGE.
Fig. 1 . HYMENOPHYLLITES STROXGII, Spec, nov .417
Fig. 2, 4, 5, 6. HYMENOPHYLLITES MOLLIS, Spec, nov .418
Fig. 3. Fragments of fig. 2, slightly enlarged.
Leo Lesquereux dek
-
PLATE XIX.
PACK.
Fig. 1, 2, 3 . SPHENOPHYLLUM CORN'CTUM,' Spec, nov 421
Fig. 4. Large leaflets of the same, natural size.
Fig. 5. Enlarged part of the same.
Fig. 2 a. H YMKNOPHYLLITES SPLENDENS, SpCC. HOV . . . 4 1 &
Fig. 2 b. Part of a pinna of the same.
Fig. 6 . PACHYPTERIS KRACILLIMA, Spec, nov 419
Fig. 7 and 8. The same, eckrged.
: ; > N i i • , i
Leo Lesquereux del
A.H.Worthen dirext.
"Westjirtfl
PLATE XX.
TACK.
Fig. 1 and 2. ANNULARIA INKLATA, Spec, nov 428
Fig. 3 and 36. Leaf of the same, and its cross section.
Fig. 4 and 4 b. Leaf of AXNCTLARIA LOXGIFOLIA, Brgt., and its cross section, 422
Fig. 5. EQUISKTITES OCCUDE\TALIS, Spec, nov 426
IB <D> wn IP IB J
PL. XX
Leo Lesquereux del -
PLATE XXI.
PAGK.
Fig. 1 and 2. ANNITLARIA LONGIFOLIA? Brgt. 422
Fig. 3. Enlarged leaf of the same.
Fig. 4. ASTEROPHYLLITES KIGIDUS, Brgt 424
Fig. 4<3. Fragment of an enlarged leaf of the same.
Fig. 5. LYCOPODITES ANNULARI&FOLIUS, Spec, nov 426
Fig. 6. SCHUTZIA BRACTEATA, SpCC. DOV 42T
Fig. 7. Enlarged cone a.
Fig. 8. Enlarged scales of the cone.
Fig. 9. Part of membrane containing pulverulent matter, much enlarged.
• • •,• : urivi novri
|," I ill, f I, I • 1C. .
PLATE XXII.
PAGE.
Fig. 1. LEPIDODKNDRON MORRISIANUM, Spec, nov 430
Fig. 2. Enlarged leaf of the same.
Fig. 3. ULODEXDRON ELLIPTIC™, Sternb . .436
Fig. 4. ULODENDRON MAJUS, LI. and Hutt . . 435
Fig. 4«. Cicatrices in their primitive state.
Fig. 46. The same, obliterated by age.
Fig. 4c. The same, decorticated.
VOL _ IV
PL./XXll
i n*\
s
:,
f ^v
(
Leo I-,esquereux del-.
PLATE XXIII.
PACK.
Fig. 1 and 2. ULODEXDRO.V KLLIPTKJUM, Sternb .. 436
Fig. 3. Cicatrices of the same, enlarged twice.
Fig. 4. ULODENDRON ELONGATUM, Spec, nov 437
Fig. 5. LEPIDODENDRON FORULA.TUM, Spec, nor , ...431
Fig. 6. Enlarged cicatrice of the same.
Fig. 7. LEPJDODENDRON FORULATCM, decorticated.
Fig. 8. Enlarged cicatrice of the same.
VOL . IV
res
Leo Lestjuereux del .
PLATE XXIV.
PAGE.
Fig. 1 and 2. LEPIDODENDRON Tuoui, Spec, nov , ..... .431
Fig. ll> and 2. Enlarged cicatrices of the same.
Fig. 3. The same species, decorticated.
Fig. 3ft. Enlarged cicatrice of the same.
Fig. 4. SlGILLARIA CORRUGATA, SpCC. UOV 445
Leo Lescjuereux del
PLATE XXV.
PAGE.
Fig. 1 . LEPIDODENDRON MAMMILLATUM, Spec, nov 432
Fig. 2. LEPIOODKNDRON CRUCIATUM, Spec, nov 432
Fig. 3. SIGII.LARIA MASSIUKNSJS, Spec, nov 446
Fig. 4. Scar of the same, enlarged.
Fig. 5. FIGILLARIA CORRUGATA, Spec, i ov., decorticated. , 445
VOL. IV
CAM IB OK nip IE IB (
\wr\\ Hi
W&\K'V.\
» j\ 'n
Q
Leo Lesquereux del -
A.H.V/orthen dirext.
PLATE XXVI.
PAGE.
Fig. 1. LEPIDOPHLOIOS PROTUBERANS, Spec, nov 440
Fig. 2. Uncovered scar of the same, full size.
Fig. 3. CAULOPTERIS? ACANTOPHORA, S[.ec. nov 456
Fig. 4. Branch of the same.
Fig. 5. FIGILLARIA (Knorria) MONOSTIOMA, Lesqx. 446
Fig. 6. LYCOPODITES MEKKII, Spec, nov 426
Fig. 60. Leaf of the same, enlarged four times.
TO TJ 3 IP1K Ti D TL' 6
Leo Lescruereux del.
A.H-Wbitheii dirext
II Vy •'.
•'""*?'
PLATE XXVII.
PAOK.
Fig. 1. LEPIDODENDRON RIGEXS, with leaves , 429
Fig. 2. Scar and base of leaf, showing point of attachment.
Fig. 3. Enlarged section of a leaf of same, b.
Fig. 4. SYRIMJODENDRON PORTERI, Spec, nov, half size 448
Fig. 5. Part of the same, natural size.
Fig. 6. Cicatrices of the same, enlarged twice.
Fig. 7. LEPIDODENDRON GREENII, Spec, nov 433
Fig. 8. Enlarged cicatrice of the same.
Fig. 9. STIGMARIOIDES AFFINIS, Spec, nov 455
Fig. 10 and 12. PAL^OXYRIS PRENDELI, Spec, nov 464
Fig. 106. Part of its surface, enlarged.
Fig. 11. PALCEOXYRIS APPENDICULATA, Spec, nov .465
Fig. 13. PAL.EOXYRIS CORRCGATA, Spec, nov 466
<D>H a ipin n OT
n^UILUJ^-LJDAlL £Tim yJST Igf •J.XlL'JrllJlt^
B Coal Measuresj ^
L,eo Lesquereux del-
1TAJ
PLATE XXVIII.
PAGE.
Fig. 1. CAULOPTERIS OBTECTA, ?pec. nov , one-fourth natural size . . .451
Fig. 2. • Same specimen, on the reverse.
Fig. 3. Branch cicatrice of the same, natural size.
Fig 4. Part of the surface, showing rootlets in relative p sition, either naked, or with
a carbonaceous pellicle.
UL? iLLLI
,\ I ! .B D .N I .? • a JB (DTD
Leo Lesquereux del .
A. H .\Vbrthen dirext
PLATE XXIX.
PAGE.
Fig. ]. HALONIA TCBKRCITLATA ? Brgt , .451
Fig. 2. STIGMARIA ELLIPTICA, Spec, nov 4.51
Fig. 3. SlGILLARIOIDES STELLARIS, SpCC. HOV , , • 450
Fig» 4. STIGMARIOIDES TRUNCATUS, Spec, nov 45 8
Fig. 5. STIGMARIOIDES TUBEROSCS, Spec, nov ..,.,,.. 453
VOLT/
PL.XXDL
f n :F;E IH o rr
Leo Lesquereux del
A.HJWbrthen direxu
?9»n
PLATE XXX.
PAGE.
Fig. 1. LEPIDOPHLOIOS ACRICULATUM, Spec, nov ,., 439
Fig. 2. LEPIDOSTROBUS OVATIFOLICS, Spec, nov 441
Fig. 2 6. Blade and sporange — pedicel of the same.
Fig. 3. LEPIDOSTROBUS OBLONGIFOLIUS, Spec, nov 441
Fig. 3 b. Blade and sporange — pedicel of the same
Fig. 4. LEPIDOSTROBCS SPECIES? • .4.40
Fig. 5. Scale of a sporange? enlarged.
Fig. 6 and 7. Spores of the same, much enlarged.
VOL- IV
mm?
(^Coal Measures.)
PL. UK.
Leo Lesquere'jx del.
A.HJWbithen dirext.
Western Engraving'CopHi^ago
PLATE XXXI.
PAGE.
Fig I . STIGMARIOIPES VILLOSUS, Spec, nov ... .454
Fig. 2. STIGMARIOIDES LIXEARIS, Spec, nov 455
Fig. 3. STIGMARIOIDES SKLAGO, Spec, nov 456
Fig. ?, b. Enlarged scale of the same.
Fig. 4. SIGILLARIOIDES RADICALS, Spec, nov 449
Fig. 5. LEPIDOSTROBUS TRCXCATCS, Spec, nov , 442
Fig. 6. LEPIDCSTROBUS COXXIVEXS, Spec, nov , 442
Fig. 7. . LEPIDOSTHOBUS LANCIFOLIUS. Spec. EOV ; . .442
Fig. 8. LEPIDOPHYLLUM ROSTELLATCM, Spec, nov 44"
Fig. 9. LEPIDOPHYLLUM STRIATL-JI, Spec, nov ' 443
Fig. 10. LKPIDOPHYLLUM FOLIACECM,' Spec, nov 444
Fig. 11. RHABDOCARPOS CLAVATTS? Sternb 461
Fig. 12 tO 15. RlIABDOCARPOS MAMMILLATrS, SpCC. I10V 461
Fig. 16. TRIGOXGCARPC.M XO;GSERATHII, LI. and Hutt 460
J'ig. 17, CARPOLITHES CORTICOSUS, Spec. nov. 462
Fig. IS. CARPOLITHES PERSICARIA, Spec, nov 462
Fig. 19 to 21. CARPOLITHES VESICCLARIS, Spec, nov .462
Fig. 22 to 23. CARPOLITHES BULLATUS, Spec, nov : 4G3
Fig. 24. Same, enlarged.
Fig. 25. RECEPTACLE AND SEEDS OF SIGTLLARIA? , . . . 4 6S
l:\s 25 a. Seeds enlarged 5 times.
PL. xxxi
Leo Lesquereux del
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