Report of the North Carolina geological survey. together with descriptions of the fossils of the marl beds

REPORT

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

AGRICULTURE OF THE EASTERN COUNTIES;

TOGETHER WITH

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOSSILS OF THE MAEL BEDS

3IIu«trati&

or THE
UNIVERSITY

r»r

EBENEZER E M M 0 N S

EALEIGH:
HENRY D. TURNER,

1858.

HOLDEN AND WILSON,

Printers to the State.

To His EXCELLENCY, THOMAS BKAGG,

Governor of North- Carolina:
SIR:

I am gratified that another opportunity is furnished me to
express my obligations to your Excellency for the interest
you still entertain for the Geological Survey of North-Caro-
lina. This fact, while it has been extremely gratifying, serves
at the same time to impress me with the importance of the
work, and to excite a fear, also, that it may fall short of your
expectations, and thus disappoint, not only yourself, but many
others who feel and manifest an interest in its success. No
one, however, could feel a greater disappointment at such a
result than myself; and fearing that my labors, together
with the labors of those who assist me, might fail to be satis-
factory, I have certainly lost no time, nor spared any work,
which I deemed necessary to secure the wished-for result.

With the consciousness, then, of having done this much
for its success, I submit with cheerfulness this second report
to your Excellency's consideration.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

EBENEZEK EMMONS.

KALEIGH, March 1, 1858.

PREFACE.

THE subjects which are treated of in this Keport, are mostly
practical, and it has been my aim so to treat them, that the
matter shall be useful. The agricultural part embraces de-
scriptions and statements of the composition of many of the
soils of the Eastern counties. These samples of soils which
have been analyzed, are preserved in the Geological collec-
tion for future reference. I have sought to obtain all the
practical information respecting them which I could, and for
this end, the analyses have been usually carried as far as was
necessary. The number of soils which have been thus sub-
mitted to analysis, are sufficient, probably, for the purposes
intended by the projectors of the survey. I think they em-
brace all the classes of soils which exist in this section of the
State. But there are, no doubt, many additional analyses,
which would be useful where they appear to be special in
their composition, and exhibit certain peculiarities. A class
of soils of great interest exists in several of the eastern coun-
ties, of which a type is well known in the county of Hyde.
I felt that it was an object to determine the composition of
this class with accuracy, and to see it in place with the bur-
then of its crops still standing. In my researches, I have dis-
covered that this peculiar soil exists in a greater or less degree
of perfection in several other counties. In some instances,
the soil is the same, but is less deep ; in others, it is fully
equal to the Hyde county or the Mattamuskeet lands, both in
depth and rjchness. It seemed to be a prevailing impression
that Hyde county soils existed no where else5 and were con-

vi

PREFACE.

fined to that county. But Onslow, Jones, Hanover, Bruns-
wick, Beaufort, and others, still possess equally rich swamp
lands.

The Gallberry lands, which occupy a middle position be-
tween these rich swamp lands and the sandy rolling uplands,
are usually very poor ; but there are many tracts which rank
under this class, which may be cultivated profitably. 'There
are two kinds of Gallberry lands : one which is black or black-
ish, which consists mainly of vegetable matter, and a white
marine sand. This variety of this class is generally too poor
to pay the expense of reclaiming. It may produce a few tol-
erably fair crops of corn, but it is soon exhausted, for it con-
sists only of sand and vegetable matter. It may graduate
into a better kind, as the white sand is exchanged for a drab
colored one, and which becomes fine. The other variety of
this class, is clay-colored, and is very stiff, and mixed with
coarse particles of flint. It is almost impervious to water. It
is naturally cold, and is not productive, prior to draining and
the employment of fertilizers. It has a body, and is better
than the black soil with the usual admixture of white sand.

. In the examination of soils, the physical properties require as
much attention as the chemical ; for, in order that a good chem-
ical mixture of elements may be fertile, they should possess a
certain degree of adhesiveness or closeness, which will retain
water. Those which are porous and coarse, permit water to
pass through almost immediately. The result which follows,
is fatal to plants, or crops of value ; chemical action under
those circumstances is too feeble to furnish it with sufficient
nutriment. The fertilizers of the eastern and south-eastern

counties have received all the attention which could be be-
*

stowed upon them. The great defect which I find in their
composition is, the great excess of sand. This element being
in excess, gives them only a local value ; that is, they are not

PREFACE. Vll

rich enough to permit of transportation to neighboring coun-
ties.

In order to increase their value, I have been led to enter-
tain the opinion, that they may be washed. In this opera-
tion the sand may be separated from the valuable parts. This
opinion, however, requires a confirmation by experiment.
The material which remains after the sand is separated, con-
tains phosphate of lime, carbonate of lime and magnesia, pot-
ash and soda ; those elements which make the marl the most
valuable. If any cheap process for washing the marls could
be employed, the material could be transported to most of the
midland counties with profit.

The cultivation of the grasses to a much greater extent than
has hitherto been done in this State, has seemed to me very
desirable. I have given considerable attention to the subject,
and for the purpose of aiding, as far as possible, a measure of
this kind, I have selected several of the most valuable for de-
scription, that information respecting their value, may be
more widely spread. I am confident that many of them will
succeed. Very few efforts have hitherto been made for their
cultivation, — most planters entertaining the belief that it is
impracticable, or else the labors of the plantation are supposed
to be much more profitably directed to the raising of cotton.
Under the present system of curing the grasses for winter fod-
der, the labor is so much cheapened that it seems to me that
the raising of cotton or any other of the great staples, will not
interfere with the project of keeping more stock, and in a
better condition than has hitherto been attempted in the State,

In connexion with the marls of the eastern counties, I have
given a brief sketch of the fossils of the different kinds of beds.
Those who will take, the trouble to examine the figures of the
fossils which belong to the different beds, will not fail to per-
ceive the striking differences which prevail. It is, for instance.

PREFACE.

exceedingly rare to find a species common to two beds, al-
though they lie in juxtaposition ; or one may repose upon the
other. Hence, the utility of the presence of fossils to distin-
guish beds belonging to the different epochs from each other.
Another object which I had in view in occupying so much
space upon this subject, was, to aid those who wish to become
acquainted with this interesting subject. Geology is* now
commanding the attention of some of the best minds in this
country and Europe. It is invested with great importance
and interest, as it is through the discoveries in this depart-
ment of science, that we obtain a knowledge of the ancient
history of the globe. This pursuit is especially recommended
to the attention of the young. It will be found extremely
interesting and useful, and no one will regret afterwards that
he devoted a portion of his leisure hours to its study.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 1 — 1.

CHAPTER I.

Reference to a former report. — Dependence of seed on the perfection of the soil. —
Nutrient matters necessary to animal life traced to the soil. — Essential elements of
a good soil. — Character and classification of the soils of the Eastern counties. —
Importance of determining the smallest percentage of earthy matter in a vegetable
soil, which is compatible with a remunerating crop. — Some elements more essential
to form a good soil than others. — The organs of a plant are composed of different
elements. — The extremes of certain kinds of soil. — Remarks on the adaptation,
together with a statement of their composition.— Soil of the Open Ground Prairie
in Carteret county. — Pocoson and Swamp Lands. — Soils of Hyde county. 8 — 22.

CHAPTER II.

The best soil of Dr. Long, of Hyde county — its composition — its yield of corn per
acre. — Mr. Burroughs' soil of the north side of Mattamuskeet Lake. — Amount of
inorganic matter which a crop of corn removes from the soil. — Each organ to be
furnished with appropriate nutriment.— Maize an exhausting crop. — Soils from the
plantation of Gen. Blount. — Gen. Blount's letter. 22— 36.

CHAPTER III.

Topography of the Eastern counties, from Wake eastward to Onslow.— Character of
the soil of the White Oak Desert. — Mr. Francke's Pocoson and Swamp Lands. —
The better kind of Gallberry Swamp Lands. — Mr. McNeil's soil; will pay for
drainage. — Barren soil of Bogue Sound, furnished by D. A. Humphrey, Esq. —
Cause of barrenness of these soils. 36 — 48.

CHAPTER IV.

Soils of Jones county, taken from the plantation of J. H. Haughton, Esq. — Composi-
tion of a brown earth overlying the marl. — Recapitulation. 48 — 59.

CHAPTER Y.

FERTILIZERS.— What constitutes a Fertilizer.— Sources of Fertilizers.— Those from
the vegetable kingdom consist of the ash. — Ash of plants resembles in composition
the inorganic matter of soils. — Quantity of fertilizing matter removed from the
soil by different plants. — Methods to be adopted in order to prevent waste of
fertilizing matter. — How restored. S9 — 78.

CHAPTER VI.

FBRTILIZERS (CONTINUED.) — Marl beds. — The different periods to which they belong,
and their relation to each other. 78—89.

CHAPTER VII.

FERTILIZERS (CONTINUED.) — Stone Marl — its economical value. — Composition of the
Green Sand of Cape Fear River. 89—101.

X TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER Till.

Eocene, or White Marl.— Quantity of lime variable, but greater than the average of
other varieties.— The Wadsworth beds.— His letter.— Beds upon the Neus«—
Haugh ton's marl. — Composition, 101 — 107.

CHAPTER IX.

Shell marl. — Heterogenous in its composition and arrangement of materials. — Chemi-
cal constitution. — Application of marl. — Poisonous marl. — How corrected. — Theories
respecting the operation of marl. 107 — 126.

CHAPTER X.

Animal manures. — Fish, — Crabs. — Cancorine. — Compost of crabs. — Preservation of
the offal of fish. 126—132.

CHAPTER XL

Clay. — Characteristics of a good clay. — Composition of fine clays. — Composition of a
clay upon Bogue Sound. 132 — 135.

CHAPTER XII.

The grasses and their functions. — Different objects attained by their cultivation. —
Chemical constitution of the grasses. — Elementary organs and parts of the blos-
som.— Division of grasses. — Southern genera. — Cultivated species with their de-
scriptions and properties. 135 — 181.

CHAPTER XIII.

Red clover. — Organic constitution. — Composition of the ash. — Differs in composition
from the true grasses. — Failures in its cultivation. — For a green crop. — Lucerne. —
Sanfoin. 181—188.

CHAPTER XIV.

Methods by which the valuable grasses may be cultivated successfully. — Soiling and
its advantages. 188 — 193.

CHAPTER XV.

PALAEONTOLOGY. — Fossils of the green sand and tertiary. — Mammals. — Horse.— Hog. —
Mastodon and elephant. — Deer. — Whales, or celaceans. 193 — 213.

CHAPTER XVI.

Description of reptilian remains of the marl beds of North-Carolina.— Reptiles of
the green sand. 213—225.

CHAPTER XVII.

PISCES.— Description of the remains of fish in the North-Carolina marl beds. 225—
245.

CHAPTER XVIII.

MOLLOSCA. — Description of the cephalopods, gasteropods and lamellibranchiata. 245 —
303.

CHAPTER XIX.
&ADIATA. — Description of the echinoderns. — Sea urchins. — Polyparia. 303 — 314,

INTRODUCTION.

IT is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the day to
attempt to utilize science. The leading minds of the age
seem to be as intensely engaged in diffusing knowledge and
disseminating it as common stock, as they are in acquiring it
for themselves. The consequences which have already flowed
from their efforts, are, to have already made knowledge re-
lating to many departments the common property of the
masses. This knowledge is not probably exact in many indi-
viduals, perhaps in none, excepting those who make those
subjects objects of special study; but then, they know the
nature of the subjects treated of, as well as many of the con-
clusions which have been obtained. They know enough
to make intelligent inquiries, and a subject matter for con-
versation ; their minds are sufficiently informed to lead them
upon the proper road of inquiry. More than this has been
gained in many instances in common life. The way is al-
ready prepared for a general diffusion of knowledge. Of
those subjects which are the most useful to society, none
occupy a higher rank than those which are related to agri-
culture. Thus, the chemistry of agriculture is of the highest
importance. The mechanics of agriculture are also impor-
tant, and more attention has been paid to this branch than
the former. Indeed, one of the first evidences that agricul-
ture was really upon the road of improvement, was the ap-
preciation of better implements of husbandry. Their im-
provement was first attempted. It was right that it should
be so, for to make chemical principles available at all, it was
necessary to change by mechanical means the condition of the
soil. Improvements, then, in agriculture, began at the right
end. The more abstruse principles of the business have
become subjects of investigation since, and now there are
but few farmers who are entirely ignorant of the chemistry
and other collateral branches of the philosophy of agriculture.

xii INTRODUCTION.

But still, these important hand-maids to this indispensable
calling have only just begun to exercise an influence over
old modes and old practices. But two great obstacles to the
introduction of rational methods in agriculture are being rap-
idjy removed ; that is, prejudice in favor of the old methods
pursued by the fathers, and prejudice against innovation.
Whatever is good in the old methods will be retained ; and
ultimately, what is erroneous and worthless will be rejected.
Improvements, however, in agriculture, are necessarily slow
in getting a foothold ; much more so than in the mechanic
arts \ for there are stronger prejudices to be overcome, and
in the former it seems there is a ready appreciation of value
in every improvement which is made, while in the latter, a
prejudice is to be first overcome by ample experience. But
we ma}^ be assured that, sooner, or later, the benefits of a
change will appear, as the improvements address themselves
to men's pockets^ which is one of the most influential of mo-
tives in common life.

The principles which control industrial pursuits are per-
fectly simple ; and being simple, have been and still will be
liable to be overlooked. Who among the merchants of a
village, acquires most rapidly, ease and independence for
himself? It is the one who, from a more extensive acquaint-
ance with his occupation, a more attentive observation of the
markets^ and a more careful application of his judgment, un-
tiring energy and prudent industry, buys the best article and
sells it the cheapest.

Who, among the mechanics of the town, commands the
business in his special line of production? It is that one who
has been thoroughly instructed in the principles of his handi-
craft, applies his mind and judgment to his labor, and by that
means improves the articles he makes, or the modes of its
manufacture, and can thereby outstrip his competitors by
manufacturing more, as well as better, and selling cheaper,
ft is a natural result — a simple law of trade and commerce.

But who among the agriculturists of the land are the most
prosperous? It is he who is not content to follow the beaten
track of his forefathers, or pursue olie course which they have
pursued, and because they pursued and beat it, but he who

INTRODUCTION. Xlll

thoroughly imbues his mind with sound principles, who
studies into the nature of his processes, and the reason why
he does this in preference to that ; who investigates the na-
ture of his soils, and fits them most perfectly for his crops,
and is moreover seasonable in his preparation. He will raise
the most to the acre, and have more to sell, and can sell the
cheapest, and make the most money. The greatest production,
coupled with the best, controls the pockets of the purchasers,
and insures to him, what is ever sought after, the earliest in-
dependence and the first honors in the line of a profession.

What lies at the foundations of commerce ? What spreads
her sails, or generates the steam of our floating castles which
ply from port to port and from country to country ? It is ag-
ricultural production. There is no other substratum upon
which the business of the world can rest. Nothing else can
impel the mighty engines of commerce, or set in motion the
locomotive, with its heavy train of cars. It is not because
the merchant buys and sells. again. That is not production.
But it is because the farmer produces. The other is but a
transfer, and is only an incident in trade. The production is
the ruling cause. It is that which supports, which moves.
Put a stop to production, and the wheels cease to move, the
paddle ceases to turn, the locomotive stands still, and the
whistle is no longer heard. Production is the great element
of life in commerce and manufactures. It is because agri-
culture exists, that commerce thrives, that the merchant can
buy and sell. The earth is properly called the common
mother ot all. Her fruits nourish us, and supply the mate-
rials for the arts and manufactures, and the articles for trade
and commerce. The earth is the mother of all, but that does
not justify the agriculturist in waiting for her fruits with
folded arms, and to neglect to store his mind with the ele-
ments and principles of agricultural knowledge, or hope, in
inactivity, on a good Providence, or good fortune. If mother
earth is rightly depended upon, it will be accompanied by
works and the study of principles as connected with what he
is to do for his soils. He cannot ask much of mother earth,
who neglects to study elements and principles in this connec-
tion. I say elements and principles, for it is not enough to

XIV INTRODUCTION.

know the mechanical part. It is not enough to know how to
plow, and reap, and mow ; these are a part of an education,
but it is not all of it.

Thus, we see, the commanding position of agriculture. Its
position is commanding, independent of the mode in which
a community of individuals conduct it. As it regards this
section of the Union, its importance increases with the popu-
lation of our country. The Agriculturalist is not restricted
to the production of bread. While her granaries are over-
flowing with corn and wheat, she has still two other great
staples of trade to arouse her energy: cotton and tobacco.
These have been and are increasing in importance from the day
the first seed germinated in her soil. These are money crops.
In all these great staples, industry need not be paralyzed, nor
the spirits be made to sink for want of a market. No one
needs fear that a surplus will be left on his hands ; that his
toils will be unrewarded or his industry avail him nothing.
Such is the condition of the world, that the great staples are
sought for from necessity. Cotton must be had at any price
to satisfy the imperative wants of the world. The loom can-
not stand still. The necessities of thousands now demand it. The
force of habit in the use of tobacco is so strong and so general,
that its price can never be less than it is now. It is rather prob-
able that it will be higher. Its production may be cheapened,
its cost may be diminished, but its price in market will never
be less. The advantage will ever be on the side of the produ-
cer. Farming, then, has an advantage over all professions.
There may be too many lawyers, physicians and merchants,
but never too many farmers. This is so, because the seaports
of the world are their markets, and because there is a world of
human families which are not producers, and hence have to
be fed, their looms kept running, and their habits gratified.

It is not, therefore, the domestic market which is to be sup-
plied. The products of the soil of North-Carolina are con-
sumed far away ; some, in the cities of the north, but a far
greater amount by the population of the Old World. Impor-
tant measures are being taken abroad to supply cotton for
English manufactories from India and Africa, and no doubt
with the hope that, ultimately, this nation may make herself

INTRODUCTION. XV

independent of this country with respect to this indispensable
article. A project of this nature must be regarded with some
concern. It cannot succeed immediately, and it is doubtful
whether cotton can be produced in those countries, so as to
compete successfully in market with our own. In the first
place, the husbandry of cotton is fully understood in the Sou-
thern States; and in the second place, the adaptation of climate
and soil is perfect, and the means for supplying fertilizers to
sustain its continued production are equally well established.
Marl is the true fertilizer for cotton. This is fully established
by experience and chemical analysis. All these facts put it
in the power of the South to sustain vigorously, for an inde-
finite term of years, its production. From the Roanoke to
Florida, this fertilizer in numberless forms is inexhaustible.
Hitherto, it has been almost impossible to be satisfied that
there has been a systematic and sustained effort to carry this
production to the limit which the want of it abroad demands.
The time, however, has come, when its production has be-
come doubly important. The hopes of foreigners for success
in supplying themselves with cotton from India and Africa,
are based in a good degree upon its failure here, through some
misfortune, such as political revulsion, exhaustion of the soil
and other casualties which may occur, but which cannot now be
foreseen. As it regards the exhaustion of the soil, there need
be no fear, with the resources at command. It is true that large
tracts have been exhausted, but agriculture is understood
better now than formerly ; and hence, the planter is abundant-
ly able to forestall such an event and prevent its occurrence.
But in any event, the principles stated in the foregoing
paragraphs, will govern the market. The best and cheapest
article will be bought, and that will insure its sale in any
quarter of the globe, in spite of the combination of Cotton
Associations to produce it in India and Africa. If American
planters can produce the best at a lower rate than it can be
produced in India, then American cotton will find a market
in Liverpool. It is a simple question of production ; and for-
eign efforts to secure a market and exclude the American
cotton, will result simply in arousing the cotton planter to
make a successful effort to retain his foothold in the market

XVI rNTKODUCTIOlT.

which he now supplies. "When the cotton planting States have
once fully taken into consideration their immense advantages
for production, it seems impossible that they should sleep over
them. Cotton, Indian corn, wheat and tobacco, four great
staples on their hands, for which the markets of the world are
open. These minor productions of the homestead furnish busi-
ness for all. The Alleghanies and their slopes are well adapted
to grazing, and hence the raising of stock will become an item
of immense importance to planters. Intercourse with the ex-
tremes, the east and the west, will soon be made easy. It will be
cheap, if an enlightened policy controls the fare upon railroads.
If an opposite policy should unfortunately prevail, the hopes
of the planter and graizer will be partially disappointed.

The encouragement for pursuing agriculture may be found
in the certain prospect of the mining resources of the State.
In the various branches of this business, it will ultimately be
found, that a large population will have to be fed. A popu-
lation devoted to this interest are not producers of bread,
meat or fruits. They are necessarily dependent for all these
and more ; and hence, a home market is furnished, which, as
far as it goes, is as important as the foreign.

But I need not dwell on the importance of agriculture; its
importance is felt. I was more anxious in this connection, to
state my views of an improved agriculture ; one which is un-
derstood, or one founded upon established principles, — one
which leaves a beaten road and inquires into the why and
wherefore. This is the only kind of agriculture which will
elevate the masses, and give laborers a status or standing
beside professional men, and enable them to exercise an
influence as wide as theirs. Regarded in this light, it is not
simply an extraordinary crop, which is to be produced, but it
is a development of the mental faculties. These are compati-
ble objects. Indeed, they go almost necessarily together, be-
cause they are the result of an exercise of the mind. The
labor of thinking is involved, — a labor which is not at first
performed without effort, — for that reason many prefer to let
others think for them ; and hence, they continue in that un-
enviable condition which is properly called a statu quo*

RALEIGH, March 1, 1858.

REPORT

< » '

OF THE

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

t

AGRICULTURE OF THE EASTERN COUNTIES.

PKELIMINAKY EEMAKKS.

FOR any thing we know to the contrary, there is such an
ample provision in the economy of nature, that the produc-
tion of food shall not depend upon skill, or a deep acquaint-
ance with the laws of life.

Seeds are sown broadcast, the winds waft them from their
parent stocks, or they fall unheeded to their roots ; yet such
is the relation of seed to earth, air and moisture, that they
germinate and become new individual plants which, in due
time, contain the appropriate nutriment for some existing
organism. It may be it is food only for the insect tribes, the
beast of the field, or it may serve the table of the Prince.

The simple growth and nutriment of plants is independent
of science, high culture, or skill in the ordinary round of
nature.

There is a provision to meet a certain amount of the wants
of life, so far as food is concerned, which may be obtained
without tillage. It is, however, limited. When the habita-
tions of men become concentrated upon a comparatively
small area, or a dense population fills the land, the natural
magazine which furnishes the ordinary or regular supply of
nutriment to the vegetable, especially the cereals, then
becomes insufficient to supply the increased demands of nun>

2 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

bers, and hence the natural resources fail, and there ever
afterwards exists a demand for skill and science to meet these
artificial wants.

The first efforts to supply the meat and bread of a dense
population, in the earliest stages of society, are those which
belong to the simplest kinds. They consist mainly in provid-
ing more room, light and air, or providing for the free pene-
tration of roots through the soil, and the exclusion of -weeds
or unnutritive plants. But, inasmuch as nutritive matter is
measured out and limited, and as there is no special provision
to create a new supply, constant removal will, in the course
of years, so far diminish the original stock, that the plant
ceases to grow or perfect its fruit, or does so under circum-
stances less favorable for its perfection.

At this period it becomes necessary to inquire how fertility,
when lost, may be restored ; and this inquiry becomes more
pressing in the direct ratio that the population has increased.

Experience does, or may step in and postpone the period
of exhaustion, and partially supply, for a time, the nutritive
elements. But generally these shifts to postpone the period
of exhaustion fail, for they are merely the efforts of the em-
pyric. Empyricism in no business is likely to lead to the
discovery of sound principles ; indeed, it cannot inform us of
the fact of exhaustion at all ; and hence, empyricism is not in
the direct road to improvement. In one instance it may prove
successful, but in the many it fails ; as it cannot assign a cause
or state a reason.

The perfection of cultivation, or the perfection of agricul-
ture, demands a reason ; and the period when a reason can
be assigned may be regarded as the third stage of improve-
ment. It is at this stage that agriculture requires a direct
inquiry respecting cause and effect ; or, in other words, into
antecedents and consequents, in order that it may make pro-
gress when the rules of empyricism fail. Agriculture, in some
of its scientific aspects, has obscurities, because it has en-
quiries to make which are closely related to those of life ; and
life, whether regarded as a mysterious principle, or a force
dependent upon chemical relations, or chemical actions, ia

NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 3

profoundly mysterious. Calling this force life, without at-
tempting to tell what it is, we know that it controls all the
results effected in and by the vegetable tissues. An organ,
as a whole, possesses no force : the leaf has no force, neither
have the steins, bark or kernel. The force alluded to resides
in the cell ; and hence it is sometimes called a cell force, and
the sum or aggregate force of all the cells of an organ secures
all the results in their proper season. The matured fruit is
the result then of the combined force of all the cells which
compose it, acting under the influence of outward forces, as
air, light and heat.

The sum or aggregate of these changes, however, from
germination to the consumation of the mature fruit, is con-
cealed from view. We know only the simple fact, that of
change from day to day. Of the effective agency residing
in the cell we know nothing. But fortunately the questions
which belong to scientific agriculture have only a slight re-
lation to these ; they are not questions relating to cell force,
or to life in the abstract. These are one step farther back
than it is necessary to carry them. We need make no in-
terrogatories respecting cell force, or life, in order to till the
soil in the best modes, or to grow large crops of wheat. But
still these obscure questions bear a relation,, sufficiently close
to darken or cioud those which must be answered, and we
almost instinctively pass from those investigations which lie
in the field of research to those which are a step farther back,
and lie beyond the limits of legitimate enquiry.

§ 2. The field of investigation is really much nearer to us
and more within the scope of legitimate inquiry. If we
wish to know what is the appropriate food of the wheat plant,
we have only to analyse it, or to determine the elements
which compose the kernel. It is not how it is made, how the
cell power operates, but simply what the constituents of the
wheat or corn plant are.

In practice, then, the farmer is merely required to sow his
wheat upon grounds which contain enough of the elements
it wants. It is true, certain collateral questions of great im-
portance have to be answered, such as those which relate to

4 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

the physical condition of the soil, the measures which ought
to be adopted to prevent the operation of injurious agents, —
as frost, drought, depredations of insects, etc.

"When experiments and observation have satisfied the far-
mer respecting the composition of wheat, corn, and of the
soil in which they are to be planted, he has only to secure the
proper mechanical condition of the soil, and put it into that
state which is best adapted to their constitution. From the
foregoing statement, it is evident that the range of scientific
enquiry is limited to an experimental circle. The farmer is
not required to go out of that area to determine the true
theory of agriculture, to perfect the art or the practical part
of the business.

§ 3. The following report is based on the preceding views
relative to the scope or range of agricultural enquiry. The
planter or farmer may speculate on vital or chemical forces,
and form such theories upon those recondite forces as best
comport with his knowledge of facts and principles ; yet, as
has been said already, practical enquiries do not extend to
them ; it only demands a range of knowledge which is
bounded by experimental researches, and the deductions
which legitimately follow therefrom.

It is therefore f«rue, that enquiries into the nature of the
ceil force or vital ibrcQ are not excluded from the philosophy
of vegetation, but these ultimate interrogatories have no prac-
tical utility, so far certainly as the principles of culture are
concerned. From these remarks, however, it should not be
inferred that agriculture requires only an extremely limited
range of knowledge — that its connections with other sciences
are distant and doubtful. So far is this from being true, that
it may be shown that it is intimately related to, and de-
pendent upon, several of the important branches of knowl-
edge. We have seen, for example, how important chemistry
is to agriculture. To this it is wholly indebted for its won-
derful progress in modern times. Climatology also is closely
related to agriculture, inasmuch as a knowledge of the influ-
ence of light and heat, air and winds, height and depth, must
influence the farmer in his selection of crops for tillage, and

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. O

the modes by which they should be treated. Soils too, being
derived from rocks of different periods and constitutions, in-
fluence their composition and capabilities more or less. Close
observation relative to those influences frequently establish
important generalizations; and hence, geology may be re-
garded as a department very intimately connected with agri-
culture, and whose principles are capable of advancing its
interests.

It is scarcely necessary to refer to botany, as an allied
branch of science. A practical knowledge of soils may be
derived from it. Nature rarely errs in collocation. Plants,
without selecting soils in truth, do really flourish best on cer-
tain tracts whose soil is found to be adapted to their special
wants. Some are lime, others are potash plants ; and hence,
the farmer may be satisfied where certain plants abound, that
certain important constituents of soils are present.

Animals, however, form a large part of his care and over-
sight. Often his chief wealth consists in cattle. The rearing
of stock of favorite breeds, their improvement in general, and
often in special points, demands a knowledge of physiology
and anatomy. There is property in a knowledge of the foot
of the horse, the joints of the bullock and the structure of the
hoof. There is property in a knowledge of the skull and the
physiognomy of the horse and the kine ; and there is pro-
perty in the knowledge of habits and best food for cattle and
flocks, and in the organization of the stomach and its depen-
dencies.

The farmer and planter, therefore, may say that they have
not only property in lands and in cattle, but also in the phe-
nomena of nature, as they may make those phenomena sub-
servient to their interests; the sunbeam and shade add
golden dust to their stores, when seed times and tillage are
chosen under the guidance of philosophy.

§ 4:. "While agriculture in all its aspects presents a wide
field for investigation, it still has very clearly such subdivi-
sions of labor, that in practice, it may reach a high degree of
perfection. We find, for example, that climate frequently
restricts the most profitable productions to one or two staples.

6

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Cotton cannot be grown with profit north of Yirginia. The
sugar cane and coffee return profits only on our most southern
border. Tobacco, though not so strictly limited by parallels
of latitude, still requires certain peculiarities of climate and
soil, which greatly restricts its cultivation. Tea requires a
peculiar climate. In some parts of the world it rarely or
never rains; in others, rains are frequent; in others still,
there are seasons of rain followed by others which are rain-
less. These peculiarities favor the growth and perfection of
a class or a family of plants, while, at the same time, others
are excluded. Hence, the cultivation being limited, perfec-
tion in the culture of a few, necessarily reaches a better and
higher grade of perfection, than if the attention of the planter
was divided among many. Profit depends, in a great degree,
upon the adaptedness of climate to a particular crop. The
difference arising from the cultivation of a variety of cotton,
which is perfectly matured in this climate, and one that does
not attain perfectly that perfection, except under the most
favorable circumstances, is very great in the long run. The
rearing of cattle is much more profitable where they are at
home, than where they require much attention and care to
make them thrifty.

The cereals have the widest range, while plants of little
value to man are often very restricted in their ranges. We
recognize in this important fact, a prospective provision de-
signed expressly for the benefit of man.

If the foregoing remarks are true, the education which ag-
riculture demands, in order to improve its condition, requires
that of the highest grade. Agriculture, while it is not to lose
its place as an art, must, in order to advance, demand of its
cultivators more knowledge of the collaterals. Some call this
mere book learning which is of no account in practice ; arid
in support of this view, say that agriculture has got along
very well without them. Indeed none of our fathers had the
benefit of the collateral or direct lights ; and yet they made
money by their simple modes of culture. This is no doubt
true. The planters of North- Carolina found a rich virgin
soil. The crops of maize required but little attention. Cot-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 7

ton at a later day became a profitable staple, its importance
increased with the return of every year. But what have
been the results upon the soil from the midland counties
of North-Carolina to Alabama ? Let one pass along the rail-
road from Kaleigh to Columbia, and then through Georgia
to Montgomery. The exhaustion of the soil by its culture is
too palpable and plain to be overlooked. Exhaustion on the
whole route is the prominent feature. It took place slowly
but surely. What were rich lands under the simple culture
of the fathers, have now become the poor and worn out lands
of their sons. It is at this stage that education or knowledge is
demanded. The fathers got along very well, and made
money; but the sons, though they may inherit money al-
ready made, must be content with that, or move away, or
else seek by superior knowledge to replenish the worn out
inheritance. New modes of culture must be devised, and a
much greater amount of knowledge and skill will be required
than the fathers possessed.

8 NORTH-OAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SIJKVEY.

.

CHAPTEE I.

Reference to a former report. The perfection of seed depends on the char-
acter of the soil. Nutrient matters necessary to animal life traced to the
soil. Essential elements of a good. The soil the reservoir of all these
elements. Character and classification of the soils in the Eastern coun-
ties. Importance of determining the smallest per centage of earthy
matter in a vegetable soil, which is compatible with a remunerating crop.
Some elements are more essential to form a good soil than others. The
organs of a plant are composed of different elements. The extreme of
certain kinds of soil. Remarks on the adaption of soils, together with
a statement of their composition. Soil of the open ground prairie in
Carteret county. Pocosin and swamp lands. Soils of Hyde county.

§ 5. In a former report, that of 1852, I deemed it neces-
sary to point out certain facts which have a direct bearing
upon the principles of agriculture, and which indeed appear
to constitute the foundation upon which it is based ; and as
the present report may fall into the hands of those who may
not have seriously reflected upon , those principles, I now pro-
pose to recapitulate them very briefly.

Soils must contain a sufficiency of certain inorganic ele-
ments, otherwise no seed can be perfected. The elements
which support animal life may be traced to those which exist
in the vegetable, especially the seed and fruit. Hence, the
important products of life are derived from the soil, it being
possible to trace them back through the vegetable, and
the reverse, from the soil through the vegetable to the animal.
Those products of life then, which can be traced to no other
source than the soil, must be regarded as essential elements
of the soil, and as designed to sustain and support life. The
office of the vegetable tissue through which they pass to fit
them for sustaining animal life, are to simply modify, or to
form new combinations, and not new substances or elements.

Those which I regard as essential to animal life, and all
of which exist in the soil, are, phosphorus, sulphur, potash,
soda, lime, magnesia, iron, silica, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 9

and carbon. They do not seem, in any instance, to enter
into the composition of living bodies in the elementary state,
but as compounds ; thus hydrogen combines with oxygen
and forms water, or nitrogen and forms ammonia ; oxygen
combines with phosphorus, sulphur, etc., before they are
fitted to enter into the composition of the animal tissue.

The soil then, being the great reservoir or source of these
elements which are truly essential to life, and so far as nutri-
ment is concerned are dependent upon them, we cannot over-
estimate the importance of preserving it in the best condi-
tion ; and when the soil is so far deprived of these elements
that the crops are imperfect, we see the importance of those
fertilizers which contain them. It appears also, that sub-
stances which do not contain them, have never been denomi-
nated fertilizers at all. Hence, when matters are added to
soils, it is expected that they contain more or less of phos-
phorus, sulphur, potash, soda, etc., in certain states of combi-
nations which the plant is able to obtain.

§ 6. The soils of North-Carolina are remarkable. They
belong very frequently to the extremes of certain well dis-
tinguished classes. On the one hand, these extremes consist
of sand, a marine product, nearly pure, or with only a trace
of other matters ; on the other, they are composed of nearly
pure vegetable matter, with only a trace of earth or soil
proper. These are not simply rare exceptions to the common
run of soils, but they form classes. So also the stiff clays
which are also marine deposits, form another class. These,
however, do not materially differ in composition from the
same class in other sections of the State.

The two former, I believe, are sectional, and are confined
to the lower counties.

Besides the foregoing, where rocks exist near or at the sur-
face, we may clearly recognize other classes which differ, both
as to their origin and composition. For example, we may
readily distinguish from all others the deep red soil of the
argillaceous slates from that of gneiss or granite, though the
latter has a deep red color also, or, from the deep red soil of
the sandstone of Orange, Chatham, Moore and Anson. There

10

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

is also another peculiar soil which skirts the northern counties,
Granville, Person, Caswell and Rockirigham. It is adapted
to the growth of fine tobacco. It is a light gray soil.

The soils, however, which form the subject of this report,
occupy the eastern counties of the State, and may all be re-
garded as marine products with one exception, the vegetable
eoils, which occupy the swamps and pocosins of the extreme
eastern part of the State. The others which have been re-
ferred to are derived immediately from the rocks upon which
they rest, and have been formed by atmospheric agencies.

The vegetable soils, on the other hand, were formed by the
growth of vegetables which have long since ceased to live,
and have undergone disintegration in a greater or less degree ;
some are coarse and fibrous, others exist as a close compact
mass of vegetable matter, perfectly disorganized and in the
best condition possible for cultivation. The mass remains in
situ, frequently homogeneous, and may be cut into blocks
and dried like brick.

I have applied to these vegetable accumulations the usual
term soil, for the reason that they are cultivated and frequent-
ly productive. Others probably come more properly under
the common name peat, as the mixed earthy matter is too
small to be cultivated without the addition of earthy matter,
and have remained in situ, and undisturbed since their seeds
took root.

The peculiarity of this vegetable soil then consists in ita
composition, and the interest which is especially attached to
it arises from the small amount of earthy matter which it
contains. It gives us, therefore, an opportunity to determine
the smallest amount of earthy matter compatible with re-
munerating crops. It is also proved by observation that all
crops require earthy matter, — it may be comparatively small,
but if the inorganic matter is reduced to a certain small per-
centage, the crop fails, although it is placed, in one sense, in
a magazine of food. The determination of the smallest per-
centage of inorganic matter which is compatible with a good
crop, is practically important. Large tracts of land in North
Carolina consist of organic matter, with too little soil to permit

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

u

of its cultivation. If inorganic matter is added, it will make it
productive, and possibly valuable. But how little is required,
how much expense may be required to bring it to or put it in
a cultivable state, is a legitimate inquiry, and one which
may be productive of considerable profit. It is evident,
however, that in a country like this, where there are vast
areas of wild land to be subdued, that these lands under con-
sideration cannot come in competition with good soil at
government prices, unless it can be shown that the expense
of reclaiming them is comparatively small ; still, the question
sought to be determined is an interesting one, and I have at-
tempted its solution, the results of which will be given in the
subsequent pages.

§ 7. A secondary fact requires a passing notice. Whilo
all the elements enumerated are essential to a good soil, some
are more so than others. Thus, certain plants require potash,
while to others this element is not so essential, or it holds
only a subordinate place. In wheat it is very necessary,
while to clover it is less so, and in the latter lime seems to
take its place. As a general law the most expensive elements,
as potash and phosphoric acid, abound in the seed and fruit,
while lime is most usually found in the wood and bark or stem.

Silex in the cereals is an essential element in the stem or
stalk. Its office is to give it strength and hardness.

Each element, therefore, being destined for a particular
organ, performs or fulfils a certain office or function.

These specializations wre may regard as predetermined re-
sults, effected through the instrumentality of the cell force ;
but how, it is impossible to say ; how the salts or compounds
of phosphoric acid are carried up to form the seed and there
remain and accumulate, and how the silex is arrested and ac-
cumulates in the stem, it is impossible to say.

We may be assured, however, that the machinery of a
plant will work right if it is fed with the necessary food.
Knowing, therefore, what a plant wants, it becomes the
special business of the farmer to supply it. The perfection
in agriculture will consist in a strict application of the doc-
trine of specialities, and this specialization will not be confined

12 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

to a supply of food simply, but will extend to the mechanical
cultivation : each plant will no doubt be found to do or grow
better under a certain mode of cultivation.

§ 8. Sandy soils predominate to a great extent over all
others in the eastern counties, though there are tracts in
which clay is in as great excess as sand. The extreme varie-
ties may be summed up as follows : 1st, sandy soil to an excess
which destroys cohesion and becomes blowing sand ; 2d, clay ;
3d, vegetable soils to such an extent as to exclude earthy
matter, or to contain merely some 4 or 5 per cent, of it.

Between the extremes, as enumerated, there exist mixtures
in various proportions, as usual, except that, as a general
rule, the proportion of sand is somewhat greater than in the
soils belonging to other parts of the State.

As an example of soil in which sand is in greater excess, I
may state that the following is an instance worthy of note.
The specimen was taken from Bladen county, near Elizabeth-
town, and represents a kind common to that section. Thus,

Silex, 94.80

Water, 1.20

Organic Matter, 1.50

Per oxide of iron and alumina, 65

Lime, 01

Magneisa, trace,

Potash and soda, traces.

The essential constituents of a good soil in this example
exist only in the smallest proportions, — and though it pro-
duces plants, yet the valuable elements exist in too small
proportions to pay for tillage.

The great excess of sand is, however, palpable, and it is
also evident that there is a great deficiency of clay or alu-
mina, which gives consistency to soils, and which forms the
basis upon which fertilizers may be profitably applied.

It belongs, it will be conceded, to a particular class, as there
is a single element in great excess. Although there is a great
excess of sand in these examples, to which many more might
be added, still, this excess, in itself considered, does not dis-
qualify them for the growth of certain crops, particularly the

NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

13

ground pea, though it is possible their constitution may not
be fully adapted to that crop, yet so far as the proportion of
sand is concerned it is not in excess. This fact is stated for
the purpose of alluding to what may not be known to many,
that a soil which is really poor and unsuitable for one crop,
may be well suited to another. The quality of the crop may
be much better when grown upon a soil where sand is in
great excess than upon a rich and well proportioned soil.

§ 9. The contrast between soils, one of which is not well
proportioned, while the other is, is strikingly exemplified in
the composition of another soil from Halifax county. Thus,
I found:

Silex, 74.80

Water, 21.90

Organic matter, 5.40

Alumina and per oxide of iron, 14.00

Phosphoric acid, 01

Lime, 40

Magneisa, 20

Potash, 05

Soda, 03

Another from Halifax county resembles very closely the
former ; thus, I found on submitting it to analysis :

Silex, 94.15

Water, 1.30

Organic matter, * 1.35

Oxide iron and alumina, 1.80

Lime, 15

Magneisa, 01

Potash, 01

Soda, 01

Another soil from Halifax which had been long under cul-
tivation, but whose composition is somewhat better; thus, it
contained:

Silex, 92.56

Water, 1.20

Organic matter, 2.70

Oxide iron and alumina, 2.70

Lime, 18

14 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Magneisa, 24

Soluble Silica, 10

Potash, trace,

Soda, 18

.

The presence of phosphoric acid was not determined in
either of the foregoing, but as it is in combination with the
small per centages of oxide of iron and alumina, it is evident
that it exists in proportions less than that of the alkalie.s.

The soils of Halifax, were originally sandy, yet the rela
live proportion of sand, as they are now constituted, is con-
siderably greater than when they were first brought under
cultivation. The soluble matters, those consumed by the
crops which they have borne, having been removed with
them, and nothing returned to supply their places, they are
yet capable of bearing very light crops, but it is doubtful
whether the cultivation of land so poor as these really pays.
If an example of poor soil is placed side by side with a good
one, the comparison is much facilitated :

GOOD BOTI* POOR SOIL.

Silex, 74.80 94.15

Water, 4.90 1.30

Organic matter, 5.40 1.35

Alumina and per oxide of iron, 14.00 1.80

Phosphoric acid, , . . 51

Lime, 40 15

Magnesia, 20 01

Potash, 25 01

Soda, 13 01

In making a safe comparison between the composition of
good and poor soils, it should be stated that less alumina and
iron would not displace the soil from the position I have
placed it. The silex is in the proper proportion, and the or-
ganic matter may be regarded also as sufficient, though as
we shall see in the sequel, this element may be greatly in-
creased to the advantage of long cultivation. "Where it is
wholly absent, seed fails to ripen ; a fact which shows the
necessity of its presence. Silex is the basis of all soils, and
where it is entirely absent, barrenness is certain. It is sola-

NOKTH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SUHVET.

ble under needful conditions, and it enters largely into the
straw of all cereals.

Alumina never enters into the composition of plants at all ;
but it performs an important function notwithstanding; it
holds as it were the particles of earth together. Its true of-
fice may undoubtedly be shown by experiment. Pour water
upon a soil well charged with clay, and it remains upon the
surface ; but poured upon sand, it quickly disappears. If
the water was charged with fertilizing matter, this also will
remain, and be held near the surface by the clay, and within
reach of the roots of the plant.

§ 10. The fact is well known that sandy soils do not retain
manures ; while on the contrary, clay soils retain all fertiliz-
ing matters with great force. Clay indeed absorbs ammonia
under all circumstances, and it cannot be entirely dissipated
or driven oif short of a red heat. It obstinately retains water.
Some of the functions of clay are performed by other ele-
ments. Lime and iron and organic matter, for example, give
cohesion to soils, and aid in the retention of water.

"Water exists in soils in two conditions. In the first, it
seems to adhere to the surfaces of particles, and hence is
liable to constant variation. This is hygrometric water. In
the second, it forms a constituent part of the salts in the soil,
as the soluble salts of lime and alkalies, the crenates, etc. In
the first instance, it is mostly dissipated by an exposure of
400 degrees of Fah., while a heat near to redness is required
to remove it from the organic salts.

All the elements which have been enumerated, except alu-
mina, enter into the constitution of plants ; but as I have had
occasion to say, in different proportions in different plants,
and also in different proportions in the parts of plants.

An example or two of soils occupying another extreme*
where the organic matter is in great excess, may be cited
from localities in Tyrrel and Carteret counties. In the for-
mer county, large tracts lying upon Croatan Sound, furnish
organic matter in great excess, and at the same time they are
deficient in the earths. Thus in an uncultivated soil I found
it composed of

NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Organic matter, 92.70

Sand, 6.02

Lime, 0.02

Phosphate of lime, alumina and iron, 0.90

Potash, 0.20

Soda, 0.06

Magnesia, trace.

The silex in this case is a whi^te marine sand which becomes
visible after rains, or after a year or two of cultivation. It
is too coarse to furnish the necessary amount of soluble silica
for a succession of crops. When the vegetable matter is re-
moved, it remains as a white sand still, and is blown into
ridges.

§ 11. The condition of the vegetable matters, as in the
case of the other elements, is quite variable. Sometimes it
is very fine, and is thoroughly incorporated with them ; in
other instances it is coarse, or in the condition of fibres. In
the former state the sand is not so readily exposed ; in the
latter it is always visible, and is indicative of a poor condi-
tion, or of its unsuitableness for cultivation. It has not been
exposed long enough to change it to the condition required
for crops of the most valuable kind.

A still more remarkable case of excess of vegetable matter
composes a tract in Carteret county, and is known as the
open ground prairie. This tract, or that portion of it lying
within a certain zone of rich and productive land, contains a
growth of sphagnum or moss, together with other vegetables
intermixed, with which there is only a minute quantity of
earth. I obtained it from a depth of 18 inches, and it gave
only 3 per cent, of inorganic matter, and this was mostly the
ash of the vegetable fibre. This case furnishes an example
of an unproductive soil, so far as the grains are concerned.
The outer rim of the open grounds is an excellent soil.

Much has been said respecting the open ground prairie, and
enquiries are now frequently made respecting the character
of this tract ; and whether it is susceptible of a profitable
cultivation. As the soil is now constituted, a kernel of corn
planted in it would germinate and grow well apparently until

NORTH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

it is about one foot high, when it turns yellow and dies. It
is then evidently in an uncultivated condition.

The question then comes up, can the open prairie be made
cultivable artificially, and if so, how ? The question first put
is not designed to inquire strictly into the possibility of the
tiling, because all who have given some thought to the ques-
tion, know very well that it is possible, because a soil can be
made from the start, by putting together the proper elements,
and this can be done with the open ground prairie ; but can
it be done profitably ? Now, when we are assured that the
soil of the open prairie ground is composed exclusively of vege-
table matter, it is plain, that the earths must be added to give
it the composition required for the perfection of vegetables
of any value to man. The old practice consisted mainly, in
giving peaty soils (as this must be ranked in that class,) a
heavy dressing of lime. It is evident on reflection, if the
principles in the foregoing paragraphs are correct, that this
practice could not be relied upon, for it would only acquire
a single element. Something more is wanted. Not only
lime, but iron, alumina and silica are required. We may
infer that the phosphates and alkalies will be supplied by the
decay of vegetable matter, and, from this fact, ii; appears
at least plausible, that the treatment which the open ground
prairie demands, is the addition of some natural soil. It may
be taken from the nearest marsh where mud or soil may be
obtained, provided it contains silex, alumina, iron, etc.

Knowing, then, what substances are wanting in this soil.
and hence what must be added, the question resolves itself
into this : how much does a soil of the description of that
under consideration require to make it productive? We
have seen that the soil upon Croatan sound is at least tolera-
bly productive, which contains only 7.30 per cent, of inor-
ganic matter, and that the element which greatly predomi-
nates over the rest, is sand, in a state unfitted to furnish solu-
ble silica. We may regard the Croatan soil as containing
the smallest quantity of earthy matter, and at the same time
possessing the ability to grow the cereals. Leaving the sand
out of view, we may infer that the least quantity of earth which
3

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

is required to the open ground prairie will be not less than
140 to 150 tons to the acre. When this expense is added to
the expense of drainage, it is evident that in a country where
land is cheap it would not be economical to expend so much
money and labor to create as it were a soil adapted to the
better class of vegetables.

§ 12. The effect of cultivation of soils composed mainly of
vegetable matter and marine sand, is to consume so much of
the former that the latter becomes in its turn predominant,
and even after a few years' cultivation only, the white sand
shows itself through and upon the surface of the black vege-
table matter, and soon afterwards it appears in sufficient
quantities to form white ridges over the cultivated field.
When this takes place, the soil has already begun to exhibit
unmistakable evidences of partial exhaustion.

The soils in which vegetable matter predominates, apper-
ently in great excess, not injuriously however, prevail orer
large tracts or areas in the eastern counties, and are beginning
to be esteemed the most valuable lands of any in North-
Carolina. They are not confined to one or two counties, but
may be found in most of them which lie east of the Wil-
mington railroad. They also prevail in the south-eastern
section, especially in New Hanover and Columbus.

Some of the tracts are classed as pocosin and swamp lands,
but they agree in having a very large percentage of veget-
able matter, and in being also thoroughly wet and frequently
covered with water, I have found that there is no constant
percentage of vegetable matter where different and distant
tracts are compound together. It is as variable as the clay
or sand in argillaceous and sandy soils. There is also a
variableness as to its condition; it is often perfectly disorgan-
ized and presents a compact appearance when cut into blocks ;
or it may be in the condition of coarse fibres with their tex-
ture or structure perfectly preserved. In the first case, it is
in the proper condition for cultivation, and the latter, it has?
not passed into that state and condition which is fitted for
the nutrition of the cereals. The coarse vegetable fibre pre-
dominates in the open prairie grounds of Carteret, and the

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SUKVET. 19

former' in those of Hyde and Ooslow counties. So also these
vegetable soils vary endlessly with respect to the amount of
soil and sand. The Hyde county soils may be regarded as
the standard eoils for excellence of this class, and hence it is
important to determine their composition. On their own ac-
count, it is important to determine the composition, as well as
for the purpose of comparing their composition with others
which resemble them in their external characters. Many
mistakes have been made in the swamp lands; for when wet
and examined in the ordinary way they look rich — with
the presence of a superabundance of vegetable matter, their
true characters may be concealed. In many cases the con-
dition of the earthy matter is overlooked. It may indeed
be too small; or it may be a coarsish marine sand destitute
of fine earth. In all cases it is possible, and indeed easy to
determine whether it will be productive or comparatively
valuable. This is an important fact to make out, for all these
lands require to be drained thoroughly, and it is certainly an
object worth attention to be able to determine before hand
whether the tract is worth the expenditure before it is in-
curred.

The Hyde county soils have acquired a deservedly high
reputation for fertility. Some tracts have been cultivated
over a century, and the crops appear to be equally as good
as they were at an early period of their culture ; and yet no
manure has been employed, and they have been under cul-
ture in indian corn every year; or what would be equivalent
thereto. If this crop has been omitted, wheat has been sub-
stituted for it; not because they are properly wheat soils, but
if they are uncultivated, the weeds acquire a size that it is
impossible to cover them the next year. The same difficulty
occurs in part in the culture of corn ; the stalks are so numer-
ous and large that it is difficult to bury them so completely
that they shall be concealed, and preserve at the same time
an even handsome surface. For this reason critics of a mor-
bid ivtamp have said, that the Hyde county planters are
slovenly, overlooking the facts refered to, which are really
the sole causes of the defects complained of. Though the

20 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

defects are not very palpable under any circumstances, still
it is sometimes useful to a community to have faultfinders,
and to have their doings overhauled by a would be wise critic.
§ 13. Hyde county appears to be nearly a dead level. It
rises of course a few feet above the sound, but it is impercep-
tible to the eye. Buildings may be seen for great distances,
and were the whole surface laid out in proper order, it might
be made to appear like an immense park. The depressions
of the surface are due to fires which have consumed the
vegetable matters to the depth of from four to ten and per-
haps fifteen feet. In these depressions the surface water has
accumulated, and in a few instances large lakes are the re-
sult. Mattamuskeet lake is the largest of the surface drain-
age. Its former extent was not less than twenty miles. Its
circumference now exceeds sixty miles by the road, — and as
the traveller proceeds on his route, there is nothing more sur-
prising than the succession of corn fields which are always in
view.

The most common natural growth of the best swamp land
of Hyde county is cypress and black gum.

In one respect this region differs from others farther from
the sea. There is no difficulty in the cultivation of the gras-
ses. It is evident the climate is more humid, and the sea
breezes moderate the heat sufficiently in summer to favor the
developement of this family of plants. There is no doubt,
also, that if the attention of the planters was turned to the
cultivation of grasses adapted to the climate, greater profits
might be realized than from the cultivation of maize. It is
less expensive, and as hay bears a high price, and is obtained
from a distance, in all the villages of this part of the State,
and as there is always -a communication with them by water,
there can be no doubt that the profits which would arise from
hay making, would considerably exceed those of corn. The
green surface of the lake shore, the yards of the houses, and
the appearance of the small pasturages sustain this view.

§ 14. The peculiarities of the soil of Hyde county, that
particularly of the lake region, are comprised in two particu-
lars: 1st, the large quantity of fine vegetable matter they

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

21

contain; 2d, the extreme fineness of the intermixed earthy
matter. The earthy matter is invisible in consequence of its
fineness, and is evenly distributed through the mass. An
inspection of it even under a common lens will deceive most
persons, and they would be led to infer that it was entirely
absent. Unlike other soils it contains no coarse visible par-
ticles of sand ; and hence it appears that during the growth
of the vegitables which form at least one-half of the soil, it
was subjected to frequent overflows of muddy water; or else
the area over which these peculiar soils prevail was usually a
miry swamp which communicated with streams which brought
over it the finest sediment of some distant region. This sedi-
ment is frequently a fine grit, and fine enough for hones, and
w-hen the vegetable matter is burnt off, it assumes a light
drab color. The character of the Hyde county soils has
never been understood. The cause of their fertility has never
been explained, and many persons who are good judges of
land have overated the value of swamp lands in consequence
of the close external resemblance they have borne to those
of Hyde. Analysis, however, will in every case detect the
difference between the common swamp soils, and those of
Matamuskeet lake.

It is unnecessary to dwell farther upon the points I have
stated respecting the characteristics of these remarkable soils.
It will appear in the sequel that there is a great uniformity
in the composition of these soils, both as it regards the amount
and condition of the vegetable matter, and the quantity and
condition of the fine grit intermixed with it.

Eegarding as I do these soils as the proper standard for
the valuable swamp soils of the eastern section of the State,
I have subjected many samples to a rigid chemical analysis.

The result of these analyses have thrown much light over
them, and explains satisfactorily their steady productiveness
for long periods. It will appear that their fertility is due not
only to their vegetable matter, but also to the composition
and condition of the earth in combination with it.

Hereafter, it appears to me, it will be unnecessary -to sub-

22

NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

ject soils of this character to a strict analysis, for reasons
which will be stated in the sequel.

In my journey to Hyde my principal objects were to select
the standard soils for analysis, and to investigate upon the
ground, the peculiar conditions which seemed to favor the
production of indian corn ; for of all crops this seems to be
the one to which the soils are specifically fitted.

In accomplishing the objects of my visit I was ably secon-
ded by Dr. Long, of Lake Landing, who has become the
owner of a tract which has borne this crop for one hundred
years without manures. It does not seem to have deteriorated
by this long cultivation ; or the crops do not show a percepti-
ble falling off; still there has been a large consumption of
materials during the one hundred years of cultivation which
may be made to appear by analysis. The great supply of
nutriment, however, still holds out, and the one hundred years
to come, if subjected to no greater drains upon its magazine
of food, will, at such a distant period, continue to produce its
ten or twelve barrels of corn to the acre.

CHAPTER II.

,v v j

The best soil of Dr. Long, of Hyde county — its composition — its common
yield per acre of corn. Mr. Burrough's soil of the north side of Matta-
muskeet Lake. Amount of inorganic matter which a crop of corn re-
moves from the soil. Each organ to be furnished with appropriate nu-
triment. Maize an exhausting crop. Soils from the plantation of Gen.
Blount, Beaufort county. Gen. Blount's letter, etc.

§ 15. The soil which Dr. Long regarded as his best, and
which had been under cultivation only three years, I shall
now speak of, and state its composition, and present it as rep-
resenting very nearly the original condition of the best soil
of the county. It is rather light and loose, of a black color

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 23

like all vegetable soils. It is not however spongy. Bains do
not expose grains of quartz as in many instances of the gall-
berry lands. It becomes rather lumpy on drying. Its com-
position is as follows :

Organic matter, 48.10

Silex: 43.00

Oxide of iron and alumina, 6.40

Lime, 0.21

Magnesia, 012

Potash 0.16

Soda, 0.18

Chlorine, trace,

Soluble Silex, 0.03

Sulphuric acid, 0.04

Phosphoric acid, 0.30

98.55

The silex, after the removal of the organic matter, is of a
light drab color, exceedingly fine, or nearly fine enough for
sharpening fine edge tools. If all the vegetable matter was
removed, this fine earth would probably be too compact and
close for cultivation ; but, intermixed as it is with the debris
of vegetables, it is sufficiently porous to admit all the light
and air required for the luxuriant growth of any crop which
may be put upon it.

The composition of this soil, it is evident, shows a large
proportion of vegetable matter. This is intimately blended
with fine earthy matter, the basis of which is silex. In com-
bination with it we find a full pioportion of iron and alumina,
or clay, which gives coherency to the grains, and besides the
nutritive elements, lime, magnesia, potash, phosphoric acid,
exist in as large proportions as in other rich and productive
soils. The regular yield of this soil to the acre is from ten
to twelve barrels of Indian corn. In favorable seasons it
amounts to twelve, in less favorable it may reach only ten
barrels. It is -also easy to cultivate.

The composition of a soil of a similar character, and which
has been under culture by Mr. Burroughs, of the north side
of the lake, is as follows :

NOETH- CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Silex, 34.60

Water, 12.30

Organic matter, 41 90

Peroxide of iron, 3.70

Alumina, 5.10

Soluble silica, 0.40

Lime, 0.48

Magnesia, 0.27

Potash, 0.13

Soda, 0.10 ,

Phosphoric acid, 0.12

This soil, though, exposed in paper in a dry room for two
months to the air, contained more water than the preceding.
Its composition should be calculated without the water. So
it is probable that the phosphoric acid, if obtained and calcu-
lated from the full proportion of earthy matter, would show a
more striking result. But it is evident that there can be no
deficiency of this important element, inasmuch as the crop is
one which is necessarily rich in phosphates. The depth of
this rich vegetable soil varies from 5 to 10 feet, rarely less
than five feet. This may be taken too as the usual depth of
the soils of this description, not only in Hyde, but in all the
eastern counties where swamp and pocosin lands prevail.

§ 16. There are but few instances on record, where a soil
has been under cultivation a century, and still retains its ap-
parent original fertility. It must of course have lost a large
amount of phosphoric acid, potash and lime ; still the crops
are equal in measure to what they were when first cultivated.
In order to test the value of a soil which had borne a crop for
one hundred years, and during the whole period had not re-
ceived a bushel of manure, I selected a parcel of it at a dis-
tance from buildings, or from a spot which could not Jiave
received any artificial aid.

This parcel gave the following result, on submitting it to
analysis :

Silex, 59.00

Organic matter, 22.20

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 8.00

Lime, 0.10

Magnesia, 0.09

Potash, . 0.02

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 25

Soda, 0.03

Sol. silica, 0.20

Water, 8.90

Phosphoric acid, trace.

99.44

These remarks are justified on comparing the results of this
analysis with Dr. Long's soil, which has been under cultiva-
tion only three years ; thus, the silica is in greater proportion,
and the organic matter, less ; and it is due no doubt to the
fact that it has been under cultivation for the time specified.
It still retains, however, a magazine of food for future crops ;
and if not exhausted at a greater rate than during the last
century, it will be a rich soil at the close of the next century.
It will be perceived that all the elements of fertility which
belong to new and unexhausted soils still belong to this. The
inorganic matter is extremely fine, like the finest grit, and in
the proportion required for the production of the most valua-
ble crops. Growing, as we perceive, in a magazine of food,
it seems to show that it is a crop upon which it is scarcely
possible to overmanure, and that it is unlike other corn crops,
which, when over supplied with food, run to stalks and leaves
to the detriment of the grain.

§ 17. If we calculate the amount of inorganic matter which
a hundred crops of maize remove from the soil, we should
find it to amount to many thousand pounds.

From data in my possession, I am led to believe that five
hundred pounds per acre of inorganic matter is removed in
every crop. This inorganic matter is contained in the ker-
nels, cobs, husks, silks, leaves, sheaths, stalks and tassels ;
each organ containing its own appropriate amount:

The number of plants which are allowed to grow upon an
acre, amount to fourteen thousand and seven hundred. Each
plant removes from the soil a specific amount of the earthy
compounds, and nearly in the following proportions, viz :

In Silica, 195 Ibs.

Earthy phosphates, 108 "

Lirne, 25 "

Magnesia, 18 "

*0 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Potash, 78 "

Soda, 30 "

Chlorine, 29 "

Sulphuric acid, 34 "

507

If five* hundred pounds of the earthy constituents of this
soil are removed from one acre in one year or in a single
crop, it will amount in one hundred years to fifty thousand
pounds — a quantity which would exhaust most perfectly any
of the ordinary soils of the country.

In an analysis which I have made of the kernels and cobs
of the yellow corn, I found :

COBS.

Silica, 4.67 5.93

Earthy phosphates, 8.22 22.18

Lime, 0.10 0.10

Magneisa, 0 30 1 .50

Potash, 12.31 14.95

Soda, 2.03 14.11

Chlorine, 0.04 0.39

Sulphuric acid, 0.11 2.74

61.81

That the composition of the leaves may be compared with
the foregoing, I subjoin an analysis of the leaves made at the
same time and growing upon the same plant:

LEAVES.

Silica, 82.88

Earthy phosphates, 29.27

Lime, 9.40

Magneisa, 1.91

Potash, 19.70

Soda, 13.14

Chlorine, 15.07

Sulphuric acid, 6.46

It might be supposed that as the sheaths of the leaves be-
long in one sense to the leaves themselves, that their composi-
tion would be the same ; but this is not the case as may be
seen by the following analysis :

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 27

Silica, 39.66

Earthy phosphates, 7.54

Lime, 1.58

Magnesia, 58

Potash, 5.57

Soda, 9.26

Chlorine, 2.20

Sulphuric acid, 8.92

In the sheaths the earthy phosphates and alkalies are much
less than in the leaves. In the cobs too the earthy phosphates
are less than in the kernels ; it seems, therefore, that each
part or organ has its own peculiar composition. To complete
this view of the composition of the plant of the maize, I sub-
join an analysis of the stalks; thus, they contain:

Silica, 8.78

Earthy phosphate, 10.30

Lime, 1.92

Magnesia, 0.64

Potash, 11.08

Soda, 17.09

Chlorine, 7.42

Sulphuric acid, 7.38

It should be observed that these several analyses were
made of a single plant, and the proportions are those belong-
ing to the plant, or its parts, and not properly percentages.
The ash was obtained from all the leaves, or stalks, and kern-
els, and the whole ash obtained analyzed. Hence the differ-
ence of composition of those parts are presented in a strong
light, as well as in a true proportion.

From the foregoing it will be perceived that where a crop
is to be manured or a fertilizer applied, it is not sufficient to
apply the earthy phosphates, for we perceive that every organ
or part requires all the elements whick we find in them.
The notion, therefore, should be dispelled, that bone earth is
the main fertilizer for the maize crop, or that it is enough to
furnish substances which consist of elements found in the grain
or fruit. For the perfection of the crop it is necessary that
the leaves and stalks, tassel and cobs should be furnished with
appropriate elements of food as well as the grain ; for that the

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

grain may ripen and acquire perfection, the leaves and stalks
also should be equally perfected. It can scarcely be doubted
that the grain itself depends for its full development upon the
perfection of the parts which precede it. They are the organs
which bring up the nutriment from the soil. Remove the
leaves at an early day, and the grain is destroyed, or never
comes to maturity ; but supply matter suitable for their in-
crease and perfection, and the grain is supplied also. It will
be observed that the different subordinate parts frequently
contain elements which are not found, except in very small
proportions, in the seed or grain ; yet, there is no doubt these
elements are quite essential to the perfection of the plant.

§ 18. Maize must be ranked among the most exhausting
crops ; and it is evident that poor soils will scarcely repay
the farmer for its cultivation. It is evident that, unlike other
cereals, there is little danger of using too much manure in its
cultivation, as it will bear almost any amount without injury,
provided all the elements of fertility exist in the magazine of
food provided for it. It is not liable to run to foilage, and
thereby fail to produce grain ; neither will it lodge or fall
down by its own excessive disproportion of organic to its in-
organic nutriment.

While it must be admitted that maize is an exhausting crop,
it is equally clear and conclusive that it is one of the most
important and valuable, and hence it may be regarded as one
which pays the best.

§ 19. The foregoing remarks respecting the maize crop
have been made in consequence of the peculiar adaptation
of the soil of Hyde county to this cereal. It is the granary
of the South. It is true that the number of bushels per acre
which constitute the average crop is less than the number
frequently made on other kinds of soil. Thus a hundred
bushels of corn may be grown upon an acre, but the Hyde
county soils rarely exceed sixty bushels per acre, — but from
fifty to sixty bushels are grown annually per acre for an in-
definite term of years, without the expense -of fertilizers,
while the heavy premium crops require a great expenditure
on them ; and these have to be repeated in order to keep the

NOETH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SUKVEY. 29

ground in a good condition ; and hence, in the long term of
years, the profits of these rich lands greatly exceed those
which are only moderately so, naturally, and require every
few years an instalment of manure.

§ 20. The similarity in the composition of the soils and
lands surrounding Matarnuskeet lake in Hyde county is re-
markable. They are all eminently rich in vegetable matter,
and all are supplied with a sufficiency of fine earthy matter;
in which respect they differ greatly, as will be perceived
from the open ground prairie in Carteret county. The simi-
larity appeared so great that I have not multiplied analyses
of them. I have, however, specimens received from Gen.
Blonnt, from Beaufort county, which I have analyzed ; all of
which will go to show that there is an extension of similar
swamp lands of that direction in the county of Beaufort,
which I have submitted to analysis ; all of which go to prove
the extension of the Matarnuskeet lands westward, or of
swamp lands quite similar in composition to these justly cele-
brated soils.

The soils which were collected by Gen. Blount were four
in number, and were taken from tracts, some of which had
been under cultivation several years, while others were com-
paratively new.

After having submitted these soils to analysis, I stated to
Gen. Blount my opinion of the samples I had operated upon,
and requested a statement from him also of all the facts con-
nected with them which he regarded as of sufficient import-
ance to be made public.

In reply to this request I received the following interesting
communication which I propose to incorporate with this re-
port.

It should be stated, however, for the benefit of those who
are not acquainted with Gen. Blount's husbandary, that he
has been engaged in the successful culture of swamp lands
between forty and fifty years, and hence is amply qualified
to express an opinion respecting their productiveness and
value.

The following is the communication referred to :

<5U NOETH-CABOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

MADISON VILLE, (NEAR WASHINGTON,) BEAUFORT COUNTY,

January 30£/i, 1858.

PKOF. EMMONS — My Dear Sir : — Your letter was duly received. I will
now give you a description of the land of which the four parcels sent you
are specimens :

No. 1. — A dark soil, from fifteen to twenty inches deep, incumbent on
porous clay, with some fine sand intermixed; through this substratum the
water percolates freely. The natural growth on this land, (before being
cultivated,) was a heavy growth of black gum, a scattering growth of large
poplars, some maples, a few laurels ; here and there a large short stra\ved
pine. This land has been cultivated in corn for three years, and has pro-
duced from 40 to 50 bushels per acre,

No. 3. — When cleared, some ten years since, was considered by me second
quality swamp land. The growth is formed of gums, but more laurels, pines,
and poplars than No. 1. For ten consecutive years it has been cultivated
in indian corn ; when in its prime it produced 40 bushels per acre — the last
crop 30 — the past season it was sown in oats, produced 20 bushels per
acre. The specimen sent you was taken from the poorest spot I could find
in the field, (judging from the growth of oats then on it ;) the soil where
the specimen was taken from was about 12 inches deep, the balance of the
field 18.

No. 2. — Unreclaimed swamp— soil from 18 to 24 inches deep ; subsoil u
different clay from that which underlays the previously described land, it
is lumpy and resists the spade. My opinion is that the water does not pass
freely through this subsoil, and consequently the surface soil is wetter than
on the lands above mentioned. The natural growth of this land is : reeds
standing ver.y thick, of moderate size, small sickly pine saplings, red and
white, bay bushes and gallberry, I have no doubt that this land has been
often burnt. I find strata of ashes at different depths below the surface,
and the stumps of large pine trees charred. I own about 3000 acres of
this description of land — it lays between the long leaf pine land and the
gum lands, and is the greater part of the year filled with water to the sur-
face. For some time after every heavy rain the surface is partially covered,
and the water slowly disappears ; every foot of it can be drained ; it ad-
joins my farm. Why should not such land, when thoroughly drained, be
fertile V If it would not be, what should be the proper treatment to make
it productive?

No. 3 lies between Nos. 1 and 2.

No. 4. — Soil of the complexion of the specimen sent you. It is from 2
to 3 feet deep ; incumbent on soapy clay, which is porous, and allows an
easy descent of the water. The growth of timber on this land is magnifi-
cent : black gums, from one to two feet diameter at the stump, fifty to
sixty feet to the limbs, straight bodies, the limbs not drooping, but forming
with the body an angle of about 30 degrees, limbs and twigs showing that

NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 3l

the growth is healthy and vigorous; a few very large, long bodied poplars;
some maples, corresponding in appearance, as regards size, &c., with the
gums above described ; cypress trees, averaging from 8 to 10 in number
per acre, from two and a half to four and a half feet diameter at the stump ;
one hundred feet to the limbs, straight bodies, small bulky tops, limbs not
drooping but erect. I have none of this land in cultivation, but have just
commenced to reclaim it. My opinion is it will be found equal in produc-
tion to the lands on the south-side of Matamuskeet lake.

On a farm laying on said lake that I once owned I have made one hun-
dred and fifteen bushels of indian corn per acre, and thirty bushels of wheat
per acre. I think this last described land, No. 4, with perfect drainage
and judicious cultivation, will produce as much as the Matamuskeet lake
land spoken of ; appearances, however, may be deceptive.

I have been, for a period of forty years, engaged in reclaiming and cul-
tivating swamp lands, such as I have described, and have found it a profit-
able business. I am located near the margin of the swamp, (of which my
plantation is a part;) it contains about 30,000 acres, and is south of my re-
sidence. The health of my family, white and black, will compare favorably
with the healthiest locations in eastern North-Carolina.

We have, as you are aware, large bodies of rich swamp lands in this
portion of the State. Within a few years wealth and population has
flowed, and is still flowing in upon them, which promises the happiest re-
sults to the good Old North State. Rich swamp land, like almost every
thing else, will show after a while the effects of bad treatment, but fortun-
ately for us, if we impoverish our land by severe and injudicious cultiva-
tion, we have in close contiguity inexhaustible supplies of shell marie,
which has proved itself a panacea to worn down swamp land. Guano and
the other manures in common use produce as fine, perhaps a better effect,
on swamp land than any other description of land of which I have any
knowledge. I fear, sir, I have taxed you too severly ; the interest I feel as
a citizen of the eastern part of the State I mention as my justification.
Should you wish more specific information than I have given, it will afford
me pleasure to furnish it.

Such is my great aversion to writing, I have been compelled to enlist
the aid of my daughter, Mrs. B., who is now with me. You will perceive
that a lady has been my amanuensis.

Most respectfully,

WILL. A. BLOUNT, SEN'K.

From the foregoing communication the reader will be pre-
pared to form a correct opinion of the character of the swamp
lands referred to, especially when taken in connexion with
their composition as determined by analysis.

No. 1. — On being exposed for a few weeks to the air be-

OZ, NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

comes dry. Its color,is blackish brown, it contains undecom-
posed bark, wood and some roots, but is mostly made up of
decomposed vegetable matter. The earthy part is not visible
as in many vegetable soils of the poorer class.

On submitting it to analysis I found it composed of the
following elements:

Silex, 65.540

Organic matter, 26.100

Water, 6.050

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 4.920

Garb, lime, 0.490

Magneisa, 0.050

Potash, 0.003

Soda, 0.020

Phosphoric acid, 0.003

The silex, as in most of the good swamp soils, is extremely
fine. Its color is drab, and hence probably contains a small
quantity of alumina which cannot be detached without being
attached by potash.

This soil, it is evident, still contains the elements of fertility.
and it is also evident that it will bear cultivation for years to
come without exhaustion. It will be observed that the
natural growth upon this soil is one which indicates fertility.
as the poplar and black gum, and a large growth of short
leaved pine, the growth being very heavy.

No. 2. — This specimen or mass of soil consists apparently of
vegetable matter without any earth. It is black, and pre-
serves a moist state, though it has been exposed to the air in
a box for several months ; and on being exposed in a drying
oven lost its moisture very slowly. It contains fresh vegeta-
ble fibres, portions of partially decomposed wood and bark,
etc. Still it is rather homogeneous, and is unlike the coarse
fibrous soil of the open prairie of Carteret.

On submitting this soil to analysis, I found it composed of
the following elements :

Silex, 74.600 74.SOO

Organic Matter, 18.000 18.100

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 3.100 3.100

Phosphoric acid, 0.021 trace,

NOBTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 33

Lime, 0.049 0.040

Magnesia, 0.005 0.005

Potash, 0.040 trace, %

Soda, , 0.030 trace,

Water, 4.000 4.000

98.845 99.845

This soil was dried before the quantity was weighed for
analysis. When exposed to about 300 degrees of Fah., it lost
fifteen per cent, of water.

This soil has not been cultivated, and though it looks rich,
still I am inclined to regard it as a poorer soil than No. 1.
It contains more sand, is rather coarser, and less alumina,
iron and vegetable matter. The alkaline earths, as lime and
magnesia, are much less. The same may be said of the alka-
lies, potash and soda. The depth of this soil is from eighteen
to twenty-four inches, resting on a hard and rather impervious
bottom. Its natural growth is also different ; as it consists of
reeds standing very thick, and small sickly pine saplings, red
and white bay bushes, gallberry, etc.

This growth, it is evident, might be due to the impervious
bottom, or its low temperature ; but it is also in part due to
the absence of the most important elements of fertility.
There is no doubt, however, but a low temperature, which is
due to the presence of water, is competent to produce an ap-
parent sterility, low bushes of peculiar kinds, as bay, gall-
berry, alder and willow.

No. 3. — The color of this soil is a dark ash or gray. It has
become dry in the box in which it was sent, while No. 2 has
remained wet. It is pulverulent and light, though somewhat
lumpy. The vegetable matter exists evidently in a large pro-
portion, yet a close observer would perceive that it is less
than in No. 2.

On submitting it to analysis, I found its composition as fol-
lows:

Silei 81.600

Vegetable matter, 12.800

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 4.100

Carb. of lime, 0.020

4

GEOtOGICAL StFKVET.

Magnesia, ..*...; •... 0.010'

Phosphoric acid, trace,

Potash, „ trace.

This soil was regarded by Gen. Blount as second quality.
Its growth consisted of low pines, gums and poplars. It how-
ever produced forty bushels of corn to the acre, but the last
crop was only thirty bushels. Afterwards, it gave twenty
bushels of oats to the acre.

The proportion of silex, it will be perceived, is much greater
than in No. 1. The specimen was taken from a poor spot in
the field. It had been under culture for ten years. Depth
of soil twelve inches.

In attempting the solution of the question, why a poor
crop was at last produced, we should not forget that certain
soils in this climate become dry at an early day ; and if so,
we invariably find the cereals growing very slim and slender,
and perhaps soon cease to grow, turn yellow, and produce, if
any, a very small ear of grain. In a shallow soil such a re-
sult may be expected, notwithstanding the soil, on analysis,
may be found to contain the elements of fertility. In the
same field, plants growing in the same soil, a part may yield
seed and fruit, and another will fail; the results being de-
pendent on the existence of moisture surrounding the roots
of the plant.

No. 4. — The color is grayish black, and contain half decom-
posed roots, bark, etc. It has also partially dried in the box,
and in drying, becomes lighter colored. This soil is deeper
than either of the preceding, being between three and four
feet deep, and incumbent on a porous bottom.

The growth is very large, consisting of black gum from one
to two feet in diameter, and from fifty to sixty feet high. The
limbs are straight as well as the bodies. Very large poplars
also are found scattered over the field, also cypress in clusters
from eight to ten in each.
This sample I found composed as follows :

Silex, 77.500

Organic matter, 15.400

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 4 6.900

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 35

Lime, 0.500

Magnesia, 0100

Potash, 0.019

Soda, 0.028

Phosphoric acid, * * 0.400

Sulphuric acid, . , 0.180

Portions of this soil, on being dried in an oven at 300 deg.
lost thirty-four per cent, of water. The silex is extrmely fine,
and similar in appearance to the Hyde county soils. It is,
however, in a greater proportion, and there is less organic
matter. But there is no doubt this soil will be productive
when drained and put under cultivation. It appears estab-
lished from observation and experiment upon the swamp
lands of the eastern counties, that much depends on the fine-
ness of the earthy matter ; for when there is a perceptible
coarseness, the land will not bear cultivation many years.
There is in those cases, however, less alumina and iron, and
hence this kind of soil dries readily; and in certain seasons
crops will be very short, and in reality fail. Where the
earthy matter is fine it retains moisture, and furnishes a sup-
ply for those seasons when the rains are unseasonable. In
certain cases the extreme fineness of the earth would present
other defects. It would become too compact and close, and
exclude the air. But the vegetable matter counteracts this
defect in the swamp lands.

The gallberry lands often appear rich, if their vegetation
did not remind one of their poverty. It will be found, in
most cases of the poorest kinds of this class of lands, that the
sand may be seen in the mass, or shows through its black
covering of vegetable mould. On examination, the sand will
be found to be coarse. Under cultivation the vegetable mat-
ter disappears rapidly ; it is readily burnt — and the surface
soon becomes white with the marine sand, and in extreme
cases blows into ridges. Lands of this description do not pay
the expense incurred in draining. It is sometimes necessary
to drain them, in order to effect the drainage of other con-
tiguous tracts.

Neither of the four foregoing soils of Gen. Blount's planta-

36 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SUB VET. %

tions belong to the poor gallberry lands, though No. 2 might
be ranked in the better class of this description of soils.

The texture of the gallberry lands has much to do with
their poverty ; for generally they are made up of stiff whitish
clays and coarse sand. From analysis we might prove that
their constituents were the same as in productive kinds of
soils. Such facts prove that productiveness is not entirely
dependent on composition.

CHAPTER III.

e

Topography of the Eastern Counties, from Wake eastward to Onslovr
County. Character of the soil of the White Oak Desert. Mr. Francke's
Pocosin and Swamp Lands. Better kind of Gallberry Swamp Land.
Swamp Lands of the Brown Marsh. Green Swamp Lands. Mr. Mc-
Neil. Will pay for drainage. Barren soil of Bogue Sound, furnished
by D. A. Humphrey, Esq., with his letter. Cause of barrenness in these
soils.

§ 21. From "Wake county eastward to the shore of the At-
lantic the country slopes gently, the greatest inclination being
of course on the western side of the plane. Between "Wake
and Johnston the country is rolling. From Smithfield, in
Johnston, to Clinton, in Sampson county, the country is still
somewhat rolling ; but much less so than between Johnston
and Wake. A large proportion of the country, however, be-
tween Smithfield and Clinton is a flat piney woods. The
land seven or eight miles west of Clinton is level and rather
sandy.

In Duplin county the level swamp lands begin. Between
Magnolia on the railroad and Onslow county, the country is
low and swampy, and in Onslow there are large tracts of un-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 37

settled or unreclaimed swamp and pocosin lands of an excel-
lent quality. One tract in particular contains a hundred
square miles, and a large proportion of it is excellent swamp
land — and some tracts are equal to the corn lands of Hyde
county.

Johnston county contains large tracts of flat piney woods,
the soil of which produces only the shrubs which indicate
unproductiveness, as the gallberry, ilex, and magnolia or bay,
with a small growth of the long leaved pine. The surface, if
not covered with water, is liable to be overflowed — and as it
consists of sand and clay, with a mixture of vegetable mould,
may be said to be quite impervious to water ; and hence, the
surface water stands over it for a long time, and its tempera-
ture remains too low for the growth of the more valuable
trees and plants. Towards Sampson county the country im-
proves, and upon the branches of the Six Run there are rich
plantations. The best swamp lands are still farther east ; and
these, while they are usually high enough to admit of drain-
age, are rarely more than fifty feet above tide level. The
Hyde county corn lands are about five feet above tide level,
or may be less than four feet. Sometimes, in close proximity
to the sounds, as in Carteret, the swamps are heaped up as
it were, and hence may be from twelve to sixteen feet above
the level of the sea.

In Onslow county, the soil between Thompson's and Jack-
sonville is very good. Some of it is suitable for the ground
pea, being a light soil with considerable vegetable matter.

§ 22. In Onslow, the White Oak desert is the most inter-
esting tract of swamp land in the county, it is at the head of
White Oak creek. This tract may be drained into Trent
river. The timber is very large, and consists of white oak,
poplar and pines.

The most important work which has been undertaken, is
the drainage of a part of this tract by Mr. Francke. He has
been able to secure two objects, the drainage of the land and
a good water power, with a fall of about twelve feet. The
cost of cutting the main drain or canal is fifteen cents per
square yard. The thickness of the soil in Mr. Franke's po-

38

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

eosin* is five feet towards the outer rirn, and still thicker to-
wards the middle, attaining at least ten feet of rich soil.
This pocosin is said to vary much in its depth and quality ;
some parts are sandy, and the trees are still large and nu-
merous. These sandy knowles are called islands. But the
excellent quality of parts of it which are covered with heavy
timber, prove by cultivation that it is equal to the Matamus-
keet lands of Hyde — their average yield being twelve barrels
of corn to the acre.

I have not seen the land referred to in Jones county, but I
am confirmed in the statement from its composition, which I
have determined by a careful analysis. Thus the drained
portion of Mr. Francke's pocosin gave me a result on analysis
equal in value to the best of the Hyde county soils. It is as
follows :

Silex, , , 60.000

Organic matter, 25.000

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 11.030

Phosphoric acid, , , 0.312

Lime, 1 500

Magnesia, , , 0.300

Potash, 0.010

Soda ...,'• 0.020

Soluble silica, 0.100

Water, 2.713

From the foregoing results, when compared with those
obtained by anaylsis of the Hyde county soil, it will be
acknowledged that if composition is a test which can be relied
upon, the Onslow swamp lands must be very valuable ; and
furthermore, that this value justifies the expense required in
draining. This is the first question to be settled in all swamp
lands: are their qualities good enough to justify this neces-
sary expense ? because they must be drained before the cereals
can be cultivated. The encouragement to incur this first ex*
pense arises from the fact that when drained they do not

* This pocosin is partly in Onslow and partly in Jones county. The portion
which has been drained and cleared is in Jones Bounty. The only meaning which
J can^attach to the word pocosin is, that it is a large swamp.

. NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 39

wear out in the life time of man ; they require no manures,
they are easily tilled, and they produce large crops annually,
and besides are less affected by droughts ; or, in other words,
the corn crop is more sure and certain than upon up lands.

Where there are large continuous tracts as in Onslow, Jones,
Hyde and Beaufort, a systematic plan of drainage should be
undertaken. This should be based upon a topographical
survey of the whole tract, ascertaining first the area and its
irregularities, if any, then the regular slope and the most
feasible points to which the drains and canals should run. If
a main canal can be cut which will take water sufficient for
boat navigation, it should be regarded as an important means
for transportation. It is surprising that swamp lands hold so
much water — so that most of the largest tracts of pocosin
lands furnish a sufficiency for this purpose.

The earthy matter in the pocosin of Onslow is very fine,
and of drab color, in which respects it is similar to the best
lands of Hyde.

It is evident also from an inspection of the results of this
analysis, that there is a full supply of lime, and of the more
.expensive elements, and hence it may be expected that when
these lands have been brought under full cultivation by
thorough drainage and other means necessary to favor the
growth of the cereals, that farms or plantations as valuable as
any in North-Carolina, will be formed out of this desert
swamp. The determination of the high value of this part of
Onslow I consider of great importance ; for there seems to
have been hitherto great backwardness in attempting to re-
claim the lands of "White Oak desert. It is true the under-
taking is a formidable one, but the rich results which will
certainly be secured thereby fully warrant the undertaking.

§ 23. The character of the gallberry lands require also
new investigation. These have usually been regarded as
worthless. They are usually flat and wet, and hence the
temperature of the surface is always too low for the vigorous
growth of the most valuable trees : aside from this fact it is
probable that the soil is really poor and unfertile, and no
measures within a reasonable expense could be employed to

40 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

change this semi-barren condition to one of fertility. But it
is equally probable that many large tracts of land which are
classed among the gallberry lands may be reclaimed and will
become fertile by thorough drainage.

In forming a judgment upon the expediency of draining
these flat and wet lands with a view to their cultivation, it is
necessary to examine the texture of the materials which com-
pose them as well as their composition. As there is a large
proportion of black vegetable matter upon the surface, it is im-
portant to ascertain if it is intermixed with earth, and if so
whether it is coarse or fine, and whether it is mostly sand, whose
particles are large or visible at once on inspection. If the
earth, after the vegetable matter has been consumed, is fine
and impalpable, it is a fact which speaks well of its character ;
if on the contrary it is a white and coarsish sand, it is unfavor-
able, for it cannot be expected that it holds, in mechanical
combination the more essential earths, alumina, lime and
magnesia, or the alkalies, potash and soda. If it is sand these
important elements will be in combination with the vegetable
matter, and when this has become an ash, or is partly con-
sumed, the soil will be destitute of the elements of fertility.
Observation and experience prove the correctness of the
foregoing observations. If, for instance, the soils of Hyde
county are examined, the fine impalpable material is always
found intermixed with the vegetable matter ; and so, in cases
where the sand is found, and soon appears after cultivation,
the lands do not wear well but soon give out.

But the gallberry lands are frequently stiff, whitish clays
intermixed with sand. These have undergone very little
change from the influence of atmospheric agencies. "When
ploughed and exposed for a few years to the atmosphere the
color slowly changes to a light brown, and finally to a deeper.
These changes are also favorable, and it will be found that
these lands improve by cultivation.

As an example of the better kind of gallberry land, I pro-
pose to give the composition of one which occupies a large
area in Onslow county, which, on being submitted to analy-
sis, gave the following results :

NOKTH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. -

Silex, 82.300

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 8.700

Lime, 0.020

Magnesia, 0.010

Phosphoric acid, 0.150

Organic matter, . . ., 3.350

Potash and soda, traces,

Soluble Silica, 0.100

Water, 6.000

The color of this soil is a light yellow, and its texture rather
fine, and is disposed to be lumpy. Its*texture and composi-
tion favor the growth of wheat rather than corn, and I have
no doubt when reclaimed by drainage will prove an excellent
soil for the cultivation of this grain.

§ 24. The swamp lands of Brunswick and New Hanover,
and the adjoining counties, resemble in many respects those of
Hyde and Onslow. In order to determine as far as possible
from analysis the expediency of draining a certain tract or a
portion of it lying in Brunswick county, which is known as
the Green swamp, Mr. McNeil * furnished me with a few
samples of muck which were obtained as it appeared from
beneath the water. It was similar to black mud, but on dry-
ing I found it contained partially decayed pieces of bark,
wood and roots, though its structure did not appear to be
fibrous.

On drying in the paper in which it was orginally wrapped,
it became rather hard and firm, showing that it contained
earth, for if made up of peaty matter destitute of earth, it
would have been much less firm and compact.

On submitting this material to analysis, I found it was
composed of the following elements :

*JACK FOREST, 24th November, 1857.

DEAR SIR : — I send you four packages of soil from our swamp lands : one from the
heavy timbered land on the Brunswick marsh; one from the low lands of the Brown
marsh, and lands requiring ditching; one from the original Green swamps, but now
timbered with young growth, and one from a ditch draining the land near the dwainp,
which I suppose contains lime.

Yours truly,

H. J. McNEIL.

42 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Silex, , 35.350

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 10.85

Organic matter, „ 37.50

Water, 15.8

Lime, 1.40

Magneisa, 0.15

Potash, , 0.10

Soda, 0.15

This soil was found to be much richer than I anticipated,
and on drying in paper, it retained a larger quantity of water
than I expected. If the composition had been obtained after
most of the water was expelled by heat, the proportion of
the elements of fertility would have been proportionally
greater. As the soil is composed, there can scarcely remain
a doubt of the value of these lands. The earthy matter is as
fine as that of the Onslow or Hyde county lauds, and its
quantity and condition proves, as it appears to me, the same
capability with them for a productive cultivation for a series
of years. Hence the cost of drainage should be incurred,
and these valuable lands reclaimed, inasmuch as they pay
better than the uplands. The extent of unreclaimed lands
of this description makes it still more expedient, inasmuch as
the general results are proportionately greater than when the
surface embraces only a few acres.

The depth of this material is from eighteen to twenty-five
or thirty inches, but like the Onslow pocosin it is variable,
and like the latter also, the swamp abounds in islands, which
are frequently occupied by inhabitants who contrive to live
by basket making. The timber consists of cypress and black
gum, and various pines and oaks, which frequently attain a
large size, proving by the natural method a productive soil.
In passing through these low lands, the water is frequently
deep in the common highway ; sometimes it is due to the
prevalence of rains, in others it is produced by dams to ob-^
tain a water power for mills. As it respects the practice
of maintaining mills in this low and half inundated country,
it seems to me to be inexpedient. It certainly prevents in
part the reclamation of these lands by drainage, and when it
is taken into consideration that steam power cannot be very

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

43

expensive in a country abounding in wood, it becomes quit®
plain that all such mills should be suffered to go down and
their places supplied by the much more efficient steam mills.
The soil taken from the bank of a ditch is of a dark drab
or purplish gray. It coheres strongly on drying and loses
most of its water. It is gritty to the feel and is composed of
moderately fine quartz and clay. On submitting it to analy-
sis I found it composed of

Silex, 83.00

Organic matter, 21.20

Peroxide iron and alumina, 7.40

Lime, trace,

Magnesia, trace,

Potash and soda, undetermined,

Water, , 3.20

The lime and magnesia were scarcely perceptible. It re-
sembles in appearance and composition the poorer gallberry
lands, though it is probably better than many. If a soil of
this description was to be put under cultivation it would re-
quire steady and constant marling. It forms a good subsoil
in one respect, that of being impervious and capable of hold^-
ing manures. It unlies the cultivable soil iof the swamp
lands in this neighborhood. The soil taken from the Bruns-
wick swamp is brown or brownish ; contains undecomposed
twigs, bark, &c., but on drying forms a firm mass and con-
tains a sufficiency of earthy matter. It is not unlike much
of the soil of Hyde county, and it appears that it has been
heavily timbered. I found it composed of

Silex, . . , , 45.470

Water, 8.000

Organic matter, 34.000

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 10.490

Lime, 0.490

Magnesia, , 0.060

Potash, 0.581

Soda, 0.326

Soluble silica, 0.580

This soil possesses a]l the good qualities of the Hyde county
soils. It absorbs and retains water strongly. The mass of

44 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

soil on drying becomes hard and tough, requiring force to
break it, and yet when apparently perfectly dry holds eight
per cent of water. It is also sufficiently rich in lime, and
particularly in organic matter. The question to be solved by
analysis was whether these lands would become valuable by
drainage. We may be assured this is proved by the results
obtained by analysis. The expediency of drainage depends,
however, very much upon the cost of the undertaking,' but if
the lands admit of drainage at the ordinary cost of such un-
dertakings there is no doubt but that the soil would rank
among the most valuable in the State.

§ 25. The foregoing analysis furnish examples of soils, most
of which may be regarded as highly productive. In the
midst however of productive lands, there are very frequently
limited tracts wrhich are really barren, so far as the cereals
are concerned. To the eye, or upon a mere cursory exam-
ination, these tracts would be regarded as valuable as any
which lie adjacent to them ; yet experience would prove, in
an attempt to cultivate them, that they are worthless. Corn
takes root and grows a few weeks, when it begins to turn
yellow, and finally dries up, or lives on in a stinted condition.

The cause of this unexpected termination is not well un-
derstood. Some planters believe that the soil is lacking in
one or more of the elements of growth ; others, that there
is some substance of a poisonous quality in the soil. If either
of these suppositions or guesses were true, the fact might be
determined by submitting the soil to a careful analysis.

But there are other causes which affect unfavorably the
growth of vegetables. It may be too tenacious, it may be
compact and prevent the access of air, (an element always
required,) or it may be so porous and open that the necessary
amount of moisture cannot be retained. In addition, there-
fore, to the chemical composition of a soil which a plant may
require to insure its perfection, there may be an incompati-
ble physical one, whose operation is equally effective in stint-
ing its growth. We must not, therefore, regard barrenness
as always the result of the absence of fertilizing elements.
In investigating any particular case of infertility, it is neces-

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 45

sary in the first place to inquire into its physical condition —
to ascertain its texture, the size of its particles, and at the
same time ascertain whether they are silicious and coarse,
and insusceptible of retaining water or fertilizing matter.

Many examples of these unproductive tracts belong, geo-
logically, to the most recent formation, as the Postpliocene of
authors. They are properly marine formations, in which
sand, as will be seen in the sequel, forms the largest propor-
tion of the elements of the compound.

A specimen of the unproductive soil was received from D.
A. Humphrey, Esq., of Swansboro', Onslow county, accom-
panied with a letter containing a brief account of the mate-
rial under consideration, the copy of which is in the follow-
ing words :

SWANSBORO', N. C., Jan., 1858.

DEAR SIR : — You will remember, that at Beaufort, last May, when I had
the pleasure of an introduction to you, you told me if I would send you a
specimen of some of that peculiar land of which we talked, you would an-
alyze and inform me of its constituents, and advise me of the necessary
change to be made in it, so as to make it produce the ordinary crops.

The land from which this specimen was taken produces weeds and vege-
tables common to all the sound land, very scantily, except the sweet fennel
(Foenicuhim) which grows very luxuriantly, so large even, that I have
them taken up with a grub-hoe. It will produce, with the best cultivation,
(without manure,) say 100 Ibs. seed cotton to the acre, and one bushel corn.
When the corn first springs up, it grows rapidly for a short time ; then
turns yellow and falls. The land is quite elevated. I have shipped to
Wilmington a small bag containing the specimen, from which place you
will soon receive it, and when it suits your convenience to examine, please
do so, and let me hear from you.

And oblige, very much,

Your friend and humble serv't,

D. A. HUMPHREY.

PROP. E. EMMONS, Raleigh, N. C.

On submitting the soil described in the foregoing letter, I
found it composed of the following elements :

Silex, 85.200

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 2.862

4:6 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Carbonate of lime, 1.85

Magneisa, trace,

Organic matter, f .0$

Water, 2.50

The phosphates and potash scarcely distinguishable in 200
grains. The sand representing the silex is rather coarse,
grains distinctly visible and rather angular. The color of the
mass is black, and it seems to be made up of fine vegetable
matter. It contains, as will be seen, a sufficient quantity of
lime and inorganic matter — the former is derived from parti-
cles of marine shells, sometimes of a large size, and it is
probable all the lime is coarse ; it effervesces with acids."
The silex, though large, is not in greater proportion than in
many productive soils. It would be regarded as a light soil^
though the vegetable matter might deceive one who has had
no experience in cultivating soils of this description. A soil
of this character presents two questions for solution : 1st,
whether its present or natural state will justify an expendi-
ture sufficient to make it fertile ? and 2d, if so, what course
should be adopted to secure the object sought for? My first
impression is that it cannot be made productive at all, in con-
sequence of its composition. It has really only a base of
coarsish sand of considerable depth. Hence it Is loose and
'porous, and transmits all the water through it. Besides, it is
evident that there is a deficiency of alumina and all the most
expensive elements except lime, and the lime, instead of be-
ing fine and in a condition to furnish to vegetables this neces-
sary element, aids rather in giving it porosity, as it is in
coarse particles. But still, so far as this element is concerned,
the soil is well enough ; but in a combination or mixture
which is loose and porous, it- is doubtful whether the neces-
sary chemical changes do take place at all. considering the
nature of the tract of land, I believe the first step to be taken
towards its improvement would be to give it a heavy dressing
of clay, to change, if possible, its physical condition. Less
clay would be required, if one which is calcareous could be
employed ; for less would answer the purpose than if it were
pure. In order that chemical changes should take place, it

&ORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 4:7

is necessary that water should be retained, or that it should
pass through slowly.

The fertilizers which are best adapted to a case like the
Swansboro' soil are green crops, peas or clover, which may
be ploughed in. By either crop we secure in part the end
we aim at, condensation of the soil or compactness, by which
water is retained, and by which also time is given for the
consummation of the chemical changes required. The water
being retained, the crop, whatever it may be, the plant is
supplied both with water and nutriment.

But the necessary dressing of clay is always expensive,
even when it is near or at hand, unless indeed it can be
reached by the plough. There are very few cases where the
expense of hauling clay is ever returned in an increased
amount of crops. We may be able, as I believe, to point
out in what way given defects in a soil may be remedied.

When that is done, it still remains a question for solution^
whether the mode proposed will pay. It is evident that a
calculation of the cost of the mode prescribed is very impor-
tant, if it is to be put in execution. A garden may be put
into a high state of fertility, when a large cornfield cannot be
treated in the same mode.

It is not easy, in the case before us, to account for the bar-
renness of the soil of the coast, unless we adopt the theory
that it is mainly owing to its mechanical condition. A soil
having a very close resemblance to this, at Cape Cod, in
Massachusetts, is quite fertile. President Hitchcock, of Am-
herst College, who conducted the geological survey of the
State, found on examination and analysis, that the blowing
sands of the cape owed their productiveness probably to the
comminuted shells, intermixed with the sand. Or, at least,
the sands, under a microscope, exhibited particles of shells ;
and hence, as the soil consisted of sand and finely commi-
nuted shells, its productiveness was attributed to the presence
of this fine lime dust commingled with the sand. But the
climate of Massachusetts bay is much more moist and cool
during the summer than the coast of Bogue sound. The sun
in the latter case acts with more force upon vegetables than

48 NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

at the north. A soil which might bear corn in Massachusetts
would not sustain it on the coast of North- Carolina, on ac-
count of the more rapid evaporation of water ; in conse-
quence of which, a plant would be early deprived both of
water and nutriment, though it might be found in the medi-
um in which it had been growing.

CHAPTER IY.

Soils of Jones county, taken from the plantation of J. H. Haughton, Esq.
Composition of a brown earth overlying and resting upon the marl beds.
Recapitulation.

§ 27. Several specimens of soil have been furnished me for
analysis from Jones county, which, as they may be employed
to illustrate the composition of the cultivated lands in that
section of the State, I Shall give the results in this place.
They were furnished by John H. Haughton, Esq., from a
plantation which he recently purchased. Four kinds were
forwarded, marked 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively. No. 1. Color,
brown or blackish brown, and to the eye appears rich in veg-
etable matter. When ignited it loses readily this part of the
soil and becomes a light drab, leaving a fine residue resem-
bling that of the Hyde county soils. Its appearance shows
that it is a silicious soil. One hundred parts gave me th«
following proportions :

Silex 82.300

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 4.300

Organic matter, 4.500

Lime, 0.102

Magnesia, : 0.02C

Potash, 0.003

Soda 0.001

Water, 8.800

Sulphuric acid, trace,

Chlorine,., trace,

100.025

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 49

This soil has evidently been worn by long cultivation, still
it has sufficient matter to sustain moderate crops ; but it has
reached that stage which requires additional applications of
manure. ,

All the most important elements, as phosphoric acid, sul-
phuric acid, lime, magnesia and potash, are considerably less
than the standard soils contain ; and as they maintain about
the usual proportions to each other, it is probable that they
have been reduced simultaneously by cultivation.

No. 2. Color, a light drab, resembles clay, but contains
coarse particles of sand, and hence is very gritty. This
variety of soil contains greater excess of sand, and is defici-
ent in organic matter, etc. One hundred grains gave me

Silex, 93.000

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 2.000

Organic matter, 1.300

Lime, 0.001

Magnesia, "0.010

Water, 3.000

Potash, trace,

Soda, trace,

Sulphuric acid, trace,

99.311

This evidently ranks among the poorest of soils. It ap-
pears quite similar to much of the poor gallberry lands of the
eastern part of the State.

A larger proportion of alumina and iron could have been
obtained by fusion with baryta or soda, but the exhaustion by
boiling with hydrochloric acid, I deemed sufficient for my
purpose, or the objects to be obtained by analysis. This kind
of soil no doubt might be put into a condition for raising
wheat by thorough drainage, and a large application of
manures.

The best application to a soil, the composition of which re-
sembles the foregoing, is a compost of marl with organic
matters derived from the stable ; or, the leaves of a forest.
In materials of this description a supply of organic matters
is obtained in combination with the phosphates of lime and
5

50 NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SUUVEY.

potash, all of which are required to impart fertility to a soil
defective as this is in each of those elements.

No. 3. Color, brown, fine grained, and has apparently con-
siderable vegetable matter in its composition. It has no
lumps of earth, but is reduced to a granular state; or in other
words it is pulverulent and light.

One hundred grainsj on being submitted to analysis, gave
me —

Silex, 80.300

Alumina and peroxide of iron, 2.550

Lime, 0.151

Magnesia, 0.020

Phosphoric acid, trace,

Sulphuric acid, 0.020

Potash, 0.001

Soda, O.C02

Organic matter, 3.100

Water, 3.000

98.144

The quantity of organic matter is less than its appearance
before analysis indicated, and this is often the case in the soils
in the eastern part of the State.

Many chemists regard the organic matter as of little im-
portance. Experience and the best conducted experiments,
however, prove that it is a necessary constituent of a good

soil.

Here^ also, the lime or alkaline earths and alkalies are defi-
cient, at least to raise good crops of maize, or any of the
cereals. Besides there is a great excess of silex, but it is in
a fine condition, indeed in none of the samples is it ever
coarse ; it, therefore, makes a better basis upon which to work
than if this were a coarse sand, inasmuch as it is better con-
ditioned to hold or retain water.

No. 4. Color, nearly black, with organic matter, and fine
grained. Ignition leaves it of a drab color.

I found its composition, on submitting it to analysis, to be
as follows:

IsORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 51

Silex, .......................................... 88.700

Peroxide of iron and alumina, ................... 3.350

Lime, ...................................... 0.100

Magnesia, ....................................... 0.022

Sulphuric acid, ................................. 0.010

Chlorine, ....................................... trace,

Potash, .................... .' ................... 0.048

Soda, .......................................... 0.010

Organic matter, ................................. 1.800

Water, ..... ..................................... 5.000

99*040

This specimen of soil lias a better composition than either
of the four of this lot. There is less silica, more lime and
potash ; though the amount of organic matter and peroxide
of iron and alumina is still comparatively small, and we infer
from that fact, that the amount of phosphates is also small.

This soil has no doubt been under cultivation for years. It
has a good basis to build upon, as the silex is fine and not
very excessive in quantity. It is evidently a better soil than
No. 1, and does not rank in the class with ~No. 2, which is a
coarse clayey silicious soil, the particles of which are very
coarse. In all these samples the cultivation should not be
carried to that extent which would effect an entire exhaus-
tion.

The remarks upon the four foregoing soils have been sug-
gested by the analyses and their physical properties. ~No
information has been obtained respecting the treatment to
which they have been subjected.

§ 28. A soil of a somewhat remarkable appearance, and
having a good composition, is spread over large portions of
the eastern counties. It is not always a surface soil ; indeed
it is rather rare to meet with it under cultivation. It occupies
a distinct position in the series of soils, and is really one of
the deposits which is alwa}rs associated with the marl beds.
It cannot, with propriety, be regarded as a marl, though
under favorable circumstances it may be used as a fertilizer.

It has a brown color, and when wet is as tenacious as the
ordinary clays, though it has less alumina in its composition ;
it is very adhesive to the shoe or boot, and if it is ever profit-

52 NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

able to haul clay for fertilizing the sandy soils, this is especial-
ly adapted to the fulfilment of all the ends which may be ob-
tained by the use of clay.

It rests upon the shell marl in some places, and in others
upon the eocene marl. The circumstances attending its de-
position were peculiar. It appears to have been deposited
immediately after a period of denudation, as it rests not only
upon the marl, but extends into, and fills deep channels which
had been cut out of the marl during the period alluded to.
Hence it appears to send down long tapering columns which
extend sometimes to a point near the bottom of the bed.
This formation, however, was formed from quiet waters, as
there is no evidence of a rush or violent flow of waters, by
the presence of large rocks, or even coarse pebbles. It has
some coarse sand intermixed with pebbles. It has the appear-
ance of a sediment, which was probably derived from the
decomposing slates and granite, which lie beneath the terti-
ary, but which is now concealed, except in a few isolated
places.

On submitting this soil to analysis I found it composed of

Silex, ... 77.850

Alumina and peroxide of iron, 10.107

Lime, 2.000

Megneisa, 1.810

Organic matter, 3.950

Water, 5.750

Sulphuric acid, 0.010

Chlorine, 0.010

Potash, 0.185

Soda, 0.345

Soluble silica, 0.100

'.,,/"' 99,815

This soil is rich in lime, which is in part derived from a few
small fragments of shell which it contains, but it efferveses
but slightly, and hence it is probable the lime is diffused
rather uniformly through the mass. When this mass lies
immediately beneath the sandy soil, and within reach of
the plough, it would improve it very much to commingle it
with the surface material, and it need not be rejected in load-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 53

ing marl at the pit, inasmuch as its composition shows that it
is an important improver of the common sandy soil so preva-
lent in the eastern counties.

The phosphoric acid remains to be determined. In itself
this soil has a composition admirably adapted to the growth
of wheat, or indeed cotton. It contains also a large amount
of potash.

It was taken from a mass which overlies the eocene marl
of the plantation of Sam'l Biddle, Esq., of Craven county.
It is, however, found on the Cape Fear, resting upon the shell
marl, a more recent deposit, and may be found on the plant-
ation of Dr. .Robinson, of Elizabethtown.

RECAPITULATION OF THE LEADING FACTS RESPECTING THE SOILS OF
THE EASTERN COUNTIES OF NORTH-CAROLINA.

§ 29. (1.) The soils of the eastern counties, without excep-
tion, are marine formations, being deposited from water, and
are truly sediments. They are therefore in their origin un-
like those of the middle and western counties, inasmuch as
the latter are the products of slow decomposition, and are in
situ, or. occupy the place upon the rocks from which they are
derived.

The eastern soils have, on the contrary, been transported,
or wTere first the products of a disintegration and, afterwards,
transported from the places from whence they were derived.
As they are frequently composed of one or, at most, two ma-
terials which can be distinguished by the naked eye, it is im-
possible to determine the source from whence they came.
They were probably derived, however, from the granite
which borders the tertiary formation upon the west. Their
distinguishing features are siliceous ; and it seems that most
of the aluminous compounds, as felspar and certain slates,
were finely comminuted, and were transported to distant
points, leaving the heavy and coarser materials in the bays
which jut up from the ocean in the depressions of the land.

54: NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

These sandy deposits were not laid down at one period,
though they are comparatively modern. They alternate with
a few beds of clay, but there is but one near the surface
which is extensively distributed. The last of the marine de-
posits was mostly a pure white sand ; and it not unfrequently
washes white when it is deprived of its vegetable coating.
The last or most recent bed of sand, is formed by waves of
the ocean into swells or undulations. A belt thus thrown up
and moulded by this agency, extends obliquely across the
country. One of the most distinguished features of this belt
is intersected by the Wilmington railway, at Everettsville,
ten miles S. "W. from Goldsborough. These swells of sand
are sufficiently large and extensive to give origin to perma-
nent mill-streams. They seem to have been derived from
the Atlantic side, and to have been cast up by waves which
in their operation have denuded all the eastern portions lying
between this belt and the Atlantic ocean, and hence it not
unfrequently happens that the upper stratum of sediment is a
stiff clay.

(2.) The denuded clay is often a stiff brick clay, and is
about four feet thick. Shallow depressions are hollowed out
of it, which are always the receptacles of water, and have
also favored the growth of moss and small vegetables. To
the growth of these humble plants we attribute the origin of
the vegetable matter which is so extensively prevalent in
many of the eastern counties, and which are known by the
names ofpocosin and swamp lands.

(3.) A slight elevatory movement of the whole coast of
North-Carolina, has reclaimed those tracts from water ; and,
though not dry yet, they are not submerged, and are no long-
er the recipients of sediment.

While these lands were but half reclaimed from the do-
minion of water, they were subjected to inundations which
transported fine silt, and which required much time to settle.
This fine silt, or mud, is now the soil which is so productive
in corn in Hyde county and other parts of the Atlantic
border.

This singular soil is characterized by its vegetable matter,

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 55

and by the extreme fineness of its inorganic matter ; and the
two compound elements are well' fitted to each other, and
admirably adapted to the growth of maize in this climate,
whereas in a northern climate it is very doubtful whether the
same results could be obtained. In Canada East there are
somewhat similar soils, but they are treated quite differently
in order to bring the soil under cultivation. There, the sur-
face is first burned, and the ash and debris remaining sup-
plies the nutriment for a succession of heavy crops. When
this first fertilizing matter, obtained by burning, is exhausted,
it is subjected to the same treatment again, and again put
under cultivation. The lands of the eastern counties would
not bear this mode of cultivation ; neither do they require it.
The}'' become productive by draining.

§ 30. The composition of the soil of Canada East, taken
from a tract which is there known by the name of Savanna
of St. Dominique, is composed, according to Mr. Hunt, of

Fixed carbon, 29.57

Ashes, 6.75

Volatile matter, 63.68

The ash or inorganic matter in 100 parts contained :

Carb. Lime, 52.410

Lime""} as silicates, 1(U3°

Magnesia, ' 3.150

Peroxide of iron, 4.680

Alumina, 2.440

Oxide of magnesia, 0.040

Phosphate of lime, 2.019

Sulphate of lime, 15.085

Sulphate of potash, 0.605

Sulphate of soda, 0.076

Chloride of Sodium, 0.412

Silica, 4.920

Sand, 4.040

100.308

In the foregoing analysis we can readily perceive that the
material subjected to this process is an ash, with only faint
traces of soil, but in appearance the North-Carolina pocosin

56 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

lands resemble the turf or peat soils of Canada and New
York, but the better kinds or those of Hyde, contain, inter-
mixed with the vegetable matter, fine earth, which gives
them a substantial body. In this respect they differ from the
peaty or turf soils of other places. They differ also in en-
durance. They continue productive through several genera-
tions. Those of Hyde have been tilled through three genera-
tions, and the fourth has them under culture. I attribute
this extended period of endurance to the temperature which
the soil enjoys. Below, in immediate proximity to the roots
of corn, the water remains through the season. Hence there
is a temperature preserved which is only moderately high in
the midst of summer, in consequence of evaporation. Even
the water often surrounds the hill of corn, and remains on
the surface for a long time, without injuring the growth of
the plant. The external heat is sufficient for the crop. If it
were higher it would slowly consume the vegetable matter.
Besides, the low temperature of these peculiar soils, the
proximity to the ocean, favors a constantly moist climate, or
atmosphere; and hence, through the influence of water be-
neath, and a moist atmosphere above, the growth of veget-
ables is promoted.

In the midland counties the vegetable matter is consumed,
or so nearly consumed that the blackened belt at the surface
is never formed. Upon the mountains, the whole of the blue
ridge, vegetable matter accumulates in the soil. The heat is
insufficient to destroy it, while in the midland counties it
never accumulates even in forests, and though there is a large
annual addition of vegetable matter from the leaves which
fall in autumn and winter, still no accumulation takes place
in the soil. It is literally consumed.

§ 31. The pocosin and swamp lands present a great variety
in the proportions of vegetable matter present in the soil.
Some passing to the extreme limit, from 10 to 93 per cent, of
organic substance. The latter percentage is near the boun-
dary which limits the capability of growing the cereals. A
greater excess of vegetable matter scarcely admits of the
continued growth until the crop ripens, it soon ceases to grow,

NOETH-CAROLHSTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 57

becomes yellow after it has appeared above the ground when
it has reached the height of 10 or 12 inches. The most
valuable swamp and pocosin lands lie in Hyde, Beaufort,
Jones, Onslow and Brunswick counties ; those of Hyde have
been steadily cultivated for more than one hundred years
without manures, and still the crops are equally as good as
when first planted. Hundreds of square miles of the most
valuable of these lands still remain unsubdued. It may be
inferred that, as these swamp lands are so low and wet, that
they must necessarily be extremely unhealthy, or become so
when drained and the vegetable matter begins to decompose.
Experience, however, does not support this view. The testi-
mony of those who have cultivated them for forty years is,
that their families have enjoyed as much health as their
neighbors who have lived at a distance. Persons who are in
the habit of plunging into the swamp lands knee deep for
draining, and when drained to live in the immediate vicinity
of the extended surface of black vegetable mould for years,
are rarely sick with fevers. The points which are unhealthy
are those which are exposed to winds which blow over ex-
tended surfaces of the waters of the IsTeuse or Cape Fear
rivers. Miasm, which generates fever, arises more 'from the
banks of rivers than from the swamp and pocosin soils.

§ 32. The soil which is known as the gallberry soil is not of
a uniform composition or appearance ; one of the most com-
mon kinds is formed of sand, intermixed with black vegetable
matter. On exposure to rains by the road-side, or where
ditches are cut through it so as to expose a section one or two
feet thick, it has a grayish look from the presence of the white
marine sand which is exposed by washing. A microscope
shows at once the naked sand. A soil of this description, and
which is widely spread over the flat low grounds of the mid-
dle section of the eastern counties, I submitted to careful
analysis for the purpose of determining the amount of avail-
able material which it contains. It was taken from the plant-
ation of Mr. Lane, of Craven county, but is a fair representa-
tion of the soil of the Dover pocosin. It contained :

M NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Sand or silex, 70.50

Organic matter, 25.20

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 0.76

Lime 0.01

Magnesia, trace,

Water, 2.70

Soluble silica, „ trace.

The silex is a perfectly white marine sand.

Although this analysis is not carried through, yet it is evi-
dent that the available matter for crops is extremely small.
The seventy-six hunclredths of a grain of peroxide of iron
and alumina is too small a quantity to have much chemical
or mechanical influence upon the organic matter with which
it is mixed; neither can it furnish phosphoric acid to supply
the wants of vegetation if put under cultivation. This variety
of gallberry land belongs to the poorest class of soils. It is not
expected it would pay a profit if cleared, and hence all such
lands should remain wild, or in their natural state. .

Another variety of low ground soil is of a better quality,
though still it ranks low for the purposes of agriculture. It
is of a light color, and hence contains much less vegetable
matter. It is a marine sand, intermixed with a small quanti-
ty of clay, a portion of which can be dissolved in hydrochloric
acid. This soil is from Sampson county. It forms extensive
areas in Johnston, Sampson and Duplin counties. There is,
however, an improvement in the character of the low grounds
towards the east from Johnston county. The color of this
soil is a light brownish or purplish drab ; in drying it becomes
hard and loses most of its water of absorption. It resembles
the green swamp soil in Brunswick county. It is composed
of

Silex, 1 88.40

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 2.92

Lime, 0.02

Magnesia, 0.03

Water, 3.09

Organic matter, 4.20

Potash and soda, traces,

Phosphoric acid, undetermined,

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 59

In this variety of soil from the swampy grounds there is
still a deficiency of the alkalies and alkaline earths ; this,
however, may be cultivated with medium results, if marl is
at hand from which to supply the deficient matter.

CHAPTER Y.

FERTILIZERS.

What constitutes a Fertilizer. — Sources of Fertilizers. — Those from the
Vegetable kingdom are the Ash. — Ash of difFernt Vegetables — Ash of
Plants resembles in composition the Inorganic Matter of Soils. — Quantity
of Fertilizing Matter removed from the Soil by different Plants. — Me-
thods to be adopted by which a Waste of Fertilizing Matter may be Pre-
vented.— Fertilizing Matter Restored by Plowing in Green Crops,

§ 33. Any substance in husbandry is a fertilizer which im-
proves the soil. They are numerous and are derived from
numerous sources. The air is a reservoir of substances which
improve the soil, and water is the medium of communication.
As in the laboratory substances do not act upon each other
unless one or both are in a fluid condition ; so fertilizers must
be in solution in a menstrnm, of which water, in the kingdom
of nature, is the universal solvent The air contains ammo-
nia and carbonic acid. These are the most direct fertilizers.
They are both transferable agents, passing from the atmos-
phere to the earth dissolved in rain water, and escaping up-
ward from the earth in the ascending vapors, when they
have fulfilled their mission to the grown and perfect vege-
table. They escape when it decays, and wait for another
mission to the earth or soil. The interchange is almost per-
petual. There are vegetables at all times undergoing decay,
or [eremacausis,~] a slow combustion, during which the com-
pound atoms are undergoing a change, and each one of which

60

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

is finally resolved into new forms and conditions. Ammonia
and carbonic acid are the common products of change in all
these cases. Both are, however, compound bodies. The
first is a body recognized by its extremely pungent smell,
and commonly known as hartshorn, and is formed by the
union of two elements — nitrogen and hydrogen. The latter
is the lightest substance known — it is .069, the weight of air.
Carbonic acid is an air, also, or gas, and is heavier than at-
mospheric air, and hence is sometimes found in depressed
places, not, as is usually maintained, by falling down from
the atmosphere in consequence of its greater weight, but by
its escape from beneath, or from the soil or fissures of rocks.
Rain water and snow hold both ammonia and carbonic acid
in solution, and hence, as has been remarked, they are the
media from which growing plants derive these important
fertilizers. jSnow, particularly, is rich in ammonia. From
this material it may be obtained by evaporation. To this
substance, probably, the beautiful greenness of vegetation is
due, which appears on the melting of a March snow.

These two substances, however, may be derived from any
organic matter in the earth, when it is undergoing decay ;
hence, most if not all bodies which have lived may furnish
them if buried in the soil and within reach of the roots of a
growing plant. There are, therefore, two modes by which
these fertilizers become subservient to nutrition — 1, by wrater
falling from the atmosphere and, 2, by water in the soil which
dissolves them out from particles of earth and organic matter.

In the application of the first mode, husbandry has nothing
to do. It is a part of the machinery of nature, by which she
maintains the balance between the vegetable, animal and
mineral kingdoms. This machinery in its workings is per-
fectly competent to preserve this balance, to furnish food and
sustain in perpetual existence all the species which belong to
the present system. In a temperate climate, however, with-
out artificial aid, the cereals would cease to grow, or yield the
harvests they nowT do, because of the exhaustion they bring
about in the progress of time and of cultivation.

§ 34. Fertilizers may be divided into kinds according to

NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL STJKVEY. 61

the source from whence they are derived, as those which be-
long to the three kingdoms of nature, the mineral, vegetable
and animal, but such a division is really of small importance,
inasmuch as it will be perceived from the foregoing remarks
that all fertilizers may be traced back to the mineral kingdom,
even ammonia is strictly a mineral, although it abounds in
both the vegetable and animal kingdoms in certain combina-
tions. Proximately, they are either animal or vegetable ; but
in either case they are of a mineral origin. The fertilizers
which will come up for examination are ashes, marls, excre-
ments of animals and green crops.

§ 35. It needs no argument to prove the value of ashes as
fertilizers, we 'have only to inspect the foregoing tables of the
composition of the ashes of wheat, maize, oats and potatoes.
The composition of the ashes of forest trees brings us to the
same results, and as much dependence is placed upon the
decomposition of the standing trees in the cultivated fields it
is important that the fertilizers thus obtained may be shown.
We are obliged, in this case, to resort to the analyses of the
ash obtained directly by combustion. The results, however,
are the same in the natural process of decay as by combustion,
and the decayed bark, limbs and 'twigs furnish ultimately
what they would have furnished were they consumed by
fire.

The white oak, for example, quercus alba, furnishes by
cumbustion an ash composed of the following elements. First
the bark of the trunk, which contains :

Potash, 0.25

Soda, 2.57

Sodium, 0.08

Chlorine, 0.12

Sulphuric acid, 0.03

Phosphates of lime and magnesia, 10.10

Carbonic acid, 29.00

Lime, 54.89

Magnesia, 0.20

Silica, 0.25

Soluble silica, 0.25

Organic matter, 1.16

02 NOETH-OAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

The bark of the twigs gave me, on submitting the asli to
analysis :

Potash, 1.27

Soda, 4.13

Chlorine, 0.13

Sulphuric acid, trace,

Phosphates of lime, magnesia and peroxide of iron, 14.15

Carbonic acid, - 30.33

Lime, 47.72

Magnesia, '0.20

Silica, 0.65

Soluble silica, 0.55

Organic matter, 1.52

100.09

The wood of the twigs decays with the bark, but the wood,
as will be seen, is richer in fertilizing matter than the bark.
It has the following elements :

Potash, 9.74

Soda, 6.89

Sodium, 0.16

Chlorine, 0.25

Phosphates of lime, magnesia and peroxide of iron, 23.60

Carbonic acid, 17.45

Lime, 34.10

Magnesia, 0.50

Silica, 0.55

Soluble silica, 0.60

Organic matter, 5.90

The outside wood slowly decays beneath the bark, or afber
it has fallen and furnishes an ash rich in potash and the phos-
phates of lime, magnesia, etc. While standing the process ie
certainly very slow, but it will ultimately be reduced to a
substance equivalent to an ash having the following composi-
tion, viz:

Potash, 13.41

Soda, 0.62

Sodium, 2,78

NOETH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 63

Chlorine, 4.24

Sulphuric acid, 0.12

Phosphates of lime, magnesia and iron, 32.25

Carbonic acid, 8.95

Lime, 30.85

Magnesia, 0.36

Silica, 0.21

Soluble silica, 0.80

Organic matter, 5.70

100.18

The pine tree gives an ash on combustion differing slightlj
from the foregoing, viz :

BARK.

Potash, 2.86

Soda, 3.17

Chloride sodium, 0.03

Sulphuric acid, 3.48

Carbonic acid, 24.33

Lime, 31.48

Magnesia, 0.01

Phosphate of lime, magnesia and peroxide of iron, 22.12

Organic matter, 3.58

Silica, 13.40

The most important addition which the bark of this species
of pine will add to the soil is soluble silica and lime, the alka-
lies are comparatively unimportant.

§ 36. The benefit which has been attributed to the stand-
ing dead trees is not probably due entirely to the ash which
the bark and limbs furnish. A more important effect may
be obtained by the moisture which is retained by the spread-
ing roots in the soil, each of which must absorb considerable
water and retain it for a long time. The practice adopted in
this particular is better adapted to a warm than a colder
climate. The shade even of the trunks of forest trees would
be detrimental to the maize crop in JSTew England or New
York, more, as I believe, than all the benefits to be expected
either from its decaying wood or the increased water in the
soil.

t>* NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

The leaves of forest trees are richer in the phosphates than
the bark or wood.

In the fruit these elements exist in still greater proportion.
In the leaves of the Catawba grape I found them to exist in
the following proportions :

Potash, 13.394

Soda, 9.698

Phosphates of lime and magnesia, 32.950

Lime, 4.391

Magnesia, 1.740

Chlorine 0.740

Sulphuric acid, 2.620

Silica, 29.650

Carbonic acid, :. 3.050

99.026

The fruit of the common black butternut is composed of

BIND. SHELL.

Potash 41.43 47.00

Soda, 7.12 10.21

Earthy phosphates, 15.60 18.50

Lime, 23.75 5.60

Magnesia, 1.55 0.10

Chlorine, 1.50 2.15

Silica, 1.36 0.40

Sulphuric acid, 2.65 9,84

Org'ic matter and alkaline phosphates, 2.30 5.40

§ 37. The oat plant furnishes similar facts. The dry crop
in the grain weighs 975 Ibs. per acre, and furnishes 39 Ibs. of
ash, with a percentage of 4.00. The elements, per acre,
are:

Phosphoric acid, 6.00

Sulphuric acid, 0.40

Chlorine, 0.20

Lime, .. 12.00

Magnesia, 7 3.00

Potash and soda, 5.00

Silica, 21.00

Oxide of iron, 0 60

HDRTH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 6'5»

In- the straw, per acre, the proportion of elements is :

Phosphoric acid, 1-50

Sulphuric acid, 2.50

Chlorine, 3.00

Lime, 5.00

Magnesia, 15.00

Potash and soda, 17.00

Silica, 24.00

Oxide of iron, 1.00

*

§ 38. The clover plant weighs, when dry, 3693 Ibs. per acre.
The percentage of ash is 7.70, which is quite large, and the
weight of the ash, per acre, 284 Ibs. It contains, of

Phosphoric acid, 18.00

Sulphuric acid, 7.00

Chlorine, 7.00

Lime 70.00

Magneisa, 18.00

Potash and soda, 77.00

Silica, 15.00

Oxide of iron, 0.90

The clover plant, it will be perceived, contains about equal
proportions of lime, potash and soda ; the limey however, is
in excess, but its composition shows why it is so well adapted
as a fertilizer to the wheat crop. The vigorous growth of
clover upon a soil which has been marled \vith green sand,
which contains both lime and potash, illustrates and places in
a strong light the advantages of special fertilizers.

If the ash of the foregoing, or any other plant is compared
with the composition of the best soils, or marls, it will not
fail to strike almost any one that there is a close resemblance
between them. The soil furnishes phosphoric acid, iron, sul-
phuric acid, chlorine, magnesia, silica, potash and soda. All
the remarkable- fertilizers contain the same elements. Those
which are the most striking in their effects contain lime, phos-
phoric acid, potash and soda in large proportions, furnishing
thereby the expensive elements, the most essential ones, or
those which exist in the soil in the smallest proportions, in.
6

*> NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL STJKVEY.

great abundance. The effects of a fertilizer are the most per-
ceptible where these are the most abundant. Hence guano
which contains a large amount of phosphoric acid, ammonia
and lime, rarely fails to satisfy the wants of the plant and to
become the Efficient means of producing a greatly increased
crop. Of certain elements it may be said there is never a
deficiency. Silica is one, as it is always present in the largest
proportion. The same may be said of iron ; but lime, mag-
nesia, and especially the alkalies, are frequently wanting, if
not altogether, yet not in a sufficient quantity to supply the
wants of vegetation. Hence, in fertilizers, the test of their
value consists in determining the quantity of lime, potash
and phosphoric acid, whiclrthey contain; or, the amount of
those special elements which are always in the smallest pro-
portion m the soil ; and hence too it is easy to perceive why
soils become barren by cultivation, as those elements are early
removed in the crops which the soil has borne.

§ 39. To illustrate this point and make it sufficiently clear
to be comprehended by every reader, I propose to state the
quantity of nutriment which several of our most important
plants consume; and which is derived directly from the
soil.

In order to do this it is necessarry to ascertain what ele-
ments exist in the plant, and which must of necessity be taken
from the soil in which it grows. These elements are obtained
when a plant is burned. The residue of the combustion are
earths, intermixed with alkalies, the mass of which is known
as ashes ; wheat, oats, potatoe and clover, will furnish striking
examples suitable for the illustration of the point in question.

An ordinary wheat crop, according to Bousingault, when
dried, weighs, upon an average, in grain, 1052 Ibs. ; in straw
¥558 Ibs., and the grain furnishes 2.40 per cent of ash, and
the straw 7.00. The quantity of ash per acre, in the, grain
amounts to 25 Ibs., in the straw per acre is 179 Ibs.

The proportion ot the elements contained in the 25 Ibs. of
ash are :

NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY. 67

LB8.

Phosphoric acid, 12.00

Sulphuric acid, 0.30

Chlorine, trace,

Lime, 0.80

Magnesia, .. 4.00

Potash and soda, , 7.00

Silica, 0.04

Oxideof iron, 0.00

In the straw the proportions are :

Phosphoric acid, 5.00

Sulphuric acid, 1.50

Chlorine, 1.00

Lime, 15.00

Magnesia, 9.00

Potash and soda, 17.00

Silica, 121.00

Oxide of iron, 1.75

One remark may be made in this place, that the phosphoric
acid of the grain greatly exceeds that of the straw ; while
the lime of the straw is in much greater proportion than it is
in the grain, and the silica is reduced in the grain to the
smallest percentage, but greatly abounds in the straw. We
have in this, as in many other instances, the exercise of a
species of elective affinity, by which the elements select their
appropriate organic materials.

A potatoe crop, when dried, weighs, in tubers, 2828 Ibs.,
and gives, in ashes, 4 per cent., and weighs 113 Ibs. per acre.
The percentage of composition is :

Phosphoric acid, 13.00

Sulphuric acid, 8.00

Chlorine, „ 3.00

Lime, 2.00

Magnesia, 6.00

Potash and soda, 58.00

Silica, 6.00

Oxide ofiron, 17.00

The percentage in tops, 5042 Ibs., with 6 per cent, of ash.

68 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY;

and weighing 303 Ibs. per acre. The percentage of composi-
tion is :

LB8.

Phosphoric acid, ... 33.00

Sulphuric acid, 7.00

Chlorine, 4.00

Lime, , 7.00

Magnesia, 5.0C

Potash and soda, 135.00

Silica, 39.00

Oxideof iron, 36.01

The potatoe plant abounds in the oxide of iron and pqtash,
and there is no doubt the character of the soil influences to a
considerable extent the quality of the tuber.

§ 40. Among the substances which of all others would be
expected to be destitute of inorganic matter are cotton wool,
and the fine fibre of flax. Indeed it was at one time main-
tained that, these substances w^ere composed of carbon, oxy-
gen and hydrogen, and hence would be entirely volatilized
by heat; and hence, too, as they were composed of those
bodies, their cultivation would not impoverish the soil,. pro-
vided the other parts were duly returned to it. But these
views proved fallacious. Prof. Shepard, on submitting the
cotton wool to analysis several years ago, found the percent-
age of the ash to be 0.9247, nearly one per cent. The ash,.
as obtained, gave the following results in his analysis,, viz:

Carbonate of potash, (traces of soda,) 4-1.19

Phos. of lime, (traces magnesia,) 25.44

Carbonate of lime, 8.87

Carbonate of magnesia, 6.85

Sulp. potash, 2.70 ^

Alumina, (accidental,) 1.40

Chjorides, potassium and magnesium, )

Sujp. qf lime, Phos, potash, oxide C 6.43

of iron and; loss, )

This analysis is quoted for the purpose of showing that the
finest fibre contain matter derived from the soil. So of the
finest flax fibre whose ash is found to contain :

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 60

f Carbonate of lime, 62.00

Sulphate of lime, 7.15

Phosphate of lime, 13.66

Oxideofiron 3.99

Garb, of magnesia, with traces of chloride of sodium, 2.00

-Silica, - 11.20

100.00

'The steep water in which flax is rotted contains a small
'amount of matters dissolved out of the flax, but neither the
addition to the soil of this water, nor the refuse of its dress-
ing is sufficient to restore the soil to the state it was in prior
to the growth of the crop.

§ 41. Various methods are adopted to supply the waste in
fertilizing matter, or to diminish it during cultivation. One
of the cheapest methods is to allow as much of the crop to
decay upon the field as possible.

This course is adopted when a planter ploughs in the stalks
of indian corn, cotton, or the stubble of rye and wheat. There
is an advantage in ploughing in the stubble of all cereals.
-Another method has been adopted. The stubble is first burn-
ed and the ashes have been strewed over the field under the
impression that they contain all the fertilizing matter. This
method, however, has never proved successful. This is due
in part to the nature of the ash. All silicious stems, when
heated to redness and burned, undergo, so far as their silica
is concerned, an important change, which consists in convert-
ing the soluble into an insoluble silica, and is therefore not
immediately available to the plant ; when ploughed in entire
and allowed to waste in the soil, all the soluble silica is pre-
served in a condition to meet the wants of the growing vege-
table.

The plants which belong to the corn family, however, are
not so profitably employed as fertilizers as clover, buckwheat
and the pea. This fact becomes obvious from an inspection of
the composition of the corn stalk, or the stubble, or straw of
wheat, and comparing it with the composition of the latter.
'Still, the use of the corn stalk is highly important. I have
'found it composed of the following elements :

70 . NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Potash, 16.210

Soda, 24.699

Phosphates of lime and magnesia, 15.150

Lime, 2.820

Magnesia, 0.936

Silica, 12.850

Sulphuric acid, 10.793

Chlorine, 10.453

Carbonic acid, 1.850

Organic matter, 3.200 -,*

99.461

§ 42. The inspection of the composition of the ash of the
corn stalk shows that it should not be wasted, inasmuch as a
quantity of the most valuable elements would be lost ; it would
be equivalent to the wasting of so much bread or corn, inas-
much as the whole of the matter may be converted into
bread or corn in the process of cultivation.

The straw of wheat is less rich in phosphates and the alka-
lies than corn ; and yet it is entitled to preservation and use
as a fertilizer.

The ash of the straw amounts to 2.660 per cent., and con-
sists of

Silica, 1.235

Phosphates, 0.422

Thus the phosphates bear a very small proportion to the
silica.

The complete analysis of the straw of wheat gave me :

Potash, 22.245

Soda, 5.195

Earthy phosphates, 19.600

Silica, 49.100

Lime, 3.460

Magnesia, 0.324

Sulphuric acid, 0.876

Chlorine, 0.121

In a ton of straw the loss which would be sustained by
wasting it, amounts,' in pounds, to

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 71

Silica, 29.255

Potash, 13.253

Soda, ... 3.095

Earthy phosphates, * 11.678

Lime, 2.061

Magnesia, 0.193

Sulp. acid, 0.521

Chlorine, 0.072

60,128

The organic matter, which is not taken into the account, is
equally valuable and important, both as furnishing materials
of growth and the preservation of an open condition of the
soils.

§ 43. Certain crops are raised expressly for the purpose
of improving the soil. These, when in blossom, are ploughed
in, and their subsequent decay furnishes the manure for the
succeeding crop. The kinds usually selected are those which
grow vigorously and send their roots deep. Such plants
bring from a great depth the fertilizing matter to the surface
where it becomes accessible to the succeeding crop.

The red clover is the favorite plant in the Northern States.
Buckwheat is also employed, but it is objectionable : it con-
tinues to spring up from the seed as some will ripen and mix
with the wheat crop or appear as a weed in the corn and re-
quire eradication by the hoe.

For the South the pea has become a favorite with intelligent
planters, and is, from its composition and adaptation to climate
the best crop to precede wheat and to act as its fertilizer.

The composition of red clover is well adapted to the end
which it is designed to fulfil ; besides, its root is large, spreads
widely and sinks deeply, and hence it brings to the surface a
large amount of fertilizing matter.

The ash of the green plant amounts to 1.06 per cent., when
dry to 5.87.

On submitting the dry clover in the condition of hay to
analysis I found :

' «

Potash, 25.930

Soda, 14.915

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SUKTEY.

Earthy phosphates, 20.60&

Garb, of Lime, 30.950

Chlorine, 1.845

Sulphuric acid, 0.495

If a ton of this hay or a plant in its green state was ploughed
in, it would add the following amount of elements reckoned
in pounds as follows :

Potash, , 32.153

Soda, ,... . . ., . 18.394

Earthy phosphates, 25.544

Carbonate of lime, 38.378

Magnesia, 4.873

Chlorine, , 2.288

Sulphuric acid, 0.624

/ Silica, 1.054

Amounting to 123.508 Ibs.

§ 44. It is not perhaps possible to estimate the real value
of a clover crop as a fertilizer. Two hundred pounds of guano
cost $5. May we not infer that its value exceeds that of this
popular fertilizer, especially when it is considered that the
organic part must exercise considerable influence and always
furnishes a large amount of food ? It is true that new ele-
ments are added by the clover, but then the cost of the crop
is trifling, and the effects are more lasting than guano in this
climate.

The clover crop is from two and a half to three tons per
acre of dry hay. It is more profitable to feed cattle upon it
before it is ploughed. By this course or plan of treatment
the manure which is added by feeding cattle nearly suffices
for the diminished amount of clover consumed. It is not re-
garded as expedient to plough in a very heavy green crop of
any kind. It is better to feed it in part, if there were no
valuable returns in meat or flesh.

On account of the grain in food for cattle the clover crop
is preferable to buckwheat, and yet this plant is rich in fer-
tilizing products. »

§ 45. In the South the heavy or large stalks of corn are

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 73

'broken down and laid flat and longitudinally with the furrow
:and covered in that position.

The cotton stalk is also laid flat and ploughed under. The
real importance of this operation becomes evident on an in-
spection of the composition even of the dried stalks, bolls or
capsules.

I found from the composition of the capsules that they are
richer than the stalks.

The percentage of ash of the dry capsules is 5.402, nearly
six per cent. It was obtained from capsules left in the field
growing in the county of ISTash.

§ 46. The ploughing in of the dry plant returns a certain
amount to the soil. From the capsules there will be returned
'in every hundred parts of ash of percentage of ash 5.60 :

EarUhy and alkaline phosphates and potash, 21.480

Soda, 5.230

Earthj phosphates, 22.923

Lime, 81 .940

Magnesia, 11.627

Sulphuric acid, 0.400

'Chlorine, 0.231

Soluble silica, 1.302

Adherent sand, .-.'..... 2.601

97.734

In the stalks of cotton in the condition in which they are
broken down preparatory to ploughing the field I found the
following elements:

Alkaline and earthy phosphates, .. . . 14.400

Potash, ...... 17.400

Soda, 20.860

Lime, 31.200

Mrgneisa, 13.160

Sulphuric acid, 3.04fi

Chlorine, 0.400

Soluble silica, 0.100

100.5615

§ 47. From the foregoing analysis it is evident that the

74 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

custom of ploughing in the old stalk after the cotton is saved
is an important measure.

I have no means of determining the number of tons of the
stalks per acre, but the amount thus saved to the soil or suc-
ceeding crops is very great and prolongs the fertility of a
cotton plantation for years.

In this connection it is proper to state the composition of
the cotton seed, which is now always employed as a fertilizer.
Its real value will be duly appreciated, though it is scarcely
necessary to confirm by analysis what experience had long
determined by its use. But the planter will understand bet-
ter what he is adding to his soil, and also how much from the
following results of analysis ;

Earthy phosphates, 32.000

Potash, 15.560

Soda, 10.960

Lime, 4.000

Magnesia, 0.200

Sulphuric acid, 2.720

Chlorine, 0.120

Carbonic acid, 8.540

Soluble silica, 2.000

Adherent sand, 23.600

99.700

The large quantity of sand is due to cotton adhering to the
seed which had been exposed in a pile to the weather. It
was not suspected until the ash was subjected to the action
of hydrochloric acid. It is of course foreign matter.

After making all the allowance necessary for this foreign
matter it will not fail to strike every cotton grower of the
value of the cotton seed as a fertilizer.

§ 48. Analysis of the seed of buckwheat :

Potash, 21.27

Soda, 2.32

Phosphoric acid, 49.85

Lime, 3.01

Magnesia, 15.84

Sulphuric acid, 1.55

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 75

Silica, 1.95

Chlorine, 0.30

Carbonic acid, 1.95

Organic matter, 2.75

In the cultivation of this plant it will be seen that a large
amount of fertilizing matter is removed in the gathering of
. seed, or, if it remains, a large amount is preserved for subse-
quent crops.

Every ten bushels of seed contains 6.281 Ibs. of phosphoric
acid, two pounds of magnesia, and over two pounds and a
half of potash. The whole amount of valuable fertilizers re-
moved in every ten bushels of buckwheat is 12.450 Ibs.
The buckwheat in drying loses about the same quantity of
water as wheat and rye. Thus, on being dried in a water
bath at 212, it lost 12.875 parts ; and hence there remains of
dry matter, 87.125 of which gives 4.132 per cent, of ash.

The organic constitution of buckwheat is similar to the
cereals, consisting of

Starch, 42.47

Sugar and extractive matter 6.16

Dextrine, 1.60

Epidermis or insoluble matter, 16.42

A peculiar gray matter, soluble in potash, ) in 10
but insoluble in water or alcohol, }

Albumen, 6.70

Casein, 0.78

Oil, 0.47

Water, 12.88

§ 49. The foregoing does not relate so much to matters
which can be employed as fertilizers, but is introduced here
for the purpose of showing its nutrient properties.

The pea will no doubt take the place of the red clover in
this State. Experience has already proved its superiority.
It is easily cultivated and is not liable to so many accidents.
It takes deep root and spreads widely, and is rich in valuable
fertilizers. By careful extraction from the hill I have found
its roots spreading through six feet of ground.

That the value of the pea may be appreciated, and its fer-

76 'NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

tilizing matter applied to the best advantage, I have carefully
determined the composition of its ash from specimens which
I obtained in Wake county.

The percentage of ash of the pea vine, destitute of leaves
and in the condition in which it is fed to cattle, and as derived
from 268 grains of the stems and branches in a perfectly dry
state, I found to be 4.570.

On submitting this ash to analysis I found it composed of

'Potash, .„ 7.800

Soda, 5.650

Earthy phosphates, 19.800

Lime, , 16.400

Magnesia, 30.040

Sulphuric acid, 11.710

Chlorine, 1.710

Silica, , , 10.900

Soluble silica, 6.000

When we find so large a percentage of ash, and a compo-
sition clearly rich in inorganic constituents, we may not doubt
the utility of employing this plant as a fertilizer instead of
the clover plant, as it is considerably richer in the expensive
^elements of nutrition.

§ 50. The pea with its pod is richer in phosphates than the
vine, and as these are ripe when turned under the value of
the crop for this purpose is increased.

The percentage of ash, as determined from 365 grains of
the dried pod with the pea, is 3.13. The percentage of ash
is greater from the presence of the pod. But this being
ploughed in the result is more accurate from their combina-
tion. If the nutrient matters of the pea were to be deter-
mined it should be analyzed by itself.

The composition of the pea, with its pod, I found as follows :

Potash, ..., 24.200

Soda, -., , 10.7^9

Earthy and aikaline phosphates, 32.200

Carbonate lime, 11 000

Magnesia, .„.,.. 3.000

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 77

Sulphuric acid, 1.461)

Chlorine, 0.561

Soluble silica, , 10.020

Silica, 3.800

Percentage of ash, 3.137

The pea in composition is closely related to the cereals,and
in nutritive powers ranks high. Indeed the leguminous plants
as a class stand at the head of a certain class of nutrients.
The bean employed for food gives more muscle or strength
of muscle and endurance than the cereals. This is due in
part no doubt to its phosphoric acid and nitrogenous matters.

It appears from the foregoing that the greater the amount
of nutrient power the more valuable they are as fertilizers.
Weeds which bear only small seeds, or which are composed
of lime, are less useful than leguminous plants, and others
which are closely related to the cereals.

§ 51. The composition of another plant which" may be in-
teresting in another point of view is tobacco. I design to
show by the analysis how much the tobacco exhausts the soil,
and of what elements.

Thus, one hundred parts of the ash consist of

Potash, 4.260

Soda, 6.140

Lime, 48.000

Magnesia, 9.180

Phosphates of lime and magnesia, etc., 14300

Sulphuric acid, 8.420

Chlorine 1.100

Silica and sand, 4.800

Soluble silica, 3.800

100.000

This tobacco grew in Rockingham county,, and was regard-
ed by the manufacturer as fine as any which is grown in the
northern counties, The result, however, of this analysis sur-
prised me, as it contained so much less of potash than can be
expected in the best of tobacco. It is found' by many analy-

78 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

ses, however, that the ash is variable in the proportions of
its elements.

The tobacco which obtains the highest price in the Paris
market contains a much larger proportion of potash and less
lime. This specimen had the fine yellow brown color which
is regarded as indicative of the best quality. As it is, how-
ever, it is a lime plant, nearly one-half being composed of
carbonate of lime.

CHAPTER VI.

4*

FERTILIZERS CONTINUED .

Marl beds, or Marl formations. — The different periods to which they belong,
or their relation to each other.

§ 52. There are three distinct formations from which marl
is obtained. Enumerating them in the ascending order, or
according to age, they lie relatively to each other as follows :
1. Green Sand / 2. Eocene Marl ; 3. Miocene Marl.

The first, or green sand, is the formation which is so favor-
ably known in ISTew Jersey as a fertilizer, having been em-
ployed for that purpose for more than half a century. It
derived its name partly from its green color, and partly from
its granular consistence. The beds thus named are known
not only in this country but also in many parts of Europe
by the same name, and where, to a certain extent, they are
also used as a fertilizer.

In the geological systems its beds are subordinate to the
cretaceous system, and in Europe form subordinate beds be-
neath the chalk — the white chalk in common use for marking.

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 79

In this country this part of the cretaceous system is wanting,
or has not yet been recognized. From its wide extent, both
in this country and Europe, it is, geologically speaking, an
important formation ; so also in an economical point of view
it is equally important, for it has been a source of revenue to
the agricultural community, not second even to guano. For
permanent improvements in the soil it is superior to this far
famed substance, its effects lasting from ten to fifteen years.
In New Jerse}r it first attracted attention from an accident :
some green sand being thrown out of a ditch upon a bank,
an exceeding fine growth of clover was the consequence. It
was immediately inferred that the substance upon the ditch
bank was the cause of this fine growth ; and hence a trial
was made of it.

From many subsequent experiments and observations its
claim as a good fertilizer became established. This happened
more than fifty years ago, and ample experience in the mean
time has fully satisfied the agricultural community at large
that it is worthy the confidence which has been reposed in it,

§ 53. In the subsequent pages I propose to give a full
statement of the grounds upon which its reputation rests,
and also to furnish numerous analyses of the best and poorest
varieties of this substance. In the first place I deem it proper
to show its geological relations, and its relative position to
other beds of marl, inasmuch as it will aid in determinim'ng
in any given case whether the substance or beds in question
really belong to those which have received the common name
referred to. In all cases this is an economical question, or
may be thus used, inasmuch as the beds formed during this
geological era have a composition which fits them for the
purpose for which they have been so largely employed. Beds,
therefore, occupying their position may be supposed without
trial and without analysis to contain the active fertilizing
matter. It, however, cannot be determined by these external
observations, how much they contain, for it is found that they
are variable in composition, so far as quantity is concerned.
For the purpose of determining their commercial value, or

SU» NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

to ascertain the amount which may be profitably employed
and how far they may be transported has to be ascertained
by analysis.

There are several localities at which the green sand occurs.
The strongest marl beds occur at Black Rock on the Cape
Fear river, about twenty-five miles above Wilmington. It
forms low bluffs at several other points, but it appears to
terminate from two to five miles below Brown's landing.

Striking across the county to the eastward it again appears
prominently .at Rocky Point, twenty miles above Wilmington.
The green sand, unlike the shell marl, forms continuous beds,
but as its beds are undulating, they rise at certain points to
the surface, and then sink beneath it.

In this State I have been unable to determine its thickness,
or the number of beds which properly belong to it. For this
reason 1 propose to describe them now, as they are known to
exist in New Jersey, inasmuch as such a description may aid
others where it exists, to determine with accuracy both their
thickness and the number of beds which compose the green
sand formation in North-Carolina. The difficulty in the way
of solving this question is the slight elevation of the banks
of rivers and' ravines above the adjacent country. We find
at Black Rock, for example, a strong bluff of this deposit,
but the water is never low enough to disclose the bottom
beds, or the masses upon which it rests.

In order to state all that is known of the green sand and
marl, and their relations to each other, I have prepared sev-
eral sections which show how they are situated with respect
to each other. From these sections it will be seen that the
marl beds vary much in thickness, and in their relations at
different places where they are exposed to the best advant-
age. Thus, section I, fig, 1, exhibits all the beds as they exist
at Black Rock:

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. SI

FIG. 1.

3

>•• J

W> <? %,- « ^ § s« @ * d) CP ° sa 8 Q ^

i. The upper bed is the common marine sand spread wide-
ly over the county. 2. Beneath it there is a mass of brown
soil, or earth, which is probably more widely spread than any
other in the eastern part of the State. It is sometimes pebbly
towards the upper part, and at many places the pebbles are
cemented by oxide of iron. A pudding stone is thereby
formed, which is very firm, and has been employed as a rough
building material. In the vicinity of Fayetteville it is not
unfrequently used for the more ordinary kinds of construction.
From the vicinity of Raleigh eastward it may be seen by the
road-side where a cut has been extended through the super-
incumbent sand. This bed, which is at least twelve feet thick
at Fayetteville, originated in the decomposition of primary
rocks, the debris of which becomes red, or reddish brown, by
exposure to the atmosphere. If any thing, it is more persist-
ent towards the belt where these rocks formed the surface
materials. How this stratum has been spread out so evenly
and widely through the whole width of the State from south
to north is not satisfactorily accounted for. Along the wes-
tern margin referred to it rests on the rocks from which it is
derived. Eastward, however, where recent beds of different
kinds take their proper places, this brown earth formation is
found near the surface, but with ;several marine strata be-
neath and upon which it reposes. J.t always maintains the
position I have given it, or its relations are never altered ;
and hence, though it may be regarded as a soil, still it must
7

NOBTH-CAKOLIKA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

have been spread out by some general cause, and at one
specific period.

This bed, however, is not confined to this State. It extends
over a part of Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia,
and Alabama.

It is, therefore, a wide spread stratum, having its origin
through the influence of general causes. That this cause or
force operated with considerable violence is indicated by the
losses which one at least of the inferior formations has sus-
tained. The shell marl, for example, is never a continuous
deposit, and some of the beds are frequently furrowed and
channelled, apparently by a rush of water over them, remov-
ing not only the upper layers, but cutting frequently deep
into the beds. An erosion of this kind is illustrated by fig. 5.
The brown earth fills these eroded channels without mixing
at all with the marl.

The next stratum beneath is a brick clay, which is also
general, but it is absent occasionally, in which case the brown
bed occupies its place. This clay varies considerably in com-
position ; it is sometimes charged with sand, in others it is
very fine and compact, and makes the best of brick. It
passes also into potter's clay. It is bluish white, gray and
reddish at different places. It never exceeds five feet in
thickness.

4. The fourth stratum is sand, usually gray, and loose in
texture, not unlike quick sand.

5. The shell marl occupies the fifth place in the descending
order. It wjll be fully described hereafter.

6. The beds of green sand occupy the sixth place, and at
Blackrock it may be divided into two beds ; the upper con*
tains a large amount of clay, and the lower is sandy with
more lime ; it is also indurated, or partially consolidated.

The lower mass forms a shelving projection from the upper,
some eight or ten feet wide, when it falls off perpendicularly
to a depth of fifteen fe^j.* The lower part is always under
water, and I know of 9b locality at which this part of the
formation is exposed. I regard this as an unfortunate circum-
stance, inasmuch as I have reason to believe that the quality

tfOETH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 83

of the marl is better towards the bottom, or lower in the bank,
than where it is exposed. At certain points in New Jersey
it has a sandy base, but several feet above it becomes a rich
marl.

The color of this kind of marl is green or dark green. It
is always rather sandy, but still it is rich even then in fertiliz-
ing matter. The Blackrock beds here have a dark green, or
greenish gray, and may be divided into two parts : the upper
which has a darker color, and is much like clay to the feel ;
and the lower, which is consolidated and of a greenish gray,
and rather gritty to the touch. There is no dividing line
which is so clearly marked that we can fix upon the termina-
tion of the lower, and the beginning of the upper division,
but still the difference observable is sufficiently strong to
admit of the division I have proposed ; though, geologically,
it may be regarded as one mass. The division is more im-
portant in an economical point of view, inasmuch as the
composition of the upper is quite dissimilar to the lower
bed.

§ 54. In New Jersey the green sand formation is composed
of six distinct beds ; three of which are known as green sand
proper, in consequence of the peculiar composition ; and three
which are composed of a common marine sand, and which
separates each of the respective beds from the other. In
North- Carolina it is probable that equivalent beds exist, but
it has been impossible up to this time to recognize but two.
At Blackrock the lowest is known by its fossils : the Exogyra
costata, Ostrea falcata, Belemintes Americana, and casts of
the cucullea vulgaris. This mass terminates in one which is
quite argilaceous, and in this part of it no fossils have been
observed.

The third or upper bed may be probably recognized at
Tawboro', on the Tar river, at the marl beds of Col. Clark.
It is only about four feet thick, but is underlaid by sand, in
which much sulphuret of iron is disseminated.

The annexed section, fig. 2, shows the relations of the beds
referred to upon the Tar river:

84 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FIG. 2. Soil. 1. Ten feet of

^^T-T^v?. -.• .'/ " yellow sand. 2. Four

^ ~T feet of greenish clay.

/_ _ 3. Six feet of shell marl.

j $ M "'<$ ^3*0 § 3 4. Four feet of upper

yrv~ ~ shell marl, containing

^/ A- lignite and pyrites. 5.

/**" p~~ Light gray sand, the

j£ ^ thickness of which is

undetermined, as it ex-
tends below the water of the Tar river, and does not become
visible at any other place in the vicinity. It is probably one
of the sand beds which seperate two of the adjacent beds of
green sand. But as it has not furnished fossils it cannot be
confidently maintained. It is, however, mineralogically, a
green sand.

As all the beds of green sand are never exhibited at one
place, and as those which have been spoken of, except the
upper, on the Tar river, the thickness of this formation re-
mains undetermined.

Wherever it occurs the country is comparatively low, and
at no point yet discovered has the base of the Blackrock mass
or lowest been sufficiently elevated to disclose, even approxi-
mately, its thickness.

§ 55. The bluffs which exhibit the tertiary and secondary
formations of the eastern counties are mostly upon the south-
side of the rivers and ravines. Some of these bluffs are high
and commanding, but they are never continuous for long dis-
tances. The green sand does not appear in any bluff above
Brown's landing. Indeed it disappears about three miles be-
low, and though this landing is high and bold, yet I am unable
to recognize a bed which can be referred to the upper part
of the secondary formation.

At Brown's landing there are numerous distinct beds. In
arrangement they belong to two distinct dates : 1st, the upper
which is Miocene, and the lower which is probably Eocene.
These beds are exhibited in the following section :

KOBTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 85

•

FIG. 3.

-8-

vS

1. Sand. 2. Brown earth. 3. Clay, four or five feet thick.
4. Sand and pebbles. 5. Shell marl. 6. Sand, with consoli-
dated beds which becomes a gray sandstone, with fossils and
lignite. 7. Blue clay. 8, Sand, blue clay, succeeded again
by sand. The formation below is here concealed under water.

The most interesting points at Brown's landing are the
thick beds of sand and clay beneath the shell marl, the latter
of which is identical with that at Black Hock, where, it will
be recollected, this marl rests upon the upper bed of green
sand. At the landing we find interposed at least sixty feet
of material which does not occur at Black Rock at all. These
intervening beds I regard as Eocene. It may, however, prove
to be Miocene, and as a part of the lignite formation equiva-
lent to that which is spread over large tracts of country in
Nebraska and Kansas. It has consolidated beds, cemented
by carbonate of lime, in which lignite is very common.
Another fact of interest is the presence of green sand in the
shell marl, while it is almost entirely absent in the inferior
beds. The marl contains, also, Exogyra, Belemnites and cop-
rolites which belong to the green sand which were washed
from these beds. The change in passing from the Eocene to
the Miocene was attended with considerable violence, as the
latter have abundance of pebbles, rolled coprolites as hard as
quartz, teeth, etc. The bottom is truly a pebbly bed.

00 NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL STTKYEY.

§ 56. The sand beds beneath the shell marl extend nearly
to Fayetteville. They may be examined at the bridge over
Rockfish creek, seven miles from Fayetteville, and at Mrs.
Purdyrs marl bed, ten miles above Elizabethtown, and, also,
at Elizabethtown, in the high banks below the village.

The sand of this formation, when it is unconsolidated, is
loose and caves from its banks continually. In addition to
lignite and a few shells it contains an abundance of iron
pyrites. Its whole thickness on the Cape Fear is about
seventy feet.

It is possible the beds may be recognized on the Neuse and
Tar rivers, especially at the Sarpony hills, fourteen miles be-
low Goldsboro'.

§ 57. The bluff below Elizabethtown presents the following
strata, as exhibited in fig. 4 :

FIG. 4. 1. Sand with peb-

x^T^rrgr^Trs^^oroo.-f' bles. 2. Brown earths.

/ 2. 3. Sand. 4. Shell marl

/ 3_ three feet thick. 5.

^^ $$• & & @> |^ 4. Sand containing lig.
.-. y.v.-.-.v. -.-. ... ........-....:..•.-. -..-... ..-.-. y njte and consolidated

k layers, with numerous

— . fossils.

7_ The b e ds of san d with

lignite or charred wood
are similar to those of Brown's landing and Walker's bluff.
But there are no particles of green sand or fossils from this
formation in the shell marl bed. It appears that the shell marl
beds in which are intermingled the organic remains from the
secondary, are confined to a narrow belt which may be traced
along the eastern border of the formation.

Section No. 5 is designed to show the relations of the shell

O

marl to the white Eocene beds of the Neuse, which do not ex-
tend south-westward to the Cape Fear.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
FlG. 5.

87

1. Soil, consisting of red earth penetrating into an excava-
tion in the bed of Eocene marl. 2. Position of the ordinary
shell marl. 3. Upper part of the bed in which most of the
fossils occur. 4. Body of white, or light drab colored marl.

The section shows the marl beds of Mr. Wadsworth, of
Craven county.

It will be observed that the shell marl is in contact with
the drab colored marl, the entire mass of the lignite forma-
tion of the Cape Fear being absent. At this place, the
brown earth is present filling the ancient fissures of denuda-
tion. The shell marl is not present at this point, but appears
in the same relative position three or four hundred yards
west from this bed.

§ 58. The foregoing sections show the diverse nature of the
beds composing many of the bluffs of the Cape Fear, Neuse
and Tar rivers. The same facts would be also shown by sec-
tions at many points upon the Roanoke and Meherrin rivers
farther north. The position of the shell marl seems to change,
as in one case it rests upon the green sand, in the second
upon a lignite formation some sixty or seventy feet thick,
and then again upon a whitish marl which is well known to
belong to the Eocene period.

The formation above the shell marl is mostly a marine sand.
Its thickness is variable, and it is sufficiently great to prove
that a long interval had elapsed before the present was fully
ushered in.

§ 59. The series of beds, from the green sand upwards,
which hold a definite place in the geological scale, have been
exhibited in the sections alluded to, do not take in the most

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

recent. Upon the coast or near it I have observed limited
patches of peaty deposits resting upon a marine sand, and
upon the former beds of shells composed mainly, if not en-
tirely, of those which now live upon the coast. These beds
of shells are rarely more than ten or fifteen feet above high
tide. The peaty beds, however, lie at the water's edge, and
at many points are rapidly disappearing by the action of tides
and waves.

The mode in which the shells are collected appeal's to have
been similar to that which was instrumental in the accumula-
tion of the common shell marl ; they appear to be heaps of
dead shells thrown up by the waves, — still they are perfect,
or are but slightly worn by attrition. Those which are chang-
ed the most have become simply chalky from the action of
the weather upon them since they were deposited. The beds
which are now forming have received the name of Eolian
by Lieut. Nelson. The sands of the entire coast come under
this denomination, and may be regarded as deposits overly-
ing the accumulation of beds of shells already alluded to.

§ 60. The formations then upon the coast and interior of K.
Carolina may be subdivided into: 1. Green Sand, an import-
ant part of the secondary; 2. Eocene, consisting of white
marl which is made up of comminuted corals and shells, and
the lignite beds which consist of gray sand and pebbles, em-
bracing consolidated beds and a few beds of clay ; 3. Miocene
or Shell Marl, which is composed of fragments and entire
shells accumulated in banks ; 4. Pliocene and Postpliocenc,
which are made up of peaty beds, banks of shells, and finally,
moveable sands, (Eolian sands,) which are constantly moving
beyond the present coast line. It should be observed, how-
ever, that the third or Miocene division is regarded by Prof.
Holmes and the late Prof. Tuomey as Pliocene.

In this State I have obtained the same fossils in equal
numbers as those in Virginia, where the beds still retain the
designation, Miocene. Not only, however, do they contain
the Virginia fossils, but those which in South-Carolina have
served to change the name from Meiocene to Pliocene. It
appears that many of the Virginia species belong to a warm

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 89

climate, that they became extinct at an earlier period than at
points farther south, and that the same species which were
once common on the coast of Virginia and Maryland, and
which are now extinct so far as that part of our coast is con-
cerned, still live farther south where the climate is congenial
to the species.

CHAPTER VII.

FERTILIZERS CONTINUED.

Stone Marl, its economical value. — Composition of the Green Sand of the
Cape Fear River.

§ 61. The marls of ISTorth-Carolina do not rank so high as
the strong marls of other States. This is in consequence of
the large proportion of sand with which they are intermixed.
It appears that the coast has been from time immemorial the
great depository of sand. The rivers from the interior carry
sand or matter in which silex greatly predominates. The
rocks in the interior belong to the silicious class. Limestones
are absent. But the great amount of sand of the coast has
been probably derived from more distant sources, and hence
it is probable we must look to the regular currents of the
ocean which flow in, more or less, upon it, for the determa-
tion of the source from which its sands have been derived.
When the Atlantic tide reached inland as far as the last of
the series of falls of the rivers of the State, as the Koanoke,
Cape Fear and Neuse, it acted upon a granite rock which
readily decomposed, and which must have furnished an im-
mense quantity of silicious debris. This rock may, therefore,
have been one of the sources of the sand alluded to. Some
beds of marl are consolidated into rock, and where this con-

90 NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY.

solidation was effected through the agency of soluble silica,
it has become a durable mass, and fit for being used in build-
ing. It has received the name of stone marl, which I propose
to speak of in the first place.

§ 62. Stone Marl. There are two varieties of stone marl,
both of which deserve a special notice. The first consists of
shells cemented strongly together, and which are usually from
one to one and a half inches across, and very uniform as to
size. They are very firmly cemented by silica, which seems
to have penetrated the shells more or less. This rock has
been employed for a long period for small mill stones. Its
valuable qualities consist in being easily wrought when first
removed from the quarry, but subsequently becomes very hard
and strong. Being made up of shells, it has a rough appear-
ance, even when cut evenly ; but this feature constitutes its
recommendation. For certain structures it is admirably adap-
ted. The enclosure of the cemetery in Newbern is made of
this rock, and the noble arches have an imposing effect. The
rock is very durable, as appears to be well sustained by the
rock itself, where it is exposed, or has been exposed for ages.
For rough work it may be used without dressing, but for
ornamental, if dressed properly, it is far superior to granite
for all structures, where the material should be indestructible.
It is adapted to the construction of dwellings, as the walls will
continue dry in wet weather.

This rock underlies Newbern and the adjacent county. It
extends fifteen or twenty miles in a northeast and southwest
direction. In some places it reaches the surface ; in others
it is forty to fifty feet below. I regard it as one of the best
building materials in the State.

The second variety is a granular cream colored rock, and
rather destitute of shells. It might be mistaken for an oolite.
The grain is uniform, and like the preceding is soft, when first
taken from the quarry, but becomes hard as any rock after an
exposure to the air for a few months. This rock is not dis-
posed to disintegrate, and hence in this respect is superior to

granite.

This granular variety occurs in "Wayne county. The rocks

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 91

or consolidated parts of it are abundant on the plantation of
Maj. Collier.

At a few places it is sufficiently pure to be burnt for lime ;
as a general rule it contains too much silex to make a strong
lime.

The rock on Maj. Collier's plantation contains :

Silica, 59.400

Peroxide of iron in combination with ) 4 120

alumina and phosphoric acid, i ' '
Carbonate of lime and a trace of magnesia, 36.480

100.000

The amount of carbonate of lime is variable, and ranges
in the consolidated varieties from 30 to 75 per cent. The
silex in the rock exists in grains as sand, which are visible,
but a soluble silica is no doubt the cementing material, which
of course once existed in solution, or in a state of minute
subdivision. This marl may be used in building, or if suffici-
ently pure and free from sand and silica, it may be burnt for
lime, which will be adapted to agricultural purposes. Its
composition fits it for this purpose as it contains a small pro-
portion of phosphoric acid.

§ 63. The green sand is frequently partially consolidated,
but never forms a building material. For agriculture, when
the amount of potash is considered, it is the most important
of the marls. In North-Carolina I have found no locality
where its potash equals that of New Jersey. This I attribute
in part to our inability to reach strata which are upon the
same geological level, though it is probable that the amount
of sand will be greater, and hence diminish proportionally
the amount of available fertilizing matter.

The lowest mass accessible at Blackrock I found by analy-
sis, has the following composition :

Silex and sand, 37.000

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 6.400

Carbonate of lime, 33.400

Phosphates of peroxide of iron, 1.600

Soluble silica, 1.460

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Magnesia, 13.600

Potash, 1.431

Soda, 2.12S

Organic matter, 1.600

Water, 1.800

100.614

The sand is frequently in quite large angular grains. That
part of the bed which is green, or properly green sand, is not
so distinct as in New Jersey, and it would be impossible to
separate the grains mechanically, while in New Jersey they
may be separated from the other materials. These grains
have been analyzed by Prof. Cook, who has found them com-
posed of

Silica, 45.510

Protoxide of iron, 21.134

Alumina, 7.960

Magnesia, 2.400

Potash, 6.748

Lime, 3.842

Phosphoric acid, 0.990

Sulphuric acid, 1.129

Carbonic acid, 0.563

Sand, 0.850

Water, 9.110

100.209

It has been found that the green grains in the green sand
possess a very uniform composition, and that taking the aver-
age analysis of several specimens the grains contain silica,
protoxide of iron, alumina, magnesia, potash and water in
nearly equal proportions, while the other constituents are
variable. The absence of the green grains in the marl of
black rock may account for the small percentage of potash
which is the principal element relied upon in the New Jer-
sey marl. The lime and magnesia of the Blackrock marl is
much greater than any of the New Jersey beds, and the sand
and silica are not in great excess. It really has as much fertil-
izing matte'r as the New Jersey marl, but it is deficient in the
most valuable part, potash. This element, however, seems

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SUKVEY. 9&

to be replaced by soda, which no doubt takes the place of
potash in many vegetables where ash is rich in the alkalies.

§ 65. The sand of the marl beds of New Jersey varies from
39 to 70 per cent. ; the remainder of which is more or less
valuable in agriculture.

The phosphate of lime is probably the most variable in ite
quantity of all the valuable elements, and it is regarded as a
mixture, and not forming a chemical union with either of its
elements. Indeed it may in many specimens be seen and
distinguished by its greenish gray color.

But it is never evenly distributed through the bed, as it has
been ascertained by analysis, that it has occasionally accumu-
lated in the inside of shells. It is, however, always present
in the marl, and it no doubt exerts a favorable influence upon
vegetables.

The upper bed at Blackrock differs in composition from
the lower. It is less gritty to the touch, is of a darker green,
more compact, and resembles a dark green clay. The sand
in it is greater in quantity than in the lower, bat is much finer.

On submitting it to analysis I found :

Sand or silex, s. . 93.4S

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 9.00

Carbonate of lime, 11.40

Magnesia, 0.20

Potash, 0.38

Soda, 0.42

Organic matter, 4.80

Water, 3.80

100.43

The specimen submitted to analysis was taken near the
upper part of the bed, about four feet above the line, along
which the exogyra are the most numerous.

The results which I have finally obtained by the analysis
of the green sand at Blackrock have disappointed me. I
expected at least twice as much potash as I have been able
to obtain ; still when the green sand is carefully examined
under the microscope it shows such a large intermixture of
sand, and such imperfect green grains of the silicates, that

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

would lead any one to expect on analysis unfavorable re-
sults.

The upper bed has, however, been tested as a fertilizer,
and very excellent results have been obtained by its use.

The field immediately adjoining the bed of green sand
had become so much exhausted that it produceed but three
barrels of corn to the acre. Its employment the first year
doubled the product of the field. The quantity employed
was about two hundred bushels to the acre. The stalks of
corn previous to its use were but little larger than the finger,
and about half as long as the common growth in this latitude.

Previous to my last analysis of the marl of this locality I
had hopes that it was sufficiently rich and valuable for trans-
portation to the county of Chatham. If, however, on farther ,
examination, beds can be found which contain from four to
six per cent, of potash, there is no doubt it may be freighted
in return boats to several points along the Deep river.

§ 66. The value of this species of marl is estimated from
the amount of potash and phosphoric acid which it contains.

The price of marl in New Jersey is about eight cents per
bushel. A bushel weighs, when it is wet from the bed, one
hundred pounds. It loses, on drying in the atmosphere,
twenty pounds.

The New Jersey fertilizer company deliver marl on board
of vessels at their wharf for nine cents per bushel, and the
white horse marl is delivered on the line of railroad, not ex-
ceeding ten miles from the beds or pits, for ninety cents, per
ton. The potash in the different beds of New Jersey varies
from two to seven per cent., very rarely as high as the last
figure. At the pits individuals pay for marl from twenty-five
to seventy-five cents per ton provided they perform the labor.
The value of the potash in marl has been estimated at four
cents per pound. Soluble phosphoric acid is estimated at
five cents per pound, and the insoluble at two. But this dis-
tinction is uncalled for, inasmuch as all the phosphoric acid
becomes available in time. The soluble, it is true, is more
rapid in its effects, and produces more immediate results : it
is no better for permanent improvements. Pro£ Way, chem-

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 95

1st to the royal agricultural society of England, has estimated
the soluble phosphoric acid at eight and a half cents per
pound, and the insoluble at three.

It must be recollected that in order to bring phosphoric
acid to a soluble condition it requires considerable expense.
It is better to purchase what is called the insoluble or tribasic
phosphates than the soluble ones which are found in our
markets and sold as superphosphate of lime.

The actual value of the mineral fertilizers to farmers is a
question quite different from that which considers the value
of bone dust, or potash by the pound. Immense benefits
have been secured by the use of marl, which, considered in
a commercial point of view, was worth nothing. The phos-
phoric acid in a bushel of shell marl is not worth, in com-
merce, a penny ; but for use on worn out lands the farmer is
enriched more than one-fourth of a dollar after paying for the
labor of raising and applying it.

We are not, however, to confine our estimates of the value
of a marl from its phosphoric acid and potash. Excluding
the sand and insoluble silica, all the soluble matters are valu-
able to the farmer as fertilizers, and hence the determination
of how much is soluble, and how much insoluble, is a more
correct mode of getting at the value of marl than by confin-
ing our estimates to the two elements referred to.

These remarks apply only to the value of a marl for the
private use of an individual owner, wTho employs his own
hands in raising it when there is the least to do and economises
his expenses to the best advantage.

Marl, however, in its crude state, as it exists in the pits,
has a value which admits of estimation. The common shell
marl may be hauled very frequently from two to four miles,
and give profitable returns. This is often done. The shell
marl, however, will not bear transportation as far as the green
sand of Blackrock.

§ 67. I have alluded already to the difficulty of recognising
certain marl beds in consequence in part of the absence of
characters upon which geologists can rely. Among the beds of
which there are doubts respecting their epoch, I find a green

«*0 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

sandy deposit, which, if mineralogical characters may be re-
lied upon, would be referred to the green sand which is now
under consideration. They contain the green sand grains,
but the characteristic fossils are absent except in one or two
localities. The formation in question exjsts beneath the white
or brownish shell marl at Mr. Flowers, Bladen county, King-
ston, Lenoir county, on the Neuse, and at Tawboro', on the
Tar river, and at many intermediate points on the banks of
the creeks and ravines. It always occupies a position inferior
to the shell marl, but as the latter are frequently absent, beds
of sand and clay immediately succeed it. The green sandy
beds at Mr. Flowers, beneath his shell marl, contain a few
specimens of the Ostrea falcata, and at one or two of the bluffs
above Mr. Flowers, on the Cape Fear, I found the vertebra
of a large saurian, which I am confident belongs to the green
sand, but in both of these cases their occurrence in these beds
may have been accidental. I am inclined, however, in view
of the few facts which bear upon the question of age, to refer
these green sandy beds to the cretaceous system, occupying
probably a position above these beds which have been de-
scribed at Blackrock.

The predominent element of these beds is sand : if a sample
is washed, a coarse sand remains, which amounts to two-
thirds or three-fourths of the whole quantity employed. The
quantity, in a few instances, may not exceed 60 per cent.
Notwithstanding the large percentage of sand, it has been
successfully employed as a fertilizer. I have, therefore, sub-
mitted several specimens to analysis, taken from different
beds extending from the waters of the Cape Fear to the
Tar.

A representation of the composition of this formation, as
it exists at Mr. Flowers, in Bladen, and at Kinston, on the
Neuse, is given in the following analysis.

§ 68. The Kinston green sand marl is of a dark green color
in the bed, but becomes lighter when dry. Imperfect speci-
mens of an Ostrea occur in it, but too much broken to be de-
termined. It contains:

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 97

Sand, 91.000

Peroxide of iron and alumina, , 4.700

Lime, 1.000

Magnesia, 0.7oO

Potash, 0.230

Soda, 0.260

Water, . . 1.500

Soluble silica, 0.204

99.634

The marl, or this variety of green sand at Kingston, is one
of the most sandy varieties known. It was regarded as too
sandy to require the analysis to which it was submitted ; but
as the marl bed only one mile above had been successfully
employed as a fertilizer, and appears to be equally charged
with this useless element, I was desirous of knowing how this
fact could be explained. It will be seen that the nine per
cent, of fertilizing matter is really rich in potash, soda and
lime, and, therefore, where a heavy dressing is applied, quite
a large amount of this matter is added to the soil, and which
contains a small quantity of potash. The sulphuric acid was
nob determined, but all of these beds contain it, which is no
doubt derived from the sulphuret of iron or pyrites, which is
always present.

An unfinished analysis of a parcel taken from a bed which
occupies a similar geological position on the plantation of Col.
Green, of Craven county, gave :

Silex or sand, 83.20

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 9.00

Lime, 2.31

Magnesia, 0.50

Water, 2.60

It lies beneath a white eocene marl, has a deep green color
in the bed, but becomes brown after being exposed to the
atmosphere. It has not been used as a fertilizer, but is un-
doubtedly richer than the Kingston marl which produces good
eifects upon corn.

A similar composition obtained in the same beds upon the
8

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Tar river. A marl, for example, which has been used as a
fertilizer by Hon. R. R. Bridges, contains :

Sand or silica, 89.700

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 5.000

Lime, 1.500

Magnesia, 0.200

Potash and soda, 0.250

Water, 3.510 ,

100.151

It is evident this variety of marl cannot be transported far
because of its excess of sand, and in the instances in which
it has been employed it has been transported only a short
distance. These marls, however weak as they may appear,
frequently destroy the existing vegetation. It is due to the
existence of decomposing sulphuret of iron, which forms an
astringent salt, copperas, or a mixture of sulphate of iron and
alumina. This injurious salt is not formed where there is a
sufficient quantity of lime to neutralize the salt, in which
case gypsum will be formed. It should be remarked that the
astringent salts may exert a beneficial influence where they
are formed only in small quantities.

Another similar outcrop of this sand appears in the bed of
a creek adjacent to the dwelling of Col. Clark, in Tawboro'.
On submitting this marl to analysis I found it composed of

Sand, 91.300

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 5.800

Carbonate of lime, 0.190

Magnesia, 0.130

Potash, O.lnO

Soda, 0.130

Sulphuric acid, 0.300

Water, 1 .200

99.200

A thin bed of the supposed upper part of the green sand
formation appears in the series of beds on the banks of the
Tar river, three miles from Tawboro'. At this bank the shell
marl occurs in place, and has been used as a fertilizer by Col.

NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 99

Clark with good success for many years ; the relative position
of this upper bed of green sand is represented in a section
already described. It lies, as will be seen, immediately be-
neath the shell marl ; and beneath the green sand a gray
sand crops out, which is quite consolidated, and to the eye
appears much like a limestone formation, but, as will appear
in the sequel, is a bed of sand of unknown thickness.

The upper mass of green sand, which does not exceed four
feet, has a similar composition to those already noticed. It
is composed of

Sand 79.000

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 8.800

Carbonate of lime, 2.752

Magnesia, 1.600

Potash, 1.739

Soda, 0.300

Soluble silica, 0.600

Sulphuric acid 0.200

Organic matter, 2.000

Water, 2.330

99.321

§ 69. Although the proportion of sand is large in this marl,
yet I believe it is a more valuable fertilizer than the shell
marl above it.

It contains more potash than the green sand of Black rock
on the Cape Fear. It contains, it is true, less lime, but if the
composition of the ash of the cotton stalk is consulted it will
be perceived that magnesia is also required — this marl con-
tains a large percentage of this substance.

It may be regarded as containing seventeen or eighteen
per cent, of fertilizing matter. ~No trial has been made of
this stratum, and of course nothing can be said upon the
ground of trial.

§ 70. A very useless bed of gray sand occupies the bank
at the water's edge, which has been alluded to. Neverthe-
less, I submitted a specimen of it to analysis. It is one of
those beds which is charged with sulphuret of iron, and forms
astringent salts, on decomposition, of the sulphuret of iron

100 NOKTH-OAEOLESTA GEOLOGICAL STJKVEY.

which is diffused through it. Beds of this description may
be known by pouring muriatic acid over the material when
a large quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen is liberated, which
has the odor of rotten eggs — the smell of which is not usual-
ly forgotten.
This bed is composed of

Fine Sand, 93.500

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 2.000

Lime, trace,

Magnesia, trace,

Sulphuric acid, 1.000

Water, 3.200

Potash and soda, (undetermined,)

99.700

The bed is partially consolidated. It is, without doubt, en-
tirely worthless as a fertilizer. As a geological formation it
may probably be regarded as one of the beds of sand which
separate the different beds composing the green sand proper;
still, no opportunity has as yet been furnished me to see what
lies beneath it.

The foregoing analyses of the green sand furnish all the
necessary information respecting its composition. These beds
in North-Carolina are deficient in potash, an element which,
in New Jersey and Delaware, give to this fertilizer its im-
portance. It is possible that exposures of other parts of this
formation may come to light, which will be richer in potash.
We do not obtain access to the best parts, which may be
richer in this element. Other analyses, therefore, of n^ew
beds may result in better success, and finally furnish a fertil-
izer equally rich with those of New Jersey.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 101

CHAPTEK VIII.

Eocene or white marl — Quantity or per centage of lime variable, but
greater usually than in the other varieties. — The "Wads worth beds. —
His letter and remarks. — Beds upon the Neuse. — Haughton's marl. —
Composition, etc.

§ 71. In the ascending order, the next series of marls be-
long to that division of the formation which is known as terti-
ary, and that part of it which is called the eocene. This part
is the oldest section of the division, and hence, reposes upon
some part of the cretaceous system ; either the green sand,
which has been already considered, or else upon the chalk,
as is the case in Europe.

Considered as a marl, it is readily distinguished from the
green sand, even where its relations are concealed. The
color is white, or else a light drab, or cream colored, and is
very frequently made up of grains, which, when examined
under the microscope, are found to be fragments of organic re-
mains, such as corals, shells and echinoderms. Some beds,
ten feet or more thick, are a mass of small fragments of
fossils, mixed with sand. Some have a chalky whiteness,
others take a brownish tinge. These beds are frequently
soft, and may be loaded into a cart like dirt. In other cases,
consolidation has taken place in part, and the mass is known
as stone marl. This variety of marl is more calcareous than
the green sand below, or the shell marl above, and when the
mass is consolidated it makes a tolerable lime for agricultural
purposes. But sand, which is a constant part of all forma-
tions in the eastern counties, exists in large proportions in
some beds, and usually exceeds fifty per cent. But some
beds have seventy or eighty per cent of lime, and when thus
charged, the lime is well fitted for mortar, or whitewashing,
as well as for agriculture.

§ 72. The eocene marl occupies a narrow but an ill-defined
zone, stretching across several of the eastern counties, from
the lower waters of the Cape Fear, in Hanover county,

102 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

through a part of Onslow, Jones and Craven counties, cross-
ing the Neuse twenty miles above ISTewbern, where it is
either lost in the low grounds, or may be discontinued before
it reaches Beaufort county, as the only marls of the lower
waters of the Tar belong to the shell marl, or miocene beds ;
where the next bed below is visible, it is known to belong to
the upper part of the green sand, which has been described.

The eocene is known to exist at Wilmington, at Pollocks-
ville, in Jones county, and underlies the whole country in the
vicinity of Newbern, upon the Neuse. In this formation I in-
clude the consolidated beds which have been employed for mill
stones, and which consists of a mass of the casts of shells, the
most common of which is a small species of clam. Recently,
this variety has become an important building stone, and has
been employed for enclosing the cemetery at Newbern, for
which it is more suitable than any other rock which could
have been procured.

§ 73. It will be seen from the foregoing remarks, that it
occupies a less area than the green sand, and it will also prove
to be more limited than the shell marl, though the latter
never forms a continuous deposit over a large area. When
in rocks, or consolidated, it is also broken up or traversed by
fissures, and forms, if at the top of the ground, a very irreg-
ular surface.

§ 74. The white eocene marl has been used as a fertilizer,
and probably with results as striking as the common shell
marl. It would seem to possess some advantage over other
marls, except the green sand, especially as it is fine and earthy.
It is also richer in lime. For analysis I have selected several
specimens from the central part of the region where it is un-
derlaid with it.

The marl of Wm. Wadsworth, Esq., of Craven, furnishes a
kind which represents its characteristics in as much perfect-
tion as any of the beds of the county. I found it compos-
ed of

Sand, 26.60

Water, 1.70

Magnesia, 0.10

NORTH-OAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 103

Carbonate of lime, 71.22

99.62

The sand is in the form of white grains, often coarse. It is
a soft, earthy marl, and is made up of fragments of corals,
shells, crinoid's or pentacrinites, with sand mechanically mixed.

The influence of this marl upon vegetation has always been
favorable, and the testimony of Mr. Wadsworth, whose ample
experience qualifies him to advance an opinion, fully sustains
the foregoing statement.

I subjoin an interesting letter from Mr. Wadsworth upon
the subject of marl and marling. His observations, I have
no doubt, will be concurred in by his neighbors. I am the
more desiro»us of making his letter public on account of his
experiment with marl upon his premises for the purpose of
counteracting the tendency to fever and ague during the au-
tumnal months. If farther trial should confirm the opinion
expressed in favor of the use of marl as a preventive of
fever, the importance of the discovery cannot be over-esti-
mated :

CORE CREEK, GRAVEN COUNTY, )
May TO, 1857. \

PROF. E. EMMONS — Sir: — The marl, (a specimen of which is sent,) I
have been applying since 1852. I have now marled 220 acres. I have,
until this year and a portion of the last, applied 100 bushels to the acre.
I am now using 75. The weaker parts of my land were burned with the
former quantity. My land varies from a very stiff clay to a soil quite light.
Presuming you will be willing to be troubled with it, I will give you my
mode of using it, and the results: My carts are made to 'hold just five
bushels. I have the land checked off with the plough into as many squares
to the acre as I design putting on bushels of marl. One bushel is put into
each square. The first four bushels is pulled out with a hoe from the tail
of the cart, and the last one is dumped.

By this method I am enabled to have the material much more equally
spread, which I think is a full equivalent for the extra trouble. I usually
begin to haul after my crop is "laid by," and it remains in the heaps until
about the following February, when it is spread and ploughed in. 1 have
spread some and let it lay on the surface twelve months before it was
turned under, but I never saw any advantage from it. I have a small piece

104: NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

of very poor land that has been lying in that condition since the first of
the year 1854. It was designed as an experiment. The groM7th on it when
it was marled was altogether broom straw ; there is now mixed with that
growth some briars, dog fennel, and other weeds. I have consequently in-
ferred there was some improvement, but whether it is as great as on land
that was marled and cultivated I shall not know until I cultivate it.

The land I have marled and cultivated has very considerably improved.
My whole crop has very nearly doubled, notwithstanding one-fifth of the
land I crop on is yet unmarled.

I cultivated the land every other year in corn, and it rested the other,
and not pastured. Last year I sowed peas on a portion of the rested land;
what will be the result I am now unable to say. I have used plaster on
the marled land, and have not seen any beneficial effect.

I fear I am trespassing too much on your time ; I will, however, say a
few words on my experience of the effects of liming on the health of the
place. Before marl was used on this plantation it was uncommonly sickly,
so much so that I was compelled to carry my family away every fall
Scarcely a person, white or black, escaped the ague and fever, if he had no
more. All the land around the house has been marled, and the yard, under
the houses^ under and around the negro houses, I keep freshly marled
every summer. Last summer I made my servants use it, as our grand
mothers used to use sand, inside of the houses. Whether it is owing to
this, or to a ditch I have had cut through the yard, or whether it is an ac-
cidental occurrence I can't say, but fall before last there was not a chill on
the premises, and last fall there was but one case.

I will trouble you with one more result: These premises were infested
with ants and fleas, now such animals are hardly known here.

W. B. WADSWORTH.
i

§ 75. In a subsequent letter Mr. Wadsworth's remarks go
to confirm his previously expressed opinions, but that the
reader may be benefitted by Mr. "WVs experience, I subjoin
his remarks in his own language :

CRAVEN COUNTY, N. C., (NEAR NEWBERNE, )
October 12th, 1857. f

PROF. E. EMMONS — Dear Sir: — The fever for marling is spreading in
this part of our county and a good deal of land will be limed this winter.
I have given some of mine an over dose with only one hundered bushels.
Last fall and winter I used only seventy five and now I am putting on
fifty. My experence so far has taught me to begin with a very limited
quantity and to add to it as the land improves. Where I have not burned
my land the improvement is very satisfactory.

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 105

I mentioned in my last letter to you the effect that marling, or ditching,
or both combined, had had upon the health of this place. I told you that
this plantation was remarkably sickly previous to the fall of 1855 — so much
so that it was strange for even one to escape billious, or ague and fever. I
mentioned that in 1855 there was not a case of either, in 1856 but one,
and now I will add that so far this fall, in a family of forty persons, there
has been but two cases. (I happened to have been one of the subjects.)
These three falls have been dry. I don't know how a wet one would act
upon us. I have kept marl plentifully used in my yard, and around and
in my negro houses.

I shall be under many obligations to you for analysis of my marl.

Yours, &c.,

W. B. WADSWORTH.

§ 76. A marl belonging to the same epoch, (eocene) fur-
nished by J. H. Haughton, from his plantation in Jones
county, gave me 56.06 per cent of carbonate of lime. An-
other specimen gave :

Silex or sand, 13.00

Phosphate of peroxide 'of iron and alumina, 1.10

Carbonate of lime, 85.2C

Carbonate of magnesia, 1.02'

Potash, 0.02

100.34

I have found in these white marls a small per centage of
potash. It is evidently less than in the other varieties. This
is made up like the Wadsworth marl, of fragments of fossils,
in which certain species of corals and a crinoid abound.

A variety is met with which is derived from the disinte-
gration of a large species of oyster. It occurs upon the plan-
tation now owned by L. Haughton, Esq., and is known as
the Pollock place, in Jones county. It contains :

Carbonate of lime, 34.54

Sand, 63.46

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 1.30

99.30

Large grains of sand are distributed through the marl. It

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

follows necessarily, from the manner in which these marls
have accumulated, that they should vary in composition, and
that the substance which reduces the quantity of carbonate
of lime, should be sand.

A ready method by which its quantity may be estimated
is by washing a given quantity. It will be seen, that by agi-
tating it in a vessel of water, there is a considerable quantity
of fine, inpalpable white powder. "Wash it until the- water
pours off clear, and the sand with the coarse fragments of
fossils remain. The existence of much sand is not suspected
at first, but as washing progresses, it will be found to prevail,
in some cases, over the carbonate of lime.

§ 77. Upon the Neuse, about twenty miles above E"ew-
bern, heavy banks of the marl under notice occur, which
extend continuously for more than a mile. This exposure of
marl is upon the plantations of Samuel Biddle and Benjamin
Biddle. It is accessible, and forms steep escarpments on the
south side of the river. On account of the accessibility of
this outcrop of marl, it will hereafter become an important
deposit from the lime which it is capable of furnishing. It
is consolidated, and may be quarried for the kiln, but it also
furnishes an abundance of marl in a fine state of subdivision.

It has been tried imperfectly as a fertilizer, but while the
result was disastrous, we may infer from it, that it possesses
as valuable properties as the kind used by Mr. Wadsworth,
which has been described already. The quantity used by
Mr. Biddle, in his first experiment, was 600 bushels to the
acre ; consequently, most of the vegetation was killed, and
very little has grown upon the land, thus excessively marled,
for six years. It is just recovering from the dose. The con-
solidated part of this outcrop of marl contains :

Sand, 20.00

Carbonate of lime, . .• 78.60

Oxide of iron and allumina, 1.70

100.30

NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 107

Another specimen of consolidated marl from Benjamin
Biddle's plantation (Egypt) gave me :

Sand, 9.60

Peroxide of iron snd alumina, containing phosphoric

acid, 4.40

Carbonate of lime, 85.00

Magnesia, trace,

99.00

A few grains of coarse sand were visible in the rock. This
mass is evidently sufficiently pure for burning into lime. It
would be adapted for the various purposes for which lime is
required, as mortar, whitewashing, or for agriculture.

CHAPTER IX.

FERTILIZERS CONTINUED.

Shell marl. — Heterogeneous in its composition, and arrangement of its
materials. — Chemical constitution. — Application of marl. — Poisonous
marl. — How corrected. — Theories respecting the operation of marl.

§ 78. The third bed of marl in the ascending order has
been appropriately called shell marl, from the great abun^
dance of undecomposed marine shells, of which it is mainly
composed. The mass, taken as a whole, is formed of per-
fect shells, and those which have become fragments, and
sand. There is no order in their arrangement in the bed.
They lie as if they had been washed up on a beach ; hence,
they are mixed confusedly together. The relative position of
the shell marl is exhibited in the sections already given. It
is not present, however, even where all the other members
of the sections in a bluff or outcrop exists. Whether its

108 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

absence is due to denudation, or whether the beds were
formed only at certain points, has not been determined. De-
nudation, however, has taken place at some of the beds, as
they still preserve the gullies which were cut through them,
and which were subsequently filled with brown earth.

Although it is not possible to detect an orderly arrange-
ment of materials, still, certain parts occupy usually a com-
mon position ; for instance, the large pebbles, coprolites-, and
certain bones and teeth lie at the bottom of the stratum.
The inference which may be deduced from this fact is, that
during the first stage of its formation, there was considerable
violence in the movement of the waters in which the stratum
was accumulating ; and that probably, prior to, and during
the early part of its accumulation, there were shiftings of the
strata; some being more elevated, others depressed; or there
was a change of level of the sea coast, which set in motion
the waters, and led to the violence which collected at the
bottom the large and less destructible fragments to which I
have alluded.

But in the first place, I propose to speak of the use of this
marl stratum as a fertilizer ; and as it has a more general dis-
tribution, it has been employed more extensively than either
of the foregoing which I have described.

The beds of shell marl are not composed uniformly of the
same elements in the same proportions. It is as heteroge-
neous as possible in this respect. Some beds contain ninety
per cent of sand ; in others it is reduced to twenty-five per
cent, and the remainder is mostly carbonate of lime.

§ 79. The most important subdivision which can be found-
ed upon composition, is that into a gray or whitish marl in
the mass, the color of which is due to the great abundance
of marine shells, and that of a dark bluish green marl, which
contains grains of green sand. In the latter there is a no-
table amount of potash, while in the former it exists only in
very small proportions. Some recognize a red or brown
marl. This color, however, is due merely to exposure to the
atmosphere, in consequence of which the protoxide of iron
has changed, or is changing, by the absorption of oxygen

NOETH-OABOLDSTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 109

into the peroxide. This change is indicative of a valuable
marl, but it is no better subsequent to this change than be-
fore it. If in the greenish marl green grains can be distin-
guished, it may be inferred that the marl contains potash.
The presence of carbonate of lime, as is usually known, is
indicated by eifervescence when acids are poured over it,
and a judgment may be formed by its continuance and vio-
lence, whether it is rich in this substance. If it is prolonged,
there is a large quantity of carbonate of lime in the spe-
cimen under examination. So the presence of sand may be
detected and its quantity proximately determined by simple
washing.

§ 80. The shell marl upon the Cape Fear river belongs
usually to the former. A bed, however, in the bluff at
Brown's landing, contains the green grains alluded to, but
still it is readily distinguished from that upon the Tar river,
which is usually bluish green, and belongs to the latter va-
riety. 1 do not, however, attach much importance to the
subdivision.

There are several beds of shell marl immediately upon the
banks of the Cape Fear, or within a mile of them ; and when
marine shells are closely packed in the strata their several
compositions are alike. As a representation of the compo-
sition of this marl, I shall select Mr. Cromarty's marl bed,
near Elizabeth town. It consists mainly of:

Sand, 52.50

Carbonate of lime, 40.25

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 7.20

Magnesia, , 0.75

Potash and soda, traces.

I have always found phosphoric acid when the peroxide of
iron and alumina are tested with molybdate of ammonia. It
is very rare for the carbonate of lime to amount to seventy-
five per cent. I found seventy-one per cent in Mr. Mc-
Daniel's marl, in Nash county. The bluish green marl of
Tar river is quite sandy, and yet may be regarded as a rich
marl. As an illustration of this fact, I subjoin an analysis of

110 NOETH-OAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

the marl bed owned by Col. Clark, three miles above Taw-
boro', on the Tar river. It consists of:

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 6.80

Carbonate of lime, 16.10

Magnesia, 0.436

Potash, 0.616

Soda, 1.988

Sulphuric acid, 0.200

Soluble silica, 0.440

Chlorine, 0.030

Phosphoric acid, 0.200

Sand, 72.600

Of one hundred parts, only about twenty-six can be re-
garded as available matter, and yet good results have at-
tended its use.

Immediately above the shell marl of the Tar there is a bed
of clay some four feet thick. This clay I have submitted to
analysis for the purpose of ascertaining the quantity of potash
it contains. The results show, however, that as a fertilizer,
it is of no importance. It gave me :

Sand, 84.00

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 4.40

Lime, 0.35

Magnesia, 0.10

Potash, 0.05

Soda, 0.02

Soluble silica, 0.20

Organic matter and water, 10.50

All the beds except the upper beds of sand were submitted
to analysis. Only two in this bank are valuable fertilizers,
the shell marl and the upper bed of green sand ; both con-
tain potash, soda and phosphoric acid ; and there is no neces-
sity for rejecting the latter when hauling marl for the plan-
tation. If some method could be devised by which the sand
could be cheaply separated from the mass, the remainder
would form a marl superior to the richest green sand ; the

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

111

sand being coarse, presents a favorable condition for effect-
ing a separation.

§ 81. The green shell marl of Mr. Bridger's plantation,
upon Fishing creek, I found to possess a composition similar
to Col. Clark's. There is a greater proportion of sand, but
the available part is almost identical with the Tar river marl.

§ 82. The application of marl is an important matter, and
requires a brief discussion. Notwithstanding marl has been
used for many years, still there is much disagreement among
planters of experience as to the best mode of applying it, and
the quantity to be applied in any given case. Its effects are
frequently deleterious if a large quantity is spread upon a
poor soil, and yet it has not been ascertained how its injurious
effects may be obviated. It is no doubt desirable in many
instances to use a larger quantity of marl than the soil will
admit of when it is in its natural state.

The quantity of marl which is usually spread upon an acre
of ground is from 150 to 200 bushels. Three hundred bushels
is often used. But certain worn out lands would be exceed-
ingly injured for several years by even two hundred bushels.
The question, I have no doubt, has been often put: Why is
marl ever injurious? The natural conclusion is that it con-
tains some substance unfriendly to vegetation. This substance
is no doubt in certain cases an astringent salt, formed in those
marls which contain iron pyrites which is prone to decompose
on exposure to those bodies which contain oxygen, the sul-
phur thereby is oxidated, and slowly acts upon the iron and
forms copperas, or upon alumina, which is present in the marl.
In small doses copperas will not fatally injure vegetation, but
operates beneficially. The term in common use for express-
ing the effect of injurious marls is, burning. Those which
are decidedly burning marls have the distinct taste of cop-
peras, sometimes it appears upon the surface of those marls
in dry weather, when it has a whitish appearance. But
gypsum sometimes appears also. This may be distinguished
from copperas by being tasteless.

§ 83. There is no difficulty in treating marls in which cop-
peras is found. It is readily decomposed by lime. Let a

112 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

compost heap containing a hundred bushels of marl be form-
ed, mixing leaves or any organic matter as stable manure,
and then add three bushels of quick lime to the mass, and
incorporate the ingredients together by shoveling them over
twice. Gypsurn will be formed by combining with the sul-
phuric acid in combination with the iron. The compost is all
the better for the lime, though it is possible the gypsum may
not in all instances prove itself useful. Astringent marls,
when in heaps in the open air, lose their copperas and other
soluble salts by solution in rain water to which they are neces-
sarily exposed, they undergo a leaching process by which
they are freed of their injurious properties. Another method
may be resorted to when it is found that vegetation is being
injured, or has been by the experience during the year of its
application, to plough deep and mix the marl with a large
quantity of soil ; the fertility will be restored. It is by no
means difficult for any farmer to test his marl prior to its use
if he wishes to ascertain whether this astringent salt is pre-
sent. To do this, let the marl be boiled in rain water ; strain
it, or let the turbidness of the solution disappear by rest;
pour off the clear liquid, and if sulphate of iron and alumina
is present, it will turn black by adding a solution of strong
tea to it ; it will become a dirty white by lime water and a
solution of the leaves of red cabbage change it to red, show-
ing the presence of an acid salt. Most of the marls of the
State contain these salts. Where they are abundant unde-
composed pyrities will be found in masses adhering to por-
tions of petrified wood or inseparate concretions in the marl.

§ 84. Writers upon the efficacy of marl as a fertilizer, have
entertained different opinions. As the progress of agricul-
ture has been promoted, and observation and experiments
multiplied upon the effects of different bodies upon vegeta-
tion, these opinions have become more consistent and reliable.

Some writers have maintained that lime alone is the effec-
tive agent; others that it is pyrites, or else is due to the
presence of animal matter, which has been derived from the
fossils of the beds ; others, still, to the presence of phosphate

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 113

\

of lime, while others have maintained that it is due to the
potash.

§ 85. Now, it is quite possible that all these opinions are
right as far as they go. They are erroneous in being re-
strictive. If we examine the composition of an ash of any
plant, as I have already observed, we shall find all these ele-
ments, and we may well suppose, as they are all so generally
present, that they are all required ; and hence, we are not to
attribute the efficacy of marl to one of its elements exclusive
of the others. It may be, that a given soil is notably de-
ficient in potash, while the other elements are in sufficient
abundance to furnish all that a given plant requires. In such
a case it might appear that fertility was restored to the soil
by potash alone. Of all fertilizers, wood ashes are the best,
and possess a more general application than any other ; being
adapted to any crop. They are the best, because they con-
tain all the elements the plant needs ; and hence, the nearer
a marl is in composition to wood ashes, the better it is.
Hence, then, the efficacy of marl is due to its potash, soda,
lime, iron, magnesia, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid and
chlorine, and not any one of its elements, exclusive of the
others. The only modification which this doctrine requires,
is that some of the elements are more important than others,
and it may be true, that the controlling influence is to be
ascribed to the alkalies, alkaline earths and phosphates ; still,
the marl is better with the less essential elements, than it
would be without them. The absolute value of a marl is
shown : 1., by the amount of soluble matter it contains. 2.,
by the predominance of the most valuable elements, as pot-
ash and phosphoric acid. Marls which contain the most of
these bodies are the quickest and the most durable in their
effects ; and when the marl is rich in them, a full dressing
lasts from fifteen to twenty years.

§ 86. In forming a theory respecting the active elements
in marl, our views should not be limited to the nutrient prop-
erties they possess, or simply to the food elements which con-
tribute directly something to the weight or growth of the
plant.

9

114: NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Some elements perform a function in growth or nutrition ?
which is independent of nutrition in this sense, or they are
nutritive from their reactive forces ; they are not taken up
by the plant, but furnish or provide a substance by their re-
actions upon each other, which is nutritive or administers'
to its growth.

These substances perform a double function ; they are really
nutriments, and are taken up into the vegetable tissue ; but,
in addition to this, their reactions upon other matters in the
soil are such that nutrient matter is constantly provided with-
out their increase or diminution in the soil or marl.

The substances which are known to perform a double office.
are the oxides of iron and organic matters. To enable me to
give a brief exposition of the functions of the oxides of iron,
I will state what takes place in the soil when it is well con-
stituted for the growth of cereals, and other plants employed
as food. It will be observed that in the analysis of soils, the
iron is set down as a peroxide ; this is the state in which the
iron is obtained. In the best of soils the iron is not all of it
in this state ; but that of a mixture of the two oxides — the
protoxide and peroxide. Now, the protoxide is changed in
making an analysis into the peroxide, by the addition of a
few drops of nitric to the hydrochloric acid, which is em-
ployed for effecting a solution, for the purpose of obtaining
an exact or an uniform result. The nitric acid added to the
solution, is deprived of so much of its oxygen by the pro-
toxide as is sufficient to change it, or convert it to a peroxide.
Now, in the ordinary course of nature, this change takes
place when the soil is freely exposed to the action of water
and air. The protoxide passes into a peroxide by the absorp-
tion of oxygen from the water. It would remain in this state
permanently, if the soil was dry and free from vegetable or
organic matter. "When soils become exhausted of these mat-
ters, it remains a permanent peroxide. If, however, this pe-
roxide comes in contact with organic matter, it robs the pe-
roxide of an equivalent of oxygen, and passes again into the
condition of a protoxide. It is possible, therefore, for these
changes to take place at all times when the needful conditions

NORTH-CABOLHTA GEOLOGICAL SUKVEY. 115

exist. But this is not all ; the water of the soil being robbed
of its oxygen, its hydrogen is set free ; and being in its nas-
cent state, it is ready itself to combine with that body, for
which it has the strongest affinity. That body is nitrogen
contained in the air diffused in the soil ; and the body formed
by this union is ammonia. Now, ammonia is one of the most
essential bodies in the list of nutrients. Guano, as is well
known, owes its fertilizing properties in part to ammonia.
But I need not dwell upon this fact. By the interchanges oi
oxygen which take place with the oxides of iron, we are fur-
nished with an explanation of the origin of ammonia in the
soil. But the production of ammonia is only one of the
chemical changes which take place in a soil in which organic
matter, iron, water and air exists. The vegetable matter,
also, undergoes a change, for the oxygen which it has taken
from the peroxide of iron converts it into organic acids, which
are known by the names of crenic and apocrenic acids. These
acids being one of the series of changes effected through the
influence of the oxides, they in their turn become active, and
unite with the ammonia and form crenates and apocrenates
of ammonia. In the condition of a salt, this compound of
ammonia and the vegetable acids are taken up by the root*
of plants, and become their food.

§ 87. I have made these remarks for the purpose of pre-
paring the way for farther observations upon the action of
marls upon vegetation. The condition of the iron in a large
proportion of the marls, is that of a protoxide. Thus the iron
in the greenish marl upon the Tar River, is a protoxide. In
this condition, when it is spread upon land and mixed with
the soil which contains vegetable or organic matter, change*
first into a peroxide, it is then in an active state, and sezing
upon one of the elements of water, decomposes it. The ox-
ides of iron in the marl undergo the same changes in the soil
to which they are applied, as those which have been describ-
ed as taking place in all soils which have not been exhausted
o/ these organic matters. It will therefore be expected that
marls which contain a large percentage of iron, are more val-
uable than those which are destitute of it, and to the actioi.

110 NO&THK)AfcOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

of its oxides, we are indebted for one of its most important
effects, the supply of the salts of ammonia, and even the or-
ganic salts of potash, soda, and lime.

These facts furnish important hints relative to the proper
preparation of marl for the plantation, viz : that it should be
Composted with organic matters. We supply in this way the
conditions for its favorable action upon vegetation. With a
large quantity of organic matter, a large amount of marl may
be used without detriment to the vegetation, and the larger
the quantity the greater the amount of ammonia which will
be generated. For certain crops, this practice is of the high-
est importance. It has been proved by numerous experiments
with wheat, that there is a certain yield produced by the use
of the mineral fertilizers as phosphates of lime,- — but these
will not increase the yield beyond a certain standard when
used by themselves. But if a larger supply of ammonia is
furnished, the number of bushels per acre is increased beyond
that standard. So that in order to bring lands to their full
capacity, ammonia must be supplied also directly, or indirect-
ly. A compost of marl properly made, is one of the best fer-
tilizers for wheat, and there is little doubt, that the favorable
influence is due in part, to the chemical changes which I have
described by which ammonia is one of the products of change.

To estimate, therefore, the value of marl by the number of
pounds of phophoric acid and potash which is contained in a
ton, does not give its true value. All marl contains a small
amount of organic matter, but it is improved by adding more,
and thus preparing it, we provide for a continuance of those
changes by the instrumentality of iron until the organic mat*
ter is consumed, and when ammonia will cease to be genera*
ted. It will be understood, therefore, that organic matter is
necessary to effect these changes which produce the salts of
ammonia ; in its total absence, it is true, ammonia is produced ;
still, in the state of simple ammonia, it is not fit for nutrition ;
it requires a union with some acid, and therefore the great-
importance of providing all the conditions for the full action
of marl upon the crops to which it is applied.

§ 88. If the foregoing views are correct, it will be admitted

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 117

that the simple application of the oxides of iron and organic
matter may become the best of fertilizers. Experience has
proved that the scales of black oxide of iron, or the oxides and
other refuse matter obtained from a smith's forge are excellent
fertilizers for the pear and other fruit trees ; and they are no
doubt equally valuable for wheat and Indian corn. Iron itself
is always present in the ash of a plant. It is no doubt an im-
portant element in its organization, giving it tone and strength.
But as we have attempted to explain, it is equally an essen-
tial element in soils and marls, for its influence in effecting
those changes which finally result in the production of the
vegetable salts of ammonia, potash, soda and lime. It is in
this state that they are taken up by the roots of plants and
become thereby the effective agents of growth.

When the functions of iron in a soil or marl are known, it
does not appear improbable that it is as important and as val-
uable as phosphoric acid or potash. In some marls it is easy
to recognise the change which the iron has already undergone
by its having become brown or reddish. This change does
not probably affect its qualities, though some maintain that
the red marl is better than the blue. The only difference be-
tween them is, that the protoxide of the blue has passed into
peroxide ; the latter may be changed back to the protoxide
in a soil charged with organic matter, and though I have
omitted to state the fact, the organic acids are capable of act-
ing also upon the oxide of iron and forming with them salts,
in which state they become fitted for reception into the cir-
culation of the plant.

§ 89. I have dwelt somewhat at length upon the importance
of the oxides of iron and organic matter in the soil. This
subject is especially interesting to planters in this State, 1st,
from the fact that so large a proportion of the best soils of the
eastern counties consist of vegetable matter in the main, and
2d, from another fact that the soil in the midland counties is
deficient in organic matter, it having been consumed by long
cultivation, aided, in a considerable degree, by climate. In
1847, I prepared an article for the American Journal of Sci-
ence and Agriculture, the object of which was to set forth in

118 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL STJKVEY.

as a clear a light as possible, the functions of the vegetable
matter in the soil, and having seen no reason for changing
the views I then entertained, and still believing them to con-
tain important principles, I shall transcribe them as they were
then printed. It should be remarked, however, that the more
scientific details of the paper belong to the celebrated Mulder,
who has taken a widely different view of the importance of
organic matter in soil from Liebig. I made just an allusion
to the doctrines inculcated in a previous communication, which
is contained in the following extract :

"Supplying, then, the soil with decomposing organic matter, and several
important results follow ; the rocks are dissolved and the plants may be
supplied with the necessary carbon, ammonia, and other essential inorganic
matter." The doctrine contained in this extract is important, and may be
drawn out more in detail. The opinion has generally prevailed that mould
or the black matter of soil, was eminently useful. Many, and perhaps all,
at one time entertained the idea that it was the principal food of plants.
The idea, it is true, was crude, and it will not offend any one at the present
time to say that the early notions of farmers and chemists, who had turned
their attention to the subject, were crude, and probably, if we insist upon
it, were really erroneous. Still, even error, in toto, is rare, and some truth
at least is usually mixed with it ; that it was a valuable composition in the
soil, and performed some function serviceable to vegetation, was a common
belief. The error consisted in the misapprehension of the truth, and was
not so broad or fatal as that which maintains that it is of no use at all. It
is by no means a fatal error to maintain that a substance is important, and
yet mistake its function or office. It is one of those errors which belong
to theory, and does not necessarily exist in practice. A farmer, for instance,
believes that barn yard manure is useful. His belief will lead him to save
it, and employ it upon his corn, and this he may do notwithstanding his
theory of its action is misapprehened, or may be totally false. The main
thing is to be right as to the fact. Still, a correct view of the whole sub-
ject, how the organic matter acts, in what way it is beneficial, and how it
is related to the inorganic matter, will undoubtedly increase our power
over the products of the earth. This is by no means an irrational view of
the subject. If we apply it to some of the most common processes of
farming, as plowing, it is evident that the farmer who best understands the
object and use of plowing, will derive the most benefit from it. All agree
that it is useful, and hence all will plow ; still, those will plow the best, and
adapt the work better to the end in view, who best understands its use,
than the farmer who has only this naked truth at his elbow, that it is use-
ful, but knows not why or wherefore. Theory, then, to continue the line

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 119

of remark, is useful ; and correct theory eminently useful. At the same
time, the fact may, and usually is, more important practically ; for the fact
leads to the right action, but it may fall short of the benefit it is calculated
to give, when fact and correct theory are conjoined, and go to the work
together. Theory and book learning are often ridiculed by the matter of
fact man, and yet observation often bears us out in the opinion that in most
instances there is not only a great want of facts, but that also when found
they are often greatly perverted. But we turn now to the subject more
immediately before us. What are the functions which the organic matter
performs in vegetation? Our belief is, that all terrestrial plants, if they
do not absolutely require it, are at least benefited by it. That it is not
taken into the plant in the condition of mould or humus, is proved from
the fact that it is not in this condition sufficiently soluble. If then it is
useful, it is necessary to maintain that it undergoes certain changes before
it becomes the food of plants. It may minister to the wants of vegetation
in several ways, without its becoming the food itself. It ministers to the
vegetable by its presence, procuring thereby an open state of the soil, by
which air is more freely conveyed to the roots. It ministers, also, to the
wants of vegetation by its absorbent and retentive powers. Indeed, in this
respect it is almost indispensable to vegetation. These, then, though not
all the uses which mould exercises in vegetation, still are sufficiently im-
portant to merit the attention of the agriculturist. In neither do we find
that the brown or black matter of soil becomes the nutriment of vegetables,
and yet its service is immense. To understand the nature of the changes
which take place in the organic matter of the soil, it is necessary to know
what agents exist there. A mixture of carbonate of lime and magnesia,
silex and alumine, and organic matter, would remain without change for-
ever, were there no other bodies of a more active kind, whose affinities be-
come a present and efficient cause for action. These powers or forces exist
in the atmosphere and in the water diffused through the soil, and it is
proper to make a distinction of the atmosphere within the soil, from that
above or without it. The atmosphere is composed of two elements, oxygen
and nitrogen, in the proportion of 79 nitrogen to 21 oxygen. The latter is
free and uncombined with the nitrogen, or is merely dissolved in it, just as
sugar or salt is dissolved in water. The consequences which follow from
this condition or state of the elements, is, that both are free to unite with
other bodies, that is, so far as attraction for each other is concerned there
is no hindrance or force to be overcome to bring about a separation.
Hence, in the respiration of animals, the oxygen of the atmosphere which
is inhaled combines readily with the carbon suspended in the return or
venous blood. So in the soil, there is the same independence; the oxygen
or nitrogen is not hindered from uniting with other bodies by any affinity
existing between themselves. The final end or cause of this is, the ulti-
mate union of the oxygen with certain bodies in the soil, especially with
the organic part. The other agent, water, undergoes chemical changes of

120 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

a different kind. In this the elements are chemically combined, and hence
they are not so readily .separated from each other, and hence, too, its action
is constant, and that which is proper to it in its state of integrity — it is the
solvent power so necessary to bring all particles to a state of fineness that
they may pass into the organism of vegetables ; for solution is merely that
separation of particles to that degree of minuteness that they are capable
of being suspended in the medium. They are merely farther apart, and
they are brought thereby into a condition to undergo farther and more
thorough changes than they were previous to their solution or suspension
in the medium itself. But certain bodies can and do decompose it, the final
end or cause of which is to supply ammonia or rather nitrogen to the
growing plants. Air and water, then, contain the elements which make it
possible for the organic matter of the soil to return once more to that vital
state in which it exists in living vegetables, or in other words, to become
the food of plants.

If we now trace the changes which decaying wood undergoes from the
time when it first ceases to be a living body to that last change by which
it is fitted for the function of nutrition, we shall be able to see its use in
this part of the economy of nature. Wood, when it has lost its vitality,
goes to decay, but the progressive changes which it passes through are not
analagous to putrefaction. Rotten wood, as it exists in decayed trees, is a
neutral substance ; neither acid or alkaline at first. But in progress of
time, several definite substances are formed from it, which possess activity
and belong mainly to the class of acids, and are capable of combining with
the alkalies and alkaline earths which are soluble salts, and in this state
minister to the growth of plants. Of the substances which are formed by
decaying wood, and by peat or muck, ulmine is one, which is also a neutral
body, and is quite insoluble, and hence is not useful as a nutriment. This
substance is called ulmine from the fact that it was first prepared from the
wood of the elm ; but it is found in all other kinds of vegetable matters
which are undergoing the changes already alluded to. Ulmine is formed
from wood, or fibrous, vegetable matter of any kind, as leaves, twigs, &c.,
by the absorption of oxygen from the air, or contained in the moist earth.
By a simultaneous action carbonic acid is liberated. The substance formed
may be represented by C33, H27, 0^; 33 equivalents of carbon, 27 of hydro-
gen, and 24 of oxygen. The substance represented by this formula is a
white, friable substance, found in the interior of hollow, decaying trees,
and is produced by the oxidation of the woody fibre. Lignine also pro-
duces other bodies by combining with oxygen. Thus, 4 atoms of lignine,*
048, H32, 032, with 14 of oxygen, produce 80. 02 with 18H. 0. ; and an atom
of ulmine, C40, H]4, Oi2. Other products of an analogous kind are formed
from wood by union with oxygen. Of these, humus and humic acids are

* Kane's Chemistry, edited by Draper, p. 638.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 121

among the most remarkable. The first is represented by the formula C^
Hi4, Oi2; the latter by C40, Hj5, 016. These two acids, which are spontane-
ously formed, and are common in peat and other earths, differ from each
other in their relations to ammonia ; the first having no affinity for it, wrhile
in the latter it is so strong that it is difficult to separate them. In conse-
quence of this affinity, it no doubt forms an important element in produc-
tive soils.

Another class of vegetable acids, which are also produced by the action
of oxygen on organic matter, is called the azotized, from the fact that they
contain nitrogen. These acids are the crenic and apocrenic of Berzelius.
Both are soluble in water and alcohol; the apocrenic less so than the
crenic. They form with alkalies and alkaline earths, soluble and insoluble
salts ; some of which are essential constituents of a rich and productive
soil.

By the continued absorption of oxygen from the atmosphere, wood and
other organic matters are converted into a nutriment for vegetables. The
crenic and apocrenic acids are products of bodies which are nitrogenous
themselves; the nitrogen of which is retained through all the changes
which the organic matters pass.

It seems to be established, then, that organic matter may be useful to
plants, and may promote their growth in various ways. This conclusion
might be made almost a priori, subsequent to the determination of the na-
ture of the bodies under consideration ; for it is well known that many
bodies require nitrogen; and it is ascertained that some of the organic
bodies contain, and others absorb and retain ammonia obstinately. And
each of these classes of bodies are soluble, and in a condition to be receiv-
ed into the vegetable system.

If the foregoing considerations are true, why should farmers be taught
that the organic matter of decaying leaves and of their barn yards is use-
less? that it is a bad economy to spread it upon their fields, or plow it into
their soil ? We have sometimes wondered why it is that many intelligent
farmers hold book farming in such low repute. We, however, have been
satisfied as to the cause; when, for instance, doctrines are taught so con-
trary to their experience; and when they are told that they had better burn
their barn yard manure rather than carry it out to their meadows, we are
not at all surprised that they lose confidence in books, and hence often re-
fuse to receive many things which are really sound and valuable ; and this,
on account of the erroneous doctrines which come apparently from a re-
sponsible source.

But to return to the consideration of ammonia in the soil. Chemists
are not agreed as to the processes by which ammonia is supplied to the soil.
That it exists there, and that it is provided for by certain chemical changes
is admitted. We have stated in a former article in this journal, that one
of the means by which it is restored to the soil is through the mutual in-
fluence of water and the protoxide of iron ; the latter substance having the

122 NOETH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

power of decomposing the former and taking to itself its oxygen ; the hy-
drogen being liberated instantly combines with the nitrogen of the air in
the soil, and forms with it ammonia. Humic acid, too, by its strong affinity
for ammonia, rapidly absorbs it whenever it is freed from its combinations.
Other modes undoubtedly exist by which the nitrogenous compounds are
supplied with this essential element. Ammonia, too, has been proved to
be present at all times in the atmosphere, though only in small proportions.

One of the forms in which ammonia is found in the soil is that of apo-
crenate of ammonia; a compound which is formed from humic acid by its
continued oxidation; the apocrenic acid being merely a higher state of
oxidation of the same substance. In the chain of causes by which apo-
crenic acid is formed, nitric acid is also generated, according to Mulder —
this acid acts with great vehemence upon humic acid. Admitting the fact
of the formation of nitric acid, and its subsequent action on humic acid
follows necessarily ; and furthermore, we can understand how the humic
acid is oxidated and changed into apocrenic acid. Mulder says, p. 166, in
his Chemistry of Vegetable and Animal Physiology, when apocrenic acid
is found in the soil it is accompanied with the production of carbonic acid;
the ammonia of the soil produced in it from the atmospheric air it has ab-
sorbed, may, by the influence of decaying, organic substances and water,
be converted into nitric acid ; and no doubt is so when the bases required
for nitrification are present. Saltpetre was long extracted from the soil
exclusively, as in many places in Egypt, India, &c. By the oxygen of the
atmospheric air contained in the soil, the hydrogen and nitrogen of ammo-
nia produced from the constituents of the air are oxidized; water and nitric
acid as soon as it is formed, meets with a substance in the soil, humic acid
and humin, which by its influence is converted into apocrenate of ammonia,
and at the same time produces carbonic acid. This change of humic acid
into apocrenic acid takes place in minute quantities ; as is the case with the
formation of ammonia which precedes it. Thus, to form one equivalent of
apocrenic acid, there are required two equivalents of humic acid and one
equivalent of ammonia and seventy-six equivalents of oxygen. In this
production of apocrenic acid, the ammonia from the humate of ammonia is
not only transferred to the apocrenic acid, but it performs an intermediate
part, namely, the fixing of oxygen. Through the tendency of ammonia
to form nitric acid, the oxygen of the atmospheric air contained in the soil
is combined with the constituents of the humic acid ; the ammonia itself
remaining unchanged; neither leaving the soil, nor being oxidized into
nitric acid. If there be not an abundance of organic matter, and if the air
be moist, and lime, magnesia or potash be present, ammonia is first pro-
duced, and afterwards nitric acid. If, on the contrary, instead of these
leaves, organic substances are in excess, humic acid is formed by their de-
cay; at the same time, ammonia is produced from the nitrogen of the at-
mosphere; and, finally, apocrenate of ammonia, carbonic acid and water."

This long extract seemed to be required in order to put the reader in

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 123

possession of the views of Mulder on this important subject; from which
it is well established that organic matter in soil is of the highest moment ;
and that it not only ministers indirectly to the growth of plants, as stated
in the early part of this article, but also becomes food itself in the form of
apocrenate of ammonia. So, also, that important substance, carbonic acid,
is liberated and furnished to the roots ; a substance which many suppose
is taken up by the leaves only. The apocrenates are continually forming;
not only the apocrenate of ammonia but also those of potash, lime and
magnesia.

Through, then, the action of the organic acids the inorganic bodies are
received also into the circulation of vegetables ; and this gives us an idea
of its importance, namely, as a medium by which lime, magnesia and pot-
ash are supplied to the vegetable kingdom. The carbonates of lime and
magnesia are rather insoluble bodies, though the carbonate of soda and
potash are, as is well known, highly soluble.

We should take an unsafe course in practice, then, in rejecting the or-
ganic part of manures ; and how truly important lime, potash, soda, mag-
nesia, &c., are; still, soils cannot be and are not fertile if they contain
only these ; and thp highest and most valuable soils are those in which a
due balance is preserved between the organic and the inorganic parts.

§ 90. Unfortunately for the best interests of agriculture,
the marls of North Carolina are too sandy to bear transport-
ation to distant points; and hence, their use is now limited
to the plantations upon which they are found. If, however,
a method could be devised by which the sand could be sepa-
rated cheaply from their useful parts, they would then be re-
duced in weight and bulk sufficiently to bear transportation
on those railroads which pass within three or four miles of
the beds in which they lie, and those especially upon the
Cape Fear and the Neuse might be transported very cheaply
by water. The quantity of sand, it will be perceived, is often
as&igh as 80 per cent. The remainder twenty per cent con-
tains all the fertilizing matter. This 20 per cent is a concen-
trated manure, and compares very favorably with the super-
phosphate of lime, especially, considering that its cost would
be very much less, or according to its actual cost, it would be
worth quite as much as the superphosphate.

By aid of suitable machinery, it is highly probable the sand
may be separated rapidly from the valuable parts which com-
pose it. If so, the interests of agriculture would be greatly

124: NORTH-CAUOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

promoted, and the revenue upon the railroads increased ; and
in the end, it might, and invariably would supplant guano,
which is a drain upon the pockets of planters.

§ 91. In order to free the sand from adherent marl, it might
be passed through a cylinder, the inside of which had many
projecting angles, and within which another cylinder studded
with angular rods should be made to revolve rapidly, while
the marl and water was passing through them. The sand,
after issuing from the machine, would subside almost imme-
diately, while the lighter marl would pass forward and be
allowed to subside in vats. With a machine properly con-
structed, a hundred tons of marl might be washed in a day,
and though all the sand might not be removed from it, yet a
very large proportion would be. Some of the marls, as
analysis proves, contain seventy-five per cent of sand. The
concentration consequent upon its removal would convert it
into a fertilizer which would contain three or four times its
amount if it was in its natural state. The washed marl would
then possess the following composition :

Phosphate of lime, 2.50

Peroxide of iron and alumina, 25.00

Carbonate of lime, 44.17

Magnesia, 1.71

Potash, 2.35

Soda, 2.50

Sulphuric acid 0.72

Chlorine, 0.52

Organic matter, 1 6.12

Soluble silica, 0.78

Water, 3.75

The commercial value of marl of this description will be
from 8 to 9 cents per bushel. A bushel of dry rnarl weigh-
ing eighty pounds, and twenty-five bushels weighing two
thousand pounds, it will be worth from $1 60 to $1 80 per
ton. Fifty tons of marl might be washed per day, which
would give about twelve tons of concentrated marl in the
vats. The cost of raising and washing may be performed at
from 37-J to 50 cents per ton, and perhaps less than the low-
est figure.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 125

§ 92. The washing of the marls should not be confined to
the green sand marls, the white eocene marls upon the Neuse
in Craven county, may also be profitably subjected to the
operation. It would at any rate improve it much, for agri-
culture, and serve to create a demand for it in the midland
counties. Besides, when it has been subjected to this opera-
tion, it becomes an excellent material for burning into quick
lime. Being in a tine incoherent state after washing, and
also wet or a calcareous mud, it might be pressed at once by
means of moulds into the form of large bricks, and when al-
lowed to dry, put up in kilns for burning. In western New
York, the white fresh water marl is treated in this way, with
the exception that it does not require washing. But it is
moulded into the form of bricks and burned. It is highly
esteemed for its whiteness, and is used mostly for white-wash-
ing.

The foregoing hints are thrown out without having had
time and opportunity for testing their value. They are sug-
gested in consequence of the scarcity of limestone in the mid-
dle counties of the State, and the consequent high price of
lime. There is lime enough in the eastern counties, but its
intermixture with sand, which diminishes its value in a com-
mercial point of view, except in the case of a few banks,
which have been designated.

§ 93. To show that green sand and other marls may be
transported over railroads, I propose to quote what has trans-
pired already in New Jersey,* thus, there was transported
over the Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Eailroad du-
ring 1856, 270,982 bushels of marl, all of which found a mar-
ket out of the marl district, and some of it out of the State ;
and as an evidence of the estimation of the marl and the ready
sale it finds along the road, it requires only to witness the
high cultivation of the lands along the whole route of the
road. Monmouth county, and other parts of New Jersey ^
were as barren, or as much exhausted by cultivation, as any

* Third Annual Report of the Geol. Survey of the State of New Jersey, for the
year 1856, p. 53.

126 NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

parts of this State. The use of marl has renovated the coun-
try, a profitable trade has sprung up which will not only ben-
efit the owners of rnarl pits, but that part of the agricultural
community who avail themselves of this substance, when it
can be brought from a distance to their doors.

§ 94. The mode of calculating the money value of a marl,
is founded upon the fact, that the percentages represent the
absolute weights in the compound, — thus one per cent, of
phosphate of lime is equivalent to one pound in a hundred.
This number, one, or one pound multiplied by 20, and then
estimated by the value per pound of the substance, gives its
value in 100 Ibs. of marl ; or, if there is 2,16 phosphoric acid,
the product is 4,32, which multiplied by 5 cents, the value per
pound of phosphoric acid gives $2.16,0, or two dollars and
sixteen cents, the value of this substance in a hundred pounds
of marl. The object to be secured in washing the marl, is to
raise the percentage of phosphoric acid sufficiently to make
it a merchantable substance, and thereby benefit the agricul-
tural community far and wide.

CHAPTER Y.

Animal manures — Fish — Crabs — Cancerine composition of fish before and
after drying — Compost of Crabs- — Preservation of the offal of fish at the
large fishing establishments.

§ 95. The best interests of agriculture require a ready
and cheap supply of manure. Its prosperity depends upon
it. Without fertilizers, it would be impracticable to sustain
this branch of business, except in some highly favored districts
where the supply has been prodigally provided. A source
from whence an immense supply in some localities may be
obtained is the ocean. The myriads of fish, for example,

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

127

which resort to the shores of North Carolina, might be turned
to an immense profit. The use of fish, employed for this
purpose, has been practiced for a century upon and near the
coast where they can be readily procured. Both Connecticut
and Massachusetts have experienced the benefit of their em-
ployment. Recently in New Jersey a more systematic at-
tempt has been made to furnish agriculturists with a supply
of this kind of manure. In the old wray of employing fish
they were put whole, if small, into a hill of corn or spread
over the field. In this mode they become highly useful, but
were very offensive. The moss-bonkers have been principal-
ly used in New Jersey, and are regarded as a powerful ma-
nure. Prof. Cook has given an analysis of this fish for the
purpose of ascertaining the amount of fertilizing matter which
it contains and its comparative value when dried as a ma-
nure.*

In the fresh state, it consists of

Water, 77.17

Oil, 8.90

Dry substance, 19.93

The dry substance is composed of

Lime, , 8.670

Magnesia, 670

Potash, 1.565

Soda, 1.019

Phosphoric acid 7.784

Chlorine, 678

Silica, 1.333

Organic matter, 78.301

100.000
Ammonia, 9.282

The fish were taken in the fall at the season when they are
fat. At this season they weigh nearly a pound. Substances
which abound in oil always make powerful fertilizers. Tbe

Third Annual Report for 1856, of the Geol. Survey of New Jersey, p. 68.

128 NOBTH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Cotton seed is a well known substance, whose reputation as a
fertilizer is based in part upon its oil. But fish are rich in
oil, phosphoric acid and ammonia, and hence they form a con-
centrated manure. If the analysis is compared with those
which have been given in the foregoing pages, it will be seen
that the constituents offish are admirably adapted to the pur-
poses for which they have been employed.

§ 96. The same remark, however, applies equally well to
all animal matters — flesh, bone, the hoofs, horns and hair, all
are active fertilizers, their speedy influence being dependent
upon the state and condition in which they are applied. Bone
ground finely is much more active than when it is coarse.
To obtain speedy action it must be soluble. But fish manure
occupies an intermediate position — it is more speedy in its
action than bone dust, but it is more transient in its effects,
in which case, it has a close resemblance to guano.

§ 97. Crabs and fish of the same class have also been pre-
pared for a like purpose. The king crab resorts at seasons of
the year to parts of our coast in immense numbers. These
on being taken are dried and ground when it is prepared for
use. It has been sold under the name of Cancerine from
cancer, a crab. When compared with guano, it is found quite
similar in composition. As guano is supposed to owe its value
mainly to its ammonia and phosphate of lime, it may be com-
pared with fish or cancerine to determine their relative
values.*

Thus Peruvian Guano contains of

Ammonia, 15.00

Phos. acid, 14.75

Cancerine ammonia, 10.75

Dry fish do 9.27

Phosphoric acid, 7.78

Phosphoric acid in cancerine, 4.05

An immense amount of fertilizing matter is lost which might
be saved in the offals of fish. If they were dried or preserved

* Geol. Survey of New Jersey, p. 61, for 1856.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 129

in a mode which should free them from offensive odor, they
would be equally valuable for a manure. All the large es-
tablishments upon the extended coast of this State and upon
its bays arid rivers, would furnish as much fertilizing matter
as is now imported into the State in guano — the cost of which
is paid to foreign merchants.

At the present time, the inducements for the preservation
of the offal of fish, and the taking of those fish which ar*
not used as food are very great, in consequence of the di-
minished cost of transportation by railroad and the increased
demand in the interior for fertilizers. The prepared can-
cerine for market, and which is mixed with charcoal and
plaster for the purpose of removing its unpleasant, odor, is
composed of:*

Ammonia, 25.57

Organic matter, 29.23

Phosphate of lime, 5.90

Sulphate of lime 10.32

Silex, 1.20

Water, 26.10

98.32 Booth.

The king crab is used without preparation in New Jersey
by the farmers of Cape May, though many are in the habit
of composting them with earth. It is thus prepared as a ma-
nure for wheat, and it is stated by Prof. Cook, with the hap-
piest effects ; the poorest soils on being dressed with from two
to four thousand produce from twenty to twenty-five bushels
to the acre, and thirty bushels is not an uncommon crop. As
this kind of manure contains but little inorganic matter, an
improvement of it may be effected by the addition of ashes
or lime to the compost or dirt heap. Such an addition would
fit it for corn, clover or grass.

It is very possible the king crab, and fish only fit for ma-
nures, are not to be obtained in sufficient quantities upon the
coast of N"orth Carolina, to give the business an importance

Second Annual Report of the Geol. Survey of the State of New Jersey p

10

130 NOETII-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

+

in a commercial point of view. But the real advantages of
their employment is still very great, for the profits of fishing
theror may be added those of agriculture, which is probably
neglected on account of the natural sterility of the lands upon
thysounds and rivers. In many places vegetable matter may
'obtained with which to form in part the compost heap, a
stance which is well adapted to preserve the ammonia
fnd other vegetable matters.

5$ 98. Concluding remarks upon fertilizers. Husbandry in
none of its branches can be conducted successfully in the ab-
sence of fertilizers. This remark is applicable only to those
soils which have been under cultivation long enough to ex-
hibit indications of incipient exhaustion. There can be no
question respecting the necessity of supplying the waste of
soils consequent upon cultivation, and there is no branch of
agriculture which does not demand a constant supply of ma-
nures; and hence the great importance of creating enough
from the immediate premises of the establishment. While it
is better to purchase fertilizers than to proceed in the cultiva-
tion of the great staples without them, yet when the expen-
diture has to be made in cash, it is better to make composts,
save the excrements of animals, under cover, procure leaves
and all kind of offal, which being placed in a condition where
their volatile matters may be absorbed, than to expend ready
cash for those which, in the end, are no better than those
made at home. To obtain the basis for the construction of
compost heaps, the mud, and swamp bottoms, salt marsh-
mud, wThen it has had time for discharging its saline
matter, the dirt under buildings, which is always rich in nitro-
genous matters, and many other sources may be found and
used. In the eastern counties, those places in particular,
which lie upon the sounds and rivers where fishing establish-
ments are accessible, must furnish an important source of
manures. The offals of fish should be composted with dirt,
leaves, plaster, or fine charcoal, to deprive it of its odor and
retain the ammonia. But one of the most valuable resources
will be found in the decaying wood of forests, swamps and
bottoms, which should be burned when there is no wind, and

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 131

the ash secured under cover before it has lost a part of its
potash by rains. In this latitude it is doubly necessary that
all fertilizers which abound in volatile substances should be
secured from the direct heat or rays of the sun, for observa-
tion very clearly proves that a great loss is sustained in all
animal fertilizers, where they lie unprotected upon the ground,
and especially if exposed to its direct rays. To increase the
quantity of fertilizing matter upon a plantation, should be
regarded as a business, and that business should be systema-
tized. It should be followed up with the same regularity and
attention as that which is bestowed upon th raising of cotton
or corn. A rich plantation is "agreeable to the eye ; it will
not wash nor become chanelled into unseemly gullies, unless
the owner ploughs his grounds carelessly, or neglects to sup-
ply the immediate wants of the crop under cultivation. Ex-
posed soils gully. Hence the importance of providing for the
growth of the crop to save the soil from washing by furnish-
ing it a sufficient protection in the crop under cultivation.
There are, therefore, t\vo considerations, either of which is
sufficient to induce the planter to provide fertilizers, viz: a
remunerating crop and a tillable surface, or one free from
gullies. A soil as soon as it is approaching to an exhausted
state, will begin to be marred and cut by streams which cross
it, and those which are formed by rain. The better part is
thereby carried away and lost. The tendency is to reduce
the value of the plantation and render its cultivation more
difficult and expensive.

The cure for all these incidental as well as direct evils, is
to provide an ample supply of fertilizers.

132

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

CHAPTER XI.

(•lay. — Characteristics of a good clay. — Composition of fine clays. — Com-
position of a clay upon Bogue Sound.

§ 99. Clay, though rarely, if ever, a constituent part *of a
vegetable, is still an important substance in matters pertain-
ing to agriculture. It is one of the most important substances
in construction. It is also employed largely in the manufac-
ture of articles indispensable in the economy of the house-
hold, and is the principle material employed in the draining
tile.

Clays differ widely from each other; some are fusible;
others are very refractory in the fire, or scarcely fusible by
the highest heat of a furnace. For certain purposes, the re-
fractory clays are indispensable. For lining stoves and fur-
naces, this property should exist in an eminent degree. For
household utensils, it is not necessary the clay should be
highly refractory in the fire. As different properties are re-
quired for the different uses to which clay is to be put, it is
desirable that the adaptedness of clay for a special purpose
should be determined by methods which are within the reach
of every intelligent individual ; at least that good clay may
he determined by some simple and easy experiment.

In the first place, good clay is homogeneous ; it is free from
lumps, stones and other foreign matter. In the second place,
it should have an unctuous feel ; this property implies tena-
city, and an ability to mould readily and retain forms and
shapes which is given to it by 'working.

In the third place it should contain sand. Too much sand
destroys cohesion, but a certain proportion of sand imparts to
clay an ability to dry or season. Bricks, tiles and all utensils
must dry through before they can be burned, else they will
crack when exposed to the heat of the kiln. Excess of sand
renders moulded clay weak and unfit for handling; its tena-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 133

city will be so far diminished that it cannot be carried from
place to place.

Certain clays contain so little sand that in order to dry or
season well, it must be added ; but when clay is to be worked
by a machine, less sand is required than when it is worked by
hand.

Clay that cuts smooth is probably a good clay. The sur-
face exposed by cutting should not exhibit ragged lines, or
show particles of coarse sand or hard spots.

Good clay has a uniform color, and is not spotted with
ochrey matter. A clay may be red, blue, brownish or pur-
plish, and yet possess excellent properties.

Clays for certain purposes should not effervesce with acids ;
this phenomenon denotes the presence of carbonate of lime,
which imparts fusibility to the compound. This tendency to
fuse in the kiln is increased when iron is present. All such
clays will require very great care in burning, and when burnt
into brick, are unfit for places where they will be exposed to
great heat. Fire clays consist of alumina and a fine or im-
palpable sand. For withstanding high heat, as much sand
must be mixed as the clay can bear and handled without
breaking. Sand increases the infusibility of the mass.

§ 100. A bed of fine clay overlies the shell marl. At cer-
tain places it is fine, plastic, cuts evenly, and may be moulded
readily into the form of any article in common use. On
Bogue sound, it is purplish and extremely fine, and is an ex-
cellent potter's clay.

The composition of the infusible clays of the best kinds
have been determined by many anatyses. Thus, the celebra-
ted Stourbridge clay consists, according to the late Prof.
Johnston, of

Alumina, 38.8

Silex, 46.1

Water, 15.1

100.0

The Woodbridge fire clay of New Jersey, according to
Prof. Cook, is composed of

134 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Water, 14.640

Alumina, 52.850

Protox iron and magnesia, 0.944

Silica, 39.76

Lime, 0.398

Magnesia, O.G50

It is one of the best fire clays in this country.

The fusible clays contain lime, iron, potash and soda, all of
which vary more or less in the proportions they bear to" the
alumine.

The bed of clay which has been refered to, as forming one
of the strata in the series of coast deposites, appears to exist
in an uncommon state of purity upon Bogue sound. It is
readily moulded and forms a very firm mass on drying ; its
grain and texture is very fine and is free from irregular lumps
or regular concretions. It is, therefore, homogeneous, and is
well adapted for fire-brick, tiles, etc. — and may also be em-
ployed for door knobs. It is composed of

Water, 5.70

Silex, 67.40

Protoxide of iron, 3.70

Alumina, 23.08

Lime, , 0.11

Magnesia, 0.8

Potash, 0.4

Soda, : 0.5

This clay contains but a small percentage of water after
being exposed to the atmosphere for several months. It be-
comes nearly as firm as a rock. This bed of clay extends
over a wide territory, and at many other points I have ob-
served that it is equally fine and compact. It is one of the
most persistent beds in the tertiary series. A fine variety of
it occurs near Halifax.

Clay is sometimes employed as a fertilizer; those only,
however, which are rich in lime or potash can be regarded
as of sufficient importance to warrant the expense of hauling.
Clays of a composition similar to the foregoing are not adapted
to this purpose.

The late Prof. Johnston, in summing up the qualities of the

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 135

best tile clays, remarks that the adhesiveness of clay depends
mainly upon the proportion of alumina. Clays of an average
goodness will contain about 85 per cent of silex and alumina
when taken together. Much depends evidently upon the
coarseness of the sand, for when the sand is coarse the ten-
acity of the clay is very much diminished. Clays again in
which the infusible ingredients is greatest, other properties
being equal and favorable, are best adapted to the manufac-
ture of good tile, besides in this case they admit of being
moulded lighter and thinner. If lime and oxide of iron ex-
ist in large proportions, the clay is rendered more fusible, but
in that case, it possesses an advantage of being burnt with
less fuel. So with brick. The clay of the tertiary beds, it
will be perceived, contains but a small proportion of lime and
iron, or other elements which are calculated to confer fusibili-
ty. Hence it will probably be found that this clay will rank
with the most infusible of the clays, except the porcelain
clays, and being extremely fine and tenacious is well adapted
to the manufacture of many fine earthern wares which are so
necessary in house keeping.

CHAPTER XII.

The grasses and their functions — Different objects attained by their culti-
vation— Chemical constitution of the grasses — Elementary organs, and
parts of the blossom.

§ 101. The grasses serve many important purposes. They
clothe the earth in green, a color easy and agreeable to the
eye. They protect the loose earth and prevent its washing
away and transportation into, the streams, or being cut into
gullies. They furnish food to the beasts and birds, and the
most important, the cereals, sustain the. millions of the human

136 NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. %

race which now people the earth. The seed of all grasses are
nutritious ; the smallest are only fit for the sustenance of birds
and insects. Those which are denominated corn, are those
which are specially cultivated for their albuminous matters for
the use of man. The latte/, I do not propose to speak of un-
der this head ; the former, or the grasses, which cover the
earth with green, and whose herbage forms the nutriment of
cattle, compose the family upon which I propose to treat.

The diversity in kind is worthy of notice. Each one has its
place. The meadow has its special occupants which usually
belong to the noble kinds. The marsh and bog are covered
with those which are coarse and unnutritious ; and the dry
hill-side, with the tough and wiry ones which serve merely
the protection of the surface. The hill-side, however, has a
better class of occupants ; and where the surface is moist the
most nutritious grow luxuriantly, and supply the herds and
flocks with the most nutritious food.

It is in the temperate latitudes that the best grasses find
their home, and the husbandman the best reward in their
cultivation. It is in the region of the best grasses that man
obtains the richest food ; milk, butter, cheese, beef, pork and
mutton are supplied at the least expense, where these are the
material productions of the soil. Life is sustained at the least
expense where the better grasses grow spontaneously. Some
of them, however, must be sown and cultivated, and like the
cereals be raised by the skill of the farmer. The poorest
grasses frequently crowd out the better. Lands which be-
come poor, support only the poorer kinds, and if the farmer
seeks his best interest, he will displace the latter by good til-
lage and the use of fertilizers.

The direct objects which are sought to be obtained by the
cultivation of grasses, are the production of beef, milk and
butter ; a greater variety of food, better in kind, and more
abundant in quantity.

The indirect benefits of the grasses, in addition to the sup-
ply of food for cattle, are for furnishing a source of fertilizers
for the cereals, and preserving the soil in a good condition.
If cattle are left to roam at will through the ranges of forest

0 NORTH-OAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 137

and wild pasture, the latter object is sacrificed, though it may
appear that less work or labor is consumed ; still, in the long
run, where lands are sold by measure, and their limits restric-
ted by lines and corners, the losses directly and indirectly
sustained more than counterbalance the gains accruing from
the use of indefinite, uncertain ranges.

Another consideration bearing upon the cultivation of
grasses, may be regarded somewhat in the light of a duty.
Stock require a variety of food. The benefits of variety are
numerous. Health is one. The appetite is cloyed by con-
finement. Unman experience is a sure criterion by which
to determine the wants of the beast. Bacon is excellent food.
But who is not better satisfied with his diet, if a beefsteak
and a fowl help make up the routine of meals during the
week? Watch the feeding of a herd of cattle or a flock of
sheep, and it will at once satisfy the close observer, that they
seek variety, and doing so they but follow the promptings of
instinct. Grasses differ in value ; while the majority of them
are of the greatest importance to animals, some rank much
higher in the nutritive scale than others. The most nutritive
grow upon the best soils, the least either upon wet, cold soils,
or upon worn out ones. Let an intelligent planter see the
grass of a field, and he will tell you whether the soil is rich
or poor, cold or wet. They stand as indices of thrift or pov-
erty, industry or laziness, intelligence or ignorance.

§ 102. In the cultivation of grasses different objects are
had in view. Most grasses are particularly desired for their
nutritive properties, but some fulfil other functions. They
may be demanded for their ability to grow in sand, when
they perform the important office of confining it in its place.
Some make a good turf, and their strong matted roots protect
the soil and clothe the suface in a carpet of green.

That the earth may be covered, and the marshes and
swamps productive in something useful to the lower forms,
there are coarser grasses created which are specially fitted for
such places. The Pheleum pratense, Poa trivialis, and indeed
most of the rich and nutritive ones are constitutionally unfitted
for the marsh. A rich, sweet grass with nutritive seeds, the

138 KORTH-OAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. % *

Glyceria fluctam, flourishes in the sluggish waters of streams ;
and what is singular, the carnivorous trout feed and fatten
upon them. The broom grass, worthless as it is for stock,
clothes the worn out soil and protects it from washing. It is
better it should be covered even with broom grass, than burn
in the sun and be washed away by the showers. Like these,
all great classes or divisions of natural productions, the dif-
ferent families and groups have special duties assigned to
them, which they assiduously fulfil, whether it be a higher
and more honorable function, that of supplying nutritive food
for cattle, or the lower and humbler ones, to protect a barren
soil. The first perform a double office, as they protect equally
well the soil beneath them; the latter is simply protective or
passive. As grasses have their preferences for certain soils,
as the wet, or dry, or one moderately wet, so they also re-
quire a particular climate. The Timothy grows but indiffer-
ently in North-Carolina. It requires a cooler temperature^
or a less scorching sun. Upon the mountains constituting the
Blue Ridge, and the adjacent ranges, it grows as well as in
New England, where it is the most important of the grasses,
and a source of wealth to the inhabitants. The north may
have a few species which are restricted by climate ; the south
also has a climate which is suited to many which find the
north incongenial to their constitutions. But most species of
grass have wide ranges ; they are less restricted when they
are considered only as to ability to live, but do not grow
freely ; they appear under restraint and fail to make them-
selves of much importance.

A moist atmosphere favors development, and the produc-
tion of a juicy tissue. A dry and cool atmosphere favors a
dense, dry and wiry tissue, a hard outside, and a tendency to
form woody fibre. Animals avoid the latter and seek the
former. They are not only sweeter and more palatable, but
require less effort to masticate, and less wear of the teeth, in
consequence of the smaller quantity of silex in the dermal
tissue.

The great variety in the constitution of grasses secures a
succession of kinds for the seasons. The early spring has its

. NORTH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SUEYEY. 139

kind, and a succession follows till late in autumn. Some are
found fitted for food just as the snows are about to cover the
ground. The farmer will not fail to profit by this succession.
The early and late pasturage shortens a winter two weeks or
more. The end is attained by mixing the seed of the plants
we wish to cultivate. The advantage is not confined wholly
to a successive supply of food, but a greater quantity grows
upon a given area than if it was cultivated with one.

§ 103. The grasses proper consist of many genera, contain-
ing each many kinds or species. They constitute a very nat-
ural family of plants resembling each other in their external
characteristics, and also in their internal organization and
chemical constitution.

I have had occasion to speak of the chemical constitution
of plants, and have called some, as the clovers, lime plants,
and others, potash plants. The grasses differ from these ; in-
stead of lime or potash, they contain silica, though potash is
sometimes present in large proportions, and must necessarily
be present to a certain extent in combination with silica, for no
doubt it is required to give it solubility.

The design and construction of the grass plant, as it was to
be deficient in woody fibre, required some hard substance to
sustain its slender and delicate frame. This frame work is,
in a portion of the family, a hollow cylinder, or several hol-
low cyinders connected by impervious solid joints, sometimes
called nodes. Others are provided with a pith as the corn
stalk. Their leaves are always formed upon one plan, being
long and tapering, or lanceolate with ribs running parallel
with each other their entire length and never anastomosing.
The middle one is stronger than the rest, and more prominent.
The leaf terminates in a sheath below, which grasps or en-
closes the stem. The root is usually fibrous, sometimes bul-
bous, and creeping ; it frequently becomes troublesome to
extirpate as it emits roots from the numerous joints with
which it is provided. The flowers or blossoms are small and
never showy. They are simple, having envelopes which are
in keeping with the family characteristics. Thus, there are
provided two grassy outside leaves, answering to the calyx

140 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

of other plants, called glumes, and two more delicate inner
ones, answering to the coral, called paleae. In the centre
stands the germ, surmounted by two feathery sessile anthers ;
and beneath and around the germ, there issues two or three
filaments, or threads bearing anthers, which are little boxes
containing the fertilizing matter, called pollen. The indian
corn and several other kinds of grasses deviate from this ar-
rangement in having the filaments, bearing the pollen -boxes
in a distant part, as the tassels; while the pollen receiving
organs, the silks, or pistils are connected with the germs
lower down upon the stalk. Wheat, rye, and oats, or the
hollow stemed grasses, have all the floral organs in a single
blossom together.

The floral organs are borne sometimes upon a spike, a good
example of which is furnished in the Timothy grass, or wheat
head, or upon a panicle, as in the oat, red top, bent grass, &c.

The grasses contain nutriment in their stalks, roots, leaves
and seeds. The important part considered as food for beast,
is the herbage, the stem with its "leaves and head, or panicle
of flowers. The seed, except in the class, cereals, is not re-
lied upon as an article of diet. The nutiment, so called, is
divided into two kinds: 1, that which contributes to the for-
mation of flesh and muscle. 2, that which supplies heat to
the system, and which is capable of accumulating in different
parts of the body in the form of fat. It is designed to be
burned in respiration by combining with oxygen, while the
flesh producing matters supply and renew the wasting fibre.

§ 104. The value of grasses for feeding stock depends upon
the quantity of flesh-forming and heat-generating bodies
which they contain. The first are known under the names of
albuminous substance ; albumen, the white of an egg, represents
the first, and sugar or starch the second. These two classes
are totally unlike each other, and cannot be converted one
into the other by any known process. All substances which
are used for food contain both classes, but in different propor-
tions. Flesh of animals is the extreme of one class and fat
the extreme of another. In the potatoe there is a large quan-
tity of heat-generating matter, and a small quantity onlv of

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 141

flesh-forming. Milk contains these two classes probably in
the best proportions for young and growing animals. The
cheesey matter or curd is the flesh-forming and the butter or
oil the heat-generating.

In all cases it is worthy of note, that water is a very large
constituent of bodies which are nutrient, even in lean meat
the highest form of flesh-forming matter, about four-fifths is
water.

In vegetables, especially the seed, these two classes are
concentrated more than in the leaf or stem. The same bodies
exist in the stem and leaves, but in less proportion. The con-
stitution and structure of domesticated animals undoubtedly
require that the flesh-forming and heat-generating bodies
should be so combined and diluted with neutral ones, that in
order to satisfy the appetite and fulfil the designs of nature,
they should take in a bulky aliment. Hence the adaptation
of grasses and herbs to satisfy the requirements of their sys-
tems. The nutritive and heat-generating substances do not
differ in kind from those of the seed or even from flesh. One
of the questions to be determined then, with respect to grass-
es, is the proportions in which these important bodies exist in
them. This question is easily settled by an analysis of the
plant. The starch, gum, sugar and fat represent the heat-
sustaining bodies, the albumen the flesh-forming. A grass
will be valuable, all things being equal, in proportion to the
latter substance, or any substance which performs a similar
office. Grasses which are composed mainly of silica, as the
broom-sedge, are never nutritious. Those, however, which
are rich in potash and the phosphates of the alkalies, are nu-
tritious, and rank high as flesh-forming grasses. As grasses
differ among themselves in these particulars, so they differ
in their constituents at their different stages of growth. The
stem particularly loses its nutritive properties as the seed be-
gins to form. At this stage its woody fibre is more dense, it
is less palatable, and indeed is passed over entirely by stock,
and the softer vegetables consumed in its stead. Hence it is
necessary in forming pasturages, to provide a variety of grasses
which ripen their seed at different times, and thus furnish a

14:2 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

juicy food during the time of pasturage. For hay. a similar
rule should be observed, to supply hay which has been cut
before its stalk has become woody and unnutritious. Hence,
too, a meadow which is designed for a permanent mowing
lot should be sown with grasses which reach the proper stage
nearly at the same time. It has been common to sow Timo-
thy and red clover together. They are, however, incompat-
ible with each other, as the clover comes to maturity" before
or in advance of the Timothy. Some grass then, as a general
rule, should take the place of Timothy, where it is wished to
sow clover.

§ 105. Grasses grow singly or in clusters and tussocks ;
both frequently increase at bottom, or spread out so as to
form a turf, a matting or net work of roots woven together so
as to form a coherent mass, somewhat analogous to the epi-
dermis ; it is a protecting surface, spread over the loose soil so
as to confine it and prevent its washing away. If grasses are
mown frequently, they are more tender and soft, and under
a moist sky assume the delicacy of a green velvety lawn.
The grassy surface exerts an important influence over tem-
perature, maintaining it more uniformly than if it were earthy.
It prevents wide fluctuations which take place when the sur-
face is sand, which becomes hot and burning during the day,
but cold and uncomfortable during the night. The stability
of the earth's surface is maintained by the grasses.

If, then, we take a proper view of the offices which the
grasses perform for us and the earth, we shall set a high value
upon them. We generally think of them simply as food for
cattle, and it is true that in this light alone, they are of the
utmost importance. But this is not all; indeed it is but a
small item in consideration of the good they do and the ser-
vices they perform. Though humble in their appearance and
pretensions, they serve an important office in the turf, in the
temperature, and in the stability and permanence of the earth's
surface. To be impressed deeply with these facts, we have
only to witness the moving sands of the sea-shore and the
sand-storm of the desert.

Important as I have represented them, it is probable that

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 143

other forms of food for cattle will excel them in profit as food.
Roots and grain outreach them on this score for special pur-
poses at least, though cultivated at a much' greater expense
than the grasses. But as nature demands variety, and as the
system must have food large in bulk, the place which grasses
occupy cannot be filled by the more concentrated nutrients.
Disease would follow if cattle were fed exclusively upon
grains.

§ 106. The valuable grasses belong to several genera, in
each of which there are several species.

Although grasses form one-fifth part of the flora of a coun-
try, still the number which are cultivated or domesticated is
comparatively very small, — cattle consume and fatten upon
plants which are not grasses, the most important of these be-
long to the leguminous plants, the pea family, among which
are ranked the clovers. Of these, the red and white clover
are the most important. The red clover is a tender plant
when young, and difficult to cultivate in a hot dry climate, as
many planters have experienced in the eastern part of the
State.

Grasses or Graminge, are subdivided into two great natural
orders, which are known under the names of Cyperacem and
G-raminacece. In the former, the flowers are monecious or
perfect, consisting of imbricated solitary bracts. They com-
prehend the coarse swamp grasses, but few of which are es-
teemed for fodder or food for cattle. They are, however,
eaten in the spring when young and tender. The latter, have
usually perfect flowers, sometimes monoecious or polygamous.
The external envelopes are called glumes as already stated.

The southern genera comprehended in the family of the
true grasses, are as follows :

Zizania, Rottboellia,

Leersia, Cenchrus,

Oryza, Setaria,

Mulenbergia, Tripsacum,

Agrostis, Zea,

Aristida, Festuca,

China, Danthonia,

144 NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Calamagrostis, Uralcpis,
Stipa, . Bromus,

Oryzqpsis, Anthoxanthum,

Spartina, Aira,

Manisurus, Arena,

Paspalum, Phalaris,

Cynodon, Melica,

. Phleum, Uniola,

Alopecurus, Briza,

llordeuui, Poa,

Erianthus, Arundinaria,

Andropogon, Eleusine,

Oplismenus, Dactylis,

Panicum, Elymus,

Chloris, Monocera.

Many of the genera in the foregoing list belong to the un-
cultivated or wild kinds, which, though they are eaten by
stock, yet are supposed to be unworthy of an attempt to in-
troduce them into our system of husbandry.

The following list includes the cultivated species :

Botanical names. Common names.

Alopecurus pratensis, Meadow foxtail,

Phleum pratense, Timothy or herds grass,

Agrostis vulgaris, Red top,

" alba, English bent,

44 stolonifera, Florin,

" dispar, Southern bent,

Dactylis glomerata. Orchard grass,
Glyceria nervate,

Poa pratensis, June grass,

44 compressa. Blue grass,

44 trivialis, Rough stalked meadow

41 serotina, Fowl meadow,

Festuca ovina, Sheep fescue,

44 loliacea, Slender fescue,

C-ynosurus cristatus, Crested dog's tail,

Bromus secalinus, Willards bromus,

Lollium perenne, Perennial rye grass.

44 italicmn, Italian rye grass,

44 multifloruin, Many flowered darnel.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 14ri«

Avena Sativa. Oat.

Avena flavescens, Yellow oat grass,

Zea mays, Indian corn,

Phalaris canariensis, Commop canary grass,

Anthoxanthum odoratum, Vernal grass, ,

Setaria italica, Bengal grass,

Oryza sativa, Rice,

Sorghum vulgare, Indian -millet,

" saccharatnm, Chinese sugar cane.*

Panicum germanicum, Hungarian millet

" ' sanguinalis. Crab grass.

Cultivated Leguminous Plants,

Trifolium pratense, Red clover,

" repens, White clover,

Medicago Sativa, Lucern,

Hedysarum onobrychis, Sainfoin.

Grasses cultivated for confining Mowing tawi*.

Ammophila arundinacea, Beach grass,

Elymus arenarius, Upright sea lyme grass.

§ 107. The foregoing list of cultivated plants have been
divided into the following natural families or TRIBES:

TRIBE I. ORYZEAE, TRIBE III. PANICEAK.

Oryza sativa, Panicum germanicum,

Leersia oryzoides. " sanguinalis,

TRIBE IT. — PHALARIDEAE. (Includes 38 species of paiiifiini. i

Zea mays, Setaria italica,

Phalaris arundinacea, TRIBE v. — AGROSTIUKAK.

Phalaris canariensis, Agrostis vulgaris,

Anthoxanthum odoratum, " alba,

Alopecurus pratensis, " stolonifera,

" geniculatus, u dispar.

Phleum pratense. TRIBE vn. — AVENACKAK.

Avena flavescens,
" sativa.

TRIBE VIII. FESTUCINEAE.

Poa pratense, Bromus secalinus,

" compressa, Elymus arenarius,

" trivialis, (Triticum, wheat, )

" serotina, Hordeum, barley,

Festuca ovina, Lollium perenne,
loliacea, " italicum,

11

146 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Festuca pratensis, Lollium multiflorun,

Dactylis glomerata, Cynosurus cristatus.

GRAMINACEAE.— THE GEASSES.

TRIBE I. — ORIZEA. ,

Containing those grasses whose spikelets are one flowered^
and whose flowers are often monoecious in branched panicle*.

§ 108. Oriza Sativa is cultivated only for its grain. LEERSIA
oryzoides, rice grass, cut grass, false rice. The rice grass
grows with a procumbent stem and an erect panicle, having
rough slender branches and long narrow leaves, with sheaths
very scabrous. It grows from two to three feet high in wet
swampy places. Its spikelets are flat, and the florets of an
oval form and triandrous, imbricate. Where other grasses
are scarce, this may be cultivated to advantage, as it makes
a good hay, and may be cut twice or three times in a season.
It flowers from October to' November.

TRIBE II. PHALARIDEAE.

The spikelets are one flowered, and perfect / if more than
one flowered, polygamous or monoecious.

£EA mays. — INDIAN CORN.

Probably no plant passes into or forms so many varieties
as Indian corn, or furnishes so much sustenance for man and
beast. It grows within the limits of latitude 4*2° south and
45° north, and on plains and mountains. The varieties ripen
at different times, some producing in forty days from, plant'
ing. Others require six months. The common eight rowed
corn cultivated in the middle and northern States, comes to
maturity in about ninety days. The stalk of Indian corn, if
deprived of its tassel and silk, furnishes a large amount
of sugar, but it does not possess qualities so agreeable as
those of the sugar cane. Its ability to adapt itself to climate
is of immense importance, as this property enables it to be-
come widely distributed over the earth's surface.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 147

GENUS PHALARIS.

Its glumes are two, membranaceous, equal, keeled and one
flowered ; paleae coriaceous, shorter than the glumes and jni-
besent at base ; flowers in compound spikes,

PHALARIS ARUNDINACEA. REED CANARY GRASS.

It has a round stem which is smooth and erect, with five
or six broad leaves of a lightish green, and rough on both
sides. The central rib is prominent. It grows on wet ground,
and attains a height of from two to seven feet. The ribbon
grass is a variety of this species. The P. arundinacea is
scarcely worth cultivating for its fodder ; its yield, however,
during the season is quite large, but cattle are not fond of it,
even when cut early and well cured. They eat it from ne-
cessity, when nothing better is furnished them. It ranks low
in the nutritive scale. Phalaris canariensis is cultivated for
its seed for the Canary bird.

ANTHOXANTHUM.

Its glumes are from two to three flowered ; lateral florets
imperfect, with one paleae, bearded ; intermediate florets per-
fect, shorter than the latteral ones. PALEAE OBTUSE, PANICLE

CONTRACTED.

148

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

(FiG. 6.)

best on moist lands.

A. odoratum. Sweet scented ver-
nal grass. — (tig. 6) Its stem is erect,
rough at the summit, leaves hairy,
sheaths striate, pubescent at the
throat. Glumes are acute, hairy and
membranaceous. Flowers in ap-
pressed panicles, root perennial,
grows from twelve to fifteen "inches
high — flowers in May and June.

This grass owes all the importance
which it possesses to its fragrance.
It is true, that it is an early grass ;
and hence, may be eaten, still it is
not much relished. It appears, how-
ever, that it is consumed, with the
other grasses among which it grows,
and imparts to the milk of cows a
pleasant taste, which is more partic-
ularly given to the butter.

PHLEUM PRATENSE — TIMOTHY, OR HERDS
GRASS OF NEW ENGLAND — CATS-TAIL
GRASS OF NEW ENGLAND.

The flowers are arranged in dense
cylindrical spikes. It has two equal
mucronate glumes, which are longer
than the paleae's, they include two
truncate, boat shaped paleae, without
awns.

This species has aW erect smooth
stern, with flat linear-lanceolate
leaves, whose sheaths are longer
than the joints ; glumes equal, ciliate
and hairy root fibrous, often bulbous.
Flowers in June and July, and grows
It grows to the height of two and a half

feet. It was introduced into Maryland by Timothy Hanson,
from whom it derived its name. This grass is difficult to

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 149

cultivate in all that part of the Southern States which is
known as the low country, or the whole of the Atlantic slope.
The difficulty in its cultivation arises from the dry summers.
In the months of August and September it dwindles away
and finally dies out, even when protected by many large
shading trees and grown upon new bottoms.

In mountainous ranges, however, it may be cultivated suc-
cessfully, and as it is one of the best of grasses, it is worthy of
the attention of farmers. It should also succeed in the higher
grounds of the middle region.

The soil required for timothy, is one which is cool and moist,
and composed of a vegetable mould, and a stiffish base of clay.
On dry upland it flourishes well. On such situations it often
yields two tons to the acre. It is not at all adapted to the
sandy soil of the Atlantic border. The seed may be sown at
two seasons: in the fall, immediately after the sowing of
wheat, or in March when the ground is in an open porous
state from the effects of a frost.

The quantity of seed required for an acre, is from a peck-
to twelve quarts. Some farmers sow only from four to six
quarts. It yields in good seasons, from ten to fifteen bushels
of seed to the acre, and has produced thirty, weighing 46 Ibs.
to the bushel, and it is worth one dollar and fifty cents per
bushel. Timothy hay is preferred oveif all others, for horses ;
it is also a superior hay for working cattle in the spring.

As this species of grass gives a large product, it will be in-
ferred at once that it exhausts the soil — especially where it is
allowed to stand and ripen its seed.

The time for cutting timothy is when it has fully blossom-
ed. At this period it possesses a larger percentage of nutri-
ment than when its seeds are ripening. When it has stood
until the seeds are ripe, the stem is hard and coarse, and is
not relished so well for horses ; besides, it is less nutritive,
though many farmers affirm that it spends better and goes
farther. Much seed may be saved from this hay, even if cut.
early, as all the seed does not ripen at the same time.

The old practice in the New-England States, and which is

150 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

prevalent still to a great extent, is to sow timothy and clover
seed together in stocking down, after wheat or oats. This
practice, however, is less common, as it is evident from the
period at which the two plants ripen, that one is too imma-
ture, and if allowed to stand, the other has passed its prime.
Clover is too early for timothy, and if the cutting is delayed
till the timothy is ready, the clover has gone to seed, and
much of its foliage has dried too much to be of any value —
its stalk alone remaining green and fresh.

Wherever this grass is wished to succeed, it is highly ne-
cessary that it should not be fed too close in the fall, winter,
or spring months. Hogs, if allowed to run in meadows
where it is growing, will root-up and consume its bulbous,
farinaceous toot, and thereby entirely destroy the crop. If
cut very close to the ground, even in tke northern States, it
may suffer from a drought which frequently occurs about this
time of the year ; and a week or two of dry, hot weather suc-
ceeding immediately its removal from the field, is very liable
to injure it. Although in a moist climate which prevails in
mountainous regions generally, it is very easy to cultivate,
yet these liabilities to fail from drouth are a drawback upon
its value — though it is probably the best stock-grass which
grows.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

151

XLOPECURUS PRATENSIS MEADOW FOXTAIL GRASS. — (Fig. TV)

Its blossoms are arranged in dense cyl-
indrical spikes, quite similar to the timo-
thy, but may be distinguished from it
by having one paleas. Its stem is erect,
smooth, and from two to three feet high.
The spike is shorter than the spike of the
phleum pratense, and is also softer.

This grass has received but little atten-
tion in this country. It is esteemed in
England, where it is a native, though it
is indigenous to nearly every country in
Europe. This grass is specially adapted
to pasturage, as it vegetates with great
luxuriance, and starts up vigorously when
eaten off by sheep or cattle. It produ-
ces seed abundantly, and hence stocks
itself; moreover, it bears forcing and ir-
rigation. It is late in arriving at matu-
rity— requiring full three or four years
to come to perfection — and hence is not
well adapted to an alternate husbandry.
In one or two respects it is more valua-
ble than timothy, as it yields a large af-
ter-math, whereas the timothy yields but
a small one, unless it is growing under
the most favorable circumstances. Mea-
dow foxtail forms a good sward and hence
for permanent pasturage it is eminently
adapted.

This grass too, is better adapted to gen-
eral cultivation than the timothy as it ear-
ly grows rapidly, and thrives well on all
soils, except on very dry sands. It, how-
ever, thrives best on rich, moist, strong
soils, and its nutritive matter increases
in proportion to the strength of soil on which it is grown. It
grows in the New England, the Middle States, Ohio and Ma-
ryland and it is believed that it will grow well in the South-

152

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

ern States, because it grows well in the warm climate of Italy.
It flowers twice in the season, and the second crop exceeds
the first. Sheep are fond of it, and when it is mixed with
white clover, an acre it is said will}rieldan abundant pasturage
for ten, even with their lambs. An acre, therefore, would
grow grass for one cow. London observes, that it affords
more bulk of hay and more pasturage, than any other grass.
This remark, however, may be applicable only to the climate.
Another grass belonging to this genus, grows very generally
in the South ; it is the Floating Foxtail, Alopecurus genicu-
latus. Its stem is ascending, but bent at the lower joints,
forming knees, smooth and glabrous ; the sheaths are shorter
than the joints, and it has a panicle composed of cylindrical
spikes ; the glumes are pubescent, but the paleas are glabrous,
with an awn at base. It grows from 12 to 18 inches high,
and is common in the rice fields. It may flower as early as
March. It grows in water, upon which the upper part of the
ijtem floats. It is not so much relished by stock as to encour-
age its cultivation. Its early growth furnishes green and fresh
food when cattle need it the most, but still it is not sought for
with avidity.

TRIBE III. PANICEAE.

§ 109. Spikelets two flowered ; inferior flowers incomplete.

Panicum has two unequal glumes, the lower very small :
the lower florets also, are usually staminiferous. Paleae con-
cave, equal, beardless ; seed coated with the paleae ; flowers
in loose scattered panicles.

PANICUM GERMANICUM. HUNGARIAN MILLET.

The testimony which has come to hand respecting this
species of millet as a fodder, is favorable, so far as southern
cultivation is concerned, as it bears a drought well, and re-
vives speedily on the occurrence of rain, and is tolerably pro-
ductive on dry light soils. It becomes, however, luxuriant,
only on soils which are well manured.

The plant is leafy and remains green until its seed are ma-
tured. In France its cultivation has become extended. As
a green fodder, it is said to be relished by stock of all kinds.

It is sown broadcast and cultivated like other kinds of mil-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

153

let, and comes to maturity in about the same time. It was
introduced into this country through the Patent Office.

PANICUM SANGUINALIS — COMMON CRAB GRASS. (Fig. 8.)

(FiG. 3.)

154 NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

It has a procumbent ,assurgent, geniculate stem, which root?
at the joints; the leaves are hairy, with spikes shorter than
the joints. Spikes digitate, spreading, from 4 to 6. Annual,
grows through the summer; common in cultivated fields.
This grass, though by no means so valuable as orchard grass
or redtop, still as it grows luxuriantly, and is moderately nu-
tritious, it might justly be cultivated to a greater extent than
it is at present. Cattle, horses and mules eat it with consider-
able relish here, and it is frequently saved for fodder. But as
it is pulled up from the cornfields, it is foul with sand and
dirt, and its value probably diminished. It, however, cannot
take the place of the better grasses. It grows from one to two
feet high in waste places, in gardens, corn-fields and yards,
and is frequently a troublesome weed.

The panicum (Oplismenus) crusgalli is common about barns*
and waste places where the soil is rich, and some attempts
have been made to cultivate it. It is rich and nutritious, and
is relished tolerably well by stock, though it must be regarded
as coarse fodder. There is no difficulty in cultivating this
grass in this State, as it grows spontaneously in many places,
and attains a height of 4 feet. It is better, and contains more
nutriment than the crab grass. Its ash is composed of:

Silica, 17.325

Phosphate of iron, 0.425

Phosphate of lime, 0.625

Phosphate of magnesia, 2.831

Phosphoric acid, 6.894

Silica acid, 0.626

Carbonate of lime, 3.060

Magnesia, 2.613

Potash, 36.656

Sada, 1.885

Chloride of sodium, 5.723

Sulphuric acid, 8.524

Coal 1.850

One hundred parts of the plant, nearly dry, gave :

Water 4 737

Dry matter, 95.'J63

Ash, ... . 11.479

NOKTH -CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL, SURVEY. 155

Amount of inorganic elements removed in a ton of hay,
235 pounds.

TRIBE IV. STIPACEAE.

Spikelets one flowered ; inferior paleae awned ovarium stip-
itate. This tribe contains only wild plants.

TRIBE V. AGROSTIDEAE.

Spikelets one flowered.

Agrostis; glume naked and beardless; two valved; one
flowered ; valves longer than the paleae ; paleae two, mem-
branaceous ; stigmas longitudinally hispid.

AGROSTIS VULGARIS. RED TOP FINE TOP. DEW-GRASS, HERDS-
GRASS, OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.

Spikelets one flowered, glume naked, beardless, 2 valved,
valves longer than the paleae, paleae membranaceous.

It grows erect, slender, with round smooth stems, wearing
an oblong panicle ; the roots are creeping. This grass, with
many others of the genus agrostis, has received the name of
'bent-grass^ by the English ; here it is always called herds-grass.
It is one of the most common of the field grasses, and is not
so particular in its selection of the soil in which to grow, as it
is found growing spontaneously in wet and dry meadows, as
well as upon the dry hill side. It is regarded as possessed at
least of medium qualities. There is probably no well cured
hay which spends better than red top, and it is relished by
stock.

The soil best suited to red top is one which is moderately
moist. This grass is comparatively small, and hence does not
yield so much hay to the acre, but it forms a dense bottom,
and if fed close, it makes an excellent pasturage ; if allowed
to grow up to stalk, cattle do not crop the stems, or do not
seem to relish them. Its average height is about 16 inches,
but on rich soils it is twenty, and even thirty inches, and col-
ored with a strong tinge of purple. On poor soils, it is found
as low or short as six or eight inches, and is lighter colored.
Some regard this dwarfed variety as distinct from the large red
top of rich soils, and it frequently goes under the name of
fine top.

It flowers here in June, and in Massachusetts in July. In

156 NOBTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

stocking soils after oats, or corn, the red top forms an excel-
lent addition for mixing with clover and timothy. As the
timothy diminishes the red top takes its place, and particular-
ly does it fill the places left by the red clover as it gradually
disappears.

It forms a close or dense sward, or grows thickly at bottom,
and. hence covers and protects the ground when the timothy
fails to grow in consequence of a continued drouth. - This
grass should also be more extensively cultivated in this State
as it is evident on examining moist meadows, it grows very
well, spontaneously and without much attention

AGROSTIS ALBA WHITE TOP.

It has an erect, round, smooth, polished stem, which is sup-
plied with four or five leaves, whose sheaths are roughish and
striate ; joints numerous, from which roots are sent off when
in contact with the ground. It is distinguishable from red
top by its rough sheaths and the large glume toothed only at
the upj)er part. It grows in wet places.

AGROSTIS DISPAR SOUTHER^ BENT.

The stem is large, erect and smooth, surmounted by a loose
many flowered panicle, somewhat verticillate and pyramidal ;
exterior glume largest. It is a native of the United States.
It has been commended both in England and France, but is
now discarded. The hay is rather coarse, but it yields a heavy
crop on good sandy bottoms which are overflowed. It tillers
out and becomes strongly rooted in the soil, and hence, is a
good pasture grass. It grows well in the low country of the
South, where it appears to be at home.

TRIBE VI CHLORIDES.

§ 111. Spikelets in unilateral spikes from 1 to many flow-
ered, digitate or paniculate ; rachis not articulated. It con-
tains only wild grasses.

TRIBE VII AVENACE^E.

Spikelets two, to many flowered, panicled ; the lower palese
bearing upon its back a bent or twisted awn.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 157

A-VENA — (OAT.)

Its glumes are from 2-7 flowered, longer than the florets ;
palese bifid, toothed with a twisted awn upon the back.

The common oat is susceptible of cultivation in high lati-
tudes, where it is the most profitable grain. In warm climates
bears a lighter grain. The stem of the oat is quite nutritious,
and forms, with meal, an excellent feed for horses.

The oat plant when sun-dried,

Contains water, 9.58

Ash, 2.37

Calculated drj-, 2.61

. The ash of the straw, consists of

Silica, 13.399

Earthy and alkaline phosphate, 8.902

Carbonate of lime, 7.254

Magnesia, 0.448

Potash 60.035

Soda, 3.622

Sulphuric acid, 5.754

Chlorine, 0.581

This analysis was calculated without carbonic acid or or-
ganic matter. These amounted to in carbonic acid 6.140 ;
organic matter 2.400.

In a ton of straw there will be removed from the soil in,

Silica, 21.907 Ibs.

Phosphates, 14.555

Carbonate of lime, 11.868

Magnesia, 0.732

Potash, 98.157

Soda, 5.921

Sulphuric acid, 9.408

Chlorine, 0.950

163.498 Ibs.

The amount of ash in an unripe straw is greater than after
it has ripened, which is undoubtedly owing to the transfer of
matter from it to the grain. The ash of an unripe straw
amounted to 3.15, which calculated from a perfectly dry
straw, amounts to 3.48.

158

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

The oat is an exhausting crop to soil, but for that reason it
should be widely cultivated where the climate suits it. It is
for this reason that it is so valuable for food, both for man
and beast.

In this family we find the

AVENA (DANTHONIA) SPICATA. — WILD OAT GRASS. — (fig. 8.)

It has an erect pubescent
stem, and tubular pubescent
leaves, with sheaths bearded at
the throat. Glume usually six
flowered, longer than the spike
margins membranaceous. Pa-
leae two; exterior one lanceo-
late villous, the sides terminat-
ing in two awns, with the spi-
ral one upon the back. Com-
mon in the middle country
from Carolina to Georgia.

It grows in dry sunny pas-
tures, aud attains a height of
twelve to eighteen inches. It
is of but little value for pas-
turage or hay.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

.UK A FLBXUO6A WOOD HAIR-GRASS—COMMON HAIR-GRASS.— (fig. 9.)

(Fio. 9.)

160 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

It has an erect, terete, glabrous stem, with setaceous leaves
and a diffuse panicle, whose branches are somewhat verticil-
late ; glumes unequal ; palese equal, exterior one pubescent
at base, and bearing also an awn. The grain is oblong and
smooth. It flowers in August and September. Figure taken
from the grass when in fruit. In high dry pastures, it grow?
remarkably well, and is eaten freely by sheep. It is poor \r.
nitrogen, and is worth nothing for cultivation.

TRIBE VIII. — FESTUCINEAE.

Spikelets two to many flowered ; panicles sometimes race-
mose, and generally without awns.

POA. — (MEADOW GRASS.)

The poas have two glumes, and usually many flowered,
^pikelets compressed ; paleae sometimes woolly at base; scales
Mn-v>ih ; panicle more or less branching or scattered.

J\

--

TOA COMPRESSA —BLUE-GRASS WIRE-GRASS.

Stem decumbent and compressed, ascending and surmount-
ed with a dense compressed panicle, somewhat onesided, and
provided with short bluish green linear leaves. Spikelets
flat ovate oblong, and from four to nine flowered, which are
rather obtuse, and hairy below the keel. It rarely exceeds
14: inches in height. It has a creeping root and a geniculate
stem, and much compressed, and under favorable conditions
grows to the height of 17 or 18 inches.

The blue grass varies much in its appearance. On dry soils
it grows m tufts with rigid culmlike or wiry stems ; it is also
short, and has small compressed panicles, and the whole plant
lias a bluish green color. It is solid and heavy, and also te-
naceous of life as might be suspected from its growth upon
very dry knowles, and in wheat fields is frequently regarded
as a pest. It is, howrever, a very nutritious grass, and is eaten
freely by stock. It is valuable as a pasture grass.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

161

PRATENSIS SPEAR-GRASS GREEN MEADOW-GRASS JUNE-
GRASS KENTUCKY BLUE-GRASS. (Fig. 11.)

Stem smooth, erect,
terete, surmounted by a
rather spreading crowd-
ed panicle, and whose
spikeletsare ovate, acute
and crowded on the
branchlets, from two to
five flowered. Glumes
unequal, sharply accu-
minate, lower paleae five
nerved.

This grass is a native
of Europe, but has be-
come extensively natu-
ralized in the United
States, both north* and
south. It is particularly
at home in some of the
south-western States, as
Kentucky and Tennes-
see. It extends through
the Atlantic States as
far south as Charleston,
where, according to El-
liott, it grows to the
height of 18 inches,
where it also makes a
fine winter grass, re-
markable for its deep
green color, and soft suc-
culent leaves. It bears
the summer heats in
(FIG. 11.) close, rich soils-, and

wants only size to render it one of the most valuable acquisi-
tions to the farmer. It is perennial, and hence deserves the
special attention of the southern planter, as there is a great
12

162 NORTH -CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

want of good perennial pasture grass. ISTor is there the least
doubt but that it can be generally cultivated in the eastern
and midland counties of the State. As for the western coun-
ties, no farther proof is required than what is already known
of its ability to thrive there. This grass continues green and
fresh in Western New York, frequently as late as December,
it is probable, therefore, that in a large portion of Western
Carolina, it will continue growing most of the winter. Al-
though it continues to grow during a long period, yet it sends
up its spike of flowers but once in the year, which, in this
climate is from about the first of June to July. It continues
afterward to spread at the bottom and furnish a thick mat or
growth of leaves. It, therefore, makes a good turf. It is not
so particular in its selection of soils as it grows on dry knowles
as well as moist places. But still it flourished best in a good
soil, but here it is important to obtain a grass which will en-
dure a drought and grow on poorish soils.

The produce is ordinarily small, but it is of a fine quality.
For lawns and door yards, it is probably better adapted than
any grass in cultivation. One of the difficulties it has to con-
tend with in this State is its consumption by the hog. This
would not be so formidable to surmount if it attained perfec-
tion at an earlier period, requiring two or three years to get
perfectly set.

As it requires time to attain perfection, it is not well adap-
ted to an alternate system of husbandry, or when land is to
be ploughed every two or three years. Shaded pastures fur-
nish the best examples of this grass in Kentucky where it
ripens its seed about the tenth of June. In August it takes
another vigorous shoot and continues to grow till stopped by
the cold of winter. When it dries up in the drought of sum-
mer, it is still nutritious. It continues to furnish under the
snow pasturage for mules, horses and sheep.

If designed for hay, it should be cut late in flower, and if
mixed with clover, the yield will be at least midling in quan-
tity. It is eaten and relished by all kinds of stock. It seems,
however, to flourish best on what are called limestone soils,
similar to those uf the Kentucky limestone belt. It is main-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 163

tained by several writers that the June grass is deficient in
nutritive properties, that it is far inferior to timothy; yet
cattle do fatten upon it, and so far as observation goes, the
cattle that are raised and prepared for market in Kentucky,
are equal to any grass-fed animals seen in market. Prof.
Way, whose1 analysis of this grass, have led to the unfa-
vorable opinions respecting its deficiency in flesh-forming
elements, may have analyzed specimens, which, growing in
England, may not have been as nutritive as those commonly
growing in our climate. It is certain that the composition of
plants are very variable under different circumstances, soils,
etc. ; variable also at the different periods of growth.

In Kentucky farmers sow in September or February. Some
prefer a late winter or early spring sowing to save the tender
plant from frost. It is sown both in open ground and wood-
land. If sown in woodland it should not be grazed until it
matures seed. The seed is often mixed with timothy and
clover, and half a bushel of the seed of June grass is suffi-
cient for an acre. By mixing, the field may be fed at an
earlier day. Ultimately, the June grass takes full possession
of the field.

POA TRIVIALIS. ROUGH MEADOW GRASS.

Stem or culm somewhat scabrous ; leaves smooth ; narrow
with scabrous sheaths ; panicle equal and diffuse, somewhat
verticillate. Spikelets three to four flowered; glumes une-
qual ; scabrous at the apex; lower paleae obtuse ; pubescent
at base ; culm from two to three feet high.

In England this grass is highly esteemed, and according to
the opinion of Mr. Curtis, an English writer, it is one of tht-
most valuable, both for hay and pasturage. In this country,
however, it does not stand so high in the estimation of agri-
culturists, but it is probable that it has not been so fairly
tested as the blue grass. Mr. Sinclair recommends it, and
says of it that it is superior in produce to many other grasses ;
it is nutritive, and oxen, horses and sheep exhibit a marked
partiality for it. It grows vigorously only on moist situations ;
when upon dry pastures it is only inconsiderable in quantify.

v KOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

He, (Sinclair,) remarks that it should be mixed with other
grasses, when it will nearly double itself, which is in conse-
quence of being partially sheltered. Where spots in pastures
are closely eaten down it will be found the places were occu-
pied with this grass, proving thereby the fondness of stock
for it. It is not so widely diffused as the June grass, but it is
found in Kentucky, from which it may be distinguished by
its rough sheaths. It has a fibrous root and is an annual. It
should be cut when in seed. It has more nutriment in its
aftermath than when cut in seed. In a specimen which I
submitted to analysis, I found :

Water, .................................... ...... 77.874

Dry matter, .................................... . 22.626

Ash, ........ ................................ ______ 2,073

This was cut the 8th of June, was thirty inches high., and
in flowers, having attached its radical leaves.

Another species which was younger and cut May 13, just
heading out, gave :

Water, ...... .......................... ......... 81.564

Dry matter, ................. .. ............ ... ....... 18.436

Ash, ...... ............. --------- ,......,, ......... 2.267

Another, at about the same stage of growth, cat May 20,

Water, . . ....................... .................. 80.75

Dry matter, ...................................... 17.91

Ash, ............................................ 1.34

The analysis, however, was confined to the stalk ; the leaf
of the stalk gave :

Water, ........................................... 75.50 A

Dty matter, ...................................... 2l.5t>

Ash, ............................................. 2.84

lu three trials for the quantity of ash in plants growing in
this country the quantity exceeds that obtained from the

,;

y.

NORTH-CAJROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 165

plant growing in, the climate of England. Prof. Way ob-
tained ash 1.95. The June grass contains, according to Prof.
Way;

Alluminous or flesh forming elements, 10.35

Falty matters, 2.63

Heat producing elements, consisting of starch, sugar

and gum, 43.06

Woody fibre, 38.02

Mineral matter, or ash, 5.94

The latter is calculated from the dry substance. The ash of
the June grass which I submitted to analysis, gave :

Silex, 56.320

Earthy and alkaline phosphates, 14.980

Carbonate of lime, 3.540

Potash, 15.624

Soda, 6.828

Magnesia, 1.996

Sulphuric acid, 200

Chlorine, 863

100.351

The plants were selected from well made hay.

166

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

POA 8EROTINA LATE FLOWERING MEADOW-GRASS FALSE RED-
TOP FOWL MEADOW.— (Fig. 12.)

(FiG. 12.)

Stem and leaves smooth. Panicle elongated diffuse, branch-
es in fives or sixes whorled. Spikelets ovate, accuminate
three to four flowered, tinged with yellow at the apex ; glumes
long, lanceolate, very acute ; paleae lanceolate, rather obtuse
and pubescent at base.

The leaves are 2.63 lines wide, and 4 or 5 inches long ; root,

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 107

perennial. Flowers in July. Ripens about the first of Au-
gust, and becomes drooping.

It grows best in moist places or meadows, and yields abun-
dantly. Its hay is excellent; sheep and other stock eat it
with avidity and thrive, especially if mixed with clover. It
is highly esteemed in Europe. It grows well in the south-
western States. Some think it superior to Timothy as its
culms are more tender.

It grows in all parts of New England and New York, and
is esteemed by all for its qualities. It is quite productive.
It grows three feet high, and is liable to lodge or fall down in
consequence of its slender stalk.

There is no doubt this fine grass may be cultivated in the
low rich grounds of the eastern counties, particularly in parte
of Hyde county.

The genus Poa contains a large number of species which
inhabit woods and woody places, or high and mountainous
regions. Although known to be relished and eaten by cattle,
they do not yield enough to make it an object to introduce
them into the cultivated fields. Thus, the Poa nemoralis,
wood meadow grass, is a good grass so far as its properties
are concerned. It has been recommended for cultivation by
Sinclair, who remarks that, although the produce is inconsid-
erable, yet its early growth in the spring, and its remarkably
fine succulent herbage, recommend it for admission into com-
pany with others which form good pasture grasses. For hay
it is not recommended as its yield would be too inconsiderabe
to deserve attention. It flowers early in May.

168

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

POA NEBVATA. — (Fig. 13.) — MEADOW SPEAK GKASS — FOWL,
MEADOW OF SOME FARMERS. NERVED MANNA GRASS.

(Flo. 13:)

The stem? is slightly compressed — bears an open or spread-
ing panicle, with small ovate, oblong and green spikelets —
leaves in two rows, and rough, and grows from two to three
feet high.

This American grass is highly nutritive. The ripening of
the seed does not diminish the nutritive value of the stem and'
leaves. It is hardy, grows best in most places. It is eaten
by cattle both in summer and winter,, but is more relished in.
the latter than in the former season,.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY;
FESTUCA.

Glumes two, unequal, many flowered. Palese two lanceo-
late ; outer one accuminate, or awned. Panicle usually com-
pound.

FESTUCA OVINA — SHEEP FESCUE. (Fig. 14:.)

Stem slender, surmounted by
small panicale, with spikelets from
two to six flowered ; awn inconsid-
erable ; leaves, bristle shaped, red-
dish or greenish. It grows from 6
to 10 inches high, in dense peren-
nial rooted tufts. 1 1 flowers in June
and July ; grows in dry pastures,
and makes an excellent pasturage
for sheep.

FESTUCA PRATENSIS — MEADOW FESCUE.

(Fig. 15.)

Its panicle is branching, nearly
erect, slightly one-sided, and with
linear spikelets, and with from five
to ten cylindrical flowers ; color of
the leaves of a glossy green, lower
ones broad and pointed and with
roughish edges, root creeping per-
ennial. Flowers early in June. It
grows in rather wet open grounds
to the height of two or three feet.

The qualities of this grass giveit a
tolerable high rank among the pas-
ture grasses. It has long tender
leaves, which are relished by cattle.
It sometimes forms a good turf in
old pastures. When sown, it should
be mixed with orchard grass, June
grass, or common spear-grass.
(FIG. 14.) The figure was taken from a spe-

cimen near its maturity, and past flowering.

170

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FESTUCA LOLIACEA — SLENDER-SPIK-
ED FESCUE.

Stem erect, slender ; spikelets
acute, close pressed, rather
crowded, and from ten to twelve
in number. It grows in moist
meadows in small tufts, root per-
ennial. It is a nutritive grass,
and would form good pastures,
but it is too rare to be ranked
among those worth cultivating.
The fescue grasses are com-
mon in most meadows, and occu-
py shady as well as sunny places ;
among the most valuable and
common of the tribe, is the Festu-
ca pratensis. Its stem is round
and smooth, and from 2 to 3 feet
high, with creeping roots, and
surmounted by an erect branch-
ed panicle, and somewhat one-
sided ; spikelets linear, with from
live to ten flowers. The leaves
are long glossy green striated,
and have rough edges.

Flowers in June and grows
in moist pastures. It ripens its
seeds early, and hence takes pos-
session of the ground before oth-
er grasses are matured. It is a
nutritive plant, growing in stiff
moist soils, and in shaded places.
Darby does not speak of it as a
southern grass.
BROMUS.

Glumes two, many flowered, and shorter than the florets ;
florets imbricate in two rows ; lower palese cordate emargin-
ate, and sometimes armed with an awn below the summit ;
scales ovate smooth.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

171

BROMU8

SECALINUS CHESSCHEAT. — (Fig. 16.)

Stem glabrous, erect,
swollen at the joints, leaves
ciliate, pubescent on the
upper surface. Panicle
branching -jerect or nod-
ding ; spikelets compressed
oblong ovate, florets about
10 longer than the bristles.

The remarkable views
which are entertained of
this plant, excuse the no-
tice of this worthless grass
in this place. It has been
a common opinion with a
very large proportion of
farmers, that wheat chan-
ges into chess, the grass
under consideration. This
has frequently been, in
one sense, favored by the
fact that when wheat has
been winter-killed, chess
has sprung up in its place,
therefore, to those who
have not been careful ob-
servers, it has seemed that
the wheat itself has un-
dergone the change which
they maintain ; usually,
this view seems rational,
because chess has not been
observed by them in this
particular place in former
times. Notwithstanding
this apparent support to
the doctrine, it only re-
quires a good eye to detect
chess in almost any corner

(Fio. 16.)

172 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

of a cultivated field, and if it has not appeared before on a
particular spot, it has probably been owing to the fact that it
has been occupied by other plants and grasses which ex-
clude it.

Facts, when properly ascertained and sifted, never sustain
the doctrine of a change of one species to another. There is
in nature no transmutation of the kind. Northern Indian corn
after growing in the south for a few years, assumes the habits
and appearance of southern corn, which is a thing quite dif-
ferent from the one under consideration, the change of one
species into another. Chess, though it possesses some nutri-
ment, yet it is too low to encourage its propagation. It is
rather a pest which should not be allowed to mature seed,
and thereby propagate itself among the valuable grains and
grasses. It is an annual grass, but if cut early, will spring up
and propagate itself the succeeding year.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

173

COCKSFOOT GRASS

ORCHARD GRASS, DACTYLIS GLOMERATA.

(Fig. 17.)

Flowers in --dense tufts or
spikelets, crowded in clusters,
one-sided, with a dens branch-
ing panicle at top. It grows
erect and attains a height of
three feet ; not perennial ; it
is a native of Europe, but has
been naturalized in many
parts of this country, and El-
liott says that it has become
naturalized on James Island,
near Charleston, South-Caro-
lina. This being the case, fur-
nishes sufficient evidence that
it is an important grass for the
South.

The orchard grass is very
widely distributed. It is well
known in the north of Africa,
Europe, Asia and America.
It is said that it was introduced
into England from Virginia
where it now forms one of the
most common grasses of Eng-
lish pastures, is highly es-
teemed among cattle feeders,
being exceedingly palatable
to stock of all kinds.

This grass is worthy of cul-
ture from its rapid growth,
luxuriant aftermath, and its
endurance of close cropping,
and when fed down closely it
recovers in a shorter time than
any other grass under culti-
!7.) vatioik It forms an excellent

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

grass for mixing with clover ; it is free from the objection
which applies to the case of timothy, as it reaches its mature
state about the same time as clover. Hence, it will be per-
ceived that it is an earlier grass. The time for cutting it for
winter food is when it has blossomed. If delayed until the
seeds have ripened, it is far less valuable, as it loses at this
stage its juiciness. Thick tufts of it form in pasture lands.
when it is not fed close. As it regards resistance of drouth,
it is well known that it bears it well, in which respect it is
quite unlike the timothy. Good observers declare that it
produces more pasturage than any other grass. On this point
the opinion of the late Judge Buel, of Albany, coincided with
other eminent agriculturists, and all agree in two other im-
portant points, viz : that it should be kept fed close and that
when it has had only five or six days to recover, it acquires a
good bite for cattle. These points give it a preference again
over timothy. Sheep are more fond of it than any other
grass. It is less exhausting to the soil than many other nu-
tritive grasses, which arises from the lightness and small
amount of seed which it produces. A bushel of seed weighs
only twelve or fourteen pounds. This grass is but little culti-
vated in New England, probably from the preference given
to timothy and red top, which is rather remarkable, seeing so
much hay and pasturage is required. One of the finest fields
of grass the writer ever saw was upon the plantation of Col.
Capron, at the Laurel. Orchard grass, when sown spar-
ingly and upon uneven ground, is disposed to grow in tus-
socks. This fault may be remedied by preparing the ground
properly and sowing a snfh'cieut quantityy of seed. This
grass, however, should not be cultivated by itself, unless it is
wished to grow it for seed. The celebrated Sinclair gives ;i
formula for the formation of a crop for pasturage. lie rnixe'.i
the seeds of certain grasses in the following proportions :

Doctylis plomenata, 4 pecks.

Festuca pratensis, 3 do.

Timothy, % do.

Fiorin, or agrostis stolonifera, 1 do.

H olcus arenaceus, 2 do.

Lolium perenne, 8 do.

NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 175

Poterium songuisorba, (burnet) 2 pecks.

Trifolium pratense, red clover, 6 Ibs.

" repens, white clover, 8 do.

This mixture was regarded as sufficient for an acre. We
see in this prescription a love for variety and an excessive
amount of seed. As pasturage is one of the great desiderata
in this State, and as this grass stands dry weather remarkably
well, it will probably be one of the most important measures
in husbandry to encourage its cultivation. "Whether it can
be shown hereafter that it will give as much profit per acre
as has been reported for a field near Rochester, N. Y., can
only be determined by experiment. The profits reported as
having been reared from one and a quarter acres of ground
were given in the Genesee Farmer, Vol. Y, p. 245 :

There were obtained 17 bushels of seed, $2 per bushel $34 00

Yielding, also, 2 tons of hay, $10 per ton, 20 00

for the first crop.
There were obtained 1}^ tons for the second crop, 15 00

Amounting to $69 00

Expense for gathering crops :

Cutting and shocking seed, one hand half a day, 0 50

Threshing, 1 00

Cutting stuble, ] 00

Making the same into hay and overhauling, 1 50

Cutting and making hay of the second crop, 2 00

Interest on the value of land, 4 87

$10 87
Deducted from sales, leaves a nett gain of 53 1 2

To save the seed properly requires the skill of a good cracl-
ler, who cuts the tops and ties them in bundles to dry in the
field for eight or ten days. They should be hauled into the
barns and threshed immediately with a flail. If there is a
large quantity of seed it should be still allowed to dry upon
the floor, as when retaining moisture it is apt to heat in the
heap, when the vitality of the seed is destroyed. The seed
us above stated, is very light. If sown with clover, one
bushel of orchard grass to ten quarts of clover seed makes

176 NORT^-CA'KOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

the proper preparation ,per acre. If sown alone, two bushels
are required. For pasturage alone, a mixture of the white
clover will form an excellent addition. Whatever opinions
may prevail with respect to the cultivation of the grasses in
the eastern part of the State, or even the middle, there can
be but little doubt, that when the attempt is made to intro-
duce a more extended pasturage, this grass will have the
preference over many others.

The analysis of the ash of the orchard gave, Prof. Way :

'Silica, 26 65

Phosphoric acid, 8.60

Sulphuric a'cid, , 3.52

'Carbonic acid, 2.09

Lime, ,. . 5.82

Magnesia, 2.22

Per oxide of iron, 0.59

Potash, 29.52

Chloride of potassium, 17.86

^Chloride sodium, 3.09

Percentage of ash furnished by the dry plant, 5.51

The nutritive value of this grass is exhibited in the follow-
ing analysis of Prof. Way :

Water, 70.00

Albuninous matter, (flesh forming,) 4.06

Falty matters, 0.94

Starch gum sugar, (heat producing bodies,) 13.30

Woody fibre, 10.11

Ash, 1.59

ELYMUS WILD RYE.

It has two or more spikelets at the joints of the rachis, and is
from 3 to 9 flowered. Glume 2, nearly equal, sometimes
wanting; lower paleae entire with a short awn ; — upper one
bifid. Scales ovate hairy.

ELYMUS ARENARIUS. — UPRIGHT SEA LIME GRASS.

Stem erect, round, smooth from two to five feet high, and
bearing sessile spikelets ; leaves long, narrow, rolled inward,
and rough on the inner surface ; root, long, perennial and
creeping.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. IVl

Resembles beach grass in its mode of growth ; it is also a
valuable grass for confining blowing sands.

In England it is called the sugar cane, from the quantity
of sugar in its stem.

The E. virginicus, (wild rye,) E. canadensis, (Canadian
lyme grass,) E. striatus (slender, hairy lyme grass,) grow along
the banks of rivers and streams, but they are of no special
value for cultivation.

LOLIUM.

Spikelets many flowered, solitary on each point of a con-
tinuous rachis, placed edgewise.

LOLIUM PERENNE.

Stem erect, smooth, leaves flat, acute, smooth on the outer
surface, roughish on the inner, glume shorter than the spike,
flowers from six to nine, awnless. Flowers early in June.
From 15 to 24 inches high. Root perennial, creeping.

This is regarded as valuable grass both in England »pid
France. It is relished by stock previously to its blossoming,
afterwards it becomes hard and less palatable.

It is not equal to the orchard grass in any respect, but at
the same time it must be admitted that it could not have stood
its ground so long in England and France unless its merits are
considerable. It is doubtful whether it can be cultivated in
this State with pron't. It seems to attain perfection in a more
humid climate than ours.

LOLIUM ITALICUM ITALIAN RYE-GRASS.

It is inferior to our best grass, as timothy, orchard-grass,
blue-grass, etc. In some points of view, however, it is supe-
rior to them, as it may be cut several times, when sown upon
moist rich land. It grows luxuriantly, and for soiling cattle
it is an excellent addition to our grasses, as it bears cutting-
well. Its actual value to us, however, is still to be determin-
ed by farther experiments.
13

ITS NOETH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SUE YET.

LOL1UM MULTIFLOEUM MANY-FLO WEEED DAENEL.

This grass is so little known in this country, that it may be
passed over without remark.

TKITICUM — WHEAT.

Flowers in spikes ; spikelets imbricate sessile ; J flowered.
Glume two, nearly equal opposite ;• palese lanceolate ; the
lower concave acaminate awned ; scales two ciliate. .

Wheat is supposed to have been indigenous to Central or
South-western Asia. It is known to have been cultivated
from the earliest times.

Like the Indian corn its varieties are numerous, amounting
at the present time to about S'OO, which are known to be un-
der cultivation.

The characters of these varieties are essentially the same.
The modifications affecting merely its appendages without ex-
tending to its essential characteristics. The character of the
soil influences the value of the grain ; it is always richer and
better on rich substantial soils. When grown upon those
which abound in vegetable matter its grain is light.

TEITICTJM BEPENS COUCH-GEASS SWITCH-GEASS DOG— GEASS —

DUTCH-GEASS — QTTACK-GEASS.

It has an erect stem, with smooth joints, two upper most
remote; spikelets close pressed, leaves acute, upper one
broadest ; sheaths striated, roots creeping extensively. Intro-
duced from Europe ; flowers in June,.

This grass is cut in blossom, — is relished by cattle, and
makes a nutritious hay. In gardens and other cultivated
grounds it becomes a great pest, from the difficulty of eradi-
cating it. Its roots are short-jointed, and send out fibres from
all of them, in consequence of which it grows and maintains
itself when a single joint remains, besides it is tenacious of
life, and does not readily die when left upon the earth's sur-
face.

This grass cut in May 13, gave,

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL 8UKVEY. 179

Water, 81.564

Dry matter, 18.436

-Ash, 2.367

A second specimen from the same bed, cut, June 8, gave,

Water, '. 77.374

Dry matter, 22.626

Ash, 2.073

As this grass approaches maturity, its inorganic matter de-
creases and its woody fibre increases. A third specimen ta-
ken when in full blossom, gave,

Water, 68.50

Dry matter, 30.50

Ash, 1.00

An analysis of the ash of this grass, gave me,

Silica, 27.150

Phosphates of lime, magnesia and iron, 19.250

Lime, 0.112

Magnesia, trace

Potash, 10.350

Soda, 26.985

Chloride of sodium, 8.990

Sulphuric acid, 4.811

Carbonic acid, 1.455

The same change takes place in the lolium perenne. These
experiments have an important bearing on the time they
should be cut for hay. It is well known that stock relish grass
and hay while it is succulent and juicy. After the woody
fibre is largely formed it is less palatable and more difficult to
masticate ; besides, it wears the teeth more, and less nutri-
ment is taken into the system.

CYNOSURUS CRISTATTJS- — CRESTED DOG's-TAIL.

Its stems are about one foot high, stiff and smooth, provided
with fibrous perennial root, more or less tufted. Its stem being
hard and wiry, cattle usually refuse to eat it. In dry sheep

ISO NOKTH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

pastures, it is more valuable as a permanent grass. Its stem
is used in the manufacture of straw plait.

The common broom-sedge is another grass whose stem and
leaves become hard and wiry with age, and still more unfit
for food for cattle than any ot the preceding. It takes posses-
sion of old and worn out fields, and imparts to them a look
of barrenness, which, in many instances, they do not deserve.
Cattle eat this grass only in the spring, when it first springs
up, and wThen it is comparatively tender. Although almost
worthless for fodder when mature, it is still better for the
ground to be covered and protected by this grass than to be
naked and exposed to the heat of the sun and the action of
rains. This grass has but a small proportion ot nutrient mat-
ter ; at the same time the consideration how fields should be
treated when covered with it, is worth a moment's considera-
tion. When such a field is to be ploughed for a crop of wheat,
it is important to lay it under while it is still green, or before
it has reached its full maturity. At this period it is more
valuable as a fertilizer ; the proportion of silex in the stem
being relatively less and the more valuable elements are
greater. When mature, it contains about 72 per cent, of sil-
ica, and only 8 per cent, of the phosphates of lime and mag-
nesia. The only grass which approaches this in its mature
state in the proportion of silica, is the Italian rye-grass, which
contains 60 per cent. In burning off a crop of broom-grass,
a large proportion of this silica becomes insoluble. Hence it
should be ploughed under when well grown, when all its nu-
tritive elements are in the best condition to aid the growth of
the succeeding crop.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 181

CHAPTEE XIII.

Red clover belongs to the Leguminosae — Organic constitution — Composition
of its ash — Differs in composition from the grasses-— Failures in its culti-
vation— For a green crop — Lucerne — Sanfoin.

§ 113. In the northern and western sections of the United
States the red clover, though not a grass, is now regarded as
one of the important resources of husbandry. It forms of it-
self an excellent food for cattle. It is one of the most speedy
and effectual means by which soils may be brought to pro-
duce remunerating crops. It is therefore both a nutriment
direct for cattle, and a fertilizer for the cereals. It is in vir-
tue of its rapid growth, large herbage and roots that it occu-
pies a place in husbandry so important ; besides, it derives no
inconsiderable part of its substance from the air. In the nat-
ural classification, it belongs to the family leguminoscey or the
game family as the bean and pea. Its common name, clover,
is most in use. It is sometimes designated by the term trefoil,
three leaved.

It scarcely requires a description, as it is known by every
farmer and planter. Its stem is inclined to be prostrate or
ascending, and the leaves are oval, and stand in threes at the
termination of the stem.

The red clover, after many years cultivation, has developed
a number of varieties. One of these varieties is biennial and
another is perennial, and like many other biennials which has
become so in other families of plants, it frequently lasts
three or four years, provided it is not suffered to go to seed.

Clover is a very easy plant to cultivate in a cool, moist cli-
mate. In one similar to North Carolina, which, perhaps, is
more subject to droughts than New England or New York, it
is more difficult. This arises from the tenderness of the young
plant. In its early stage, if exposed to a burning sun, it dies.
But it is not difficult to protect beneath the shade of another
plant, and thereby save it from perishing.

Clover is a nutritious fodder, and cattle and horses are very

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

fond of it. But as it frequently grows very rank, it is not
perfectly cured, and in a green state it moulds. If fed to a
horse in this condition, which is at all inclined to the heaves,
it will certainly produce it.

As a nutriment, clover takes rank with the best of grasses.
According to Prof. Way, red clover contains,

Water, 81.01

Albumen, 4.27

Fatty matters, 69

Gum, starch, sugar, or heat-producing principles, . . . 8.45

Woody fibre, 3.76

Ash, 1.82

Clover is a lime plant, but this element increases with its
age. In the young plant the proportion is much smaller than
in the old. Thus :

OLD. TOTING.

Silica,... 0.850 0.981

Phosphates of lime, and magnesia, etc., 20.600 30.245

Carbonate of lime, 30.950 7.642

Magnesia, ; 3.930 2.285

Potash, 25.930 33688

Soda, 14.915 7.164

Chlorine, 1.845 3.642

Sulphuric acid, 0.495 6.723

Carbonic acid, 5.744

The upper part of the stem, with the leaves and heads, gave
a composition varying from the above, thus :

Silica 0.810

Phosphates, 21.900

Carbonate of lime, 32.333

Magnesia, 0.200

Potash, 27.940

Soda, 6.7S3

Chlorine, 3.780

Sulphuric acid, 3.366

From the foregoing analysis it will be perceived that clover
differs in composition from the grasses. It contains only a

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 183

small per centage of silica-; and hence, cattle and horses mas-
ticate it easily. Two elements exist in large proportions, lime
and potash; and hence, it must exhaust a soil as much as
timothy or any of the best grasses. For this reason, clover
makes an excellent green crop to precede wheat. Its large
roots loosen and open the soil, and supply by their decay a
large amount of fertilizing matter.

I have already remarked that clover has not succeeded well
in this State. In many instances it has not come up, and in
others it has died out. In some instances it has not been dif-
ficult to assign a reason for its failure. Where it has failed to
grow, I found on enquiry that it had been ploughed in ; buried
too deep. The seed, in these cases, was not in fault. Clover
requires only a shallow covering, and especially if the roller
is employed, good seed will come up. ' In other cases, after
It had corae up, the planter allowed his pigs to have the ben-
efit of the young and growing plant. It wae, therefore, fed
or crushed out. In other cases it was sown at the wrong time
and was exposed without protection to the sun-rays.

In nine cases out often, a good stand may be secured un-
der the right system of culture. Atl those causes of failure
which I have named must of course be avoided, and in this
climate it will not do to allow cattle and hogs to feed upon it
until it is half grown, or has acquired a strong root.

For a green crop to be disposed of as a fertilizer, clover has
one advantage over the pea ; from the former, a good crop of
hay may be obtained, and at the same time its stubble and
root ploughed in. The latter, if taken oif for fodder leaves on
the ground only a small remnant of fertilizing matter. But if
the whole pea is allowed to remain, it is more valuable than
clover, and is better adapted to this climate, and hence requires
much less care in its cultivation.

White clover is a more hardy plant than the red, but being
much smaller, it is not useful for winter fodder. For fine pas-
tures it is one of the best of plants, though cattle do not relish-
it quite as well as we have reason to expect from its sweetness
and tenderness ; yet, is eaten freely by sheep, and the meat,
whether of cattle or sheep, is of a fine quality. It is also re-

184 NORTH- CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

lished by swine. Its root being creeping, it spreads far and
wide, and makes a durable pasture, which bears close feeding
remarkably well. Butter and cheese made from the milk of
cows whose pastures are dotted with the white clover, is su-
perior to any other, all things being equal.

White clover contains, when fresh and healthy.

Water, 81.50

Dry matter, 16.76

Ash, 1.75

In one ton of clover there are 234.08 Ibs. of inorganic mat-
ter. The ash I found composed of

Silica, 28.075

Phosphate of lime, magnesia and iron, 19.325

Carbonate of lime, 16.730

Magnesia, 2.175

Potash, 10.880

Sulphuric acid, 2.305

Chlorine, 0.615

Carbonic acid, 4.234

99.979

The white clover differs from the red in the composition of
its ash in containing a much larger amount of silica. It may
turn out that the foregoing determination is erroneous or is
too large. It may be accounted for, perhaps, by supposing
that line sand adhered to the stem and leaves.

LUCERNE — (MEDICAGO SATIVA.)

§ 114. This plant belongs also to the leguminosse or pea
tribe. It is an inhabitant of a warmer climate than red clo-
ver. It has been cultivated for fodder or the food of cattle
for twenty-three centuries.

Lucerne requires a soil especially adapted to it ; it is not
therefore so easily cultivated as clover. It requires a tolera-
bly rich soil, and one that is mellow and permits its roots to
penetrate deeply. A light sandy soil does not suit it, neither
does a stiff subsoil which retains moisture strongly, or is im-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

185

pervious. A fair proportion of sand, clay and vegetable mould
will be found a suitable mixture for the growth of lucerne.
The climate of North Carolina is well adapted to its cultiva-
tion. It would undoubtedly grow well and vigorously on
many of the pocosin soils, whose composition is similar to that
of Hyde county, though probably a better drainage may be
required. Still, a soil so well adapted to Indian corn may be
expected to grow lucerne equally well. It sends down along
tap root, provided with many fibrous off-shoots, which imbibe
nutriment from a wide area. Hence its vigor, when well
located, and the great amount of food it furnishes. Lucerne
continues to produce good crops from 5 to 10 years in suc-
cession. Hence its value ; when once thoroughly rooted or
set, it is as permanent as the best pasture lands. It would
seem, if we reason from the effects of the cultivation of other
plants, that after 10 years cropping the soil would be perfect-
ly exhausted. This is not the case, for it is said to render the
soil richer. This is going too far. For though leguminous
plants derive a large portion of their solid matter from the
atmosphere, yet the inorganic matter comes from the soil, and
just as much of it as is removed from the field, just so much
also is the land impoverished. The reason of the anomaly
claimed for lucerne, is, that it penetrates much deeper than
other plants and takes its food from a much greater space.

The best time for cutting lucerne is just before it blossoms.
If cut before this period it is too watery to dry and cure well;
if later or after blossoming it is too woody and contains less
nutriment. This is probably one of the best plants for soiling
cattle. When cut it sprouts vigorously again, and in a climate
like that of North Carolina, it seems to be the plant which
may be relied upon to stand the sun and drought, and at the
same time furnish a forage superior, if any thing, to the red
clover. The seed of lucerne are yellow, and if good, glossy
and heavy. The first year it should not be cut too close nor
a large amount of forage expected from it. Time should be
given for it to take deep root. The second year it begins to
pay and may be relied upon for several succeeding years. It
should be sown early in spring.

186 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

According to Prof. Way, the proximate elements of lucerne
are as follows :

Water, 69.95

Albuminous matter, 3.83

Fatty do 0.82

Heat-producing matter, 10.32

Woody fibre, 8.74

Ash, 3.04

When the plant is dried in a water bath at 212° Fah., the
albuminous matter amounts to 12.76, and the heat-producing
to 18.62 per cent. The albuminous matter or flesh-forming
elements of the Kentucky blue-grass are 10.35, and its heat-
producing matter to 43.06. It is therefore superior in flesh-
forming elements to this favorite grass.

SANFOIN — (HEDYSARUM ONOBRYCIIIS.)

• § 115. Like the clovers and lucerne, sanfoin is a legumi-
nous plant, but differs from the latter in many important par-
ticulars. It has many long leafy stems. The leaflets are
smooth and pinnate, or in pairs, rather oblong and pointed,
and slightly hairy on the under side. Flower stalks are ter-
minal and extend above the leaf stalks, and arranged in the
form of a spike, with crimson and variegated blossoms. The
stems grow from two to three feet high. The pods are flat,
hard and toothed on the edge ; root perennial and woody ;
flowers in July.

According to the opinion of an experienced English agri-
culturist, who has resided many years in this country, the
sanfoin will prove a valuable addition to the artificial grasses
of this country. The following remarks containing a sum-
mary of his opinions I propose to embody for the considera-
tion of the planters and farmers of this State.

In the first place, it will grow well on light soils, sandy and
gravelly loams. It may be sown after rye or barley, and
should not be fed the first year, or immediately after the crop
is removed. It may also be sown with grass seed. The fol-
lowing year it may be mowed, and then it is in a condition
to be fed by sheep.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

1ST

This plant is probably better adapted to horses than cattle,
especially milch cows, or rather horses and sheep. Sheep
consume the leaves and softer parts of the stems, and then
horses eat readily the remainder. Working horses do well
on what sheep leave. Sanfoin has been mown for nine
or ten years in succession, and has produced good crops
each year without manure. It is not the proper food for
milch cows, as it imparts a bitter taste to the butter. The
sod, after it has been growing for several years, is full of
roots, and it is often ploughed and then burnt over. In this
climate ploughing and burning is not^advisable.

The nutritive value of sanfoin does not differ materially
from lucerne. It is composed, so far as its proximate elements
are concerned, of:

Water, 76.64

Alluminous matter, 4.32

Fatty matter, 0.70

Heat producing, 10.73

Woody fibre, 5.77

Ash, 1.84

When dry, it yields of alluminous matter, 18.45, and heat
producing, 45.96.

CRIMSON CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM INCARNATUM.)

In some parts of this country this clover would no doubt
succeed. It however, requires a climate rather cooler and
moister than that of the eastern counties. But in the moun-
tainous section of the Southern States it can hardly fail of
being received with favor. The advantages arising from its
culture, are, it may be sown after potatoes are secured, and
produce a spring crop which will be earlier by eight or ten
days than lucerne or red clover. It produces two good crops
in one year. It is, however, an annual, and it requires as
much care to insure success as the red clover. For soiling
cattle it is well adapted, in consequence of its early growth.
If cut for hay, it should be gathered as soon as it is in flower.
The seed may be obtained from the second crop. As a gen-

188 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

eral rule, where the red clover succeeds, it may also be ex-
pected that the crimson clover will succeed also.

CHAPTER XIV.

Methods by which the valuable grasses may be cultivated successfully —
Soiling, and its advantages.

*

§ 116. In this State it is important in the first place to se-
lect the proper field for the cultivation of grass which it is de-
signed to cut for winter fodder. It appears to the writer that
as summer heat and drouth are the greatest obstacles to the
successful cultivation of grass and hay, that such fields should
be selected as suffer the least from the operation of these
causes. Hence it is believed that the meadows and low
grounds which are bordered by permanent streams and which
are naturally quite wet, but may be laid comparatively dry
are the most suitable for grass lands. The first work which is
required, is to drain the field thoroughly by ditching. Fields
of this description are invariably supplied with a rich bottom,
which is capable of furnishing an indefinite amount of nutri-
ment, or sufficient to sustain crops of hay for years in succes-
sion, and being also supplied with water which percolates
through the lower strata of earth, are little liable to suffer
from summer droughts. Besides, these low, fiat meadows
may be cheaply irrigated if necessary. Irrigation is also one
of the cheapest and most effectual means by which nutriment
may be conveyed to the grass. The great object, however,
to be attained in the selection of such field, is that of securing
a cool and moist soil, for many of the best grasses are
found flourishing under those conditions, though they by no
means grow in wet bogs or swamps. Timothy, one of the
best of the Northern grasses, grows best in a moist soil.

NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 189

After a drainage has been effected, many of the wild and
least useful grasses will die out. But to aid the process of
substitution of better, for the poorer grasses, and the weeds
which always, more or less, take a joint possession of such
fields, it may be harrowed with an instrument provided with
sharp teeth. When this is done, a proper mixture of seed
may be sown, after which the surface is swept over with a
heavy brush.

The introduction of the valuable grasses is also materially
aided by a top dressing of compost, which puts the soil
in a better condition to receive the seed, and facilitates, as
well as quickens, its germination. It also gives more strength
to the newly introduced grass, and enables it to contend more
successfully with those which are already in possession of the
premises. As in law, so in agriculture, possession gives im-
portant advantages ; and the new claimant which we desire
to put in possession, must, in the first place, oust the old oc-
cupant. Much depends upon the perfection of our prelimin-
ary steps. If we have thoroughly under-drained the premi-
ses, we shall be enabled to starve out very speedily the occu-
pant we wish to remove ; and if, in addition to this, we sup-
ply nutriment to our favorite intruder, we have provided or
opened more than one way by which we hope to succeed.
The poor grasses are generally destroyed by high cultivation,
and so are weeds, and the process which so evidently favors
the disappearance of the poorer ones, favors the introduction
of the good. One of the most substantial reasons why grass-
es are so difficult to grow in the South, is, that they are not
manured. They are sown first upon soil already partially ex-
hausted, where the poor grasses are taking deep root, and
hence their chance for life is very small.

If a grass plat is to be formed upon upland, the proceeding
should be somewhat different. After the land is made even
by light ploughing and harrowing, winter rye should be sown,
and the field stocked down with orchard grass, mixed with
herds grass, June grass and red and white clover. The rye
makes an excellent spring fodder, and protects the grass seed,
which in due time will germinate and replace the rye. To

190 NOETH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

iosure success, let the seed be sown thickly, not sparingly, for
the writer believes that in the climate of North-Carolina more
seed is required than where the climate is cooler. Besides,
there is no more effectual means to guard against drouth, and
a hot sun, than to cover the whole surface with vegetation,
and the supplying this vegetation with abundant nutriment.
In support of this view, let a field of Indian corn be ex-
amined, a part of which has grown sufficiently to shade the
soil, and part is backward from any cause, and does not shade
it. The first will sustain a drought without material injury,
while the other will be destroyed. So also, where clover has
taken a strong and vigorous hold and covers the ground, it
stands a severe drouth, while that portion of the field which
is thinly planted, dries ; the soil becomes hard and cracks,
and the plants perish. We may, therefore, be guided to suc-
cessful results by observation. What frequently takes place
naturally, or accidentally, in consequence of a failure in our
own experiments, will furnish safe ground to go upon. We
cannot insist too strongly in this climate upon the use of much
seed, that the soil may be covered with vegetation ; and
hence, protect it by preserving the surface in a cool con-
dition. Moisture is always condensed from the atmosphere
upon such a surface during the night, and evaporation is in a
great measure prevented by day, if a thick coating of veg-
etation has grown upon it. We should not forget in this con-
nexion that early planting is one of the means by which we
may secure a crop from the effects of a drouth.

One of the best materials for grass lands is ashes, either
leached or unleached. The latter will, of course, contain less
potash, but even then, they are highly valuable. In the ab-
sence of ashes, fine marl sown broadcast, or if accessible,
strewed freely upon the surface, will effect important results,
either ash or marl bring in clover, without sowing seed.
Plaster produces the same effects. Where a system of hus-
bandry is pursued which furnishes barn-yard manure, it sup-
plies an admirable basis for composting. Very few planta-
tions in the eastern section of the State, which do not furnish
muck or peat. With one load of barn-yard manure and two

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL 8UEVEY. 191

loads of muck or peat, three loads of an excellent fertilizer
may be made. These materials should be well incorporated
and receive from time to time all the refuse matter of the
house, yard and garden, or anything which will ferment
under the influence of the necessary conditions. Wool, hair,
refuse animal matter of all kinds, become of the utmost im-
portance in composting. One important addition should not
be neglected ; that is plaster of paris. In the absence of
that, dirt sprinkled with copperas water, which is not expen-
sive, will make an absorbent of the gasses. That dirt alone,
or earth, has strong absorbent powers, we have sufficient
evidence in the fact, that very little odor escapes from the
carcass of a decaying animal body when it is perfectly cov-
ered. But additional earth should be added from time to
time, as the first becomes saturated with the effluvia. The
matter which escapes under these circumstances, is ammonia,
which is one of the active principles paid for in guano, which
makes the difference in the price of Peruvian and Mexican
guano. Compost heaps require a small proportion of lime,
but wherever animal matters or excrements are concerned,
there should be a large intermixture of muck or peat. No
good farmer adds lime to his barn-yard manures ; it may be
done only where nndecomposed vegetable matter is ready to
absorb the disengaged ammonia.

SUMMER SOILING.

One of the most important measures for carrying on a suc-
cessful and profitable scheme of husbandry, is to incorporate
with the general plan or system, that of soiling cattle. Its value
has been fully established, both in this country and Europe.
Apparently, it is objectionable from the amount of labor it
requires ; but this objection vanishes when it is put in prac-
tice, and becomes the every-day business of those appointed
to superintend it. Cattle, when soiled, must be confined to a
yard, at least, and fed on mown grass, lucerne, clover, or corn
sown broadcast. A large stock may be kept on five acres of
ground, or, it may be made to yield that of thirty acres of
pasture lands. After being fed in stables, they may be driven

192 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

to a pasture for the purpose of exercise, and returned again
at night, and fed on fresh mown fodder in the morning.
Soiling is no doubt as well adapted to the South as in the
North. By this system, cattle are protected from a burning
sun during the day, — a protection which is almost as impor-
tant as protecting them from the cold. Most farmers appear
to forget that good stock are like the cereals, which have
been brought to their best and improved condition -by ar-
tificial means, and the moment the efforts to maintain them
in this highly improved state are suspended, they begin to
deteriorate. Cattle can no more be kept in a good and pros-
perous state than the cereals, which if the condition of the
soil is neglected, fail to produce remunerating crops. But
furnish them with food and place them in comfortable cir-
cumstances, and profits are sure to be returned.

Soiling is adapted to the circumstances attending the culti*
vation of a few or many acres. The system consists in culti-
vating those grasses which come to maturity in succession,
and it is desirable to be able to vary the kinds of green food
every few days, though it is not necessary to the success of
the system.

In connexion with summer feed, it is important also to have
an eye to the winter support of the same herd. For this pur-
pose root crops become an important part of the system of
soiling. When, for example, the patches of corn, oats or rye
are cut up, the sugar beet or turnip may be sown for winter
feed. To these, then, should be added carrots and sugar parsnips,
The object of root culture for stock is to supply a variety of
nutriment for horses and cattle, which, if fed with them once
a day, may become much more thrifty and healthy than if fed
only upon dry fodder. For a Southern grass, the orchard grass
should take the place of Timothy. This, with the June grass,
red top, and herds grass, and a few others already described,
will give all the winter hay which may be required. The
practice of pulling fodder from the Indian corn is much more
laborious and attended with more trouble than that of mow-
ing grass for hay. An acre of sugar beet will produce a
thousand bushels, and an acre of carrots over six hundred, and

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 193

the sugar parsnips yields about eight hundred bushels to the
acre.

One of the incidental advantages of soiling is the production
of a large amount of valuable manure which may be saved
under cover, and to which may be' added the refuse of the
kitchen and garden, whereby its quantity may be indefinitely
increased.

In the foregoing observations upon soiling, I have been dis-
posed merely to allude to the subject, believing that those
planters who wish to keep good stock, either of horses or cat-
tle, will be inclined to try this as a part of their system of
husbandry ; a system, wrhich, if carried out, will not fail to
give them a good stock of cattle and cows as well as horses,
all of which may be kept cheaper and better than in the mode
now pursued in this State.

CHAPTER XY.

i

PALAEONTOLOGY.

Fossils of the Green Sand and Tertiary — Mammals — Horsfe — Hog — Masto-
don and Elephant — Deer — Whales, or Cetaceans,

The distinguishing features or characteristics of any age or
epoch, can be known only from the history of the men
who were then living. The characteristics of the age when
the Romans were gaining an ascendancy in the world, can
only be known from the individual or collective memories of
Roman citizens. A history competent to give us a knowledge
of those times, would blend together the personal appearance
of men, their habits, dress, food, etc., from which we should
also obtain facts or inferences respecting the country, its ani-
mals and plants, its climate, topography and grand divisions.
So of Greece, Egypt and Palestine. The memoiies of the ac-
tions of these nations in their generations, would furnish us the
U

NOKTH -CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

leading facts respecting the characteristics of the period in
which the respective nations lived.

So, also, the characteristics of the fossils furnish at least a
clue to the features of the epoch during which they lived.
To determine these features, demands an intimate knowledge
of the present ; for, we are under the necessity of comparing
the past with the present. The present is the standard, and
no comparison can be made of any value which neglects the
present. We find in the present certain structures and forms
which we know have certain relations to climate, or to the
conditions in which they exist. If, then, similar structures or
forms are found attached to an extinct being of any epoch, it
is a fair inference that that structure or form bore a similar
relation to the external conditions which surrounded it. Its
full description, then, would be a memoir of the animal, its
habits would be indicated, its relation to surrounding circum-
stances would be known ; many inferences would follow from
each, — some would bear only upon its instincts, its food, its
means of defence from the medium in which it lived, etc.

If, for example, an oval shaped bag filled with coloring
matter, in connection with a fossil known as the Belemnite, it
would be inferred that this bag contained a fluid designed to
conceal it from its enemies ; that it would deeply discolor the
water into which it was cast, and thereby, under its cloud of
dye-stuff, make its escape. Such a phenomenon is familiar
now to the sailor. The cuttle-fish is thus supplied with dye-
stuff, and he employs it for escaping from a pursuing enemy ;
and as this is so, so it is inferred, the animal did which was
supplied wTith a similar apparatus in the period of the Lias and
Chalk.

We might go on and note hundreds of analogous examples,
but one must suffice. This view is borne out by one great
and leading fact, that all extinct animals are constructed upon
one of the four leading types which now prevail. Of the mil-
lions of individual fossils which have been seen, not one is
known which does not belong to, and may be referred with
certainty, to one of the great leading types of the present. It
is* the plan then, which really tells all this, or makes it possi-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 195

ble to compare and infer with certainty. Observation is the
way, but the plan of creation makes it possible to deduce a
connected history of the past from the dead races, and thereby
see at a glance how any former epoch differed from the pres-
ent, or from those ancient ones with which it was more inti-
mately connected.

My object, however, is not so much to direct the student in
this chain of reasoning, or so to apply knowledge as to make
him acquainted with the external forms of the fossils of
the marl beds. The figures and descriptions will enable him to
know the objects from their forms, and thereby to distinguish
the marl beds which contain them from each other. It is,
therefore, a practical subject, and may be studied as such.
But the knowledge thus acquired prepares the way for further
advances in science.

The fossils described in this part of the Report, belong to
four or five periods, inasmuch as some of them are found in
two or more successive ones. These periods have been dis-
tinguished by the following names which are expressive of
certain ideas. Thus, the oldest is the cretaceous or chalk for-
mation. It is, however, only a small part of it, and that part
is the inferior or oldest part of the cretaceous system. This
part is widely known as the Green Sand, and has been em-
ployed extensively as a fertilizer. The 2d, in the ascending
order, is the Eocene, which means the dawn of the present, as
a few species survive, which were created in this epoch or pe-
riod. Only about four per cent, however, have lived on
through all the vicissitudes of the times. The third, is the
Miocene. Of the animals created during this period, more
than half have perished, and we know them only through
their remains. The fourth is the Pliocene, the animals of
which less than half have perished. The fifth, the post-Plio-
cene, is known by its fossils being similar to those which now
live, excepting five or six per cent. Hence, it may happen
that one of the four species of animals which survive, and
which was created in the Eocene period, may be found in all
the succeeding beds, but it is evident it will be associated in

196 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

each case with races or species quite different from those
among whom it was first connected or who were its cotern-
poraries.

The cause of the extinction of so many species, is a mystery.
The fact is well established, but it is only in certain cases that
we can account for their disappearance. It appears to have
been sometimes due to a sudden catastrophe, the ejection of
mud, or poisonous matter into the medium in which they live.
This happens now, and probably has happened before, but in
a majority of instances, it is impossible to perceive any exter-
nal cause which destroyed them ; and hence, we are left to
speculate on probabilities, without being able to arrive at sat-
isfactory conclusions.

MAMMALIA. — EQUTJS CABALLUS.

There is scarcely a question so interesting to the naturalist
and historian as that which relates to fossil remains of the
horse. The testimony of historians is, that the horse was not
living upon this continent at the time of its discovery by
Columbus. The testimony of the naturalist is, that the horse
lived upon this continent at a period prior to its discovery,
its remains having been found first in the miocene, and lastly
in the pliocene, in which period it may have become extinct.
Its earliest appearance is in the former; and it appears from
the discovery of Prof. Holmes, of Charleston, S. C., that its
remains are not uncommon in the latter.

FIG. is. Figure 18 represents the crown of the

third or fourth molar of the left side of the
upper jaw. It has complicated enamel
plates, or columns, and is somewhat worn,
but by no means an old tooth, as its roots
are undeveloped. It is two inches long
and an inch thick. It is undistinguishable
from the corresponding tooth of the recent
domestic horse. It is a deep brown color, and looks like a
fossil.

Figure 19 represents the crown of a tooth of the third or
fourth molar, probably the third, of the left upper side. It

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

197

has not been worn. It resembles a recent tooth, as it is
FIG. 19. whitish, and only stained brown on one

side. The enamel plates, it will be per-
ceived differ from the preceding, and they
differ also from those of the correspond-
ing tooth of the domestic horse. This
difference, however, may arise from its
unworn condition, as the enamel plates
differ somewhat in configuration as they wear down. This
tooth is three inches long and one thick.

FIG. 20. This figure (20) represents the back molar of the
left side of the lower jaw of the horse. It differs only
slightly from the corresponding tooth of the do-
mestic horse. It is worn, but belonged to a young
individual, and its roots are undeveloped. It is
three inches long, one-half an inch thick, and one
and a quarter wide.

Figure 21 represents one of the incisors of the

FIG. 21.

horse ; a, front side ; b, inner side ; c, lateral view. This scarcely
differs from the corresponding incisors of the domestic horse.
The foregoing teeth are from the miocene of North-Carolina,
and were discovered at an early period of the survey. No. 18
was found in a bed at Elizabethtown, Bladen county, and was
accompanied with a tooth from the lower jaw. No. 19 and
20 are teeth washed up on the beach at Plymouth, N. 0., and

198 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

No. 21 from the miocene of Pitt county. I found, also,
molars, in Pitt county. They occur in a sandy bed, which
may be ten or twelve feet above the shell marl. Although
there is a close correspondence between the fossil teeth above
described and those of the domestic horse, which was intro-
duced into this country since its discovery, still, it is probable
that it is a different species. If it is maintained that the
fossil and introduced species are identical and the same, it
follows that the same species was created about the same
epoch, in two very different quarters of the globe, viz : Asia
and America, and in climates which differed materially from
each other. Farther discoveries must be made before this
interesting question can be satisfactorily settled.

SITS SCROFA. HOG. (Fig. 22.)

The only relic of the hog which has been ob-
tained during the survey, is the last inferior
molar, scarcely differing from its fellow in the
domestic hog. I obtained it at Washington,
Beaufort county, from the miocene. It is brown,
and is partially mineralized by sulphuret of iron.
It has the same claim to genuineness as a fossil,
as the teeth of the horse already described.
22.) The hog was introduced into this country at
the time of its settlement, but as in the case of the horse, it
was peopled by this interesting animal a long time prior to
its discovery. It also became extinct, and at its settlement
was supplied again from a foreign country.

PROBOSCEDIANS. MASTODON GIGANTEUS. (Fig. 23.)

The bones of this large pachyderm are not uncommon in
the miocene marl of North-Carolina.

Fragments of ribs and bones of the extremities are the
most common. The figure of the superior part of the crown
in the margin was taken from a tooth found in Halifax coun-
ty. Its enamel is jet black and highly polished. It is the
first or small molar of the right side of the under jaw. It is
an old tooth with the lubercles worn down, and was probably

N

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 199

FIG. 23.

lost or shed while the animal was living. The figure is de-
signed to show the arrangement of the enamel plates.

Bones of this immense quadruped have been found at
numerous places. A large number were found in a marl pit
near Goldsboro', and a large back molar in another marl pit
in Nash. These bones are usually broken, and the pieces
are rarely more than from three to six inches long. A cunei-
form bone of the foot was found in a marl bed upon the
Cape Fear. From the number of bones which have been
found it is evident this large species of land quadruped, the
largest known, must have been very numerous .at one time.
Its bones are associated with fossils, many of which are now
extinct, and some or even many still survive. The oldest de-
posit in which the bones of the mastodon are known to occur
is probably the miocene. They continued to occur in the
subsequent formations until the latest, which just precede
the advent of man ; and, indeed, it is not at all improbable
that man witnessed the final extinction of the race. The
long bones which I have examined always contain animal
matter, an evidence of their recent death.

The elephant was also a cotemporary with the mastodon.
No teeth, however, have yet been found in North-Carolina
which may have enabled me to identify its remains. But to
those who have marl beds to identify its remains, a tooth (Fig.
24) of this interesting animal is given in the margin. It is a re-
duced figure of one found in the superficial deposits of New

200

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

1 ork. A tooth belonging to the elephant was taken from the
beach upon Seneca lake New York, and portions of a skele-
ton were found near the surface in Monroe county. All
these bones contain also animal matter, and they are usually
associated with moluscous animals which are living at the
present time.

FIG. 24.

It is probable the mastodon lived in a period prior to that
of the elephant, but it appears that both became extinct at
or about the same time.

That the mastodon and elephant roamed in herds over a
large part of this continent, seems to be indicated by the
fact that their bones are found from the Atlantic to the base
of the Rocky mountains. The bones of the mastodon, how-
ever, are more numerous and more widely extended than
those of the elephant.

RUMINANTIA. — CERVTJS VIRGINIAN A

The discovery of the remains of the 0. Yirginiana deer, is
an interesting fact. It appears to have been cotemporary
with the Mastodon and Elephant, which have become extinct.
So, also, it is cotemporary with the great Irish Elk, which has
become extinct in Europe.

The base of the horn which I found in the Miocene bed
about 10 miles above Elizabeth, on the Cape Fear, is about
six inches long. In this horn, the first branch goes off from

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 201

the axis nearer the head than usual, but this occurs occasion-
ally in individuals of this species.

It appears from this discovery that the common red deer of
America began its existence at or about the same period as
the American horse ; but while the horse became extinct, the
deer has survived. In a fresh water marl bed, in Orange
county, in New York, I found a horn of an extinct deer which
was associated with the remains of the mastodon. The deer
of the miocene marl survives, while a more recent species has
become extinct, or such is the evidence of facts as they now
stand.

REMAINS . OF THE PORPOISE.

Several vertebrse which appear to have belonged to the
porpoise, have been obtained from the marl beds near Rocky
Mount. They appear to belong to a species which differs
from the common one of the coast. The figure shows the end
of the vertebrse to which the intervertebral substance is
strongly attached ; the other extremity is smooth. The body
is encircled in part with a deep channel or groove, which is
connected with the holes which transmit the vessels, and
nerves at the base of the spinal arch.

In addition to the foregoing remains of the order, cetacea,
I may mention the occurrence of the Zeuglodon cetoides.
(OwEN,) a fossil of the eocene, which was first found in Ala-
bama, and described by the late Dr: Harlan, of Philadelphia.
The teeth are entirely unlike those of the common cetaceans,
and belong to a type not very unlike those of the seal. No
teeth, however, have as yet been discovered in this State. —
The remains of this cetacean consist of vertebra which were
obtained from Washington, near the line of the Wilmington
Eail Eoad.

One of the largest candal vertebrse of a whale, (fig. 25,) has
broad flat transverse processes, standing at right angles to the
body of the bone, the articular ends are unequal, the anterior
being 5-J and the posterior 4f inches in diameter, and circular,
with a length of 6 inches. Of this length the base of the trans-
verse processes occupies 4 inches, and terminate behind in a
rounded notch ; their length is 2-J- inches.

202

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
FIG. 25.

LOWER JAW OF A BALAENA OR WHALE.

On the Meherrin, near Murfreesborough, I found portions
of three lower jaw-bones belonging to the genus Balaena, to-
gether with many vertebrae, all of which appear to belong to
one species.

These jaws are imperfect, — the anterior part the left lower
jaw is smooth, gently covex, and curved on the outside, but
rather flat inside. The wide upper margin is perforated with
three holes penetrating the jaw in a slightly descending
course, and terminating anteriorly in an edge produced by a
champering of the inside extremity, and rounded from the
base up to the upper edge, which is grooved for six inches.
They are 3J inches wide and 2 inches thick, and nearly
straight. All the posterior parts of the jaw had been lost, and
only two feet obtained. It is impossible to refer these frag-
ments of jaws to either species which furnished the ear bones,
as neither of these specimens were obtained at this locality.
But the vertebrae and jaws belonged to one species, and it is

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 203..

possible hereafter to determine to which ear-bone belonged
to the Murfreesborough species. It is evident that neither of
these belonged to Prof. Leidy's Orycterocetus, because this
belonged to a different family of the cetaceans.

OTOLITES, OR THE EAR BONES OF WHALES.

The remains of the cetacea may be said to be numerous in
the miocene of North-Carolina. Vertebra and ribs are more
commonly found than other parts for the reason that the in-
dividual parts exceed in number the other parts of the
skeleton. The ear bones are the least common. Of this part
I have those which I regard as having belonged to at least
three different species. I base this conclusion on the estab-
lished fact that these bones possess for each species a peculiar
configuration ; that though the bone in question has a general
resemblance in all the species of which the family is com-
posed, yet in the minute details of construction and form,
each species has its own, which may be determined by close
and careful comparisons. Thus, in the true whales, the thick
posterior part is simple, while in the cachalot it is bilobed,
and that this thickened and convex part in the simple kinds,
while it is variable in form and extent in the different species
of the true whales, and which is also joined to certain other
differences, which may be observed in the thin overarching
and expanded part.

For convenience of description, these bones may be divid-
ed, longitudinally, into two principal parts: 1. The thick
involuted convex part which occupies the posterior segment
of the bone, and which extends back to a rough longitudinal
surface ; and, 2d. The thinner and expanded part which begins
where the former ends, and arches over the first in different
degrees, forming, posteriority, a convex surface, and interi-
orly towards the first part a concavity differing both in de-
gree and extent in different species. The anterior or eustach-
ian portion is formed wholly of the thinner expanded part.
There is in the form of the expanded part some resemblance
to the rim of the human ear.

The ear bones, in consequence of the thick convex part

"204: NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

being simple, are all referred to the genus balaena. Other
parts of the skeleton of this genus have been formed, as the
vertebrae, ribs, lower jaw, &c.

The first of the bones (Fig. 26) which I propose to describe
FIG 26 is the largest, and resembles in

form the same bone belonging
to the right whale, (the balaena
mysticetus.)

In this specimen the thick in-
voluted part is thickest at its
extreme posterior end, and gra-
dually diminishes to within three
fourths of an inch of the flatish,
expanded or eustachian part of the tube.

Its surface, as it passes backward, and corresponding to the
span between the lobes in the cachalot, becomes slightly con-
cave, and the whole surface to the boundary backwards and
forwards to the channel, which separates it from the concave
expanded portion, is irregularly wrinkled ; these wrinkles in-
crease in strength to its junction, with the latter part, where
the line of division is distinctly defined. At the posterior part,
there is a strong indentation, somewhat in the form of the letter
U, surrounding the part where the expanded part springs. The
thinner expanded part forms an arch, concave within, and quite
regularly convex without; at the extremities it forms expanded
hooks. The concave surface widens from the posterior to the
anterior end, and is widest just within the margin. This bone
differs from the same in the right whale, in its convex portion
being lower and not above the level of the concave cavity
beneath the arch ; and being, also, perfectly separated by a
change in the appearance of the part, and also by the perfect
smoothness of the concave surface of the overarching wall,
which, in this B mysticetus, is very rugged.

Its length is 3| inches, and width 2J, and belonged to a
large whale, though probably not the largest. It is, however,
very bulky. Cuvier remarks, that the ear bones of the
Balaeonoptera are very small in proportion to the size of the

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 205

species ; so that it does not follow that where the bone is
small the spieces must be small also.

I propose the name Boblaena Mysticetoides for their species.

The thick, the posterior end, is nearly equally bisected by

the thin expanded part, and around it there is a deep sinuous

indentation which, on the inside, is continuous with the

channel between the thick and thin parts.

FIG. 27. The otololite, next in size to

the B misticetoides, differs much
from it in form and proportion
of parts. The thick convex part
is well defined, but rough, short
and prominent. It rises higher
than the base of the thin invo-
luted part to which it slopes all round. It is marked with
two or three strong folds, one of which is at or near its termi-
nation forward, and another beneath, which gives a slight
emargination to the bone. It is separated from the anterior end
by a flattened plane about half an inch wide, where their
expanded part turns and forms a rather open hook, unlike that
of the former, which is bent much more inwards. The pos-
terior end is somewhat obliquely truncate, and at the root of
the thin part there is a rough indentation disconnected with
the wide channel within. The anterior border of the thin
part forms an arch much less extended than the former, and
the posterior and basal part is flattened and angular. Length
3J inches ; widest part 1-J-.

Another specimen measuring four inches long preserves
the essential characters of the foregoing. It is very rugose
around the thick convex part, and the middle fold creates a
slight twolobed character to the interior part and its base.
The smallest (Fig. 28) has a well-defined convex part, which
FIG. 28. ig smooth though somewhat wrinkled

but rough within, and the border rises
almost immediately from it, especial-
ly posteriorly. The space between
the border and convex part widens
anteriorly where it is only gently

206 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

curved, scarcely forming a hook. Behind the convex part it is
very regular, but the beginning of the thinner expanded part
is formed by a rounded ridge, which may be traced from one
extremity to the other. It is far less angular, and more regular
than the preceding. It is 2f inches long ; greatest width 1-J-
inches.

This ototite is one of the most common in the miocene
beds. Unfortunately, in all these specimens, the thin ex-
panded over-arching part is broken off, but it is evident that
in this case this part was very limited.

The two smallest are perforated by boring moluscks, a fact
which shows that instinct is sometimes at fault.

It is probably impossible in the present state of our knowl-
edge of the anatomy of those extinct whales, to refer them
to the species to which they belonged. That the foregoing
ear-bones I have described belonged to different species of
the whale, there can be no doubt.

Few extinct species of balaena are known to belong to the
miocene period besides the orycterocetus of Leidy.

SUMMARY

Of the characteristics of the three foregoing species, derived
from a comparison with each other, and with the three
which have been described, l)y PROF. OWEN.

The B. mysticetoides differs from B. affinis Owen, in the
much greater extent of the overarching wall and the well de-
lined limits, and greater prominence of the involuted part ; —
this part also bears a much greater proportion to the whole of
the organ than it does in the affinis.

The B. deh'nita Owen is very strikingly truncated at its
posterior end, and has also its thick involuted part much less
in proportion than in the B. mysticetoides, and its thin over-
arching border is also much less in extent.

It differs from the B. gibbosa, Owen, in most of the charac-
ters just stated ; particularly the extent of the overarching
wall, its thick convex part is much less' prominent ; but it re-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 207

sembles the B. gibbosa somewhat in its configuration at the
posterior end, where the riin is continued around it, as it were,
but in the gibbosa, it rises from near the base, while in the
mysticetvides it rises higher and is surrounded by deep sinu-
ous indentations. It resembles also the B. emarginata in the
existence of a concavity on the inferior border of the thick
convex part, but is much less ; the overarching wall exceeds
very much in extent that of the emarginata.

The figure 27 differs from the affinis in its prominent and
distinctly defined convex involution. It resembles the B. de-
finita somewhat, in its posterior truncation ; but the involuted
part is more prominent, and has a strong ridge or prominence
on the border near its slope to the concavity ; but it resem-
bles still more closely the B. gibbosa, in the form of the con-
vex part, but the thinner overarching wall is more extensive
and broader at the eustachian termination, and the shape of
the posterior end differs from it materially, particularly in the
strong angle of the extreme of the overarching wall.

It differs from the B. emarginata, in having a prominence
at the base of the involuted thick part instead of an emargi-
nation.

The figure 28 differs from the B. affinis in its prominent in-
voluted part, and distinct form or separation from the concave
overarching part ; from the B. definita by its prolonged pos-
terior part, in which respect it differs also from the gibbosa
and from emarginata by its absence of this particular char-
acter, and by the presence of strong sugar upon the part next
the concavity.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EAR-BONE OF THE COMMON WHALE OF

THE COAST.

The ear-bone of the Balena Mystictus, the common whale
of the coast, in my possession, measured, rather diagonally
over the thick convoluted part, is 5J inches long;- the great-
est thickness is 3 inches and 3 tenths ; the depth or height of
the convoluted part is 3 inches ; greatest height measured to
the top of the thin convolution 4 inches and 4 tenths. The

208 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

thin involuted expansive is arched so as to have a distance of
only half an inch from the thick involuted part. This may be
divided into three principal lobes; two of them make up two-
thirds of thin part, and these are divided externally by a deep
sulcus, and internally by a thick rounded ridge which extends
nearly to the base ; the lobe of the thickest end is short. A
deep sulcated cavity is formed by the thick and thin involu-
ted parts of the bone. This cavity is 3 inches and six-tenths
long and 2 inches and 'one-tenth, and the height nearly 3
inches.

An ear bone having the form and proportions of the Balaena
Mysticetus, in many particulars, I have obtained from Craven
county. The most important difference is in the height of
the thick involuted part, the thin expanded part is broken off
but there are so many points of resemblance, that it is highly
probable it belonged to this species of whale. The fossil ear-
bone is smaller. Its greatest length is only 4 inches and 2
tenths, and the height of the thick involuted part is only 2
inches and 2 tenths. Still, it is not at all improbable that we
may regard it as having belonged to the young of the B. mys-
ticetus, and if so this species commenced its existence in the
Miocene period. This conclusion is founded upon the proba-
bility, that this ear-bone and certain thick heavy ribs of a whale,
often found in the miocene deposits, belonged to this species.
It is probable, too, that ear-bones vary somewhat in form and
thickness in the same species ; this is certainly true in the
cose of the ear-bone of fishes, of which I have many speci-
mens, among which there are several varieties of form and size.
Other forms of cetacean ear-bones occur abundantly in the
miocene of Tar River. Figure 28 belongs to one of the rarer
forms of ear-bones. It has a distinct in-
voluted portion. It is figured of the natu-
ral size.

Figure 29 is another form of ear bone
which is the most common of all, except
the following. It has no distinct invo-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

209

the other.

29. voluted part, though it is thickened at

one end of it. It is more or less wrink-
led transversely. In other respects it
is rather discoidal.

Figure 30, it differs in form from all
the proceeding. It is conical, and
acute at one extremity and obtuse at
From the obtuse extremity, it sends off a short
process at right angles, and is probably the point
by which it is attached to the interior of tne tym-
panic cavity.

But one of the most extraordinary of the ear-
bones of this formation, is represented by figure
3l. It consists of two parts, a short obtuse conical
portion, and a long process extending at right an-
gles from it. It is over seven inches long. The
process referred to is four, measured from the
base of the heavy conical part, and it extends half way across

FIG. 31.

FIG. 30.

it, so that its whole length is about 5-J- inches. The height of
the conical part is 3^ inches. This is flattened, and its greater
circumference is 8 inches. The arm or process is irregularly
triangular, being hollowed out on two sides and flattened on
the other. The whole form, however, is difficult to represent
by means of a single figure. The figure is one-half the size
of the original.
15

210

HORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

ORYCTKROCETUS QUADRATIDEN6. LEIDY. PROC. ACAD. NAT. SCL

vii, 378.

FIG. 32.

A single tooth belong-
ing to this cetacean was
found in Pitt county by
Thos. Sparrow, -Esq., to
whom I am indebted for
an opportunity lor de-
scribing this interesting

o C?

relic.

The tooth is remark-
ably curved for a ceta-
cean. It is rather rough,
and is somewhat quad-
rate or angular. This
character, according to
Prof. Leidy, is not con-
stant. Its transverse
section is rather ovate,
with the anterior part
flattened. It was point^
ed, but by exposure the
apex is injured. Its
base has a short conical
pulp cavity, less than
one inch in depth. Its
surface is marked by
longitudinal cracks. —
The tooth belongs to the
right lower jaw, and is
drawn the natural size.
It is supposed to be-
long to the miocene, but the locality contains a few small fos-
sils, derived from the eocene, and hence this may be of that
age.

NORTH-CABOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

211

ORYCTEROCETU8 CORNUTIDENS. LEIDY.

FIG. 33.

The genus Orycterocetus was
originally proposed on the frag-
ment of a jaw, and several teeth
from the miocene deposit of Vir-
ginia. In my collection I have
a tooth like those just mentioned,
except that it is not quadrate,
which it is suspected, however, to
be an unimportant character. —
The specimen was discovered in
the miocene deposit of North-Car-
olina. It is remarkable for its re-
semblance in form to a small ox-
horn, being elongated, conical
and curved. The base is excava-
ted as in the teeth of the sperma-
ceti whale, to which the extinct
cetacean was probably allied. In
structure, the tooth appears to be
wholly composed of dentine. The
length of the specimen in the
curve is 4J inches, but it appears
when entire, to have been half an
inch longer. The section of the
base is oval, and is 14 lines in one
diameter and 12 lines in the
other.

212

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FIG 34.

The oldest specimen of fossil be-
longing to the whale or cetacean
family, belongs to the genus Phy-
seter, and is regarded as the P. an-
tiquus, (fig. 34.) It occurs in the
eocene of Craven county. The
size of the teeth pro re that they
belonged to the largest of the class.
The largest tooth measures six inch-
es in circumference, and is five and
a half inches long, though a por-
tion has been broken from the base.
Its form is quadrangular, and pre-
sents a curve in front, but is rather
straight behind. It shows no con-
ical cavity, but is solid throughout.
It shows' a tendency to exfoliate
concentrically. Many fragments
more or less rolled and otherwise
defaced, have been seen in the mi-
ocene beds upon the Tar River. —
It is probable they may have been
removed from a lower to an upper
formation.

irORTH-CABOLINA GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY. 213

CHAPTEK XYI.

REPTILIA.

Description of Reptilian remains of the marl beds of North-Carolina, —
Reptiles of the Green sand.

I was fortunate in discovering a vertebra of a large size on
the lower Cape Fear, which, at the time, I supposed to be
new. As the discovery was confined to this single piece of
the skeleton, I deemed it insufficient to draw from it special
conclusions respecting the family of saurians to which it be-
longed.

Since this discovery, Prof. II. D. Rodgers has presented to
Prof. Owen, of London, a collection of vertebrae from the
green sand of New Jersey, among which I find the saurian
described, to which my North-Carolina fossil must belong.

Figure 34 (A.) represents the vertebra from the upper part of
the green sand of North-Carolina. It belongs to the lumber
region. Its type is procelian, that is, it is concave before
and convex -behind, like the crocodiles of the present day.
The body is long, and from the anterior half it sends off'
strong processes at nearly right angles, which are thin and
strong. The articulating extremities are less concave and
convex than those of the alligators of the Southern States.
In this character I find it agrees essentially with those of
New Jersey.

The abdominal face is smooth, and marked by two, or a
pair of elongated holes, situated rather nearer the concave
than the convex end. The body is cylindrical, especially pos-
teriorly. Prof. Owen refers the New Jersey saurian to the
lizards and to the mososaurian type. The name which has
been conferred upon this remarkable saurian is Macrosaurus.
If my determination is right with respect to the identity of
the New Jersey and North-Carolina specimens, it will be
known by the same name. This vertebra is three and three

214

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

. . . , ,. . , . , , , i~

quarter inches long, including convexity, which equals half
an inch, and six inches from the end of one parapophysis to
the other ; across the concave articulation nearly two and a
half inches ; across the convex, two inches ; length of the
lateral process, nearly two inches.

FIG. 34 (A.)

The entire length of this saurian cannot have been less
than twenty-five feet, and it is a fact worthy of notice, that

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

gaurians of this description inhabited a region as far north as
New- York, while at the present day their limits are confined
to the central parts of North-Carolina. This fact, no doubt,
indicates a milder climate in New- York and New-Jersey than
is known at the present day. All the large land reptiles are
confined to the warmer regions of the globe.

CROCODILUS ANTIQUUS.— LEIDY.

Another extinct saurian (fig. 35, A.,) is indicated in the dis-
covery of vertebras, which belong to, or are found in, the mio-
cene marls. The most perfect one which I have obtained, is

the 2d caudal, which

FIG. 35. (A.) as Jt is possible to

identify it, may be
compared with the
Alligator luscius, the
common large rep-
tile of the Southern
States, inasmuch, too
as it belongs to the
same type of verte-
brae.

This vertebra dif-
fers from the corres-
ponding one to which
I have referred it ; it
is rather larger and

thicker, and the proportion of its parts differ also. Its length
is one quarter of an inch greater, but its diameter at the con-
cave end is three-eighths greater, and the size or diameter of
the body is still greater. The fossil is thick through its whole
length, and varies but little at the ends ; or it is much less
compressed laterally than the vertebra of the living Alliga-
tor, and what is equally worthy of note, is, that the transverse
processes come out more immediately from the body of the
vertebra than the other. One more point may be made; a
ridge of bone begins near the middle at the concave end, and
runs a little downwards, until it reaches a slightly constricted

216

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURTET.

part just before the border which surrounds the convex ex-
tremity; this gives the appearance of breadth to the bone
when we look upon the abdominal face. There is a slender
sharp ridge occupying the same relative position in the Alli-
gator, but it seems to originate at the convex extremity. A
slight groove runs longitudinally upon this face. Length, one
and eight-tenths; width, over the concave end, one and five-
tenths inches.

From all that I have been able to glean from the discover-
ies of others in this country, these vertebra appear to belong
to a species which has been discovered in the miocene marls
of New Jersey and Virginia. The species is now extinct,*

The cranial plates, one of which is illustrated by figure 30,
belongs to a large unknown saurian. These were taken from

FIG. 36.

the miocene upon the Neuse, fifteen miles below Goldsboro'.
They are over half an inch thick, and ornamented with deep
sculpturings, and from their massiven ess might be referred to
the Macrosaurus. But this reptile belongs to an older formation.
I. have, however a laniary tooth of the proper dimensions to
correspond in size with the saurian, which may have been
provided with this impenetrable armour, and also the middle

* Proceeding of the Academy of Nat. Sciences, Phil., Vol. V, p. 307.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

217

part of a femur to match both the plates and tooth, and all
from the miocene or shell marl. The materials, however, for
drawing np a proper description of this saurian, do not exist
at present.

MOSSOSAURUS.

Tooth sharp pointed, pyramidal and curved backwards ;
enamel moderately and finely wrinkled ; surface divided into
two unequal parts by well defined and finely serrate carinae,
the anterior of which is considerably curved on the last half
inch, which forms the apex. Base of the outer surface smooth,
and forming the segment of a large circle ; this smooth
band is usually covered with a thin enamel, and is a little over
a line wide. The rest of the outer surface is divided by three
ridges, the middle is strong, and extends to the point ; the an-
terior dies out about half an inch from the apex ; the posterior
is inconsiderable, and extends a little more than half way to

the apex ; these ridges divide the surface

towards the base

into three slight-

ly concave surfaces.

The inferior has

eight distinct ridges

none of which reach

the apex ; these di-

vide this strongly convex face into nine

slightly concave facets, of which those ad-

jacent to the carinae are the widest, (Fig.

36, A.) side view, natural size, (Fig. 37,)

viewed from the point, showing the di-

vision into parts and its polygonal form.
Ifc-is possible this tooth may differ from

others which have been described. It

differs from the one described by Dr.
DeKay* in being finely rugose, and distinctly serrate, neither
does he speak of angularities, though they are faintly indi-

. 36. (A.)

FIG. 37.

* Annals of the Lyceum of N. Y., vol. 3, p. 186.

218

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

cated as existing upon the outer face in his transverse section,
but that those faces are concave has not been stated by any
writer.

The transverse section of the tooth, Mossosaurus Hoffman i,
given by Prof. Owen, has no angularities at all on either
face — the figure of the M. Maximiliani exhibits them upon
the anterior face, but none upon the inner.

The tooth which I have just described is perfect, and not
worn ; the figures are good illustrations of its characters, and
it appears, therefore, that the characters are either not uniform
or else there are two species belonging to the green sand. It
is evident that the tooth in question belongs to the species,
Maximiliani, rather than the lioffrnani or gracilis.

Fio. 37. (A.)

POLYGONODON RECTUS, LEIDY. MOSSOSAURUS RECTUS.

Tooth long, pointed, compressed; near-
ly equally divided on the outer and in-
ner faces ; the faces are formed by five
equal and similar planes, bounded by
angular ridges, only two of which, on
each face, can be said to approach the
apex ; these are the two anterior and twro
posterior ridges curved backwards ; bi-
carinate ; but the posterior edge is near-
ly straight, while it has a convexity be-
fore which gives an apparent curvature
which does not exist ; edges smooth ;
enamel is probably thin or removed,
leaving a dense dentine, with fine longitudinal cracks which
appear at first like fine striae. The tooth is broken at the
base of the crown, showing a shallow pulp cavity.

This tooth differs from any of the preceding in its form and
surface. It is particularly noticeable, that the part near the
base is distinctly angular, and is divided into ten nearly equal
planes, and is bounded by well defined angles. All these
angles extend a little above the middle of the tooth. It dif-
fers from either of the three species of Mossosausus in its pro-
portions. It also differs from the teeth of the Leiodon, by be-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

219

ing much more compressed. The teeth of the Polyptichodon
are circular, and the teeth also of the Pliogonodon, which I
found upon the Cape Fear, are also quite circular and conical.
It is possible it may be a palatine tooth of the M. Maximilian!.
It differs, however, in form from those teeth. It appears to
have had that kind of attachment to the jaw, which has been
called acrodont. Length, one and three-quarter inches ;
width, at base, seven-sixteenths.

FIG

POLYPTYCHODON — OWEN. POLYPTOCHODON KUGOSUS. E.

The teeth (Figs. 38 and 39) which are represented in the
margin were discovered in a bed of miocene marl at Elizabeth-
town, Bladen county, in 1852-'3. They were regarded at
the time as having belonged to an extinct undescribed species.
I have had hopes that other parts of this saurian would be
discovered which would throw some
light upon its organization and form,
but as yet no bones which can be re-
ferred to the genus, or species to which
the teeth belonged, have come to
light. Saurian bones of a large size
are not wanting which may have be-
longed to the teeth under considera-
tion, but more than one species have
been discovered. In one instance the
middle of a large femur; in others
cranial plates, the sculpturing of which
are quite different, are among the
bones which have been discovered.
These, however, are disconnected frag-
ments, and hence are insufficient to
settle the question of ownership. The
epoch to which the bones referred to
belong is not at all established. Large
saurian vertebra have been found in
the green sand, and teeth resembling
those found at Elizabethtown in the
eocene marl upon the Neuse. Hence it is probable that the

220

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FIG. 39.

epoch of these reptiles is earlier than that of the miocene

beds. They are found in those
beds for the same reason that
the exogyra costata of the green
sand is also found in the mio-
eene. While it is clear enough
that fossils have been washed
out of the green sand into the
miocene. I have no evidence
that they have been transport-
ed into the eocene, the next
series above. The deposits seem
to have quietly succeeded the
green sand ; but when the mio-
cene period arrived, there was
a breaking up of the older
series, and their contents carri-
ed immediately up to this pe-
riod, and under favorable cir-
cumstances fossils of both periods were intermingled together,
and hence I regard the animals under consideration to have
lived before the miocene beds were deposited.

The teeth which I have figured I have referred to a genus
of crocodilian reptiles established by Prof. Owen, and which,
in England, belonged to the chalk or cretaceous system.

The following description is drawn from the teeth before
me : Teeth thick and conical, and slightly curved ; trans-
verse section circular or round ; enamel traversed longitudi-
nally by numerous transversely rugose cracks, the strongest
of which reach the apex ; no trenchant edges or carinae
proper.

The teeth are only gently curved ; they are very strong
and robust, and the enamel is traversed by rather irregular
rugose ridges, which appear like cracks. The inside ridge is
stronger than the others, and are formed of two confluent
ones, and takes the place of a carina, and extends to the
point in the young tooth ; but in old and worn teeth most of
the ridges terminate considerably below the apex. The sur-

NORTH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

221

face of the young tootli (Fig. 39) is very rough, and the edge?
of the rugosities are realy, irregularly serrate, and run into
each other. The section is round at all places, from the base
to the apex. Its crown is hollow, and its pulp cavity presents
a conical hollow which extends about one-third of the length
of the crown. On exposure to the weather, the crown ex-
foliates in conical layers. Below the crown, that part known
as the root is hollow, but has a thick strong shell, which on
the concave side has three wide shallow furrows ; the middle
one is exactly in the concavity ; they occupy about one-third
of the cylinder; the remainder is perfectly circular.

Prof. Owen's description of the potyptychodon* is as fol-
lows : " Teeth thick and conical ; transverse section of the
crown circular, without larger or trenchant ridges ; enamel
ridged longitudinally, but only a few reaching the apex.
The crowns, when weathered, exfoliate in a conical' manner
by detached layers, like a cone in conej base having a con-
ical pulp cavity which opens into the crown in distinct
sockets."

The foregoing description of Prof. Owen, of the genus Po-
lyptychodon, applies so well to our teeth, that there can re-
main scarcely a dtmbt as to their generic identity. It is,
however, only a generic similarity ; the species appears to be
quite different from both of the species described by Prof.
Owen, and from its remarkable rugose enamel, I propose as
its specific name, rugosus.

It differs from the Alligator in the absence of a deep con-
striction at the base of the crown, from the Pliogonodon of
Leidy, by its robustness and rugosities, and from the Ellipton-
odon, by its circular section, this having a circular section only
at the base of the crown, while in the former the crown haa
a circular section from base to apex.

Sculptured Cranial Plate, (Fig. 40.) — These plates are sep-
arated from each in the line of suture, and are generally bro-
ken. They are thick and strong, and were no doubt sufficiently

* Palaeontographical Society's translation, p. 46, rol. for 1851. (Description of ths
P. interuptus and continuus.)

222

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

BO to resist the entrance of a musket ball. The same remarks

it regards ownership

as

FiG. 40.

have already been made,
respecting other bones of
this class, so common in
these deposits. That there
were two, at least, power-
ful reptiles, is evident from
their bones and teeth, but
in no instance have two
been found attached, and
in such relations that it
|would be safe to affirm that
they belonged to the same individual.

FIGS. 41 & 42.

EL LIPTONODON COMPRESS US . EMMON 8 .

Tootli curved, robust, sub-conical and
pointed ; crown circular at base, becom-
ing elliptical, and finally sub-elliptical, or
with the inside more flattened or less
convex than the other ; bicarinate ; the
anterior ridge becoming obsolete near
the base of the crown, and without ser-
ratures or rugosities ; enamel rather tine-

O '

ly wrinkled longitudinally, or faintly ru-
gose, and none of the rugosities extend to
the apex; dentine is concentric; pulp
cavity open, conical, carinate. Figures
natural size. Figure 42, transverse sec-
tion.

This tooth is broken at the base of the
crown, and has lost a small part of its
apex.

It differs very clearly from the Polyp-
tychodon, Pliogonodon, Mossosaurus or
Fleiosaurus. The clear and distinct marks of difference aiv
shown in the figures of each referred to except the Pleiosau-
rus. This tooth was found in the miocene near the Cape

NORTH -CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

223

Fear River, in Bladen county. As the bones which have
been found in these beds indicate the existence at a prior pe-
riod of two large and formidable saurians, so the teeth con-
lirm this view, and I have placed in this connexion a sculp-
tured cranial plate, (tig. 40,) which may have belonged to this
species.

Additional discoveries, however, are required before it is
possible to determine to which of these plates the teeth re-
spectively belong. All the bones which are found in the mi-
ocene beds, are broken, though they are mixed with perfect
delicate shells. This fact proves that the bones were subjec-
ted to violence before they were imbedded in the rniocene,
and hence belong, probably, either to the eocene or green sand.

PLIOGONODON NOBILI3. LEIDY. (FigS. 43 & 44.*)

In the collection of Prof. Ernmons there are two, much
mutilated teeth of a saurian discovered in a miocene deposit
of Gape Fear, North-Carolina. These teeth, which have lost

their fang and summit, are clou,
gated conical, nearly straight or
only slightly curved inwardly.
Their section is circular with an
inner pair of opposed carinne ;
and their surface is subdivided
into numerous narrow planes and
provided with a few vertical in-
terrupted plicae, which are more
numerous internally. The base
of the crown is conically hollow :
the dentine is concentric ; and
the enamel is finely wrinkled.

The specimens measure three-fourths of an inch in diameter
at base, and are about one and a half inches long, but when
perfect their crown has been a half inch longer.

FIGS. 43 & 44,

* These teeth appear to differ, one has a coarser aspect, and the striar are coarser,
and it is more curved, and proportion differs. Description by Prof. Leidj.

224

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FIGS. 45 & 46

From the teeth of Mososaurus those of Pliogonodon differ
in their narrower proportion, their straightness, their circular
transverse section, their relatively narrower planes, and in
their possession of plicae. From the teeth of Polyptychodon
they differ in the possession of dissimilar planes and carinae,
and in their less degree of robustness ; and from those of
Pleiosaurus in the existence of divisional planes and the cir-
cular section.

PREPANODON IMPAR. LEIDY. (FigS. 45 & 46.*)

This genus and species are proposed on the crown of a
tooth resembling the corresponding portion of the inferior

canine of a bear, except that it has
but a single carina, and that on the
concave border internally. The spe-
cimen was discovered by Prof. Em-
mons, at Elizabethtown, Cape Fear,
North-Carolina. It is black in color,
curved, conical, most convex exter-
nally, and is oval in transverse section. The base is hollowed
conically, and the enamel is smooth. The length of the spe-
cimen is three-quarters of an inch ; the antero posterior di-
ameter of its base is seven lines, and its transverse diameter
five lines.

The tooth I suspect to have belonged to a crocodilian rep-
tile, though it may possibly even prove to be a mammalian
relic.

* Described by Prof. Leidy.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

225

CHAPTER XVII.

PISCES.

Description of the remains of Fish in the> North-Carolina Marl beds.

FIGS. 47 & 48.

ISCHYRHIZA ANTIQUA. LEIDY.

The curious genus Ischyrhiza,
was first brought to my notice
by the discovery of a tooth in
the Green Sand of ISTew Jersey, by
Prof. Leidy. My collection con-
tains several teeth discovered on
the Neuse River. In most speci-
mens the crown has lost its apex,
but the fang is entire. In the per-
fect condition, the crown has been
laterally compressed, conical and
inverted with smooth, shining en-
amel. The fang expands from the crown in a pyramidal man-
ner; is quadrilateral, curved backward, and divided at base
antero-posteriorly ; the division becoming deeper posteriorly.
The larger specimen, in the figure, which is of a red color,
when perfect, was nearly, or perhaps quite two inches in
length. Its fang is an inch long, eight lines antero-perterior-
ly at base, and six lines transversely. The base of the crown
is oval in section, and measures six lines antero-perteriorly,
and five lines transversely.

The smaller specimen is black in color, and was about half
an inch shorter than the other. Its fang is about ten lines
long, and at base is about six lines square. It belongs to
miocene of Korth-Carolina.

IX)SSIL SQUALIDAE OF THE TERTIARY OF THE EASTERN COUNTIES.

The fossil squalid ae, or sharks, are known only by their
teeth, as these are the only parts which are usually preserved.
16

226 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Their vertebrae are sometimes preserved, but they must be
exceedingly rare in beds which are as loose as the clays and
sands of the tertiary deposits. But the teeth, being protect-
ed by a very dense enamel, and having a firm strong core, re-
sist change for ages ; it is in these organs, therefore, that
memorials of this highly interesting order of fish have been
preserved.

The teeth being attached loosely to a cartilaginous jaw.
are almost always separated and detached ; and hence, they
occur singly. Of the mode in which they are connected, we
are informed by the living species which inhabit the adjacent
seas. From this source of information, we may be assured
that these single teeth were arranged in several rows in both
jaws ; that only a single one, those of the front, stood up-
right, while the remainder lay flat with the points directed
backwards, or obliquely so. When the front teeth drop out.
its place is supplied at once by the uprising of that one which
is opposite the vacant space. The teeth, though very numer-
ous, differ but little in form, though they differ more in size.
The most remarkable difference may be observed on compar-
ing the symphysal teeth, or middle row with those on each
side. Thus, Fig, 49, shows a front section of the lower jaw
of the galeocerdo arctimis ; the outer row standing upright,

FIG. 49.

those behind lying flat, and the middle teeth consisting of a
series of small ones. This figure, therefore, is a type by
which the reader may compare the prevailing arrangements
in the existing, as well as in this extinct family of fishes.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

227

GENUS CARCHARODON. — SMITH.

Teeth very large, broad, triangular and rather uniformly
dentated in both jaws. The enamel is usually cracked longi-
tudinally ; roots massive and divergent ; inside nearly flat ;
surfaces smooth, and scarcely ever striated.

CARCHARODON MEGALODON.— AGASS. (Fig. 50.)

This species has the form of an equilateral triangle, though

FIG. 50.

228

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

it admits of slight variations ; teeth somewhat oblique, or in-
clined to the posterior end ; upper, or outer side, nearly flat ;
imder side prominently convex in the middle ; enamel cracked
longitudinally on both sides, particularly along the middle ;
serratures rather indistinct from the use of the tooth ; core
coarsely striated. It is usually found in the miocene beds,
and is the most common upon the Cape Fear.

If the size of the teeth furnish an indication of the strength,
size and ferocity of this species of shark, then it must have
been one of the largest and most formidable animals of the
ocean, combining, as Prof. Owen remarks, with the organiza-
tion of the shark, its bold and insatiable character, they must
have constituted the most terriffic and irresistable of the pre-
daceous monsters of the ancient deep. The largest of the
teeth measure sometimes six inches in length, and from four
to live wide at base.

The jaws of the largest species of shark known in modern
times measure about four feet around the upper, and three

feet eight inches around

the lower jaw. The
length of the largest
tooth is two inches, and
the total length of the
shark, when living, was
thirty-seven feet. If the
proportions of the ex-
tinct shark bore the
same as those of the
living, their length must
Iiave been over one
hundred feet, equaling
in this respect, the larg-
est of the whales.

Figure 51 shows a smaller tooth of the carcharodon mega-
lodon.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

229

CHARCHARODON FEROX. N. S. (FigS. 52, 53, 54.)

Form nearly an equilateral triangle, thick ; inner face very

FIGS. 52 & 53.

230

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

convex, outer nearly flat, and slightly champered towards

FlG- 54- the edges, and also slightly

convex near the middle ; ser-
atures small, root thick, stout
and straight across the base,
and sloping on the inner face.
The form of this tooth diifers
materially from the megalod-
on, especially in the relations
of its height and breadth ;
height, four inches and a half,
breadth at base, five inches ;
thickness of the root, one inch
and a half, measured over the
slope ; length from the apex to
the base of the root, five inch-
es, measured along the edge ;
thickness at the middle, one
inch. Found in the eocene of
Craven county, JST. C. The
dimension of this species of
shark equals that of the car-
charodon megalodon. The
tooth is thicker and stouter
than this species, and more
convex posteriorly, straighter
across the base, and propor-
tionally wider. Fig. 52 shows
the outline of the tooth, fig. 54
is an edge view, and figure 53
a transverse section, showing
convexity of the inferior face, and the flatness of the superior.

CARCHARODON STJLCIDENS. AGASS. (FigS. 55 & 56.)

Teeth large, thin and pointed ; their forms correspond very
closely to that of an isosceles triangle. They are flat on one
side ; the enamel extends to the root on both sides ; it is more
regularly sulcated upon the convex than upon the other side ;
fig. 55 young of the sulcidens.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
FIG. 56.

231

CARCHARODON ANGUSTIDEN8. (FigS. 57 & 58.
FIG. 57.

232

NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Crown only slightly oblique, rather thick, but comparative-
ly narrow, but wide at base, and armed with serrated wing-
lets, pointing upwards and outwards ; the serratures are strong-
er than those upon the crown ; roots massive, and separated
by a distinct arch. Figure 58, a tooth which should probably
referred to this species, though the arch of the root is flatter.

Prof. Gibbs, on the authority of Prof. Agassiz, has merged
in the carcharodon angustidens, the following species : C. lan-
ceolatus, 0. heterodon, C. megalotis, C. semi-serratus, C. au-
riculatus, C. turgidus, C. semi-serratus, and C. toliapicus, on
the ground that they are insufficiently characterized and not
clearly distinguishable from each other.

CAECHAEODON TRTANGTJLARIS, N. S. (Fig. 59.)

Crown of the tooth rather thin ; the posterior faces of the
crown meeting in the central line at an obtuse angle, but upon

FIG. 59.

**•••—•

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

238

FIG. 59, a.

each side of this line they are quite flat ; enamel thin, serra-
tures small, root thick, striated and heavy, with a very low
arch.

This tooth scarcely exhibits the usual convexities of either
face ; the faces being bounded by plane surfaces, the meeting
of which give an obtuse angle when obtained by a central
section through the crown. It belongs to the eocene, and was
obtained from a bed near JNTewbern.

C. CRASIDENS, N. S. (Fig. 59, a.)

Tooth sub-conical, thick, slightly oblique ; inner face very
convex, outer flat at base, evenly but flatly convex near the

apex, with an inconsiderable
ridge extending from the
base to a point near the apex,
and somewhat ridged across
the whole of the base of the
outer face ; serrae, sub-equal,
and armed with serrate wings
at base ; root thick and pro-
minent on the inside ; en-
amel extends on the outer
face to the root, and is ex-
tended continuously over the
wings. This tooth belongs
to the eocene at Wilmington.
It is distinguishable from oth-
er teeth belonging to this
order of fishes, by its very
uniform degree of thickness
from the base of the root,
near its termination, at the apex.

CARCHARODON CONTORTIDENS. N. S. (Fig. 60.)

Tooth an irregular cone, with the crown twisted near the
summit; base of the root nearly plane, with the branches
projecting upwards, rather than downwards, so much so as to
stand upright when placed upon its base; inside the base

234

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

projects enormously inward ; enamel thin ; serratures small,
subequal ; inner face very convex ; outer nearly flat at base,
but traversed longitudinally by an inconsiderable prominence.

FIG. 58.

FIG. 60.

Only one tooth of this description has been obtained from
the eocene at Wilmington. The form of the tooth is very
peculiar, and may be readily distinguished by the great thick-
ness of its root and projection inward. This projection is
on a level with the branches of the root. The twist also, at
the extremity, is also, a prominent feature in this tooth. It
is probable, this tooth indicates the existence of a genus,
which should be separated from the carcharodon, but the ex-
istence of a single tooth does not furnish all the characteris-
tics which probably belong to it.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 235

SPHENODUS RECTIDENS. N. S. (FigS. 61 & 62.)

Tooth very long ; comparatively slender ; both
62* faces convex ; internal more so than the external ;
becoming narrower towards the edges ; the base
in some of the teeth trenchant, then nearly par-
allel two- thirds the length ; enamel rather thick
grooved on the inside, and cracked longitudinally
on both, with a texture coarser than in the
lamna ; root unknown. Figure 62, transverse
section. Green sand of l^orth-Carolina.

GENUS HEMIPRISTIS.

Apex simple and smooth; margins of the tooth
denticulated to a point near the apex.

HEMIPRISTIS SERRA. — AGASS. — (Fig. 63.)

The H. serra is characterized by
teeth which are serrated to a point near
the apex, where the serratures cease,
and the margins are left smooth.

HEMIPRISTIS CRENULATUS. N. S.

Form similar to the H. serra ; sides
convex, long at base, and rather thick ;
enamel smooth, and marked with only

a few cracks ; edges at base faintly crenate ; entire towards

the apex.

GENUS OXYRHINA.

Tooth flat, broad, oblique, lanceolate and smooth, widening
at base rapidly ; root thin and nearly straight, and destitute
of spreading branches or forks.

236 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

OXYRHINA XYPHODON. AGASS. (Fig. 64:.)

Lanceolate ; base of the flat side
marked with shallow furrows; en-
amel extends a little lower on the
inner than outer side.

OXYRHINA HASTILIS. AGASS. (FigS. 65 & 66.)

Tooth rather elongated ; lanceolate ; nearly equilateral ;
bone of the enamel more arched than that of the oxyrhina

FIG. 65.

FIG. 66.

xyphodon, and the root seems to be less developed,
ly resembles the xyphodon.

It close-

OXYRHINA DESORH. GIBBS. — (Fig. 67.)

Tooth thick and strong ; roots well developed and forked ;
enamel similar in texture to the carcharodon, and also cracked
longitudinally.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

237

It differs from the former in the character of the enamel,
curvatures, the absence of serratures..
and the form and development of its
root.

PIG. 67.

GENUS GALEOCERDO. — AGASS.

This genus is an inhabitant of our
present seas, and the species arcticus
(Fig. 49) very closely resembles the
galeocerdo aduncus, whose teeth are
abundant in the miocene marl beds
of North-Carolina. In both jaws the
teeth are similar and equal. They form
five rows, which contain twenty-three
teeth each, an odd small tooth occu-
pying a middle position over the sym-
physis. The back teeth become small and are relatively
shorter than the side teeth, presenting in this respect
an approach to the form of the teeth described as the
galeocerdo latidens. In two species of galeocerdo which dif-
fer in size, the serratures are constant and preserve a great
uniformity; and the common character of the serratures
seems to be, that which might be called compound, by which
I mean, that each notch is itself notched, and it is possible
that many of the species possessed this character more or
less, but have lost it by wear in their usage.

Figure 49 shows the arrangement of the front teeth of the
lower jaw in the galeocedo arcticus, and the position of a small
series of teeth immediately above the simphysis.

GALEOCERDO ADUNCUS. AGASS.

Tooth oblique angulated, and winged on one side, or with
the sides unequal. Anterior face convex, posterior rather
flat. Serrate, serratures unequal, the first upon the wing the
largest ; upon the arched edge the serratures are largest upon
the lower half of the crown.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

GLLEOCERDO EGARTONI.

Tooth small, rather flat, lanceolate, slightly oblique, convex
on both faces of the crown, but concave at the base on the
outer face ; root spreading widely, and obscurely wrinkled ;
serratures sub-equal, serrate or finely lobed ; the enamel ex-
tends lower on the outer than the inner side. The latter
character I am disposed to regard as its most distinguishable,
for though the size of the teeth of this species may vary con-
siderably, the character of the serratures will be preserved.

GALEOCERDO STTB-CRENATUS, N. S.

Tooth nearly upright, or with only a slight obliquity poste-
riorly ; anterior edge formed by an arch belonging to the
lower half, while the apical extremity or half the edge is
straight, posterior edge is also straight for two-thirds the dis-
tance from the apex to the base, below which, the edge is
drawn inwards ; there is a constriction also on the opposite
edge at the base of the crown ; edges rather obsoletely cre-
nate than serrate, smooth near the apex, and the smoother
wing of the posterior edge stands at right angles to the axis
of the crown ; upper face rather flat, and marked by a faint
rounded ridge extending from the base to the apex, and the
surface slopes only from this ridge to the margins. The char-
acteristics of this species will be gathered from the preceding
description. The absence of distinct serratures, the form of
the crown, its constriction at base, are the most important
points, in which respects it differs from any which I have
seen.

GALEOCERDO PRISTODONTUS. AGASS. (Fig. 68.)

Crown large, oblique ; anterior edge irregularly arched,
and extending much farther upon the base
than the opposite edge ; upon the flat, or
nearly flat face, or outer one, the enamel
extends below that on the convex side :
seratures unuequal. Hare in Xorth-Caro-
lina, but I have several specimens, and
from Dr. Gibbs's account of it, it seems
to be still more rare in South-Carolina.

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

239

FIG. 69.

G. LATIDENS. (Fig. 69.)

Differs from the preceding in its pro-
portional length of base, being considera-
bly greater.

The crown is low, and the enamel ex-
tends lower upon the outer face ; the sen-
atures subequal ; apex pointed.

It is much more common than the G.

pristodontus.

GENUS LAMNA.

Teeth rather flat, narrow and elongated ; smooth, and
usually furnished with appendages at base.

LAMNA ELEGANS. AGASS. (FigS. 70, 71 & 71 A.)

Tooth narrow, lanceolate ; inner face quite convex, outer
rather flat and smooth ; the former regularly striate at base.

FIG. 70.

FIG. 71 A.

FIG. 71.

but towards the middle the striae degenerate into wrinkles ;
the outer ones are short, and but reach the edge of the tooth at
base. The L. elegans is very common in the miocene beds of
North-Garoltna. Fig. 71 A, side view.

L. (ODONTASPIS) CONTOETIDENS.

Specimens which answer to the figures of this species, given
by Prof. Gibbs, especially in the irregular form and absence

240

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

of denticulatious at base. In other characters there is only a
slight difference between this and the L. elegans. They are
found in the same beds.

FIG. 72.

FIG. 73.

L. COMPRESSA.

Compressed or flat, both faces convex and
sub-equal, base irregularly denticulated; root
wide and spreading. It differs widely from
L. elegans and contortedens, but resemble*
the otodus; but Prof. Gibbs remarks that they
are more lanciform, and the core more slen-
der than the otodus.

Figures 73 and 74 appear to belong to the
lamna. They are rather thick
and stout, and resembles verv

FIG. 74. *

^ .closely an oxyrhma. Mio-

JrA cene.

J|4\ Figures 75, 76, 77, 78, 79,

4H ^ 8° an(* 81 kelon to the eo-

FIGS. 75 & 76.

cene.

FIGS. 77 & 78.

FIGS. 79 & 80.

FIG. 81.

L. CRASIDENS.

Tooth thick and comparatively short ; not very thick and
projecting inwardly ; inner face striate as in the preceding
species.

GENUS OTODUS.

Tooth rather broad and flat, and armed with equal sharp
denticles at base ; root rather thick, projecting inward.

OTODUS APPENDICULATUS. AGASS.

Tooth oblique, sharp or pointed, faces unequally convex :

I

NORTH- CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

241

denticles rather prominent and strong ; line of base nearly
horizontal ; roots spreading widely, forming a very obtuse
angle with each other.

I have referred also the following figures of teeth to the
genus otodus : 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88. They all belong to
the eocene formation, and occur in a layer near the top. They
are from the plantation of Mr. Wadsworth, of Craven county.

FIGS. 82 & 83.

FIGS. 84 & 85.

FIGS. 86 & 87.

FJG. bfe.

GENUS CORAX.

The following figures of teeth found in the eocene of Craven
county. I am unable to refer them to species already describ-
ed, viz : 82, 83, 84, 85.

FIG. 82a.

FIG. 83a.

FIG. 84a.

FIG. 85a.

FIGS. 86a & 87a.

GENUS ODONTASPIS. — (Figs. 86a, 87a, 88a, 89a.)

This genus should have followed larnna:
I now introduce it for the purpose of re-
ferring to odontaspis, (figs. 86 and 87,)
which appear to belong to this genus ra-
ther than lamna. So, also, figs. 88 and
89, which are destitute of basal denticles :
but the cutting edge of the crown extends
over the fangs and is slightly expanded
on this part of the tooth; it preserves also
its cutting edge. Eocene of Craven county.
I have no facilities at hand which en-
able me to make a correct reference of the
eocene odontolites, and have to trust to

242 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

my memory in making the references to the genera to which
they belong.

CARCHARODON. — (Fig. 90.)

NOTE. — The annexed figure of a tooth, which may
probably be referred to this genus, is confined to
the eocene of Craven county. I have been unable
to refer it to a species already made known.

SUB ORDER. THE RAYS.

The rays are distinguished from sharks proper, by the flat-
ness of their bodies. There are several species in the sea
bordering the coast of ^Torth- Carolina, one of which is known
by the name of sting ray. The rays form three families: 1,
the pristides, familiarly known as the saw fishes, whose muz-
zles are elongated into a flat long extension, armed on each
margin by pointed teeth; 2, rajides, or rays, whose muzzle is
simple, but whose tails are not armed with a sting; 3, the
mylliobatides, comprehending those rays whose tails are
armed with a sting. The remains of the latter family are
known in the tertiary and cretaceous of North-Carolina.
Their teeth differ in form from those of the sharks, and would
scarcely be regarded as teeth at all, were it not for their oc-
currence in the living species upon the coast. They are
placed in the mouth in the form of a pavement, and occupy
the areas within the mouth of both jaws. They differ in form
from the pycnodonts in being angular. They are employed
in crushing hard bodies, as the shells of the inolusca. Their
mouths are placed below, and well situated for seizing the
animals upon which they feed.
'

FAMILY PRISTIDES.

Fish which have a prolonged, bony muzzle, armed with a
plain horizontal series of teeth upon each margin.

GENUS PRISTIS. — (Fig. 93.)

Single teeth broken from the flat plate near its junction
have been found in the superior layer of the eocene in Cra-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

243

ven county. One margin is grooved the whole length, and
straight, the other is curved and grooved only at
FIG. 93. base. Figure the natural size. I have also found
smaller ones, which belong apparently to the same
species.

FAMILY MILIOBATIDES.

Rays whose tails are provided with serratine

stings.

GENUS MILIOBATIS.

Sting dentated upon one margin. No stings of
this kind have as yet been met with.

GENUS TRYGON.

Sting with both margins dentated.

TRYGON CAROLINENSIS. N. S. (FigS. 91 & 92.)

Teeth in mosaic, the ends angular, they
being bounded by six lateral planes.

Sting serrate, (Figs. 94 & 95,) grooved
longitudinally, rounded on one side. Fig.

FIQ. 91.

FIG. 92.

FIG. 94.

FIG. 95.

95 shows the form of a tranverse section.
These specimens were found in the upper part of the eocene
marl in Craven county, and as the teeth and stings were found
in proximity, it is inferred that they belonged to one specie.

CLASS GANOIDEA. FAMILY PYCNODON1TDAE.

This family possess teeth of a cylindrical form, and which
are arranged upon both planes of the jaws in the form of a
pavement. The longer axis lies across the mouth from side
to side, but set in rows arranged from before backwards. The
middle rows contain the longest teeth, and they diminish in
length towards the sides of the mouth. An idea of this ar-

244 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

rangement may be obtained by an inspection of the mouth

of the mylliobates, the common sting ray of the

FIG. 96. coask jn this fish the teeth are set also in pavement,

tbut they are not angular. But the teeth in the
Pycnodonts are not placed with so much regularity
as in the Myliobatides.
Fig. 96 is figure of a tooth belonging to the back
part of one of the middle rows of the pavement, or
mosaic. It may be called Pycnodus Carolinensis.

The teeth of this species of fish occur in the miocene
associated with those belonging to the genera galeocerdo and
lamna. The family of pycnodonts began their career
97' in the Permian, but were the most numerous in the
Jurassic period.

Another species of pycnodont is represented by its
tooth in fig. 97, which appears to be much less com-
mon than the preceding.

SCALE OF A GANOID. (Fig. 98.)

A single scale (fig. 98,) was found in the miocene upon the
Cape Fear. The fish was closely related to the gar-pike, (le-

pidosteus,) of most of the Ame-
rican rivers. The scale occupied
a position in the first row of
scales back of the head. The
fish of this class had already be-
come rare at the commencement
of this epoch. The gar-pike is the only surviving one of this
family in the American waters.

CLASS CYCLOIDEA. — (Figs. 99, 100.)

The annexed figures represent a pe-

,»/•.-, , i« ,
culiar form ot nsn teeth, which are quite

common in some of the marl beds in
Edgecombe county. They were attach-
ed by ligament, and probably occupied
a position in the throat.

SORTH-CABOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

24:5

CHAPTER XVIII.

•

MOLLUSCA. CLASS — CEPHALOPODA.

Tills class embraces those mollusca, whose locomotive or-
gans are attached to the head. They have the form of mus-
cular arms or tentacles. Besides the arms surrounding the
head, they have fins and an apparatus by which they can pro-
pel themselves through the water by its ejection in a stream.

Some are covered by a shell, coiled in a vertical plane, 'as
the nautilus ; others are naked or destitute of an external
shell, but have an internal one, which varies much in form in
the different families.

Their eyes are well developed and their mouths are provi-
ded with jaws somewhat similar to the mandibles of a bird.
They are predatory and live on fish, crabs and shell fish.

The most remarkable part of the apparatus by which they
seize their prey, are the circular discs arranged on the under
side of their arms, by which they are enabled to produce in-
stantaneously a vacuum when applied to the surface of a fish
or a slightly yielding body. By this arrangement they are
able to seize and hold most securely their captives, and de-
vour them at leisure. As a means of escape from enemies
more powerful than themselves, they are provided with a bag
or sac filled with a dark fluid which they can eject at will, and
thereby discolor the surrounding water and escape unseen.

This sac is called the ink-bag, and the liquid is employed
for the manufacture of the India ink. Even the consolidated
fluid in the fossil ink-bags is used for this purpose.

This class is a large one, and the species which compose it
are found in all seas. They were also extremely numerous
in ancient times, and their hard parts as external and internal
shells are preserved as relics of extinct races. One of the
most common fossils of the green sand is the Belemnite,*
which is an internal shell, though its form is quite unlike one.

* From belemnon, a dart.

246

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FIG. 101.

BELEMNITELLA AMERICANA. (Fig. 101.)

The belemnitella is sub-cylindrical and tapering to a point
from its base. The sides are marked by numerous ramose
furrows, though they are arranged without much order, and
being crowded they give the surface a granulated appearance.
The base has a fissure which extends through the wall to
a conical chamber. On the back, there is an ele-
vated convex surface, narrow toward the- base,
but widens towards the apex, where it is lost.

This genus presents a great variety in form and
size ; but the foregoing characters are its constant
characteristics. It occurs at Black Rock and
Rocky Point, and is one of the characteristic fos-
sils of the green sand. It is
found also in the miocene beds,
but is there by accident.

FIG. 103. Fia. 102.

Fio. 105. FIG. 104.

BELEMNITELLA COMHRESSA. N. 8.

(Fig. 102.)

Shell slender, transverse sec-
tion elliptical at base, and it be-
comes gradually more flattened
to its apex ; the fissure of the
base is short ; surface uneven
and somewhat irregular. This
species is entirely destitute of
the granulations, or the convex
surface of the preceding species.
The green sand of North-Caro-
lina is poor in cephalopods. I
have not yet observed either an ammonite
or nautilus, though they occur sparingly in
the eocene.

In the eocene of Craven county I found
numerous specimens of the bony or horny
cores of the jaws of cephalopods. I have
not been able to determine the family to
which they belong. Fig. 104 represents their
form and size. They occur only in the up-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 247

per part of the formation associated with sharks' teeth, and
teeth and stings of one or two species of ray.

CLASS GASTEROPODA. FAMILY MURICIDAE.

The muricidae are generally readily distinguished by their
roughness occasioned by the periodical expansion of its lip.
These being permanent, the shell is strongly marked by the
rough shelly expansions along the lines of growth, as in the
murex. The shell preserves its spiral form ; the outer lip is
entire behind, and the front prolonged in a straight canal.
The eyes of this family are sessile and seated on tentacles ;
the animal has a broad foot.

GENUS MUREX. LINN. ROCK SHELL.

The shell is roughened, or winged with the periodical ex-
pansions of its lip, which are permanent after it has advanced
to a mature state.

MUREX UMBRIFER — CON. CERASTOMA UMBRIFER TOUMEY AND

HOLMES FOSSILS SOUTH-CAROLINA FROM CON. MSS. (Fig. 104a. )

FIG. io4a. Shell fusiform ; whirl?

subcari nated, or angulat-
ed and provided with
six foliated and rather
broad renexed lamina,
spirally arranged. Mi-
ocene Cape Fear River.

MUREX GLOBOSA. (Fig. 105 A.)

Shell rather globose, or obtusely fusiform, and with four
principal varices ; intermediate ones irregular and spirally,
traversed by many angular ridges, body whirl inflated, aper-
ture oval, peristome continuous, and extended posteriorly on
the body whirl, forming an angulated canal ; outer lip ridged
within and crenulated on the margin ; collumela lip ridged.

248

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

and one ridge at the posterior angle ; beak reflexed. Mio-
cene of the Cape Fear River ; half the natural size.

FIG. 105 A.

FIG. 106.

MUREX SEXCOSTATA. — (Fig. 106.)

Shell fusiform, with three spinons varices, and traversed
spirally by angular ridges. Canal closed
beak slightly reflexed. The body whirl has
six ridges or ribs, with an intermediate
lesser ridge. Shell imperfect,

BUSICON CARICA, CON — PYRULA CARICA, GOUJLD,
FULGUR CARICA, CON.

This shell is pyriform, swollen, thick
and heavy. The outside is ornamented by
transverse striae, and also with compressed
tubercles, which stand upon the most prom-
inent part of the body whirl. The outer
lip is simple and sharp, pillar lip flexuous
and concave above.
The suture of this species is not channelled, neither has it
a turrited spire. It is one of the most common fossils of cer-

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

249

tain marl beds upon the Cape Fear river, but is less common
upon the Neuse. It is one of the common living species upon
the Atlantic coast.

FIG. 107.

BUSICON PERVERSUM, CCN PYRULA PERVERSA, REEVE. (Fig. 107.)

This shell is also pear-shaped and
swollen. The prominent part of the
whirl is ornamented with tubercles, and
is also coronated ; the whirls are turned
to the left.

It is common upon the coast. It is
very abundant in a post pliocene de-
posit at Beaufort, but is also often met
with upon the Cape Fear.

BUSICON CANICULATUM, CON. — PYRULA CAN-
ICULATA, GOULD. FULGUR CANICULA-
TUM, CON. — (Fig. 108.)
Shell somewhat pear-shaped, spire de-
pressed, and ornamented with revolving
lines ; body whirl swollen ;
canal long and straight;
suture channelled. Com-
mon on the coast, and ra-
ther common, also, in the
miocene.

FIQ. 108.

PYRULA CAROLINEUSIS — TTK>-
MEY AND HOLMEL, — H. TER-
TIARY FOSSILS OF SOUTH-

CAROLINA.

Description : " Shell, pear-shaped ; spire short, depressed ;
suture profoundly canaliculated, margined by the obtuse ca-
rina at the angle of the whirl ; body whirl truncated above ;
angular whirls of the spire angulated in the middle, and in-

Fossils of South-Carolina, — Tuomey and Holmes, p. 145-'6. ,

250

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

clined slightly to the summit, having fine revolving lines in-
distinct, but prominent and waved on the base of the body-
whirl ; canal long and tapering." Miocene marl, Cape Fear.

PYRULA SPIRATA, LAM. FULGUR PYRTJLOIDES. SAY. FTTLGUR

PYRUM, CON.

Shell pyriform ; spire depressed obtuse ; whirls flattened,
and traversed by numerous revolving lines ; suture canicula-
ted. It still lives upon the coast, and is common in the post
pleiocene of North-Carolina.

PIG. 109.

FIG. 110.

PYRULA RETICTJLATA LAM SYCOTYPUS RETICU-

LATUS. (Fig. 109.)

Shell thin, cancellated ; spire very short >
surface marked by revolving lines, which are
intersected by longitudinal ones, giving the
shell its reticulated appearance or character.
Occurs both in the miocene and post pleio-
cene beds, particularly at Beaufort. It is of-
ten much larger than the figure.

FUSTJS LAM.

The genus Fusus is distinguished by
its straight open canal and the ab-
sence of plaits upon the columella.

FUSUS QUADRICOSTATUS. (Fig. 110.)

Shell thick, spire depressed, body
whirl, inflated and ornamented by
four elevated equidistant spiral belts,
umbilicus large. — Newborn.

FUSUS EQUALIS. N. S. (Fig. 111.)

Shell thick, spire rather short, conical ; whirls eight round-
ed and somewhat ventricose, and ornamented by numerous

••:

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

251

FIG. 111.

FIG. Ill A.

spiral subequal lines, coarser and
more distant upon the back and ros-
trum ; aperture and rostrum rather
less than twice the length of the
spire ; outer lip ridged internally ;
pillar lip spirally ridged. Miocene of
Cape Fear River.

FUSUS EXILIS. (Fig. Ill A.)

Shell fusiform, spire
elongated, composed
of seven whirls, orna-
mented by revolving
striae and longitudi-
nal ribs; aperture one
half the length of the
shell.

FUSU8 LAMELLOSUS. N. S. (Fig 112.)

Shell small) fusiform ; spire composed of five
or six whirls, ornamented with ten strong scalari-
form ribs, each rib on the body is composed
of three sharp crenulated plates, the one in the
middle being the largest.

FUSUS MONILIFORMIS. N. S. (Fig. 123.)

Shell small ; whirls four, ornamented with raised beaded
spiral lines, between which there are lines nearly sim-
ple ; spire rather shorter than the aperture ; aperture oval ;
canal short ; the two upper whirls are smooth. Miocene of
Cape Fear. Eare.

FASCIOLARIA.

This genus is characterized by its elongated fusiform shape,
its round or angular whirls, open canal, and its folds upon
columellar lip, which is more or less tortuous. The folds upon
the lip are quite oblique, and two or three in number.

FIG. 112.

252

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FA8CIOLARIA DISTANS. — LAM. (Fig. 113.)

FIG. 113.

PIG. 114.

This shell at first sight appears smooth,
but a careful inspection shows that it is
finely striated longitudinally ; its spire is
composed of six or seven convex or pro-
minent whirls, and its pillar has but one
plait.

It-is a common shell upon the- coast,
and in the post pleiocene at Beaufort.
but not uncommon in the miocene of
Cape Fear.

FASCIOLARIA ELEGANS. — N. S. (Fig.

Shell elongated, acute; whirls eight
rounded, ornamented with wide, and
finely striated ribs ; striae transverse to
the ribs, or longitudinal ; ribs of the body
whirl, about fifteen, the middle of the
body-whirl upon the outer lip, the four
widest ribs alternate with three narrow
ones ; plaits three, concealed within the
pillar lip; spire longer than the aper-
ture.

This shell is rare in the miocene of
North-Carolina. It would pass for fusus
if the pillar lip was not examined just
within the aperture, the plaits reaching
only to its edge, but they are strong and
well developed through its entire length.

It is possible this shell may have been
previously described, but its broad, flat
and very prominent ribs are so peculiar,
that if observed and described, it could
scarcely escape detection. Figure half
the natural size.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SUKVEY.

253

FIG. 115.

FASCIOLARIA SPARROWI. N. S. (Fig. 115.)

Shell rather thick, turbinate ;
whirls six or seven rounded, or-
namented with spiral, and rather
rounded ribs; ribs of the body-
whirl, about ten, striated longitu-
dinally, but obliquely striated on
the upper part of the whirl ; plaits,
three upon the pillar lip ; the ribs
alternate, being coarser and finer
for the ribs which belong strictly
to the aperture ; aperture larger
than the spire.

This species is quite distinct
from the former, the ribs are less
numerous, flatter, and the striae
are partly oblique and partly lon-
gitudinal, or in the direction of
the axis of the shell. The five
upper whirls have varices in both
species. Rare in the miocene
marl bed of Mrs. Purdys, Bladen
county. One-half the size.
This fine fossil is dedicated to Thos. Sparrow, Esq., of Beau-
fort county.

FASCIOLARIA ALTERNATA. — N. S.

Shell rather small, but thick turbinate ; whirls six or seven
slightly inflated, body whirl elongated and ornamented with
strong spiral lines, and with fine ones between, but which
are frequently obsolete. All the whirls are tuberculated.
Spire shorter than the aperture Plaits two.

FASCIOLARIA NODULOSA. N. S. (Fig. 116.)

Shell rather thick, whirls about seven, all nodulose or

254

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

ornamented with varices and spiral subequal striae. Mi-
ocene of the Cape Fear
river.

FASCIOLAKIA ACUTA.— N.

s. (Fig. 117.)
Shell elongated, a-
ctite, whirls about sev-
en, ornamented by
spiral subequal ribs,
with obsolete ones be-
tween them, six upper
whirls have also equal
varices ; longitudinal
striae very fine, aper-
ture shorter than the
spire. Miocene of the
Gape Fear river.

CANCELLARIA CAROLINENSIS. N. S. (Fig. 118.)

Shell thick, angulated, whirls few, oblique, carinated and
ornamented by two'subspinous spiral bands, body whirl trans-
versely, rugose towards the aperture,
rugae subcrenulated, aperture trian-
gular, and acute in front, umbillicus
large, open, and funnel shaped.

I should have hesitated to have
placed this interesting fossil in the
genus cancellaria were it not that a
closely allied species, the C. acutan-
gulata, Faujas, is thus referred by
high authority. The C. acutangulata
is one of the characteristic fossils of
the miocene beds of Dax, south of France. Its surface is
is ornamented like a cancellaria, but the aperture in both the
Dax and North-Carolina specimens is triangular, but both
have rather obsolete folds upon the pillar lip ; they are rather
more obscure in our specimen than in that from Dax. The

FIG. 118.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

255

existence of this interesting fossil in North-Carolina proves
the close analogy between the miocene of France and that of
the southern States, and it seems that the new species really
replaces the C. acutangulata in our miocene beds.

I am indebted to I. Lea, Esq., of Philadelphia, for speci-
mens for comparison.

It occurs at Mr. Flowers' marl bed on the Cape Fear.
Bladen county.

CANCELLARIA EETICULATA. (Fig. 119.)

Shell thick, ovate, spire acute, whirls about six, and angulat-
ed and ornamented by prominent, longitudinal and revolving
ridges, which produce a cancellated surface. Columulla with
FIG. 119. several strong oblique sharp folds ; outer

lip traversely ridged within.

FIG. 120.

RANELLA CAUDATA. (Fig 120.)

Shell turbinate, winged ;
whirls four or five, angulat-
ed and strongly ridged longi-
tudinally ; surface traversed
by lesser revolving ridges.
Two opposite ridges are pro-
duced more than the others,
one of which forms the margin of the outer lip ; canal long
and straight. Common on the coast, and rather rare in the
miocene of North-Carolina.

FIG. 121.

FAMILY BUCCTNIDAE. BUCCINTJM MULTIRUGA-

TUM. CON. (Fig. 121.)

Shell thick, ovate; spire composed of
five whirls, marked with deep impressed
revolving lines ; apex rather obtuse ; col-
umella, with a strong fold at, base and a
slight prominence at the base of the body
whirl ; bicarinate^ aperture greater than
half the length of the shell. Miocene of
Cape Fear River.

256

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FIG. 122

BUOCINUM PORCINTJM. — SAY. (Fig. 122.)

Shell thick, fusiform ; spire composed of five or six whirls*
ribbed longitudinally, and marked with num-
erous raised revolving lines ; beak short and
only slightly reflexed ; outer lip marked with-
in by numerous ridges. Buccinum vibex,
buccinum trivittatum and obsoletum are as-
sociated with the preceding species. -

BUCCINUM MULTILINEATUM. N. S. — (Fig. 124.)

Shell small and thick, turreted ; whirls six.
and marked by many impressed spiral lines,
between which there are also many narrow flat spiral bands :.

FIG. 123.

FIG. 127.

FIG. 170.

FIG. 125.

FIG. 124.

whirls furnished with strong longitudinal ribs, interrupted at
the suture, aperture, ovate and less than half the length of the
shell ; canal short and directed backwards ; the body whirl1
has about thirteen ribs. Rare in the miocene of Cape Fear.

BUCCINUM MONILIFORMIS. N. S. (Fig. 125.)

Shell small, thick and robust, rugose ; whirls about six, and
ornamented with moniliform ribs. This shell, though small,
has all the marks of being mature. The flat spiral bands,
which as they cross the ribs and give them a beaded appear-
ance, are strongly marked on all the whirls. Rare in the
miocene of Cape Fear.

NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

257

FIG. 126.

FIG. 128.

BUCCINUM BIDENTATUM. — (Fig. 126.)

Shell quite small, thick, robust; whirls about five, two
upper smooth, the others are ornamented with
ribs and spiral bands; aperture oval, acute
behind, outer lip furnished with two rather
prominent teeth, or short ridges ; canal wide and
very short.

BUCCINUM OBSOLETUM. — (Fig 127.)

Surface granulated; spire shorter than the body. The
common species of the coast ; is rare in the miocene of North-
Carolina. The specimen figured
was a young shell, and broken.

GALEODIA HODGII. — CON. (Fig. 128.)

Shell rather thick ; elliptical, ob-
tuse ; whirls about five, inflated,
and ornamented with numerous
fine spiral lines, which are quite
prominent at base ; these, with the
fine lines of growth, give the sur-
face a cancellated appearance ;
collumellar lip marked with many
irregular plicae ; aperture nearly
twice the length of the spire. Mi-
ocene of Cape Fear.

TEEEBEA DISLOCATUM J SAY. — ACUS DISLOCATUM.

Shell thick, elongated, acute ; whirls many, slightly convex,
upper portion constricted, forming a revolving band, parallel
to which, there are numerous spiral raised lines; lines of
growth longitudinal and conspicuous, which give to the sur-
face a reticulated appearance.

Common in the miocene marls of North Carolina.
18

258

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

TEEEBRA TJNILINEATA ; TUOMEY AND HOLMES FOSSILS OF SOUTH-
CAROLINA. — (Fig. 129.)

FIG. 129.

Shell thick, elongate bands alternate, acute,
tapering gradually to a point ; whirls many,
seventeen or eighteen, and ornamented by
revolving impressed lines, and passing just
above the middle of the whirl ; the upper
part of the spire is also marked by short
longitudinal ribs, which are interrupted by
spiral lines. Oblique lines of growth are
usually conspicuous. In old specimens,
the ribs are obsolete.

Common in the miocene of North-Caro-
lina.

TEREBRA NEGLECTA. N. S.

Shell terete ; spire composed of many
whirls, traversed spirally by a deeply
impressed line, dividing it into two un-
equal parts ; the lower has three or four interrupted spiral
lines, the upper, none. The ribs of the upper part are more
obtuse than the lower, and die out before they reach the di-
viding impressed line ; in the lower, they cross it from line to
line.

In this species, the revolving lines are lewer than in the
T. dislocatum, and in the latter, they are common to both
parts of the whirl. In the unilineata, there is but one dis-
tinct revolving line.

Fir,. 120 a.

FIG. 181.

DOLIUM OCTOCOSTATUM. N. S. (Fig. 129 a.)

Shell small, thin ; whirls three, infla-
ted ; body-whirl ornamented with eight
spiral ribs, connected by short bars,
peristome interrupted ; aperture ovate ;
umbilicus small, open ; outer lip crenu-
latedi

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 259

OLIVA; LAM. — STREPHONA; BROWN.

The olives are shells of great beauty, being highly polished
and covered with a porcellanous enamel, the surface of which
is marked by spots and bands of a great variety of colors.
The shell is cylindrical, dense and heavy ; the spire is short,
with channelled sutures, and the aperture long and narrow ;
the anterior part is notched ; the columella is callous and stri-
ated obliquely. The body- whirl is furrowed near the base.
The olives are the inhabitants of warm climates, and are very
active.

OLIVA LITERATA. SAY. (Fig. 130.)

Shell cylindrical, thick and polished ; spire depressed ; vo-
lutions angular and channelled ; apex acute ; outer lip sharp,
inner marked with numerous sharp folds; aperture linear, in-
cised above and notched below.

This shell is very common in many of the miocene marl
beds in the State. It is also living and common on the coast.
The fossil frequently retains the polish of the living shell ; the
colors have disappeared.

OLIVA ANCILLARIAEFORMIS. LEA.

Shell small, oval, thick, and polished ; spire elevated, acute ;
suture channelled ; aperture narrow ; inner lip thickened by
callus and marked by a few obscure folds.

The foregoing description applies to a small oliva, with a
large amount of callus upon its inner lip ; but it appears to be
a thicker shell than the one to which I have referred it. It
is the most common upon the Cape Fear river.

OLIVA.

An oliva, (fig. 131a,) larger than the preceding, and more
cylindrical) and having a higher spire, is occasionally found in
the miocene beds of the Cape Fear. It has six whirls, and
the folds upon the inner lip extend to the suture.

OLIVA CANALICULATA. LEA.

With this addition to the olives, we have four or five species
belonging to the miocene period.

260

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FAMILY CYPREIDAE.

The shells in this family are remarkable for their forms,
polish and beauty. They are rolled as a scroll, and are cov-
ered with a porcellanous enamel. The spire is concealed, the
aperture is long and narrow, and the outer lip is inflexed and
thickened. It comprehends the beautiful, spotted and banded
shells known as the cowry.

CYPRAEA CAROLINENSIS. (Fig. 131.)

FIG. 131. Shell ovate, flattened on the

side of the aperture ; outer lip
prominent at the apex; margins
of the lips ornamented with num.
erous plaits, and receding from
each other, beginning at the
most prominent part of the whirl.
In some of the miocene beds it
is quite common.

CYPEEA PEDICTJLUS.

It is a small ovate shell, and
transversely ribbed, and with a
narrow groove along the back.
I have not yet met with it in the
marl beds of this State, though
it appears to be common in South
Carolina.

FIG. 132.

MITKA CAROLINENSIS. — (Fig. 132.)

Shell fusiform, thick, or elongate, and tapering
towards each extremity ; whirls slightly convex,
channeled above, and traversed by numerous
spiral raised lines ; columella lip, furnished with
numerous oblique plaits, of which the upper
one 'is the strongest; canal wide and straight.
Miocence marl of North-Carolina. The shell
is often found much larger than the figure.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

MARGINELLA OLIVAEFORMIS. PORCELLANA OLIVAEFORMIS I TUOMEY

& HOLMES, FOSSILS OF SOUTH- CAROLINA, p. 131. — (Fig. 133.)

" Shell elongated, oval ; spire profoundly obtuse ; aperture
linear ; labrum, (or outer lip) tumid, reflexed, profusely cre-
nulated within ; columella with three raised plaits."

With this description, several specimens agree, which I
have found in the marl beds. It is, however, rare.

FIG. 138. FIG. 136. FIG. 133.

FIG. 139.

FIG. 135. FIG. 134.

MARGINELLA LIMATULA. — (Fig. 134.)

Shell ovate ; spire short ; outer lip unequally crenulated ;
columella lip four plaited ; aperture contracted above by de-
position of callus.

MARGINELLA CONSTRICTA. — N. S. (Fig. 135.)

Shell polished, cylindrical ; spire short ; aperture constricted
in the middle by the imbending of the outer lip ; plaits four
crowded at the base ; margin of the outer lip smooth.

MARGINELLA OVATA. — N. S. (Fig. 136.)

Shell ovate ; spire much depressed ; aperture uniform ;
outer lip marked with numerous crenulations within ; colu-
mella with six or seven plaits, the upper becoming obsolete.

MARGINELLA INFLEXA. — N. S. (Fig. 13T.)

Shell oval ; spire somewhat elevated ; obtuse at base ; mar-
gin of the outer lip inflexed above the middle ; smooth inside ;
plaits four, and very prominent upon the inner lip. Diners
from the constricta in the height of the spire.

262

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

MARGINELLA ELEVATA. N. S. (Fig. 238.)

The thickened outer lip and the plaits of the inner, show
this to belong to the genus marginella, though it has a close
resemblance to an oliva in the elevation of the spire ; whirls
four.

ERATO LAEVIS? — (Fig. 139.)

Shell obtusely ovate; wide at the base of the spire; "spire
depressed ; both lips crenulate, but most distinct upon the
outer lip ; resembles very closely a marginella. Miocene
marl of Cape Fear river. (Kare.)

It is difficult to distinguish this from the English species
with the aid only of figures. It may be indentical, and I have-
therefore referred it to the English species.

FAMILY YOLUTIDAE.

The volutes have a thick, short ornamented shell. The
spire is particularly so, and it is also provided with a mamil-
lated apex. Aperture is large and elongated, and the coin-
mella has several plaits.

VOLUTA MUTABILIS. — CON.

The shell is fusiform and thick, and has a conical spire and
a papillated apex ; whirls, convex and contracted near the
sutures, arid the two principal whirls are ornamented with
short ribs; lines of growth distinct, and crossed by faint re-
volving lines ; plaits, two and rather distant, and faint indica-
tions of an intermediate one. Found in the miocene of the
Cape Fear river.

VOLUTA TRENHOLMII: TUOMEY & HOLMES, FOSSILS OF SOUTH-CAR-
OLINA, p. 128.— (Fig. 140.)

" Shell fusiform, ventricose ; whirls compressed above, spi-
rally and transversely striated ; striae wrinkled and coarse at
base; spire short and sub-cancellated, papillated; aper-
ture semi-lunar ; outer lip acute, smooth within ; columella
lip very thin, decumbent, almost obsolete, semi-callous, not
distinguishable from the body-whirl, but by outline and color.

*

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

263

Oolumellar tumid, tortuous; obliquely plaited with three

folds."

FIG. 140

FIG. 141.

VOLUTA OBTUSA. — N. S. (Fig. 141.)

Shell fusiform, contracted above
the body-whirl, and forming thereby
a sub-cylindrical spire ; spire obtuse
apex papillated and hook-
ed ; body-whirl plaited
longitudinal^ at its top ;
columellar lip furnished
with only two plaits.

Mr. Flowers miocene
marl, Bladen county.

FAMILY CONIDAE.

As the name implies, the shells are conical from the great
preponc^erance of the body whirl over the short depressed
spire. The aperture is long and narrow, and the outer lip is
notched near its suture.

CONTJS ADVERSARITJS — CON. (Fig. 142.)

Shell conical and turned to the left ; the surface is marked
by revolving lines ; towards the face of the pillar lip the lines
are strong ; whirls of the spire rather concave ; edges eub-
carinated ; labrum sharp, edge convex, and forming a sinus
near the suture. Common in all the marl beds upon the
Neuse and Cape Fear rivers.

CONUS DILTJIVIANUS. (Fig. 143.)

Shell conical, much smaller than the preceeding, and the
whirls are turned to the right ; surface markings the same ;
the revolving lines are less oblique than in the C. adversarius.

264

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SUKVEY.

They are associated together in about equal numbers. Neither
species are found in older beds.

FIG. 142.

FIG. 143.

FIG. 130.

FIG. ISla.

FIG. 144.

PLEUKCTOMA LUNATUM. LEA. TURRIS LUNATUM. FOSSILS OF

SOUTH-CAROLINA. (Fig. 144.)

Shell thick, elongate, acute, subfusiform; strongly and
obliquely ribbed; spire, eight whirled, angulated above and
ornamented by a narrow sutural band.

The upper part of the whirls are construct-
ed so as to present to the eye a narrow spiral
band. Rather common in the marl of Cape
Fear river.

PLEUROTOMA LIMATULA. CON. (Fig. 145.)

Shell rather small, sub-fusiform ; spire com-
posed of five or six whirls ; whirls constricted
above and sub-angulated, forming a sutural
spiral collar ; ribs oblique and coarse. It is
about one inch long.

PLEUKOTOMA COMMUNIS. — CON.

Shell small, sub-fusiform ; whirls about six, indistinct ; body-
whirl traversed spirally by four other sharp ridges.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 265

PLEUROTOMA ELEGANS. — N. S. (Fig. 146.)

Shell small, sub-turrited ; whirls, about nine, constricted
above, ornamented by numerous longitudinal ribs, and tra-
versed by many fine raised spiral lines, which become very
distinct upon the pillar lip.

The spiral lines are very regular and equi-distant. The
body whirl has about sixteen ribs. Figure natural size.

FIG. 148. FIG. 147. FIG. 145. FIG. 146.

PLEUROTOMA TUBERCULATA. N. S. (Fig. 147.)

Shell small, thick, sub-acute ; whirls, seven or eight ; apex
sub-tuberculated, constricted above, and traversed spirally by
rather coarse raised lines ; apex papillated, and the first whirl
is spirally lined, and without tubercles or short ribs. It is
more widely constricted than the preceding.

PLEUROTOMA FLEXUOSA. N. S. (Fig. 148.)

Shell small, thick, sub-turbinate ; whirls, seven or eight,
and ornamented by flexuose ribs, which extend across the
whirl; ribs alternating with those of the adjacent whirl.
There are about ten ribs belonging to the body-whirl.

FAMILY NATICIDAE.

The genus Natica belongs to a family of shells which is
characterised by a globular form, few whirls, or a low and
obtuse spire, a semilunar aperture, an acute outer lip, and an
umbilicus often covered, wholly or in part, by a thick cal-
lus. The species are all marine.

NATICA HEROS. — SAY. Fig. 149.

Shell sub-globose, spire depressed, whirls four, convex ;
lines of growth obscure ; aperture, ovate ; umbilicus simple
and rather large.

266

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

This species is common in the miocene marl of North-
Carolina. It is also living upon the coast, but is more abun-
dant, according to Dr. Gould, north of Cape Cod than south
of it.

NATICA DUPLICATA. — SAY. FlG. 150.

Shell thick, ovate ; spire somewhat prominent and pyrami-
dal by the compression of the whirls ; and surface marked
by faint revolving lines; the lines of growth more distant;
umbilicus partially closed by a thick dense callus.

FIGS. 150.

NATICA. — (Fig. 151.)

Shell thick, spire depressed ; umbilicus perfectly closed by
a thick rough callus, which extends to the angle where it be-
comes much thickened ; suture distinct. It agrees with the
clausa in part, but it is a much larger shell, being one inch
and eight-tenths in diameter. Fossils answering in size to

the clausa exist in the miocene marl on the Cape Fear
.
river.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

267

NATICA CANRENA. Fig. 152.

Shell rather thick, lines of growth surrounding the spire,
very distinct, resembling wrinkles ; umbilicus partially closed
with callus.

Occurs frequently in the miocene marl of North-Carolina.

FIG. 151.

FIG. 153.

FIG. 149.

NATICA FRAGILIS. — (Fig. 153.

Shell small, surface marked by revolving lines and lines of
growth, which give it a cancellated appearance.

268

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FAMILY PYRAMIDELLIDAE.

This family, when restricted to existing species, embraces
shells of a small size, and which are spiral slender, pointed
and turrited ; aperture small, and the columella has one or
more prominent plaits. Shells which, in form, bear a very
close resemblance to this family, are found in very ancient
rocks, but which, in comparison with those of the present day,
were of a gigantic size.

PYRAMIDELLA ARENOSA. CON. (Fig. 154.)

Shell smooth, and still somewhat polished, subulate ; suture
angularly channelled, columella with two folds ; outer lip pro-
vided with three teeth. It is a rare shell in the miocene of
North-Carolina.

FIG. 154. FIG. 161. FIG. 158. FIG. 160. FIG. 157.

PYRAMIDELLA RETICULTA. N. S. (Fig. 155.)

Shell turrited; whirls, six or seven, and ornamented by
numerous longitudinal ribs, and less distinct spiral lines giv-
ing the surface a reticulated appearance ; columella three
plaited. It closely resembles the P. elaborata — H. E. Lea.

FIG. 155. FIG. 156. FIG. 159. FIG. 162.

FIG. 164.

CHEMNITZIA. (Fig. 156.)

Shell slender, elongated ; many whirled ; whirls longitudin-
ally plaited and marked by obscure spiral lines ; aperture
simple, ovate. Bather rare in the shell marl at Magnolia.

NOETH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY. 269

CHEMN1TZIA EETICULATA.— N. S. (Fig. 156a.)

It has six reticulated whirls, and about six revolving ridges
to each whirl. Miocene of Lenoir.

FIG. 180. FIG. 156a. FIG. 166. FIG. 165.

GENUS EULIMA ; EISSO.

Shell small, white, polished, porcellanous, elongated, whirls
numerous, flat ; outer lip sharp, but thickened within ; pillar
lip reflected over the columella.

EULIMA LAEVIGATA. — PASITHEA LAEVIGATA. — H. E. LEA. (Fig 157.)

Shell small, acute, rather conical, polished and porcellan-
ous ; whirls, about nine ; suture, obscure linear.

EULIMA SUBULATA. — N. S. (Fig. 158.)

Shell subulate, porcellanous ; whirls, nine or ten, slightly
convex ; sutural space rather wide ; aperture elongated. This
shell is not uncommon in the shell or miocene marl of Lenoir
county.

FAMILY CEEITHIADAE — CEKITHIUM (TEIPHOEIS) MONILIFEEUM I H.

E. LEA.— (Fig. 159.)

Shell subulate, sinistral, thick, costate, sutures small ; whirls,
ten, flat; ribs three, moniliforrn; columella smooth; canal
short and deep.

CEEITHIUM. — (Fig. 160.)

Shell small, elongated ; whirls, many, slightly convex, or-
namented with numerous longitudinal ribs, which extend
across the whirl ; canal short and deep.

CERITHIUM ANNULATUM. — N. S. (Fig. 161.)

Shell small but thick ; whirls many, ornamented with three

270 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

sharp spiral ridges. These ridges are but slightly oblique to
the axis of the shell

CERITHIUM BICOSTATA. N. S. (Fig. 162.)

Shell small, thick, tapering from the base ; whirls many,
and ornamented with two spiral, nodulose ribs.

TEREBELLTJM ETIWANENSIS.-— TOUMEY AND HOLMES FOSSJLS OF

SOUTH-CAROLINA.

Shell subulate ; whirls many, pointed, flattened and orna-
mented with two sharp spiral ribs ; sutural line deep, especi-
ally below.

This shell presents considerable variation in passing from
its immature to its mature state. In the young the spiral
ridges are placed near the suture, and the space between is
concave ; the waving lines of growth gives it an obscurely
beaded appearance. It is the most common univalve in the
marl beds of Edgecombe county.

TEREBELLUM CONSTRICTUM. N. S.

Shell rather thin terete ; whirls many convex ; lower ones
deeply constricted on the line of suture, and ornamented by
two principal raised revolving lines placed nearer «the lower
margin than the upper ; the finer parallel lines are numerous ;
longitudinally,the spire is frequently marked
FIG. 163. kv obsolete ribs ; lines of growth indistinct.

It differs from the T. Etiwanensis in the
position of the principal revolving lines,
and the lower rounded whirls.

TEREBELLUM BURDENII. TOUMEY & HOLMEfl.

FOSSILS OF SOUTH-CAROLINA, P. 122.

(Fig. 163.)

" Shell subulate, turrited ; whirls flatten-
ed, spirally ribbed and transversely striated,
which give the ribs a beaded character.'7

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 271

SCALARIA MULTI6TRIATA. — (Fig. 164.)

Shell, small whirls numerous, rather convex and ornament-
ed with many sharp longitudinal ribs.

All the specimens of this species of scalaria which fell under
my observation were imperfect at the aperture. Shell marl
of Lenoir county.

SCALARIA CTJRTA. — N. S. (Fig. 165.)

Shell thin and delicate ; whirls about four, ornamented with
rather flexuose, sharp, longitudinal ribs. Shell marl of Lenoir
county.

SCALARIA CLATHRTJS. (Fig. 166.)

All the specimens of this species, when found, were im-
perfect. It differs from the preceding in having transverse
ribs between the longitudinal ones.

PETALOCONCHUS . — LEA. — PETALOCONCHU8 SCULPTtJRATUS.

(Fig. 169.)

Shell vermiform, tubular, provided with two longitudinal
plates internally ; externally it has nodulose ribs

•IQ' 169> or costae. The shell is curiously twisted into knots,
but sometimes it is rolled up into a coil somewhat
conical, as in the figure, after which it is coiled
irregularly. It is very common in the miocene
marl beds of the State.

FAMILY LITORINIDAE. — LITORINA LINEATA. — N. S.

(Fig. 170.)

Shell rather small, thick conical ; wrhirls five
nearly flat, and the two lower are ornamented with many
spiral ridges, which are crossed by obscure lines of growth ;
three upper whirls smooth.

,

272 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FAMILY TURBINIDAE — TEOCHUS PHILANTROPUS. — (Fig. 167.)

Shell conical, but rather depressed;
whirls slightly angular at base, and orna-
mented with spiral beaded lines, alternat-
ing in size.

TROCHUS. — (Fig. 168.)
It appears to differ from T. armillatus,
but I am unable to refer it to any of the
FIG. lesT species described in the miocene beds.

DELPHINULA QTJADRICOSTATA. — N. S. (Fig. 180.)

Shell small, thin ; whirls, few, angulated and furnished with
four ribs, which are crossed by lines of growth ; aperture an-
gular.

Found occupying the interior of the large univalve shells
of the miocene.

\

ADEORJBIS. WOOD. (Fig. 181.)

I have placed this figure under this genus, though it does
not agree with it in every particular.

FAMILY TORNATELLIDAE.

This family has a convoluted shell ; it is cylindrical, or sub-
cylindrical, with a long narrow aperture ; columella plaited.

TORNATINA CYLINDRICA. — N. 8. (Fig. 182.)

FIG. 182. Shell small, convoluted, cylindrical, porcel-

,. lanous, or polished ; spire depressed ; whirls,

f 1 1 angulated ; suture channelled ; aperture long

and narrow ; outer lip arcuate ; columella with

one fold.

This small shell resembles a cyprea, or some of the smaller
species of olivas. It is not uncommon in the miocene ; it is
usually found in the cavities of the larger univalves.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 273

FAMILY HELICTDAE LAND-SHELLS. HELIX TRIDENTATA.

(Fig. 183.)

Shell depressed, or flattened, convex ; whirls, four and ob-
liquely wrinkled ; aperture contracted and furnished with two
teeth on the outer lip, and one upon the inner lip ; the latter
is curved.

FIG. 186. FIG. 185. FIG. 184. FIG. 183.

H. LABYRINTHICA. (Fig. 184.)

Shell small and of a conical form ; whirls, six and marked
with oblique lines of growth ; lip reflexed ; inner lip furnished
with a single tooth extending within the shell.

<

FAMILY LIMNEIDAE. FRESH-WATER SHELLS. PLANORBIS BICARI-

NATUS.— (Fig. 185.)

Shell deeply concave on both sides ; whirls, three ; carina-
ted on both sides ; lip on the left extending beyond the plane
of the preceding whirl.

This fresh water shell is rare in the miocene beds of the
Cape Fear.

FAMILY PALUDINIDAE.

This family embraces certain gasteropods, most of which
live in fresh water, as lakes, ponds and rivers. The form of
their shells is conical or globose, covered with a thick green
epidermis. The aperture is rounded and the whirls convex ; '
peristome continuous.

t

PALUDINA SUBGLOBOSA. N. S. (Fig. 186.)

Shell rather thin, turbinated ; whirls, four, rounded or con-
vex, short ; aperture rounded ; third whirl marked by four or
five spiral obsolete lines. It has a close resemblance to
Gould's and Halderman's genus Amnicola.

Miocene of Cape Fear, but it is by no means a common
shell.

19

274

NOKTH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL 8UKVEY.

CLASS BKACHIOPODA.

FIG. 187.

ORBICULA LUGUBEIS. CON. (Fig. 187.)

Shell corneous, oblong-ovate, depressed ;
concentrically lamellose ; apex behind the
centre ; posteriorly, it is marked by a few
radiating lines; interiorly, it is smooth,
and there is a short longitudinal ridge on
the median line. In some of the miocene
beds in Wayne county, it is quite common.

FAMILY DENTALLDAE. TOOTH SHELLS.

The dentalidae are hollow, curved tooth-like shells. They
are usually ornamented by longitudinal ridges, but sometimes
they are smooth and polished. They have a round or circular
aperture.

DENTALUM ATTENUATUM. SAY. (Fig. 188.)

Shell gently curved, and ornamented
with twelve rounded ribs ; aperture cir-
cular. Common in the shell marl of this
State.

FIG. 188.

D. THALLUS. CON. (Fig. 189.)

Shell small, polished, curved and ta-
pering towards both extremities. Com-
mon in the shell marl.

FIG. 190.

FIG. 189.

CAECUM ANNULATUM. N. 8. (Fig. 190.)

Shell minute curved ; ends subequal ;
aperture circular ; surface annulated.

This minute shell is quite common in the miocene of this
State. It is found in the interior of larger ones, which it
probably inhabited.

FAMILY CALYPTKAEIDAE. LIMPETS. BONNET LIMPETS — CUP AND

SAUCER LIMPETS.

The limpets have but one valve. It is sometimes saucer

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

275

shaped or sub-conical, and passing into a cone, within which
there is an appendage somewhat similar in form to the outer
cone. These cones are frequently sub-spiral. They adhere
to rocks and stones with their apertures below.

CRUCIBULTJM COSTATTTM.

Shell rather thick, circular at base, and furnished with
strong but rather irregular ribs ; apex sub-central ; margin
crenulated.

CRTJCIBULTJM RAMOSUN. — CON. (Fig. 191.)

Shell ovate ; apex sub-central ; ribs prominent and orna-
mented by a series of subordinate diverging ridges, but par-
tially interrupted by the lines of growth ; inner cup sub-con-
ical, entire, and marked by circular ridges, or lines of growth.

FIG. 196.

FIG. 192

FIG. 193.

FIG 195.

FIG. 191.

FIG. 194.

276 NORTH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

C. DUMOSUM.

Shell depressed, sub-conical, oblong or oval at base ; sur-
face ornamented with spiral ribs, and whose spines are hol-
low.

C. MULTILINEATUM. (Fig. 192.)

Shell rather small, depressed, very thin ; apex elevated,
sub-central, disk marked with radiating lines. Rather com-
mon in the miocene. Usually occupies the interior of other
shells.

TEOCHITA CENTBALIS. — (Fig. 193.)

Shell rather small, very thin, round, ovate ; apex medial
minutely spiral and acute. Associated with the foregoing
shells of this family.

CEEPIDULA. LAM.

Crepidula has the limpet shape, but a posterior oblique
marginal apex. Interior has a horizontal plate, forming a
partition which curves the posterior half. They vary in form,
which is very much dependent upon the surface to which they
are attached.

CEEPIDULA FOENICATA. — (Fig. 194.)

Shell obliquely oval ; surface convex, smooth or wrinkled ;
apex turned to one side : diaphragm concave below, occupy-
ing half the shell. Common in the miocene of North-Caro-
lina.

CEEPIDULA SPINOSA.

Shell depressed, oval, costate and spinous, especially to-
wards the margin. Common in the miocene.

CEEPIDULA PLANA. SAT. (Fig. 195.)

Shell nearly flat, slightly convex ; diaphragm convex ; the
form is very variable, assuming the shape of the surface upon
which it rests.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 277

FAMILY FISSURELLIDAE. KEY-HOLE LIMPETS.

Shell limpet shaped; some have the margin notched in
front ; in others the apex is perforated. Adhere to rocks and
stones.

FISSURELLA REDIMICULA. (Fig. 196.)

Shell ovate, oblong, elevated, and rather thick; surface or-
namented with fine longitudinal ridges, which are intersected
by circular lines of growth, which gives the surface a reticu-
lated appearance ; margin entire, but ridged internally ; apex
truncated, figure inclined, oblong.

This shell is not an uncommon occupant of the shell marl
beds of this State.

CLASS LAMELIBRANCHIATA.

FAMILY OSTREIDAE.

" Shell inequivalve and nearly inequilateral ; free or adhe-
rent resting on one valve ; beaks central, straight ligament in-
ternal ; muscular impression single and behind the centre ;
hinge usually without teeth."

OSTREA VIRGINIANA.

Shell thick, strongly and radiately plicated ; concentrically
laminated and imbricate ; upper valve nearly flat ; pliated
towards the margin ; beaks laterally curved ; very variable.
Common in the miocene beds of North- Carolina.

OSTREA CAROLINENSIS.

Shell ob-ovate, thick, compressed, concentric lamina imbri-
cated, and transversely plaited ; beaks broad and prominent.
Fosset large and bounded laterally by strong ridges.

Occurs in the miocene of North- Carolina, but is less com-
mon than the preceding.

Ostrea radians and O. sellaeformis belong also to the mio-
cene beds, together with the Anomia ephippium ; the latter is
always broken.

,

278

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

EXOGYRA COSTATA.-

FIG. A.

[Fig- A.)

Shell sub-oval, very thick,
lower valve convex, and cov-
ered with strong corrugated
ribs; apex lateral, with about
two volutions; upper valve
flat, thick, supplied with nu-
merous elevated concentric
squamose plates. It belongs
to, and is, one of the charac-
teristic fossils of the green
sand at Black Rock, on the
Cape Fear, and at Rocky
Point, twenty miles north of
Wilmington. It is found in
the miocene at several places on the Cape Fear, but its pres-
ence is due to accident.

FIG. B.

CUCULLAEA VULGARIS. — (Fig. B.)

This fossil occurs in the form of an in-
side cast of the shell ; it is inflated, sub-
triangular, flattened before, beaks prom-
inent and in-curved; shell thick, and
marked with numerous delicate longitu-
dinal striae.

It is associated with the Exogyra and
Belemnitella at Black Rock in the green
sand.

The C. vulgaris is placed here fromite
association with the E. costata.

FAMILY PECTENIDAE. PECTEN, SCALLOP.

Shell sub-orbicular, regular, resting on the right valve,
usually ornamented by fretted or scaly ribs radiating from
the hinge ; right valve most convex, with a notch below the
front ear ; hinge margin straight, united by a narrow liga-
ment ; cartilege internal in a central pit.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 279

The scallop of our coast is regarded as a delicacy. It lives
in shallow water, and is taken in great numbers ! at low tide
from banks which are just submerged. They move through
the water by opening and shutting their valves./ Fossil pec-
tens or scallops are very abundant in most of /the miocene
marl beds in this State. The large scallops, P. Jeffersonius
and P. JVladisonius abound in beds upon the Neuse and Tar
rivers, while they are less numerous upon the Cape Fear.
Another large species is found upon the Meherrin, in North-
ampton county, which I have not met with elsewhere. It
replaces the English species, the Pecten princeps, which it
closely resembles.

PECTEN COMPARILIS.

Shell medium size ; both valves convex with twenty-three
or twenty-four ribs, prominent and angular inside at base ;
ribs and spaces between nearly equal ; ears radiately striate.
of the most common fossils upon the Cape Fear.

PECTEN EBOREUS. (Fig. 197.)

FIG. 197.

280

NOBTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

S(hell comparatively thin, and light and compressed valves;
circular, sometimes oblique and equilateral ; ribs twenty-four,
marked on the outside with concentric squamose lines of
growth, which are undulating, the last of which are strong ;
lower valve less convex than the upper. It differs from the
comparilis in being concentrically marked, and thinner, be-
sides it grows much larger.

PECTEN PKINCEPOIDES. N. S. (Fig. 198.)

Shell large, rather thick, compresed, sub-inequilateral, ra-
diating striae coarse and very numerous ; transversely marked

by lines of growth, giving the surface a wrinkled appear-
ance; ears unequal ; buccal ear sinuate, radiating striae nu-
merous, inside smooth, striae obsolete ; tig. reduced.

This is a large species of pecten, is closely allied to the P.
princeps of the English crag. It is common in the miocene
marl on the Meherrin river, at Murfreesboro'. It is five
inches long, and five and a quarter wide. It is readily dis-
tinguished by the absence of ribs proper, and the presence
of coarse radiating striae, which have intermediate ones,

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

281

which do not reach the hinge or umbo ; many of the striae,
however, fork or divide.

P. PEEDEENSIS.

Shell thick and strong, broadly ovate ; ribs, eight, broad
striae, lines of growth strong towards the margin ; beak pro-
jecting beyond the hinge line.

Only one valve has been found of this species, and being
old and its striae obliterated in part, and its characters are
less distinct than is usual in specimens belonging to this ge-
nus.

p. MORTONI.

Shell large, circular, compressed, thin, pearly ; equivalve
equilateral ; concentrically marked by fine lines of growth ;
on the outside, ribs are invisible ; inside, ornamented by about
eighteen pairs of ribs, which are prominent at the margin,
and obsolete towards the hinge.

This beautiful shell occurs in the naiocene at Waccamaw
Lake, North-Carolina, and has not been observed upon the
JSreuse or farther north.

P. JEFFERSONIUS. (Fig. 199.)

FIG. 199.

282

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Shell very large, ribs, ten, and wide, and longitudinally
marked by fine ridges, which are not squamose. This species
is sometimes between nine and ten inches wide, and seven or
eight inches long, and are often used in cooking oysters in
place of a frying pan. It is one of the characteristic fossils of
this miocene.

p. MADISONIUS. — (Fig. 200.)

In the P. Madisonius, the ribs number about fifteen, and
they are ornamented with three squamose ridges each. There
is also an equal number between them ; they coalesce towards
the hinge.

FIG. 200.

FIG. 201.

A. pecten, (fig. 201,) is quite com-
mon in North-Carolina, which I have
not been able to refer to its proper
species. It is one of the most com-
mon in the shell marl of the middle
part of the eastern counties. It has
ten prominent ribs, but they are or-
namented in a different style from
that which prevails in the young of
the P. Jeffersonius.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

283

FIG. 202.

One of the most common pectens of the white eocene marl,
is represented by figure 202. It differs
from the P. membranacea in having only
about half the number of ribs. The P,
membranacea having upwards of eighty,
while this has about forty-four.

An observer cannot fail to perceive the
striking difference in the species of pec-
tens of the white eocene marl of E"ew-
Hanover and Onslow counties, and those of the miocene.

FIG. 203.

FIG. 203A.

PLICATULA MARGINATA. — (Fig. 103.)

Shell strong and thicl^ but rather
small; valves sub-equal, ovate, wedge-
form, with three strong radiating plicae.

FAMILY MYTILTDAE. MYTILUS INCRASSATT76.

(Fig. 203A.) \

Shell nacreous, thick, somewhat infla-
ted, marked with concentric lines of
growth; anterior margin arched ac-
cuminate; posterior rounded, some-
what dilated ; umbones acute. It
is usually much injured by exfolia-
tion and rarely perfect.

FIG. 203B.

it may
ocene.

CRENELLA.— (Fig. 203B.)

Shell small, short,
thin, smooth in the
middle ; hinge, mar-
gin crenulated behind
the ligament. It ap-
pears to be rare,though

be owing to its frailness. Mi-

284:

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

ARCADAE.

The valves in the Arcadae are equal, regular, and usually
oblique ; the teeth are arranged in long rows, resembling a
comb ; at the extremes they are longer and frequently curved
or corrugated.

ARCA LIENOSA. SAY. (Fig. 204.)

Shell large, inflated, oblique ; ribs subequal, numerous,
with a groove or channel in the middle ; anterior side angu-

FIG. 204.

lar ; lines of growth distinct, giving a striate appearance ; the
ligament area is marked by strong lines diverging from be-
neath the umbo; umbones distant; inside margin strongly
sulcate or ribbed. It has about 37 ribs. A living shell upon
the Florida coast, but found abundantly in the miocene of
Js^orth- Carolina.

A. SCALARIS.

Shell oblong, ovate ; ribs twenty-one, strong and trans-
versely rugose, ligament area short, transversely marked by
lines, and crossing striae parallel to the hinge line.

A. INCILE. SAY.

Shell very oblique, sub-quadrangular ; anterior side very
short, posterior sinuate ; ribs unequal, stronger on the poste-
rior margin ; rounded before, angular behind, and much pro-

NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY.

285

duced ; umbones incurved, distant ; ligament area crossed by
transverse lines.

This shell has about thirty-one principal ribs, with inter-
vening raised lines, and transversely marked by lines of growth.

A. CENTENARIA. — (Fig. 205.)

Shell sub-quadrate and ovate, nearly straight and slightly

FIG. 205.

contracted at base ; ribs tine, alternating in size ; margins
rounded; beaks approximate; hinge area narrow; margins
entire.

The- striae or ribs in this species are very numerous and
line, while these together with its quadrangular form will
serve to distinguish it from others of the same genus. Com-
mon in the miocene of North-Carolina. The h'gure was
drawn from a specimen obtained from the indurated sand be-
neath the miocene bed at Elizabethtown, Bladen county, and
is referred to the centenaria but with doubt.

A. IDONEA.

Subcordate inequivalve ventricose ; elongated and only
slightly oblique; beaks very prominent and distant; ribs
about twenty -five, crenulated, or transversely ridged; hinge
area wide and marked by divergent striae or channels. Com-
mon in the miocene of North-Carolina.

A. TKANSVERSA.

Shell rather thin, subrhomboidal, rounded with about
thirty-two ribs ; area rather narrow, with two or three undu-
lated grooves. Common in the miocene, and still living upon

286

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

the coast. A. limatula and stillicidium are also miocena
shells, and common in the marl beds of the Cape Fear river.

FIQ. 206.

VERTICORDIA. WOOD. (Fig. 206.)

I have met with two or three specimens only
of the fossil which I have referred to this genus.
It is found in the interior of large shells.

GENUS PECTUNCULUS.

Shell orbicular, nearly eqilateral, smooth and
radiately striated ; hinge with a semi-circular row of trans-
verse teeth.

PECTUNCULTJS SUBOVATUS. (Fig. 207.)

Shell orbicular, inequilateral, with radiating sulci, becom-

FIG. 207.

ing obsolete with age ; teeth nearly obliterated in the centre ;
teeth largest on the shorter side of the valve ; marginal ones
broad and separated ; — Conrad. This is probably one of the
most common miocene fossils of the shell marl in the State.

P. LENTIFORMIS.

Shell orbicular, sub-equilateral ; the radiating striae are nu-
merous ; beaks small in proportion to the size of the shell ;
hinge teeth in the centre, wanting or obsolete. This fine spe-
cies in some marl beds upon the Cape Fear, is quite common,
and is very large and thick ; some are four to four and a half
inches across.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

287

FIG. 208.

P. ARATUS.— (Fig. 208.)

This is the smallest species of this gernis be-
longing to the shell marl. It is also one of the
most common. P. passus and P. quinqueruga-
tus are also common in certain localities.

LEDA ACTJTA. — (Fig. 208A.)

FlG- 208A- Shell small, thick, inflated pos-

^/sssss^i\ /(^^fc^*. teriorl j; margin acute or beaked,

<?: ) 1 ^^^ slightly open ; anterior margin,

short rounded ; surface concen-
trically striated. This fossil re-
sembles nucula, but it is not pearly in the interior, and its ab-
dominal margin is smooth.

cute,

NUCULA PROXn18. about *208B.)

Shell small, 6^,ra^(mooth, interior pearly ;
anterior margin short ; posterior side elongat-
ed, obtuse ; margin crenate. ET. limatula is
more common in the marl beds of this State
than the N. proxima ; miocene.

FIG. 20SB.

FAMILY CHAMACEDAE.

The shell is thick, inequavalve, with sub-spiral beaks, hinge
teeth 1 — 2, muscular impression one, and large ; reticulated
palleal line simple.

CHAMA.

The shell is attached to other bodies by its left umbo :
hinge-tooth of the free valve thick, curved, and received be-
tween the teeth of the other valve.

CHAMA ARCINELLA. (Fig. 209.)

Shell thick, or orbicular-cordate squamose ; the radiating
ribs spinose, strong, tubular or folded ; intervening space
coarsely punctate and rugose. Common in the marl bed at
Elizabethtown, Bladen county.

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
FIG. 209.

C1U

FIG. 210.

Pig. 210.)

o'he'll thick,

squamose, or

concentrically laminated and
imbricate ; lamina striated, sin-
istral, crenulated interiorly ;
upper valve flat. Figure low-
er valve natural size. Abun-
dant in the miocene of North-
Carolina, especially on the
Cape Fear.

OHAMA CONGEEGATA.

Shell thick, orbicular, with
its surface composed of plates
or lamina ; in the flat valve the places are crenulated or plai-
ted.

CHAMA STRIATA. N. S. (Fig. 211.)

Fig. 211. Shell small, ovate, rather thick for its size?

lower valve distinctly striate. Usually found
in the hollow or inside of the univalves.

FOR*

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

289

FAMILY CYPRINIDAE.

Shell regular, equivalve oval or elongated ; valve close,
solid ; epidermis thick and dark ; ligament external, conspic-
uous cardinal teeth 1 — 3 in each valve ; pedal scars close to
or confluent with the adductors ; pallia! line simple. — Wood-
ward.

ASTARTE

Shell small, thick, compressed, smooth or concentrically
furrowed ; Innule impressed ; ligament external ; hinge teeth
2 — 2 ; anterior tooth in the right valve large and thick.

FIG. 212.

ASTARTE CONCENTRICA. (Fig. 212.)

Shell small, thick, triangular, compress-
ed, concentric ; furrows close and regular •
umbones acute, recurved ; margin cre-
nate. It is about one inch long, and cr_e
broad. It is rather common in the mio-
cene of North-Carolina.

ASTARTE UNDULATA. (Fig. 213.)

The broad, variable and concentric furrows will serve to
distinguish it from the foregoing. It is comparatively a
broader shell. The Undulata seems, however, to be quite
variable, and the figure shows one of the extremes of this
species.

CRASSATELLA IJNDULATA. (Fig. 214.)

Shell oblong, ovate, compressed, mark-
ed upon the outside with coarse concen-

FIG. 214.

FIG. 213.

290

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FIG. 215.

trie striae ; umbo flattened ; apex sub-acute ; inner margin
entire. One of the most common fossils of the shell marl.

O. GIBBESII : TUOMEY & HOLMES, FOSSILS OF SOUTH-CAROLINA J p. 74.

(Fig. 215.)

" Shell somewhat triangular, thick, con-
centrically furrowed ; buccal side rounded;
anal side somewhat beaked, angular, with
a longitudinal ridge ; umbones incurved;
lunule somewhat excavated."

• In addition to the foregoing, I may add the following as
common in the ]^orth-Carolina shell marl beds : Crassatella
alta, C. Marylandica, C. Protexta, C. Melina.

FAMILY

FIG. 21 SB.

CYCLASIDAE. CORBICULA DENSATA. CYRENA DENSATA.

CON.— (Fig. 215A.)

FIG. 215A. Shell orbicular striated concen-

trically, polished, lateral teeth
elongated.

This shell is very abundant at
the miocene marl bed of Mr.
Flower, on the Cape Fear.

FA^SLY CORBULIDAE. — CORBTTLA CU~

NEAT A. (Fig. 215B.)

Shell small, thick, ovate, con-
centrically striate ; anterior margin rounded ;
posterior elongated, or somewhat rostrate.
Common in the shell marl.

FAMILY LUCENIDAE.

This family have orbicular shells, both free
and closed with hinge teeth, somewhat varia-
ble as one or two laterals, or one and one,
and the other obsolete ; pallial line simple, muscular im-
pressions two, elongated and rugose. The family is princi-
pally composed of tropical and temperate species, and live

NORTH-CABOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

291

upon sandy or muddy bottoms, and exist from the sea shore
or shallow water to the greatest habitable depths.

LUCINA BEUGIEEE.

The shell is orbicular, white, with depressed umbones, and
the margins are either smooth or only finely crenulated;
hinge teeth 2 — 2, laterals 1—1, muscular impressions rugose ;
anterior, elongated and within the pallial line ; umbanal area
with an oblique furrow.

LUCINA PENNSYLVANIA. LINN. (Fig. 216.)

Shell orbicular, thick, solid, and concentrically ribbed, or

posteriorly it has a strong
fold or groove. The fold ex-
tends across the shell, and
produces a notch in the pal-
lial margin. Common in the
miocene upon K"euse and
Cape Fear rivers.

FIG. 216.

LUCINA CONTRACTA.

Shell orbicular, somewhat
inflated ; ribs concentric, un-
equal, marked in the intevals
with striae ; posteriorly the
margin is channeled.

It is larger than the preceding, and has no fold, and its
ribs are unequal.

FIQ. 217.

L. CEENULATA. (Fig. 217.)

Shell small, thin, orbicular, somewhat inflated,
jfif\^ concentrically lamellated, lunule excavated-

1 iggjjy In addition to the foregoing, the following
species have been observed in the miocene :
Lucina anadonta, L. radians, L. divaricata, L. multihineata,
and L. squamosa.

292 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FAMILY VENERIDA.

This important family is represented by many existing
species in our seas at the present time. It is too well known
to require a minute description. It is, however, known from
other forms by its regular oblong thick shell, though it is
sometimes nearly round ; by its strong external ligament, and
its three diverging prominent teeth in each valve. Its pallial
line is sinuated.

The venerida are elegant and beautiful shells, often highly
colored, though some of the best known are externally dull.
This family appeared first in the Oolitie period, and they have
increased in number and importance down to the present
time, when they have acquired their maximum develope-
raent.

VENTJ8 MERCENARIA.

Shell solid, surface marked by numerous concentric lines
of growth, obliquely cordate • posterior margin produced ;
anterior short ; umbones recurved, lunule cordate ; pallial
line sinuated ; margin crenulated.

VENUS TRIDAENOIDES. — CON. VENUS DIFFORMIS. SAY.

Shell very thiqk and heavy ; globose, wrinkles upon the
surface undulating ; plaits wide, extending fronl the umbo to
the margin.

This species may be distinguished by its thickness and wide
external plaits, which are usually strongly marked, though
sometimes they are feebly developed. It is one of the most
common fossils of the miocene beds of North- Carolina.

VENUS RILEYI.

Shell large, thick, oblong, posterior margin prolonged,
anterior one short ; surface concentrically striate, and marked
by fine, longitudinal lines, which are distinct after the dermal
covering exfoliates. This is one of the largest species, being
sometims 6 — 7 inches wide. Common in the miocene of
Cape Fear river.

NOETH-CAEOLINA GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY.

293

V. CEIBEAEI — CON.
FIG. 218.

North-Carolina.

(Fig. 218.)

Shell thick, medium size,
slightly ventricose, furnished
upon the outside by about
twenty-five sharp lamelliform
concentric and recurved ribs,
crenulated upon the umbbnal
side ; ribbed or ridged trans-
versely on the ventral side,
the ridges extending across
to the adjacent rib ;' lunule
crenulated.

Kecent upon the coast of

v.

FIG. 219.

LATILIEATA CON. VENUS PAPHIA. — LAM. (Fig. 219.)

Shell sub-trigonal, thick and pon-
derous for its size ; ribs fine, con-
centric, and very thick ; irregularly
stirate, crenulate upon the lower
margin ; umbo slightly flattened.

This shell is readily known by its
thick ribs, and deep subci between
them. Common in the miocene of
North-Carolina.

Fro. 220.

VENUS MELTASTEIATA. — (Fig. 220.)

Shell small, sub-orbicular, striated concentri-
cally, rather irregular, interruptedly radiated.

Yenus pramagna, cancellata and subnasuta are
also rather common fossils of the miocene.

294

NOKTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

CYTHERCA SAYANA. — (Fig. 221.)

Shell inflated, concentrically striate, anterior side angulat-
ed ; umbones prominent, incurved ; margin smooth ; himule
cordate.

FIG. 221.

c. REPOSTA. — (Fig. 222.)

Shell smooth, moderately inflated, thick, beaks prominent,
dorsal margin depressed; anterior margin rounded, lunule
lanceolate.

FIG. 222.

C. REPORTA. — (Fig. 223.)

This fossil, which the annexed figures represent, is very
common in a sandy marl bed in Brunswick county. It pre-
serves its original polish, and closely resembles the foregoing.
It is, however, proportionally wider than the repostia. It is
highly polished and smooth, but has concentric striae. Urn-

NOBTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 295

bones flattened, the flattened part extending across the shell,
being bounded anteriority with an obscure rounded ridge.

FIG. 223.

ARTEMES TRANSVERSUS. — N. s. (Figs. 223a and 224.)

FIG. 223a.

296 NOKTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL 6UKVEY.

Shell sub-orbicular, depressed, sub-equilateral, concentrical-
ly striate ; broader than long ; lumule small, lines of growth
or concentric striae regular, simple, and somewhat coarse and
distant. Fig. 224 shows the hinge.

FIG. 224.

This fossil appears to differ from the Artimus concentrica
of the coast ; its linus of growth are about half as numerous
and are also continuous from one margin to the other, except-
ing a few on the anterior margin,

In the living coast species the lines of growth are less
regular, and coalescent near both margins ; it is orbicular
also, being as long as wide. The fossil, however, closely re-
sembles the living one of the coast, though it differs as much
from it as Artemis acetalubum of Conrard.

Species which belong to the miocene and which remain
undescribed : A. acetabulum, A. concentrica.

FAMILY TELLIMIDAE. — TELLINA BIPLICATA. CON. (Fig. 225.)

Shell rather large, thin, sub-oval, inequivalve, sub-ventri-
cose, marked with rather obscure radiating lines, and impress-
ed with an oblique fold in each valve. The remaining spe-
cies of Tellina belonging to the miocene are T. Alternata, T.
Polita, and T. Flexuosa.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
FIG. 225.

297

FIG. 225A.

TELLINA LTJSORIA. (Fig. 225A.)

Shell oblong, narrowed posteriorly, slightly gaping or re-
flected; pallial sinus deep;
concentrically striate ; pos-
terior margin marked with
one or two folds; surface
still brown ; concentric striae
are in the form of raised
sharp lines, not impressed
lines of growth. The Tipho-
nal inflection is in contact with the pallial line, in which re-
spect it agrees with P. Sammobia, but its hinge teeth are
2 — 2 in both valves.

GENUS DONAX.

"The general form is trigonal, or wedge form, valves closed,
front produced, posterior short ; margins usually crenulated ;
hinge teeth 2—2 ; laterals 1—1 in each valve ; pallial sinus
deep."

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

DONAX.— (Fig. 226.)
FIG. 226. Shell triangular, rather abruptly truncate be-

hind, and traversed by a ridge from the umbo to
the base ; surface marked by obscure radiating
lines; base crenulated. This small shell differs
from the variabilis in its proportion; it is more triangular, and
is not produced so much in front.

Donax Variabilis probably occurs in the marl of £Torth-
Carolina, but has hitherto been overlooked.

FAMILY MACTRIDAE. GENUS MACTRA.

" The shell is equivalve, and nearly equilateral ; the ante-
rior hinge tooth is in the form of an inverted A ; lateral teeth
doubled in the right valve."

MAOTRA CONGESTA.

Shell rather small, but thick at the umbo ; triangular, rath-
er inflated ; inequilateral ; rounded anteriorly, and posterior-
ly it is produced. Yery common in the marl of Wayne and
Edge combe.

MACTRA LATERALIS. SAY. (Fig. 227.)

FIG. 227. Shell small, rather thin, smooth, sub-tri-

angular ; lines of growth fine ; posterior side
elongated, or margins sub-equal, rounded
before ; umbo rather prominent. A very
common fossil of the miocene.

4*

MACTRA SIMILIS. SAY.

.Shell thin, of a medium size, margins sub-equal, concentric,
striae very fine, at intervals deep, beaks nearly central. The
living ones of the coast have a longitudinal rounded ridge
running from the beaks to the base and obscure radiating
lines, though only visible in a favorable position.

' GNATUODON GRAYII. (Fig. 226a.)

Shell rather thick, sub-triangular, inflated, inequilateral,

NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

299

anterior margin rounded ; posterior elongated or wedge form.
Rather common in the shell marl beds of Cape Fear.

FIG. 227a.

FIG. 226a.

FAMILY SOLENIDAE. — SOLEN ENSIS.

(Fig. 227a.)

This common shell of the coast is sword
shaped, with the anterior and posterior
margins truncate.

SOLECURTIS SUBTEKES. — CON. (Fig. 228.)

Shell rather small, thin, somewhat sword
shaped; anterior and posterior margins
rounded, ventral margin concave, or
arched.

FIG. 228.

p. CAKIBOETTS. — (Fig. 228a.)
Is common in the miocene, but the
FIG. 228a. valves are rarely en-

tire. I should, how-
ever, express some
doubt respecting the
identity of the speci-
men figured with this
species.

300

HORTH-CAROLIN'A GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FAMILY ANATINIDAE. PANOPEA REFLEX A. (Fig. 229.)

Shell large, thin, oblong, ovate ; wrinkled and margin gap-
ing widely and reflected. Common in the shell marl of
Edgecombe county.

FIG. 229.

PHOLADOMYA ABRTJPTA. (Fig. 231.)

Shell oblong, oval, substance nacreous; surface ornament-
ed with from three to five radiating ridges. This beautiful
bivalve is quite common in a marl bed in Edgecombe county
but rarely entire.

FIG. 231.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

301

FAMILY PHOLADIDAE.

These species of Pholas have been found in the miocene of
this, viz: P. Costata, P. Oblongata, and P. Memmingeri.
They are rarely if ever entire, but their fragments are not
uncommon.

FAMILY CARDIDAE.* CAKDIUM MAGNUM. CARDIUM VENTRICOSUM.

Shell large, inflated, obliquely cordate, radiately ribbed,
ribs flattened, anterior ones crenulated.

This magnificent fossil is found occasionally in the miocene.
It is quite common in the pliocene, and is now very abun-
dant upon the coast, near Beaufort.

CARDIUM MURICATUM. — (Fig. 232-'3.)

The specimen given in the figure resembles the muricatuin,

FIG. 232-'3.

* The families cardidae and cardiiidae should have preceded veneridae.

NOETH-CABOLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

but it is more elongated, and its crenulations appear to differ.
I have obtained only one specimen ; and hence, cannot speak
of the permanence of its characters. It occurs in Walker's
Bluff, on the Cape Fear.

Cardium sublineatum is a common fossil of the Cape Fear
and Neuse marl beds.

FAMILY CAEDITIDAE. — CAEDITA AEATA. — (Fig. 234:.).

FlG-234- Shell rather thick, oblong,

and ornamented with fifteen or
sixteen elevated scaly ribs ; an-
terior side very short; poste-
rior margin oblique: inner
margin crenate.

. C. PEEPLANA. — (Fig. 235.)

Shell small, rather thick, triangular, inequilateral, radiately
ribbed, striated ; posterior side produced, anterior short.
Common.

FIG. 236. A.

FIG. 235.

FIG. 236.

C. ABBEEVIATA. (Fig. 236.)

Shell small, thick, triangular, oblique; ribs strong and
crenate ; umbones acute. Common.

CAEDITA TEIDENTATA. — (Fig. 236. A.)

Shell round, triangular, thick ; ribs strong and crennlate :
beaks turned forward ; valves with two teeth in the left, and
one in the right valve.

CAEDITA CAEINATA.

Shell small, thick, wide on the abdominal side ; ribs strong
and radiating ; muricated ; anterior side short.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 303

CHAPTEE XIX.

RADIATA.

Considerations relative to animals belonging to this type. — Aberant forms
of the Echinodermata. — Species described. — Bryozoa, Polyparia, etc.

Echinodermata comprehends a class in the Kingdom, Ra-
diata, whose organization belongs to the stellate type. Thit
sub-class derives its name from the character of the integu-
ment, and its appendages, which remotely resemble that of
the hedge-hog. Some are called sea-urchins, others star-fishes.
In most of the families of this great class, the integument is
protected by calcareous spines. The integument itself is co-
riaceous, but it takes into its composition a large quantity of
lime which imparts to it firmness and durability. The skin
is complicated in its structure. It is made up of an immense
number of plates of a polygonal form. They amount to 600
pieces in all. These are dove-tailed together in the most per-
fect manner, and yet they are so invested in living membrane,
• that additions of carbonate of lime are constantly made to
each. By this arrangement, the animal within grows without
inconvenience to itself, which it could not do, if the integu-
ment or dwelling was composed of one piece.

The forms of the Echinoderms differ much among them-
selves, and yet it is apparent that they all belong to one type,
and are constructed upon one plan. One of the most aber-
rant of this type is the sea cucumber, (Holothuria,) which is
a firm fleshy bag, destitute of plates, composed of carbonate
of lime. In another upon our coast, we find the star-fishes
with five arms extending from a common center ; and in an-
other^ the globular sea-urchin, in which the five arms are
folded and soldered together so as to form a ball. Another
interesting form has the stellate type, but differs considerably
from the star-fish, and most strikingly in the fact that the stel-1

304 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

late head is supported on a jointed foot-stalk. These are
called Encrinites.

These different families have a special geological interest.
The last for example, the Encrinite, lived in the earliest pe-
riods of the planet, and are known principally in the oldest
palaeozoic rocks. In the lower silurian system, beds are of-
ten composed mainly of their disarticulated remains. In mod-
ern rocks and seas, they are unknown. On the contrary, the
star-fishes without pedicels or jointed supports, are known
mostly in modern rocks, only two or three species being
known in the earlier formations. Now, the sea-urchins, or
the globular forms of this class, lived in great numbers in the
Mesozoic or Jurassic period. This type or form has come to
us, though none of the species of the Mesozoic period live in
our present seas.

I have spoken of the complicated structure of the star-fishes
and the provision which has been made for their growth, both
of which are worthy of our highest admiration. But nature
had not exhausted all her resources when she had provided
for their growth and made them the most beautiful objects in
the seas. She has in this elaborate structure made their or-
namental work subordinate to their instruments of locomotion
and reproduction. The flowers which are sculptured upon
their integuments form a part of their organs for moving from
place to place. These flowers which represent the five petals
of a rose, are formed by punctures through the outer envel-
ope. Through them the urchin protrudes fleshy suckers or
tubes. If, for example, a sea-urchin is placed in a glass filled
with sea-water, it is soon seen to protrude a multitude of slen-
der fleshy threads, each of which is tipped with a little knob.
These soon come in contact with the glass to which the knob
adheres, on the principle of an exhausted receiver. By means
of this adhering apparatus, it moves itself forward or back-
ward. In technical language, the surface from which these
fleshy threads protrude, are called ambulacral areas, and the
spaces between, interambulacral areas. Nothing can be seen
of these threads when the animal is dead. All its soft parts
are strictly encased in a box of kard shell substance, which

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

has received the name of Test, or Shell. The patterns- of these
different areas vary in form and proportion, and hence are
used as characteristics of genera and species. The test is also
covered with spines of different forms and sizes. These, too,
are formed after different patterns, their shafts being sculp-
tured differently in every species. Their spines, and the
mode they are attached to the shell, the character of their
surfaces, the position of their oral and excretory orifices, fur-
nish the characters upon which the families, and lesser sub-
divisions of this class are founded.

FAMILY CIDARIDAE. CTDARIS MITCHELLII. N. S. (Fig. 237.)

Test thick, circular or turban shaped ; flattened above and
below; ambulacral areas narrow, and provided only with

minute tubercles, in double rows,
FIG. 237. and three in each ; interambulacral

areas nearly four times as wide as
the former, and furnished with two
distinct rows of large primary tu-
bercles, with about eight in a row,
including the smaller ones upon the
disks; tubercles perforated; inner
rim surrounding the tubercle,
smooth ; outer, bearing small sub-
ordinate spines, giving it a crenulated appearance ; miliary
zones wide, and covered with small close set unequal granules ;
poriferous zones, unigeminal, and separated by nearly plane
ridges ; spines unknown ; apical disk unknown ; mouth open-
ing, appears to be large, but too much broken to determine
its characters.

Belongs to the eocene, and accompanies the remains of the
Zeuglodon.

Dedicated to the lamented Prof. Mitchell of the University
of Chapel Hill.

CIDARIS CAROLINEN8IS. — N. S. (Fig. 238.)

Test rather thick, circular and somewhat oval. Ambulacral
areas narrow ; somewhat undulating, supporting two row* of
21

306

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

FIG. 238.

small tubercles with two in a row, and interspersed with

minute ones, which appear in
some places to be arrayed in sub-
ordinate rows ; interambulacral
areas wide, covered with small
subequal and rather prominent
tubercles, among which minute
granules are scattered ; area about
four times as wide as the former ;
plates pentagonal, supporting two
rows of large perforated primary

tubercles, surrounded by plain circular zones ; miliary zone
concave or depressed. Poriferous zones narrow ; pores uni-
geminal; outer oblong; the inner circular; margin of the
small plates between them marked with an elongated depres-
sion. The upper and lower sides crushed.

Belongs to the eocene, and accompanies the former.
Figure 105 represents the jaws of an Echinoderm, p. 246.
The separate pieces of the test and jaws are quite common
in an eocene bed in Craven county. They belong to the
upper part of the bed, and seem to be confined to a space
about two feet thick.

FAMILY CIDARITAS. ECHINUS RUFFINII. ED. FORBES. (Fig. 239.)

u Body sub-depressed ; ambulacral and interlambulacral ;

plates with several primary tu-
bercles on each closely ranged,
having circles of secondary tu-
bercles surrounding their bases;
rows of pores very oblique,
with three pair of pores in each
row, the uppermost distant from
the other two. Beneath con-
cave ; mouth broad ; widely
notched opposite each avenue.'7
Ed. Forbes.*

FIG. 239.

Journal Geological Society, vol; i, p. 426<

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

307

FIG. 240-'l.

Found in the miocene beds. Four views, #, Echinus Ruf-
finii, viewed from above ; 5, mouth ; c, spinegerous tubercles ;
d, ambulacral plates, and arrangement of pores : #, J, natural
size, <?, dj enlarged.

FAMILY CLYPEASTARIDAE. — ECHINOLAMPAS APPENDICULATUS. N. S.

(Fig. 240-'l.)

Test thin; body oval, depressed;
margin thick or rounded ; somewhat
elongated, wider anteriorly than pos-
teriorly ; ambulacra narrow, open at
their extremities ; sub-petaloid ; pores
connected by furrows ; mouth trans-
verse ; excretory orifice horizontal,
marginal ; inadriporiform plate ex-
centric ; apical disk occupied by a
sub-cordate sculptured plate, furnish-
ed with a pentangula opening, in the
centre of which there is a pore ; are-
olse more numerous below than above •
area around the mouth inflected.

ECHINOCYAMUS PARVUS. — N. S. (Fig.

Test small, oval, with rounded sides; avenues dorsal;

mouth sub-central, rounded, large, with a crenulated margin;

vent between the mouth and hinder margin ; genital

FIO. 244. p0res apparently four. Figure natural size. The

£7} mouth is large in proportion to the size of the body

arid the vent is situated half way between the mouth

and margin. Eocene of Craven.

308

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL 8URVET.

FIG. 246.

SCUTELLA LYELLH.-— (Fig. 246.)

Shield small, sub-circular, flat, scarcely
convex above ; below slightly concave ;
ambulacra open towards the margin and
terminating in four pores ; in that direc-
tion mouth small ; vent near the margin.
Eocene, Wilmington.

SCUTELLA. — (Fig. 247-'8.

Figures 247-' 8 represent a common fossil of the eocene
of Craven county. 247 inferior face, showing the relative

FIG. 247-'8.

position of th^ mouth and excretory orifice. Figure 248 is
profile view of the same. The apical summit is before the
genital. Since its discovery no opportunity has been furnish-
ed by which I could obtain a comparison with the forms al-
ready known and described by the palaeonlologists of this
country. Wadsworth's eocene marl, Craven county.

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

309

FAMILY SPATANOIDAE — GONIOCLYPEUS SUBANGULATUS. — N. G.

(Fig. 242.)

Test thick, sub-conical, covered with small spines, anterior
and posterior areas somewhat unequal; margin and base

FIG. 242.

FIG. 243.

somewhat pentangular; posterior or anal orifice lateral, or
upon the superior face ; interambulacral area grooved, with
the continued area beneath projecting ; interambulacral areas
sub-angulated ; mouth rather narrow or small, central; peris-
tome angular, and surrounded by five angular prominences,
which terminate in the interambulacral areas, between which
is a rosette, perforated by seven pairs of pores, with three odd
ones at the end of each petal ; ambulacra petaloid and closed;
the prolonged zone provided with alternating pores as far as
the base; pores connected by oblique grooves; interambu-
lacral wide ; plates large, and nine or ten in a column.
Figure 243, rosette enlarged.

OBSERVATIONS. — The ambulacral areas are narrow, but the
poriferous zones are rather wide ; and the interambulacral
areas are about four times as wide as the ambulacral. The
genital plates are indeterminate, but the pores are large and
the occular small, and appear to be mere indentations ; buc-
cal area ornamented with a rosette; petals transversely
wrinkled ; pores elongated ; the anterior lateral plates appear
to have eleven pairs of pores instead of seven. The genus is
closely related to Cassidulus of Lamark, but the pores are
united by grooves. Eocene, Wardsworth marl, Craven co.

310

NORTH-CAKOLINA GEOLOGICAL STTKVEY.

AMPHIDETUS VIRGINIANUS.* FORBES. (Fig. 245.)

"Body broadly ovate, elevated and truncate posteriorly ;
back oblique ; dorsal impression lanceolate ; scutab area very
slightly excavated ; ambulacral spaces broad, triangular, de-
pressed ; interambulacral spaces slightly convex ; anteal fur-
row broad and' shallow, sides slightly gibbous ; sub-anal im-
pressions broadly ob-cordate ; post-oral spinous space broadly
lanceolate. — Edw. Forbes."

FIG. 245.

<r, lower area ; &, upper area ; c. posterior area, showing
the relation of the sub-anal impression. Usually found in
fragments in the miocene of North-Carolina.

* Journal of the Geological Society, Vol, 1, p. 425,

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

311

FIG. 246. FIG. 247.

ORDER CRINOIDEA. — MICROCRINUS CONOIDEUS. — N. G.

(Figs. 246 & 247.)

Body conical ; sub-pentangular at base ;
areas five, oblique ; pores six or seven to
J^ ^p each, alternating and arranged in rows,
separated by a ridge ; apical pores five,
base wide ; beneath concave; concavity intersected by five
bars, which descend and meet in the center ; spaces between,
triangular, terminating above in the apical pores.

Figure 247 shows the base with the intersecting bars and
triangular spaces between.

I am unable to determine whether the head is supported on
afoot-stalk; the joints of a crinoid, however, are numerous
in the marl in which this curious species is found.

Eocene of Craven county, and associated with Echinocya-
mus Parvus.

FIG. 248.

FIG. 249.

BRYOZOA. LUNULITES BENTICULATA. — (FigS. 248 & 249.)

" Conical ; cells inalternate, oblong externally, interior coni-
cal, nearly vertical to the two surfaces of the polypidom ;

margin of the cell in its immature
state open and denticulated ; when
mature, covered ; mouth near the
distal extremity; semicircular when
imperfect, circular when perfect ;
gemmuliferous chamber at the dis-
tal end of the cell, opening round,
concave surface furrowed, irregular

and minutely granulated." * Miocene, and common to most
of the beds upon the Neuse and Cape Fear.

Fig. 249, enlarged view of the fossil, showing the arrange-
ment of the cells, and the small Figure its natural size.

LUNULITES CONTIGUA. — FigS. 250 & 251.

The figures exhibit casts of the concave surface of the

0

* Lonsdale, miocene corals from N. America, Journal Geol. Society, TO!. 1, p.
Ml.

312

NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

coral. Fig. 251, cast of the concave surface natural size;
Fig. 250, magnified view of a portion of the surface. Eocene
Wilmington.

FIG. 250.

FIG.

FIG. 253.

LUNULITES OBLONGUS. N. 8. (FigS. 252 & 253.)

Polypidom small, conical ; cells arranged along a straight
line, from the base to the margin ;
open cells show that they are near-
ly quadrangular; the closed cells
do not show an orifice ; there is a
simple film spread over the cell,
and the margins are simple and

£ ^ unlike den ticulata. Fig. 253, great-

ly enlarged view of the cells ; small figure shows
the natural size of the fossil.

DISCOPORELLA UMBELLATA. — (FigS. 254: & 255.)

It is impossible to discover any difference between our
Discoporella and that of the miocene of France ; the cells

have two orifices at op-
posite acute angles, and
the same arrangement
of cells. Fig. 255 great-
ly enlarged. This figure,
however, fails to give a
clear and correct view of
the fossil. A reference
therefore, to Pietet's PL XC, page 15, is necessary.

The small lunulites begin to form at the apex, and for this

FIG. 255.

FIG. 254.

tfORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL STJEVEY.

313

Fio. 256.

purpose they attach themselves to a grain of sand, which will
generally be still fqund at the point of growth ; some of the
miocene ones are nearly half an inch in diameter.

POLYPAIRA. ASTRAEA BELLA. (Fig. 256.)

The stars are polygonal, variable, rather deep, lamellar
lamellae twelve, with alternating ones, denti-
culated, contiguous, or separated by their par-
titions.

Common in the miocene incrusting shells,
and various bodies found in a marl bed.

ASTKAEA. — (Fig. 256a.)

Irregularly branched ; stars deep and rather distant, though
in some places contiguous as in the Bella; intermediate spaces
without pores, but bordered by lines to which the lamellae
extends ; lamellae denticulated, as in A. Bella, and provided
also with the same number, and similarly arranged. Miocene.

Fro. 256a.

314 NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

The foregoing sketch of the fossils of the marl beds of the
eastern counties, is far from being complete. Numerous spe-
cies still remain unnoticed and undescribed. It seemed to be
desirable, however, on many accounts, to illustrate some of
the interesting contents of these beds, which are truly the
only historical mementoes which now remain to us of the ages
during which they lived. It will appear, on examination, that
I have placed by far the largest number of species in the mi-
ocene. I have thus placed them because the shell marl beds
contain so large a number of the acknowledged miocene fos-
sils of Virginia ; and besides, there are many which replace
miocene fossils of Europe.

In conclusion, it is due to myself to remark, that the cir-
cumstance under which many of the determinations have been
made, rendered it impossible to consult authorities, and hence
it may turn out that many species which have been marked
as new, will prove to be old ones already described. The
course I have pursued may have been injudicious, and hence
may open the way for censure; still, under the circumstances,
I deemed it the best I could pursue.

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.

I.— FIGURES AND NAMES OP SPECIES:—
Page 205, for otololite read otolite.
" 242, fig. 90, read Galeocerdo Egartoni.
" 241, fig. 84a is Sphyrna denticulata.
" " " 82a and 83a, Galeocerdo contortus.

" 243. It is possible Trygon, fig. 94, should be referred to Myliobatis.
« 245.— Fig. 105 is the valve of the genus ScalpeUum of the class Oir-

ripedes.
" 261, fig, 139.— This is not Erato laevis, but is closely allied to E.

Maugeriae, of the coralline crag.

" 268. — Fig. 159 resembles Cerithium adversum of the English crag.
" 290. — For J/ucenidae read Lueinidae.
" 291. — Place a period before Brugiere.
« « — For Pennsylvania read Pennsylvanica.
" " sencond line from bottom, for multiMneata read multilineato.
" 292. — For Venerlda read Veneridae.
« " — For Tridaenoides read Tridacnoides.
" 293.— For Cribrari read Cribraria.
" " second line from bottom, for pramagna read permagna ; for metta-

striata read metastriata.
" 29'4.— For Cytherca read Cytherea.
" " For reporta read reposta.
" 295. — For Artemes read Artemis.

" 296.— Fig. 224 shows the hinge of Artemis tranversus ; and read Ar-
temis for Artemus.
" " sixth line from bottom, for TELLIMIDAB read TELLINIDAE; and

ninth line, for Tiphonal read Siphonal.
" 297. — For P. Sammobia read Psammobia.
" 306. — For Cidaritas read Cidarites.

" 307, second line from top, for Spinigerom read Spinigerous.
" 311. — Bryozoa should have been placed under an independent head,

as a subdivision of Molusca and not under Radiata.

Certain figs, have been placed wrong side up, particularly Scutella. fig. 247 — '8.
In the Eocene of Craven county, I have found the palatine teeth of the Saurodon, or
Saurocapalhus, and also fragments of a Xiphioid fish, as the prolonged premaxi-
lary of a sword fish.
Rctinasphalt occurs in the marl of Duplin county.

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