The New York herald., 1851-08-26
EVENING SESSION.

"WEDNESDAY EyEsSG, Aug 20, 1851.
GEOLOGY NATURAL HsToRr-coMrARIsoS or THE srRA.
IA o. THE sLuvAS MIDDLE rEsSEssrE WITH
SAME
Pref yali commenced by stating that our previous
knowsdge Of this region had been derived mainly from
the published reports of Prof Troost and from map Of
Dr. D. d osen From the fossils published by DR. Troost,
It would appear the lower and upper suvisu devonan
even czrbonerous species occurred together in this
basin The lists fossils given and viii had been cited
In foregS publications showed that there had been no at
tempt made to distinguish the successive groups as they
elsewhere reccgnzed and particularly in the State
Of New York The only subdivisions Of the lower strata
attempted in the ives; had been into blue Limestone aud
cliff lmsstone the rocks above thesc being all Of carbo-
r.rous age Pref H. said that for several years past
Pref J. 81. Stafford bad been making examinations in
this part Of the country the general result OF which he
had presented In geological map showing not only the
limits Of this suvan basin hut also the subdivision which
be proposed 10 make and which we're charscterzsd by
certain fossils The fossils eoe;ted by Prot saaord
amounted 20 scme 200 species about half Of which
were Identical with those known In the rocks OF New
York In general terms might say that the rocks OF
nearly the whole Of this basin correpondcd to the lover
sluvan limestones Of New York In the lower portion
of the series in this basin Prof saord recognise. three
divisions Prom the lower Of these divisions, he has
css Eve Of species cbaractestc of the brdye and
Black River mestone In New FORK and the other three
spreared 10 be undescrbed species. FROM the
second division ty-eRht species had been collected OF
which twenty eight identical with species known
Trpt limestone: lev species only o,ins taoss
which 10 the birdfeye aud Back River line
stones In the ulper of tsss % snSli ,ni ,a ss. =.
eta scterc a New Yogk strata ana nearly al of the
Trenton limestone Among the cssis here enumeratsd
the ornocecss tie neocecas aud the end 'csc
The oitboecas fUsom, and other remarkable and c1a
ractrrtic rccies q lower suvian ass and partculs
iy of the Black river and Trenton mestones Prf ~.
aid tbst n. bad collected tie gouocscas Aucep a
Tbaipcd o. peculiar structure IN the Black River lime
stone Ncw Yorh and had traced it, 90 urrtnce 10 the
l fera ha AL In
ana Il occurred slo in the basin Of Tent essee Ia all
the localities IL associated With orniocecus or oc-
tinocecas eoumara and other fossils which ~ere a.
sceis'ed In the sane geological posloa 10 NeN ,v1
II teerned. therefore scarcely possible TO svod tue
conclusion that this lower hnssione q Ienness-e
vas the equivalent Of the Black River Nn7s9ne Of
New Ycik, ard iha; psrhsps also portion OF
the birds.ye Limestone wss Included WITH an
the sfcoud and third divisions there were about fry
pse;.a a fs.ils common 10 those rocts aud g. the
Tfonfon iimeftone u New York making the c1ncuion
unavailable that The itrata q these two portions OF
country were oftle age In the sams manner the
urper or Nashville group a limestone which Prot sat
ofd pr potsd 70 uhivide into three subordinate troups
cftfe Budsrn river group a New NorS. or With those
wheh idsntcsl with species common % the fren
in vss uusvidabs that the two we're n the are
n would huevsr that - the Trenton species
are found 20 lo",r potion ts.n 10 nv s ,, SUI SUI
trenton lmrstnue is not o. clearly markell In Ter-
nestse. "a y farthsr 70 the eas, aud northsal,
Ia this connection Professor Hall exhibited sections
snd dsaTams aud by usrntons from geological m ip
q The United statss showed that the lover suvisn
lnescI-s. or those known a. chsr7 bird.eye, Blck
River and Trenton llrnestones tlnnsd out In north
westerly direction t they es7 than 100 feet thick
on tie nth shore q Lake Michigan and The west shore
of Green Bay that in Wisconsin they were les
thar snverty five feet thick and st the Falls q ST An
tbouy the Mississippi river they less than afy
feet thick In Tennessee the strata far
were 200 feet thick aud the base had no. been
In Ike manner, the Hudson River group gradually
Thin out in the west and northwest its ssndy porton
dissrrenrn1 in Canada West and though eight hundred
feet H ck in New York is less than two hundred on the
rotfb shore OF Lake Michigan and disappears entirely
ps isropfin In Tennessee the rocks corresponding in
toson are eueary all limestone and have thickness Of
out three hundred feet The strata succeeding these
Iowsr siuviap mestones known as the gray line
stone PROM this limestone forty two species OF fossils
rad been collected Of which twenty seven we're knowa
ces and common to the rocks OF New Nork ne wei
aa Tenuessee But Whist was very remarkaoie, va tne
fact that of thes. twenty seven species several were oi
the Niagara group those known only In the rocks OF
ha, period while others known only In the lower
Heidelberg inestones and others si were found only
IN the Upper Hderberg mestones or the Onondses ana
cotperous hmestones Thus showing that rocks of the
middle and upper luvian periods, and Of the devonsn
pericd we're here united In or that the formaton
vas altogether uniform and homoee enous. that no
| subdivision could be made That the Onondaxs salt
group of New York having thickness Of 800 or 600
ret. has entirely di-spps sred. and that the Mia
sars and lower helterberg linsstouss thus come