Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1857-06-26
Boston soc'y OF Natural History.

.t-pprt-i fr the G71o7 7 a-sLT by the Reg SeeyI
The Presid 2, IN t5s Ci1ir.-Prof Aoass1E
opened the meeting by some highly interest,"
ing remarks upon new family of tShes AID
their habits.
DR.. CH4RLEs T. JAcK>oS gave brief de-
gcrption Of the bIrumruouS coal formation of
Elk couniy, Pennsylvania. which he had been
engaged IN exploiting during the month OF
June last. He observe! that the grea: bltulni-
nous Goa. basin or irou-h eIrerds lroin The
NORTHWESTERN bprtrr Oi Pcun>y lvania, to Tus-
caIOo>a, Alabama. a indicated on MIR. Jules
Marc "a, Geological Map oflhe United States.
The northern portion of the basin IS Of
great economical valae on account Of lis be-
laf lgaf me eearess !. L4Ae LI.s. one 9. the syea,-
navigation oa al the great LAKES. and for the
furnaces and gas works. as well as domestic
use for fuel, on both the United States and
canada sides Of these lakes. He remarked
that statistics showed larger amount ofton-
mage on the .aSes than exists on the Atlantic
coast Of this Country. aud that steam navigs-
ton would ceralniy greatly increase upon
the lakes where Goals could be obtained a: a
reasonable cost, a. VII soon BE the case
when the western poruoH Of the Sunbury &
Ere Railroad, now under contract, Is compile
ted, which would be done IN the course ottwo
wears.
Since the recent explorations were made in.
to the extensive coaI formation OF Elk county,
the Directors ui TINS important Railroad have
ordered The road 10 be laid amid these coal
fields, and the consequence OF this movement
Will soon 5e te.t IN the augmented value OF the
coal lands
The particular region explored by DR..
Jackson IS known as the Ridgeav Land and
Coal Companies property, some :7,OOO acres
Of land. all situated IN the coal region. Five
CT SIX beds OF coal underlie this soil, and ihey
generally dip only from two TO FIVE degrees
from the horizon, and are from two to SIX
feet IN thickness. Most OF tine large beds
are undlSiur5ed. and only the small ones are
here and there deuuled by valleys OF excava-
tion.
The deep ravineS or runs. expose some Of
the out crops Of the larger beds on the south
east sides Of the hills. On the northwest the,
are still deeply covered with rocks, the sand
stones. and bI,uminous Sha,cs.
Each Of these coal beds is Overlaid with a
stratum Of : or 10 inches of Sla,y camel coal,
and they all res; on FIRE CLAWS. Iron ores,
namely, carbonate of iron and brown hpma-
tite. abound, the former IN the fire clays and
the latter IN the superintendent shales. But
few fossil plants are found IN these shales. and
only the scales, fins. and tails of fishes in the
sisty camel coal. which appears 10 have been
fine aqueous sedimeat OF water-logged vese-
table matter.
\ bel of bufF-co,5rsd limestone occurs be-
meath the principal bel Of coal. and is nine
or ten fee; thick. This limestone contains
small fossil bivaive shells, not yet named.
The RidgwaY land thus conIains coal. iron
ores. limestone, ami sandstone, with an abun-
dance of clay suitable for fre-proof bricks.
Aii tho fa-FffffnS for -ba 3,r. Of
lst on the spot, and soon the means OF trans
porllion Of the Goals and metal 10 marke;
Will hH supplied. The country is elevated
about 900 feet above the sea. and is IN LAT.
Al. % y, and long 40 W. of Washington.
ana Is remarkably healthy.
The following analysis Of the Goals. iron
ore and the limestone have been made by
Dr. Jackson, since his return 10 Boston,
SnsrIrnan lrnIl the leci bed