Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-04

1t comes from Isle La Motto, VT. an
island in Lake Champlain. 1t is Chazy
(Ordovician) in age. The fossils rep
resent divers organic types. Some
of the most striking are gasteropods.
The large cooled shell. of which there
are several specimens, is Maclurea
magma. The long tubular forms, show
ing either as nearly parallel lines, or
rings in section, are cephalopods repre-
senting verious genera Crinoid stems
are abundant, showing as solio Wnlte
pencils or ASSOCIATED disks The slabs
giving the effect of heavy rolling
clouds carry large stromatoporoids,
probably stromatocerium, which grew
in large heads, having concentric
structure. Less conspicuous FOSSILS are
tribolitcS, brachiopods and the ike
Il trust that this information will prove
satisfactory 1t scarcely seemed neces-
sary to make a detailed faunal list.
Yours very truly. Edwin Kirk.
This scientific description of those pat
ent office fossils was referred by Mr..
White to Mr. Mitchell, whereupon Mr..
Mitchell sent the following letter to Mr..
White:
Dear Mr. White: This is very lovely,
but 1 am afraid if we forward Mr.. Kinks
letter to the Rambler, he will, in order
to make the matter interesting to his
readers. have to draw considerably on his
imagination. You suggest drafting this
for letter reply l think this should be
done with statement which the Rambler
can print practically as submitted, with
4 lead to the effect that in Il very early
age the area from which the rock con-
tanning these fossils came vas a part OF
the, or of an, ocean bed and then trace
the history of the fossils and land changes
which have occurred up to the present,
fVyDO
history with the particular animals de-
scribed by Mr.. Kirk. I think the readers
of The Star, too may be a little hazy
as to what is crinoid stem or trilobite
or even a stromatoporoid.
This letter from Mitchell to White was
referred back to Mr.. Kirk, who then set
to work and wrote under the heading
"A Graveyard in the Patent Office the
story about fossils which follows
In the flooring of the corridor of the
patent office are the graves of some OF
the Oldest inhabitants of the United
States. Though they may be seen by
any one the remains Of these old settlers
attract but little attention. They are
worthy of more consideration, however,
for they tell a story OF conditions in
hnitely older than any written records, or
Indeed than man himself.
Long before there were any Appala-
chan or Rocky mountains the country
was covered by an arm of the Atlantic.
To the northeast this sea connected with
the Atlantic near the mouth of the 81.
Lawrence. To the southwest the sea
opened into the Gulf of Mexico. In this
inland sea were varied form OF life, some
of which did not differ widely from those
living today. Some types, on the other
hand have become extinct and We know
of nothing like them in the present ocean.
Many animals now living were wholly I'M
known at that time and nothing even re-
motely resembling them has been found
in the rocks. 1t is probable that the an
would have an exceedingly hard time
recognizing his own grandparents Of that
period.
..An these animals lived and had their
being in the ancient ocean. When they
died their shells or skeletons gradually
accumulated in the bottom. For the most
part these remains were composed of
lime In course of time the material be-
came more and more compact and form
ed beds of limestone. Within recent
years these limestones have been quar-
-ied at Isle la Motto. VT, sawed into
blocks and used for tagging or other pur-
poses
'If one passes down one of the corrl-
doris of the patent Office he may see the
fossils embedded in the black limestone
slabs and cut in various directions by the
saw Here and there are snaillike shells,
and long, slightly tapering, tubular struc-
lures that at one time were the habita-
lions of animals related to the squ1ds OIL