xt7qjq0srg7t https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7qjq0srg7t/data/mets.xml Kentucky. State Geologist. 1884  books b97-20-37309549 English J.D. Woods, Public Printer and Binder, : Frankfort, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Geology Kentucky Clark County. Geology Kentucky Montgomery County.Linney, W. M. (William M.) Report on the geology of Clark and Montgomery Counties  / by W.M. Linney. text Report on the geology of Clark and Montgomery Counties  / by W.M. Linney. 1884 2002 true xt7qjq0srg7t section xt7qjq0srg7t 












GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY.
        JOHN R. PROCTER, DIRECTOR.



              REPORT

                ON THE


GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



By W., M. LINNEY.



IOHN D. WOODS, PUBLIC PRINTER AND BINDER.

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              INTRODUCTORY LETTER.



                     HARRODSBURG, Ky., December, I884.
Hon. Jno. R. Procter, Director of the Kentucky Geological Survey:
  DEAR SIR: I herewith transmit to you for publication reports
on the Geology and other natural features of Clark and Mont-
gomery counties. The region is an interesting one, and I am
largely indebted to the kindness of the citizens in making my
work and intercourse with them very pleasant. Mr. J. B. Hoeing,
of the Topographical Department, has prepared the map and
section, as he has those before published, in the best of style.
Owing to the presence of the same groups in the various
counties, there is more or less repetition of description in my
reports, but this can not be avoided, as the way they are dis-
tributed, generally to each county, makes this necessary and
does not injure the matter really for the final reports. Yours
very truly,                            W. M. LINNEY.

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GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



  Clark was erected into a county in the year I 792. Its
position is a little to the east of the center of the State, and has
on the north Fayette and Bourbon, on the east Montgomery
and Estill, on the south Estill and Madison, and on the west
Madison. Originally it was much larger than now, its territory
having been divided into other counties. Red river extends
for some distance along its southern border, and the Kentucky
river washes its western outline. While these streams do not
now have much to do with the economy of the county they
will add much to the convenience of the people when the im-
provements are completed which are being made in the chan-
nel of the Kentucky,'and obstructions are removed from the
bed of Red river. It is along these waterways that the county
should receive the coal and lumber which is now imported into
it.
  The county is well drained by Stoner, Boone, Lower Howard,
Two Mile, Upper Howard and Lulbegrud creeks and their
tributaries. None of these creeks are large, but they afford
water power for mills a part of the year, and are great con.
veniences in watering stock at all times.
  The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad extends through the
county in -rather an east and west direction, the Kentucky Cen-
tral crosses the former at Winchester in rather a north and
south line, while from Hedge's Station the Kentucky Union
is being constructed southeastward toward North Carolina.
With the latter completed, the county will have all the con-
veniences of transportation that would be needed, and a system
of which few counties in the State could boast. Clark county
has an area of 255Y2 square miles, and in i88o had a popula-
tion of 12, I 5.

 



GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



  Winchester, 70 8' west longitude from Washington, and 380
of north latitude, is the county town, and is situated where it
has a fine natural drainage, is well laid off, and planted with
shade trees to a larger extent than our towns usually are. Its
population in i88o was 2,277, and it has had a steady and
healthy increase, since. This town is well supplied with schools,
but many of the common-school houses over the county sadly
need renewing with a better class of structures, and with riper,
more experienced teachers.
  The county is fairly well supplied with good roads, yet some
of them need to be macadamized and others constructed. The
improvements now being made and projected will give an ex-
cellent system. Good turnpikes over a county are one of the
greatest boons which the citizens can have, and they rank
high as showing the character of a people and their financial
prosperity.
  The drainage of the county all flows into the Kentucky
river, with the exception of the waters of Stoner creek, which
is a tributary of the Licking. The water-shed between these
two lines is a ridge which runs northeastwardly through the
county, and from this ridge the surface slopes more or less to
the northwest and to the south and southwest. Generally the
northern part of the county is gently rolling, with few places
where steep hillsides come in, except immediately along the
sides of streams. The rest of the county is more broken, and
often the hillsides are very abrupt. On some of the streams,
as Boone's and Lower Howard's creeks, and the Kentucky
river, they are sometimes almost perpendicular. In the south-
ern part of the county the surface rises into small "knobs." The
slope from the center of the county toward the south from
the dividing ridge spoken of, allows the eye to take in some
magnificent scenes across the county and for many miles be-
yond. Portions of several counties can be seen from a single
point. One may from here look over on one side and see some
of the richest and most prized farming and grazing lands, and
on the other side, while viewing in the foreground a good
territory, see the rugged mountains and poorer soils, beyond,



6

 


GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



which stretch on towards the Cumberland Mountains. Many
panoramas of beauty could be photographed from the emi-
nences along this comparatively elevated line. The extreme
difference between the water level of the Kentucky river and
the highest points in the county is only about five hundred and
seventy-five feet, though the apparent difference is much more
than this.
  The following table shows the elevations at various points in
the county, the first four correctly, the others approximately:

                                           Ft. ab've  Frain
                                           sea level. Formation.

Xm.epcky River, low water ......... .  .   ...  625 Chazy.
PIn    e.      . ....................         960 Trenton.
Winche Dtepat .. .. .. . .. .. ..             961 Lower Hudson.
Hedges Stati.... .. . .. .. .. ..      .. .   976  Middle Hudson.
Stoner Creek Ralhv,Crossing..  .    ........ ..     961 Trenton.
Thompson's Station.   ..........    .... .. ..   1,087 Upper Hudson.
Clark and Montgomery l.               ..     1,061 Upper Hudson.
Divide between Stoner Creek middville.  .   . .  1,100 Upper Hudson.
Divide on Red River Pike, Xr. FrPklin's . . . . . . . .  1,091 Middle Hudson.
John Goff's....... . ...... . . . . . . ..     791 Black Slate.
Divide on Ruckerville road, over Upper Howard's Creek . . 1,086 Middle Hudson.
Lulbegrud Creek, at Eastin's Mill .... ....... .  700 Corniferous.

  These figures show the relation of the surface features, and
the right hand column the group of rocks which are at the
surface, and both should be kept in mind for an intelligent un-
derstanding of the problems connected with the disturbances
which have altered the natural arrangement of the rocks of the
county.
                  GENERAL GEOLOGY.

  The general geological section of Clark county extends from
the Chazy Limestones to the summit of the Black Slate, giving
a vertical section of about twelve hundred feet of rocks, whose
edges can be seen as they overlap each other in going across
the county from the mouth of Boone's creek to the waters of
Lulbegrud. It is the variations in the composition of these
rocks and the positions they occupy, that make such con-
trasts in the surface, such distinctions in the soils, and the
variations in the distribution of the timbers, It is well if these



7

 



GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



subjects be carefully studied, for a knowledge of them pro-
duces happiness, and the application of this knowledge leads to
great results in many ways.
  The following table shows the separate divisions into which
geologists have apportioned them for convenience of study,
and to follow a natural order or sequence which they hold to-
ward each -other:



    Age.        Period.           Formation.         Feet.  Feet.

             Hamilton.    Black Slate.                 100
Devonian.     Corniferous. Corniferous.                         6
              Oriskany.    Oriskanv Sandstone.           1     107


              Niagara.     Blue Shales.                 18
Upper Silurian.
              Clinton.     Clinton Shale and Limestone. 50      68


                           Upper Beds.                 300
              Hudson River.Middle Beds.                150
                           Lower Beds.                 17.5    625


Lower Silurian            Trenton Limestone.           200
     or      Trenton.
  Cambrian.               Birdseve Limestone.          125     325




             Canadian.    Chazv Limestone.                    100



 Total.....                                                   1,225
                 .      . .. ..    _  



  The colored map which accompanies this report shows the
outlines of these divisions, while the profile section exhibits the
relation they bear to each other, as well as how some of them
are lost beneath others as they are extended across the county.



8

 


GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



                 CANADIAN PERIOD.

  Chazy Limestone.-The Chazy Limestone is the only
portion of the Canadian Period exposed to view in the State,
and is the lowest brought to view. On the Kentucky river,
at Camp Nelson, they are seen three hundred and fifty feet
thick, but in this county they are reduced to about one hundred.
From the Boonesboro ferry down to the mouth of Boone's
creek they have this height above the river. In going up the
gorges of the creeks between the points mentioned they appear
in the banks for some distance. Tough, massive layers, these
rocks make a picturesque rampart, sometimes perpendicular,
again receding into terraced shelves, they give but a narrow
fringe open to inspection here, though they extend beneath all
the rocky floor of the country and reappear south of the Cum-
berland Mountains.
  These rocks are much fractured where seen, and are thus
half quarried. As they are among the strongest, most durable
stones we have, it would be an easy matter' to raise them from
their beds and ship them by the river if there should become a
demand for them. The same may be said of the group above
them. No soils having distinctive characters are here formed
from the rocks, as the little which collects on the cliffs is mixed
-with that which comes down from above.

                  TRENTON PERIOD.
  Birdseye Limestone.-This series of limestones which
overlie the Chazy, in Kentucky, have the same extent on the
Kentucky river and the branches and hollows which enter it
along this line, but they lie higher up and are exposed farther
back, though in many cases they help make the steep walls of
the cliffs at their tops. There is, at the base, ten or twelve
feet of a magnesian litnestone which has received the name of
the Kentucky Marble. It has been quarried some on Boone's
creek, Lower Howard creek and near the Boonesboro ferry.
It has been used about the court house in Winchester and at
Lexington and Frankfort. This stone is in convenient layers,



9

 


GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



quarries and works well, but it can not. be said to rank high
amongst the best building stones. It often breaks from old dry
seams or other causes and on exposure it discolors to an ugly
yellow, not uniformt in color.
  These layers contain on average thirty-five per cent. of car-
bonate of magnesia and are classed as dolomites. They are
not uniform in color, being a light marbled blue in the interior,
or on fresh fractures, and a tawny yellow when exposed for a
year or two. An analysis from one of these layers by Dr.
Peter shows,
     Specific gravity    .       .       .......... . 2.675
     Lime carbonate...  ................ .... 64.866
     agnesia carbonate.....................     86.820
     Alumina, Iron and manganese oxides ....       1.750
     Phosphoric acd (P2 05).. ... .310
     Sulphuric acid (808).... .                              280
     Potash......................... .... 1.140
     Sodas...................              .. .430
     Silica and silicates....                                5.917
        Total .... 102.638
  There are other layers in the Birdseye which wear in all
their natural exposures much better than does this rock, and
retain their colors for an indefinite time. These are from
light to dark dove colors and unlimited quantities of them
could be easily quarried along their outcrops.  The soils
derived from the destruction of these-series are of a very
limited extent, yet there are, among the cliffs, many small
places where these soils could be utilized in the growing of
grapes and other plants. The character of these soils rank
with the best, containing a large proportion of phosphoric
acid and potash, two of the elements which are the most nec-
essary in the formation of real productive soils. An average
of six of the Birdseye soils of the State is given below.
    Organic and volatile matters..   .                 4.453
    Alumina, iron and manganese oxides... . .. .. . ..      6.513
    Lime carbonate..                                   ..453
    Magnesia.. .. .. . .. .. . .. . ..  . . .. .. . ..  .383
    Phosphoric acid (P20)..                             .207
    Potash extractedby acids.... .. . .. .. . .. .. . ..  .178
    and and insoluble silicates..... .. . .. .. . .. .. . . 84.832
                                                       96.819



IO

 


GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



  This series is uniform in thickness and lithological charac-
ters with the same rocks as seen in Garrard and Mercer
counties. The same fossils are here found that are seen in
the other situations, and the reader is referred to the reports on
the above named counties for other information.

  Trenton Limestone.-This series of rocks, which rest
on the Birdseye below, are at the surface in the northern and
northwestern part of the county, and makes the most beautiful
and richest of the agricultural lands. These rocks are also ex-
posed in part of the valleys of Two-mile and Four-mile creeks.
They approximate two hundred feet in thickness and with only
a few exceptions approach the same character in the various
layers which go to make up the whole. At the base there is
a layer of cherty matter which in its natural alteration resem-
bles a sandstone. The fossils here are- silicified and not in good
condition for cabinet specimens. Several species of Orthoceras,
Or/his pectinella, Orthis Iricenaria, Orthis testudinaria, Lep/ana
sericea, with species of Cyrtodonta are the prevailing and char-
acteristic forms. These beds give heavy clay soils apt to cut
badly by washing, but they are of very limited extent.
  Above the last are to be seen some thin layers of an earthy
limestone which has some properties for making an hydraulic
lime, and associated with them are thin beds of blue shale
which give a gray clay in their destruction.
  Near the top of the Trenton are some heavy bedded stones
which have a granulated structure and, on exposed surfaces,
have an appearance to the touch, and also to the eye, of being
sandstone. These are the granular limestones of other re-
ports and are seen in a few places below Wade's mill quite
prominently. This stone here is not as good for building pur-
poses as the same layers in Mercer county. It has been
quarried and finished at or near Wade's mill, where it was
thought it would make a fair article of marble, but it does not
hold its colors and it is in places very unevenly bedded, and
splits unevenly along its lines of lamination.
  The rest of the series is made up of beds which wear into



I I

 

GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



thin blue or gray layers, rather easy of decomposition, and
thus serve as the basis of the excellent soils which lie above
them everywhere. The upper part of the Trenton, where these
granular rocks are seen, has two well-marked peculiarities
which seem to impress them everywhere. One is the dark
color which they have after exposure in fences and other places.
This feature makes them readily recognized by one used to
them, without examination. The other is, that they will become
covered with moss sooner and in greater quantities than any
stones which I know of in the State. The last condition is
due to the fact that here these rocks are in part phosphate of
lime and the plant food is thus largely prepared in the rocks
while its open granular and vesicular structure allows the pen-
etration, easily, of the roots of the moss.
  It seems to be certain that at least one half of these two-
hundred feet of rocks, contain a large amount of phosphate of
lime. Dr. Peter has analyzed quite a number of specimens
containing from five to twenty-flve per cent. of phosphoric
acid and from this it is easy to see why the soils derived from
them are the richest known in Kentucky.
  I am satisfied that this great accumulation, of this essential
element of fertility, has been derived from the destruction of a
very small, almost microscopic shell, belonging to the univalves
and described by paleontologists under the name of microceras.
The shells have undergone a decomposition, usually in the
rocks, but their forms in earthy looking casts can be seen by
myriads whenever a fragment is examined. The richest rocks
are those that contain the greatest number of these shells.
  What a wonderful and almost inconceivable revelation comes
to us when the history of these rocky layers and all their re-
sults is read aright
  Who can calculate the time that swept over the old ocean's
floor, in the Trenton times, while tiny shells, just large enough
for the naked eye to trace, came forth and grew and died in
numbers sufficient that their frail shells would constitute a
hundred feet of rocks. Since then these rocks have been
covered with many hundreds of feet of other kinds, raised by



12

 


GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



great earth movements from the sea, the upper ones being dis-
solved and carried away until the old beds have been reached
again, and their decomposed elements now furnish alike the
richest food which gives characters, of quality and size, not only
to the blade of bluegrass, the grain of wheat and the husk of
corn, but to the fleet racehorse, the flesh of cattle and the
physical qualities of the men and women. These are facts
which can not be controverted, and we have here stored up the
matter which might enrich other soils of the State. These
richest layers should be made to give up their fertilizers for
transportation to those soils which have not enough phosphates
in them to make them rich.
  These Trenton soils are all good, and the differences which
exist in them are largely due to the depth of soil, the nearness
of the rocks to the surface, or to the want of care in retaining
the soils as they should be, and sometimes to the excessive re-
moval of crops from the farm. Where the soils are deep and
well taken care of they are nearly practically inexhaustible.
They are earlier in the season, because they are warmer and
richer in young plant food, yet they do not stand long ex-
cessive hot weather so well as some poorer but moister soils.
  An average of thirty-two of these Trenton soils taken from
several of the counties of the State gives the following results:
    Organic and volatile matters..... .. .. .. .. . .. ..  6.211
    Alumina and iron and manganese oxides..... . .. .. .. 11.200
    Lime carbonate..... . .. .. .. . .  .. .. . .. ..   .749
    Magnesia.... .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. ..   .644
    Phosphoric acid (P2 05).... .. ... .. ... .. .. ..     .328
    Potash extracted by acids..... .. . .. .. . .. .. ..   .404
    Sand and insoluble silicates..... . .. .. .. . .. .. .. 73.380
    Water expelled at 2050 F...... .. . .. .. .. . .. .. not est.
    Potash in the insoluble silicates..... .. . .. .. .. . .. not est.
       Total.                                         92916

  When it is considered that the average of phosphoric acid
contained in soils is only 0. I 7 per cent. and of potash o. 14 per
cent. it can easily be seen why these best soils of Central Ken-
tucky take such rank among all others. And as the soil,
subsoil and the underclay all are equally rich in these two



13

 

GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



necessary elements of fertility, it is certain that as long as the
rocks upon which they are based dissolve themselves into soil
there can be no essential loss in the fertility of these lands.
No application of bonedust will be needed, for the phosphate
of lime is its equivalent. Yet organic matters in the form of
stable manures, straw and green crops of clover, etc., turned
under, are necessary to give the best results, as by their chemi-
cal action the food for growing crops is prepared for being
taken up and assimilated by the plants.
  The soils from near the upper part of these beds are often
red from the presence of oxide of iron, a mineral which has
a world-wide distribution, and is one of the great chemical
agents which act upon other substances in the soils and prepare
them for fertility. This red soil through this region is highly
prized, for the people have by observation learned its intrinsic
worth.
  So close is the relation between the growth and quality of
the bluegrass and the phosphatic limestones that one may be
usually able to determine the presence of the limestone beneath
by the growth of grass above.
  There seems to be no way to solve the question as to whether
the bluegrass was indigenous to the blue limestone soils of
Kentucky at the first introduction of settlers. There is a
legend which is often told that Grassy Lick creek, in Mont-
gomery, was named from the presence of bluegrass growing
around a sulphur spring, where it had been trampled by buffalo
who came hither to drink the water.
  Mr. Fielding Bush, one of the oldest men in the county, told
me that he was the first to clean up the woods in the region of
Lower Howard's creek and sow bluegrass seed. He obtained
the seed from the farm of Robert Cunningham, on Stoner
creek. Mr. Cunningham always claimed that he introduced
it into Kentucky from the South Fork of the Potomac river,
in Virginia. This locality in Virginia had soils very much
like the ones of Central Kentucky, and it is known that blue-
grass was a native there from the first history of the country.
Had it been a native in Kentucky, it would certainly be



14

 


GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



so widely distributed that no doubt would ever have arisen -as
to its having been indigenous to the State. This introduction
in i800, by Mr. Cunningham, seems to be the most reasonable
solution to its earliest introduction with us.
  Since writing the above I have seen the following published
statement of Samuel McElwain, of Henry county, on the intro-
troduction of bluegrass in Kentucky:
  -"I was born in Clark county, Kentucky, upon an adjoining
farm to the Thomas Goff farm. Mr. Goff was in the habit of
driving cattle East, and having discovered this grass, near the
Blue Ridge Mountains, cut the sod with a pocket-knife and
brought it home with him in his saddle-pockets and cultivated
it in his garden. This was about the time of my birth, in i807.
My father had a blacksmith shop in the neighborhood of the
Cunninghams, Donaldsons, Beans, Patons and others. I heard
them discuss the subject many times, and all told the same
story just as I have told. After I was old enough to remember,
the grass was sparsely scattered through the neighborhood,
having followed the course of a creek running by the Goff
farm, and as it took root and formed tufts of sod, the seed was
gathered and sown each year, till when I left there, at the age
of seventeen, the farms in the community were generally well
set with it. Its first introduction into Henry county was in
i824, by Mr. Seth Duncan, who sowed some seed in a turnip
patch on the farm now owned by Mr. J. T. Shaw, about four
miles west of New Castle."
  It is a noticeable fact that the road dust, blown into the mar-
gin of the fields and pastures. where the pikes have been made
from the layers of phosphatic limestones, enriches the growth
of grass and grains, and a close study of this will show the
rows of corn which have received this fine matter. If this
proposition is true, then it is evident that, if those layers of rock
which contain the largest percentage of phosphate matter were
ground into a fine flour, its application to soils would be
easy and the benefits derived very great. Its application to
wheat soils would probably be very beneficial, as the average
amount of that grain grown is greater on these than on any soils



15

 


GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



in the State. Inquiries made in several directions point to the
conclusion that the weight of white burley tobacco is more to
the acre than on either of the other soils of the State on which
it is grown. And while these soils of the Trenton are of such
limited distribution in the State, nearly all of the hemp grow-
ing is confined to their boundaries. These remarks will apply
with equal force to the soils of a portion of the Upper Hudson
beds.
  The changes which are recorded in the Trenton group from
Mercer county to Clark are not many nor great. Nearly every
character which ones sees in the soils, the rocks, the slopes and
the general appearances, are very much alike. There is the ab-
sence of the Upper Birdseye in Clark in its type character, yet,
at the horizon to which it belongs there are partial structures in
the rocks which show that at least part of the conditions were
present. A greater number of layers is made up of the little
microreras; consequently, there is a greater development of phos-
phate of lime in the latter county.  Some of the Trenton
layers are unevenly laminated and sometimes this amounts to
cross-stratification, but, nowhere, have I seen in the Trenton
beds a perfect representation of those great wave marks which
are so typical of the Lower Hudson. But there is a point on
Lower Howard's creek near the Calmese estate where this
feature is as perfect as can be seen at any point in the Lower
Hudson beds.
  The change in the forest is more marked by the introduc-
tion of great numbers of burr oaks. In the region along the
Bourbon line, and on, and near, Stoner, Strode's creek and
other small streams this species is in greater number than any
other and sometimes the forest seems to have been more than
half of these oaks alone. The quality of the wood is good, and
the trees are larger than I have met them in any other
county. I measured two of these on the farm of Chas. Swift,
Esq., and found them to be six feet two inches and five feet
three inches in diameter, and there was said to have been one
in the neighborhood which was over twenty-eight feet in cir-
cumference. In other situations the distribution of the trees



I6

 


GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.'



was about as usual, consisting of blue ash, white ash, wild cherry,
hackberry, black walnut, white chestnut oak, here called white
oak, red oak, mulberry, black locust, coffee bean, and shell-
bark hickory. The forest has been largely destroyed and only
a few aged trees are seen in little skirts of woods, and many of
these are falling into decay.
  One of the saddest sights, to one who has studied the econ-
omy of forests to only a limited extent, is) to pass year after
year along some of the roads of Central Kentucky, and notice
how each annual loss has altered the appearance of the familiar
woods. A tree has fallen because the multiplication of worms
has been so great that they have actually eaten it down, an-
other one has been cut for fuel or to make sticks to hang to-
bacco on, while the sweeping winds have hurled others to the
ground and broken branches, by storm or rot, have left others
as unsightly objects. Few farmers are caring for their groves
and fewer yet are making any effort to restore from the dis-
mantled earth young trees to bless and preserve those who come
after them.
  Destructive changes have come to the best part of our State
by the disrobing of the forests and, perhaps with much truth, it
is claimed by all the intelligent old men, that in some counties,
and on many farms, the season for plowing and planting is a
month later than it was fifty years ago.
  The Trenton in this county does not contain as many caves
as in some of the other counties, yet there are a few known.
These are not of any particular interest. One, on the farm of
Mr. Joseph Jones, is the best known and the largest. This
cave is often visited by the people of this section. It contains
a spring of good, cool water and has room enough to make a
storehouse for fruits, vegetables and meats, purposes to which
many dry caves are very suitable.
  There are not many large springs on the Trenton area,
yet some good ones exist on and near some of the streams.
Wells usually give plenty, and water of good potable char-
acter. Several wells have been bored near Pretty Run which
have afforded full supplies of sulphur water. One at Mr.



17

 

GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



Chas. Swift's is a very pleasant white sulphur which I had ar-
ranged to have analyzed, but for some cause the sample has
not yet reached Dr. Peter for examination.
  The fossils which mark the Trenton in Kentucky are to be
seen in this county, but they are rarely, if ever, very well pre-
served. Among the characteristic types are Stromatopora
rugusa, Columnaria alveolata, Or/his testudinaria, Or/his bore-
alis, Or/his clytie, the small form of Or/his lynx, Rhynconella
increbescens, Strepttorhyncus planumbonum. At one point I found
some specimens of Or/his deflec/a, quite a rare shell, and of
which I had only found, heretofore, such poor fragments in
Boyle County that they could not be identified. Leperditia
capax and L. morgani, Safford's species, were seen in the partial
birdseye layers near the top of the series. Many other forms
are included in the various layers.
  At the top of the Trenton is to be seen, at several points, a bed
which has not been seen elsewhere, and consists of a number of
layers of blue limestone, separated by mud shales, all of which
wear down into a stiff clay soil. These rocks contain Orthis
occidentals, small Ort/his lynx, Orthis linneyi, Cyclonema bilix,
Cons/ellaria antheoloidea. The first and third of these I had
never met with near this horizon before.

               HUDSON RIVER GROUP.
  This group makes about one half of the surface of the county,
and, not being uniform in its character, has been divided into
three series of beds in which natural distinctions are to some
extent the dividing lines. The colors on the map allow the
student and reader to note at once the extent and position
which they occupy.

  Lower Hudson Beds.-These beds, which furnish a
very characteristic series of rocks, soils and slopes, are to be
seen in their usual characters in going from Winchester five
miles out on the Ruckerville road, or to Stoner creek, on the
Clark and Montgomery pike. They are more or less modified
by circumstances, over their other outcrops, but are essentially

 



GEOLOGY OF CLARK COUNTY.



the same series. These beds are one hundred and seventy-
five feet in thickness in the county, whereas in Madison, and
some other counties this is increased to two hundred. There
is an absence here of some of the heavy clay shales which lie
near the base.
  The rocks are usually more compact and somewhat more
crystalline than those of the Trenton below, and having usually
more or less shale betwe5n them, there is more apt to be loose
blocks lying on the surface from the destruction of the shale
beneath them. There are fields, along the roads spoken of,
where these blocks of stone nearly cover the surface, and at
times an absence of care has allowed the soils to wash away,
leaving barren and unsightly places in the fields and pastures.
There is no excuse for this condition of things, for near them,
and with the same natural conditions existing, are beautiful
bluegrass swards and fine gr