xt7sf7664m3m https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7sf7664m3m/data/mets.xml Cox, E. T. (Edward Travers), 1821-1907. 1857  books b96-11-34700556 English A.G. Hodges, public printer, : [Frankfurt, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Mollusks, Fossil. Paleontology Carboniferous. Paleontology Kentucky. Coal Kentucky. Pal5ontological report of coal measure mollusca  / made by Edward T. Cox. text Pal5ontological report of coal measure mollusca  / made by Edward T. Cox. 1857 2002 true xt7sf7664m3m section xt7sf7664m3m 













PALTONTOLOGICAL REPORT


             OF


  COAL MEASURE MOLLUSCA


            MADE BY



EDW ARIRD T. COX,


   ASSISTANT GEOLOGIST.

 This page in the original text is blank.

 


                      R E P O R T.


TO DR DAVID DALE OWEN,
                       Geologist of the State of Kentucky.
   SIR: In accordance with your instructions I accompanied Mr. Leo
Lesquereux in an excursion for the purpose of examining the coal field
in the western part of Kentucky, with the view to collect palkeoutolog-
ical data, that might greatly aid in identifying the different veins of
coal, one with another, throughout the counties embraced in its extent;
especially by means of the organic remains found in the roof-shales
and accompanying rocks.
  The merited celebrity of 'Mr. Lesquereux as a fossil Botanist, and
the important labor which he had bestowed upon the coal plants of
Pennsylvania and Ohio, made his selection fur a similar work in -Ken-
tucky, the very best it was possible to make.
  In connection with 'Mr. Lesquereux, I was especially instructed to
pay attention to the fossil mollusca, and collect every possible evidence
for identity from that source. This mode of establishing the position
of coal beds has only been practically pursued by Mr. Lesquereux in
this country; and a beginning is now being made, for the first time,
to connect with the flora the testimony of the shells-an addition
much needed in western Kentucky, on account of the great scarcity
of the former, and abundance of the latter.
  Our investigv ions, for identity, commencing with coal No. 1, B, a,
the bottom of the section in the first cha ter of your report, and ter-
minating with coal No. 12, includes, in all the strata, a vertical thick-
ness of about eight hundred feet. It must not be supposed that these
members include the whole thickness of the western coal field; though
they mark, probably, the limits of the profitably working coals, there
are one or two thin seams below No. 1, B, which, with a thick Eand.
stone, usually pebbly, with underlying shale, make together one bua-
drad feet or more; whilst above No. 12, there are a number of thin
veins with intervening shales, limestone, and Eand-rock, in all up-
wards of five hundred feet, making the whole measures in the western

 



PALJEONTOLOOICAL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.



part of the state from (1,400) fourteen hundred to (1,500) fifteen
hundred feet.
   The thin veins above No. 12, are not wanting in distinctive organic
remains, and collections had already been made from some of these
higher beds, amongst which are seveal new species. They have been
omitted for the present, as being of the least importance, and because
they require additional study.
   In Mr. Lesquereux's report will be found an extremely interesting
account of the formation of fossil fuel, and the equivalency of the
various beds of' coal throughout the field of our examination. It re-
mains only necessary for me, on this occasion, to refer to each vein its
peculiar fossil shells, so far as they have been ascertained.
   It may be asked, how came marine shells to be imbedded in the
roof-shales, if the coal has been formed in fresh water  They follow-
ed the influx of the sea after subsidence of the land, and are such as
usually live in shallow or brackish water, belonging to the phytiferous
(vegetable feeders,) and carniverous orders.  The salt water gradually
killed out the coal flora-the last remains of which mixed with algae,
became entangled in the sediment of the ocean, and served to supply
bitumen, with which the dark shales that Osually form the roof of the
coal are so frequently charged.
  Our observations go to show that wherever we found fossil remains
of the molusca abundant in the roof-shale, coal plants are rarely
found, whilst remains of marine plants are usually abundant.
                            COAL NO. 1, B.
  This is the lowest workable coal in the western basin, varying in
thickness from three to six feet, and charactbrized by a solitary molus-
ca Lingedla umbonata nob., plate X, fig. 4. It is opened and worked
by the Union Coal and Iron Company, one and a half miles below
Carrsville, in Livingston county, where it is an outlier, and the most
southern workable coal in the state. This vein has been opened and
worked by several companies along Tradewater river, in Crittenden
county.t It is most extensively worked on the property of Col. John
Bell, where it is from three and a half to six feet thick, and known as
the "Bell coal." Another opening was made into this vein on the same

  For the flora see Mr. Leo Lesquereux's report.
  tSee report of Dr. D D. Owen, State Geologist.



5f)0

 


PAT.tJNTOLOGICAL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.



property, about three quarters of a mile farther from Tradewater, by
Mr. Cook, whose name it bears.
   In Union county it is mined by the Messrs. Casey's; out-crops near
the old distillery back of Caseyville, also on the property of the Ken-
tucky Coal Company, and various other localities in the same county.
   On the eastern boundary of the basin it proves to be the main Hawes-
ville and Breckinridge coal vein, at each of which localities we found
the identical Lingula umbonata In the shales of the roof at Hawes-
ville, where we had an excellent opportunity to examine, they were
found in the greatest abundance.
   The remaining figures on plate X belong to the Cephalopvda division
of the mollusca, and were collected on a previous occasion by the sur-
vey, at Nolin Iron Works, Edmonson county. They are new, and oc-
cupy a low position in the Coal Mleasures, i. e., about one hundred feet
above the conglomerate.
   Very little has yet been done towards making openings into the oth-
er coals below No. 9, and what old workings have been undertaken are
now mostly filled up, so that but little opportunity has been afforded
for making collections from these beds. The only animal remains as
yet found in them is from No. 7, or "Black-band vein," a thin seam of
coal over-layed by a black bituminous, ferruginous carbonate of lime
in thin bands, and these are fins, scales, and teeth of fish, that have not
yet been determined. This vein, which is only noticed on account of
its ferruginous calcareous black-band roof, from one and a half to two
and a half feet in thickness, is best developed on the property of Mr.
Alfred Towns, in Hopkins county, and usually contains from twenty to
twenty-five per cent. of metallic iron. Its is also seen on the proper-
ty of the Saline Mining Company, Gallatin county, Illinois, where it
contains the same description of fish remains. Its position is about
one hundred and thirty feet below No. 9.
                             COAL NO. 9.
  This is the main working coal in the western part of the state, and
is usually characterised by an abundance of fossil mollusca; amongst
the most numerous are those figured on plate IX: Aoicula recta-late-
raria, A. acosta, Solernamya soleniformis, Nautilus decorates, and Pro-
ductus muricatus. Besides these there are Nucula Hamerii, N!ucula,
species undetermined, Pecen, species undetermined, Pleurotomaria
               71



661

 


PALSONTOLOGICAL REPORT OF GEOLGICAL SURVEY.



Grayvillen-qis, Lozonema, species undetermined, Orthoceratite, species
undetermined, Chonetes mesoloba, (variety small, and prominently
lobed,) Producti's equicostatus, and Bellerophon carbonarious. This
Bellerophon, which we propose to call B. carbonarious, has generally
been refered to B. Urei, Flein., by western Palmeontologists-a con-
clusion with which we cannot agree; not from a desire to create a new
species, but with a view to a proper understanding of the true geolo-
gical position of the shells of the Coal Measures. The B. Urei, accor-
ding to L. De Koninck, has a vertical range from the silurian to the
carboniferous beds, whereas the B. carbonarious has not been found to
range lower than the middle of the coal basin, and is only fully rep-
r sented in the upper part.  It certainly approaches very close to L.
De Koninck's description of the B. Vrei, (Description Animtaux Fos-
sites, page 3.56, p1. xxx, fig. 4,) and may possibly be a variety, but
cannot be considered identical. That there are several varieties or
species referred to this shell, is evident from the description of the
following authors here cited: Capt. Portlock, Geology of Londonderry,
page 400; Mr. Phillips' Geology of Yorkshire, page 231; M'Coy's
Description of British Palhrozoic fossils in the Geological Museum of
Cambridge, page 555; all of which differ materially. It is referred to
B. Urel by Norwood and Pratten; Notice of fossils from the carbonif-
erous series of the western states; Journal Acad. Nat. Sci., June, 1855;
page 75, plate IX, fig. 6. The original of this figure is in my cabinet,
and was loaned to them for representation, being at that time the only
perfect specimen known. I an sorry to say, from some over-sight, for
it was in the hands of a most excellent artist and esteemed friend, this
figure gives a very incorrect idea of the shell; it exhibits but two-
thirds of the true number of the spiral strike-having only fifteen,
whereas, there should have been twenty; (from the examination of a
large number, they are found to range from 19 to 25 ;) the mouth, as
well as the general contour, is essentially wrong. None of the various
authors who have described the B. VUrei mention the lateral expansion
of the mouth into ears, a feature very decided in our shell. It also
differs in having fewer spiral strim, and by the more rapid increase of
the last whorl. From the examination of several hnndred good spe-
cimens, the average number of spiral strime appears to be twenty-one,
always, even in the youngest individual, terminating on the inferior



562

 


PALSoNTOLOGICIL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.



half of the last whorl, and have not been found to exceed twenty-five;
whereas L. De Koninck reports on the B. Urei, from thirty-six to
thirty-eight.  Dimensions-Diameter -4- of an inch; proportional
increase of the last whorl .-1-ol to ._4- of an inch; including the wings
of the mouth; transverse diameter of the mouth .-4- of an inch.
   Remains of fishes, that have not yet been determined, are also
 found in the shales of this coal.
                            COAL NO. 11.
   This is the next coal in the series, in which we found the remains of
 mollusca. For the most characteristic, see plate vll., figs. 1 to 11,
 and plate ix, fig. 1. They are as follows: Pecten Providencesis,
 Loxonema regutaris, Chimnitzia parva, Pleurotomaria Bonharborensis,
 P. depresna, Arca carbonaria, Gervillia longispina, Plicatula striato-
 costala, Myalina pernaformis, Cardinia ( ) fragilis, Macrocheilus,
 graciis, Orhiks resupinoides, Pecten, species undetermined, Avicula
 rectalateraria, (not so abundant as in No. 9,) Lozonema Hallii, Lozo-
 nema, species nndetermined, Macrocheilus inhabilis, Macrocheilus, spe-
 cies undetermined, Productus muricatus, rare, P. Rogersii, P. equicos-
 talus, Athyris sublilita, large and abundant, Cardium, species undeter-
 mined, Spirifer  feusebachanus, Solenimya, species undetermined, ANu-
 cula, species undetermined, Orthis, species undetermined, Orthoceratite,
 species undetermined, Griffithiides, species undetermined.
   This coal is usually separated into two members, by a clay parting
from one to four inches in thickness, and is overlayed by a limestone.
The upper part of this bed of coal is sometimes cannel, and the lower
bituminous. It is best developed in Hopkins county-where it at-
tains a thickness of nine feet-on the line of the Henderson and
Nashville Railroad.
  On the mining property of Edward and William Hawes, at Hawes-
ville, Hancock county, No. 11 is found near the top of the hill, a few
rods west of their entry into the main Hawesville coal, No. 1, B; well
characterised by its peculiar fossils, and proves a remarkable thinning
out of the measures near the eastern boundary of the basin. The ver-
tical space between the two is here only two hundred and ten (210)
feet, but may be somewhat increased, by the existence of an at pres-
ent unknown fDult



563

 


564       PALMONTOLOGICAL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL UIBVTY.
                            COAL NO. 11.
  This is the highest coal that we had an opportunity to examine
in the series. It is characterised by the remains of fishes, not yet de-
terinined, and a small orbicula, of which we found no specimen suffi-
ciently perfect for description.
   As a full history of the coals, from the bottom to the top of the
series, may be found in your report, and that of Mr. Lesquereux, it
has been deemed unnecessary to repeat it here. There will also be
seen, by a reference to the above reports, a demonstration of the fact,
that the most persistent veins throughout the basin are Nos. 1 B., 9,
and 11-they having been found at every locality where there is suf-
ficient thickness of the measures to contain them.
   For a better understanding of the fossil shells found associated with
these coals, I herewith submit the annexed descriptions, and accompa-
nying plates, Nos. VIII, IX. and X. For the beautiful and accurate
representation of the fossil shells on these plates, we are indebted to
Mr. John Chappellsmitb.
   The importance of the facts established by the survey of the coal-
fields of Kentucky, cannot be over estimated. It has developed the
various seams, and given characters by which the most important may
at all times be known, and having established the identity of one, in
any part of the basin, the relative position of the others may easily be
known, by reference to the section in the first chapter of your report
in this volume.
   Next to agriculture, coal is the most important element of a coun-
 try's prosperity and wealth. Its importance is just beginning to be
 felt in the west, and will increase with the constantly diminishing for-
 est. As a fuel, it is the most convenient and economical, and no
 country can successfully compete in manufacturing without a cheap
 supply. It is the rich and well wrought coal-fields of England that
 enables her to maintain a supremacy in manufLeturing, over the world;
 deprived of the coal, hef importance as a nation would soon be lost.
   In the British Islands not less than fifteen million tons of coal are
 annually raised, affording employment, in the mining operations, to
 more than one hundred and fifty thousand people. More than one
 third of this amount is derived from the Newcastle basin, embracing
 a superficial area of seven hundred and fifty square miles; wheres,
 in western Kentucky the coal-field contains more than three thousand

 


          PALEONTOLOGICAL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SURvEY.   565

square miles, with an average thickness of all the coal seams about
equal to those of the Newcastle district.
  The superiority of coal as a fuel will be better understood when we
consider, that one square mile of forest, containing twenty thousand
trees, averaging two cubic yards of solid wood, would be equal to one
acre of coal six feet thick. One hundred pounds of coal, occupying
about one and a half square feet, will evaporate 1,200 pounds of water,
equal to 150 gallons; while 100 pounds of well dried wood, occupy-
ing more than double this space, will evaporate only 700 pounds of
water, equal to about 88 gallons; and six gallons of water evaporated
in an hour is equal to a horse power.
                                        E. T. COX,
                                              Assistant Geologist.

 



686        PALAONTOLOGICAL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.



A description of some of the most characteristic shells, of the principal
   coal seams in the western basin of Kentuchy, by E. T. Cox, Assistant
   Geologist.

                  PECTEN PROVIDENCESIS. Cot.
                  (Plate VIll. fig. 1, left vale natural size.)
  Semi-circular; as broad as high; nearly equilateral; left valve slight-
ly convex; about thirty-three broad prominent ribs, of unequal width,
and irregularly fluted; radiate from the beak to the circumference;
crossed below the disk by two well defined bands, marking stages of
growth. Anterior ear of the valve under description is wanting, but
that of the right valve beneath, is in part exposed, finely ribbed, and
crossed by concentric bands; inferior ear finely ribbed, crossed by
fimbriating folds, curved outward from the beak. Rostral angle 950;
height 3. A-' inches; width 3-LAL inches.  Its size and broad fluted
ribs renders it easily distinguished from other species.
  Position and locality. Found by the topographical assistant, Sidney
S. Lyon, in the limestone which overlays the main coal, No. 11, at
the town of Providence, Hopkins county, Kentucky. Fragments are
somewhat numerous, but it is difficult to obtain them in as perfect a
state of preservation as the one figured.

                 LOXONEMA REGULARIS. Cox.
                       (P. Vill, fig. 2, natural size.)
  Elongated; acutely conical; volutions ten; regularly enlarging; con-
vex; covered with fine transverse strim; convex in the direction of the
spire; sigmoidal on the last whorl; suture small, slightly impressed;
body whorl about one half the whole length; colamella lip elongated,
slightly reflected; outer lip thin; mouth about twice as long as broad;
spiral angle 365; length 2-.IWO inches; width .- I'I inch.
  It most nearly resembles L. HOlli, Norwood and Patten, Jour. Acad.
Nat. Sci. June, 1855, but differs in being larger, less acute, and more
convex on the volutions. It was found by Sidney S. Lyon, Topo-
graphical Assistant, and is converted into pyrites of a bright yellow
color and metallic lustre, and is in a fine state of preservation.

 


PALSONTOLOGICAL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.



  Position and locality. Rare, in a dark bituminous soft stratum of
pyritiferous carbonate of lime; about one foot above the black shale
forming the roof of the Bonharbour coal, No. 11, Daviess county,
Kentucky.

                    CHIMNITZIA PARVA. Coz.
                  (Pi. Vil, fig. 3, enlarged; 3a natural size.)
  Small; acute; volutions about six; very ventricose; marked with
strong transverse ribs, slightly curved in the direction of the spire,
and separated by a deep furrow as wide as the ribs; body whorl occu-
pies about one third the entire length of the shell; columella lip
slightly prolonged; mouth subeircular; length   .I jA  inch; width
90 T inch.
  Position and locality. Occurs in the dark bituminous, pyritiferous,
calcareous stratum over the shale roof of Bonharbour coal, No. 11,
Daviess county, Kentucky.

           PLEUROTOMARIA BONHARBORENSIS. Cox.
                  (PI. Vill, fig. 4, enlarged; 4. natul aize.)
  Small; conical; a little longer than wide; volutions six; acutely
convex; marked with a well defined concave band; distinct on all the
whorls, and crossed with fine strive; convex in the direction of the
spire; ten to twelve spiral lines on the under part of the last whorl,
diminishing to two or three on the preceding whorls; crossed by fine
transverse strite, rather strongly curved with the convexity in the di-
rection of the mouth, giving a beautiful reticulation on the under part
of the last whorl, and ornamenting the preceding whorls, on the upper
part, with two to three spiral rows of small tubercles; spiral angle
about 750; length .--LT- inch; width  21 inch.
   It differs from the P. Crayvillensis, Norwood and Pratten, Jour.
Acad. Nat. Sci., June,.1855, pl. ix., fig. 7, by its ornaments, and in
being more acute.
   Position and locality. Abundant, in the roof shales of the Bon-
harbour coal No. 11, Daviess county, Kentucky.

                    ARCA CARBONARIA. Cox.
                        (Pl. VII, fig. 5, natural size.)
  Transversly elongated; beaks not elevated; anterior extremity
short; obtusely rounded; tumid at the umbo, from which a slight ob-



667

 


568         PALEONTOLOGICAL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

lique mesial sinus extends to the base, where it becomes profound; base
emarginated; hinge area straight, almost forming a right angle with
the posterior margin which is nearly straight; slightly sinuate above;
obtusely rounded below; upper posterior part obliquely truncated;
surface covered with concentric lines marking stages of growth, and
fine radiating ribs, numbering on the disk about seven in one and a
half lines; width 1L- 4-  inches, height T-"  inch.
   Position and locality. Rather abundant in the limestone over the
main coal No. 11, at Providence, Hopkins county; also in a limestone
over an equivalent coal on the property of Edward and William Hawes,
near Hawesville, Hancock county, Kentucky.

                   GERVILLIA LONGISPINA. Cox.
                   (PI. VIIL, fig. 6, left valve natural size.)
   Lunate; hinge area straight; posterior ear defined by a deep sinus;
hollowed out on its lateral margin, and terminated by a long spine;
beak depressed, pointed; anterior margin and base together form a
semicircle; eliptically pointed at the posterior extremity; posterior
border slightly concave, from which rises an abrupt ridge, gradually
declining to the base and anterior border; anterior ear wanting; sur-
face covered with fine striwe and strong marks of growth; length from
beak to posterior extremity l -T- inches, height .9-O-A inch.  This re-
markable species has no analogy with any other with which we are
acquainted. A portion of the spine has been restored from fragments
found in the rock.
   Position and locality. Not uncommon in the limestone which over-
lays the main coal No. 11, at Providence, Hopkins county, Kentucky.

              PLICATULA STRIATO-COSTATA. Cox.
                   (PI. Vill, fig. 7; right valve natur-l size.)
   Triagonal; inequilateral; right valve moderately convex; from nine
to ten large elevated ribs arise irregularly below the beak, increasing in
size to the circumference, separated from one another by deep furrows,
crossed about one-third the length above the base by an irregular con-
centric groove, below which, on the anterior side, the ribs are slightly
bent forward, giving the appearance of having been broken; above this
are two other rather indistinct bands; surface and ribs covered with
fine irregular thread-like strke, increasing by intercalation, rising from

 


PALZONTOLOGIC&L REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.



each side, and terminate on the summit of the ribs, numbering, at
three lines from the beak, sixteen in the space of two lines; base se-
micircular, crenulated; height I 1c inches; width 1 T50 inches.
   Position and locality. From the limestone over the main Provi-
dence coal, No. 11, Hopkins county, Kentucky.

                 MIYALINA PERNAFORMIS. Cot.
                   (P1. V II, fig. 8; right valve natural size.)
  Sub-quadrate; inequilaterai; beak pointed, projecting beyond, and
moderately curved over the cardinal border; cardinal border nearly
straight; anterior margin and base rounded; posterior margin straight;
near which a prominent ridge gradually slopes to the front and base;
surface covered with strong concentric, somewhat fimbriating lines of
growth; length 1.-YL inches; width -J70 iuch.
  Position and locality. Common in the limestone over the main coal
No. 11, at Providence, Hopkins county, Kentucky.

                PLEUROTOMARIA DEPRESSA. Cox.
                    (PI. VIII, fig. 19, Io.; natural size.)
  Small; lenticular; depressed; about five volutions scarcely eleva-
ted; nearly flat above; defined by a row of acutely pointed tuber-
cles, not so wide as the intervening notch; last whorl obtusely round-
ed below, bordered by a sharp edge, which has a narrow depressed
band above, only visible when the implanted tubercles are removed;
ornamented on the upper and lower side with obsolete lines of growth
bent backwards; umbilicus shallow; mouth notched; columella and
outer lip rounded; height A303 inch; width .   inch; spiral angle
1300.
  This species may at first easily be mistaken for P. sphcrrulata,
Conrad, (P. corornda Hall; Stansbury's expedition to the Great Salt
Lake, 1852, page 413, pl. 4,4Xg. 6,) but is much more depressed, and
the angle of the last whorl more acute. The tubercles not so numer-
ous, and less elevated.
  Position and locality. Common in the shale forming the roof of
No. 11 coal, at Bonharbour, Daviess county, and Airdrie, Munhlenburg
county, Kentucky.
            72



5G9

 



670        PALSONTOLOGICAL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL BURVSY.

                    CARDINIA FRAGILIS. Cot.
                  (P1. VIII, fig. 9; left valve natural size.)
   Shell very thin; transversely ovate; beak scarcely elevated; an-
terior slope slightly hollowed; anterior extremity short, rounded be-
low; base and posterior side obtusely rounded; hinge line straight,
slightly truncated behind the beak; surface covered with broad con-
centric furrows; height -1-A inch; width 1     inches.
   It is difficult, from the poorly preserved specimens now collected,
 to determine the genus with certainty; but believing it to be a cbar-
 acteristic shell, have placed it conditionally amongst the cardinia.
 When well preserved the valves may be found ornamented with fine
 concentric strioe.
   Position and locality. Abundant in the black shale, which some-
 times forms the roof of No. 11 coal, at Airdrie, Muhlenburg county,
 Kentucky.

                  MACROCHEILUS GRACILIS. Cox.
                (P1. ViI), fig. 11, enlarged; fig. 11 a, natural size.)
    Small; conical; about six volutions; convex; suture small; last
 whorl half the length of entire shell ; columella lip elongated; slight.
 ly refected; mouth subovate; length 245 inch; wvidth .         inch;
 spiral angle .56'.
    It differs from M: aculus, Sow., by the more rapid increase of the
 whorls, prolongation of the columella lip, and less rotundity of the
 mouth. Though the specimen under description is most likely a
 young shell, it cannot be confounded in any stage of developement
 with its cogenitors.
    Position and locality. Common in the shale over No. 11 coal, Bon-
 harbor, Daviess county, Kentucky.
                    ORTHIS RESUPINOIDES. Cox.
      (PL. IX, fig 1, end view, natural size; fig. I e, entering valve; fig. 1 6, profile.)
    Hinge line straight; less than the width of the shell; cardinal area
  well marked, gradually sloping back on the receiving valve; large
  angular foramen; both valves covered with fine threadlike strim, radi-
  ating from the beaks to the circumference, numbering on the disk thir-
  teen in 9-A26 of an inch, crossed by fimbriating lines marking stages of
  growth; obsolete on the umbo; well marked and more numerous from the
  base for one third the length; receiving valve moderately convex;

 


PALZONTOLOGTCAL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SUREVEY.



greatest depth at the umbo; beak small, acute, elevated above and
gradually sloping, with a slight depression to the sides; entering valve
remarkably ventricose, and a little longer than the receiving valve
greatest depth at the disk; a very obscuNe shallow sinus is perceptible,
running from the rostrum to the disk, where it is lost or obliterated by
the crushed condition of the base of the shell; surface ornamented
with five or six broken spines, two lines in diameter and about the
same height, and several scars of missing spines; beak very tumid,
acutely terminated, slightly incurved, moderately arched on the car-
dinal margin; sides obtusely rounded, broad and distinctly marked
by rugose fimbriating lines of increment; width 1. -6I inches; length
l-54   inches; hinge line  .-1- inches; depth of receiving valve
-3T5 inch; depth of entering valve wA S; width of cardinal area .-H
inch; depth .-iT inch.
  Though several authors have suggested the appearance of scars left
by spines, on some species of orthis; this is believed to be the first
specimen of the genus upon which they have actually been found
attached.
  The great convexity of the entering valve, the obtuseness of both
valves at their lateral border, and the greater prolongation of the en-
tering valve, distinguishes this species from the 0. resupinata, (Mart.
sp.,) to which it is most nearly related.
  Position and locality. From the siliceous micaceous shale forming
the roof of the upper coal, No. 11, at Mr. Hawes' mine, Hawesville,
Hancock county, Kentucky.
                AVICULA RECTA-LA.TERARE&A. CoNx.
                    (Pi. IX, fig. 2, right valve natural size.)
  A little higher than broad; inequilateral; slightly oblique; covered
with numerous radiating ribs, increasing in number by the intercala-
tion of new ones, occasionally by dichotomy; nearly as high as broad;
a little wider than the space which separates them from one another;
anterior ear extends to the lateral border, with which it nearly forms a
right angle; posterior ear a little shorter than the anterior, is not ter-
minated by an angle, but by a rounded and well defined by a notch at its
base; umbo slightly tumid, crossed by irregular concentric wrinkles;
surface and ears covered with fine strite, and fimbriating lines of in-
crement; anterior side rectalineal; base and posterior side obtusely



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PA67LONTOLOGICAL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SURVET.



rounded; binge area straight; a little narower than the shell; height
.a9- of an inch; width. 1-60 of an inch; anterior ear A0w of an inch;
posterior car . Is of an inch.
  It is easily distinguished from A. papyracea, Saw., with which it has
been confounded, by the absence of a notch on the side, at the ex-
tremity of the anterior ear, and from the A. subpapyracea, De Ver.,
with which it is more nearly related, by its less obliquity, straight an-
terio-lateral margin, wrinkles on the urnbo, and simple ribs.
  Position and locality. It is most usually found converted into yel-
low pyrites, and in great abundance in the black shale forming the roof
of No. 9 coal, at the Kentucky Coal Company's and Curlew mines,
Union county, Kentucky, and in the equivalent beds of Gallatin coun-
ty, Illinois.
   A species, which we have not been able to distingnish from this,
occurs also, but not as abundant, in coal No. 11, at " Thompson's vein,"
at Curlew mines, Union county, and at Bonharbour, Daviess county,
Kentucky.

                      AVICULA A COSTA. Cox.
                    (Pl. IX, fig 3; right vale natural size;
   Small; inequilateral; very oblique; sub-elliptical; wings termina-
 ting in small acute angles; anterior half as broad as the shell; pos-
 terior very small; surface and wings covered with fine concentric
 strim; no ribs; height .-,i0 of an inch; width 'Tfl of an inch cardi-
 nal border ., of an inch.
   Position and locality. This small and fragile species is found in
 great abundance in the roof sbales of No. 9 coal, in Union county,
 Kentucky, and equivalent beds, Gallatin county, Illinois, and appears
 to be characteristic of this vein, not having j et been found in any
 other position.

                   NAUTILUS DECORATUS. Cox.
 (Pl. IX, fig. 4, profile natual size; fig. 4 a, portion of tbe ume showing, aaepa and outsl;
                         fig. 4b, outline of the septa.
   Discoidal; whorls two and a half, not embracing, increasing in width
 in the proportion of - Ap to -f'T of an inch; obtusely rounded on the
 periphery; sides slightly convex; deeply plicated, forming elevated
 ridges, one to each septa, and curved in the same direction; a depres-
 sion in their centre produces two rows of small tubercles, more promi-



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PALAoNTOLOGICAL REPORT OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.



nent on the last than preceding whorls, most decided on the outer
edge; septu along the central third of the periphery slightly curved
backwards; regularly curved backwards on the sides; where the shell
has been well preserved it is closely covered with fine strit, strongly
arched baokwards, on the periphery, into tongue shaped markings
siphuncle medium size; central or nearly central; umbilicus open,
showing all the whorls ; mouth transverse, subrrniform ; vertical
height j- of an inch; transverse diameter -A'-- of an inch; great