variable color, sustaining a high polish, extremely fossiliferous in places,
differing in this particular from the Niagara strata immediately overly-
ing it.
Between it and the Niagara Group is a fine clayey or marly
bed, about nine inches thick, which in some places becomes quite hard,
and in others is replaced by a soft blue clay. In connection with the
Dayton limestone it usually attains the hardness of stone and is char-
acterized by a number of minute species, which, considering the
small attention hitherto paid to this course of stone, is unusually great.
For the present it will be galled the BeavertowA marl, qa acgqimtof
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66
BULLETIN OF THE LABORATORIES
its prominent development near that village, and will be considered as
a part of the Clinton Group.
The first, and by far the most important series of exposures to be
mentioned, are those included in the Soldiers' Home district.
MJ.
SOLDIERS' HOME QUARRIES.
The Soldiers' Home grounds, embracing about a square mile of
land, are situated two and a half miles west of Dayton, on a series of
hills overlooking the city. At their foot, exposures of the Lower Si-
lurian strata are frequent, but at their top, rocks of the Upper Silurian
age take their rise, and have a steady dip towards the wf st, bringing
up, one after the other, the formations of a higher age.
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OF DENISON UNIVERSITY.
67
About half a mile from the Home, at the side of the Germantown
Pike, a well, driven for water, gave rise to a flow of gas, lasting some
months. Owing to neglect or other causes, the supply has now ceased,
evertheless, the existence of inflammable gas in the Lower Silurian
rocks is of some interest.
Section I.
Swartsbaugh's Q.
ai!!;i!l::iai!:!isii::iiiiii!!i!!li!iiS!jiiMll
Cindmiatl Group,
Secdoii IL
!l|i>!:i!!i!i!!i!!!!:li!lliH(!;;!iii:;;;iilliy^
CHntoR
Soldier^ Home.
â–º to Q O M
J^iagaia.
mum
Cmdnnati Gmup,
Secnoa HL Siolz's Q '
ClmtoiL
Drift.
Secfion.1V.
GtoolltoilQ.
n'iM;:'i;'iiii'ii!!|||iiiiiâ„¢\ii|jim
iii
Cindnnati Group,
Clinton..
K
Dt
"^Poaed
Clinton Gn
I Dr.
Section V.
Huffman's Q.
i.iM!ini'Hi!!if!.i!i;::.!!!n'!^!;iii!5!i!il''iii;:!l!i
Cincinnati Group,
Clinton.
Stolz^s Quarry^ {Section III.)
A short distance westward, the pike runs upon a bed of rock be-
longing to the Clinton Group. North of the road a quarry has been
opened, which displays both the Niagara and Cincinnati Groups, nev-
ertheless a satisfactory section of the Clinton Group has as yet not been
attainable.
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68 BULLETIN OF THE LABORATORIES
All measurements of the elevation of rocks in the various sections
are reckoned from the sidewalk at the Court Hoilse in Dayton.
These measurements are due to the kindness of Mr. A. Kiehl, who
aided me materially in this part of the work. The top of the Cincin-
nati Group is at 193.51 at the first station. In a section made near
by the Cincinnati layer was not exposed but the lowest point in the
Clinton was at 196.74; the top of the Clinton, 206.31; the top of the
Niagara exposed, 208.68. The thickness of the Niagara was therefore
2 ft. 4.5 in.; and that of the Clinton, considering that the dip from the
first named station, east of the section, was slight, but westward, a
thickness of twelve feet would be more than conjectural. The rock
is crystalline, consists of uneven * ^lenticular" layers, unequally fos-
siliferous, the fossils being found in * 'pockets" or special accumulations,
irregularly disposed throughout the group. Numerous fine heads of
Dalmanites Werthneri are quite abundant here, and for many things it
ranks with the Soldiers' Home quarry itself in productiveness.
The Clinton ends in a top of blue clay containing large crinoid
beads, free specimens of Chaetetes, Rhinopora^ &c. It is about five
or six inches thick. Only the blue clay referred to the Cincinnati
Group is exposed. The Niagara Group consists of a yellow lime-
stone, unfossiliferous as far as known, lying in uneven broken courses
from two to five inches thick. It has no commercial value, but the
Clinton stone is much used for academizing roads and streets, and is
profitable on a small scale, as a gain of $492 with an expenditure of
$426 in one instance will show. During this year, 1885, up to
August an expenditure of $356 realized a gain of $547, which is quite
profitable considering the small amount of time put upon the quarry.
The inferior quality of the Niagara limestone at this quarry is to be
especially mentioned as it is the exact equivalent of the Dayton lime-
stone and the succeeding quarries farther west gradually assume the
characteristics of the Dayton stone, thus forming a complete and in-
structive series for comparison.
Swartzhaugh! s Quarry! {Section I.)
On the same pike within a few hundred feet from the south-east
corner of the Home grounds is a second quarry. It is placed behind
a farm-house, dipping northward into the hill near the barn. The
top of the Cincinnati Group is here represented by a bed of blue clay.
In the sections made, however, this bed was not reached. The bot-
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OF DENISON UNIVERSITY. 69
torn of the Clinton Group as far as worked was at 198.21 ft.; the top,
at 208.04 ft.; but a conjectural thickness of twelve feet would not be
far from correct. The stone presents the usual characteristics, but
seems to be less fossiliferous than some of the neighboring quarries.
It is peculiar in showing fissures, extending east and west, distant from
each other about 9 feet, found at no other station in the Clinton Group.
In the southern part of the quarry there is a sudden dip to the south
and the stone is broken, as though the blue clay layer beneath had
given way and permitted the stone to sink. The fissures in the rock
are perhaps also explained in this manner.
The Niagara exposure is a little more than 15 feet in height. The
base of the series is composed of broken, irregular, yellow layers of
stone from two to five inches thick, making a total of 1.9 feet. Above
is a 9 inch course of blue flagging stone, which was at one time
quarried and sold in slabs for pavements. It resembles a fair quality
of Dayton limestone of which it is the stratigraphical equivalent.
Formerly when the Clinton stone was not exposed and the Cincinnati
Group was in plain sight along the hill below, and the great dip of the
rock had not yet been determined, the identity of this stone remained
for a long time a puzzle. Above the blue flagging is a series of shales
3 ft. thick, varying in character, sometimes represented by broken
courses of yellow limestone 2.5 ft. thick, composed of a nine inch layer
above and below, with the intermediate layers more or less shaly in
character. Sometimes the remainder also becomes somewhat shaly.
Last in the series is a 7 ft. layer of yellow Niagara stone, formed of
very broken, thin courses, from half an inch to two inches in thickness,
frequently becoming shaly. The top of the blue flag layer in the
southern part of the quarry, is at 210.70; seventy-five feet north, at
204.10; fifty feet west, at 203.89. This would give a dip of 4 ft. 5
in. in fifty feet towards the north, and only 2. 5 in. in the same distance,
towards the west; the last dip is reliable, owing to the very even stratifi-
cation of the blue flagging. At the same point the bottom of the
heavy Niagara stone is reached at 206.92; the top at 209.49.
Farther west the top is again reached at 207.87, and the summit of the
thin shaly courses at 214.85. All the Niagara stone here exposedis
unfossiliferous as far as known. In some parts of the quarry the
Niagara stone is all tumbled together, destroying its original stratifica-
tion. I presume that the action of ice during the glacial epoch could
readily account for this, since all the quarries round about, where the
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70 BULLETIN OF THE LABORATORIES
Stone is hard enough, show evidence of this glacial action in the form
of grooves, scratches and the planed surfaces of the stone.
Carrollton Pike Quarry. {Section IV.)
Along the Carrollton pike about half a mile from the Home Grounds,
on the east side of the road, a quarry was opened, which developed a
layer of Niagara flagging stone. 5 or 6 inches thick. It was smoothed
above by glacial action, was found within two feet of the surface, and
hence was readily worked, and sold to advantage as a fair quality of
Dayton limestone. In several places in Dayton it was used without
extra preparation for side walk purposes. Beneath is a layer of thin-
ner stone and then limestone of the Clinton Group, of little or no com-
mercial value, and therefore, not quarried. Here specimens of
Orthisfausta were found. This species has also been found at Swartz-
baugh's quarry, in the same position, namely at the very summit of the
Clinton Group.
Eaton Pike Quarry.
North-west of the Soldiers' Home grounds, on the north side of the
Eaton pike the Clinton rock is quarried. Neither the top nor the bot-
tom of the series is exposed but the two levels taken register 211.92 ft.
and 205.50, which give a thickness of 6 ft. 5 in., but the real height of
the strata is no doubt much greater. Numerous bryozoans are found
here.
The Grotto.
East of the Soldiers' Home along the railroad, a cut through rock of
the Cincinnati Group displays the characteristic fossils of this group.
South of the terminus of the railroad in -the grounds are the socalled
grottoes. These were formerly the site of an old quarry, and belong
to rocks of the Clinton Group. Owing to (he underlying bed of blue
clay the Clinton Group is usually a great water bearer. At Soldiers'
Home one of the grotto springs is fed in this way, and two springs of
the same nature in the quarry south of the grotto give forth a steady flow
of water all year! The grotto is now used for floral effects only.
Soldiers' Home Quarries. {Section J I.)
The Soldiers' Home quarry is the finest exposure of the Clinton
Group in the State. Being constantly in operation, it has proved^the
most productive place for fossil remains. Both the Niagara and Cin-
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OF DENISON UNIVERSITY.
71
cinnati groups are shown in the same section, and the thickness of the
Clinton Group as here obtained is strictly accurate.
SawotWdT-
orac*^
Bmmwt
^^^
- ....^^^^
â–
ChmmGm^
1 — §-
IM LiM.
^
- ___
A BCD E FG HIJ
Top of Clinton Group.
Base of Clinton Group.
i
Se
am in Clinton.
^ i 1
1:
!
l: 1
a ..
^^'
^
=5 .
' ! ^1 i
<
<
^1 1
^
t
^-^
l^
8
1^
^"
8
!
la 1 8
ations.
istances
3|
•1^
^
•^
1
?p in fe
ip fori
C
c4
j: ; ^
^
^
^
C)
^
^ 1 ^
^
^
1
A__ 150
208 95
I 00
.67
G...
17:;' 1980813.20 1.88
B ^ _ -
30
35
75
198.94
*2o8
*6.93
9-8.^
I 56
I. .1 ___ i94.79;____; —
c
201.02
3-44
1. 17
D.i 75207.95
138
1.84
197-58
E__ 751206.57
2.46
3.28
75
196.41
2.70
3.60
F __i 150,204.11
3 19
2.16
150
19371
5-54
3-69
H_ 75I 200.92
4.54
6.05
188.17
J
196
•38
^, .^ ^ '
*Dip towards the west.
A section of the eastern half of the quarry, beginning at A near
Massachusetts Avenue, and extending to the eastern limit, is repre-
sented by the table and section just given. The distances are
reckoned to the next succeeding station on the line ; the height is cal-
culated from the level of the side walk at the Dayton Court House ; the
first list of dips consists merely of differences of elevation between
consecutive stations ; in the second these are reduced to the standard
of 100 feet. The dip unless marked by an * is toward the east.
The difference in direction between the base and the top of the
Clinton Group is quite evident, and is owing to the effects of glacial
action which has planed off the stone without regard to its dip, or ele-
vation, as shown for instance at station C. This is still more evident
if the dip near the western end of the section be considered, where the
base of the Clinton is 4 ft. below the same 40 feet north. The entire
eastern half of the quarry shows glacial scratching, planing, and
gj-ooving. _
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72 BULLETIN OF THE LABORATORIES
It is frequently supposed that the Clinton contains no regular seams,
separating the strata. Whereas this is true in a general sense, as
compared for instance with Cincinnati or Niagara formations, never-
theless quite regular seams are occasionally found also in the Clinton
group, especially in the section now under consideration. A long
seam, followed with comparative ease for 175 ft. showed a dip of 3.29
ft. in this distance. A comparison of this line with the base of the
group shows that the strata thicken in the depressions of the underly-
ing bed. This is also shown in the western half of the quarry, where
the group is 14.4 ft. thick at the spring, and 15.6 ft. at a point 150 ft.
north-west of the same, showing an increase of i ft. 2.5 in. The
elevations at the spring are : top of Cincinnati group 192.63 ; of Clin-
ton group, 207.01. Along the western end of the quarry the elevar
tions of the Clinton: are 202.73 ^^ the S. W. corner, 200.07 ^t the
middle, 202.15 at the N. W. corner, 202.36 at a point east of the
latter. Here the top of the Niagara reached 204.26 showing a thick-
ness of 1.9 ft.; it is a yellow, somewhat shaly stone, becoming
frequently quite hard. Taking the Niagara stone as shown at the
Soldiers' Home, Carrollton pike, and other quarries farther west, a
good idea of the variability of the base of this group can be formed.
In the western part of the quarry the base of the Clinton Group con-
sists of a greyish or almost white stone, composed of finely comminuted
organic remains, of which the structure has become more or less
obscure. Here many bryozoans have been found in a fine condition.
Clathrapora Clintonensis and Retepora angulata in fronds 2 feet and i
foot in diameter respectively have been seen here. Other fossils,
however, are rather scanty in this stone. Most of the group, how-
ever, is composed of a bluish solid limestone, becoming pinkish or red
by oxidation, and abounding in fossil forms. The summit of the
group in the north-western part of the quarry is especially prolific
in various species of Orthis. The summit of the Cincinnati Group is
composed of blue, clayey shales, several feet thick, and very undulating.
The notable fact is that these undulations are mostly local, the strata
taken as a whole, maintaining a comparatively even inclination, as will
be seen by a reference to the map.
In the rocks of the Clinton Group, at Soldiers' Home, so many
species are found, and so much work has been done, that it would be
difficult to mention the prominent features. Bryozoans, found here
in numbers, are said to be still n^or^ cgmmou ^t th^ E^ton pike cjuarry.
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OF DENISON UNIVERSITY. 73
Platyostoma Niagarense is not unfrequent. Glabellae and pygidia oi
two species of Ulcenus, are abundant, as are also various shells, corals,
&c. The fossils are not equally distributed. Thin courses of rock
are not apt to be very productive. In the thicker interspersed layers,
however, which show external signs of fossils, considerable numbers
are frequently developed by breaking the stone. Throughout the
Clinton Group the fracture is irregular, and it is very difficult to ob-
tain entire specimens. It is rarer still to obtain specimens completely
loosened from the rock, as one or the other face is apt to be insepara-
bly connected with it.
DAYTON LIMESTONE QUARRIES.
South of Dayton a continuous series of quarries extends from
Beavertown to a point about a mile and a half northeast of the Insane
Asylum. Some of these have been abandoned, but in those now in
operation the Dayton and overlying strata of the Niagara are shown
in section, and small exposures of the Clinton are not infrequent.
As a means of comparison with the district just described, a section of
one of these quarries is given.
Huffman's Quarry , {Section K)
About three quarters of a mile towards the southeast of the Asylum
for the Insane, is a quarry, belonging to Mr. W. P. Huffman, of Day-
ton. A single section of the Clinton Group is said to have been ob-
tained here, while constructing a drain. The strata were 13 feet
thick ; the color is light pink, and its fossils are rather few. The Ni-
agara Group consists of the Dayton limestone, and a few layers of
"blue cap." The Dayton limestone consists of a 20 in. course of
stone, surmounted by a 26 in. and a 7 in. course. The 20 in. course
separates into a 12 in. layer, succeeded by two 4 in. layers. The 26
in. course, even more readily, is divided into a 20 in. and a 6 in. layer.
The 20 in. layer is naturally the most profitable, and is quarried in
large slabs. The blue cap begins with a 10 in. course of poor quality,
followed by an 8 in. course, still more inferior and often broken?
Above this, 18 in. or more of thin slabs, usually in small pieces, may
be found. The color of this blue cap is denoted by its name ; its
commercial value is destroyed by its poor weathering qualities and the
irregular and broken condition of the stone. The quarry, therefore,
presents four and a half feet of good Dayton limestone. f b? Ni-
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74 BULLETIN OF THE LABORATORIES
agara cap is here unfossiliferous as far as known. The Dayton lime-
stone contains corals and orthocerites. Between the Clinton strata
and the Dayton limestone is a bed of blue marl, 9 in. thick, which is
referred to the Clinton Group. It contains large crinoid beads,
Orthis biforata^ var, lynx, and various minute forms not known else-
where in the series. The Clint6n Group proper has furnished a py-
gydium referred, doubtfully perhaps, to Illcenus Madisonianus. The
marl is in this paper called Beavertown marl.
CENTREVILLE QUARRIES.
Centreville, eight miles south of Dayton, is situated on an outlier
of stone, composed of rocks belonging to the Clinton and Niagara
groups. In some places that division of the Niagara Group known
as the Dayton limestone or ** marble " approaches within a few feet of
the surface of the ground, and hence gives rare opportunities for good
. and readily worked quarries.
Allen^s Quarry,
Several years ago, shortly after the construction of the Cincinnati
Northern railroad, a quarry was opened on the farm of John E. Allen,
about a half a mile east of Centreville. This quarry is probably the
most easily worked and most accessible (for purposes of transportation)
in the county. The Clinton rock is here of a pinkish or often dirty
white color. It is exposed only by the removal of the overlying Ni-
agara stone, or by the cutting of ditches. Yet many and often rare
fossils have been found here. Orthis Daytonensis, with both valves
preserved, has been discovered. A thin seam of bluish clay, be-
tween the Clinton and Niagara stone, furnished the large Calymene, to
be described later. This clayey layer has not yet shown any of the
curious little fossils found in the marl at Huffman's Quarry, although
apparently its stratigraphical equivalent.
Beginning with the base of the Niagara exposure, the courses of
Dayton stone run as follows: a 16, 18^, 6, 3^^, 2j^, 4, 4^, 2^, 4^
and a I J^ in. course. Comparing these courses with those at Huff-
man's Quarry, it will be noticed that the 16 in. course corresponds to
the 20 in. course of that quarry, and like it is divided into smaller
layers : in this case into a 4 in. layer below and a i ^ in. layer above, the
intermediate divisions, if any, not having been noted. The 18^ in.
^nd 6 in. layers also correspond very nicely tQ the equivalent divisions
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OF DENISON UNIVERSITY. 75
of the 26 in. layer in the other quarry; and the 3^ in. and 2j^ in.
layers might be combined so as to correspond to the 7 in. layer.
Above this point comparisons would perhaps prove treacherous.
Above the Dayton stone proper are found shaly layers, 50 in. and 9 in.
thick, which do not sufficiently approach the crystalline character of
the Dayton stone to be classed with it.
MISCELLANEOUS QUARRIES.
In addition to the quarries just mentioned, one or two others are
worthy of at least a slight reference in this paper.
Fauver's Quarry,
About two miles north of Dayton, some distance west of the Cov-
ington pike, is a quarry which displays both the Clinton and Niagara
groups. The quarry presents some peculiar features which will be
made a special object of investigation for the next paper. The Clin-
ton ends above in a layer of blue clay, succeeded by a number of
courses of Dayton limestone, none of which attain any great thickness.
The blue clay layer, besides the usual fossils of the Clinton Group,
has also furnished a specimen of Eichwaldia reticulata, Mr. E. M.
Thresher being the collector.
Fair Haven Quarry.
In Preble county, half a mile north of the village of Fair Haven,
in a stream entering Four Mile Creek, a quarry has been opened, giv-
ing an exposure of the Clinton. Here there have been found numer-
ous corals so far not known elsewhere in this State, and also the usual
Clinton forms. Among others, a form of Clathropora Clintonensis,
with unusually large oval openings (passing entirely through the bryo-
zoum and thus forming the branches of the reticulations, ) deserves spe-
cial mention. A species of Ftychophyllum, in a fine state of preser-
vation, occurs here ; a similar, if not identical form, being found at
Allen's Quarry. The exposure does not give a complete section,
but over four feet of the Clinton Group are exposed.
About two miles north, along Four Mile Creek, another quarry has
exposed the higher strata of the Niagara group. Its pecuHar feature
is a seam of cherty limestone, about nine inches thick, containing
Atrypa reticularis in well preserved specimens. No other fossils have
so far been noticed.
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76 BULLETIN OF THE LABORATORIES
PALEONTOLOGY.
The Clinton Limestone of Ohio is very fossiliferous. The fossils,
however, are often difficult to obtain on account of the hardness of
the rock and its irregular fracture, when submitted to the blows of a
geologist's hammer. For the same reasons the identification of gas-
teropods becomes extremely difficult, since their apertures are scarcely
ever seen. In one form alone are they of common occurence, Cy-
clonenia bilix ; this fossil is of rather frequent occurrence in the upper,
shaly part of the group, from which it sometimes weathers with the
neatness of Lower Silurian fossils in this State. Some forms of bra-
chiopods preserve their outlines very indistinctly. This is true of
Orthis fiabeUa and the small form I have ventured to call O, eUgantula,
var, parva. Others are found only as single valves firmly held by
the rock so that only one face, the external or internal, is presented.
On this account it is difficult to associate dorsal with ventral valves,
internal with external features. A few forms, however, occurring in
the higher, more shaly strata, are frequently found well preserved, with
both valves connected. Such are Orthis hybrida^ O. elegantula, and
Rhynchonella scobina. O, biforata f. Clintonensis and Triplesia Ortoni
most frequently are found as fragments embracing that portion of the
valves surrounding the beaks ; these fragments show both the external
and internal features. They are also, although not as frequently,
found as entire shells, with both valves united. Eichwaldia retic-
ulata, Orthis fausta, and Meristella umbonata, the last from the
middle of the formation, have all been found as entire shells. The
trilobites are usually found as fragments, the heads and tails being
disconnected. In nicenus the movable cheeks and glabellas are thus
found separated. In only one specimen of Daltnanites Werthneri
the intermediate articulations of the thorax were discovered. The
association of glabellae and pygidia, therefore, is somewhat difficult.
Still with all these failings, the fossilized forms of the Clinton Group
deserve careful study, and to the careful and painstaking collector they
will form one of the most productive fields of labor in the State.