been fossil shells. The coal in this section is probably not below No. 6 of the Illinois river section, and may possibly be still higher. About four miles south of Lincoln, on the land of Mr. J. Brancher, near the center of the south line of section 14, township 19, range 4, a hole was sunk by boring to the depth of two hundred and fifty feet, and three seperate seams of coal are reported to have been met with. Unfortunately, however, the thickness of the variation and the thickness of the beds could not be obtained, and we are therefore unable to form an opinion as to the equivalents of these seams. In a boring at Atlanta in the northern part of this county a seam three feet and six inches thick was reported at a depth of two hundred and forty feet; the overlying bed as reported consisting of alternate strata of slate, soapstone, limestone, &c. This is probably coal No. 6, although without a more positive evidence than is afforded by a single isolated boring, nothing can be stated with absolute certainty.

The two shafts at Bloomington, which have been mentioned in the remarks concerning the drift in the previous portion of this chapter, affords us the most satisfactory section of any excavation in the district, enabling us to identify the two seams of coal which they penetrate, with Nos. 4 and 6 of the general Illinois river

section.

The following section, made up from records furnished by both shafts, illustrates well the variation of the strata of the middle coal measures of this region. This section commences at the base of the drift, and its upper portion, from 1 to 4 inclusive, was afforded by the Bloomington Coal Company's shaft, and the remainder by that of the McLean County Coal Mining Company, a mile further south, along the railroad track:

No. 2 of this section is light colored laminated sandstone, containing a few remains of fossil plants. In the more southern shaft it seems to be replaced by a conglomerate. No fossils were obtained from any of the other beds excepting the black slate No. 12, over the lower coal, which contained in great abundance Lingula umbonata, Aveculopecten rectalaterarea, Cardina fragilis, and other fossils characteristic of the shales of this coal. A rather peculiar feature, however, is the comparative rarity of the Discina Nitida, usually the most abundant fossil in this State, only one or two specimens being found in rather a protracted search.

In the northern and eastern portions of McLean county we have only the records of several borings, which afford but few particulars as to the character of the underlying beds. Just over the county line in Livingston county, about two miles from Chenoa, in a northeast direction, a ledge of blueish-gray, irregularly bedded limestone outcrops in the side of a ravine. In general appearance this rock is similar to that noticed in the preceding pages as occurring on Salt Creek, in Logan county, and like it, is probably in the upper part of the coal measures.

ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY.

From the preceding remarks it will be seen that although four of five different seams of coal underlie different portions of this district, but two of them have been worked to any extent. The upper of these two, No. 6 of the general section, is worked to a slight extent along the Illinois river, in the region of Peoria and Pekin, and is also the upper seam in the Bloomington shafts. Its thickness in these localities ranges from three to four feet. The coal in this bed is generally softer and more impure than that of the next seam below, and its workings have frequently been forsaken for those of the lower bed. The sixteen-inch vein of coal which has been mentioned on a preceding page as occurring on a ravine a short distance back of Wesley City, and which I have there considered as still higher vein of coal, may possibly be this seam, in spite of its lesser thickness, as is a characteristic of this bed, in other parts of the State, where it has been identified, to vary considerable

in its thickness; in some cases, indeed, thinning out very rapidly in the space of a few feet.

The more reliable indications of the accompanying limestone beds, with their characteristic fossils, cannot under all the circumstances, be well observed, nor, indeed, do they appear to be invariably present.

The lower coal, No. 4, is the seam which is now mined in nearly all the principal workings within the limits of this district, and will, generally, average here near four feet in thickness.

The coal is generally harder, and a better heating material than that of the upper bed, besides being more reliable in its thickness.

It, however, contains in some parts its share of impurities, but often so disposed in the vein as to render them easily separable. In some of the shafts near the city of Pekin, the seam of coal which I have referred to in the preceding pages, contains in its lower portion, about sixteen or eighteen inches above the base, a thin seam of fire clay, separating it into two unequal portions, and sometimes a vein of slate or slatey coal is reported to occur only five or six inches above the bottom. In the upper portion, also, there is often what is called "hickory," or mixed coal and shale or sand rock. The thickness of good coal, however, is sufficient to render its working profitable.

At Bloomington, the shafts were first sunk only to the upper coal, which was worked for a short time, and then the shaft having been deepened, the upper bed was abandoned, and only the lower seam was worked. The difference in quality was very marked at this place, the lower coal was very much superior to that of the upper seam.

Beneath this coal, No. 4, we find by the boring, opposite Peoria, by Voris & Co., two seams of coal, at the depths of one hundred and twenty and two hundred and thirty feet, and, respectively, four and three feet in thickness, which are most probably Nos. 1 and 3, in the general sections referred to. Although we have no positive data as to the existence of these or other beds under the coal No. 4, in other portions of the district, yet, from their existence at this point, and from our general knowledge of the development of the lower coal measures of this State, it seems quite probable that these seams of coal might be found at the proper depths in other parts of this and the adjoining counties.

A boring of from two to two hundred and fifty feet below the known horizon of No. 4, or to five, seven or eight hundred feet from the surface, in different parts of the district, would probably penetrate all the coal measures, and settle all the questions in regard to the existence and development of the underlying coal

seams.

The upper coal seams are perhaps represented in this district, by the bed reached in the Lincoln shaft, and it may be, also, by the small vein near Wesley city, in Tazewell county, which I have in the preceding pages referred, with doubt, to a higher level than No. 6, though still admitting its possible identity with that bed itself. In neither of these localities is the seam of sufficient thickness to be worked with much profit, excepting where it might perhaps be profitably worked in a small way by stripping along the line of its out-crop.

BUILDING MATERIALS.

This district is, as a whole, scantily supplied within itself, with building stone, the greater portion of its surface being occupied by drift deposits.

Along the Illinois river, in Tazewell county, the sandstones of the coal measures have been quarried, to some extent, to supply local demand, and in some localities appear to afford a stone suitable for foundations, cellars, walls, etc.

The limestone beds which also occur in the coal measure strata in this region, though generally of inconsiderable thickness, may also furnish a limited supply for the same purpose, as well as for the manufacture of lime.

The limestone ledges, noticed as occurring on Salt creek and Lake Fork, in Logan county, also furnish fair material for the rougher kinds of masonry, and have been considerably quarried for

this purpose.

Dimension stone, etc., when used in this district, are brought from beyond its limits; in a great measure from the quarries at Joliet.

Clay and loam, suitable for the manufacture of a fair quality of red brick, are found in nearly all parts of the district, and have been made use of in most of the principal towns within its limits. Sand, for building purposes, is also sufficiently abundant.

MINERAL SPRINGS.

We may, perhaps, properly mention under this head, the artesian well sunk by Messrs. Voris & Co., on the edge of the bottom land along the Illinois river, opposite Peoria, in which a current of water, holding in solution sulpherated hydrogen, was struck at the depth of seven hundred and thirty-four feet. When struck, it was stated to have had a head of sixty or seventy feet, and the flow is said to be nearly as strong at the \present time. This water appears to be derived from the upper portion of the Niagara group, but before the boring had reached its present depth, a vein of saline was met with at a distance from the surface of three hundred and seventeen feet.

Copperas and saline springs occur in various places in this district, and occasionally give names to some of the minor streams. Such names as Salt creek and Lick creek occur here as in other parts of the State. These springs, however, are few in number, and can hardly be considered of any economic value.

It is, perhaps, superfluous to mention at length the agricultural capabilities of this district, since the capacities of its soils, etc., are so well known, and its territory so generally taken up and occupied by actual settlers, and now under high cultivation.

I may safely say, however, that, with the exceptions of some sandy portions along the rivers, there are no extensive tracts of what may be called poor land. There are, indeed, some tracts of comparatively low bottoms, or marshy land, which are not at present available for all kinds of agriculture, but these are generally of limited extent, and are rapidly diminishing under an improved system of drainage, which places them at once among the more valuable lands of the district. The numerous railroads now traversing the country, those projected and in process of construction, by making all portions readily accessable to the centers of trade, will add greatly to its present wealth and guarantee its future prosperity.