The fossils so far collected from this interesting locality are:
| Insecta (Identified by Dr. E. H. Sellards). |
| Spiloblattina maledicta (Scudder). The basal half of a front wing. |
| Etoblattina sp. The hind wing of a cockroach. |
| Arachnida. |
| Anthrocomartus. Impression of the body. |
| Prestwichia danæ M. & W. Nearly complete specimen. |
| Crustacea. |
| Acanthotelson stimpsoni M. & W. Three nearly complete individuals. |
| Plants (Identified by Mr. J. C. Carr, of Morris, Ill.). |
| Pecopteris sp. |
| Sagittaria reticulata Lesquereux. |
| Annularia longifolia Lesquereux. |
| Annularia inflata Lesquereux. |
| Pecopteris villosa Brongniart. |
| Neuropteris decipiens Lesquereux. |
| Pecopteris serpulifolia Lesquereux. By far the most abundant plant is Pecopteris. |
The fossils occur in definite strata of nodules immediately above a 10-inch coal seam which is worked for local consumption. The coal lies near the base of the exposure in the more western portion of the outcrop, but it is raised by an anticlinal fold to near the top of the creek-banks by the bridge across Rock Creek, along the banks of which the shales are exposed. Nodules containing fossils are found most abundantly at the western exposure on the McKinzie place, only a few having been found near the bridge.
Below the coal-seam, nodules of various shapes and sizes occur, but they seldom contain fossils and never good ones. Occasionally, as at Mazon Creek, fragments of plants adhere to the outside of the incrusting shale. A single nodule may have adhering to it fragments of 4 genera of plants. The fossiliferous nodules all occur above the coal and are most prolific and abundant immediately above the seam, within the first 10 inches. In the same stratum of shale with the nodules are found abundant impressions of plants in the shale, often perfect fronds being uncovered. (See, in this connection, Twenhofel and Dunbar, 1914, "Nodules with Fishes from the Coal Measures of Kansas," Amer. Journ. Sci., XXXVIII, pp. 157-163.)
G. F. Matthew ([408-413]) has described numerous genera and species of footprints, presumably amphibian, from the Carboniferous of Canada. The impressions indicate small creatures for the most part. Other imprints have been described by Logan, Dawson, Lyell, Marsh, Mudge, and Lea. Since the present work is intended largely for a morphological review, only passing notice can be given to the ichnites. The literature on the "Ichnites" has been brought together in Hay's "Bibliography and Catalogue of Fossil Vertebrata of North America," pp. 538-553. References since the publication of Hay's catalogue ([317]) will be found in the bibliography at the end of this work. Footprints are of interest in that they are the only evidence we have of the occurrence of land vertebrates in the Devonian and Mississippian of North America.
[CHAPTER IV.]
THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE COAL MEASURES AMPHIBIA.