No. 112.1 797 



ordinary structures, all indicate that they have been formed by 

 the abrasions of a rapid and powerful current of water. 



The existence of " boulders *' formed of every rock, ^nd dis- 

 seminated through the county, equally upon the hills and moun- 

 tains as in the valleys, presents a broad and attractive field for 

 scientific researches and philosophical speculations. Boulder 

 rocks, dissimilar in character and belonging to other formations, 

 worn and rounded, are scattered over the county in utter confu- 

 iion and dislocation. Granite intermingled with sand, sandstone 

 resting upon hyperstene, and gneiss upon limestone, perpetually 

 occur, A gentleman of intelligence assured me, that he had ex- 

 amined a fragment of red sandstone near the summit of a hyper- 

 stene mountain, in the center of the county, and remote from 

 every rock of that description. I saw in Moriah, a Potsdam sand- 

 atone block, lying upon the surface^of a rock of gneiss, many 

 miles from the former in scite. Among the Adirondacs, at an 

 elevation of 1,700 feet, and more than 1,000 feet above any 

 known locality of Potsdam sandstone, pebbles of that rock are 

 found, bearing all the close crystaline appearance of that stone 

 at Keeseville.* They are found in gravel pits, sand beds, and 

 along the banks of the river. The presence of these bouldei-s, 

 varying in size from the mere pebble to masses of many tons, oc- 

 curs in every section of the county. These are among the fact^ 

 and circumstances existing m this region calculated to illustrate 

 theories and speculations on the subject of the drift formation of 

 the country. 



Fr.nTlLIZVlRS. 



Phosphafe of lAtne. — The extraordinary deposit of this rare 

 and valuable mineral in Crown Point, has elicited much inter- 

 efit and attention from both the scientific and agricultural com- 

 munity of England. It is a singular incident, that a general 

 knowledge of its existence should have been announced to the 

 citizens of Ks.sex c(^unly, by a report of a discus.^ion on the sub- 

 ject, at an agricultural festival in that country. Tlic purpose I 

 had contemplated of an rlaborato examination of the material, 

 its history, uses, and efl'ccts, h^is been anticipated by the exposo 



• a. CUrir. 



