36 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [nOV. 30, 



ton there is a similar deposit which may belong to the delta of Wap- 

 pinger's Creek, which discharges at New Hamburg, about one and 

 a half miles further up the river. 



In general, the upper limit of the clay increases northward, as 

 does also the terrace-level. To illustrate the latter point, we have 

 the following altitudes, those marked with an * being given by Dr. 

 Merrill : — 



The measurements apply to what is probably the upper terrace. 

 At some localities we find more than one terrace, thus: — 



Athens, 2. a 3 ? Stony Point, 3. 



Port Ewen, 2. Peekskill, 2. 



Cornwall, 3. Fishkill, 2. 



Storm King, 2. Schodack, 2. 



Table No. 2 gives the terrace measurements made at the different 

 points along the river, and it should be borne in mind that they do 

 not represent the highest portion of the upper terrace when more 

 than one is present, as, especially along the upper portion of the 

 river, the shore-line is quite a distance back. 



Such, in brief, are the general relations of the deposits along the 

 Hudson River. 



As far back as 1800 Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell mentioned the Hudson 

 River clays in the Mineralogical History of New York. In this he 

 says: "The flats between the basaltic rocks and Stony Point at 

 Haverstraw appear to be underlaid by argillaceous strata, which, as 

 their edges appear along the shore, are not yet hardened enough to 

 withstand the impression of the walker's foot." 



In 182(5, according to Prof. W. W. Mather (Geol. First District of 

 New York, p. 130), Mr. John Finch described the quaternary de- 

 posits of the Hudson in a ereneral manner under the name of tertiary. 



Prof. W. W. Mather (Geol. First District of New York, pp. 123- 

 150) in 1843 gives a general description of the quaternary deposits 

 of this region. 



In a paper published in the Amer. Journ. Sci. for June, 1891, Dr. 

 F. J. H. Merrill expresses the following conclusions concerning the 

 estuary deposits of the Hudson Valley : — 



That after the departure of the glacier from the Hudson Valley 

 the land was depre.ssed for a time, this depression amounting to at 

 least 80 feet at New York and 340 feet at Schenectady. That during 

 this depression a great depth of clay accumulated, and over this a 

 dei)osit of fine stratified sand. Dr. Merrill considers that the sand 

 may possibly have been deposited during the emergence of the land. 



