Is SiiEij. Mart, a P^ki:tii,i/.kr ? 275 



inal; and of tliis 300,000 cords, accoi'ding to the estimate of 

 Professor C. B. Adams, lie unused in Moidvton Pond. 



Bv referrinif; to pages i')97 and 698 of tiie Report on 

 Geology, it will be observed that in the analyses of the seve- 

 ral sain}>k'S of shell marl from different parts of the State, 

 the proportion of carbonate of lime runs from 89 to 72.9 

 per cent. ; water and vegetable matter from 5.5 to 13,5 

 per cent. As this marl absorbs a large quantity of water 

 and parts with it very slowl}', two samples from the same 

 deposit ma}' exhibit a considerable difference on this point, 

 resulting, of course, from the various means used for remov- 

 ing the water. The sample that came under the notice of 

 Prof. Adams was probably the one he obtained by using 

 this, an instrument, a sort of probe attached to the end of 

 a long pole, which was thrust down through the upper 

 stratum, without filling, and drawn from a much lower 

 one, that is more compact. The sample before you was pro- 

 cured from Monkton Pond by the same instrument, attached 

 tC) the end of a ])ole not more than seven feet long. This 

 sample was procured about the 1st of December, by cutting 

 through one foot of ice, and dropping the probe through two 

 feet of weeds in water, and three feet of marl ; from the low- 

 est stratum that I could reach this pint cup was filled. Its 

 contents weighed twenty-one ounces ; after standing two 

 weeks in a favorable place for dr^'ing its contents weighed 

 seven ounces — losing two-thirds of its volume and 

 weight. It presents now the appearance and condition 

 whi(;h it repches after exposure to the sun and air during 

 several weeks of summer. 



One or two years before Professor Adams examined this 



