A LITTLE LOCAL GEOLOGY 



71 



families of ducks eager for crumbs. Fur- 

 ther into the i:)ark are vistas of cool ^reen 

 shade and ])layg"roun(ls for children. 



But these pleasures are in many other 

 parks. The gardens are not. Fortunate 

 are those who can visit these gardens in 

 summer, and with camera and notebook, 

 spread the wonders of them to those who 

 have not vet seen them. 



A Little Local Geology. 



I'.V W. C. r.AXKS, STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT. 



One day a friend, a gentleman whose 

 education dates back to prehistoric 

 times when the study of geology was 

 regarded as sacrilegious if not immoral, 

 asked me in all seriousness, "Do you 

 take any stock in the theories of geol- 

 ogy? Do you credit the theory of an 

 ice age in this region?" 



"Go anywhere about here," I said. 

 "and you can find abundant proof." 

 As there may be some, even yet, that 

 regard these things as a "tale that is 

 told," I desire to direct attention to 

 some of these local proofs, as Profes- 

 sor Rice's interesting article on "Boul- 

 ders" has moved me to do. 



In the southern part of the township 

 of Stamford, including territory to the 

 east and west, the surface rock is a 

 light gray or a dark bluish granite — 

 gneiss — the Thomaston and the Dan- 

 bury granodiorite gneisses of the 

 Connecticut State Geological and Nat- 

 ural History Survey. If the loose sur- 

 face material were made up of disinte- 

 grated local rock, it would be of the 

 same character as the bedrock. But it 

 is not. All over this region we may 

 recognize loose boulders that were cer- 

 tainly derived from the Berkshire 

 schist, to the northward of this region. 

 Also quartzite amphibolite and many 

 other rocks of foreign origin. T found 

 on Shippan Point a small boulder of 

 hard sandstone that showed embedded 

 fossil plants ; another, from another 

 locality, showed fossil shells, both im- 

 possible as local products. In many 

 cases where the surface soil is removed, 

 we find the underlying rock grooved, 

 or smoothed, results certainly due to 

 the grinding action of an ancient ice 

 sheet. 



A splendid example of a pothole is 

 to be seen on Mill River at Stillwater 

 Such is nearlv alwavs an evidence of 



the former existence of glacial ice. It 

 marks tiie foot of a torrent that plung- 

 ed tnrough a crevice in the ice. This, 

 aided by loose material, formed a 'great 

 hydraulic drill The level plaih on 

 which the business portion ot the city 

 01 Stamford is built is formed of off- 

 shore deposits carried down by the 

 torrents troni the melting ice and re- 

 arranged by the tides and waves of 

 i^ong island Sound. These are but a 

 tew of the many evidences of the ex- 

 istence of the great ice sheet over this 

 region, io search them out is an in- 

 leiesting pastime. 



The Birch Road to Dreamland. 



The accompanying illustration was the 

 frontispiece to "Popular Photography" 

 and attracted the writer's attention be- 

 cause it is an extraordinary photograph. 

 Jr^rom the photographers point ot view 

 it is well balanced and beautiful, but 

 there is m it an emblematic aspect that 

 pointedly appeals to one, especially if to 

 him roads and woods connote human life. 

 How shall one enter nature, and hrw 

 shall one accept guidance to the chasn, > 

 of discovery in the unknown distance 



It was Henry David Thoreau who gave 

 us the correct prescription when he, en- 

 tering a wood, exclaimed, "O woods, I 

 would be as pure as you are pure." One 

 cannot but fancy that Thoreau, walk^ig 

 down this road, would exclaim after gaz- 

 ing- at that cluster of white birches, 

 "I'here is the keynote to the symphony 

 awaiting me in that hazy distance." 



The winding road suggests the curve 

 in the distance, like the shaft in the curve 

 of the interrogation point which some 

 one has fancied to be a curved hand held 

 at the ear after a question and signifying 

 that the ear is ready for the answer. 

 Other curves ini the road suggest other 

 and greater curves beyond the immediate 

 vision, and that if one would answer the 

 question of nature, he must bear with 

 him over all the road the spirit of appre- 

 ciation. 



In this picture there is a charm about 

 the distant view. It 'brings up an endless 

 series of memories and of future possi- 

 bilities. Beyond the uncertainty of that 

 tangled growth there may be scenes 

 known years ago, or discoveries not made 

 after decades of wandering. It brings 

 back the old road to the red schoolhouse ; 

 it tells of the tin pail filled with salt for 



