io6 



THE MUSEUM. 



heart of South Village. Here the 

 deposit is in the form of huge boulders, 

 some of which are nearly as large as a 

 small house. They are very thickly 

 strewn ov'er the surface of two or three 

 acres, and more thickly scattered over 

 several hundred acres to the south and 

 east of the village. 



About the granite itself, merely as 

 granite, there is nothing remarkable. 

 It is highly feldspathic, but lacking in 

 horndblende. It is very white and a 

 little too course grained to have much 

 commercial value. What gives this 

 variety its especial interest, is the fact, 

 that, thickly mixed with the contents 

 of the rock are to be found numerous 

 concretions or nodules of black mica. 

 In shape they have the form of a pro- 

 late spheroid, the short diameter being 

 about two thirds the length of the 

 longer. They are composed of thin, 

 concentric layers of black mica and 

 quartz, regularly alternating, and, 

 when not exposed to the action of the 

 elements are of a jet black color, con- 

 trasting beautifully with the white sur- 

 face of the granite. In size, they vary 

 from one half of an inch, to two inches 

 in the? longest diameter. The surface 

 of the nodules is slightly wrinkled, and 

 they much resemble raisins in a pud- 

 ding, hence the rock is commonly 

 called "Plumb Pudding Stone." They 

 have also been likened to butternuts 

 and are sometimes called "Petrified 

 Butternuts." The rock is also known 

 as "Butternut Granite." 



No satisfactory theory has yet been 

 advanced to explain the manner by 

 which the nodules became incorporated 

 into the substance of the rock. Pro- 

 fessor Hitchcock is said to have made 

 the remark, that it was the most diffi- 

 'Cult problem with which he had ever 



grappled. He did not attempt to of- 

 fer any explanation. The nodules of- 

 ten constitute one third and sometimes 

 as much as one half of the entire sub- 

 stance of the rock, and the general ap- 

 pearance, at first, would give rise to the 

 impression that they had been stirred 

 into the rock at some time when the 

 entire mass was in a plastic state. But 

 a closer inspection dispels this idea for 

 the nodules are all arranged with their 

 longer axes parallel to one another. 

 From this we might infer, that, at 

 some period the rock had been strati- 

 fied; but, admitting this and admitting, 

 that, owing to the heat, or some other 

 agency, it lost its stratified condition, 

 what is the origin and nature of the 

 nodules.' 



I have said that the principal deposit 

 of this variety of granite is to be found 

 in Craftsbury. It is said to occur also 

 in the tows of Northfield, Waterbury, 

 Newfane, Proctorsville and Jay in Ver- 

 mont and at Stanstead in Canada. I 

 have searched for it in several of these 

 towns but without avail. I have seen 

 a speicimen said to have been found in 

 Newfane, but it differed from that 

 found at Craftsbury, in that the nodules 

 were larger and much more elongated. 

 In all cases the rock is found only as 

 boulders, which have been transported 

 thither by drift agency. The original 

 location is unknown. Most probably 

 it is situated in the unexplored regions- 

 of Central Labrador. 



C. O. Okmsbee, 



MONTPELIER, Vt. 



Coral. 



We fre(juently read of the tiny coral 

 insect, and its incessant labor, and the 

 wonderful results, in the shape of im- 



