THE MUSEUM. 



20I 



it will be easy to ascertain, by a series 

 of levelings, the exact extent and di- 

 mensions of the lake which was beau- 

 tiful in the extreme. In shape it re- 

 sembled a five-pointed star, with its 

 nucleus near where Montpelier is now 

 located and its points or arms reach- 

 ing in each direction. One extended 

 westerly to Middlesex, another north- 

 erly to Worcester, a third northeast- 

 erly towards the headwaters of the 

 Winooski as far as Plainfield, a fourth 

 in the valley of Steven s Branch south- 

 easterly a little beyond Barre, and 

 fifth southerly in the valley of Dog 

 River nearly to Northfield. Nestled 

 so among the mountains, it may be 

 assumed, that no Swiss lake ever sur- 

 passed it in picturesque beauty. 



It now becomes important to en- 

 quire into the history of the lake; to 

 ascertain the nature and origin of the 

 barrier which caused it; and to inves- 

 tigate the causes which led to the de- 

 molition of the barrier and the conse- 

 quent drainage of the lake. The to- 

 pography of the surrounding country 

 is such that the barrier must have 

 been located at, or very near the 

 chasm. No other location is possible. 

 Now a few rods east of Middlesex vil- 

 lage, and following the course of a 

 valley which lies at the foot of, and 

 parallel with, the mountains, or rather 

 which lies between the mountains, 

 and a range of high hills but a short 

 distance to the east is a small stream, 

 locally known as Great Brook. About 

 a mile from the village this brook is 

 joined by McElroy's Brook at such an 

 angle, and under such topographical 

 circumstances, as to produce a most 

 excellent location for a deposit of silt. 

 But no such deposit is to be found. 

 Instead, is a medial moraine, and on 



each side of the valley are to be found 

 traces of a lateral moraine. The con- 

 clusion that a glacier once pushed its 

 way down the valley cannot be re- 

 sisted. 



Now the angle of union between 

 the valley of this brook and the river 

 valley is too great to be easily turned 

 by a glacier. Instead, the glacier 

 would push its way directly across the 

 valley, which by the way was then, 

 no doubt, occupied by the lake at its 

 lower level, and infringe against the 

 almost perpendicular face of the 

 mountain on the opposite side, which 

 might possibly deflect it slightly down 

 the stream. Thus the glacier would 

 fill the chasm and rest upon the ledge 

 through which the channel has been 

 cut. A barrier would now be formed, 

 and if the pressure from above were 

 sufficient to prevent the water from 

 flowing under and raising it, the re- 

 sult would necessarialy be the forma- 

 tion of the lake. We believe this to 

 have been the case and that the lake 

 was caused by an ice-gorge which 

 filled the chasm through which the 

 river flowed. Were it necessary sev- 

 eral instances of other lakes having 

 been similarly formed might be cited 

 in corroboration. 



Once formed, the lake would con- 

 tinue in existence as long as the bar- 

 rier remained intact, and if the on- 

 ward movement of rhe glacier was 

 sufficient to compensate for the action 

 of the waters of the lake upon the ice 

 which formed the barrier, the lake 

 would remain indefinitely. We be- 

 lieve this to have been the case and 

 that the lake remained perhaps for 

 centuries. 



From further observations it seems, 

 evident that at length the water found 



