THE MUSEUM. 



I went one summer's afternoon some 

 distance to the north in search of a 

 particular glacial bowlder. In this re- 

 gion the man who would go very far 

 in search of a bowlder, odd or other- 

 wise, would likely be pronounced daft, 

 but this particular "hard-head" was 

 well worth my si.x miles' walk, to and 

 fro, to see. Following the low cliffs 

 of Calciferous rock away toward the 

 north-west — along the great fault 

 which marks the eastern edge of this 

 fold in the rind that appears to many 

 so stable — I went, and finally rising the 

 anticline I found easily the object of 

 my visit. Indeed one could not very 

 well miss it, if passing near, for it forms 

 a quite prominent feature in the land- 

 scape. It is situated on the summit 

 of the anticline and rests directly on 

 the native Calciferous sand-rock, which 

 here is perfectly free and clear of soil, 

 possibly in the exact position where 

 deposited by the retreating glacier, for 

 some bowlders of extraordinary size 

 were probably too heavy to be 

 moved by the waves of the pleistocene 

 seas which occupied this great depressed 

 area at the close of the glacial period. 

 Our bowlder, which was probably 

 transported from some of the ledges 

 of the Mayfield range in Fulton Coun- 

 ty, some miles to the north-west, is 

 a huge block with rounded angles, and 

 is of far more than the usual size. In 

 material it is a coarse granitic rock 

 with rather large crystals of dark col- 

 ored feldspar and contains a plentiful 

 sprinkling of garnet. Its weathered 

 surface is rather rough but with no 

 prominent projections. It is interest- 

 ing to note how the surface of the Cal- 

 ciferous has weathered away since the 

 deposition of this ancient erratic, for 

 the bowlder is upheld by a pedestal of 

 the country rock whose diameter is 

 much less than that of the block sup- 

 ported. In height above the level of 

 the surrounding rock surface this ped- 

 estal varies from six to eight inches. 

 As a suggestion: possibly erosion by 

 sand and gravel laden currents during 

 the pleistocene submergence has been 



a principal factor in the cutting away 

 of this surface rock. 



The rocky plateau in the neighbor- 

 hood presents a curious appearance, 

 being divided into quite regular rhom- 

 boids by numerous joints, which are 

 from ten to twenty feet apart running 

 in parallel lines. No glacial stria are 

 visible on the surface of this area, in 

 consequence of the erosion spoken of, 

 but the edges of the joints most plain- 

 ly show the effects of running water, 

 possibly dating from the time of the 

 breaking up and disappearance of the 

 great glacier. 



THE NI.MRODS. 



Early in the autumn the would-be 

 sportsmen begin to pour out from the 

 city in legions. Overrunning the coun- 

 try in every direction, he goes be- 

 decked with his hunting shirt a-la-Peck 

 & Snyder, and begirt with his stuffed 

 cartridge belt he "smelleth the smoke 

 of the battle afar." In lieu of the 

 "birds" and "big game" that he con- 

 tinually talks about, but has not the 

 skill or patience to seek, he blazes 

 away at every living thing that he can 

 find that will stand for him to aim at. 

 Fortunately for the innocent birds, 

 squirrels and chipmunks his aim is al- 

 most invariably poor, consequently 

 some friendly tree or perhaps a farm- 

 er's cow receives his charge of canis- 

 ter and Mr. Chipmunk has a breath- 

 ing spell until another broadside can 

 be trained. Quite often he brings 

 down his fellow sportsman. Almost 

 any day we can read in the papers 

 how, "Smith, Jones and Small Cal- 

 ibre went gunning, and Smith's gun 

 being accidentally discharged blew off 

 the top from Jones' head;" or how 

 "Small Calibre let f^y with his arque- 

 bus and shot off Smith's nigh ear." 

 Now I must confess that it is with no 

 regret that I notice these almost daily 

 accounts of the holocausts among the 

 nimrods. Really I am rather pleased 

 to read them and at one time had ser- 

 ious thoughts of making a scrap-book 

 of one season's record of these casual- 



