THE MUSEUM. 



59 



I noticed that far the larger num- 

 ber of trees in the woods are of nut- 

 bearing species. Maples and light- 

 seeded trees are few. At once, wheth- 

 er rightly or not, I connected this fact 

 of distribution with the prevalence of 

 high and constant winds, the marks of 

 which are so conspicuously set in the 

 outlines of every tree within the range 

 of the eye, and which I thought, by 

 preventing the spread of seedlings to 

 the windward of parent trees, had in 

 the ages weeded out the absent kinds. 

 In the nice balance of the arboreal 

 struggle, a small and unnoticed cause 

 may raise or sink the fortunes of a 

 species. But I found iu an examina- 

 tion of the annuals many wing-seeded 

 composita\ etc. I saw, too, that un- 

 der a solitary great maple in the 

 woods the seedlings were as numerous 

 and far scattered from the parent on 

 the west as on the east. And this ob- 

 servation I repeated in several places. 

 I concluded, therefore, that if prevail- 

 ing winds had to answer for the ab- 

 sence of maples, elms, basswoods, 

 etc., at least the result was not due to 

 transporting power. 



Yet the speculations founded upon 

 the relationship of wind and wing is 

 not easy to give up. Can it be that 

 the broad vanes designed to catch the 

 lighter airs of a more quiet region, of- 

 fer only too ready a hold to the rend- 

 ing force of the heavy drafts peculiar 

 to level countries, so that the seeds 

 are removed before the germ has fully 

 matured, with the result that the seed- 

 ling trees are too feeble to wage suc- 

 cessful war against oak and hickory.' 

 R. G. Leavitt, 



Williston Seminary, 

 Easthampton, Mass. 



A Colossal Boulder and its 

 History. 



The town of Italy, Yates Co., N. 

 Y., is justly noted for its lofty hills, 

 deep valley and the "Big Elm," the 

 largest in the state. To these should 

 be added, the largest boulder in the 



county of Yates, and of its kind, per- 

 haps the largest in the state. So few 

 are recorded that exceed this one in 

 size that we think it deserves special 

 mention and distinctive place in the 

 geology of Yates county. 



This wonder from the Archaean re- 

 gion British America— the Laurentian 

 Mountains — the so-called "Backbone" 

 of North America, was stranded dur- 

 ing the "Great Ice Age" almost on 

 the very summit of East Italy Hill, 

 fully I, ooo feet above the valley. It 

 is on the farm of Mr. George Ray 

 Hayes, in the eastern part of lot No. 

 38. It is about 33 feet long, 16 feet 

 broad and 9 feet high and in shape 

 like a prolate spheroid, and by com- 

 putation must weigh fully 400 tons. 



Looking at this giant we are deeply 

 impressed by the omnipotence of 

 the forces of nature and reminded 

 of the great changes wrought in the 

 earth's surface by such forces. Where 

 did it come from.' How did it get 

 here.' No rocks like it here in place! 

 Such are the questions and thoughts 

 that are suggested to everyone at first 

 sight of it. 



All boulders are divided into two 

 classes travelled or untravelled. The 

 former are distinguished by being 

 rounded and sometimes polished and 

 more or less remote from their habitat, 

 while tne latter are rough and angu- 

 lar, and at or near home. The one 

 in Italy belongs to the former class, 

 being well rounded, and is known in 

 lithology as gneiss — a form of strati- 

 fied granite. It is called primary rock 

 to distinguish it from the later rock 

 made of mud and called secondary, 

 sedimentary and shale rock. It forms 

 the bed rock of the earth and was 

 Once in a molten condition: In this 

 part of our state many thousand feet 

 of shale rocks are above it, but in the 

 Adirondack region and portions of 

 Canada it is the surface rock, there- 

 fore we know it must have come from 

 the north. 



By what means was it transported 

 from the Canadian mountains and left 



