14 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [OCT. 19, 



In 1889 Mr. Theo. D. Rand published a few brief " Notes on 

 the Drift on Block Island,"* in which he gives a general descrip- 

 tion of the topography and surface features and says : 



P. 409. " Saw nothing whatever organic in an}- of the expo- 

 sures." 



In the Providence Journal of Sieptemhev 11, 1884, under"Block 

 Island: The strata found in digging wells," it is said that " The 

 strata found are composed of sand, clay, pebbles, cobble stones 

 and peat, but no ledge. A remarkabl}' white, fine sand is men- 

 tioned in two instances. "f 



In 1895 Dr. F. J. H. Merrill published " Notes on the Geol- 

 ogy of Block Island,"! ^'^ which two sections are given, one at 

 Clay Head and the other about a quarter of a mile east of South- 

 east Lighthouse. He concludes that the white clays and sands 

 ma}- be of Cretaceous age and were folded and contorted by 

 glacial action, after which the moi'ainal material was deposited 

 upon their surface. Finally he says : 



P 19. " The lignitic clay is evidently composed of transported 

 material from some Cretaceous or Tertiar}- bed to the north- 

 ward." 



He also notes the white clay at Clay Head and says : 



Pp. 17, 18. "This deposit, in character and position, is en- 

 tirely analagous to that at Glen Cove, L. I." 



The last article to appear is by Prof. 0. C. Marsh, on " The 

 Geology of Block Island, "§ in which no new facts are added, 

 but certain conclusions are reached which are decidedly at vari- 

 ance with those generally accepted by all who have studied the 

 geology of the region, viz. : 



P. 298. " Since the above was in print I have visited Long 

 Island and Martha's Vineyard, to ascertain if the Block Island 

 clays are represented there, as they should be if my conclusions 

 are correct. On Martha's Vineyard I found that the great series 

 of variegated clays forming Gay Head, and generally regarded 

 as Tertiary, are certainly Mesozoic, and all apparently Juras- 

 sic.\\ They have the same general features as the Block Island 

 clays, but are more highly colored and have been moi'e dis- 

 turbed." 



The foregoing, and a few other incidental references, mostly 

 in the discussion of glaciation in eastern North America, are all 



■*Proe. Phil. Acad. Nat. iSci. (1889), /,0S, !,09. 



t Quoted on pp. 53,54, Providence Franklin Society. Heport on the Geology 

 of Rhode Isla7id. Three plates. Providence, 1887. 



[In this pamphlet is also a complete bibliography of everything relating to the 

 geology and mineralogy of Rhode Island ; list of minerals, fossils, etc.] 



t Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., xv. (189ii), 16-19, illust. 



i Am. Journ. Sci., ii. (Oct., 1890), 295-298 ; (Nov. 189G) 37.5-377. 



I The italics are mine.— A. H. 



