22'Z TRANSACTIONS OF THE [APRIL 5^ 



mantle of soil, and it is only on and near the summit that out- 

 crojis are found. The peak southeast of the hotel, known as 

 Eagle Cliffs, is mainly composed of grannlite, some of it horn- 

 blendic, bedded with some hornblende rock and intersected by 

 trap dykes. The strata are much tAvisted and contain some peg- 

 matite segregations. There is locally a small amount of biotite 

 mica, but no schistose structure to the strata. The eastern and 

 northern sides of the summit are more gneissic, and contain some 

 granite segregations, which have been exploited for muscovite- 

 mica. They are intersected by dykes of the rock locally known 

 as Leopardite, a porphyri tic dark-colored eruptive. These strata 

 are lithologically different from those of Eagle Cliffs in contain- 

 ing more mica, and may be newer. No crystalline limestone has- 

 been noted in the vicinity. 



Following the valley of' the French Broad lliver eastward from 

 Morristown, Tennessee, we cross successively beds of blue lime-- 

 stone and slate, the latter forming low rounded hills covered 

 witii an abundant growth of Finns inops, Ait. A few miles 

 east of Newport, the quartzites, similar to tiiose of Doe River 

 gorge, begin, forming bold bluffs. At Warm Springs, N. 0. 

 there is said to be limestone, but we did not stop for observations. 

 Farther east along the river there is more quartzite and some 

 slates. Their geological relations were not made out. Then 

 succeed basal Archaean crystalline rocks, apparently not as exten- 

 sively developed as farther north ; and near Marshall's station be- 

 gins a well stratified, schistose, heavily micaceous series, with a 

 general northeast strike and variable dip. These contain abun- 

 dant quartz and granite segregations. The character of the 

 transition from the heavily bedded, basal Arch^an rocks to the 

 schistose and gneissic series was not apparent along this section. 



About Asheville these well-bedded rocks are gneisses and mica 

 schists. In places the schist is very compact. In the Swannanoa 

 River the gneiss has strike N. 40° E., dip 85° N. W. It is seen 

 at several points along the W. N. C. R. R., from Asheville to 

 Black Mt. station. Here these schistose strata are well exposed 

 in a few places. They contain much garnet, kyanite and white 

 quartz, and some tourmaline. I would call attention to the great 

 lithological similarity between these rocks and those of our 

 "tide water gneiss*' — Westchester Co., New York, Philadel- 

 phia, etc. — and to the relative position of the two areas to the 

 heavily bedded basal Archaean areas which lie west of them in 

 each case. The mica mines of North Carolina are found in 

 them, and are paralleled by the great amount of mica in our New 

 York series, whicii Mr, Chamberlin has so extensively collected, 

 and specimens of which he has repeatedly brought before the- 



