210 ROCHESTER ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



by Professor Fairchild (34). It is particularly interesting because 

 of its fine development, and the splendid opportunities oflered for 

 the study of its structure by reason of the numerous excavations 

 made to obtain gravel. It is readily accessible, the Rochester and 

 Eastern Electric Railway passing along its foot, first on the south- 

 west, then on the northeast side. A regular stop is made within a 

 few rods of its best developed portion, at the Palmyra road. 



This esker lies amid the sands of the Irondequoit kame area. The 

 fields in the neighborhood present a sandy surface with moraine 

 developments of the kame type. Through such surroundings the 

 esker trends in a north-northwest and south-southeast direction in 

 a meandering course. 



It is only about a half mile in length but it preserves in altitude 

 what it lacks in length, its highest part being nearly 80 feet above 

 the surrounding surface. 



The esker first appears on the north as a distinct ridge emerg- 

 ing from a confused piling of moraine drift of a silty nature and 

 extends nearly southeast. Upon entering on the ridge one is ap- 

 praised immediately of its character ; water-worn stones of all sizes 

 marking its crest and its slopes in marked contrast to the neighbor- 

 ing area, where the stones are very small and rarely encountererl. 

 The second distinguishing feature is the steep slopes (about 30 

 degrees), quite dififerent from the gentle slopes of the morainic drift. 



For the first 200 feet the surface of the ridge is cultivated but 

 beyond that the slopes are wooded, their steepness and stony char- 

 acter not favoring agriculture. For one-fifth of a mile these char- 

 acters continue, then this portion of the esker terminates abruptly 

 with a slope as steep as the sides. 



Within a few feet of this abrupt termination, it is again resumed 

 in a cultivated field. The gap thus left has been utilized for the line 

 of the Rochester and Eastern railway. The length of this portion 

 is but a few rods and its trend is in a more southerly direction than 

 the segment described above. It has very gentle slopes here and is 

 of low altitude only 10 or 12 feet above its surroundings. At the 

 southern portion of this section of the esker there is a decided in- 

 crease in width with a shallow depression in its surface, which slopes 

 toward the west, the eastern side of the ridge acting as its rim. This 

 segment terminates just north of the crossing of the two roads (see 

 figure 6). 



