178 ROCHESTER ACADEMY OF SCIENXE. [April 22, 



while there is considerable variation, with as much eastward as west- 

 ward dip, the general direction of inclination is southward or across 

 the range. 



During the time of the deposition of these hills, vast glacial 

 waters were held south of the ice sheet in this region, having at first 

 their outlet westward to the Mississippi but with final escape eastward 

 to the Mohawk. The Pinnacle hills were accumulated in these waters 

 as shown by the following characters : 



The deposits throughout the range are mainly waterlaid drift, 

 coarser upon the north side and grading into fine sand upon the south 

 side and into clay upon the plain beyond. These finer deposits upon 

 the southern flank of the range are quite horizontal and undisturbed 

 and must have been deposited in standing water. Large boulders 

 occur in the fine deposit, which signify flotation by ice. 



These hills rise only 100 to 200 feet above the Rochester plain, 

 and are conspicuous because of their isolation. They are however 

 the only heights within several miles of the city, and an appeal is 

 made for their preservation, since they are being destroyed for building 

 materials. Their practical use for reserv'oir sites, etc., is exceeded 

 by their aesthetic value. As part of the park system and the people's 

 pleasuring ground they would be of inestimable value to the inhabi- 

 tants of the future city, and the city officials and people of this day 

 will receive and merit the condemnation of posterity if measures are 

 not taken to preserve the hills from destruction. 



The lecture was illustrated by maps and lantern \iews. 



In the discussion of the paper remarks were made by H. C. 

 Maine, A. C. Allen and Emil Kuichling urging the importance of 

 preserving the " Pinnacle Hills." The following resolutions offered 

 by Professor S. A. Lattimore were unanimously adopted : 



Whereas, The range of hills on the southern border of 

 the city of Rochester, popularly known as the Pinnacle hills, 

 constitute a natural feature of our landscape, remarkable alike 

 for the pleasing diversity which their outline, rising boldly from 

 the plain, gives to the environment of our city, and also for 

 their wonderful geological formation, being, in fact, the unique relics 

 and monuments of a period antedating by cycles the pyramids of 

 Egypt and all other human structures, whose strange and instructive 

 history is recorded in their strata of sand and gravel, and of which 

 the paper of Professor Fairchild constitutes so valuable an elucidation, 

 and 



