52 



E. W. Claypole, who has given a full description of it in the 

 American Geologist for November, 1896. 



A most remarkable feature of the axe is that it has been 

 oxidized completely through since it was made, only a very 

 small part of the original material remaining at the center. 

 The cause of this is apparently the action of the water in which 

 it lay. This is heavily charged with sulphates resulting , 

 from the acid developed by the decomposition of the pyri- 

 tous material in the clay. 



I have also several other specimens which have been 

 found at different depths in the gravel and clay of the dis- 

 trict, but none of them so far below the surface as the axe. 

 New London lies at a level 400 ft. above Lake Erie, and the 

 land near it slopes to the northward, rising 200 ft. higher 

 about five miles to the south, and forming the watershed of 

 the state. There are no large streams or quarries near the 

 town, so that no suspicion of intrusive or accidental burial 

 can be entertained. 



