Geology, &c. of the Connecticut. 19 
nishes an admirable stone for such purposes; and many 
quarries are opened in it. Immense tables of it may be 
procured, and should the mania for constructing pyramids 
ever seize the inhabitants of New-England, this gneiss might 
produce masses of stone rivaling in magnitude the im- 
mense limestone blocks of the pyramids of Egypt. 
The gneiss of the Connecticut, often alternates with mica 
slate, and passes into it. In Granville, may be seen ait 
hornblende slate and mica slate, in various stages 0 
roach to each other, and making various alternations. 
This mixture of gneiss with other rocks, and the — an 
indistinctness of character, render it, in some instances, 
very easy to give its limits. I have felt this difficulty ae 
appears so decided in its characters in Bristol, Plymouth, 
and Canton. In the west part of Granville, I fsel eaiihilent 
gneiss is the ae rock—although mica slate oe 9 
with it. Yet bet sr nestor Wesifield nothing 
but mica slate, as te paren naee which extends twelve 
or fourteen miles west of Chester, before we come to gneiss. 
And north of this we find very little gneiss within the limits 
of the map except a narrow stratum as we ascend the hill 
from Cummington to Goshen. I do not, therefore, feel ex- 
actly satisfied with the northern termination of the Litch- 
field gneiss as given on the map: but at present it is not in 
my power to re-examine it. 
1 would here, however, suggest that I have been rather 
inclined to believe that some of the stratified rocks along 
the Connecticut pass gra dalla into other rocks /aterally, 
that is, in the direction of the <aecehgbeabei slate, for in- 
ca slate. To establish this fact, homavet requites long 
suggest it, ae and do not assert it. 
nstances, the ingredients of our gneiss are pret- 
ty equally sails in others they are arranged in somewhat 
distinct layers, which are generally straight. It is not-a 
— that is rich in ae with us. Veins of granite tra- 
t, howev ver. so conta: 
3 WASLGIhs 
ing it 
Wi peaks the Haddam pics 
as 
