24 Geology, dc. of the Connecticul. 
terfield, (N. H.)} Putney, &c. 9. Not very fissile—break- 
ing into thick blocks. Mica, abundant but poorly charac- 
terised—having somewhat the aspect of argillite—surface 
slightly irregular, appears as if grooved—Abundant in Cum- 
mington, Chesterfield, (Mass.) Vernon, Bolton, &c. 10. 
Quartz granular, abundant and white—resembling gneiss 
or grnite—scaresy stratified at all—Locality, Buckland, 
Granville, &c. 11. Mica in distinct and abundant plates— 
layers very _ tortuous or uneven. This usually lies next 
to granite. 12. Passing into gneiss—often rendered por- 
phyritic by ben of Eldapat- A ccality, Litchfield county. 
e quartz that occurs in this mica slate, especially in 
the wavy and tortuous varieties, is commonly the white 
limpid: frequently it is athe fetid, and sometimes a rich vari- 
ety of a delicate red color. e coloring matter, however, 
is apparently iron, and mhieciar! itis not the rose-red quartz. 
This variety of quartz occurs on the west side of the Con- 
necticut. 
It has peo been remarked, under granite, that nu- 
merous: of this rock are contai : n- 
deed, our mica slate more frequently rests ieiiiedintel up- 
on granite, without the intervention of avy other rock, than 
does gneiss. It also alternates with gneiss, hornblende 
slate, argillite and chlorite slate. Small particles of it, in- 
deed, occur in very many places throughout the whole ex- 
tent of the primitive along the Connecticut. 
It is a common remark in geological books, that hills 
composed of mica slate are usually less steep and more 
rounded than those of granite. But the reverse is the fact 
in most eases along this river. The granite hills are gener- 
ally low and rounded, while some of the most Tarpeian 
precipices to be found in this region are composed of mica 
slate. Take for examples West t River Mountain, and the 
high hills of Heath, Hawley, Chesterfield, &c. 
Mica slate is not wanting in a variety of minerals in this 
section of the country—such, for instance, as staurotide and 
garnets in immense quantities in Goshen, Chesterfield, 
Mass. and from Bolton, Conn. one huadred miles north, to 
Chesterfield, New-Hampshire. Also the fine Chesterfield 
sippare. Also the red oxid of titanium, found almost ev- 
ery where between Conway and Brattleborough, a distance 
Pi thirty miles--and the Leyden tremolite—the Putney 
