254 Geology and Mineralogy of Salisbury. 
Natur al dee-Houses. 
Chasms of scantherabies extent are met with in the mica- 
slate,* forming natural ice-houses, where the ice and snow 
remain most of the year. One of these in the east part of 
the town is perhaps worthy of a particular notice. The 
chasm is several hundred feet long, sixty feet deep, and 
about forty in width. The slate is of a very compact kind, 
and must have required a powerful convulsion to have 
einai it. The walls are ogee sd and corres- 
pond with much exactness. At the bottom there is @ 
spring of cold water, anda cave of some extent. As you 
enter the chasm, you are struck with the romantic beauty 
of the spot. Above it is peemriciely overreached with 
=] ines (pinus strobus) and hemlock (p. canadesis), to- 
ofty 
gether with stately walnuts he poreiua) and butter- 
nuts (juglans cinerea), &c. &c.; while below the ground 
is adorned with a great variety of plants, and the rocks 
with numerous species of mosses, lichens, and ferns. 
These, together with its. cool Iness and entire solitude, 
make it a very pleasant retreat in summer. It is cal 
ocd -Hollow from its formerly being a famous haunt for 
wolves. 
Granular Limestone. 
This i is a continuation of the western range of | Dewey, 
commencing in Vermont, and extending through Benning- 
ton, Williamstown, Lanesborough, West phar 
a ie: it It is SLIDERS stratibed, with apes in- 
clined stra 
~ 
* Lat. about 43° N. 
