530 Scientific Geology. 



sandstone, shale, and conglomerates. Indeed, taken as a whole the 

 rocks of this region extremely resemble those in the basin of the 

 Connecticut. The inclination of the sandstone, however, is in gen- 

 eral rather less in New Jersey, and it is westerly ; that is, in a direc- 

 tion contrary to that of the sandstone of the Connecticut valley. 

 Consequently, the mural faces of the greenstone ridges in the latter 

 valley, are on the west side of the ranges ; while in New Jersey, 

 they are on the east side. But this does not militate at all against the 

 conclusion that the trap ranges in the two formations belong to the 

 same system of elevation. It merely renders it probable that an axis 

 of elevation, or anticlinal line, lies between them. 



3. The Latest Meridional System. 



I have presented the reasons that lead me to suppose the Hoosac 

 mountain range to have been elevated a certain distance before the 

 deposition of the new red sandstone. But the inclination of that 

 rock shows that subsequent to its deposition a second elevation has 

 taken place in the same range. The smallness of the dip in the sand- 

 stone proves that this second elevation must have been small compar- 

 ed with that which had been previously accomplished in the primary 

 strata west of Connecticut river. Yet there is every reason to believe 

 that this second elevating force acted on all the rocks between Con- 

 necticut and Hudson rivers, and probably on those farther west. And 

 very probably much of the greenstone in the Connecticut valley was 

 lifted up along with the sandstone. Hence we are to include in this 

 system all the rocks between Connecticut and Hudson rivers ; proba- 

 bly the whole distance between Long Island Sound and Canada. 

 But there is no evidence that the primary rocks east of Connecticut 

 river, which I have included in the oldest meridional system, except 

 in one or two cases of limited extent, were affected by this second ele- 

 vating agency. For if such had been the case, to as great an extent 

 as on the western side of the Connecticut, the sandstone would either 

 have been elevated without losing its horizontal position, or it would 

 have been tilted up so as to dip in opposite directions on opposite sides 

 of the valley. If then the primary strata east of the river were af- 

 fected at the epoch under consideration, it must have been in a much 

 less degree than the strata west of the river. 



There is, however, in one place, striking evidence that an eleva- 

 tion has taken place in the gneiss east of Connecticut river, since the 

 deposition of the sandstone. I refer to the section which I have giv- 



