GEOLOGY OF MOUNT DESERT. 45 



Although the granitic rocks of the Mount Desert range, 

 and of other mountains in southern Maine, are now cold 

 and quiet in their old age, they were once hot and ener- 

 getic, pressing their way upward as a vast molten mass 

 towards, and perhaps to what was then the surface of the 

 ancient land. Their upheaval and outburst may have 

 contributed largely to the altitude of the former surface ; 

 but of this we know little. Other intrusions of melted 

 rocks occurred on large or small scales, and on dates 

 earlier and later than that of the mountain granite ; but 

 their heat has all long since died out. The great denuda- 

 tion by which the present lowland has been carved in 

 the ancient highlands is later than the latest of the 

 igneous outbursts ; and the glaciation by which the finish- 

 ing touches have been given to the country is a thing of 

 yesterday. 



When a brief summary of geological history is thus 

 presented, the reader, if he is not versed in the interpre- 

 tation of evidence presented in the language of the rocks, 

 is likely to regard the whole subject as something of a 

 mystery. He may even imagine that the facts and argu- 

 ments to which the geologist appeals are obscure and 

 abstruse. This is not the case. Common eyes and com- 

 mon sense may perceive all the essential points in the 

 evidence leading to the conclusions just stated. If the 

 reader will walk patiently over the island, look closely, 

 and think clearly, the whole argument may be appre- 

 hended ; and when his attention is taken less by the con- 

 clusions to which the evidence leads than by the evidence 

 which leads to the conclusions, the mystery vanishes ; 

 the essential simplicity of logical scientific investigation 

 takes its place, and the face of nature gains a frank and 

 sincere expression that it has to him never worn before. 

 Let us use the foregoing paragraphs in the nature of a 

 table of contents, and now turn more particularly to see 



