ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY. 3(51} 



Stockholm. This town is upon liigher ground tlian Masscna or Norfolk. The surface rock 

 is principally the potsdam sandstone. It is better adapted to agriculture than the preceding 

 town. Peat exists, as in the neighboring towns, in the low grounds ; but it is unnecessary 

 to dwell upon the localities, or attempt to estimate the quantity. 



Brasiier. This town is traversed by three parallel ridges of sand and gravel, which run 

 southeast and northwest, and the intervening spaces are level sandy plains. Tertiary clays 

 underlie the sand beds, in which wo liiul the Tellina groenlandica. The beds of bog ore have 

 already been described. Beds of peat arc numerous and extensive. 



Lawrence. The country in and about Lawrence is sandy. The rock is sandstone, but 

 generally concealed beneath heavy beds of sand. 



HoPKiNTON. Potsdam sandstone appears at the village. It is white, and dips southeast. 

 This town, however, limits the sedimentary rocks in this direction. About one mile east of 

 the village, a reddish granite crops out, and becomes the predominant rock. 



TERTIARY OF ST. LAWRENCE. 



The undisturbed beds of tertiary probably extend from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Lake 

 Ontario ; not, however, in a continuous mass, but at intervals beds more or less perfect exist. 

 At Ogdensburgh, the clays forming the banks of the river belong to this formation. Still 

 farther northeast, as in Brasher, they occur with fossils. The sands which cover so much 

 space in the northeast townships, and in Franklin, belong to this mass, at least in part. With- 

 out doubt, a portion of these sands originally belonged to the tertiary formation ; but now, in 

 consequence of having been swept from the original position in which they were deposited, 

 they belong to the drift, or form a part of the boulder system. 



The tertiary of the St. Lawrence cannot be fully described without farther examination. 

 The fact that its banks are formed of this peculiar clay, is well known ; but its depth, its 

 extent and boundaries, cannot at present be clearly defined. The fossils of the clay at Og- 

 densburgh are in a decomposing state, and might be, and undoubtedly have been overlooked ; 

 but let any one examine these banks carefully, and he will not fail to find the Saxicava rugosa 

 and Tellina groenlandica. Clay occurs many miles also from the river, but whether it is to 

 be placed in the tertiary, I am not able to determine. We know that clay is a common 

 substance beneath sand ; but because it is clay, it is no evidence in itself that it belongs to 

 the tertiary beds. I am aware that many geologists rank most beds of this substance with 

 the tertiary. But this mode of procedure does not appear to be warranted ; and unless we 

 can trace them continuously, or find some lithological characters (in the absence of fossils) 

 whicli are constant, I do not understand on what ground they are placed in this class. 



In regard to this formation in the northcn part of New-York, we have evidence of its having 

 been once continuous around the whole of its border. Thus, commencing at Whitehall, and 

 passing round the entire northern border of the State to Ogdensburgh, this deposit was once 



