DRIFT, ETC. 29 



eCticut river at Springfield, Massachusetts, to Bulialo, on the line 

 If the western railroad and Erie canal. Thus, on this belt I find 

 [ve distinct kinds of drift, differing according to the kind of rocks 

 yhich exist in places to the northward of the points of observa- 

 ion. 



First. Towards Springfield on the east, the boulders and grarel 

 eds are composed of gneiss and mica slate. 



Second. In Berkshire, and eastern part of New-York, of the rocks 

 f the taconic system ; and so well defined is the latter belt, that 

 here is no intermingling of the rocks of the two adjacent 

 ystems, except upon their very borders. 



Third. In the valley of the Hudson river, the drift beds are com- 

 losed of rocks of the Champlain group. 



I Fourth. In the valley of the Mohawk, thirty miles west of Albany, 



It Amsterdam, 1 find a great abundance of the northern primary 



pcks, and particularly the hypersthene rock — which is confined to 



small space of country directly north ; and finally, another belt 



jjwards Rochester and Buffalo, in which the harder layers of the 



jledina sandstone, the harder parts of the Niagara limestone, to- 



iether with primary boulders — among which I think I can discern 



lie hypersthene rocks of Labrador — together with some foreign 



loulders whose origin I have been unable to determine. 



Again, of the direction of the grooves, and of drift, when com- 



ared with the direction of valleys, I would remark, that although 



find frequently a parallelism, still there are some notable excep- 



ons, even when no apparent barrier existed to the course of the 



rift currents. Thus, the western face of Petersburg mountain is 



:ored upon a slope of 30° or 35° upwards ; and again, in many 



realities I have found scorings upon the perpendicular faces of 



pcks parallel with the valleys in which they lie. 



; As it regards the organic remains of drift, I am forced to differ 



i part, from the views of Mr. Lyell, as given in a late No. of 



lie Journal of Science. Mr. L. maintains that the tertiary of 



(hamplain, which I have described in ray New-York Report, is 



rift. From this view I beg leave to dissent, for if any formation 



irnishes stronger evidence of having been deposited in quiet 



aters, I know not where it is to be found ; but towards the close 



f the period in which this formation was deposited, we have 



