HO IV THE SOIL CAME. 



39 



Street about fifty years ago at Charles Burbank's place, 

 several pieces of shells were found sticking in the hardpan 

 at a depth of twenty-five feet below the surface. The 

 shells did not grow there, but were pushed there when 

 the hill was heaped up, for there were no signs of a former 

 sea bottom such as clams always inhabit. 



Hardpan, or glacial clay, was all around and above them, 

 and hardpan reached at least twenty feet below the shells 



/ \ (Venus ~ftlercen.a.T'iQ.) / / 

 *x \ (ye)^u$ "hlercen«Ti a ) ' /^ \ .' ' 



' ^ "v^ Gtuakauo ,- ^^^ .'' ," 



' ^N--__,--'' Sea Ciam ~"'""/, ^9' 



"" - ^ (,_(Tiactra SoKdi»si<2:»a^L -' ' 



Half natural length. 



Shell Fragments found near King Street, twentv-fivf. fef.t 

 BELOW the Surface, in Digging a Well. 



to the bottom of the well. Three of the fragments are 

 shown in the accompanying cut. The two smaller ones 

 are the smooth round clam or quahog ( Venus mercenarid), 

 about two and a half to three inches in diameter ; the 

 larger one is the sea clam {Mactra solidissimd), and meas- 

 ured originally five or six inches. 



It is easily seen that the thin margin of these shells has 

 been broken off, for nothing but the heavy part, near the 

 umbos, could endure the rough treatment when they 



