8 



tinuance of the survey, that object was kept constantly 

 in view by those engaged in it. Many sections were 

 traced eastward from the well known Silurian rocks, 

 which occupy the valley of Lake Champlain, to the 

 centre of the Green Mountain range, and many facts 

 were brought to light which have an important bearing 

 upon the problem which I have mentioned ; but just 

 as the examinations were being completed, and the 

 results and facts were to be brought together, system- 

 atized and weighed, the survey was suspended ; and 

 whether it will ever be resumed or not, is a problem 

 which time only can solve. 



The rocks in the western part of Vermont, in the 

 valley of Lake Champlain, are highly fossiliferous and 

 clearly belong to that portion of the lower Silurian, 

 denominated by the New York geologists the Cham- 

 plain group. To the eastward of these, and mostly in 

 the, south part of the State, lie the so-called Taconic 

 rocks. These last consist principally of slates, lime- 

 stone,* and quartz rock. A few fossils are believed to 

 have been found in them, but they are extremely rare 

 and obscure; and the question with regard to these 

 rocks is, as I understand it, whether they are a series 

 of fossiliferous rocks which are older than the Cham- 

 plain group, or are metamorphic members of that 

 group, whose fossils have been mostly obliterated by 

 heat. 



To the eastward of the Champlain and Taconic 

 groups, I am not aware that any fossiliferous rocks 

 have been found, in place, within the State. Lying next 

 to these, is a belt of talcose slate formation, varying 



* The limestone of this series furnishes inexhaustible quarries 

 of the most beautiful white marble. 



