GEOLOGY OF THE MERRIMACK DISTRICT. 515 



and some labor in this and the towns just mentioned, many brilliant 

 crystals of beryl could undoubtedly be obtained. 



The next outcrop examined was southward, in Orange, near P. Ste- 

 vens's. Here the vein was formerly worked for mica. Beryls were 

 obtained, and large crystals of tourmaline are still found ; also mica, 

 apatite, and albite, the variety Clevelandite. 



Grafton is better known than any of the towns through which this 

 granitic vein runs, and many years ago it became famous for its mica 

 and its beryl. There is a vein on the ridge a little south of west from 

 M. Kilton's, which extends northward ; and south, on Isinglass mountain, 

 is one of the oldest mica quarries in the state, it having been worked 

 almost continuously for the last thirty-five years. Some of the strata 

 adjacent to the vein were evidently changed contemporaneously with its 

 introduction, where they come in contact with the vein rock, having 

 been bent, and also changed in texture. We find here beryl, tourmaline, 

 albite, apatite, and triphylite. On the east side of the ridge of Isinglass 

 mountain, and north-west of T. Foss's, there has been an opening made 

 for mica within a few years ; and here large beryls are found. On Alger's 

 hill, which is almost directly south from Isinglass mountain, and across 

 a deep ravine, we find the granite vein on the crest of the ridge ; and 

 here the largest known beryls in the world have been found. One hex- 

 agonal prism from this locality weighs 2900 pounds, and measures four 

 feet, three inches in length, with one diameter of thirty-two inches and 

 another of twenty-two. A still larger crystal was partly dug out, but 

 being left exposed to the weather it fell to pieces. It measured forty-five 

 inches by twenty-four in its diameters, and was calculated to weigh 

 two and one half tons. On a hill south-west of Hale pond recent exca- 

 vations have been made for mica, and here formerly many fine beryls 

 were found. 



In Springfield the granite can be seen on Aaron's ledge, and it extends 

 south-east towards N. Heath's. At J. W. Hill's mica has been worked, 

 and the quarry is not yet exhausted. North of N. Heath's black tourma- 

 line of remarkable size have been obtained. One crystal in the cabinet, 

 with a perfect termination, is five inches in diameter ; another, somewhat 

 fractured, is about five and a half inches. 



Southward, there are no marked granitic veins in Sunapee or Goshen, 



