GEOLOGY OF THE MERRIMACK DISTRICT. 52/ 



ment of this rock in the high hill east of Ware Village, extending south- 

 erly through Palmer. Those who ride over the Boston & Albany Railroad 

 cannot have failed to notice this rock in Brookfield and Palmer. My 

 father did not distinguish this formation upon the map, as he did not 

 attempt to subdivide the gneiss, but has furnished data which enable his 

 successors to trace out the formation.* The recognition of this porphy- 

 ritic rock outside of the New Hampshire limits is of great importance, 

 and it may furnish a clue to the structure of our New England geology. 



Some observations of a trip through Winchendon and Royalston will 

 further illustrate our position. Rindge has just been left, with its uni- 

 form ferruginous aspect. One mile west of Springville, in Winchendon, 

 we observe the same rock in a horizontal position. One mile west of 

 Winchendon the same rock, with coarse granite beds, dips 35° N. W. 

 On reaching New Boston, a small hamlet in the south-west part of the 

 town, ledges of porphyritic gneiss are perceived dipping west. A massive 

 even-bedded variety succeeds, followed by the porphyritic, before coming 

 to the village of South Royalston, dipping 85° west. This ancient band 

 is nearly three, and perhaps five miles wide, cropping out in the direct 

 line of continuity from the main backbone range of New Hampshire. On 

 the west of South Royalston a gneiss like that of Winnipiseogee appears, 

 dipping west, and within three miles the dip is reversed, giving us a syn- 

 clinal axis. At Athol the rock is like the Montalban series, and dijDS 

 westerly. The Lake gneiss comes up again in the New Salem, Shutes- 

 bury, and Pelham hills, with westerly dips. These may represent the 

 southward continuation of the older rocks of the western part of Cheshire 

 county. There is therefore a correspondence between the order of the 

 formations in southern New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts, 

 through Worcester and Franklin counties. 



The Smaller Ranges. I will speak first of those about Warner. Bean's 

 Hill, near Union church, in the south part of Salisbury, furnishes the 

 beginning of an area of this rock a little over three miles in length. 

 Tucker pond, Salisbury, and Bagley pond, Warner, with the west branch 

 of Schodac brook, are situated upon it. The land stands out by itself, 

 to some extent. There are three minor elevations upon it in Salisbury, 

 and one in the very north-east corner of Warner. I do not find observa- 



* Final Report Geology, Mass., p. 628. 



