GEOLOGY OF THE MERRIMACK DISTRICT. 55/ 



west. The band shows a width of certainly seventy-five feet. Gneiss 

 appears at the road fork nearly half a mile to the west, and also near the 

 town line on the Bedford road. On the most northern line of roads 

 through Bedford the rock is gneiss as far as J. Witherspoon's, save a 

 single ledge of mica schist at Mrs. Mullett's, 



Taking the direct road to Amherst from Piscataquog, all the ledges 

 seen through Bedford are gneiss. It crops out prominently at Bedford 

 village, and a little beyond. Near McQuade's brook, east of G. Fletcher's, 

 is a mass of granite related to that in Manchester. There is more of it 

 half a mile to the north-east. It is probably another ovoid mass at about 

 the same stratigraphical horizon, as well as that in the quarry near Am- 

 herst village. At S. P. Campbell's, gneiss dips northerly. On the north 

 and south road, near the north-east corner of Amherst, are ledges ap- 

 proaching mica schist in character, and containing very much coarse 

 granite. South from J. P. Conner's the gneiss dips 85° N, 40° W. Other 

 ledges of this rock occur farther along, — notably, west of W. E. Brown's, 

 in Amherst ; west of Williams pond, dipping 50° N. W. ; a mile north of 

 the village, vertical, with strike N. 20° E., and elsewhere. South of Wil- 

 liams pond, the country is mostly covered by drift as far as the village. 

 The hill south of the court-house is clearly occupied by this ancient 

 gneiss, as it is also farther west. On the road to Milford, near the height 

 of land, west of A. Hartwell's, it dips 85° N. 30° W. In Milford is a large 

 mass of granite, occurring very nearly on the line of the Manchester 

 quarries. It is extensively quarried about three miles north-west of the 

 village. I noted the two usual sets of joints in this rock at one of the 

 quarries, about 10" W. and 80° E. The gneiss is quite well developed 

 along the banks of the Souhegan, at Milford village. 



South from Piscataquog village, along the river road, are ledges of 

 various sorts. At the village is the coarse mica schist previously men- 

 tioned. Near the south town line is a red crystalline gneiss, dipping N. 

 20° W. This belongs to the twisted crystalline variety. Bowman's 

 brook obscures the ledges for the next two or three miles, and we observe 

 the return of the ancient gneiss at the easterly turn of the road near J. 

 Walker's, Bedford. The ledges approach the river here, at the expense 

 of the modified drift. They are also numerous near Goff's falls. Farther 

 south, by C. K. Ball's, this twisted gneiss dips 88° N. 40° W. Layers of 



