DESCRIPTION OF THE GENERAL SECTIONS. 635 



mens from each section are placed in front of the drawings, each one 

 directly in front of its place on the profile, and corresponding numbers 

 enable one to identify the place of the 3,000 localities represented. This 

 wall of sections is therefore a truthful representation of nature. Every- 

 thing is in its proper place, not distorted by theoretical views; and one 

 can study the rocks nearly as well as in the field. The bringing together 

 of the specimens in geographical order will save years of travelling for 

 any who examine the collections. 



The College of Agriculture caused to be prepared and exhibited at the 

 centennial exhibition at Philadelphia, in 1876, a delineation of thirteen 

 of these sections across both the states, on the horizontal scale of two 

 miles and a half to the inch. It would be very desirable to have this 

 drawing reproduced, one fourth the size of the original, for the atlas. 

 Much more detail could be given in such a sketch than is possible upon 

 the profiles placed at the base of the map sheets, and it would be possible 

 to illustrate the relations between the formations of the two states. This 

 is done to a small extent upon our sheets, as the profiles are made to 

 extend as far as the coloring, somewhat beyond the state limits. This 

 method of survey and illustration was first proposed by my father for the 

 Vermont survey, and was fully carried out for the report upon the geol- 

 ogy of that state. In the museum at Montpelier the specimens were 

 properly placed, but no sections were protracted for the spaces between 

 the shelves. It was supposed that the curator would have attended to 

 this business, as he aided in the collection of the specimens. Our 

 later collections and sections, relating alike to two states, possess more 

 than double the value of the first, since they cover twice as much area, 

 and exhibit the results of ten years of study. Repeated visits to the 

 localities and a comparison of conclusions enable us to locate overturns 

 and faults, very essential to the proper understanding of the positions of 

 the rocks, but which cannot be discovered without great effort. It is not 

 claimed that the representations are yet beyond the possibility of im- 

 provement. 



Our limited space will prevent us from giving detailed descriptions of 

 all these sections. Those desiring information beyond that of the report 

 will find it at the museum. I will notice the sections in order from south 

 to north. 



