538 



STEATITE. 



Pierce's Bed. 



In Windham there are three beds of steatite. One of the largest is in gneiss in the southeast corner 

 of the town upon the farm of Simeon Pierce. It is upon a hill half a mile south of Pierce's house. The 



bed is a mixture of good arid indifferent steatite, with some serpentine. In 

 much of the steatite a large amount of brown spar is present. The bed is 

 fifteen rods long and four rods wide. The lines and arrows surrounding the 

 bed are intended to show the direction and inclination of the surrounding 

 strata of gneiss. This bed occupies the crest of the hill because it has re- 

 sisted decomposition better than the adjacent rocks. Hence about fifteen feet 

 of thickness of the stone are seen, which are generally hidden from view. The 

 actinolite found at B, is the finest we have seen in Vermont. It can easily be 

 dug with a strong spade. Seventy-five rods west of Pierce's steatite, sepa- 

 rated by hornblende schist is a large bed of serpentine. Associated with 

 serpentine there is another bed of steatite, in talcose schist, between Pierce's 

 bed and Windham village. 



Explanation of Fig. 285. 

 A Vein of Quartz. 

 B Crystals of Actinolite. 

 C Serpentine. 



D Steatite without admixture of Brown Spar. 

 E Steatite. 



P Steatite filled with crystals of Brown Spar. Passes into some Serpentine. 

 G Steatite of excellent quality, four feet wide. 

 H Hornblende gneiss. 



About two miles north of the village of Windham there is a bed of steatite and serpentine in talcose 

 schist, upon the land of Abel Putnam. The bed is twelve rods in width, and of indefinite length. Where 

 we examined it we found both steatite and serpentine present. The east part of it, at B, in 

 Fig. 286, is mostly steatite of good quality. The west part of it, at C, is serpentine, which 

 extends for some distance along this side of the bed. At A there is steatite and serpentine, 

 the former of which has been quarried. The serpentine is very hard. 



One-half of a mile east of this bed there is another bed of steatite upon the same farm, 

 which was said to be superior to this one. We had no opportunity to examine it and judge 

 for ourselves. The rock in the vicinity of these beds runs N. 10 E., and dips 60 E. 



There is a large bed of steatite and serpentine upon the farm of David Jefts in Andover. It 

 is in talcose schist, and is probably upon the line of strike connecting the beds in Windham 

 and Proctorsville. There is said to be steatite in Chester. If so it is probably in the extreme 

 west part of the town, and in the talcose schist. 



In Ludlow there are five or six beds of steatite. Most of them belong to the Windham and Proctorsville 

 range. In the southeast part of the town, upon the land of Benjamin Warren, there is a large bed, some 

 parts of which are of good quality. Other beds occur in the east part of the town north of Warren's bed, 

 upon the land of T. Fletcher and S. Koss. The strata is found in these localities upon the west side of 

 serpentine. These beds all run N. 10 E. There is a bed of steatite of rather inferior quality in the west 

 part of Ludlow, near the house of Levi Lawrence (one fourth of a mile southwest of it.) It overlies a bed 

 of dolomite, and it is on account of this connection, perhaps, that it contains carbonate of lime. Its strike 

 is N. 20 E., and its inclination 65 E. 



There is a specimen of steatite in the Cabinet, from the land of Z. Parker in Ludlow. In the northeast 

 part of Ludlow, upon the farm of Silas Works, there is still another bed of steatite in talcose schist. It 

 dips west from 60 to 70, and runs nearly north and south. It is apparently two rods wide. The stone 

 is said to be rather coarse and to contain much brown spar. 



In Cavendish there are certainly four beds of steatite, and there may be many others in the southwest 

 part of the town, which have never been explored. Three of these beds belong to Isaac A. Brown, Esq., of 



FIG. 286. 



Puluam's Bed. 



