APPENDIX. 385 



inferred, from the masses of yellow coarse sand which are driven 

 up at the foot of the lake, and particularly around its outlet. 

 When the winds prevail, the water is driven violently against 

 this part of the shore. As it is an alluvial flat, they soon sur- 

 mount the stated margin, and produce a partial inundation. On 

 ■their recession, wreathes of sand remain. 



Diluvial Elevations. — Bounding the alluvial plain of the 

 Seneca outlet westward, there is a series of remarkable wave-like 

 ridges, whose direction is parallel to that of the lake. On the 

 declivity-stop of the first of these ridges, stands the village of 

 Geneva, the buildings of which are thus displayed in an amphi- 

 theatric manner above the clear expanse of the lake. The sub- 

 stratum of these ridges is an argillaceous, compact soil of the 

 eldest formation. Some parts of it are a stiff clay, and yield sep- 

 taria; but there is no considerable portion of it, which has been 

 examined, wholly destitute of primitive boulders and pebbles. 

 Little doubt can remain but that it is the result of the broken- 

 down slaty rock mixed with the extraneous and far-fetched primi- 

 tive masses. They are conclusive of its diluvial character. I 

 have attentively examined this formation, in the section of it ex- 

 posed on the shores of the lake between the village of Geneva and 

 Two-mile Point. All its solid, stony contents are piled along 

 the margin of the lake, the soil being completely washed away. 

 Granite, quartz, and trap pebble-stones and boulders, are here 

 promiscuously strewn with recent debris. Over the argillaceous 

 deposit is spread a mantle of newer soil, of unequal depth and 

 character, which forms, exclusively, the theatre of farming and 

 horticultural labors. 



White Springs. — On the declivity of one of these parallel 

 ridges, at the distance of two miles from the lake, is found an ex- 

 tensive bed of white marl. This deposit, which is on the estate of 

 the late Judge Nicholas, covers many acres, and yields so copious 

 a spring of pure water that it is sufficient, at the distance of about 

 three hundred 3^ards from its issue, to turn a gristmill. There 

 are to be found in this bed of marl several species of helix and 

 voluta. The marl is generally covered with an alluvial deposit 

 of two feet in depth. The depth of the marl itself is unexplored. 

 Is not this marl the result oC decomposed sea shells? 

 25 



