382 <A. A. Hayes on Serpentine Rock of Rorbury, Vt. 
Clyde ;* whilst Capt. Sir E. Belcher found the remains of whales 
on lands of considerable altitude in lat. 78° north. 
Reasoning from such facts, all geologists are agreed in consid- 
ering the shingle, mud, gravel, and beaches in which animals of 
the Arctic region are imbedded in many parts of Northern Europe, 
as decisive proois of a period when a glacial sea covered large 
portions of such lands; and the only distinction between such 
deposits in Britain and those which were formed in the Arctic 
Circle is, that the wood which was transported to the latter has 
been preserved in its ligneous state for thousands of years, through 
the excessive cold of the region. 
P. S.—Since the above was written, Capt. Collinson transmitted | 
to me an justructive collection of rock-specimens, collected during 
his survey. Most of them show the great prevalence of crystal- 
line rocks along the north coast of America. 
Art. XLIL—On Serpentine Rock; by Ave. A. Haves, M.D., 
Assayer to the State of Massachusetts. | 
Havine been engaged in testing the resisting power of a 
beautiful variegated serpentine, proposed as the material for a base 
of the monument in memory of Benj. Franklin, to be erected in 
this city, ] have been led into a somewhat extended research, on 
the chemical composition of serpentine, from well known locali- 
ties. Ist, Serpentine from Roxbury, Vermont. ‘The quarries In 
this township, are in the immediate vicinity of the line of the 
Central Rail Road,t at a higher level, permitting advantageous 
working. Rough from the quarry the rock presents a mixture 0! 
tints from dark blackish green to snow white, often finely blended, 
though not generally shaded. Mere physical examination shows 
a variety of included minerals, such as tale in scales, compact and 
fibrous asbestus, dark green chloritic rock, and taleose and argil- 
laceous slates with chromic iron. These minerals make the largest 
art of the mass and being generally angular, thongh sometimes 
rounded, their contact lines are variously modified. Uniting 
hese into a remarkably compact mass, is a white, or white col- 
ored mineral, which constitutes a true cement. : 
This rock has received the name of Verd-antique Marble, a 
name not only incorrect, but conveying a false conception of its 
* Tn y « , marine shells, of the 
Venus pit ian ‘Sind a RL A bea pehaoende yd ori Island; a sp 
sae Sg ai the view here adopted of the submergence of large portions © 
+ These quarries are in a belt of magnesian aggregates, which extend within the 
State from New Fane northerly to Troy, and may be a continuation of the Ms 
ille, Roxbury, Kellyvale and 
