XX PREFACE. 



plete presentation of the problems which the basin affords. It should 

 furthermore be noted that the party under the charge of the senior con- 

 tributor is now engaged in studying other basins of the Piedmont or east 

 Appalachian section of the coastal district, From these inquiries it may be 

 expected that there will come a report concerning these peculiar features in 

 the geology of this country. It therefore did not seem worth while to 

 undertake a more systematic inquiry into the Narragansett field, which 

 would demand a larger comparison with neighboring fields than it is possible 

 yet to make. The reader may also remark the fact that there are but few 

 diagrams in the text. Owing to the small and disconnected character of the 

 sections which could be obtained in this basin, it has been found impossible 

 to represent diagrammatically, in a precise way and for all parts of the area, 

 the relations of the strata, Under these conditions diagrams are likely to 

 have a fictitious value — to assert more than the facts warrant. So far as 

 possible, the pictorial representation of the phenomena has been limited to 

 local sections and reproduced photographs. It will also be noted that, 

 particularly in Dr. Foerste's report, attention is called to a great number of 

 localities which are cited in evidence of the conclusions to which the writer 

 has come. 



N. S. S. 



