Geological Reports on the State of New York. 49 



water was conducted downwards by this fibre, and the solid material de- 

 posited on every side, forming a ring. But when the accumulations are 

 large, or when the stratum below is impervious, the calcareous matter is 

 forced out on every side, and produces the fantastic forms which we so 

 often find." 



Niagara falls and river. — A fuller account of these is prom- 

 ised in a future report. The strata at Lewiston, where the Ni- 

 agara river empties into the Lake Ontario, are found in the fol- 

 lowing order, and thickness from the top downward — limestone 

 twenty feet, shale eighty, limestone twenty, red marl and sand- 

 stone seventy, hard gray sandstone twenty-fi.ve, red marl to the 

 level of the river, and far below. 



Some very judicious remarks are made respecting the possibil- 

 ity of the drainage of the upper lake or lakes, by the process of, 

 regular wearing by the current, and although the reasons sug- 

 gested by Mr. Hall are valid, it does not appear, that the drainage 

 is as he suggests impossible, for, a very moderate heave of an 

 earthquake, such as are common in South America, might at once 

 fissure the barrier, so that the water would flow with irresistible 

 violence, and drain every lake above, to the level of Ontario, 

 sweeping New England, New York, and the middle states, until 

 an equilibrium was established with the waters of the Atlantic. 



In concluding our ample citations from these truly valuable re- 

 ports, we are much impressed by the fidelity, zeal and ability 

 which they so strikingly display. They must be studied with 

 attention, in order to derive from them all the information, both 

 in economics, and in science, which they contain, and of which 

 we have given only the more striking examples. 



Remark. 



Although it is our wish and intention to give some notice of all 

 the geological surveys and explorations now going forward in the 

 United States, the number of the reports, and the pressure of 

 other matter, and of numerous duties, may cause, as they have al- 

 ready done, more delay than we could wish, and some may be 

 temporarily omitted until more general results can be obtained, 

 than those which depend on observations merely local. — Eds. 



Vol. XXXVI, No. 1.— Jan .-April, 1839. 7 



