Reports on the Geology of the State of Maine. 153 



situated to the North of the localities where their scattered fragments are 

 found. 



" It is a matter of surprise, that such enormous masses of rock should 

 have been moved so far by an aqueous current; but when it is re- 

 membered, that a rock weighs but half so much when immersed in 

 water, as it does when weighed in air, owing to the support given it by 

 the water around ; and when we reflect on the fact, that a rock is still 

 more powerfully supported under the pressure of deep water, it may be 

 conceived, that if a flood of water did once rush over the land, it might 

 have removed large and weighty masses of rock, such as we find to have 

 been the case. 



" From the observations made upon Mount Ktaadn, it is proved, that 

 the current did rush over the summit of that lofty mountain, and conse- 

 quently the diluvial waters rose to the height of more than 5,000 feet. 

 Hence we are enabled to prove, that the ancient ocean, which rushed 

 over the surface of the State, was at least a mile in depth, and its trans- 

 porting power must have been greatly increased by its enormous pressure. 



" It will be readily conceived, that if solid rocks were moved from their 

 native beds, and carried forward several miles, that the finer particles of 

 soil should have been transported to a still greater distance, so we find 

 that the whole mass of loose materials on the surface has been removed 

 southwardly, and the soil resting upon the surface of rocks, in place, is 

 rarely if ever, such as results from the decomposition of those rocks, but 

 was evidently derived from those ledges which occur to the northward. 



" If an attentive observer examines the soil in the city of Portland, he 

 will discover, at once, that it is made up from the detritus of granite and 

 gneiss rocks, while the ledges in that city are wholly composed of the 

 argillaceous, talcose, and mica slate rocks, and granite and gneiss occur 

 in great abundance to the northward. 



" All the markings on the surface of the rocks, and the scattered 

 boulders of granite and gneiss, which abound in that soil, indicate its or- 

 igin to have been in the north 15 or 20° west. I merely quote the above 

 locality, on account of its being a spot where most persons will have oc- 

 casion to examine the facts stated. The various sections of the State 

 present ample illustration of the same fact, and every one who will take 

 the trouble, may convince himself of its reality." 



We can only add his remarks in relation to the grooves : 



" Diluvial grooves in the rocks are exceedingly common in Maine, but 

 I know of {g.\^ localities where they are so distinct as at Hope and Apple- 

 ton. Here they may be observed running in a N. W. and S. E. direction, 

 while they are very deep and perfectly defined. Their direction, it will 

 be remembered, does not coincide with that of the stratification of the 

 rock, and could not have resulted from disintegration of the diflerent 



Vol .xxxvi, No. 1.— Jan.-April, ld3J. 20 



