154 Reports on the Geology of the State of Maine. 



strata. Three quarters of a mile S. E. from a hill in Appleton, they may 

 be seen forming deep channels in the rocks, to the depth of a foot, and 

 six inches in width. Since the direction and appearance of these 

 grooves, correspond with those observed in other parts of our country, 

 I feel no hesitation in attributing them to a similar origin. They are 

 certainly the result of an aqueous current, which once prevailed over New 

 England, and probably over the whole world. The current from similar 

 grooves seen in other places, appears to have proceeded from N. to S., 

 or from N. W. to S. E." 



Dr. Jackson has stated an important fact, proving that the rocks 

 along the coast, particularly at Lubec Bay, have changed their 

 level within the recent zoological period, having discovered at- 

 tached to the sides of the trap, at the distance of twenty-five feet 

 above high water level, numerous remains of shell fish, precisely 

 hke those now living on the neighboring coast. He says, 



"It is evident from the position in which these shells are found, and 

 the attachment of barnacles to the rocks in place, that the sea once stood 

 over the very spot, where these marine relics are deposited. Has the 

 level of the sea become depressed, or have the rocks been elevated 1 To 

 answer these questions I would observe, that it would be difficult, if not 

 impossible, to account for a subsidence of the waters here, without a gen- 

 eral change of level in the ocean ; and this is not proved to have taken 

 place. We cannot suppose a partial subsidence of the waters ; for the 

 bay communicates freely with the ocean, and the level would be invari- 

 ably maintained. The concurrent testimony of all geological observers 

 is in favor of a change of level in the land, by elevation ; and such a 

 change appears to have taken place here, within the recent zoological 

 period." 



The proof of such local elevations of rocks have been greatly 

 multiphed by the observations of geologists, during the last few 

 years ; and though it appears in some few places, that the sea has 

 subsided from its former level, and in others has risen ; the 

 general inference from all facts bearing upon this point, is, that 

 the land only has been raised or depressed, and that the cause of 

 these changes, whether local or general, in the relative level of 

 the land and sea, must be sought for in the agency of earthquakes 

 and volcanoes. These have happened not only within the pres- 

 ent zoological period, but within the last century, and even so 

 late as 1822, the land on the coast of Chili, for the distance of 

 more than one hundred miles, was suddenly raised three or four 



