Report on a 7^e-examinatio7ij ^"c. 363 



papers mention that at Charleston, S. C, at 10 o'clock, P. M. of 

 the 20th, a fire-ball of great splendor was seen in the North. 



The details above given lead to the conclusion, that no unusual 

 display of meteors was visible in this country on the mornings of 

 the 19th or 20th April, 1839. It is to be regretted that no thor- 

 ough observation was made on the mornings of the 21st and 22d. 



It deserves to be mentioned, that the meteoric shower of April, 

 1803, is by European writers, almost universally referred to the 

 twetity-second day of the month. The documents which I have 

 quoted, compel the behef that the true date is the twentieth. The 

 only ground for suspicion concerning it, is the apparent failure 

 on this day, for two successive years, of any recurrence of the 

 shower. 



Art. XII. — Notice of a Report on a re-examiiiation of the Eco- 

 nomical Geology of Massachusetts ; by Edward Hitchcock, 

 Professor of Chemistry and Natural History in Amherst Col- 

 lege. Boston, 1838. 



Communicated by Professor C. U. Shepard, at the request, of the Editors. 



The objects aimed at in the undertaking, were 1st, the collec- 

 tion and analysis of soils, with a view to their amelioration on 

 chemical principles ] 2nd, the discovery of coal, marl and ores ; 

 3rd, a more accurate determination of the boundaries to the vari^ 

 ous rock formations ; 4th the scientific geology, and lastly to pro- 

 cure additional specimens for the illustration of the geology and 

 mineralogy of the State. 



Prof Hitchcock confines himself however, in the present re- 

 port pretty nearly to the first and second topics above enumer- 

 ated, and dwells particularly upon those developements of valu- 

 able materials within the commonwealth, which have been ef- 

 fected since the publication of his earlier reports. 



As a preliminary to the consideration of soils, he classifies the 

 different kinds observed as follows : 



1. Alluvium from rivers, do. peaty ; 2. Tertiary soil, do. 

 sandy ; 3. sandstone soil, red, do. gray ; 4. Gray wacke soil, con- 

 glomerate, do. slaty gray, do. slaty red ; 5. Clay slate soil ; 6. 

 Limestone soil, magnesian, do. common ; 7. Mica slate soil ; 8. 



